Necromancy 66 of the Vintners Jawbone

Lore: On the sun-drenched, fertile islands of the Ambervine Archipelago, there is a saying: “A meal is a story; a good chef is merely its narrator.” This philosophy was perfected by the legendary epicurean, Master Callan. Callan was not a necromancer in the traditional sense; he was a culinary artist who believed that the true flavor of an ingredient was not in its chemistry, but in its history and the spiritual echoes it had absorbed throughout its life. He claimed he could taste the memory of the sun in a grape, listen to the story of the soil the grain grew in, and feel the emotions of the rancher who raised the livestock.

When he passed away after a long and celebrated life, his devoted followers—a society of connoisseurs and chefs known as the Palate Veritatus—honored him in their unique way. Believing his jaw and tongue to be the source of his supernatural palate, they reverently preserved his mandible. They replaced the teeth with river pearls and inscribed the bone with scenes of harvest and fermentation. The Vintner’s Jawbone is not the original, but one of the many replicas made in its image. Each is ritually prepared with a sliver from the original, allowing the user to experience a pale but profound echo of Master Callan’s ability: to taste not just the food, but the life and death of the food itself.

Description: The item is the polished, yellowed mandible of a humanoid, delicate and small enough to be held comfortably in one hand. It is unnaturally smooth and warm to the touch, as if holding a residual life force. The teeth have all been removed and replaced with small, lustrous pearls that seem to glow with a very faint, internal light. The entire surface of the bone is covered in incredibly fine, scrimshaw-style carvings depicting agricultural scenes: grape vines, fields of wheat, fishermen casting nets, and brewers tending to barrels. When held to the nose, the jawbone gives off a complex and pleasing phantom aroma, like savory cooking spices, freshly turned earth, and sweet wine.

Detailed Stats

• Provides a +5 bonus to any Mind’s Eye check related to appraising the quality, origin, history, or specific ingredients of food and drink.
• Grants a +3 bonus on social interaction checks with artisans whose trade involves cultivation or fermentation, such as chefs, farmers, vintners, and brewers.

Passive Magics

• Echo of the Terroir: When the user holds the jawbone near raw or simple ingredients (a piece of fruit, a cut of meat, a handful of grain), they receive a faint, intuitive impression of its origin. This is not a full vision, but a fleeting sensory snapshot: the feeling of a cool sea breeze on their skin, the scent of a specific type of mountain soil, a flash of a sun-drenched field, or the sound of a rushing river.
• Aroma of Memory: The user’s sense of smell is subtly enhanced, allowing them to perceive “phantom aromas” layered over real ones. A simple glass of water might carry the phantom scent of the underground spring it came from. A baked loaf of bread might also smell faintly of the summer day the wheat was harvested. This allows the user to detect a depth of scent that is imperceptible to others.

Activable Magics

• A Connoisseur’s Palate: Once per day, the user can gently touch the “chin” of the jawbone to a prepared meal or a beverage. For the next minute, their sense of taste is elevated to a supernatural degree. They can perfectly distinguish every ingredient, every spice, every subtle flavor. More than this, they taste the history within the food: the age of the wine in seasons, the happiness of the cow that produced the milk for the cheese, the subtle haste or anger of the chef who prepared the dish, and the quality of the fire that cooked it.
• Sip of the Past: Once per week, the user may perform a more intensive ritual by placing the jawbone into a bowl of stew or a goblet of wine for one full minute of quiet concentration. The food or drink must be made from ingredients sourced from the local area. After concentrating, the user receives a brief but vivid vision of a single, significant historical event that took place on the land where the primary ingredient was grown or cultivated. This might be a vision of a famous battle, a secret romantic tryst in a vineyard, or the burying of a treasure in a field, providing a potent, if unpredictable, piece of historical information.

Specific Slot: Held Item

Tags: Necromancy, Held Item, Common, Tier 1, Roleplay, Appraising, Culinary, Investigation, Bone, Tool, Sensory, Divination, Social, History, Empathic, Organic

The Vintner’s Jawbone is a highly specialized necromantic tool, and as such, its journey through the marketplaces of Saṃsāra is a strange one. Its perceived function and value are wildly different depending on the hands it falls into, transforming from a sacred culinary instrument to a macabre curiosity and back again.

The Palate Veritatus Society in the Ambervine Archipelago

In its homeland, the Vintner’s Jawbone is not sold; it is earned. The Palate Veritatus, the society of epicurean philosophers who create these items, view them as indispensable tools of their craft and essential aids in their philosophy of “gustatory truth.” An aspiring member cannot simply purchase a jawbone. They must first be accepted into the society as an apprentice, a process that can take years of study in cooking, brewing, agriculture, and history.

The item is bestowed upon the apprentice only when they have proven their worth, often by creating a dish or vinting a wine that tells a story the masters can “taste.” The acquisition is a formal ceremony, a graduation where the jawbone is presented as a symbol of their mastery and their entry into the society’s inner circle. The exchange is one of knowledge and trust, not commerce.

Cost: While no price is set for the jawbone itself, the apprentice is expected to have contributed significantly to the society. This often includes a “material tithe” to cover the cost of the river pearls and the ritual preparation, typically amounting to a sum of 20 to 25 Lumens. The true cost, however, is the years of dedication and the demonstration of exceptional skill.

Exclusive Purveyors in Culinary Capitals

Should a Vintner’s Jawbone leave the hands of the Palate Veritatus, it might surface in the grandest metropolitan centers of Saṃsāra, cities famed for their world-class restaurants and discerning nobility. It would not be found in a magic shop, but in the private collection of a high-end spice merchant, a legendary chef’s personal effects, or a purveyor of rare wines and spirits.

