The Spear of Secrets

The Spear of Secrets – Greater Magic Spear

Ego- 8

Damage- 1d8 + 3

The Spear of Secrets is a magical spear. It is much more powerful then most weapons; giving it a +3 to both to hit and damage. The long face of its tip is painted with purple runes, its shaft made of a lightweight silver-ish metal.

Every round you do not make a direct attack with the Spear, you begin to fade. If you get multiple attacks, giving up an attack lets you fade one stage. You also get to begin fading or continue to fade by doing a “fighting retreat” or a defensive fighting option, or when you bark orders to others or reposition yourself as it doesn't count for an attack. If you get a surprise round this combat, you can use it to fade all the way.

The first time you fade, you are considered 50% faded. Fade is similar to invisibility, but having some elements of become quieter, less physically present, lightweight, and even more forgettable. At 50% fade, enemies get -2 to hit against you as though you were in dim light against people without darkvision, and this is further compounded if you are actually in a hard to see environment. You also get +2 to saves against Area of Effect spells and attacks. The second time you fade, you are 90% faded, and almost impossible to see. Attacking now would count as attacking from stealth. Nobody can attack you directly unless they guess where you are, or you are covered in something like snow or blood that marks your location- also, methods to see the invisible work on you here, despite you still seeming a bit incomplete or transparent. You are ethereal enough to only take 1 damage from regular weapons and attacks; only magic weapons can harm you worse then this. You are also considered to automatically succeed on saving throws vs area of effect spells or attacks, walking right through walls of flames and ignoring inclement manifestations.

If you fade for three rounds in a row; you are considered 100% faded. When this happens; you are essentially intangible to attacks and creatures and can move through them- you could step directly into a sword swing or the path of an arrow- there is a 1 in 20 chance for it to hit you if you are truly overwhelmed in your position, such as standing in front of a barrage of arrow fire. You are also so lightweight that you can walk on branches and water freely, and with giving no indication you are there, and make great leaps to higher places or on flying mounts to reach their warriors, though you cannot truly fly in this form. Things like snow or dust or paint don't stick to you anymore either, you lack the physical form, so there is no way to spot you. You are considered 90% invisible against those with true sight or forms of extrasensory abilities. You can essentially get anywhere on the battlefield once you are fully faded, and can reappear when you choose where you choose- people will also lose all track of your movements and be unable to predict where you are headed, somewhat due to forgetting you were there and faded away. This grants you a free, automatic hitting attack when you decide to reappear. You could also just to reappear in a dramatic place or pose anyway, such as with your knife against the enemy's throat, to threaten them.

This weapon has an extremely strong ego; it can only be wielded by high level fighters. Level 8 fighters can wield this weapon without Charisma modifiers. Rogues of 10^th level (count as being able to use 5 Ego weapons and below) could only wield this weapon if they had a positive Charisma modifier along with other bonuses; such as secret destinies or special items that reduced the Ego of other items. Anyone who tries to use this weapon without being able to match the Ego will find themselves fully fading in three rounds, with the weapon dropping to the ground. The person will reappear confused and disoriented up to 1d4 hours later, some distance away from where they tried to use the spear. People with a lesser Ego could still hold or carry the spear, but will find it fading away over the years as it attempts to find a more powerful master.

This weapon has another power; the whispering. While it works better with those who can beat the Ego, the weapon always does this in quiet places and at night. The weapon whispers softly to whoever it holding it; hinting at secrets. You have a 1 in 6 chance to hear something useful related to whatever you're meditating on.

Finally; even those who beat the impressive Ego of this weapon it still has side effects. The longer one holds, fights with, and uses this weapon, the more they fade permanently. For the first 5 years, there is no negative effects. Each year after, the holder of the weapon fades by 1d4%. This kind of fading makes them slightly less physically substantial, and while not being noticeable for a while, they will eventually become specter like and mildly intangible, only able to be fully physically present after eating a large meal or with some concentrated effort. The shade will also become less memorable to people, their name passing more and more into legend, even if they were famous. Eventually; the person ceases to be on this realm, instead working in some sort of abstract space, becoming a full shade that only appears rarely on the physical world to some inscrutable end. They will fully appear to perform one action or to alter the course of history, and then fade into nothing before your eyes.