Illus. by J. Nelson
ITEMS OF LEGACY
CHAPTER 3
STALKER’S BOW
158
Stalker’s Bow is a composite shortbow. Its leatherwrapped handgrip not only bears signs of extensive use, but also great care on the part of previous owners. Nonlegacy Game Statistics: +1 composite shortbow; Cost 2,375 gp. You gain a +1 competence bonus on Move Silently checks. Omen: Stalker’s Bow makes no sound when you fire it—both string and arrow are totally silent.
HISTORY
The renowned assassin Failine Namdraki was the last known owner of the shortbow known as Stalker’s Bow. Failine, a dark-haired vigilante said to hail from eastern lands, was well known for taking only certain types of work. She accepted contracts to avenge wrongs, to stop reigns of evil, and to end wars rooted in greed. Infamous for striking within any organization or government, no matter how secure, she never left a trace of her presence besides the corpse of whomever she came to slay. But Failine never returned home after allegedly taking a contract to eradicate the Fey King of Kehlrone. (DC 15) Failine Namdraki didn’t always carry Stalker’s Bow. She “acquired” it from Jack the Silent, another assassin of some repute. Jack, a far more typical example of his profession, was paid by associates of those Failine had slain in the past to put an end to the woman’s do-gooder ways. He arranged the perfect ambush, or so he thought. When Failine was in his sights, she somehow sensed his murderous intent seconds before the killing arrow was loosed. She still took a grievous wound from the shaft, but managed to move just enough so the shot failed in its lethality. Seconds later, Failine turned the tables on Jack, slaying him in his hunter’s blind and claiming Stalker’s Bow for herself. (DC 18; Accept the Pain)
Jack the Silent, a reaver from the shadowed lands of Nok, was known as a man of vacant conscience. But this was not always so. The shadow lord of Nok gave Stalker’s Bow to Jack, but the gift came at a price. The terms were that Jack had to undertake a job in which he was allowed no prior research on his mark—he simply had show up at an indicated place and slay all who resided therein. Eager for a reward from a shadow lord, Jack complied. Only after accomplishing the deed did he realize he’d slain a dear friend from his childhood, someone who had apparently been giving the shadow lord trouble. From that time onward, all pity died in Jack’s heart, and some say he had a death wish. Whether this is true or not, none survived Jack and his Stalker’s Bow in all the years of their partnership in murder—that is, nobody until Failine Namdraki. (DC 25; Blood From a Friend) Before giving Stalker’s Bow to Jack the Silent, the nameless shadow lord of Nok wielded the weapon himself. The shadow lord’s hidden name was Baalmorthamn, and he was a creature from another world come to trouble those who knew not his secret origin or true powers. As a shadow lord of Nok, just one of a cabal of obscure despots Stalker’s Bow makes an who ruled the surassassin wielder virtually rounding lands as unstoppable puppet regimes, Baalmorthamn enjoyed and demanded supreme privacy. Whenever it seemed his identity might come to light, he used the full abilities of Stalker’s Bow to end the threat. Baalmorthamn brought the bow with him from his extraplanar home. Few can stop an ethereal silhouette that slips past all barriers, and that’s just what the shadow lord could do. But in a dimension not his own, Baalmorthamn rapidly aged, and as his flesh became infirm, he gave the bow to his most trusted servant— Jack the Silent. (DC 31; Trial of the Outsider)
