Ten-Thousand-Bead Robe

Artifact Rating: •••

Material: Jade

Commitment: 3

Source: Adapted and revised from original by Ikselam on the Exalted Wiki

The robe is composed of an elegant bracelet or anklet, and an entwined network of threads carrying far more than ten thousand small jade beads. The beads can rearrange themselves on command; in the proper hands, these abilities can be employed to quite captivating effect. Less potent but more easily constructed than the Infinite Resplendance Amulets popular in the Golden Age, garments such as this were much in vogue among Dragonblooded performers and courtesans of the First Age.

The most obvious advantage of a Ten-Thousand-Bead Robe is the ability to instantly alter the shape and color of one's clothing. The sorts of outfits possible are limited by the quantity and basic properties of the beads. For example, sheer garments are impossible (the beads are opaque), the nature of the beads means garments will always have a granular look that cannot match smooth textiles such as Silk, and the limited number of beads prevents forming particularly voluminous or extravagant shapes. For those close to the wearer, the beaded nature of the garment is impossible to miss, though it might pass for regular cloth at a distance.

This is however far from the only effect, for the robe can do much more. A skilled user can alter the robe's style and coloration on the fly, producing captivating ripples of color that accentuate her words and movements. The very talented may even cause the beads to arrange themselves into moving pictures; such displays take some effort to achieve, but can be made to loop indefinitely without any active maintenance. Effects such as continual cycles of day and night, or waves crashing on a seashore, would be easy to achieve; depicting a pitched duel would not, unless the combatants performed the same sequence of actions over and over.

Making a Ten-Thousand Bead Robe alter coloration or cut is a diceless miscellaneous action. Producing iconic images requires an Intelligence + Performance roll; this is a normal dice action, and can be an extended action. Each success adds one turn to the display's duration. If the display is looped, it requires no further rolls unless the wearer wishes to alter it.

In an emergency, a Ten-Thousand-Bead Robe can be used as weak armor. If all of the beads are summoned and made to pack tightly around the wearer's body, they provide 1L/1B soak, with -1 mobility penalty and no fatigue value. This will not stack with other armor.