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Mantle Guard 734 of the Aloof Veil and Serpents Shroud

—

by

Dale
in

Lore

  • In the secluded monasteries and misty crags of the high-altitude sanctuaries, ascetic mystics and metal-weavers sought an artifact that balanced inner spiritual cultivation with complete social and physical evasion.
  • By aligning the Taoist Metal-Zodiac principles of the cold, analytical Metal Snake with the Druze mystical doctrine of Taqiyya (protective spiritual concealment), artisans fused the essence of detached introspection with the soft, evasive power of shadow-woven spider silk.
  • The resulting relic creates a state of profound non-presence, allowing the avatar to walk through turbulent courts, chaotic battlefields, and crowded markets entirely unbothered by psychic noise, emotional friction, or hostile intent.

Description

  • The artifact is a flowing, shimmering shoulder mantle woven from high-crag mountain spider silk and shadow-cured indigo dye, trimmed along the collar and edges with finely woven moon-drawn silver filigree.
  • Integrated into the right shoulder and extending down the arm is an articulated, segmented vambrace and finger-guard cast from non-tarnishing Tearless Silver, linked by flexible silver wire and lead dampening plates.
  • Micro-calligraphy of the Earthly Branches and Heavenly Stems is engraved across the interior silver plates, while the knuckle housing holds a smooth, polished Blind-Eye Obsidian that drinks ambient light.
  • The garment shifts hue to match the nearest shadow and radiates a faint, chilly vapor that blurs the wearer’s outline, creating a dulling effect that prevents observers from focusing directly on the wearer’s silhouette.

Stats

  • Item Tier: Tier 2
  • Rarity: Uncommon
  • Item Hit Points: Avatar Maximum Hit Points plus 20 (Resilience 10 multiplied by Tier 2)
  • Weight: 0.7 lbs
  • Suggested Market Value: Approximately 180 to 250 Silver pieces (or 18 to 25 Gold Suns) in quiet mountain ateliers and contemplative scholastic sanctums.

Skills Gained While Openly Worn

  • Peripheral Observation & Unobtrusive Insight: Grants enhanced competence to spot hidden traps, read room layouts, and observe environmental details while appearing completely disinterested or looking down.
  • Humble Deflection & Social Erasure: Grants bonuses on social checks used to redirect attention, exit conversations without notice, or project an unreadable, emotionally flat aura that discourages questioning.
  • Psychic Stillness & Focus: Enhances the avatar’s capacity to execute complex, analytical tasks and resist sensory overload in loud, chaotic, or emotionally intense environments.

Tags

  • Worn-Item, Shoulder-Slot, Tier-2, Uncommon, Druze-Mysticism, Metal-Element, Snake-Zodiac, Taqiyya, Tearless-Silver, Mountain-Spider-Silk, Stealth, Concealment, Aloof, Indifference, Mental-Ward, Silence, Evasive, Blind-Eye-Obsidian, Shadow-Weaving, Non-Confrontational, Apathy-Conduit, Presence-Erasure, Cold-Equation, Introspection-Focus, Shroud-Mantle, Vambrace-Integrated, Subdued-Presence, Moonstone-Infused

Multiple Passives Magic

  • The Detached Modest Aura: Hostile entities and predators are magically nudged to overlook the avatar in favor of more aggressive or prominent targets; foes treat the wearer as an unimportant background element unless directly attacked.
  • Uninterested Gaze & Silvered Shell: The wearer gains a +2 bonus to saving throws against Charm, Persuasion, Fear, Emotion-based spells, and psychic manipulation; when subjected to social or mental stress, the silver filigree absorbs the psychic friction.
  • Still Water Shroud: While the wearer remains silent and takes no aggressive actions, their spiritual and karmic signature is suppressed; observers and automated magical sensors must succeed on a heightened perception check to notice or target them.
  • Flicker of the Receding Edge: The wearer’s physical edges smudge into the surrounding light, making their precise silhouette difficult to track and providing total immunity to blinding light flashes and visual glare.

Multiple Active Magics

  • Vanishing Blush & Isolation (Action, 3 Charges/Day): Tapping the obsidian knuckle causes the wearer to become translucent and phase-blurred for 1 minute. During this time, the wearer can slip through crowded doorways, past guards, or through light cover without triggering opportunity attacks, motion sensors, or alarms.
  • Cold Dismissal of the Haughty (Reaction, 3 Charges/Day): When the avatar or an adjacent ally is targeted by an aggressive social interaction, mental spell, or hostile creature within 15 feet, the user points the silver finger-guard to emit a silent pulse of cold Metal Mana. The target must pass a mental resistance check or lose interest, abandon their action, and suffer a sudden sense of awkward boredom or inadequacy.
  • Curtain of Taqiyya (Ritual Action, 1 Charge/Day): The avatar unclasps the mantle and lays it upon the ground, expanding it into a 10-foot circular dome of absolute silence and sensory dampening for 1 hour. No sound, thermal trace, or magical signature can escape or penetrate the perimeter, creating a sanctuary for quiet planning or resting.

Specific Slot for this Single Item

  • Worn item (Shoulders, with integrated forearm/finger-guard)

Targeting, Item Hit Points, and Restoration Protocols

  • Item Hit Points and Disabling Threshold:
    • When an adversary attempts a targeted strike directly against Mantle-Guard 734 of the Aloof Veil and Serpent’s Shroud, the Armor Check (AC) required to land a solid blow equals the wearer’s base AC plus the avatar’s tier level (2), plus the roll of the avatar’s tier die (2d8).
    • A direct, unmitigated hit instantly severs the wearer’s attunement, causing the active camouflage, isolation charges, and dismissal barriers to fall dormant until a 10-minute realignment ritual is conducted.
    • The maximum Item Hit Points (HP) for this Tier 2 uncommon garment equals the wearer’s maximum hit points plus 20 (calculated as base resilience 10 multiplied by Tier 2).
    • If the mantle-guard suffers structural damage reducing it to 50% or less of its maximum HP, the item enters the broken condition, disabling all passive threat misdirection, the still water shroud, saving throw bonuses, and active stealth magics.
    • If the mantle-guard is reduced to 0 HP, its structural weave disintegrates completely: the mountain spider silk tears into inert rags, the Tearless Silver plates fracture, the lead dampening channels spill, and the Blind-Eye Obsidian shatters into fine ash.
  • Item Repair and Magical Reconstruction:
    • The mantle-guard possesses no innate self-mending properties and will not recover hit points through natural rest cycles; full physical and magical restoration requires active artisan intervention.
    • The repair process must be performed by a crafter holding a minimum skill level of 5 plus the item’s tier level (requiring a total skill level of at least 7 in Shadow-Weaving/Tailoring, Metal-Element Metallurgy, and Precision Gem-Setting).
    • Restoration must take place in an isolated crafting environment, such as a vacuum forge and isolation chamber, utilizing a loom of cedar and bone, a silver needle, a shadow-lathe, and a bowl of distilled silence.
    • Required repair materials include freshly harvested mountain spider silk, moon-drawn silver filigree, replacement Tearless Silver segment plates, crushed moonstone dust, liquid lead dampener, and a newly tension-set Blind-Eye Obsidian.
    • The artisan must re-stitch torn silk seams with asymmetrical weave patterns, realign the silver wire hinges, re-inscribe scratched Heavenly Stem micro-calligraphy using the ash of burned law-books, and re-quench the metal components in scentless glacial water.
    • Once physical HP is restored above the 50% threshold, the artisan must perform a thirty-minute meditation in total silence to clear emotional residue from the silver and obsidian, fully restoring the mantle-guard’s psychic dampening and active magic.

