Bloodsilver Spike

Description

This polished rod is often made of alloyed weltsilver and iron around a wooden core and tapered at one end. It delivers powerful and immediate healing, knitting grievous wounds to bring badly injured warriors back to their feet in seconds, and for this reason is valued widely among the armies of the Empire.

It is most commonly carried by second and third-rank magicians, especially among the ranks of the Imperial Orcs, who value its power to quickly bring warriors back from the brink of death. Among the Navarr it is sometimes known as the Second Chance, for those who undertake the dangerous duty of flanking an enemy may find themselves in need of its quick healing if the enemy tries to quickly overwhelm them.

It is often engraved with the runes Rhyv or Feresh.

Rules

• Form: Weapon. Takes the form of a rod. You must be wielding this implement to use its magical properties.
• Requirement: You must have the magician skill to bond to this item.
• Effect: Once per day you can swift cast the heal spell as if you knew it and without spending any mana.
• Materials: Crafting a Bloodsilver spike requires eight ingots of weltsilver. It takes one month to make one of these items.

Kallak saw it coming long before Rald did. The Ironheart Legion, right at the centre of the Imperial battle-line, had to run into the enemy's chieftain, and here he was: massive, cruelly scarred, an imposing figure in the finest armour his tribe had managed to scavenge from their raiding out of the Barrens.

Of course Rald was going to go for him. The young fool couldn't resist the chance.

The two Orcs' swords clashed with a shock that rang across the battlefield, and with a nod from her sergeant, Kallak stepped back out of the lines and over toward the impromptu duel. Rald fought like a true Orc of the Empire, disciplined and trained, a brilliant swordsman. He scored a line across the chieftain's forehead and landed a deep cut in one of his arms, as well as pounding on his armour a few times - but he made the mistake of youth, and attacked too often. He left an opening, and the ferocious barbarian knocked him from his feet with a mighty sweep and ran him through on the ground.

The chieftain gave a great, incoherent roar, lifting his jagged sword high in his good arm.

Kallak, who had begun her spellcasting as she ran, burst through the ranks and gave Rald a none-too-gentle tap with the tip of her Bloodsilver Spike. His eyes shot open and he yelped in pain as magic coursed through him, knitting arteries and veins in an instant and closing up skin and bone over the top of them.

Kallak helped him to his feet, and he clapped her on the shoulder in thanks as he headed back into the fray.

She saw the fear in the barbarian's eyes as he saw the Ironheart Legion's finest swordsman facing him for a second time, bloody but uninjured, and seconds later he fell. For all the violence he had done to impress his tribe with his might, the barbarian chieftain had no magician who could support him so well. Moments later, Rald hefted his head high into the air, and with a great cry of dismay, the enemy broke.

Kallak stayed behind to patch up the fallen as the front rank of the Legion set off after the fleeing barbarians, leaving the chasing and butchering to the younger and swifter warriors. Her Bloodsilver Spike had gained much worth from her acts today, and she'd played her part in a fine story indeed.