Vlash'Kurai
OOC Note: This page discusses the specifics of a weapon for the benefit of those players interested in learning about it. It should hardly be a surprise, therefore, that all details herein are strictly out of character and thus unknown to all characters except those who specifically learn about the weapon firsthand, either by being told or being shown. The whip's origin, its abilities and its other specifications, including the nature of how it has thus far passed from hand to hand, are described below for the sake of OOC INTEREST ONLY. It would be in very bad taste to have your character react to this weapon, its wielder or its maker in any way which would hint at prior knowledge or forewarning of any kind unless specific IC motivation exists to facilitate it.
Creation
This weapon started its existence as a skein of hardy vines girdling a particularly noteworthy tree within the boundaries of Sage Forest. The vines were first harvested, then trimmed of all excess and woven by Rikailin's capable hands into a whip with seven distinct knots along its length. Originally wrought without specific design as to its intended use and owner, the battle-druid soon decided that, possessing a staff of her own and thus having no desire for a second weapon, she would instead give the whip to the one who is perhaps her dearest friend in the land...or rather, she would set forth a chain of events which would cause her friend to earn the gift and thus make the most of it. Friendship and trust are very powerful, but rarely are they the devices with which one attains victory in bloody combat. So feeling, Rikailin set about the arduous task of turning a reasonably simple whip into an instrument of formidable power.
Description
Vlash'Kurai, as this weapon eventually became known, is a modest whip of perhaps eight feet in length. It is green and black, mottled silver in some places under certain lighting conditions, and can easily be looped about the wielder's waist to mimic the look and function of a belt. The knots, while noticeable, do not impede the wearer to the extent that the belt is uncomfortable or otherwise undesirable. The whip's butt usually sits quietly near to the wielder's handy side in this position, ready to uncoil and become dangerous at a simple but specific touch. When it is bidden, Vlash'Kurai can be recoiled with equal rapidity as well.
Abilities
Magic Storage: Vlash'Kurai's knots are each ensorcelled in such a way that they can store small amounts of raw mana. This mana is not absorbed by incoming attacks and can only be tapped or stored by the whip's current master. Were each knot full to the brim with energy, the total reserve would be moderate but not overwhelming, an amount large enough to facilitate extra strength in need but by no means capable of rendering its master inexhaustible.
Punishing lash: If one or more of said knots is tapped while the whip is in mid-lash - before it hits its target, in other words - and if the knot or knots in question possess a mana reserve within them, Vlash'Kurai will immediately channel this force into the body of the whip, rendering the impending lash stronger. A stroke using one knot only might only seem somewhat stronger than the arm's true strength, causing a bruise and badly-split skin where only a thin rill of blood would otherwise have resulted. Using three or four knots at once might split both skin and muscle to bear the bone beneath, while a strike utilizing all seven knots is more than capable of breaking bone or even denting steel. Once Vlash'Kurai has followed through with such a strike, all knots along the whip's length which were magically involved in the augmentation of its force are rendered inactive; mana cannot be immediately stored within them, and they are no longer able to heighten the punishment of which the whip is otherwise capable. The knots cannot be drained of their essence except by the wielder's conscious choice; mana-tapping spells may be perfectly effective upon the whip's bearer, but they will achieve nothing if they target the whip itself.
Fire and Ice: One of the first things Rikailin did when crafting Vlash'Kurai was to ensure that the weapon could not easily be destroyed, either deliberately or by mistake in the heat of battle. In so doing, she also managed to lend the whip another fairly unique ability. If the wielder wishes, he or she may channel a touch of mana along Vlash'Kurai's length, invoking either fire or ice, and the whip will oblige by either becoming wreathed in flame or sheathed in ice for a moment. This particular ability is likely not to be counted upon multiple times in quick succession, especially if hot and cold are being used one after another, but its efficiency for between one and three strikes is beyond question even if those following are not. Materials with which the whip comes in contact may spontaneously burst into flame or flash-freeze, depending on their composition and the magical strength of the whip's wielder. Unless the ambient temperature is appropriate, however, frozen items or flesh will likely thaw in fairly short order, and flaming objects or flesh are apt to fizzle unless they are particularly susceptible to fire.
Flexibility: Vlash'Kurai is normally possessed of the flexibility inherent in most supple vines, but it can become rigid for any distance at all along its length at the will of its wielder. This flexibility or lack thereof can be manipulated very quickly and almost without thought whilst the whip is in hand. Thus, Vlash'Kurai can, if snapped rigid in a curled state, become anything from a hook to a noose, and can remain that way for as long as is required by the user. This is not a weapon a foe would want wrapped round their neck in any circumstance.
Bond: Vlash'Kurai, being both powerful and ultimately intended only for those hands deemed worthy by its maker, possesses a unique trait in that it is nothing more than an uninformed whip woven from vines in the hand of any who do not fulfill the terms Rikailin has set upon it. In order for Vlash'Kurai to function as it was meant to do, it must be forcibly taken from the hand of its current wielder in combat after first having drawn the blood of the creature that means to possess it. If stolen, given away, looted from a corpse or taken by complete surprise, the whip will not accept its new possessor and will refuse to operate as described above. It can be removed from its master's possession to stop its master from using it, but that is all.
History
Rikailin, whilst at work upon the weapon, set about teaching Liana, the woman for whom she believed Vlash'Kurai destined, to fight and defend herself more ably in one-on-one combat. Liana learned much in fairly short order and, in the penultimate lesson of battle, took Vlash'Kurai from Rikailin's hand, thus fulfilling its bond and identifying herself as the whip's new possessor. Having wished that this change of ownership would come to pass in the first place, Rikailin is, to say the least, most pleased with events as they have unfolded, even if the means by which they were ultimately brought about were not precisely as she would have planned.