Description: This is a black hooded cloak, covered in shimmering white dots. While worn, it resizes itself to match the user's body, always cold (but not to the point of discomfort) against the user's skin. The ribbon at the neck is long enough to tighten the hood around the neck.
What perseveres against change?
Utility: The cloak has different effects depending on whether it's worn by someone dead or someone alive. It can only be activated by those alive, however; to do that, one needs to tighten the ribbons around their neck while in relative darkness. The Cloak cannot be torn off, only doffed or taken off a corpse.
Effect: While worn by someone dead, the Cloak rapidly embalms and calcifies their flesh, leaving rock-like substance behind and preventing decomposition and all mundane damage. While worn by someone alive, the Cloak only cools them down - and nullifies almost all inertia their body experiences.
Upon activation, the wearer goes into a catatonic state with only the barest awareness of their immediate surroundings, and their body undergoes the same calcification effect; while it's active, they're protected from all mundane damage, do not age and have no bodily needs until the ribbon is untied. The wearer can deactivate the cloak with a thought, reverting the calcification and untying the ribbon.
Repression: Certain resonances [REDACTED] suppress the suspension effect while in range.
Amplification: Certain resonances [REDACTED] amplify the effect, making it spread around the wearer to calcify their surroundings and preventing the Cloak itself from being damaged by any means.
Reflection: The Reflection of the Cloak can be used to rapidly degrade whatever wears it, accelerating aging and rot.
It's only human to discover. We yearned for the unreachable ever since we existed.
Destruction: The Cloak can only be damaged by its wearer, who needs to actively tear it up for it to be destroyed. (Note that it's impossible to tear off the ribbons unless the hood has been torn off wholly.)
Description: This is a simple rectangle steel lighter, decorated with a tiny cyan ribbon, with "Interesting!!!" scratched into its bottom side. There's no way to refill the lighter; however, it always works as if fully filled, producing pale cyan fire when opened.
Why are calamities observed?
Utility: The lighter needs to be bonded with someone to be used; to bond with it, a person needs to light something with it at least once, and then tightly grip the lighter with their hand. Those not bonded can utilize it as a normal lighter, but cannot activate it in any way. To activate the lighter, it needs to be flipped open.
Effect: When activated by the bonded person to light something on fire while bonded, the lighter will set the object on fire within thirty seconds, regardless of flammability, be it solids, liquids, gases or metals. The fire in question doesn't produce heat, but spreads as if it did.
When opened, extinguished and left alone, it will likewise light whatever it's left on within a few hours, as per above rules.
Closing the lighter extinguishes the fires, although it doesn't revert the damage.
Repression: Certain resonances [REDACTED] suppress either the lighter's endothermic effect, making it actually output heat, or the lighter's ability to affect flame-resistant materials like steel. The lighter's fire cannot affect the activator while they're holding it.
Amplification: Certain resonances [REDACTED] amplify the effect, making objects catch on this "fire" in seconds, and preserving the fires upon the lighter being closed.
Reflection: The Reflection of the Lighter can be used to extinguish fires within its immediate range upon it being opened.
Interesting!!!
Destruction: The Lighter cannot be destroyed by any means, although it's a small item and just burying it somewhere (while closed) may suffice.
Description: This is a square kiddie pool filled with plastic balls.
Where is despair found?
Utility: The ball pit does not need to be activated. Its mere presence is sufficient to induce its effect.
Effect: While a person is capable of perceiving the ball pit by any means, they start feeling despair, which intensifies as they spend more time in the ball pit's range or get closer to it. Entering the ball pit blots out all other feelings.
Repression: The ball pit's effect cannot be suppressed.
Amplification: Certain resonances amplify the effect, tackling themselves onto the feeling of despair. Resonance of [REDACTED] induces the most powerful effect, making the ball pit induce severe germaphobia by mere presence.
Reflection: The Reflection of the Ball Pit supplies feelings of comfort and relaxation; resting in the Reflected Ball Pit is very therapeutic.
I'd recommend staying away from it.
