Blackrazor

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Greyhawk Item
Blackrazor
Blackrazor04.jpg
Blackrazor, as depicted in Dragon #360 (2007). Art by Steve Argyle.
Type: Weapon
Price: 90,150 gp
Caster Level: 10th
Weight: 8 lbs.
First Appearance: White Plume Mountain (1979)


Blackrazor is a terrible, soul-devouring sword found in White Plume Mountain.

Description[edit]

Blackrazor is a greatsword that appears to have been forged from an unknown steel alloy. When unsheathed, its blade resembles a star-studded night sky. When it kills, the wielder hears faint whispers. Its black scabbard is decorated with pieces of obsidian.

Powers[edit]

Blackrazor drains life energy from those it strikes, temporarily granting the stolen power to its wielder. If the sword strikes a negative energy creature, it works in reverse, draining life energy from its wielder. It can grant its wielder a suite of other powers, including haste and resistance to mind-effecting magic. It is intelligent, and can communicate with those nearby through telepathy. If it goes too long without being "fed" with life-energy, its ego grows stronger, until it can take over its wielder's mind and forces them to satiate its hunger.

History[edit]

In a multiverse far removed from the planes of Oerth, powerful beings kept absolute order, banishing entropy and decay to preserve the planes of their reality from its long-overdue death. Yet with all their power, eventually the artificial stasis imposed by these entities failed and the multiverse began to die. Like worms in rotten wood, creatures from beyond infested the rotting multiverse, speeding its destruction.

The wizard Keraptis time-communed with the rulers of this multiverse, who granted Keraptis the knowledge needed to transform one of the reality-parasites into a weapon in exchange for taking it back to his own planes. The creature that Keraptis forged into Blackrazor was an abomination similar to an atropal, a stillborn god.

During the events of the original White Plume Mountain adventure, Blackrazor was guarded by the ogre mage Qesnef, who preferred not to touch the dreadful thing. In Return to White Plume Mountain, Blackrazor was wielded in battle by the efreeti Killjoy.

Creative origins[edit]

Blackrazor was inspired by Stormbringer, the soul-devouring sword in Michael Moorcock's Elric stories and novels.

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index

The Index is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, and his work as continued and updated by Eric Johnson, Richard DiIoia, Jason "PupickDad" Jacobson, a French fan group, and numerous other fans over the years. The wiki page for the EGI has a list of sources, full product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.

Topic Type Description Product Page/Card/Image

Blackrazor (Sword of Souls) Item Artifact, Into White Plume (RPGA) (Low Level Version), D&D 3.5e 3
Blackrazor (Sword of Souls) Item Artifact, Dragon magazine #285 66
Blackrazor (Sword of Souls) Item Artifact, Dragon magazine #299 101
Blackrazor (Sword of Souls) Item Artifact, Into The Unknown: The Dungeon Survival Handbook, D&D 4e 106, 107
Blackrazor (Sword of Souls) Item Artifact, Encyclopedia Magica - Volume IV 1346
Blackrazor (Sword of Souls) Item Artifact, Return to White Plume Mountain 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 26, 37, 38, 39
Blackrazor (Sword of Souls) Item Artifact, S1-4 Realms of Horror, Adventure Booklet 22, 23, 25, 26, 29, 32, 35
Blackrazor (Sword of Souls) Item Artifact, S1-4 Realms of Horror, Inscription and Map Booklet 2
Blackrazor (Sword of Souls) Item Artifact, S2 White Plume Mountain (1st-3rd printing), AD&D 1e 2, 9, 12
Blackrazor (Sword of Souls) Item Artifact, White Plume Mountain (Revised), D&D 3.5e 2, 3, 4, 21, 29, 30, 31, 32, 36
Blackrazor (Sword of Souls) Item Artifact, S2 White Plume Mountain {Expanded} (4th+ printing), AD&D 1e 2, 12, 16