Fiendkiller’s Flail

Fiendkiller’s Flail is an oversized flail with a spiked head and chain forged from an amalgam of cold iron and silver. The handle is made from the forearm bone of a horned devil and wrapped in the cured skin of a marilith.

Nonlegacy Game Statistics: Large +1 cold iron flail; Cost 4,330 gp; Damage 2d6+1; Weight 10 lb.

Fiendkiller’s Flail is a Large weapon. A Medium creature can wield the flail with two hands at a –2 penalty on attack rolls. Small creatures cannot use the flail without some special ability to wield Large weapons (such as the Monkey Grip feat, page 29). Omen: The weapon hisses when demons or devils are visible within 25 feet. Your eyes emit a white glow when the weapon hisses. HISTORY

Xuetari hated his entire family. In fact, he didn’t like anything about his society and what it entailed. The creatures of both his and the adjoining plane were constantly embroiled in petty conflicts or insidious plans to overthrow each other, competing for a fleeting status Xuetari considered pointless. The pursuit for domination over weaker creatures had grown tiresome. Xuetari wanted to end the ennui that permeated his world and the other, but to achieve that lofty goal he’d have to destroy the existing infrastructure. To return meaning to life in the Abyss and Baator, Xuetari had to assassinate a few leaders. The pit fiend crafted a tool for this purpose, the weapon that came to be known as Fiendkiller’s Flail. (DC 15) Xuetari knew that he would have to make two decisive strikes—one against the mariliths of the Abyss and the other against the horned devils of his native Baator. The commanders of each camp had grown complacent, making it easy for him to dispatch both in turn, baptizing Fiendkiller’s Flail. These murders sent ripples of fear through the fiendish planes, which Xuetari used to his advantage. A member of a prominent family of pit fiends, he convinced his father to oversee a meeting between the nalfeshnees and ice devils. Xuetari made the arrangements but called the ice devil leader to arrive early. He then ambushed the fiend and left him gutted for the nalfeshnee chief to find. Xuetari’s father arrived shortly thereafter. Seeing one leader alive and the other dead, he drew the obvious conclusion. Although the nalfeshnee claimed innocence, not all were convinced. (DC 20; Appearance of Guilt) The mariliths and horned devils believed that the nalfeshnees were responsible for killing their own leaders as well. A combined force of mariliths and horned devils set upon the nalfeshnee chief’s house and wiped out his entire bloodline. This still left the hardest part for Xuetari. With four major leaders eliminated, a huge chasm of authority existed. Many desired that power, but so long as the balors and pit fiends remained in command, the weaker demons awaited orders. Xuetari told his father that he had found reason to believe the nalfeshnee leader had been framed, and took him to a remote location

Created to set demons and devils where the evidence could against each other, Fiendkiller’s Flail be found. At that meeting, worked too well Fiendkiller’s Flail suddenly awakened into a holy weapon, not only causing Xuetari great pain, but also quickly facilitating the slaughter of his father. Xuetari blamed the balors, of course, causing a full-scale war to erupt that promised to last centuries. A new order was created. Xuetari, disgusted with the weapon’s holiness, abandoned Fiendkiller’s Flail. He hid it on the Material Plane—his only mistake in an otherwise perfectly executed plan. (DC 25; Walking the Fulcrum)

LEGACY RITUALS Two rituals are required to unlock all the abilities of Fiendkiller’s Flail. Appearance of Guilt: You must acquire 2 ranks (or 2 additional ranks) in the Sense Motive skill. These ranks can be taken at any rate you choose, so long as you have them all by 8th level. Cost: 3,500 gp. Feat Granted: Least Legacy (Fiendkiller’s Flail). Walking the Fulcrum: By deed or magic, you must change your alignment to any alignment containing a neutral component. You must keep this new alignment for at least one level, after which you can change back again. If you already have an alignment with a neutral component, you automatically fulfill this ritual (but must still pay the cost). Cost: 13,000 gp. Feat Granted: Lesser Legacy (Fiendkiller’s Flail).

Illus. by D. Martin