Horns of the Traveler

The Horns of the Traveler are a set of antlers (resembling those of a deer) that grow out of the foreheads of the humans that have fulfilled certain conditions. They were most commonly received as a boon from a particular lineage of forest spirits.    

Description

  The exact method by which the Horns are granted is unknown. When a human fulfills the conditions and has the approval of a forest spirit, they will have appeared the next time the human wakes up from sleep. The Horns themselves are etheral. Technically a form of transformation, the Horns adapt to the "victim's" general stature and skull shape; this usually leaves them much smaller than the real deer equivalents. If desired, the horns can be forcefully removed, though they will grow back very quickly unless prevented. It is generally accepted that the specific shape of the Horns varies slightly depending on the spirit granting them.   The true nature of the Horns of the Traveler is as a prize to mark a human worthy of the gifts of the forest spirit. They mark the bearer as a sort of guest-diplomat for forest spirits, giving them permission to venture into their territory and communicate with them without causing ire. This makes them especially desirable for Witches that need to meet with spirits regularly or keep them as familiars.   Forest spirits barter in matters of the heart. They seek out individuals with strongly repressed emotions and give them deceptive tasks designed to awaken these emotions; if the individual "succeeds" and faces their turmoil head-on, they become kindred with the spirits and can be granted boons for their "work." One such boon is these Horns. In Dreamtongue (the language of such spirits), the phrase for them is "[horns/crown] of [traveled/healed]," implying the more psychological nature of the traveling in question.   Humans bearing the Horns of the Traveler may be considered Shifted or Halfborn, depending on the specific definition being used. They are a transformed human (a Shifted) but by technicality they are also part-spirit part-human (a Halfborn). This debate is inconclusive at best, so the Horns are listed as an individual item instead of a transformative condition.  

Trivia

  There are currently no written characters in the Mythic Maw setting that have the Horns of the Traveler.