Monday, July 15, 2013

Golmarrageth's Gallery: Introduction

Golmarrageth. The name sends ripples throughout the planes. The infamous smith, the dangerous madman, the rogue gehereleth who built a smithy in the bleak reaches of Pandemonium. Golmarrageth is known by his insane creations, magical items with no apparent use or purpose or of forms so bizarre and incomprehensible as to tear at the very mind of those who consider them. He was raised in the art of Smithcraft by the Titans of his home plane of Carceri, and soon became infamous for creating clever weaponry. His craft was most valued in Acheron and the Grey Waste, and was of great use to the Yugoloths who paid him handsomely for his machines of war. At some point in his career he became a little too famous. Offers came from the Abyss and Baator that were contradictory, and in some cases threats came with those offers. Work for the Nine or die screaming, work only for the Abyssal Lord of the 987th Layer or be wiped from existence... these things Golmarrageth could not abide.

He withdrew from Carceri to an even more remote place in Pandemonium and used the treasurehouse of wealth that he had accrued through his long years of service to the Yugoloths and the Orcish powers to make a smithy the likes of which had never before been seen. Finally left to his own devices, Golmarrageth began to experiment even farther from the norm. He made things widely considered impossible, useless, improbable, or insane. His workshop was filled with devices beyond the comprehension of not only mortal men, but of the greatest and wisest sages and deities of the planes themselves.

He was finally slain by the Pit Fiend Malphegor who said of Golmarrageth that "he was just too much damn trouble." Of course, rumors persist that he survived the attack and continues to make weapons in some even more remote locale, but in all likelihood Golmarrageth is no more.

The Sword Mace. This weapon appears to be a mace and functions as one in all cases. It is a heavy thing, made of green Acheronian steel. Its head is flanged and barbed, its length is polished black Bilewood from the Abyss, and its pommel is capped with more green steel and a ring for hanging it. The thing about the sword mace is that it is not a mace. It is a sword. Though it is, in outward appearance, a mace for all intents and purposes, Golmarrageth always insisted that it was simply a sword which looked like a mace. Those who argued with him found themselves thinking hours later of the fabulous sword that Golmarrageth had shown them... only to be brought up short in the realization that the sword was shaped and weighted exactly like a mace.

This weapon is a favorite subject of the Bleakers, demonstrating that we cannot even determine what a thing is simply by its shape. The Sword Mace has been lost for countless ages, but rumors say that it is at least a +3 weapon in the Outlands, making it potent indeed. Those who have seen it wielded (mostly fiends) swear that anyone reaching for a sword or a knife would invariably find their hand going to the Sword Mace if they wore it, for it was so much a sword that their very body betrayed them.

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