Vodou 777 of The Serpents Embrace

Lore: In the chaotic early years of Saṃsāra, when souls from countless worlds first appeared, survival often depended on adapting to strange and unfamiliar food sources. One of the first communities was afflicted by constant sickness, especially among their children, whose bodies struggled with the alien flora. A desperate mother, a devout follower of the Vodou faith from Haiti, prayed not to the spirits of battle or cunning, but to Damballa-Wedo, the great serpent Loa of peace, wisdom, and purity.

She took the softest, whitest fibers she could find and wove them into a simple sash. Day and night, she wrapped her sick child in it, praying over the sash and leaving offerings of Damballa’s favorites: a perfect white egg, a small bowl of sweet syrup, a glass of clean water. She asked for nothing more than peace for her child’s aching belly. Damballa, the benevolent sky father, heard her sincere prayer. He bestowed a tiny sliver of his serene, protective essence upon the sash. The child’s pains subsided, their system calmed and purified by the spirit’s gentle touch.

The practice spread. Parents and healers learned to weave these simple white sashes, consecrating them not with powerful incantations, but with quiet, humble offerings and sincere prayers for peace. The Serpent’s Embrace is not a tool for great heroes, but a common, cherished item of comfort and protection, a testament to a mother’s love and a spirit’s benevolence.

Description: This item is a long, surprisingly soft sash made of expertly woven white fibers that resemble fine cotton or silk. It is starkly unadorned, lacking any bright colors or complex patterns. Upon close inspection, one can discern a single, continuous, undulating line embroidered into the fabric with thread of the exact same white color, forming the subtle image of a great serpent coiling around the length of the sash. The item feels cool and smooth to the touch, like water flowing over polished stones. It is supernaturally resistant to dirt and stains, always remaining pure white, and carries a faint, clean scent like fresh rain on white flowers.

Detailed Stats

Tier: 1
Required Skill: None
Durability: The sash is imbued with protective magic, making it highly resistant to tearing or fraying. It magically repels dirt and grime.
Primary Effect: Provides constant, passive soothing and protection to the wearer’s digestive system when worn tied around the waist or abdomen.

Passives Magic

The Coiling Calm: When worn against the skin, the sash generates a constant, gentle, calming energy that soothes the wearer’s stomach and intestines. It noticeably lessens the discomfort of minor, non-magical ailments such as indigestion, cramps, and anxiety-related stomach upset.
Damballa’s Purity: The wearer’s body is encouraged to maintain a state of purity. They gain a minor, favorable circumstance bonus to any checks made to resist contracting mundane diseases or impurities from ingested food and drink.
Serpent’s Sense: The wearer develops a subtle, intuitive sense about consumables. When presented with food that is wholesome and safe, a feeling of peace and calm emanates from the sash. When near food that is spoiled, poisoned, or spiritually tainted, the wearer feels a faint, tightening knot in their own stomach, a sympathetic warning from the serpent spirit.

Activable Magics

Gentle Purge: Once per day, if the wearer has consumed something mildly toxic or disagreeable, they may press their hands over the sash and concentrate for one minute. This activates a gentle but thorough magical purging of the stomach’s contents. The process is quick and does not involve the violent spasms of normal vomiting, leaving the wearer feeling empty and weak, but cleansed of the offending substance.
Ritual of Renewal: Once per week, the sash’s deeper magic can be recharged. The user must place the sash in a bowl of pure, clean water with a single, unblemished white egg and leave it overnight in a quiet place. In the morning, the sash’s magic is fully restored. The egg will be empty, its life essence having been accepted as an offering. The water in the bowl is now a blessed tonic; whoever drinks it is cured of one non-magical disease or has the effect of one mundane poison neutralized.

Specific Slot: Waist

Tags: Common, Tier 1, Gastroenterology, Voodoo, Spirit Magic, Wearable, Protective, Soothing, Woven, Defensive, Restorative, Purification, Curative, Benevolent, Symbiotic, Cleansing, Apparel, Ritualistic, Offering, Preventive

The Serpent’s Embrace is not a common commodity traded in bustling bazaars or sold alongside weapons and armor. It is a specialized item of comfort and spiritual protection, and its acquisition is a gentle, often personal, process. The vendors who deal in these sashes are not typical merchants, but caregivers, artisans, and spiritual servants.

1. The Midwife’s Home or Community Clinic

Type of Shop: This is rarely a formal shop. It is the quiet, clean front room of a community midwife, doula, or folk healer’s home, often located in the residential heart of a town or city. The establishment is known through word-of-mouth, a trusted place where people go for help with childbirth, sick children, and gentle ailments. The air smells of chamomile, clean linen, and warm milk. The sashes themselves might be found neatly folded in a wicker basket, next to hand-knitted baby clothes and jars of herbal salves.

