Settlers Marrow Steel – GearAscendancy.com

Lore In the early days after the first souls arrived on Saṃsāra, survival was a matter of trial and error. New settlements, scattered in unforgiving wilds, had to learn which of the world’s strange creatures were edible and which were poison. In a small, struggling community carved into the side of a jungle-choked mountain, there was a butcher named Renn. He came from a world of familiar livestock, but on Saṃsāra, every creature was an anatomical puzzle and a potential death sentence. After his community suffered losses from eating tainted monster meat, Renn grew desperate. He took the thigh bone of a particularly strange, magically-attuned beast that had stalked them, and laboriously ground it down into a sharpening steel. As he worked the bone, he focused his will into it—his deep desire to see the truth within a creature’s flesh (his Matakite) and his grim determination to preserve life by mastering death (his Makutu). The resulting tool was not just for sharpening blades, but for seeing beyond the veil of flesh and blood, allowing Renn to provide for his people and understand the dangerous new ecosystem. The simple method of its creation was taught to other frontier butchers, becoming a vital tool for any settlement on the edge of the wilds.

Description A sharpening steel, roughly a foot long, crafted not from metal, but from a dense, fossilized bone of a dark, ivory-like color. The surface is unnaturally smooth and cool to the touch, with a fine, abrasive texture that seems to grip steel with an unusual tenacity. Faint, dark lines that look like mineral veins or aged marrow run the length of the bone. The handle is a simple, functional grip made of wrapped, dark-red leather, and the pommel is a heavy, unadorned knob of the same bone material. When a blade is sharpened on it, faint, silvery sparks are produced, and the steel emits a low, resonant hum, like a deep and ancient chant.

Detailed Stats

Durability: 75/75
Mind’s Eye Acuity (Anatomy): +5
Skill Bonus (Butchery/Survival): +4
Crafting (Cooking) Success Rate: +3%
Skill Training: Slight increase in the rate of learning for skills related to anatomy, butchery, and creature identification.

Passive Magic

Marrow-Sight: The wielder of the steel perceives a faint, glowing schematic overlaid on any creature, living or dead. This “Marrow-Sight” highlights the creature’s skeletal structure, major organs, and the prime muscle groups. This allows the butcher to see the best cuts of meat, identify signs of internal disease or poison, and know the most effective way to process a carcass.
Honing Charm: Any blade sharpened on the Marrow-Steel is temporarily enchanted. For the next hour, the blade resists dulling, and any meat it cuts is bewitched to resist spoilage and decay for twice as long as normal. Furthermore, the blade magically repels gore, remaining clean and sterile with a simple wipe.

Activable Magic

Echo of the Kill: By anointing the Marrow-Steel with a fresh sample of a creature’s blood and holding it to their forehead, the avatar can activate its divinatory power. The user experiences a brief, visceral flash of the creature’s final moments, seeing what it saw and feeling what it felt. This can reveal the presence of a nearby predator, the location of a nest, or environmental hazards. This ability can be used once per creature and drains a small amount of the user’s stamina.
Blood-Temper: Once per day, the avatar can perform a 10-minute ritual of sharpening a bladed weapon or tool on the Marrow-Steel. By focusing their intent, they can imbue the blade with a minor curse. For the next hour, anyone struck by this blade, even a minor cut, feels a persistent, distracting stinging pain and the unsettling sensation that the wound is far more grievous than it actually is. This does not cause additional damage but can create fear and hesitation in an enemy.

Specific Slot

Held/Toolbelt

Tags: Magical, Common, Tier 1, Utility, Crafting, Divination, Enchantment, Survival, Anatomy, Bone, Tool, Preservation, Debuff, Hunting, Ritual, Psionic

The Settler’s Marrow-Steel is a specialized tool, deeply tied to the frontier and the processing of the strange and often dangerous creatures of Saṃsāra. Its trade is most common in places where the line between civilization and the wilds is thin, and where survival depends on a deep understanding of the natural world.

The Frontier Outfitter’s Post Located at the edge of settled lands, these outposts are the last bastion of civilization before the untamed jungles, sprawling deserts, or dark cave systems. The air inside smells of tanned leather, smoked meat, and the sharp tang of alchemical preservatives. The shop is stocked with practical, durable goods: climbing gear, sturdy cloaks, monster traps, and the tools needed to harvest their remains.

How it is Acquired: This is the most common place to find a Marrow-Steel. It would be a standard, if not always available, item. An adventurer, hunter, or butcher would ask for it by name. The transaction is often a matter of barter rather than currency. The outfitter, always in need of resources, would likely prefer payment in the form of raw materials from the wilds.
How it is Sold: Selling a Marrow-Steel to an outfitter is straightforward. They will inspect it for cracks or magical depletion, but they are always looking to acquire useful tools. They will rarely offer cash, instead providing store credit or a direct trade for other essential supplies like ammunition, rations, or anti-toxins.
Cost:
- Buying Price: The cash price would be intentionally high, around 30 Silver Pieces. The preferred barter price would be something of practical value, such as “the claws and hide of one adult Razor-prowler” or “a full cask of purified water.”
- Selling Price: The outfitter would offer goods in trade worth approximately 15-20 Silver Pieces.

