Keeper

Keepers, alternatively Connoisseurs, are arguably the Other equivalent and antithesis of Collectors and similar Magic Item users. <ref name=":2">KEEPERS
Also Connoisseurs (Ex: Connoisseur of Swords)
Relevant Schools:  Collectors - Heroic or Priest may encounter in specific scenarios.
Appearance: Human-like figures, often thin and exaggerated in height (sometimes seven feet tall), with distorted hands and faces that may have some symbolic connection to their item, favoring heavy coats or draping clothing that can conceal items within, often with wide hats or heavy hoods.  They keep to the shadows.
- Pact Dice: Collectors</ref><ref>Keepers are tall, narrow, gray skinned Others, wearing black suits or other fancy clothing, who each collect items of a particular type and get more and more present and problematic to deal with as magic item collections are amassed - the specifics of their operation, degree of organization, and origins are yet unknown. Keepers may be a natural pushback against some Magic Item practices, and also cogs in a system that ensures items stay in circulation instead of being locked in vaults that are then forgotten. - PACT DICE: Magic Item</ref>

Abilities

They can appear and disappear easily traveling all over the world even.

Tall and long-fingered, they act both to prevent items being destroyed and to prevent Collectors from completing powerful collections.<ref>Keepers - Taller than humans, long-fingered, these cryptic Others keep track of collections and intervene in events more and more as collections grow more complete.  Often hold a few obscure items themselves, and are exceptional at using them.  Sometimes said to be self-charged with keeping items in circulation, preventing them from being lost in the fracas as Collectors fight among one another.  At other times, said to be agents of the universe itself, keeping a ‘true’ collection from ever being finished.  Only those who come near the completion of a true collection are likely to unravel the mystery of Keepers, and unraveling it may be a necessity. - Pact Dice: Collectors</ref> Their faces are also often distorted in some minor way.<ref name=":2" />

Weaknesses

They are silent, but can communicate wordlessly with other Keepers from their "set".<ref name=":1" /><ref>Keepers appear in ones, threes, or the exceptionally rare seven, corresponding with how broad a collection is.  When they appear in multiples, they work in silent concert as families vie for key or legendary items. - Pact Dice: Collectors</ref><ref>Keepers do not speak, though they may leave messages, with clear tics in language and writing.  One might write in rhyme, the last line always off. - Pact Dice: Collectors</ref> They have the ability to vanish and reset themselves when unobserved, but must otherwise rely on (considerable) skill and magic items.<ref>Strengths: Keepers often have one to three items from the collection in their ownership - if their focus is on a collection of books, they’ll have books.  They’ll use these items to their full functionality and utility, and they fully know the capacity and full functionality of all other items in the same collection.  They are smart, slightly above ordinary humans in terms of physical capabilities, well trained at all pursuits necessary to their goals, from driving to computer hacking, and survive anything that does not outright kill them.  Left unobserved for more than a few seconds, they have the capacity to disappear outright, shedding any effects that were on them.  Finally, the mystery surrounding Keepers is an asset to them - the fact that their motives are unknown or even unknowable makes them difficult to counter or predict. - Pact Dice: Collectors</ref> For some reason, newly-manifested Keepers are already bound to the Seal of Solomon.<ref>Binding: Keepers are bound by the seal of Solomon by default, even when newly manifested, and play by set rules, both the ones usual for Others and the ones unique to them.  These can vary from one collection to another, but they do tend to involve the items.  As one case, Keepers can be bound into service with a simple trade- essentially giving up one item from the collection into the ‘pool’ in exchange for a term of service, and if the binding is to be long term, it may involve offering additional assistance.  This route is sometimes taken by those who wish to forfeit their pursuit of the items- giving up their stake, oftentimes in a way to get some revenge.

As another case, they can be bound with relative ease if contested and defeated on three separate occasions - typically requiring that the Keeper enter play to pursue or retake one or more items, with the practitioner beating them to it or keeping the items three times.  This isn’t typically an option for non-Collectors.

Boxes, cases, and puzzle boxes are common Keeper binding cases.  Specialized cases will have clear crystal or tinted glass panes, or segments which allow for keys or tiles to move to spell out words.  This is the only real way to communicate with a Keeper after binding it. - Pact Dice: Collectors</ref>

Formation

Said to incarnate in the spirit world, have a bit of a mystery for what they're about.

Behavior

They have been known to fill patron relationships, keeping items in circulation and such.<ref name=":1">Matias never awoke as a practitioner, but became a Collector nonetheless.  He’s not innocent, and he’s Aware, but he’s not bound to keep from lying.  As a kid, he glimpsed a group of creepy, eerily tall men and women, some with wide toothy smiles and all with long fingers, gathering for a wordless meeting in an abandoned building.  One woman found him, stooped down to eye level, held a long finger with an even longer painted nail on the end to her mouth to indicate silence, and gave Matias three random, uncursed items, wrapping his hands around them.  He’s kept the silence and they’ve kept their end of the deal as pseudo-patrons.  Once a season, so long as he’s hunting down items, they’ll either save him from a dire fate, or they’ll give him an item if he ended up not needing the rescue.  He’s in the mix now, with a knack for finding items and stealing from Collectors. - Pact Dice: Collectors</ref>

Variations

Their diversity, there are male and female presenting keepers, is expressed in their individual specializations each with their specific distortions and clothing choices.

References

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