Will of the Talon

Weapon (war pick), artifact (requires attunement)
Black, blue, green, red, and white gems carved in the form of dragon heads cover this ostentatious gold war pick, marking it as a weapon channeling the power of Tiamat.
Sentience. Will of the Talon is a sentient lawful evil weapon with an Intelligence of 14, a Wisdom of 15, and a Charisma of 19. It has hearing and darkvision out to a range of 120 feet.
The weapon communicates telepathically with its wielder and can speak, read, and understand Common, Draconic, and Infernal.
Personality. A short-tempered bone devil named Ashtyrlon lives within Will of the Talon. The weapon is greedy and values strong leadership. It demands that its wielder take decisive action to keep order in high-pressure situations—and to always take a fair share of treasure in return.

Dormant

The war pick grants the following benefits in its dormant state:

• You can speak, read, and write Draconic and Infernal.
• You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon.
• As a bonus action while holding the war pick, you can cause the following effect: each creature of your choice that is within 30 feet of you and is aware of you must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to your Frightful Presence for the next 24 hours. This property can’t be used again until the next dawn.
• While holding the war pick, you can use your action to exhale destructive energy. Pick a damage type from the Will of the Talon Breath Weapons table. Each creature in the area of the exhalation must make a DC 13 saving throw, the type of which is specified in the table. A creature takes 3d6 damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

When you use the war pick to unleash a breath weapon of a specific damage type, you can’t choose that same damage type again until the next dawn.

Will of the Talon Breath Weapons

Damage Type	Area	Saving Throw
Acid	5 ft. wide, 30 ft. long line	Dexterity
Cold	15 ft. cone	Constitution
Fire	15 ft. cone	Dexterity
Lightning	5 ft. wide, 30 ft. long line	Dexterity
Poison	15 ft. cone	Constitution

Awakened

When the war pick reaches an awakened state, it gains the following properties:

• The weapon’s bonus to attack and damage rolls increases to +2.
• The saving throw DC for the war pick’s Breath Weapon property increases to 15, and that property deals 4d6 damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
• The saving throw DC for the war pick’s Frightful Presence property increases to 15.
• While carrying the weapon, you have resistance to acid, cold, fire, lightning, and poison damage.

Exalted

When the war pick reaches an exalted state, it gains the following properties:

• The weapon’s bonus to attack and damage rolls increases to +3.
• The saving throw DC for the war pick’s Breath Weapon property increases to 17, and that property deals 5d6 damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
• The saving throw DC for the war pick’s Frightful Presence property increases to 17.

Item type

Weapon, Melee

Rarity

artifact