Sun Reed Chime of Slumber 55

From: Hive 42 of the Bloom

This instrument is a set of five, hollow reeds of varying lengths, bound together by a single strand of Luminous Gossamer Silk. It floats gently near the avatar’s head. The chime is not played by a hand, but by the hive-mind itself. By precisely modulating the frequency of its collective hum, the Bloom causes the reeds to resonate with specific, pure tones. This transforms the general Symphonic Hum ability into a true magical lullaby, a far more effective tool for pacifying enraged creatures or putting targets into a deep, non-violent slumber. Each reed produces a different note, allowing the Bloom to create harmonies tailored to different types of creatures.

Lore The reeds that form this sacred instrument are not found in any common marsh. They grow only in one location on Saṃsāra: the Sunken Marsh of the Isle of Whispers, a place where the light of the setting sun is believed to rest and sleep before the new dawn. Over centuries, the hollow reeds growing in this marsh have absorbed the sun’s sleepy, end-of-day energy, infusing them with a natural, soporific magic. The Bloom did not harvest living reeds; it would patiently wait for a reed to complete its life cycle, turning a pale, sun-bleached gold, and then ask the spirit of the marsh for permission to take it.

After gathering five reeds of perfect tonal quality, the avatar bound them with a strand of Luminous Gossamer Silk, a material already imbued with the essence of a completed, peaceful life. The binding was not just physical, but magical, linking the five reeds into a single, harmonious instrument. The designation “55” is derived from the complex harmonic theory discovered by the hive-mind; the specific frequency that induces a peaceful trance in most sentient life is found at the 55th harmonic overtone of the Bloom’s own collective hum. This chime is the key to producing that precise, magical frequency.

The Use In its passive state, the Sun-Reed Chime floats silently near the Bloom’s head, bobbing gently as if on calm water. It acts as a subtle acoustic damper, its hollow forms seeming to absorb harsh, dissonant sounds from the environment, making the space immediately around the avatar feel more serene and quiet.

Its active use is to act as a focusing instrument for the Bloom’s Symphonic Hum ability. The avatar directs its collective hum not as a general wave of sound, but channels it through the five reeds. Each reed is naturally attuned to resonate with the consciousness of different life forms: the longest reed for beasts, the shortest for elementals, and the others for humanoids, plants, and the Flitters themselves. By modulating its hum and creating harmonies between the different reeds, the Bloom can create a “lullaby” specifically tailored to its target. The resulting sound wave does not merely compel sleep; it induces a state of profound, blissful trance, causing the target to cease all aggressive action and enter a waking dream of perfect peace.

Item Values

• Tier one stats:
  • Symphonic Hum Enhancement: The chime focuses the avatar’s innate hum. Targets of the Symphonic Hum ability have a -2 penalty on their saving throws to resist the pacifying/sleep effect.
  • Harmonic Targeting: When using the Symphonic Hum, the avatar can choose a specific creature type (Beast, Humanoid, Plant, Elemental). If the target matches that type, the penalty on their saving throw is increased to -4.
• Skills Gained:
  • Grants a +2 bonus on all Performance checks related to music or singing.
  • Grants a +1 bonus on all checks made to Calm Animals.
• Specific Slot: Weapon / Focus (This item is not held but floats near the avatar, occupying a “weapon” slot for the purpose of magical item limits).
• Cost: Priceless. The Sun-Reeds are exceptionally rare, and the chime is a unique item created by and for the Bloom. It cannot be bought or sold.
• Tags: Weapon, Focus, Instrument, Musical, Sonic, Pacifying, Non-Lethal, Sleep, Unique, Mind-Affecting, Enthralling, Herbal, Floating, Solar, Harmonic, Crowd Control, Debuff
• Appearance: A set of five hollow reeds, ranging in length from six inches to nearly two feet. They are a pale, sun-bleached golden color and are covered in faint, naturally-formed spiraling patterns. A single, glowing strand of pinkish Luminous Gossamer Silk is wrapped intricately around the reeds, binding them together in a gentle fan shape. The chime floats with a slow, gentle bobbing motion and is utterly silent until the Bloom channels its energy through it.

