What would you make your phylactery?

[The Succubus]

Howdy,

Now, before you all go reaching for the sourcebooks and D20s, this isn't about making a super-indestructable phylactery.

Instead, I'm curious as to what you regard as your most treasured possession and why it has a strong connection to you. To help you get the idea, here are the two things I would use:

My Travelling Hat: Bought when I was 14 years old and on a school trip to Greece. At the time, it was merely a convenient way to prevent my brain from getting cooked. However, the hat began to travel to other places - China, New Zealand, the Netherlands. Whenever I went abroad, the hat would come with me and whenever I had it, I knew I would return home safely. My mum and sister borrow it from time to time and it's been soaked in the rainforests of the Amazon, been briefly buried in the sands of Egypt and was once stolen by a monkey in Indonesia. Yet always, it returned home safe. If I have a spiritual connection to any item, it is this one. Sadly it's too small for me now, so I can't wear it to meet ups but I could never ever lose it.

My Katana: It's hard to credit that I was actually a teenager once but I was a very unhappy teen. Stroppy, pushing people away, anti-social and deeply, deeply unsure of myself. One afternoon, one of the few friends I had convinced me to go to an aikido lesson with him. He dropped out after the first lesson but I decided to stick with it. The school taught lots of different martial arts - karate, aikido, judo....and kenjitsu. Now, when I first had the sword, like many other teenagers, my main thought was "Wooo! look how badass I am now!" After a while though, something changed. Sword lessons are not about seeing how hard you can whack something - it was almost like a form of meditation. Focusing on each movement, making it as perfect as you can, slow, silent.....it opened up a side of me that I didn't know I had. A side that was not angsty and tetchy but instead one that could think coolly and rationally. When I travelled to a large group class, some 100 people or so, they would have us do a form of training called The Hundred Cuts. The same move repeated over and over. It was the hardest form of exercise I had done in years. This is going to sound horribly pretentious but I don't care - the sword symbolised a part of my change from child to adult. It gathers dust at home as I had to move away from the karate school with my new job. It waits patiently and one day I will pick it up again.

So that's two potential phylacteries from me - what would you choose and why? :smallsmile:

[Coidzor]

Oh, tough question. The hat I would've done it with has been lost, and the coat I'd've used has suffered far too much abuse for me to be safe with that and it's been abandoned in another state, albeit in relative safety.

If I could go back and time and do so, there were several people who were popular and universally well liked enough that I was close to that I could've used for ye olde "you want to kill me, eh? Have an innocent murder on your hands" gambit.

At present I don't really have any objects that I have an especial connection with on a spiritual level. Quite sad in retrospect.

[Grinner]

My PlayStation Portable.

[Kobold-Bard]

Bible with gold edged pages.

I'm not religious in the slightest but it's the oldest possession I have (it being a "present" for my Christening). Just out of pure nostalgia it's the only thing I own that I wouldn't sell/give away at a moments notice, so it's probably be that.

If God slaps me and says "NO!" to that plan, maybe a pocketwatch I got a couple of years ago. Just because I like it, but again no real connection to it beyond that.

[Savannah]

I'm honestly not super attached to my possessions. I'd probably have to do a Voldemort and put it in one of my pets, if you wanted something I really treasure...hope it can be transferred, though...

[Grinner]

I'm honestly not super attached to my possessions. I'd probably have to do a Voldemort and put it in one of my pets, if you wanted something I really treasure...hope it can be transferred, though...

I guess the question really is: What possession do you find to be symbolic of you?

@Succubus: Gotta say, this question really made me look deep into myself. Nicely done.

[Savannah]

That would be my pets (not that they're possessions, per se).

[Grinner]

That would be my pets (not that they're possessions, per se).

And how is that? :smallsmile:

[Savannah]

Which part, the being symbolic of me or the not possessions?

[Icewalker]

Hmmm, I have quite a few tokens of importance to me. Probably a small bracelet of chain, which carries an especially large sentimental value, which used to have fox claws upon it.

[Grinner]

Which part, the being symbolic of me or the not possessions?

The symbolism. Sorry, I had meant to edit the latter part out, but forgot.

[Weezer]

Huh. This is really getting me thinking, now that I look at it this way I seem not to really have any items that are important to me beyond their base usefulness. Everything I can think of could be replaced with another object of similar usefulness and I wouldn't care. I guess I don't really form attachments to my possessions, interesting.

I guess the closest thing would be the Tom Baker scarf I knit over the summer, but that may just be because it's essentially irreplaceable.

