Yeoman's Bounty

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Description

The yeoman's bounty is a servicable rod usually made of wood from the yew tree (a tree associated with burial grounds), treated with beggar's lye and engraved with runes such as Kyrop, the rune of weakness. . It is sometimes called a lover's grave, a last-ditch baton or occasionally a weapon of last restort - all references to the way that invoking it's magic prevents a magician from performing any further magic until the repercussions of doing so are alleviated. Many magicians would sooner cast this spell through this rod than learn it themselves because they find learning to sever themselves from the source of their power unsettling, especially if they derive great pride from their magical prowess. Even using the rod is frowned upon in Dawn since the Weakness spell is seen as reducing the glory of a battle by robbing two combatants of their most impressive abilities.

Wintermark magicians who become Frayed occasionally arm themselves with these rods and seek out powerful barbarian shamans and warlords during battle to strike down with it, as an act of self-sacrifice. This tactic, and the rod itself, are sometimes known as Mouse's Bite, as a weak or civilian magician robs a much more potent foe of their might. Obviously such gambits are extremely dangerous for the magician in question, thus acquiring and bonding to this rod is sometimes taken as a sign of despair or desperation by close confidantes, but also a display of Courage.

Another unfavourable association with this rod is its usage in thefts and muggings, where a weaker member of the gang will begin by using the rod against a wealthy, well-equipped target before their colleagues subdue and rob the victim, perhaps employing a Maggot's Talon. Some of the more notorious bands of bandits lurking in The Barrens employ these rods against the noble-born Questing knights who wear their wealth of their order.

Rules

• Form: Rod.
• Effect: You can cast the weakness spell as if you knew it.
• Materials: Crafting a yeoman's bounty requires seven measures of beggar's lye. It takes one month to make one of these items.

Flavour assigned to Liam Spinage.
"The yeoman's bounty is an aching back and the sleep of exhaustion."