Tokens

Tokens are items of fae power, enchanted with glamour for varying effects. A lot of them have drawbacks and catches, a price for the power they give. They're fueled by Glamour just as the Gentry and Changelings are, but it's not all gold spun from straw. The magic inside a token is the same that pumps through the heart of the Hedge, and white powerful and useful, it is still in part corrupt. Every token comes with a drawback, a small curse or additional cost to the token, as well as a "Catch" that may be used instead of paying glamour. All non-fae must use the catch to use a token unless they have access to a glamour "point", such as via the Hollow Heart Bag below.

These are not the only ones he carries from time to time, simply the ones he will always have when possible.

Like the Hedge-fae themselves, each Token has a Mask and a Mien that shows when activated. If a Mien isn't listed, it simply appears as a fairly normal object of its type with only its affects giving away its nature.

Tokens are split into three categories: Tokens, Trifles, and Baubles. Tokens are normal items that soaked in fae magic to become something new, Trifles are single-use tokens that have no drawback, and Baubles are tokens crafted from dreams that allow a limited kind of dreamshaping to encroach on reality related to a single concept such as "A forgotten deadline leaves me well and truly fucked."

The Sword of Nod

Next to dreams of death, dreams of helplessness are among the most common to the sleeping minds of people everywhere. These dreams play up the psyche’s sense of inadequacy or feed on perceived vulnerabilities of body, mind or character. Not all dreams of helplessness feature violence, but the ones that do are strong and pure in the fear they engender. A man might be forced by his sleeping consciousness to witness the torture of his family while he remains shackled by nothing more than his own cowardice. Another dream might feature personal injury from faceless persecutors against whom the dreamer is unable to lift a finger, no matter how hard he tries. It is from these dreams the sword is born. A weapon as fluid and changing as a dream. One moment it might be a rapier, the next a crossbow, or perhaps the bow of a violin, wielding music as a weapon to rend and slash at your emotions than your body. It is always bright silver without exception as if it was forged from moonlight itself.

One of the few tokens without any kind of Catch, as it cannot exist in the waking world easily, but if hedgespun into a physical item, it can, but it will always take glamour to use.

Hedgespun Wardrobe

A small suitcase with a key attached, always locked. Never unlocks unless the user can pay its price: A bit of glamour, either in the form of emotions or the Catch. The wardrobe can create any outfit the user specifies ("something in dark leather" "A stately ballgown" etc) but cannot create things sturdy enough to be armor even if they appear to be such and any clothing created disappears at sunrise whether it's worn or not. However, one may specify to recreate a previously-worn outfit, such as telling it to "make the outfit I wore at the Winter ball last year". Descriptions can be as vague as "something with a shirt and skirt" to as specific as the type of cut, exact length of sleeves, particular designs and so on.

Mien: The Wardrobe rattles slightly, and may shift as if alive. A chest with clawed feet may flex its toes slightly from time to time, and the moths engraved on a wardrobe’s door may seem to move their wings. Opening the object releases a musty, warm (or cold) rush of air like a breath.

Catch: A small blood tithe by slicing themselves on the bladed tip of the key. If sliced, the wound aches while the garments are worn, making concentration difficult.

The Dreamweaver Quills

This set of two black quills, one horn and one ivory. Ivory shaft gives nightmares while horn shaft gives pleasant dreams. The user must make ink from crushed fae fruit and write on a surface. The intended recipient must then eat the item or sleep with it the next night. A common use is to inscribe edible paper with the ink, though some methods like inscribing a dream's script a few words at a time in a bag of potato chips is often done as well.

Drawback: Although it never actually wears down, it does become blunt after repeated use, requiring the user to sharpen it. Inevitably, the owner jabs himself with the sharp point the next time he uses it and the quill feeds on the drawn blood as payment. However, the user must be very careful to use the correct quill! Using the Ivory shaft will always cause nightmares no matter what the intent of the user. So if someone wants to create a personal hellscape of fire and brimstone, but accidentally uses the Horn quill, the dream might instead involve Satan inviting them to hell for afternoon tea by the fireplace or something equally silly.

An example is a cuddly teddybear with a piece of paper sewn inside it that has the dream's script written on it causing that dream to whoever sleeps with it or a shirt printed with the dream on it.

