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Nature 714 of the Gossiping Verdant Brooch

—

by

Dale
in

Lore

During the early settlement of the outer island chains of Saṃsāra, frontier scouts, message runners, and canopy couriers struggled to maintain reliable contact across vast, fog-choked rainforests and rugged timber valleys where loud calls would invite predatory beast attacks. A circle of frontier naturalists bound the living tendrils of silver-leaf ivy to minor nature catalysts, creating an ornamental pin that attuned the wearer’s hearing and vocal cords directly to the subtle acoustic vibrations of the surrounding wilderness. Worn openly upon a traveler’s lapel or cloak, the brooch allowed field operatives to whisper silently across dense canopies, eavesdrop on rustling branches, and translate the chatter of local birds into critical tactical intelligence.

Description

The brooch is crafted as a four-inch ornamental pin made from carved pale heartwood shaped like an intertwining vine of silver-leaf ivy, banded neatly in polished brass wire. Fixed firmly into the center of the leafy knot is a coin-sized emerald crystal that glows with a faint green luminescence whenever words are spoken near it. When pinned to a garment and attuned, the brooch exudes a faint aroma of crushed mint and morning dew. The small brass leaves along the stem subtly twitch and orient themselves toward distant sounds, acting as a natural acoustic collector.

Specific Slot

  • Brooch / Neck Slot

Detailed Stats

  • Item Tier: Tier 1
  • Rarity: Common
  • Armor Check (AC): +1
  • Item Hit Points: Base Avatar Maximum Hit Points + 10 (Resilience 10 x Tier 1)
  • Weight: 0.25 pounds
  • Attunement Requirement: Simple attunement (requires 1 full minute of focus while worn on outer clothing)

Passives Magic

  • Canopy Acoustic Clarity: Through the Mind’s Eye, the avatar’s auditory senses are sharply enhanced in wilderness environments; distant whispers, snapping twigs, and soft footsteps within 60 feet carry clearly to the avatar’s ears without being muffled by wind, heavy rain, or waterfall noise.
  • Chittering Translation: The avatar intuitively understands the emotional intent, alert cries, and basic navigational meanings behind the calls, chirps, and warning whistles of common, non-magical birds and small woodland rodents.
  • Subvocal Cadence: When speaking at a faint whisper, the avatar’s voice is channeled cleanly into the brooch’s nature catalyst, preventing nearby eavesdroppers from discerning words unless they are within 5 feet.

Activable Magics

  • Gossiping Spore Whisper: As an action, the avatar speaks a short message of up to fifteen words into the central emerald crystal while visualizing a friendly creature or ally within 300 feet. A subtle wisp of glowing green pollen shoots outward through the foliage, delivering the spoken words directly into the target’s ear as an audible, clear whisper that leaves behind no trail.
  • Flora Relay Eavesdrop: As an action, the avatar touches the brooch to a living tree, thick vine, or patch of moss, attuning to the plant’s vibration network. For 10 minutes, the avatar can hear all ambient conversations and sounds occurring within a 30-foot radius of that specific plant, provided the avatar remains within 150 feet of it.
  • Beast Mimicry Direct: As an action, the avatar taps the brooch’s brass leaf to project their voice up to 60 feet away, perfectly replicating the natural call, distress cry, or warning chirp of a local forest beast to draw attention away from the avatar’s position.

Tags

  • Brooch, Neck, Nature Magic, Communications, Stealth, Eavesdropping, Translation, Scouting, Information Gathering, Tier 1, Common, Acoustics, Messaging, Animal Speech, Espionage, Utility, Perception, Infiltration, Flora Resonance, Relay, Mimicry, Wilderness Guide