In this context, the item’s necromantic nature is either a secret or a romanticized footnote. It is presented as the ultimate tool for a connoisseur, a quality-assurance device beyond compare. The sale would be a private affair between two parties who appreciate the sublime arts. A potential buyer would be invited to a private tasting room. The seller would demonstrate the jawbone’s power by having the buyer use it on an exquisite wine, allowing them to not just taste the notes of fruit and oak, but the “memory of the volcanic soil” or the “feeling of the specific sunny season it was harvested in.” The sale is about achieving a level of sensory experience that no ordinary palate could hope to match.

Cost: The price would be high, reflecting its value as a unique professional tool in a lucrative trade. A seller would ask for 100 to 150 Lumens, framing it as an investment that will elevate the buyer’s craft and reputation to legendary status.

Occultist Stalls and Divination Dens

In the chaotic, magical bazaars of a major port city, the Vintner’s Jawbone would be completely misunderstood. An adventurer or sailor might acquire one and sell it to a purveyor of occult artifacts, who would see only a macabre object with a faint necromantic aura. The item’s true culinary purpose would be entirely lost.

It would be displayed on a dark cloth, surrounded by tarot decks, shrunken heads, and bottled spirits. The seller would invent a new and more sinister purpose for it. They would market it as a fortune-telling device: “Hold the jawbone of the oracle to your ear and it will whisper secrets of the past,” or “The pearl teeth will chatter in the presence of a lie.” The sale is pure theater, capitalizing on the object’s strange appearance and necromantic feel to appeal to aspiring hedge-wizards or superstitious folk looking for a magical edge.

Cost: The price would be moderate, based on its perceived power as a general-purpose divination tool. The seller, knowing it’s magical but not understanding its specific use, might ask for 50 to 70 Lumens. The value is in the spooky story, not the actual function.

Shops of Strange and Sundry Curios

The jawbone is an object of such unique appearance that it could easily find a home in a shop that deals in the bizarre and eclectic. These establishments cater to wealthy eccentrics and collectors of conversation pieces. The proprietor might acquire it from an estate sale, knowing nothing of its function but recognizing that it is well-crafted and undeniably strange.

Here, it would be sold as a piece of art or a cultural artifact. It might be displayed in a glass case next to a taxidermied griffon-chick and a clockwork bird that sings off-key. The sales pitch would focus on its aesthetic and mystery. “A fascinating ritual object from the southern archipelago, I believe. The scrimshaw work is remarkable, and the pearl inlays are quite fine. Imagine this on the mantel of your study—a truly unique piece with a story to tell, whatever that may be.”

Cost: The price would be entirely subjective, based on what the proprietor thinks they can get from a wealthy buyer. They might ask for 40 Lumens, or if the buyer seems particularly enchanted by its strangeness, they might try for 120. Its value is purely in its novelty.

The Vintner’s Jawbone is an object of refined taste, not of crude violence. Its use in matters of defense and offense is therefore a subtle art, relying on insight, information, and a unique form of culinary espionage rather than force. An avatar wielding it attacks not the body, but the truth behind things.

At a High-Stakes Royal Banquet

In the gilded halls of power, where poison can be served on a silver platter and reputations can be shattered with a single word, the jawbone is a tool of unparalleled defensive and offensive potential.

Roleplaying Defense: The most direct defensive use is the detection of poison. When the royal wine is served, the avatar can touch the jawbone to their own goblet and activate A Connoisseur’s Palate. Amidst the complex notes of the vintage, they might detect a foreign, discordant “flavor”—not a taste, but the unmistakable emotional echo of a poisoner’s malice or the phantom aroma of a rare, scentless toxin. This allows them to warn a noble, king, or themselves from a deadly threat, defending a life through their refined senses.

The jawbone can also defend against conspiracy. The avatar might use the same ability on the main course and taste, alongside the expertly prepared spices, the overwhelming flavor of the head chef’s fear. This is a critical defensive clue. It reveals no immediate threat to the avatar, but it signals a deeper danger. An investigation in the kitchens might reveal the chef’s family has been taken hostage, forcing him to cooperate in a future assassination plot. The jawbone defends the entire court by allowing the avatar to perceive the “emotional poison” before the real poison is even administered.

Roleplaying Offense: In a social arena, information is a weapon. When a rival vintner presents a supposedly priceless wine to the court, the avatar can use A Connoisseur’s Palate to dismantle their reputation. After a moment of “tasting,” the avatar can declare, “A fascinating blend. I can clearly taste the fine grapes from the southern highlands, but they are layered with the unmistakable flavor of cheap, unripe berries used to increase the volume. And underneath it all… the distinct emotional taste of haste and deceit. A clever forgery, but a forgery nonetheless.” This supernaturally-derived and specific critique would ruin the rival’s credibility in a way no simple opinion could.

For a truly devastating offensive maneuver, the avatar might use Sip of the Past. The royal feast is held in a castle, and the wine is from the ancient royal vineyard. By using the ability on a glass of this wine, the avatar might receive a vision tied to that specific patch of land: the current king’s grandfather secretly burying the true royal seal in that vineyard after assassinating his own brother to usurp the throne. This secret, unearthed from a simple glass of wine, is an offensive weapon that could topple the entire dynasty.

In a Gritty Urban Investigation

In the taverns and slums of a sprawling city, where dangers can be physical or biological, the jawbone is a tool for survival and interrogation.

