Jinn 073 of the Ink Seared Quill

Lore: In the shadowed script halls of Kharrim’s Third Vault, scholars tell of a nameless scribe whose calligraphy once sang. This scribe, said to have transcribed secrets meant for no mortal tongue, bound their fingers with a burned feather taken from a jinn made of smokeless flame and forgotten oaths. The quill never wrote lies, but each truth it carved scorched parchment and memory alike. Since then, a few replicas have been forged—never truly identical, but still bearing the faint essence of the original jinn’s pact: truth shall burn, but never fade.

Description: A narrow bronze pen-stylus, tarnished black and warm to the touch. Its nib flickers faintly in silence, emitting tiny curls of ash when held above ink. When in use, it leaves behind black-red script that smells of cinders and incense. When unused, the stylus sometimes twitches, as if eager to write.

Detailed Stats (Tier 1, Common):

Weight: Negligible
Material: Etched bronze, ash-quartz core, infused with jinn-flame memory
Durability: Moderate (resists wear, fragile to ice or psychic feedback)
Attunement: Passive; activates upon sustained use in writing or scribing (no ritual needed)
Slot: Held Item (Tool) — Stylus/Quill

Passive Magic Abilities:

Ashen Truth – Any writing done with this item is immune to mundane smudging, aging, or alteration.
Smokeless Recall – The user may recall any text they have written with the quill, even if lost or destroyed.
Flickering Insight – Once per short rest, when writing about a puzzle, historical event, or research topic, the user gains advantage (or +2 depending on system) on a related Intelligence check.

Activable Magic Abilities:

Fire-Truth Brand (1/day):
When used to sign or scribe a name or statement, the inscription glows faintly. For the next 10 minutes, anyone reading it must succeed on a Wisdom/Resolve save or feel compelled to speak truthfully on related topics.
Range: 15 ft aura around the writing
Duration: 10 minutes
Effect ends early if writing is destroyed
Writ of Ward (2/day):
By writing a protective glyph on an object or doorway (takes 1 minute), the object gains minor protection:
• +1 AC or resistance to first magical or physical strike
• Faint light visible only to the writer and entities of the spirit realm
Duration: 1 hour or until triggered

Tags: Held Item, Tool, Arcane, Fire Magic, Truthbinding, Writing, Scribe-Focused, Jinn-Bound, Memory-Linked, Scholar’s Instrument, Truth-Touched, Runic-Inked, Memory-Echo, Fire-Etched, Cinder-Glyph, Lorekeeper’s Favor, Inkbound, Searing Insight, Smokeless Essence, Scripture-Conduit

Where and How the Jinn 073 of the Ink-Seared Quill is Bought and Sold in Saṃsāra:

1. Ashvault Collegium Curio (Umberline District, Ikarra)
A sublevel of the Ikarra Scholastic Archives, reserved for relics too controversial or too reactive for display.

Type of Shop: Academic Relic Registry, semi-public access with academic permit.
Purchase Method: Requires letter of intent, proof of literacy-based profession, and endorsement by a Guilded Scribe or Professor of Lore.
Cost: 125 gp or 1 certified recovered transcript of unknown origin (tier 1 or above).
Notes: They wrap the item in sealed ash-silk. Refusal to declare a use-case may result in denial.

2. The Emberturn Cart (Floating Caravan, Dunes of Rhovaz)
A wandering merchant cart drawn by fire-eaters and protected by warded ceramic jugs. They specialize in spirit-bound writing tools and glyphborne parchment.

Type of Shop: Itinerant magical scriptorium stall
Purchase Method: Direct barter; most often exchanged for 3 vials of spirit-ink, a fire-resistant scrollcase, or equivalent in coin (approx. 80 gp).
Cost: Variable (60–100 gp depending on emberflow market tides)
Notes: The cart only appears during the stillest heat of day, and never stays more than 77 minutes in any one location.

3. House of Whispers (Vaultlane, Terszhan City)
A muted interior shop run by vow-silent archivists. All transactions occur through written slate.

