Pact Web Serial Wiki
Register
Advertisement

An Implement is a tool chosen by a practitioner that serves as a badge for them, and as an item to further define their craft.[1][2][3][4] Once an Implement has been chosen, the practitioner can never choose another one.[5][6] The Implement ritual is one of the three defining rituals for a Western Practitioner, alongside the Famulus and Demesne rituals;[7][8][9][6] it is the oldest and most common of the three.[10]

Creation[]

To obtain an Implement, the practitioner must perform a ritual that requires infusing the item with power[11] and possibly, ideally, for them to be at the right point in their life.[12] The amount and type of power infused helps to determine the Implement's strength and abilities,[11] as do the item's quality and the practitioner's general power levels.[13] It is possible to choose a set of items as a single implement.[14][15][16]

The ritual is simple and generally takes three days. It involves becoming intimately acquainted with the object over that time; it is harder if the object has a complex history.[17]

The ritual involves invoking your name; if one supernaturally loses their name, they may also lose the connection to the Implement.[18]

Limits[]

Generally the item must be small enough to be held in one's hand or hands,[6][19][20] although it is technically possible to have one which is heavier, causing one to be severely weakened when away from the object but helping to infuse power into one location.[21] Travel and practice may be slowed by a heavy Implement.[22]

Choosing a Magic Item, that is already infused with power, makes the ritual more difficult and risks pulling you towards that power source or Realm.[17] Active or malicious items are especially likely to have their energies find outlet through the Practitioner.[23]

Recently-developed technology, which is unfamiliar to the spirits as a symbol, will lack most of the usual effects of an Implement if chosen. This is in addition to the hazards of technological obsolescence. However, some Technomancers will still choose such items, which can be useful for extending one's Self and magic into digital spaces.[24] Even a simpler/older item with mechanical moving parts may have issues.[20]

Effects[]

These tools are bonded to the practitioner and especially strong connections will contrive to keep them together.[5][25] This effect is stronger if the practitioner made the item themself.[26] It can generally only be lost long-term via a binding bargain or to a powerful Other. Being without one's Implement will weaken a practitioner's Self by up to a third; having it truly destroyed is severely damaging.[27] Even hiding or transforming one's Implement may diminish the Self.[28]

If an Implement is damaged or physically spent/depleted in some manner, the item can self-repair by drawing on the practitioner's personal power.[29]

Thematic Effects[]

The practitioner's personality and skills will be somewhat influenced and strengthened by their choice of Implement over time.[30] This may be stronger with older items.[31]

An Implement is recognized by spirits and other forces somewhat like a component of a diagram, especially when wielded by its owner. A sword might direct forces outward when pointing or block them when guarding, for instance, just as the lines in a diagram would.[32][33]

An implement which forms a closed circle, such as a ring, is more likely to manifest a distinctive power, as is one which is especially elaborate or "one-note". Possible powers of an Implement include acting as a battery for storing energy,[34][35][36] storing distilled ghosts and shooting them at people,[37] making it easier to hold or sustain effects,[34] making all your magic more beautiful,[38] making all or most magic come with a certain element attached,[39][40] making ongoing effects you inflict painful to remove,[41] making all of your magic more subtle,[42] granting you some of the benefits and status of a Ruins Other,[17] the ability to ward off heat, the ability to breathe underwater, linking yourself to a particular ally,[43] imparting a specific curse or effect to anyone struck,[25] enhancing one's Second Sight,[44] vomiting blood and minor goblins every morning,[23] transforming oneself, taking on negative effects for the practitioner,[45] transforming an area into a particular Realm.[46][47]

An implement can make any use of power more efficient.[48] Implements will commonly make certain practices easier, in keeping with the symbolism of the item, but often also make certain practices harder.[39][49][50][51] This sort of minor to moderate effect on certain Practices is the most common "power" for Implements to display,[52] affecting the cost of every Practice performed.[53] As a result, some practitioners - even powerful ones - choose to forgo choosing an Implement to remain more flexible.[42]

An Implement's power, being influenced by the power of its owner, will grow with them.[13] If the practitioner has excess power or spends time in an area soaked with power, the Implement may develop into a living implement,[54] animating or manifesting a body[55] and drawing a singleminded personality from a relevant aspect of the practitioner's personality.[56]

Social Effects[]

Since it permanently affects your Practice, picking an Implement serves as a statement about your intended path in life; it's been compared to choosing a career.[1][2] It can also show one's cultural background and patterns of thinking.[3]

Many Others will perceive and be influenced by the implications of your Implement even if it is kept out of sight.[17] Others or practitioners with especially keen senses can often perceive what an individual's Implement is, superimposed over them in some sense.[57][57] Even Innocents may be subconsciously influenced.[58]

When examining how an Implement can relate to others, there are three major aspects one can look at: declarative, authoritative, and socio-cultural. The declarative aspect is what the object conveys to others while it is inert and base, generally only focusing on the obvious descriptors. The authoritative aspect is what the object conveys to others while it is in use. The socio-cultural aspect is what groups are most likely to use the object and for what purpose. All three of these aspects carry a meaning when deciding on an Implement and should be taken into consideration.[59]

Some iconic implements have held significant meaning throughout history. They include Chains, Chakrams, Chalice, Coffers, Coins, Emblems, Knives, Lanterns, Lenses, Masks, Plates, Rings, Scepter, Skulls, Staffs, Standards, Stone, Swords, Talismans, Tomes, Trumpets, and Wands.

