Necromancy 17 of the Composers Fingerbone

Lore: In the island nation of Sonnet’s Rest, it is believed that music is the true universal language, the only tongue that both the living and the dead can truly comprehend. The island’s famed College of Dirges teaches that every soul, upon its creation, is imprinted with a unique and complex melody—a “soul-song” that shifts and changes with life’s experiences but whose core theme remains eternal. The practitioners there, known as Requiems, are not traditional necromancers; they are composers and musicians who use their art to interact with the spirit world. They believe that by learning a fragment of a spirit’s soul-song, they can offer it comfort, guide it toward peace, or learn the story of its life and death.

To aid their students, the masters of the college craft these rings. A Composer’s Fingerbone is carved from the proximal phalanx of a revered Requiem master who has passed on, an honor bestowed only upon those whose own soul-songs were deemed legendary. The bone is then carefully hollowed and inlaid with silver drawn into threads as fine as spider silk. It is not a tool of power, but one of empathy and listening, allowing the wearer to perceive the faint, ghostly music that underpins the noise of the world and to hear the melodies that linger long after a life has ended.

Description: This is a simple, unadorned ring carved from a single piece of polished, off-white bone, yellowed with age. Its surface is smooth and silky to the touch, yet it possesses a surprising durability. Inlaid into the outer surface is a spiraling pattern of fine silver wire that catches the light, vaguely resembling a musical staff twisting around the wearer’s finger. The ring is exceptionally lightweight and seems to absorb the wearer’s body heat, always feeling like a natural part of them. When held in silence, one can feel a constant, near-imperceptible, low-frequency vibration emanating from it, a silent hum that seems to resonate deep within the user’s own bones.

Detailed Stats

• Provides a +5 bonus to Mind’s Eye checks related to musical performance, composition, or identifying sounds.
• Grants a +3 bonus to social interaction checks when attempting to comfort the bereaved or calm a tense emotional situation.

Passive Magics

• Emotional Key: The ring passively resonates with the ambient emotional residue left behind by spirits in a location. In a place of great sorrow, it will emanate a slow, deep vibration. In a place of rage, the vibration becomes a frantic, jarring buzz. This allows the wearer to instinctively feel the emotional “key signature” of their surroundings, discerning the dominant spiritual mood of a room, ruin, or battlefield.
• Phantom Minuets: The wearer’s perception of sound is subtly altered. They will often hear faint, fleeting snatches of melody woven into mundane sounds—a mournful cello’s note in the creak of a door, a complex harmony in the patter of rain, a martial drumbeat in the rhythm of a steam engine. These are the faintest echoes of soul-songs from nearby spirits, providing a constant stream of fragmented musical inspiration.

Activable Magics

• Capture the Refrain: Once per day, the wearer can concentrate on a specific person, a significant object, or a location with a potent spiritual aura. The ring will attune to the dominant spiritual echo present and “capture” a core fragment of its soul-song. This manifests as a clear, complex, and deeply moving melody, between ten and thirty seconds long, that plays only within the wearer’s mind. This melody perfectly encapsulates a core aspect of the spirit’s life or death—a lover’s tender lullaby, a child’s playful jig, a soldier’s hymn of loss. The avatar can attempt to transcribe or perform this unique, supernaturally-derived music.
• Sonata of Soothing: By playing an instrument or singing while focusing on a “captured refrain,” the wearer can perform a supernaturally resonant piece of music. This “Sonata of Soothing” does not command or bind spirits. Instead, it offers an empathic echo of their own experience. Any restless spirits in the immediate area whose own soul-songs share a similar emotional key will be drawn to the music, becoming calm, pacified, and temporarily non-hostile as they listen to a melody that understands their state.

Specific Slot: Finger

Tags: Necromancy, Ring, Common, Tier 1, Music, Performance, Roleplay, Sonnet’s Rest, Wearable, Bone, Auditory, Empathic, Utility, Social, Inspiration, Focus

In the world of Saṃsāra, the Composer’s Fingerbone is a unique and often misunderstood item. Its journey from creation to marketplace is a tale in itself, with its value and the method of its sale shifting dramatically based on who is selling it and where.

The College of Dirges in Sonnet’s Rest

Within the borders of its origin, the island nation of Sonnet’s Rest, the Composer’s Fingerbone is not considered a commercial good. It cannot be bought in any shop or marketplace. These rings are crafted exclusively within the hallowed workshops of the College of Dirges and are reserved for its students. The acquisition of a ring is a formal, ceremonial part of a musician’s education and initiation into the deeper mysteries of their art.

An aspiring Requiem, after years of study in music theory, composition, and spiritual empathy, must prove their worthiness. This often involves composing a masterful elegy or performing a piece that successfully calms a troubled spirit under a master’s supervision. Upon success, the student is brought into the college’s reliquary. Here, they are bestowed a ring carved from the fingerbone of a specific, named master from the college’s history. The transaction is one of legacy and responsibility.

Cost: While there is no price tag, the student is typically required to make a “material offering” to the college before the ceremony. This is not for the ring itself, but framed as a contribution for the fine silver wire used in the inlay or a donation to the upkeep of the honored master’s tomb. This offering is usually a modest sum, around 20 to 30 Lumens, ensuring that the acquisition is based on merit, not wealth.

High-End Musical Emporiums in Artistic Metropolises

In the grand cultural capitals of Saṃsāra, cities renowned for their opulent opera houses and grand concert halls, a Composer’s Fingerbone is transformed into an object of artistic desire. Should one find its way here, likely through a complex chain of inheritance or trade, it would be found in only the most exclusive establishments. These are the workshops of master luthiers or the private showrooms of artisans who craft exquisite, magically-enhanced musical instruments for wealthy patrons.

Here, the item’s necromantic origins are downplayed or romanticized. It is not sold as a tool for communing with the dead, but as an unparalleled muse—a “composer’s secret” that can break creative blocks and inspire magnum opuses. The sale is a theatrical performance. The potential buyer, a renowned composer or ambitious noble, would be taken to a sound-proofed chamber. The seller would present the ring on a velvet pillow, weaving tales of its creation by a legendary artist whose very soul was infused with music.