Enchantments

The chime’s power comes from the unique magical properties of the Sun-Reeds, which are focused and activated by the Bloom’s own innate abilities.

• Harmonic Resonance: The core enchantment lies in the physical and magical structure of the reeds. Their interiors are lined with a complex, organic crystal lattice that resonates at specific, pure frequencies. The Bloom’s collective hum acts as the driver, and the reeds function as perfect resonant cavities, transforming the broad-spectrum hum into a focused, magically potent, and incredibly pure tone that can influence other beings.
• Soporific Transduction: The magic stored within the reeds from millennia of absorbing the setting sun’s sleepy energy is released through the sound waves. The enchantment allows the sound to act as a carrier wave for this soporific magic. It bypasses physical defenses and communicates directly with a creature’s spirit or consciousness, encouraging a state of deep, peaceful trance rather than simply being a loud or distracting noise.
• Sympathetic Attunement: Each of the five reeds has a slightly different internal lattice structure, making it naturally sympathetic to the spiritual frequency of a different category of life (e.g., beasts, humanoids, elementals). This enchantment is what allows the Bloom to create tailored harmonies, focusing its lullaby on a specific type of creature for maximum effect by channeling its hum through the appropriate reeds.

Protective Aura

The Sun-Reed Chime emanates a “Protective Aura of Quiet.” This is not a physical shield but an acoustic and psychic one that extends a few feet from the Bloom’s head. The chime passively absorbs chaotic sound waves and dissonant psychic energy from its immediate environment. In its presence, sudden loud noises seem slightly muffled, and the sharp edges of panic or hysteria in nearby allies are subtly dampened before they can take full hold. It is a constant, passive aura of sonic and emotional stillness that protects the Bloom’s own meditative state and offers a small measure of peace to those nearby.

Significance

To Murmur-in-the-Pollen, the chime is the ultimate expression of its pacifist philosophy. It is a tool of de-escalation that does not stun, bind, or trick its targets, but offers them the gift of peaceful, blissful rest. It represents the avatar’s power to end a conflict not by winning it, but by making the conflict itself irrelevant. While the other gear provides defense and physical agency, the chime provides a solution that causes no harm and leaves the “aggressor” in a state of tranquility rather than defeat.

In the wider world, the chime would be a legendary artifact. Bards and musicians would consider it the most perfect instrument ever created, capable of producing tones of impossible purity. Healers and priests would see it as a holy relic, a tool that could bring peace to a tormented mind where no medicine or prayer could. To a strategist or spy, it represents a terrifyingly effective non-lethal weapon, capable of neutralizing guards or even entire barracks without raising an alarm or leaving a single mark.

Symbolism

The Sun-Reed Chime is a powerful symbol of harmony, empathy, and the importance of rest.

• Harmony over Discord: It symbolizes the power of music and harmony to overcome violence and chaos. It is a testament to the idea that a perfectly structured sound can be more potent than a perfectly forged sword.
• Empathy and Understanding: The five different reeds, each attuned to a different form of life, symbolize the need for empathy. They represent the truth that to bring peace to others, one cannot use a single, blunt approach, but must seek to understand the nature of the being they are trying to reach and communicate in a way that resonates with their spirit.
• The Power of Rest: In a world of constant struggle, reincarnation, and conflict, the chime is a symbol of the profound power of sleep, dreams, and tranquility. It champions the idea that rest is not a weakness, but a sacred state that can heal the mind and end violence.

