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Blackforge of Brakah Deep in the earth, beyond the dwarven halls, deeper than any dare to travel,
one can hear the pounding rumble of the Earthforge. The heartbeat of its work
is the pulse of the underworld and it is said that he who possesses the
Earthforge rules the underworld for it has the power to remake the earth.
Dwarvenkind and Drakher have long vied as to who controls the Earthforge.
The dwarves say that it is held in a place called the Great Chamber, the
meeting place of their pantheon of deities. The drakher contest that the
Earthforge was consumed by their god, Brakah, and it rumbles in its belly
like a heartbeat ticking away the time to its awakening.
Whichever the truth is, the Drakher possess a
wondrously powerful relic, known as the Blackforge. This item, greatly
coveted by the dwarves of the underworld, has remained in the possession
of the Drakher elves since the beginnings of recorded time. The Drakher
believe that Brakah gave them the Blackforge, made from the Earthforge
itself, to remind them of their ties and duties to Brakah.
The Blackforge is considered to be a holy relic
to the Drakher. Legends describe the object to be 20 feet across, 30 feet
tall, and built with runed stones of incredible rarity and value. A huge,
magical, obsidian anvil sits at its right-hand side with glowing runes of
all colors deeply embedded in its sides. On its left rests a large tool
rack, fit for a giant, with all manner of fantastical tools, each carved
from solid gemstones and glowing faintly of the same gems coloring. When
commanded, the temperature and volume of heat in the forge can be easily
controlled by the wielder of the Blackforge master hammer.
The forge can only be operated by a master smith
(Craft Blacksmith 10 ranks). Any of less skill who attempt to use the forge
are said to be consumed by the flames which burst forth from the kiln. When
operated by a skilled smith the forge allows the creation of wondrous things.
The forge has the power to shape not just mortal metals, but mithral,
adamantine, and stone itself. Any item produced is considered masterful
quality and is likely to be highly magical. For every two points the master
smith passes their proficiency check by the item forged gains a magical +1
to its properties. This may be an armor bonus, a weapon enhancement bonus,
keeness, or some other quality. It is said that only a master smith who
is also a high priest of Brakah can create items of +5 quality, and some
say that those who are especially blessed by Brakah can create even more
powerful things.
In addition, items forged in the Blackforge may
be imbued with magical powers should they be forged by a high priest of
Brakah. Any magical prayer known to the priest may be imbued into the
item. Each power that a priest of Brakah attempts to enchant an item
with requires a skill-check on behalf of the priest. The base DC for adding a
power to an item is 15. The DC increases by 2 for each spell level of power to
be enchanted into the item. On a failed check, the item crumbles into ash and
the blacksmith must make a will save (DC 20) or lose 1d4 points of wisdom and
be stunned for 1d4 days due to the mental backlash of the forge.
It is said that with great sacrifices to Brakah
that the difficulties of enchanting items can be lessened. For every 20,000
gold value of gems sacrificed to the forges flames a +1 bonus is awarded to
all skill-checks made for that item. A failed skill-check of a natural 1
always indicates a flaw in the workmanship and the previously mentioned
consequences.
Of particular importance to the Drakher elves,
only armor and weapons forged in the Blackforge can be wielded by the
untouchable Dura mystics of their culture.
Creating items in the Blackforge requires
considerable prayer and fore-thought. Attempts to forge items within the
Blackforge take 50% longer than creating the items by more mundane means. Even
so, this is often faster than traditional methods for creating magical items
and the creator is not required to have the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat.
Weight: Immovable
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