Taleg's Shiver

Taleg’s Shiver

Aura moderate evocation and transmutation (strong at higher scion levels)

CL 15th

Slot —; Price 58,500 gp; Weight 4 lb.

This staff appears to be formed from a length of never-melting blue ice, constantly shedding a faint, curling frost. Though bitterly cold, it never harms its wielder.

When wielded by a non-scion arcane spellcaster, Taleg’s Shiver functions as a +1 quarterstaff and grants resistance to cold 5.

In the hands of a Spell Scion, the staff unlocks additional abilities based on the wielder’s scion level, as detailed below.

Spell Scion Progression

Scion Level 1:

Functions as a +1 quarterstaff. Grants resistance to cold 5. The wielder is continuously affected as though by endure elements (heat only).

Scion Level 2:

Cold spells of 1st–2nd level cast by the wielder deal +1 die of damage.

Scion Level 3:

Functions as a +2 quarterstaff. Grants resistance to cold 10.

A creature struck must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or be stunned for 1d6 rounds.

Scion Level 4:

Cold spells of 1st–3rd level cast by the wielder deal +2 dice of damage.

Scion Level 5:

Functions as a +3 quarterstaff. Grants resistance to cold 15.

On a failed save, struck targets are stunned for 1d8 rounds.

Scion Level 6:

Cold spells of 1st–4th level cast by the wielder deal +3 dice of damage.

Scion Level 7:

Functions as a +4 quarterstaff. Grants resistance to cold 20.

On a failed save, struck targets are stunned for 1d10 rounds.

Scion Level 8:

Cold spells of 1st–5th level cast by the wielder deal +4 dice of damage.

Scion Level 9:

Functions as a +5 quarterstaff. Grants resistance to cold 25.

On a failed save, struck targets are stunned for 1d12 rounds.

Scion Level 10:

Cold spells of 1st–6th level cast by the wielder deal +5 dice of damage.

Construction

Requirements Craft Staff, endure elements, resist energy, ice storm, cone of cold; creator must be a Spell Scion

Cost 29,250 gp + 2,340 XP

LORE

Taleg’s Shiver is said to have been wrought in an age when winter itself was a living force, not merely a season but a sovereign will that pressed against the boundaries of the mortal world. Taleg, whose name survives only in fragments of half-frozen folklore, was believed to be a Spell Scion born during a year without summer. From childhood, frost clung to his breath and ice formed where his bare feet touched the ground. Rather than perish in isolation, he embraced the cold as kin, wandering northward into lands where even memory froze. It was there, in a glacier older than recorded history, that he first learned to shape winter into something deliberate - something wielded.

The staff was not crafted in any conventional sense. Legends insist that Taleg did not carve or forge it, but instead waited for it. Deep within a cavern of blue ice, he found a single, perfectly straight shard that neither melted nor fractured, even when struck with hammer or spell. For thirteen days, he remained beside it without food or fire, allowing the cold to claim him piece by piece. On the final night, when his heartbeat slowed to a whisper, the ice responded. It loosened itself from the glacier and rose into his grasp, as though recognizing him not as master, but as equal. From that moment on, Taleg no longer commanded winter - he carried it.

In the years that followed, entire regions learned to fear the pale figure and the mist that heralded his arrival. Armies sent against him found their ranks locked in place, armor rimed with frost before a single blow was struck. Yet the tales are inconsistent in their portrayal of his intent. Some recount him as a merciless harbinger who silenced cities beneath sheets of ice; others insist he struck only at those who defied ancient pacts with the elemental powers. What remains constant is the staff itself: witnesses describe it as the source of an unnatural stillness, a cold so absolute that even sound seemed to falter in its presence.

Taleg’s end is as uncertain as his origin. One account claims he walked willingly into a storm so vast it erased the horizon, vanishing into a blizzard that never fully dispersed. Another suggests he was finally overcome not by force, but by warmth - that he lingered too long in southern lands, and the creeping heat unraveled him until nothing remained but the staff, abandoned in a pool of meltwater that refused to evaporate. Whatever the truth, the artifact endured, passing through the hands of those rare few capable of awakening its deeper nature.

Even now, Taleg’s Shiver is said to judge those who would wield it. To ordinary spellcasters, it remains little more than a curious and useful relic, its greater depths sealed away. But in the grasp of a Spell Scion, the staff stirs, its power unfolding in measured stages, as though remembering something long buried. Those who have carried it at its full strength speak of a presence - not hostile, but watchful - guiding their hand in moments of great cold. Whether this is the lingering will of Taleg himself, or the quiet consciousness of winter given form, remains a question best left unanswered.