Other Information

• The Silk Binding: The single strand of Luminous Gossamer Silk that binds the reeds is not merely functional; it is a magical conduit. It distributes the Bloom’s hummed energy evenly among the five reeds and keeps them perfectly in tune with each other and with the hive-mind’s intent. If the silk were to be severed, the chime would fall silent.
• The Final Harmony: Ancient lore surrounding the Sun-Reeds speaks of a secret “final harmony”—a complex chord created by activating all five reeds in a specific, non-intuitive sequence. The effect of this chord is unknown. Some texts speculate it can put a whole city into a dreamless sleep, while others claim it allows the user to walk through the collective dreams of all sleeping beings nearby.
• Vulnerability: The reeds, while magically resilient, are physically delicate. A powerful, direct concussive force, such as a thunder-based spell or a sonic scream, could potentially crack their fine internal structure. A cracked reed becomes “out of tune,” unable to produce its pure, magical tone, rendering the chime less effective until it can be painstakingly repaired.

Stone That Screamed and Song That Gave it Sleep

The old words tell of a time when the earth itself remembered a great pain. In the valley of the Final Battle, where a thousand souls had been sent screaming from their bodies in a single day of unjust war, a sorrow did rise up. It was not a ghost, which is the thin echo of one soul. It was a grief made of stone, a golem of agony, its body the very battlefield, hardened by rage and watered by tears that could not be shed. It had no eyes to see, but it saw only pain. It had no mouth to eat, but it fed on rage.

When it awoke, it walked. Its steps were the breaking of trees. Its voice was the grinding of boulders, the scream of a thousand sorrows at once. It walked toward the soft lands, toward the villages of the living.

Men with sharp metal and brave hearts came to fight it. Their strikes were like rain upon a mountain. The stone did not feel them. The shouts of the warriors, their courage and their anger, were like food for the creature. Its screaming became louder, its walking faster. The more it was fought, the stronger its pain became.

The Many-Winged Peace, the avatar Murmur-in-the-Pollen, felt this great wound in the world. The scream of the stone was a sharp noise in the harmony of its forest. It glided to the edge of the valley and saw the men failing. It saw their sharp metal breaking, and their brave hearts filling with fear. It did not see a monster to be killed. It saw a great and terrible weeping that had taken the shape of a walking mountain.

The Bloom floated forward. It did not prepare a strike with its vine-hands. It did not ready a flash of light from its crystal. These were tools for a different kind of trouble. This was a trouble of the heart, a heart made of stone.

It took up its sleep-bringer, the Chime of Sun-Reeds. As the great stone creature turned its un-seeing face toward the Bloom and bellowed its sorrow, the avatar began its work. It did not make a song of fighting. It did not make a sound of command. It made a song of rest, the kind a mother makes for a small child who has had a bad dream. The hum of the thousand Flitters flowed through the five reeds, a harmony made not to push back, but to hold.

The song-wind touched the stone. At first, the creature did not stop. But the song was not a challenge. It did not fight the stone’s screaming. It went beneath it. It was a cool hand on a hot fever. The screaming inside the stone began to falter, like a man who has forgotten the words to his angry speech. The walking of the stone became a slow kneeling. The anger, which had no enemy to fight in the gentle music, found its ending.

The Grief-Made-Stone came to a halt before the floating avatar. It knelt, then it leaned, then it lay down upon the earth with a great sigh that shook the ground. And it did not die. It did find sleep. A sleep of a thousand years, a rest it had been denied for so long.

Over the seasons, the green things grew upon the sleeping stone. Moss covered its hard edges. Flowers grew in the cracks of its body. The Grief-Made-Stone became the Sleeping Hill, a place of profound quiet, its great sorrow finally at peace, lulled to rest not by a sword, but by a song.

Moral: A loud noise may startle the beast, but a soft song will grant it rest.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu

The Reeds of Hypnos

A strange musical instrument consisting of five pale, golden reeds bound by a single, shimmering thread. It is a Mythos Artifact that produces a series of pure, harmonious tones that can bypass conscious thought and directly affect a listener’s mind. The music it creates is unnervingly beautiful and profoundly soporific.

