Medalion of Mesob

History

The origins of the Medallions of Mesob are lost in the antiquity of the Tosian shadows. Little is known of them save rumors of a few powers gained by those who found one of the medallions. Powers are not uniform and vary in power levels.

Rumored Powers

The following list is grouped in powers more commonly spoken of in the legends down to the powers less frequently spoken of but considered possible.

Powers Common in all stories

• Shadowwalking: The power to shadowwalk in all the levels of the Shadowlands
• Immortality: Istari Immortality
• Improved physical attributes: Raises a human to chaos rank stats
• Immunity to illness: Complete immunity to sickness

Powers Common in many stories

• Immunity to magic used by the undead.
• Immunity to lycanthropy
• Regeneration
• Immunity to poison.

Powers mentioned in some Legends

• Reverse Conjuration: The ability to return an item that has been conjured to its place and time of origin.
• Clean Body: The Power to clean a body of dirt and grime. To remove all bodily refuse emptying bladders, digestive systems and stomachs. It causes all pores to empty of retained oils.
  • This power can be used in two ways. Causing all material to disappear or causing all material to eject violently from the body. If used as an attack it reacts with the target's psyche and if they lose it distracts them for at least a minute.
• Clean Mind: Cause a person to forget everything, rebooting them to a newborn's knowledge. This power can not be reversed.
• Time Travel: This may be a function of Shadowwalking.

Known Elements

• What is known is that the medallion melds into the holder, leaving a tattoo on the palm and the forehead only other holders of the medallion can see.

Rumors

Origins

Many rumors exist concerning these items but none can be confirmed.

It is almost certainly not what you think.

The drawback to possessing one will be surprising.

Known or Rumored Wearers

Among the rumors are a few names of wearers of the medallion.

• Tolknor Scripter, King of York, Paradoxian, Time Lord, King of Plymouth, King of Amber Fallen, First Speaker of the Second Foundation.
• Conf of Shadows
• The Steel General. Fugue Master.
• Vramin. Angel of the Seventh Station. Angel of the House of the Dead.
• Kylokal. The R.
• Guiness. Employee of the Palace Commons. Member of CHAD
• Beor. Thrice Crown Bard. Crowned Bard of Paradox Translated. Crowned Bard of Tosa. Crowned Bard of Amber Fallen.
• Grog. Emperor. Wanderer
• Arloxedra Prince of Amber
• Running Sheet Felix Wyse A Lord of Mandalay. Runs the Bookmobile
• Raphael; Shadow Traveling Adventurer; Bard Druid
• Slugger; aka Aanika; Princess of Avalon (traveling with Raphael)
• Hazarda; Shadow Traveling Adventurer, Former King of Amber-Now Fallen [[1]]
• Timothy Elhue; Shadow Traveling Adventurer, Grandson of Tolknor[[2]]
• Johnny Cash: Musician
• Jerry Lee Lewis: Musician
• David (Bowie) of Mandalay: Musician
• Orson (Wells): Actor
• Jerimiah (Johnson): Mountain Man
• Fitz William:[[3]] Shadow Traveling Adventurer; Cleric Sage
• Adalou: Masoja Dufiro of Knowledge [[4]]

Commentary

Prince Arloxedra to Sir Alexandra Mira

"Mesobians..... " He waves his hand over his forehead and a symbol appears.

"Mesob is a person sort of out of place. Unbelievably powerful. Unaligned. Impervious. There are creatures like him across shadow. Beings that ignore the boundaries. Tolknor is a lot like that. Mesob is one. A Paradoxian. He travels shadow and the many different marbles. Every so often he leave behind an artifact call the Medallion of Mesob. It gives someone greater strength, powers similar to people at the poles like Amber and Chaos. Lets them shadowwalk. lots of protections. and a whopping block of good luck and protection."

(Permanent Good Stuff 3)

"Early in my life i found such a medallion. Its what led to Eric to finding me."

Alex nods slowly she then turns a page of her sketchbook and starts to recall the man and the kid she had seen with the symbols. Just to keep it in her memories.

