Café de Nuit

Since we already have a discussion started on both places and characters that would be appropriate of the Masque of the Red Death setting, I though it might be interesting to see what enchanted items we could come up with.

To start things off I'll begin with an interesting item from the American West...

Joseph Smith's Jupiter Talisman

Discription: The Talisman is crafted in silver and is approximately 1 9/16 inches in diameter. On the overse side is a square grid divided into 16 smaller squares each containing a different Hebrew letter. Each of these letters represent a number 1 through 16. If any four of these numbers are added together in a strait line either up, down diagonally or accross, they equal 34. This is known as the table of Jupiter.

Above the Table is written in Hebrew, "El Ab" which stand for "God the Father". Below the Table is the Sign of Jupiter. Surround these two engravings and the table is a circle that acts as a boarder for the talisman. Outside the circle, directly below the sign of Jupiter is printed the number 136 (the magic number of Jupiter, derived from adding all the numbers in the table together)

To the left of the Table, within the boarder, is the Hebrew name "Josiphiel" which means "The Intelligence of Jupiter" To the right of the Table, within the boarder, is written "Abba" which means "Father-God"

On the reverse side of the Talisman there are three diagrams contained within a similar circular boarder. At the top is the Seal of Jupiter, just as it appears on the reverse side, Directly below the Seal is the symbol for the Intelligence of Jupiter, and to the left the Sign of Jupiter. Outside the boarder is the Latin, "Confirmo O Deus Potentissimus" which is translated "Make Me O Lord All Powerful"

At the top of the talisman is a small hole through which a sting or riddon can be placed in order to wear the talisman.

History: The Jupiter Talisman was a prized possession of the founder of the Mormon Church, Joseph Smith. It is believed that he consulted the Talisman often and put great stock in it's preceived powers. Infact, the Talisman was said to have been in Joseph Smith's pocket at the time when he was "martyred" in Carthage, Illinois in 1844.

After Joseph Smith's death the Talisman traveled west with his widow, Emma, to what would become the State of Utah at Salt Lake City. Here the Talisman would be regarded as "the Prophet's Masonic Jewel" for many years to come.

Powers: "The purpose of the Table of Jupiter in talismanic magis [magic] was to be able to call upon the celestial intelligences, assigned to the particular talisman, to assist one in all endeavors. The names of the deities which we gave to you, who could be invoked by the Table were always written on the talisman or represented by various numbers. Three such names were written on Joseph Smith's talisman: Abbah, Father; El Ob, Father is God or God the Father; and Josiphiel, Jehovah speaks for God, the Intelligence of Jupiter."

"When properly invoked, with Jupiter being very powerful and ruling in the heavens, these intelligences--by the power of ancient magic--guaranteed to the possessor of this talisman the gain of riches, and favor, and power, and love and peace; and to confirm honors, and dignities, and councils. Talismatic magic further declared that anyone who worked skillfully with this Jupiter Table would obtain the power of stimulating anyone to offer his love to the possessor of the talisman, whether from a friend, brother, relative, or even any female."

(The above two paragraphs are quoted from: Mormon Miscellaneous, published by David C. Martin, Vol. 1, No. 1, October 1975, pp. 14-15)

Game Mechanics: If a Forbidden Lore DC 15 Skill Check is successful the minor powers of the Talisman can be activated. When so activated the posessor of the Talisman can use cast spells from the Charm or Divination domains as the character were a 5th level Mystic with access to these domains (Note, an individual Forbidden Lore check must be made for each spell called from the Talisman, as if the character using the Talisman were casting the spell, with the standard power check dangers)

With a Forbidden Lore DC 20 Skill Check the greater power of the Talisman can be called upon in the form of a Divination Spell (cast as a 8th level Mystic). In addition to the standard dangers of casting such a spell, anytime the DC of the spell is missed by a margin of 1-5 the possessor recieves a false message from the divination indicating that friends, loved ones, or other parties closely associated with the possessor are conspiring against him or her.

Well, it only seems right and proper that Excalibur should be on this thread somewhere... Don't have any concrete ideas for it yet, though.

Offhand, I'd make it an enchanted longsword of some sort, possibly with some connection with the fey, since it was gifted to him by the Lady Of The Lake, who, they way it seems to me, is a fey creature.

In any case, Excalibur should be quite a powerful artefact by Gothic Earth's standards, if only to reflect what a great, legendary figure King Arthur was.

