Coral Saw

From: Humangutan Vulpodon 862

A small hand tool with a serrated edge made of hardened coral.  Useful for cutting through tough kelp, vines, or fibrous roots. Could also be used for crafting or basic repairs to underwater structures.

Origins: Humangutan Vulpodon discovered that certain species of coral, when properly treated and aged, developed a surprisingly hard and serrated edge. Early artisans of the sea recognized this potential, transforming this gift of the reef into an invaluable tool.

Symbolism: The Coral Saw symbolizes both the resourcefulness of the Humangutan Vulpodon and their interconnectedness with their world. It’s a tool born directly from their environment, used to shape and nurture the very reefs that sustain them.

Crafting Traditions: Clan elders or specialized crafters hold the knowledge of selecting the proper coral varieties, the hardening techniques, and the careful shaping process. Passing down these skills serves as a rite of passage for young artisans.

Tier One Stats: None – the Coral Saw doesn’t directly enhance a character’s base attributes.

Skills

• Survival +2: The primary utility in a wilderness setting. Efficiently harvest fibrous resources, clear tangled undergrowth.
• Crafting +1: Useful for both simple field repairs on natural structures and as an implement when working with kelp, wood, or coral-based materials in settlements.

Cost: Relatively inexpensive as the raw materials are abundant.

• **Basic: ** 5-10 currency units (whatever your campaign uses)
• Masterwork: 20-30 currency units (sharper, longer-lasting, perhaps some aesthetic detail)

Requirements: None. Any Humangutan Vulpodon can utilize a Coral Saw with basic instruction.

Tags: Tool, Crafting, Survival, Aquatic

Additional Notes:

• Durability: Coral is hardy, but susceptible to chipping or breaking under immense stress. Players might need to repair or replace it over time.
• Variations: Crafters of specific clans might embellish Coral Saws with decorative seashells or unique carvings, creating sought-after personalized tools.

Points of Sale

• Clan Markets: Each Humangutan Vulpodon clan would likely have a central market within their underwater settlements. It’s here that artisans showcase their wares, including coral saws. Basic versions are readily available, while masterwork tools might be made-to-order.
• Coastal Trading Posts: In areas where Humangutan Vulpodon interact with land-dwelling races, small trading posts may appear near the shoreline. These are prime locations for acquiring a Coral Saw, though supplies might be limited and barter is likely used alongside standard currency.
• Traveling Merchants: Some Humangutan Vulpodon may venture beyond their reefs, acting as itinerant merchants. Besides bringing news and resources from other clans, a good traveling merchant would certainly include Coral Saws in their stock.

Environments of Use

• The Vibrant Reefs: The primary habitat of the Humangutan Vulpodon. Here, Coral Saws are indispensable for:
  • Coral Gardening: Maintaining the health and growth of reefs is of the utmost importance. The saw efficiently trims dead coral, clears space for new growth, and aids in the transplanting of coral species.
  • Kelp Harvesting: Dense kelp forests offer both food and building material. The saw cuts through tangled vines and facilitates harvesting.
• Coastal and Estuaries: As explorers and scouts, Humangutan Vulpodon might delve into mangrove swamps or river estuaries.
  • Clearing Waterways: Overgrowth can hinder travel. The saw helps clear navigational paths.
  • Scavenging: Shipwrecks or forgotten debris sometimes become tangled in underwater growth. The Coral Saw aids in freeing interesting or useful parts.
• Deep Ocean Exploration (rare): The more adventurous might explore deep-sea trenches or ocean floor ruins. The saw could help harvest exotic bioluminescent flora or assist in clearing entry into sealed structures.

End Results — The uses of the Coral Saw directly shape the Humangutan Vulpodon society:

• Resource Sustainability: Careful tending of reefs and kelp beds ensures a steady supply of vital resources.
• Structural Integrity: Maintaining their underwater cities involves clearing dead coral, patching sections with living coral transplants, and shaping kelp fibers for construction needs.
• Exploration and Expansion: Coastal exploration provides alternative resources while deeper ventures can reveal forgotten knowledge and valuable artifacts.

