Nine-Lives Beast

Whether from the sick rituals of hag covens, the steel of the demons in the deepest layers of The Abyss, or from the hands of one with a resolve to cause death and evil, the forging of a cursed Nine-Lives Stealer creates a beast which resides in the sword, waiting to gain enough power to emerge.

Feline Demons. These beasts, however varied, always look vaguely similar to cats, tigers, or lions. They usually take slight visual aspects from those who created the swords, for example the beast of a sword forged by demoinic hands might have large horns, or a beast made from humans might look more like a house cat.

Long Grudges. Nine-lives beasts are made to kill and sow discord everywhere they go. If they are killed by someone who would oppose them for the greater good, they stop at nothing to enact revenge on those who stopped them, usually becoming infatuated with planning the perfect revenge in ironic ways.

Curious. Those who know anything about these beasts know their biggest weakness is their exploitable curiosity. They have trouble resisting the lure of possibility. A Nine-lives beast would have a hard time walking past an unopened treasure chest.

Stealer of Souls. As a sword, when the cursed weapon's life-stealing property is used successfully, the beast inside it absorbs the soul of the creature killed with it. Once it has collected nine, the beast emerges, morphing from the weapon to the beast it is now like a butterfly from a cacoon.

Since it has these souls, it can die many times. A nine-lives beast can resurrect itself in a different location by losing one of its souls from within it. When encountered, a beast typically has 1d8 souls lost already.

Cunning and Aware. Although these beasts can live and die many times, they are more aware of their mortality than most. Before engaging in combat, a beast always forms an escape plan in case things go awry.

Cursed Nine Lives Stealer

Weapon (any sword), very rare (requires attunement)

You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon. The sword has 1d8 + 1 charges. If you score a critical hit against a creature that has fewer than 100 hit points, it must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be slain instantly as the sword tears its soul from its body (a construct or an undead is immune). The sword loses 1 charge if the creature is slain. When the sword has no charges remaining, it begins to levitate in front of the wielder and morph into a Nine-Lives Beast over the course of one turn.

Curse. This weapon is cursed. A creature that attunes to it is unwilling to part with the weapon, and it cannot break its attunement to it. After taking a soul using this weapon's property, the cursed creature feels the sentience within the weapon and regards it as a trustworthy friend. A cursed creature also feels the need to keep the weapon's sentience a secret. A vicim might sneak away to an unoccupied room and consult the blade for advice, or mutter to the weapon quietly in the heat of battle. If the blade issues a command or piece of advice to the creature, it must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or follow the advice, ignoring any moral compunctions it would normally have. Otherwise, it only takes it into consideration as if it was a conversation with a normal friend.

However, if the sword determines that the creature attuned to it would be too stubborn or clever to fall victim, it might take a different approach and completely hide its sentience from the wielder, waiting impatiently until it can emerge.

Either way, if the wielder takes 3 souls with this weapon, their alignment shifts to chaotic evil.

Sentience. The Nine Lives Stealer is a chaotic evil sentient weapon with an Intelligence of 15, a Wisdom of 10, and a Charisma of 17. It has hearing and Supreme Darkvision (via the trait of the Nine-lives Beast below) out to a range of 120 feet. The blade can also communicate telepathically with the creature attuned to it and understands Common and the language it would know in beast form. Finally, it can cast fear (save DC 15) once per day, usually to ensure its own survival in the hands of its wielder.

Personality. The utmost goal of the Nine-Lives Stealer is to gain all the souls it needs to reach its full potential. The lives and wellbeing of others are completely irrelevant, although it might protect its wielder if it believes it can get more souls out of their time with it.

The sword usually constantly tries to persuade its wielder to steal the souls of others. It might waken its wielder in the middle of the night to kill thier sleeping partner, or to chase the goblins that fled from them in combat.

Very rarely, if a victim is exceptionally obedient, it might spare the life of the one that brought it to power. If they are especially evil, it might even think it a good idea to ally.

If the sword decides to stay hidden, it has a hard time doing so. The beast inside the blade is very impatient and impulsive, and might break its silence to abruptly try to persuade its victim to steal a soul if the right moment occurs.