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Pysanky 731 of the Chthonic Siphon

—

by

Dale
in

Lore

  • In the sunken ossuaries and forgotten catacombs beneath Saṃsāra’s outer necropolises, death is treated as an energetic debt that can be harvested and redirected.
  • A renegade mortuary embalmer sought to capture the fleeting chill of passing life, commissioning a pariah wax-scribe who worked exclusively by the light of tallow candles rendered from grave-wax.
  • Scribing upon the shell of a pale carrion-raven egg, the artisan drew unbroken spiral webs, weeping-eye motifs, and subterranean root sigils using mineral pigments brewed from powdered bone-meal, dried ox-gall, and crushed stibnite.
  • The emptied vessel was infused with stagnant grave-mire and pulverized Tier 1 magic crystal dust, then bound with a tarnished lead ferrule housing a blackened bone siphon-spigot.
  • Practitioners of the forbidden arts, night-soil scavengers, and tomb acolytes wear this talisman to muffle their life signatures, harvest lingering vitality from fallen foes, and weave entropic curses.

Description

  • A small, chalky raven egg coated in a matte, ash-gray finish that feels clammy, greasy, and corpse-cold to the touch.
  • Inscribed across its surface in thick, charcoal-black wax lines are weeping willow branches, inverted hour-glasses, and spiraling spider webs framing fields of bruised plum, sickly bile-yellow, and dried clotted-blood crimson.
  • The upper pole is capped with a heavy, pitted lead band fitted with a hollow, blackened knuckle-bone siphon-spindle that draws in ambient warmth.
  • It radiates a faint, sickening odor of stagnant marsh water, burnt animal fat, and stale embalming herbs, accompanied by an almost imperceptible shivering vibration.
  • Viewed via the Mind’s Eye, the wax webs pulse with a sickly violet luminescence that draws the ambient spiritual warmth out of the surrounding air, visibly dimming nearby candle flames.

Detailed Stats

  • Item Tier: Tier 1 (Common)
  • Gear Slot: Belt or Wrist Slot (fastened to a heavy leather loop or wound around the forearm via a blackened horsehair cord)
  • Item Hit Points: Avatar’s maximum Hit Points plus 10 (Resilience 10 multiplied by Tier 1)
  • Armor Check: 0
  • Weight: 0.5 pounds
  • Attunement: Simple attunement (requires leaving the egg resting over an open wound or burial shroud under the dark of the moon for one uninterrupted hour)

Passive Magic

  • Shroud of the Carrion: While worn, the egg absorbs the bearer’s ambient biological aura, granting advantage or a +1 passive bonus on Stealth and Deception checks made to hide from undead, conceal injuries, or mimic the stillness of a corpse.
  • Necrotic Insulation: The hollow grave-mire core blunts ambient decay, granting resistance or a +1 passive bonus on saving throws against rotting sickness, mundane poisons, and necrotic exposure.
  • Sense Mortality: The bearer instinctively feels the weakening life-force of creatures within 15 feet, passively perceiving whether a target is below half its maximum vitality or suffering from a fatal affliction.

Activable Magic

  • Siphon the Sinking Ember: As a reaction when an enemy creature within 15 feet drops to 0 hit points or dies, the user uncaps the bone siphon to draw in the dying breath. The egg flares with a dull purple light, restoring 1d4 + 1 hit points (or granting an equivalent amount of temporary vitality) to the bearer. This ability can be used twice per day.
  • Grasp of the Grave-Weft: As an action, the user taps the lead collar and points the siphon toward a creature within 20 feet. Ghostly black root-threads lash out from the egg’s patterns, forcing the target to make a physical saving throw or have its movement speed reduced by half and suffer disadvantage on its next physical check due to sudden joint stiffness. This ability can be used once per day.
  • Miasmic Exhalation: As an action, the user blows through the bone spindle to vent a 10-foot cloud of foul, choking grave-mist. The area becomes lightly obscured, and any living creature that enters or starts its turn in the cloud must make a constitution check or be sickened and suffer a penalty on attack rolls for 1 round. This ability can be used once per day.

Tags

  • Wondrous Item, Tier 1, Common, Dark Magic, Necromancy, Siphon, Vitality, Decay, Shadow, Wax-Resist, Belt Slot, Wrist Slot, Entropy, Ossuary, Leech, Morbidity, Pestilence, Shroud, Carrion, Embalming, Miasma, Sepulcher, Chthonic

Commerce and Acquisition of Pysanky 731 of the Chthonic Siphon

  • Mortuary Supply Houses and Guild Embalming Vaults
    • Situated along the sunken lanes leading into municipal catacombs and necropolises, these cold stone repositories furnish gravediggers, guild morticians, and corpse-washers.
    • Stored away from public view in zinc-lined drawers packed with dry sawdust and rock-salt, the talisman is handled with brass calipers by caretakers seeking containment focuses for restless spirits or miasma dampeners.
    • The retail price ranges from 18 to 24 silver coins, with registered members of the Embalmers’ Guild receiving a standard 10% trade concession to bring the purchase cost to 16 to 21 silver coins.
    • Liquidating an ovoid to a mortuary factor involves immersing the lead ferrule in vinegar to verify the bone siphon has not cracked, yielding 9 to 12 silver coins credited to the seller’s World Bank balance.
  • Apothecaries of the Shaded Alleys and Poisoners’ Dispensaries
    • Found tucked behind false-backed bookstalls and herbalist drying sheds in lower river slums, these illicit shops cater to venom-brewers, shadow casters, and discrete fixers.
    • Displayed under darkened horn lanterns alongside jars of dried hemlock, powdered cantharides, and leech-pots, the item is purchased by survivalists and cutpurses seeking to mask their living aura or siphon vitality in alley ambushes.
    • The standard cost in a shaded apothecary runs between 22 to 28 silver coins, with trusted underworld associates receiving a 10% cut down to 20 to 25 silver coins.
    • Fencing the talisman to a back-alley apothecary returns 10 to 13 silver coins in coin or barter of raw venom-pitch, discounted for the illicit nature of the exchange.
  • Black-Market Dredge-Barges and Night-Soil Encampments
    • Operating out of grease-caulked scows along the stagnant drainage canals and sewage marshes of the outer districts, these pariah merchants buy and sell what others fear to touch.
    • The eggs hang from greasy leather thongs over stagnant bilges, demonstrated to desperate outcasts, hedge-necromancers, and runaway indenture-laborers looking to ward off the marsh-chills.
    • Because these scavengers trade in desperation and untracked goods, they charge a volatile 26 to 35 silver coins (or 2 to 3 gold coins).
    • Selling an egg to a dredge-captain yields a depressed cash payout of 8 to 10 silver coins in clipped tokens or raw river-lead.
  • Clandestine Ossuary Exchanges and Cultist Reliquaries
    • Hidden within sealed crypts, abandoned cistern vaults, and forbidden subterranean shrine-chambers, these clandestine circles cater to chthonic cultists and forbidden occultists.
    • Traded upon stone altars draped in burial shrouds, the talisman is bought by ritualists seeking an unholy vessel to channel death-debts without alerting temple wardens.
    • Transactions strictly bypass all imperial registers; black-market occult brokers charge 35 to 48 silver coins (3 to 5 gold coins) with no institutional discounts honored.
    • When selling an ovoid to an ossuary reliquary, the seller receives 14 to 18 silver coins directly in old temple silver or unrefined tomb bullion, with higher bounties paid if the siphon still carries the trace of a freshly drawn death.

