By Derek Pearcy
Relics and Reliquaries
In addition to the Relics and Reliquaries given in the original book,
here are some whimsical sacred and profane artifacts to liven up an
In Nomine campaign. Don't say we didn't warn you ...
Relics
Though Relics can be manufactured, they are traditionally the physical
remains of a spiritually powerful person, Saint or sinner.
Finger of Lady Janice
| Forces | Will | Songs |
|---|
| 1 | 2 | Song of Essence/6 |
This is all that remains of Lady Janice, a noblewoman from the 14th
century, obsessed with hoarding the energies of the universe. She was
slain by a servant of Archangel Khalid for the sin of Greed; one of
the Celestial Forces in her makeup was preserved by her murderer,
bound to her finger.
The finger acts as an Essence compass, tugging softly towards the
direction of the largest amount of Essence within range, besides the
holder. It's a variant upon the Song of Essence, only focusing on one
source at a time.
Forty Slices of Cheese
| Forces | Will | Songs |
|---|
| 1 | 3 | Song of Revulsion/5 |
Compacted through the forces of time into a hard block of dark orange
resin, the Forty Slices of Cheese are darkly malevolent. They were
once given to a remnant demon, homeless on the streets of America, by
a government subsidy program - indignant with the gift, she poured the
last of her disdain for the human race into the slices, embuing them
with her diabolical Song of Revulsion.
Guitar of St. Stevie
| Forces | Will | Songs |
|---|
| 2 | 10 | Song of Charm/6 |
The current whereabouts of this innocuous-looking acoustic six-string
are unknown, after it was taken from the wreckage of a helicopter in
1991. Any time the guitar is played by someone with Essence, or if its
Reliquary (see below) is within 100 feet, the Charm power is
immediately invoked and Essence expended either from the Reliquary, or
the instrument's player (if the Reliquary is either not around or
discharged).
Magic Eight-Ball
| Forces | Will | Songs |
|---|
| 1 | 0 | Song of the Symphony/6 |
This is the first Relic that the Diabolicals under Nybbus attempted to
mass-produce, and it only works when the user is within the unholy
circle of its Reliquary (see below).
Looking for all the world like a large, black billiard ball, there is
a tiny glass window set into the bottom. In the window, the holder can
see the answer to a yes-or-no question asked of the ball. The question
must be asked while the bottom is facing down; turning the globe
upside-down invokes the Song of Symphony, and the answer appears in
the window.
The Magic Eight-Ball has no Will, and can be destroyed merely by
crushing its corporeal vessel.
Reliquaries
These cases are containers for Relics, and also act as Essence
Reservoirs for mundane human worshipers who could not otherwise use a
Song. When a Relic is placed in a Reliquary, it absorbs enough Essence
for one performance of its Song.
Reliquaries regenerate Essence once a day -- at sunrise or sunset,
depending on whether the artifact's origins are divine or
malevolent. Anyone with the capacity to generate Essence may choose to
store it to an available Reliquary, but a Reliquary's Essence cannot
be extracted for general use; it can only power an available Relic.
Bible of Tangiers
This copy of the Bible is exceptionally holy, even though a large
pistol-shaped chunk of its pages have been carved out. This Bible's
Reservoir can hold 7 Essence, but no one knows what Relic was meant to
be held inside, if any.
Guitar Case of St. Stevie
This is the companion Reliquary to the Relic described above, with
enough Essence to power the guitar's Charm. Its outside is unadorned
by anything except bumper stickers, though it does have a Reliquary's
traditional velvet lined interior.
Hula-Hoop
The first mass-produced Reliquary, these unholy creations of Nybbus'
marketing imps were designed to extract Essence from unsuspecting
humans, and act as tiny Reservoirs for the Magic Eight-Ball (see
above).
This thin plastic tube forms a wide circle, wide enough to slide over
a human whose elbows are extended out from his shoulders. The hoop is
activated by spinning it around a person's body. After several
minutes, the hoop pulls away any Essence that may exist in the being
and stores it, ready to be used by a Magic Eight-Ball.
Hard Drive of Fear
| Forces | Strength | Will | Reservoir | Song |
|---|
| 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | Song of Fear/6 |
This looks like nothing more than a typical external SCSI hard drive,
manufactured in the early-1990s. A recent addition to Vapula's
arsenal of tools to frustrate humanity, this artifact is both Relic
and Reliquary. The Relic element is a chip of bone, taken from the
skull of someone who had been frightened to death.
The Reliquary is the hard drive mechanism itself. It holds the bone
between its read/write heads. For every day of use, the drive
generates 1 Essence. When the Reservoir is full, the drive ceases to
function as it spends all its Essence to perform the Song of Fear,
affecting any humans in the vicinity. The drive will function normally
afterwards until filling its Reservoir again.
VCR of Love
| Forces | Will | Reservoir |
|---|
| 3 | 10 | 14 |
A favorite of the divine and the profane, the VCR of Love is not
only a deep Reservoir, but also a powerful tool -- it possesses the
unique ability to record and embed onto blank videotapes the Song of
Love. The tape becomes a one-shot Relic, capable of casting the Song
of Love, embued with 1 Essence. It takes 2 Essence to use; one to
record the Song, one to give to the tape. A normal VCR of Love
generates several such tapes a week.
If successful, the viewer falls in love with the contents of the
tape. This artifact has made many people's careers, but vexed both
celestial sides as much as it has helped them. Items of this sort are
looked down upon in modern celestial societies, but in certain groups
they remain wonderful novelties.