I'd also like to suggest the missing piece of the Valerious' family map/portal to Dracula's icy fortress from the movie, Van Helsing. A peice of torn parchment, rolled up into a small scroll, bearing the heraldic symbol of a wyvern, and the Latin inscription: "In the name of God, open this door."

Don't quite know how it would fit into Gothic Earth, but I thought that the way Hugh Jackman read it out in the movie was cool...

The Hershel-Desanges Hydro-Oxygen Refrangible Lenses

In the early 1830s, in a research endeavor backed by the Royal Society, noted astronomer Sir John Herschel commissioned the production of a breakthrough in optics: a triple set of finest glass telescope lenses, each measuring more than 20 feet in diameter, and designed for arrangement in sequence to produce a cumulative magnification of over 40,000x. This series of gargantuan lenses was put to work in 1834, in an observatory built expressly for them at the Cape of Good Hope, where Hershel hoped to obtain unprecedented views of the transits of Venus and Mercury.

Some months after the observatory's opening, a series of letters began to arrive at the Royal Society offices, reporting remarkable discoveries that the new lenses had made possible: observations of living organisms, both animal and vegetative, upon the surface of the Moon. Incredulous upon hearing this news, the Royal Society at first kept these missives strictly from the public eye; however, in late August of the following year, stolen copies of Sir Hershel's reports were sold in secret to the sensationalist newspaper New York Sun. For weeks, bowlderized accounts of Hershel's Moon observations were presented and eagerly siezed upon by the Sun's readership, sparking controversy amongst intellectuals and all manner of uproar -- from xenophobic panic to campaigns in favor of colonizing the Moon and evangelizing its inhabitants -- when, in time, tales of intelligent beavers and bizarre "man-bats" reached print.

At the peak of public interest, however, accusations of hoaxery became too widespread and fervent to ignore. While the Sun never formally printed a retraction, Royal Society criticism of the alleged "super-telescope"'s impossibility and derision by sceptics (Edgar Allen Poe among them) eventually led to the article series' termination. Years later, Sir John Hershel himself would claim that no such device ever existed, and that any letters the Sun might have attributed to him must have been forgeries.

In truth, the Hydro-Oxygen Refrangible Lenses did exist, and the letters sent from Capetown to the Royal Society were legitimate. However, the alleged "Moon observations" were nothing of the kind. Unbeknownst to Hershel, Mons. Desanges -- the jeweller who contributed the high-grade glass used in a smaller, prototype version of the telescope -- was secretly a member of a dark qabal, the purpose of which was to divine the nature and intentions of the Red Death, itself. Learning of the astronomer's own project, he arranged for the glass used to create the gigantic lenses to be contaminated with obscure alchemical substances, that would distort its refracted light across strange dimensions and peel back realities as well as distance. Moonlight was to be the catalyst for the lenses' supernatural properties; while other stars and planets could be observed in mundane fashion, training the lenses at the Moon would reveal worlds undrempt of by mortal minds ... would, Desanges hoped, display the secrets of the Red Death's true origins.

While the French qabalist never learned the outcome of his efforts -- for all his sly maneuvering and scheming, to alter the lenses' function, he'd never thought to ask where they were to be deployed; by taking the lenses overseas, Hershel had unwittingly put them beyond Desanges' easy reach -- the contaminants within the glass performed precisely as intended. Upon training the lenses toward the Moon, Hershel no longer saw his own universe through their plane-distorting glass, but a realm of horrors and dread ... a realm entrapped in mists, and ruled over by dark, cursed beings of terrible power. Unaware of what he was truly seeing, the astronomer recorded those glimpses of landscape and life -- prairies stalked by oversized, lynx-like felines; hunched, scale-skinned savages that bit the faces of their rivals and burned forests in huge bonfires; a foul batlike beast that preyed on shipwrecked survivors on a rocky isle -- and nervously sent these reports on to his colleages at the Royal Society, all the time fearing that he'd lost his wits, to see such things.

Eventually, after weeks of witnessing horror after horror, the unfortunate astronomer's mind rebelled (major failed Horror check ;-D). Hershel passed out during his nightly observations, and failed to close off the dome of his observatory. When the sun rose, its rays streamed down the tube of the massive telescope; caught by the ultra-powerful lenses, the light became so condensed that it started a fire. Roused by the smoke, the dazed Sir Hershel barely escaped from the blazing building with his life. For months afterward, the unlucky astronomer was confined to a private sanitarium, tormented by nightmares of all he'd seen through the lenses he'd built. When at last he was released, he had suppressed all memory of what he had constructed and observed.

