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Persian 487 of the Frost Veiled Simurgh

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by

Dale
in
  • Lore
    • Long before the current era of magical steam power and skyward citadels, souls arriving from the ancient Persian realms of the multiverse carried memories of ice-capped peaks, wind-carved desert nights, and sacred fires tempered by winter rime. They spoke of the legendary Simurgh, whose feathers were said to carry the chill of the highest heavens. An artisan belonging to an early guild across the northern reaches of the island continent of Aterian sought to capture these distant cultural memories in physical form. Using a crystalline focus formed from ambient cryomantic runoff, the crafter forged an amulet to help desert-dwelling travelers preserve foodstuffs and survive extreme atmospheric heat waves. Over generations, this specific pattern was repeatedly reproduced across family-run shops, surviving into the current industrial era as a reliable instrument for newly awakened wanderers who channel the chill of the skies.
  • Description
    • This item is a circular pendant crafted from hammered, tarnish-resistant bronze, measuring roughly two inches in diameter. The outer rim is engraved with intricate geometric patterns reminiscent of historical Persian knotwork and floral relief. At its center sits a cut cabochon of pale blue, cloud-mottled ice-crystal harvested from a high-altitude elemental rift. The stone remains freezing to the touch regardless of external ambient temperature, perpetually emitting a faint, wispy vapor of condensed air. Strung through a loop at the top is a braided cord made of dyed azure wool and silver-threaded camel hair, clasped with a simple copper hook.
  • Stats
    • Item Tier: Tier 1 (Common)
    • Item Resilience: 10
    • Base Item Health Points: Avatar’s maximum hit points plus 10
    • Armor Check (AC) Value: 0
    • Conduit Type: Arcane amulet focus
    • Weight: 0.25 pounds
    • Attunement Requirement: Simple attunement (requires one uninterrupted minute of focused concentration to bond with an avatar’s gear limits)
    • Durability Condition: Suffers unattunement if struck while active; at 5 HP or fewer, its active and passive functions cease until repaired; drops its raw bronze casing and tier 1 catalyst crystal fragments if reduced to 0 HP.
  • Passives Magic
    • Rime-Tethered Acclimation: While this amulet is openly worn and attuned, the avatar gains comfort in high-heat environments, reducing the physical fatigue normally induced by scorching desert heat or unventilated boiler chambers to negligible levels. Additionally, small quantities of non-magical liquids touching the avatar’s fingers can be brought to near-freezing temperatures over the course of twenty minutes.
    • Breath of Damavand: When the avatar’s Mind’s Eye focuses on ambient winds and cold fronts, the crystalline center pulses with an ultraviolet aura discernible to True Sight. This passive resonance grants an intuitive sense of sudden ambient temperature drops within a 60-foot radius.
  • Activable Magics
    • Glacial Whisper: As an action, the wearer clutches the amulet and chants a concise invocation in the tongue of the ancient sands. The amulet projects a targeted bolt of concentrated frost at a single target within a range of simple (30 feet). This action encompasses drawing forth the focus, speaking the somatic phrase, and directing the cold burst. On a hit against the target avatar or creature’s AC, the attack deals 1d6 cold damage plus the avatar’s tier die (1d4 cold damage). A silent activation may be used instead of the chant, reducing the total damage dealt by 25%.
    • Frost-Lock Glaze: As an action, the wearer presents the amulet toward a non-living object, surface, or mundane mechanism within 5 feet. The crystal discharges a burst of elemental ice that instantly coats an area up to 5 square feet in slick, brittle frost. This frost can jam simple mechanical sliding latches, seal mundane chests shut, or make a five-foot square of stone floor precarious to cross. The ice persists for up to ten minutes before sublimating into mist.
  • Specific Slot
    • Neck Slot
  • Tags
    • Amulet, Cryomancy, Persian, Ice, Tier 1, Common, Conduit, Neck Slot, Bronze, Pendant, Frost, Elemental, Focus, Damavand, Simurgh, Wool, Vapor, Jewelry, Evocation

Acquisition and Commerce of Persian 487 of the Frost-Veiled Simurgh

  • Family-Run Craft and Jewelry Workshops
    • These small, independent artisan shops operate in urban residential quarters and coastal commercial streets, typically staffed by a master jeweler and their kin. The master crafter specializes in mounting cut cryomantic crystals into engraved bronze frames, drawing upon generational trade secrets or ancestral memories. When buying from such a shop, a non-affiliated buyer pays the full suggested market value, typically ranging between 50 and 80 silver coins (the normal monetary standard for Tier 1 items). If the purchasing avatar holds verified membership in an aligned crafter’s guild or local merchant faction, they receive a discount of 10% times the character’s tier level (a 10% discount for a Tier 1 character, lowering the cost to 45 to 72 silver coins). Payment is processed either in minted local coin or transferred via World Bank ledger credit into the shopkeeper’s account. When an avatar sells this item to the shop, the merchant haggles at approximately 10% of the item’s baseline value multiplied by the seller’s tier level (offering 5 to 8 silver coins for a Tier 1 character). The merchant logs the transaction details into quasi-official records, and the proceeds are deposited directly into the seller’s World Bank account.
  • Frontier Caravans and Waystation Outposts
    • Mobile merchant wagons, steam-pulled road haulers, and roadside stalls situated along the guarded roadways connecting coastal ports to inland capital cities routinely carry utility talismans. Because travel through wilderness zones exposes merchants to wild magic storms and monster ambushes, access is difficult and inventories are volatile. In hot desert corridors or equatorial plains, the demand for cooling talismans drives the purchase price higher, ranging from 80 to 120 silver coins (or 8 to 12 gold coins, where coin denominations are converted at 10 silver per gold). In cooler highland regions where cryomancy is commonplace, the purchase price drops to 40 to 60 silver coins. Outpost merchants frequently deal in local non-metal coinage or regional tokens calibrated to standard weights, and transactions require navigating local town transit taxes. Resale to a caravan merchant yields 10% of value per character tier (4 to 12 silver coins depending on regional availability), with the merchant filing a trade report in their ledger.
  • Licensed Guildhalls and Arcane Emporiums
    • Large municipal guildhalls located in cities of five thousand or more residents house formal gear repositories managed under the supervision of appointed military officials and guild masters. In these institutional spaces, items are appraised using the Mind’s Eye to ensure runes are authentic and undamaged. The base purchase price is standardized at 60 silver coins. An active guild member purchasing the item applies their 10% discount per character tier, reducing the price to 54 silver coins. Reselling an authenticated, undamaged amulet to the guild quartermaster yields exactly 10% per tier of the character (6 silver coins for Tier 1), paid out via the World Bank with the standard 1% bank fee applied upon deposit. Guild officials maintain strict logs detailing the item’s lineage, previous owners, and the seller’s identity.
  • Under-the-Table Fences and Black-Market Dens
    • Operating in shadowy dockside alleys, subterranean cavern settlements, or hidden rooms behind legitimate tea houses, black-market dealers handle gear free from royal court scrutiny, city gate inspections, and municipal taxes. When purchasing this item from a black-market fence, no guild or faction discounts ever apply; the buyer must pay the full asking price or an inflated rate, typically demanding 100 to 150 silver coins, or a flat 10 to 15 gold pieces. Payment must be rendered entirely in physical gold coinage handed directly to the dealer, completely avoiding the World Bank to prevent official questioning. When selling this amulet to a black-market dealer, the buyer asks no questions regarding where the item was obtained and leaves no entry in any ledger. If the black-market fence has an immediate buyer or an urgent need to smuggle temperature-sensitive reagents, they will pay standard merchant rates (around 6 to 8 silver coins worth of physical gold) or up to twice what a legitimate merchant would pay (12 to 16 silver coins in unrecorded physical coin).