Acquisition, Commercial Outlets, and Economic Valuations of Mantle-Guard 734

  • Methods of Acquisition:
    • Masterwork Synthesis and Loom-Forge Integration: The primary method of acquiring this specialized Tier 2 garment is commissioning an artisan with a minimum skill level of 7 in Shadow-Weaving, Metal-Element Metallurgy, and Precision Gem-Setting. The artisan merges the two Tier 1 components (Druze 529 of the Receding Veil and Astrology 812 of Aloof) using a Tier-2 catalyst crystal. A crafting surcharge of 10% of total component value applies, accompanied by standard crafting risk checks.
    • Ascetic Sanctuary Bequest or Secluded Initiation: Conferred upon an avatar by elder monks or silent hermits in the high-altitude cloud-cutter monasteries of the 73 Islands, granted after the avatar demonstrates complete mental discipline, mastery over ego, and dedication to the contemplative path of non-presence.
    • Recovery from Secluded Mountain Vaults: Discovered within sealed isolation chambers, forgotten hermit caves in the high crags, or frozen shrines along abandoned mountain passes where ancient Taoist-Druze mystics left their personal wards behind.
  • Types of Shops and Commercial Establishments:
    • High-Altitude Scholastic Sanctums & Cloud-Cutter Ateliers:
      • Located in quiet, upper-tier academy spires and mountain-monastery sanctums accessible only by private elevators or high-altitude climbing.
      • The atmosphere is cold, silent, and minimalist, smelling of polished cedar, mountain air, and clean silver filigree.
      • Purchasing Cost: Priced for scholarly collectors, recluses, and high-level meditators at 200 to 240 Silver Pieces (equivalent to 20 to 24 Gold Suns). Buyers who approach with quiet demeanor and low presence receive standard courtesy; loud or aggressive posturing causes the price to double or the item to be withdrawn from view.
      • Selling to Shopkeeper: Evaluators inspect the Tearless Silver for emotional scratches and verify the stability of the Blind-Eye Obsidian, offering 50% of the baseline value (100 to 120 Silver Pieces).
    • Silent Foundries & Shadow-Weaver Lofts:
      • Tucked away in the upper lofts of mountain textile mills or isolated metal-casting alcoves in quiet artisan districts.
      • The shop is run by quiet weavers and smiths who communicate through soft murmurs, working over looms of cedar and bone in dim dawn-light.
      • Purchasing Cost: Handcrafted directly by the makers and sold wrapped in plain grey felt for 160 to 190 Silver Pieces.
      • Selling to Shopkeeper: The makers buy back pristine items for their material and salvage value, paying 80 to 95 Silver Pieces.
    • The Empty Stalls (Itinerant Shadow-Markets of the Humble):
      • Underground dawn gatherings where traders sit in total silence without shouting or haggling, conducting business through small slips of slate.
      • The stall appears empty to casual passersby, revealing the mantle-guard draped over an unadorned wooden crate only to those whose Mind’s Eye is attuned to stillness.
      • Purchasing Cost: Transacted at 210 to 250 Silver Pieces (or 21 to 25 Gold Suns) due to the complete anonymity and untraceable nature of the purchase.
      • Selling to Shopkeeper: Shadow-merchants recognize the extreme tactical value of combined physical and social evasion, offering 105 to 125 Silver Pieces in hard coin or trade credit toward other zodiac relics.
    • Grey-Sector Salvage & Waystation Cloakeries:
      • Located along treacherous high-mountain passes or hidden basement corners where travelers offload heavy equipment to survive harsh journeys.
      • The atmosphere is practical, subdued, and hurried.
      • Purchasing Cost: Sold as high-grade protective travel gear for 180 to 210 Silver Pieces.
      • Selling to Shopkeeper: Brokers offer predatory salvage rates, paying 50 to 70 Silver Pieces to sellers looking for rapid liquidation.