Cost: The price is exceptionally high, reflecting its rarity and the value placed on artistic genius. A seller would ask for no less than 150 to 200 Lumens. The cost is not for a simple magic item, but for the promise of creating a timeless masterpiece.

Occult Bazaars in Bustling Port Cities

In the chaotic, incense-choked bazaars of major port cities, the Composer’s Fingerbone is subject to wild misinterpretation. A sailor, having acquired a ring in Sonnet’s Rest through trade or theft, might sell it to a purveyor of occult trinkets. In this environment, its subtle, musical purpose is lost entirely, while its more primal elements—bone and necromancy—are amplified.

It would be displayed in a stall crammed with spirit-wards, enchanted charts, and bottled whispers. The merchant would market it not as a musician’s tool, but as a “spirit-channeler’s ring” or a “graveyard charm.” They would claim it allows the wearer to hear the voices of the dead or command their obedience, preying on the ignorance of adventurers and aspiring hedge-wizards. The sale is cloaked in mystery and half-truths, with the seller making grand promises the item was never intended to fulfill.

Cost: The price is moderate and based on its perceived power as a necromantic tool. A merchant might ask for 60 to 80 Lumens, a significant sum for a trinket, but a bargain for what they claim it can do. The value is based on a compelling, if inaccurate, story.

Forgotten Shelves of Pawnbrokers

The most likely place for a knowledgeable but low-funded avatar to find a Composer’s Fingerbone is also the saddest. In the dusty, forgotten corners of a pawnbroker’s shop in a sprawling, indifferent megacity, the ring’s true purpose and value are completely unknown. It would be here because its previous owner, a musician from Sonnet’s Rest, likely died alone and in poverty, their most precious possession sold for a pittance to cover debts.

The pawnbroker would see only a simple, lightweight bone ring with a bit of silver decoration. They might use a basic magical assessment and find its aura to be faint and non-threatening. Deeming it a minor curiosity, they would toss it into a tray with other tarnished silver rings, charms, and mismatched earrings. There is no story, no ceremony, and no understanding of its function. The transaction is a swift, impersonal exchange over a cluttered counter.

Cost: This is where the item is at its cheapest. The pawnbroker, unaware of its unique properties, would price it based on its meager material value. A buyer could acquire it for as little as 5 or 10 Lumens, making it the ultimate diamond in the rough for an avatar who can recognize its sublime and subtle magic.

While the Composer’s Fingerbone is an artisan’s tool, not a warrior’s weapon, its unique abilities to perceive and manipulate the emotional echoes of the spirit world can be used for defense and offense in profoundly creative and effective ways. A resourceful avatar can turn a dirge into a shield and a melody into a psychological weapon.

In a Shadowy, Spirit-Infested Crypt

In the haunted depths of a tomb or catacomb, where the air is thick with the sorrow and rage of the dead, the ring becomes a vital sensory instrument and a tool of spiritual diplomacy.

Roleplaying Defense: The primary defensive use of the ring is as an early warning system. As the party navigates the stone corridors, the avatar pays close attention to the Emotional Key passive. The ring’s constant, low hum might be a slow, mournful thrum—the baseline sorrow of the properly interred dead. But as they approach a chamber desecrated by intruders, the vibration shifts, becoming a frantic, high-pitched buzz of anger. The avatar can halt the party, warning them, “The spirits ahead are not resting. They are enraged.” This forewarning allows the group to prepare for an imminent attack from spectres or wraiths, effectively preventing a surprise assault.

If confronted by a host of territorial ancestral spirits, a direct fight might be unwise. The avatar can instead employ the Sonata of Soothing. By taking a moment to Capture the Refrain from the tomb itself—capturing a melody of loss and remembrance—they can then play that same tune back on a flute or simply hum it. This is not an attack. It is an offering of empathy. The enraged spirits, hearing their own sorrow perfectly reflected in the music, may pause their assault, their aggression tempered by a feeling of being understood. This lull provides a critical window for the party to state their case, retreat, or perform a rite of appeasement, defending themselves from harm without drawing a single weapon.

Roleplaying Offense: Offense with the ring is subtle and psychological. The party might face a powerful Necromancer who uses pained, unwilling spirits to animate their undead minions. The avatar can use Sonata of Soothing, but instead of a mournful tune, they might play a previously captured refrain of pure peace or joyous release. This music wouldn’t harm the necromancer or the zombies directly, but it would offer a moment of solace to the tormented spirits trapped within the undead constructs. This could cause the minions to hesitate, move sluggishly, or even temporarily collapse as the spirits within struggle toward the promise of peace, disrupting the necromancer’s control and creating a powerful offensive opening for the rest of the party.

Furthermore, the avatar could use Capture the Refrain on the necromancer’s personal phylactery or a cherished item from their mortal life. They might uncover a deeply hidden “soul-song” of regret or love for a person they lost long ago. To play this melody during a battle is a direct mental assault. It forces the necromancer to confront the person they once were, potentially shattering their concentration, causing a spell to fail, or leaving them emotionally vulnerable to a more conventional attack.

In a Gilded, Treacherous Ballroom

At a noble’s court or a masquerade ball, where conflicts are waged with whispers and reputations are shattered with rumors, the ring becomes a tool for perceiving lies and manipulating the emotional battlefield.

Roleplaying Defense: The Emotional Key is an unparalleled tool for social defense. An avatar might be deep in conversation with a smiling, flattering courtier who is secretly a rival spy. While the courtier’s words are sweet, the avatar feels the Composer’s Fingerbone vibrating with a sharp, discordant buzz—the signature of deceit and malice. This silent, infallible warning allows the avatar to see through the facade, protecting them from manipulation and allowing them to feed the spy false information.