Instrumental incidentals[]

After the owner dies the object stops being an implement but can easily take on incidental power, making it easier to become a magic item.[60]

Known In-Story Implements[]

Variations[]

Although a single irreplaceable Implement is the standard in the West, some Eastern practices allow for multiples or sets of Implements.[62]

It's possible to combine an implement with one of the other major rituals, such as making a vehicle both your Demesne and your Implement. However, this generally results in a single item which fills both "slots" without being any more powerful than a standard Implement, merely different; possibly even weaker. Violating the strong traditions that surround the Implement ritual is generally not considered worth it.[63][64][65] Familiar/Implement hybrids where an Other is forcibly bound as an object have become popular in eastern Russia.[66]

Some practitioners have a way to choose something that isn't solid as an Implement,[67] but the techniques are kept secret.[68] Examples include an Elementalist choosing a liquid, gas, or quantity of dust,[69] a Divine practitioner using a quantity of divine energy bound in abstract form,[70] or a practitioner claiming some "art", "noise" or "corruption" as an Implement (such as a patch of artwork that moves along surfaces or a corrupting ooze.)[68]

The Ascetic Ritual is somewhat like choosing one's own body as an Implement, eschewing physical possessions.[71]

History[]

The Implement ritual is the oldest of the three Defining Rituals.[10]

Sword implements have declined in popularity in recent times,[72] as has the Chalice (once usual for female Practitioners)[73][74] and the decorative Plate (now almost unheard-of.)[46]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 “Implements are supposed to be badges, [...] Choosing an implement means deciding the one tool you’ll define yourself by for the rest of your life.  That adage, ‘if all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail?’  I think that holds true with implements.  This is a kind of commitment to a path in life, so maybe that’s what feels wrong.  I’m committing to something… less than pleasant.”

    “You’re committing to breaking swords?” Ty asked.“I’m committing to stopping things like the Hyena.  You don’t take an implement like this if you don’t plan on fighting, and continuing to fight for a long time.”
    [...]
    “Some shamans specifically hunt monsters to get materials to make items with, infusing those items like you infused June’s hatchet.  Right here, you’ve got something that could be powerful.  Tricky, yes, but powerful.  Tap into what the Hyena could do.  Strength, durability, inspiring fear…” - Excerpt from Void 7.11
  2. 2.0 2.1 A familiar represents the people you want to be around, choosing an implement is like choosing a career, and a demesne is where you want to be. - Excerpt from Void 7.11
  3. 3.0 3.1 Gathered Pages: 2
  4. 3. Study and enact the ritual noted in Implementum.  Your choice of tool will shape how you interact with this world, your craft, and will be your badge in the eyes of many.  The book is dreary, page on page of examples, but study it thoroughly, for there are many meanings, and a poor choice of tool may well cripple you. - Excerpt from Bonds 1.3
  5. 5.0 5.1 The connections are strong enough that lost items and things will tend to blow their way back. The path of least resistance will remain the things that bring master and implement/practice/demesnes together again.

    Once lost, though, you don't tend to get the ability to get stuff back. If demesnes/familiar/implement are allegories for where you're at, your life partner, and your career, then it'd make sense you'd have the ability to pick a new one, much as it's common nowadays for people to have two marriages, or make a massive career change mid-life, or (not so common, but possible to) pick up and move halfway across the world. But the practitioner world tends to lag behind the real world in these things. Perhaps in a few decades, with some precedent. - Comment by Wildbow
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Nick raised one eyebrow, but he went on.  “Three ways you build up power.  Blake has one, maybe two?”
    [...]
    "You can pick an implement, too.  Your tool of the trade.  There are no takebacks.  Everything matters, when you make your choice.  The style of it, the history, the type of item, the purpose it’s meant to serve, the symbolism…”

    “An object?” Alexis asked.

    “Like a wand,” I said, “Or a dagger…”

    “Any restrictions?”

    “Has to be something you can hold in your hand, or hands,” I said.
    [...]
    “These are life-altering calls you’re making,” Nick said.  “Like I said, the rules are old.  You don’t backtrack, you don’t get to decide on one option here and then backtrack.  We talked about setting down roots.  There’s the tool, the choice of vocation, how you want to face down the world and how you want the world to look at you.  Finally, we have the familiar.  Kind of like marriage, but with one of the monsters.” - Excerpt from Subordination 6.3
  7. The three rituals noted here are fundamental in determining how you access, hoard and focus power. - excerpt from Bonds 1.3
  8. The largest group that might be said to make regular use of the scepter would be the Anglo-influenced Japanese families of practitioners, who have taken on the Western traditions of choosing implement, familiar, and demesnes for their personal power. - Excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Gathered Pages: 2
  9. One tidbit I was able to pick up these past few months was about Eastern styles.  India, some of Japan.  See, they aren’t big on familiars and implements and demesnes.  Well, the Western-influenced ones are. - Excerpt from Damages 2.7
  10. 10.0 10.1 For as long as there has been practice there have been tools to hone that practice.  Of the three defining rituals of the Western practitioner, the Ritual Implementum dates back the furthest and is the most frequently carried out. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  11. 11.0 11.1 “It’s a bit of a catch-22, isn’t it?  The demesne gives us a steady supply of power, with bigger spaces giving us more power.  It’s a sanctuary, and a place where we can bend the rules in our favor.  Right?  So we need a tool or a familiar to lay claim to as big a space as we can pull off.”