Commerce, Distribution, and Market Valuations of the Gossiping Verdant Brooch

  • Scout Outposts and Frontier Ranger Lodges
    • Located along the outer perimeter of island settlements, canopy watchtowers, and logging cantonments where couriers, pathfinders, and wilderness sentries coordinate operations.
    • Buying Procedure: Kept in locked wooden display cases alongside directional compasses and wind-horns. Independent travelers and outriders pay standard market price. Active rangers, courier guild members, or military scouts receive a 10% discount on the item’s baseline value multiplied by their character tier level.
    • Selling Procedure: The quartermaster inspects the flexibility of the brass wire and tests the acoustic sensitivity of the emerald crystal using standard tuning forks. The transaction is logged under frontier dispatch provisions, and funds are disbursed via an immediate World Bank credit transfer.
    • Standard Purchase Cost: 25 Silver to 35 Silver (or 50 to 70 Nickel).
    • Discounted Member Cost: 22 Silver, 5 Copper to 31 Silver, 5 Copper for a Tier 1 character.
    • Standard Merchant Buying Price (Payout to Player): 22 Silver, 5 Copper to 31 Silver, 5 Copper deposited to the World Bank.
  • Arcane Haberdasheries and Signaler Boutiques
    • Found along the upper commercial terraces and courier boulevards of major port metropolises. These specialty shops cater to guild envoys, urban messengers, political liaisons, and private security attachments who require subtle, decorative communications tools.
    • Buying Procedure: Pinned neatly to velvet bust stands under polished crystal display domes. Unaffiliated buyers pay full retail cost. Licensed members of the Merchant Messengers’ Guild or civic envoy services receive the standard 10% tier-scaled discount.
    • Selling Procedure: The master jeweler examines the alignment of the silver-leaf ivy carving with the Mind’s Eye, applies the standard merchant markdown formula, registers the transaction with the municipal commerce board, and initiates a direct World Bank payment.
    • Standard Purchase Cost: 30 Silver to 45 Silver (or 3 Gold to 4 Gold, 5 Silver).
    • Discounted Member Cost: 27 Silver to 40 Silver, 5 Copper for a Tier 1 character.
    • Standard Merchant Buying Price (Payout to Player): 27 Silver to 40 Silver, 5 Copper deposited to the World Bank.
  • Waystation General Stores and Caravan Depots
    • Established at inland crossroad coaching inns, canopy lift stations, and river ferry landings. These general merchants stock a broad array of overland travel gear, emergency signaling devices, and survival equipment for trade caravans.
    • Buying Procedure: Mounted behind the main service counter in protective glass cabinets. In dense jungle or mountain-pass routes where verbal communication is easily lost, the brooch commands a premium due to high demand among caravan masters.
    • Selling Procedure: The shopkeeper verifies the crystal’s pulse and the wood’s condition, calculates the trade-in value, records the transaction in compliance with municipal trade laws, and processes a deposit to the seller’s World Bank account.
    • Standard Purchase Cost: 28 Silver to 40 Silver.
    • Discounted Member Cost: 25 Silver, 2 Copper to 36 Silver for a Tier 1 character.
    • Standard Merchant Buying Price (Payout to Player): 25 Silver, 2 Copper to 36 Silver deposited to the World Bank.
  • Clandestine Information Hubs and Shadow Bazaars
    • Concealed within low-town taproom basements, hidden canal vaults, and unlicensed docks. These backroom establishments serve spies, informants, fence syndicates, and smugglers who value the item’s stealthy eavesdropping and silent whisper capabilities.
    • Buying Procedure: Sold strictly without paperwork under “buyer beware” conditions. Transactions must be settled entirely in physical silver, electrum, or gold coins. No guild credentials or official discounts apply.
    • Selling Procedure: The broker tests the brooch’s subvocal suppression and plant eavesdrop range in a private booth, paying the seller in untraceable physical metal coin. If a local espionage ring or thieves’ syndicate has an immediate need for untraceable listening conduits, the fence may pay up to twice the standard market valuation.
    • Standard Purchase Cost: 35 Silver to 55 Silver (in physical coinage).
    • Black Market Buying Price (Payout to Player): 25 Silver to 50 Silver in physical coins, potentially reaching up to 5 Gold or 50 Silver if acquired for active intelligence operations.

Tactical Roleplay, Environmental Utility, and Covert Applications of the Gossiping Verdant Brooch

  • Dense Canopy Rainforests and Mist-Veiled Jungles
    • Offensive Tactical Application: The avatar positions themselves high in the branches, using Canopy Acoustic Clarity to track the footfalls and hushed whispers of enemy patrol squads moving beneath the brush. When coordinating an ambush with allies scattered across the treetops, the avatar uses Gossiping Spore Whisper to relay precise coordinates and attack timings without breaking silence. To split an enemy formation, the avatar activates Beast Mimicry Direct to throw the distress shriek of an apex predator toward the opposite flank, luring guards into targeted kill-zones.
    • Defensive Tactical Application: While evading pursuit across slippery canopy vines, Chittering Translation allows the avatar to interpret the sudden alarm calls of treetop monkeys and macaws, providing early warning of encroaching hunting packs. If cornered, the avatar uses Beast Mimicry Direct to project a false boar charge in the thickets behind the pursuers, compelling them to turn and raise shields while the avatar slips away through the upper foliage.
  • Urban Alleyways, Guildhalls, and Noble Estates
    • Offensive Tactical Application: During infiltration into high-security council chambers or private estates, the avatar activates Flora Relay Eavesdrop by lightly touching the brooch to ornamental potted ferns, climbing ivy on stone walls, or courtyard hedges. Retreating to a safe distance, the avatar listens to private political briefings and guard rotation schedules. To coordinate simultaneous strikes across walled compounds, Gossiping Spore Whisper transmits silent breach orders directly to allied infiltrators.
    • Defensive Tactical Application: In crowded taverns or tense diplomatic meetings, Subvocal Cadence ensures the avatar can confer with a partner in quiet murmurs without nearby guild spies discerning a single word. When fleeing down tight cobblestone alleys, the avatar taps the brooch to create the sound of barking town mastiffs at a distant intersection, redirecting city watchmen away from the escape route.
  • Subterranean Caverns, Fungal Grottoes, and Mine Shafts
    • Offensive Tactical Application: Sound travels unpredictably through echoing stone tunnels. The avatar presses the brooch against subterranean lichen, bracket fungus, or root intrusions using Flora Relay Eavesdrop to monitor goblin encampments or subterranean sentry posts without exposing a light source. To draw cavern guards into environmental traps or trigger cave-ins from safety, Beast Mimicry Direct projects the frantic squeaks of giant cave-rats or the skittering of burrowing insects away from the avatar’s actual position.
    • Defensive Tactical Application: The acoustic dampening and enhancement features isolate subtle seismic shifts, such as collapsing rock or the sliding scales of burrowing monstrosities, long before they enter visual range. When moving through silent cavern vaults, Subvocal Cadence prevents the avatar’s spoken orders from bouncing off stone walls and alerting echoing chambers ahead.
  • Open Steppes, Savannas, and Farmland Borders
    • Offensive Tactical Application: Across vast, open grasslands where cover is scarce, the avatar uses Gossiping Spore Whisper to direct flanking cavalry maneuvers or spread-out skirmishers up to 300 feet away without relying on visible signal flags or loud bugles. By listening to the chattering of ground squirrels and prairie birds through Chittering Translation, the avatar pinpoints concealed snipers or burrowed ambushers hiding in tall grass.
    • Defensive Tactical Application: When caught in the open during heavy prairie storms or high winds, Canopy Acoustic Clarity filters out gale noise so the avatar can hear approaching war mounts or marching boots. If an enemy scout squad closes in, the avatar uses Beast Mimicry Direct to mimic the alert cry of wild marsh birds from a distant hill, convincing the scouts that their quarry fled in another direction.
  • Coastal Mangroves, River Deltas, and Marshlands
    • Offensive Tactical Application: The avatar wades through murky waters, utilizing Flora Relay Eavesdrop on tangled mangrove roots to map river pirate boat patrols and landing parties along the shoreline. To coordinate tactical ambushes across wide river channels where splashing waters drown out normal voices, Gossiping Spore Whisper sends silent boarding commands across the water to allied skiffs.
    • Defensive Tactical Application: In foggy marshlands where visibility is nearly zero, the brooch’s auditory clarity isolates the subtle drag of oars and splashing steps through swamp mud. The avatar activates Beast Mimicry Direct to imitate a territorial river crocodilian hiss in the reeds near the pursuers’ lead skiff, forcing them to halt their boats and probe the waters defensively while the avatar’s party navigates to safe channels.

