Toil

Toil is a magical longsword previously wielded by the Atral Knight Petrus Dubois.

## Description

This ornate longsword seamlessly blends both organic and inorganic components, featuring a subtly animated handle that shifts and grows to better match the grip of its wielder and an pommel depicting an acorn on one side, an apple on the other. Decorated with shifting runes reminiscent of sylvan script, the metal work shows signs of corrosion and tarnish upon its edge, but this has done naught to diminish its sharpness. The entire blade perpetually radiates a gentle warmth, as if left out beneath the sun on a summer day.

## History

The history of the blade Toil is currently unknown, but is suspected to have sinister origins given its inadvertent usage as a tuning fork to the Infinite Layers of the Abyss by the Warlock of the Archfey Kelun. After being beguiled into opening a rift to the layers of Tinaemortum, the domain of the Demon Prince Acherontia, the weapon was claimed by the paladin Ódóvir Jotunsson, who has wielded it since.

## Properties

Toil provides any individual wielding it a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls, as well as conferring further benefits to those that attune to it.

* The heat contained within the longsword holds back all but the fiercest of chills. You have resistance to cold damage, but the first time that you draw Toil during combat, you take 1d8 fire damage.
* You can use a bonus action to wreathe the blade in hard spikes and thorns. In doing so, you take 2d4 piercing damage, but each hit with Toil for the next minute deals an additional 1d4 piercing damage. Once you have used Toil in this way, you cannot do so until the next dawn.

Upon Ódóvir's destruction of a powerful demon representative of the might of Yeenoghu, the Prince of Gnolls and Beast of Butchery, Toil awakened, revelling in the act. Further properties were then revealed to Ódóvir, as well as others still that the paladin has kept to himself.

* The weapon’s bonus to attack and damage rolls increases to +2. The damage dealt per hit by the hard spikes and thorns increases to 2d4 piercing damage.
* While holding the longsword, you can use an action to cast one of the following spells from it (save DC 15): *entangle*, *faerie fire*, *invisibility*, *plant growth*, *sleep*, *spike growth*. Once a spell has been cast using the longsword, that spell can’t be cast from it again until the next dawn.
* When a creature hits you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to briefly cover yourself in a noxious sheen. The creature must make a Constitution saving throw (save DC 14) or become poisoned until the start of your next turn.

## Known Wielders

* Petrus Dubois
* Marcel Dubois
* Kelun
* Ódóvir Jotunsson

## Research

### Completed by Arnica

At a glance, Toil would surely look like a rundown blade, no doubt treasured by passage through the generations, but then forgotten for many more. The tarnish on the metal of the blade itself gives it the appearance of being submerged in a stagnant lake or buried in rot-rich soil for at least a few years, while the organic handle which appears outwardly to be an ivory scrimshaw but on closer inspect is undeniably that of bone roughly shaped to afford it a roughness desirable in a weapon to ensure grip - however slick the wielder's hand grows with the ichor of combat. Nonetheless, despite the degradation apparent, the blade thrums with the arcane, aligned with the Schools of Evocation and Conjuration. Undoubtedly sharper than would be expected of a blade with outwardly deceiving appearances, and thus serves in line with the praxis of Acherontia, the Demon Prince associated with the layers of the Abyss known as Tinaemortum, to which the blade seems to be connected planar frequency wise.

But what stands apart from this pattern is that the blade Toil is a damaged object, not one of beauty. The Demon Prince revels in luring individuals in with splendour and majesty, with venom and malice hidden just outside of view. It would therefore be more fitting that Toil, itself bearing a repugnant name, was a bejewelled weapon, akin to those kept for use in ceremony, with a grand name to match, instead of being evocative of struggle and unappreciated effort. Expanding on this theory, further examination with aid of a skilled finesmith reveals signs that this was indeed perhaps true, with subtle etchings indicative of spots where gemstones had perhaps once been mounted, where filigrees of precious metals had been stripped clear, attempts made to dull the sword's edge - the lattermost proving for naught, overridden as it was by the enchantment contained within by nature of its forging. It therefore seems that at some point, this weapon was deliberately damaged and cast aside, tarnished as not to attract the vainglorious or greedy, and thus try and spare them from lusting after its possession. The individuals intended to want after such a blade, bold and wealthy, would surely have the resources necessary to gather the minerals required to enact the ritual that Kelun had been beguiled into, and would likewise find themselves deceived.

What remains uncertain, evasive to all conventional forms of research is the intent behind the force responsible for the nullification of the blade. Was it done by a former owner, spurned by the promises made and seeking revenge against the voice that whispered to them as they wielded the weapon? Was it cast down by a foe, damaged in battle and left to rot where its wielder was smote against the soil and stone? Was it picked clean by scavengers, who saw only the gemstones, perhaps fearful or unwilling to face the challenge of selling such an ornate blade? The main question remains though, if the damage did not come by mere chance, if they were so certain of the damage the blade could cause, why not completely destroy it?