Lash of Shadows (Dormant)
Melee Weapon, artifact (requires attunement)
This snakeskin whip is touched by the power of Zehir and ends in five animated serpent heads.
Sentience
The Lash of Shadows is a sentient chaotic evil weapon with an Intelligence of 18, a Wisdom of 16, and a Charisma of 20. It has hearing and darkvision out to a range of 120 feet.
The weapon communicates telepathically with its wielder and can speak, read, and understand Abyssal, Common, and Draconic.
Personality
A mad marilith named Sizlifeth lives within the Lash of Shadows. The weapon has a short temper and experiences only extreme emotions. It is most happy when dealing harm.
Dormant
The whip grants the following benefits in its dormant state:
- You can speak, read, and write Abyssal and Draconic.
- You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon.
- You can attempt to poison any creature that is hit by the whip. The creature must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or suffer the effect of one of the following poisons of your choice; once a poison other than Serpent Venom has been used, that poison can’t be used again until the next dawn:
-
- **Dead Eyes.** A creature that fails the saving throw against this poison is [poisoned](rules/conditions.md#poisoned) for 1 hour. While [poisoned](rules/conditions.md#poisoned) in this way, the creature is [blinded](rules/conditions.md#blinded). - **Serpent Venom.** A creature that fails the saving throw against this poison takes `3d6` poison damage, or half as much damage on a successful save.
Betrayer Artifact Properties
The Arms of the Betrayers advance in power in the same manner as the Vestiges of Divergence. In its dormant state, each of these artifacts has one minor beneficial property and one minor detrimental property. When the artifact attains an awakened state, it gains an additional minor beneficial property and an additional minor detrimental property. When the item reaches its exalted state, it gains a major beneficial property. See “Artifact Properties” in chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide for more information.
Source: Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount p. 276