Roleplaying Defense: In a squalid tavern, the stew pot might contain more than just cheap meat. By using A Connoisseur’s Palate on a offered bowl, the avatar can defend themself from sickness. They might taste not just the ingredients, but the “flavor” of rot and disease from improperly stored meat, or the lingering emotional residue of the cook’s own plague symptoms, warning them not to eat.

The passives can also act as a defense. While investigating a crime, the party is offered ale. Holding the jawbone near a mug, the avatar uses Echo of the Terroir and gets a faint impression not of a local brewery, but of the damp, fungal scent of the nearby smugglers’ tunnels. This, combined with the phantom aroma of a soporific herb, alerts them that the drinks are drugged, defending the entire party from an ambush.

Roleplaying Offense: The jawbone is a remarkable interrogation tool. A captured informant refuses to talk. The avatar can go to the tavern the informant frequents, order a bowl of the long-simmering house stew, and use A Connoisseur’s Palate. Amidst the dozens of emotional flavors, they can isolate the unique “taste” of their informant’s anxiety. By understanding the context of that flavor, they can return to the informant and say, “We know you’re worried about the payment you were supposed to receive from the one-eyed man.” This display of impossible knowledge can be the offensive push needed to break a subject’s silence.

In Ancient, Overgrown Ruins

Far from any kitchen or vineyard, where the party must rely on foraging and their wits, the jawbone becomes a tool for survival and for understanding the nature of the enemy.

Roleplaying Defense: When the party’s rations run out, the Echo of the Terroir ability is a life-saving defense. Presented with an unknown jungle fruit, the avatar can hold the jawbone to it. One fruit might give a clear, clean impression of sunlight and fresh rain, signaling it is safe. Another, visually identical fruit might give a confusing impression of dark soil, rot, and the phantom aroma of poison, warning them away.

When the party discovers a pristine, clear spring, the Sip of the Past ability offers a defense against spiritual contamination. By tasting the water, the avatar might receive a vision of the ruin’s ancient inhabitants performing a ritual to curse the spring against invaders. Though the water is physically pure, they now know it carries a necromantic taint that could bring ruin upon them, defending them from a threat they never would have seen.

Roleplaying Offense: The party is beset by monstrous creatures made of vines and thorns. After defeating one, the avatar can use A Connoisseur’s Palate on a piece of its fibrous “flesh.” They taste no animal flavors. Instead, they taste ancient wood, grave soil, and the singular, overwhelming emotional flavor of a malevolent, controlling nature spirit. They now know these are not mere beasts, but puppets. The offense is now clear: do not fight the puppets, find and attack the master. This intel turns a battle of attrition into a targeted strike.

The jawbone can also be used to “attack” environmental puzzles. Trapped in a sealed chamber, the party might find strange, edible mushrooms growing in the corner. By using Sip of the Past on a mushroom, the avatar receives a vision from the history of the soil it grew in: one of the original builders, trapped in this very room, opening the secret door by pressing a sequence of runes. The mushroom held the memory of the solution, allowing the party to overcome the obstacle.

Perception of Activation:

SIGHT

• User’s Perspective: As the user activates the jawbone, their perception of the food or drink becomes layered. They can still see the physical meal, but superimposed over it are faint, shimmering after-images of its history. A glass of wine might be overlaid with the ghostly image of grapes on the vine; a piece of bread might flicker with the image of golden wheat swaying in a field. The pearls set into the jawbone itself begin to glow with a warm, golden light that is visible only to the user.
• Observer’s Perspective: An observer would see the user’s eyes take on a distant, contemplative focus, as if they were scrutinizing a complex work of art. The pearls on the jawbone might seem to catch the light in an unusual way, but they do not appear to glow overtly. The user simply seems lost in concentration.
• Positives: The visual feedback is intuitive and thematic, providing the user with a direct, symbolic link to the food’s origin. The subtlety of the effect to an observer allows it to be used at a dinner table without causing alarm.
• Negatives: The layered, phantom images can be visually confusing, making it difficult to focus on the physical properties of the food. The user’s intense, inward focus could be mistaken for daydreaming or even rudeness in a formal setting.

SOUND

• User’s Perspective: The user’s hearing is filled with faint, environmental sounds connected to the food’s journey. A bite of cheese might be accompanied by the distant echo of a shepherd’s pipe and the gentle lowing of cattle. A sip of ale might carry the phantom sound of brewers singing as they work or the crackle of the fire used to toast the barley. These sounds are subtle and contextual, a ghostly auditory history of the meal.
• Observer’s Perspective: The activation is completely silent to anyone else.
• Positives: The auditory component adds another rich layer of detail to the experience, enhancing the user’s understanding and appreciation of the food’s story.
• Negatives: The phantom sounds are immersive and can be distracting, making it difficult for the user to hear or participate in actual conversations happening around them.

SMELL

• User’s Perspective: The user is flooded with a “timeline” of aromas that are directly linked to the food or drink. They experience not just the final aroma of the cooked meal, but a cascading series of scents: the sharp smell of the sea on a freshly caught fish, the earthy scent of a root vegetable being pulled from the ground, the specific fragrance of the woodsmoke used in the kitchen, and even the phantom scent of the chef’s own hands.
• Observer’s Perspective: No physical odor is produced or perceived by anyone other than the user.
• Positives: This provides an incredible wealth of information, allowing the user to deconstruct the meal’s origins, freshness, and preparation with impossible accuracy.
• Negatives: The sheer volume of aromatic information can be overwhelming. A complex dish might present a confusing jumble of scents that are difficult to untangle. If the food’s history contains unpleasant odors (like fear-scent from an animal or the beginning of rot), they can be nauseating.