How It Is Sold: This item is treated as a form of care, not merchandise. It is most often given to expectant mothers, parents of colicky infants, or those suffering from chronic anxiety or digestive ailments. A sale is a quiet consultation. The midwife would want to know who the sash is for and why it is needed. The transaction is an act of entrustment. The price is secondary to the need. The midwife would carefully demonstrate how to tie the sash, explain its purpose with comforting words, and detail the simple weekly ritual of renewal with the white egg.

Cost: A fixed price is almost never stated. Payment is handled as a donation towards the midwife’s work. The suggested amount would be modest, perhaps 5 to 10 Silver pieces, to cover the materials and time. However, payment is often made in trade: a basket of fresh vegetables, a mended cloak, a few hours of labor helping with chores, or simply a heartfelt promise to help another in the future.

2. The Weavers’ Guild of Blessed Textiles

Type of Shop: This is a formal artisan’s workshop and storefront, likely found in a city’s craft district, perhaps near temples or shrines. It might be called “The White Serpent Weavers” or “The Loom of Purity.” The interior is bright and airy, filled with the rhythmic clacking of looms. The atmosphere is one of focused, peaceful devotion. Bolts of pure white, magically-treated fabrics line the walls, and the air smells of clean fibers and the sweet floral water used to set the threads. The weavers are devout artisans who view their craft as a form of active prayer.

How It Is Sold: The sashes are displayed respectfully as finished pieces of wearable art and spiritual devotion. The artisans would speak of the item with reverence, explaining the spiritual significance of the Lwa Damballa, the symbolism of the serpent representing purity and peace, and the blessings woven into the very threads. The transaction is polite and dignified. The sash would be carefully wrapped in clean paper, and a small, printed card detailing its care and the renewal ritual would be included.

Cost: As this is a business of skilled craftspeople, the price is fixed and non-negotiable, reflecting the quality of the weaving and the spiritual labor invested. While still a common item, it is a high-quality one. The cost would typically be between 30 and 40 Silver pieces.

3. The Shrine of the Benevolent Serpent

Type of Shop: This is not a commercial enterprise but a small, dedicated temple or wayside shrine. It might be a quiet, clean-swept building in a city park or a small, open-air pavilion along a well-traveled trade route, dedicated to a syncretic deity of peace, purity, and healing analogous to Damballa. The air is always filled with the scent of white floral offerings, like jasmine or lilies, and the sound of trickling water from a purification fountain.

How It Is Sold: The sashes are considered devotional items, made by volunteers and blessed by the shrine’s attendant or lay priest. They are not “for sale” but are offered to pilgrims, supplicants, and those seeking comfort in exchange for a donation to the shrine’s upkeep. The attendant would present the sash as a physical symbol of the deity’s protective embrace, a focus for prayer and a reminder of the path of peace.

Cost: There is no price. A small, carved wooden box with a slot for coins sits discreetly on a table. A small, hand-written sign might read, “A donation of 15 Silver is suggested to support the Shrine’s work and the creation of these blessings.” Giving more is seen as an act of piety, while those who are truly in need might be given a sash for whatever they can offer, or for nothing at all. The exchange is one of faith, not commerce.

The Serpent’s Embrace is an item of peace and purity, not of war. Its use in conflict is therefore indirect, clever, and centered on the principles of defense, cleansing, and using its inherent benevolence as a weapon against corruption. An avatar using this sash is not an aggressor, but a bulwark of calm in a chaotic world.

In a Chaotic Urban Market or Slum

In the filth and press of a city’s underbelly, surrounded by disease, tainted food, and desperation, the sash is a personal sanctuary and a tool of social defiance.

Defensive Roleplay: As the avatar navigates a crowded, unsanitary market, the sash acts as a spiritual and physical filter. The Serpent’s Sense provides a constant, intuitive stream of information. The wearer feels a deep sense of calm when passing a stall with fresh, clean produce, but a subtle, coiling knot forms in their stomach as they approach a vendor selling tainted meat pies, a silent warning to stay away. The Damballa’s Purity passive works constantly, bolstering their system against the ambient sickness in the air and grime on the streets. The roleplay is one of serene navigation through chaos, an island of calm guided by the sash’s gentle nudges, able to confidently refuse offered food or drink that their companions might unwittingly accept.

Offensive Roleplay: Offense with this item is an act of purity used to expose corruption. Imagine a local gang boss who maintains control by distributing cheap, tainted food that keeps the populace weak and dependent. The avatar could accept the food, relying on their Damballa’s Purity to weather the worst of it. They would then walk to a public area, place their hands on the sash at their waist, and activate Gentle Purge.

Without the usual violence or noise of sickness, they would cleanly and completely expel the poisoned food onto the cobblestones for all to see. This act is a powerful public statement: “Your ‘gift’ is poison, yet it has no hold on me.” It undermines the boss’s power not through violence, but by revealing their methods and demonstrating a purity that is immune to their control. It is an attack on their reputation and authority.

