ST – "Of course you're the villains. You're the ones assembling a world-destroying device!" Espen – "No we don't. Well…yeah…we do. But only to study it!" |
Nature: Set of Artifacts
Creators: Children of Danu (current theory)
First Encountered: 1.1 "The Murder Tree"
Notable Appearances: 1.6 "Ancestral voices prophesying war", where the Amelia-component was found, the link between the symbol's form and engine's shape realized, and the Ananke released/activated.
(fill in more when people have the time, me too tired to do it all right now)
Info: A powerful item composed of (at least) seven separate components which are all intrinsically merely aspects of the same indivisible unity. These individual parts are all marked with the same triune symbol shaped like the Kalakin Engine itself when it is fully assembled, with the exception of the key which isn't a part of the glyph. Apart from the Key there are three coins and three wrench-like items radiating out from the center like spokes in a wheel. To date the Cabal has managed to five out of these seven, only lacking a final "wand" and coin to complete the set.
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Soundtrack:
- He Was My Brother - Simon & Garfunkel
- Erase/Rewind - The Cardigans
- Die Another Day - Madonna
- She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain - Neil Young & Crazy Horse
- So Close - Jon McLaughlin
- Dies Irae - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Carrying You - Laputa: Island in the Sky
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Basics and Speculation
- Created by humans, despite being an Artifact
- Pieces separated
- Pieces found by various people at various times
- Name comes from Hindu mythology. Sorta. And could mean stuff, or lead to things.
(These are merely placeholders until someone adds something more appropriate)
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Timelines & Known Movements
Item | Symbol | Order | Suspect | Current (?) |
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Spoke | Wing | Mysterium | ? | ? |
Coin | Voice | Ladder | Shemyaza | Hermes |
Key | Eye | Guardians | ? | Skaði |
Spoke | Voice | Ladder | ? | ? |
2 Coins | Wing | Mysterium | It-Zam-Nad | Nobel |
Spoke | Claws | Arrow | Mahaba'ali | Persephone |
He was my brother, five years older than I. He was my brother, twenty-three years old the day he died. Freedom fighter, they cursed my brother to his face: "Go home outsider! This town's gonna be your buryin' place!" He was singin' on his knees, an angry mob trailed along. They shot my brother dead because he hated what was wrong. He was my brother, tears can't bring him back to me. He was my brother, And he died so his brothers could be free. |
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Yes, I said it's fine before I don't think so no more I said it's fine before I've changed my mind I take it back Erase and rewind 'cause I've been changing my mind I've changed my mind |
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I'm gonna wake up, yes and no I'm gonna keep this secret I'm gonna close my body now I guess I'll die another day I'm gonna break the cycle I'm gonna shake up the system I'm gonna destroy my ego I'm gonna close my body now I think I'll find another way There's so much more to know I guess I'll die another day It's not my time to go For every sin, I'll have to pay I've come to work, I've come to play I think I'll find another way It's not my time to go I'm gonna avoid the cliche I'm gonna suspend my senses I'm gonna delay my pleasure I'm gonna close my body now I guess I'll die another day |
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Declare this an emergency, come on and spread a sense of urgency. It's time we saw a miracle, come on it's time for something biblical. Proclaim eternal victory, come on and change the course of history, and pull us through, and this is the end, this is the end of the world. |
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She'll be comin' 'round the mountain xxxxxwhen she comes She'll be drivin' six white horses xxxxxwhen she comes We'll all go out to meet her xxxxxwhen she comes She will take us to the Portals xxxxxwhen she comes We'll all sing Halleluiah xxxxxwhen she comes She'll be comin' 'round the mountain, She'll be comin' 'round the mountain, She'll be comin' 'round the mountain xxxxxwhen she comes |
The day of wrath, that day Will dissolve the world in ashes As foretold by David and the Sibyl! How much tremor there will be, when the Judge will come, investigating everything strictly! Death is struck, and nature quaking, All creation is awaking, To its Judge an answer making. The written book will be brought forth, in which all is contained, from which the world shall be judged. When therefore the Judge will sit, whatever hides will appear: nothing will remain unpunished. |
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● Hermes' Coin:
├ Gift from his grandfather
└► He had "retrieved" it from a local archaeological dig where he was employed to do manual labor, in summer of 1937, were he found the coin firmly grasped by the Hand of Nuada
├−► Might have been part of the treasures brought along when Tuatha de Danann dynasty arrived in the legendary past
├−−► ???
