Holy Avenger

An incredibly powerful weapon wielded only by the most devout of Geloriel's paladins.

Written by starzomskiwrites

Mechanics & Inner Workings

Weapon (any sword), legendary (requires attunement by a paladin)
You gain a +3 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon. When you hit a fiend or an undead with it, that creature takes an extra 2d10 radiant damage.
While you hold the drawn sword, it creates an aura in a 10-foot radius around you. You and all creatures friendly to you in the aura have advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects. If you have 17 or more levels in the paladin class, the radius of the aura increases to 30 feet.

Manufacturing process

The creation of a holy avenger by a mortal smith requires 60,000 gold worth of platinum, as well as access to the holy aura spell, either from the smith itself or from a powerful cleric assisting in its creation ritual. Such a sword can be forged in any form. The forging process itself takes 8 consecutive hours, and heroic levels of divine energy. When the process is completed, a new Celestial of great power is born in the Golden Skies.
The creation of a holy avenger by a god is no trivial matter either, as they are only handed out to the most devoted paladins of those gods, including their chosen Champions. Only good-aligned gods can craft a holy avenger for their devotees, and each divinely-crafted holy avenger holds within it a spark of the god's raw divinity rather than such power imbued by a mortal cleric of such a god.

Significance

A Holy Avenger is a weapon that can only truly be wielded by a paladin, and even then only have its true power unlocked by a legendarily powerful one. They are forged only by smiths of unmatched skill with access to powerful magic, or by gods themselves for their chosen champions.

Item type

Weapon, Melee

Rarity

Holy Avengers are legendary items, incredibly rare due to the difficulty that comes with forging one, or due to the devotion it takes to be divinely granted one.