In a Sterile Alchemist’s Laboratory or Prison

When faced with manufactured threats in a controlled environment, the sash becomes a tool for internal resistance and subtle sabotage.

Defensive Roleplay: If captured and forced to test unstable potions by a cruel alchemist, the sash is the avatar’s last line of defense. When forced to drink an unknown concoction, the Damballa’s Purity passive gives them a crucial bonus to resist the chemical’s effects. The roleplay is a desperate internal battle. The avatar might visibly shudder and sweat, but the sash’s cool, calming presence helps them fight off the worst of the effects. At the first opportunity—when the captor turns to make notes or fetch another ingredient—the avatar can use Gentle Purge to expel the potion before it fully metabolizes, saving themselves from the intended outcome.

Offensive Roleplay: The offense here is asymmetric. The avatar cannot overpower the alchemist, so they must undermine their work. The weekly Ritual of Renewal, which creates a blessed tonic, provides the weapon. In a laboratory filled with complex, volatile, and often malevolent magical concoctions, perfect purity is a contaminant. The avatar could discreetly pour the blessed water from the ritual into a vat of half-finished plague serum or a combat elixir. There would be no explosion. Instead, the blessed water, imbued with Damballa’s serene and benevolent magic, would neutralize the carefully constructed magical matrix of the potion. The angry red glow of the serum would fade to a dull, inert brown. The magic would simply die. It is an act of sabotage that fights complex evil with perfect, simple good.

In a Spiritually Corrupt Ruin

In a place haunted by angry, sorrowful spirits where the very air thrums with despair, the sash is a spiritual shield and a tool of purification.

Defensive Roleplay: As the avatar explores a haunted tomb, the corrupting aura of the place would press in, causing fear and spiritual malaise. The Coiling Calm passive acts as a constant mental shield, keeping the user’s mind clear and centered amidst the ghostly whispers and feelings of dread. Where companions might feel their resolve waver, the sash-wearer feels a profound peace, anchored by the cool, clean fabric at their waist. The Damballa’s Purity passive helps them resist the corrupting influence of the place, preventing the spiritual stain from taking root in their soul. The roleplay is one of being a beacon of tranquility, able to comfort panicked allies and maintain a clear head.

Offensive Roleplay: Against spirits fueled by negative emotions like rage and sorrow, the sash’s inherent purity becomes anathema. The avatar can unwrap the sash from their waist, holding the pure white cloth out before them. To a specter made of anguish, the perfect peace of the sash is painful, like a blinding light to a creature of darkness. This can be used to drive spirits back, forcing them to recoil and creating a safe path.

For a more direct, yet non-violent, attack, the avatar could dip the sash in clean water and flick the droplets at a spirit. This is not holy water in the traditional sense; it is water imbued with Damballa’s essence of peace and purity. Each drop that strikes the spectral form would not burn, but “cleanse” a tiny part of its rage, causing it to momentarily lose cohesion and recoil in confusion. It is an “attack” that seeks to calm and disperse rather than destroy.

Perception of Activation:

User’s Perspective

When the wearer consciously calls upon the deeper magic of The Serpent’s Embrace, the activation is a deeply internal and profoundly calming experience, a spiritual fortress rising within them.

Touch: The sash, already cool and smooth, seems to melt into the wearer’s skin. A sensation of pure, flowing water emanates from it, spreading a deep, tranquil coolness throughout the user’s abdomen. The sash may feel as though it tightens ever so slightly, not restrictively, but like a firm, reassuring hug.
Sight: The activation is almost invisible to the user’s own eyes. If they were to look down at the sash, the subtle, white-on-white embroidery of the serpent might appear to glow with a soft, internal, silvery light, like moonlight trapped in silk threads.
Sound: The external world seems to fall away. Ambient noise becomes muffled and distant, replaced by a profound inner silence. The user becomes acutely aware of the sound of their own slow, steady heartbeat and calm breathing, a meditative rhythm that anchors their consciousness.
Smell: The faint, clean scent of rain and white flowers that clings to the sash blossoms in the user’s perception, becoming clear, pure, and all-encompassing, drowning out any foul odors and calming the mind.
Extra-sensory (Benevolent Presence): The most powerful sensation is an overwhelming wave of peace. It is not just the absence of fear, but the active presence of a powerful, benevolent, and ancient consciousness offering its protection. All feelings of anxiety, dread, and anger are gently washed away, replaced by an unshakeable serenity.
Extra-sensory (Purity Resonance): The user becomes hyper-aware of spiritual impurity. They can feel the “wrongness” of a cursed object, the “sourness” of a person’s malicious intent, or the “static” of a haunted area. This perception is not painful, but appears as a discordant note in the perfect harmony of their own protected state.

Observer’s Perspective

To an onlooker, the activation is almost imperceptible, a change in atmosphere rather than a flashy display of magic.