All the while she does listen to Arlo's explanation and show and tell of his own symbol.

"So these two we saw are not of the blood, they are not of Chaos. They both found a medallion like one you found and it gave them a symbol like that? Which gives them powers. But does it besides powers give them also strength to deal what might come on their paths in shadows?" She closes her eyes really trying to recall the details she had seen in such a quick glance.

"Even if i didn't know it i was always stronger and faster then the others in my class. But if they are able to move through shadow they can run into nasties that could seriously be a danger to them. Or is that what the protections are for? "

She turns the book to Arlo to have him look at the drawing she did of the man and the child.

"Did i miss something?"

"No. Looks good. They Medallions are mercurial.. They provide strength, health. Somewhere in the region of Chaosians. Protections from many things. But they tend to stay in safer shadows when they travel. Shadow is vast. There are uncountable number of creatures able to travel shadow. Many very bizarre. Most harmless. Many dangerous. One never knows. One might spend a century in a brutal shadow and never know a moment of danger."

Prince Arloxedra to King Random.

Random asks, "I've never heard of Mesobians. Who are they?"

Arlo picks up a scotch egg and dips it in the Calroban sauce. "Its complicated."

The king laughs,"You know its been a hundred years in Amber since anything in my life was uncomplicated. Dazzle me."

"Mesob is a Paradoxian."

"Like Tolknor and Frankfurter and the Rose Addicts?"

"No.. Well, Tolknor yes, he's a Mesobian too. No. You know I've spoken to Tolknor maybe 3 times and once was about Mesob. He says he has never seen him either. Mesob travels shadow, can travel in time, and can travel between marbles. He leaves no trail, can not be tracked, and for the most part people who dealt with him tend to forget him. But nothing can harm him. Nothing can trap him. He can't be photographed and paintings of him tend to have his image fade out. He looks different to everyone. "

"Illusive bugger, " the king says.

Arlo agrees with a him and takes another egg.

"He is invariably kind. Has a sort of aura of calm. Its infectious. I tried to transport to him using the pattern of Tirna no'gath, using the added whimsy that pattern has. I arrived in a world he had recently left. Recently enough that people still remembered him. None gave the same description. The world however bore proof of his presence. It was a fairly violent urban world. I shifted around the area and they all had sort of a 1 in 10 for 30 thing going on. A person has one in 10 chance of a violent interaction over the course of a month. That's everything from a mugging to being involved in rival gangs having a drive-by, corporations demolishing an apartment building with no notice, up to a nation state turning a city into a raging firestorm. Luckily for them that world had no atomic weapons. "

"However, the area he lived in had evidence that he had been there for 100 years. The planet had about a third of the violence as nearly identical worlds a step away. The nation state had been involved in a third of the wars that the same nation had in identical nearby shadow and had almost no corporate war involvement. The region had the lowest crime rate of the nation. The district within the region had almost no street crime and had developed local services to prevent a rise in crime. The neighborhood he lived in was used as an example to the nation about how peoples of different races could cooperate and prosper. The apartment complex I arrived in had almost a thousand people in it but was clean, calm, musical, had its own schools and libraries, and had extensive participation in sporting groups with no violent team rivalry. I tell you the whole place freaked me out. But no one could give a good memory of the old man with the fancy walking stick. The only thing they all remembered was that he planted apple, orange, lemon, and pear trees everywhere he went. "

"I am told that on occasion he leaves a foot shaped medallion behind. He may not know he does it or maybe he decides who gets them. Know one knows."

"So some super-being of extreme benevolence , leaves magic items scattered around. What do they do? That's the part I going to hate, right?""