Tactical Deployment and Environmental Roleplay of the Frost-Veiled Simurgh

  • Arid Deserts and Sun-Baked Scrublands
    • In desert expanses where the overhead sun superheats the earth, the amulet serves as an environmental countermeasure. For defense, the wearer clutches the bronze casing while retreating over soft sand dunes, activating the Frost-Lock Glaze against the earth directly behind them; the rapid thermal drop flash-freezes the loose mineral granules into a temporary sheet of slick, brittle crust, causing charging predators or pursuing raiders to lose their balance and suffer penalties on mobility. In close-quarters defensive maneuvers, the avatar holds the pendant outward to flash-freeze airborne dust or loose dirt into a momentary curtain of icy grit, obstructing clear sightlines. For offensive engagements, the wielder takes advantage of the severe ambient heat differential; drawing upon the core crystal, the avatar recites a sharp somatic chant in the ancient Persian tongue to unleash the Glacial Whisper, hurling a focused bolt of sub-zero blue ice that shocks the heat-adapted physiology of desert reptiles and chitinous dune-stalkers, exploiting the sudden thermal shock to crack tough outer shells for standard cold damage plus tier dice.
  • Steampunk Industrial Zones and Boiler Foundries
    • Amidst roaring steam manifolds, high-pressure pipes, and grease-slick assembly floors of industrialized factory districts, the amulet interacts directly with ambient thermal machinery. Defensively, an avatar cornered against industrial equipment can direct the Frost-Lock Glaze onto overheated brass conduits, copper valves, or pressurized boiler joints; the localized freeze rapidly constricts the metal, causing automated steam release vents to vent plumes of scalding mist outward between the user and an attacker, forcing foes to halt their advance or risk physical burns. Offensively, the avatar targets the pressurized steam lines running overhead or alongside enemies, casting Glacial Whisper not at the foe directly, but into the path of an escaping jet of elemental steam; the clash of elemental fire-water and cryomancy causes an explosive condensation shockwave, pelting the adversary with razor-sharp ice crystals and concussive frost that counts as direct spell impact.
  • Subterranean Caverns and Damp Mine Shafts
    • Deep within underground rock networks where moisture drips from ceilings and narrow stone corridors restrict maneuvering, the amulet becomes a spatial control device. On defense, when a swarm of cave-dwelling creatures or aggressive troglodytic beasts rushes down a chokepoint, the avatar drops to one knee and presses the amulet against the damp cave floor, deploying the Frost-Lock Glaze across pools of subterranean runoff; the pooled water instantly crystallizes into treacherous, glass-smooth ice, creating an environmental hazard that slows the oncoming pack while the avatar readies a counteraction. For offensive actions, the avatar takes advantage of the high humidity in the enclosed space, chanting loudly to cast Glacial Whisper; the cryomantic current pulls ambient moisture straight from the damp air into the forming projectile, condensing it into an elongated, jagged icicle that strikes deep into unarmored subterranean beasts before shattering into freezing shards.
  • Maritime Vessels and Shallow Coral Reefs
    • Aboard wooden sailing caravels or traversing the extensive reef lines encircling island nations, the open ocean provides an endless reagent source. Defensively, if enemy sailors attempt to board via grappling hooks or wooden planks, the wearer directs the Frost-Lock Glaze across the vessel’s gunwales or onto the ropes; the rapid freezing weakens the fibers of the hemp lines, making them brittle enough to snap under strain, while turning gangplanks into frictionless slides that dump boarding parties into the surf. Offensively, when engaging aquatic hostiles or surface raiders within 30 feet of the deck, the avatar leans over the railing, channeling the Glacial Whisper across the water’s surface; the spell skims along the top layer of the brine, drawing up sea spray to form a dense, salt-rimed frost projectile that strikes swimming monsters or enemy helmsmen with penetrating cold force.
  • Skyward Airships, Floating Platforms, and Cloud Cities
    • Operating thousands of feet above the land where high winds whip around balloon gondolas, hanging cables, and floating stone bowls, the amulet functions in thin, cool air. Defensively, when targeted by avian beasts such as hostile wild griffons or aerial pirates swinging between mooring ropes, the avatar presents the pendant toward incoming tether lines or glider wings, casting Frost-Lock Glaze to coat directional rudders, mechanical pulleys, or flight feathers in heavy, stiffening rime; the added weight and frozen joints disrupt the attacker’s aerodynamics, forcing them to veer off to prevent stalling. Offensively, the avatar leans into the rushing headwind, coordinating the Glacial Whisper with the natural air currents; by releasing the cryomantic bolt in the direction of the slipstream, the projectile accelerates rapidly through the frigid atmosphere, slamming into airborne adversaries before they can react, delivering full magical cold damage amplified by the avatar’s tier die.

