Postfest VII: The Dagger of Misfortune |
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mortellan writes "Never take an enemy’s blade unless you know what killed him.
-old Uli warband saying.
In the chronicles of arcane lore there are innumerable magical daggers, yet few astute sages bother to learn about the history of cursed daggers, finding them an annoying footnote at best. Out of the Baklunish West however, there is one dagger that has proved tenacious enough to be the talk of many a Baklun assassin or illicit weapon trader.
The Dagger of Misfortune
by mortellan
Background: The Dagger of Misfortune is also widely known in the shadowy underbelly of the West as the Dagger of Ralishaz or the Unlooked For Blade. Despite this there seems to be no conclusive evidence that the namesake deity desecrated this weapon for his cause, for there are vying claims from decadent mages and demonic cultists to the origin of the blade. All agree however, that the blade has a long and grisly history that has now become part of Bakluni urban legend. Naturally most accounts relate the Dagger is found on or embedded in the dead body of its last hapless owner. For this reason in many Baklunish families and tribes it is taboo to take a dead man’s dagger. Interestingly, from a hundred documented stories over several centuries, the Dagger of Misfortune has turned up west of the Velverdyva River consistently even if borne into the East by a newly cursed owner. Adherents of Ralishaz say this is not fate but the hand of their god’s misfortune at work.
The Dagger of Misfortune appears as a mundane blade with neither markings nor any remarkable craftsmanship. The Dagger gives off no discernable magical aura or any hint of malicious alignment and even worse, once it possessed it is tenaciously hard to get rid of. It has been said to change its form to look like other nearby daggers to confuse the owner or in many cases it inexplicitly swaps itself in the sheath of a new dagger if exchanged in market. Simply leaving it behind has been found to be futile as well as it merely appears in the possession of the cursed owner next time they check. Indeed the only known ways to be rid of it is death and the power of a Limited Wish or greater spell. Effects: The Dagger of Misfortune is a +3 weapon if the user can overcome its deadly side effects. Any time it is drawn there is a 5% chance the dagger will strike of its own accord and automatically inflict a grievous wound to a random body part of the possessor (treat as either a critical hit or a -2 penalty to use of a limb). Even once that chance is passed, the Dagger of Misfortune acts unpredictably. If thrown it has a 10% of magically returning on the welder instead, striking with the same resulting roll. If used in melee, the Dagger of Ralishaz forces the user to roll twice for each attack and take the worst of the two results. Any natural roll of a one is always considered a fumble and the dagger must re-roll to strike its owner. Some say the Dagger of Misfortune has been broken many times only to find its way back into circulation at some mad god’s whim. Needless to say if the Dagger is ever sundered, the poor fool who accomplishes this task will suffer 1001 days of bad luck (The exact nature of the bad luck is left to the DM and this curse is as hard as the Dagger to be removed). |
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