    “Yes.”

    “But we can’t infuse our tool until we have some power to infuse it with,” I said.  “Except…”

    “That power would ideally come from the demesne,” Rose said.

    I nodded, “Or the familiar, in terms of strength and shaping how the tool functions.  And we can’t start talking with Others about bringing them on board as a familiar until we have some established power already.” - Bonds 1.6
  12. Taking an implement, familiar, or demesnes involves a commitment. The problem here is ensuring that players treat that commitment with gravity, and not as a strict power grab. To these ends, we say the following:

    A practitioner should launch into the ritual in the aftermath of an achievement, the greater the better, that represents their approach to the world (implement), their associations with others (familiar), or their inner self (demesnes). The greater the achievement, the greater the puissance of the ritual’s result.

    A practitioner should have given something as part of the ritual. The greater the price paid, the greater the connection. With a stronger connection, power can be given or taken more freely between the practitioner and the subject of the ritual, and the end result is more adroit in how power is leveraged and used and how changes are wrought. For an implement it is a question of prerogative, how easily the implement is wielded, the time it takes to bring power into focus and to then have the implement take effect. [...] the later in the campaign they choose, the greater the longevity. Implements are more durable, with more staying power or power stored within. - Pact Dice
  13. 13.0 13.1 The quality and make of an object will exaggerate and improve its effects, as will the practitioner’s power, at the time of the Ritual Implementum and as they grow. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  14. Once the ritual is conducted, the implement is preserved, tied to the owner.  If damaged, the owner can put some of their Self into the implement to repair it.  If emptied, spent, or partially lost, for those implements that may be part of a complete set (as with a handful of dice, for example, or a pack of cigarettes), the Self will be tapped to replenish what is spent. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  15. The empty coffer can be a storehouse for things or for power, while the full coffer may eat power while providing an unusual amount of things relating to one’s Self and practice, be it weapons or coin. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  16. Another way that an item can be opposed to value is if it is consumable, such as a cigarette pack or torch.  Consumable items may be easily ‘spent’ for a benefit, but tend to lack value by equal measure.  Items like a deck of cards can be somewhat consumable, with cards thrown or lost, while still having some value, but the cost to replace a card may be high. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 “A side effect of the ritual is that what you choose is, even if kept out of sight, a badge of sorts, indicating who and what you are.  The implement tells Others what to expect of you.  Ms. Casabien makes no secret she works with Others of the Ruins, which we just visited, in a way.  She’s protected against the worst of that environment, she bears some of the benefits that Ruins others enjoy, and they’ll recognize her as one of their own.  It makes it easier, but makes dealing with non-Ruins Others harder.  Be careful when picking something that has power before it’s made an implement, or you may find yourself pulled more into that realm or power source, than the power source is drawn to you.  The ritual is a simple one, conducted over three days, where you become intimately acquainted with the object in question.  This too gets harder if the object is already carrying power.  It can be more complex if the object has a long and complicated history.” - excerpt from Leaving a Mark 4.7
  18. “This implement, if I remember the rituals right, rightfully belongs to Maggie Holt, the name is invoked as part of the ritual.  I can’t really use it, but I’ll have to make do,” Maggie said, taking her implement in hand. - excerpt from Signature 8.2
  19. The item we choose is indicative of a lot about who we are.  How we approach the world.  It’s a decision we make only once, one object that can be held in our hands and comfortably lifted, and it works better if it’s not already magic. - Excerpt from Leaving a Mark 4.7
  20. 20.0 20.1 The implement has a few essential requirements: it must be a material, solid object.  It must be easy to carry or wear.  It should not be magical, or its nature should be well accepted and understood before the practitioner ties themselves to it.  Objects with mechanical functionality and/or many moving parts may lack functionality due to the way the separation between parts or outside momentum interrupt their functionality as an effective piece of diagram. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  21. The Heavy Implement is one that cannot be carried in the hands, or one that weighs twenty pounds or more.  One’s power is rooted in the implement, and the further the individual is from the chosen implement, the more the Self diminishes, with strength of Self and practice fading swiftly if they are more than a hundred and fifty feet from the object.  This is an extension of what is described with the stone as an implement, carried further.