Tactical and Environmental Roleplay: Defense and Offense with Mantle-Guard 734

  • High-Altitude Monasteries, Scholastic Sanctums, and Quiet Libraries:
    • Defensive Applications: In scholarly halls or solemn councils, the wearer uses the detached modest aura and the silvered shell to maintain absolute psychological privacy. When an aggressive inquisitor, pushy peer, or dogmatic speaker presses for answers, the wearer looks down, gently adjusting the segmented silver finger-guard. The wearer roleplays an emotionally flat, quiet deflection, letting words slide off without resistance; the prying interrogator feels an instinctive wave of boredom, loses their train of thought, and turns their attention toward more engaging targets.
    • Offensive Applications: During debates or formal dialectical inquiries, the wearer uses Cold Dismissal as a surgical rhetorical counter. When an opponent builds a dramatic, boastful argument, the wearer points the silver knuckle and sighs quietly, releasing a pulse of cold Metal Mana. The opponent stumbles over their own momentum, stricken by a sudden sense of pointlessness and inadequacy, dissolving their presentation before an audience.
  • Crowded Urban Plazas, Guild Halls, and Royal Courts:
    • Defensive Applications: In dense cities or aristocratic functions where courtiers watch for political missteps, the wearer leans into the Still Water Shroud. By remaining silent and maintaining an unobtrusive posture, the wearer’s karmic signature drops into “low resolution.” Observers subconsciously classify the avatar as an ordinary servant, an uninteresting attendant, or mere background shadow, allowing the wearer to listen to sensitive conversations without drawing scrutiny.
    • Offensive Applications: For stealthy infiltration through fortified city gates, private estates, or guild archives, the wearer taps the Blind-Eye Obsidian to trigger Vanishing Blush. Becoming translucent and phase-blurred, the avatar walks directly past sentries, through tight checkpoints, and between sensory wards as if they were nothing more than a trick of the ambient light, repositioning deep behind enemy lines without raising an alarm.
  • Active Battlefields, War Camps, and Ambush Routes:
    • Defensive Applications: Amid the clamor of clashing steel and war cries, the wearer activates the Modest Aura and the Still Water Shroud to practice presence-erasure. While frontline combatants shout and draw weapons, the avatar moves with quiet stillness. Hostile shock troops and war beasts bypass the wearer entirely, instinctively drawn toward louder, aggressive targets. When stray magical or psychic attacks cross their path, the silver filigree absorbs the impact through the Silvered Shell, neutralizing psychic shockwaves with quiet coolness.
    • Offensive Applications: The wearer approaches combat not with passion or wrath, but with clinical, detached efficiency. By using Vanishing Blush to slip through the chaos unseen, the avatar reaches an enemy commander or arcane caster unnoticed. The wearer then executes a calculated strike or trip against the target, catching them completely unprepared because their mind had already dismissed the avatar’s existence.
  • Dense Wilderness, Treacherous Mountain Passes, and Shadow Swamps:
    • Defensive Applications: Navigating steep crags and predator-infested forests, the mantle shifts its indigo hue to mirror surrounding rock and foliage. Territorial beasts ignore the avatar because the fabric masks natural body scent with the crisp aroma of rain and silver ozone. The peripheral awareness ability allows the wearer to track approaching stalkers through physical gaze-pressure long before they pounce.
    • Offensive Applications: When cornered by territorial creatures or hostile trackers in rugged terrain, the wearer unclasps the mantle and initiates the Curtain of Taqiyya. The fabric expands into a 10-foot quiet dome that deadens all sound, heat, and magical emissions, allowing the party to set an undetectable ambush or perform tactical planning just feet away from a patrol without a single sound escaping.
  • Deathly Zones, Void Chasms, and Corrupted Mana Vaults:
    • Defensive Applications: In high-fatality zones where standard physical defenses fail and psychic pressure runs high, the wearer relies entirely on the cold lead dampeners and the obsidian void-lens. The wearer activates Segmented Isolation, sealing their consciousness inside a mental void that provides total immunity to sensory chaos, cosmic dread, and maddening ambient screams.
    • Offensive Applications: In environments saturated with unstable magical entities or psychic horrors, the wearer uses the Cold Dismissal reaction to disrupt an anomaly’s focus. By projecting an unyielding wall of silence and cold apathy, the avatar severs the creature’s psychic lock on allies, forcing the entity to lose its aggressive targeting and drift aimlessly into the void.

Perception of Activation:

User’s Perspective

  • Sight: The visual field desaturates into a muted palette of pale greys, indigo shadows, and brushed silver tones. High-contrast glares and vibrant colors smooth out, while the physical edges of the user’s hands and clothing soften into a translucent, mist-like blur.
  • Hearing: Ambient background noise, shouting, and heavy footsteps drop into a low, muffled murmur like sound passing through heavy snow or velvet drapes. In contrast, critical mechanical and spatial sounds—such as a turning latch, a bowstring drawing taut, or a breath taken in stealth—ring out with sharp, isolated clarity.
  • Touch: A dry, bracing chill spreads from the index finger through the forearm vambrace and drapes across the shoulders like a weightless, cool mist. The wearer’s skin feels smooth and frictionless, eliminating physical resistance and the heat of emotional fluster.
  • Smell: A crisp, sharp aroma of ozone, mountain rain, and cold polished silver fills the sinuses, entirely cleansing the air of sweat, dust, incense, and blood.
  • Taste: A clean, cool sensation rests upon the tongue, reminiscent of melting glacial water and dry mountain air with a faint, metallic mineral finish.
  • Extra-Sensory Perceptions:
    • Gaze-Vector Tension Sense: The user perceives the eyes and attention of nearby entities as physical lines of pressure against the skin, identifying exactly who is looking, where blind spots exist, and which paths offer zero observation.
    • Inner Stillness Tempo: The heart rate and respiratory cycle are magically regulated into a slow, mechanical rhythm, expanding perceived reaction time into a quiet, clinical headspace for detachment and calculation.
    • Taqiyya Void Sanctuary: The user experiences a profound spiritual silence; emotional outbursts, psychic screams, and empathetic pressure from others register as distant, harmless static that cannot breach the mind.
    • Karmic Resolution Dampening: The avatar senses their spiritual profile fading from the local metaphysical weave, registering to divine or extra-planar senses as an empty, unimportant space on a map.

Observer’s Perspective

  • Sight: The wearer’s silhouette smudges at the margins as a faint, chilly vapor rises from the silver plates and indigo silk. Observers looking toward the wearer find their vision sliding off to the left or right, perceiving the avatar as a dull, low-resolution background figure or empty shadow.
  • Hearing: A subtle, localized hush settles over the area; the rustle of the wearer’s silk and their footsteps become entirely inaudible, and speech from the wearer sounds distant, flat, and metallic without natural resonance.
  • Touch: The air within a five-foot radius drops slightly in temperature, accompanied by a faint, cool breeze that disperses tension and slows the pulse of those nearby.
  • Smell: A faint, refreshing scent of high-altitude rain and cool stone wafts through the space, masking body odor and organic trails.
  • Taste: Observers notice a mild, crisp dryness on the breath, calming dry throats and easing vocal agitation.
  • Extra-Sensory Perceptions:
    • Psychic Blank Space: Telepaths, empaths, and magically sensitive observers perceive the wearer as an uninteresting void, finding no emotional “hooks,” malice, or active aura to target.
    • Apathy Inducement: Hostile creatures looking directly at the wearer feel an irrational, sudden drop in engagement, experiencing an instinctive urge to look away, check their weapons, or focus on louder targets.

Positives

  • Provides potent multi-layered concealment by blending visual translucency, presence-dampening, and social disinterest without triggering magical detection alarms.
  • Grants a +2 bonus to saves against charm, fear, emotional manipulation, and psychic attacks through the silvered shell and mental void.
  • Deflects aggressive attention toward louder, prominent combatants while maintaining a +1 bonus to AC/Parry via the cold metal ward.
  • Enables non-violent tactical shutdowns through Cold Dismissal, wasting enemy turns by projecting apathy and inadequacy.
  • The Curtain of Taqiyya provides a portable, soundproof, and spiritually untraceable sanctuary for resting and clandestine planning.