Perception of Activation:

  • Visual Perception
    • User’s Perspective: Upon vocalizing the invocation and channeling intent into the conduit, the mottled pale blue cabochon flares from within, casting a harsh, cold radiance across the user’s hands and chest. Microscopic, crystalline geometric geometries resembling ancient Persian knotwork briefly flash across the surface of the stone before projecting outward into a concentrated, spiraling spear of dense blue-white frost.
    • Observer’s Perspective: Witnesses see the bronze pendant suddenly pulse with an intense, icy luminosity that sharply contrasts with surrounding ambient lighting. Plumes of dense, white condensation coil violently off the bronze housing, followed by an immediate flash of pale light as an crystalline streak of frost snaps from the wearer’s chest toward the target.
    • Positives: Visual indicators provide instantaneous confirmation that the spell current has coalesced correctly within the conduit, allowing the user to visually correct their aim along the luminous trajectory of the cold bolt.
    • Negatives: The bright flare instantly eliminates any tactical stealth, revealing the user’s exact position even in pitch-black environments or through heavy fog.
  • Auditory Perception
    • User’s Perspective: The moment the chant finishes, the user’s ears ring with the sound of a violent, whip-crack fracture, reminiscent of a massive frozen lake splitting under intense pressure. Beneath this primary crackle is a low, droning hum that vibrates directly against the breastbone, harmonizing with the spoken syllables.
    • Observer’s Perspective: Those standing nearby hear a dry, high-pitched screech akin to shearing metal or grinding icebergs, followed immediately by the rushing whoosh of displaced, supercooled air as the projectile cuts through the atmosphere.
    • Positives: The concussive snap of the air can momentarily startle nearby lesser beasts or unseasoned combatants, reinforcing the impact of the magical strike.
    • Negatives: The loud crack carries across open terrain, echoing off cavern walls or ship hulls and alerting distant foes or guards to active spellcasting.
  • Olfactory Perception
    • User’s Perspective: The user is immediately struck by an intense, clean blast of super-oxygenated air mixed with sharp petrichor, carrying the unmistakable scent of fresh high-altitude snow and the dry, mineral trace of chilled mountain stone.
    • Observer’s Perspective: Anyone within ten feet detects an abrupt wave of crisp, ozone-rich air that cuts through whatever regional odors—such as swamp rot, coal smoke, or stagnant brine—permeate the immediate vicinity.
    • Positives: The sudden rush of cold, pristine air can clear the user’s sinuses and momentarily mitigate the nauseating effects of foul local stenches.
    • Negatives: In subterranean tunnels or enclosed urban alleyways, the lingering scent of unnatural mountain snow provides tracking hounds and olfactory-sensitive monsters an easy trail to follow.
  • Gustatory Perception
    • User’s Perspective: As the ambient moisture freezes around the user’s face during the invocation, a distinct metallic, bitter chill coats the tongue, identical to the sensation of licking clean iron on a sub-zero winter morning.
    • Observer’s Perspective: Bystanders who are close enough to catch the displaced backdraft inhale stray ice particulates, tasting a sharp, dry tang on the back of their throats that leaves a momentary numbness.
    • Positives: The sharp taste forces an adrenaline spike, sharpening the user’s focus during the six-second combat exchange.
    • Negatives: The numbing sensation can dry out the mouth rapidly, making prolonged spoken communication or back-to-back somatic chanting feel raspy and uncomfortable.
  • Tactile Perception
    • User’s Perspective: A biting, intense wave of cold radiates from the bronze casing straight into the wearer’s gripping fingers and across the sternum, prickling the skin like thousands of tiny needles. The braided azure cord pulls taut against the neck as ambient heat is rapidly drained into the stone.
    • Observer’s Perspective: Observers near the wielder feel an instantaneous temperature drop of several degrees, accompanied by a sharp, chilly breeze that flutters loose clothing and raises goosebumps across exposed skin.
    • Positives: The intense thermal shock grounds the user physically, instantly dissipating any lethargy induced by extreme environmental heat or stifling boiler rooms.
    • Negatives: If the user’s hands are wet, bare skin can momentarily adhere painfully to the frozen bronze rim, causing mild superficial stinging when pulling away.
  • Extra-Sensory Perception: Mind’s Eye Resonance
    • User’s Perspective: Through the Mind’s Eye, the user perceives the conduit’s structural data pulse with vivid clarity; the internal matrix of the tier 1 crystal reveals its remaining durability, its charge state, and the exact numerical threshold of the incoming tier die damage passing through the spell stream.
    • Observer’s Perspective: An observing avatar actively focusing their own Mind’s Eye detects a sudden spike in the wielder’s magical profile, noting the activation of a tier-appropriate cold conduit and the brief numerical flux of damage calculation.
    • Positives: Grants precise, instantaneous awareness of whether the item suffered stress, remained attuned, or successfully transferred its magical payload without requiring manual inspection.
    • Negatives: The brief flood of numerical data and status feeds into the consciousness can cause momentary mental clutter if multiple combat events unfold simultaneously.
  • Extra-Sensory Perception: True Sight Ultraviolet Luminescence
    • User’s Perspective: To an avatar peering into the ultraviolet spectrum via True Sight, the activation erupts not as mundane blue light, but as a blinding, intricate web of deep violet and ultraviolet threads that tether the amulet directly to the ambient currents of the local magical weave.
    • Observer’s Perspective: Any creature or spectator endowed with True Sight witnesses a searing ultraviolet flare that outlines the caster’s circulatory pathways and illuminates the core crystal with an intense, pulsing violet beacon that cuts through physical darkness and mundane camouflage.
    • Positives: Enables the caster to accurately gauge the ambient density of magical currents in the local environment by observing how violently the ultraviolet filaments interact with the surrounding air.
    • Negatives: Renders the user completely unmistakable to high-tier entities, magical predators, or planar sentries scanning the battlefield with supernatural vision types.
  • Extra-Sensory Perception: Tremorsense and Atmospheric Micro-Pressure
    • User’s Perspective: Burrowing beasts or ground-bound sentries sharing the terrain register a sudden, sharp cessation of micro-vibrations in the ground beneath the caster as the Frost-Lock Glaze freezes loose dirt and stone particles into a rigid, monolithic block.
    • Observer’s Perspective: Entities with Tremorsense perceive the sudden appearance of a hard, deadened acoustic zone on the ground plane, followed by a localized sonic shockwave radiating across the earth from the point of the frozen discharge.
    • Positives: Disguises minor foot movements within the frozen radius from ground-vibration tracking, as the frozen patch deadens subtle scuffing sounds.
    • Negatives: The abrupt dead zone creates a stark, unnatural anomaly on the subterranean perceptual plane, instantly alerting burrowing horrors like ankhegs to the exact point of surface interference.