Arlo laughs, "Well, yes it is. Their powers vary wildly. Not every Mesobian has the same powers to the same degree. A person picks up a medallion and it melts into them. They can't be removed. They don't detect as magical. The powers can't be dispelled. I don't believe they can be suppressed. Once the medallion melts away the person becomes, racially, a Mesobian though they detect and act as their original race for all practical purposes. Mesobians can detect each other. Some powers are in all the medallions. Shadowwalking, immortality of the Istari style. Improved physical attributes; strength, agility, endurance, eye-hand coordination, balance. They have no body odder. They are almost completely impervious to sickness of all kinds. Immunity to poison, which ends up also meaning immunity to hangovers. It gives them a clean body. They can get muddy and bloody but in general they don't get oily or grungy. Their hair tends to stay clean. Fingernails tend to look good. Cosmetic stuff. They can remove all their bodily refuse; emptying bladders, digestive systems and stomachs. It causes all pores to empty of retained oils. I got all of those. Other powers i know of are immunity to magic used by the undead. Immunity to lycanthropy. Regeneration, though that sort of dovetail into the istari immortality.

Some are less common but its hard to say since getting proof is tricky. Ive spoken to a handful of Mesobians and they mention these. Some i have. Reverse Conjuration, a nice trick if you want to get rid of something others conjured. Some have time travel, though i think that may be a funtion of shadow walking. Some have some incredible amount of luck. Luck being quantifiable in some ways across shadow. Meaning some just have good stuff happen around them."

"Where do I get one of these thing?" Random asks.

"They aren't always helpful. They give shadowwalking to people usually unschooled in it. So they shadowwalk randomly. Often can't get back to places they have been. Its a peaceful item so it tends to make them shadowwalk away from violent worlds unless the wielder focuses and tells it to not shadowwalk them away. So they wander into utopian realms and get sort of lost."

Raphael, Nur al-Din, Fortunadus & Bently

Rafe says: "Well, if taking Spasa of Death will give us an edge, or at least equal footing, to get our people back, then I'll do it. Elmer, Olive; wanna take Death Spasa? Runner.... you're already on your way... but I guess the offer is open to you too. Wrecker, Reggy; wanna become Dufiro then take Death Spasa?"

Elmer nods, "Ive been a hunter of life for awhile.”

Runner nods, "Seems the best path for me as well.”

Olive declines. Wrecker and Reggy look to each other. Staring...

Wrecker says, "The Change fucked our home world purple. Made us things we didn't choose to be. Given the choice, we'll stay as we are."

"Fair enough. Becoming Dufiro will always be YOUR choice, if you wish. And no hard feelings, any of you." Rafe replies. "Well then, looks like just three of us are willing, Nur. I'm glad my two snipers opted in.... them being able to use firearms, fly and become invisible were why I chose them for this mission. And me being able to use Tech... well, as a Technomancer, kind of vital. So... what do we need to do?"

Nur says, "Myself, and my two Body Guards, Dazxa & Hunkazx all can enact the ritual. I'll see if Akafar will join us. He is usually an ally.”

"Akafar.... I know that name” Rafe says. “A Member of the Blue Circle, if I recall correctly."

Nur walks off and concentrates. Bently says, "Yes. A Primas Illuminar. And not a friend of mine. Nur and his bodyguards know him better.”

A creature arrives with Nur. A furred wolfish creature in ceramic and turquoise armor. He carries a spear with a tip carved from diamond with rivulets of blood in it. He reeks of malice. At 9' tall he is a terrifying but somehow noble looking being. He walks up..."Who will join me in Death?”

Daxz and Hunk walk up and grasp shoulders with him, gaining his height.

Rafe stands tall and puffs out his chest, looking upwards into his eyes. "I will join you in Death, Great Illuminar."

Elmer steps forward. "As will I."

Runner steps forward, "Me too."

He looks at the three. "I will require a Summoning Book for each of you in a Race you already bear. I will write your Tomes for Death, and keep one each for myself. I will have a blooded knife of each of you before the ritual. Blood is required."

Rafe summons his Spasa of Earth Summoning Tome. He then reaches into the fold of his cloak and pulls out his old kukri knife that he has not used in a while. He pulls it from its sheath, slices the back of his hand with it, then rubs the blade around in the open wound until it is well-blooded. He then hands the knife and the Summoning Tome to Akafar.

Elmer and Runner do the same. The three Illuminar grasp each others shoulders in a circle and collect the three intended recipients inside it. They begin chanting. There is pain. Suddenly Rafe feels pain in every quarter millimeter of his body.