Sight: An observer would see the user’s entire posture change. Their shoulders relax, any frantic movements cease, and their expression becomes one of serene, unwavering calm, even in the midst of chaos. The sash itself might appear to become impossibly, perfectly white, seemingly repelling any shadow or grime from its surface. A very keen-eyed observer might notice a faint, silvery shimmer in the air immediately around the user, like heat haze on a cool day.
Sound: If standing near the user, an observer might notice a strange pocket of quiet. The din of a crowd or the howl of the wind seems to lessen in their immediate vicinity, as if the user is at the center of a small bubble of silence.
Smell: A person standing close to the user might catch a fleeting, clean scent of ozone or jasmine that has no discernible source.
Extra-sensory (Aura Perception): Someone using their Mind’s Eye would see the user’s aura, previously flickering with emotion, become enveloped in a smooth, bright, and intensely pure white light. This light would not be spiky or aggressive but would flow rhythmically around the user like a great, coiled serpent, deflecting minor curses and feelings of ill-will like water off a polished stone.
Extra-sensory (Sense of Presence): A mundane observer would feel an inexplicable sense of peace emanating from the user. Any feelings of aggression or panic they were experiencing might subside in the user’s presence. They would feel a subconscious urge to be less hostile, as if arguing loudly in a library or a sacred grove. The user would radiate an aura of untouchable tranquility.

Positives

Ultimate De-escalation Tool: The activation is non-threatening and non-provocative. It naturally pacifies the immediate environment, making it an exceptional tool for tense negotiations, calming panicked allies, or facing down aggressive but not mindless foes without initiating violence.
Impenetrable Mental Defense: The user becomes a fortress of calm, highly resistant to fear effects, magical intimidation, despair-inducing auras, and other forms of mental or spiritual attack.
Subtle and Undetectable: Because the effects are so subtle, an opponent would not recognize that a magical defense has been activated. They might become confused by their own lessening aggression or their inability to intimidate the user, creating a significant tactical advantage.

Negatives

Lack of Deterrence: The sash offers no intimidating presence. A raging beast or a determined killer will not be frightened by the user’s calm; they will simply see an unmoving target. The activation does not prevent physical attacks.
Emotional Dampening: The profound sense of peace can be a drawback. It might dull the user’s sense of urgency, making it difficult to tap into feelings of righteous anger or a fierce survival instinct when a more aggressive response is required.
Spiritual Distraction: In a heavily corrupt or haunted area, the constant perception of spiritual impurity could become a distraction. The unending “wrongness” of the environment grating against the sash’s perfect purity could be mentally taxing over long periods, like a constant, low-level alarm bell.

Recipe: Weaving the Serpent’s Peace

This recipe details the creation of a blessed sash imbued with the calming, purifying essence of the great serpent Loa, Damballa. The process is one of meditative craft and humble offering, requiring a peaceful heart and patient hands rather than great magical power.

Materials Needed

The Fibers: A large bundle of milk-white cotton fibers, harvested from a plant that has never known blight, disease, or poison, and watered only with clean rain or spring water.
The Offering:
- One perfect, unblemished white chicken egg.
- A small bowl of pure, clear honey or simple sugar syrup.
- A bowl of clean, collected rainwater or water from a natural spring.
Spiritual Link: The naturally shed, complete skin of a non-venomous snake (such as a grass snake or milk snake).
Finishing Components: A single white flower petal (lily, jasmine, or gardenia).

Tools Required

Spinning Wheel or Drop Spindle: For creating the thread.
Handloom: A simple, well-cared-for loom for weaving the sash.
Embroidery Needle: A fine, sharp needle for the delicate embroidery work.
A Clean, White Ceramic Bowl: Large enough to hold the coiled sash.
A Small, Clean Brazier: For burning the offering of snakeskin.

Skill Requirements

Weaving (Trained) or Tailoring (Trained): The crafter must be proficient in creating fine, even textiles. The quality of the physical craft reflects the purity of the spiritual intent.
Spirit Magic (Untrained): The crafter needs the ability to make offerings with sincerity and focus their will to invite a benevolent spirit. No complex spellcasting is required.
A Peaceful Demeanor: This is a crucial, non-negotiable requirement. The crafter must be in a state of calm and peace throughout the entire process. An agitated or angry heart will spoil the magic.