Perception of Activation:

User’s Perspective

  • Sight: A brilliant, verdant emerald glow flares from the central crystal, casting delicate leaf-shaped silhouettes across the user’s chest. Tiny, luminescent green spores drift upward from the silver-leaf ivy carving, tracing faint, sparkling trajectories toward the intended target of a message.
  • Sound: The avatar hears a sharp, crisp rustling like dried ivy leaves twisting in a light breeze, followed by an immediate opening of their auditory range where distant footsteps, birdcalls, and rustling branches sound close, clear, and perfectly isolated.
  • Touch: A mild, rhythmic pulse vibrates through the fabric of the cloak or lapel against the chest, accompanied by a cool, minty tingle that travels up the neck toward the ears.
  • Smell: A clean, sharp scent of freshly crushed wintermint leaves, green moss, and morning rainforest dew washes over the user, cutting through ambient smoke, dust, or stale air.
  • Taste: A lingering, refreshing coolness similar to chewing a wild spearmint leaf settles at the back of the throat and across the tongue.
  • Extra-Sensory Perceptions:
    • Acoustic Resonance Tether: Through the Mind’s Eye, the user feels an invisible acoustic thread extending from the brooch, connecting directly to the recipient’s ear or to the root system of a targeted plant during an eavesdrop.
    • Avian Intent Intuition: A subconscious intuitive layer translates the emotional state and danger warnings of nearby songbirds and rodents directly into the user’s mind as conceptual ideas rather than literal animal sounds.
    • Plant Sensory Tap: When touching a tree or vine, the user senses the slow, patient pulse of the plant’s vascular system, visualizing the area around the flora as a radial map of sound vibrations.

Observer’s Perspective

  • Sight: Nearby onlookers observe the brooch’s central stone ignite with an inner jade fire. The delicate brass leaves along the perimeter twitch subtly toward the direction of distant noises, while a fleeting ribbon of glittering green pollen puffs out and streaks soundlessly through the air before dissolving.
  • Sound: Those standing beside the wearer hear a faint, harmonic hum akin to a silver tuning fork struck against wood, immediately accompanied by a soft rustling of dry leaves.
  • Touch: Anyone within arm’s reach of the user feels a sudden, cool draft that carries the crisp chill of a shaded mountain glade.
  • Smell: An instant, pleasant aroma of wild mint and damp pine needles briefly fills the immediate five-foot radius around the wearer.
  • Taste: Observers who breathe in deeply notice a crisp, ozone-and-mint tang on the front of their palate.
  • Extra-Sensory Perceptions:
    • Divinatory Nature Hum: Spellcasters observing the brooch register a localized spike in subtle communicative nature mana, resembling a low-frequency web expanding across the surrounding brush.
    • Beast Attunement: Small woodland animals within line of sight pause their scurrying, briefly tilting their heads toward the user in quiet, non-threatening curiosity.

Positives

  • Covert Intelligence Gathering: Allows for total silence when passing commands or listening to distant conversations without needing direct line-of-sight.
  • Acoustic Filtering: Isolates crucial environmental sounds (such as ambushes, charging beasts, or approaching footsteps) through torrential rain, high winds, and crashing surf.
  • Tactical Distraction: The ability to project deceptive animal cries creates instantaneous diversion opportunities to bypass guard checkpoints or draw predators away from the party.
  • Animal Communication Insight: Provides critical early warning of ambushes by interpreting the genuine distress calls of local wildlife.

Negatives

  • Visual Beacon in Darkness: The vibrant emerald light and glowing green spores can immediately compromise visual stealth in pitch-black caves or nighttime operations if not shielded by a hand or cloth.
  • Auditory Sensory Overload: A sudden, deafening sound near the user (such as a close-range thunderclap, explosion, or monster roar) can cause momentary ringing and disorientation due to the brooch’s amplified acoustic sensitivity.
  • Lingering Mint Scent: The distinctive mint-and-moss scent plume can alert keen-nosed scent-tracking predators or trained bloodhounds to the wearer’s recent position.
  • Flora Dependency: The eavesdropping capability relies entirely on the presence of living vegetation; barren rock, metal corridors, and desolate wasteland environments render the plant-tap feature useless.