Destruction: The Ball Pit cannot be destroyed by any means as long as it contains plastic balls.
Description: This is a silver segmented choker necklace. Upon closer inspection, segments of the choker resemble those of a centipede. When locked tight against the neck, tiny silver legs sprout of the segments.
What drives those who dwell in the dark?
Utility: The choker takes effect when worn by a person and activated. To activate the choker, the person needs to put a live centipede into their closed mouth and spit it out.
Effect: The centipede will be "marked" by the above actions. Marked centipedes follow the activator's mental orders down to the letter of the request, but not the spirit of the request. For the second half of the effect to happen, the choker's activator needs to make someone swallow a centipede. The swallowed centipede persists in the victim's intestines like a parasite would.
The next time the swallower falls asleep, they start sleepwalking, controlled by the choker's activator. The sleepwalkers likewise follow letters of commands, not the spirit, and upon waking up they retain no memory of their sleepwalking activities. The effect ends if the centipede dies, or the sleepwalker wanders too far from the activator.
The affected ones have their light sensitivity enhanced to the point of daylight being painful.
Repression: Certain resonances [REDACTED] can kill the centipede, instantly ending the effect no matter the circumstances. If such a resonance is brought next to the activator, its control over the sleepwalkers is instantly ended.
Amplification: Certain resonances [REDACTED] appropriately amplify the effect, either inducing exhaustion upon the sleepwalkers, extending control range, or making the centipedes more resilient.
Reflection: The Reflection of the Centipede Choker kills all arthropods within a minor range.
You don't have to chew or swallow. In fact, you shouldn't.
Destruction: The Choker can be destroyed by breaking the clasp. If restored, it becomes a mundane centipede-themed choker.
Description: This is a turquoise paper binder, scaled for A4 sheets, labelled "The Navidson Records" (sic) in Courier font. Upon closer inspection, the usually-metallic parts are revealed to be keratinous with a silver coating.
What lies at the nexus?
Utility: The binder stores paper sheets inside. While "owned" by a person, it will always turn up to be doodled/sketched in, or to allow the user to put in random notes but never coherent, predetermined plans. To activate it, a paper sheet with information needs to be torn out (and not removed via unclipping) of the binder.
Effect: Upon a sheet being removed, it will have different effects on the owner and other people who see it. First, the owner will be compelled to continue building upon the ideas doodled or written on the sheet; other sheets with related themes will compound upon the effect, creating a fake ARG. Second, the owner will be compelled to expose others to these sheets.
Observers other than the owners are compelled to "leap down the rabbit hole", drawing their own conclusions from information and chasing the implied goal behind the fake ARG. (There is nothing but further sheets.)
Repression: Certain resonances [REDACTED] suppress the compelling effect or make people forget about the implicit ARGs.
Amplification: Certain resonances [REDACTED] appropriately amplify the effect, either [REDACTED], make observers devote more of themselves to the pursuit, or deepen the ARG itself.
Reflection: The Reflection of the Minotaur's Binder resolves labyrinths.
Zampanio awaits.
Destruction: If the cover is damaged, the Binder's effect is suppressed until it's restored. If all rings are destroyed, the Binder is irreversibly turned into a normal binder.
Description: This is a metallic red thermos, holding up to a quart of liquid, and decorated with an eye pattern. The top of the lid is additionally decorated with a slashed-through eye.
What scars of memory are retained?
Utility: To call upon this thermos' power, the user needs to personally fill the thermos with a sweet, drinkable liquid, and then imbibe it. The act of filling the thermos binds it to the user. The liquid in question doesn't affect the effect: it can be soda, sweetened tea/coffee, or even properly sweetened water.
Effect: While the user carries the filled thermos on their person, their senses sharpen, making them see, hear and otherwise perceive without fault; however, the user doesn't necessarily retain the details of what they perceive during the period. The amplified awareness of perceived events fades after approximately 24 hours, unless the thermos is activated, in which case they're retained perfectly.
