Approved Tech Kurhevil - Treacherous Heart

[Vagabond]

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: Codify a crystal artefact serving as the basis for a storytelling mechanic.
• Image Source: Heart of Graush on Wookieepedia; Originally found in Book of the Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side
• Canon Link: N/A
• Permissions: N/A
• Primary Source: Heart of Graush - Source for the feasibility of replacing a person's heart with a crystal.

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

• Manufacturer: Vagabond
• Affiliation: Vagabond and others who come to own it
• Market Status: Closed-Market
• Model: Sith Artefact
• Modularity: No
• Production: Semi-Unique
• Material: Kyber crystal

SPECIAL FEATURES

• Serves as an anchor point for essence transfer attempts made by an individual attuned to the crystals.
• Eases the attempt to evict the spirit from another's body by subsuming the spirit.
• Serves as a temporary refuge for the spirit of an individual attuned to the crystals while the crystal isn't fully grown yet.
• Replaces the victim's natural heart function with Force-sustained life, granting them an extended lifespan and greater physical durability.
• Can grow from a small shard to a larger size, gradually replacing the host's heart, at which point it stops growing.
• Implanted as a fully grown, heart-sized crystal or introduced into a host as a smaller shard, which makes its way to the heart.
• Once matured, it functions identically to a regular heart in terms of medical purposes, but also extends a person's natural lifespan.
• Difficult to detect with the Force, similar to Force Stealth, and camouflaged against detection by basic and advanced scanners, similar to Electronic Manipulation.

STRENGTHS

• Anchor: For a being attuned to the crystals, anyone carrying one inside their body becomes a beacon and an anchor for the attuned being's spirit. The target of such a transfer is the crystal, which then holds the spirit and gradually erases the host to allow for a body takeover. The 'range' on this is arbitrary. A victim bearing a crystal might be in the next room, or on the other side of the galaxy, and still be a valid target for a transfer essence attempt.
• Heart of Iron: Imbued with an effect that sustains the host with passive healing abilities and extends their liefspan. It won't regenerate an arm, but can keep them alive through wounds that would otherwise have been a death sentence. Comparable to the effects of Force Body, though on a lesser scale.
• Camouflage: To avoid detection, the crystal is imbued with Force-based sensor baffling qualities. It was also obscured in the Force, making it difficult to detect unless a Force sensitive seeker knows what to look for.

WEAKNESSES

• Process: The takeover of the host body is not immediate but gradual and slow. There is a period of time roughly proportional to the host's strength of spirit wherein the invading spirit can be 'flushed out' and destroyed. Similarly, an early detection and removal of the crystal removes the danger of being "possessed".
• Rehabilitation: Transferring the spirit doesn't carry over the physical strength of the previous host, unfortunately. While training is eased due to experience, the physical skills and strength honed through practice and training are lost.
• Memory Loss: While the spirit is given a place to transfer to, there is a risk that most of its memories are subjected to temporary loss. Over time, as more of the host is taken over, they may be regained with dedication and effort.
• Resistance: While the crystal makes taking control of a new body significantly easier, a victim's spirit can still deny the process. Significant mastery in the Force or an awareness and skill in resisting spiritual intrusions make this much simpler to achieve.
• Still A Chance: During the early stages of the crystal's parasitic invasion of a body it can still be removed safely without killing the host. Once it's grown fully, the effects are nigh irreversible and most ways to remove the crystals become lethal for the host.
• Nullification: The benefits of the crystal are lost within a Force Nullificaiton bubble, such as those created by Ysalamiri. Further, the crystal becomes unavailable as a target for essence transfer. Already trapped spirits are suppressed and unable to exert influence. Similar Force Nullification effects cause the same complications.

