Hairpick of the Assassin

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Hairpick of the Assassin


Aura: Faint conjuration and necromancy
Caster Level: 5th
Slot: —
Weight: —

Description

This slender, innocuous hairpick is typically fashioned from lacquered bone, darkwood, or blackened steel. While it appears to be a simple grooming implement, it is in fact a favored tool of professional killers and covert operatives.

Once per day, as a free action, the wielder may will the hairpick to produce a single dose of magical injury poison along its tip. This poison remains potent for 1 hour or until successfully delivered via a melee attack using the hairpick (treated as a light improvised weapon dealing 1 point of damage on a hit).

A creature struck by the hairpick must succeed on a Fortitude saving throw or suffer the poison’s effects.

Poison Variants

The Hairpick of the Assassin is commonly crafted in three strengths:

  • Lesser Hairpick (DC 13): Initial damage 1d4 Constitution; Secondary damage 1d4 Constitution
  • Standard Hairpick (DC 16): Initial damage 1d6 Constitution; Secondary damage 1d6 Constitution
  • Greater Hairpick (DC 19): Initial damage 1d8 Constitution; Secondary damage 1d8 Constitution

The save DC is Constitution-based but fixed at creation.

Construction

Requirements: Craft Wondrous Item, poison, ray of enfeeblement
Creator must be at least caster level 5th

  • Lesser: Cost 3,000 gp + 240 XP
  • Standard: Cost 6,000 gp + 480 XP
  • Greater: Cost 10,000 gp + 800 XP

Market Price

  • Lesser (DC 13): 6,000 gp
  • Standard (DC 16): 12,000 gp
  • Greater (DC 19): 20,000 gp

Lore

The Hairpick of the Assassin is said to have originated in the courts of a decadent empire where open violence was considered vulgar, but quiet murder was an art form. Nobles and courtiers alike concealed these implements within elaborate hairstyles, turning fashion into a deadly weapon. It became customary to greet rivals with embraces and whispered threats, each participant aware that a single misstep could mean death delivered by something as trivial as a decorative pin.

Arcane scholars debate whether the poison produced by the hairpick is conjured from extraplanar sources or distilled from latent necromantic energies within the wielder. Some claim the magic draws upon a metaphysical “ideal poison” - a perfect expression of decay and frailty - while others insist it is a refined echo of mundane toxins, elevated through spellcraft into something more reliable and insidious.

In the modern age, these items are most often associated with guild-trained assassins and spies operating in urban centers. Possession of one is frequently considered incriminating evidence of intent to kill, and in some realms, mere ownership carries severe penalties. Despite this, their subtlety ensures continued demand among those who value discretion over brute force, and many a ruler has fallen to a quiet prick from an otherwise forgettable ornament.

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