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Level Five Artifact
Ebony Violin
This violin is no simple mortal relic, but actually one form of the ancient Orpheus' lyre. Though there is the legend about its power to charm the powers of death, they are incorrect in much form.
Orpheus was a mortal musician of great skill whose wife was taken from him by a sudden disease. Though he was warned by family and friends to just give up on her, he could not. And so he started on the first step of his quest, to create the perfect instrument that would enable his travels. Though his skill was good, it normally would not be enough, but as he worked his powerful emotions called across space to restless spirits who joined with each bit of wood and glue and individual string.
He played a sorrowful dirge for his wife, and with each pluck of the strings he felt the resonance of the world, and more importantly, the resonance of his lyre with a nearby Limbian gate to the Underworld, which opened to let in such beautiful music. The lyre can show the way to the nearest one such gate to the Underworld and enable entry.
Next, he wove a tale of woe and pain, drawing forth like-minded spirits again, till he stood before the guardians at the entrance to the Underworld proper, when he spoke of how his heart grew cold and silent... lulling the guardians into a deep and abiding sleep. When using Soul-Desiccating Style, the Abyssal can focus on any emotion and even some senses or feelings that are not true emotions. And more impressively, with the expenditure of an additional 6 motes, call the spirits who resonate with that emotion to haunt a place, causing the area to have continuous effect for one month. Spending the willpower to resist the effect of the charm only protects for one day.
Lastly, he dealt with the god of Death himself, who offered him a deal. While Orpheus played fair, the god grew angry and jealous, forcing the musician to break the deal with supernatural might over the mortal mind. For this betrayal, while he could not save his love anymore, the dead who watch such things listened to his pleas and worked their power invisibly to bring about the utter ruin of the god. The Abyssal may play to call down the spirits of the wrathful dead upon those who could hear that she wishes to target and that she knows are an oathbreaker of an important mortal or supernatural vow. The rules of such are designed to be flexible. The target could be bedeviled by strange "hallucinations" of pinches or pulled hair, mysterious figures seen out of the corner of the eye, being tripped up, and worse. This costs the same as activating a Moonshadow oath (though without the obvious sign of such) and affects the target as if they had broken one with the Abyssal. One difference is that the Abyssal may, if they desire, call upon one of the botches to strike when they need it most, rather than when it'd most hurt the target.
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