[Savannah]

Well...I don't really have any deep reason. I'm definitely an animal person, I've spent many, many years volunteering at animal shelters, I'm going to work as a dog behaviorist as soon as I get out of school (where I'm getting a master's degree in a field applicable to dog training), I have no intention of ever having a husband/kids but I'll always have dogs and rats, my number two criteria when picking an apartment (after being able to afford it) is that it allows pets -- pets are really the thing that's most important to me and a large part of who I am.

Besides, when I was first thinking about it, I looked down at the two things at my side -- my stuffed tiger that I've had for well over ten years, have hauled on every single trip I've ever taken, and still sleep with (I'm 24), and my dog, who I adopted about four months ago -- and thought that if the tiger disappeared tomorrow I'd be mad but go find something else that's the right shape to cuddle when I sleep, but that if Lily disappeared tomorrow it would be like a piece of my heart was ripped away.

[The Succubus]

Well...I don't really have any deep reason. I'm definitely an animal person, I've spent many, many years volunteering at animal shelters, I'm going to work as a dog behaviorist as soon as I get out of school (where I'm getting a master's degree in a field applicable to dog training), I have no intention of ever having a husband/kids but I'll always have dogs and rats, my number two criteria when picking an apartment (after being able to afford it) is that it allows pets -- pets are really the thing that's most important to me and a large part of who I am.

Besides, when I was first thinking about it, I looked down at the two things at my side -- my stuffed tiger that I've had for well over ten years, have hauled on every single trip I've ever taken, and still sleep with (I'm 24), and my dog, who I adopted about four months ago -- and thought that if the tiger disappeared tomorrow I'd be mad but go find something else that's the right shape to cuddle when I sleep, but that if Lily disappeared tomorrow it would be like a piece of my heart was ripped away.

It's this sort of thing I'm looking for. Pets are always going to be important, treasured and irreplaceable, which is why I'm trying to find inanimate objects that still hold a special place in people's hearts.

I'm curious about the bracelet with the fox claws that Icewalker mentioned.....

[Ceric]

The first thing I thought of was my wristwatch, as I'm one of those people who wears a wristwatch 24/7. But I'm not sure why I'd transfer my soul to the "safety" of an item I carry around all the time anyways :smallbiggrin:

...Yeah, I can't think of anything else. I don't get attached to any single posession (besides things like pens and pencils, because I'm a student) and the items that I consider important are more functional than keepsakes (ie keys or electric tape).

[Coidzor]

I'm honestly not super attached to my possessions. I'd probably have to do a Voldemort and put it in one of my pets, if you wanted something I really treasure...hope it can be transferred, though...

Or still work once they've been taxidermized by Chuck Testa (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbUVtfUWwF8).

[arguskos]

I know precisely what I'd choose. I'd transfer my soul to a coin, specifically the 1925 Liberty Head dollar that I carry with me everywhere (I sleep with it not 2 feet away and it sits in the bathroom when I shower). I'd explain further as to why... but board rules actually prevent me from doing so, sorry. :smallsigh: If you're curious, PM and I'll explain.

If I was somehow prevented from choosing said object... hmm. I have a necklace I might go with, simply because it was given to me by my great love, who I still miss to this day. That necklace holds a lot of emotional and sentimental value and though I will love again, it'll never be quite the same.

Finally, the troll option is a specific custom art Magic card that I have. If you're curious why this one is the troll choice, check it out (http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u250/bloodydoves/necropotence2.png). The joke should become obvious.:smallwink:

[Gnoman]

I'd use either the flag from my grandfather's funeral or the uniform pin that he brought back from the Pacific War. Even though I never knew him, much of the things that are core virtues to me were built on the stories I heard of him as a child.

[Icewalker]

I'm curious about the bracelet with the fox claws that Icewalker mentioned.....

The claws were a gift from a very very close friend. And, I'm rather a fox, to the point that most of my closest friends call me Fox.

[Serpentine]

Hmmm... I'm not sure. I constantly collect little interesting things that pretty much all have some sort of meaning and/or attachment to me, and it's the having lots of little things of interest around me that acts as my "security blanket", so to speak.
For "things that represent me", I have a number of snakey things around that I think do that job. Of those, probably the best candidate is a plaster(?) snake my stepfather gave me. It's hard and all coiled up and a really good model of a snake - to the point where I used to have it on my front varandah, and when my aunt saw it she screamed and ran down the path :smallbiggrin: Best present he ever bought me (well, maybe aside from my George Foreman Silverback G'rilla...).

