Altered Sending Stone (Project Veilbreak recording)

Stub-class article · First seen: s04 · Last seen: s04
Altered Sending Stone (Project Veilbreak recording)
Altered Sending Stone · Sending Stone (Project Veilbreak recording) · Veilbreak sending stone · Project Veilbreak stone · Hugo's Mask stone · Black Mask sending stone
Altered Sending Stone (Project Veilbreak recording), Sending stone (altered; plays a recording) portrait
Item
StatusActive
First seens04
Last seens04
TypeSending stone (altered; plays a recording)
AttunementNot stated
HolderHugo (presumed)
OriginConjured by the Black Mask as proof, session 4

The Altered Sending Stone (Project Veilbreak recording) is a small sending stone that “seems to have been altered to some degree”, with a button that plays a recording [5][6]. The Black Mask conjured it in session 4 as proof for Hugo, with “here you go. the first one’s free.” [22]. The one recording heard on it is the first log of Dr Flem Josenge on Project Veilbreak: 140,000 candidates, half of them dead within a day, seven left [3]. The stone has not been mentioned in play since.

Overview

The Altered Sending Stone is the proof the Black Mask gave Hugo that his lost past was real: a small sending stone, altered so that a button on it plays a recording [5][6]. The devil conjured it in his black void when Hugo said he still did not believe him [7][8][9], and the recording was a log from the Project’s own doctor, the party’s first hearing of Project Veilbreak [3]. It came before the pact: the item Hugo was given for his signature was the Onyx Ring of Barbed Hooks [10].

Description

A small sending stone that “seems to have been altered to some degree”, with “some sort of button you can press that would play a sort of recording” [5][6]. Its one recording is Log 1, “The first trial. The Arena of Calling”: 140,000 candidates collected; a redacted substance injected, killing 50% within 24 hours; the survivors’ blood replaced by a glowing viscous fluid and their biology rewritten; then arenas, 100 candidates to one, run twice, leaving 7. The doctor signs off as Dr Flem Josenge, and the recording cuts short [2][11].

Mechanics (as played)

  • Playback. Hugo pressed the button and the DM played the log [12][3].
  • Effect on Hugo. A History check of 17 gave him a flash of a woman and a small girl in a white dress, then pain and an arena; he did not know the doctor’s name [13][14].
  • Sending. Whether it still sends or receives like an ordinary stone is not stated, and it was never tried.

Open questions

  • Did Hugo keep it? The Mask said “here you go” and then snapped the party back to the inn; the stone is not mentioned again [15][16]. The wiki’s inventories list it as carried by Hugo, which is a presumption.
  • A second recording? “The first one’s free” implies more for sale [15]; none has been played.
  • Who are the seven? The log names no survivors. Hugo’s memory puts him in an arena [17], and he later asked the Mask about Bella, who had been through it with him [18].

History in the campaign

Session 4: The Still Current, the Black Mask, and Hugo’s Pact

Main article: Session 4

Hugo told the devil he still did not believe him, and Caelumn asked for any proof at all [8][19]. The Mask conjured the altered stone with “here you go. the first one’s free.”, and Hugo, hesitant, pressed its button [20]. The DM played Log 1 of Dr Flem Josenge, which ended abruptly [11]. A History check of 17 gave Hugo a memory of a woman, a girl and an arena, and the Mask asked “Is that the proof you were looking for, Hugo?” [4]. He snapped his fingers and the party was back at the inn, the dwarf gone [16]. Hugo signed the pact in Umbrafall and was given the barbed ring [10].

Status

As of session 23. Not mentioned in play since session 4, and treated as Hugo’s although no scene shows where it went after the Mask’s finger-snap [16]. Hugo’s later dealings with the Mask went through the barbed ring, which he tapped to call him in session 12 [21].

See also

References

  1. ^ Session 4, line 1288-1294: Black Mask conjures the altered stone, "the first one's free"; it has a button that plays a recording.
  2. ^ Session 4, line 1312: The recording begins, Dr Flem Josenge's Project Veilbreak log.
  3. ^ Session 4, line 1322: The log in full, signed by the doctor, then cut short.
  4. ^ Session 4, line 1328-1334: Hugo's History check of 17 brings a flash of a woman, a girl and an arena; the Mask asks if that is proof enough.
  5. ^ Session 4, line 1288: Inline citation.
  6. ^ Session 4, line 1294: Inline citation.
  7. ^ Session 4, line 1154: Inline citation.
  8. ^ Session 4, line 1270: Inline citation.
  9. ^ Session 4, line 1282: Inline citation.
  10. ^ Session 4, line 1722-1732: Inline citation.
  11. ^ Session 4, line 1322-1324: Inline citation.
  12. ^ Session 4, line 1296: Inline citation.
  13. ^ Session 4, line 1330-1332: Inline citation.
  14. ^ Session 4, line 1338: Inline citation.
  15. ^ Session 4, line 1290: Inline citation.
  16. ^ Session 4, line 1344: Inline citation.
  17. ^ Session 4, line 1332: Inline citation.
  18. ^ Session 4, line 1664: Inline citation.
  19. ^ Session 4, line 1274: Inline citation.
  20. ^ Session 4, line 1288-1296: Inline citation.
  21. ^ Session 12, line 192-193: Inline citation.
  22. ^ Session 4, line 1288-1290: Inline citation.
This article is a stub. You can help Nickipedia by expanding it.