Tactical and Environmental Roleplay: Offensive and Defensive Deployments of Pysanky 731

  • Sunken Ossuaries and Ancient Crypt Complexes
    • Defensive Utilization: Crouched among stacks of moldering sarcophagi and dry ribcages, the dark magician activates Shroud of the Carrion. The egg siphons away body warmth, heartbeat tremors, and breath condensation, turning the avatar biologically inert so that shambling tomb ghouls and wandering specters pass by, mistaking the living intruder for a dry cadaver. If forced to inhale poisonous damp-air or caustic embalming powder leaking from cracked jars, Necrotic Insulation purges the toxins before they can curdle in the lungs.
    • Offensive Utilization: Stalking grave-robbers through a pillared mortuary vault, the avatar relies on Sense Mortality to locate an interloper bleeding out behind an altar. Pointing the blackened bone spindle from the shadows, the caster activates Grasp of the Grave-Weft. Inky tendrils lash across the floor stones, wrapping around the thief’s ankles and infusing their joints with rigor-mortis-like stiffness. As an ally cuts the intruder down, the caster uncaps the lead ferrule and triggers Siphon the Sinking Ember, inhaling the victim’s dying shriek to stitch closed their own flesh wounds with stolen vitality.
  • Stagnant Slum Drainage Canals and Sewage Marshes
    • Defensive Utilization: Wading through waist-deep, parasite-ridden runoff beneath the low arches of an outer city drainage district, the bearer remains unharmed by virulent swamp-rot and foul water due to Necrotic Insulation. When municipal watch hounds comb the waterline above, the caster sinks beneath the scummy surface, using Shroud of the Carrion to dampen biological scent signatures and evade tracking beasts entirely.
    • Offensive Utilization: Cornered on a slippery mudbank by municipal enforcers, the dark adept puts their lips to the knuckle-bone spindle and exhales, unleashing Miasmic Exhalation. A thick, clinging fog smelling of open graves and stagnant canal mud rolls across the water, blinding the guards and leaving them retching into the silt. Taking advantage of their weakened sword swings, the caster steps through the bile-colored cloud, draining the failing health of fallen foes with Siphon the Sinking Ember to sustain an extended skirmish.
  • Crowded Night Markets and Ill-Lit Slum Alleys
    • Defensive Utilization: Fleeing pursuers through narrow, rain-drenched alleys packed with cutpurses and vagrants, the caster leans into a stack of refuse and holds the cold ovoid against their chest. The raven-egg core draws in the ambient aura, allowing the avatar to blend into the misery of the gutter and mimic the lifeless stillness of a street corpse until the patrol lanterns sweep past.
    • Offensive Utilization: Ambushing a merchant factor’s private guard in a dark cul-de-sac, the caster uses Sense Mortality to spot a sentry nursing an old gut-wound or chronic fever. Unleashing Grasp of the Grave-Weft, the necrotic roots snare the guard’s legs, halving his retreat speed and rendering him clumsy before he can blow a warning whistle. As the target collapses under a quiet strike, the dying breath is pulled straight into the lead nozzle, fueling the adept for the next ambush.
  • Upper-City Banquets and Aristocratic Estates
    • Defensive Utilization: Infiltrating a decadent salon or private estate under cover of an embalmer’s retinue or servant’s disguise, the avatar uses Shroud of the Carrion to bypass domestic guard beasts and spiritual scrying wards keyed to living heat signatures. Should an aristocratic host attempt to poison the drink or sweetmeats, Necrotic Insulation neutralizes ingested venom before systemic damage occurs.
    • Offensive Utilization: When chaos erupts in a private drawing room, the adept utilizes Miasmic Exhalation to turn the sealed salon into a tomb-like chamber filled with blinding, foul-smelling vapor. While high-born bodyguards cough and flounder blindly in the sickly cloud, the caster closes the distance, using Sense Mortality to locate the most fragile target in the dark and striking precisely where vitality is lowest.

Perception of Activation:

  • The Five Senses: User’s Perspective
    • Sight: The charcoal-black wax lines flare with an eerie, deep-violet luminescence, while the surrounding environment visibly dims as ambient light and warmth seem to drain directly toward the ovoid.
    • Sound: A faint, hollow suction sound—like drawing air through marrow bone—fills the user’s ears, accompanied by a low, rhythmic rattle from the knuckle-bone spigot.
    • Smell: A sudden stench of stagnant mire, damp burial shrouds, and curdled tallow hits the sinuses, sharp enough to make the eyes water.
    • Taste: The mouth floods with a metallic, bitter tang reminiscent of sucking on a tarnished lead coin or tasting old well-water laced with sulphur.
    • Touch: A biting, clammy numbness creeps up the user’s arm from the wrist or hip, instantly followed by an intoxicating, prickling surge of warm vitality as siphoned essence rushes into the core.
  • The Five Senses: Observer’s Perspective
    • Sight: Observers see the chalky shell pulse with bruised purple light as translucent, needle-thin threads of black mist lash out from the bone siphon.
    • Sound: A wet, suffocated gasp or a dry rustle of dried reeds sweeps past, even in a completely enclosed stone chamber.
    • Smell: An unexpected waft of rot, stale vinegar, and damp soil washes over those standing nearby, causing immediate nausea.
    • Taste: A dry, powdery ash coats the tongues of onlookers who inhale the faint vapor trailing from the siphon.
    • Touch: The ambient air temperature drops noticeably by several degrees, sending a sudden shiver through anyone standing within arm’s reach of the bearer.
  • Extra-Sensory Perceptions
    • Vitality Tenebrism: The bearer intuitively senses the life-force of living creatures as pale, flickering candle wicks, instantly identifying which targets have weak, guttering flames ready to be snuffed out.
    • Mortuary Resonance: The user feels a subtle, pulling vibration in the chest pointing toward nearby corpses, open graves, or dormant skeletal remains buried behind walls or beneath the floor.
    • Aura Leeching: Mystically sensitive witnesses perceive the bearer surrounded by a web of spectral, shadowy roots that greedily draw in the colorful spiritual warmth of the room and crush it into a cold, purple nexus.
    • Echoes of the Dying Breath: When taking vitality from a dying creature, the user briefly hears the victim’s final unspoken thought or dying terror echo in their mind as a cold murmur.
  • Positives
    • Provides reliable, non-divine healing and endurance recovery right in the middle of bloody skirmishes without requiring spell slots.
    • Obscures biological life signatures, allowing the user to bypass undead sentries and slip through tracking beasts undetected.
    • Cripples enemy maneuverability and offensive tempo by inflicting instant joint stiffness and foul, retching miasma clouds.
    • Grants total situational awareness regarding the health thresholds of allies and enemies, making target prioritization effortless.
  • Negatives
    • The unmistakable, sickly violet glow and the pungent odor of grave-rot make subtle activation nearly impossible in clean or well-lit environments.
    • Living allies caught in close proximity may suffer temporary nausea, chills, or discomfort from the indiscriminate siphon aura.
    • The cold, numbing sensation in the bearer’s limbs lingers for several minutes, occasionally causing a sluggish response in fine motor tasks.
    • Drawing upon the dying breath leaves a residue of grim psychic weight that can unnerve the bearer over repeated activations.

