Seirios’ Bow – New Magic Item / A to Z Blogging Challenge [S]

Archer

The archer moved through the night-shrouded forest like a ghost.  Pausing only to fire an arrow into one of the bandits.  The arrow bursting into a bright flower of fire as they struck, not only wounding but disorienting the target.

After losing four of their number, the bandits fled.  Never again to trouble the hills around the small shrine to the good of a star.

Seirios’ Bow

These self bows are made from wood that have been scorched in summer wildfires, the tips of which are shod in red bronze.  The grip is wrapped in red cord and a prayer to the goddess is lightly carved along the interior arc of the bow.

Seiros’ bow is a +1 flaming short bow, treat this as a composite short bow for ranges and the archer may use up to a Strength bonus of +2 with it (though they suffer no penalties if their strength is lower).  When a target is struck by an arrow from this bow at night (or equivalent low light situation) they must make a Reflex save (DC 17) or be dazzled for 1d4+1 rounds.

The bearer of the bow gains low-light vision and a +3 resistance bonus to resist fire and heat-based effects.

Aura moderate evocation [fire]; CL 10th
Slot none; Price 11,350; Weight 2 lbs
Construction
Requirements Craft Magical Arms and Armor, bull’s strength, flame strike, owl’s wisdom, the bow must be made during the month of summer; Cost 5,500 + 350 for the bow (+440 xp for D&D)

Notes: Seirios (or Sirius), the Dog-Star, the pre-dawn rising of the star in conjunction with the sun was believed to bring on the scorching heat of midsummer.

Photo by Yongho Kim and used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.