Negatives

  • The wearer becomes so unobtrusive that allies may overlook them during vital tactical communications or omit them from coordinated actions.
  • The muted sensory profile makes it difficult to read fine, high-contrast script or detect organic environmental hazards such as scentless poison gas or smoke.
  • Voice-dampening and flat inflection make it nearly impossible to project charisma, rally a routing squad, or lead public negotiations while active.
  • Prolonged reliance on the isolation field can cause emotional fatigue or temporary detachment, making sincere social connection difficult.
  • The faint vapor and cold drop in air temperature can be noticed by observant trackers in completely still, enclosed environments.

Recipe: Forging the Mantle-Guard of the Aloof Veil and Serpent’s Shroud

  • Items Merged:
  • Additional Materials Needed:
    • 1 intact Tier-2 Magic Crystal (catalyst to harmonize metal-element astrology with mountain-spider silk matrices)
    • 2 spools of Mountain Spider Silk (harvested harmlessly from high mountain crags)
    • 1 spool of Moon-Drawn Silver Filigree
    • 3 oz of powdered Moonstone Dust
    • 1 oz of Tearless Silver casting pellets
    • 0.5 oz of Liquid Lead (psychic dampening agent)
    • 1 vial of Shadow-Cured Indigo Dye (fermented in complete darkness)
    • 1 vial of Tears from a Silent Hermit
    • 1 vial of Ash from a burnt Book of Law
    • 1 pint of Glacial Water (collected from an untrodden high-altitude peak)
  • Tools Required:
    • Loom of Cedar and Bone
    • Vacuum Crucible and Low-Heat Forge
    • Shadow-Lathe
    • Diamond-Tipped Micro-Stylus
    • Silver Needle and Thread Snips
    • White Hare-Fur Brush
    • Bowl of Distilled Silence
    • Soundproof and Light-Proof Isolation Chamber
  • Skill Requirements:
    • Shadow-Weaving / Tailoring: Skill Level 7
    • Metal-Element Metallurgy / Jewelry Crafting: Skill Level 7
    • Astrological Charting (Metal Snake Cycle): Skill Level 7
    • Psychic Shielding / Subdued Intent: Skill Level 7
    • Precision Gem-Setting: Skill Level 7
  • Crafting Steps:
    • Chamber Preparation and Intent Suppression: Seal the crafting artisan inside the Isolation Chamber during the dim twilight hours. Place the Bowl of Distilled Silence at the center of the workbench and enter a state of complete emotional detachment to prevent stray thoughts from warming the metal or alerting the silk.
    • Silk Cleansing and Dye Integration: Unravel the fringe of the Druze 529 shawl and bathe the added Mountain Spider Silk in the Tears from a Silent Hermit. Submerge the silk into the Shadow-Cured Indigo Dye with closed eyes, letting the fibers absorb the color entirely in the dark.
    • Loom Synthesis and Filigree Weaving: Mount the dyed silk onto the Loom of Cedar and Bone. Interweave strands of Moon-Drawn Silver Filigree through the mantle’s collar and shoulder-cap, using the silver needle to stitch asymmetrical tracks that echo an erratic, bashful pulse. Use the hare-fur brush to dust moonstone powder deep into the textile grain.
    • Vambrace Casting and Metal Alignment: In the Vacuum Crucible, melt the Tearless Silver pellets alongside the articulated body of Astrology 812 at the minimum liquid temperature. Cast seven articulated vambrace and finger segments, shaping them on the Shadow-Lathe to achieve frictionless movement.
    • Micro-Calligraphy Inscription: Using the diamond-tipped micro-stylus, engrave the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches along the inner curve of the forearm plates. Rub the burnt law-book ash into the grooves to seal the conceptual weight of objective detachment.
    • Lead Dampening and Gem Setting: Flow liquid lead into the sub-microscopic channels between the articulated silver joints. Re-mount the Blind-Eye Obsidian into the primary knuckle bezel using a tension grip, ensuring the void-stone remains isolated from direct skin contact.
    • Glacial Quenching: Submerge the completed metal segments into the pint of Glacial Water. The metal must cool instantly without boiling the fluid, releasing only a cold, scentless mist.
    • Textile-Metal Fusion: Anchor the upper segmented vambrace plate into the reinforced right shoulder-cap of the silk mantle using braided silver wire and knotted spider silk, joining the mantle and finger-guard into a single unified garment.
    • Catalyst Binding: Suspend the Tier-2 Magic Crystal above the assembly and channel a steady, quiet flow of Metal and Shadow Mana for thirty minutes. Dip the fringe of the completed mantle into the Bowl of Distilled Silence; the silver threads will emit a faint, solitary chime before fading into stillness, completing the synthesis.

Un-Looked Shroud, Cold Finger of Iron-Crawl, and General Who Lost His Anger in Sand

In the moon-cycles before the mountains learned to have sharp noses, when the sky was still an unpainted board and the earth made loud groaning noises like a tired bull, the people of the Seven-and-Seventy Basins were very noisy. Everyone had a tongue made of brass and a throat full of furnace-fire. When a man wished to buy a single dried fish, he screamed at the sky until his ears leaked red juice; when a king wished to build a hut, he set fire to twelve forests so the smoke would announce his feet.

In those sun-turns lived the Maiden-Who-Looked-Only-At-Beetles. Her mouth was small, like a needle-hole in a blanket, and her breath smelled of quiet well-water. She did not like the shouting of the brass-tongued people. When the brass-tongues spoke, her skull felt like an iron pot being beaten with a river-rock.

She walked up into the High-Mist where the mountain spiders weave their nets across the clouds. These spiders did not make nets to catch flies; they made nets to catch the quiet that falls off the stars when nobody is singing. The maiden sat upon a cold stone for nine hundred water-drops and did not move her toes. The mother-spider, seeing that the girl was softer than sheep-wool, gave her three hanks of sky-silk that had never been looked at by the sun.

The maiden said to her own shadow: “This silk is too soft. If the great wind blows, it will fly into the fire and become ash. It must have a bone of cold metal that does not weep.”

She climbed higher, to the Tooth-of-Zero-Voices, where the Great Metal Snake lay coiled around the frozen core of the sky. The Metal Snake had scales made of Tearless Silver, which does not turn black when touched by dirty grease, and its single eye was a piece of night-rock that had never held a spark.

