Thursday, October 28, 2010

Jäällätaudin - Icetongue

This ancient blade's full history is known only to the most studious Dwarven sages of the Dunheng Kingdoms. In its centuries of existence it has appeared in the hands of many heroes only to be lost again with their passing. Most recently it was wielded by Jak, a King of the Fridon people who in tales is called the Giant Slayer. He was a king of the Fridon many years ago, when his people were attacked by the giants from the Danor Mountains. He fought against them wearing the hide of a dragon and wielding Jäällätaudin, and drove them back to their burning peaks.

Icetongue - Paragon Level
Description
Icetongue is a +4 mithrail fullblade (Adventurer's Vault - superior weapon, +3 profeciency, 1d12 damage, high crit (+2d12 on crit))
Critical: +4d6 cold damage
Power (At-Will ✦ Cold): Free Action. All damage dealt by this weapon is cold damage. Another free action returns the damage to normal.
Power (Daily ✦ Cold): Free Action. Use this power when you hit with the weapon. The target takes an extra 2d8 cold damage and is slowed until the end of your next turn.


Goals
Cold forged of mithrail, Icetongue was made by the Dwarves of Danor to slay fire giants and all their thrall. Any creature with the fire subtype is an enemy to Icetongue, be it azer, elemental, or dragon, and it will demand their death without consideration.


Roleplaying Icetongue
Icetongue speaks in a clear, ringing voice.  It speaks Common, Dwarven, Giant and Draconic.

Flame and passion are anathma to Icetongue, and its will is deliberate and implacable as a glacier. It will calculatedly drive its wielder to confrontation with its hated foes.  Patient, unforgiving and heartless, Icetongue does not care what cost must be paid for victory.



Concordance
Starting Score 5
Wielder gains a level: +1d6
Wielder kills a creature with the fire subtype (max 1 / day) +1
Wielder refuses to fight a creature with the fire subtype -3
Wielder refuses to obey Icetongue's command -1

Pleased (16-20)
Icetongue becomes a +6 weapon that deals +6d6 cold damage on a critical.
Power (Daily ✦ Cold): Free Action. Use this power when you hit with the weapon. The target takes an extra 4d8 cold damage and is restrained until the end of your next turn.
Power (Encounter ✦ Cold): Standard Action, Melee 1.  Thrust Icetongue into any normal fire to douse it.  If the fire is magical in nature, such as a zone or conjuration of fire, make a weapon attack against the caster's Will defense to end the effect.

Satisfied (12-15)
Icetongue becomes a +5 weapon that deals +5d6 cold damage on a critical.
Power (Daily ✦ Cold): Free Action. Use this power when you hit with the weapon. The target takes an extra 3d8 cold damage and is immobilized until the end of your next turn.
Property: The wielder gains Icewalk, the ability to move through difficult icy or snowy terrain at normal speed.

Normal (5-11)
Icetongue's statistics are as listed above (+4 weapon, +4d6 cold on a critical).

Unsatisfied (1-4)
Icetongue becomes a +2 weapon that deals +2d6 cold damage on a critical.
Icetongue will not use its daily slow power.
The wielder gains vulnerable 5 cold.

Angered (0 or lower)
Icetongue is considered a non-magical weapon for the purposes of attack and damage.
If Icetongue's wielder rolls a 1 on an attack roll, they take 2d8 cold damage and are slowed for one turn.


Moving On
When Icetongue has defeated the fiery menace that it arose to battle it will leave the stage again.  Typically it is buried with the corpse of whatever hero it chose to wield it for that battle, as Icetongue's heartless drive often causes the death of its bearer even as they slay its foes.  If by terrific fortitude or cunning they win Icetongue's epic battle with their life intact he will either make them seek out a new fiery foe or else make them leave him in a desolate, icy location, such as thrust into the ice atop a glacier or hurled into a mountaintop lake.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Whoa, where does that name "Jäällätaudin" come? Reminds me a bit of finnish.

Keith S said...

Superb! An excellent idea full of flavorful goodness. Thanks for posting it!

Adam A Thompson said...

Thanks, Adarkeith! I had a lot of fun coming up with this artifact.

Thaumiel, you are correct, the name is derived from the Finnish words for ice and something else that I don't remember.

Interestingly, google translate takes Jäällätaudin and translates it as "ice of the disease". Fitting since the sword often leaves its wielder dead.