If a rival attempts to publicly humiliate the avatar, turning the court’s opinion against them, the avatar can deploy the Sonata of Soothing. By softly humming a captured melody of profound sorrow or gentle nostalgia, the supernatural music can subtly influence the room’s emotional state. The crowd’s rising anger might dissipate, replaced by a strange and unexplainable melancholy. The rival’s aggressive momentum is broken, their accusations falling flat in the suddenly somber atmosphere, defending the avatar’s honor and social standing without a single harsh word.

Roleplaying Offense: The ring’s offensive capabilities in a social setting are potent. To ruin a cold-hearted, untouchable political opponent, the avatar might first investigate their past, discovering a lost love. By using Capture the Refrain on an old love letter, they can learn the beautiful, intimate melody of their opponent’s former happiness. The avatar can then hire a string quartet to perform this supernaturally-charged piece during a major court function. The Sonata of Soothing effect, targeted at their opponent, would resonate with that long-buried piece of their soul, potentially causing them to show a public display of emotional vulnerability that shatters their carefully crafted image of being an unfeeling stoic. The attack is not on their body, but on their reputation.

In the Uncharted, Primal Wilderness

On a newly discovered island teeming with strange beasts and ruled by ancient, territorial spirits, the ring is a key to survival and a way to turn the island’s own spiritual ecosystem against a foe.

Roleplaying Defense: While exploring a dense jungle, the Emotional Key acts as a primal threat detector. The ring might vibrate with the ambient life-force of the jungle, but as the party nears a dark cave, the vibration shifts to a deep, slow, rhythmic pulse that feels like predatory hunger. This is the spiritual echo of a great beast that lairs within. The ring defends the party by warning them away from a creature’s den they would have otherwise blundered into.

If the party accidentally offends a powerful nature spirit, perhaps by disturbing its grove, the Sonata of Soothing becomes their only hope. The avatar can use Capture the Refrain on the desecrated grove itself to learn its “song of pain.” By playing this melody back, they are communicating an apology in the purest possible language. This act of empathy can appease the spirit’s wrath, defending the entire party from being destroyed by the forces of the island itself.

Roleplaying Offense: The party can use the ring to hunt as well as hide. If they are tracking a specific magical beast known to be fiercely territorial, they can find the edge of its domain and use Capture the Refrain to learn its “song of rage.” They can then play this song deeper within their own territory, creating a spiritual challenge. The enraged beast, hearing what it perceives as an intruder’s defiant song within its own lands, might be drawn out of its lair and into a prepared ambush.

Against a tribe of hostile hunters led by a shaman who draws power from a sacred relic, the avatar can use the ring for a devastating indirect assault. By sneaking close to the relic, the avatar can Capture the Refrain of its soul-song. Later, during a battle, the avatar can play back a distorted, disharmonious version of that sacred melody. This “anti-song” would create spiritual feedback, potentially disrupting the shaman’s connection to his relic, weakening his power, or even causing the relic to lash out at its own wielder. The offense lies in turning the enemy’s source of power into a source of painful, chaotic noise.

Perception of Activation:

SIGHT

• User’s Perspective: When the user focuses their will to capture a refrain, the quality of light in the world subtly shifts, taking on a warm, golden-hour hue as if viewed through amber glass. The air itself seems to gain substance, and shimmering motes of silver and gold light, previously invisible, begin to drift like dust in a sunbeam. These motes are drawn towards the target of the activation, coalescing into faint, translucent shapes resembling musical notes and clefs. This phantom sheet music swirls around the target for a moment before flowing in a graceful stream towards the ring, where it is absorbed with a final, soft gleam.
• Observer’s Perspective: An observer would see very little. The user’s eyes appear to unfocus, taking on a distant, dreamy expression as if they are lost in thought. The ring on their finger might emit a single, faint glint of silvery light as the activation completes, but this is so subtle it would likely be mistaken for a simple reflection.
• Positives: The visual experience for the user is beautiful and deeply inspiring, providing a clear and thematic representation of the magic at work. Its near-invisibility to others ensures that this deeply personal act can be performed with discretion.
• Negatives: The shift in light and color perception, while beautiful, can make it difficult for the user to discern true colors or notice fine details in their physical surroundings for a moment. The user’s unfocused, dreamy state leaves them appearing vulnerable and inattentive to immediate threats.

SOUND

• User’s Perspective: This is the most profound part of the experience. The moment the activation begins, all external noises—conversation, wind, combat—fade into a single, gentle, humming drone. From that drone, a single, impossibly pure melody blossoms within the user’s mind. It is not merely heard through the ears, but perceived directly by the consciousness, complete with harmonies and emotional weight. For the duration of the capture, this “soul-song” is the user’s entire reality, a perfect and incorruptible piece of music.
• Observer’s Perspective: From the outside, the process is completely silent. An attentive observer might notice the user tilt their head as if listening to something no one else can hear, or see their lips move slightly, unconsciously forming the shapes of the unheard notes.
• Positives: The user receives the musical refrain with absolute fidelity, allowing for perfect recall and transcription. The complete privacy of the experience allows it to be used anywhere without drawing attention.
• Negatives: The user is rendered completely deaf to the outside world for the several seconds it takes to capture the refrain. A shouted warning, a collapsing ceiling, or the sound of an approaching enemy would go entirely unheard, placing the user in considerable danger.

SMELL

• User’s Perspective: The user experiences a powerful form of synesthesia, as the melody being captured generates a complex and corresponding scent. A simple, mournful melody might manifest as the smell of ozone after a rainstorm and wet stone. A frantic, angry refrain could smell of hot metal, ash, and blood. A song of deep love might smell of a specific, forgotten flower or fresh-baked bread. The scent is an intrinsic part of the musical experience.
• Observer’s Perspective: No physical odor is created or perceived by anyone other than the user.
• Positives: The scent adds an incredible layer of depth and inspiration to the captured music, informing the user of the emotion behind the notes in a way sound alone cannot.
• Negatives: A melody born of a deeply traumatic or malevolent spirit can generate a truly foul or nauseating stench, potentially causing the user to lose concentration or become physically ill.