    As an advantage, the power tends to be fairly well-rooted in the location, and may spread to the immediate vicinity, provided there isn’t any prior claim by lord, practitioner, or innocent.  Impact tends to be higher within the affected area, and with the right arrangements, may extend further. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  22. What, then, is the effect of a practitioner chaining themselves to a rock for life?  One’s effective mobility is hampered, and this will act as a symbolic and functional impedance in the practitioner’s life.  As spirits take note and start to act in accordance with this badge of office, the practitioner will find that travel becomes hard.  It represents the practitioner’s handling of practice, and it is hard to deftly handle; practice then becomes cumbersome, heavy, and slow.  It may have more impact and longevity, but the cost is not worth it. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  23. 23.0 23.1 It is here that the implement, if it was magical prior to the Ritual Implementum, may have a strong effect on the practitioner. An item with strong divine influence, for example, will have a deep and everlasting effect on the practitioner’s Self.  What that influence is can vary, but it can be akin to a curse in the worst circumstances.  Take for example, the example of Archie Meadows, the youngest of four who were born to a family that dealt with goblins.  The four children were made to compete, with four objects up for grabs, of varying power and use.  Archie lost, and was made to take the worst item, a doll made of meat that included one blood-filled lung that would vomit out blood and goblins of the smallest caliber on command.  Once he took it as an implement, he found that every morning and night, he would mimic the doll’s effect, vomiting out gallons of blood along with a dozen of the smallest goblins.

    In another example, a practitioner named Sadie Coy took a canopy jar holding a Revenant’s ashes, thinking the Revenant done and the jar simply empowered but unoccupied.  The revenant stirred in residual ashes, and she was bound to the Revenant’s revenge.

    This isn’t to say that an item with magical influences is a poor choice; an item with a ‘dead’ or sufficiently controlled force within it can be easier to manage and is less likely to find a malicious outlet through the owner, but the best choice of item is one that is fully understood and researched, to the extent that the person performing the ritual knows the full extent of what will happen after the ritual. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  24. The Digital Implement is any device normally in the Technomancer’s province, including blackberries, handheld televisions, and radios.  Too unfamiliar to spirits to have a ‘diagram’, the digital implement foregoes the upsides and uses of an implement for a material means of connecting one’s Self to the digital reaches and better extend that self through those spaces.  The item’s value can be expected to sit at middling to low values and then plummet when the item falls out of common use, dragging one’s Self with it.  Technomancer families may have the means by which to extend this ‘shelf life’ and protect the Self when using such devices, but many choose conventional implements regardless. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  25. 25.0 25.1 The Chakram is a close cousin of the ring, but is symbolic and aggressive at the same time.  A metal ring as large or larger around than a dinner plate, often with a sharpened outer edge and heavily decorated, it forms its own closed diagram and houses its own effect.  The chakram can be worn as jewelry with turbans or as bracelets, be thrown as a weapon, or be held and used to slash in close quarters.  Because it houses its effect and is aggressive, it can sometimes impart an effect like a curse or element to the one struck.  The claim one has to their implement helps ensure it bounces back to the owner.

    Exercise: The last two implements were closed circles.  What might another closed circle be that you could use as an implement.  Can you think of any other objects with distinct shapes that are related to shapes you know from elementary diagrams? - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  26. Items made by the practitioner, by contrast, may not have the same value to them, but afford a greater connection between item and owner.  This influences one’s claim over the item, and the flows of power or the effects like the growth and natural ability with the object, noted above. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  27. The practitioner will maintain a great deal of claim to the item, and this operates on a cosmic level; if lost or stolen, it will find its way back to the practitioner.  If given away, loaned, or taken hostage, it will remain gone, but those Others much weaker than the practitioner may find it slips their grasp and finds its way back to the owner in short order.  Loans with a binding word on the owner’s part or loans to very powerful Others will be lasting.  While without the object, the practitioner will be lessened, their Self reduced by as much as a third.  A permanent destruction of the implement, while rare, may be akin to losing an arm or a leg. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  28. Know first that the implement reflects the Self.  If the practitioner’s tool is hidden, transformed, or kept locked away, the Self will be diminished.  In practice, this will make the practitioner less effective at what they seek to do, more vulnerable, and less capable of expressing power. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  29. Once the ritual is conducted, the implement is preserved, tied to the owner.  If damaged, the owner can put some of their Self into the implement to repair it.  If emptied, spent, or partially lost, for those implements that may be part of a complete set (as with a handful of dice, for example, or a pack of cigarettes), the Self will be tapped to replenish what is spent. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  30. Conversely, while held, the implement augments the Self.  The specific things it reinforces are subtle, but over time, the individual will grow to match the implement.
    Some examples:

    The Tome-bearing practitioner will find that reading comes more naturally, as does memorization and facility with language or art.

    The Knife-bearing practitioner will become more skilled with the blade, and more able to use the knife in a fight.

    The Crown-wearing practitioner will have an easier time with leadership, being comfortable with being looked up to, and appearing noble.

    These aspects of personal growth are not usually above and beyond what the individual could do or learn, but are best described as the effect of spending one’s days with a book, or spending one’s days handling the knife or bearing the crown.  Because the implement is an extension of the practitioner, use of it and related things become very natural.

    By a similar token, the material and make of the implement do have their influences.  An item of gouged steel, torn leather, and sharp edges will impart familiarity with places, people, and things in a similar state.- excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  31. Items with a bloody history will impart familiarity with the bloody, so care should be paid to whether an object was used to kill at any point.  Longer histories mean the practitioner must spend longer with the ritual and may take longer to become intimate with the item, but allow for far more depth and nuance. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  32. Think, if you will, of the implement as a segment of a diagram.  The arrow pointing outward with an epithet written within, the symbol for life with spokes radiating outward, the attached figures and circles drawn as an adjunct to tie the effect to the practitioner, or the barrier raised against outside harm with a symbol for fire inscribed on it.  In actuality, of course, these are material objects the practitioner bears, that they may channel practice through.

