Vampire's Kiss (Rune Dagger):

No one seems to know the origin of this rune dagger but there has been much speculation among scholars. Some sages suggest that the weapon was created by a God of the Undead. Other scholars speculate that the weapon was created by a mortal rune master who went mad before he create the rune dagger. One of the most disturbing stories is that the weapon was created by the god Thoth for the evil god Set. There are several other potential creators of the rune weapon including the most powerful of the Demon Lords. All of the confirmed stories of this evil weapon are comparatively recent with the oldest only believed to be around four hundred years old. This has lead to two different theories on the weapon. One is that weapon was only created around four hundred years ago. The other is that the weapon is ancient, maybe even from the Time of a Thousand Magicks, but has only been comparatively recently unearthed. Even though stories of the do not date as far back as many other rune weapons, some of which have stories going back over then thousand years, the stories inspire fear like few other weapons do. This is due to the ability to transform beings into vampires which many actually fear more than soul consuming weapons. Several wielders of the Vampires's Kiss have been well known Necromancers. For some reason, the dagger seems to like Necromancers but has never allowed a vampire to wield it.

Many scholars believe that the essence of a master vampire is trapped within the weapon. This is born out with the weapon seeming to need to feed on blood. If the rune weapon is not covered in the blood of an intelligent creature regularly, about once every two days, the weapon will go insane similar to the way a vampire does. It will telepathically try and get its wilder to attack anyone in sight. Eventually, the weapon will become comatose, but it will take several years for this to occur. This happened when the weapon was lost and only rediscovered several years later. Unlike a true vampire, Vampire's Kiss will regain all of its sanity as soon as it is covered by blood. While comatose, the weapon can be used by anybody but as soon as it wakes up, usually the first time it is used, this changes. The rune dagger has confirmed to its wielders that it has no memories beyond about four hundred years. Some scholars who believe that the weapon is ancient theorize that the weapon was comatose for many thousands of years and that is why it has not memories. Others of course believe the that weapon is simply lying. The weapon is absolutely evil but can be quite charming when it wishes to be.

The appearance of the rune weapon is quite distinctive. The basic pattern of the dagger is that of a Cinquedea and is made from dull black metal. Along the blade and along the handle are tiny runes. The blade is saw-toothed with the 'teeth' curved towards away from the handle. The blade of the weapon, including the teeth, are razor sharp and the weapon can inflict deep slashes into flesh. The centerpiece of the hand-guard is in the design of a very angular skull with clearly defined canine teeth. On each side of the skull are bat wings which act as hand-guards. The handle itself is simple oval in design.

As is well known in its history, the rune dagger can turn humans and most other mortal beings, basically anyone who is vulnerable to the slow bite of vampires, into vampires. While the end effect of turning others into vampires is the same, the exact way it does it is quite different. The weapon must pierce the flesh of a victim three times before turning them into a vampire. These can be light touches or deep slashes but if the weapon kills the mortal before three strikes are made, the being will simply die. Often the person possessing the dagger will make two light jabs and make the final strike as a killing blow. The weapon has also been used to convert a sleeping victim into a vampire through subterfuge as well. The wielder must make a specific decision to convert the target being into a vampire and is limited to six transforming strikes per day. Vampire's Kiss cannot turn mortals into slaves and the target of the dagger do not become passive victims and can still fight back. Vampires which are created by the dagger are under control of the wielder as if they are a master vampire. Sometimes a secondary vampire is created but at other times a wild vampire is created. Other abilities of the dagger is that the wielder of the dagger is immune to vampire abilities used against them once they are bonded with the dagger. As well, the possessor of the has vampire like senses and the ability to use vampire like mind control on others and other vampire like psychic abilities. The final ability is a vampiric healing ability. Whenever the weapon is used against a target, part of the life force from injury inflicted on the target heals the wielder of the rune dagger.

There are two known curses on this weapon although they may just be aspects of the weapon's powers. The first is that once the owner bonded with the weapon, the wielder becomes very pale in skin and his or her eyes glow. This can be quite frightening to others. The person also has a related aura which makes anyone who attempts to do a detect evil will detect an aura of supernatural evil. A second effect is that the wielder will develop a fear of daylight. This will also normally develop through the first six months but cannot be cured unless the wielder first gets rid of the dagger.

Attributes:

Characteristics:

Like all Rune Weapons it is completely indestructible
Links to wielder within 6 months of constant contact. Can sense each other presences within 4 miles.
Adds +1 Attack per melee.
Gives wielder +1 on all saving throws and +5 to save vs mind control and possession
Can be used to parry energy blasts at -6
Diabolic Alignment: Can be used by individuals of Aberrant, Miscreant, or Diabolic Alignment. Anybody not of those alignments takes 2D4 points of damage each time they touch the weapon or 3D6 damage if creatures of magic.

Weapon Bonuses:

Due to superior craftsmanship, equal to Dwarven quality, +2 to Throw, +2 to Strike, +3 to Parry, and +2 on Initiative.

Weapon Damage:

4D6+4 per strike, inflicts S.D.C. in S.D.C. Worlds and inflicts M.D.C. in M.D.C. Worlds. (Plus strength bonus if applicable)

Weapon's Special Abilities:

Transform other to Vampire: The dagger can transform others into vampires. The dagger is limited to six strikes per day and requires three strikes to transform another into a vampire. The strike can be either just a touch (1 point of damage) or can be a full strike but if the target is killed before the third strike, the being will not be transformed into a vampire. A roll of 01 to 45 creates a secondary vampire and a roll of 46 to 00 means a wild vampire is created (GM Option of roll of 01 to 02 means a Wampyr is created)
Mind Control over Vampire: The wielder of Vampire Kiss can control other vampires. This ability is automatic and requires no I.S.P. See write-ups on vampires for more details. Secondary vampires created by the dagger save at a -4 penalty and wild vampires created by dagger are at -8 to save. Vampires of different essences have less penalties, secondary vampires save at -2 and wild vampires save at -4.
Vampire Senses: The wielder of the rune dagger have all the standard senses of vampires. These include nightvision (1600 feet / 488 meters), smell blood (1 mile /1.6 km), and recognize other vampires.
Vampiric Regeneration: Whenever the weapon inflicts damage, the wielder will regenerate damage to themselves. Half of any damage inflicted by the weapon will be transferred to the wielder of the axe. While Hit Points can only been healed by stolen Hit Points, S.D.C. can be healed by either S.D.C. or Hit Points. Wielder is limited to their original S.D.C. and Hit Points but regeneration is permanent unlike the Physical Transferal ability found some normal magic weapons found in the Western Empire.
Impervious to Vampire Abilities: Impervious to their mind controlling bite, impervious to vampires gaze, and cannot be turned into a vampire (but can be slain by them).
Vampire Psionic Abilities: I.S.P.: 120, recovers at a rate of 10 P.P.E. for every three hours. Equal to sixth level psionic where applicable.

Curse:

Appearance: After the wielder of the weapon has bonded with the dagger, several changes take place. The beings skin becomes very pale, his or her eyes glow red, and has an aura of supernatural evil. A side affect is that this raises characters MA to 22 but only to intimidate not to trust.
Phobia: Daylight. Over time, the wielder of the dagger will develop a fear of sunlight and will become nocturnal. See information on phobias for more details. This cannot be cured unless the dagger is gotten rid of first.

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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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