I'm trying to think of things I brought with me overseas... I had to be incredibly strict on what I brought, and I think I was okay with most of my treasured possessions being left behind because I know they're safe. So jewellery's probably my best place to look...
There's the tiny gold leopard pendant my father found on a beach once. It's sort of lucky - with the finding - and it's very beautiful, and it's so little yet so perfect, and it always reminds me of my dad.
There's my snake bracelet, too. I always feel a bit more "me" when I wear it. It's a recent acquisition, though. I've always wanted a snake bracelet, but all the ones I've found are tacky and/or out of my price range. This one, though, was the nicest, cheapest and one of the simplest of the snake bracelets I've seen. It's perfect for me, and I love it.

Another excellent possibility is my Ideas Book. I actually have two of them, but I filled the first one up so I left it at home. Sadly I haven't written in it for... years, possibly, but it's full of lots of random thoughts and plans and story ideas. Even if I probably won't write in it, I still keep it around Just In Case. I'm not sure what you'd find out about me if you read them, but it could well be rather telling.

[LaZodiac]

The only things I really care about are my friends, or the things that connect me to them. Turning a friend into a living phlactery would be...a thing, to be sure.

[Blue Ghost]

The only things I really care about are my friends, or the things that connect me to them. Turning a friend into a living phlactery would be...a thing, to be sure.

We could be phylacteries for each other! :smallbiggrin:

[CoffeeIncluded]

Hmm...It would either be Doggy, my stuffed dog that I've had since I was a baby which I'm holding right now, or the snowflake obsidian turtle necklace that I bought several years ago and have worn pretty much every day since. Both are rather beat up and have a lot of sentimental value. Especially Doggy. He's like Woody to me.

[Lord Raziere]

one of my books.

or maybe my teddy bear Sofa….

or my ship in a bottle….

or maybe my coat….or my sunglasses….

…..I honestly have no idea! or maybe my broken sunglasses shrine….

[Starwulf]

This might sound a bit weird, but I'd have to say my Secret of Mana SNES Cartridge. Me and my best friend had a lot of fun playing that game, to the extent that when I think of that game, I think of every fun memory(not that it's responsible for every fun one, just that thinking of it evokes all of them) I ever had with my bro back when we were teenagers.

[H Birchgrove]

Going for something material which means a lot to me, it would be some of my Tintin books, especially my HC copy of Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (which also has Totor, Chief Scout of the Hannetons), or The Blue Lotus (I have both French and Swedish copies of that one).

One of my stuffed animals would work too, especially a dog which I named after my grandparents (now dead) dog, Nuffe. :smallsmile:

If I were going for something robust, I would pick either my Game Boy or my Nintendo 8-bit. Nintendo consoles are almost indestructible! :smallbiggrin:

[Spekari]

If I had to choose an object, it'd probably be a purple teddy bear called Sammy.

Thing is, when I was in Kindergarten, my teacher, every month, would send the bear home with a student for whatever reason (I forget) and then next month they'd bring it back and somebody else would get a turn with it. And then, at the end of the year, she decided to give it out to somebody permanently (which, as you can probably tell by this point, is me), and I was SO thrilled.

The little guy's still in fantastic shape, too. The string on one of his paws (signifying his "fingers") is loose now, but other than that, he's still in great shape.

And if not Sammy, probably my jacket, because it's practically become part of me now (nice and warm, dark grey with fleece on this inside) since I wear it practically every day to everywhere I go ('cept school since they have a no hood policy and, well, yeah, hooded jacket).

[Coidzor]

The only things I really care about are my friends, or the things that connect me to them. Turning a friend into a living phlactery would be...a thing, to be sure.

The makeouts alone would be pretty kinky.

I'm not even sure if it's quantifiable how kinky it would be to have mutual phylactery makeouts though.

[golentan]

I don't think I have one. Well, non-living one, anyway (and I wouldn't inflict my soul on anyone I care about). There's not a thing I own that I wouldn't be willing to let burn if the cause was important. The only things I can think of are places, and I wouldn't be able to pick. Do I invest the dining hall of my old college, or the forest behind it, or the place I shared my first kiss, or my grandmother's house, or the aquarium I volunteered with, or... well. All places I don't ever want to give up, and I can't choose.

[Feytalist]

Intriguing question :smallsmile:

I'm not much for possessions. I live pretty spartan out of choice. But I'd probably pick my old worn leather jacket that belonged to my late uncle. It's slightly too big for me, but I don't care. It's ridiculously comfortable, and I wear it whenever I can. It's been dubbed the larceny jacket by my friends, because of its large pockets, perfect for... acquiring small items (mostly nice-looking beer glasses from nearby pubs :smallbiggrin:).


