http://www.angelfire.com/tx2/webgamer/supers.html had an interesting concept for a supers game... Desperation Dice. These could be used in an immediate retest after you were defeated in a contest by describing a desperate maneuver on your part that evened things up.
That's an interesting alternative. I was considering something similar, but it would let you use a different stat+Knack and could only be done once per session. Making it a separate stat is a novel variation. It was also set up so that Desperation Dice, once used, didn't come back until you managed to roll all even numbers on your remaining dice (or possibly on all dice, it wasn't clear).
Hoorooru's worshippers consider his owl pellets sacred... those left behind after he devours a talking mouse (generally a sacrifice offered up to him by his worshippers) are regarded as potent fetishes, granting a +1d6 bonus to working dark and necromantic magics.
He has a few children, but it's known that he kills any talking owlet that shows too much potential. Hoorooru will brook no rivals. He has enslaved or slain all of the other owls in Rookswood. Crows fear him as much or more than mice do and avoid the woods at all costs.
He and Ssaaa are on "speaking terms" but neither trusts the other. Ssaaa is quite willing to feed Hoorooru's megalomania with uctuous flattery, but the owl is too canny to be completely taken in and neither of them have any interest in testing their powers against each other.
Hm. Turns out that Great Horned Owl pellets are often several inches long. I could see them being used as temple fetishes, but they're much too big to be carried around normally. These owls are big enough to eat stuff like rabbits, though (which they rip into chunks), so his primary prey won't be the mice... they simply aren't filling enough. I could see the pellet being strapped to a stick or something and used as a grotesque totem pole, perhaps with an extracted skull placed atop the mass.