Crafting Recipe: Forging of Persian 487 of the Frost-Veiled Simurgh

  • Materials Needed
    • 1 Tier 1 Raw Cryomantic Catalyst Crystal: Approximately the size and weight of a mundane copper coin, harvested from a slain cryomantic beast or high-altitude glacial rift.
    • 4 Ounces of High-Purity Smelted Bronze: Refined copper and tin alloy, prepared in raw sheet or ingot form, capable of taking fine surface engraving without fracturing.
    • 1 Ounce of Glacial Reagent Fluid: Pure cryomantic fluid drawn directly from a freezing mountain mire, cold-water ooze, or frost-infused monster corpse using a fluid collector.
    • 2 Strands of Mountain Sheep Wool: Spun, high-altitude fleece dyed deep azure using natural indigo mineral pigments.
    • 1 Strand of Raw Camel Hair: Coarse, durable hair collected from a desert pack beast, providing tensile core strength to the suspension cord.
    • 1 Ounce of Beaten Silver Wire: Fine, unblemished wire pulled to thread thickness to bind the braided suspension strands and ground the arcane current.
    • 1 Mined Copper Wire Fragment: Three inches of malleable copper wire, annealed and shaped to form the neck clasp.
  • Tools Required
    • Precision Engraver’s Burin: Fine, tempered steel chisel used for carving geometric knotwork and relief into metal surfaces.
    • Lapidary Wheel and Polishing Slurry: Manual, pedal-driven or steam-belt polishing wheel outfitted with diamond-dust or emery grit for cutting cabochons.
    • Fluid Collector: Specialized needle-syringe extraction tool used to gather and accurately dispense measured droplets of biological and environmental reagents.
    • Jeweler’s Hearth and Micro-Crucible: Small, charcoal-fired furnace or miniature alchemical torch for soldering, bezel seating, and wire annealing.
    • Agate Burnisher: Smooth stone tool for pressing bezel edges tightly over crystalline settings without scratching the crystal.
    • Braiding Spindles: Weighted wooden dowels used for hand-spinning multi-strand suspension cords under consistent tension.
  • Skill Requirements
    • Metalworking / Fine Jewelry Smithing: Minimum skill level 1. Enables precise circular shaping of the bronze base, soldering the suspension loop, and carving geometric Persian knotwork patterns without weakening the metal frame.
    • Lapidary / Gem Cutting: Minimum skill level 1. Necessary to grind, facet, and polish the raw Tier 1 magic crystal into a domed, cloud-mottled cabochon suitable for a bezel setting without fracturing its lattice.
    • Alchemical Crafting / Infusion: Minimum skill level 1. Required to balance, stabilize, and transfer the latent cold-weave properties of the fluid reagent into the crystal substrate without causing premature crystalline cracking.
  • Crafting Steps
    • Casing Fabrication: The bronze sheet is hammered to an even thickness and cut into a flat, circular disc two inches in diameter. The outer border is scribed and carved by hand using the steel burin, cutting deep, interlaced Persian knotwork and subtle floral motifs into the rim. A central raised circular bezel wall is raised and burnished in the center of the disc, leaving a recessed bed to receive the gemstone. A sturdy bronze suspension ring is soldered onto the top rim using low-heat silver solder.
    • Gem Preparation: The Tier 1 cryomantic crystal is set upon the lapidary wheel and shaped into a symmetrical, domed cabochon. Cold spring water is continuously dripped over the cutting face to prevent friction heat from disturbing the innate arcane charge of the stone. Once the shape matches the inner diameter of the bronze bezel, the stone is polished with fine emery paste until its surface turns smooth and displays an internal pale-blue cloudiness.
    • Fluid Priming and Setting: Using the fluid collector, exactly one ounce of harvested glacial reagent fluid is drawn and carefully injected into the micro-cavity between the bronze casing’s recessed bed and the bottom of the crystal cabochon. As the biological cold reagent contacts the stone, the crystal is firmly seated into place. The artisan uses the agate burnisher to press the bronze bezel wall inward over the edges of the cabochon, locking the stone into an airtight, frost-sealed housing.
    • Suspension Braiding: Two strands of azure-dyed mountain wool and one strand of tough camel hair are washed, dried, and tied together on the braiding spindles. The three cords are tightly plaited under continuous tension, intermittently interlaced with beaten silver wire at two-inch intervals to establish an unbroken conductive line for ambient magic. The copper wire fragment is bent, hammer-hardened, and polished into an S-shaped clasp, then secured to the looped ends of the braided cord with wrapping coils of silver thread.
    • Arcane Weave Conduit Sealing: The assembled amulet is brought to an arcane workbench. The crafter holds the pendant and focuses their Mind’s Eye upon the seated crystal, vocalizing the somatic chant of the Simurgh. This formal invocation draws upon the latent power within the sealed cryomantic fluid, causing the bronze casing to drop below freezing and the core cabochon to emit a steady ultraviolet pulse under True Sight. The successful binding fixes the item’s baseline resilience at 10 and sets its hit point pool to the prospective avatar’s maximum health plus 10, completing the forging of a functional Tier 1 focus.

Frozen Feather and Sun-Burning King

In the day when high heaven was much hot, and dirt had not many names, there walked the great man who carried a crown upon his skull, known unto the parchment as King Jam-Khorshid of the dry dirt. He sat upon a high seat of yellow gold and gave command unto many small men, saying that the great fire-star which burns above was his brother, and that no beast upon the land might make water cold without his royal seal. His country was made of red sand and dry bones, where sheep fell down because their tongues grew large and dry like wood, and no river gave moisture unless the king permitted the bucket to drop into the deep hole.

It came to pass in that turning of the year that the great fire-star burned with double anger, so that the stones in the street split open like cooked beans. The horses of the palace could not stand upon their four hooves, for the earth bit them like red coal. King Jam-Khorshid cried out to his court-men and to his priests of the high braziers, demanding that they make the wind blow from the place of shadows. But the priests had only words of smoke and could not make the sky turn cold, for their gods were distant and the sun-fire was very heavy upon their bald heads. Then said a traveler who had no shoes and whose skin was peeled by the salt of the wasteland, that far beyond the dry rocks where the world breaks into nothing, there lived the great mother-bird whose body was as wide as seven hills, whose beak was made of hard horn, and whose wing-hairs held the frost of the world before the sun was lit. The name of this fowl was written down as the Simurgh of the Cloud-Mountain, which some old men also called Damavand of the High Ice.