Recipe: Fabrication of the Gossiping Verdant Brooch

Materials Needed

  • 1 Tier 1 Magic Crystal (coin-sized and coin-weighted emerald nature catalyst)
  • 1 Segment of Prime Cured Pale Heartwood (approximately 5 inches long, 2 inches wide, seasoned for fine carving)
  • 3 Feet of Polished Brass Wire and Thin Brass Leaf Sheeting
  • 2 Ounces of Concentrated Mint-Sap Resin (extracted via Fluid Collector)
  • 1 Ounce of Songbird Larynx Oil or Forest Cicada Extract (reagent base for acoustic resonance and mimicry)
  • 1 Steel Brooch Pin Backing with Clasp
  • 2 Micro-Rivets for Pin Mount Attachment

Tools Required

  • Fluid Collector (fine-gauge needle for harvesting pure mint-sap resins and insect acoustic secretions)
  • Woodcarver’s Micro-Chisels, Gouges, and Sanding Needles
  • Wire Bending Pliers, Flush Cutters, and Metal Shears
  • Small Alchemical Crucible and Glass Stirring Rod
  • Arcane Conduit or Handheld Arcane Battery (to channel mana and stabilize the catalyst alignment)

Skill Requirements

  • Woodcarving / Fine Jewelry Crafting: Skill Level 5 or higher
  • Nature Crafting / Herbalism: Skill Level 5 or higher
  • Magic Weaving / Conduit Inscription: Skill Level 5 or higher

Crafting Steps

  • Reagent Compounding: Place the concentrated mint-sap resin and the songbird larynx oil into the small alchemical crucible. Warm gently over low heat, stirring continuously with the glass rod until it blends into a pale green, aromatic binding lacquer that emits a crisp spearmint scent.
  • Carving the Ivy Frame: Using the micro-chisels and gouges, carve the seasoned pale heartwood into an intertwining four-inch vine of silver-leaf ivy. Hollow out a circular, central mounting socket within the main knot to securely seat the emerald crystal, and inscribe hairline acoustic channels along the rear of the stem.
  • Forming Brass Leaves and Wire Accents: Cut and shape the brass wire and sheet metal into miniature ivy leaves. Wrap the brass wire tightly around the heartwood vine segments, affixing the brass leaves along the perimeter so they can flex outward and serve as acoustic gathering points.
  • Seating the Catalyst: Coat the back of the Tier 1 coin-sized emerald crystal with the warm alchemical lacquer and press it firmly into the central wooden socket. Wrap brass wire bands across the base of the crystal to lock the stone permanently against the wood and channel conduits.
  • Pin Backing Attachment: Align the steel brooch pin backing along the rear of the heartwood frame and secure it using the micro-rivets, coating the join with the remaining mint lacquer to seal against moisture and wear.
  • Mana Alignment and Harmonic Tuning: Hold the brooch over the handheld arcane conduit, channeling natural mana directly through the brass wire into the central crystal for one full minute. Focus the Mind’s Eye on the stone until the brass leaves twitch in response to ambient noise and the crystal flares with a steady jade luminescence. Roll a d20 to finalize the infusion: on a roll of 2 through 20, the brooch successfully stabilizes as a Tier 1 Common nature communication accessory (on a roll of 1, the crystal fractures under resonance shock, destroying the components; on a roll of 20, the whisper and eavesdropping range increases by 50 feet).

Pin of Many Whispers and Courier Who Had Big Ears

In the many thousands of sun-rises before the grand island-kings wrote their names upon baked river-bricks, when the big green leaf-places were so thick that a two-legged walker could not see his own sandals in the midday mist, there was an island where the trees talked in secret codes to the river stones. In those damp seasons, the king of the stone hill sent many fast-running bipeds through the tall moss to carry rolled-up bark papers to the captains of the outer canoes.

Among these fast runners was a young biped named by the scratched turtle-shells as the Boy of Soft-Toes, though some chipped stones name him merely the Runner Who Disliked Getting Bit.

Whenever the messengers of that age shouted across the wide canopy to warn their brothers of the great horned tree-monsters, their loud mouth-holes made the whole forest shake. The giant six-legged lizards with iron teeth would hear the shouting from five leagues away, running fast upon the trails to eat the runners together with their sandals and their rolled-up bark papers. The king of the stone hill had to hire forty new runners every time the moon grew round and fat.

The Boy of Soft-Toes sat upon a mossy rock and pondered with great sadness in his liver. He said to his own mind-box, “If a runner must roar like a sick water-cow to tell his companion that a lizard comes, his liver will soon be inside the lizard’s belly-bag.”

He took a sharp copper needle and collected the sticky green oil from the wild winter-mint bushes that grow where the waterfall makes mist. He climbed up the tall vines to where the blue song-birds build their woven feather-pots, finding the clear throat-juice from a bird that had died of singing too much in the rain. In a dark hole beneath a twisted elder-root, he found a green shining-stone that was cold to the tooth and held the exact weight of one small copper trade-disc.

He sat upon a flat river-slab and worked with many small iron tools. He carved a stick of pale heartwood into the shape of a curling silver-ivy vine, cutting little sound-grooves into the back of the wood like the lines on a finger-tip. He wrapped fine yellow-metal wire around the wood, hammering out tiny metal leaves that could wiggle like the ears of an anxious hare. He set the green shining-stone directly into the middle of the leafy knot, gluing it with the mint-oil and the bird-juice until the entire pin smelled of mountain glades and sharp spearmint.

He pushed the steel needle through the wool-cloth on his left collar-meat. Instantly, the yellow-metal leaves on the pin turned their faces toward the wind, and the green stone flared like the eye of a swamp-cat.

The Boy of Soft-Toes suddenly heard the whole forest speak into his ear-holes. He heard the ants walking upon the dry bark forty paces away; he heard the little brown birds on the high branches gossiping about where the sweet berries hung; he heard the heavy breath of two giant horned lizards sleeping behind a curtain of wild squash vines three leagues down the trail.

