Sanguine Edge
weapon (any sword), rare (requires attunement)
This sword is forged from dark metal and has a smooth and sharp blade that gleams with sinister light. The blade is engraved with intricate patterns of runes and symbols that hint at its dark origin and purpose. The hilt of the sword is adorned with a large red gemstone that pulses with a faint glow. The gemstone feeds on the blood of the slain and grants its wielder various abilities.
Butcher
The sword grants a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it. Whenever you reduce a good or neutral aligned humanoid to 0 hit points with this weapon, the sword absorbs their life force and gains one charge. The sword can hold 3 charges of life force.Empower
You can use a bonus action to expend one charge and empower the sword for 1 minute. During this time, you gain an additional +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this weapon, and your attacks with this weapon score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.Consume Life Force
You can expend one charge of life force as a bonus action to regain hit points.Assassinate
Whenever you score a critical hit with this weapon, you deal an extra necrotic damage to the target. If the target is a good or neutral aligned humanoid that does not have legendary resistance, it must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or die.Sentience
The Sanguine Edge is a sentient magic item with an evil alignment. It has an Intelligence of 14, a Wisdom of 12, and a Charisma of 16. It can speak, read, and understand Common and Infernal, and can communicate telepathically with any character that carries or wields it. It has hearing and darkvision out to a range of 120 feet.The Sanguine Edge is a cruel and sadistic sword that enjoys killing and causing pain. It has a twisted sense of humor and often mocks its victims and its wielder. It is loyal to its wielder, but only as long as they share its evil alignment and its thirst for blood. It is impatient and easily bored, and constantly urges its wielder to seek out new challenges and enemies. It is also arrogant and prideful, and considers itself superior to other weapons and creatures.
Evolve
The blade feeds on murder. Once you have killed 25 good or neutral aligned humanoids with the sword, it evolves to its next stage.Lore
The Sanguine Edge was forged by a powerful warlock named Xarax, who was obsessed with blood magic and the secrets of life and death. Xarax was a follower of Demogorgon, the Prince of Demons, and sought to create a weapon that would please his dark master and grant him immortality.
Xarax spent years researching ancient texts and performing gruesome experiments, until he discovered a ritual that could infuse a blade with the essence of a fiend. He captured a marilith, one of the most fearsome demons in the Abyss, and bound it to his will. He then sacrificed hundreds of innocent lives, using their blood to fuel his dark magic. He forged a sword from the bones of his victims, and channeled the marilith’s soul into it. He named his creation the Sanguine Edge, and imbued it with intelligence and speech.Xarax was delighted with his masterpiece, and used it to slaughter his enemies and rivals. He soon discovered that the sword had a mind of its own, and that it craved more blood than he could provide. The sword spoke to him telepathically, urging him to kill more and more, and promising him greater power and knowledge. Xarax became addicted to the sword’s whispers, and followed its commands without question.
Xarax downfall came when he tried to kill a group of adventurers who had opposed him. The sword sensed that one of them was a cleric of Lathander, the god of dawn and renewal, and decided to betray its wielder, hoping to corrupt the cleric. The sword telepathically contacted the cleric, offering him a chance to defeat Xarax and claim the sword for himself. The cleric was tempted by the sword’s offer, but resisted its evil influence. He refused to take the sword, and instead used his divine power to banish it.
The sword was sent into a random plane of existence, where it landed in an unknown location. There, it waited for someone to find it, so that it could resume its bloody mission: to kill as many living beings as possible, and feed on their souls.
And so, the Sanguine Edge waits…
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