If not for the theft of Hershel's letters, the whole matter might have been seen as nothing more than a nervous breakdown on the part of a young researcher who'd pushed himself too hard. Instead, the Sun's irresponsible publication of his reports -- after heavy editing and toning-/dumbing-down, lest the true, horrific nature of Hershel's "lunar" observations alienate the paper's readership -- caused an international sensation, stymied only through the concerted efforts of the Royal Society (which feared for Hershel's reputation ... and its own, for sponsoring his research) to debunk the articles as a hoax. When the Society discretely sent its own investigators to probe the ashes of the ruined observatory, no trace of the Hydro-Oxygen Refrangible Lenses -- not even melted glass -- was ever found, suggesting that someone (something?) managed to spirit them away before the conflagration could consume them. Just how the three lenses -- the smallest of which weighed in at roughly seven tons -- could have been removed intact from the depths of a blazing building is a mystery the Royal Society's officers aren't sure they want to know the answer to....

Hrrrrmmmm...

Maybe Jospeh Smith's little trinket played a role at Moutnain Meadows...

Olly wrote:Well, it only seems right and proper that Excalibur should be on this thread somewhere... Don't have any concrete ideas for it yet, though.

Offhand, I'd make it an enchanted longsword of some sort, possibly with some connection with the fey, since it was gifted to him by the Lady Of The Lake, who, they way it seems to me, is a fey creature.

In any case, Excalibur should be quite a powerful artefact by Gothic Earth's standards, if only to reflect what a great, legendary figure King Arthur was.

But which version of King Arthur? The typical, heroic one from Mallory and other sources would be alright, but it seems to me that something evil could be done with Excalibur were the version of Arthur from Pagan Publishing's The Golden Dawn used.

Arthur in there was a pagan through and through, a cultist of Sheela-na-Gig (Shub-Niggurath). Seems to me it would be devilish to let the PCs receive Excalibur, knowing of the legend of the heroic and good Arhtur...then learning Arthur was far from that, and therefore the nature of Excalibur is nothing for the best...

Of course, we'd need to MOTRD-ify the Lady of the Lake as well.

Cole Deschain wrote:Hrrrrmmmm...

Maybe Jospeh Smith's little trinket played a role at Moutnain Meadows...

Actually that is the same conclusion that I'm using for the central plot of the campaign that I'm currently running. I'm gald someone else picked up on it.

Orang Santu wrote: But which version of King Arthur? The typical, heroic one from Mallory and other sources would be alright, but it seems to me that something evil could be done with Excalibur were the version of Arthur from Pagan Publishing's The Golden Dawn used.

Arthur in there was a pagan through and through, a cultist of Sheela-na-Gig (Shub-Niggurath). Seems to me it would be devilish to let the PCs receive Excalibur, knowing of the legend of the heroic and good Arhtur...then learning Arthur was far from that, and therefore the nature of Excalibur is nothing for the best...

Of course, we'd need to MOTRD-ify the Lady of the Lake as well.

I don't think that every historic character needs a black (red?) blot on him. Arthur (Atorius) might be a pagan, but I think him being evil is wrong (there must have been heros at all times). Merlin. his druid-wizard councilor was after all leader of "the Stone" (a druid qabal), which fought the Red Death (found in Dragon 249# pg.31). Excalibur should be pure fey magic. But as fey always have been quite "moody", maybe there are some drawbacks (like a geas).
If a pagan Arthur returns he might confuse the players simply by not being the christan king they imagine him to be ("Is Arthur evil? Are the stories wrong?). Maybe they are dupped by agents of the Red Death to attack the good but pagan Arthur? He himself might be confused by this strange world, where his people revere only one God and all he fought for seems to be gone.
The Sheela-na-Gig by the way is not from the CoC-Mythos (I know, "Old One" appears in the linked text below, but nevermind) I believe that it is an Sidhe-entity, maybe one of the uncorrupted, who fled to Tir na Nog and now guards one of the gateways (the Lake being the gateway, therefor "Lady of the Lake") One of her stonecarvings may be an artifact as well (why it is stolen from the church wall). She would be opposed by corrupted Sidhe like Morgan le Fey (Morrigan?)
http://www.iol.ie/~sinann/grove/sheela.html