Crafting Recipe: Pysanky 731 of the Chthonic Siphon

Materials Needed

  • 1 Pale Carrion-Raven Egg (freshly gathered from cliffside barrows or ruined watchtowers, uncracked and naturally hollowed of warmth).
  • 1 Tier 1 Magic Crystal (pulverized into fine, glittering dark-amethyst powder).
  • 2 Ounces of Rendered Grave-Tallow Beeswax (mixed with crushed pitch to form an opaque, jet-black resist medium).
  • 2 Fl. Oz. of Stagnant Grave-Mire (filtered sludge gathered from deep subterranean crypt cisterns).
  • 2 Ounces of Stibnite and Charcoal Slurry (for deep, bruised plum dye).
  • 2 Ounces of Dried Ox-Gall and Sulfur Liquor (for sickly bile-yellow dye).
  • 1 Ounce of Crushed Bone-Meal and Dried Blood-Madder Leach (for clotted-blood crimson dye).
  • 1 Pitted Lead Ring Collar (cast from salvage graveyard markers, fitted with thread-mounts).
  • 1 Hollow Knuckle-Bone Siphon-Spigot (harvested from a jackal or raven, fire-hardened and bore-drilled).
  • 2 Oiled Vellum Washers (treated with pitch for airtight, leakproof mounting).
  • 1 Fl. Oz. of Matte Ash-Gray Slag Wash (bone-ash and lime suspension for sealing the shell).
  • 1 Stranded Black Horsehair Cord (braided 3-ply, 18 inches, for wrist or belt suspension).

Tools Required

  • 1 Iron Kistka Stylus (wide 0.5mm aperture for laying heavy, raised wax webs and borders).
  • 1 Hand-Twist Bone Trephine Drill (for coring clean polar apertures through fragile calcium).
  • 1 Low-Flame Tallow Lamp (smoky, low-temperature flame suited for heating black tallow-wax).
  • 3 Cooled Stone Dye Crocks (kept cellar-cold to avoid thermal cracking).
  • 1 Glass Mortuary Aspiration Syringe (for flushing the egg and injecting dense mire).
  • 1 Set of Lead Spanner Pliers and Bone Scribes.
  • 1 Mortar and Pestle of Volcanic Basalt (for grinding the Tier 1 crystal to soot-fine consistency).

Skill Requirements

  • Crafting (Wax-Resist / Mortuary Sigils): Minimum Level 2 (for inscribing weeping branches, inverted hourglasses, and continuous siphon webs).
  • Medicine / Anatomy: Minimum Level 1 (for handling biological matter, boring the siphon knuckle, and balancing essence channels).
  • Dark Magic / Necromancy: Minimum Level 1 (to bind ambient death-debts and awaken the violet core resonance without shattering the shell).

Crafting Steps

  • Shell Drainage and Vitrification
    • Secure the carrion-raven egg in an ash cradle; drill a 3mm opening in the apex and a 4mm opening at the base using the hand trephine.
    • Draw out the yolk and albumen with the aspiration syringe, then flush the interior twice with a cold lye-and-salt wash to dissolve the inner albuminous membrane.
    • Bathe the exterior in the matte ash-gray slag wash, allowing the chalky lime to bind with the calcium shell for 12 hours until cold and dry.
  • Dye Fermentation and Pigment Blending
    • Mix the sulfur liquor and dried ox-gall in the first crock to yield the translucent, sickly bile-yellow bath.
    • Blend pulverized stibnite, soot, and wine lees in the second crock to form the bruised plum immersion.
    • Combine bone-meal with the dried blood-madder leach in the third crock to produce the dark, clotted-blood crimson stain.
    • Keep all baths resting on cold flagstones; heat will destabilize the alchemical potency.
  • Scribing the Siphon-Webs
    • Liquefy the grave-tallow wax in the iron kistka over the low tallow flame.
    • Trace the heavy boundary webs, weeping willow fronds, and inverted hourglass frames onto the chalky gray shell, sealing off the initial pale background.
    • Immerse the egg in the bile-yellow crock for 20 minutes; remove, dab clean with linen, and wax over the zones meant to retain the pale rot hue.
    • Lower the shell into the bruised plum crock for 30 minutes; dry thoroughly, then apply wax to lock in the deep purple quadrants.
    • Submerge the remaining exposed shell in the blood-crimson bath for 20 minutes to stain the deepest shadows.
  • Dewaxing and Mire Infusion
    • Hover the shell near the tallow flame to sweat the wax, wiping the liquefied soot away with coarse burlap until the raised ivory and dark motifs emerge clean.
    • Grind the Tier 1 magic crystal into basalt-fine dust and whisk it into the 2 fluid ounces of stagnant grave-mire until suspended in a dark, shimmering gel.
    • Inject the charged sludge through the base aperture using the aspiration syringe, ensuring no air bubbles remain inside the cavity.
  • Fitting the Lead Collar and Bone Siphon
    • Seat an oiled vellum washer against the apex hole and screw the pitted lead collar securely over the lip.
    • Insert the hollow jackal knuckle-bone through the lead collar, seating its base directly into the charged mire core.
    • Secure the base opening with the second vellum washer and a threaded lead retaining plug, sealing the edges with cold pitch.
    • Loop the braided black horsehair cord through the lead collar’s eyelet, completing attunement by whispering an ancient name of passing over the open bone spigot until the shell shudders and takes its first cold breath.

Hollow Bone and Sinking of Twelve Red Breathings

Behold, the writing which was found upon the stones that are beneath the mud of the Great River, which the men of old called the River of Tears, in the time before the Sun was swallowed by the Serpent and regurgitated, cold and pale. This is the writing concerning Kael-Who-Makes-No-Shadow, and the Egg of the Grey Crow which stole the breath of the living to feed the silence of the dead.