DESCRIPTION
TL;DR - The item is effectively a parasitic crystal which can replace a person's heart and corrupt their spirit. This corruption makes it easier for an individual who is attuned to the crystal to use transfer essence to steal the crystal-host's body. They can be placed into a host's body either as small shards or be implanted as a fully grown, heart-sized crystals. The crystal itself was imbued to be difficult to detect, so that ordinary beings could walk around with a crystal heart entirely unaware, until the day their spirit is suddenly and forcefully shunted out of their body and replaced by a Sith Lord attempting to cheat death.

# # #​

Throughout history, there have been many solutions to the problem of death. Some, like Darth Plagueis, have sought to extend their lifespan indefinitely. Others, like the Jedi, embrace a different kind of extended life as Force Ghosts. But some, arguably the most pragmatic, take a short-cut. Rather than attempt to keep their failing bodies alive or become a slave to the will of the Force, individuals like Darth Andeddu and Darth Sidious instead used their immense powers to leave their own dying bodies behind to leap their spirit into that of another. They did so using Transfer Essence, an obscure yet powerful Force ability which, as its name suggests, allows an individual to use the Force to transfer their being into the body of another being by evicting the target's spirit and replacing it with their own.

The process is very risky and difficult to execute, and can easily lead to one's spirit bouncing off the target's willpower and landing in the fires of Chaos. Darth Sidious, commanding the vast wealth and resources of the entire galaxy, solved this issue with special made clones that lacked any sort of spirit. But to individuals lacking in resources on a galactic-scale, they had to get more creative.

Similarly, it was ingenuity born of necessity that led to the creation of the Kurhevil crystal. Painstakingly forged by a Sith Lord a long, long time ago, the crystal minimizes the risk inherent in an attempt to transfer essence by parasitically subsuming a host body ahead of time. It can be implanted directly into another being as a fully grown crystal, or introduced into a victim as a small shard that eventually finds its way to the heart and then gradually replaces it. Either way, the crystal weakens the spirit of its host over time. The time taken can vary and depends on the strength of the victim's spirit. A more powerful victim will take months or years to corrupt, while a weak-willed average civilian might only take a few days or weeks. To grow, the crystal saps the host's spirit for strength, comparable to how Drain Force might leech Force energy, while leaving the body practically unharmed.

Once a victim's heart is fully replaced, an individual attuned to the crystal can use it as a spring-board in their attempt to take control of the body. In that way, the crystal can be likened to a destabilizing force weakening a target so the main war host to arrive and conquer it with ease. When the essence transfer is performed on the victim, the crystal's presence strengthens the attacker and weakens the resisting host's spirit, making the takeover a simple matter.

For the eventuality that an individual needs to transfer their spirit into a new vessel before the crystal has fully grown, it can reside in the crystal structure. This works similar to the way in which a Sith Lord might bind their spirit to their sarcophagus to bide their time until an unsuspecting victim walks by to be possessed. It's a strategy to buy time until the host is weak enough to have their spirit removed and replaced by the waiting spirit.

Most insidiously, perhaps, is the crystal's covert nature. The crystals are imbued with the Force in such a way that they become difficult to detect with sensors, showing up as simply more tissue if at all, and blend into the rest of the person's Force signature, however weak, unless one knows exactly what to look for. This remains the case when the crystals are fully grown and integrated into a host's body. The host can, theoretically, go their entire life without knowing one of these crystals is implanted in them. They become a walking 'back-up body', entirely ignorant of their status. That covert nature makes it very difficult to fully destroy all such potential 'back-ups' for the Sith Lord employing these crystals, giving them plenty second chances at living life.

The process isn't always perfect, however. Some crystals might not grow correctly, or be exposed to pressures in the Force that might shatter them. In such cases, the spirit of the attuned individual may be 'shattered' or 'fractured', temporarily or permanently damaging that which makes up their being. When they take control, their memories may be partially gone or completely lost. Their psyche might bear scars or significant impairments, and worst of all their power may have been diminished significantly.

 

[MANIAC]

Vagabond

Totally love it!

Approved.