└−−−► A coin carried off by either the "Voice" (Théarch, 1 coin) or the "Wing" (Mystagogue, 2 coins)
● Nobel's Coin:
├ "Inherited" from Low-Key after Skadi killed him (practically looted off of his corpse)
├► Stolen from Swiss bank-vault by Apollo and Hermes in 1937
├−► Until then, it had "belonged" to unknown British Seer of the Throne
├−−► ???
├−−−► Green Dragon Crescent Spear claims to have seen item identical to coin in imperial china
├−−−−► Page 72: Silver coin stolen from gold-rich place by "Dragon Lord" called "Feathered Serpent", traveling by ship
└−−−−−► One of the Danavas, currently believed to have been It-Zam-Nad, runs away with 2 coins to an unknown location
● Dorian's Spoke:
├ Handed to Dorian by Greymalkin, who stole it from Chimera, who'd been so corrupted he betrayed the cabal
├► Found it in the Amelia Luggage, which showed up in the airport
├−► Amelia Earhart fetched it from the Doge's Tomb in Venice in 1937
├−−► Given to Marino Faliero by the Tremere as part of payment for him using his political power to give them a foothold in his city
├−−−► Acquired by the Tremere after it was brought to Venice as part of the loot from the sacking of Constantinople in 1204
└−−−−► Kept safe and secret there for generations by a Mysterium (movement/sect/order) of virgin priestesses, "The Handmaidens of Isis", and it was one of their most holy & revered relics (along with the Holy Grail)
├−−−−−► ???
├−−−−−−► Page 90-91: A "Wand of Calamita" was used to build New Atlantis (before it horribly exploded)
└−−−−−−−► The Wrench carried off by either the "Voice" (Théarch) or the "Wing" (Mystagogue)
● Nobel's Wrench:
├ Handed over to him by The Condiments, after it had accidentally flung them over 70 years into the future
├► They stole it from Tezcatlipoca when they raided his private Sanctum in 1937 and tool all the loot in his vaults
├−► He claimed to have inherited it through his family, who brought it to America when they emigrated
├−−► Found centuries ago by one of his ancestors, after it had washed up on the shore of their mediterranean island.
├−−−► ???
├−−−−► Page 90-91: A "Wand of Calamita" was used to build New Atlantis (before it horribly exploded)
└−−−−−► The Wrench carried off by either the "Voice" (Théarch) or the "Wing" (Mystagogue)
● The Key:
├ Found by Skadi when got lost on school trip at age of 9 and ended up in a fairy-world, using the Key to get home
├► Owned and treasured by Lord Opener of Shard
├−► He claims it was given to him in trade by its rightful owner at the time, as long as he swore certain Oaths of Stewardship, in return for providing safe passage & guidance back to the mortal world
├−−► ???
├−−−► The "Eye of the Dragon" runs off with the key
└−−−−► Lord Opener also claims that the person(s) who did the trade with him had previously created the Key by summoning him up & ripping out his 'organs' and part of his being to use as raw materials (but he's a fairy, so he could easily be lying)
● Amalthea's Wand:
├ In 1943 someone uses a Kalakin component to send USS Eldrige forwards in time to 2034
├► Found in the Eclipse Temple in 1937, by a woman glimpsed by the Condiments. PC's now believe it was Persephone
├−►Temple itself built by "Daevas", ancient religious proto-ministry, before being wiped out by unknown cause
└−−► The current theory is that Mahaba'ali would never have run away, and that instead he stayed behind to fight until overwhelmed by invaders, thereby giving the "Daevas" the opportunity to acquire the item (whether from his unconscious body or cooling corpse).