The king was filled with pride and hot anger, speaking words that made the temple walls shake. He said he would take the cold bird by the throat and pluck its down to line his summer coat, so that he might sit in coolness while the common folk ate dust. He assembled sixty riders who had long spears and water-bags made of camel guts, and he rode out into the red glare where the sky touches the sand. For three weeks and three more weeks they traveled through the dead plains where no tree stood, and the water in their bladders boiled until it smelled like old leather, and half of the horses laid down their bellies and died.

When the mountain of cold stone was reached, it rose up like a white tooth against the blue sky, so high that the clouds were caught beneath its knees like sheep wool. The king and the few men who were not yet carcasses climbed upon the sharp flint, where the air became thin and pinched their noses like copper pliers. At the top of the white tooth, where the snow never turned to soup, they beheld the great fowl sitting upon an egg of clear glass. The fowl had eyes like round shields of polished iron, and when she breathed through her nostrils, two rivers of white smoke tumbled down her breast, making icicles hang upon her claws like iron daggers.

King Jam-Khorshid drew his long curved knife of soft iron and walked before the fowl, shouting that he was lord of sixty thousand ditches and master of the water canals, and he demanded three hand-spans of her frozen tail-feather so his palace might remain cool. The great bird looked upon him not with rage, but with the cold eye of a falcon watching a dung-beetle crawl across an altar stone. She spoke in the old tongue of the mountain rime, which sounded like ice shattering upon a bronze tray. She said unto him that the cold was not a thing to be hoarded in jars of grease, nor could the master of dirt command the breath of the sky-mother, for all who seek to lock the winter away in their pockets shall find that their own blood forgets how to run warm.

The foolish king would not listen to the clicking of her beak, but raised his blade to hack at her lowest quill. Then the Simurgh shook her vast wings, and a tempest of needle-ice arose, blinding the eyes of the king’s guards until their eyes became hard like sea-shells. With a single snap of her talons, she broke the soft iron knife into six pieces, and from the edge of her right wing there fell away one broken, frozen down-plume that had turned into blue stone by the touch of the ancient rifts. The stone fell upon the flint and made a sound like a small bell. The king fell upon his belly, forgetting his crown which rolled into a snowdrift, and clutched the blue rock to his breast with two burnt hands.

The frost of the stone was so terrible that it bit through his tunic and bit into his skin, making his heart pause like a stopped water-wheel. He fled down the mountain without his horses and without his sixty men, who remained above as white pillars of salt and rime to mark the roosting place of the fowl. When the king returned to the city of red mud, his beard had turned into white needles and his fingers were black like burnt sticks. He called for his coppersmith, an old mute who knew the carving of ancient knots, and commanded him to beat bronze into a round shield no larger than an apricot, to hold the biting blue pebble so it would not rot his ribs with cold.

The smith hammered the bronze disc, cutting lines of serpents and coiled wool upon its border to bind the screaming spirits of the rime, and set the stone in the middle like a dead man’s eye, hanging it upon a string of beast-hair so the king might wear it beneath his vestment. For three moons the king sat in his hall, rejoicing that the heat of the great sun could not reach his chest, while his servants fan-bearers fell dead from the boiling dust. But because he wore the frost of the mountain without honor and without prayers, the amulet slowly drank the warmth out of his thoughts. He forgot the faces of his women, he forgot the taste of sweet wine, and his mind became hard and brittle like pond-ice in the depth of night. When he gave judgments from his throne, he condemned men to death by freezing ditches for small thefts of bread, for he believed all the world was as numb and unfeeling as his own sternum.

In the end, as the drought worsened and the people fled the city, the king sat alone upon his golden bench, refusing to speak or to eat warm porridge. His flesh grew gray like wet clay, and his breath ceased to make steam because the fire within his soul had been completely extinguished by the little round pendant. When the desert winds finally blew down the gates of his clay palace, the nomads found only a dry shell sitting upon the seat, holding an amulet that was still sweating beads of clear, cold water onto the dry floor, waiting for a master who knew that cold was meant to temper the heat, not to kill the living breath of men.

Moral of the Story: He who tries to steal the frost of the gods to build a palace of ice in the middle of the burning desert will find that the ice freezes his own heart first, for the chill of the mountains belongs to the high winds and cannot be made a slave to the vanity of mortal kings.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)

The Pahlavi Rime-Talisman

  • Classification: Arcane Artifact / Enchanted Phrenological Focus
  • Sanity Loss to Appraise or Witness Active Effect: 0 / 1D3 Sanity points
  • Physical Form: An ornate medallion of hammered Persian bronze, two inches across, set with an unnatural pale-blue cabochon stone that remains perpetually cold and sweats condensation even in desert climes. It hangs from a coarse, silver-threaded camel-hair cord.
  • Inherent Properties:
  • Thermal Regulation: An investigator actively wearing the talisman gains an automatic bonus die (+1D) to CON rolls made to resist extreme environmental heat or exhaustion induced by high temperatures.
  • Attunement and Psychometry: An investigator holding the talisman who succeeds on an Occult or Cthulhu Mythos roll perceives an icy, unnatural clarity, discerning whether localized ambient drops in temperature are mundane or the result of supernatural phenomena within 20 yards.
  • Spells and Manifestations:
  • Breath of the Simurgh (Variant of Frostbite):
  • Cost: 3 Magic Points; 1 Sanity point
  • Casting Time: 1 round (requires whispering a somatic Persian invocation)
  • Effect: The caster points the medallion at a single target within 10 yards. A blast of supercooled air and razor-thin frost needles erupts from the stone. The target must succeed on an Extreme CON roll or suffer 1D6 points of hypothermic damage and be penalized with a penalty die (-1D) to their next physical action due to localized numbness. On a successful Extreme CON roll, the target takes half damage (1D3) and ignores the penalty. If cast silently without the verbal invocation, the damage is reduced to 1D4.
  • Glaze of the Mountain Vault:
  • Cost: 2 Magic Points
  • Casting Time: 1 round
  • Effect: The user touches the medallion to a non-living surface or mechanical apparatus up to 5 square feet. The surface flash-freezes into brittle, solid ice for 1D10 minutes. When applied to mechanical locks, latches, or sliding bolts, any attempt to pick, bypass, or operate the mechanism suffers a penalty die (-1D), or requires an Opposed STR roll to physically fracture the frozen lock.