Crafting Steps

Purification of the Fibers: The process begins at dawn on a clear day. The crafter takes the bundle of raw cotton fibers and gently washes them in the bowl of pure spring water, physically and spiritually cleansing them of any clinging impurities. The fibers are then laid out on a clean white cloth to dry in the sun.
Spinning with Intent: Once dry, the crafter begins to spin the fibers into a fine, strong thread. This is a meditative act. Throughout the spinning process, the crafter must hum a soft, gentle lullaby or a simple, repetitive chant for peace. This embeds the very concept of calm into the thread’s essence. A portion of this thread is set aside for the embroidery.
Weaving the Foundation: The crafter sets up the loom with the blessed thread. As they begin to weave the long, white sash, they must light the shed snakeskin in the brazier. The smoke, which is not foul but smells clean like ozone, should be allowed to drift over the loom and through the threads, serving as an invitation to the serpent spirit. The weaving should be tight, smooth, and flawless.
Embroidering the Serpent: Once the sash is woven, the most delicate step begins. Using the reserved thread and the fine needle, the crafter embroiders the single, continuous, undulating line that forms the serpent’s body. This is done in white thread upon a white background, a task requiring intense focus. The crafter must visualize the benevolent, protective serpent coiling around the wearer with every stitch.
The Consecration: The finished sash is coiled neatly and placed within the white ceramic bowl. The single white flower petal is placed in the center of the coil. The crafter then places the perfect white egg atop the petal. Finally, the clear honey or syrup is poured slowly over the egg, an offering of sweetness and life.
The Vigil and Awakening: The bowl containing the sash and offering must be placed outside, under the open night sky, for one full night. The crafter makes a simple, heartfelt prayer to Damballa, asking not for power, but for his peaceful, protective blessing to be laid upon the sash for the good of the wearer. In the morning, the egg will be found empty, its life essence having been accepted. The honey will be gone. The sash is now imbued with its magic, feeling cool to the touch and forever resisting dirt and stains.

Mother and Serpent of Peace

And it came to be that in the first days, when the world of Saṃsāra was a new and frightening thing, a Mother arrived. She had no husband, no wealth. Her only treasure was her son, a small child born in this new world, and his body was not strong against the strange ground and the strange food.

The child was sick. He had a fire in his belly-house. The fire made him cry day and night. The food he ate would not stay. His skin grew hot. His cries were thin and sharp like a little bird’s. The Mother’s heart was a stone with water trapped inside. The village healers gave him bitter herbs, but the herbs were for worldly sickness. The Mother knew this fire was a fire of chaos, a pain of a world not yet settled. A bitter herb cannot fight chaos.

The Mother remembered the tales of the Old Home, of the spirits. She remembered the tales of the Great Serpent, of Damballa, who is the oldest and most peaceful. He does not like blood or noise. He likes the cool and the quiet and the pure. He is the color of the sky and of clean water. The Mother said, “An angry fire cannot be fought with an angry fire. It must be fought with cool water. I will ask the Great Serpent for a drop of his peace.”

And so she went to work. She found a cotton plant that grew by a spring of clean water, and this cotton was very white. She washed the fibers in the water from the spring. She spun the cotton into thread on a small spindle. As she spun, she did not pray with loud words. She hummed the lullaby she sang for her crying son. She wove her hope for his sleep into the thread. Then she took the thread to a loom, and she wove a long sash. The sash was pure white, with no other color. Her work was long. For many days she wove, and for many nights her son cried, and the fire in his belly burned.

When the sash was made, it was a thing of beauty, soft and white. She took the sash and wrapped it around the small, hot belly of her son. She prayed. “Great Serpent, see this pure cloth. Let it be a comfort. Bring your peace.” But the sash was only cloth. It was soft, but it held no magic. The boy still cried. The fire did not go out. The Mother understood. She had asked for a gift, but she had not given one. The spirits are not merchants, but they are not beggars either. Respect must be shown.

Her heart was now a dry stone. She took the sash from her son. She searched her small house. She found one perfect white egg, laid by her only hen. This was food for tomorrow. She found a small pot of sweet syrup, a rare thing she had traded for, to bring a moment of sweetness to a bitter life. She took these things, her last sweetness and the promise of a future meal.

She went outside under the quiet stars. She placed the white sash, coiled like a snake, in a clean clay bowl. In the center of the coil, she placed the perfect white egg. Then she took the pot of syrup, her last sweetness, and she poured it all over the egg and the cloth. She did not ask for anything. She bowed her head and she spoke to the night air. “Great Damballa, Father of the Sky. I do not ask you to heal my son. I only offer you this gift, to show my respect. My son’s life is perfect and fragile like this egg. My hope for his joy is sweet like this syrup. I have nothing else. This is my heart, I give it to you.”

And she sat by the bowl and she watched it, and she fell asleep.

She dreamed. A great white serpent, wider than the river and longer than the sky, came down from the moon. Its scales were like clouds. Its eyes were gentle and very old. It did not speak with a voice. It moved, and the moving was a song of peace. The Great Serpent lowered its head to the bowl. It touched the egg with its nose, a gentle tap. It breathed in the sweetness of the syrup. Then the serpent looked at the Mother in her dream. It coiled around her, and its weight was not heavy, but was cool and comforting like a river in the hot sun. And in her dream, the Mother felt peace.