When he wakes up he is on a bed in a room smelling of chocolate. A woman sitting besides him says, "Drink this. Healing Chocolate, with a touch of honey. My own brew. I'll let Ovk know you are awake.”

Rafe says, "What the fuck????" Before he realizes what's going on. Then he takes the hot chocolate and drinks it. It tastes like drinking a Hershey bar dipped in honey, and he feels the pain drifting off, clearing his head.

Moments later Nur, Bently, Ovk, and Fort arrive. Nur says., "Its nice when we see something new. You have two Death spasa and a possibly mortal enemy Primas Illuminar. He could just be annoyed."

"Hey guys. How long I been out?" Rafe asks.

Ovk says, ”A couple hours. Gentlemen, I will leave you to him. Sisin Dawo is outside if you need more of her draught."

"Ummm..... What happened? And what do you mean, 'a mortal enemy Primus Illuminar'?"

Nur says, "The ritual took on Elmer and Runner but at that moment it felt like a sonic boom went off surrounding you. It threw my guys against the wall of that store room hard, and tossed His Nibs through a wall Ovk says is unbreakable. And broke His Nibs into serious pieces. Now, he likes pain, so he might just be annoyed.”

"What in the actual fuck!?” Rafe exclaims. “Ummmm.... again, I ask; what happened? Or, more accurately, how did that happen? It's nothing I did consciously." A momentary pause, then: "Wait..... could this be that 'First Order Defense' thing that Ansahal did to me? He mentioned it, but never really told me what it was. I figured I'd find out one day."

Nur says, "No the ritual would have gone right past it. The effect was stellar. Never saw anything like it. It left a bright red mandala mark on your forehead I could not penetrate to the power of and its faded now. Whatever it was kicked the hell out a major Masoja of Death without blinking. That bodes well where you are going if you have some form of Death protection. It's a serious Life oriented protection. While you were asleep I had Daz try some Death Healing on you, rough stuff but it works... it didn't scratch ya."

Rafe smiles. "Holy shit! I had no idea it could do THAT. Wow! I mean fucking wow! And that mandala, is a sign of the source of my power. Trying to describe it any more than that would be useless as you would just forget. I'm not joking about that part. Anyway, really fucking good to know though. Death protection! Wow! This shit just keeps getting better and better. God I love my life! So, are we still on for this mission? Everybody waiting around on me? Irritated and pissed off, I'll bet."

Fort says, "There was a smell of apples..... I know I remember that we talked about it. I talked with Arlo about it before I forgot. That's it, the thing that makes even Thrice Crowned Bards forget. Tolknor has it.... Beor had it.... Conf has it.... The thing that if you name it, we will forget having seen it..."

"Yes, that's it exactly, Fort.” Rafe says with a smile. “And that is probably the best remembrance of it anyone has ever had, that I have encountered anyway. Others have tried to remember in the odd ways, but none of them ever worked."

Fort leans in, shaking his head, "Who else has it? I'll forget it 'til I am around its effect again... Who else has it?!!?" Fort looks very uncharacteristically serious.

Rafe sighs, knowing he must answer Fort in order to quell his curiosity, and that it will be okay to do so because he will forget. "Slugger. Fitz. Hazarda. Timothy Elhue. Johnny Cash. David of Mandalay. Jeremiah Johnson. And most recently, Adalou."

"Adalou?” Fort says, sounding surprised. “That little fink... Ok... Let them know that I am bouncing around this and to hit me up if they need help. I want one of those things......damn.... Tolknor, Conf, Beor, Arloxedra, Slugger. Fitz. Hazarda. Timothy Elhue. Johnny Cash. David of Mandalay. Jeremiah Johnson.... and you....." He shakes his head... Rafe can see the information fading away already.

Nur says," Fascinating.... New information.... and a mystery."

Rafe turns to Nur with a devious smile. "Nur; I heard you had an encounter not that long ago with an old man that turned your legs into trees that rooted themselves into the ground. He is related to my source of power. If I say anymore, you will lose all memory of it."

Nur smiles, "Ah, yes... good... good."