Type of Shop: Restricted-access antiquities dealer specializing in jinncraft and forbidden written devices.
Purchase Method: Buyer must copy a sacred or encoded text using an in-house stylus to prove compatibility.
Cost: 95 gp or 1 secret not yet known to the Archivum Codex (assessed by a “Bound Page”).
Notes: The stylus is only offered to those “who still value silence over speed.”

4. Scholar’s Reliquary (University Quarter, Sannebrae)
A formalized shop licensed by the Archive of States, offering magical instruments with documented origins and educational use clauses.

Type of Shop: Government-regulated arcane outfitter for students, researchers, and permitted adventuring scholars.
Purchase Method: Proof of current enrollment, faculty sponsorship, or payment of import bond.
Cost: Fixed 100 gp, tax-deductible under the Ministry of Learning.
Notes: May be paired with limited-edition ash-ink refills or scribal bracers.

5. Inkwake Hollow (Deepstream Ruins, subterranean alcove market)
A hidden market below the drowned libraries of an old city, accessible only during moonless tides.

Type of Shop: Black-market exchange for relics tied to memory, writing, or echo-based magics.
Purchase Method: Trade in written lore stolen from forgotten languages or cursed grammars.
Cost: 1 fragment of cursed script, 1 sealed thought-vial, or 120 gp.
Notes: The quill is considered “too clean” by the deeper dwellers and may be altered before sale.

Each shop reflects the quill’s reverence for recorded truth, its connection to flame-born spirits, and the subtle, often exclusive networks where jinn-linked tools are permitted or understood.

Roleplay Use of Jinn 073 of the Ink-Seared Quill in Different Environments
Tier 1 Avatar, Common Rarity, Roleplay Emphasis: Truth-Seeking, Scholarship, or Lorecraft

Urban/Academic Environment (Libraries, Halls of Law, Archives)

Defense Roleplay:

The user may write protective glyphs discreetly into margin notes, shielding books or scrolls from theft or tampering. A “Writ of Ward” drawn on a doorframe may glow faintly when a lie is spoken nearby, subtly warning the scholar or guards.
When interrogated or challenged, the user may activate the Fire-Truth Brand by signing a statement of fact; anyone reading it risks exposure through compelled honesty, diffusing deceit-based threats.

Offense Roleplay:

The user could weaponize bureaucracy—leaving cursed contracts with embedded truths that unravel liars’ influence or provoke rivals into confession.
A scholar duel may involve scribe-dueling: drawing glyphs in rapid succession on shared parchment to bind or expose the other’s hidden histories.

Wilderness or Exploration Settings (Ruins, Caves, Forgotten Roads)

Defense Roleplay:

The stylus may scribe wards on stone or debris, delaying cave-ins or repelling weak spirits who fear written truths.
The “Smokeless Recall” allows instant memory of earlier maps, diagrams, or ancient text when disoriented—protecting the group from becoming lost or repeating hazards.

Offense Roleplay:

Writing a hostile inscription in ash-ink on a ruin wall may provoke ancient guardians or reveal concealed curses, forcing hostile reactions into the open where they can be countered or outmaneuvered.
In combat-lite encounters, the quill could be used to draw a truth-sigil in midair (visible to jinn or similar beings), blinding or stalling them briefly as they must pause to read and reckon with its embedded command.

Political or Social Arenas (Courts, Councils, Banquets, Bazaars)

Defense Roleplay:

Writing public statements that compel truthfulness becomes a form of social armor. A short letter bearing the user’s mark might prevent a noble’s lie from gaining traction in council, safeguarding both reputation and allies.
By placing a “truth-burn” glyph under a speaking lectern, the user can expose hypocrisy without needing to speak aloud.

Offense Roleplay:

Exposing secrets or false treaties with preserved copies of long-hidden documents written by the quill. The text’s immutability makes it a feared political weapon—irrefutable when its origin is confirmed.
Creating public inscriptions with veiled confessions, written during a gathering, forces corrupt actors to react, misstep, or flee.