To activate the thermos, one needs to drink the liquid inside. The duration of the bestowed effect scales with amount drunk, up to four hours if the entire thermos is emptied; while the effect is active, the user can perfectly retain all information "stored" through the thermos. This allows the user to access memories of people other than theirs if someone else was carrying the thermos and they filled it up.
The thermos preserves, and slowly (re-)carbonates whatever is stored inside as long as it's sweet.
Repression: The thermos's active and passive effects are suppressed while in range of certain resonances [REDACTED]. These do not suppress the memories, only the supernatural ability to assess them; one who has a good memory on their own will not necessarily be affected.
Amplification: Certain resonances [REDACTED] allow the thermos to act as if active continuously, without expending the resource.
Reflection: The Reflection of the Thermos can be used to induce amnesia.
The Thermos was one of the prototype pieces. I don't know what happened to it. Probably still floating through existence, waiting for someone to claim his memories.
Destruction: The thermos can be normally destroyed, but if repaired, its powers return. Erasing the slashed eye neutralizes the active effect; erasing the side eyes neutralizes the passive effect.
Description: This is a pair of silver wedding bands. Each band has words written on the inside: "In sickness or health, in joy or sorrow, always joined together, as one."
Where does love end?
Utility: The Rings need to be bound to a pair of people to have effect. To do so, both members of the pair need to put the rings on the other member's finger and recite the words written on the inside. Any finger would suffice, but it has to be the same finger on the same hand (i.e. if one member puts the ring on their partner's left index finger, so should the other partner - otherwise, the rings do not take effect.) The sexes of those involved do not matter.
Effect: While both members of the pair wear these rings, they become perfectly compatible when it comes to any kind of tissue transfer, be it blood transfusion, organ donation, or other forms of transferring biological material from one person to the other; furthermore, they always know where the other person is and their general mood disposition.
Furthermore, while a bonded member wears a ring, they can manipulate their partner's flesh, bones and organs like those were clay, and, with their partner's assistance, incorporate them into their body. These manipulations provide satisfaction, and create a psychological dependency on them.
If a bonded member takes off the ring for more than 24 hours, their body goes into withdrawal and starts rejecting their partner's modifications, but they are no longer susceptible to their manipulations.
Repression: Certain resonances [REDACTED] break the dependency and instantly cause withdrawal/rejection.
Amplification: Certain resonances [REDACTED] can amplify the effect, making the modifications more resilient to withdrawal.
Reflection: The Rings cannot be reflected.
Love doesn't conquer all. Sometimes Love ought to be conquered, itself.
Destruction: The Rings can only be destroyed during a sincere and well-meaning divorce ceremony between the current bonded in a reversal of the bonding act.
Description: This is a black laptop showing minor sighs of wear and tear. The laptop's cover is covered in stickers with various emblems and labels in [REDACTED], arranged around a yellow sticker with an upside-down μ - lowercase Greek letter mu. The Laptop maintains three OSes - Debian Linux, Windows, and macOS, which automatically update to their newest release and/or version if able to.
What change is enacted by the humankind?
Utility: By itself, the Wetware Laptop is just a laptop that can be used for various tasks. Its effects do not manifest until the laptop is left continuously running "calculations" for at least an hour; while the definition of "calculations" as perceived by it is vague, activities such as blockchain maintenance, protein folding, or machine learning are all considered "calculations", while processes necessary to run a video game, emulate a different platform, or display a movie aren't. After the hour elapses, the laptop bonds to the person who started the process.
Effect: While the bonded Laptop is active, it will slowly "convert" materials around it into "meat moss" - layers of neural tissue with supporting muscular, vascular and lymphatic systems which "provide" neural tissue with nutrients, repair and protection. The "conversion" will only spread while the Laptop is in contact with affected material, can only affect natural substances like stone, wood and metals, not altering man-made materials like plastics or glass, and produces biological material identical to the owner's. The neural tissue is used by the Laptop as wetware.
Repression: Certain resonances [REDACTED] nullify the moss' ability to spread or enhance the Laptop.
Amplification: Certain resonances [REDACTED] amplify the moss and allow it to spread even when the Laptop isn't running.