    Once chosen, this segment of diagram is with the practitioner always.  The ritual, from the point it is performed, will influence the practitioner’s practice in subtle ways.  When the implement is wielded, worn, or borne, that influence is far stronger.  Just as the forces of our world react to a diagram that points outward, they will react to the presence of a sword that does the same.  They will recognize the sword’s guard as they do a barrier, and they will recognize everything about that sword’s history, culture, and appearance as they would the writing within and around a chalk circle.

    In actuality, there is no fixed diagram, but the parallels and effects are much the same.  - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  33. In active use, the item can be used to shortcut practices: a staff striking ground to replace the active portions of a diagram, while the associated elements are held, or personal power being pushed through a talisman while a line is drawn in the dirt, directing it. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  34. 34.0 34.1 The chalice is a container, and as such, can be used to hoard a measure of power, but unlike the box, it does not contain or store it long-term.  Many will use the chalice to hold blood from a sacrificed individual or being, and as such it becomes a battery for power.  As the chalice holds liquid, the implement allows the wielder to hold or sustain effects, using the aforementioned battery. - Excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Gathered Pages: 2
  35. Faberge Egg is tricky and niche, but in very different ways than I think the perfume bottle is. I could see it being pretty exclusively for Historical/Heroic practitioners who are tapping into a specific type and collection of figures that they want to access. It'd be a specific egg for a specific person, with power and status stemming from that egg because of the people who once owned it. It's just a battery for power, drawing in specific figures of a specific type from beyond the veil/from the incoherent consciousness, and maybe a special function or power that could be invoked when needed (faberge eggs contained surprises of value). - Comment by Wildbow
  36. The Coin is a small token, subtle, and tied heavily into the notion of fortune, fate, and exchange.  A typically metal, stamped disc that can be held in the palm.  Rarely the centerpiece of a practice, though it may act as a very weak talisman if marked, or as a token of power that can be easily handed away, replaced with Self over time. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  37. I saw his implement.  A crystal ball with a skull in the center, tucked in the crook of his arm.
    [...]
    Images of faces flickered between the orb-encased skull and the necromancer’s fingertips, as he caressed his implement.
    [...]
    The necromancer reached out, and the images of faces danced out, much like a flash of electricity.  Green Eyes took one to the collarbone, reeled, and then disentangled herself, ducking under a fence, a canvas of bloody skin still hooked to her tail.
    [...]
    He hit me with distilled echoes, every single one of them a dying memory. - Excerpt from Duress 12.8
  38. The handheld mirror is a strong implement with a fair bit of use. Not something you'd use in every situation, but there's a reflection-of-self, deflection, aesthetic element to it that could make all practices more beautiful and effective on an interpersonal level, or even just for a personal level. Vision/clarity, too, plays a big part and would be the 'mirror mirror on the wall' part of it. I could see practitioners of fae magic, augurs, some heartless, hosts, sympaths, some scourges (bloody mary), oni mages, etc, all could have uses for mirrors. In addition to aesthetic & clarity effects, might make your practices overall stronger against indirect attacks/defenses but weaker against direct attack or blunter defenses. - Comment by Wildbow
  39. 39.0 39.1 Fans are also strong, though not so much used in the west. There's an aspect of partial concealment, the elemental, comfort, even (given the right fan) defense. I could see fans used by oni mages (primarily), many fey, many elementalist, some heroic/historical practitioners. I could see the effect on your practices to append a degree of elemental or secondary effects to all practices (the winds produced by the movement of the fan)- depending heavily on the make of the fan and the practitioner's practice. There might also be some indirect obstruction in the face of general level attention, reachings, or environmental effects, delaying the time it takes for a spell or Other to get a grip on you, when it doesn't already have you in its sights (hiding the face, holding off the heat). As a drawback, one might lose effectiveness in penetrating defenses and making the ephemeral solid. - Comment by Wildbow
  40. A talisman of water can allow one to assume water by default, filling in the blanks by impressing the talisman on the practice at hand, or to force water into an ongoing practice. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  41. Fish-hook is just so very narrowly focused that I struggle to really parse it. I could see it having merit for a curse mage, who wants their curses to really stick, but it's also elemental and environmental, and not in the sense that it's especially good for elementalism. It's more that it's focused on water as a venue, with specific prey in mind, so it might take on drawbacks. Unless you or your target are near open water at the time of practicing, your practice might suffer. A slight offensive edge, the ability to make it so the removal of any ongoing effects you set is difficult or painful, but also, as an associated drawback, effects that bounced back to you might hurt to remove as well (the fishhook can prick you, and acts of inexperience might even encourage such to happen). I struggle to really think of any inherent drawbacks other than that it's small and flimsy- so the net effect/gain is small and easier to cancel out. In terms of rep or status it might impact how Others and councils see you. - Comment by Wildbow
  42. 42.0 42.1 “Every object has a function.  Choose a shield as an implement, and it will tend to gather any benefits and spirits that gather around you, to better serve its function of protecting you from harm. The shield offers a different kind of protection than the raincoat.”

