Onírica Card Lore — Artifacts, Events & Monsters (1)

Event Cards

The Sisters of the Glass Cradle

Type: Psychological Hazard  

Two conjoined dolls hang within a baroque reliquary. They whisper in dreams, watch through closed eyes, and follow the party in silence.  

Game Effect:

- Split consciousness between characters  

- Haunt the group unless a riddle is solved or an offering is made  

- Dream plague if the reliquary is mishandled  

**Narrative Role:** Unnatural, silent encounter—an emotional and metaphysical hazard

2. The Harmonic Conjunction

Type: Astral Event  

When Herschel and Leverrier align, reality bends to the rhythm of mathematics.  

Game Effect:  

- Magic becomes rhythmic and predictable  

- Machines gain sentience  

- Temporal portals open randomly  

Narrative Role: A cosmic event that can alter game mechanics and logic briefly

Event Card: “The Lexicon Eclipse”

_(Image: A strange cryptographic table of paired glyphs and coded clusters, arranged in rigid columns and rows. It pulses with lost meaning—part language, part invocation.)_

Interpretation & Role in Onírica:

- Event Type: _Linguistic Collapse / Semantic Cascade / Forbidden Knowledge Surge_

    

- Lore:  

    During the Lexicon Eclipse, a rare convergence of syllabic ley-lines occurs beneath the vaulted grammar of the underworld. Written language becomes unstable—ink unbinds from vellum, sigils transpose their meaning, and ancient grammars awaken as sentient phenomena. The event is believed to have been first recorded in the cryptic codex of Selenus, a scholar whose tongue was split in four by the weight of meaning.

    

- Game Effects:

    

    - All written scrolls, books, and inscriptions either reinterpret themselves or speak aloud in languages the PCs do not know.

        

    - Any character attempting to read or write must roll against Linguistic Entropy—failure results in:

        

        - Phonetic hallucinations

            

        - Illiteracy

            

        - Compulsive glossolalia

            

    - Magical runes or symbols may trigger unintended spells or alter outcomes entirely.

        

- Special Rules:

    

    - Cipher rolls become temporarily more powerful—players can uncover long-lost or forbidden texts.

        

    - Interactions with automatons, oracle-scripts, or bound books become erratic but potentially revelatory.

        

    - Casting spells with verbal or written components becomes dangerous but _twice as potent_.

        

- Narrative Use:

    

    - Ideal during moments involving ancient archives, cursed libraries, or magical contracts.

        

    - May act as the trigger for unlocking or destroying knowledge-based relics.

        

    - Factions tied to the _Order of Echoing Grammar_ or the _Gutter Glyph Priests_ will react violently or religiously to its onset.

        

Event Card: “The Linear Collapse”

_(Image: A radiant vanishing point from which pale geometric rays extend in precise symmetry, as if reality itself is being drawn inward by unseen drafting tools.)_

Interpretation & Role in Onírica:

- Event Type: _Dimensional Realignment / Perspective Shift / Temporal Fracture_

    

- Lore:  

    Occurring at rare, architectonically unstable nodes of Onírica, the Linear Collapse represents the momentary failure of the world’s vanishing points. When this event begins, every angle, hallway, street, or corridor in a wide radius loses its function as space—becoming conduits of compression. Travelers may find themselves folding in on their own perception, walking for hours yet ending in the place they began. Some report stepping into themselves and emerging elsewhere.

    

- Effects:

    

    - All line-of-sight abilities are extended infinitely—then collapse without warning.

        

    - Spells with directional or range-based components may bend or multiply.

        

    - Maps become paradoxes—each turn or shift risks sending the party into dimensional echoes or recursion traps.

        

    - Time behaves spatially; e.g., “walk three minutes east” becomes a viable instruction.

        

- Unique Conditions:

    

    - Light behaves autonomously—creating shadows without source, or slicing players into chronographic projections of themselves.

        

    - Entities known as the Measurers may manifest—faceless beings wielding golden calipers, attempting to “correct” the players by trimming asymmetry.

        

- Narrative Use:

    

    - Suitable for disrupting travel, especially within temples, massive libraries, or machinery ruins.

        

    - Can be the direct consequence of misusing geometric magic or awakening ancient measure-gods.

        

    - Resolving the collapse often requires a perfectly symmetrical act, a ritual drawing, or sacrifice of personal perception (e.g., blindness, doubt, or memory of self-orientation).

Monster Cards

1. The Crackled On

Type: Petrified Revenant  

Born of obsidian whispers and salt-buried rituals.  

Abilities: 

- Silence draws it  

- Paralyzing touch  

- Immune to mental magic  

Weakness: Water-based or fluid magic  

Narrative Role: Wandering sentinel or trapped horror in salt chambers

2. The Groanwood Herald

Type: Totemic Beast  

A spiritual beast wrapped in bark and ancient forest laws.  

Abilities:

- Roots targets with regret  

- Summons forest spirits  

- Enforces trials of blood and nature  

Narrative Role: Guardian of sacred glades or arboreal artifacts

3. The Veilborn Matriarch

Type: Soul-Drainer  

A once-mourning priestess now composed of veils spun from others’ memories.  