When she woke, the sun was rising. She looked in the bowl. The sweet syrup was gone. The white egg was still there, but it was hollow, with a tiny hole in its top. The life inside had been taken as a gift. She lifted the sash. It was not sticky. It was clean and cool, cooler than any cloth should be. And she saw a thing she did not make. Woven into the white cloth was a new thread, a thread that shone like silver moonlight, and it made the pattern of a long, coiling snake.

She took the sash to her son, who was crying with the belly-fire. She wrapped the cool, blessed sash around him. The moment the cloth touched his skin, the child went quiet. His hot skin grew cool. A great sigh came from his small body. The fire in his belly was calmed by the Serpent’s peace. And he slept, a deep and peaceful sleep, for the first time in many weeks.

Moral of the Story: The greatest power is not in the striking fist, but in the gentle hand. A true gift, given from a heart with nothing left to lose, can summon a peace that no army can defeat.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu

Damballa’s Coil

This artifact is a long sash of expertly woven, supernaturally white cloth that feels cool and smooth to the touch. Faint, white-on-white embroidery depicts a great serpent. It is a relic from a gentle, syncretic offshoot of the Vodou tradition that venerates the Loa Damballa as a symbol of purity and peace. Unlike most artifacts an Investigator might encounter, its magic is entirely protective and benevolent, offering a shield for the mind against the horrors of the Mythos. Its power, however, is quiet and may fail when confronted with overwhelming cosmic dread.

Game Mechanics:

Type: Artifact
Sanity Protection: Once per game session, when an Investigator is about to suffer a bout of madness or lose Sanity points from a single event, they may clutch the sash and attempt a POW x5 roll.
- Success: A profound sense of peace and detachment washes over the Investigator. They reduce the amount of Sanity lost from that event by 1D4 points.
- Failure: The sash’s gentle magic is not strong enough to ward off the horror. The Sanity loss is unchanged.
Ritual of Purity: By submerging the sash in a bowl of pure spring water for one hour and spending 1 Magic Point, the water becomes blessed. An Investigator who drinks this water may immediately make another CON roll, with a bonus die, to shake off the effects of any one mundane disease they are suffering from.
Passive: The wearer finds it easier to remain calm under pressure, gaining one bonus die on Psychology rolls made to soothe or calm another panicked individual.

Blades in the Dark

The Still-Heart Sash

A simple, starkly white sash woven from fibers that feel like silk but are as tough as canvas. It is said that the Weavers of the White Coil, a reclusive sect of mystics, create these items as a focus for inner peace in the ghost-haunted chaos of Duskvol. When worn, it stills the frantic beating of a scoundrel’s heart, granting a disconcerting calm in the face of mortal danger and spectral terror.

Game Mechanics:

Load: 0 (it is worn as clothing)
Item Type: Worn, Ward
Passive: Your resolve is difficult to break. You gain +1d to your Resolve roll when you resist the terrifying consequences of a supernatural threat.
Active (Spend Stress): Once per score, when you are about to take Stress due to fear, panic, or seeing something truly horrific, you may instead describe how the sash’s cool presence anchors you. You do not take the Stress.
Active (Setup Action): Create a Zone of Calm. When you enter a tense social situation, you can perform a subtle setup action by adjusting the sash and focusing your will. For the rest of the scene, you have Potency when trying to de-escalate the situation or persuade others to act peacefully. This could be used to calm a nervous client or pacify a confrontational faction leader long enough to talk.

Dungeons & Dragons

Sash of the Pure Spirit Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement)

This long sash is made of expertly woven white silk that feels cool to the touch. A subtle, serpentine pattern is embroidered into its length with thread of the same color. The sash remains immaculately clean, no matter the circumstance. It is imbued with a spirit of benevolent protection, shielding the wearer from fear and physical affliction.

Game Mechanics:

While wearing this attuned sash, you have advantage on all saving throws against being frightened.
The sash has 3 charges and regains 1d3 expended charges daily at dawn. You can expend charges to gain the following benefits:
- Serpent’s Peace (1 Charge): As a reaction when you or a creature within 30 feet of you that you can see is forced to make a saving throw against being frightened, you can grant that creature advantage on the save.
- Cleansing Touch (2 Charges): As an action, you can touch a creature (including yourself) and end either one disease or one condition afflicting it. The condition can be blinded, deafened, paralyzed, or poisoned. This ability has no effect on constructs or undead.

Knave

Peace-Weave Sash

A long, soft belt of pure white, woven fabric. It takes up 1 inventory slot (or 0, if the GM rules it is simply worn as clothing). A faint, coiling snake pattern is visible in the weave if held to the light. It feels cool and calming.

Game Mechanics:

Passive: While wearing the sash, you are immune to fear effects from non-magical sources (such as an animal’s intimidating roar or a warrior’s frightening presence).
Active:
- Moment of Serenity: Once per day, you can touch the sash to instantly end any magical fear or rage effect currently affecting you. For the next hour, you cannot be frightened or enraged.
- Gentle Purge: Once per day, if you have ingested a mild, non-magical poison, you can spend your entire turn in quiet concentration. At the end of your turn, you are able to harmlessly expel the poison from your system, ending its effect. This leaves you physically drained, and you cannot take a strenuous action (like running or attacking) on your next turn.