A Monster Hunter’s Guildhall Within the fortified lodges of the various Monster Hunter’s Guilds, a quartermaster manages the armory and supply rooms. This is not a public shop, but a private resource for guild members. The air is thick with the scent of weapon oil and tanning agents, and the walls are often decorated with the impressive trophies of past hunts.

How it is Acquired: A guild hunter would acquire a Marrow-Steel as part of their standard-issue field kit upon reaching a certain rank, or they could purchase one directly from the quartermaster. The transaction would be professional and logged against their name. Payment would be made in standard currency or with guild scrip earned from completed monster bounties.
How it is Sold: A hunter would only sell their steel back to the guild if they were retiring or upgrading to a superior, master-crafted version. The guild encourages keeping such valuable tools within the organization. The process is a simple buy-back with no negotiation.
Cost:
- Buying Price: A subsidized, fixed price for members, typically around 22 Silver Pieces or an equivalent value in guild scrip.
- Selling Price: A standard buy-back rate of 15 Silver is offered for a steel in good condition, ensuring the gear can be passed on to a new recruit.

The Traveling Bone-Carver’s Caravan This is not a simple tinker, but a specialist artisan who travels the trade routes between frontier towns. Their steam-powered wagon is a sight to behold, adorned with articulated skeletons and polished monster skulls. They specialize exclusively in items crafted from the remains of Saṃsāra’s fauna: bone armor, scrimshaw art, and expertly made tools like the Marrow-Steel.

How it is Acquired: The transaction is a personal one with a passionate craftsman. The Bone-Carver would likely have several Marrow-Steels available, each made from a different creature’s bone, and would explain the unique properties of each. They are far more interested in trading for rare and exotic monster components than for simple coin, as they are always seeking new materials for their next creation.
How it is Sold: The Bone-Carver would not be interested in buying back a used, standard Marrow-Steel. However, they would be very interested in bartering, offering a significant credit for a standard steel if the customer was trading up to one of their own superior, custom-made pieces.
Cost:
- Buying Price: A standard Marrow-Steel would cost about 25 Silver Pieces. However, a superior version made from the bone of a rare or powerful monster could cost upwards of 50 Silver. The price in trade goods—such as the pristine skull of a Cave-Wyrm or the heartwood of an ancient Ironwood tree—is always more favorable.
- Selling Price: Not applicable, though a trade-in might be valued at 10-15 Silver.

A Butcher’s Stall in a ‘Deep Market’ In the massive subterranean cities or sprawling port towns, there are specialized markets that deal in exotic and monstrous meats. The butchers here are masters of their craft, and their stalls are a menagerie of strange carcasses and unusual cuts of meat. These master butchers often take on apprentices and may have a side business crafting and selling the very tools they use.

How it is Acquired: Acquiring a Marrow-Steel here is a transaction between professionals. An apprentice would buy one from their master, or a journeyman butcher would purchase one from a respected colleague. Outsiders would be unlikely to even know these tools are for sale, as they are not openly displayed. The sale is often sealed with a handshake and a shared drink.
How it is Sold: A butcher would only sell their personal Marrow-Steel if they were in truly dire financial straits. To do so is a sign of great misfortune. A colleague might buy it for a low price, largely as an act of charity to help the other butcher get back on their feet.
Cost:
- Buying Price: Approximately 28 Silver Pieces. The price is fair, reflecting a professional courtesy between members of the same trade.
- Selling Price: A low price of 10-12 Silver. Accepting the money would be humbling for the seller.

The Settler’s Marrow-Steel is a tool born from the harsh realities of Saṃsāra, and its use in offense and defense reflects the practical, often grim, duties of a frontier butcher, hunter, or survivalist. Its roleplaying applications change dramatically with the environment, from the heat of combat in the wild to the analytical work that follows.

In the Wilds During a Hunt or Combat

This is the Marrow-Steel at its most visceral, a tool that blurs the line between harvesting and fighting, providing tactical insights that can mean the difference between life and death.

Roleplaying for Offense: Offensive use here is about making every attack more effective and turning the hunter into the ultimate predator. Before tracking a dangerous beast, the butcher performs a ritual with the Blood-Temper ability, anointing their cleaver or hunting knife with the blood of a lesser creature and sharpening it on the bone steel. In the ensuing fight, when the avatar lands a blow, they would describe not just the cut, but the beast’s unnerved reaction as the minor curse takes hold—how it flinches from a shallow wound that stings like fire, or how it paws at a cut that feels inexplicably deep, creating a vital opening for an ally’s attack. Using the passive Marrow-Sight, the butcher becomes a tactical lynchpin. They would shout directions born from supernatural insight: “Its hide is thin over the heart, a direct thrust will end this!” or “Strike its left foreleg! I see a weakness in the bone there!” They are not just fighting; they are dissecting a living opponent.