● The Coin of El Dorado:
├ ???
├► Page 72: Precious silver coin stolen from gold-rich place by "Dragon Lord" called "Feathered Serpent", who traveled in big ship
└−► One of the Danavas, currently believed to have been It-Zam-Nad, runs away with 2 coins to an unknown location
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Facts and Observations
Through experimentation, experience and research the Cabal has managed to collect various observations and facts about the artifacts that make up the Kalakin Engine, and on the Engine itself. Resonance has been scrutinized, items have been activated in new ways, combined for greater effect, strange causality-warping mandala-shaped destiny fields have been observed and supernatural energies been channeled into the alloy of the items themselves. These are and more have been going on for over three and a half years, and so here is a place to list such things for later reference, sharing with those who missed it, and for remembrance.
Analyze Imbued Item Results
Do not seem to have powers that can be triggered until "unlocked" or "bonded" to specific individuals, after which anyone can use the items for those purposes
- Apportation
- Portal
- Manifold Presence (the improved type of ''co-location'')
- Alternate Scenario
- Temporal Lifeline
- Target Exemption
- Rewrite History
- Prognostication
- Loophole (be exempt from Fate-conditions & 'laws' & bindings)
- Postcognition
- Shield of Chronos
You're in my arms And all the world is calm The music playing on xxxxxfor only two So close together And when I'm with you So close to feeling alive A life goes by, romantic dreams must die; so I bid mine goodbye, xxxxxand never knew ''So close'' was waiting, xxxxxwaiting here with you. And now forever I know: All that I want is to hold you xxxxxso close So close to reaching that famous happy endin', almost believing this was not pretend. And now you're beside me, and look how far xxxxxwe've come: So far xxxwe are xxxxxxso close. How could I face the faceless days If I should lose you now? Let's go on dreaming for we know we are. So close. xxxSo close, xxxxxxand still so far. |
Gate; 'Reversed Summoning'
Resonance Qualities Detected
1.Immanent
2.Driven
3.Decompressing/unfolding
4.Awakening
5.Entanglement of presence
6.Resonant
7.Mechanical
8.Fractal
9.Holographic1
10.Linking / interconnecting
11.Preserving from outside / insulating
12.Traveling / transport
13.Costly / people has sacrificed dearly for it.
Styring og Navigasjon.
Discern Composition Results
The silvery metal in Nobel's "Wrench" is in fact an Awakened Alloy called Calamita which, when fueled with Mana (or Glamour), acts similarly to an electromagnet except that it draws all Destined and "Significant" people and items closer to itself and makes it harder for these things to leave. The core or central rod of the "spokes", however, is filled with a different alloy entirely: Zamanzi'baq, which exists partially outside the space-time continuum and so shows all of the timeline, from the alloy's forging until the current moment, reflected upon its own surface.
Other Unveiling Observations
- When Mind Sight was used to determine the primary emotions dominating the creation process of the Engine it registered one feeling more strongly than all of the others combined: Love. Other impressions were "In Memoriam", "This will fix everything / make everything all right again", as well as a sense of personal sacrifice, that at least one person died solely to make the item. This emotion of love was in fact stronger than any material object should be able to carry within its aura.
- On at least one occasion the "ping" given by Fate Sight when something significant was said turned out to be either amplified or fabricated by one of the artifact-pieces.
- Whenever Mana is channeled directly into the alloy instead of the mana-repository of the artifact it causes the Calamita to emit an effect very similar to an electromagnetic field, warping cause and effect within its radius. With Fate Sight it's possible to see that this pattern seems like an expanded fractal-version of the symbol found on the Engine itself.
- When observed with Soul Sight it turns out that the artifact-components contain some variation of a human soul, similar yet different from how you'd perceive both a living person and a soul stone.
- When using Matter to analyze the artifacts it did seem like they were on some level literally a machine, with physical, mechanical operations to carry out.
