View source for Soulbite (3.5e Equipment)

== Soulbite ==
[[Summary::A demon (or perhaps a fragment of a demon) imbued into the form of a dagger, this soul devouring monster drives its user to murderous impulse and excessive effort to their goals.| ]]

Legends tell of a blade possessed by an evil so vile, so foul, that it corrupted any user who dare lift its blade.  The stories of its origin are many, from tales of a primordial man slaying his own brother to stories of a blade passed down through 1000 generations of warriors and soaked in the blood of millions.  Whatever the origins this evil blade caused a great calamity and heroes rose up in opposite to destroy it for good, yet in the end their efforts could only seal it by shattering the blade into a hundred pieces and scattering them across the cosmos.  So ended the evil sword, but its fragments did not sleep.

Soulbite is said to either have been the core of the evil blade or one of its many fragments scattered around the world, fragments took on the form of many evil items and creatures that have plagued humanity henceforth.  Regardless what its true nature it, this blade appears to be a ''+3 [[Unholy, Revised (3.5e Equipment)|unholy]] [[SRD:Dagger|dagger]]'' which is covered in carvings which appear like organic blood vessels running down the length of the blade and covered in a patina of red cinnabar.  Its hilt has a closed stylized eye carved within lapis lazuli.  Here the blade is "sleeping", though it is more than capable of acting.  Victims who pick up the blade are subject to a DC 20 [[Will]] save against becoming subject to domination and forming a mental link with the blade even before the effects of unholy kick in.  Those who fail the save have a permanent telepathic bond to the dagger, and it can use ''[[Insidious Suggestion (3.5e Spell)|insidious suggestion]]'' (DC 20), telepathy, and constant ''[[SRD:Detect Thoughts|detect thoughts]]'' on its victim out to an unlimited range.  It may use ''insidious suggestion'' at will but a successful save grants immunity for 1 minute.  Because this curse persists even if the blade is dropped, the victim is encouraged to keep the blade around as the curse cannot be broken without the dagger as a target.  ''[[SRD:Remove Curse|Remove curse]]'' with a DC 30 caster level check is required to break the bond between it and its victim, and it must be cast on the blade.

Using the power of telepathy and suggestions it will encourage the victim to keep the blade, finding out their wants and desires and earnestly encouraging the user to follow their goals and offering advice on how to achieve them (treat as having a +10 on all skill checks).  However as time goes on it insists the user follow their goals no matter the circumstance or the cost until eventually the user will do anything to achieve their goal, even evil in the name of good.  Indeed, few things please Soulbite more than corrupting good, even more than finding a willing evil user.  To encourage use of the weapon it is capable of suppressing any negative effects caused by the unholy enhancement it possesses, and if the user falls below 50% health the dagger becomes a vampiric weapon, absorbing any damage it deals as healing until its user is at or above 50% health.  When in its vampiric state its eye opens up with a twitching bloodshot eyeball and the blade seems to grow an organic fleshy mold that does not inhibit the damage of the blade.  Its shape as a demonic weapon becomes obvious in this form.

If Soulbite is used to make a finishing blow on a creature of your HD or lower it will absorb the soul of the creature.  Convincing the blade to release the soul is a difficult task, and if not released it will be digested after 1 week.

The blade also has one additional power that seems strange: ''[[SRD:Dispel Evil|dispel evil]]'' at will, though it is the blade's decision on when to use it.  Unlike the spell, it does not seem to dispel the evil effect so much as absorb it.  It is unclear on what side effects this may have on the weapon but none have yet arisen.

The means of destroying Soulbite are obscure, but it is believed that sundering it with a +3 or stronger holy weapon, and then submerging the shards into holy water, may spell the doom for the blade.  However it is also rumored this will cause the demon itself to manifest and need to be defeated, or it will cause the holy water to become a vile toxin that will prove difficult to contain even if it manages to destroy the blade.  It is rumored that Soulbite, if it is indeed a fragment, is not original and there are more of it out there in the form of different weapons with similar properties.  When two such examples of these artifacts meet they would attempt to devour each other and possibly form a stronger single item from the whole.  What happens if the mass managed to reform itself, the world should never know.

As an artifact, Soulbite is not picked up by ''[[SRD:Detect Magic|detect magic]]'', but in its awakened vampiric state it radiates [[SRD:Detect Evil|Overwealming Evil]].  The caster level for all of its spell-like abilities is 20th.

[[Type::Minor| ]]
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{{3.5e Artifacts Breadcrumb}}
[[Category:3.5e]]
[[Category:User]]
[[Category:Equipment]]
[[Category:Artifact]]
{{Navboxes}}
Author	Eiji-kun +
Identifier	3.5e Equipment +
Rating	Undiscussed +
Summary	A demon (or perhaps a fragment of a demon) imbued into the form of a dagger, this soul devouring monster drives its user to murderous impulse and excessive effort to their goals. +
Title	Soulbite +
Type	Minor +