Magical, Spiritual, or Jinn-Attuned Zones (Altars, Efreeti-Scarred Lands, Forgotten Sanctums)

Defense Roleplay:

The ring allows respectful dialogue with ancient presences. By writing prayers or offerings in ash-script on sacred stones, the user can avoid spiritual confrontation or be granted safe passage.
Protective glyphs written in precise lines around a campsite can repel lesser spirits that cannot bear to cross truth-infused fire-markings.

Offense Roleplay:

When confronting jinn or truth-bound entities, the stylus can write their true name (if known) as a binding act, momentarily weakening or silencing them.
The scholar may etch sigils in flame-ink into paper birds or banners that explode with radiant force when their deception-sensitive wards are tripped.

Dungeon, Siege, or Combat-Adjacent Scenarios

Defense Roleplay:

In moments of desperation, scribbling a protective truth (e.g., “I shall not fall today”) activates subtle jinn magic—buying the scholar a round of protection from collapsing rooms or shattering barriers.
A sudden “Writ of Ward” scribbled onto a companion’s armor or weapon might absorb a strike or reflect a deception-based charm.

Offense Roleplay:

Graffitiing burning truth-statements on walls behind retreating enemies can force hesitation or trigger magical collapse (if the structure reacts to truth-binding).
A final statement written mid-battle—naming a foe’s past crime or ancestral betrayal—may distract, dishearten, or provoke enemies with supernatural weight.

In all environments, the Ink-Seared Quill is not a weapon of brute force, but a tool of symbolic violence, intellectual defense, and spiritual pressure—its strength lies in truth as invocation, script as defense, and fire as consequence.

Perception of Activation:

User’s Perspective

Sight:
The bronze stylus’s nib ignites in a faint, ember-red shimmer, casting tiny motes of ash downward in a slow, spiraling fall. As it writes, each letter glows momentarily in searing black-red script before cooling into permanence. When paused mid-sentence, the quill trembles subtly, as if hungering to finish the thought.

Sound:
No distinct sound is heard, but there is a gentle crackling beneath the threshold of speech, like the memory of flame. When writing a known truth, the ambient silence deepens, absorbing noise around the user. If a lie is attempted, the stylus emits a sharp hiss and flicks ash from its tip.

Touch:
Warm to the point of discomfort, but not burning. The stylus vibrates faintly as it moves, guiding the hand rather than following it. When inscribing a name or vow, a resonant pulse travels up the wrist, like a heartbeat echoing through a skeletal frame.

Smell:
The air fills with the scent of scorched parchment, resin incense, and sun-dried inkstones. Writing near lies or deception produces a sour, metallic tang that hangs in the throat.

Taste:
A dry, acrid flavor coats the tongue while the stylus is in motion—like smoke clinging to old vellum. When invoking magical effects, the mouth briefly tastes of charred oak and hot iron.

Extra-Sensory Perceptions:

Truth-Trace Pulse: While writing verifiable facts, the user gains a hazy awareness of nearby falsehoods—conversations feel distant or hollow when touched by deception.
Ink-Embedded Memory: The user receives flashes of echoed emotions embedded in what is written—fear behind confessions, joy in names, rage in recorded crimes.
Ashward Awareness: If the stylus is actively writing a statement related to a person or entity within 30 feet, the user feels the subject’s presence tug faintly toward the quill—even through walls.

Positives:

Heightens sensory immersion and sharpens memory during written focus.
Writing becomes ritualistically precise—allowing the user to record truths with permanent, unalterable clarity.
Can function as an early warning system against deception or spiritual unrest.

Negatives:

Writing while overwhelmed may imprint unwanted thoughts into the text.
Extended use induces fingertip burns and hallucinations of whispered names if not periodically cooled.
The stylus twitches when idle—difficult to conceal or silence in spiritually charged or oppressive zones.