The maiden approached the Great Snake, not with a spear or an iron song, but by looking sideways at a patch of blue moss upon the Snake’s tail. She said in a tiny murmur: “O Crawler of the Cold Math, the people below are hammering upon my eyes. Give me one joint of your iron skin so I may wrap the quiet silk around it and be forgotten.”

The Great Snake did not roar, for roaring is for creatures who fear they are small. It shed seven small finger-plates of silver and spat the Blind-Eye Obsidian into the dust. It whispered a single cold rule that made the air turn to glass, and the maiden took the metal pieces in her lap.

In a deep ditch where no echo could bounce, she worked between the dawn-fog and the dusk-grey. She used a needle made of white bone to sew the spider-silk into a mantle as wide as a mother’s lap. Along the shoulder, she braided the seven silver plates of the snake, filling the small cracks with the heavy grey lead so the garment would sit upon the flesh like a heavy winter-frost. Into the knuckle-socket, she fixed the Blind-Eye stone with three knots of silver thread.

When she placed the Mantle-Guard upon her right arm and draped the silk across her neck, the world’s noise died like an extinguished lamp. The shouting of the brass-tongued people below sounded to her like dry peas rattling inside an ox-bladder three leagues away. Her own skin became as grey as the river-slate, and when she walked, the dust did not remember the shape of her sandals.

The translation-tablets say that in those days arose the War-Lord of the Red Teeth, whose name in the broken dialect is King-Who-Eats-The-Noon. This king had sixty thousand iron-plated wagons and fifty hundred trumpets made from the horns of great sea-beasts. He marched into the valley of the maiden’s folk, shouting: “Every skull that does not shout my praise shall be cracked into three bowls, and every throat that is silent shall be fed hot river-lead!”

The brass-tongued people ran in ten directions, screaming like frightened fowl, and their screaming only made the Red King’s wagons roll faster.

The maiden in the Mantle-Guard walked down from the mist. She did not raise a sword, nor did she beat a bronze pot to challenge the host. She pulled the dark indigo silk over her brow, pointed her silver-clad index finger at the ground two paces before her feet, and stepped into the center of the charging wagons.

The lead wagon, drawn by eight horned bulls with iron hoofs, bore down upon her like a falling cliff. But as the bulls came within five paces, the driver looked at the maiden. His eyes could not find the edges of her body; to his brain, she looked like a smear of wet smoke or a patch of dull gravel. The driver blinked his heavy grease-lids and said to himself: “There is nothing in the road but the shade of a dry bush.” He pulled his left rein, and the eight bulls thundered past her, their hot breath missing her face by the width of a beetle’s wing.

The maiden walked forward through the dust-cloud, stepping over dropped spears and broken flag-poles. Whenever a soldier with a thirsty blade looked in her direction, she merely looked down at her own shoes and let the silver plates cool the blood in her arm. The soldiers looked through her ribs as if looking through a hole in a fence, their minds sliding away to look at the banners of their own captains.

She reached the great iron wagon where King-Who-Eats-The-Noon sat upon his bench of boiled hides, roaring into a brass trumpet so loudly that his spit flew like hail.

The maiden stepped onto the wagon-step. She did not draw a dagger. She tapped the Blind-Eye Obsidian upon the knuckle of her finger-guard against the rim of his great trumpet.

A cold, heavy stillness, like a bucket of well-water poured over a sleeping dog, fell upon the king’s throat.

The sound vanished from the brass horn. The king stopped his roaring. He looked at the maiden standing before him, draped in the dark spider-silk with the silver plates gleaming with cold mist. He tried to remember why he had put on his heavy iron coat that morning; he tried to remember why he had ordered sixty thousand men to smash the clay pots of the valley; he tried to remember the taste of blood that had seemed so sweet at breakfast.

Nothing came into his skull except a great, grey yawning. The war felt very long, the sun felt very hot, and his heavy iron hat felt like a sack of river-mud pressing on his neck.

The king lowered his brass horn. He looked down at his own hairy knees and said with a flat mouth: “This is all very tiresome. The dust gets between my teeth, and the shouting makes my throat scratch like dry straw.”

He climbed down from his iron wagon, sat in the sand by the roadside, and began to pick small pebbles out of the tread of his boots.

The fifty hundred trumpet-blowers looked at their king picking his shoes. They looked at the grey mist hovering over the wagon, but they could not see the maiden because the silver threads swallowed their gaze. A great boredom spread from the wagon like a cold wind through an open barn. The archers put their arrows back into their leather bags; the wagon-drivers unhitched the horned bulls to let them eat the ditch-grass; and the sixty thousand men sat upon the red dirt, wondering why they had walked so far just to stand in the sun.

The maiden walked through the sitting army, stepping carefully so as not to crush the tail of a sleeping war-lizard. She walked back toward the High-Mist, and though sixty thousand pairs of eyes were open in the field, not one man could say which road she had taken, or whether she had been a girl, an old grandmother, or merely the shadow of an eagle passing over the dust.

She lived upon the high peak until the stars finished turning their great stone wheel. When her breath finally went away into the sky, the mantle-guard remained upon the cold rock, still drinking the light and waiting for the one whose spirit is too quiet to be touched by the anger of the world.

Moral of the Story

The warrior who shouts the loudest only teaches the world how to aim the spear at his chest; but the soul that wraps itself in stillness and turns its back upon the feast of noise can disarm an entire empire by showing them the hollow weight of their own striving.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)

Mantle-Guard of the Aloof Veil and Serpent’s Shroud

  • Classification: Worn Hyper-Geometric Protective Garment (Shoulders & Forearm)
  • Sanity Loss to Bind: 1d4 Sanity points upon attuning to the metal-element void and Taqiyya dampening weave.
  • Skill Modifiers:
    • Grants a Bonus Die on Stealth and Disguise tests when attempting to blend into crowds, stay unnoticed in shadows, or appear as an insignificant bystander.
    • Grants a +10% bonus to Spot Hidden checks made unobtrusively without alerting nearby observers.
    • Imposes a Penalty Die on Charm, Persuade, and Fast Talk checks; the wearer’s detached and flat presence impedes charismatic rapport.
  • Passive Mechanics:
    • Still Water Shroud: Observers attempting to recall details of the wearer’s face, clothing, or location after an encounter must pass a Hard INT test or recall only vague, unidentifiable background details.
    • Silvered Shell: The wearer gains +10% to POW and Sanity rolls to resist psychic manipulation, mental spells, or social panic.
    • Modest Threat Profile: Hostile entities prioritize more vocal or physically aggressive targets unless the wearer takes a direct hostile action.
  • Activated Occult Powers:
    • Vanishing Blush (Cost: 2 MP): The wearer pulls the shawl close, becoming semi-translucent for 1d6 rounds. Moving past guards or through dimly lit checkpoints does not provoke notice unless physical contact is made.
    • Cold Dismissal of the Haughty (Reaction, Cost: 2 MP): When an NPC attempts a mental, psychic, or social attack against the wearer or an adjacent ally, the wearer points the silver knuckle. The target must pass a POW check or abandon the action, suffering sudden apathy and moving away.
    • Curtain of Taqiyya (Cost: 4 MP): Spreading the mantle on the ground establishes a 3-yard circular sanctuary of absolute silence and psychic occlusion lasting 1 hour. No sound or magic signature can breach the zone.