TOUCH

• User’s Perspective: The jawbone itself grows pleasantly warm in the user’s hand, humming with a gentle, life-like energy. As they consume the food, they feel phantom textures on their tongue layered over the real ones: the rough, sun-warmed skin of a fruit, the cool smoothness of a river stone from the spring that provided the water, the crisp snap of a fresh-picked vegetable.
• Observer’s Perspective: The jawbone’s temperature does not physically change, and no effect is perceptible to an observer.
• Positives: The warmth of the jawbone is a pleasant, tactile confirmation that the magic is working. The phantom textures provide another vector for information about the ingredients’ journey from nature to the plate.
• Negatives: The conflicting textures on the palate can be a bizarre and sometimes unpleasant sensation, especially if the food’s history involves textures like grit, slime, or decay.

TASTE

• User’s Perspective: This is the pinnacle of the experience. The user’s sense of taste is flooded with a torrent of information that transcends mere flavor. They taste the primary flavors of the dish with supernatural clarity, but also the “taste” of the weather during the growing season, the “taste” of the animal’s diet, and most profoundly, the “taste” of the chef’s dominant emotion during the preparation—their pride, haste, anger, or love.
• Observer’s Perspective: An observer would only see the user’s facial expression, which would likely be one of intense, perhaps overwhelming, concentration or revelation.
• Positives: This is the item’s core function, granting a level of insight and appreciation that is literally superhuman. It allows for the ultimate appraisal of quality, freshness, and skill.
• Negatives: The experience can be completely overwhelming. Tasting a powerful negative emotion, like the chef’s deep despair or an animal’s terror before slaughter, can be a deeply unpleasant and even psychologically damaging experience that ruins the meal and lingers long after.

EXTRA-SENSORY PERCEPTIONS

• Emotional Palate:
  • User’s Perspective: The user directly perceives and “tastes” the dominant emotions of the people who were instrumental in the food’s creation. They feel the farmer’s satisfaction with a good harvest, the vintner’s anxiety over a difficult fermentation, and the chef’s passion or indifference as they cooked. It is a direct, empathic link to the creators through their creation.
  • Observer’s Perspective: The user’s face might briefly mirror the emotion they are tasting—a slight, knowing smile, a subtle frown of concern, or a flicker of surprise.
  • Positives: This allows for an incredible level of insight, not just into the food, but into the character and sincerity of the people who made it. It can be used to detect a meal made with love, or one made with malice.
  • Negatives: Directly experiencing a chef’s powerful negative emotions (rage, sorrow, etc.) can be emotionally contaminating, leaving the user feeling upset for reasons that are not their own.
• Historical Acuity:
  • User’s Perspective: The user receives flashes of intuitive, factual knowledge about the food’s history. They don’t see a vision, they just suddenly know things with absolute certainty. They know the wine’s vintage is not what the bottle claims, they know the fish was caught three days ago and not this morning, they know a rare and undeclared spice was used, or that the “boar” meat is actually from a far less savory creature.
  • Observer’s Perspective: The user might get a sudden look of dawning comprehension, certainty, or perhaps disappointment, as if a puzzle piece just clicked into place in their mind.
  • Positives: This provides infallible information that can be used to appraise quality, detect fraud, expose lies, or solve mysteries related to a food’s origin and preparation.
  • Negatives: The flood of information can be distracting. The user might become so focused on deconstructing the historical details of the meal that they completely miss the actual dinner conversation or the plot unfolding around them.
• Life-Cycle Empathy:
  • User’s Perspective: The user feels a profound, empathic connection to the life story of the ingredient itself. They feel the slow, patient struggle of the vine to grow and produce grapes, the brief, frantic life of the fish in the sea, or the centuries of silent dormancy in a truffle unearthed from the deep woods. It is a powerful sense of connection to the cycle of life, death, and consumption.
  • Observer’s Perspective: None, though the user might appear unusually reverent or thoughtful for a moment before taking a bite or sip.
  • Positives: This provides a deep, philosophical, and almost spiritual appreciation for food, elevating a simple meal into a meaningful communion with the world.
  • Negatives: Feeling the life-force of an ingredient so acutely can make the act of consumption difficult. Feeling the terror of an animal’s death at the exact moment you are about to eat its flesh can be deeply disturbing and may turn the user against eating meat altogether.

Recipe: The Epicurean’s Mandible

A detailed schematic outlining the creation of a sensory-enhancing necromantic focus. This process combines delicate artisan skill with the subtle magical art of tasting the echoes of history, allowing the user to experience the story behind what they consume.

Materials Needed

• 1x Cultivator’s Mandible: The jawbone of a humanoid who dedicated their life to the cultivation of the land—a master farmer, a celebrated vintner, or a revered orchard-keeper. The bone must be willingly bequeathed for this purpose, as it retains the echo of a life spent in harmony with nature’s cycles.
• 1x Pouch of River Pearls: A set of small, lustrous pearls harvested from freshwater mussels. Their connection to clean, flowing water makes them ideal conduits for perceiving purity and origin.
• 1x Pinch of Ancestral Hearth Ash: Ash collected from the central hearth of a family home or inn that has seen at least three generations of joyous feasts and communal meals. This ash is saturated with the emotional residue of fellowship and sustenance.
• 1x Vial of Terroir Tincture: A magical reagent created by steeping soil from a historically significant piece of farmland (e.g., the site of a legendary harvest, a centuries-old vineyard) in pure rainwater under a full moon.
• 1x Scrimshaw Ink Pot: A specialized ink made by mixing finely ground charcoal from a grapevine with the juice of a “memory berry,” a fruit known to enhance clarity of thought.

