Talismans

Talismans are simple phylacteries which can be carried and activated by a controller.

Most can house only a few atman simultaneously, and typically have only simple afterlife realms or none at all. The controller of the talisman may command the atman to show itself by speaking (or with an NI, by concentrated thought) the Xianese activation word. Talisman are usually infested with a nanite swarm, which serves as a temporary embodiment for the atman inside to act on the real world. Once the nanites are all destroyed, the talisman is essentially useless and the atman inside trapped forever, until moved into another atman. Malkuthi builder golems are an example of talismans at work.

Comparatively rare talismans allow the trapped atman to work as a subservient personality alongside the controller's. These accelerate thinking processes or implicitly teach the controller new skills.

Trapping a modern atman into a talisman is extremely difficult, but possible. Xianese talismans which have survived the millennia rarely have empty slots for new atman, and modern talismans only house extremely basic artificial intelligences.