When the king gave him an important bark-letter to take to the canoe-captains at the salt-beach, the Boy of Soft-Toes ran through the wet timber without making the sound of a falling feather. As he ran, he saw three forest bandits hiding in the tall ferns with long wooden spears. The boy did not open his throat to shout. He leaned his lips close to the green stone on his chest and whispered soft words, like a breeze passing through grass.

A small puff of green pollen shot through the thick branches, flying across three hundred paces of wet air, and dropped straight into the ear-hole of his companion who was running on a distant hill. The companion heard the whisper inside his own head-box as clear as a bronze bell and stopped his feet immediately, drawing his iron knife in silence.

The Boy of Soft-Toes then touched the brooch against the trunk of a great elder-tree near the bandits. For ten minutes, the spirit of the wood-veins carried all the bandits’ whispers directly into the boy’s ears; he heard them arguing about who would get his shoes after they stabbed him.

Smiling with his teeth, the boy tapped the brass leaf on the pin. He projected the fierce, angry roar of a mother cave-bear straight into the bushes behind the bandits. The three bandits dropped their wooden spears, cried out with watery eyes, and jumped into the thorn-bushes to escape the phantom beast, tearing their skins into many red ribbons.

The Boy of Soft-Toes ran past the empty road, delivered the bark-letter to the canoe-captains before the sun went down into the western ocean, and returned to the king without a single scratch upon his sandals.

For many cycles of storms, the runners who wore the ivy pin ruled the secret paths of the islands. They traded words through the air like invisible birds, they listened to the plots of bad men through the potted plants in city rooms, and they walked through the territories of iron-toothed monsters without ever giving up the secret of their footsteps.

Moral of the Story: He who borrows the quiet tongue of the ivy and the sharp ears of the birds will carry his message across the widest valley in peace, for the soft whisper that travels on the green wind will conquer forty leagues while the loud shout only feeds the monsters of the road.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)

The Ivy Whispering Brooch

  • Classification: Minor Arcane Artifact (Acoustic Divination & Covert Communication)
  • Magic Point Cost: 3 MP (to activate an active communication or eavesdropping effect)
  • Sanity Loss: 0/1 Sanity points (upon first experiencing the unnatural sensation of hearing through plant root networks)
  • Physical Description: A four-inch pin carved from pale heartwood resembling intertwined silver-leaf ivy, banded with brass wire and miniature brass leaves. At the center sits a coin-sized emerald crystal that glows faint jade when sound is processed.

Game Mechanics

  • Canopy Acoustic Clarity (Passive): The investigator gains a Bonus Die on Listen checks in wilderness, heavily vegetated, or storm-ridden environments. Ambient sounds such as footsteps and rustling leaves are heard clearly up to 20 yards away regardless of wind or rain noise.
  • Chittering Translation (Passive): The investigator automatically understands the emotional intent, warning alerts, and basic behavioral cues behind calls made by common, non-magical birds and woodland rodents.
  • Subvocal Cadence (Passive): When whispering, the investigator’s words cannot be overheard by anyone more than 1 yard away, granting a Bonus Die on Stealth checks involving verbal coordination.
  • Gossiping Spore Whisper (Active): By spending 3 Magic Points and whispering a message of up to fifteen words into the emerald crystal while visualizing a target within 100 yards, a wisp of green pollen delivers the words directly into the target’s ear as an audible, clear whisper.
  • Flora Relay Eavesdrop (Active): By spending 3 Magic Points and touching the brooch to living flora (a tree, vine, or moss patch) for 1 round, the investigator can hear all sounds occurring within 10 yards of that plant for 10 minutes, provided the investigator remains within 50 yards of it.
  • Beast Mimicry Direct (Active): By spending 3 Magic Points, the investigator projects a realistic animal call or distress shriek to a point up to 20 yards away, forcing nearby pursuers to make an INT or Listen check to avoid being distracted and investigating the false sound.

Blades in the Dark

The Ivy Signaler’s Clasp

  • Item Type: Arcane Implement / Spycraft Brooch
  • Load: 0 (Undetectable / Worn on Lapel)
  • Default Position / Effect: Controlled / Standard (when gathering covert intelligence or signaling)

Game Mechanics

  • Canopy Clarity & Eavesdrop (Passive): Take +1d to Survey or Hunt rolls when tracking targets by sound, listening through walls via ivy/houseplants, or overhearing hushed conversations in noisy or outdoor environments.
  • Birdcall Sense (Passive): Automatically interpret the alarm reactions and flight patterns of urban crows, gulls, or wild songbirds to detect approaching patrols or ambushers.
  • Silent Relay (Active): Spend 1 Stress to whisper a short message that travels unseen on green spores directly to a crew member within line of sight or within a block’s distance (approx. 100 paces), bypassing guards without raising suspicion.
  • Plant Resonance (Active): Spend 2 Stress and touch the brooch to a vine, garden bed, or wooden timber frame. Attune to the wood to clearly hear private conversations inside an adjacent room or courtyard for the duration of the infiltration.
  • Sound Throw Mimicry (Active): Spend 1 Stress to throw a realistic beast cry, bird shriek, or distracting rustle up to 20 paces away. On a Finesse or Prowl action roll, improve your Effect level to divert sentries away from an entrance.
  • Consequence / Devil’s Bargain Hook: The emerald crystal flares with noticeable green light during active transmissions. Taking a Devil’s Bargain or rolling a complication means a vigilant sentry spots the luminous flash in the shadows or a sudden loud noise causes temporary disorientation.

