Charon's Claw (sword)

Charon's Claw, also known simply as Claw, was a minor artifact comprising an enchanted sword and accompanying gauntlet. It was designed to battle wizards and was once wielded by the highly skilled assassin Artemis Entreri.
==Description==
Of quite morbid design, the sword's hilt was carved to resemble a humanoid skeleton, with the skull forming the pommel, the grip comprising the spine and rib cage, and the crosspiece formed from the pelvis and legs, which bent back toward the head to create a guard for the hand. These were all fashioned from some perfectly white material resembling bleached bones. The skull's empty eye-sockets appeared to be black voids but occasionally flashed with red flames. In contrast, the blade was gleaming red with a black fuller and was engraved with images of cloaked figures with long scythes.
The black, red-laced gauntlet was worn on the right hand. The red stitching ran through the gauntlet like veins of blood.
==Powers==
===Sword===
The sword was a sentient weapon with the powers of a +4 keen smoking longsword.
It was strong of will and possessed of great arrogance. The sword could also intrude on the bearer's thoughts, turning them in dark and violent directions. Anyone who touched the blade or handle of this sword unprotected would need to compete with it in a battle of wills. Failure meant it would burn the flesh and skin of the wielder's hand away. This ability could be used by the bearer of the sword, but it would require prolonged contact with the victim. Without defeating the blade in a battle of wills, the only way a person could safely use the item was by covering their hand with the enchanted gauntlet that was its counterpart. This kept the hostile sentience at bay.
As the wielder willed, the sword could leave trails of ash in the air, creating temporary opaque walls to grant an advantage in battle. It could also produce a strange black glow to act as a light in the darkness, though only its wielder could see it. It also made its wielder invisible to infravision. The sword was also enchanted so that even a small nick or cut would eventually prove fatal, as the wound would fester and eventually sicken the victim.
It was later found that the sword could dominate its former wielders as well. Herzgo Alegni utilized this ability to enslave Artemis Entreri. Charon's Claw did not reside in the thoughts of a person it dominated, but it physically prevented that person's actions and caused them great physical pain. Distance from the sword made the effect weaker. Additionally, the sword could even bring the enslaved person back to life.
===Gauntlet===
By wearing the gauntlet, the owner could catch magic directed at them within the magical netting of the gauntlet and turn it back against the caster or just dispel it. Additionally, the glove's laces pulsed to warn the wearer of magical scrying. The wearer could even detect whether the scrying was of an arcane, divine, or psionic nature.
==History==
===Early History===
Charon's Claw was an old Netherese artifact.
For decades Charon's Claw was owned by the Soulez clan at the Dallabad Oasis near Calimport in Calimshan. An illithid, Yharaskrik, studied the artifact while living in the deep tunnels below Kohrin Soulez's throne room.
===Artemis Entreri===
In the the assassin Artemis Entreri took Charon's Claw from Kohrin Soulez after tricking Soulez into grabbing the blade without the proper gauntlet. Artemis won control over the sword after a contest of willpower, thus enabling him to wield the sword even without wearing the gauntlet.
The next year, while working in Heliogabalus in Damara, Entreri and Jarlaxle were approached by a Shadovar who offered them an alliance in exchange for the artifact, revealing to them its Netherese origin. Entreri refused to give up the weapon and killed the shade with his vampiric dagger, as Charon's Claw resisted striking the shade. 
Later, during a fight against a lich in the , the gauntlet was destroyed, having been consumed by the life-binding forces of the lich and in turn destroying the undead. After the gauntlet's destruction, Jarlaxle asked their employers, the dragon sisters Ilnezhara and Tazmikella, to replace the gauntlet as compensation for the two fighters' achievements, but they refused. Thus, Jarlaxle later presented Artemis with a new gauntlet, which had been restored by the efforts of the psionicist Kimmuriel Oblodra, just after they left the Bloodstone Lands.
===Return to the Netherese===
At some point after Jarlaxle and Artemis parted company, Jarlaxle betrayed Artemis to the Netherese, who were seeking Charon's Claw in Baldur's Gate. The sword fell into the hands of the Netherese lord Draygo Quick, who then gave it to Herzgo Alegni. Alegni tied Entreri's life force to the sword, forcing Entreri to serve him and making it so that Entreri could not die while in the service of Charon's Claw.
In the , Entreri, known by this point as Barrabus the Gray, joined forces with Drizzt Do'Urden and Dahlia Sin'felle to take the sword from Alegni and thus free Entreri. They were able to take the sword by force in Neverwinter, believing they had killed Alegni. In truth, Alegni had made it to the Shadowfell, where he was healed and tasked with retrieving the Netherese artifact. Entreri's group headed for Gauntlgrym, where they believed they could destroy the sword and thus allow Entreri to die. Despite Alegni's forces, Drizzt was able to throw the sword over the rim of the pit where the fire primordial Maegera resided. The sword was presumed destroyed and its hold over Entreri broken. Entreri, unexpectedly, did not keel over on the spot but continued to live.
On a theory, however, in the , Catti-brie descended into the primordial's pit and discovered Charon's Claw was neither destroyed nor even damaged. Protected from the intense heat by a ring of the Plane of Fire, she retrieved the sword. She gave it to Jarlaxle and, after a short time and a great deal of convincing, he gave it back to Artemis Entreri. Artemis had been afraid of the blade because of its control over him, though Jarlaxle convinced him that by taking and using the blade he was taking control of that fear. It was later confirmed that Artemis was no longer effectively immortal because of the blade's magic, though it was never made clear why, nor indeed how it was bringing him back to life in the first place. However, all other abilities of the blade were still functioning normally.
==Appendix==
===Appearances===
===References===
Category:Swords
Category:Gauntlets
Category:Magic items
Category:Netherese items
Category:Sentient items
Category:Minor artifacts
Category:Items
Category:Items from Netheril
Category:Items from North Faerûn
Category:Items from Faerûn
Category:Items from Toril
Category:Magic blades