TOUCH

• User’s Perspective: The Composer’s Fingerbone begins to vibrate intensely. This is not a jarring, mechanical shaking, but a smooth, harmonic resonance that pulses in perfect time with the rhythm and tempo of the captured soul-song. It feels as if the ring itself has become a living instrument, a tuning fork struck by a spiritual orchestra. This vibration often spreads from the finger up the user’s arm and into their chest, a deeply physical manifestation of the music.
• Observer’s Perspective: An observer would perceive nothing. Even if they were touching the user’s hand, the vibration is purely internal to the wearer and has no physical component.
• Positives: The harmonic vibration helps the user internalize the tempo, rhythm, and feel of the captured melody, making it easier to replicate. The feeling is often described as deeply satisfying and affirming.
• Negatives: The resonance can be so powerful that it makes fine motor control with that hand momentarily difficult. A user might struggle to hold a pen, another instrument, or a weapon for a few seconds during the activation.

TASTE

• User’s Perspective: A phantom taste manifests, directly linked to the emotional content of the melody. A song of innocence and childhood might create the taste of sweet berries and milk. A melody of bitter betrayal could leave a taste like ash and bile on the tongue. A song of martial pride might taste of copper and salt.
• Observer’s Perspective: None.
• Positives: This adds another sensory dimension to the experience, further informing the user about the context and story behind the music they have captured.
• Negatives: An unpleasant emotional source can result in a lingering, foul taste that can be distracting and disgusting, sometimes lasting for an hour or more after the activation.

EXTRA-SENSORY PERCEPTIONS

• Empathic Memory (The Story Behind the Song):
  • User’s Perspective: For a fleeting instant, the user experiences a fragment of a memory associated with the music. It is not a full vision, but a single, potent snapshot of the spirit’s life: seeing a lover’s smile while hearing a ballad, feeling the chill of a crypt while hearing a dirge, or seeing the face of a betrayer while hearing a discordant lament. They live a single moment of the spirit’s life.
  • Observer’s Perspective: The user’s face may briefly flash with an emotion that is not their own—a flicker of pure joy, a wince of pain, a look of profound confusion—before settling back to neutrality.
  • Positives: This provides unparalleled insight into the music’s meaning, transforming it from a simple melody into a narrative that the composer can then tell through their own art.
  • Negatives: Experiencing a stranger’s memory, especially one of trauma, violence, or deep sorrow, can be emotionally jarring and mentally taxing, leaving the user with residual feelings that are not their own.
• Creative Downpour:
  • User’s Perspective: The moment the melody is fully captured, it blossoms in the user’s mind with explosive potential. They don’t just “know” the tune; they are flooded with a torrent of associated musical ideas. They hear phantom harmonies, possible orchestrations, counter-melodies, and rhythmic variations. It is a complete and sudden package of pure, unadulterated creative inspiration.
  • Observer’s Perspective: The user might suddenly look at their instrument with an intense longing, or their fingers might begin to tap out complex rhythms on their own volition. They may appear suddenly energized and completely single-minded.
  • Positives: This is the item’s greatest gift to a composer, providing not just a seed of an idea, but an entire garden of possibilities to explore.
  • Negatives: This creative flood can be overwhelming, bordering on a manic obsession. The user might feel a powerful compulsion to abandon all other tasks, including attending to their own safety, to immediately begin working on the music.
• Spiritual Acknowledgement:
  • User’s Perspective: The user feels a distinct, non-verbal acknowledgement from the spirit whose song they have captured. It is a feeling of being “seen” and “heard” by the departed soul. This often manifests as a wave of gratitude, a sense of peaceful release, or a feeling of quiet companionship, as if the spirit is thankful that its story will not be forgotten.
  • Observer’s Perspective: A look of deep peace, empathy, or serenity might briefly cross the user’s face.
  • Positives: This provides a profound sense of purpose, affirming that the user’s art serves to comfort the lingering dead and preserve memory.
  • Negatives: If the spirit is particularly powerful or still consumed by rage or pain, this moment of acknowledgement can be draining. The user might feel as if they have taken on a small piece of that spirit’s burden, leaving them feeling spiritually and physically weary.

Recipe: The Echo-Chime Ring

A schematic for the creation of a resonant bone ring, an item favored by the Requiem composers of Sonnet’s Rest and other musically-inclined spiritualists. This recipe details the delicate process of combining bone, silver, and spiritual reagents to craft a focus for perceiving the unheard melodies of the world.

Materials Needed

• 1x Musician’s Phalanx: A single, well-preserved finger bone from the dominant hand of a sentient being who, in life, was a dedicated and passionate musician. The bone retains a sympathetic resonance to the nature of music and performance.
• 1x Spool of Fine Silver Wire: High-purity silver drawn into a thread no thicker than a hair. Silver is used for its properties as a magical conductor.
• 1x Ghost-Quartz Nugget: A small, milky quartz stone harvested from a location with a high concentration of spiritual residue, such as an old tomb or a haunted ballroom. The stone is saturated with faint ethereal energy.
• 1x Drop of Siren’s Wail: A rare, viscous liquid distilled from the captured breath of a Siren or a similar sonic spirit. It acts as a binding agent that holds onto auditory concepts. (A cheaper substitute is Ectoplasmic Condensate, though the results are less refined).
• 1x Bar of Aural Polish: A finishing compound made from finely powdered mother-of-pearl mixed into a bar of dense beeswax.

Tools Required

• Jeweler’s Bone Saw: A fine-toothed saw designed for making precise cuts in bone without causing splintering.
• Micro-Burin Set: A collection of hardened steel needles and carving tools, small enough for intricate scrimshaw and inlay work.
• Harmonic Attunement Fork: A specialized magical tuning fork, often made of brass or bronze. When struck, it emits not just a single tone, but a shifting chord of magical frequencies used to align and awaken sonic enchantments.
• Stone Mortar and Pestle: For grinding the Ghost-Quartz nugget into a fine, consistent powder.
• Soft Polishing Cloths: Untreated cloths for the final buffing stage.