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

Gossiping Verdant Brooch

  • Wondrous Item, Common (Requires Attunement)
  • Item Slot: Brooch / Neck
  • Armor Class Bonus: +1 bonus to AC while worn and attuned

Game Mechanics

  • Canopy Acoustic Clarity (Passive): You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing while in forests, jungles, or areas of heavy foliage.
  • Chittering Translation (Passive): You can understand the general meaning and emotional state behind the calls, chirps, and sounds of small non-magical beasts (such as birds, squirrels, and frogs).
  • Subvocal Cadence (Passive): When you speak in a whisper, your voice cannot be heard by creatures farther than 5 feet away from you unless you choose otherwise.
  • Gossiping Spore Whisper (1 Charge): As an action, you whisper a message of up to 15 words into the brooch. The message travels on glowing green spores to a friendly creature you can see or name within 300 feet, delivering the message audibly into their ear.
  • Flora Relay Eavesdrop (1 Charge): As an action, you touch the brooch to a living plant or patch of moss. For the next 10 minutes, you can hear through that plant as if you were standing in its space, up to a range of 150 feet away from it.
  • Beast Mimicry Direct (1 Charge): As an action, you tap the brooch to project the call, distress cry, or warning chirp of a beast to a point of your choice within 60 feet. Creatures that hear it must succeed on a DC 11 Wisdom (Insight) check to recognize the sound as an imitation.
  • Charges & Recharge: The brooch has 3 charges and regains 1d3 expended charges daily at dawn.

Knave (2nd Edition)

The Scout’s Ivy Brooch

  • Item Type: Magic Item (Communication Focus)
  • Item Slots: 1 Slot (Worn on Cloak / Lapel)
  • Armor Value: +1 Armor
  • Durability / Quality: 3/3 Quality

Game Mechanics

  • Keen Scout’s Hearing (Passive): The wearer makes Wisdom checks to listen for ambushes, track distant footsteps, or detect sneaking enemies in wilderness terrain with Advantage.
  • Beast Warning (Passive): The wearer automatically recognizes whether bird calls and animal noises indicate predators, human presence, or normal foraging.
  • Subvocal Whispers (Passive): Whispered speech made by the wearer cannot be overheard beyond 5 feet.
  • Spell-Like Directives (Uses 1 Quality / Charge per activation):
    • Spore Whisper: As an action, the wearer whispers a 15-word message that is carried on magic spores to an ally within 300 feet, whispering directly into their ear.
    • Plant Eavesdropping: As an action, the wearer touches a living tree, vine, or moss bed. For 10 minutes, the wearer can hear all sounds within 30 feet of that plant from up to 150 feet away.
    • Beast Cry Throw: As an action, the wearer throws a deceptive beast roar or bird shriek to a point up to 60 feet away to distract guards. Unsuspecting targets must pass a Wisdom save (Target 15+ save) or move to investigate the noise.
  • Durability & Breakage: When direct damage is allocated to the inventory slot containing the brooch, its Quality is reduced by 1. At 0 Quality, the wood splinters, the brass leaves dull, and its communication powers become inert until repaired during downtime.

Fate (Fate Condensed / Core)

The Whispering Ivy Pin

  • Item Type: Personal Extra / Magical Accessory
  • Cost: 1 Refresh
  • Aspect: Attuned Verdant Conduit of Silent Whispers

Specific Game Mechanics

  • Stunt (Canopy Acoustic Clarity): Because you wear the Whispering Ivy Pin, you gain a +2 to Notice or Investigate when listening for distant footsteps, hidden sentries, or approaching ambushes in wilderness, forest, or jungle environments.
  • Stunt (Chittering Sense): Gain a +2 to Empathy or Lore when interpreting the warning calls, alert behaviors, and general moods of common birds, rodents, and small beasts.
  • Active Extra (Verdant Relay Network): By invoking the item’s aspect or spending a Fate Point, you can trigger one of the following tactical effects:
    • Gossiping Spore Whisper: Send a silent, targeted verbal message of up to 15 words to any known ally within your scene (or up to two zones away) without creating audible noise in your current zone.
    • Flora Relay Eavesdrop: Touch a living plant, tree, or patch of moss to create the scene aspect Root-Tapped Surveillance with one free invoke. For the duration of the scene, you can hear conversations occurring around that plant from up to two zones away.
    • Beast Mimicry Direct: Create the situational aspect Deceptive Beast Call on an adjacent zone with one free invoke, forcing enemy guards or predators to treat the zone as a distraction obstacle.

Numenera & Cypher System

The Bio-Acoustic Ivy Clasp

  • Form: An ornate wooden brooch shaped like intertwined ivy, reinforced with brass wire and mounting an emerald-hued bio-synthetic crystal.
  • Item Level: 3
  • Cypher / Artifact Type: Artifact (Depletion: 1 in 1d10 on major activation)
  • Armor Value: +1 to Armor

Specific Game Mechanics

  • Constant Effect (Canopy Acoustic Filtering): The wearer gains an asset (reducing task difficulty by 1 step) on all Perception tasks involving hearing in noisy, windy, or vegetated environments.
  • Constant Effect (Fauna Translation): The wearer automatically deciphers the emotional tone and alert signals of non-magical small animals (such as birds, rodents, and reptiles).
  • Constant Effect (Subvocal Masking): Whispered speech by the wearer cannot be overheard beyond immediate range (10 feet / 3 meters).
  • Activated Ability (Gossiping Spore Relay): As an action, the user sends a spore-borne whisper up to long range (100 feet / 30 meters) directly into the ear of a designated target. Depletion: 1 in 1d20.
  • Activated Ability (Flora Audio Tap): As an action, the user touches the clasp to living flora. For 10 minutes, the user can hear all sounds within immediate range of the plant while remaining up to long range away from it. Depletion: 1 in 1d10.
  • Activated Ability (Vocal Beast Mimicry): As an action, the user projects an authentic beast roar or distress cry to a spot within short range (50 feet / 15 meters) to misdirect foes. Depletion: 1 in 1d10.