Blades in the Dark

The Simurgh’s Rime-Amulet

  • Item Classification & Load: Arcane Curio, 1 Load (Worn on neck or held)
  • Description: An ancient, foreign bronze disc engraved with intricate desert-knotting, housing an unearthly ice-crystal harvested from the void-mountains of the forgotten world. It perpetually seeps frigid mist and numbs the flesh against blistering industrial machinery.
  • Tier Equivalent: Quality Tier I
  • Mechanics:
  • Cryomantic Invocations:
  • Glacial Whisper: When you unleash a focused lance of sub-zero ice at an enemy within close range, make an Action Roll using Tempest or Attune. On a 6 or Critical, the target suffers severe hypothermic frostbite (Level 2 Harm: “Frozen Flesh / Brittle Bones”) with standard effect. A partial success (4/5) inflicts the harm alongside standard complications (heat backlash, loud crystalline crack alerting the district bluecoats, or collateral frost damage). Pushing yourself or taking 1 Stress allows you to cast this silently without somatic chanting.
  • Frost-Lock Coating: Spend 1 Stress to touch a mundane entryway, door latch, window frame, or floor section. The surface instantly flash-freezes into slick, brittle ice across a 5-foot perimeter. This acts as Potency when locking or jamming mechanical latches, or provides improved Position/Effect on Setup actions intended to cause pursuers to slip and lose footing. The ice sublimates into cold vapor after a few minutes.
  • Passive Thermal Barrier: The wearer ignores penalties associated with extreme ambient heat, boiling boiler chambers, or scalding steam vents, functioning as Armor against environmental thermal harm.

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

Amulet of the Frost-Veiled Simurgh

  • Wondrous Item, Common (Requires Attunement)
  • Item Slot: Neck
  • Armor Class: 10
  • Hit Points: 15
  • Weight: 1/4 lb.
  • Description: This round, hammered bronze medallion measures two inches in diameter and is engraved with traditional interlaced geometric knotwork. A pale blue, cloud-mottled crystal rests within a raised central bezel, perpetually freezing to the touch and venting faint tendrils of cold vapor. It is strung on an azure wool and silver-threaded camel-hair cord with a copper clasp.
  • Traits:
  • Desert Nomad’s Solace: While attuned to and wearing this amulet, you suffer no adverse effects from extreme environmental heat (as detailed in the rules for Wilderness Survival). In addition, as an action, you can touch a non-magical liquid container and chill up to 1 gallon of potable liquid to near-freezing over the course of 10 minutes.
  • Rime Sense: You can sense any sudden, unnatural drop in ambient temperature within a 60-foot radius of yourself.
  • Charges & Spells:
  • The amulet has 3 charges. It regains 1d3 expended charges daily at dawn.
  • Glacial Whisper: As an action, you can expend 1 charge and vocalize a short somatic phrase to target one creature you can see within 30 feet. Make a ranged spell attack using your spell attack modifier (or Charisma if you lack a spellcasting class). On a hit, the target takes 1d6 cold damage + 1d4 additional cold damage. If you choose to cast this effect without speaking its somatic words, the total damage dealt is reduced by 25 percent (rounded down).
  • Frost-Lock Glaze: As an action, you expend 1 charge and present the amulet toward an object or flat surface within 5 feet. You coat a 5-foot-square surface or a small non-magical mechanism (such as a lock, latch, or chest lid) in thick, brittle rime for up to 10 minutes. A lock treated this way has the DC to pick or force it open increased by 2. If applied to a smooth floor, the 5-foot square becomes difficult terrain, and any creature entering the space must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone.

Knave (2nd Edition)

The Frost-Pendant of Simurgh

  • Item Classification: Worn Relic / Arcane Focus
  • Slots: 1 Item Slot (Neck / Chest)
  • Quality / Durability: 10 / 10
  • Description: A heavy disc of engraved bronze mounted with an elemental ice-crystal cabochon, suspended on an azure cord plaited from camel hair and silver wire. Radiates a continuous chill.
  • Properties:
  • Thermal Ward: While this item occupies an inventory slot, the bearer is fully immune to non-magical hazards caused by desert heat, sunstroke, and scalding ambient air.
  • Cold Surge: Once per day, the wielder may invoke the stone to project a freezing dart of compressed rime at a target within 30 feet. Make an attack roll adding your Intelligence or Wisdom bonus. On a hit, the target takes 1d6 damage, and their movement is halved on their subsequent turn due to localized frost. If cast silently without spoken words, the damage is reduced to 1d4.
  • Rime Glaze: By spending 1 exploration turn (10 minutes) holding the focus against a door, latch, or narrow hallway, the caster seals the mechanism or floor with heavy ice. A frozen lock or hinge requires a direct Strength check to wrench free, and a frozen 10-foot floor corridor requires a Dexterity check to navigate at running speed without falling prone.
  • Item Breakage: If the bearer takes damage equal to or exceeding their total maximum Hit Points, this item loses 1 point of Quality. If its Quality drops to 0, the bronze casing cracks and the inner crystal shatters into useless cold dust.

Fate Core

The Simurgh’s Glacial Seal

  • Type: Character Stunt / Specialized Arcane Extra
  • Cost: 1 Refresh (or 1 Stunt slot)
  • Narrative Permission: Possessing an antique Persian bronze medallion set with a perpetually freezing, cloud-blue ice crystal on an azure camel-hair cord.
  • Aspects:
  • Invoke Aspect: Chill of the Cloud-Mountain Simurgh (allows invoking for bonuses on rolls involving freezing mechanisms, resisting blistering environmental heat, or tracking abrupt supernatural temperature shifts).
  • Stunt Mechanics:
  • Glacial Whisper: Because you possess the Glacial Seal, you gain a +2 bonus when you use Shoot to magically Attack an opponent within your zone or an adjacent zone using concentrated frost needles, provided you speak a loud, flourishing invocation. If you activate this attack in complete silence, you do not gain the +2 bonus, but you can bypass zone-wide physical notice until the projectile strikes.
  • Frost-Lock Glaze: Once per scene, you may use Crafts to immediately place the situation aspect Flash-Frozen and Brittle with one free invoke on a non-living object, door latch, floor surface, or mechanical device within your zone without rolling.
  • Nomad’s Thermal Ward: You automatically succeed on Physique checks to Overcome the adverse physical effects of scorching desert heat, boiler room steam, or high-temperature environmental hazards.

