| Category | Artifacts |
| Type | artifact |
| Enchanter | spontaneous creation |
| Built | 9 Dreamer 1443 |
| Location | unknown |
This item is literally the right hand of Sakazrân Garbanâth. It was blown off when he and the god Geb destroyed the Sceptre of Phenul-Tamrâk.
In 1443, the artifact was destroyed near the heart of Barândîr. It is said that the primordial Geb helped Sakazrân in this task. When the item was destroyed, Geb was slightly injured and lost one of his fingers in the ensuing blast. This finger was never recovered and probably lies somewhere out there in the icy wastes of the glacier. Sakazrân was also injured. He lost his hand, which was found many years later by a foraging frost giant. The hand is itself an artifact, called the Hand of Sakazrân. The destruction of the Sceptre of Phenul-Tamrâk caused the glacier to expand by 300%. It expanded all the way into Hedrac. Over the next thirty years, the temperature variations and stormy conditions of Gulimbor began to return to normal.
- excerpt from the History of the Sceptre of Phenul-Tamrâk
The hand is thought to have become magical from the mixing of energies by a mortal, a god and the destruction of an artifact. Some even believe that when the Sceptre was destroyed, it transferred some of its powers into the hand and gave it a bit of evil taint. There is some truth in this because upon losing his hand Sakazrân lost the last vestiges of evil in him making him change from lawful evil to lawful neutral. The Hand of Sakazrân now displays both of these alignments, periodically changing from lawful neutral to lawful evil and making the owner of the hand act accordingly.
To use this artifact, a creature attached the item to either their hand whereupon it is turned to ice and shatters and in its place is the Hand of Sakazrân. This process is very painful, requiring a successful system shock to avoid death. Once attached the character will feel a strong presence in their body. The bearer will immediately feel stronger and capable of sustaining much more damage than normal.
| Trait | Value |
|---|---|
| Alignment | lawful neutral (lawful evil) |
| Intelligence | 22 |
| Ego | 28 |
| Communication | telepathy |
| Name | Description | Usuage |
|---|---|---|
| Mage Flight | as the Fly spell | 3/day |
| Geb Skin | +5 natural AC, 5/+4 DR, +5 inherent strength | continuous |
| Shards of Barândîr | fire 2-8 icy shards which are equivalent to magic missiles that deliver cold damage | 3/day |
| Sakazrân Ice Ray | cold ray with a base +10 to-hit to a range of 150' delivering 1d6 damage per level of the bearer, Reflex DC30 for half damage | 2/day |
| Hedrac Storm | as Ice Storm spell | 3/day |
| Will of Phenul-Tamrâk | +5 inherent wisdom | continuous |
| Memory of Sakazrân | know how to create undead watroachs, bone nagas, and dire guards | continuous |
| Split Personality | 1/week rolling under your Wisdom on a d100 results in change of alignment to lawful evil with the personality changing to one that is cruel, warlike, callous, insensitive, avaricious, vengeful, and of depraved morals, returning to original alignment requires a similar save each day thereafter with each day the chance being reduced by 1 | periodic |
Watroaches are favorites among the insect necromancers in the armies of the sorcerer kings. Their great size makes them ideal creatures to be slain, modified, then animated to serve the wickedness of their masters.
Typically, an adult watroach is sought out in the desert, surrounded, and killed. A psionic kill is preferred, leaving the corpse unmarred for future construction. Once taken back to a city (usually on a large wagon behind two or more mekillots or driks), the watroachs carcass is prepared. The brain and guts are removed, as is much of the honeycombed hive material. The drones are smoked out over large fires, and the dormant proto-adult is discarded. Usually, the top of the hive chamber is then opened and a platform installed, and a variety of other individual weapons positions are cut into all of the three body sections. Once finished, the beast is raised from the dead by templar magic. A typical undead war watroach has eight warriors in addition to its templar master.
In its undead form, the watroach can move and fight just as in life.
- excerpt from Dragon Magazine #185, pg. 24 - "Watroach (War Beetle)"