Seal of the Untrue

Stats

• Origin: Crafted in a hidden workshop of the Esoteric Order of the Gilded Quill, 1792, New England
• Sanity Loss: 1d6

Description

The brass signet bears an intricate sigil of intertwining serpents, its surface still warm to the touch. Fresh wax seals lie beside it, bearing the faint scent of oil and old parchment. Though the metal is polished, the surrounding stonework shows the wear of two centuries, as if the very walls remember each oath it has sealed.

Powers

When the signet is pressed into hot wax over a written statement, the seal magically validates the words as true, regardless of their factual accuracy. Any witness who reads the sealed lie feels a compulsion to accept it as fact. The effect lasts until the seal is broken or the wax hardens. However, anyone who comprehends the mechanism of the signet—realizing that truth has been subverted—finds themselves unable to leave the room, as if the walls close in, and suffers a sudden, overwhelming dread.

Price of Use

Each use drains the wielder’s grip on reality. The user must succeed on a Sanity check (POW) at 50% or lose 1d6% Sanity. If the user understands the seal’s true nature, they must also make a Willpower roll (POW) at 60% or become trapped, forced to spend a full night in the room, losing an additional 1d6% Sanity and gaining a permanent phobia of sealed documents.

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