History
A relic of the Wemic people, this weapon has a long history. Created to be used by their warrior-king to fight against genocide, it was stolen and corrupted by Tectuktitlay before its blessing and enchantments could be completed. The
Sorcerer-King used it to finish off the last of the Wemic race, twisting the sword's power to evil. He desecrated the Temples of Shault and decimated the landscape with his magic. Tectuktitlay still keeps a talking Wemic head, which many people mistake as a lion, as his personal pet.
For many years after the Cleansing Wars, the sword sat discarded in the temples of Draj until a daring bandit queen by the name of Rimmon heisted the relic. With it, she led a band of heartless raiders and rose to great power. The sword urged her to seek power and compelled her to fulfill it. The bandit queen was deranged and interpreted this as a request for bloodshed and severed heads. A cult formed around her and the weapon, and her followers believed the more heads it was given the more power they and the terrible artifact gained. In her arrogance, she gathered a horde to attack Balic, but only succeeded in angering Andropinis himself. The Sorcerer-King and his soldiers slaughtered Rimmon's desert rabble, although it is recorded that the bandit queen slew a hundred half-giants with Pneuma before she killed herself. The sword was reportedly carried away from the defeat by one of Rimmon's lieutenants, a wily elf who escaped into the wilderness.
Description
A massive, jagged bone blade. The bone at the center appears a gray off-white, making the appearance of a once exquisite piece of craftsmanship. Jutting from it at chaotic angles are pieces of bleached bone, like some sort of inchoate cancer. The hilt is made of thick leather from some ancient creature's hide; dried gray by time and use. The pommel is adorned with a miniature ivory lion skull. The result is a murderous weapon that is beautiful in parts and uncomfortably deformed in others.
Stats
Pneuma, The Butcher:
Pnuema is cursed, and becoming attuned to it extends the curse to you. As long as you remain cursed, you are unwilling to part with the sword, keeping it within reach at all times. You also have disadvantage on attack rolls with weapons other than this one. While cursed, the sword will occasionally show visions of its history, attempting to persuade the wielder towards a course of action. The visions grow in strength but lessen in clarity the more the sword is used to defile.
When you attack a creature with at least one head with this weapon and score a critical hit on the attack roll, you cut off one of the creature's heads. When you reduce a creature to 0 hit points with this weapon, you cut off its head. The creature dies if it can't survive without the lost head.
When you decapitate a creature, you defile it as if you had
defiled for 5 points. If you fail the defilement roll, instead of taking necrotic damage or your reducing maximum hit points, your Wisdom score is permanently reduced by 3. If this would reduce your Wisdom Score to 0 or less, Pneuma decapitates you, killing you instantly. The slain creature's head is immediately reanimated with all the memories it had in life except it is also completely subservient to you. A severed head has an AC of 10, 25 hit points, and a 10 in all stats. In combat, it acts on its own turn but you control it. If it had a bite attack in life, it may use that attack on its turn. A creature slain this way cannot be revived by any means short of a Wish.
- Damage: 2d6 + 1 slashing
- To Hit: - 1
- Weight: 18 lb.
- Modifiers: Heavy (20), two-handed, lacerating, brutal, unbalanced
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