Roleplaying for Defense: Defensively, the Marrow-Steel is a tool of foresight and prevention. If a pack of monstrous canids attacks and a companion is injured before the creatures retreat, the avatar can use Echo of the Kill. By wiping their friend’s blood onto the steel, they receive a terrifying, first-person flash of the attack—seeing the alpha beast’s unique markings and, crucially, the direction it fled. They can now defend the party by warning them of the leader’s appearance and anticipating the direction of the next ambush. Similarly, when facing a creature bloated with poison, the Marrow-Sight defends the entire party. The butcher would see the sickly, pulsating glow of the venom sacs within the beast’s body and could yell warnings: “Don’t attack its throat, the glands will burst!” or “Its tail is the danger, the stinger is pulsing with magic!”

In a Settlement’s Abattoir or Boneyard

Here, the conflict is not against living monsters, but against the more insidious enemies of spoilage, disease, and ignorance.

Roleplaying for Offense: In this context, offense is about efficiency and creating value. A massive, freshly killed beast is dragged into the abattoir, and the guild needs it processed for a feast before the heat spoils it. Using Marrow-Sight, the avatar works with preternatural speed. They don’t need to guess where the prime cuts are; they can see the glowing lines of muscle and sinew, moving their blade through the carcass as if solving a puzzle they already know the answer to. This offensive push against time and waste results in a greater yield of higher quality meat. The passive Honing Charm is another offensive tool of commerce; every knife sharpened on the steel imbues the resulting cuts of meat with a preservative charm, allowing the butcher’s stall to offer fresh meat long after their competitors’ wares have turned.

Roleplaying for Defense: Here, defense is a matter of public health and safety. A bizarre creature is brought to the settlement, having died of unknown causes. The town elder fears a plague. Before anyone risks contamination by cutting it open, the avatar holds the Marrow-Steel and uses Marrow-Sight. They peer through skin and bone, seeing the creature’s organs glowing with a sickening, necrotic light. They can declare with certainty that the creature is riddled with disease, defending the entire community without ever drawing a knife. If a hunter brings in an unfamiliar beast, the avatar can use Echo of the Kill on its blood. They might see a vision of the creature drinking from a specific stream before convulsing and dying, thereby discovering a poisoned water source that could have devastated the settlement.

At a Makeshift Camp After a Battle

In the quiet moments after a fight, the Marrow-Steel is a tool for analysis, preparation, and recovery.

Roleplaying for Offense: Offense here is about preparation for the next engagement. The party has killed a single goblin scout, but they know the main war party is near. The avatar performs a grim ritual, using Echo of the Kill on the scout’s blood. They get a fleeting vision from the goblin’s eyes: a view of a hidden ravine, the layout of the enemy camp, and the sight of a hulking hobgoblin chieftain giving orders. The party now has the intelligence needed to launch an offensive, pre-emptive strike. Following this, the avatar uses Blood-Temper, taking the scout’s blood to sharpen the blades of the entire party, ensuring that in the coming battle, every cut they land will carry the steel’s distracting, demoralizing curse.

Roleplaying for Defense: Defensively, the steel becomes a tool of makeshift medicine and maintenance. An ally has a deep, weeping gash from a monster’s claw. A healer might clean the wound, but the avatar, using Marrow-Sight, can see what they cannot—the faint, glowing sliver of a claw fragment still lodged deep in the muscle, a source of future infection. By identifying the hidden threat, they allow for its proper removal. After a grueling battle, the party’s weapons are dull and coated in corrosive alien blood. The avatar uses the Honing Charm to its full defensive potential, sharpening each blade on the bone steel. The magic not only hones the edge to supernatural sharpness but also mystically cleanses the corrosive gore, defending their vital equipment from long-term damage and ensuring they are ready for the next fight.

Perception of Activation:

Sight

User’s Perspective: When the Marrow-Steel is activated, especially by sharpening a blade, the dark, vein-like lines within the bone begin to pulse with a faint, sickly-green or ghostly-white light. The sparks that fly from the blade are not orange and fleeting, but a brilliant, cold silver, and they seem to hang in the air for a moment before dissipating. When using a power like Marrow-Sight, the user’s vision shifts, and the world takes on a semi-transparent, layered quality, allowing them to see the glowing anatomical structures of creatures through their skin and armor.
Observer’s Perspective: An observer can clearly see the unnatural shower of silvery sparks created when a blade is sharpened on the steel. If they are watching closely in dim light, they may also notice the faint, rhythmic, internal glow within the bone itself. The effect is subtle but distinctly magical and unusual.
Positives: The visual effects provide clear, unambiguous confirmation that the item’s magic is working. The Marrow-Sight offers a direct and potent visual advantage for hunting, combat, or medical aid.
Negatives: The ghostly, x-ray vision of Marrow-Sight can be deeply unsettling, especially when used on sentient beings or allies, as it reduces them to a grotesque display of pulsing organs and bone. This can be visually distracting in a chaotic fight.

Sound

User’s Perspective: The steel does not produce the high-pitched shing of metal on metal. Instead, sharpening a blade creates a low, resonant hum that vibrates up the user’s arm, accompanied by a layered sound like whispering or a low, guttural chant. This sound seems to emanate from within the bone itself and is felt as much as it is heard.
Observer’s Perspective: An observer will notice that the sound of sharpening is wrong. It lacks the expected metallic screech, replaced by a deep, slightly unnerving thrumming sound that seems too low and resonant for the objects involved. It is audibly unnatural.
Positives: The unique sound provides a clear audio cue of the item’s activation. For the user, the rhythmic, low hum can be a meditative focus, helping to steady their hand and mind for the task ahead.
Negatives: The sound is strange and can draw unwanted attention from those nearby. For the user, the constant, deep vibration can be fatiguing during long periods of use, like butchering a large carcass.

