Sword of the Ebon Flame (Magic Sword)

This long sword +2/+4 vs. lawful good alignment, is evil, usable by all evil alignments. It is not intelligent, although it can communicate through empathy, it has no ego at all. The sword's face and edge have many small, black flickering flames upon it, though these do not radiate warmth. When used in combat, the sword bursts into black flame, which runs from pommel to tip but does not affect the wielder in any way. Any victim hit by the sword must make a saving throw vs. wands or be burned for 1d10 points of damage in addition to normal sword damage plus magic and Strength bonuses, if any. A person burned by the sword catches fire, taking 1d4 additional points per round until the fire is extinguished. The burning victim makes another saving throw each round: if the save is successful, the flame is extinguished. The ebon flame cannot be doused by any nonmagical means, including water.
When unsheathed and held, this weapon gives the wielder infravision with a 90' range. The wielder is also harder to surprise, and receives 1d8 for surprise cheeks instead of the usual 1d6.
Each sword of the ebon flame comes complete with a curse determined individually by the DM. Normally, the curse of the sword consists of attack penalties when fighting some type of creature or alignment. For example, one sword might be-3 against lawful evil creatures while another might be -3 against fiends. Creatures named in the curse of the sword will become instantly aware of it when they come within 60' of it. There is a base 50% chance that these beings will attack the sword wielder because of this weakness, even if they have been neutrally disposed originally.
In addition to the above limitation, the sword inflicts 1d4 fewer points of damage than normal against creatures of water and fire, such as serpents, mermen, elementals, fish, dragons, and salamanders. All fires started by the sword will burn for only one round and then automatically extinguish.
It is thought that several varieties of these swords were made by some great artificer for all alignments. If researched by the player characters, the history surrounding their placement in the Flanaess will be scarce and unreliable, suggesting instead that the swords might be more likely found in the outer realms.
Category:Encyclopedia Magica Magic Items
Category:Magic Items
Category:Magic Swords
Category:Magic Weapons