Edit: Oh, silly me. The answer is obviously my grandfather's old sharpshooting .303 Lee Enfield rifle, who passed it on to my dad, who passed it on to me. Although not in the sense that I carry it around with me all the time, of course. Both my grandfather, my father and I have won sharpshooting trophies with that rifle. And its really pretty, as well.

[Castaras]

The CD version of Jethro Tull's Broadsword and the Beast. While technically the CD isn't mine (Dad bought it), it was one of the factors that helped me when I started at secondary school and also helped me be myself, rather than try and fit in.

Music in general has always been important to me, and Broadsword was the first album that really let me lose myself and disappear from reality when the time out of lessons at school got too much - in fact, it was the first prog rock album that I religiously listened to, and led me to all my current music tastes now. While it probably doesn't have the most influential (for me) songs on there (that goes to Genesis and Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, and Dance on A Volcano from Trick of the Tail), it was a damned good album and it really made me realise that I shouldn't care what other people are listening to, and I should just listen to what I enjoy. And this led to my realisation around the time I joined these forums that other people be damned, I was my own person and that was awesome.

[dehro]

oooh..that's just too difficult.
I'm a little bit of a hoarder of small things that have meaning for me, yet on the other hand I won't rip my hair out if I were to lose any of them..because I really am not much attached to it.
I'm gonna throw in a couple of random ideas.

my red kippà/yarmulke.. I'm not religious by any means but it does symbolises a part of me and it's still with me after decades of actively trying to lose it..

my Dutch copy of the lord of the rings. it's the first version I've read and a milestone in my literary path to adulthood.

[wormwood]

The one constant throughout my life has been a habit I picked up from my dad... I always have a knife in my pocket. Through the years, the knife has changed but there were a few that I really liked. Also, as far as eternal baggage goes, they're damned handy.

[pendell]

My wife's wedding ring. Then, if I got killed, she'd still have me around, and I'd have someone I trusted completely to watch after it until I finished regenerating.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[The_Ditto]

this isn't about making a super-indestructable phylactery.


oh, so airplane black box is out?? :smallmad:



Instead, I'm curious as to what you regard as your most treasured possession and why it has a strong connection to you.

My credit card? :smallwink:

[thubby]

honestly, i dont put that much value in the stuff i own. like, i cant think of anything i'd be upset to lose for emotional reasons.

if i had to pick something, it would probably be one of my books.

[Ryulin18]

I'm a teacher in a private college and I spend an inordinate amount of time writing. The lad's I taught for 4 years (and who are now leaving" did a round up and bought me a Parker Pen with "crede quod habes, et habes" inscribed on it. Something I told them on their first day.

It means "Believe that you have it, and you do". That willpower comes from within.

I would choose it in an instant. If I got a mile of writing for every good memory with them, I wouldn't have enough ink to fill the hole they left on their graduation.

[Harry]

Hmm I think my pocket knife don't know why just the first thing that comes in mind

[Riverdance]

Good question.

Probably the knife my uncle passed down to me. The handle was carved by my great-grandfather. He was a really good carver.

[Dvil]

I guess it would be my walking stick. When I was just young, my grandparents would take me while my parents were at work, and my granda always needed a stick to walk. One day he got me one made by the guy who made his, carved with my name and everything. It's at home down south right now, about 150 miles away. It's the best reminder I have of him, and I love it to bits. He was an amazing man, and I'd be proud to use that gift from him as my phylactery.

Well. That all turned more emotional than I'd planned. Guess that's me.

[hydroplatypus]

My stuffed bear.

Or a specific book (never can remember the title) that was originally my mother's.

I actually thought about any possessions that I actually cared about and those were the only 2 that came up. And the book is out as it is basically falling apart. I thought about getting a new copy but couldn't. I was attached to that particular copy of it.

[The Bandicoot]

I'd have to say my copy of Shadow Madness. It's an old scratched up PS1 game that according to the critics wasn't very good but it was my first RPG videogame. I played the thing to death(which happens to be why its so scratched I can't play it anymore) and I have a lot of fond memories in that game.

[Hazzardevil]

I don't know, I can't think of anything I have a deep connection with, so I would probably choose my coat. I like it, it is warm, it is comfy and I've lost it.
So I could kill myself to find it again, sounds rather morbid but I have always been a practical person.

[super dark33]

I dont have one right now, but it will probably be a Refillable metal pen.
I have a metal pen right now and it is pretty usefull for stuff outer then writing. (i dont call it Bonkster for nothing):smallbiggrin:

[Cobra_Ikari]

...I think it'd probably have to be my black leather jacket or the cross necklace my dad gave me. It's weird, I have so many better memories with so many other people, but I guess that somehow makes the physical objects somehow unable to capture the essence of what makes them important to me. The jacket's just awesome and comfortable, and the necklace...I'm not even Christian, I just fight with my dad so often that when he gives me something he thinks is meaningful, I treasure it.

