Book of Bone and Ebony

THE WHITE SNAKES THAT HUNGER
(ARTIFACT •••)
In its most neutral form, this item seems to be a
white-jade oval the size of a small woman’s hand. On
closer inspection, it becomes obvious that this artifact
is cunningly carved to resemble two snakes coiled
smoothly on themselves. To use it, the owner casts it to
the ground and spends a mote of Essence to activate the
artifact. The snakes uncoil, and one of the snakes moves
to attack any indicated target, while the other gives
birth to a new snake, spitting it out of its mouth. This
process continues in successive turns, with half the
snakes attacking any indicated target, while the other
half of the snakes give birth to new offspring. Any given
snake has the statistics and poison of a coral snake (see
Exalted, pp. 243, 315 and 316).
The snakes continue to multiply and attack for up to
half an hour, unless ordered to cease by the artifact’s
owner. They will not leave their owner’s presence, and
will not pursue fleeing enemies beyond that area, or
follow orders that would take them into another room
and out of sight. After the half-hour is up, or when their
owner commands it, the snakes all turn on each other.
They swallow each other until there are only two snakes
left, which then coil around each other and reform the
artifact in its latent state. It cannot be used again till the
next day. If all the snakes are killed, then the last snake
to die coils in on itself and resumes the latent form of the
artifact. Thereafter, it cannot be used again for a year and
must be bathed in fresh blood first. If it is destroyed while
in its neutral form, as a stone oval (three levels of lethal
damage), then it is permanently destroyed. Some scholars
have noticed similarities between this artifact and the
serpent-and-egg earth elementals (see the Exalted
Storyteller’s Companion, p. 72), leading to speculation
that the creation of one of these artifacts requires an egg
from a serpent-and-egg, but there is little evidence one
way or another.
Artifact Traits:
Power •••, Usefulness •••, Game Impact ••, Script
Immunity •••;
Drawback ••• (Component •, Notoriety ••)
79
CHAPTER THREE • THE WONDERS OF THE DEAD
KEYSTONE OF THE STAIR INESCAPABLE
(ARTIFACT ••••)
This pallid moonstone is buried under the bottom step
of a flight of stairs. It has no effect until someone begins to
climb the stairs, but once this occurs, the artifact’s enchantment
comes into force. It makes it impossible for the climber
to leave the stairs unless he pronounces the keystone’s
name. Otherwise, the climber finds the stairs elongating to
infinity in either direction when he tries to leave them: He
can never quite reach the top, the bottom is always a few
paces too far away, and if he tries to jump off to one side or
to break through the wall, then the stairs somehow stretch,
leaving him always those few inches away from the edge of
the stairs or the wall. Many who place a keystone to form a
stair inescapable do so with a spiral staircase or some other
long, twisting stair that will not otherwise have its true
nature become immediately obvious. Inescapable stairs are
often littered with the skeletons of those who perished from
starvation while trapped there.
There are three known keystones, created by a smith
among the dead whose name was erased from the books of
Stygia, due to his trafficking with spectres and the Yozis. The
keystones’ names are Arishapetel, Domnozoarni and
Kalaritazan, though only the learned would know this (five
successes on an Intelligence + Lore roll). The three keystones
loathe each other with an instinctive abhorrence,
and bringing one upon a stair ruled by another causes the
second keystone to become inactive for as long as the first is
there, making passage possible. However, naming the wrong
keystone on a stair ruled by another causes the entire stair to
scream aloud in fury, audible for up to a mile away.
To be sure, there are ways to circumvent the trap of
the stair inescapable besides naming its keystone. Anyone
of 6 or more permanent Essence can ignore its effects and
simply walk up the stairs as though they were normal.
Adamant Countermagic will also allow passage, and
Charms that alter the normal flow of space, time and fate
may also permit exit from the stair. (As characters are
likely to find novel uses for them, the Storyteller is urged
to rule on a case-by-case basis, according to the requirements
of play.)
Artifact Traits:
Power •••, Usefulness ••, Game Impact •••, Script
Immunity ••••;
Drawback •••• (Component •, Notoriety •••)