Tools Required

• Dental Extractor & Jeweler’s Files: A set of delicate tools for carefully removing the original teeth and for smoothing the bone’s sockets without causing damage.
• Master Scrimshander’s Needles: A full set of fine, hardened steel needles required for etching incredibly detailed scenes onto the bone’s surface.
• Ceramic Mortar and Pestle: For grinding and mixing the Hearth Ash into a usable magical paste.
• Empathic Tuning Fork: A magical instrument, often crafted from silver or brass. When struck, it vibrates at a frequency that attunes objects to perceive emotional and historical resonance rather than physical sound.
• Soft Velvet Polishing Cloths: For the final buffing and finishing of the item.

Skill Requirements

• Bone Scrimshaw (Novice): The ability to perform highly detailed carving work on a fragile, non-uniform surface is essential.
• Apothecary (Novice): Basic knowledge of mixing magical reagents is needed to create the binding paste for the pearls.
• Necromancy (Initiate): The core skill required for the final imbuement. The crafter must understand how to channel their will to awaken an object’s ability to perceive the spiritual echoes of life, death, and memory contained within organic matter. This is a Tier 1 skill.

Crafting Steps

1. Sanctification of the Bone: Begin by cleaning the Cultivator’s Mandible. Using the dental extractors and files, carefully remove any remaining teeth and smooth the inside of the sockets. This must be done with reverence, as a sign of respect to the spirit whose bone is being used.
2. Etching the Story: Using the Scrimshander’s Needles and the special ink, meticulously carve scenes of cultivation and harvest across the entire outer surface of the jawbone. This is not merely decorative; the act of carving the story of food’s journey into the bone begins the attunement process.
3. Preparing the Pearl-Bed: In the ceramic mortar, combine the Ancestral Hearth Ash with a few drops of the Terroir Tincture. Use the pestle to mix them into a thick, silvery paste. This compound will serve as a magical adhesive and a conduit for the pearls.
4. Setting the Teeth of Truth: One by one, apply a small amount of the ash-paste to the base of each River Pearl and carefully set them into the empty tooth sockets of the jawbone. The paste will harden over the next hour, securing them in place.
5. The Tasting Attunement: This is the critical necromantic ritual. Hold the completed mandible in one hand and the Empathic Tuning Fork in the other. Anoint the jawbone with the remaining Terroir Tincture. Strike the tuning fork and bring it close to the mandible. As it resonates, the crafter must channel their mana into the item, focusing their will on a singular, complex concept: “I wish to taste the story.” They should meditate on the entire life cycle—the seed in the soil, the sun and rain, the harvest, the hands that prepared the meal, the life it sustains, and the memories it creates. The attunement is complete when the crafter, holding the jawbone, gets a fleeting, phantom taste of the favorite meal of the person whose bone they hold.
6. Final Polish: Once the attunement is complete and the magic has settled, use the soft velvet cloths to gently polish the bone and pearls until they possess a warm, inviting luster. The Epicurean’s Mandible is now ready to discern the truth in every bite.

King Who Ate Dust

In a time that is now a deep memory, there was a king. And this king was King Valerius. His storehouses were full with the treasures of seventy-three islands. His tables were heavy with the most clever foods. His cups were full with wines that were ancient when his grandfather was a boy. But the king was a sad man. For the king, all food was dust. The sweetest fruit was dust in his mouth. The most savory meat was only dust. The oldest wine was dust and water. The flavor of the world had left him. And because his own life had no flavor, his rule over the kingdom became a grey and joyless thing.

The king called the greatest chefs. They made for him birds cooked inside other birds. They made for him mountains of sugar spun into castles. The king ate. And he tasted only dust. He called for the greatest brewers and vintners. They brought him ales the color of sunset and wines that were like liquid starlight. The king drank. And he tasted only dust. His sadness was a great, deep well.

One day, an old man came to the castle. He was not a chef with a white hat. He was not a mage with a tall staff. His name was Callan. He came before the king. He said, your majesty, your chefs try to give you new flavors. But your tongue has forgotten how to listen. I can make for you a meal that you can truly taste.

The king, who had no hope left, made a gesture. He said, do this thing. Show me a flavor that is not dust.

Callan did not go to the great kitchens with their many fires and pots of steam. He went to a small, forgotten garden behind the castle walls. He asked for a shovel and a bucket of water. He tilled the soil with his own old hands. He planted one single seed. For many weeks, he tended to this one plant. He spoke to the soil. He sang quiet songs to the sun. He gave the plant water and his attention. A small vine grew, and then one single, red tomato.

He then walked to the yard where the chickens scratch. He found a common hen, one with no special name. He waited until she laid one simple, brown egg. He took this egg.

He went to the sea. He let the sea-water dry on a flat rock until only the salt was left. He scraped this salt into a small pouch.

He brought these things to the king. A single tomato, sliced. A single egg, boiled. A small pinch of salt. The king looked at this peasant’s meal and his heart was angry. He said, I have eaten the eggs of dragons and the fruits of paradise. You bring me this? This is an insult.

Callan smiled. He said, your majesty, you have eaten things. But you have not tasted their stories. He held in his hand a strange thing, a polished jawbone with pearls for teeth. He touched it to the simple plate. He said, please. Eat.

The king, with no hope, took a bite of the tomato and egg with the salt. And the world exploded. It was not the taste of tomato. It was the taste of a long, warm summer. He felt the heat of the sun on his own skin. He felt the deep satisfaction of the little plant’s roots as they drank the cool water. It was not the taste of egg. It was the frantic, happy, simple life of the hen, the joy of scratching in the dirt and the warmth of the nest. It was not the taste of salt. It was the taste of a thousand thousand waves crashing on the shore, the taste of the ancient sea itself, deep and full of memory. He tasted the patience and care of Callan’s own hands. All the stories, all the lives, were in this one simple bite.

