Saturday, May 9, 2009

Magic Item: Snowember

Snowember: A battle-axe of massive construction, Snowember is of unmistakable enchantment. Though its haft may be of polished steel engraved with running spirals, its grip wrapped in golden scales with tassels of beaded white horsehair dangling from the suspension-loop in its butt; none of this compares to the broad, flaring blades of the axe.

Wickedly sharp, the flared wedges of Snowember's head are fashioned of a frosted, snowy crystalline substance -- eternal ice, or impossibly translucent blue-white embers. A corona of roiling white flames dances endlessly across the blades, warming and cooling all at once, though Snowember deals no damage from its fires unless so desired by its owner.

Though capable of wounding creatures requiring an enchanted weapon to be struck, Snowember has no innate bonuses to hit or damage. Instead, it inflicts an additional 1-8 hit points of fire damage to any target struck by its blades -- and against fiery creatures, its white flames inflict 2-16 hit points of damage and force an immediate morale check as the victim is faced with its own element somehow turned against it.

The origin of Snowember is unknown; though its ornamentation suggests a connection to the western Horseclans, the wind-riders were not known to favour axes. The offering up -- or the destruction -- of the great axe could allow one to curry great favour with any number of the Courts of Fire. By the same token, unraveling the means of its enchantment would prove an excellent weapon against those same Courts.

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