Numenera & Cypher System

Rime-Crest of the Mountain Aviary

  • Level: 2
  • Form: An etched, tarnish-resistant bronze disc enclosing a pale blue, condensation-sweating nodule of semi-organic trans-dimensional crystal, hung on a coarse azure chord woven with conductive silver filaments.
  • Wearable Artifact: Depletion 1 in 1d20 (checked upon using an active ability)
  • Passive Effects:
  • The wearer treats extreme environmental heat as two steps lower in difficulty for all Might defense tasks related to physical exhaustion, dehydration, or heat stroke.
  • Active Functions:
  • Cryomantic Bolt: The wearer spends 1 Intellect point and speaks a rhythmic command phrase to project a concentrated bolt of razor-sharp ice at a single target within short range (50 feet). The attack deals 2 points of ambient cold damage (bypassing mundane physical Armor that lacks thermal insulation). If spoken without sound, the damage is reduced to 1 point.
  • Flash Frost: The wearer touches the pendant to a solid, non-living surface or mechanical assembly up to a 5-foot square. The surface is flash-frozen for ten minutes. Moving rapidly across this surface requires a successful Agility task against the artifact’s level (Level 2) or the traveler falls prone. If applied to a mechanical latch, door, or sliding panel, forcing or bypassing the mechanism increases in difficulty by one step.

Pathfinder (Second Edition)

Frost-Veiled Simurgh Talisman

  • Item 1
  • Traits: Evocation, Cold, Magical
  • Price: 15 gp
  • Usage: Worn (Neck)
  • Bulk: Light
  • Description: This hammered bronze medallion measures two inches across and is etched with dense geometric strapwork framing a cabochon of pale blue, perpetually frosted elemental crystal. It hangs from an azure camel-hair cord bound in silver threading.
  • Passive Property: You do not suffer the effects of mild or severe environmental heat. In addition, you can spend 10 minutes focusing on a vessel of potable liquid to reduce its temperature to near-freezing for up to 1 hour.
  • Activate: Cast a Spell
  • Frequency: Once per day, plus 1 additional time if you expend your own Tier 1 spell slot.
  • Glacial Whisper (Two Actions: Somatic, Verbal): You direct the medallion toward a target within 30 feet, unleashing an icy projectile. Make a ranged spell attack roll using your spell attack roll or class DC. On a success, you deal 1d6 cold damage + 1d4 additional cold damage. On a critical success, the target takes double damage and suffers a -10-foot status penalty to its Speeds for 1 round. If you choose to activate this ability using only a Somatic component (Silent casting), the total damage dealt is reduced by 25 percent.
  • Frost-Lock Glaze (One Action: Somatic): You touch the medallion to a mundane lock, hinge, or a 5-foot-square section of floor adjacent to you. The surface is instantly coated in brittle frost for 10 minutes. The Athletics DC to Force Open or the Thievery DC to Pick a frozen lock increases by a +2 circumstance bonus to the lock’s DC. If applied to a flat stone or wooden floor, the square becomes uneven ground, requiring a DC 15 Acrobatics check to move across without slipping.

Savage Worlds (Adventure Edition)

Simurgh’s Rime-Amulet

  • Item Type: Minor Arcane Device (Worn on Neck)
  • Weight: 1/4 lb.
  • Description: A heavy Persian bronze talisman with geometric border relief housing an elemental ice stone. It perpetually vents cold mist and feels freezing against the breastplate.
  • Modifiers & Passives:
  • Desert Nomad’s Boon: The wearer gains a +2 bonus to Vigor rolls made to resist environmental Heat and thermal Fatigue.
  • Rime Sensitivity: The wearer gains a +2 bonus to Notice rolls when detecting sudden supernatural temperature drops or finding hidden cold-attuned rifts within 12 inches (24 yards).
  • Arcane Mechanics (Device Power Points: 5, recharges at 1 point per hour):
  • Bolt (Cryomantic Shard):
  • Cost: 1 Power Point
  • Range: 12/24/48 (inches on tabletop)
  • Action: The wearer spends an action chanting the ancient words of the mountain bird. The device casts Bolt, rolling an Arcane Skill of d6. On a success, it deals 2d6 Cold damage. On a Raise, it deals 3d6 Cold damage. If the caster chooses to activate this power silently without spoken components, the total damage roll is penalized by -2.
  • Barrier (Localized Frost-Lock):
  • Cost: 1 Power Point
  • Range: Touch
  • Action: The wearer touches the stone to an entryway, sliding bolt, or a 2-yard section of floor. The surface is flash-frozen for 5 rounds. When cast on a mechanical latch, breaking or picking the lock suffers a -2 penalty. When placed on a smooth walking surface, anyone moving across it at greater than half pace must make an Agility roll or fall prone.

Shadowrun (Sixth World)

Pahlavi Cryo-Talisman

  • Item Classification: Enchanted Focus / Hermetic Qi Focus (Rating 1)
  • Karma Cost to Bond: 2 Karma
  • Concealability: Concealable (+0 dice modifier to spot under clothing, worn openly around the neck)
  • Availability: 4 (Rare / Antique Collector)
  • Physical Form: An antique bronze medallion measuring five centimeters in diameter, etched with complex Persian floral knotwork. It encases a pale blue, semi-translucent crystalloid structure that perpetually condenses ambient moisture and chills the skin. Strung on a cord of coarse azure wool interwoven with conductive silver filaments.
  • Passive Capabilities:
  • Thermal Compensation: While bonded and worn, the bearer adds +1 die to Body tests when resisting environmental heat fatigue, hyperthermia, or scorching industrial boiler conditions.
  • Cold Attunement: When shifting perception to the Astral plane, the focus radiates a distinct pale blue and ultraviolet aura. The user receives +1 die on Astral Perception tests specifically involving thermal anomalies, cold spirits, or cryogenic elemental signatures.
  • Active Invocations:
  • Glacial Whisper (Ice Needle):
  • Action: Major Action
  • Requirement: Requires an audible somatic chant in ancient Persian (speaking aloud).
  • Mechanics: The runner channels magical energy through the focus at an enemy within Line of Sight (up to 20 meters). Roll Sorcery + Magic vs. Defense Rating. The attack inflicts 4P Cold/Ice damage. If the caster chooses to manifest this effect silently without the verbal invocation, the base damage is reduced to 3P.
  • Frost-Lock Glaze:
  • Action: Minor Action + Major Action
  • Mechanics: The user presses the talisman against a non-living surface or mechanical lock assembly up to one square meter. The target surface is flash-frozen for 10 minutes. When applied to mechanical locks, latches, or hinges, physical bypass attempts suffer a -2 dice pool penalty, or require an Athletics + Strength test to shatter the brittle ice.

