Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Goran’s Slag





Many generations ago there was a studious dwarven smith named Goran. The name of his house is lost to history but not his story entirely. Goran intended to craft a sword so perfect that the great king would name him the royal smith. His family would then be rich and his legacy would keep it that way far into the future.

In order to do this Goran searched the deeps for a perfect vein of adamantine ore. Other dwarves laughed at his persistence and called his quest a fool’s errand. Goran would delve for what seemed decades in search of this fabled treasure. He gave up friendship, marriage and even the comforts of civilization during the years of his search. Some say Goran was stricken with madness and became disheveled and crazed by his passion.

Then finally one day the stubborn dwarf found a lustrous vein of blackened ore. Its perfection stunned him as he gingerly mined the deposit free of its earthen moorings. Goran then spent the next week in his private forge smelting the precious material. Soon the clang of hammer on anvil rang through the halls as the blade was created. For weeks Goran painstakingly polished, decorated with runes, and crafted and hilt, guard and sheath. When finished he had a blade so exquisite that any King would be honored to wield it.

But according to legend the former unfortunately never happened. War came to the dwarven halls from the evil denizens of the deep. The armies of the Drow poured through the halls and eventually found their way to Goran’s smithy. Poison darts filled his body as he lay nearly paralyzed and wracked in pain. The drow laughed evilly as they tossed his creations into the furnace. Goran crawled in agony to try and save his masterpiece and died just as he grasped the pommel.

Some say that his hatred was transferred to the sword that day. Others would suggest that perhaps the weapon became cursed in some way. As the furnace cooled what was left was an abomination of Goran’s original creation. The impurities of other ores and weapons were introduced onto the blade.  There it would lay for hundreds of years until it was found by a group of adventurers. Since then the legendary weapon as had several owners but none that have lived to tell the tale.

Example Game Stats (5th Edition)

Heavy, reach, two-handed

Traits

Unbreakable

3d6 slashing, 20lbs

Property

Goran’s Slag is a massive and unwieldy two handed weapon. It appears as a misshapen continuous piece of jagged metal. It requires a minimum of 15 Strength just to heft and wield. Even then any PC using it will always have disadvantage for a melee attack. The sword is +1 to hit and damage.

[Attuned]: If the wielder is of a royal line the weapon bonus increases to +3 and the sword criticals on a 19-20. Goran’s slag does not have disadvantage to any attacks against its sworn enemy the drow.

The caveat is the owner becomes cursed with Goran’s hatred and seeks to destroy the drow and any agents of Lolth, Demon Queen of Spiders. If the wielder is slain pursuing this ambiguous task the weapon always vanishes and re-appears in the slag pile of a random smithy.