Skill Requirements

• Scrimshaw or Bone Carving (Novice): The crafter must be able to hollow, shape, and carve intricate grooves into the delicate finger bone without shattering it.
• Jewelry Inlaying (Novice): Requires a steady hand to lay the fine silver wire precisely into the carved grooves.
• Necromancy (Initiate): The crafter needs a fundamental understanding of how to handle spiritually resonant materials and how to channel their own mana to attune an object to perceive spiritual phenomena, specifically auditory ones. This is a Tier 1 skill.
• Acoustics (Basic): A rudimentary knowledge of musical resonance and harmony is required to properly “tune” the ring during the final stages.

Crafting Steps

1. Hollowing the Bone: Using the jeweler’s bone saw, carefully cut the knuckle-ends from the Musician’s Phalanx. Use the largest and smoothest of the micro-burins to slowly and meticulously hollow out the inside of the bone until it forms a ring of the desired size and thickness. This is the most delicate physical step; rushing will cause the bone to fracture.
2. Carving the Channel: With the ring formed, select a fine-tipped burin. Carefully carve a continuous, spiraling groove into the outer surface of the ring. This channel should be deep enough to hold the silver wire but not so deep as to compromise the ring’s integrity. The pattern should mimic a musical staff twisting upon itself.
3. Preparing the Resonant Compound: Place the Ghost-Quartz nugget into the mortar and grind it with the pestle until it is a fine, dust-like powder. Add the single drop of Siren’s Wail or Ectoplasmic Condensate to the powder and continue to mix until it forms a thick, shimmering, silver-grey paste.
4. Inlaying the Wire: Carefully fill the carved channel in the bone ring with the resonant paste. Before the paste can dry, take the fine silver wire and meticulously press it down into the center of the channel. The paste will act as both a bed for the wire and a magical bonding agent. Trim the ends of the wire flush with the ring. Allow the paste to cure for at least six hours in a quiet location.
5. Harmonic Attunement: This is the primary magical step. Place the completed ring on a soft cloth. Take the Harmonic Attunement Fork and strike it firmly against a wooden surface. As it emits its shifting, magical chords, bring it close to the ring. The silver in the ring will begin to hum in sympathy. Now, the crafter must employ their Initiate Necromancy skill. They must close their eyes and focus their will, channeling a small, steady stream of mana into the ring while focusing on the concept of “listening” to the silence between sounds. Guided by the vibrations of the fork, they must coax the ring’s magic to life, aligning it not to see or command spirits, but to hear their lingering music. This process is complete when the ring emits a single, clear, musical note that only the crafter can hear.
6. Final Polish: Once the ring has been attuned, take the Bar of Aural Polish and work it into a soft cloth. Vigorously buff the entire surface of the ring. The beeswax will seal the inlay and give the bone a warm, smooth finish, while the powdered mother-of-pearl imparts a lustrous, magical sheen. The Echo-Chime Ring is now complete and ready to be worn.

Tale of Deaf Music

In the beginning of Sonnet’s Rest, there was a girl composer. Her name was Elara, and her fingers made a magic on the strings of the lute and the keys of the steam-organ. The notes fell from her hands like perfect, shaped stones. But when she played, the heart did not move. The masters of the College of Dirges would listen. They would make a nod. They would say, your notes have skill. But your music is deaf music. It does not hear what it is for.

Elara had a pride that was a fire. She said, my music is for the living who have good ears. What is a spirit but a wind with a memory?

The oldest master was Lyren. His eyes were white with blindness, but he could see the shape of a person’s soul-song. He said to Elara, the spirits are not wind. They are the silence that is left when a song is over. Your music is too loud. It does not listen to the silence.

This made Elara’s pride-fire burn with more heat. She stood in the great hall. She made a challenge. I will compose a music for the most angry spirit in our lands. The Warrior-Prince who sleeps in the Hill of Swords. My music will command him to be peaceful. And Lyren, the blind master, he will also try. We will see whose music is the strongest.

Lyren made a nod. He said, it is a thing we will do.

So Elara went to the tomb of the Warrior-Prince. It was a cold place, and the air tasted of old iron and regret. Elara brought with her a great harp with strings of silver. She thought, this angry spirit needs a strong music to bend its will. She composed a song of loud, fast notes. A song of great victory and power. A song to tell the spirit, ‘You are finished! Be still!’ She played the harp, and her fingers were fast and perfect. Every note was correct.

And the tomb grew colder. A shadow came from the stone sarcophagus. It was a shape of rage. The Warrior-Prince. Her music, so full of command, did not soothe him. It was a new challenge to his pride. His silent scream was a feeling of a thousand swords cutting the air. Elara’s deaf music had made the anger greater. She ran from the tomb, and her harp was left behind.

Then Lyren, the blind master, came to the tomb. He did not bring a great harp. He brought only a small flute made of reed. He went inside and sat on the cold floor. He did not play. He was quiet for a long time. The shadow of the Warrior-Prince was still there, a storm of anger. Lyren did not look at it with his white eyes. He did not listen with his ears to the angry silence. He listened with his soul.

He felt the great rage of the prince. But he listened deeper. Beneath the rage, like a root beneath a poison flower, he felt a great sadness. The sadness of a promise he could not keep before he died. The rage was only a shield for his broken heart-sorrow.

Lyren put the small flute to his lips. He did not play a song of command. He did not play a song of victory. He played only a few notes, slow and quiet. It was a melody that was the shape of the spirit’s sadness. He was not telling the spirit what to feel. He was making a music that said, ‘I hear your promise that was broken. I feel your great sorrow.’ He made an echo of the spirit’s own heart-song.

