Badge of the Chosen

The Badge of the Chosen is a crystal brooch awarded to members of The Chosen when they formally join the organization.

The badges are made from the same laser-absorbing crystals found in the mines beneath the Chosen's headquarters at the Tower of Plinth. The crystals originated from the mines beneath the fortress, which had once been operated under Ulanthar.

Properties

A Badge of the Chosen provides a 10% chance to absorb an attack from a laser weapon, negating up to 100 points of damage from that attack.

Once a badge has absorbed 100 points of damage, the crystal crumbles, destroying the badge.

The campaign records do not establish whether a successful absorption can occur more than once before the badge reaches its 100-point limit, nor do they specify exactly how the 10% chance is determined beyond the stated percentage. No additional properties are established.

Initiation

Receiving the badge is part of the formal process of joining the Chosen.

When new members agree to join, a Chosen leader awards each of them a Badge of the Chosen. They are then sworn in through a ceremony performed by the Chosen.

The ceremony places the new member under a minor geas. The geas requires them not to reveal:

• The location of the Tower of Plinth
• Information that the Tower considers to be restricted to the Chosen

The restriction applies to revealing such information to non-Chosen.

The nature of the ceremony is not otherwise described in the surviving campaign records.

Significance

The badge serves both as a practical protective device and as a symbol of membership in the Chosen. Its construction also reflects the unusual magical technology available to the organization through the ancient crystals beneath their headquarters.

The badge itself is not the source of the Chosen's supernatural abilities. The Chosen have never determined why some individuals possess those abilities or where they originate; individual Chosen tend to develop their own unique powers.