Pathfinder (2nd Edition / Remaster)

Brooch of the Whispering Ivy

  • Item 2; Traits: Divination, Invested, Magical, Plant, Primal
  • Usage: Worn (Brooch / Cloak Pin); Bulk: —
  • Price: 35 gp
  • AC Bonus: +1 item bonus to AC while worn and invested

Specific Game Mechanics

  • Investiture: You must invest the brooch daily during your morning preparations to gain its benefits.
  • Canopy Acoustic Clarity (Passive): You gain a +1 item bonus to Perception checks that rely on hearing while outdoors in forest, jungle, or dense brush terrain.
  • Chittering Translation (Passive): You understand the basic emotional intent and warning calls of small, non-magical animals (such as songbirds, squirrels, and frogs).
  • Subvocal Cadence (Passive): When you speak in a whisper, creatures more than 5 feet away from you cannot hear your words without specialized hearing magic.
  • Activate—Gossiping Spore Whisper [one-action] (Auditory, Manipulate, Primal); Frequency: Once per hour; Effect: You whisper a message of up to 15 words into the brooch. A wisp of green pollen travels to an ally you can see within 300 feet, delivering the message audibly into their ear alone.
  • Activate—Flora Relay Eavesdrop [two-actions] (Auditory, Primal, Scrying); Frequency: Once per day; Effect: You touch the brooch to a living plant or moss patch. For 10 minutes, you can hear through the plant as if you were in its space, up to a range of 150 feet.
  • Activate—Beast Mimicry Direct [one-action] (Auditory, Illusion, Primal); Frequency: Once per day; Effect: You project the authentic cry, warning chirp, or roar of a native beast to a point within 60 feet. Creatures in the area must attempt a DC 16 Perception check or Will save to realize the sound is a magical diversion.

Savage Worlds (Adventure Edition)

The Gossiping Verdant Brooch

  • Arcane Device / Magic Item: Nature Arcana / Communication Focus
  • Item Rank: Novice
  • Item Slot: Worn (Brooch / Torso)
  • Armor Value: +1 Armor to Torso
  • Weight: 0.25 lbs.
  • Power Points: 10 Power Points (recharges at a rate of 1 point per hour)

Specific Game Mechanics

  • Keen Scout’s Ears (Passive): The wearer gains a +1 bonus to Notice rolls involving hearing when in wilderness, forests, or severe weather conditions.
  • Animal Alert Sense (Passive): The wearer automatically identifies the alert and danger calls of local woodland birds and small animals.
  • Subvocal Mask (Passive): Whispers spoken by the wearer cannot be heard by anyone beyond 2 yards (1 inch on tabletop).
  • Spore Whisper (Active Power):
    • Power: Mind Link or Message (Verdant Spore trapping)
    • Cost: 1 Power Point
    • Action: As an action, the wearer sends a 15-word whispered message on a stream of glowing pollen directly to an ally within 50 yards (25 inches).
  • Plant Audio Tap (Active Power):
    • Power: Divination / Remote Audio (Flora Link trapping)
    • Cost: 2 Power Points
    • Action: As an action, the wearer touches living vegetation. For the next 10 minutes, the wearer can hear all sounds within a Medium Blast Template around that plant from up to 25 yards away.
  • Sound Throw Mimicry (Active Power):
    • Power: Sound/Silence (Beast Mimicry trapping)
    • Cost: 1 Power Point
    • Action: As an action, the wearer projects a deceptive animal cry or predator roar up to 12 yards away. Enemies must make a Smarts roll at -2; on a failure, they become Distracted as they turn to investigate the noise.

Shadowrun (Sixth World / 6e)

The Shamanic Ivy Relay Pin

  • Item Type: Foci / Enchanted Lapel Pin (Detection or Sustaining Focus variant)
  • Force: 2
  • Karma Cost: 4 Karma (to bond)
  • Availability: 3 (Legal)
  • Defensive Rating Bonus: +1 Defense Rating

Specific Game Mechanics

  • Canopy Acoustic Clarity (Passive): When operating in wilderness areas, heavy brush, or acoustically cluttered environments (such as severe rainstorms), the user gains a +1 dice pool bonus to Perception tests involving sound.
  • Critter Speech Intuition (Passive): The wearer instinctively interprets the emotional alert state, territorial cries, and flight reactions of non-awakened birds, rodents, and small urban critters.
  • Subvocal Dampening (Passive): When whispering, acoustic dampening fields mask the wearer’s speech; enemies more than 2 meters away cannot detect or record the words without specialized directional microphones or active sensor arrays (Threshold 3).
  • Spore Whisper Transmission (Active): As a Minor Action, the user whispers a short message of up to 15 words into the emerald focus. A faint streak of mana-infused spores travels silently to an allied runner within 100 meters, relaying the message directly to their ear without entering the local Matrix.
  • Flora Tap Surveillance (Active): As a Major Action, the user touches the pin to a living plant or moss patch. For 10 minutes, the user can hear all conversations occurring within a 10-meter radius of that plant from up to 50 meters away.
  • Critter Mimicry Diversion (Active): As a Minor Action, the user projects an authentic beast cry or warning screech up to 20 meters away. Sentries or tracking hounds must succeed on an Intuition + Perception (Threshold 2) test or lose their next Minor Action investigating the diversion.