The angry shadow stopped its silent scream. The great storm of rage became still. The spirit of the Warrior-Prince turned its attention to the simple, quiet music. The music was not deaf. It was a listening music. For the first time since his death, the spirit was heard. And feeling this, it became peaceful. The shadow faded. The coldness left the tomb.

Elara stood at the doorway. She saw all. Her pride-fire was washed away by tears. She understood. Music was not a tool to command. It was a tool to understand.

Lyren became her teacher. And when many years passed and his own breath left him, he was honored as the greatest of Requiems. He gave his fingerbone to Elara, his best student. She carved from it a ring, and inlaid the silver wire like a twisting song. So that she, and all who came after, would remember the great lesson.

---

The Moral of the Story: The most beautiful song is not the one you play, but the one you hear first in the silence of another’s heart.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu

The Dirge-Writer’s Phalange

An unsettling artifact, often dismissed as a mere curiosity until its true nature is revealed. It is a single, polished human finger bone, carved into a ring and inlaid with a spiral of silver wire. Occult texts suggest these were used by morbid artists and poets in Kymulian death cults to draw inspiration directly from the emotional effluence of the dead. To use it is to open one’s mind to the maddening music that lingers in places of tragedy, a symphony of grief and terror that can shatter the sanity of the unprepared.

Game Mechanics:

• Psychosonic Disturbance: The wearer is constantly assailed by faint, phantom melodies—the “music” of ambient spiritual residue. This provides one bonus die to any Art/Craft (Music Composition) or Art/Craft (Poetry) roll. However, this constant, subliminal noise is draining; the Investigator must make a Sanity roll (0/1 SAN loss) for each full week the ring is worn.
• Capture a Refrain (Active): Once per day, an Investigator may focus on a location, a significant object, or a corpse to attempt to capture its “soul-song.” This requires a successful POW roll.
  • Success: The Investigator is filled with a unique and complex melody that perfectly encapsulates the history or emotional state of the target. This provides a deep, intuitive insight that the Keeper should deliver as a narrative clue (e.g., “The music is a dirge of profound betrayal, you now know the victim was stabbed in the back by a trusted friend.”).
  • Failure: The attempt connects to something discordant. The Investigator is wracked with psychic noise, resulting in an immediate Sanity roll (1/1d4 SAN loss).
• Sonata of Appeasement (Active): If an Investigator has successfully captured a refrain, they may attempt to perform it using an appropriate Art/Craft skill (e.g., singing, playing an instrument). Any non-hostile or mildly restless spirits in the area whose nature matches the emotion of the song will be mesmerized, becoming calm and peaceful for 1d6 rounds. This act of channeling, however, is mentally taxing and requires a Sanity roll (0/1 SAN loss).

Blades in the Dark

The Bone Cadenza

A treasured and guarded tool used by the city’s most esoteric artists and Whispers. This ring, carved from the finger of a forgotten opera singer, is attuned to the emotional static of the ghost field, translating the unending chaos into coherent musical ideas. A user can listen to the city’s grief and rage, and compose a song that can soothe the most savage ghost or charm the most ruthless killer.

Game Mechanics:

This is a piece of Occult Gear or a special item for a crew of Bards or Artists.

• Emotional Resonance: When you Survey a scene or Study a character, you can take 1 Stress to attune to their emotional song. The GM will tell you the “music” you hear, providing a specific emotional detail that others would miss (e.g., “Beneath his calm exterior, his song is a frantic, panicked rhythm of fear,” or “This room’s sad melody tells you someone died here waiting for a lover who never returned.”).
• Long-Term Project: Masterwork Composition: You can start a long-term project (e.g., 8-segment clock) to compose a truly supernatural piece of music. You can only work on this clock when you Capture a Refrain by studying a particularly powerful ghost, a location of great tragedy, or a person with an immense emotional burden. When completed, the composition can be used as a tool to achieve a specific social goal (e.g., swaying the entire city council, calming a riot, or breaking the heart of a leviathan).
• Soothing Performance: When you Consort with ghosts, you can play a relevant captured refrain. If you do, you gain +1d to your roll. On a 7-9 or a crit, the ghost is not just cooperative, but soothed and pacified by your understanding of its sorrow.

Dungeons & Dragons

Ring of the Requiem Wondrous item, common (requires attunement)

This simple, yellowed bone ring is inlaid with a twisting spiral of fine silver wire. It is said that the first of these rings was carved from the finger of a master bard who learned to hear the music left behind by departed souls. While wearing this ring, you find inspiration in the echoes of the world, hearing faint melodies in the wind or the rain, and feeling the emotional resonance of places and people.

• Soul-Song. While attuned to this ring, you have advantage on all Charisma (Performance) checks made to evoke a specific emotion (such as sorrow, joy, or rage) in your audience.
• Empathic Ear. You have advantage on Wisdom (Insight) checks made to determine if a creature is being deceptive or to gauge its true emotional state.
• Capture Refrain (1/day). As an action, you can focus on a creature, object, or a 10-foot area within 30 feet of you. You learn a short, distinct melody that represents the core emotion or spiritual memory of that target. For the next hour, you can perfectly recall this melody and its emotional significance.
• Sonata of Soothing. As an action, you can use a musical instrument or your voice to perform a melody you have captured with the Capture Refrain feature. Any undead or fey within 60 feet that can hear you must make a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, a creature becomes indifferent about creatures it was hostile toward. This indifference lasts for 1 minute or until the creature is attacked, harmed, or witnesses its allies being harmed. On a successful save, the creature is unaware that you tried to influence it.

Knave

Bone-Harp Ring Ring, 1 inventory slot

A ring carved from the finger bone of a forgotten musician. A thin silver wire wraps around it like a string on a harp. It does not make music on its own, but allows the wearer to hear the music that is already there.

