[UA] The Invisible Hand
Bailey Watts
didi_mau at hotmail.com
Sun Sep 17 20:53:30 PDT 2000
For my little Invisible Hands campaign arc (which none of you bastards
helped me get info on) I've got an artifact which is known as the Invisible
Hand. It is a significant natural artifact and is actually not invisible.
It was created six years ago when an unknown epideromancer attacked Tim
Wilke, a hanger on with the Satan's Chosen Temple. She attempted to use her
body warping ability to squeeze through Tim's neck like butter. Another of
"Satan's Chosen" (several claim credit) hacked off the fleshworker's hand at
ther wrist with a fire axe. The spell was broken, but the hand had already
dug deep enough into Tim's neck to kill him.
The mojo that the fleshcrawler was using had a peculiar effect on the
severed hand. As long as someone was in contact with it they not only felt
phantom limb pain, but could use the phantom limb as well.
In game terms anyone spending a minor charge may get one use out of phantomb
limb as if had never been amputated. Non-adepts may make a soul check to
activate this power as may an adept with no charages. A significant charge
may be spent to engage in a continuous activity with the phantomb limb, like
running with an amputated leg. One significant charge lasts for a day.
Seeing someone jogging who is missing is a rank-2 Unnatural stress test.
Not knowing the extent of the Invisible Hand's power the temple sold it off
at deep discount to some adept from the midwest. Now it is coveted by three
separate groups. First is Mat, an flashcrawler who has gotten his share of
major charges and is suffering from the aftermath. Next is a cabal of
thieves who cut their left hands off as a symbol of loyalty to the cabal.
Finally is Dirk Allen who wonders if the Hand may allow him to get a
"phantom liver." Naturally he will test this out on others before he gets
his own liver removed and the Invisible Hand put in its place. It is
assumed that Dirk has contracted the player characters to get the Hand in
exchange for a favor.
The thieves are the one's who have the hand at the start.
Joseph Martins is the leader and he is quite adept at summoning and
dismissing demons. At one point he was a thug with an unhealthy interest in
the occult. At some point he tumbled into the methods of summoning and
dismissing demons. From them he learned of the Clergy and at that moment he
decided that he would ascend as the Thief. He then formed his cult of
thieves. Upon initiation he summons a demon into each of the thieves asks
them to cut off their own hands to demonstrate loyalty. At the same time a
demon gets introduced into the cultist.
Joseph has reached an agreement with the demons he summons, they get to stay
in the host all the time experiencing the sensations of the physical world.
In exchange the demons agree to share the body. It's a win-win situation.
When things get too tough and the thief/cultist freaks out the demon steps
in to take charge.
They currently have the Hand and treat it as a symbol for their cabal of
one-handed thieves. Joseph and a couple of the demons know of the Hand's
power. Joseph uses the hand to remain a talented thief with only one hand.
The cultists are completely in the dark.
Mat was a young epideromancer with a lot of spark and luck that could not be
believed. Unfortunately he was addicted to the rush of power and is paying
the price in disability after lopping off his feet. Recently his sources
have told him about the hand. Again his mind is filled with dreams of power.
If he could walk again he'd be a force on par with the Freak, at least
that's what he's hoping for. To get the Hand he's planning on getting into
the cult of thieves and using the charge from cutting off his left hand to
pull off the shit needed to grab the hand and ride off into the sunset.
Dirk just calls in a favor with one of the PCs' contacts who in turn calls
on the PCs and promises something that will interest the PCs. (Varies
according to group).
That's pretty much all I have so far. Comments would be welcome.
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