Starfinder (Second Edition)

Frost-Veiled Simurgh Relic

  • Item 1
  • Traits: Magical, Evocation, Cold, Consumable Focus
  • Price: 120 credits
  • Usage: Worn (Neck)
  • Bulk: Light
  • Description: Recovered from an uncharted desert world or salvaged from an ancient drift-tear, this two-inch circular bronze disc houses a cold-core elemental geode. The device vents persistent sub-zero moisture plumes and hangs from an insulated azure cord.
  • Passive System: The wearer automatically treats extreme environmental heat as normal temperature, gaining immunity to mild and severe atmospheric heat effects up to 60°C. In addition, touching a liquid storage cylinder chills up to 4 liters of water to near-freezing over 10 minutes.
  • Activation:
  • Glacial Whisper (Two Actions: Concentrate, Manipulate): The wearer directs the relic at a hostile target within 30 feet. Make a ranged spell attack using the character’s key spellcasting modifier or Dexterity. On a hit, the ray deals 1d6 cold damage plus 1d4 kinetic piercing damage from condensed ice needle shards. On a critical hit, the target takes double damage and is Clumsy 1 for 1 round. If activated silently without verbal modulation, the total damage output is reduced by 25 percent.
  • Frost-Lock Glaze (One Action: Manipulate): The user touches the relic to a mechanical console, manual bulkhead latch, or a 5-foot floor grid. The area is instantly sealed in dense rime for 10 minutes. Any Athletics or Engineering check to operate, pick, or bypass the frozen fixture suffers a -2 circumstance penalty. Smooth walking surfaces become difficult terrain, requiring a DC 15 Acrobatics check to navigate at full stride without falling prone.

Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition)

Anomalous Cryo-Disc (Artifact)

  • Item Classification: Minor Psionic / Pre-Tech Curio
  • Tech Level: TL 14 (Equivalent Energy Density)
  • Weight: 0.1 kg
  • Description: A circular medallion composed of an unidentified bronze-tin composite alloy, framing a synthetic or trans-dimensional blue crystal lattice that violates local thermodynamics. The object continuously vents ambient vapor and maintains a constant internal surface temperature of -4°C without an external power cell.
  • Passive Operations:
  • Thermal Sinks: When the bearer is subjected to desert conditions, engine room bleed-off, or harsh thermal radiation, the disc absorbs localized heat, granting a +2 DM to all END checks made to resist heatstroke, exhaustion, or dehydration.
  • Sensor / Psionic Readout: When held during an active Psi-Sense or Telepathy scan, the crystal acts as a cognitive focal point, granting a +1 DM to detect abrupt atmospheric pressure and thermal drops within 20 meters.
  • Active Output:
  • Cryo-Dart Discharge:
  • Cost: 1 Psionic Point (or 1 Minor Action using manual nerve-trigger focus).
  • Range: Short (up to 12 meters).
  • Mechanics: The user grips the bronze rim and speaks an ancient acoustic frequency string. The crystal discharges an accelerated bolt of supercooled vapor and needle-thin ice crystals. Roll Gun Combat (Energy) or PSI + END. On a successful hit, the attack deals 2D damage (Cold/Energy), completely ignoring mundane soft armor lacking thermal protection. If discharged silently without vocal harmonic stabilization, the attack deals 1D+2 damage.
  • Surface Solidification:
  • Operation: Minor Action
  • Mechanics: Placing the disc against a mechanical door latch, hydraulic hinge, or access hatch flash-freezes the components across a 0.5-meter area for 3D minutes. Operating or forcing the mechanism requires a successful STR or Mechanics check at DM-2; failed attempts with heavy force risk shattering the frozen mechanical components entirely.

Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Wrath & Glory

The Simurgh’s Rime-Amulet

  • Value: Tier 1 Rare Trinket / Minor Archeotech Focus
  • Keywords: Archaic, Archeotech, Cold
  • Encumbrance: 0 (Worn as a medallion around the neck)
  • Description: Salvaged from a forgotten feudal desert moon, this heavy, hand-beaten bronze plate is engraved with pre-Imperial high-gothic geometries. It encloses an unyielding, frosted shard of stable warp-ice or xenos crystalline matter that remains unaffected by ambient desert temperatures.
  • Passive Effects:
  • Thermal Bastion: The wearer gains +1 bonus die to Toughness tests when resisting environmental hazards stemming from extreme desert heat, superheated macro-exhaust, or engine manufactorum steam lines.
  • Empyric Chill: Psykers or individuals attuned to the empyrean perceive the talisman as an ultraviolet cold-spark; the user adds +1 bonus die to Awareness tests aimed at detecting thermal shifts or warp-induced chills within 15 meters.
  • Active Invocations:
  • Glacial Whisper:
  • Action: Combat Action
  • Mechanics: The wearer brandishes the talisman and vocalizes a precise linguistic chant. The device fires a concentrated beam of blinding frost at a target within Medium range (30 meters). Roll Ballistic Skill or Willpower (for Psykers). The attack hits with Damage 7 + 1 ED (Cold), AP 0. If the wielder chooses to fire the blast silently without the spoken verbal component, the Damage is reduced to 5 + 1 ED.
  • Frost-Lock Glaze:
  • Action: Simple Action
  • Mechanics: The user presses the talisman against a mechanical hatch, cogitator physical slide, manual lock, or a 2-meter floor patch. The target surface is flash-frozen for 10 minutes. Any Tech or Strength test to manipulate or force open the frozen mechanism suffers a +2 DN penalty. When placed on a smooth walking surface, individuals moving through the area at greater than standard pace must pass an Agility test (DN 2) or fall prone.