Observer’s Perspective

Sight:
Viewers see a faint flicker at the stylus tip—like a coal’s last glow before wind catches it. Ash curls drop in impossible slow-motion with each stroke, and words trail behind in red-black ink that briefly glows. Those attuned to magic may see spectral jinn-script shimmer faintly in the air for a heartbeat.

Sound:
To outsiders, the room becomes unusually quiet when the stylus is active. Nearby speech sounds muffled or overly crisp. A faint rhythmic scratching accompanies each letter, though it doesn’t match the user’s movement precisely.

Touch (if close):
Observers near the user may feel a dry, static warmth in the air—particularly when standing behind them. If watching during activation, some feel an odd weight settle in their chest, as if a silent witness were present.

Smell:
The scent of burned ink and temple incense becomes unmistakable—faint at first, but gradually more pronounced with continued use. If a lie is countered or erased, a whiff of sulfur or scorched hair may rise.

Extra-Sensory Perceptions:

Spiritually sensitive observers may sense a low-level pressure building in the room, like standing near ancient, watchful eyes.
The writing glows faintly to those with aura sight, marked by fire-red resonance around truth-laden lines.
If the observer has ever lied to the user, they may feel mild nausea or guilt while watching them write.

Positives:

Inspires reverence, focus, or silence from those nearby—often considered a sign of sanctity or feared arcane literacy.
May confer indirect protection—some creatures and spirits refuse to interrupt one who writes with “truth-fire.”

Negatives:

Can attract attention from beings sensitive to truth, flame, or oathbinding.
Those in the presence of the stylus too long may find their own lies harder to maintain or remember.

The Jinn 073 of the Ink-Seared Quill does not simply record. It reveals, listens, and sometimes judges—making it as much a ritual act of invocation as a tool of scholarship.

Crafting Recipe: Flame-Binding of the Ink-Seared Quill
“To write with the breath of jinn is to mark the truth so it never cools.” — Attributed to Scribe-Anchoret Ghufraan, Third Era

Materials Needed

Ash-Hollowed Bronze Sliver (1)
• A length of ritual bronze, alloyed with cinder-salt and fire-sanded until porous.
• Must be drawn from a brazier extinguished by silence (no chant, no wind).
Smokeless Ember Core (1 fragment)
• Taken from a jinn-bound censer or recovered from sacred fire used in oath-forging rites.
• Stores essence of intention, not heat.
Feather of a Wordless Bird (1)
• Must be harvested from a bird that has never cried—often sourced from dusk-doves or stillborn crows.
• Burned and crushed into memory ash for the binding ink.
Seared Resin Ink (1 vial)
• Mixture of scorched myrrh, black thistle sap, and bone-char.
• When mixed correctly, glows faintly when exposed to known truths.
Memory-Parchment Shard (1 fragment)
• A corner of a scroll, diary, or writ that was never completed—abandoned before a final word.
• Must still bear emotional imprint (regret, yearning, secrecy).

Tools Required

Quillsmith’s Ember-Spindle
• A fireproof clamp that holds the stylus shape steady during soul-binding exposure.
Truth-Sieve Crucible
• Used to separate false ash from the final binding powder. Etched with glyphs for “Silence,” “Memory,” and “Flame.”
Scribe’s Needle-Brush
• Bone-handled brush used for detailing runes across the stylus, one stroke per breath.
Incantation Brazier (non-vocal)
• Braziers heated by gesture or thought-sign only. No vocal spells permitted within ten feet during crafting.

Skill Requirements

Arcane Toolcraft (Rank 1)
To inscribe micro-runes into the stylus shaft without triggering latent heat flare.
Occult Lore (Rank 2)
For decoding the proper symbolic order of the ash glyphs, matching the jinn’s elemental lineage.
Calligraphy or Scribing (Rank 1)
Required to test and calibrate the quill’s ash-flow using fire-reactive ink on soul-sensitive parchment.
Jinn Sympathy (Rank 1)
To properly offer stillness, oath-respect, and flame alignment, so the ember core accepts the housing.