Abilities: 

- Drape of Amnesia  

- Sung Cocoon  

- Matriarch’s Thread (emotion-feeding tendrils)  

Narrative Role: Guardian of memory wells; trades secrets for truths

4. The Threnody Hydra

Type: Polyphonic Horror  

Each of its many heads speaks a different lament.  

Abilities:  

- Multi-vocal madness  

- Head regrowth with elemental variation  

- Echo venom induces ancestral speech  

Narrative Role: A living chorus of memory and myth guarding ancient passages

Monster Card: “The Listener Beyond the Plaster Veil”

_(Image: A pale, masked humanoid figure with thin, angular ears like red shards, emerging from a blackened mass. Its expression is fixed, as if observing reality from behind a painted surface.)_

Interpretation & Role in Onírica:

- Creature Type: _Silent Observer / Thought Mirror / Echo Host_

    

- Lore:  

    Known only in whispers as The Listener, this creature is said to dwell in the lacquered halls of the Château d’Insomnie, where all mirrors have been buried and language is forbidden. It does not speak—it listens. It does not move—it reflects. But when your voice has faltered, when doubt has fractured your selfhood, it manifests... not as your enemy, but as what you are most afraid to become.

    

- Abilities:

    

    - Imitative Silence: The Listener mimics its observer’s presence, gradually replacing them in the memories of allies.

        

    - Unmasking Touch: On contact, it may rip a PC’s "inner voice" from their body, leaving them mute or estranged from their identity.

        

    - Echo Pulse: Emits bursts of thought-frequency that turn sound into hallucinations or dream-wake inversions.

        

- Tactics:

    

    - Almost never aggressive unless provoked.

        

    - Traps the group in philosophical paralysis—forcing internal conflict or breakdowns to manifest physically.

        

- Weaknesses:

    

    - Becomes unstable near strong identity-signifiers (true names, autobiographies, unbroken oaths).

        

    - Loses focus if confronted with direct self-awareness or a sincere confession.

        

- Narrative Use:

    

    - Can serve as an agent of an esoteric court or the will of a haunted manuscript.

        

    - Makes a perfect guardian of forbidden texts, dream prisons, or memory vaults.

        

    - May also be summoned unintentionally when too many truths are buried.

Treasure Cards

1. The Iron Reliquaries of Veyrun

Type: Soul-Container  

Forged during the Orphan Dynasty to contain god-fragments.  

Game Effect:

- Each casket holds a divine bone, a relic, and a living idea  

- Choose between curse, vision, or power  

Narrative Role: Crucial relic vault tied to political or divine factions

 2. The Rotum Codex

Type: Thought-Reacting Tome  

An esoteric manuscript that reads you back.  

Game Effect: 

- Pages change per reader  

- Opens portals and reveals forgotten spells  

Narrative Role: Key to unlocking lore, or corrupting truth

3. The Memento Reliquary

Type: Condemned Keepsake  

Tiny coffin with skeletal figure inside.  

Game Effect: 

- Answers one question per moon  

- Induces hallucinations if carried too long  

**Narrative Role:** Spirit-binder, or ghost magnet—used in trials or rituals

4. *The Electrophonic Anachroscope*

**Type:** Chrono-Sensoric Apparatus  

A brass-and-wood machine for hearing time itself.  

**Game Effect:**  

- Plays past events as sound  

- May implant false or trapped memories  

**Narrative Role:** Vital to accessing lost timelines or libraries of sound

Treasure Card: “The Obsidian Cartouche”

_(Image: A carved black stone statue seen from behind, head crowned by a pleated nemes-like hood, with a rectangular tablet engraved in ancient glyphs embedded between the shoulders. The figure looms in still silence, suggesting timeless authority and burial.)_

Interpretation & Role in Onírica:

- Treasure Type: _Mnemonic Seal / Monumental Key / Votive Artifact_

    

- Lore:  

    Found in the Temple of Drowned Thrones, the Obsidian Cartouche is not a statue but a **sealed memory-engine**—its surface etched with the **entombed names of erased monarchs**. These rulers, never born yet deeply mourned, exist now only in **ideation**, stored in a stone that resists time and intent. The sigils engraved on its back can be spoken aloud to **summon fragments** of their thrones, wars, or secrets.

    

- Properties:

    

    - Whispering the cartouche’s glyphs may:

        

        - Reanimate **ruined architecture**

            

        - Invoke **phantom monarchs** to offer counsel or challenge

            

        - Unlock relic caches entombed within memory-space

            

    - If carried near a burial site, it **absorbs ancestral voices**, rendering them visible under moonlight

        

- **Effects**:

    

    - Holding it grants visions of **kingdoms that never existed**, inspiring madness or prophecy

        

    - Once per game cycle, the bearer may **invoke an ancient edict**, causing enemies to kneel or the dead to rise

        

    - If broken, the statue releases one of the **Uncrowned**, a wrathful thought-entity from a failed age

        

- **Narrative Use**:

    

    - May act as a **trigger relic** for ancient rites or divine judgement

        

    - Serves as a **puzzle key** for echo-locked tombs and corridors of royal guilt

        

    - Could be sought by factions wishing to restore or suppress forgotten histories