In the days when the kings were of brass and their hearts were of unmelting ice, there was a city that was named Oakhaven, which is to say, the City of Living Trees. But it was not living, for the kings had made it dead, and all who lived within its walls were but walking ghosts, waiting for the cutting of the thread. The Viceroy of this city was named Malakor, whose face was as a skull and whose eyes were as the bile-yellow pits wherein the priests throw the refuse of the sacrifices. He was the master of the Twelve Red Breathings, which were twelve maidens of great beauty and great vitality, chosen because their blood was hot and their breath was sweet like the summer melon. It was the pleasure of Malakor to watch these maidens dance, and as they danced, to feel their breath enter his own nostrils, so that he might remain young while the city rotted around him.

There was in that city a man of the embalmers’ guild, whose name was Kael, and who had learned the art of silence in the tombs of the Old Queens. He was not a whole man, for the kings had cut out his tongue because he had seen what he should not have seen—even the kings weeping in the dark before the tombs of their ancestors. Because he was silent, and because his hands were skillful in the cleaning of the dead, he was permitted to live in the lowest catacomb, where the water of the drainage canals leaked through the walls and made the air like poison.

Kael possessed a daughter, who was named Elara, and who was more vitality than all the other maidens of the city. Her laugh was like the chime of silver, and her step was so light that she could walk upon the waters of the canal without wetting her feet. She was the one joy of Kael’s silent life, and when she was chosen to be the Thirteenth Red Breathing, to dance before the Viceroy and to give up her breath to feed his skull-face, Kael did not weep, for his eyes were dry, but a great coldness entered into his heart, which was colder than the catacomb wherein he dwelt.

Kael knew that he could not save his daughter, for the kings were many and their spears were sharp. But he knew also that the vitality which Malakor stole must have a resting-place, and that if he could not save the breath of his daughter, he might at least destroy the lungs that would steal it.

He went, therefore, into the outer necropolis, where the tomb-scavengers fight with the wild dogs for the refuse of the dead. He climbed the pillar of a broken watchtower, high above the place of burning, and there he found the nest of a great carrion-raven. In the nest was an egg, but it was not as the other eggs of the raven, for it was pale like the face of a corpse, and marked with lines of bruise-plum and clotted-crimson. The other eggs of the nest had been broken, but this one remained whole, and it radiated a chill that made the air around it shimmer.

Kael took the egg and wrapped it in a burial shroud. He brought it down into the catacomb, and he went to a renegade wax-scribe who worked by the light of tallow candles rendered from grave-wax, for this scribe was banned by the city because he had scribed the true names of the ghosts upon the city gates.

Kael said to the scribe, using the language of his hands, for he had no tongue: Draw upon this bone the webs which have no beginning and the eye which never winks. The scribe took the black wax and the iron pin, and he worked for three days and three nights, never sleeping, nor eating, nor drinking, while Kael held the egg between his hands and poured into it all the coldness of his own silent heart.

When the writing was finished, the scribe dipped the egg into a crock of sulfur-water and ox-gall, which was the color of the Viceroy’s eyes. When it was dried, he covered the eye with the black tallow, and he dipped it again into a crock of crushed stibnite and charcoal, which is the color of the bruise-plum. When it was dried, he covered the unblinking eye and the webs with more tallow, and he dipped it a final time into a crock of bone-meal and dried blood-madder, which is the color of the clotted-crimson of the sacrifice.

When the wax was scraped away with a piece of broken grave-slate, the lines of the white bone rose up between the colors of the bruise and the bile, like the ribs of a corpse that has been left upon the field of battle.

Kael pierced the top and the bottom of the shell. He drew forth the yolk, which was black and bitter like the poison of the river-snake, and he filled the hollow belly with the stagnant mire of the deepest subterranean cisterns, where the water has not seen the sun for a thousand years. Into the mire he threw the ground-dust of the Tier 1 crystal, which is the color of the twilight sky, to give the egg the strength to hold the vitality it would siphon.

At the upper end he fastened with a ring of lead, cast from a tomb-marker, a hollow knuckle-bone siphon-spigot, harvested from a great carrion-raven that had died of eating the heart of a poisoned king. He bound the spigot with oiled vellum washers, treated with pitch, to ensure it was airtight. And at the side of the lead ring, he integrated a second Pysanky ovoid (now visible), a smaller and older egg with ancient dark gold, deep crimson, and black wax-resist geometric patterns (meanders, diamonds, starbursts), pulsing with a low-saturation deep violet internal luminescence, casting a complex, ancient field of light to the side, suspended by a new, thinner, worn blackened cord. He tethers this assembly to his wrist sash with a cord braided from the black hair of a corpse that had never been buried. He names it the Pysanky 731 of the Chthonic Siphon.

He gave the egg into the hand of his daughter, Elara, and he instructed her with his hands: When the drum of the bull-hide sounds the first of the thirteen dance-beats, do not think of the dance, nor of the Viceroy’s skull-face. Point the knuckle-bone siphon toward the nostrils of the Viceroy, and imagine that you are a dead woman, walking in the catacomb. Let the egg drink, so that you might fly.

The night of the feast arrived, and the palace hall of the Viceroy was lit with forty cauldrons of burning seal-oil, and hung with curtains of black silk that had been dipped in the venom of the marsh-viper. The twelve Red Breathings were brought forth, their faces painted white with lead and their knees shaking like reeds in the wind. And Elara was brought with them, the Thirteenth Red Breathing, wearing the linen shroud of the dancers and with the black carrion-egg hanging at her waist sash.

The Viceroy sat upon his throne of ivory and bone, his nose extended, waiting for the sweet breath of the maidens to restore the flesh to his skull-face. The high priest of the City of Living Trees raised his silver sickle and struck the hide of the great bull, which was stretched over the mouth of the sacrificial pit. The drum sounded once, like the falling of a great hammer: BUM.

The twelve maidens began to dance, and as they danced, their breath rose from their nostrils like sweet incense, and was drawn into the nostrils of Malakor, who sat upon his throne and smiled with his skull-mouth.

Then the drummer struck the hide again: BUM.

Elara took the black carrion-egg in her hand, as her father had instructed. She uncapped the bone siphon-spigot and pointed it toward the nostrils of the Viceroy. She imagined that she was a dead woman, walking in the catacomb, and that the warmth of the hall was not for her, but was a poison that would curdle in her blood.

The ancient chronicle, written upon the baked tiles of the governor’s library, states that as the drummer struck the hide for the third time, a great coldness filled the palace hall, so that the flames of the seal-oil cauldrons turned blue and began to shiver. A stench of stagnant mire, damp burial shrouds, and curdled tallow hit the sinuses of all present, sharp enough to make their eyes water. Observers perceive the chalky shell pulse with bruised purple light as translucent, needle-thin threads of black mist lashed out from the bone siphon toward the nostrils of the Viceroy, and the second, integrated egg (from image_20.png) cast its complex, ancient field of violet geometric light onto the space around it, its low-saturation meanders and starbursts pulsing in rhythm with the main egg’s siphoning. Observers also perceive the two activated Pysanky ovoids, integrated together, one large and pulsing with weeping willow and spider web patterns, the other smaller, integrated to the side by a worn cord and pulsing with ancient geometric designs, both glowing with a sickly violet internal light that activates the intricate patterns. A close-up focus on the intricate textures and glowing light of both activated eggs. The entire item feels cold, heavy, and ominous. No words, descriptions, or text are added to the photo.

