The God Trap

The God Trap is the modern name for an ancient dwarven weapon, the Findalhammar (literally God Hammer in Common).
While it appears to be a soul trap of near unlimited capacity, it is in fact an extremely powerful warhammer that activates upon the placement of a piece of a god's soul inside the body of the weapon.
The reason for the creation or the purpose of such a weapon has been lost to time.

Mechanics & Inner Workings

The God Trap has two known forms.
The first is similar to appearence to a floating, spinning top, with as-of-yet undeciphered runes on the side. As more and more souls fill the trap, or souls of a greater caliber, the center purple glow grows brighter and the three rings in the center begin spinning faster in opposing directions.
Upon activiating into its "true" form, the spikes at the end of the God Trap are absorbed into the inside, and the center ring folds out into a large handle, causing the device to become a giant warhammer.
When the Sliver of Bane was absorbed into the Findalhamar, the weapon has the followig effects:

• +3 weapon
• Con +2
• Adv. on CHA checks on dwarves
• (sword of sharpness) roll a 20, 14 extra damage, roll again, another 20 break off a limb
• (dwarven thrower) 20/60. +1d8 extra damage, weapon returns to hand
• Immune to poison (if dwarf)
• Range of Darkvision increased by 60 feet
• Proficiency in Intimidation
• Can’t be charmed or frightened
• + 2 STR
• All holy water within 10 feet of the Findalhamar is destroyed
• While item is in use, the attuned creature's eyes glow like green fire and their figure becomes shadowy

It is unclear if Slivers of different gods would have different effects. It is also unknown if the "true" form of the Findalhamar can be activated with enough mortal souls.
The Finalhamar also functions similar to traditional soul traps, allowing the souls inside to be utilized for various rituals. Unlike traditional soul traps, the God Trap contains a mechanism to expel all the souls stored inside of it, allowing them to pass on to the afterlife as usual.

History

The Findalhammar was created an unknown amount of time ago and then lost to history.
In the early 15th century, the Findalhammar was rediscovered by Riswyn Thunderbane, the chief artificer of Clan Velgrund, and was taken to the clan's stronhold, Nettlemurk Hall, for study.
Riswyn and her various apprentices were unable to determine the purpose of the God Trap, but did discover its seemingly unlimited potential to trap and store mortal souls. With nothing else to go on, Riswyn named the item the God Trap, claiming that such a soul trap could store even the soul of a diety, unaware of how close to the truth she had arrived.
In 1435, the black dragon Voaraghammanthar heard of the clan's possession of the God Trap and its capabilities and temporarily settled near Nettlemurk Hall. As a result of its presence, the landscape around the stronghold began to become more like swampland, which weakened the defenses of the hall.
In Hammer of 1436, Voaraghammanthar struck, breaking into the weakened stronghold and stealing the God Trap, killing a few dwarves, including Riswyn in the process, before fleeing back to his lair in the Mere of Dead Men. Voaraghammanthar's attack would also critically weaken Nettlemurk Hall, resulting in its capture by a tribe of orcs six months later.
Unbeknownst to all, Voaraghamanthar was a twin to another dragon, Waervaerendor, that was slowly losing its mind and growing increasingly dangerous. Voaraghammanthar stole the God Trap to slay his brother and trap his soul, giving the black dragon time to uncover a cure for his brother's madness, though all efforts to do so ended in failure.
In Nightal of 1496, three of the Heroes of Saltmarsh, Mogran Oredelver, a survivor of Clan Velgrund and former apprentice to Riswyn Thunderbane, Lyra, and Micah Pierce, arrived in the Mere of Dead Men alongside their ally Immortal Valentine. The Heroes of Saltmarsh were engaged in opposing the aboleth S'gothgah, whom they had recently discovered was planning to bind a Sliver of Bane to a kraken in order to create an dangerously powerful Avatar of Bane. Mogran Oredelver theorized that the God Trap could bind or trap the Sliver of Bane, preventing it from becoming an Avatar.
The Heroes were successful in retrieving the God Trap, killing Voaraghammanthar and trapping his soul and releasing the soul of his brother. The God Trap was then carried by the Heroes back to Saltmarsh, where it was used to trap the soul of the vampire Xolec. The souls inside were then used as sacrifices to Micah's Great Old One patron. The God Trap was then carried to the Styes and then again to the Attack on the Neveren Trade Fleet, where the kraken and S'gothgah were planning to create the Avatar transformation. However, the Heroes slew the kraken and activated the God Trap to bind the Sliver, which prevented it from fleeing but necessitated the Heroes in incapacitating it before it was fully trapped inside, resulting in the God Trap's transformation into its unleashed weapon form.
Whlie the Findalhamar was temporarily attuned to Mogran Oredelver, it ultimately reverted back to its innert form a few days later, when the Sliver of Bane was then sacrificed to Micah's patron, freeing Micah from his warlock contract and noticeably weakening the god Bane.
Following its reversion, the God Trap was then handed over to the Blackstaff of Waterdeep, Vajra Safahr, for safekeeping as a representative of the Hand of Mana.

by Ashley

The God Trap in its mostly inert form

Item type

Unique Artifact

Rarity

So far as anyone knows, the God Trap is the only one of its kind, but its presence does raise questions as to whether similar weapons exist. having been k However, the God Trap remains relatively unknown, its presence and involvement in the Banesmark Crisis having been suppressed or downplayed, and its holding within the Hand of Mana means that it is unlikely to become common knowledge.