• Passive: When you are in a location with a strong emotional history (e.g., a tomb, a ballroom, a battlefield), the ring vibrates. The GM will describe the feeling of the vibration (e.g., slow and sad, fast and angry), clueing you into the area’s spiritual mood.
• Active 1 (Learn the Tune): Once per day, you may concentrate on a single person or place for one minute. The GM will describe a simple melody to you that represents that target’s hidden sorrow, rage, or joy. You remember this tune until you use this ability again.
• Active 2 (Play the Tune): You can attempt to play a tune you have learned on a musical instrument. Make a Charisma saving throw.
  • Success: You perform the tune perfectly. Any creature (living or dead) that shares the tune’s core emotion is captivated, and will cease all hostile action to listen for one round.
  • Failure: You play a discordant version of the tune, shattering the magic. The tune is forgotten and the attempt may even anger spirits who hear it.

Fate

Ring of the Soul’s Refrain

This ring is an Extra, a narrative tool that defines a character’s relationship with music, emotion, and the world of the departed. It allows them to perceive the world not just through sight and sound, but through the underlying music of a soul’s history.

Aspects: The ring itself possesses two core aspects that a player can invoke or a GM can compel: Every Soul Has Its Own Song and A Melody for Memory and Madness.

Stunts:

• Narrative Permission: By wearing this ring, you have permission to interpret the world through music. You can ask the GM, “What does this person’s or place’s ‘soul-song’ sound like?” The answer should inform your actions and understanding of the scene.
• Capture the Refrain: Once per session, you can spend a Fate Point to intently listen to the soul-song of a specific character or location. This act allows you to immediately place a new Situation Aspect on that target, reflecting a deep, hidden truth you have discovered through its music (e.g., A Ballad of Unrequited Love, A March of Hidden Greed, or The Dirge of a Betrayal). You and the GM should agree on the aspect.
• Performance of Empathy: When you Create an Advantage using the Performance skill, if you are playing a song that is thematically appropriate to your target’s emotional state (or playing a refrain you have previously captured from them), you get a +2 to your roll.

Numenera & Cypher System

Aural Resonator Ring

This device appears to be a simple ring carved from a pale, bone-like organic material, but it is a complex piece of the numenera. Fine metallic filaments within the material vibrate in response to minute psychic and extradimensional frequencies, translating them into complex auditory data that the user perceives as music. It is a tool for those who wish to understand the emotional echoes left behind in the Ninth World.

As an Artifact:

• Level: 4
• Form: A smooth, pale ring inlaid with silvery filaments.
• Effect: The wearer gains an asset on all tasks involving perceiving hidden emotions, discerning true motives through conversation, or using music to influence the mood of a social situation.
• Depletion: 1 in 1d20 (When depleted, the filaments go dark and the ring becomes an inert, mundane object).

Abilities:

• Learn the Echo (Action): The user can focus on a creature or a specific location for a round, making an Intellect-based roll against the artifact’s level (a difficulty of 4). On a success, they learn the target’s “emotional song,” a mental melody that gives them insight into its current state. This provides an asset on the user’s next social interaction with that target.
• Soothing Playback (Action): If the user knows a target’s emotional song, they can attempt to hum or play it back. This is an Intellect-based action. On success, it can calm a hostile creature of level 4 or lower, making it non-aggressive for one minute unless provoked. Against a sapient creature, it instead renders them susceptible to suggestion, easing the difficulty of your next interaction-based task with them by one step.

Pathfinder

REQUIEM MASTER’S FINGERBONE — ITEM 2+ UNCOMMON AUDITORY DIVINATION ENCHANTMENT NECROMANCY Usage worn ring; Bulk —

Carved from the finger of a legendary composer who was said to hear the music of ghosts, this ring attunes its wearer to the symphony of emotion and memory. The silver inlay resembles a musical staff that spirals into itself, representing the endless nature of a soul’s song. To wear it is to hear the world’s hidden joys and sorrows.

Invested: You gain a +1 item bonus to Performance checks, and to Diplomacy checks made to comfort or console a grieving creature.

Activate [one-action] (Concentrate, Divination); Frequency once per 10 minutes; Effect You focus on a creature, object, or a 10-foot square area you can see. You learn a psychic representation of its dominant emotional state or spiritual history, which manifests in your mind as a short, distinct melody. This is a non-auditory, mental effect that allows you to understand the emotion, even if you are not musically inclined.

Activate [two-actions] (Auditory, Concentrate, Enchantment, Performance); Frequency once per day; Requirements You must be holding a musical instrument and must have used the previous activation within the last minute on a creature that is now the target of this one; Effect You play the captured melody, shaping it into a supernaturally soothing performance. The target creature must attempt a DC 16 Will save.

• Critical Success The creature is unaffected.
• Success The creature is fascinated for 1 round.
• Failure The creature is fascinated for 1 minute. For the duration, its emotional state is calmed, and it will not take hostile actions unless it or its allies are attacked.
• Critical Failure As failure, but the duration is 10 minutes.

Savage Worlds

The Ghost-Singer’s Ring

A macabre but potent magical item, this ring is said to be carved from the finger of a musician who made a pact with a spirit of sorrow. It does not command the dead, but allows the wearer to hear their lingering passions, translating grief, rage, and joy into coherent musical ideas that can then be used to influence the living and the dead alike.

Requirements: Novice, Performance d6+ or Occult d6+ Powers: Grants access to the Empathy power, with the Trapping of hearing the target’s “soul-song.” Also grants access to the Calm power (from the Fantasy Companion) or Slumber (if targeting a spirit), with the Trapping of a musical performance.

Abilities:

• Emotional Acuity: The wearer has a keen sense of the emotional state of others. They gain a +2 bonus to Persuasion checks when their argument aligns with the target’s current mood (e.g., calming someone who is angry, cheering someone who is sad).
• Capture the Tune: Using the Empathy power granted by this ring allows the user to “learn” the target’s emotional song.
• Perform the Tune: Once a tune is learned, the user can activate the Calm or Slumber power on that same target by making a Performance roll instead of the usual arcane skill roll. This use does not cost Power Points, but can only be attempted once per day.