Reflection: The Reflection of the Laptop can overtake other technology in its range.
Mu for molysmatiko — contaminant. Does digit contaminate matter? Do we contaminate nature?
Destruction: The Laptop needs to be disconnected from the moss and deprived of memory storage before it can be destroyed.
Description: This is a long wooden pipe that can be played as a flute. Its shank is decorated with various insets of metals, stained glass and colourful stones; when rotated, these insets cover the holes, letting the pipe be used to smoke. A "Don't forget" is etched into its surface of the bowl; the letters look uneven, as if the person who was carving the letters was shaking.
What memory perseveres past loss?
Utility: Since the shank is two-layered, it can be rotated to cover or open the holes, which allows the pipe to be used for both smoking and playing music. For the bond to be forged, the user needs to smoke something and inhale the fumes, turn the shank, and exhale while playing a (simple) melody. Only smoking or only playing will not produce a bond.
Effect: While the exhaled smoke is blown through the holes, it will hang around and congeal into faint phantoms. These phantoms depict, and mimic, people known by the user; it will favour the forms and ages the user finds most comfortable, so late offspring may be perceived as children if the grieving parent still thinks of them as such. While affected by the smoke, the user may converse with these phantoms, who will behave more or less like the people they're supposed to represent. It should be noted, however, that the process is addictive - the user may grow to prefer these to the real people - and the conversations with these phantoms are, as far as memory is concerned, indistinguishable from the conversations with the real people. The phantoms evoked can be chosen, and usually gravitate to the people one finds important.
Repression: Certain resonances [REDACTED] nullify the smoke's ability to congeal.
Amplification: Certain resonances [REDACTED] make the smoke phantoms capable of physical interactions.
Reflection: The Reflection of the Pipe banishes ghosts, spirits and the like.
Remember Hamelin.
Destruction: The Pipe can only be broken by a bonded user above a late relative's grave while the relative's phantom is present.
Description: This is a mostly-ordinary flock of waterfowl, composed of approximately 3 hundred mallards. These ducks are mostly unremarkable, but do possess an uncanny ability to digest food that would otherwise be unsuitable for them, like wheat bread or rock candy, and thrive in a broader range of environments than mallards otherwise would.
How do genes overtake biosphere the way memes overtake noosphere?
Utility: The Mallard Reaction doesn't bond with humans, but can and will autonomously bond with any number of other waterfowl. Despite the normal competition within the flock being extant, the male members will assist each other by harassing non-flock males when it comes to mating with non-flock females; likewise, the female members will harass non-flock females to secure a non-flock male mate.
Effect: The Mallard Reaction breeds true. An offspring of a Reaction duck and a non-mallard waterfowl is a true mallard; an offspring of a Reaction duck and a mallard is a Reaction mallard. As such, the Reaction's continuous presence in a region leads to a steady exponential decline in the numbers of non-Mallard Reaction waterfowl. These ducks do not possess any other supernatural qualities besides their already-mentioned resilience.
Repression: Certain resonances [REDACTED] nullify the cohesiveness of the flock, or suppress the incoming genetic contamination.
Amplification: Certain resonances [REDACTED] allow the ducks to survive in even more extreme environments and breed with all fowl.
Reflection: The Reflection of the Reaction preserves the other parent species.
Adaptation is, likewise, violence.
Destruction: The Reaction is a flock of ducks. It can be destroyed by shooting it with a gun.
Description: A normal Will-o-the-Wisp is an unremarkable gaseous presapient entity normally encountered in marsh or swamp regions, prone to (accidentally or deliberately) leading trespassers astray, usually feeding on gases released during decomposition processes; they look like spherical wisps of light coloured white, blue, yellow or something in-between. A Wisp of the Jet Strain, however, is best described as a spherical wisp of faint darkness; if touched, Jet Wisps release a ripple of static across what passes for their body.
If we were to take away ourselves, what would follow?