• Game Mechanics: To use the reeds, an investigator must succeed on a Hard Art/Craft (Musical Instrument) roll.
  • Soothing Melody: On a success, the investigator can target a single living creature who can hear the music. The target must succeed on a POW vs POW roll against the investigator. If the target fails, they become completely passive and docile for 1d10 minutes, unwilling to engage in violence unless attacked.
  • Lullaby of the Dreamlands: The investigator can attempt a more powerful song. This requires a Pushed skill roll. If successful, the target fails their POW vs POW roll, they fall into a deep, trance-like slumber for one hour. When they awaken, they have no memory of the time they were asleep.
  • The Price of Alien Music: Successfully playing the reeds is mentally taxing. Using the Soothing Melody ability costs the player 1 Sanity point. Using the Lullaby of the Dreamlands costs 1d3 Sanity points. Fumbling the Art/Craft roll may cause the investigator themself to be affected by the song, or it may attract the attention of a creature from the Dreamlands.

Blades in the Dark

The Hush-Pipe

An artifact from the time before the cataclysm, this set of five hollow reeds is bound by ghost-silk. When played, it creates a sound that quiets both the air and the soul. It is a prized tool for cultists, spies, and socialites who prefer non-violent solutions. It is a Worn or Hand item.

• Game Mechanics:
  • Musical Influence: You can use the Hush-Pipe to Sway or Command a target using your Attune skill instead of a social one. The music bypasses language and speaks directly to the target’s spirit.
  • Lullaby (2 Stress): You can spend 2 Stress to play a targeted lullaby. Choose one NPC or a small group of similar, weak NPCs (like a handful of street thugs). They fall into a peaceful, oblivious slumber that lasts until a loud noise or physical disturbance wakes them. This is a noticeable action; anyone nearby will see and hear you playing the instrument.
  • Ghost Song: When you Attune to the ghost field while playing the pipe to understand or pacify a spirit, you may gain potency for that action.

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

Chime of the Slumbering Song Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement)

This magical instrument consists of five sun-bleached reeds of varying lengths, bound by a glowing silken thread. It floats gently beside your head and produces a melody when you channel your will into it.

• Game Mechanics:
  • You can use this chime as a spellcasting focus.
  • The chime has 10 charges and regains 1d6 + 4 expended charges daily at dawn. As an action, you can expend one or more charges to produce one of the following effects:
    • Soothing Song (1 Charge): You target one creature you can see within 60 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or be affected by the suggestion spell. Your suggestion must be a non-violent course of action (e.g., “This fight is futile; you should lay down your weapon and reconsider your choices.”).
    • Song of Slumber (3 Charges): You target one creature you can see within 60 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or fall unconscious for 1 minute. This works on any creature, regardless of its current hit points. The effect ends if the target takes damage or if someone uses an action to shake or slap it awake.
  • Harmonic Attunement: When you use either of the chime’s properties, you may choose one of the following creature types: Beast, Elemental, Humanoid, or Plant. If your target is of the chosen type, it makes its saving throw with disadvantage.

Knave (2nd Edition)

Slumber-Reeds Instrument, 1 Slot

A set of five, pale-golden reeds bound together. They float near your head and can be played without hands by humming at specific frequencies.

• Game Mechanics:
  • Soothing Song (3 uses per day): As an action, you can play a melody targeting a single living creature. The target must make a Willpower save. If they fail, they become completely passive. They will not attack or take any hostile action for 10 minutes unless they are harmed.
  • Song of Slumber (1 use per day): As an action, you can play a deep lullaby targeting a single living creature. The target must make a Willpower save with a disadvantage. On a failure, they fall into a deep magical sleep for one hour. They can only be woken if they take damage.
  • Beast-Song: When you use either of the Slumber-Reeds’ abilities on a creature with the “Beast” tag, they always make their Willpower save with a disadvantage.

Fate Core System

Chime of Solar Respite

This instrument is a key character Extra, representing the avatar’s ability to impose peace through harmony. It is a narrative tool that allows for non-violent resolutions to conflicts.

