Apocalyptic Fetishes

Apocalyptic Fetishes are fetishes from the Apocalypse book and Laws of Judgment. The items are only available in the book's scenario chapters (The Last Battleground, A Tribe Falls, Weaver Ascendant and Ragnarok).

Overview

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List of Apocalyptic Fetishes

• The End Times: Book of the Last Moon - When the Uktena, Croatan and Wendigo came to North America, one of the most cryptic fetishes they took with them was the Book of the Last Moon. The famous Croatan Theurge, Sees-the-Last-Moon had a detailed version of the Apocalypse during an epic Umbral quest. He spent the rest of his life trying to interpret those visions and kept records of his thoughts in a fetish. It is believed to have been an elaborately carved staff, though the stories are unclear as to its exact nature. Theurges and Galliards believe the Book vanished along with the Croatan, though there are some tales among the Uktena and Wendigo of Sees-the-Last-Moon hiding it so that it would be found in the final days. Now that the end is literally nigh, the search for the Book has gone from an academic search for knowledge to a desperate quest to find the fetish and unlock its secrets.
• A Tribe Falls: Wolf Skin - Level 1, Gnosis 4/6 - In nearly every one of the tribal fall scenarios, the tribe of fallen Garou chooses to keep its Wyrm-tainted nature secret from the rest of the Garou Nation until the time is right to strike. The Wyrm grants each of the traitors a fetish to conceal its Wyrm-taint from the Gift: Sense Wyrm. This fetish is modeled after the Bane Skin fetish. It consists of an ounce or so of dried wolf flesh wrapped in silver wire and worn close to the flesh. The silver wire burns the Garou slightly, but as a bonded fetish it doesn't do damage or siphon off Gnosis. The Wolf Skin has a lifespan ranging from weeks to months (specifics are not detailed in order to better fit the Storyteller's plan). At the end of that time, the fetish crumbles to dust within the span of a few hours, leaving the Garou who wears it with no protection against a casual use of Sense Wyrm. This seems to be the Wyrm's way of telling its new subjects that while it can have a few weeks' or months' cover against the rest of the Garou Nation, they must strike as a tribe eventually.
• Ragnarok: Catchpot - Level 2, Gnosis 2 - This pot is made in a traditional African or American folk style and is animated by a cat-spirit. Mokolé, Bastet, and Kin use it to keep secrets. When placed against the inside of a door or at the entrance to a meeting, the matters discussed inside the room are not audible to anyone outside (or at least an unintelligible mumble is all that can be heard). Any use of magic to penetrate the silence shatters the pot, as does any discussion in the meeting of truly blasphemous or horrific evil.
• Ragnarok: Flaming Death Spears - Level 3, Gnosis 6 - These rare spears are forged from calcified spirit-webbing, knapped from the obsidian that erupts from the Jaws of the True Father, or polished from Wyldstones. They are aligned with the Weaver, the Wyld or the Wyrm. The Garou, Gaian or otherwise, who create them name them after the Death Spears of the Prophecy of the Phoenix. A war-spirit is bound into them. The spears do lethal damage to anyone and aggravated damage to the enemies of the maker: a Wyld-spear damages servants of the Weaver and the Wyrm, a Wyrm-spear cruelly wounds servants of Gaia, and so on. They may also be used in the rite: Flaming Death Spears.
• Ragnarok: Resounding Urns - Level 3, Gnosis 6 - These bronze or porcelain urns were used of old by the Mokolé elders in a Gather to make speeches resonate. Some few have survived, in the hands of Mokolé, Bastet or Garou (often the Silent Striders). They are animated by a cuckoo-spirit. The user first empowers the Urn with one or more Gnosis points. If these are points from a Gnosis pool, effects last for one scene. If permanent Gnosis is used, the effects last for the whole story. For each point of Gnosis used, the dice pool of any speaker increases by 1, whether persuading, commanding, or performing a spoken rite.
• Weaver Ascendant: Blood Conversion Weapons Platform - Level 4, Gnosis 7 - This potent fetish, primarily used by Stalks-the-Web, but also found in other Ananasi, uses the werespider's blood pool to replenish the ammunition stores of one or more weapons mounted on the platform. The werespider simply pays one blood point per weapon, and it is considered fully reloaded with standard ammunition for its type. If the Ananasi pays two blood points, the ammunition stores can be of a specialized type (such as silver or gold; note that the ammunition does not exist until the fetish transforms the blood prior to the round being fired, meaning this is not an efficient way to make money). Some weapons, such as flamethrowers, might not be compatible with this fetish (Storyteller's discretion).
• Ragnarok: Womb of Time - Level 4, Gnosis 7 - This fetish appears to be a crystal sphere with flaws; as the holder gazers upon sphere, the flaws seem to be in the shapes of humans, animals, or spirits. It contains the life-power of one or more species. A Theurge must animate with a spirit of procreation, such as Termite or Jellyfish, and then touch it to the body of a fertile being while the Theurge spends 1 permanent Gnosis. The power to reproduce passes into the Womb of Time and the being will have one fewer offspring (for most, this does not matter much). The shapeshifters who create these seeks to give as many of these jewels as possible to those whom they deem likely to survive the Apocalypse. The Womb allows a future being to have that child instead. Although this fetish is costly and fragile, its usefulness does not come until the New Time after the Apocalypse. In that time (if indeed it ever comes) species may be reborn. Indeed, the eldest Mokolé hint at the existence of "time-eggs" remaining from previous End Times.
• Weaver Ascendant: Vulcan AEI 3.0 - Level 5, Gnosis 8 - This advanced developer's environment is the ultimate expression of the Vulcan Affordance Engineering Interface. Once installed, the software's high-level command language gives its user total and complete control over any firmware/software-driven system. Further, it allows the user to connect to any system networked to the primary system - thus allowing the user unlimited access to any system that is part of the World Wide Web. This may include such diverse systems as a cellular telephone network, internal LANS with satellite up-links, and virtually any other system that is not completely isolated from the outside world. The user cannot, however, access all of these systems at once; he can only control one at a time, but control is total while the user concentrates on accessing that system.
• The Last Battleground: Lisamaru Blade - Level 6, Gnosis 8 - The Lisamaru blade takes the shape of a large dull grey metal box with a hilt, much like a sword, but considerably thicker, blockier and with a notably open top. The edges do thin out to razor sharpness for slicing, doing Strength +3 aggravated damage with difficulty 7 to hit. When activated, however, the open end of the blade produces a crackling beam of electricity, heat and light that extends outwards from the blade. Every success beyond the first made on a standard Dexterity + melee attack roll takes the damage to an additional opponent, so that three successes on the roll would damage opponents (the one hit by the blade and two more). All suffer the full damage the blade would normally inflict; this damage is treated as regular aggravated damage for purposes of soak.

