Wombstone

Aspect: Wood Aspected

Rating: •••

Manse: Flowering Acanthus Retreat

Source: Adapted from work by Resplendence and Iskelam on the Exalted Unofficial Wiki.

This hearthstone appears as an organic sac, in a rough teardrop shape, a smooth semi-opaque green membrane along which stretch numerous thin lines, akin to blood vessels. The inside is filled with a warm, red-tinted liquid, leaving the hearthstone warm to the touch, and the whole stone seems to pulsate slowly.

If a character capable of conceiving children is attuned to the Wombstone when they are impregnated or impregnate a partner, they may choose to carry the child in the hearthstone, which functions just like the mother’s own womb. The child can be seen growing in the stone’s warm safety during the course of the pregnancy, the stone slowly growing to accommodate its increasing size, and while hearthstone sockets are capable of adapting to the change the bulk in the last months of pregnancy can make it difficult for a bearer to carry the hearthstone in a weapon or other common mountings. The mother has the same connection to the child as if she was carrying it herself (and will count as being pregnant for purposes of further attempts at reproduction), and she remains in normal physical condition until the pregnancy has run its full course. She will instinctively know the time of birth a week in advance. When the time comes, the child is transferred to the mother’s body over a full day, after which it is born naturally. The birth can be delayed at the will of the hearthstone bearer for up to a month, but any longer will kill the unborn child.

During the pregnancy, the parent attuned to the Hearthstone must remain constantly attuned, or the child dies. The same happens if the Flowering Acanthus Retreat is damaged or destroyed, or the hearthstone is attacked and broken directly. Otherwise, it is perfectly safe from all outside harm, even if its mother is severely injured. The child will manifest in her corpse should she not survive until the day of childbirth, a process that is dangerous and usually fatal for the child.

The attuned parent can transfer the child to the mother’s own body over the course of a day, by voluntarily releasing attunement. Furthermore, feeding on pure Essence increases the likelihood that the child will be of non-mortal blood. Dragon-Blooded parents have an increased chance of siring a child that will later Exalt. Couplings between mortals and spirits result in stronger Godblooded. Even children who do not tap into supernatural power will invariably grow into Heroic Mortals, and find themselves more easily able to grasp enlightenment of their essence.

The hearthstone does not affect the duration of the pregnancy (naturally 9 months for mortal humans and 15 months for Dragonblooded).