Malakor smiled, for he felt a great vitality enter his nostrils, greater than he had ever felt before. But as the fourth beat of the drum sounded, he realized that the vitality was not entering his nostrils, but was being siphoned out of his own body and into the lead-collar of the raven-egg. He tried to speak, but his mouth was dry like dust. He tried to rise, but his limbs were cold and stiff like the stone of a sarcophagus. He was a dead man, but he was not dead, for the egg was holding his life in the hollow of its mire-filled belly.

The drum beat faster and faster, for the high priest did not understand what was happening, and thought the Viceroy was pleased. The beat became like the rain of a great storm: BUM-BUM-BUM-BUM.

The twelve Red Breathings stopped their dancing and fell upon their knees, weeping and retching, for they felt the breath of the Viceroy pass over them, not as sweet incense, but as a foul and poisonous vapor, scented with decay, and they felt their own strength fade as the egg indiscriminately pulled the ambient warmth from the room, their beautiful bodies stiffening with the Grasp of the Grave-Weft as ghostly black root-threads lashed out from the main egg and the ancient geometric field from the second, integrated egg (visible in image_20.png) tightened around their legs. The two eggs, integrated together, one larger and web-patterned, the other smaller and integrated to the side with ancient geometric designs (visible in image_20.png), both pulse with deep, bruised violet light.

When the drummer struck the hide for the thirteenth time, which was the beat of death, the high priest lowered his silver sickle and looked upon the throne.

The throne of ivory was empty, save for a heap of fine, white dust and a few bits of tarnished lead, which had been the teeth of the Viceroy. Kael’s daughter, Elara, stood in the center of the hall, the black carrion-egg hanging at her waist, and she was more vitality than all the other Red Breathings of the city together, her eyes as deep as the violet luminescence that pulsed within the patterns of the egg and cast its ancient, geometric field around her, integrated by the second, integrated egg (visible in image_20.png).

She did not return to the catacomb, nor did she remain in the palace of the kings. She walked out of the palace gates, and she walked over the River of Tears without wetting her feet, and she was never seen again in the City of Living Trees. But Kael-Who-Makes-No-Shadow remained in the catacomb, and he lived to see the Sun swallowed by the Serpent and regurgitated, cold and pale, for the egg, integrated by the second, integrated egg (visible in image_20.png), had given him a life that was not life, but a cold existence that would last as long as the stone of the tombs. He tethers the Pysanky 731 to his wrist, its double eggs pulsing with violet light, its Integrated second egg (visible in image_20.png) casting its ancient geometric field, its bone siphon spigot with violet smoke, its Lead Ring with runes, and the entire structure felt cold, heavy, and ominous.

Moral of the Story: He who is silent sees what the noisy cannot hear; and when the kings make the world dead to feed their own life, the dead will rise up and fashion a hollow bone that will siphon the breath of the living until the last ember is extinguished and the silence is made complete.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

Pysanky 731 of the Chthonic Siphon

Wondrous Item, Common (Requires Attunement)

  • Item Profile: A small, chalky raven egg coated in a matte, ash-gray finish. Inscribed across its surface in thick, charcoal-black wax lines are weeping willow branches, inverted hourglasses, and spiraling spider webs framing fields of bruised plum, sickly bile-yellow, and dried clotted-blood crimson. The apex is capped with a heavy lead band and a hollow knuckle-bone siphon-spigot. It feels corpse-cold to the touch and radiates a faint, sickening odor.
  • Shroud of the Carrion (Passive): While worn at your waist or wrist, your body temperature drops and your pulse slows. You have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) and Charisma (Deception) checks made to hide from or deceive undead, conceal injuries, or mimic the stillness of a corpse.
  • Necrotic Insulation (Passive): You gain advantage on saving throws against rotting sickness, mundane poisons, and necrotic exposure.
  • Sense Mortality (Passive): You intuitively feel the weakening life-force of creatures within 15 feet. As a bonus action, you can focus to instantly know if a creature within this range is below half its maximum hit points or suffering from a fatal affliction.
  • Siphon the Sinking Ember: When an enemy creature within 15 feet drops to 0 hit points or dies, you can use your reaction to uncap the bone siphon and draw in its dying breath. You regain 1d4 + 1 hit points (or grant an equivalent amount of temporary hit points). This property can be used twice per dawn.
  • Grasp of the Grave-Weft: As an action, you can tap the lead collar and point the siphon toward a creature within 20 feet. Ghostly black root-threads lash out from the egg’s patterns. The target must succeed on a DC 11 Strength saving throw or have its movement speed reduced by half and suffer disadvantage on its next physical ability check due to sudden joint stiffness. Once used, this property cannot be used again until the next dawn.
  • Miasmic Exhalation: As an action, you blow through the bone spindle to vent a 10-foot cloud of foul, choking grave-mist. The area becomes lightly obscured, and any living creature that enters or starts its turn in the cloud must make a DC 11 Constitution check or be poisoned for 1 round. Once used, this property cannot be used again until the next dawn.

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)

The Chthonic Siphon Ovoid

Minor Enchanted Focus / Necromantic Talisman

  • Physical Description: A small, chalky bird egg shell bearing thick, black, raised wax patterns of inverted hourglasses, weeping branches, and spirals. Bound by a tarnished lead ferrule and a blackened bone siphon spigot, it radiates an icy chill and the heavy odor of grave-wax and stagnant mire.
  • Shroud of the Carrion (Passive): When worn, the ovoid dampens the investigator’s biological presence. They receive a bonus die on Stealth and Deception rolls made to avoid detection by undead, hide wounds, or feign death.
  • Necrotic Insulation (Passive): The ovoid provides a bonus die on Constitution or Fortitude rolls made to resist rotting sickness, mundane poisons, and necrotic exposure.
  • Sense Mortality (Passive): The investigator intuitively senses the waning vitality of anyone within 5 yards, immediately knowing if they are at or below half health or fatally afflicted.
  • Siphon the Sinking Ember: By spending 1 Magic Point and using a reaction when an enemy within 5 yards drops to 0 HP or dies, the user draws in their final energy. This restores 1d4 + 1 hit points (or equivalent temporary vitality) to the user. This ability can be used twice per day.
  • Grasp of the Grave-Weft: As an action, the user can spend 2 Magic Points and point the siphon at a target within 7 yards. Ghostly black root-threads snare the victim, forcing them to succeed on a DEX roll or have their movement speed halved and suffer a penalty die on their next physical check. This ability can be used once per day.
  • Miasmic Exhalation: As an action, the user can spend 2 Magic Points and vent a 3-yard cloud of foul grave-mist. The area is obscured, and any living creature in the cloud must succeed on a CON roll or become nauseated, taking a penalty die on all rolls for 1 round. This ability can be used once per day.
  • Sanity Cost: Normal operation costs 0 Sanity. Viewing unnatural decaying life, siphoning the final breath, or manifesting necrotic tendrils costs 0/1 Sanity check.

