[Divine] Artifact - Eulogy

This stylus-like dagger is a fragment of Arathin the Sleeper in Veils, wielded by a worthy champion of the God of Knowledge and Death. Unlike its brethren, it is not granted by the sleeping god but passed between champions, newly chosen when they perish. the weapon's thirst is indiscriminate, driven to collect any available knowledge for the day its god reawakens from his eternal slumber. In the hands of unguided champions, it has taken countless lives in its quest — for better or for worse.

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Eulogy
Weapon (dagger), artifact (requires attunement)

To attune to this dagger, you must use it to write a down your deepest secret over the course of the attunement period, dipped with at least 10 drops of your blood for ink. If you are not a worshiper of Arathin, you must succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence (History) check to attune to the dagger. If you fail, you take 3d6 force damage and your secret is telepathically broadcast to every creature in a 1-mile radius.

Semi-Sentience. This dagger binds a portion of Arathin's mind within it. Eulogy is a semi-sentient lawful neutral weapon with a Wisdom of 13 and a Charisma of 15. It cannot see or communicate, but can empathically sense the intentions, actions, and writings of its wielder. If the wielder willingly passes or ignores a major secret, the dagger subtly casts suggestion (save DC 18) on the wielder to convince it to unearth that knowledge. It may also nudge toward alternative goals outlined by Arathin prior to his slumber.

Envoy. While you are an Envoy of Arathin, the dagger grants the following benefits:  

• The dagger grants a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it, and deals an extra 1d4 force damage to targets it hits. 
• You can use a bonus action to teleport the dagger back to your hand from anywhere provided it is on the same plane of existence that you are on. 
• You can no longer fall asleep, though you still require rest to reduce exhaustion or benefit from a short or long rest.

Herald. While you are a Herald of Arathin, the dagger grants the following additional benefits:  

• The weapon's bonus to attack and damage rolls increases to +2. 
• While holding the dagger, you have resistance to force damage. 
• While holding the dagger, you can cast detect thoughts, enhance ability (choosing Intelligence only) from it spells from it by drawing divine sigils in the air. If a spell requires a saving throw, the DC is 15. Once you use the dagger to cast a spell, that spell can't be cast from it until the next dusk.

Champion. While you are a Champion of Arathin, the dagger grants the following additional benefits:  

• The dagger's bonus to attack and damage rolls increases to +3. 
• The saving throw DC for the dagger's spells increases to 17. Immediately before you cast a spell from the dagger, you can use a bonus action to dip the dagger into a creature's blood as ink for the sigils, expending at least 10 drops of its blood. If the cast spell forces that creature to make a save, it has disadvantage on it. 
• Immediately after you kill a creature with this dagger, you can use your reaction to cast a special version of speak with dead on the corpse from the dagger. You can only ask the corpse one question instead of five. You can also choose to extract the truth from the corpse by forcing it to make a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw, using its statistics from when it was alive. If the corpse fails, it must answer your question (though it can still be cryptic or vague). Once you use this reaction, you can't use it again until the next dusk.

Destroying the Dagger. To destroy Eulogy, it must be slashed, clawed, or defaced once by 101 undead in the soul-laden city of Iridell, each more powerful than the last. After this, the dagger must be used to write a fundamental lie about Arathin on a piece of parchment, after which it crumbles into golden dust from the effort.

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DESIGN COMMENTARY

You may remember Arathin from his scepter of reanimation back in the Polymer Lab days. He is a God asleep, waiting to be awakened. This artifact carries a little of his thematic significance in its use of blood and dealings with the dead. His godly material is quartz, which is represented in the dagger's handle.