    “Can I sit?” Jessica asked.

    He motioned with a hand for her to sit, and she took a seat on the bench, heavy.

    He went on.  “But that’s not all an implement is.  It is, like a magical diagram, a kind of series of signs, that tell the practice how to act around you.  Spirits will sit up and pay attention, standing at the ready to protect the shieldbearer.  Or the raincoat wearer.  And as the user practices, they will flow in a way that works with the implement.  Imagine that you yourself are a magical diagram, and the implement is an extension of that diagram.  Its messaging is very clear, and it colors every practice that flows through and around you, from the time of the ritual until the day you die.  It can make some practices weaker, at the same time it strengthens others.  Some, like me, choose not to commit to one, because they prefer to be more flexible.  But they are very powerful.  Our own headmaster uses a wand.  It can be used to point, to direct, and his practice leans that way as a result.  It can be held up a sleeve or used to make fine motions, and his own practice becomes subtle and finer to the touch.”   - Excerpt from Leaving a Mark 4.7
  43. Worn on the hand, the ring applies itself to the manual handling of practice and Others, its design and its closeness to the wearer imparting some benefit or effect.  In short, by having the ring of a specific design, it becomes its own closed diagram (as the ring itself is closed).  This can be a way for a practitioner to attain a lasting effect such as the ability to ward off heat or the ability to hold one’s breath for longer underwater.  In other cases, tying to the idea of the wedding ring or other symbols of engagement, the ring may connect to an Other or another practitioner, linking them. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  44. The Lens may be a monocle, spyglass, or spectacles, but could include a gemcutter’s lapidary.  Enables one to see what they otherwise could not.  Ties in directly to the Sight, and may enable the blind or hard of seeing to not see better, but to See better.  Does not often exaggerate or benefit a given practice, unless that practice is centered around information gathering or Sight, but can provide additional insights that help with all practice.

    Exercise: Thought experiment: what materials or design would one use if they wanted to make a lens that would help keep an eye on Death?  What about War? - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  45. Subtle, but in very different ways from the knife or wand, the mask may allow one to adopt a certain role or even alter one’s own Self in a pinch.  Used in practice, the mask may be a substitute for oneself, or a deflection or barrier when the Self might be at risk. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  46. 46.0 46.1 The Plate is a very old type of implement, seeing virtually no modern use.  Traditionally a decorative plate, individually crafted and painted or tiled to serve as a very large symbol and/or a periodic means of delivering an offering to the gods.  At a time when art was expensive, the plate was a means of carrying and displaying images, often held during formal events, when posing for portraits, or they were mounted on the walls and above doors.  More modern interpretations or replacements have been discussed, including the mirror, but we include the plate for illustrative purposes; its tie is specifically to the past and avoids the present, and because of this, it carries a great deal of weight when dealing with old Others.  The quality and nature of the art may make the plate a good vessel for transforming an area; should it depict a region of the Faerie it could be held up to transform the immediate surroundings, or if it is tied to subservient service to a god, it may reflect that god’s influence. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  47. By contrast, a ‘lantern’ could be Abyssal, and would let one express some abyss into their immediate surroundings, translating everything close by to an Abyssal alternate.  Other realms can be cast out into the immediate environment in this manner. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  48. “It’s sage advice.  I need a goddamn power source.  Not just a bit of hair.”

    “You need a demesnes.  Or a tool that can make any use of power more efficient,” Rose said.  “Or a familiar.” - excerpt from Breach 3.5
  49. The perfume bottle is a less-strong implement. It's the kind of thing I imagine a new practitioner might tap into. You don't have a family, you don't have a strong background or library of texts to read, and you pick up some practice in a particular field. Self-augmentation, charm, illusion, beguilement, whatever. You're working with scraps and because those scraps are all you have, you pick an implement that encompasses that narrow field of coverage - you get good at this one thing -beguilement and allure, self enhancement-, but probably at the sacrifice of many other things. Substance, attack power, defensive power, utility. It's like being the bad guy in the one-shot episode of a tv show like Buffy or Supernatural- where you have this one thing you do pretty well, but it's liable to fall through if the gimmick it supports fails.

