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Danrick was an old wizard. He was so old, he actually wasn’t a wizard any more. Only his grandson knew it, as he worked magic for Danrick, so that he could retain some semblance of dignity in his declining years.
Danrick had the respect of the court, and wasn’t expected to attend balls and such anyway, but when he had no polite way to excuse himself from attending court, his grandson Jerrith would accompany him and work Danrick’s magic in secret if needed.
Jerrith was found out one day, by a guard who mistook him as an assassin trying to ensorcel the king, and slayed him.
Distraught and vengeful, Danrick sought out a contempory to make him his staff. Three years to the day later, three years after his grandson was murdered by a ignorant buffoon, Danrick returned to court for vengeance.
It was the king’s birthday once more, and Danrick appeared in the throngs of the court once more, beaming smiles from his cheerful robes. He bid the king health and long life, and gifted him with a blessing from the touch of his staff, to ensure the worries of his kingdom did not trouble him. Danrick granted the same blessing to a seemingly random guard.
Shortly thereafter, He died. The king and guard continued on in their lives, but were beset by hardships. One of the kings children became ill, and while not fatally so, she was left wan and paralyzed. The guard’s house burnt to the ground and the damages left him penniless. The things they held dear to them were fouled, almost cursed. Their lives were wounded. The guard’s suffering was cut short when another beggar slit his throat for a moldy crust of bread, but the king, with the aid of his physicians, live to a miserable old age.
Magical Properties:
Those struck by Danrick’s Sword have their lives injured. They are cursed. It’s not immediate or dreadful, but it is inevitable. Their lives can be healed, but it will take the powers of someone capable of healing spirits. Otherwise, like an open wound, it will continue to fester and bleed. Life is all downhill, untill they die.
Note that the kingdom didn’t fall to this. While important people affect many others, the other people aren’t wounded. Those close to the injured may suffer, but the population at large is unaffected.
August 28, 2005, 9:51
Other than that, I like this weapon of fairy tale magnitude. A weapon which damages your karma, making you a puppet of the GM's demented whim.
Of course, it seems to do that for anyone who touches it... including the wielder (the poor guy died after all.) So a powerful weapon with a serious hook.
August 28, 2005, 12:07
I rather like it. It's got a good purpose, a proper reason for existence, and while it's powerful, it's not overly so due to affecting the wielder with the same mis-fortune. Reminds me of nothing less than the Sword of Shannarah...
August 28, 2005, 15:54
Reminds you of Shannarah? Well crap. I read the stone and a couple others in the series, hated them with a vengnace.
Now I almost want to delete the whole post ...
August 28, 2005, 21:22
August 29, 2005, 0:41
Anyhow, another example of double edged items is my "Devil's Footsteps". I'm really proud of that one, and enjoy having one of the very few seige weapons here. >:D
August 30, 2005, 9:26
In of itself a fairly standard idea, but this one has a nice little twist - it harms your karma, not you body - that I like a lot
Good backstory - nicely explains why the staff was created
One question - why curse the king?
I can see why he cursed the guard (revenge for his murdered grandson), but the king wasn't involved in the killing - cursing the guard was justice, but what did the king do to deserve the same fate?
Nonetheless - good item - well written and logical - 4/5
August 30, 2005, 14:27
And, in another twist, the old man died.
Didn't say how or if it was from the staff, so it doesn't have to be double edged, everyone has just been assuming that the old man died from the big bad magic item, not him being old.
This item has magical properties, I didn't check cursed. I'll leave that up to you all when you use it.
March 25, 2006, 17:08
February 11, 2007, 19:13
Since the man was old, him dying did not seem untoward, but clarification would be nice ("Died naturally in his sleep, a satisfied smile accross his face..."),etc.
March 30, 2011, 22:57
March 31, 2011, 21:08
I like the story. I'm not sure how often the curse portion of the staff would be used though. I see wizards either throwing fireballs with their staffs or whacking minions as the party gets overwhelmed. Either way the curse portion wouldn't seem to come into play much ("Things were never the same for Bob the Kobold after he took a vicious swipe from that wizard")
However, those that took the time to figure out how to properly use the curse might see this pay off in a very long campaign. Interesting idea.
March 31, 2011, 22:31
Sounds like a good seed for a mystery. How do you track down the source of a curse like this?
October 27, 2012, 22:06
October 28, 2012, 6:41