Von'kir Artifice (World Guide, Exoscience) (Patreon)

Von'kir Artifice

Throughout the Feyli Empire, numerous sites, still largely intact, speak of the ancient von'kir race and the transformative treatment they so thoroughly enjoyed imparting upon anyone they might get their bony hands on. Directly competing with the key'vin'ta for territory and populations of captive servants, the von'kir failed to establish any lasting foothold for their empire. What they did manage to do, and much unlike their rivals, was to leave a lasting, and largely intact legacy in the form of the vast city of V't'ori and the countless works of art and artifice which they had managed to insinuate into native religious structures, particularly those of the elf-eared ashiri.

Most famous among the many artifacts are the physically transformative ritual and recreational devices which were left behind by the von'kir. Though they were intended for use in different social environments, all have the same ultimate effect: to transform subjects into gibbering, emaciated mockeries of what, and who, they used to be. Pets, known as shu'rivs, collared, chained, and kept solely as a status symbol by their new masters.

The most common of these transformational artifacts are the so-called 'obsidian tables', floating black stone altars who's purpose was to ritualize the shu'riv transformation. Most commonly seen among the ashiri, subjects were expected to willingly come to a 'temple' and lay themselves upon the table. Bound in place by exotic energy, they would be slowly transformed by an energy field washing over their bodies from the feet upward. The transformation is said to feel tight, leathery, and quite 'interesting', especially as it shriveled away the subject's physical sex. Once the transformation was complete, the subject might be released, or 'dissolved' by the table, only to reappear someplace else, where they would be re-formed by a companion 'obsidian bed'.

Much rarer, and much sought after, are the portal-type devices. Recreational in nature, these were used to toy with, play with, and eventually coax whole groups of subjects into willingly trying shu'riv transformation in a seemingly non-committal fashion. These portal contain a constant energy field which will transform any subject, or subject body part, which passes through it. Unlike the obsidian table, transformation by the portal is reversible, though only after the subject has been completely transformed by fully passing through it. For every ten minutes that passes after transformation, there is a cumulative 1% chance that passing back through the portal in reverse won't reverse the transformation, and it will become permanent. The von'kir would generally make sure they could get a whole group to try the device and 'forget' to send them back through in time, unless they had some other goal in mind, such as building trust and getting locals to willingly aid their expansion into the surrounding areas.

The rarest of all von'kir devices is the field projector. These devices come in a myriad of physical forms, intended for various mountings, or even hand-held use. All of them work their dark magic by projecting planar field of various size and sending it floating off in whatever direction it was pointing. This field works just like the portal, transforming any body part that passes through it. Unlike the portal, this transformation is permanent.

Von'kir artifacts are rarely found for sale, though they are almost all located in places accessible to the general public. Recent auction prices suggest that, in theory, an obsidian table or mounted projector could be acquired for about ¢2,500,000; while a portal would fetch ¢50,000,000; and a handheld device upwards of ¢65,000,000