Axe of the Dwarvish Lords

Template:Greyhawk item The Axe of the Dwarvish Lords, also called the Fierce Axe, is a powerful artifact of the World of Greyhawk setting.

Description

The Axe is a short-handled axe backed by a clawed hammer head. Intricate runes are etched into its blade, which is also plated with gold. The head of the Axe appears to be an erupting volcano with flames forming the head's prongs.

Powers

The Axe is a +6 keen throwing goblinoid bane dwarven waraxe. Any non-dwarf who holds the axe loses some of their vitality, while a dwarf who holds it gains improved darkvision, bonuses to craft checks, and the ability to summon an elder earth elemental.

Suggested means of destroying the Axe include melting it down in the Earthheart Forge, freely giving it to the orc gods, or using it to wound Moradin.

History

Legends say that the Axe of the Dwarvish Lords was forged by the First King of the dwarves, Silvervein Moradinson, for the honor of the god Moradin. It was the last of the Five Great Tools; the others were the Brutal Pick, the Earthheart Forge, the Anvil of Songs, and the Shaping Hammer. The other four were used to make the fifth.

An alternate version of the myth, recounted briefly in Dragon #245, said that the Axe was forged by the first seven lords of the dwarves using a hammer and anvil left to them by Moradin after the Creation. The powers of the Axe came from the song the dwarves sang as they forged it.

The Epic Level Handbook suggests the Axe has been lost and rediscovered dozens of times since its creation, each time heralding great change and turmoil among the dwarves. The Book of Artifacts tells of a dwarf named Brassbeard slaying his uncle, King Irontooth Moradinson, out of greed for the axe, plunging the dwarves into civil war. The first edition Dungon Master's Guide says the Axe was last lost during the Invoked Devastation.

Legend has it that when the Axe is found again, the Age of High Kings will return and the dwarven peoples will be reunited at last.

Other uses

Axe of the Dwarvish Lords is also the title of a 1999 Dungeons & Dragons adventure module written by Skip Williams. In the adventure, the player characters must retrieve the artifact the Axe of the Dwarvish Lords from an evil wizard who has stolen the powerful weapon, and intends to use it to use it to marshall a massive goblin army against a dwarven community, while avoiding an agent of Diirinka.

Gallery

• 
• 
  3rd Ed. DMG
• 

External link

• Axe of the Dwarvish Lords at Wikipedia.

References

Bibliography

• Baur, Wolfgang. "Heart of the Forge: The Dwarven Smithy." Dragon #245. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 1998.

• Collins, Andy, Bruce R. Cordell, and Thomas M. Reid. Epic Level Handbook. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2002.

• Cook, David. Book of Artifacts. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1993.

• Gygax, Gary. Dungeon Master's Guide. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1979.

• Gygax, Gary, and Brian Blume. Eldritch Wizardry. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1976.

• Henson, Dale, and Doug Stewart, eds. Encyclopedia Magica Vol 1. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1994.

• Williams, Skip. Axe of the Dwarvish Lords. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 1999.

• Wyatt, James. Dungeon Master's Guide. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2008.

Zavoda Index Entry

Axe of the Dwarvish Lords [ITM]
	DMG1 - 124,156
	DRG#299 - 101