A frightening hallowed axe with a mechanism in the haft.

Shades of Sacrifice: When the ability is activated set a countdown from 4. When activated a small sharp spike protrudes from the haft digging into the wielders hand, drawing blood. After every successful attack, add a d8 to the damage and move the counter down by one. As the wielder continues attacking the axe becomes redder and redder as the spike digs deeper and deeper into the wielders hand, drawing more blood. When the countdown hits 0, the spike protrudes sharply into the wielders hand, the damage resets, and they must mark a stress and mark 3 HP. This ability can only be used once per long rest.

GM Note: Work with your player to determine how the mechanism is activated as well as ask them to describe what their character is thinking as the spike begins to dig deeper and deeper into their hand.

Lore: In a time long past, there was a sect of warrior monks who dedicated their lives to protecting the Mortal Realm against incursions from The Circles Below. One such monk wielded this axe, a relic from a forgotten age that she had been tasked with retrieving from a derelict temple, against a horde of demons that were set to attack the village near the old temple.

Although she had gathered what few people were willing and able to fight, and met these demons at a narrow pass, the demons were quick to route the village’s defenders.

Alone and with a broken arm , the monk in a desperate act to protect the village, made a final stand at the narrowest part of the pass. Using rope and her remaining bandages, she tethered herself upright to a tree stump so she wouldn’t be knocked over, and awaited her doom, the axe in hand.

When the villagers went to look for survivors the next day, they found the monk, dead but still upright against the tree stump, a mound of demons dead before her, and the axe, red as the dawn that had greeted them, still gripped tightly in her hand.