The nail Martin Luther used to post the 95 Thesis..and start the Reformation of Europe.

Artifact Type: Major

Description: It’s called a Nail, but it’s less a nail than an iron spike. Rough and unpolished with a vaguely square head, the nail is completely unremarkable. It’s only distinguishing feature is a spot of very old blood at the point, which cannot be rubbed off no matter how much Goo-Be-Gone or whatever you use. Theories abound as to who Luther killed or tried to kill, but it’s much more likely some bum used it to catch himself a rat or something.

Effects: This Nail is very good for getting the word out. By writing a message and nailing it to some wooden surface (like a door, a desk, or a floor, but not a wooden plank or a pool cue), the character can allow one person to read the message no matter where they are in the world. The message is sent into the person’t brain, whcih they can assimilate at their normal reading speed; if the Nail is pulled out before they are done “reading” it, they only get as much as they had time to gain.

It can only be a single piece of paper no larger than 2ft. X 3ft. (or about 60cm X 90cm; sorry–ignorant American with no understanding of metric :P), with writing on one side, and in a language the recipiant understands (but not the sender) or else they just get gobbly-gook in their head (a successful Mind check could tell them what language it is, though). Also, you must know the target’s name. For every time you hit the nail again, you can send the message to another person.

This can be used as an attack, causing Self or Helplessness checks if you’re beaming in something like violent erotica or total blasphemy. Proxy relationships apply for hostile and non-hostile sendings.

However, the Nail isn’t only good for bringing people together with shared knowledge; it’s equally efficent at driving things apart.

To do this, the user creates a symbolic representation between two people, or a person and an institution such as a University, on a piece of paper. Driving apart a childhood couple might be a big heart in red crayon with their names inside, while getting the local Masons to hate their leader would use a page from the Freemason Handbook with a crown drawn by connecting various words, with the leader’s name in the middle (names have to be present, yet again). If the GM decides it isn’t suitably symbolic, it just won’t work.

Assuming it does, however, the user must make a Soul stat check. If succesful, the user then strikes the nail into the paper. She must strike the nail witha hammer a number of times equal to the number in the tens place of the Soul stat of the targets of the two people she’s targeting (so a guy with a 47 and a girl with a 63 would require 10 hits altogether). If the user wants to seperate a person from an institution, the Nail must be struck a number of times equal to the target’s number in the ten’s place of the Soul stat, plus three. GM’s shouldn’t tell the user how many shots it takes. Just let ’em bang and bang until they think they have it.

Once this is done, the targets of the Nail begin to violently rip apart. The lovers quarrel and split up, while the Mason leader is cast out, vowing never to return. More often than not, the two sides will continue to act out the conflict, or move as far away as possible from each other (depending on temprament).

The downside to using Luther’s Nail is that it can’t be done stealthily. Every time you hit the Nail it creates an incredibly loud sound, like…well, like someone hitting a gong like spike. People can hear this racket in a radius equal to the number of hits (including ones that are useless or superfluous) X 2 in miles (or kilometers), and most will come looking unless they are completely engrossed in something life threatening.

Furthermore, Luther was an important figure to Bibliomancers and Avatars of the Demagouge–they will almost ALWAYS come looking (though they won’t just wander in like zombies, unless they’re stupid or, uh, zombies), and will no doubt deeply desire the item you’re carrying. Use it wisely.