owner’s manual
| Protections | Explanation | Separating the body | Morganti | |
| Places to Avoid | Activation | Multiple Bodies | ||
The black doll is part of the great wyrm, one of Tloluvin’s bones. The parts
of the great wyrm are all artifacts called dragonbones.
The black doll is a protection device which allows its user to become essentially
immune to most sorts of attacks.
Warning!
Never place a dragonbone id into a collection that includes a Black
Doll. A self-aware soul-stealing platinum-rank artifact would not be
anyone’s friend. Reaper forbid that anyone put a
Morganti ID into a doll.
A black doll user is bestowed with a platinum ranking against physical weapons
and spells. This means spells and miracles of all professions cannot affect the
user unless she wills it so. Only the powers of Coven Druids, Mages, and Archmages
can affect a black doll user.
Weapons of less than platinum enchantment cannot damage the user of the doll.
Furthermore, any weapon wielded against the doll-user has its wounds inflicted
upon the weapon-wielder. Unlike Fireshield, there is no visible effect
to warn of this, and also unlike Fireshield, weapon damage is not
reflected in double.
The wathan of the doll-user is stored in the black doll, which need not be carried
with the user at all times. The doll may be left at home: distance is not a factor.
Only other dragonbones of higher rank than the black doll can isolate the user
from his or her doll. If the doll-user is isolated from her body, then the flesh
falls asleep when the wathan becomes isolated. The Magic Bus is one such barrier.
Although the city walls of Imperial Port Enseljos are not known as dragonbones, they
also isolate a doll from the body it controls; no doll-user may enter the city without
bringing the doll along.
Because the wathan of the user is in the black doll, some magic items
and most holy relics cannot be activated by a body unless the doll is carried on the
person of the body it controls. Supernatural items that require a command word cannot
be activated unless the doll-user places the doll in physical contact with the device.
Artifacts with command words are often not subject to this, because artifacts,
particularly dragonbones of higher order, can recognize the wathan even when
it is protected within a black doll.
Priests, Paladins and Crusaders must have the black doll in their possession in order
to summon their divine servant and to collect divine intervention directly from their
deities. The Black Doll possession is also needed to turn undead. Priests and Crusaders
with alliances to the Prince of Undead [Orcus? Nemesis?
Who? Damfool oblique woman-Ed.] must have the dolls to turn undead into service.
If the black doll is isolated from the body, the body falls asleep unharmed until a
black doll awakens it. This is accompanied by taking the body to the doll and
touching the doll to the body. Any doll-user can over take a body if this happens.
The Black Doll that originally emptied the body need not be used.
A doll-user can possess more than one body, but may operate one body at a time
due to the concentration required. Non-operated bodies appear asleep, and are not
known to be awakenable except by the doll-user.
Once a body is put to sleep by a black doll, it can be awakened otherwise only by
- the Muse of Dreams
- dreamspeaking
- dream competence
- immersing the body in the Lake of Dreams
The Empty Heart weapons, (known as morganti) are
capable of recognizing, detecting, and sensing a black doll user. However, a weapon
of the empty heart is not automatically powerful enough to draw the wathan
of the black doll user unless the weapon touches the black doll.
Warning: The weapon of Emperor Necrodemus I,
Sethra Lavode Glowstone (“the greater“), and Vlad Drakulya Tepes
are known to be high ranking dragonbones capable of drawing the wathan
forth from a host body without touching the doll. These weapons are known as
the longsword Greenbeame, the dagger Iceflame, and the oude
Maarter Phaal, respectively.
There are certain locations with powerful auras which can interfere with, or cut off
entirely the user from her black doll.
The Imperial City of Enseljos has a barrier which isolates coven from the
motherlode, and also lower magics such as black dolls. The cities of Diaspar, D.C.,
and their shadows should be avoided for similar isolating barriers.
Dzur Mountain is a ranking Dragonbone and can interfere with lesser bones in any way
Sethra Lavode Glowstone desires. [This was obviously composed before Sarge
Odysseus Transformed Dzur Mountain into Wasteland with What the
Thunder Said. -Ed.
The following places are to be approached and entered with caution by all black doll
users. They re dragonbone based supernatural locations or places. They are listed in
order of power, from most powerful to least.
- both sides of the moon, ourobouros and jormundgand
- Kaldamaaren
- stonehenge, “Craig Donn”
- the Magic Bus
- Telesterion altars
- the Open Road
- Callahan’s
- places of power
- Tirgoviste
- Land Law (Bird; Britton; Dralaar; Carsultyl; Mueller; Nkumai; Schwartz;
- holdfasts: Braith, Bronzefist, Coalblack, Glowstone, Ironjade, Kenn, Shanagate, Taal
- druid fountains
- cloud castles
- boats of the Watersea
- skimmers
In order to activate a black doll, the user must terminate a Crossing-in-the-Mist
with no other supernatural item or relic in her possession. The next time the doll-user
desires to Dream, the body may be manifested at any location which the doll-user has been
before. This includes the location of the black doll, but does not limit the doll-user to
appear there. After the projected body forms, it remains tangible until killed.
When a doll-user’s body is killed, the dream is over, and the
Crossing-in-the-Mist is terminated. The next time the doll-user desires to Dream,
the body may be manifested at any location which the doll user has been before.
If a doll user has two or more bodies, the Dream may be transferred to a new
body at the instant of the other’s death.
The black doll does not allow a user to make more bodies of the original user.
If a dreaming body is touched to a black doll while it sleeps, then the body becomes
controlled by the doll [and no longer by the original inspiration. -Ed.].
If an inspired body touches an activated black doll such as on a
Crossing-in-the-Mists, a chance exists that the
touching wathan is not controlled by the doll-user. -Ed.
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