    Bird whistle is... I guess it's doable. I feel like there'd be better options for the draiodhe or minion summoner that wanted to use one to focus on their airborne minions. Easier calling of flying Others and natural things? Less effectiveness on other Others, practitioners, mundanes, and non-flying things? - Comment by Wildbow
  50. The wand is not in common use in the world, barring stage shows. However, it is easily hidden, indicating a balance between the two worlds.  It can easily be decorated or high quality, and is distinctly of practitioners and the practice.  As such, the wielder can be assumed to be focused on practitioners and their workings.  The result might be an ease with altering or adjusting the work of others, defense against workings, and especially offense against workings (see the notes on the Authoritative, below).
    [...]
    In the practitioner schools in the United Kingdom, wands are provided to the students by default, for their convenience, easy portability, and a prevailing sentiment that the wand is the strongest implement of choice for practitioner dealings against hostile practitioners. - Excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Gathered Pages: 2
  51. At the same time, however, some other practices may be negatively affected, just as they would be if they were close to or connected to an inappropriate, outwardly-pointing segment of diagram.  They may be destabilized, weaker, or the practitioner may end up putting some extra notations down to divorce their work from the sword’s influence. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  52. Most often, however, the effect is a minor to moderate influence.  To range, to the lasting power of a practice, to its ability to harm the unclean, or taint the refined.  In this, the materials and nature of the item matter. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  53. In effect, the variables will change for every practice the practitioner undertakes, after the ritual.  This can be somewhat shocking initially but a practitioner will adapt or be adapted in time. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  54. In other cases, objects may come with an associated Other or they may develop their own identities.
    [...]
    In the latter case, where items develop their own identities, the effect is often the result of either an excess of power, where the practitioner has power to spare or spends a great deal of time in an area where power is latent and compatible with them, or less power is applied, but the power being handled has a great deal of motive energy to it. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  55. In either case, the item will either form an immaterial body or voice, largely unable to affect the world but capable of communicating with the practitioner and possibly offering a limited set of eyes or help with the metaphysical, or the item will contrive to form a material body.

    The latter case is especially common in the event of motive energies running wild.  In an example case, we have Windsor, an alchemist who is busy creating life, their workshop filled with homunculi charged with spiritual and natural energies.  Windor makes regular use of their personal cauldron, an implement like the coffer, but in a period where they are focused on paperwork, the waste material of dead homunculi is gathered by the cauldron according to its natural flows and influences and formed into a crude body.  Over time, this body consolidates and forms an identity, becoming a limited workshop helper.

    Such bodies may disintegrate as soon as the practitioner picks up the item, they may be permanently attached, remaining close to the item at all times, or some combination therein. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  56. Living items cannot and should not be mistaken for familiars.  This said, there is some room for intermingling the familiar and implement, discussed in the next chapter, though this is not readily recommended given the costs in opportunity and effect.  Practically, the living item knows what the item does, which is often limited, and tends to reflect one facet of the practitioner’s personality, appropriate to the item. An axe could take on a personality matching the practitioner’s most combat-ready mindset, while the aforementioned cauldron could reflect Windsor’s diligence.  Such items are very single minded, shallow, and often hard for anyone but the source practitioner to get along with.

    Some, such as those who do most of their practice in workshops or in particular areas, may intentionally seek these things out. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  57. 57.0 57.1 Others with extraordinary or nonhuman senses and practitioners who have keen Sight will be able to see one’s relationship to their implement.  In many cases, this is a benefit, as such Others are often face-blind when it comes to telling one human apart from the next, but will recognize the individual by their implement.

    Much ado has been made about the allegorical ‘diagram’ fragment that an item may represent.  Here, we can return to that notion and say that for these Others, the implement and the associated diagram may be placed around, over, on, or through the practitioner.  It may be a mark on the forehead, a reflection of one’s sword in their eyes, or a framework surrounding them. - [1]Sighted artist’s depiction of Irena, who bears a lantern. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  58. Certain Others will find an affinity toward the one who bears a skull, but practitioners and the innocent may find themselves subtly unsettled, as the skull influences things around the practitioner. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  59. Damages 2-x (Gathered Pages 2) from Interlude 2.x
  60. “They were implements, owner died, item was left behind, took on incidental power… you left before that class, right.”

    “Right right.  Guess an implement is nicely primed to become an accidental magic item.”

    “Yeah.  Pretty good ones, a lot of the time.”- Excerpt from Summer Break 13.12
  61. [The Blue Heron Institute's] own headmaster uses a wand. - Excerpt from Leaving a Mark 4.7
  62. It's like how some eastern practitioners have their own systems & standards, where they have familiars and implements wrapped up in the same system (generally with multiples or sets). - Comment by Wildbow
  63. Demesnes can't generally move. There are other ways to go about it, which wouldn't be termed demesnes, but generally at a steep cost.

    It's like how some eastern practitioners have their own systems & standards, where they have familiars and implements wrapped up in the same system (generally with multiples or sets). You might go this route, but there's caveats - at least 2/3 of these are liable to crop up, but very likely all 3, depending on measures taken & how much the practitioner puts into the ritual:
    • You might go for a mobile demesnes but you're basically wrapping it up in familiar or implement. So you have a motorcycle as your cradle, but it's also your familiar, or you have a van as your cradle but it's also your implement. It's not ~actually~ an implement though, but it's taking up that space in terms of your self definition, because it's just this clumsy thing you're doing, and it's not an equal proportion of power. This means you're basically, instead of having a familiar at 100%, an implement at 100%, a demesnes at 100%, you're going 50/50, 100.
    • It's exaggerated further in that it's nontraditional here and so there's less respect and focus afforded to it. So it takes a hit and winds up being more like 33/33, 100 in terms of general puissance/power level. The end result is you've almost halved your overall power level compared to what you could achieve otherwise.
    • Remember Blake talking about how the tool represents how people approach the world, the familiar represents the relationships they form, and the demesnes represents the position they occupy in it? If you're saying "The place I hold in the world is living in a car" or "the place I hold is that of a traveler" then you're sending a lot of signals to the spirits. There's a pretty heavy quality of life cost in this. You're signaling to the spirits that hey, you're probably never going to own a house or live in an apartment for more than a few months. Now all of a sudden you're getting evicted or the landlord wants to stop renting so they can move family into your apartment, or you just can't get that mortgage approval or get a realtor to answer your calls. There's subtle effects to how people & Others see you too. To Others, the practitioner with a sailboat demesnes isn't worth dealing with because they're not going to be here next week.