List of Apocalyptic Devices

• Weaver Ascendant: Computer Interface Bioware - Device 5 - This cybernetic modification, known to exist only in the head of the Ratkin known as Headcase (the poor bastard), is a neural microprocessor that connects directly to the brain stem. It includes a dataport that can connect directly to any network-capable computer processor, and it also acts as a firewall separating the user's brain from any systems he is currently accessing. The benefits are simple, yet potent - all computer-related difficulties are halved so long as the user is connected to the computer in question.

List of Apocalyptic Talens

• Ragnarok: Luna-Dust - Gnosis 4 - The Shattering of Luna releases powerful magic, healing the wounded Mother. Anyone who finds some Luna-Dust may spread it on himself or over a small area: for each point of dust, enough is available to cover one person or an area for him to stand or sit in. In that area, the Gauntlet is 1. If a person spreads it on himself, then the Gauntlet is 1 for him no matter where he is, until he steps sideways, bathes or showers. heavy rain also washes off the dust.
• Ragnarok: Hell-paint - Gnosis 5 - Hell-paint is a potent talen, one so powerful that few Garou can resist it. This pigment, a liquid or powder, is available from an unknown source, and many tribes have use it. It is painted onto the face and other body parts so as to be visible during battle. It is animated by a war-spirit. The paint gives the Garou double her normal Rage (to a maximum of 10), although Rage is still refreshed at the normal rate. Unfortunately, this also makes the Garou more likely to frenzy. The Storyteller should make all Rage rolls for a Garou using this talen. Frenzies occur with three or more successes, not four. Spending Willpower does not stop the frenzy. Should the Garou get five successes or more, she falls into the Thrall of the Wyrm. Each time the character frenzies, whether or not she falls into the Thrall of the Wyrm, the paint gains 1 more die of Strength. The storyteller should keep track of how many times the player frenzies. The painted design sinks deeper and deeper into her skin, until she appears to have a horrible tattoo on her face even in Homid form. Lupus appear to have disfiguring blotches on their muzzles. The only way to remove the paint is with the blood of a Garou. One health level's worth of blood must be used for each die of strength that the paint has. At first, Garou may slash their faces with their claws, gouging out enough blood to wash off the evil paint. Once the character has frenzied a few times, she must kill other Garou to get enough blood to wash the paint off. Of course, trying to get the blood is likely to lead to even more frenzies. In fact, this talen is made by the Black Spirals from the glands of Garou whom they vivisect. Although it is not overtly Wyrm-tainted, a canny Theurge could discover its origin. There are rumors that even Kinfolk can gain Rage from using this talen. This rumor is of great interest to the Skin-Dancers, who wish to get as much of this paint as they can. Of course, this would lead to even more conflict between Skin-Dancers and Garou.
• Ragnarok: Teeth of the True Father - Gnosis 5 - The Jaws of the True Father spew forth many horrors, and this lava-like stone is one of them. This obsidian can be knapped into knives, spears and arrow points that cause aggravated damage to Gaian creatures, but only lethal damage for the children of the Wyrm. It can also be polished into "smoking mirrors" which reflect the evil in anyone's soul. Thus, an innocent cub would see the evil that they have done, and how it affects them.

References

• WTA: Apocalypse, p. 22, 196-197, 213-216
• WOD/cMET: Laws of Judgment, p. 68