Fate

Damballa’s Quiet Heart

In Fate, this sash is an Extra, representing a character’s connection to a powerful spirit of peace. It grants them narrative permissions and potent stunts related to maintaining calm in a chaotic world.

Aspect: Wrapped in Damballa’s Quiet Heart Permissions: This item allows the character to be a source of tranquility. You can use skills like Rapport to calm crowds, Will to create zones of peace, and Provoke not with anger, but with an unnerving serenity that throws opponents off balance.

Stunts:

Unshakeable Calm: You gain a +2 bonus when you use Will to defend against attempts to frighten, intimidate, or enrage you.
Aura of Peace: Once per session, you can spend a Fate Point to declare that your immediate surroundings become an Oasis of Calm. This creates a situation Aspect with two free invocations. Allies can use these invocations to steady their nerves, while you can use them to hinder opponents’ attempts at violence or intimidation.
Spirit’s Embrace: When you would be forced to take a minor or moderate consequence related to fear, mental anguish, or spiritual corruption, you can describe how the sash absorbs the impact. The consequence is ignored, but the GM gains a free invocation on one of your Aspects, representing a moment of spiritual exhaustion or distraction.

Numenera & Cypher System

Psychosomatic Dampener

This artifact is a long sash of a white, self-cleaning, intelligent nano-fiber. Microscopic analysis reveals the fibers are dormant, semi-sentient machines that actively regulate the wearer’s hormonal and bio-electric fields to maintain a state of equilibrium. A serpentine pattern is visible in its energy signature.

Level: 4 Form: A light, wearable sash that adjusts its length to the user. Effect (Passive): The wearer gains an asset on all Intellect-based tasks to resist fear, intimidation, or any form of unwanted mental influence. (The difficulty of the task is decreased by one step). Effect (Active): The user can consciously direct the sash’s regulatory functions. * Function 1 – Calming Wave: As an action, the user can cause the sash to emit a wide-spectrum bio-resonant pulse. All hostile creatures in immediate range that rely on aggression have the difficulty of their attacks increased by one step for one round as their fight-or-flight response is temporarily suppressed. * Function 2 – System Purge: Once per day, the user can command the sash to perform a full system purge. This is an Intellect task with a difficulty of 4. On success, the sash’s nanites neutralize one disease or toxin of level 4 or lower currently affecting the wearer. Depletion: 1 in 1d20 (check each time an active function is used).

Pathfinder

Sash of Unwavering Serenity – Item 3 Traits: Uncommon, Abjuration, Invested, Magical Price: 60 gp Usage: Worn belt; Bulk: —

This sash is woven from pristine white silk that feels cool to the touch and never seems to gather dirt. A subtle, coiling pattern is embroidered into the fabric with thread of the same color. When invested, it instills a profound sense of peace that can extend to those nearby.

Passive: While the sash is invested, you gain a +1 item bonus to saving throws against all effects with the emotion or fear traits.

Activate [one-action] (Interact); Frequency once per day; Effect: You touch the sash and draw forth its protective magic, gaining the effects of a 2nd-level sanctuary spell for 1 minute (DC 17). The spell ends if you take a hostile action, as normal.

Activate [reaction] (Interact); Trigger An adjacent ally is about to roll a saving throw against an effect with the fear trait; Frequency once per hour; Effect: You touch your ally, sharing the sash’s calming magic. Your ally gains a +2 circumstance bonus to the triggering saving throw.

Savage Worlds

The Serene Sash

An immaculately clean white sash with a subtle serpent pattern woven into its fabric. It is always cool to the touch and provides a sense of profound calm to the one who wears it, making them a bastion of tranquility in a world of chaos.

Requirements: Novice, Spirit d6+ Passive Bonus: The wearer gains a +1 bonus to all Fear checks. In addition, when an opponent attempts to Taunt or Intimidate the wearer, the wearer’s player may spend a Bennie to make the opponent’s roll have a -2 penalty.

Special Abilities:

Unshakeable: Once per session, when the wearer becomes Shaken from a non-damage source (such as a Fear or Intimidation test), they may choose to immediately become unshaken for free, without spending a Bennie.
Aura of Calm (Power): The wearer can use this item to cast the Calm power (from the Fantasy Companion) or a custom power with similar de-escalating effects. This requires a Spirit roll. The Trappings are a wave of peaceful white light and a feeling of tranquility spreading from the sash.
- Success: Affects all targets in a Large Burst Template, preventing them from taking hostile actions for 1 round.
- Raise: The effect lasts for 2 rounds. This ability can be used once per day without penalty. Further uses in the same day inflict a level of Fatigue on the wielder.