Ah, well. Though now that I think about it, while these are treasured possessions, they're things I'd want to keep with me all the time. If I wanted something to place in the care of the person I trust most...well, I'd have to make it an action figure. =P

[Asta Kask]

I have a plush dog that I've had since I was three. That.

[Anxe]

My engagement ring obviously. It means a lot to me. It's always with me. Plus, it's titanium so it's practically indestructible. You'd have to melt it or something.

[Lex-Kat]

Bible with gold edged pages.

I'm not religious in the slightest but it's the oldest possession I have (it being a "present" for my Christening). Just out of pure nostalgia it's the only thing I own that I wouldn't sell/give away at a moments notice, so it's probably be that.
I got one of these for my Lutheran Confirmation. I don't think I'd use it as a phylactery though.

I'd use either a musical stuffed panda. It was a gift when I was a baby. It's neck spun around as the music played. It's the only stuffed critter I still own, hidden at the top of my closet, so it won't be further abused.

Or, a more recent gift I love, a musical snow-globe with a pixie in it. It's very beautiful.

They both play the same song: "Everything is Beautiful". They touch my heart, even when I'm feeling my most depressed.

[Dinner Thief]

I happen to have a medieval longsword that I would never part with, and although its an odd thing to own, it would be hands down my first choice for a phylactery.

[Calanon]

I'd use my Necklaces... Treasures that I've collected from my friends, Specifically one of my Necklaces; One that I gave to my friend whom I care for deeply :smallsmile: She guards it with her life So yeah...

[Karen Lynn]

Hmmm... Stuffed rabbit that's about a week older than me?

An ocarina from my first RenFaire?

Or the ink in an ink well, so that I will be impossible to completely take down, having penned something in something somewhere, then sending it out to many? :P

[Stadge]

Mine would probably be the engraved hip flask that belonged to my dad. I don't have very much that was his, it brings back lots of memories and is pretty and useful to boot. So yeah, probably that.

[Icewalker]

My wife's wedding ring. Then, if I got killed, she'd still have me around, and I'd have someone I trusted completely to watch after it until I finished regenerating.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

That's really sweet! Also a really cool idea. Now I want something with a pair of people who are secretly liches whose phylacteries are one another's wedding rings...

[The Succubus]

That's really sweet! Also a really cool idea. Now I want something with a pair of people who are secretly liches whose phylacteries are one another's wedding rings...

Did anyone else get a mental image of Xykon and a Tsukiko-Lich in a wedding dress?

:xykon: "With this phylactery, I do pledge...."

[Cespenar]

Okay, running for the hopelessly geek award:

My PC. Probably the only thing that I couldn't do without.

Also, there's the chance of dying and regenerating in cyberspace, so I'd get to be an antagonist in someone's story!

[The Bandicoot]

Okay, running for the hopelessly geek award:

My PC. Probably the only thing that I couldn't do without.

Also, there's the chance of dying and regenerating in cyberspace, so I'd get to be an antagonist in someone's story!

Can I change my phylactery? Because I want this one. I really really do.

[Surfing HalfOrc]

Might not be my best choices, but either my bicycle or my surfboard.

I value them both, but if I am destroyed, it will most likely be on one of the two, and that item will be destroyed along with me. Either dropping down the face of a wave, or blasting down the side of a mountain.

All men die. Not all men truly LIVE!

[Deathslayer7]

Would have to go with my jacket that I got after my grandpa died almost 10 years ago now. I wear it every winter. The second thing would be an elf hat that I pull out for Christmas that is even older than the jacket. That too I got from my Grandpa ironically enough.

[STsinderman]

Probably my copy of the death trilogy by Terry Pratchet, it was the first of his works I read and I couldn't put it down. It really just blew my mind and got me hooked on his stuff for life.

Either that or my copy of the Book of Five Rings, read it so many times and will continue to do so.

[CynicalAvocado]

my necklace. it has my godfather's medal on it and a shell casing from my grandfather's 21 gun salute. it stays on me at all times

[Kalmageddon]

A picture of my grandfather, he died before I was born but his history has always been an inspiration to me. He was a member of the Italian resistance movement and was sent to concentration camp in WW2 but managed to escape, carrying his dying brother all the way from Poland to Italy, where he had the strenght of raising a family afterwards, dying at the age of 64.
He made it possibile for me and my family to walk with our heads held high.