The king began to weep. Not tears of sadness. But tears of flavor. For the first time in many years, the world was not dust.

He asked Callan for his secret. Callan explained that every thing, from a grape to a king, has a life and a story. And that true taste, true joy, was not in the eating, but in the listening to that story. The king became a good king then, a king full of flavor and wisdom. And when old Callan finally passed from the world, the king, as the greatest honor, had his jawbone preserved and prepared, so that others might learn the great lesson.

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The Moral of the Story: To truly taste the fruit, you must also be willing to taste the soil, the branch, the rain, and the sun that made it.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu

The Ghoul’s Palate

This macabre artifact is a polished human mandible, with the original teeth replaced by unsettlingly smooth pearls of bone. It is warm and slightly greasy to the touch. Occult lore suggests these devices were used in secretive ghoul-cults to determine the “vintage” of corpses and to appreciate the subtle flavors of death and decay. For a human, using it provides an unnatural level of sensory information, but at the cost of one’s sanity and palate, as normal food begins to taste bland and dead.

Game Mechanics:

• Unnatural Senses: The Investigator gains one bonus die on any Spot Hidden or Science (Chemistry) roll made to identify substances in food or drink, including poisons.
• Dulling of the World: Normal food tastes like ash to the wearer. After a full week of carrying this item, the Investigator must make a POW roll each week. On a failure, they develop a new Mania or Phobia related to food, or feel a powerful compulsion to seek out and consume strange, exotic, or spoiled fare.
• A Discerning Taste (Active): Once per day, by touching the jawbone to food or drink for one minute, the Investigator can learn its precise ingredients, its age, its origin, and the emotional state of its preparer. The flood of unnatural sensory information is jarring and requires a Sanity roll (0/1d2 SAN loss).
• Psychometric Digestion (Active): If the Investigator consumes a meal made with ingredients from the local land while meditating with the jawbone, they may attempt a Hard POW roll.
  • Success: The Keeper gives them a cryptic, dream-like vision of a significant historical event that occurred on that land. This disturbing insight costs 1/1d4 SAN.
  • Failure: The Investigator is overwhelmed by a torrent of confusing, terrifying history, resulting in a Bout of Madness.

Blades in the Dark

The Sommelier’s Jawbone

A prized, if gruesome, tool for the city’s elite spies, socialites, and information brokers. This polished jawbone, said to have belonged to a food taster for the Immortal Emperor, allows the user to deconstruct a meal with supernatural clarity. In a city where poison is just another form of negotiation and secrets are spilled over dinner, the jawbone can be more valuable than a pistol or a blade.

Game Mechanics:

This is a piece of Occult or Spy Gear.

• Gourmand’s Insight: When you Study a person by observing what and how they eat and drink at a social function, you may take +1d to your roll.
• Poisoner’s Bane: You automatically detect common or simple poisons in food you are about to consume. To analyze a rare, complex, or magical poison, you can take 1 Stress to gain Potent effect on your roll.
• Taste the Motive: When you use the jawbone to taste a meal prepared for an important occasion, you can ask the GM one of the following questions, in addition to any other roll you make:
  • What is the chef’s hidden emotional state?
  • What is the most powerful person at this table truly hungry for?
  • What secret ingredient (literal or metaphorical) is in this meal?
• A Sip of History: When in a historically significant location, you can consume food or drink native to that place and Attune to the jawbone. This allows you to have a flashback to Investigate a past version of this location, at a cost of 2 Stress. The GM describes what you see.

Dungeons & Dragons

Jawbone of the Sommelier Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement)

This polished jawbone of a long-dead connoisseur is warm to the touch and set with lustrous river pearls in place of teeth. It is said the spirit of the epicurean still resides within the item, granting the wielder a shadow of their supernatural palate, allowing them to taste not just the ingredients in a meal, but the story behind them.

• Gourmand’s Acuity. While holding this jawbone, you have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on taste or smell. You also have advantage on any ability check made to identify food, drink, or their ingredients.
• Detect Poison and Disease. The jawbone has 3 charges. As an action, you can expend 1 charge while touching food or drink to cast the Detect Poison and Disease spell on it. The jawbone regains all expended charges daily at dawn.
• A Connoisseur’s Palate (1/day). As an action, you can touch the jawbone to a portion of food or drink. For the next 10 minutes, you can discern a wealth of information about it. You learn its approximate age, its place of origin, and the dominant emotion (joy, sadness, anger, etc.) of the creature who prepared it.
• Vision of Terroir (1/week). If you spend 10 minutes meditating with the jawbone while consuming food or drink that was grown or harvested within one mile of your current location, the DM will grant you a brief, silent vision of a significant historical event that happened on that land.

Knave

The Tasting Jaw Held Item, 1 inventory slot

A polished human jawbone. The teeth have been replaced with smooth river pearls. It feels strangely warm. To use it, you touch it to food or drink.

• Passive: If you touch the jawbone to any food or drink that is poisoned, the pearls faintly glow with a sickly green light.
• Active (At-will): When you touch the jawbone to food, you immediately know all of its ingredients and where they were grown or harvested.
• Active (Once per day): When you touch the jawbone to a prepared meal, you can ask the GM one question about the person who cooked it (e.g., “Were they sad?”, “Are they a good person?”, “Are they in this room?”). The GM must answer honestly.
• Active (Once per adventure): If you are in a wild or unknown land, you can touch the jawbone to a native plant or a slain creature. You instantly know if it is safe to eat.

