Archdemon Runeblade

“You have come seeking the end of the blade that should not be. The weapon forged in deepest shadow, the spear of agony, the wound upon the world. You wish to break that which has never been broken, to unmake the unmaker. And so I shall tell you.”

“There are three paths to its unmaking, three doors that lead to oblivion. Each is a trial, each is a truth, and none may be undone.”

“Take it to the peak beyond peaks, the heaven where light is not shadowed, where no darkness can tread. There, hold the blade within the fire that never dims, beneath the gaze of purity eternal. Let it rest in radiance, and in seven days, not even its ashes will remain.”

“Or take it to the pit where all things are swallowed, where chaos is master, and form is but an illusion. Cast it into the maw of the storm that never ceases, where even the most wicked fear to fall. There, the blade will dissolve into nothingness, claimed by the void that bore it.”

“But there is another way… a chain, long forgotten, lost in the folds of time. Not steel, nor iron, but the shackle of a being greater than gods, greater than demons. The chain that bound the First Betrayer, the Unmaker, the One Without Name. Strike the blade with that which held him, and it shall break as glass beneath a hammer.”

“Three doors, three endings, three ways to rid the world of this wound. Choose wisely, for once the blade is unmade, the path ahead will be forever changed.”

“Now go… before the blade’s hunger turns upon you instead.”

                                                                                          - The Prophet of Aeons speaking to a group of adventurers

The Archdemon Runeblade is not simply a weapon, it is a monument to atrocity. Crafted from Prime Demon Stone, a substance birthed from repeated acts of ultimate evil, it radiates malevolence so thick that the air around it shimmers with the weight of untold suffering. Its burnt-brown surface is lined with sickly green thorns, pulsing faintly as if hungering for more blood. Near the base, a dull amber gem sits, a soulless eye staring into the abyss itself.

Though its creation was whispered across the planes, none but Tharizdun, the Chained God, knows why it was forged. Many demon princes have wielded it, and with each slaughter, the weapon has only grown stronger. It is said that whoever wields the lance does not merely kill, they corrupt existence and spread the Abyss's influence with every strike.

Curse of Tharizdun: A creature is forcefully attuned to Archdemon Runeblade if they touch it while it isn’t attuned to anyone else, and they can’t un-attune unless through the use of the Wish spell or divine intervention. If the creature has no free attunement slots, one will be forcefully removed.

Due to the materials and circumstance of its creation Archdemon Runeblade deals necrotic damage instead of piercing damage and ignores resistance and immunity to necrotic damage. Attacks with this weapon cannot be made non-lethally, its hunger for death is insatiable.

When you kill a creature with Archdemon Runeblade, its soul is not sent to its rightful afterlife. Instead, it is sent to the Abyss by the weapon. Each soul fuels its power, granting temporary hit points equal to the slain creature’s hit dice. These temporary hit points last until your next long rest.

Additionally, when the lance consumes 100 souls, the wielder gains the following feat permanently:

• Abyss-Touched: You become resistant to necrotic damage, fire damage, and psychic damage and gain darkvision 120 feet if you did not already have it.

However, once a soul is consumed, it can never be resurrected, even by the Wish spell.

Three times per day as a bonus action, the wielder can invoke the raw fury of the demon princes who once held the weapon. For the next minute, they gain the following benefits:

• All melee attacks with the lance deal an extra 4d12 necrotic damage.
• All creatures within 30 feet must make a DC 22 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of the wielder for the duration.
• The wielder regenerates 10 hit points at the start of their turn.

Once per day the wielder can thrust the lance into the ground, releasing all the suffering stored within the weapon, creating a 60-foot radius wave of Abyssal energy. All creatures of the wielder’s choice within the area must make a DC 24 Constitution saving throw or take 8d12 psychic damage and 8d12 necrotic damage, becoming stunned for 1 minute on a failed save. On a success, they take half damage and are not stunned.

If more than 100 souls have been consumed by the weapon, this ability also creates a permanent rift to the Abyss, summoning 1d4 balor or 2d6 hezrou, who will obey the wielder for one hour before turning hostile to all living creatures. A dispel evil and good spell or a divine smite from a celestial can close the rift to the Abyss.

The amber gem glows when the wielder sleeps, filling their dreams with madness and cryptic knowledge. Each long rest, roll a d4:

1. Gain advantage on Intelligence (Arcana) checks for 24 hours.
2. Suffer 1 level of exhaustion, but gain truesight (30 feet) for 24 hours.
3. Roll on the Short-Term Madness table in the DMG.
4. The weapon demands blood, if the wielder does not slay a creature within 24 hours, they take 4d6 psychic damage and their maximum hit points is reduced by the same amount until their next long rest.

While attuned to Archdemon Runeblade, the wielder slowly transforms into a more fiendish entity:

• After one week of attunement, their eyes burn with sickly green embers, and they can cast Detect Evil and Good at will.
• After one month, their veins darken, and they gain resistance to nonmagical attacks.
• After one year, they are irrevocably transformed into a fiend, losing their original race and gaining the fiend type. Their alignment is also permanently shifted to chaotic evil, and only a god of true divinity can undo this.

Archdemon Runeblade is not merely a weapon, it is a conduit of Tharizdun’s will, a shard of his prison made manifest. Those who wield it long enough hear whispers in their dreams, offering them dark power at the cost of their sanity. If the wielder refuses to spread carnage, the weapon will begin to drain their life force, reducing their maximum hit points by 5 per day until they resume its bloodstained purpose.

Additionally, the more souls the weapon consumes, the harder it is to resist its influence. When the lance has absorbed 500 souls, the wielder must make a DC 25 Charisma saving throw or fully submit to the will of Tharizdun, becoming a living extension of the Abyss. A chosen of the Chained God.

Destroying the Archdemon Runeblade is almost impossible, for it is not just a weapon, it is the essence of atrocity made real. However, there are three known ways to unmake it:

1. Bathe it in the Radiance of the Seven Heavens: The lance must be taken to Chronias, the highest layer of Mount Celestia, where it must be held within the Light of Purity for seven days. If even a single soul is within the weapon when this is done, it will instead unleash a cataclysm that may shatter Mount Celestia itself.
2. Cast it into the Heart of the Abyss: If thrown into the Maw of the Abyss, the churning center of chaos where even demon lords fear to tread, the weapon will be unmade by its own origin. However, this would cause a violent upheaval, as countless fiends would seek to claim the remnants.
3. Break it with the Chains of Tharizdun: The only force capable of truly shattering the Runeblade is a link of the chains that bind Tharizdun. These chains are scattered across the multiverse, hidden by gods who fear his return. If struck by such a chain while infused with the radiance of an archangel, the lance will be destroyed—but it may also weaken Tharizdun’s prison, allowing his influence to seep further into existence.

You have a +4 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon

Proficiency with a Lance allows you to add your proficiency bonus to the attack roll for any attack you make with it. A Lance requires two hands to wield when you aren't mounted.

Notes: Bonus: Magic, Replace Damage Type: Necrotic, Damage: Necrotic, Creation, Healing, Summoning, Damage, Control, Buff, Debuff, Negation, Utility, Combat, Deception, Cursed, Soulbinders, Abominations, fabled, Heavy, Reach, Two-Handed, Topple