Publication:Dread Codex/Magic Items/The Seven-Headed Sword

==== The Seven-Headed Sword ====

akyanzi bound by hatred to its blade.]] The sword belonged to a line of wizard-guarding warriors until it fell into the hands of a disloyal minion. Believing the wizards were planning an attack on his family’s nation, the man used the weapon to slay the seven ranking members spell wielders in their sleep. The communal anger at having their lives snuffed out by one wretched traitor binds them to the sword until their heads can be replaced with new victims.

Whenever the seven-headed sword is drawn from its sheath, akyanzi are simultaneously drawn from the state of limbo where the original wizards’ souls went to after their murder. These akyanzi are the last seven people slain by the sword; so long as these sword-eaters are bound to the weapon, they cannot find rest or resurrection. Each new victim headed by the sword replaces the oldest bound akyanzi. Only beheaded victims are claimed by the sword. Freed akyanzi immediately burn apart like beehives. When the sword is sheathed, the akyanzi return to a state of limbo.

The seven-headed sword can be used to rebuke its bound akyanzi up to three times per day as a 10th-level cleric. It is a +5 greatsword that ignores object hardness and automatically casts heat metal on any metal, bladed weapon which it contacts. So long as it is held in hand, the wielder cannot be damaged below zero hit points. When used to perform a coup de grace, the sword automatically, simultaneously casts circle of death, centered on the victim. The sword cannot be destroyed by any means until all its seven heads have been destroyed.

Type::Minor artifact; Strong evocation [fire] and necromancy; CL 15th; Weight 5 lb.