Item: Azarim
Perception: +12; darkvision 30 feet, hearing 30 feet (imprecise)
Communication telepath (Celestial, Common, Dwarven, Sakvroth)
Skills Alcohol Lore +13, Deception +15, Diplomacy +13, Religion +13, Society +15
Int +2, Wis +2, Cha +4
Will +15
In life, the dwarven rogue Azarim was always something of an outsider among her people for her fast and loose relationship with dwarven tradition. However, she still harbored in her heart a fierce pride in what dwarves had accomplished. She had long fought against the cult of Droskar, seeing it as emblematic of all the worst parts of dwarven culture.
By the time she infiltrated Droskar's Crucible in 4065 AR, the cult was already in decline. She knew portions of Droskar's Crucible were built by the worshippers of Torag who preceded the cult and that something of great power had been locked away in the Lower Vault, but not what that object was. If she could gain control over the cult, she could simultaneously use them to open the Lower Vault and convince them to set aside their worship of Droskar-if not for her own patron, Cayden Cailean, then any other faith with a more positive leaning.
Unfortunately, her attempt to seize control of the cult using their own traditions against them backfired when she succumbed to the Soul Smith. Unlike the others who were slain by the Soul Smith, Azarim's soul managed to somewhat escape being bound into the Soul Smith's soul chain by instead seeking shelter in her own magic rapier. Frustrated at the fact her soul slipped away but ignorant of where that soul fled to, the Soul Smith returned to his tasks and soon forgot about Azarim-she was, to the undead dwarf, just another in a long line of failures.
Today, Azarim is an intelligent +1 striking Shifting rapier. The rapier has been waiting patiently for centuries for a new, like-minded ally to take her up in arms against her foes.
While she prefers to exist in the form of a rapier, she can use one of her actions to activate her shifting rune to take the shape of another weapon as needed.
While Azarim prefers to be wielded by chaotic good characters, particularly those who worship Cayden Cailean, she's open-minded and eager to work with any wielder who seeks to oppose corrupting or toxic traditions in society, particularly those who work against the influence of the cult of Droskar. To wielders she doesn't approve of, she works to convince them to either change their ways or to hand her over to someone who she can work with, resorting to her ability to induce weakness in her carrier as needed when simply having them discard her is the only option left.
Azarim deals an additional 1d6 spirit damage to worshippers of Droskar, to creatures allied with Droskar's faith, and to those who are under the influence of Droskar's faith-which includes the Kobold King Merlokrep for as long as he continues to wear his crown as well as most of the intelligent inhabitants of the deeper levels of Droskar's Crucible.
Activate R
Trigger A creature picks up Azarim or begins its turn carrying Azarim
Effect The creature who carries Azarim becomes Enfeebled 2. This condition persists as long as the creature carries Azarim. A non-lawful creature can attempt to resist this effect with a DC 23 Fortitude save, but lawful creatures don't gain a save to resist.
Activate 2 (command, Interact) Azarim casts 2nd-rank Illusory Disguise on her wielder. This effect ends immediately as soon as the wielder no longer carries Azarim.
Activate R (command, Interact)
Frequency once per hour
Effect Azarim bolsters her user's ability to lie. She can either attempt her own Deception check to resolve her wielder's Lie, or she can assist with her wielder's attempt to Lie and grant a +2 circumstance bonus to the Deception check.
Activate 3 (command, Interact)
Frequency once per day
Effect Azarim gains the effects of an anarchic weapon rune for 1 minute. When wielded by a character who's at least 11th level, Azarim becomes a +2 striking anarchic shifting rapier, and instead this activation can be applied to another weapon that's in physical contact with Azarim.
Trait Effects
Chaotic: Chaotic effects often manipulate energy from chaos-aligned Outer Planes and are anathema to lawful divine servants or divine servants of lawful deities. A creature with this trait is chaotic in alignment.
Deadly: On a critical hit, the weapon adds a weapon damage die of the listed size. Roll this after doubling the weapon’s damage. This increases to two dice if the weapon has a _greater striking rune_ and three dice if the weapon has a _major striking rune_. For instance, a rapier with a _greater striking rune_ deals 2d8 extra piercing damage on a critical hit. An ability that changes the size of the weapon’s normal damage dice doesn’t change the size of its deadly die.
Disarm: You can use this weapon to Disarm with the Athletics skill even if you don’t have a free hand. This uses the weapon’s reach (if different from your own) and adds the weapon’s item bonus to attack rolls (if any) as an item bonus to the Athletics check. If you critically fail a check to Disarm using the weapon, you can drop the weapon to take the effects of a failure instead of a critical failure. On a critical success, you still need a free hand if you want to take the item.
Divine: This magic comes from the divine tradition, drawing power from deities or similar sources. Anything with this trait is magical. A creature with this trait is primarily constituted of or has a strong connection to divine magic.
Finesse: You can use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier on attack rolls using this melee weapon. You still calculate damage using Strength.
Good: Good effects often manipulate energy from good-aligned Outer Planes and are antithetical to evil divine servants or divine servants of evil deities. A creature with this trait is good in alignment.
Holy: Effects with the holy trait are tied to powerful magical forces of benevolence and virtue. They often have stronger effects on unholy creatures. Creatures with this trait are strongly devoted to holy causes and often have weakness to unholy. If a creature with weakness to holy uses a holy item or effect, it takes damage from its weakness.
Intelligent: An item with this trait is intelligent and has its own will and personality, as well as several statistics that most items don’t have. Intelligent items can’t be crafted by normal means, and they are always rare or unique.
Magical: Something with the magical trait is imbued with magical energies not tied to a specific tradition of magic. Some items or effects are closely tied to a particular tradition of magic. In these cases, the item has the arcane, divine, occult, or primal trait instead of the magical trait. Any of these traits indicate that the item is magical.
Critical Specialisation Effects
Certain effects can grant you benefits when you make a Strike with certain weapons and get a critical success. This is called a critical specialisation effect. The exact effect depends on which weapon group your weapon belongs to, as listed below. You can always decide not to add the critical specialisation effect of your weapon.
Sword: The target is made off-balance by your attack, becoming off-guard until the start of your next turn.
Related Items
| Name | Level | Rarity | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brilliant Rapier | 14 | Uncommon | 1d6 |
| Final Stand | 17 | Unique | 1d6 |
| Piereta | 20 | Unique | 1d6 |
| Castrovel's Beacon | 14 | Unique | 1d6 |
| Storm Flash | 14 | Common | 1d6 |
| Storm Flash (Greater) | 18 | Common | 1d6 |
| Protector's Final Gift | 5 | Rare | 1d6 |
| Rime Foil | 11 | Uncommon | 1d6 |
| Rapier | - | Common | 1d6 |
| Viper Rapier | 20 | Common | 1d6 |
| Guiding Star | 7 | Common | 1d4 |
| Vine of Roses | 9 | Uncommon | 1d8 |
| Celestial Peachwood Sword | 17 | Rare | 1d6 |
| Luck Blade | 17 | Rare | 1d6 |
| Soulcutter (Heroic) | 20 | Unique | 1d8 |
| Radiant Victory | 6 | Uncommon | 1d6 |
| Blood-Drinker Blade | 5 | Uncommon | 1d6 |
| Blood-Drinker Blade (Greater) | 9 | Uncommon | 1d6 |
| Gloom Blade | 9 | Common | 1d6 |
| Infiltrator's Accessory | 5 | Common | 1d6 |