Inspired by a D&D Mace of Healing -
In 2054, an unnamed military doctor commissioned Italian enchanter Emilio DeMola to create "the most powerful healing device of this age, able to be used by magician and mundane alike". Emilio, famed for the potency of this healing potions, accepted the task with gusto but soon found himself stymied by a single roadblock - a magician would have to take drain every time the item was used. Knowing of no magician who would make himself so vulnerable, Emilio created an ally for just such a purpose.
Emilio poured his life and his soul into the creation of a Force 12 Ally Spirit and a homunculus that would both contain it and direct its powers.
The result was a Staff of Asclepius, symbol of healing and medicine, made entirely of wrought iron, that would cast the ally's Force 12 healing spell with 12 successes at TN 10 on anyone who it touched.
The staff never made it into the hands of its intended owner. The night that it was completed a thief used the staff to bludgeon DeMola into unconsciousness and made off wth the artifact. The Spirit traped within used this oppertunity to break free of its master and was never hear from again. Over time stories about a magical artifact able to heal any wound have cropped up here and there. However, it it difficult to seperate urban myths from true stories of the staff. While it is aparent that the thief fenced the staff and that it has changed hands several times over the years the identity of its current owner remains unknown.
Staff of Asclepius
Anchoring Focus/Homunculus
Force: 12/12
Armor: 8
Reach:2
Damage: (STR+6)M Stun
Weight: 10
Over time, the Free Spirit, now walking a fine line between Trickster and Shadow, inhabiting the focus has been able to twist the enchantment. The force of the spell is limited to the number of boxes of damage that the staff causes on its target. If the target doesn't sustain damage then the healing spell will have no effect and will make other magical healing impossible.
Should the staff cause a full 10 boxes of stun damage then a full 10 boxes of physical will be healed. Should the cudgel cause physical damage, then the healing will be applied to any wound caused by the staff first. Because of this, the staff cannot kill no matter how hard or how many times one is hit with it.
Panacea
Free Spirit
Force: 12
Stats: BOD 12 (18), STR 12 (18), QUI 12 (0), INT 7, CHA 8, WIL 12
Spirit Energy: 3
Powers : Inhabiting, Sorcery 12, Dispelling, Telepathic link
Spells: Heal 12, Agony 12, Mass Agony 12 Mindlink 1, Mindprobe 12, Diagnose 6, Cure Disease 12, Detox 12, Antidote 12, Stabilize 12
Panacea was patterned after one of Asclepius' daughters, who represented healing in Greek lore, mixed in with DeMola's own tastes and preferances. On the astral plane she appears to be a beautiful naked Italian woman with dark hair that reaches down to her buttocks.
As Panacea has been forced to suffer drain in order to heal others she has become embittered and now takes some plasure in the pain that her use inflicts on her patients.
Panacea will use the mindlink spell to make contact with whoever possesses her homunculus and the mindprobe to find their deepest darkest secrets. She will attempt to maniuplate her current owner using these powers to accomplish whatever plan she may have to the moment. If this doesn't work she may simply apply the agony spell, promising to end the pain in exchange for a pledge of loyality that usualy involves an exchange of karma and unquestioning service to her for as long as she sees fit.
When someone attempts to use the staff's healing powers Panacea will mock him or her using mindlink, admonishing them for causing as much damage as they are healing. She will often mindlink a staff's user with the patient, forcing the user to feel every bit of stun damage he causes while attempting to heal the patient.
Panacea will also bargain with her other healing spells, offering to cure a disease or detoxify a posion in exchange for karma. While it is possible that she could be motivated to use these spells for other reasons it is highly unlikely that she will do so without an exchange of karma.