Ungarato, Sword of Gluttony

Aura strong necromancy; CL 16th; Slot none; Weight 8 lbs.

DESCRIPTION

With the completion of their work, the necromancers of Runeforge set forth for Xin-Gastash amid a contingent of their most potent—and conspicuous—undead attendants. While skirting the northern ridge of the Kodars, the necromancers fell under attack by savage northland barbarians aided by ferocious white dragon twins. Few of the wizards survived, and those who escaped lived only long enough to report to Runelord Goparlis the loss of their masterpiece and the name of the blood-haired barbarian dragon master: Ungarato. Runelord Goparlis sent a legion of his finest soldiers in pursuit of the blade, and when they fell, he sent a contingent of slaves and necromancers to reanimate their bones so they could march on. Ungarato's forces struck like axes of glacial ice—lethal, but melting away after every attack. The runelord spent much of his remaining reign pursuing Ungarato, but never captured the savage warlord or laid hand upon the blade crafted for him. Goparlis's distraction and obsession eventually cost him his rule, when his apprentice, Krune, betrayed him and took up the mantle of Runelord of Gluttony. Soon after Runelord Krune's ascension, Ungarato sought to meet with the new tyrant. Exposure to the twisted energies of the evil sword, the endless assault of Goparlis's magic, and his own drive for vengeance against the runelord—who for so long had harvested the northland tribes as materials for profane experiments—had warped Ungarato. Upon a chariot pulled by twin skeletal dragons, Ungarato revealed that he had fallen years ago, but conviction and rage had restored him as a graveknight. The warlord offered to trade his Thassilonian blade for Goparlis's body, so the northlanders might have a trophy of the tyrant's fall. Although impressed, Runelord Krune proposed a different exchange: his predecessor's corpse in exchange for the blade and Ungarato's service as his personal champion. The graveknight accepted and took the fallen runelord's body north. When he returned, he did so at the head of an army of his kinsmen, who to show their devotion had sacrificed themselves upon his blade so they might follow their master even in death. Centuries later, when Ungarato finally fell—bearing with him a portion of his master's final creation, the Gluttonous Tome, amid the ruin of Thassilon—his essence and devotion passed on into the foul blade that now bears his name.

This +5 ghost touch vicious falchion has a misty, ethereal quality that makes it appear to be spectral in nature despite being perfectly tangible to the touch. Anytime Ungarato's wielder takes damage from the weapon's vicious special ability he adds an amount equal to that damage to his next attack roll. Ungarato faintly glows a sickly, unsettling green anytime there is an undead creature within 50 feet of the wielder. Whenever the falchion strikes a foe, the target must succeed at a DC 20 Fortitude save or take an additional 1d6 points of damage, which the sword's wielder gains as bonus hit points that last for the next hour. If the sword scores a critical hit, the target must succeed at a DC 25 Fortitude save or be slain outright, with half of its remaining hit points passing to the sword's wielder as bonus hit points. Any creature slain by Ungarato—either as the effect of a critical hit or otherwise—reanimates as a juju zombie 1d4 rounds later under the control of the sword wielder. The sword can control up to 32 HD worth of juju zombies in this way. If this amount is exceeded, undead are released from control as per animate dead.