| Category | Magic Items, Magic Items |
| Type | artifact, Cairn Scythe |
| Forge | Imperial Armoury of Cal-Thaoun |
| Smith | Sothron Bathân |
| Enchanter | Sôvan Burterinii |
| Location | unknown |
Sarquiness bears the essence of Sarquiness Cal-Thaoun, who was once the empress of the Cal-Thaoun Dynasty. She was one of three Burterinii Queens that rose to power concurrently.
The blade Sarquiness was forged during the War of the Three Queens. It is the companion sword to Sanglamore and Bleeberghast.
The Sarquiness is a formidable +5 great sword imbued with sentience. The blade is expertly crafted from the rare Tantulhor metal. The hilt is forged from the iliac crest, the hip bone of a fearsome pit fiend. The handle of this mighty weapon is fashioned from nine joined Hellstones.
The underlying motives of the blade align with the core tenets of Law and Evil.
Obviously, not all order is advantageous, nor are all laws constructive Lawful evil entities perceive order as the mechanism through which each group is correctly positioned in the universe, from lowest to highest, with the strongest taking precedence and the weakest relegated to the rear Good is viewed as a pretext to promote the mediocrity of the collective and suppress the superior and more capable, while lawful evil permits each group to organize itself and establish its position relative to others, serving the stronger but being served by the weaker
In brief, Sarquiness advocates a regimented system of governance where the powerful command and the less formidable serve the mighty.
In 1461, Black Banner raided the Crypt of Multhad. After battling past liches, vampires, grave golems, and their masters, the Daughters of Krak-Oth, the group came upon the resting place of Prince Multhad Bile. This former knight of the Council of Bile, after a failed attempt to seize power from Queen Bretta Bile, was killed in the coup and laid to rest in one of the unhallowed crypts of Kudnetho. When the heroes entered his chamber, he rose from his resting place as a death knight, challenging one of them to honorable combat. If one could defeat him, they could leave with his ancient blade. Carni Tir, himself a knight of the Grisagwer, took the challenge and barely defeated Prince Multhad. While the blade Sarquiness was with Carni Tir and Black Banner, it was sometimes persuaded to surrender a soul it had taken. These souls were used by Katrana, also a member of Black Banner, to enchant powerful magic items, including the Clutch of Orat-Ghorn. Sarquiness did not relinquish these souls willingly; instead, each soul that Katrana took had to be destroyed to harness its power and enchant items. As a result, she became increasingly evil with each soul she destroyed.
When the soul-sucking blade Sarquiness was plundered from the Crypt of Multhad, it had amassed hundreds of souls in its reservoir. Likely, it had acquired thousands more while secured in the ancient crypt with its maniacal master. As Katrana informed me, soul-sucking sentient items and creatures must periodically feast on the souls they have taken, or else risk succumbing to insanity. If they do lose their grip on sanity, they often drive their possessors to commit reckless acts. Sarquiness had consumed many souls while in the hands of Carni Tir, so it seemed willing to offer a concession in exchange for the promise of acquiring a great number of souls in the coming war. I later discovered that Sarquiness' gesture of goodwill was part of a diabolical scheme to lead us further down the path of darkness and grandeur.
Garn, excerpt from his book - "When of the Living"
| Trait | Value |
|---|---|
| Psyche | Queen Sarquiness |
| Alignment | lawful evil |
| Intelligence | 20 |
| Wisdom | 20 |
| Charisma | 23 |
| Ego | 40 |
| Communication | Speech & Telepathy, Read Magic, Read All Languages |
| Special Purpose | Defeat Good - see evil infusion power |
| Personality | female, noble, cunning, egotistic |
| Name | Description | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| Tantulhor Edge | +2 damage for being made of Tantulhor | continuous |
| Imperial Reach | the weapon can be called to the owner's hand by way of the spell teleport without error | continuous |
| Three Sisters Gait | movement speed increased by 3 | continuous |
| Soul Devour | those slain by the weapon have their souls trapped inside the blade, 70% of the time good souls are immediately consumed by the sword, over time the sword will feed on a soul, when this happens the soul is irrevocably destroyed | continuous |
| Soul Siphon | the energy of the slain feeds the wielder, adding +1 temporary strength point per three level of the victim and healing a number of hit points equal to the victim's level, these temporary points last 2 hours | continuous |