Catch: The user intentionally stabs themselves with the quill, feeding it their blood for use as ink, bypassing the glamour requirement.

Bloodstring Instrument

In certain courts in Faerie, the Gentry force some of their stolen captives to play music for them. But as is ever the case, the Fair Folk's desires can change with the moment, and what was an enchanting melody one day is shrieking noise the next. Over long ages of captivity, some of the musicians' pain and horror sinks into the instrument until it becomes capable of inflicting pain itself.

After activation, the music becomes a potent weapon, though only against a single target at a time. Anyone else will hear a hauntingly beautiful but discordant melody (subject to the skill of the player), but the target will hear a wild babel of sound that causes real pain.

The deaf or otherwise hearing-impaired (such as earplugs) are immune to its effects, though it may also be used as a regular instrument when not active.

Mask: A simple, wooden violin shaped somewhat like a skull.

Mien: A skull-shaped violin made of bone and silvery metal that glows red when in use, the color dripping into the eye sockets and vanishing inside, making it look like it's crying blood.

Catch: After use, the user becomes deafened themselves for an hour, though thankfully without ringing or anything other than complete silence.

The Silver Key

Legends say that if, at sunset on midsummer’s eve, a young boy places a warm, stolen hen’s egg into a hole in a stone wall, the fae cannot resist the purloined treat. By dawn the next morning, the egg will be gone, and a key that unlocks the realm of the fairies will have been left in its place.

The Silver Key appears to be an antique, tarnished silver skeleton key with an oval head. When used to trace the edges of any open doorway, window, or gate, the key can open a gate into the Hedge. In addition, these keys only work for normal humans. Vampires, werewolves, and the like are unable to make them function. The doorway will remain open for approximately one minute, whether or not someone passes through it. It can also be used to find the way back, opening a gate to the mortal world from the Hedge.

The key will not accept glamour due to only being usable by humans.

Catch: The key saps something vital from the mind of the user, sucking some of their willpower and drive to fuel the gate. Nothing a good night's sleep can't fix, but over-use can have consequences, leaving one exhausted, drained, and causing depression-like lack of drive as their willpower has not had a chance to 'recharge'.

Hollow Heart

This token can be made out of any receptacle roughly large enough to hold a bowling ball, but the traditional material is the heart of a cow or a similarly sized animal.

This receptacle must be left in the Hedge near an established gateway that serves as the focus for intense emotions (funeral parlors, comedy clubs, and churches during wedding season are good choices). When the token forms, it can hold Glamour, growing heavier as it becomes full. A changeling cannot shunt Glamour from his own pool into the bag, but can fill it by harvesting Glamour from emotion. Later, a creature that desires to use this glamour, either for fae contracts, token activations, or the like, may draw from the bag.

Catch: However, if they do not have a Wyrd level, they must pay in a blood tithe as they reach into the bag, the zipper biting at their hands in exchange, like accidentally cutting your finger in the kitchen. The more that is drawn, the more painful the process as it draws tithe not from the blood, but from the pain with the blood being the carrier.

Mien: No matter what the Hollow Heart was before becoming a token, its mien is a leathery, almost flesh-like bag.

Mask: A leather bag, of the same size, often with a zipper. It can be used to hold normal items, but beware the Drawback!

As it fills with Glamour, it becomes warm (if the emotions are predominantly anger- or desire-based) or cold (if they are sorrow- or fear-based) to the touch. Drawback: The bag “smacks” the edges like lips, hungry for more sustenance. If the changeling is wounded, the bag absorbs blood (the purest form of emotion, one might say), making its wounds worse.

The Rose of Many Colors

This rose acts as a kind of magical Swiss army knife. With a 'bribe' of glamour it changes shape into a tool or weapon, though without expending willpower it can only take the form of one legal according to local laws. For example if turned into a set of lockpicks, it might extend the stem and bend it, or one of the thorns may grow into the shape of a pick and snap off for use only to crumble to dust once complete, or if turned into a rapier its stem may grow long, thin, and sharp with the thorns falling away as the flower wraps itself around as a hand guard as well as around the user's wrist for stability. It might even become a pistol that shoots thorns as deadly as any bullet or a crossbow that fires bolts covered in thorns.