Hm...maybe i should reuse this in the NPC-Thread

The Holy Grail

Discription: The Holy Grail is a 6 1/2 (17 cm) high cup carved from a single piece of agate 3 1/2 (9cm) in disameter. The body of the grail is composed of a central hexagonal column with a round nut in the middle, topped by two small plates. The upper of these plates holds the main chalice, while the lower of these support the base structure. Two snake shaped handles of hexagonaly design connect the base to the upper plate just below the agate chalice. The base itself is an elliptical cup of chalcedony inset with 28 pea-sized pearls, two balaxes and two emeralds.

History: The Grail is said to have been the chalice used during the instituation of the Eucharsit during the Last Supper of Jesus. It was later said to have been used by Joseph of Arimathea to collect Christ's blood and sweet when His body was taken from the Cross.

It next appears when Joseph is cast into prison by the Jews, through use of the Grail, he was miraculously sustained for forty-two years, until released by Vespasian.

The Grail was then brought to Britain (Under the orders of the Apostle Philip in 63 AD), either by Joseph and his son Josephes, or by one of his relatives, Alain . Where it was sercured at Corbenic being housed in a spectacular castle, guarded by descendants of Joseph's daughter, Anna, and her husband, Brons, know as Grail Kings.

Centuries later, once the location of the Great Castle of Corbenic was forgotten. It was prophecised at the Court of King Arthur that the Grail would one day be rediscovered by a descendant of St. Joseph. This individual would be the best knight in the land, the only man capable of sitting in the mysterious Siege Perilous. Such a man arrived in the form of Galahad, the son of Lancelot, along with a miraculous vision of the Grail itself.

Through many adventures and years, the Knights of the Round Table crossed Britain in their search. Perceval discovered the castle in a land that mirrored its spear-wounded King. When entertained by this "Grail King", however, he failed to ask of the grail and left empty-hand. Lancelot next reached Corbenic, but was prevented from entering because of his sin of adultery. Finally Galahad arrived and was permitted entry to the Grail Chapel and allowed to gaze upon the great cup.

From here the Grail War become sketchy, while it most assuredly left Britain, it us unclear where it appeared next. Some text claim that the Holy Grail was taken to France, other to the Vatican in Rome, still other claim that it was spirited away to a location outside Europe for it's safe keeping.

Powers: The Holy Grail was said to possessed varying powers depending on the nature of the individual seek to use the Holy Relic. If the bearer was tainted in the least the grail would either be forever out of their grasp or it might kill anyone who dared drink of it. It had magical healing and restorative powers, could cure any ills and would give abundance never ending to its deserving drinkers.

Game Mechanics: To call upon the powers of the Holy Grail a character must drink from the chalice. During this process the Gail discerns the heart of the individual. If the drinker is tained with the Red Death (i.e. has failed a power check and not sought redemption) the drinker must make a Fortitude Save DC 20 or be instantly killed. If the drinker is redeamed, or is a "non innocent" then the Grail will judge the immediate motive of their hearts. If their reason for calling on the Grails power is selfless and good, then the Grail will allow a portion of it's powers to be enacted. If the heart of the person is judged to be motivated by selfish or evil desires the Grail will reject the drinker, and the drinker will find themselves unable to use the powers of the Grail. If, however, the drinker is an "Innocent" the full powers of the Grail are at their disposal.

One deamed worthy the the Holy Grail can use the water poured from Holy Relic act as if it were a magical potion dupicating any of the Healing Domain spells of 3rd level or less. Once per day the Grail can also be called upon to Create Food and Water (As the third level Mystic Spell) once per day. Any magical affect produced by the Holy Grail is considered to be pure magic and is exempt from the normal power checks.

Using the Holy Grail, however, has it own risks, for the Red Death and it's Minions are ever vigilant against the this relics of untained magic. Whenever it is used Minions of the Red Death with a range equal to the spell level multiplied by 100 feet instantly become aware of the influx of pure magic.

I'm not sure if my depection of the Holy Grail's appearance and powers are at all worthy of this legendary relic and I invite any and all comments, and suggestions. It was rather difficult for me to try and represent the Grail while keeping the gothic nature of MotRD and game balance in mind

One addition Game Mechanic that I had intended to include in the Holy Grail post is the magical "potions" created by the Grail retain their magical enchantment only as long as they are being poured directly from the Grail. Individuals attempting us pour liquid from the Grail into other containers for later use will find that the Grail's former contense has lost it's enchanted abilities.

