Leonard surges forward, as his back jerks upwards. In a flurry of mana particles and bloody red, crystalline shards begin to tear themselves free. Soon after, following the emergence of its extensions, the Guardian raises its primary body, in a gruesome display of warping its physical form outside of its host. Almost as if his spine were the entity itself, the Guardian would fully tear itself out his back, arching out its enormous crystalline 'limbs', as it stretches out several meters, taking careful guard behind its host.
The guardian is a mana symbiote long forgotten by history, almost all knowledge having been lost to the careful work of the Sabisians. The rare few scholars that still hold existing records of these beings believe them to long be extinct, lost to mana wars passed long since and the Sabisian incursion.
While in its docile state, the Guardian appears as a crystalline growth connected directly to its hosts nervous system through the spinal cord, easily being visible to the naked eye underneath the skin, alongside visible patches of mana-crystalline material left in patches above the skin containing it. While in its docile form, the guardian remains in a sort of dormant state, co-existing with its host and feeding off of its body.
During its active phase, the Guardian appears to burst out of body of its host. Despite this appearance, this process is all but a trick of the eyes, in reality being no more than an energy transference as the Guardian takes form, leaving behind no actual wounds on the host's body. The crystalline being seen during its active phase is not in reality the entity's true form, that being the crystaline growth located inside the host. Henceforth, destroying the active entity does little but return it back into its primary shell, where it can recover.
In appearance, during the active phase, the Guardian is a large, several meters tall crystalline biomechanical creature. It is composed of a long lanky crystalline 'spine' flanked by long sharpened shards that it uses to strike at the enemy or otherwise carry out its commands. When out of range, it uses a head-like appendage, which it can seemingly use to see, to fire a directed burst of energy.
The Guardian forms a bond with its host during the symbiotic period, carrying out their commands on its own free will, in exchange, the host provides it safety and nutrition.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action to activate.
Summon a single Guardian at your location. They will last until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most 1 minion active at a time.
Minions have 6 Body and can make ranged attacks at targets up to 30 feet away with 5 dice to attack and +1 Damage. Your minions can move 20 feet per Round as Free Movement, and double that when performing an all-out Sprint. They cannot dodge or Defend. They have dog-level intelligence, and cannot communicate back to you. Any Perception checks they make are rolled with 8 dice.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see The guardian 'tears' itself out of the hosts back.
Possession of this Artifact causes the following Battle Scar to manifest over the course of a day: Crystalline-mineral growth around the spine. If you lose possession of this Artifact, the Battle Scar heals over the course of the next month.
i do a little flute song and a rat scurries along
idk goblin innit
Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and spend at least two Actions performing the following ritual: funne song to activate. You must actively and obviously use flute of rat charming to activate this Effect. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted.
Summon a single rat at your location. They will last until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most 1 minion active at a time.
Minions have 6 Body and can make melee range attacks with 5 dice to attack and +1 Damage. Your minions can move 45 feet per Round as Free Movement, and double that when performing an all-out Sprint. They cannot dodge or Defend. They have dog-level intelligence, but are capable of communicating information back to you. Any Perception checks they make are rolled with 8 dice.
Paulette curls on herself and her skin starts twitching and moving. Then a spider rips from her body.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Summon up to 3 Sapient spiderling at your location. They last for two hours or until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most 3 minions active at a time.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see a spider crawling under her skin.
The user drives this tiny car in a circle two times while singing a children's song about clowns (see extended description). When the user exits the car, a small humanoid dressed as an exaggerated parody of the user follows mimics their personality and mannerisms, and communicates telepathically with the user.
Exert your Mind and spend two Actions performing the following ritual: drive this artifact in a circle multiple times. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted.
Summon a single Tiny Clown at your location. They will last until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. This Artifact may have at most 1 minion active at a time.
After you finish activating this Effect, you cannot move quicker than a walk (max 15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour. Exhaustion’s penalty and duration stacks with multiple activations.
You may only use this Effect once per day.
Paper animals are a standard practice among even initiate origami artists, but none can make them the way Bryan can. After imbuement, the art prodigy has learned that he can create animated, permanent familiars through the use of the paper of his physiology. Information the familiars survey is momentarily printed onto their paper, as well as read aloud in a voice similar to Bryan's when necessary.
While Bryan primarily creates paper cranes through this technique (hence the name Orizuru), he is capable of designing his summon to match the shape of any creature. The information on the paper is usually drawn through supernatural ink in the form of small sketches or kanji.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. This Effect cannot be used unless you are in your Amorphous Transformation.
Summon a single Non-Sapient, Animate origami animal at your location. They last until they are destroyed They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most one active at a time.
Bummer & Lazarus - a pair of mongrel stray dogs much beloved by the denizens of San Francisco who wandered the streets of that fair city at the same time as the illustrious Emperor Norton the First. With the long wait for a successor now over, the spirits of these noble canines may be summoned up once more by the current Emperor, arriving from any nearby dumpster, alleyway, or similar when called. While clearly ghostly, they still yet serve the Empire!
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Summon the one and only Sapient Ghost Dog at your location. They last for two hours or until they are destroyed. They are controlled by you. You may have at most one minion active at a time.
If killed, you cannot re-summon your minion until after your next Contract.
The mobster knows a guy they can call for a hired goon, who arrives about a minute later. The goons are dumb as bricks, but tough nonetheless, perfect for sending a message when you need to keep your hands clean.
Exert your Mind and spend one minute. You must actively and obviously use a cell phone to activate this Effect.
Summon a single goon at your location. They will last until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most 1 minion active at a time.
You may only use this Effect once per day.
The Vampire is able to turn one of their victims into a lesser vampire, a pale shadow of a full creature of the night but useful nonetheless. Having drained and killed their target, the Vampire performs a brief ritualistic bloodletting, wherein they spill their own blood into the target's mouth, forcing them to drink, and bonding them together as child and sire.
Shortly afterwards, the fledgling vampire will rise from death, hungry for blood and eager to serve.
Take a Severity-1 Injury and spend one minute. Select a Dead target within arm's reach that has died within the last hour. This Effect cannot be used unless you drained the target's blood while they were still alive.
Your target rises as an Animate being. The raised creature is totally mindless, with no memory of its past life or hint of its old personality. They cannot communicate. They will follow any command you speak.
The creature lasts until it dies again. It is revived at full health. Any Injuries it had in life are not accounted for when determining its penalties or progression towards re-death, though they may affect its ability to perform certain actions at GM's discretion. The raised creature must consume flesh every day or it will die again.
Raised creatures have their Abilities set to the same that they were in life. Their Charisma and Intellect are set to 1, but their Dexterity, Brawn and Perception are the same as they had in life. A raised creature cannot use any Effects.
Your revived targets deal 2 Weapon Damage with their unarmed attacks.
Any successful musician knows the value of a good roadie. The musician calls for a roadie, and one will promptly arrive. The roadie doesn't talk much, and they aren't too bright, but they can sure haul gear.
After a couple hours of work, the roadie will retire to smoke and get some sleep.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Summon a single roadie at your location. They will last for two hours, or until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most 1 minion active at a time.
You may only use this Effect once per day.