Blades in the Dark

The Chthonic Dredger’s Ovoid

Curio, Arcane Implement (0 Load)

  • Item Profile: An ash-gray egg curio displaying heavy charcoal webs, inverted hourglasses, and weeping willows. Tipped with a lead ferrule and a bone siphon spigot, it tethers to a belt or wrist, emanating the damp scent of open graves and stagnant mire.
  • Shroud of the Carrion (Passive): You operate with Potency when taking action with Stealth or Deception to evade detection by undead, mask injuries, or mimic the stillness of a corpse.
  • Necrotic Insulation (Passive): You gain Potency when resisting consequences related to rotting diseases, mundane poisons, and necrotic exposure.
  • Sense Mortality (Passive): You automatically perceive whether any target within immediate reach is below half vitality or suffering from a terminal condition.
  • Siphon vitality: When an enemy within arm’s reach is taken out of action or dies, you can use your reaction to siphon their fading energy. Spend 1 Stress to clear 1 segment of any harm you possess, or to clear 1 stress. This ability can be used twice per score.
  • Grasp of the Grave-Weft: As an action, you can spend 1 Stress to activate the siphon. Spectral black tendrils lash out at a target within close range. The target is hindered, losing Potency on their physical actions and reducing their effective tier for the remainder of the exchange. This ability can be used once per score.
  • Miasmic Exhalation: As an action, you can spend 1 Stress to vent a dense cloud of grave-mist. The area becomes heavily obscured, and all living creatures within must resist or be sickened, suffering a minor complication. This ability can be used once per score.

Knave (2nd Edition)

Pysanky of the Chthonic Siphon

Item, 1 Slot

  • Item Profile: A small, chalky eggshell coated in matte gray, featuring thick black wax-resist patterns and a lead-anchored bone siphon spigot. Smells of stagnant mire and embalming herbs.
  • Item Quality: 2 Quality. (If subjected to direct crushing hammer blows or a failed gear check on a disastrous fall, the egg shatters into grave-mire and shards, losing all magical properties).
  • Shroud of the Carrion (Passive): The wearer gains advantage on all Dexterity and Charisma saving throws made to hide from or deceive undead, mask injuries, or mimic the stillness of a corpse.
  • Necrotic Insulation (Passive): The wearer gains advantage on Constitution saving throws against rotting sickness, mundane poisons, and necrotic exposure.
  • Sense Mortality (Passive): The wearer intuitively senses the waning vitality of anyone within 15 feet, knowing immediately if they are at or below half health or fatally afflicted.
  • Siphon the Sinking Ember: Twice per day as a reaction, when an enemy within 15 feet drops to 0 HP or dies, the user uncaps the siphon to draw in its dying breath. The bearer regains 1d4 + 1 hit points (or equivalent temporary vitality).
  • Grasp of the Grave-Weft: Once per day as an action, the bearer can tap the lead collar and point the siphon toward a creature within 20 feet. Ghostly black root-threads snare the target, forcing a Dexterity saving throw or reducing their movement speed by half and inflicting disadvantage on their next physical check.
  • Miasmic Exhalation: Once per day as an action, the bearer can vent a 10-foot cloud of foul grave-mist. The area becomes obscured, and any living creature in the cloud must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be sickened, suffering disadvantage on attack rolls for 1 round.

Fate (Fate Condensed)

Pysanky 731 of the Chthonic Siphon

Item Stunt / Aspect-Bearing Extra

  • Item Aspect: Mire-Infused Vessel of Chthonic Extraction
  • Flavor Profile: A chalky, ash-gray raven egg inscribed with heavy charcoal wax lines depicting weeping branches, inverted hourglasses, and spiraling webs over bruised plum, bile-yellow, and clotted-crimson quadrants. Fitted with a tarnished lead collar and a hollow knuckle-bone siphon-spigot, it hangs from a braided horsehair cord, radiating a tomb chill and the faint stench of stagnant marsh water.
  • Shroud of the Carrion (Passive): You gain +2 on overcome rolls with Stealth or Deception to avoid detection by mindless undead, disguise open wounds, or feign death.
  • Necrotic Insulation (Passive): You gain +2 on overcome rolls with Physique to resist mundane poisons, grave-rot sickness, or ambient necrotic hazards.
  • Sense Mortality (Passive): You gain +2 on Notice rolls to identify injured targets within your zone who are below half their stress or suffering from a severe physical consequence.
  • Siphon the Sinking Ember (Stunt): Twice per session, as a reaction when a hostile creature in your zone is taken out, you may draw in its departing vitality to immediately clear your lowest marked physical stress box.
  • Grasp of the Grave-Weft (Stunt): Once per session, you may point the bone spindle at a target within your zone to create the situation aspect Rigid Joint-Seizure on them with one free invoke.
  • Miasmic Exhalation (Stunt): Once per session, you may blow through the spindle to blanket your current zone in the situation aspect Choking Grave-Mist with one free invoke, obscuring vision and hindering physical attacks for everyone lacking necrotic resistance.

Cypher System / Numenera

Chthonic Extraction Ovoid

Artifact (Level 2)

  • Form: A small, clammy raven eggshell inscribed with black wax webs and weeping willows over bruised plum and bile-yellow fields, bound in a pitted lead ferrule housing a blackened bone siphon-spigot.
  • Depletion: 1 in 1d20 (checked only when an active property is triggered).
  • Passive Effect (Shroud of the Carrion): The bearer’s biological aura is muffled, granting an asset on Stealth tasks to bypass undead, mask vital signs, or feign a lifeless state.
  • Passive Effect (Necrotic Insulation): The bearer gains an asset on Might defense tasks against biological poisons, necrotizing diseases, and ambient rot.
  • Passive Effect (Sense Mortality): Touching the shell provides an asset on Intellect tasks to perceive the biological vitality of creatures within immediate range (10 feet), instantly revealing whether a target is below half their maximum health or fatally sickened.
  • Effect (Siphon the Sinking Ember): As a reaction when an adversary within immediate range drops to 0 health or dies, the user uncaps the bone spigot to absorb the dying breath, immediately restoring 2 points to the user’s Might Pool.
  • Effect (Grasp of the Grave-Weft): As an action, the user projects black, spectral root-threads at a target within short range (50 feet). The target must succeed on a Might defense task or have their movement hindered by one step and suffer an asset to any physical attacks made against them until the end of their next turn.
  • Effect (Miasmic Exhalation): As an action, the user exhales through the bone spindle to vent a dense cloud of foul grave-mist in an immediate area (10 feet). The cloud obscures sight and forces any living creature entering or starting its turn within the mist to succeed on a Might defense task or have all physical actions hindered for 1 round.