- By assembling all five available items and employing a Telepathy spell Hermes managed to attain some limited amount of empathic exchange with the Kalakin Engine (or its hypothetical inhabitant), indicating a lack of higher, conscious thought processes. On the part of the item, that is.
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Strange Events and Effects Generated
Aping my soul, You stole my overture, Trapped in God's program, Oh I can't escape Who are we? Where are we? When are we? Why are we? Why, why, why? Why are we in here? I can't forgive you, And I can't forget |
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Rise above the crowds And wade through toxic clouds Breach the outer sphere The edge of all our fears Rest with you We are counting on you It's up to you Spread our codes to the stars You must rescue us all |
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Let's start over again Why can't we start it over again? Just let us start it over again And we'll be good This time we'll get it… Get it right It's our last chance to forgive ourselves |
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- Created the gate that several days earlier had dropped Andrea and Jian-Li into the spirit world
- Created a gate in time that brought Jareth Wylde from the airport a week in the past and into the Glass Mansion and then through a second portal into the present-day city.
- When Hermes and Chimera tried to learn of the past of the items by Postcognition and similar means their readings became more and more blurred with each attempt, as the Engine seemed to build up some sort of resistance or counter-effect once it 'realized' what was going on. The two mages immediately decided to hold off on further viewing at the moment, in case their attempts were of a limited supply, a decision which was followed by the Cabal for quite some time.
- Lathrop was temporarily sent months back in time, where he met the un-awakened Andrea, an event which changed the timeline considerably and led to many changes in the current state of affairs due to pure causality. Like Rui Shi being alive and Low-Key's wife being dead.
- Dorian and Hermes managed to get into the Glass Mansion by assembling the three items they had access to, which in turn let them exit that place several hours before they entered it.
- Using the Key to make a gate, Hermes could ride a motorcycle into an important Assembly-meeting, after having passed over/through/skimmed the borders of the Glass Mansion, despite that meeting taking place within a newly created pocket dimension. In the future. Similarly, when leaving that place in the same way he didn't arrive back in the material world until many hours had passed, enough to equalize the difference in time between him and the world caused by temporal looping and every single shifting sands he ever used.
- In 1937, the Condiments were close enough to one of the ''spokes'' that its sudden activation and burst of energy hurled them wildly through time, not showing up again until 2009, in Prague. Their treasures and magical 'loot' which the 'wrench' was stashed together with has thus far not yet resurfaced.
- During this event the cabal saw many things, among them what seemed like a female figure with identifying characteristics obscured by solid winter-clothing of the arctic-expedition type, standing in the Eclipse Temple and wielding another of the ''spokes'' which gave the impression of being out of control and emitting its silvery-blue radiance wildly.
- By combining five of the items Spice, with the tutoring and direction of Skadi, managed to retrieve her beloved rifle through temporal apportation.
- By slotting Nobel's Coin into the end of his Spoke and then activating the ''Rewrite History'' effect without consciously directing it, the timeline was altered in very unexpected ways that often turned out to be beneficial in situations the PC's had no way of predicting or know would occur. Yet other changes seemed to have no such reasons for occurring, such as exchanging their Dedicated Tools with ones of alien symbolism and function.
- After Hermes completed his major ritual-casting in order to learn the Final Fate of the Engine the artifact seemed to react violently to the effect, flinging the entire cabal 25 years into the future.
- The USS Eldridge was somehow sent forwards in time, but without any means of re-entering the timeline until Hermes and Basil ritual-cast a beacon-spell for it to follow, finally allowing it to return at the lighthouse on Alcatraz in 2034. The tell-tale appearance of the St.Elmo's Fire-like nimbus and arcs of energy coruscating across its hull upon arriving would indicate that its temporal voyage was accomplished with the Engine or a part thereof, but in a way that was much cruder and harmful than aught the PC's have ever done with it.
- By combining all their available pieces of the Kalakin Engine while in the Glass Mansion and cooperating on its activation the PC's managed to open a Gate back to their sanctum, arriving only a week after they were sent forwards. But Skadi stayed behind with Nobel to grab more loot, and then tried again on her own, thereby accidentally making the two of them temporarily project back in time to 1204, in the Hagia Sophia Athenaeum in Constantinople during the sacking, meeting their own previous incarnations of that era.
