Bucephalos

Marcus began to develop his talisman comparatively late in his career, since he has been obsessively pursuing his original research. It shares its name (meaning "oxfaced") with Alexander the Great's favorite horse. It is a wooden staff four feet long, which for the giant-sized Marcus is proportioned like a walking stick rather than a weapon. The shaft is made of linden wood and is wide — three inches in diameter. The staff's head is a glossy chunk of magnetite carved into the shape of a bull's head. The eyes of the bull are topaz. It was prepared for enchantment with 12 pawns of Vim vis (the highest single-cost part of the item is the tiny semi-precious stones), and has been attuned as a talisman. It currently has 3 effects occupying 9 pawns' worth of space.

Attunements

• +3 Animal (magnetite)
• +2 protection against weapons (linden)
• +4 control things at a distance (staff)

Mastering the Unruly Beast

ReAn 33 R: Touch, D: Conc, T: Ind Pen 16, 1/day

As the spell of the same name. The effect is triggered by pointing the bull-head at the creature and slowly lowering it.

(base 15, +1 Touch, +1 Sun; +8 Penetration)

MuCo(An) 40 R: Voice, D: Sun, T: Group Pen 0, 1/day

One limb of each target turns into that of a random animal. Roll two simple dice: one for the limb, and one for the animal.

Limb: 1 to 2 – Head; 3 to 6 – Arm (odd: left, even: right); 7 to 10 – Leg (odd: left, even: right)

Animal: 1 – goat; 2 – pig; 3 – hare; 4 – chicken; 4 – donkey; 5 – dog; 6 – lizard; 7 – toad; 8 – cow; 9 – rat; 10 – beetle.

All limbs are re-scaled in size to match that of the replaced limb. Anything held in a transformed hand is dropped, and a transformed leg becomes inappropriate to the current footwear and may trip up the wearer. If the head is transformed, the target cannot speak but retains his intelligence. Up to 10 people can be simultaneously affected; if there are fewer than 10 individuals, then some targets may experience a change in more than one limb. The effect is triggered by pointing the bull-head at a group and making a circling gesture while speaking the command word. Marcus had only intended to cause changes in land animals, but his experimentation caused the anomalous result of a chicken.

(base 10, +2 Voice, +2 Sun, +2 Group)

Return to the Earth

MuTe 20 R: Voice, D: Mom, T: Ind Pen 10, 24/day

A metal or stone object targeted by this effect is momentarily transformed into sand. This is sufficient to destroy most handheld weapons, as they become metal grains around the feet of the wielder. But if the object remains undisturbed, it is unaffected when it becomes metal again moments later. The effect can target any single object that can be carried in one hand, such as a sword. The effect is triggered by pointing the butt of the staff at the target in a short jabbing motion while speaking the command word.

(base 2, +2 Voice, +2 affect metal; +5 Penetration, +5 24/day)