The Shrieker

Throughout history, whenever the elves of the Jade Woods have been forced to contend with an individual that poses a truly existential threat for their realm, a hero has always arisen to face the danger. That hero has always born the Shrieker, a spear of unsurpassed beauty and craftsmanship.

With a long white shaft, rumored to have been made by ash and mithril, and a long, wide blade formed from a single diamond etched with intricate patterns , this legendary weapon is said to be able to kill anything, and it has certainly been able to defeat creatures that appeared unkillable. But the power of the spear comes at a price. It's wielder has always managed to avert whatever disaster was looming and kill the one responsible, but the wielder themselves has always died in the process. The spear has also been lost every time after its purpose had been fulfilled, only to emerge in the hands of a new hero the next time it was needed.

The wielders of the spear are considered heroes of the realm and all of them are memorialized in the halls of the Wooden Palace. Being chosen to wield the Shrieker is considered the highest honor by the elves and its wielder is accorded prestige and authority above any other. Their stories are passed down through the generations and recounted at all major occasions.

The last wielder of the spear was High Queen Krianthilys who had to use it against her husband when he was revealed to be a thrall of an elder brain. In her grief, the High Queen invaded the mind flayer colony single handedly and tore it apart. Under other circumstances, this assault would be the focus of that story, but the Queen pulled off something truly impossible. She survived... Nobody knows what really happened during that attack and the Queen still holds her peace.