• Name: The Chime of Solar Respite
• Description: A set of five sun-bleached reeds, bound by glowing silk, that float near your head and channel your will into a magical song.
• Game Mechanics:
  • Stunt – Song of Slumber: Because you possess the Chime of Solar Respite, you can use your Rapport skill to make a non-violent mental “attack.” When you succeed on an Overcome action with Rapport against a target’s Will, you can choose to place a temporary Aspect on them like Lost in a Waking Dream or Peacefully Drowsy instead of achieving another goal. If you succeed with style, you gain one free invocation on that Aspect.
  • Stunt – Harmonic Attunement: When you use the Song of Slumber stunt against a creature of nature (a beast, a plant-monster, a nature spirit), you may spend a Fate Point to declare that your song is perfectly attuned to them. This allows you to place the Aspect on them automatically, without needing to roll.

Numenera & Cypher System

Soporific Resonance Emitter

This artifact consists of five hollow, golden reeds held together by a shimmering, energized filament. They float near the user’s head, responding to their focused thoughts by emitting specific, pure harmonic frequencies that are deeply calming to most biological life forms.

• Level: 1d6 + 3
• Form: A set of five reeds that float near the user’s head.
• Effect (Active): As an action, the user can activate the artifact to emit a low, pleasant hum. All living creatures chosen by the user within short range find the difficulty of all tasks related to peaceful social interaction (persuasion, calming others) is eased by one step for the next minute.
• Effect (Active): As an action, the user can focus the artifact’s hum on a single living creature within short range. The target must succeed on a Level 4 Intellect defense roll or fall into a light, peaceful sleep for one minute. The sleep ends if the creature takes damage or is vigorously shaken awake.
• Depletion: 1 in 1d20. (The GM should have the player roll for depletion each time an active effect is used).

Pathfinder (2nd Edition)

Sun-Reed Lullaby Chime | Item 9 Rare, Auditory, Enchantment, Primal, Sleep Price 650 gp Usage worn (floats near head); Bulk —

This instrument is composed of five sun-bleached reeds tied with glowing silk that float in a gentle orbit around your head. By focusing your will, you can cause them to resonate with a magically potent lullaby.

• Game Mechanics:
  • Activate [two-actions] (concentrate, manipulate) Frequency once per 10 minutes; Effect You create a magical lullaby targeting one creature you can see within 60 feet. The target must attempt a DC 25 Will save to resist the effect.
    • Critical Success The creature is unaffected.
    • Success The creature is Slowed 1 for 1 round as it fights off a wave of drowsiness.
    • Failure The creature falls unconscious for 1 minute.
    • Critical Failure The creature falls unconscious for 10 minutes.
  • This magical slumber lasts until the duration expires or the creature takes damage. Waking the creature is an Interact action.
  • Harmonic Targeting: When you Activate the chime, you can choose one of the following creature types: animal, beast, fey, or plant. If the target has that trait, it takes a –2 circumstance penalty to its Will save.

Savage Worlds Adventure Edition (SWADE)

The Dream-Chime

A magical artifact consisting of five hollow reeds that float gently near the bearer. The chime responds to the user’s hum, transforming it into a powerful tool for peace.

• Game Mechanics:
  • Power: The bearer of the Dream-Chime has access to the Slumber power and has 15 Power Points that can only be used for this power. They are considered to have an arcane skill of d8 for activating it.
  • Harmonic Lullaby (Special Rule): When casting Slumber, the user can choose to target a single creature instead of using the Medium Burst Template. If they do, the target resists with their Spirit roll at a –2 penalty. This does not apply if the target is already immune to the power.
  • Soothing Song (Once per encounter): As an action, the user can make a Performance roll. On a success, all allies within 10″ who can hear the song (including the user) may immediately attempt a free Spirit roll to recover from being Shaken. On a raise on the Performance roll, the Spirit roll is made at a +2 bonus.

Shadowrun, Sixth World

Aria Chime

A highly sophisticated magical focus, or possibly a piece of bizarre bio-tech from a boutique corp like Evo. It manifests as a set of five golden, reed-like constructs that float in a gentle orbit around the user’s head. It is a powerful non-lethal tool for infiltration and extraction specialists.