Drawback: The user must prick themselves on the thorns to activate. Enough for mild bruising and soreness for a tool, or actually drawing blood such as a slash across a vein for a weapon. In order to draw blood from a foe, the rose must draw blood from the wielder first. If the user tries to get around this by using a tool as a weapon, the rose takes the blood tithe anyway in a much more painful manner.

Catch: If not paid in glamour, the rose will wind itself around the user's wrist, bonding with the skin in a way that does not cause pain beyond the tithes but renders it difficult to remove without taking the arm off entirely with their hands taking on a plant-like texture, such as fingers ending in thorn claws but attempting to use them as such will incur a tithe, winding vines between the bones in a way that is distinctly unpleasant but not harmful but it is very obvious. At the end of an hour, the rose retracts its grip without harming the user or leaving any scars or marks. While bonded, movement causes uncomfortable sensations and tends to be a bit itchy, creating distraction penalties to attempt to use any tools it creates.

Gilded Raiment:

This suit of gossamer clothing is attractive, well-made, and comfortable, and changes size to fit the wearer. If the wearer adjusts his clothing and clearly states how he wants it to change, it transforms into the desired clothing. Commands can be anything from “become a military uniform” to “help me hide.” The clothing can even become outdoor gear to offer protection from the elements, but cannot become armor of any sort. All damage to the clothing can be repaired in the Hedge by soaking it in the wearer’s blood.

Path of Stones:

A small cloth bag with a drawstring. When opened, it contains three or four small, rounded, roughly coin-shaped white stones. If the character opens the bag, takes out a stone and names a destination, she can toss the stone and it lands in the direction of this destination. The bag never runs out of stones, and never gets lighter or heavier. The path provided by the stones automatically leads the character away from obvious and avoidable dangers and problems like guards, dangerous animals, or difficult terrain, and can even lead her towards unguarded secret passages if she asks to find an unseen entrance or exit. However, it cannot make safe or easy paths where none exist. Also, the stones cannot be used in this fashion in the Hedge. The character can also whisper “leave a path” while touching the bag, and it will leave white stones behind it in a path — even if the character does not or cannot open the bag, or is tied up and blindfolded. Normally, only the person holding the bag can see either path. The stones can be used in this latter fashion in the Hedge

Winning Ticket: Trifle

Lottery tickets provoke a treasure trove of modern superstitions. This ticket carries its fair share of luck; a tumbleweed of thorny vines bursts out of it when it’s activated, shredding it. For the scene, every random guess the user makes is entirely accurate. She can guess a cell phone’s passcode on the first attempt, call a specific person without knowing their number, and choose the correct fork in the road without any investigation. This does not impart any knowledge or make navigating the Hedge any easier, and the user doesn’t recall specific information she guessed after the trifle’s power expires.

Barterer's Coin: Trifle

This coin doesn’t look like much, with verdigris tarnishing its surface. When activated, the coin turns a shiny emerald color before disappearing in a puff of golden smoke. Until the scene’s end, the coin’s user benefits from magically enhanced bartering and haggling ability.

Blue Tobacco: Trifle

If someone smokes this faintly blue-tinted tobacco in either the mundane world or the Hedge, the blue smoke glows faintly and summons a Hob. Some other varieties of faerie tobacco summon other types of intelligent hobgoblins. Once summoned, the hobgoblin is willing to perform one service that requires less than one full day to complete. This service can include leading the character through the Hedge to some destination, answering questions, stealing a small object, or even providing prophetic, but typically enigmatic advice. The Hob can only perform actions typical members of its kind can perform, and it will not directly harm any other intelligent being. However, asking it to slay all of a noble’s guard dogs or make all of a farmer’s horses lame are both reasonable requests. Smoking more than one dose in a day causes fatigue penalties as the lungs clog with mucus and smoke.

Water of Life: Trifle

Found in wells in the Hedge that are either concealed or guarded, and also in a few springs and pools in Arcadia, the water of life is a universal cure-all. Drinking it instantly cures any disease, including both lethal diseases like consumption and congenital problems like withered limbs. The same dose of the water of life also instantly heals all of the target’s bashing and lethal wounds and up to four levels of aggravated damage, and adds a decade onto the drinker’s lifespan. An average canteen or bottle holds a single dose of this water. While it can sometimes be found at Goblin Markets, the price is always exceptionally high

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