Blades in the Dark

Mantle-Guard of the Aloof Veil

  • Classification: Fine Concealment & Warding Implement (Worn Item)
  • Load: 1 Load (Worn across shoulders and arm)
  • Tier Quality: Tier II (Uncommon Fine Relic)
  • Passive Qualities & Potency:
    • Peripheral & Evasive Potency: Gain Potency on Prowl action rolls to slip past sentries or fade into crowds, and on Survey rolls made while casually observing without drawing attention.
    • Social Detachment Flaw: Take -1d when attempting to Sway or Consort through charm, enthusiasm, or leadership.
  • Special Abilities & Active Mechanics:
    • Modest Redirection (1 Stress): When an ally is about to suffer a social consequence, discovery, or targeted hostility, you execute a quiet, meek interruption. You absorb the consequence at +1d to your resistance roll, with NPCs treating you with dismissive unconcern rather than severe retaliation.
    • Vanishing Blush (Special Armor / 1 Stress): Mark your Special Armor (or spend 1 Stress) to phase into translucent background noise during an infiltration, bypassing an active checkpoint or security boundary without rolling.
    • Cold Dismissal (1 Stress): Point the silver finger-guard at a confrontation. An opposing NPC loses interest, hesitates, or drops a tense negotiation, reducing the immediate threat level of the scene by one step.
    • Curtain of Taqiyya (2 Stress): Create a stationary zone of complete silence and spectral concealment large enough for your crew to plan, rest, or hide for one operational phase.

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

Mantle-Guard of the Aloof Veil and Serpent’s Shroud

  • Item Type: Wondrous Item (Shoulders/Arm, Requires Attunement)
  • Rarity: Uncommon
  • Armor Bonus: +1 bonus to AC while worn.
  • Passive Properties:
    • Modest Threat Profile: Hostile creatures have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks to detect you while you are in dim light, cover, or crowds. In combat, an enemy must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw to deliberately target you with an attack or spell if another non-incapacitated ally is within 10 feet of you.
    • Uninterested Gaze & Silvered Shell: You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, frightened, or subjected to emotion-altering and psychic effects.
    • Detachment Penalty: You have disadvantage on Charisma (Persuasion) and Charisma (Performance) checks.
  • Charges and Active Magics:
    • The mantle-guard contains 3 charges and regains all expended charges daily at dawn.
    • Vanishing Blush (Bonus Action, 1 Charge): You become semi-translucent until the end of your next turn. During this time, your movement does not provoke opportunity attacks, you can move through spaces occupied by hostile creatures, and you are heavily obscured in dim light or crowds.
    • Cold Dismissal (Reaction, 1 Charge): When a creature within 30 feet targets you or an ally with a spell, social check, or melee attack, you point the silver finger-guard. The creature must succeed on a DC 13 Charisma saving throw or lose its target, wasting that part of its action as it is overwhelmed by apathy and disinterest.
    • Curtain of Taqiyya (Action, 1 Charge): You place the mantle on the ground, creating a 10-foot-radius sphere centered on it that lasts for 1 hour. The area is under the effects of the silence spell and cannot be targeted or detected by divination magic or sensors.

Knave (2nd Edition)

Aloof Mantle-Guard of the Receding Veil

  • Item Type: Worn Wonder (Mantle & Vambrace)
  • Item Slots: 1 Slot (Shoulders/Arm)
  • Armor Bonus: +1 Armor Defense while worn.
  • Durability: 2 Quality Points
  • Passive Qualities:
    • Still Water Shroud: While the wearer remains stationary and silent, they are invisible to creatures more than 30 feet away.
    • Threat Misdirection: Enemies always target bolder, louder allies over the wearer unless the wearer is the sole target remaining or has dealt damage to them this round.
    • Mental Ward: The wearer gains a +2 bonus on all Saves against mental spells, illusions, psychic effects, and panic.
    • Social Penalty: Reaction rolls for neutral NPCs speaking with the wearer shift one category toward “Ignore” or “Apathetic”; the wearer cannot hire henchmen while wearing the item.
  • Active Magics:
    • Vanishing Mist (3 Uses per Day): As an action, become translucent for 1 minute. You can slip past guards unnoticed and pass through thin physical barriers up to 1 foot thick (such as wooden doors or grates).
    • Cold Dismissal (3 Uses per Day): When an enemy initiates an attack or interrogation against you, expend 1 use. The target must pass a Wisdom save or cancel the action and walk away disinterested.
    • Quiet Dome (Once per Day): Lay the shawl flat to project a 10-foot circle of absolute silence and sensory dampening for 1 hour, preventing all sound and light from escaping.

Fate Core

Mantle-Guard of the Aloof Veil and Serpent’s Shroud

  • Type: Worn Extra / Stunt Array (Requires Permission: Possessing the bonded Tier-2 mantle and articulated finger-guard)
  • Aspects:
    • High Concept: Shadow-Woven Silk Mantle with Articulated Snake Vambrace
    • Trouble: Cold Detachment and Social Apathy
    • Invoked Aspect: Taqiyya Shroud and Mental Stillness
  • Stunts and Mechanics:
    • The Detached Modest Aura: Gain a +2 bonus to Stealth rolls to remain unnoticed in plain sight or fade into background noise, provided you are stationary, in dim light, or in a crowd with louder individuals.
    • Silvered Shell: You may use Stealth or Notice in place of Will when defending against mental manipulation, emotional provocation, or social stress, as the silver filigree absorbs the friction.
    • Vanishing Blush: Three times per session, spend a Fate Point (or invoke an aspect) to automatically succeed on an overcome action to slip past sentries, through guarded checkpoints, or reposition across an active zone without drawing opposition.
    • Cold Dismissal of the Haughty: Once per scene as a reaction, when an opponent initiates a social or mental attack against you or an ally in your zone, you may roll Will to defend. On a success, the attacker takes the situation aspect Overcome by Apathy with a free invocation, canceling their offensive momentum.
    • Curtain of Taqiyya: Once per session, create a zone of absolute silence and spiritual concealment lasting for a scene. Characters inside cannot be perceived or targeted from outside the zone by sound or magical awareness.
    • Apathy Compel: The GM may compel your trouble to make you remain silent and unhelpful when an ally requires passionate advocacy or leadership.