Touch

User’s Perspective: The moment its magic is engaged, the Marrow-Steel becomes unnaturally cold, a deep, bone-leeching chill that is startling. The fine, abrasive texture of the bone seems to come alive, actively gripping the blade being sharpened with a subtle magnetic-like pull, guiding the user’s hands to the perfect angle. When anointed with blood for a ritual, this cold intensifies, and the steel pulses with a powerful, high-frequency vibration.
Observer’s Perspective: There is no visible change, but if an observer were to touch the steel during activation, they would be shocked by its intense cold and the strong vibration running through it.
Positives: The tactile feedback is incredibly precise, making the act of sharpening feel guided and certain. The intense cold can be bracing, heightening the user’s senses and focus.
Negatives: The profound cold can cause the user’s hand to feel numb and stiff after extended use. The vibration during a ritual can be intense enough to be uncomfortable or cause a slight tremor.

Smell and Taste

User’s Perspective: Activation floods the user’s senses with the powerful, clean scent of cold iron and fresh, hot blood, even if no actual blood is present. Underneath this is a dry, dusty smell, like air from a long-sealed tomb or the scent of ancient, dry bone. A distinct mineral taste of iron or flint often develops on the user’s tongue.
Observer’s Perspective: A faint, sharp, metallic odor, like ozone and blood, is noticeable in the air immediately surrounding the Marrow-Steel when it is in use, particularly during the Blood-Temper ritual.
Positives: The sharp, primal scents are grounding, helping to focus the user on the tasks of survival, butchery, or combat.
Negatives: The potent smell can be nauseating to those not accustomed to it. It can easily overpower more subtle environmental scents that might be crucial for tracking or detecting danger.

Extra-Sensory (Mind’s Eye)

User’s Perspective: The user feels their own mind connect to the fundamental, grim cycle of life and death. It is not an evil feeling, but one of profound and pragmatic clarity. When using a power like Echo of the Kill, the user’s consciousness feels as if it is momentarily pulled into the steel itself, experiencing a memory held within the blood, which is both disorienting and enlightening.
Observer’s Perspective: A magically-attuned observer would see the Marrow-Steel as a powerful focus of Divination and sympathetic magic, resonating with the energies of life and decay. Upon activation, they would see the user’s aura flare with a cold, analytical, green-white light.
Positives: This creates a deep, intuitive bond with the tool, making its supernatural abilities feel like a natural extension of the user’s own senses and will.
Negatives: Constant exposure to the steel’s “death-sense” can foster a grim, detached worldview in the user. The psychic backlash from experiencing a creature’s final, violent moments via Echo of the Kill can be psychologically scarring.

Extra-Sensory (Anatomical Sense)

User’s Perspective: This is the direct perception of Marrow-Sight. It is more than just seeing; it is a flood of intuitive, biological knowledge. The user doesn’t just see a glowing heart; they know its rhythm, its health, its precise location relative to the bone and sinew around it. They perceive the warm, vibrant pulse of life force in living things, and the cold, stagnant stillness in the dead.
Observer’s Perspective: An observer with the ability to sense life energy would see the user’s own life force become strangely “entangled” with whatever creature they are observing, creating a faint, shimmering resonance between them as the user’s senses analyze the target.
Positives: This grants an incredible, practical advantage. It is a direct, unfiltered feed of tactical information for combat, medical information for first aid, and practical information for butchery.
Negatives: This intimate perception of life’s fragility is a heavy psychological burden. Seeing the glowing, vulnerable organs of friends and allies is terrifying. It transforms the act of killing from a chaotic struggle into a cold, mechanical process of targeting and disabling a biological machine, which can be deeply dehumanizing for the user.

Crafter’s Guide: The Marrow-Sight Steel

Materials Needed

The large, intact femur bone of a mature, magically-attuned creature. The bone of an Elder Ridge-backed Howler is preferred for its density and natural resonance.
One pouch of finely crushed quartz crystals.
A lump of rendered beast tallow, to be used as a binding agent for the abrasive slurry.
The two dried, preserved eyes of a Cave-lurker or a similar creature known for its non-standard sensory abilities (like echolocation or thermal vision).
A handful of coarse, black salt, harvested from a primeval salt flat where the bones of ancient creatures lie buried.
One long, tough strip of tanned hide for the handle, preferably from a predatory beast like a Razor-prowler.
A length of waxed sinew thread.

Tools Required

A set of bone-working tools: a heavy stone rasp, various blocks of fine-to-coarse sandstone, and a set of chisels.
A sturdy workbench with a vise.
A ritual bowl (a hollowed-out skull is traditional) and a stone pestle.
A leatherworker’s stitching kit, including a sharp awl and needles.
A small pot for creating the tallow slurry.