Crafting Steps

Shape the Bronze Spine
Heat the Ash-Hollowed Bronze Sliver until it reaches ember-balance (glow without smoke). Twist it gently into stylus form using the Ember-Spindle. Cool it in silence—if the metal hisses, restart with new bronze.
Bind the Ember Core
Place the Smokeless Ember Core into the stylus tip. Secure with a drop of Seared Resin Ink while meditating on an unspeakable truth. The quill should tremble once as the jinn’s breath anchors.
Mix the Feather Ash and Parchment Fragment
Grind the Feather of a Wordless Bird into dust, then blend with a shredded corner of the Memory-Parchment. Add a single drop of your own ink (used in personal writing). Let it rest atop the Truth-Sieve Crucible until fully dried.
Etch the Runic Circuit
Using the Needle-Brush, inscribe a ring of three glyphs near the base of the quill: “Flame Keeps Memory,” “Oath Burns Bright,” and “Silence Hears All.” Each glyph must be written in a single breath without hesitation.
Awakening Rite
Hold the stylus over parchment and write your true name, followed by one secret no one else knows. If the ink burns red and the stylus does not cool for one hour, the bond is complete. If it remains cold, the jinn has refused you.

Crafting Time Estimate

• Preparation: 2–3 hours
• Assembly & Binding: 4 hours
• Rituals & Testing: 2 hours
Total Time: ~9 hours, not including material gathering or jinn acceptance delays.

Failure Risks

Speaking aloud during any stage may fracture the ember core, causing the stylus to sear falsehood into all future writings.
If the runes are etched out of order, the quill writes only what others believe to be true, not what is.
A misbound stylus may whisper the scribe’s secrets when left unattended.

A properly crafted Ink-Seared Quill will not just serve as a writing tool—but as a silent confessor, spirit filter, and record of flame-tempered truth, trusted by archivists and feared by deceivers.

Ember-Scratch and One Who Couldn’t Forget
(translated most poorly from the ash-bound tongue, itself once scribed in the breathless glyph of flame-sung peoples now vanished…)

In the age before lanterns drank smoke and before ink knew to dry, there lived one called No-Name-Was-His. He walked with scrolls upon his back, not rolled, not sealed, but fluttered like wings too weary to lift. His fingers, crooked with silence, bore always a stylus—not metal, not wood, but bronze-ash, warm always, like the last sigh of a dying brazier.

He came from the Place-Where-Memory-Waits, where stones hum and words scratch themselves into the air. And he wrote, yes, he wrote upon wind, upon dust, upon dreams that forgot their sleepers.

The stylus—ah yes—the stylus, that was not his, not truly. It had once belonged to a jinn who burned with no name and slept under the bones of forgotten oaths. That jinn, called sometimes Ash-That-Speaks, had melted the truth from liars’ tongues and sealed it into bronze whispers. One day, No-Name-Was-His dared pluck the stylus from a cairn that glowed only when truth died nearby.

From then on, he could not lie, nor ignore truth, nor remain unknowing of any mark he made. What he wrote became as binding as oath and as sharp as cut stone. Villagers feared him, kings bribed him, and ghosts followed him just to hear their truths scribed into form.

One story tells of the Day of Smokefall, when seven towers collapsed because their architects’ names were scribed on the wind in the true order of their deceptions. Another speaks of the Prince-Who-Knelt, who demanded his own title etched with the stylus to prove his glory—but the stylus refused, igniting in flame until only a single word remained: thief.

In the final days, No-Name-Was-His walked into the Library-Beneath-The-Ruins, where pages fluttered like fireflies and ink ran uphill. He wrote one last line, though no one knows what it was. The stylus screamed, they say, and then sighed, and then turned cold for the first and only time.

Since that day, no other quill has ever burned the truth into air as his did. Some say it waits still, twitching in the hand of a new scribe, listening for silence, hungering for lies.