Fate

The Jawbone of Earthly Memory

This item is an Extra, a narrative focus that grants a character the unique ability to understand the world through the sense of taste, allowing them to perceive the history and hidden truths within the things they consume.

Aspects: The jawbone itself has two aspects that can be invoked for a bonus or compelled to create complications: Tastes the Story in All Things and A Palate for Truth and Sorrow.

Stunts:

• Narrative Permission: The jawbone grants you permission to learn esoteric details about an object or ingredient’s history by tasting it (or a symbolic portion of it). You can justify knowing things no one else could by “tasting the memory.”
• A Connoisseur’s Palate: Once per session, when you Create an Advantage by meticulously studying a meal, a drink, or another organic substance, you may use the jawbone to gain a +2 to your roll. The aspect you create should reflect a hidden truth revealed by its “flavor” (e.g., Brewed with Haste and Fear, A Forgery from a Lesser Vineyard, or The Lingering Taste of Nightshade).
• Sip of the Past: Once per story, when you consume food or drink that is native to your current location, you can spend a Fate Point to experience a brief, overwhelming vision of a significant historical event that happened there. The GM will reveal a new, important story detail and may create a new Situation Aspect on the scene (e.g., Site of a Forgotten Betrayal, The Old King’s Hidden Treasure).

Numenera & Cypher System

Psychometric Mandible

This artifact is a smooth, polished object shaped like the lower jawbone of a humanoid, though its material is an unknown, warm, bone-like synthetic. The teeth have been replaced with crystalline nubs that shimmer with faint internal light. It is a piece of the numenera that uses microscopic, self-replicating nanites to analyze the quantum-encoded history of organic matter, presenting that complex data to the user’s brain as a flood of taste, smell, and intuitive knowledge.

As an Artifact:

• Level: 5
• Form: A polished, bone-like jawbone with glowing crystal teeth.
• Effect: The wearer gains an asset on all tasks involving identifying substances, detecting poisons or impurities, or appraising the quality of organic goods (food, drink, drugs, etc.).
• Depletion: 1 in 1d20 (When depleted, the crystal teeth flicker and die, and the nanites within become inert).

Abilities:

• Historical Analysis (Action): The user can touch the mandible to a portion of organic material (food, a wooden artifact, a leather book, a corpse) and make an Intellect-based roll against the artifact’s level (a difficulty of 5). On a success, they learn one important, specific fact about the object’s recent history (e.g., “The person who held this book last was terrified,” “This wood was harvested from a tree that was struck by lightning,” “This body was moved here after death.”).
• Geographic Vision (Action): Once every 28 hours, the user can consume a piece of organic matter native to the area. On a successful Intellect-based roll against the artifact’s level (5), they experience a brief, disorienting vision of another key location within one mile that shares the same geological or biological history (e.g., the specific cave a spring flowed from, another ancient tree from the same grove, the nest of the creature they ate). This provides a clue to a new, related location.

Pathfinder

PALATE OF THE FIRST VINTNER — ITEM 2+ UNCOMMON DIVINATION NECROMANCY Usage held in 1 hand; Bulk L

This polished mandible is said to have belonged to the first epicurean philosopher, a master who could taste the entire history of a vintage in a single drop of wine. The jawbone is warm to the touch, and its pearl teeth glow faintly when near potent foodstuffs or beverages. It allows the holder to taste the hidden, spiritual “terroir” of an item, revealing its past and the emotions of its creator.

Invested: You gain a +1 item bonus to skill checks to Identify Magic on consumable items and to Crafting checks that involve alchemy, brewing, or cooking. You also gain a +2 item bonus to Fortitude saving throws against ingested poisons.

Activate [one-action] (Concentrate, Divination, Necromancy); Frequency once per 10 minutes; Effect You touch the jawbone to a portion of food or drink. You instantly learn its component ingredients, its approximate age, and the dominant emotion (such as joy, anger, or sadness) of the creature that prepared it.

Activate [one-minute] (Concentrate, Divination, Revelation); Frequency once per week; Requirements You must spend the duration consuming food or drink native to your current region; Effect You receive a brief, true vision of a significant historical event that occurred on the land where the food or drink was harvested. The vision is often from the perspective of an animal or plant that was present at the time. The GM determines the content of the vision, which is often cryptic but always relevant.

Savage Worlds

The Story-Taster’s Jawbone

A bizarre magical artifact that grants its wielder a “sixth sense” of taste. By touching the jawbone to a meal, the user can discern its secrets, from hidden poisons to the emotional state of the chef. It is an invaluable tool for investigators, royal food tasters, and spies who conduct their business at the dinner table.

Requirements: Novice, Smarts d6+ Abilities:

• Gourmand’s Palate: The wearer gains a +2 bonus to any roll made to identify or appraise food, drink, or alchemical substances. They automatically detect any non-magical poison they are about to ingest with a successful Notice roll.
• Read the Chef: Once per encounter, when tasting food prepared by someone nearby, the wearer can make an Occult roll. With a success, they learn the target’s current emotional state and the secret ingredient (literal or metaphorical) in their work, gaining a +2 bonus on their next social Test against them.
• Taste the Past: Once per session, the user can consume a local ingredient while holding the jawbone and make an Occult roll at -2. On a success, the GM must provide a truthful clue about a significant secret, hidden location, or past event related to the immediate area. On a critical failure, the vision is overwhelming and the user is Shaken as they are assaulted by a torrent of confusing or terrifying history.