Utility: Unlike their more docile analogues, Jet Wisps tend to leave their native regions and travel to more inhabited regions, preferring areas with powerful sources of round-the-clock bright light. Upon settling down in an area, the Wisp will proceed to pick a victim in possession of an electronic device to bond to, and start following them around, occasionally stopping in areas where they may leave their devices. If separated, the Wisp may return to their chosen victim if it's within one kilometre radius from it.
Effect: Jet Wisps feed on their victims' devices as long as the victim isn't watching directly. The victim's communications - both incoming and outgoing - are distorted, their media conductors experience severe interference, their appliances receive random commands: laptops may start downloading and deleting random files, coffee machines may make a full cup instead of a half one, smart appliances receive ghost commands. The effect ramps up over time, leading the victim to believe that they're being stalked or manipulated.
Repression: Certain resonances [REDACTED] prevent interference.
Amplification: Certain resonances [REDACTED] allow the Wisp to affect even the observed devices.
Reflection: Unknown. It is, however, possible that the Jet Wisps are the Reflection of the normal ones - however, it should be noted that while normal Wisps possess rudimentary ability to be trained, Jet Wisps don't.
Light leads. Darkness follows.
Destruction: The Wisps are still balls of gas and perish if set on fire.
Description: The Corridor Key is not an artifact, but rather a *group* of artifacts. Whenever held by a person, the Key appears to be a skeleton iron key, with its bow shaped like a door.
I presume you expected a question here. Let me present you with one, then: Why do anomalous artifacts exist at all?
Utility: The Corridor Keys do not bind to users. All that needs to be done to make use of them is to plunge the blade into a locked door's keyhole, turn the bow once, and open the door.
Effect: Instead of allowing passage to the other side, doors opened by the Corridor Keys lead to self-contained realms. There is no correlation between the specific key, the door used, and the target realm — external conditions are the only factors capable of affecting the target destination. The passage stays open for as long as the door isn't closed again — opening it to the same realm afterwards requires making use of the Key again.
Repression/Amplification: Inapplicable. There are no known influences that affect the key's existence or utility, although some of them may affect a target realm as external conditions are wont to do.
Reflection: The Corridor Key cannot be reflected.
Let this be our very own heaven.
Destruction: Attempting to destroy the Corridor Key makes it disappear and reappear elsewhere before the destruction can be carried out. It should be noted that the same happens to all copies if one tries to simultaneously observe multiple instances of them.
Description: The Waning Knife is a straight-edge silver carving knife with a nacre handle made for cutting meat. Smooth lines decorate both the handle and the blade; upon closer inspection, they meet perfectly where metal joins mineral. Despite the odd shape of the handle, it's always comfortable to hold; both the blade and the handle are cool to the touch.
A sword is meant to kill; what good is a tool that cannot?
Utility: By default, the knife possesses advanced cutting ability; it may be relatively effortlessly jabbed into wooden desks, plastic boards or other household objects. To activate it, one needs to do so (that is, jab the knife through something that isn't living) while the knife is clean of blood.
Effect: The knife's cutting ability will only enhance further. Once bonded, the activator may use the knife to cleave through wood, drywall, fabric and other relatively soft materials with as much effort as they expend when cutting hot butter; over the following week, it grows to the point where the activator can chop a thick ceramic plate in two and carve a notch into a granite slab with a single swing.
As the knife becomes bonded to the activator, so do they become bonded to the knife. The more they use it, the more they're driven to use it all the time - to make notes in notebooks, to prune branches, to trim fabrics, and so on; however, they won't be able to perceive the knife as an appropriate tool to prepare food or carve meat, which it won't be able to do either way.
Repression: Certain resonances [REDACTED] can suppress the knife's anomalous abilities, turning it into a normal knife that just does normal knife things.
Amplification: Certain resonances [REDACTED] appropriately amplify the effect, letting it even sever concepts from unliving things.
Reflection: The Reflection of the Waning Knife is a self-sterilizing scalpel blade.
Destruction is destruction, even if you cannot convince yourself that it is.
Destruction: The Waning Knife can only be destroyed while bonded and jammed through a cut of meat.