      Tradition matters and you can buck tradition but at a steep cost. Generally speaking, trying to get tricky with it isn't worth it - some niche cases exist and some people don't care about overall power level, they just want a talking motorcycle that makes their nomadic lifestyle more comfortable. But you're not going to have a van and be able to be a lesser god of your own domain when you crawl into the back of it. - Comment by Wildbow
  64. You can blend as a more permanent thing (not what Laird does). You can have a familiar plus demesnes for a more intelligent demesnes. A familiar plus implement for an object with a personality. An implement plus demesnes for a demesnes you could bring with you. Generally you take a pretty significant hit to power in exchange for some degree of utility. You also lose standing with practitioners and Others. I think I've posted on this before. If you have a talking motorcycle you're giving up 90% of the power of a proper implement and 90% of the power of a proper demesnes, but you're getting an implement that's more weighty and a comfortable seat that isn't limited to one place. And because you're a practitioner that's flouting convention then convention helps you less, so your practice in general isn't going to be all that. - Comment by Wildbow
  65. Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  66. In some places, such as eastern Russia, there is a tendency to adjust the relationship, binding the Other to the form of an object, in a grand and formal ritual that blurs the line between the Implementum and the Famulus rituals.  It remains a measure that offers a wealth of control, but does without the companionship or easy negotiation.  As a practice it may have its roots in the same sorts of binding that occur among goblins, but the process was spearheaded by elite families who have not shared the particulars, mimed thereafter by others.
    [...]
    These two forms of binding are not established and are far weaker together than the archetypical Familiar and Implement or the archetypical Familiar and Demesne would be, if both were taken apart.  The established approach does offer simplicity, as well as minor benefits such as not needing to manage or talk to one’s familiar, or having a demesne that can withstand and fight back against intrusion, in a practitioner community where such invasions may be common. - excerpt from Famulus, quoted in Bonus Material: Famulus Text
  67. The non-solid implement is a choice made by some elementalists, as well as some divine practitioners and visceral practitioners. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  68. 68.0 68.1 These exceptional cases are anecdote only and we unfortunately lack a full and rich understanding of their operation, and can only acknowledge they exist.  The more mundane, visceral cases may be our closest analogue and our best hope of understanding: art and music or their inverse, corruption and noise, can be treated much as elements are, given a vessel.  Still restricted and kept secret by prominent families, we can testify, with their agreement, that the courses taken to codify one’s link to these elements (in our examples, a piece of oil painting that creeps along one’s immediate vicinity or a consolidation of trypophilic ooze that creates thousands of holes in whatever it wets) closely resemble that of the implement.  We have been asked not to release the limited information we have on these practices. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  69. In the elementalist’s case, water, smoke, sand, or some other quantity of fine material may be gathered up and be made one’s own.  What it lacks in value (typically) it grants in affinity to elements or specific forces.  One can expect to become more Other than with an implement choice, and some attention must be paid to the management of the material, which may be kept in a vessel, released, and then brought back.  Amorphous or wild material like smoke or blue flame can be harder and more expensive to manage, but the practitioner may benefit from not needing something extant to work with. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  70. For the divine practitioner, the gathered up essence may be divine light, the divine word, or a vibration.  While we say ‘divine’, there are some greater powers that trespass into the realm of divinity, such as great spirits.  When bound up and given some material form, this power tends to take some form that is not explicitly physical.  It may be lines of light on skin, resembling a tattoo, a shuddering godscream contained in a music player, or a spike of glass that, should it touch anything, will turn that thing to glass. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  71. In the Ascetic Ritual, the practitioner not only doesn’t choose a specific implement, but eschews item ownership and claim to material possessions altogether.  Favored by evangelists, martial practitioners styled after the world rhythms, and those who wish to maintain immaculate bindings within their own bodies, the ascetic ritual has a resemblance to the implement ritual but leaves the spot blank and includes declarations to abandon all things of material worth.
    [...]
    While largely an inverse of choosing an implement, the ascetic ritual does share similarities in how it is carried out and in the effect on standing, one’s appearance and relationship to Others, and the finality of the decision. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  72. The Sword is an aggressive choice, and a more common choice in older eras. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  73. The Chalice is a cup, ornate and decorated, once a common implement.  It can be a symbol or a limited means of taking action in a diagram, but more than anything, it is a repository for holding power and then partaking of or distributing that power.  Favored by practitioners dealing with the divine and the management of power. - excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Bonus Material: Implementum Text
  74. The use of the chalice wanes in almost perfect accordance with the rise of women’s rights and female independence.  Once a traditional and even expected implement for woman practitioners, the chalice is being replaced by things more personal, dropping from a fifty-nine percent usage in Europe to an eleven percent usage at the time of this text’s publication. - Excerpt from Implementum, quoted in Interlude 2.x
Advertisement