Starfinder (Second Edition / Remaster Playtest Framework)

The Bio-Acoustic Comm-Brooch

  • Item Level: 2; Traits: Divination, Magical, Plant, Primal, Tech-Hybrid
  • Usage: Worn (Brooch / Cloak Pin Slot); Bulk: —
  • Price: 80 Credits
  • EAC/KAC Armor Bonus: +1 item bonus to AC while worn and active

Specific Game Mechanics

  • Audio Filtering Array (Passive): The integrated micro-crystalline matrix filters background atmospheric distortion. The wearer gains a +1 item bonus to Perception checks that rely on hearing in forested planetary environments or storm zones.
  • Alien Fauna Decryption (Passive): The wearer intuitively translates basic behavioral warnings, distress calls, and flock alerts of non-sentient planetary fauna and small wildlife.
  • Subvocal Baffle (Passive): Whispered communications uttered into the brooch cannot be picked up by external acoustic sensors or bystanders farther than 5 feet away.
  • Activate—Spore Whisper Relay [one-action] (Auditory, Manipulate, Primal); Frequency: Once per hour; Effect: The user speaks a message of up to 15 words into the brooch. A micro-cluster of glowing spores carries the audio signal directly to a designated ally within 300 feet, delivering the whisper clearly into their ear.
  • Activate—Flora Audio Tap [two-actions] (Auditory, Primal, Scrying); Frequency: Once per day; Effect: The user presses the pin against living planetary flora. For 10 minutes, the user can monitor all acoustic activity within a 30-foot radius of the plant from up to 150 feet away.
  • Activate—Beast Mimicry Pulse [one-action] (Auditory, Illusion, Primal); Frequency: Once per day; Effect: The user projects a realistic animal distress call or apex predator roar to a point within 60 feet. Targets in the area must succeed on a DC 16 Will save or become Flat-Footed against the user’s allies for 1 round due to distraction.

Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition)

Xenobotanical Acoustic Relay Pin

  • Item Classification: Covert Communications Gear / Bio-Acoustic Array
  • Tech Level (TL): TL 11
  • Mass: Negligible (0.1 kg, worn on lapel or collar)
  • Armor Rating: +1 Armor to the Upper Torso
  • Cost: Cr 3,200 (Specialist Field Gear)

Specific Game Mechanics

  • Environmental Noise Filter (Passive): The integrated micro-resonators isolate subtle acoustic signatures. The user gains a +1 DM on Recon and Survival checks that rely on hearing footsteps, hostile approaches, or equipment handling in wilderness and storm-ridden conditions.
  • Biosphere Threat Sense (Passive): The device interprets the behavioral alarm calls and distress chirps of native avian and rodent species, granting early detection against natural hazards or hidden ambush parties.
  • Subvocal Masking (Passive): Whispered voice inputs are captured directly by the pin’s throat-facing intake; unauthorized listeners beyond 1 meter cannot decipher spoken words without dedicated surveillance equipment.
  • Directed Spore Transmission (Active): As a minor action, the user sends a 15-word acoustic pulse on an energized particle beam to an ally within 100 meters, transmitting the whisper directly into their comms earpiece without broadcasting across radio channels.
  • Plant Resonance Monitoring (Active): As a significant action, the user places the contact node against a living tree or plant. For 10 minutes, the user can remotely monitor all audio within 10 meters of that plant while remaining up to 50 meters away.
  • Acoustic Decoy Emission (Active): As a minor action, the user projects a synthesized beast roar or alarm screech to a target zone within 20 meters. Unprepared guards or planetary fauna must make an Average (8+) INT check; on a failure, they turn and investigate the false sound for 1D rounds.

Warhammer (Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition)

The Ivy Signet of the Jade Scout

  • Item Category: Minor Magical Talisman / Jade College Focus
  • Encumbrance: 0 (Pinned to Cloak, Collar, or Tunic)
  • Armour Points: +1 AP to the Body hit location
  • Availability: Rare (Crafted by Jade College Magisters or High Wood Elf Waywatchers)

Specific Game Mechanics

  • Ghyran’s Listening Ear (Passive): The wearer channels the Wind of Ghyran to pick out delicate sounds from natural turbulence. The character gains a +10 bonus to Perception Tests that rely on hearing in forests, swamps, and outdoor wilderness environments.
  • Speech of the Small Beasts (Passive): The wearer automatically understands the emotional meaning and danger alerts behind the chirps, whistles, and warning calls of common woodland birds and rodents.
  • Quiet Breath of the Forest (Passive): Whispers spoken by the wearer cannot be overheard by anyone more than 2 yards away, granting +1 Advantage on Stealth (Rural) Tests when whispering tactical orders.
  • Gossiping Spore Message (Active): Once per hour as an Action, the wearer whispers a 15-word message into the emerald stone. A subtle cloud of jade spores floats silently through the brush up to 100 yards, delivering the message audibly into the ear of a designated companion.
  • Root-Tapped Eavesdropping (Active): Once per day as an Action, the wearer touches the brooch to a living tree trunk, hanging vine, or thick bed of moss. For the next 10 minutes, the wearer can hear all sounds and conversations occurring within 10 yards of that plant from up to 50 yards away.
  • Beast Mimicry Throw (Active): Once per day as an Action, the wearer projects a deceptive forest animal cry or predator roar to a location up to 20 yards away. Foes hearing the noise must pass a Challenging (+0) Intuition Test or gain 1 Distracted Condition as they turn to face the false threat.