Perceptions for the Humangutan Vulpodon:

• Enhanced Racial Senses
  • Sight: Their underwater environment necessitates excellent vision adapted to lower light conditions. It could include a wider range of visual spectrum perception.
    • Positives: Spot threats or valuable resources more easily in shadowy waters.
    • Negatives: Might be temporarily dazzled by overly bright surface light.
  • Smell: Keen aquatic sense of smell would detect chemical changes in the water.
    • Positives: Track prey, detect underwater pollutants, or locate hidden creatures.
    • Negatives: Overly strong or noxious scents could distract or even cause nausea.
  • Lateral Lines: Like sharks, Humangutan Vulpodons could have sensory lines along their bodies detecting vibrations and minor water pressure changes.
    • Positives: Sense unseen movement even in murky waters, navigate strong currents.
    • Negatives: Sudden intense vibrations could disorient or be interpreted as a threat.
• Tool-Related Extra-Sensory Perception — These leans more towards the magical route, with certain unique tools acting as a focus:
  • Bioluminescent Ink Sac: Perhaps the ink, if properly prepared, grants temporary visual effects when applied in runes or marks.  This could range from highlighting hidden paths to briefly revealing invisible creatures.
  • Urchin Spine Syringe:  Concoctions extracted from specific creatures might  enhance senses when consumed or injected. Temporary boosts to low-light vision, a “scent trail” highlighting movement, or even amplifying vibrational sensitivity.

Recipe:  Coral Saw

• Purpose:
  • Cutting coral
  • Clearing underwater growth
  • Harvesting kelp or other materials.
• Materials:
  • One sturdy piece of coral (length depending on desired saw size)
  • Sharpening stone
  • Seaweed for binding handle 
• Tools Required:
  • Chipping/sharpening tool 
  • Knife for cutting seaweed
• Skill Requirements: Proficiency in Crafting Tools (or an appropriate Substitute skill)
• Crafting Process:
  • Shaping:
    • Locate a suitable piece of coral with a naturally rough edge. Depending on the type of coral, this might be its outer layers or internal structure.
    • Carefully chip away additional coral using the sharpening tool to create a serrated edge. Aim for triangular tooth-like protrusions for efficient cutting.
  • Handle:
    • Cut a length of seaweed to comfortably fit the hand. If seaweed is flimsy, bind multiple strands together for strength.
    • Wrap seaweed tightly around the base of the coral to create a handle, securing the ends.
  • Finishing: Use the sharpening stone to carefully refine the rough edges on the handle for a more comfortable grip.
• Additional Notes:
  • Experiment with different coral types for variation in cutting properties. Some may be denser, better suited for tough materials.
  • For larger saws, reinforce the handle with additional binding or consider creating a frame-like structure with driftwood for stability.
  • Coral saws require periodic sharpening. For frequent use, consider developing a specialized sharpening tool. 

Song of the Coral-Tooth

In the days when the World Sea flowed young, when fins beat a rhythm yet unsung, the First People swam the currents deep, a home within the vast to keep.

With hands like leaves, with fins like sun, they worked where light and water spun. But tangled was the kelpwood strand, the reefs their touch could not command.

Then from the heart of the living shell, a whisper rose, a tale to tell. “Gift there is, in the stone that grows, with teeth to match a storm wind’s blows.”

A Seeker then, with eyes unbound, heard echoes in the deep resound. She dove upon the ocean bed and coral like a star she spread.

With touch that knew both strength and grace, she shaped a tool, a cutting space. With tooth of stone and hand to guide, no tangled growth her work could hide.

The First People swam with blades like bone, and in the reefs, new gardens shone. No more they hungered, lost and torn, from their hands, a world was born.

Moral of the Story: From challenge borne, bright tools we gain, in ocean’s hold, a strength unchained. With what the deeps to us may yield, whole worlds from wisdom we may build.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)

• Lore tie-in: Link the Coral Saw’s origins to the lost civilizations of R’lyeh or Mu, their use now a fragment of forgotten knowledge. Perhaps investigators find such saws alongside strange carvings hinting at underwater rituals.
• Skill Usage:
  • Survival: +10% – +20% for harvesting underwater resources or clearing difficult aquatic terrain
  • Natural World: Use to identify potential coral species for saw creation
  • Craft (Coral Working): A specialized skill developed to make and fine-tune these distinctive tools
• Sanity: While mundane, a Coral Saw made from ancient sources may trigger SAN loss in those sensitive to such artifacts (1/1D4 if they learn its true origins).

Blades in the Dark:

• Faction Asset: Humangutan Vulpodon could be a unique faction in a Doskvol-like setting, the Coral Saw representing their resourcefulness.
• Tool Tier: Likely Tier 0 or 1 (common, easily replaced). Grants +1d to downtime actions focused on reef maintenance or harvesting seabed materials.
• Downside: Coral Saws might attract attention as bizarre/primitive. Infiltrating high society events could provoke suspicion if discovered.

