Casket of Firedust Conversion

Created by Shataina, posted on the Exalted wiki.

Each Casket of Firedust Conversion looks fairly mundane: they are smallish boxes, inlaid with a small amount of jade. In order to make one, a sorcerer must first enchant a wooden box using the Ritual of Elemental Empowerment; then he must use a long, draining and puissant ritual to bind either an elemental or a demon aspected to a certain element into the box, and inlay the box with the appropriate colour of jade in order to ensure the creature's binding.

Each Casket is capable of converting firedust into a kind of enchanted dust that works exactly the same as normal firedust, but has an entirely different effect when fired from a firewand, dependent upon which element it is aspected towards. A Casket made with a trapped elemental is capable of enchanting one charge of firedust per day, and no more; a Casket made with a trapped demon is capable of enchanting one charge of firedust per five days, and no more. This is because a demon bound into such a Casket, although it must be relatively aspected towards the Element in question for the Casket to work at all, simply cannot exercise the same amount of control over the element in question as an actual elemental can. (Example of an elementally-aspected demon: Tomescu, the Clamorous Cloud Arsenal [air, obviously]. Example of a non-elementally aspected demon: Teodozji, a Lion Sent Into the World. Both from Games of Divinity.)

However, any sorcerer who binds an elemental into such a casket will almost certainly face the wrath of the elemental's allies, will probably be ostracized from any elemental courts they may try to make contact with, and will also outrage the Celestial Hierarchy; whereas any sorcerer who similarly binds a demon will face no censure whatsoever. In addition, anyone who so much as owns a casket that contains a bound elemental had best keep it hidden away and warded as well as possible, for any members of the Celestial Hierarchy who hear of it will almost certainly attempt to destroy it, thereby freeing the trapped elemental. The owner may also be directly confronted by furious spirits and elementals, etc., at the Storyteller's discretion.

As the firedust is converted into a different element's dust (hereafter "elementdust"), it slowly changes colour, into the same colour as the Casket that enchanted it. It also becomes significantly more potent in the hands of Essence-users. Elementdust is roughly as useful as firedust in the hands of a non-Essence user -- it simply has a different effect when shot from a firewand. However, if an Essence-user commits 1 mote to the charge, then the elementdust has a much more powerful effect. (If the Essence-user in question is elementally aspected towards the elementdust -- if, for example, they're a Dragon-Blood, an elemental, an elemental's child, et cetera -- then they pay only 1 mote to commit for two charges of the appropriate elementdust.) There are, in fact, rare Scarlet Caskets, which enchant firedust to be more potent in a fiery way; in this case, the firedust that comes from a Scarlet Casket is no different from normal firedust in the hands of non-Essence-wielders, but in the hands of an essence-user, it's much better.

Elementdust may be fired normally from any firewand; the magic is released when fired, and the committed mote is released as well. As with normal firewand attacks, all of the following elementdust blasts may be dodged, but not parried.

Mahogany Casket

A wood-aspected Casket of Firedust Conversion inlaid with green jade in patterns of vines and leaves that turns firedust into briardust.

Without mote

A firewand with briardust in it fires a seed that rapidly opens and begins to put out vines. If the target fails to dodge, she is immediately entangled in vines. She may immediately make one Strength or Dexterity + Martial Arts or Brawl roll, difficulty 5, to attempt to disentangle herself from the vines. (Mobility Penalty, from armour, applies to this roll, even if it is made with Strength.) If she fails the roll, she is entangled and can take no actions until she disentangles herself. Every round, on her initiative, she may make one more Strength / Dexterity + Martial Arts / Brawl roll and add the successes to her previous successes on the roll. She is not free from the vines, and can take no actions, until she has accumulated 5 successes, total.

With mote

The vines are extremely strong, having an effective Strength of 5 and an effective Brawl of 5. If the target fails to dodge, they immediately grasp her in a clinch. The target may attempt to escape the clinch every round on her initiative, as normal; the vines do their clinch damage at the end of every round and do not take damage from the clinch. An ally may cut the target from the vines; they need make no roll as long as they have a sharp weapon, but must take a full round to do so.

Instances

The circle found a mahogany chest in Watch Valley.

Game Information

Artifact: ••
Commitment: none for the box; 1 mote per charge of firedust (1 mote per two charges if the user is of the appropriate elemental type)