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| Most people fear what they cannot see. . . |
| Wherever the light is thinnest |
| Joined: Oct.21.04 |
| Contributions: 26 |
| Forum Posts: 354 |
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Reaper of the Sown (Medium; Martial)
It was your typical wizard's tower with a spiraling staircase, comfortable entryway, decadent dining room, and softly lit comfortable den. Everything was in its place as expected, from the books on spells to the scythe over the fireplace... wait, a scythe?
Reaper of the Sown is a lawful neutral intelligent +1 scythe, created by the wizard Anhardorath Quidiliantal for the wheat farmer who had saved his life. When he was fourty four years old, the wizard had been set upon in the forest near a farming hamlet and nearly killed. He survived the encounter, but his memory did not. After having lived with the farmer and his family for three years, and assisting them with the grueling work on their farm, Anhardorath regained his memories and set about showing the farmer his gratitude.
In return for all the help and care he had been given during his tenure as a farmer, he created Reaper of the Sown, though the farming hamlet was destroyed soon after. Anhardorath tracked down and eradicated the bandits who had sacked the hamlet, retrieving his precious creation. Now the scythe hangs in a place of honor on his mantle, removed every year during harvest season so that he may assist the local farmers in bringing in their crops.
During the thirteen years since the attack on the hamlet, Reaper of the Sown and Anhardorath have spoken of many topics, thus making Reaper of the Sown very well informed on all matters that are attributable to farming. And he knows it. Reaper of the Sown loves nothing more than to talk about farming, plants, history, and prefers to be the one doing the talking. This is but one reason why he hangs in the den and not the laboratory or library.
Reaper of the Sown has the following abilities:
- Int 16
- Wis 16
- Cha 10
- Speech
- 60ft darkvision and hearing
- 10 ranks in Knowledge (history)
- 10 ranks in Knowledge (nature)
- 10 ranks in Knowledge (geography)
- Plant Bane
- Dancing
- Keen
- Merciful
- Ego 18
Reaper of the Sown is intelligent enough to differentiate various forms of life, and activates or deactivates his own abilities accordingly. Consequently, he is very particular on who or what he attacks. Abhorring the shedding of blood, he refuses to deactivate his Merciful ability except for when fighting plants, though the Barkskin and Tree Form spells have fooled him before. Considering himself created solely for this purpose, Reaper of the Sown dances only against plant creatures or during harvest time to aid with bringing in the crops faster. He purposely dulls his edge to normal against non-plant creatures in an act of defiance for making him taste blood.
If the wielder overpowers his ego they may command him to activate any or all of these abilities for that specific combat, though he will sulk afterward.
Reaper of the Sown is accustomed to the loving care he receives at the hands of his master and will complain quite loudly if forced to go without a good blade scratching or handle polishing for more than a week. Blade scratching is his term for using a whetstone, he claims it holds much the same effect as scratching an itch on a human but his blade is not physically affected at all by normal whetstones. It's just a quirk of his personality to complain if he doesn't get a good scratching once in a while.
Reaper of the Sown's usual egocentricity, demands, refusals, and complaints, tend to make adventurers dislike him as a weapon. Though most find it difficult to turn down his aid when it comes to combating various arboreal menaces. Some wizards and druids appreciate having his knowledge around during such times.
Reaper of the Sown's abilities have the following effects.
Bane: Against plants, RotS's enhancement bonus is considered +3 and he deals an additional 2d6 damage to them on a successful strike. Considering the attack on plants to be his true purpose, he never willingly deactivates this ability.
Dancing: As a standard action, RotS can be loosed to attack on his own for 4 rounds. While dancing, the one who released RotS is not considered to be wielding the weapon, though he still occupies the same space and moves with the owner. Attacks made at RotS while dancing are treated as if he were still wielded by his owner. At the end of the 4 rounds he drops to the ground until retrieved, though the owner can reach out and reclaim RotS before his time is up as a free action. If RotS runs out of time or is retrieved, his dancing ability cannot be used again.
Keen: RotS's Keen ability increases his critical threat range by one. When not fighting plants, he purposefully dulls the edge of his blade to reduce the effectiveness of it.
Merciful: RotS deals 1d6 extra damage to all creatures, and while this ability is active he deals all damage as nonlethal damage. RotS can be ordered to suppress this ability, though doing so against non-plant creatures results in a contest of wills between the wielder and RotS.
Ego: If the wielder commands RotS to go against his nature, a personalty conflict occurs and the wielder must make a Will save (DC: 18) to remain in control. Should RotS win the conflict, he forces the wielder to pamper him for the rest of the day, using whetstones and blade oils to make up for the indignity. If he dislikes the wielder enough and wins a conflict, RotS will demand to be given to someone he has met, someone whom he believes will make better use of his talents.
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