The Spear of the Dawn

Full Item Description

When unattended, the Spear of the Dawn resembles a normal longspear, although one crafted of unusual materials. The shaft of the pole is crafted from a pale wood, with swirls of a light yellow, white, and a soft rose rippling through the fine-grained wood. It is wrapped at two points along the shaft with a soft leather, cut with a scale pattern and glimmering with a subdued jewel-tone in any light, and weighted at the end opposite the spearhead with a spike of some dark metal that glistens with violet tones. The spearhead is forged from a silvery-white metal that seems forged in a similar fashion to Damascus at first glance; the patterns marking the blade seem to suggest the twining arcs and curves of clouds, however.

It is when the spear is wielded in battle that the true nature of it becomes apparent, however. The leather grips smoothly shift along the shaft of the weapon, glittering with the jeweled scales of a Far Dragon, allowing the wielder to adjust his grip easily without releasing the weapon from his hands. The spike weighting the spear's butt down radiates an intense cold, and faint twinkles of starlight glitter from the dark metal. The blade of the spear, however, undergoes the most dramatic transformation - the metal seems to dissolve into pure, primal light, marked only by the faint swirls of clouds set aflame into burning gold.

History

The Spear of the Dawn is an ancient weapon, forged by the hands of Koriel, God of Chaos, and Goge, God of War, when the first dawn broke over Kuramen, long before the Age of Calamity divided the world. Koriel, no warrior, knew that his brother would need a weapon to deal with the dark things born of the Hollow; it was he who captured the light of the dawn, pure and clean, and it was he who crafted the rough shape of each piece of the weapon before turning them over to goge to be shaped and imbued with the essence of War.

Together, the brothers shaped the weapon, and when it was done, Goge took it up and set off to hunt down the Hollow-born things snapping and howling at the edge of the Isle of the Divine, wielding the spear as easily as if it were an extension of himself. In short order, the bravest of the abominable things were slain, and the rest driven off into the dark places for a time.

It was this weapon that Goge wielded when the Age of Calamity struck and the first of the Far Dragons tried to invade the Isle of the Divine, to seize the power of the gods of True Kuramen for Far Kuramen's benefit. It was the Spear of the Dawn's impossibly keen edge that let Goge slay the invader, rather than merely driving it off as all others since have done, and it was from this Dragon's hide that the spear's grips and Goge's traditional finery were crafted.

Over the long ages, the spear was bloodied again and again, the shining Light remaining unsullied by the carnage of war, until the last battle where Goge stood as the God of War, battling his fallen sibling, Valeras. Had Goge struck first, history might have had a different path entirely; instead, the mighty god of War was laid low by the poison of his misbegotten sibling's stingers. As the battle surged and broke the two apart, Koriel leaping to engage Valeras with his own freshly-crafted spear, Goge dropped the Spear of the Dawn to the ground, the Light ebbing from it for the first time in long ages until it lay amid the muck of the trampled field, seeming no more than a finely-crafted spear.

When the Lost Gods retired from the field, bearing Goge transfixed on Koriel's spear, the Spear of the Dawn was left behind. Even now, it lies buried among weeds and ancient, blood-soaked earth in the valley where Valeras's cult bides their time, waiting patiently to be found again by some worthy warrior.

Magic/Cursed Properties
The Spear of the Dawn is a divine weapon; carrying it is possible for any, but wielding it is beyond all but the greatest of warriors. Should a warrior versed in the use of the spear lay claim to it, it may awaken to a dim echo of what it once was, serving as a powerfully enchanted weapon in his hands. Only in the hands of one who can claim to be a master of War does it truly awaken, however.

The lesser form of the Spear is surrounded by a warm radiance, as of the early light before the true dawn. While it does not transform into a weapon forged of Light in this state, the edge of the spearhead takes on a terribly keen edge, and the weapon itself may only be harmed by another god-forged weapon. The spike at the spear's butt radiates a powerful cold, enough to leave those struck by it numbed and shivering.

The true form of the Spear of the Dawn is a weapon of divine might; the spearhead becomes impossibly sharp, capable of cleaving through any material not forged by divine hands, while the weighting spike becomes capable of smiting those unlucky enough to be struck by it with a glacial cold that freezes the blood and marrow. The grips shift at the will of the wielder, permitting him to shift his grip and stance fluidly, never losing his grip on the Spear itself. However, as a Divine weapon, there is one major side effect to this form of the weapon; in a sense, it is an accidental requirement forged into it by Koriel. The true form of the Spear is only able to be wielded by one who is qualified to be the successor of the God of War; and with Goge fallen to become the God of Slaughter, any wielder who awakens the Spear's true divine form is certain to ascend to the ranks of the divine; given the situation this occurs in, it may well be disastrous for his allies, as the Gods are bound by rules governing where, when, and how they may intervene in mortals affairs.

Plot Hooks
-Someone has found the Spear, but has no clue of the weapon's nature; in a bazaar in one of the southern cities, the characters spy a finely-crafted spear seemingly made of strange materials...
-One of the remaining Lost Gods is worried that his fallen brother might be close to breaking free; all of his priests are sent a vision telling them to seek the Spear, that it might be used to find the successor of War.
-One of the cultists of Valeras has found the Spear, discerning the true nature of it; now the entire cult labors to try to corrupt the mighty weapon from the light of Dawn to the shadows of Dusk.