Miscellaneous Information
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The Individual Components
The Key
Nature: Artifact ••••• •••••
Mana Capacity: 13
Dice pool: Gnosis + 5 - Sympathetic penalties.
Activation: Using it as a key in an unseen lock, forcefully "inserting" it in the imaginary door and then turning it.
Effect 1: Portal (in the Glass House this could be portals to spirit world, and the past)
Effect 2: Apportation
Effect 3: Manifold Presence
Acquired: Obtained by Skadi when she followed a shiny bird and thereby got lost in a ''fairyland''-forest at age 9
History: According to Lord Opener of Shard the Key belongs to him/it for several reasons. He claims to have been given it in trade by someone in return for bringing them home to earth safe and intact, as long as Lord Opener swore certain oaths of stewardship for the key. The cabal suspects this might have been one of the Children of Danu, lost after using the Key to flee into faerie. Secondly, however, Lord Opener also claims that "you people" (indicating Skadi) summoned and bound him, and then somehow ripped out significant parts of his inner being (possibly comparable to organs like liver or lung, or a soulstone) to use as raw material for the forging of the Key, and so he rather understandably feels that the resulting item belongs more to him than anyone else.
Dorian's "Wrench" / "Wand" / "Spoke"
Nature: Artifact ••••• •••
Mana Capacity: 12
Dice Pool: Gnosis +5
Activation 1: Strike it hard against a surface, as if using a tuning fork & use 1M
Effect 1: Effect almost identical to the "Alternate Scenario" spell, providing a number of alternate timelines equal to successes rolled, to a max of 5, with any extra successes beyond that adding to Duration Factors.
Activation 2: Ramming it against the floor and paying 10 Mana
Effect 2: ''Temporal Lifeline'' (Time 5, also known as ''save point'')
Previously: When it belonged to Chimera it could perform "Postcognition" and "Shield of "Chronos", neither of which seems accessible now that it has changed owners.
Acquired: Dorian was given the wrench by the Greymalkin, almost as soon as he entered the city, after that creature apparently pilfered the wrench off of Chimera.
History: The cabal came across the wand when they picked up the luggage of Amelia Earhart, which had somehow managed to shift through time mid-flight. She in turn recovered it from the The Tomb of Marino Faliero on the island monastery of San Lazzaro degli Armeni, in Venice. Marino, the 55th Doge, acquired it from the Tremere Liches as part of his payment for helping them get a solid foothold in the city. According to the records of the Tremere, the Artifact came into the possession of their ancestors after the siege of Constantinople in 1204.
Nobel's "Wrench" / "Wand" / "Spoke"
Nature: Artifact ••••• •••
Mana Capacity: 11
Dice Pool: Gnosis + 6
Activation: Rotate it in front of you as if unscrewing and then tightening a bolt.
Effect: As per the spell "Rewrite History", but with Advanced Prolongation for Duration factors.
Hermes' Coin
Nature: Artifact ••••• •••
Mana Capacity: 12
Dice Pool: Gnosis + 5
Activation 1: Flipping it into the air and then reading which side it lands on.
Effect 1: As per the Apprentice-version of the spell "Prognosticating", but also designed to evaluate which would be the most likely result to end up being more advantageous than the other (sort of like a conjunctional "augury"-ish evaluation).
Activation 2: (???)
Effect 2: ''Loophole'' - Become excempt from Fate, so that for the duration the user's actions don't ''count'' when it comes to breaking Oaths or Geasa or for the purpose of conditional triggers, while they themselves don't register for Fate-based conditions or exemptions or classifications, and so on.
Low-Key's Coin, now Nobel's
Nature: Artifact ••••
Mana Capacity: None
Activation: Hold it hard against your palm as if stamping it in your hand.
Effect: Add the "Target Exemption" effect to spells you cast, even if you don't have Fate 2.
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To list of items