The Bell for Those Expected
Troika! / Object
Curio
- Item Type
- Curio
A nervous innkeeper recognizes the bell and asks why the Ministry has sent a guest to a house that burned down years ...
Field notes
- Weirdness
- It knows when you are almost welcome.
Drawback
The host asks for the ringer’s full name and records it somewhere; refusing is perfectly legal, but considered rude.
Description
A thumb-sized silver desk bell, green at the rim and warm as fresh bread; its clapper is a tiny, sleeping human ear. It rings with the sound of a spoon tapping a teacup in another room.
Effect
Once per day, ringing it makes the nearest person or creature concerned with hospitality treat the ringer as an expected guest and offer one modest courtesy: directions, a chair, a drink, or entry to a waiting room.
Hook
A nervous innkeeper recognizes the bell and asks why the Ministry has sent a guest to a house that burned down years ago.
Origin
Issued by the Ministry of Doors, whose clerks insist it was never manufactured.
GM notes
- Works only where some form of hospitality is understood.
- The courtesy lasts one scene and does not override immediate danger.
- The host may be an insect, a ghost, or a building with opinions.