Skill Requirements

Bone Carving (Journeyman): The ability to shape dense bone into a long, straight, functional tool without causing fractures is paramount. This requires patience and a steady hand.
Survival (Journeyman): The crafter must possess the skill to hunt the required creatures or to identify and harvest the necessary components from a carcass.
Alchemy (Novice): A basic understanding of how to prepare and combine magical reagents is necessary to create the imbuing powder.
Leatherworking (Novice): The skill needed to wrap a tight, functional handle.

Crafting Steps

Procurement and Curing: First, the femur must be acquired. It is then meticulously cleaned of all flesh, sinew, and marrow. The bone must be left to cure in the sun for at least a week, or boiled and then dried, until it is sterile and bone-white. This is a critical step, as any remaining organic tissue will interfere with the enchantment.
Shaping the Rod: The cured bone is secured in the workbench vise. The crafter begins the long, laborious process of shaping it with the heavy stone rasp, gradually grinding the bulky femur into the long, cylindrical or tapered shape of a sharpening steel. This process can take many hours of consistent work. Finer sandstone blocks are used afterward to smooth the surface to an unnaturally fine, yet abrasive, texture.
Preparation of the Imbuing Powder: While shaping the bone, the crafter prepares the magical components. The two dried Cave-lurker eyes are placed in the ritual bowl. They are ground down with the stone pestle into a fine, gray dust. The coarse, black salt is then added to this dust and the two are mixed thoroughly. This powder is the physical medium for the steel’s supernatural senses.
The Slurry and Anointing: The beast tallow is gently heated in a pot until it is a soft paste. The crushed quartz is then mixed into the tallow, creating a thick, abrasive slurry. The crafter takes the finished bone rod and coats it evenly and entirely in this slurry.
The Ritual of Sight: The tallow-coated rod must be taken to a place of darkness or twilight, away from the direct light of the sun. The crafter then meticulously sprinkles the eye-and-salt powder over the entire surface of the rod. As they do, they must chant or focus on their intent, pouring their will into the bone—the desire to see what is hidden, to understand the flesh, and to know the moment of a creature’s passing. The tallow paste absorbs the powder, holding the magic fast against the bone. The rod is then left undisturbed for a full night.
Finishing and Wrapping: The next day, the excess slurry and powder are carefully buffed off with a cloth, leaving behind the magically imbued, supernaturally abrasive surface. To create the handle, the strip of Razor-prowler hide is tightly wrapped around the designated hilt area. Using an awl and waxed sinew, the leather is stitched securely in place to provide a firm, non-slip grip.
The Awakening: The Marrow-Steel is now physically complete but magically dormant. To awaken its power, the crafter must perform the “First Sharpening.” They must take a simple, un-enchanted blade of iron or steel and draw it along the Marrow-Steel. This first contact with metal acts as a catalyst, and with a shower of silvery sparks, the magic within the bone awakens. The dark, marrow-like veins inside will glow for the first time, and the tool will be ready for use.

How the Bone Taught the Blade

From the tellings that came before the great forgetting, we hear the story of Renn, who was a Meat-Provider. In the world that was his home before, he knew the shape of beasts. A pig was a pig, a cow was a cow. Their bodies were a map he knew by heart. But he was taken and put down on Saṃsāra, in the First Village by the mountain, and here the beasts were a book of pages unknown. The great lizards had too many legs, the prowlers of the jungle had skins of iron, and their meat was a constant question. Renn’s great fear, a terror that was large, was not the hunt for the food, but the table after the hunt. He feared his knives would bring a great belly-sickness to his people.

And so it came to be. A new creature was brought, a thing with six legs and a shell of purple. Renn, using his knowledge of the old world, did his work. He was a man of knives, and he cut the meat with care. The village held a feast. There was a great joy. But after the joy came a great sorrow. A sickness moved through the people, a fire in the gut. Some passed into the next life. Renn’s shame was a stone in his own belly. His knives, he believed, were liars. He vowed he would no longer be a butcher who was blind.

Henceforth, Renn did not seek meat. He sought understanding. He went into the deep woods to hunt the creature known as the Shade-Stalker, a beast of wrong-angles that could step through shadows. The villagers said its bones were made of darkness and its blood was made of fear. Renn did not take a spear. He took traps and a quiet spirit. He watched the Shade-Stalker for many days. He learned its paths. He saw how it moved between the worlds, the one of light and the one of shadow.

He at last set a trap of great cunning, and the Shade-Stalker was caught. It was a terror to look upon, with too many eyes and a silent mouth. But as its life-light faded, Renn felt no victory. He felt a strange knowing, a shared truth of muscle and bone. This thing was a creature of life, same as him, just made in a different shape. After its spirit departed, Renn came forward. He touched its long leg bone. It was cold, like a stone from a deep river, and it hummed with a power he could feel in his teeth. An idea that was not his own bloomed in his head.

He took the single, great bone and carried it to his hut. He used no tools of the smith. He took a heavy, rough stone and began to shape the bone. For days he worked, grinding the bone of the Shade-Stalker into the long shape of a sharpening steel. As his hands worked, his mind changed. He did not think of his work. Instead, he saw things. He saw the path the blood had taken inside the creature. He saw the twin hearts, one for the world of light and one for the world of shadow. He saw the grain of the meat and the knot of the sinew. He was not making a tool. He was carving a memory of the bone’s own life.

