The Advocate's Whetstone

by Frazer 👁 7 views

This palm-sized whetstone is a flat lozenge of smoky gray basalt veined with thin lines of gold. Tiny legal clauses are engraved across its surface in a script that seems to rearrange itself whenever the stone is turned. Its edges are unnaturally keen, and when rubbed against steel it produces no sparks—only the faint sound of someone clearing their throat before delivering a devastating objection. A silver loop at one end bears a broken red cord.

Edge of Conviction As an action, you can run this whetstone along one weapon that deals slashing or piercing damage. For the next 8 hours, that weapon is magical and grants a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls. Once this property is used, it cannot be used again until the next dawn.

Sharpened Argument When you make a Persuasion, Deception, or Intimidation check, you can invoke the whetstone to add 1d6 to the roll after seeing the d20 result but before knowing whether the check succeeds. You can use this property three times, and you regain all expended uses at dawn.

Cutting Retort When a creature you can hear within 60 feet makes a Charisma check or saving throw, you can use your reaction to force it to subtract 1d6 from the roll. You must be able to speak, and the creature must be able to understand at least one language. You can use this property twice, regaining all expended uses at dawn.

The Former Client The whetstone remembers the voice of its previous owner. Whenever you finish a long rest, you hear a whispered demand to return it. The voice can provide cryptic clues about the owner's current direction, but it never willingly reveals the owner's identity.

Lore

The stone was crafted by Orsena Vale, a legendary advocate who believed that every blade and every argument could be improved through disciplined pressure. Her students claimed that she could sharpen a sword while simultaneously dismantling an enemy's case, point by point. The whetstone became known as the Advocate's Whetstone after a tyrant's champion surrendered during a trial, unable to withstand Orsena's relentless reasoning.

History

Orsena Vale entrusted the whetstone to her favorite pupil, Pell Marrow, before vanishing after defending a group of condemned rebels. Pell later sold it to a traveling adventurer, insisting that the item had begun whispering his name from locked rooms. The adventurer disappeared three months later. Since then, a well-dressed, soft-spoken figure has repeatedly approached the item's owners, offering increasingly generous payments for its return. The current owner, Orsena's last surviving grandchild, wants the whetstone back and claims it was stolen from the family generations ago.

Created by Frazer 👁 7 views