Devil's Toy Boxes

It's twitching I know. Don't open it...

What Is It

A devil's toy box is a small box. Each side measures about three inches by three inches. The outside is usually made of ornate wood or engraved metal. If opened one will notice the inside panels of the cube are mirrors facing one another with perfect dimensions. The box is used to trap ghosts, spirits and other minor celestial entities that lack a physical form or anchor. Many shamans carry one to trap exorcised entities until they can prepare an anchor or banish them. The box can also be used to house celestial items such as fruit that grow on trees or weapons found on a shaman's spirit walk.

Usage

While most often associated with shamans the box can be used by anyone who seeks to trap a minor celestial entity inside. It's rare to find it in the possession of someone who isn't a shaman, as very few people have a use for such a thing unless they are being haunted by Ghosts or some other celestial entity. It is not always a good idea to use it if you do not have the necessary means of defending yourself. Any entity trapped inside may become angry upon being released regardless of the motivations of the one who trapped them. They are not sold in any shop and can only be obtained either by commissioning a shaman or some artisan to produce it or by making the box yourself The process requires very specific measurements, as each mirror must be placed perfectly parallel to one another. If you fail to do this the Box will not function in any way though with the mirrors can still be used to distract an entity.

The reasons for its scarcity are usually due to the fact that few understand how these entities function and even fewer would dare to attempt trapping one. On top of this, most people don't even know that this item exists, unless they have some connection to shamans. Usage of the box has waned in recent years as shamans become fewer and fewer. There are plenty of shamans who refuse to use the box for a wide variety of reasons. The danger they believe the box poses to them and others around them, while unfounded, leads many to shun the practice.

RPG Mechanics

Mechanics

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Shamans may use a toy box to trap any minor celestial entity but in order to do so, The Entity must make a composer roll with a Target rating of 17 -X where X is equal to the difficulty of the entities in question.
Very easy = -0 easy = -2 Normal = -4 Hard = -6 Very hard =-9
Successfully trapping a minor Celestial will render it trapped permanently until the shaman releases it. Once trapped, the box grants a + 4 modifier to any rolls made against an entity trapped inside. If the role sales however the entities must make a decomposer role again but this time with a static -7 to their composure roll, regardless of what difficulty the entity has.

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Etymology and History

While it is not entirely clear who made the discovery or built the first version of the toy box, the oral tradition of shamans in Mhirriah trace the origin to the Alfen Ancestors who likely used the box to house the souls of those they conquered. They would then use the boxes they have filled with entire cultures like a weapon that, when detonated, what cause a catastrophic storm of tormented and angry ghosts to assail any living thing around them before finally being allowed to enter the afterlife.

This leads to the origin of the name. Ozlith referred to the ancestors by different names compared to the elves of their time. These terms are unanimously negative and derogatory, a close approximation being devil, or evil being. It became clear that the ancestors used these boxes two toy or play with the souls of dead. This was likely to be a final insult to Imperial culture in the mind of an ancestor especially considering the most likely use of it was as a weapon to kill others.

Eventually the methods of using the box were adopted by the Shamans, who rediscovered the technique and put it to good use. The practice grew overtime and then steadily declined until the present, where it's often a vital tool but still considered a novelty or object of convenience lore than a staple of the shamanic profession.

Why it works

Mirrors are bizarre to minor celestials and they often find themselves "trapped" inside them. This is not to say the entity is inside the mirror, rather it feels like it is. Shamans studied spirits for some time and found that if they end up looking in a mirror they freeze on the spot, looking for a way out despite the fact that they are free to roam about as they see fit.

While it works for lesser celestials, it will not trap major ones. If the spirit sees itself in the mirror on the opened panel of the box then closing the box will force the entity inside it where it will be stuck in the mirrors on the side panels allowing the box to be opened safely again. When the shaman returns to their body with the box or makes new anchors for the spirits inside it, they can individually remove and bind them.