When the shape was done, he held it in his hands. It was smooth and dark and cool. He took up his simple butcher’s knife, the one whose edge was now dull with his failure and his shame. He drew the blade along the length of the bone steel.

At the touch of the metal, a great light of silver sparks erupted in his dark hut. A low hum filled the air, a sound like a deep and ancient chant that vibrated in his own bones. He looked down at his hand that held the new steel, and for a moment it became like glass. He saw the pale, glowing shapes of the bones within his own arm. The tool was awake. The bone of the Shade-Stalker had a new purpose.

Soon, the hunters brought a new beast, a great armored lizard. The people were afraid of it. They looked at the meat with suspicion, their bellies remembering the great sickness. But Renn, the Meat-Provider, stepped forward. He held his Marrow-Steel. Its power flowed into him, and he saw through the creature’s iron hide as if it were water. He saw the thick muscles, the strong bones. He also saw a small, pulsing sac of poison nestled near the creature’s spine, a thing no eye could have seen. He worked with a new and terrible confidence. His knife, now sharp with the bone’s magic, moved with purpose. He cut away the poison. He separated the good meat from the bad. He gave the clean food to the people, and it was safe. He had become a true butcher for the new world.

The moral of the story is this: For it is shown that a blade can only cut what the eye can see, but true understanding can see through the skin to the very bone of the matter.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu

The Anatomist’s Hone

This is a sharpening tool, approximately a foot in length, carved from a single, dense, yellowish bone that does not match any known terrestrial creature. It is unnervingly smooth and cool to the touch. Those with medical or biological training find it has a fascinating, almost perfect abrasive texture.

Powers: The hone provides its wielder with a grim and unnatural understanding of living anatomy.

The owner gains a bonus die on all Medicine, First Aid, and Science (Biology) rolls.
Marrow-Sight: By holding the hone and concentrating on a living being for one minute, the user may spend 2 Magic Points and make a POW x 5 roll. A success grants a flash of anatomical insight, revealing a single physical vulnerability of the target to the user (e.g., a weak heart, a poorly healed old wound, a thin part of the skull). Witnessing a living being as a mere collection of parts in this way requires a Sanity roll (0/1).
Taste of the Kill: By anointing the hone with a sample of fresh blood or tissue from a corpse, the user can attempt to divine its final moments. This requires a successful Cthulhu Mythos roll and costs 1D3 Sanity points. If successful, the user experiences a jarring, sensory flashback of the creature’s death from its own perspective. This may provide vital clues but is always deeply traumatic.

Cthulhu Mythos: Using this item to analyze non-Euclidean or truly alien lifeforms may grant +1 or +2 Cthulhu Mythos points at the Keeper’s discretion. Sanity Loss: 0/1D3 Sanity points to fully comprehend that the hone is carved from the bone of a creature from outside of space and time.

Blades in the Dark

The Shambles Steel

A heavy, dark-ivory sharpening steel said to have been carved from the rib of a great Void Sea leviathan by the first butchers of Duskvol. It is always cold, and when you use it, the rhythmic scraping sound sometimes sounds like a deep, mournful chant.

Mechanics: This is a rare Butcher’s Tool and Artifact.

Passive: When you have this tool, you can gather information by Studying a fresh corpse as if you were talking to a living witness. The GM will answer one question about the deceased’s final moments.
Find the Seam: When you are facing a living foe, you can Study them to find their weak point. On a successful roll, you and your crew gain Potent effect on your next attacks directed at this vulnerability. This costs 1 Stress.
Sharpen with Spite: Once per score, you can sharpen a crewmate’s blade (or your own) on the steel, imbuing it with a fragment of the leviathan’s eternal hunger. The next time that blade inflicts Harm, you can describe how the wound bleeds unnaturally or stings with a supernatural cold. The level of Harm inflicted is one level more severe than it otherwise would have been.

Dungeons & Dragons

Butcher’s Bone-Steel Wondrous item, common (requires attunement)

This foot-long sharpening steel is carved from the dense, fossilized bone of a large, unknown beast. It is cool to the touch, and faint, dark lines run its length like aged marrow.

While you are attuned to this item, you gain the following benefits:

As an action, you can sharpen a single piercing or slashing weapon. For the next minute, the weapon becomes magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.
You have advantage on Wisdom (Medicine) checks made to diagnose an ailment or stabilize a dying creature.

The bone-steel has 3 charges, and it regains 1d3 expended charges daily at dawn. You can use the charges in the following ways:

Vitalsight (1 Charge): As a bonus action, you can choose one creature you can see within 30 feet. You learn one of the following: the creature’s damage vulnerabilities, its damage resistances, or its damage immunities.
Painful Cut (1 Charge): When you hit a creature with a melee attack using a weapon sharpened by this item within the last minute, you can expend a charge to channel a sliver of pain into the wound. The creature takes an extra 1d6 necrotic damage, and its speed is halved until the start of your next turn.

Knave

Abattoir Bone Item Slot: 1

A sharpening rod made from the long, heavy, unnaturally smooth bone of some great beast. Dark, vein-like lines run through it.

