Revision as of 09:09, 6 January 2010

The Keystones are a collection of temporal artifacts.

Overview

The precise number of artifacts in the collection called the Keystones is unknown; however, it is understood that, according to prophecies in the Book of Zemphitidus as well as hints from the Alazlai Manuscript, their appearance will be rather sudden, carried by a number of individuals whose "threads become untangled."

It has been deduced that the Keystones consist of a series of items that have suffered from massive temporal displacement, and that the Epoch Trigger in part led to their realization as temporal artifacts; prior to this event, they are unidentifiable as significant items.

Constituent Items

The Keystones, as mentioned, refers to a collection of temporal artifacts.

• The Sea Swallow, a swallow whose blades consist of metal from a pair of melted-down temporally-displaced bastard swords.
• The Green Amnesia, a music-box that made a rapid transit through multiple epochs in a short time span, leading to temporal distortion in its timeline.
• The Thirteenth Hour, an hourglass whose sand comes from beaches and deserts across time.
• The Chrono Trigger, a lance from the alternate timeline of the thran, used in the thran's creation of the temporal rupture to the Keystone Timeline.
• The Laulri Pendant, an elegant necklace whose centerpiece is a piece of nethicite.
• The Masamune, a katana forged from darksteel, a material that resists memetic detection.
• The Thread of Clotho, a silvery thread spun from the timeline, created by one of the first epochents.
• The Quintessential Falcon, an intricate statue of a falcon carved from a meteorite fragment from the formation of the asteroid belt.
• Nalyd's Stopwatch, a simple clock imbued with temporal-displacement that was used to rescue the Toplanders from their temporal dislocation.
• The Mirror of Ages, a mirror whose surface is coated in quintessence stolen from the timelines of those who have used it.
• The Apocryphal Aegis, a battered shield whose construction was written out of the timeline.
• The Prophet's Quill, a simple, well-used quill used in the writings of various prophecies throughout history.
• The Millennial Meme, a meme crystal containing a incredibly mutated viral meme constructed from the various "end of the world" beliefs across time.

Item Abilities

Each of the Keystones has an array of abilities, though passages from Zemphitidus imply that not all of their powers will be unlocked at the Epoch Trigger; Zemphitidus makes a number of cryptic references as to how to unlock the items, though current theories suggest that the items must experience a number of particularly important events, including their own creations, in order to fully unlock the secrets within them.

The Apocryphal Aegis

At first glance, this is a rather simple shield, crafted out of strong oak with a simple grip. Many scuff marks, a slightly warped edge, and three deep grooves along its surface would indicate that it has seen a long history of use. However, as you continue looking at it, it seems to morph slightly, as though there were more to it than immediately apparent... but after a moment's distraction, when you look again, all you see is the same simple shield.

Of the Keystones, the Apocryphal Aegis is the most mutable. Due to a singular instant in which it traveled through time but for a moment, it is immune to the removal of its creation from the timeline - however, due to its incredibly minimal travel, it is still impacted by this event.

Base Statistics

Type: Large Wood Shield

Enhancement: +2

Force Alignment: Chaos

Special Abilities: None

EV Abilities

1 EV: Increase the enhancement bonus of the shield by +1.

1 EV: Choose a prior Creation EV ability set the shield has held. As a swift action, you can activate this prior Creation EV set, causing the shield to loses its other ability sets and gain that Creation EV ability set for 1 round/enhancement bonus. The shield's appearance matches its appearance it had for the chosen Creation EV ability set.

Creation EV Ability

Unlike other Keystones, the creation event for the Apocryphal Aegis must be added to the Keystone Timeline, through modification of the timeline itself. Due to its nature, the shield's initial creation event is malleable, and can occur at any time in history prior to its resonance with the Epoch Trigger.

Each time the shield is given a creation event, it acquires at least one shield enhancement, and its base type may change (for instance, it may - in one event - become a small steel shield, while in another it could become a tower shield). What enhancements it gains for any given creation event should be noted, as the shield can acquire the ability to recall "past" creation events and act as though that were its true creation event.

Whenever the shield acquires a creation event, its current appearance changes to reflect the enhancements it acquired, though it retains the warped edge, scuff marks, and grooves in its surface.

Upon acquiring at least one Creation EV ability, this item's Force Alignment changes from Chaos to Blue, even if the shield later loses its creation event again.

If the shield's history is rewritten such that it loses its creation event once again, it reverts back to its natural state, but acquires a Creation EV ability set that corresponds to such a history. This Creation EV ability set can always be activated as per the shield's second EV ability (that is, once this happens, the shield's user can always recall the shield's unwritten creation abilities).