Moral of the story: He who writes with flame must first burn away his own shadow.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Game System: Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)
Item Name: Jinn 073 of the Ink-Seared Quill

Type: Mythos Artifact
Rarity: Common (among occult scholars)
Slot: Held (Stylus)
Sanity Cost: 1D2 when first used; 0 for further use unless used to record forbidden truths (then 1D6)
Magic Points: 1 per activation
Skills Affected: Occult, Language (Own), Language (Other), Cthulhu Mythos

Passive Effects:

Grants +10% bonus to any Occult or Language (Ancient) rolls when transcribing ancient text.
While holding the quill, user is unable to write known falsehoods. The hand spasms if attempted.
Any record made with this quill resists weathering, fire, and mundane attempts at erasure.

Activable Abilities:
• Ash-Truth Invocation: Spend 1 Magic Point to compel any being within 10 feet to speak only truth for 1D4 rounds (POW contest if resisting).
• Ember Echo: By writing a being’s full name and a recent event, the quill grants a vision (INTx5 roll) of that event from the target’s perspective. Sanity check 0/1D4 if traumatic.

Game System: Blades in the Dark
Item Name: Jinn 073 of the Ink-Seared Quill

Item Type: Fine Arcane Implement (counts as special item, not gear load)
Rarity: Common (among scholars, rare on street level)
Slot: 1 Load

Passive Effect:

Grants potency when studying ancient ruins, spirit languages, or jinn-related phenomena.
When used in downtime research, reduces project clock by +1 tick.

Special Abilities:
• Flame-Truth Inscription: Mark a contract or written agreement with the quill; the target who signs becomes bound—breaking the agreement causes level 1 harm: “Ash-Lashed.”
• Jinn Whispers: During a Score, once per session, write a name mid-score to instantly recall one vital truth or secret about the location or faction (GM determines relevance).

Game System: Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)
Item Name: Jinn 073 of the Ink-Seared Quill
Wondrous Item, common, requires attunement by a spellcaster or sage

Slot: Held
Weight: Negligible

Passive Properties:

When writing with this stylus, all script is immune to mundane damage and glows faintly when describing truths.
Grants proficiency in Calligrapher’s Tools, or expertise if already proficient.
Cannot willingly write falsehoods while attuned.

Active Abilities:
• Burning Revelation (1/day): As an action, write a sentence of known truth—the nearest creature who has contradicted this truth within 30 ft must succeed a Wisdom saving throw (DC 13) or be frightened for 1 minute.
• Cinder Signature (1/day): Any document signed or marked with this stylus becomes magically bound; breaking the terms causes the target to suffer 1d6 psychic damage and disadvantage on Charisma checks for 1 hour.

Game System: Knave (Ben Milton’s OSR System)
Item Name: Jinn 073 of the Ink-Seared Quill
Item Type: Arcane Tool
Usage: Infinite (until destroyed by divine or anti-magic forces)
Slot: 1 Inventory Slot

Passive Use:

Grants +1 to INT checks involving ancient writing, architecture, or cursed texts.
If the character attempts to write a lie, the writing fades immediately.

Active Use (1/Rest):
• Ash Binding: Write a name and command on any surface. If the target sees it and disobeys, they take 1d4 damage and are silenced for 1 turn (no speech, verbal spells fail).
• Ember Truth: Reveal a hidden secret about a location, object, or person if they are physically present when you write about them—GM provides a clue or detail.

Destruction Condition: If used to scribe a lie three times, it crumbles into inert brass ash.

Game System: Fate Core
Item Name: Jinn 073 of the Ink-Seared Quill

Aspect: “The Quill That Writes Only Truth”
Type: Magical Artifact
Rarity: Common for Tier 1 Avatars
Slot: Held (Stylus or Writing Tool)

Passive Abilities:

Any written words composed with this stylus are universally accepted as authentic unless physically altered by another magical means.
Characters gain +2 on Create Advantage rolls involving research, writing, or identifying written lies, deception, or forgeries.
When attempting to deceive, the user suffers a -2 penalty while in possession of the quill.