Passive: When you butcher a slain creature with a blade sharpened on this bone, you harvest one extra ration.
Passive: When you spend a moment observing a creature, you can ask the GM for its most obvious physical weakness.
Active (Once per day): You can spend ten minutes sharpening a bladed weapon on the bone. For the next hour, that weapon is enchanted. When you deal damage to a creature with it, the creature is stunned with agony and cannot take any actions on its next turn.
Taboo: The bone remembers its living state. If you ever use it to sharpen a blade that is then used to attack a creature of the same species from which the bone was harvested, it cracks and becomes a useless, non-magical item.

Fate Core

The Bone that Remembers

This Extra is a tool and a source of grim insight, a physical object that connects the wielder to the cycle of life and death. A character must acquire it and can then tie an aspect to it or dedicate a stunt slot to unlock its true potential.

Item Aspect: Flesh is a Fleeting Map

This aspect represents the bone’s core truth: that every living body is a temporary, knowable structure. It can be used for both creation and destruction, healing and killing.

Invoking this Aspect: A player can spend a Fate Point to invoke this aspect for a +2 bonus or a reroll on a roll related to:
- Overcome: Performing a complex surgical procedure or butchering a strange creature under pressure.
- Create an Advantage: Using Physique or Investigate to find a creature’s anatomical weak point, creating aspects like Cracked Chitin Plate or Unprotected Artery.
- Attack: Making a precise, called shot with a blade against a weakness you have already identified.
Compelling this Aspect: The GM can offer a Fate Point to compel this aspect, forcing a complication:
- The character sees a grotesque or distracting anatomical detail at a critical moment (e.g., while trying to intimidate a foe, they become fixated on the foe’s visibly diseased liver).
- The intimate knowledge of anatomy makes the user hesitate, seeing an enemy not as a monster, but as a collection of fragile, living organs.

Item Stunt: Honed for Agony

Effect: Once per conflict, when you take a moment to sharpen a bladed weapon on the bone, you can grant that weapon a temporary aspect, such as Supernaturally Painful Edge or Wound That Won’t Close. This aspect has one free invocation that you or an ally can use on the next successful attack with that weapon.

Numenera & Cypher System

The Anatomical Calibrator

This device is a foot-long rod made of a smooth, white, bio-tech material that looks and feels like polished bone. It is heavier than it looks and hums with a low, almost inaudible frequency when held. It appears to be a diagnostic or surgical tool from a prior world.

Level: 4 Form: A hand-held rod. Effect: The user gains an asset on all tasks related to biology, anatomy, surgery, or identifying creature weaknesses.

The user can also activate two of its functions:

Mortal Echo (Action): The user must press the rod against a sample of blood or tissue from a recently deceased creature. This is an Intellect-based task with a difficulty of 3. On a success, the rod transmits a complete sensory memory of the creature’s last few moments directly into the user’s brain. This experience is disorienting and the user loses their next turn while they recover.
Calibrate Blade (Action): The user can spend a full round scraping a piercing or slashing weapon with the rod. The rod’s surface emits a low green light and realigns the weapon’s edge at a microscopic level. The next time that weapon deals damage, it ignores 2 points of Armor. Additionally, the creature struck is so wracked with pain that its next action is hindered by two steps instead of one. Depletion: 1 in 1d20.

Pathfinder

Butcher’s Finality (Item 3) Uncommon Divination Magical Necromancy Price 55 gp Usage held in 1 hand; Bulk L

This sharpening steel is carved from the long, dark, fossilized bone of an unknown beast. It feels cold to the touch and seems to absorb light, never giving off a sheen. It is a favored tool among frontier hunters and butchers who must deal with strange and dangerous fauna.

When you hold the steel, you gain a +1 item bonus to Medicine checks and Survival checks.

Activate [one-action] envision; Frequency once per 10 minutes; Effect You gaze at a creature within 30 feet and use the steel as a focus. You learn which of the creature’s saving throws (Fortitude, Reflex, or Will) has the lowest modifier. The GM chooses in the case of a tie.

Activate [one-action] Interact; Frequency once per hour; Effect You sharpen a piercing or slashing weapon on the steel. For the next minute, the weapon gains the wounding property rune. On a critical hit, the target takes 1d6 persistent bleed damage.

Savage Worlds

The Huntsman’s Rattle

A long, smooth tool carved from the dark, heavy bone of some great beast that, according to legend, could see the life force of its prey. It is called a “rattle” because when a blade is sharpened upon it, the sound is like the last breath rattling in a dying creature’s throat.

Bonuses: The character holding the bone gains a +1 bonus to all Healing and Survival rolls.
Anatomical Insight: The user’s deep understanding of anatomy allows them to target weak points with ease. They ignore up to 2 points of penalties when making a Called Shot against a living creature.
Power (Death Echo): The item allows the user to use a special version of the Object Reading power.
- The user must have a piece of a slain creature (blood, flesh, bone) to activate the power. The power only reveals information about the creature’s death and the events immediately leading up to it.
- This costs the user 2 Power Points per use. If the user does not have the Arcane Background Edge, they can still activate the power by willingly taking a level of Fatigue. The Fatigue returns after one hour of rest.