Shadowrun

Shiawase “Miyabi” Psychometric Foci

A high-end thaumaturgical device from Shiawase’s exclusive “Miyabi” line of magical items, designed for corporate courtiers, food tasters, and socialites. The device, shaped like a stylized mandible made of ivory-colored bioplastic, contains a sophisticated alchemical analysis suite. It attunes to the astral resonance of organic compounds, allowing the user to perceive the history, quality, and emotional “flavor” of fine food, drink, and other consumables. It is the ultimate tool for navigating high-stakes dinner negotiations where poison is a constant threat and understanding your host’s mood is paramount.

• Type: Alchemical Foci
• Rating: 2
• Activation: Simple Action
• Game Mechanics:
  • Refined Palate: While this foci is active, the user gains a +1 dice pool bonus on all Biotechnology or Chemistry tests made to analyze organic substances. They also gain a +2 dice pool bonus to Etiquette tests made in any fine dining or formal social setting.
  • Psychometric Tasting: By spending a point of Edge and touching the foci to a food or drink item, the user can make a Magic + Intuition [Astral] (3) test. A success grants one piece of esoteric information about the item, such as its true place of origin, the emotional state of its preparer, or if it has been spiritually tainted.
  • Automated Poison Detection: The foci is linked to the user’s commlink or datajack. It will send a subtle, silent alert via DNI if it comes into contact with any mundane poison, drug, or toxin registered in a standard chemistry database. No test is required for common substances.

Starfinder

Apostaean Gastronome’s Mandible

An elegant but sinister tool often found in the possession of drow nobles from Apostae. This polished, jet-black jawbone is made from the chitin of an unknown predator and is inlaid with silver teeth. It is a piece of necromantic magi-tech that allows the user to taste the subtle emotional energies infused into food during its preparation, with a particular sensitivity to the flavors of fear and despair—considered a delicacy in certain circles. It is as much a weapon of social intimidation as it is a tool for detecting poison.

• SYSTEM Apostaean Gastronome’s Mandible
• LEVEL 3
• PRICE 1,450 credits
• SLOTS held in 1 hand
• BULK L
• Game Mechanics:
  • This is a hybrid item. The wearer is immune to any ingested poison with an item level equal to or less than the mandible’s level (Level 3).
  • The wearer gains a +2 insight bonus to Sense Motive checks made against creatures they are sharing a meal with.
  • Taste the Fear (1/day): As a standard action, you can touch the mandible to a food or drink item to learn the dominant emotion of its preparer. If that emotion was fear, despair, or rage, you can force the preparer (if they are within 60 feet and can see you) to make a Will save (DC 13) or become frightened for 1d4 rounds as you reveal their tainted work.
  • Ingredient Analysis (at will): As a move action, you can touch the mandible to any food or drink to receive a mental list of all its non-magical ingredients.

Traveller

Solomani “Epicure” Analysis Device

A piece of high-tech luxury equipment favored by the decadent elite within the Solomani Sphere. This handheld device is shaped like a stylized jawbone and crafted from an ivory-colored polymer. Its “teeth” are a series of microscopic chemical and genetic samplers that retract into the main body. The device interfaces with a hand-held computer or data slate to provide a complete breakdown of any organic substance, making it the ultimate tool for paranoid nobles, corporate food inspectors, and wealthy connoisseurs.

• Tech Level: 13
• Cost: Cr 80,000
• Game Mechanics:
  • Full-Spectrum Analysis: The user can touch the device to any organic or liquid substance. The device will perform a full chemical and biological analysis that takes one minute. This grants DM+4 to any Science (any) check made to identify the substance, its components, any active toxins, or its place of origin (if its genetic markers are in a known database).
  • Poison Alert: The device will provide an immediate alert if it detects any of the 1,000 most common poisons and toxins programmed into its database, no roll required.
  • Genetic History (Once per day): The user can initiate a deep genetic scan of an organic substance. This requires a Difficult (10+) Science (Biology) check. On a success, the device identifies the specific genetic strain of the plant or animal and can cross-reference it with a galactic database to find its world of origin, and potentially even the specific commercial farm or herd it came from.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay

Jawbone of the Gluttonous Friar

This greasy, well-worn jawbone, with crude river pearls replacing the teeth that fell out from decay, is a bizarre and semi-heretical relic. It is said to have belonged to Brother Tomas, a legendary friar of the Order of the Vine so devoted to the pleasures of the table that his spirit refused to depart for Morr’s Realm, lingering instead to forever taste the world through his own jaw. It is a powerful charm for any who enjoy the good things in life, but it encourages a perilous level of indulgence.

• Qualities: Magical, Unstable
• Game Mechanics:
  • Iron Stomach: The wearer gains a +20 bonus to all Endurance Tests made to resist the effects of ingested poison or disease from spoiled food. They also may ignore the first time they would gain a Fatigued Condition from over-indulgence in food or alcohol each day.
  • Taste the Truth: Once per meal, the wearer may hold the jawbone and make an Average (+20) Perception Test as they take a bite or sip.
    • Success: The character instantly learns if the food is poisoned, spoiled, or otherwise tainted.
    • For each +SL achieved: The character learns one additional, specific truth about the item: its precise ingredients, its land of origin, or the dominant emotion of the person who cooked it.
  • A Sip of History: Once per adventure, while drinking in a tavern or inn, the user can meditate with the jawbone for one minute. At the end of this time, the GM should provide the player with a short, cryptic clue about a secret hidden within that very building or among its patrons (e.g., “The taste of the ale carries the memory of spilled blood from a murder in the cellar,” or “The wine remembers a secret toast made in the corner by a dangerous-looking man.”).