Stunt: Ash-Touched Script (Once per scene)
You may write a name or truth on a surface with the stylus. Spend a Fate Point to compel a nearby character who sees the writing to either:
• Confess a hidden truth
• Remain silent for one exchange
• Flee the area in fear of revelation

Drawback:
The stylus may write unwanted truths during moments of stress, granting a GM compel related to lost secrets or unintended revelations.

Game System: Numenera / Cypher System
Item Name: Jinn 073 of the Ink-Seared Quill
Item Type: Artifact
Level: 3
Form: Slender bronze stylus with ember-ash nib
Rarity: Common for Tier 1, often found in ruins related to forgotten oaths or ancient treaties

Effect:
• When used to write, the quill automatically identifies falsehoods, refusing to inscribe lies.
• Grants an asset to any Intellect-based tasks involving language, decoding, or cultural memory.
• When invoking the quill with effort (1 Intellect point), you can inscribe a written phrase that, when read, inflicts a truth-compulsion on the reader (Intellect defense task, difficulty 3).
• The stylus leaves behind glowing text that lasts for one day unless erased with acid or jinn-fire.

Depletion: 1 in 1d20 (roll each time Ash-Truth Compulsion is used)

Special:
If used in direct sunlight, the quill glows and grants a +1 bonus to persuasion tasks involving historical context or documented truth.

Game System: Pathfinder (2nd Edition)
Item Name: Jinn 073 of the Ink-Seared Quill
Item Type: Wondrous Item
Rarity: Common
Level: 1
Price: 20 gp
Usage: Held in 1 hand
Bulk: —
Activation: Interact (Free or 1 Action)

Passive Abilities:

You gain a +1 item bonus to Society and Occultism checks involving ancient texts, forgotten languages, and magical scripts.
Any written material created using this stylus cannot be counterfeited or magically forged.
Attempts to write falsehoods cause the stylus to hiss and fail.

Activated Abilities:
• Truthfire Inscription (1/day): Write a target’s name and a known secret. They must make a Will save (DC 15) or be frightened 1 and unable to speak for 1 round.
• Flame-Signed Pact (1/day): Any contract signed using the stylus is magically bound. Breach of the contract causes 1d4 persistent mental damage until amends are made. This damage cannot be healed until the breach is corrected.

Traits: Arcane, Jinn, Linguistic, Divination, Consumable-Recharging

Game System: Savage Worlds (Adventure Edition)
Item Name: Jinn 073 of the Ink-Seared Quill
Type: Arcane Gear
Rarity: Common Magical Item
Slot: Held
Weight: 0 (Negligible)

Passive Effects:

Grants +1 to Common Knowledge, Research, and Occult rolls involving ancient writings, spiritual truths, and hidden oaths.
Anyone attempting to lie in writing with the stylus suffers a level of Fatigue unless they succeed a Spirit roll (–2 penalty).
All documents written with this stylus are considered “Magically Sealed” and gain +2 resistance to forgery or tampering.

Active Powers:
• Ash-Truth Binding (1 Power Point, requires Focus skill): Write the target’s name and truth on any surface. The next time that being lies within 1 hour, they are Shaken (Spirit vs. user’s Focus).
• Burning Oath (2 Power Points): A contract or message written with the quill becomes magically binding. Any attempt to breach its terms triggers a Smarts roll at –2 or suffer 1d6 psychic damage.

Special Rule:
Failure to respect the quill’s truth-bound nature may result in temporary loss of Smarts die type (at GM discretion) until purified through silence or service to a truth-seeking spirit.

Game System: Shadowrun (6th Edition)
Item Name: Jinn 073 of the Ink-Seared Quill
Type: Magical Focus (Scribing Focus)
Availability: 4
Cost: ¥2,500
Bonding Cost: 2 Karma
Slot: Handheld

Description: A stylus imbued with jinn essence, used by awakened scribes and arcane archivists.