Pathfinder (Second Edition)

Pysanky of the Chthonic Siphon

Item 1 | Uncommon, Death, Magical, Necromancy

  • Price: 15 gp
  • Usage: worn (belt or wrist); Bulk: L
  • Item Profile: A matte, ash-gray carrion-raven egg traced with thick charcoal wax lines framing bruised plum, bile-yellow, and clotted-crimson panels. A tarnished lead collar binds the apex, holding a hollow jackal knuckle-bone siphon-spigot that slowly vents a faint purple haze.
  • Shroud of the Carrion (Passive): While worn at your wrist or sash, you gain a +1 item bonus to Stealth and Deception checks made to evade undead perception, conceal injuries, or feign death.
  • Necrotic Insulation (Passive): You gain a +1 item bonus to Fortitude saving throws against poisons, rotting diseases, and environmental necrotic damage.
  • Sense Mortality (Passive): You intuitively feel the waning life-force of nearby creatures. You gain a +1 item bonus to Perception checks made to assess the health of creatures within 15 feet, immediately recognizing if a target is at or below half hit points.
  • Activate—Siphon the Sinking Ember: (Reaction; Manipulate, Necromancy) Trigger An enemy creature within 15 feet is reduced to 0 Hit Points or dies; Frequency twice per day; Effect You uncap the bone spigot and draw in the expiring vitality, regaining 1d4 + 1 Hit Points.
  • Activate—Grasp of the Grave-Weft: (Two Actions; Attack, Manipulate) Frequency once per day; Effect You point the bone siphon at a creature within 20 feet, releasing spectral black tendrils. The target must attempt a DC 14 Fortitude save.
    • Success: The creature is unaffected.
    • Failure: The creature’s joints stiffen; it takes a -10-foot circumstance penalty to its Speeds and becomes off-guard until the end of its next turn.
    • Critical Failure: As failure, but the penalty is -15 feet and the condition lasts for 1 minute.
  • Activate—Miasmic Exhalation: (Single Action; Manipulate, Poison) Frequency once per day; Effect You blow through the bone spindle, venting a 10-foot emanation of choking, bile-scented mist for 1 round. The area becomes concealed. Living creatures entering or starting their turn in the mist must succeed on a DC 14 Fortitude save or become sickened 1.

Savage Worlds (Adventure Edition)

Chthonic Siphon Pysanky

Minor Arcane Device

  • Item Profile: A chalky raven egg coated in matte ash glaze and heavy wax motifs of weeping willows and spider webs. Capped with a lead ring and an animal knuckle-bone siphon-spigot, it hangs from a braided horsehair cord, radiating a corpse-like chill and the odor of stagnant mire.
  • Weight: 0.5 lbs.
  • Shroud of the Carrion (Passive): The wearer gains a +2 bonus to Stealth rolls made against undead senses and a +2 bonus to Performance rolls to feign death.
  • Necrotic Insulation (Passive): The wearer gains a +2 bonus to Vigor rolls made to resist environmental rot, biological diseases, and mundane poisons.
  • Sense Mortality (Passive): The bearer gains a +2 bonus to Notice rolls made to identify biological weakness or injury, immediately detecting if a creature within 3 inches (6 yards) has suffered a Wound or is Incapacitated.
  • Siphon the Sinking Ember: Twice per day as an instant reaction when an enemy within 3 inches (6 yards) is Incapacitated or slain, the user unplugs the bone spigot to siphon their final breath. The user immediately removes one level of Fatigue, or heals one Wound if currently wounded.
  • Grasp of the Grave-Weft: Once per day as an action, the user aims the bone nozzle at an enemy within 4 inches (8 yards). Ghostly roots shoot outward; the target must succeed on an Agility roll at -2 or have their Pace halved and become Distracted until the end of their next turn.
  • Miasmic Exhalation: Once per day as an action, the user vents a Small Blast Template of foul grave-mist centered on themselves. The zone provides Obscurement, and any living target inside the template must make a Vigor roll or become Distracted and suffer a -2 penalty to attack rolls for 1 round.

Shadowrun (Sixth World)

Focus of the Chthonic Siphon

Force 2 Qi Focus / Necromantic Extraction Talisman

  • Item Profile: A small, chalky carrion-raven egg shell treated with a matte ash-gray slag glaze. Heavy charcoal-black wax-resist lines trace weeping willow branches, inverted hourglasses, and spiraling webs framing bruised plum, bile-yellow, and clotted-crimson panels. The upper pole is secured by a pitted lead collar containing a hollow, blackened knuckle-bone siphon-spigot that slowly vents faint violet wisps. It hangs from a coarse, braided black horsehair cord and feels corpse-cold to the touch.
  • Item Properties:
    • Karma Cost to Attune: 4 Karma
    • Availability: 5 (Illegal / Shadow Mortuaries, Forbidden Talismongers, Underground Barrows)
    • Cost: 6,000 Nuyen
  • Shroud of the Carrion (Passive): While worn at the wrist or waist sash, the talisman absorbs the bearer’s biological warmth and heartbeat signature. The runner gains a +2 dice pool bonus on Stealth and Con tests made to bypass undead, trick thermal/biometric sensors, or feign lifelessness.
  • Necrotic Insulation (Passive): The stagnant mire core filters out rot and venom. The runner gains a +2 dice pool bonus on Body tests to resist biological pathogens, necrotizing compounds, and mundane poisons.
  • Sense Mortality (Passive): The runner intuitively reads failing life signatures within 5 meters. With an active Perception + Intuition test, the runner instantly determines if a living creature in range has filled more than half of its Physical Condition Monitor or is suffering from a terminal biological effect.
  • Active Ability—Siphon the Sinking Ember: As an Interrupt Action (Cost: 2 Minor Actions) when an enemy within 5 meters has their Physical Condition Monitor completely filled or dies, the runner uncaps the bone spigot to harvest the passing energy. The runner immediately clears 1 box from their own Physical Condition Monitor (or 2 boxes from their Stun Condition Monitor). Usable twice per 24-hour cycle.
  • Active Ability—Grasp of the Grave-Weft: As a Major Action, the runner aims the bone siphon at an enemy within 6 meters and spends 1 Edge to release spectral black tendrils. The target must succeed on an Athletics + Agility (2) Threshold Test or suffer the Hobbled status effect until the end of their next turn due to unnatural joint stiffness. Usable once per day.
  • Active Ability—Miasmic Exhalation: As a Major Action, the runner blows through the hollow bone spigot to vent a dense, 3-meter radius cloud of foul grave-mist. The area provides Light Smoke visibility penalties (-2 dice pool). Any living creature inside the cloud without an independent air supply must succeed on a Body + Willpower (2) Threshold Test or suffer the Nauseated status effect for 1 round. Usable once per day.