• Type: Power Focus (Rating 4)
• Effects: The Aria Chime can transform the user’s will into a potent, soporific melody.
  • Lullaby: As a Major Action, the user can target a single living creature within their line of sight. This is a Sorcery + Magic [Mental] test, resisted by the target’s Body + Willpower. If the user achieves more net hits, the target falls into a light, magically-induced sleep and is considered Unaware. The sleep lasts for a number of Combat Rounds equal to the net hits scored. The sleeper will awaken if they take damage.
  • Harmonic Attunement: When using the Lullaby ability, the user may choose to attune the song to a specific metatype (e.g., Elf, Ork, Troll) or creature type (e.g., Hell Hound). When targeting a creature of the chosen type, the user gains a +2 dice pool bonus to their Sorcery test.
  • Constant Hum: The chime emits a constant, low hum that is audible to microphones and creatures with enhanced hearing, imposing a -2 dice pool penalty on the user’s Stealth tests.

Starfinder

The Slumber-Song Emitter | Level 9 Price 12,500 credits Type Worn Magic Item; Bulk L

This device consists of five golden, flute-like rods held in a delicate harness that allows them to float near the user’s head. By channeling their will through the device, the user can generate a sonic frequency that pacifies or induces sleep in living creatures.

• Game Mechanics:
  • Slot: — (floats near head)
  • This device has 10 charges, which are fully restored each day. As a standard action, you can expend charges to activate one of the following abilities:
    • Pacifying Note (1 Charge): Target one living creature within 60 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 16 Will save or become fascinated for 1d4 rounds.
    • Song of Slumber (2 Charges): Target one living creature within 60 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 16 Will save or fall asleep for 1 minute. The sleep condition ends if the creature takes damage or if another creature uses a standard action to shake it awake.
    • Harmonic Wave (4 Charges): All living creatures in a 20-foot-radius burst centered on a point within 60 feet must make a DC 16 Will save. On a failure, they fall asleep for 1 round.

Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition)

Lullian-Wave Projector

A sophisticated, non-lethal sonic device of corporate or military design. The projector itself is a small, hand-held unit, which, when activated, deploys five small drones that hover around it. The drones emit a complex, low-frequency sonic wave designed to disrupt a target’s brain activity, inducing lethargy or unconsciousness.

• Tech Level: 13
• Legality: Restricted (Legality 10)
• Effect: The device targets a single individual within 30 meters. It has two settings. Using either setting is a significant action.
  • Pacification Setting: The target must make an Average (8+) Endurance check. On a failure, they are overcome with extreme drowsiness and confusion. They suffer one Bane die on all skill checks for 1d6 rounds.
  • Slumber Setting: This setting requires precise tuning to a target’s biological rhythms. The user must first succeed on an Average (8+) Electronics (sensors) check. If successful, the target must then make a Difficult (10+) Endurance check. On a failure, the target falls into a deep sleep for 1d6 minutes or until physically woken. Failure on the initial Electronics check means the device has no effect on the target.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (4th Edition)

Chime of the Dreamer’s Glade

A magical artifact of Elven make, this instrument is a set of five flawless, hollow reeds of a pale golden wood, bound by a shimmering silk thread. It floats near its bearer and responds to their hummed notes, transforming them into a potent magical lullaby capable of pacifying the most savage of beasts.

• Type: Magical Artefact
• Effects: The bearer must have the Play (Flute) or Entertain (Sing) skill to use the chime.
  • Song of Slumber: As a full Action, the bearer can make a Challenging (+0) Play Test targeting a single living creature within 8 yards. The target must make an Opposed Cool Test against the result of the bearer’s Play Test. If the target fails, they fall into a magical slumber and gain the Unconscious Condition for a number of rounds equal to the SL of their failed Test. Taking any Wounds immediately awakens the target.
  • Harmony of Kin: When playing the Song of Slumber, the bearer may choose a specific category of creature: Animals, Elves, or Men. If the target belongs to that category, they suffer a -10 penalty to their Opposed Cool Test, as the music is perfectly attuned to their spirit.
  • A Thing of Peace: A character cannot learn or cast spells from the Lore of Fire while attuned to this peaceful artifact.