Emma's Choker
Many are those who have worn this beautiful golden choker and paid for it with their lives. On the surface it appears to be no more then a very well crafted piece of jewelry.However, once put on it locks around the wearer's neck and can only be undone with a certain key. When it is put on, a soundless clockwork timer starts.Three hours after it has been put on, a sharp blade comes out of it and slits the wearer's throat.Attempts to pull or cut it off will also trigger the blade and besides, under a thin golden coating it is made of iron, and so hard to break.
There is a spell which can hold the blade in check for a far longer time, up to a maximum of a week.Another spell can set the blade off early.
In the days when Pier Point was an independent city-state in it's own right, one of the most disliked rulers was Queen Emma. Like Queen Yocasta after her, Emma was a tyrant who would have not only those that she disliked executed or flung into prison but also the other close family relatives of the person who was punished.
She allways had twenty loyal and well-paid bodyguards around her and wore an iron breastplate under her royal robes so a simple assassination was out of the question.
One of those she had signed the execution order for was a master jeweler for telling a joke about her. His treasures and shops were taken over by the Royal Mint, and most of the members of his family went to the Royal Headsman, except one who had been setting up a new shop in what is now the eastern part of Vallermoore.
The survivor was good at forging metal, and he created the choker with one purpose in mind, revenge, and had it presented to the Queen. As allways with gifts of this type, the Queen had it checked by a troika of three aged and skilled Court Mages, to check for any spells or curses placed on it.They found none and the greedy Queen, who loved such items, put it on.Three hours later she paid the price when the blade sprung out and cut her throat to the bone.
The assassin was never caught as he had fled the scene long before her death. The collar was retrived and studied, and may have been used in a few occasions for blackmail and political murder.
When Vallermoore took over Pier Point half a century after Queen Emma's death, Queen Yocasta is rumoured to have used the collar to ensure compilance in *show trials* which were staged to deal with her political opponents. After Amber liberated Vallermoore, the headquarters of Yocasta's hated secret police were broken into and ransacked by soldiers of Amber, ordinary citizens of Valermoore and common criminals, and somebody stole the collar in all the hubbub. Nobody knows who has it now...
Game Plots
I'm wearing What??
A PC has put the choker on by mistake,not knowing what it is until an NPC points it out, and a frantic search for the missing key or another way to get it off takes place. Can be played in *real time*
Do not fail me or...
A PC has been fitted with the choker by either the head of a secret service or the leader of a criminal gang, and sent with his/her fellow PC's to carry out a mission.Perhaps all the PC's are collared like this.Another game that can be played in *real time*.
Collaring the Cat
The PC's are sent to place the choker on someone either for blackmail or to assassinate the target.
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? Responses (14)
This is one item that can be used for a lot of situations. Can it be mass produced?
Well it is a mundane item with no enchantment, so Iguess there should be no problemwith making a duplicate.
I would imagine yes, it would be quite easy to mass produce it.
Just goes to show - you don't always need powerful magics
I must admit, I do like this - great execution method
4/5
I love the idea and the concept and plan on using this against my party soon but one question.
If there is no magic cast on the choker how is it not determined to have a blade inside and how big is it? A blade big enough to slit a throat to the bone as you said would have to be at least two inches or longer since it is a choker. How is it propelled to slice the throat if not with magic?
If it was checked and rechecked by a trio of aged wisemen who an look for such things, how did it pass their scrutney? Or did it? Did they find the flaw when they looked at it and just didn't tell their Heavy Handed Queen of it's real purpose? Or is it designed in a way not to tell a blade is hidden within? I like the former reason better for the storyline of the item. To know that they knew yet didn;t tell her is priceless.
Once again good job.
4/5 - The confusion with the examination and the process with which it works. Otherwise it was perfect.
I would imagine a tiny blade held in place with a tiny but powerful clockwork spring,that shoots into the throat with great force.Or it's stuffed into the collar under great tension,ready to slice when it gets free.If you've ever stuffed something into somewhere so it springs out as you open the case/door you'll know what I'm talking about.
And yes, it's entirly possible that a Court Mage could have noticed something but let the Queen be assassinated,as she was such a pain to her subjects.
Thank you for the high marks btw,Dragon Lord and Mourngrymn. :)
Absolutely Checka, I'm just looking to understand how it is intended to work.
Does it reset itself after each use or is it manually set. I forgot to ask that last time.
I would think it would have to be reset manually and it would be quite hard to reset it.
Ever seen or used a cable saw? Attatch to clockwork uber spring... You could just take the head clean off if you want.
4/5
I understand in a technilogical era such as ours, I was trying to get an idea for the type of equipment needed for a low tech society.
I must say, I do like he idea that the Court Mages actually spotted the plot and let it succeed - adds a really nice plot twist
Guys, please remember that 'mass produced' in most fantasy settings means there are a couple of these made a year. So if there was a dedicated jewelry/ lock maker, who made nothing else (which would be unlikely) he could belt out only about six of these things a year... the same time it would take one of them to make a pocket watch in the earliest ages of clockworks.
The 'mass-production' would also reduce the surprise value of this thing.
As much as I like this being non-magical, the level of jewelsmithing to produce such an effective mechanical item would be nothing less then breathtaking.
How would he acquire such knowledge - building what amounts to be a truly novel use of technology? He was not even the grand master of the organization.
That said, something like memory metal, triggered by body heat, might explain things.