Shadowrun

The Evo “Vivisector”

This device appears to be a high-end piece of biotech equipment from Evo Corporation, marketed to their xenobiology and paracritter containment divisions. It is a foot-long, self-sterilizing rod made from a cultured and vat-grown bone composite, with a smart-grip handle that links to the user’s commlink. In reality, the bone matrix was grown around a powerful magical focus.

Type: Magical Focus / Scientific Instrument Rating: 3 Availability: 16R Cost: 35,000 nuyen Bonding Cost: 6 Karma

Standard Functions: The Vivisector functions as a full biodiscanner (Rating 3). When used as a tool for butchering or surgery, it provides AR overlays of cut-lines and vital organs, adding +2 dice to Medicine or Survival tests for those purposes.

Focus Functions: For an Awakened character who has bonded the Vivisector, its true power is unlocked.

Health Focus: The item acts as a Rating 3 Focus for all spells of the Health category, both beneficial and detrimental. The user adds 3 dice to their Spellcasting dice pool when casting these spells.
Exploit Weakness: As a Minor Action, the user can target one living creature they can see. They make a Magic + Intuition [Mental] (3) test. If successful, they identify a key anatomical vulnerability. The next attack against that target before the end of the combat turn gains +2 to its Damage Value.

Starfinder

Xenobiologist’s Marrow-Rod

Level 6; Price 4,500 credits; Bulk L System Handheld; Armor Type No armor

Description: This foot-long rod is carved from the fossilized bone of a large, unknown alien creature. The handle has been retrofitted with a comfortable, textured polymer grip containing a micro-power cell and basic bio-scanner functionality. The bone itself feels unnaturally cold and dense. It is considered a hybrid item.

Mechanics:

As a Tech Item: The Marrow-Rod functions as an advanced medkit. It also grants a +2 insight bonus on Life Science and Medicine checks.
As a Magic Item: The user can access the rod’s deeper magical properties.
- Anatomical Insight (1/day): As a standard action, the user can target a living creature. They learn all of the target’s damage vulnerabilities, resistances, and immunities.
- Wounding Edge (3/day): As a move action, the user can sharpen a piercing or slashing weapon against the rod. The next time that weapon hits a living creature within the next minute, it deals an additional 1d6 bleed damage as the blade mystically seeks out minor arteries.

Traveller

Aslan Ehkleh (Bone-Seer)

This is not a piece of technology but a ritual artifact of great cultural significance to the Aslan Hierate, typically wielded by the leader of a clan’s hunt (Ieyo). It is a long, heavy sharpening steel carved from the femur of a great predator native to the clan’s homeworld, such as a Yerh (great cat) or Tralye (armored grazer). It has no power source and its properties are considered spiritual by the Aslan.

Tech Level: 2 (as a tool), 11 (as a cultural/ritual artifact) Mass: 0.5 kg Cost: Not sold on the open market. Possessing one without the proper clan authority is a grave insult to the Aslan. Trade value is immense and non-financial.

Effects: The Ehkleh is believed to hold the hunting instincts of the creature from which it was made.

The wielder gains DM+2 on all Survival checks made to hunt, track, or butcher animals.
The wielder gains DM+1 on all Melee (blade) checks made while fighting in a one-on-one honorable duel.
The Ancestor’s Gaze (1/week): The wielder can perform a 10-minute ritual, anointing the Ehkleh with their own blood. They can then ask the Referee a single question about a specific person or creature they have seen, concerning that target’s physical capabilities (e.g., “Is he stronger than me?”, “Does that creature have armor under its fur?”, “Is her sickness affecting her heart?”). The Referee must provide a truthful, one-sentence answer, representing the instincts of the predator-spirit within the bone.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay

The Ghurish Honing-Bone

This appears to be a simple, if large, sharpening steel carved from the yellowed femur of a Great Stag or some other large beast of the Drakwald. It is wrapped in a simple leather grip and feels heavy and solid. Only those with The Sight can see the faint, shifting brown aura of Ghur, the Wind of Beasts, that clings to it.

Properties: Magical, Rare Lore (Magic): This item is a potent focus for the Brown Wind, connecting the user to the primal nature of predator and prey.

Effects:

Primal Anatomy: The owner of the bone gains a +10 bonus to all Heal and Trade (Butcher) Tests.
The Hunter’s Eye: The owner may spend a Resolve point to automatically identify one physical Weakness on an opponent they are observing (e.g., a limp, a gap in their armor, a tremor in their hand). The owner and their allies gain a +1 SL bonus to any successful attacks that logically target this identified Weakness.
Taste of the Beast: Once per session, the owner may touch the honing-bone to a fresh sample of a creature’s blood. The user is instantly filled with that creature’s primary instinct or drive (e.g., the blind fury of a Beastman, the single-minded hunger of a Ghoul, the territorial rage of a Wyvern). For the next hour, the user gains a +10 bonus to any one skill they do not possess but that is central to the creature’s nature (e.g., they might gain a +10 to Intimidate after tasting the blood of a furious Orc).

Corruption: The bone slowly erodes the barrier between man and beast. Each time the owner uses the Taste of the Beast ability, they must make a Challenging (+0) Willpower Test. If they fail, they gain 1 Corruption point and find themselves struggling with savage, animalistic urges for the rest of the day.