Numenera & Cypher System

Mantle-Guard of the Aloof Veil

  • Level: 4
  • Form: An indigo spider-silk mantle lined with moon-drawn silver filigree, connected to an articulated Tearless Silver forearm vambrace and an obsidian-set knuckle guard.
  • Depletion: 1 in 1d20 (Checked only upon activating Curtain of Taqiyya or emergency defensive surges)
  • Passive Modifiers:
    • Armor: Provides +1 to Armor.
    • Stealth & Peripheral Awareness: Tasks involving stealth, hiding in crowds or shadows, and unobtrusive observation are eased by two steps.
    • Mental Fortitude: Intellect defense rolls against mental influence, emotional manipulation, or sensory chaos are eased by one step.
    • Social Inability: Tasks involving public speaking, inspiring others, or commanding leadership are hindered by one step.
  • Activated Abilities:
    • Vanishing Blush (2 Intellect Points): The wearer taps the obsidian knuckle to phase into a translucent state for 1 minute. During this time, movement through guarded areas is eased by two steps, and moving past sentries does not trigger pursuit or automated detection.
    • Cold Dismissal (2 Intellect Points): As a reaction when an enemy within short range targets the wearer or a nearby ally with an attack or mental action, the wearer emits a pulse of cold Metal Mana. The target must succeed on an Intellect defense roll against difficulty 4 or abandon the action and suffer a hindering of all tasks for one round due to sudden apathy.
    • Curtain of Taqiyya (4 Intellect Points): The wearer creates an immediate-range sphere of absolute silence and sensory dampening for 1 hour. No sound or energy signatures can penetrate or escape the barrier.

Pathfinder (Second Edition)

Mantle-Guard of the Aloof Veil and Serpent’s Shroud

  • Item 5 | Abjuration, Illusion, Invested, Magical, Mental, Occult
  • Price: 150 gp (150 Silver equivalent)
  • Usage: Worn garment (shoulders and arm); Bulk: L
  • Armor Bonus: +1 item bonus to AC while worn.
  • Passive Traits:
    • The Modest Aura: You gain a +1 item bonus to Stealth checks (+2 in crowds, dim light, or when stationary). When using Stealth to Hide or Sneak, you do not require cover or concealment to initiate the action if you have taken no hostile actions this round.
    • Silvered Shell: You gain a +1 item bonus to Will saving throws against emotion, fear, and mental effects.
    • Aloof Drawback: You take a -1 item penalty to Diplomacy checks made to Make an Impression or Request, as your aura feels distant and dismissive.
  • Activate — Vanishing Blush:
    • Cost: Single Action (Illusion, Occult, Visual); Frequency: 3 times per day.
    • Effect: You pull the shawl tight, becoming Concealed even in plain sight for 1 minute or until you take a hostile action. Enemies targeting you with non-area effects must succeed at a DC 11 flat check to target you.
  • Activate — Cold Dismissal:
    • Cost: Reaction (Enchantment, Mental, Occult); Trigger: A creature within 30 feet targets you or an adjacent ally with an attack, spell, or social check.
    • Frequency: 3 times per day.
    • Effect: You release a burst of cold Metal Mana through the silver finger-guard. The triggering creature must attempt a DC 20 Will save. On a failure, its action is wasted as it is overcome by sudden apathy and loses interest; on a critical failure, it also becomes Stupefied 1 for 1 minute.
  • Activate — Curtain of Taqiyya:
    • Cost: Three Actions (Abjuration, Occult); Frequency: Once per day.
    • Effect: You lay the mantle on the ground, casting an heightened silence spell centered on the garment (10-foot emanation) for 1 hour that also prevents detection by divination or magical scrying.

Savage Worlds (Adventure Edition)

Aloof Mantle-Guard of the Serpent’s Shroud

  • Type: Enchanted Garment / Minor Relic (Shoulders & Forearm)
  • Rank: Seasoned
  • Weight: 1 lb
  • Armor/Toughness: Grants +1 Armor to the Torso and Arms.
  • Passive Modifiers:
    • Still Water Shroud: Opponents suffer a -2 penalty on Notice rolls to detect the wearer when they are stationary, in crowds, or in dim lighting. In combat, enemies must pass a Smarts roll at -2 to intentionally target the wearer if another active ally is within 3″ (6 yards).
    • Silvered Shell: The wearer gains a +2 bonus to Spirit rolls made to resist Fear, mind-affecting powers, or social Tests (such as Taunt and Intimidation).
    • Social Detachment: The wearer gains the Mean Hindrance (or suffers an additional -2 penalty to Persuasion if already possessed).
  • Arcane Features and Power Pool:
    • Contains an internal pool of 10 Power Points dedicated to its integrated enchantments (recharges at 5 points per hour).
    • Vanishing Blush (Invisibility, 2 PP): As a free action, the wearer gains the Invisibility power for 3 rounds. The effect ends early if the wearer attacks, casts a damaging power, or shouts.
    • Cold Dismissal (Sloth/Stun, 2 PP): As an immediate reaction to an enemy declaring an action against the wearer or an adjacent ally, the wearer makes an opposed Smarts roll against the target’s Spirit. On a success, the target’s action is canceled as they become Distracted and disinterested; on a Raise, the target also becomes Vulnerable.
    • Curtain of Taqiyya (Silence/Deflection, 3 PP): The wearer creates a Medium Blast Template of absolute silence and visual-thermal dampening centered on the laid-out mantle for 1 hour.

