Tuesday Magic Item – Staff of Black Leaves

It is said the staff was found in the charred ruins of the forest of Vaisk, amid the smoking ruins of a druidic circle.   The man who carried it from the forest entered the ashed wastes of the forest as  a humble acolyte of the faith of nature  but he emerged as a force of darkness and ruin.

He gather to him other who had been displaced, scarred and terrorized by the destruction of the forest.  His singular will forged them into a tight cadre of vicious killers motivated only by vengeance.  They were last seen alive in the city square of the capital of Havve , the kingdom they blamed for the destruction of their forest.

It is said that a child of that ruined city spirited the staff from the rubble . . .

Staff of Black Leaves

This staff of dull black wood has a crown of branches tipped with skeletal black leaves that chime softly against each other as if made of stone or metal.  The staff molds itself to its users hand and very slowly shifts its bend and shape, never looking quite the same.

The staff of black leaves may be used as a weapon, functioning as a +1 quarterstaff that inflicts an additional 1 points of Strength damage if the target fails a DC 16 Fortitude save. The wielder gains a +3 bonus to their CMD to resist Disarms.  It continues to function as a weapon even after all the charges have been expended.

Further it allows the use of the following spells:

•    Poison (1 charge)
•    Spike Growth (1 charge)
•    Wall of Thorns (3 charges)
•    Storm of Vengeance (7 charges)

The staff’s wielder may take Constitution damage in place of the charge cost, if they do so, the damage cannot be healed magically and will only be restored through rest.  For the Storm of Vengeance, there is an additional cost of 1d4 points of Charisma damage and the Constitution is lost at the rate of 1 point per round of concentration (up to 7) with the remainder of the 7 paid for the moment the spell ends for whatever reason.

Those wielders whose Constitution is reduced to zero by the use of the staff are consumed by the staff, their body and soul devoured and they are lost forever.  Seeing such happen is disturbing, to say the least, and any who witness such must make a DC 24 Will save or be sickened for one round and take 1 point of each Charisma and Wisdom damage.

Aura strong conjuration (summoning); CL 17th
Slot none; Price 66,600; Weight 4 lbs
Construction
Requirements Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Staff, finger of death, poison, spike growth, storm of vengeance, wall of thorns; Cost 33,300 (+2,664 xp for D&D)

Notes: Yes, a crazy powerful item.  More a plot device and minor artifact than a proper magic item.

Also, my apologies for this being late, I just lacked inspiration yesterday.