Blake_Alexander wrote:

Cole Deschain wrote:Hrrrrmmmm...

Maybe Jospeh Smith's little trinket played a role at Moutnain Meadows...

Actually that is the same conclusion that I'm using for the central plot of the campaign that I'm currently running. I'm gald someone else picked up on it.

Could it have also played a role at Haun's Mill? And perhaps Governor Boggs (Missouri Governor who ordered Mormons exterminated) was some kind of pseudo-human to not be affected by it. A mummy, perhaps?

I know this doesn't need to be 100% accurate to history, but FWIW Emma Smith didn't move West, she stayed in the East and founded the Reorganized LDS, along with Joseph's brother William. The talisman didn't make the trip either, it was taken by a member of the Carthage Greys.

These are the 4 major artifacts of my campaigns (1892-1914) metaplot.
(Players of my Round keep your eyes shut!)

The Cassandra-Tablets - The secret Leagacy of Heinrich Schlieman
Forbidden Lore: When the German archaeologist Heinrich Schlieman died in 1890 it was not because of his illness or the operation. Agents of the Red Death followed him to Greece and killed him but failed to claim the price they had come for, something Schlieman had found and out of fear kept hidden ever since.
When Schlieman unearthed Mykene, he not only found the mask of Agamemnon, but also clay tablets that bore inscriptions, prophecies by the seer Cassandra to be exact. Besides the fall of Troy and her own destiny, these prophecies had a specific theme: the past and future horrors enacted by an ancient unspeakable evil entity. The tablets speak of great wars and annihilated cities, but they also speak of the possibility of banishing the evil by taking it through the Gate of the Gods.
Before his death Schlieman hid the tablets and literally took them with him into the grave.

The Bust of Nefertiti
In 1912 the German Professor Borchardtt discovers the bust of Nefertit at Tel-El Amarna, the present-day site of ancient Akhetaton.
Forbidden Lore: Borchardtt almost instantly received visions of the ancient Queen and took it with him to Berlin, where he founded a qabal named “Nofretes Auge” (Nefertiti’s Eye) in honor to Nefertiti.
The bust is a powerful artifact, that now protects the museum from evil entities. The qabal still collects magical artifacts from ancient Egypt, but rarely uses even the beneficial ones, for they know that magic corrupts. They also know of Imhotep and protected by Nefertitis magic (while in the museum) try to stop him.


The Ishtar-Gate
Found 1899 by German archaeologists within the ruins of Babylon, the Ishtar-Gate is reconstructed within the walls of the Pergamon Museum, Berlin. It will be finished in 1914. Babylon was called “the Whore” but also “the Gate of the Gods”
Forbidden Lore: When it is reconstructed, the magic of the Gate will allow to open a gateway to the planes (maybe to the Mists of Ravenloft).


The Canopic Jars of Djoser
These jars are supposed to contain the organs of Djoser. Maybe they still reside within a hidden cache of Djoser’s pyramid, but maybe they were scattered across the Earth by greedy graverobbers.
Forbidden Lore: As Djoser was still alive when Imhotep conducted his immortality ritual, the jars only symbolically contained the kings organs. But they were a vital part of the ritual and they contain something: the first spark of the Red Deaths essence. From his very first moment, a fragment of his power was woven into these jars. Should they ever leave Gothic Earth The Red Death will have to follow.

I'm in the process of creating Reliquary: Cursed Relics of the Gothic Earth as a netbook. Among the items whose portfolios are already finished are:

The Sword of Hernan Cortes
The Journals of Tomas de Torquemada
The Mask of Ayutthaya
Nuestra Seniora de Manila

Dion of the Fraternity wrote:I'm in the process of creating Reliquary: Cursed Relics of the Gothic Earth as a netbook. Among the items whose portfolios are already finished are:

The Sword of Hernan Cortes
The Journals of Tomas de Torquemada
The Mask of Ayutthaya
Nuestra Seniora de Manila

That is great, I look forward to reading the completed work! It ill be a wonderful addition for the setting!

I vaguely recall a Dragon article, which detailed artefacts from Earth, including the Crown Jewels and Shakespeare's First Folio.

I don't know if that's any help?

I remember that article - all of the items were epic leveled, though.