Shadowrun (Sixth World)

Mantle-Guard 734: The Aloof Shroud (Rating 2 Qi Focus / Armored Garment)

  • Item Type: Qi Focus (Rating 2) & Concealment Garment (Shoulders & Forearm)
  • Rating: 2
  • Karma Cost to Bind: 4 Karma
  • Defense Rating: +1 Defense Rating modifier while worn.
  • Passive Mechanics & Modifiers:
    • The Modest Aura: Grants a +2 dice pool bonus to all Sneaking tests when moving through crowds, low light, or cluttered terrain. Drones, autosofts, and digital visual sensors suffer a -2 dice pool penalty to acquire or track the wearer due to the silvered refractive weave.
    • Still Water Shroud: Observers performing Assensing or Matrix snooping tests against the wearer face a +1 Threshold increase; the wearer’s aura and PAN register as dull, low-priority background noise.
    • Silvered Shell: Provides a +2 dice pool bonus on all tests to resist Mana-based manipulation spells, social intimidation, or psychic intrusions.
    • Aloof Drawback: Imposes a -2 dice pool penalty to all Influence or Con tests requiring charisma, empathy, or vocal leadership.
  • Active Powers:
    • Vanishing Blush (Minor Action): The wearer spends 1 point of Edge to phase-blur their physical profile for 2 minutes. During this time, the wearer does not trigger physical weight, acoustic, or motion-based security sensors.
    • Cold Dismissal (Reaction): When an opponent targets the user or an adjacent ally within 5 meters with an attack or social confrontation, the wearer points the silver knuckle. The attacker must make a Willpower + Intuition (2) test; on a failure, the action is aborted as the target loses interest and refocuses elsewhere.
    • Curtain of Taqiyya (Major Action): Expands the mantle into a 3-meter quiet zone for 30 minutes, preventing all acoustic, thermal, and wireless broadcast traces from escaping.

Starfinder (Second Edition)

Mantle-Guard 734 of the Aloof Veil

  • Item 5 | Abjuration, Concealment, Hybrid, Tech, Visual
  • Price: 1,400 Credits
  • Usage: Worn (Shoulders and Forearm); Bulk: L
  • Armor Bonus: +1 item bonus to AC while worn.
  • Passive Properties & Modifiers:
    • The Modest Aura: Grants a +1 item bonus to Stealth checks (+2 in crowds, dim light, or when stationary). Hostile creatures suffer a -2 penalty to Perception checks to notice the wearer unless the wearer has attacked in the current encounter.
    • Silvered Shell: The wearer gains a +1 status bonus to Will saving throws against [Emotion], [Fear], and [Mental] effects.
    • Detachment Penalty: Imposes a -1 penalty to Diplomacy checks made to Gather Information or socialize, as others find the wearer’s presence distant and unengaging.
  • Activated Abilities (Capacity: 20 Charges):
    • Flicker of the Receding Edge [Reaction]: Costs 2 charges. Trigger: A creature targets you with a ranged attack while you have partial cover or concealment. Effect: You gain a +2 status bonus to AC against the triggering attack as your silhouette smudges into the background.
    • Vanishing Blush [Single Action]: Costs 4 charges. The wearer gains the Invisible condition until the end of their next turn. This effect ends immediately if the wearer makes an attack or casts a hostile spell.
    • Cold Dismissal [Reaction]: Costs 4 charges. Trigger: A creature within 30 feet targets the wearer or an adjacent ally with an attack or mental effect. Effect: The target must attempt a DC 19 Will save. On a failure, its action is canceled as it is overcome by sudden apathy and disinterest.
    • Curtain of Taqiyya [Three Actions]: Costs 6 charges. Projects a 10-foot-radius dampening field centered on the garment for 1 hour that acts as a soundproof barrier and blocks electronic scans and magical scrying.

Traveller (Mongoose Second Edition)

Aloof Shroud and Segmented Dampener 734 (TL 13)

  • Classification: Advanced Stealth Garment & Gravitic Dampener (Shoulders/Arm)
  • Tech Level: TL 13
  • Mass: 0.35 kg
  • Cost: Cr 32,000
  • Power: Internal micro-cell (30 operational hours per recharge)
  • Passive Mechanics & Sensor Profiles:
    • The Modest Sensor Profile: All visual sensors, thermal imaging, and Electronics (Sensors) checks targeting the wearer suffer a DM-2 penalty.
    • Passive Neural Dampener: The wearer gains a DM+1 to resist all Psionic assaults or telepathic probes. Psions wearing this item receive a +1 DM to Stealth (Psionic) to mask their presence from other telepaths.
    • Detachment Penalty: Imposes a DM-2 penalty on all Persuade, Carouse, and Leadership checks due to flat, unengaging vocal inflections.
  • Active Countermeasures:
    • Phase Blur (Minor Action): The wearer activates the micro-refractive field for 3 combat rounds, granting a DM+2 to Stealth and increasing the difficulty of incoming ranged attacks against them by one step.
    • Cold Dismissal Pulse (Reaction): When an NPC initiates an attack or aggressive interrogation, the wearer emits an ultra-low-frequency dampening wave. The target must pass an Average (8+) Willpower check or abort the immediate aggressive action, moving at least 2 meters away.
    • Curtain of Taqiyya (Significant Action): The wearer lays the garment flat, projecting a 3-meter acoustic-thermal bubble for 1 hour. Any check made by external observers to detect activity inside the bubble is Formidable (-6 DM).

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (Fourth Edition)

Mantle-Guard of the Aloof Veil and Serpent’s Shroud

  • Classification: Enchanted Garment / Metal-Element Talisman (Shoulders & Forearm)
  • Encumbrance: 1 (Worn)
  • Availability: Rare
  • Armor Points: +1 AP to Body and Primary Arm (Counts as soft deflection and padding).
  • Passive Qualities & Skills:
    • Still Water Shroud: The wearer gains a +10 bonus to all Stealth (Urban or Shadow) Tests. Enemies will not target the wearer if another valid friendly target has attacked or spoken loudly in the same round.
    • Icy Detachment (Silvered Shell): The wearer gains the Coolheaded Talent (or gains +5 to Willpower if already possessed) and gains a +10 bonus to Cool Tests to resist Fear, Terror, Intimidate, and psychic pressure.
    • Aloof Flaw: The wearer takes a -10 penalty to all Charm, Gossip, and Leadership Tests due to cold, flat mannerisms.
  • Active Miracles & Arcane Powers:
    • Vanishing Blush (One Action, 3 Uses per Day): The wearer wraps the mantle tight, becoming translucent for 1d10 rounds. During this time, the wearer gains the Invisible Condition while moving through dim light or cover, breaking only upon taking an offensive action.
    • Cold Dismissal (Reaction, 3 Uses per Day): When an adversary declares an attack or psychological action against the wearer or an adjacent ally, the wearer points the silver knuckle. The attacker must pass a Challenging (+0) Cool Test or suffer the Distracted Condition and cancel their action due to a sudden wave of apathy.
    • Curtain of Taqiyya (Two Actions, Once per Day): Laying the mantle upon the earth creates a 4-yard diameter zone of absolute silence and scrying occlusion lasting for 1 hour. No noise or magical trace can escape the perimeter.