#144 Forge of the Dust Scythe

Age: 890 Years

Hidden or Lost?: Lost

History: Loneliness, longing, grief, shame, and despair. These are the true pains of this life, and it was with this knowledge that the legendary Dust Scythe was forged. A devastating weapon capable of not just destroying the flesh, but also the mind and spirit of its victims, the Dust Scythe was destroyed during the Crusade of the Thousand Crowns. However the terrible forge where it was designed and created still burns, generations of loyal cultists keeping the clear flame lit for the day the Star of Sorrows returns to reforge the fabled blade.

Amina Sadiq was one of the world’s most sought after ceremonial bladesmiths when war swept through her homeland. Despite her respected position, Sadiq’s family was put to death in front of her. She raged and fought, but in the end she was taken captive and forced to create fine, filigreed blades for the conquering army. But she never stopped fighting, honing her grief and fury into a plot of prolonged revenge.

One-by-one, Sadiq assassinated the insurgent government’s leaders and their families, in a delicate campaign of terror that spanned years. Sadiq came to be known as the ‘Star of Sorrows’ for the jagged, star-shaped wounds she marked her victims with. But it was too slow. Sadiq was growing older and she still had much pain to repay, so she escaped her captivity and began gathering other victims of the rich and powerful, those who had been tossed aside and forgotten, those whose lives had been destroyed by war and industry.

This new cult of suffering that Sadiq created built their secret temple beneath the dunes of the Desert of Infinite Waves, and at its heart she created a great forge. The Sufferers forged thousands of weapons, beseeching every god and esoteric power they could to imbue the fruits of the forge with the power to inflict True Pain.

As uncertainty, regret, and despair began to grip the cult, fearing they would never create a weapon powerful enough to return their pain on their tormentors, the flame of the Great Forge began to burn perfectly clear, producing a ghostly, nearly translucent flame. Using this miraculous fire, Sadiq worked for days without rest, pouring all of her resentment and sorrow into her work before emerging with the Dust Scythe.

Sadiq and her terrible weapon became legendary on the battlefields of the Thousand Crowns. She sliced and fought her way back to her homeland and liberated the country from its oppressors before finally being killed herself, the Dust Scythe shattering beside her.

Still the cult of the Sufferers still exists today, and has kept the clear flame burning, pouring their pain and sadness into the forge, waiting for the day that a new Star of Sorrows burns to life, and the Dust Scythe can be reforged.

1. Altars of the True Pains

2. Scrolls of Regret

3. Sins Reborn

4. Vault of Echoes

5. Church of the Suffering Cult

6. The Funeral Feasts

7. The Wailing Tunnel

8. Furnaces of Despair

9. Standing Oubliettes

10. Tombstones of the Deserving

11. Armory of Failures

12. The Willing Deaths

13. Star of Sorrows’ Crypt

14. Shards of the Dust Scythe

15. Forge of the Dust Scythe

16. The Clear Flames