Shadowrun

Evo “Bard’s Boon” Memento

A boutique Qi Foci developed by Evo’s subsidiary, “Trans-Sentient Harmonics,” and marketed towards high-end artists, diplomats, and social infiltrators. The “Memento” is a ring crafted from a bioprinted bone lattice containing a culture of microbes that resonate with astral and emotional frequencies. It allows the attuned user to perceive the “music” of a person’s aura, providing an unparalleled edge in social situations. While Evo claims the item is perfectly safe, some users report hearing phantom melodies that linger long after the foci is deactivated.

• Type: Qi Foci
• Rating: 2
• Activation: Simple Action
• Game Mechanics:
  • Harmonic Acuity: While this foci is active, the user gains a +1 dice pool bonus to the Influence skill group (Etiquette, Leadership, Negotiation). The GM should describe the user perceiving the target’s emotional state not as a simple feeling, but as a form of discordant or harmonious music.
  • Capture Emotional Refrain: By spending a point of Edge and winning an Assensing + Intuition [Astral] (3) test while focused on a target, the user can “learn their song.” This provides a deep, intuitive understanding of the target’s core emotional state and motivations. For the remainder of the scene, the user gains a +2 dice pool bonus on any opposed social tests against that specific target.
  • Soothing Cadenza: The user can perform a captured refrain, translating the emotional music into a physical performance (singing, playing an instrument, etc.). This requires an Artisan + Intuition test. The number of hits generated becomes a negative dice pool modifier to the attack tests of any hostile spirits within earshot who are in a similar emotional state. This effect lasts for one Combat Round and is a non-damaging, disruptive support action.

Starfinder

Eoxian Soul-Harp Ring

This macabre but elegant ring is carved from the bone of an unknown creature native to Eox and inlaid with silvery, conductive filaments that seem to move of their own accord. The ring acts as a passive psychic resonator, translating the chaotic energy of nearby soul-auras into coherent, intuitive musical concepts, granting the wearer a unique and unsettling form of empathy.

• SYSTEM Eoxian Soul-Harp Ring
• LEVEL 2
• PRICE 850 credits
• SLOTS 1 (worn on finger)
• BULK L
• Game Mechanics:
  • This is a hybrid item that grants the wearer a +1 insight bonus to Culture checks made to create or interpret works of art (especially music and poetry).
  • The wearer also gains a +2 insight bonus on Diplomacy checks made to change a creature’s attitude or to comfort them.
  • Learn the Melody (1/day): As a standard action, you can focus on a single living creature within 30 feet. You learn a mental melody that represents its current, true emotional state, granting you advantage on your next Bluff or Diplomacy check made against that creature within the next minute.
  • Soothing Performance (1/day): As a standard action, you can perform a melody learned via Learn the Melody. The creature you originally learned the melody from must succeed on a Will save (DC 12) or be fascinated for 1d4 rounds. This is a mind-affecting, sense-dependent, emotion effect.

Traveller

Aslan Ehierlo Ihatei (Artist’s Soul-Claw)

An extremely rare piece of Aslan art and biotechnology, often given to a clan’s most revered poets or historians upon their death. The item is the actual claw of a great artist, hollowed out and filled with a semi-sentient microbial culture that bonds with a new owner over time. The microbes react to the complex bio-signatures and pheromones of other living beings, translating that data into a low-frequency hum that the bonded user perceives as a form of music, granting them an uncanny understanding of others. To most humans, this is indistinguishable from psionics.

• Tech Level: 14
• Legality: Legal (but extremely rare and valuable cultural artifact).
• Cost: 5+ MCr
• Game Mechanics:
  • Bonding: A user must keep the claw on their person for one full week to become bonded. Once bonded, its effects are active.
  • Emotional Resonance: The bonded user gains an instinctual understanding of the emotional state of others they are conversing with. This grants DM+1 to all Persuade and Deceive checks.
  • Capture Signature: Once per day, the user may spend one minute focusing on an individual. The microbial colony within the claw perfectly attunes to that person’s unique bio-signature, learning their “song.”
  • Harmonic Resonance: If the user has captured a signature, they can subtly hum the resonant frequency the claw provides while interacting with that person. This requires an Entertainer (singing) 8+ check. On a success, the target becomes highly susceptible to the user’s influence, granting DM+2 to the next Persuade or Diplomacy check against them. On a failure, the discordant frequency irritates the target, who becomes suspicious and hostile.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay

Fingerbone of the Mourning Piper

This is a morbid magical trinket, a single finger bone from a long-dead musician, polished to a soft sheen from centuries of handling. It is unnervingly cold and seems to absorb nearby sound, creating an aura of profound silence around it. It is said that by holding it, one can hear the melancholy music of Shysh, the Wind of Death, and learn the dirges that can soothe even the most tormented souls. Priests of Morr and Amethyst Wizards find these items useful, if dangerous, for their work.

• Qualities: Magical, Unstable
• Game Mechanics:
  • Aura of Somber Silence: The area within 2 yards of the wearer is unnaturally quiet. The wearer gains a +10 bonus to Stealth Tests when attempting to move silently.
  • Empathic Dirge: The wearer gains a +10 bonus to Charm Tests when attempting to comfort or console another character, or when trying to calm a creature driven by grief or sorrow.
  • Learn the Spirit’s Lament: Once per day, the wearer may focus on a location of great sorrow or a specific restless spirit. They must make a Challenging (+0) Intuition Test. On a success, they learn a simple, mournful melody that encapsulates the nature of the sorrow. For each +SL achieved, the melody becomes more complex and potent.
  • Performance of Peace: A character who has learned a spirit’s lament may perform it on a musical instrument. This requires a successful Entertain (any) Test. All Restless Dead within earshot who are tied to that specific sorrow must make a Difficult (-10) Cool Test. If they fail, they cease all hostile action and become calm and still for a number of rounds equal to the performer’s Willpower Bonus. Using the locket to channel the winds of death in this way is taxing, and the performer gains one Fatigued Condition after the performance ends.