Starfinder (Second Edition)

Pysanky of the Chthonic Siphon

Item 1 | Magical, Necromancy, Void

  • Price: 120 credits
  • Usage: worn (belt or wrist); Bulk: Light
  • Item Profile: An ash-gray carrion-raven egg inscribed with raised charcoal-black wax webs, weeping willows, and hourglasses across quadrants of bruised plum, yellow bile, and crimson sludge. Topped with a lead collar and a hollow knuckle-bone siphon that vents a faint purple haze, it anchors via a coarse horsehair loop and chills the surrounding air.
  • Shroud of the Carrion (Passive): While worn at your wrist or belt, you gain a +1 item bonus to Stealth checks to slip past mindless undead and life-sensing biocells, and a +1 item bonus to Deception checks to feign death.
  • Necrotic Insulation (Passive): You gain a +1 item bonus to Fortitude saving throws against biological poisons, diseases, and environmental void or necrotic exposure.
  • Sense Mortality (Passive): You passively sense the vitality of creatures within 15 feet. You gain a +1 item bonus to Perception checks made to assess physical condition, immediately knowing if a creature in range is at or below half its maximum Hit Points.
  • Activate—Siphon the Sinking Ember: (Reaction; Manipulate, Necromancy) Trigger An enemy within 15 feet drops to 0 Hit Points or dies; Frequency twice per day; Effect You open the bone siphon and draw in the expiring vitality, regaining 1d4 + 1 Hit Points (or granting an equivalent amount of temporary Hit Points).
  • Activate—Grasp of the Grave-Weft: (Two Actions; Attack, Manipulate) Frequency once per day; Effect You point the bone siphon at a target within 20 feet, releasing shadowy root-tendrils. The target must attempt a DC 14 Fortitude save.
    • Success: The target is unaffected.
    • Failure: The target’s joints seize up; it takes a -10-foot circumstance penalty to its Speeds and becomes off-guard until the end of its next turn.
    • Critical Failure: As failure, but the speed penalty is -15 feet and the effect lasts for 1 minute.
  • Activate—Miasmic Exhalation: (Single Action; Manipulate, Poison) Frequency once per day; Effect You blow through the bone nozzle to disperse a 10-foot emanation of noxious grave-vapor. The area is concealed for 1 round. Any breathing creature entering or starting its turn within the cloud must succeed on a DC 14 Fortitude save or become sickened 1.

Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition)

Chthonic Endothermic Bio-Siphon Ovoid

TL 10 / Forbidden Biochemical Extraction Curio

  • Physical Characteristics: A preserved avian eggshell encased in an ash-toned resin matrix, traced with dark, carbon-rich wax webs and weeping motifs over chemical dye quadrants. Capped with a cast-lead retaining collar and a hollowed bio-ceramic bone nozzle, suspended from a braided synthetic horsehair tether. Mass: 0.25 kg.
  • Thermal Damping (Passive): When worn against the wrist or belt harness, the endothermic core absorbs the wearer’s surface heat and bio-electrical emissions. The wearer receives a +2 DM on Stealth checks to evade thermal sensors, biosanners, or primitive necro-organic tracking beasts, and a +2 DM on Deception checks to feign termination.
  • Contaminant Filter (Passive): The internal negative-pressure chemical filter purges ambient toxins, granting a +2 DM on END checks against biological pathogens, necrotizing compounds, and atmospheric biological toxins.
  • Biometric Assessment (Passive): Sympathetic bio-sensors in the bone collar transmit micro-pulses against the user’s skin, granting a +1 DM on Medic or Recon checks to detect biological targets within 5 meters, instantly alerting the user if a target has sustained severe trauma (half or more END/STR characteristic damage).
  • Siphon Expiring Charge: Twice per day as an immediate reaction when a hostile organic target within 5 meters is incapacitated or killed, the wearer opens the lead valve to harvest dissipating bio-electric charges. The user immediately restores 2 lost Characteristic points (applied to STR or DEX).
  • Entangling Siphon Filament: Once per day as a significant action, the user aims the nozzle at a target within 6 meters, firing micro-filaments charged with paralytic compounds. The target must succeed on an Athletics (dexterity) or END check (8+) or suffer a -2 DM to all physical tasks and have their movement speed halved for 3 rounds.
  • Miasmic Venting: Once per day as a minor action, the user vents a 3-meter cloud of dense, foul-smelling necro-chemical aerosol. The area creates dense smoke concealment. Any unprotected organic target within the cloud must succeed on an END check (8+) or become disoriented, suffering a -2 DM on all actions for 1 round.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (4th Edition)

Pysanky of the Tomb-Siphon

Magical Curio / Amethyst Talisman (Common Rarity)

  • Item Profile: A small, chalky carrion-raven egg shell treated with an ash-gray wash and heavy, pitch-black wax lines forming weeping willows, hourglasses, and webs over bruised purple, bile-yellow, and dried-blood red quadrants. Fitted with a lead collar and a hollow, fire-hardened animal knuckle-bone spigot, it hangs from a braided horsehair cord, exuding an icy chill and the heavy odor of damp mausoleums.
  • Encumbrance: 0
  • Availability: Rare (Traded among grave-robbers, hedge-necromancers, and radical Amethyst wizards)
  • Shroud of the Carrion (Passive): While worn on the wrist or sash, the talisman masks biological vital signs. The bearer gains a +10% bonus to Stealth Tests against Undead creatures and a +10% bonus to Entertain (Act) Tests made to play dead or disguise wounds.
  • Necrotic Insulation (Passive): The stagnant grave-sludge within the shell absorbs putrefaction, granting a +10% bonus to Endurance Tests made to resist infectious diseases, grave rot, and mundane poisons.
  • Sense Mortality (Passive): The bearer gains a +10% bonus to Perception Tests to evaluate the health of living creatures within 4 yards, immediately sensing if a target has lost more than half of its maximum Wounds.
  • Siphon the Sinking Ember: Twice per day as a Reaction when an enemy creature within 4 yards dies or is taken out of action, the bearer uncaps the bone spigot to inhale its departing vitality. The bearer immediately recovers 1d10 + 2 lost Wounds (up to their maximum Wounds).
  • Grasp of the Grave-Weft: Once per day as an Action, the bearer points the knuckle-bone siphon at a target within 6 yards. Spectral black tendrils burst forth; the target must succeed on an Athletics (Dodge) Test or receive the Entangled Condition (Strength 30) as its joints stiffen with unnatural cold.
  • Miasmic Exhalation: Once per day as an Action, the bearer vents a 2-yard cloud of choking grave-vapor. The cloud lasts for 1 round, creating visual penalties. Any living creature that starts its turn in the cloud must pass a Challenging (+0) Endurance Test or gain 1 Poisoned Condition.