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

• Item Type: Simple tool (likely requires proficiency for effective use)
• Advantage: On Ability Checks made to harvest/clear underwater flora (DM’s discretion for bonus amount)
• Crafting:
  • Tool proficiency: Mason’s tools to shape, handle crafting uses a combination of leatherworking and woodworking tools.
  • Resources: Harvested coral of suitable species. Access to the proper environment for the coral hardening process.

Knave

• Simple Item – No Stats: Knave’s focus favors player description. Encourage your players to narratively describe how they cleverly employ the Coral Saw, offering bonuses as needed.
• Potential Inventory Slot Usage: Could consume 1-2 slots if particularly bulky. Encourages decisions: prioritize the saw over other gear.

Fate

• Aspect Hook: “Gift of the Reef” could become a character Aspect tied to a Humangutan Vulpodon. Compel when the saw’s specialized nature becomes a hindrance (“Your Coral Saw doesn’t help much against those Imperial Guards!”)
• Stunt Creation: A custom Stunt like “Master of the Coral Saw” could grant a +2 bonus to overcome obstacles when the tool directly applies AND when its narrative applications create interesting complications.

Numenera / Cypher System

• Artifact Designation: Level 2-3 artifact. Too commonplace for higher levels unless imbued with unusual Cyphers.
• Effects:
  • Eases difficulty of tasks tied to underwater flora cultivation by one step.
  • Can decipher symbols carved into coral or similar substances, hinting at the history of deep-sea ruins.
  • Cypher Connection: Integrate a Cypher that temporarily imbues the saw with additional capabilities:
  • Emits a pulse to detect hidden creatures living within coral structures.
  • Briefly “glows” when pointed toward sources of Numenera residue.

Pathfinder (2nd Edition)

• Item Type: Simple Tool (likely improvised weapon usable with relevant feats)
• Rarity: Uncommon
• Bulk: Light
• Traits: Aquatic, Coral
• Usage:
  • Grants a circumstance bonus (+2 likely) to Survival checks for underwater harvesting and crafting related to coral
  • As a weapon: 1d4 Slashing damage, consider traits like Fragile

Savage Worlds

• Gear Card Format: A standard gear card format fits Savage Worlds’ focus on streamlined equipment
• Coral Saw:
  • Cost: $10-$20 (depending on quality)
  • Weight: 1
  • Notes: +2 to Notice rolls involving coral identification, +1 to Boating when clearing undergrowth, fragile (may break on a Critical Failure while used as a weapon)
  • Setting Integration: Adapt for setting:
  • Weird West: Found during riverboat excursions
  • Deadlands: Made from bone-like growths of Harrowed creatures

Shadowrun (6th Edition)

• Gear Category: Tool Kit/Artisan Supplies. Could be an included element in an “Aquatic Survival Kit”
• Availability & Rating: Availability 2-4, depending on region. Higher if specialized for Shadowrun’s Awakened corals
• Device/Tool Modification: Potential for matrix compatibility. A Coral Saw with datajack could analyze underwater growth patterns, detect magical auras, etc.

Starfinder

• Item Level: Level 1
• Price: 20-50 Credits
• Special Properties: The Coral Saw grants a +2 circumstance bonus to Survival checks when harvesting aquatic materials (especially those related to coral-like organisms found on different worlds). Could interact with alien ruins made of strange biomaterials.

Traveller

• Tech Level: Varies wildly depending on Traveller campaign. Likely TL0-TL4 for standard reefs. Alien ruins could present unique materials requiring higher TL knowledge to adapt.
• Trade Code:
  • Mundane saw: Unremarkable unless found in non-aquatic environments
  • Specialized tool: +1 to any DM rolls relating to understanding undersea ecologies

Warhammer (40K or Fantasy)

• Lore Fit:
  • 40K – Used by underhive gangs subsisting on oceanic food sources, or repurposed by Adeptus Mechanicus for analyzing strange xenos lifeforms
  • Fantasy – Employed by any sea-faring race. Potential for coral to be magical in nature, granting a bonus to relevant Lore checks
• Stats:
  • Primarily narrative. Tool for granting Advantage on rolls dealing with coral/marine resources or improvised weapon with poor stats to represent fragility