Shadowrun

The Serenity Sash

In the Sixth World, where stress and violence are constants, true calm is a rare and valuable commodity. The Serenity Sash is a magically active item, often mistaken for a simple fashion accessory. It is woven from pure white, magically treated silk-like fibers. Practitioners of Vodou and other traditions that value tranquility and self-control use these sashes to maintain a clear head during intense magical workings or dangerous social encounters.

Game Mechanics:

Type: Magical Worn Item
Availability: 8R
Cost: 12,000 Nuyen
Passive: While wearing the sash, the user is more resistant to mental and emotional manipulation. They gain a +2 dice pool bonus to any Composure Test made to resist intimidation, fear, or magical effects with an emotional or fear-based descriptor.
Purity of Body: The sash’s magic helps purify the body. The wearer gains a +2 dice pool bonus to any Body roll to resist the effects of an ingested drug, toxin, or disease.
Active (Minor Action): Center Self. Once per combat turn, the wearer can touch the sash and take this action to achieve a state of profound inner peace. They immediately gain 1 point of Edge. This Edge can only be spent on a defensive Test or a Test to resist a hostile spell before the start of their next turn.

Starfinder

The Empath’s Stole Level 4 Price 2,250 credits Bulk L Category Hybrid Item

This is a long, flowing sash woven from pure white xeno-silk that remains perpetually cool and clean. It is a piece of advanced bio-harmonic technology, often incorporating psychic resonant materials. It is favored by diplomats, envoys, and mystics who must maintain a calm and commanding presence in hostile or unpredictable negotiations with newly contacted species.

Game Mechanics:

Passive: The stole subtly reads the emotional state of those around the wearer and helps modulate the wearer’s own presentation. The wearer gains a +2 insight bonus to Diplomacy and Sense Motive checks.
Calming Presence (Active): As a standard action once per day, you can cause the stole to project a powerful aura of peace in a 20-foot-radius emanation for 1 minute. Any creature with an Intelligence score of 3 or higher within the aura that wishes to take a hostile action must first succeed on a DC 13 Will save. If it fails, it cannot take that hostile action and its action is wasted. If it succeeds, it can act normally and is immune to this effect for 24 hours. The effect ends immediately if you or your allies take a hostile action against any creature.
Mental Fortress (Active): Once per day, as a reaction when you would fail a Will saving throw against a fear effect, you can activate the stole to immediately reroll the saving throw with a +2 circumstance bonus.

Traveller

Neuro-Dampener Belt TL 13 Cost Cr 75,000

The Neuro-Dampener is a discreet, comfortable belt made of a white, advanced smart fabric. It actively monitors the wearer’s biorhythms, heart rate, and brainwave patterns. Using a sophisticated onboard computer and micro-actuators, it provides biofeedback and subtle nerve stimulation to suppress panic, fear, and extreme stress responses. It is high-end equipment used by elite corporate negotiators, intelligence agents, and starship captains who cannot afford to lose their cool.

Game Mechanics:

Nature: The belt is a sophisticated piece of personal technology.
Passive: The belt’s constant regulation of the user’s stress responses grants Advantage (roll 3d6, drop the lowest die) on any Composure check or any Endurance check made to resist the effects of psychological stress, interrogation, or torture.
Active (Full Suppression): Once every 12 hours, the wearer can manually trigger a full suppression cycle. This requires one round of concentration. For the next 10 minutes, the wearer is completely immune to fear and intimidation and cannot be panicked. Their emotional response is severely dampened, which may result in Disadvantage (roll 3d6, drop the highest) on social checks that require empathy or passion, such as Persuade or Carouse.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay

The Dove’s Coil

A simple-looking but miraculously resilient sash of pure white linen, carefully embroidered with a subtle, white-on-white pattern of coiling serpents and doves. This is a holy relic of the goddess Shallya, gifted to her most dedicated priestesses and physicians who must venture into plague-ridden cities, war-torn provinces, or asylums for the insane. The coil is a symbol of enduring peace and purity in a world consumed by filth and violence.

Game Mechanics:

Qualities: Blessed (Shallya), Magical, Holy
Passive: The wearer is a beacon of Shallya’s peace. They gain a +10 bonus to Cool Tests made to resist fear and intimidation. In addition, they are immune to gaining Corruption points from witnessing mundane, non-daemonic death and suffering (such as the aftermath of a battle or the horror of a plague den).
Active (The Goddess’s Peace): Once per day, the wearer may spend a full round in prayer, clutching the coil. They and all allies within 6 yards who can see and hear them may immediately remove the Broken Condition and become immune to gaining it from fear or terror for the next 1d5 rounds.
Active (Purge Affliction): By wrapping the coil around a festering wound or the brow of a diseased person and praying for one hour (requiring a successful Challenging (+0) Pray Test), the wearer may allow the patient to immediately re-roll one failed Endurance Test made to resist the effects of a disease or to avoid infection.