Game Effects:

Acts as a Force 1 Focus for the Arcana skill and any knowledge tests involving ancient languages, forbidden contracts, or spirit lore.
Automatically detects magical forgeries and enchantments on documents within 1 meter radius (Arcana + Magic [Mental] vs. threshold 2).
Cannot inscribe false statements—if attempted, the stylus twitches violently and the writer must resist 1 Stun damage (Body + Willpower vs. DV 1).
Optional Power: Truthburn Script (2 Drain, once per Scene): When writing a name and secret, the target must resist a Compulsion effect (Magic + Charisma vs. Willpower). On failure, they reveal a hidden truth involuntarily.

Notes: The quill must be fed with a drop of ash-ink weekly or lose attunement.

Game System: Starfinder
Item Name: Jinn 073 of the Ink-Seared Quill
Item Level: 2
Price: 150 credits
Slot: Handheld
Usage: Passive; 1 charge per activation (10 charges max)
Bulk: L

Item Type: Hybrid Item (Magitech + Occult)

Passive Properties:

Grants a +2 circumstance bonus to Culture checks related to languages, contracts, or forbidden texts.
Cannot physically write lies. Attempting to do so causes the quill to lock in place.
Any document written with the quill is tamper-proof unless subjected to dispel magic (DC 15).

Active Ability (1 charge):
• Truthflare Inscription: Inscribe a name and true detail to cause a 15-ft cone of truth-flame. All targets in the area must succeed at a Will save (DC 13) or be affected by Zone of Truth for 1 round.

Recharge: Solar exposure or ritual incense (1 per hour = 1 charge)

Special: Works best when used in quiet environments; in noisy conditions, activation DCs increase by +2.

Game System: Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition)
Item Name: Jinn 073 of the Ink-Seared Quill
Type: Advanced Tech Artifact (Pre-Maghreb)
Tech Level: 14
Rarity: Rare cultural relic, but commonly replicated on Saṃsāra
Mass: Negligible
Cost: Cr2,000

Description: A spirit-attuned stylus used for binding contracts, accessing coded histories, and revealing memory relics.

Game Mechanics:

Grants DM+1 to Language, Admin, and Advocate checks when handling ancient or encoded documents.
Cannot be used to transcribe falsehoods; the device will freeze and require a successful INT 10+ check to reset.
Optional: Spirit Trace Protocol (1/day): User writes a subject’s name and gains INT DM+0 roll to access one key truth or secret about them, as revealed from archived aetheric echoes. On failure, user is stunned for 1 round due to backlash.
May be used as a proof-seal for legal documents—any breach or forgery causes it to combust and leaves ash-markers behind.

Restriction: Cultural sanction: Not legal for official contracts in Imperial law due to “non-corporeal influence.”

Game System: Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory
Item Name: Jinn 073 of the Ink-Seared Quill
Tier: 1
Rarity: Rare (outside of Archivist Orders)
Keywords: Relic, Flame-Bound, Truth-Warded, Archeotech
Slot: Held

Passive Effects:

Gain +1 bonus die to Investigation and Scholar tests related to script, recordkeeping, or decoding non-Imperial languages.
Any lie written with the stylus automatically reveals itself in glowing cinders (GM may compel a DN 3 Corruption test for repeated falsehood attempts).
When activated, the stylus emits emberlight visible only to those with the Psyker keyword or Forbidden Lore training.

Active Abilities (1/Scene):
• Ash Oath Bind: Write a pact or contract; breaching it causes the subject to suffer 1 Mortal Wound and become Weakened for the scene. DN 4 Resolve test to resist.
• Memory Burn: The user may write a line describing a truth from their past to gain 1 Glory, but must succeed a DN 3 Willpower test or gain 1 Corruption.

Narrative Use: In the hands of scribes, exorcists, and loreseekers of the Inquisition, this stylus is a dangerous but revered truth-weapon. It is said to hum in the presence of heretical writings.