H'rethi Desperation (Patreon)

Weapon (greatsword), legendary (requires attunement)

The handle of this blade is all that remains of this old weapon. Its shattered metal blade is overgrown and replaced by sharpened desert glass, which magically radiates with a sweltering heat. You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon, which deals an extra 1d8 fire damage to any target it hits. If you have one or more levels of exhaustion, the fire damage becomes 1d10, instead.

You have resistance to fire damage and ignore difficult terrain created by sand while the weapon is on your person. If you have one or more levels of exhaustion and take fire damage, the damage is reduced to 0, but you have a 20 percent chance to gain an additional level of exhaustion. Once you gain a level of exhaustion as a result of taking fire damage, you can't gain another in this way until the start of your next turn.

Arid Cleave. When you take the Attack action using this weapon, you can replace one of your attacks with a special sweep in front of you. When you do, a cleaving wave of sand cuts through the air in a 30-foot cone, originating from the blade. A creature within the cone must succeed on a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw or take 2d6 slashing damage and 2d8 fire damage, or 2d10 fire damage if you have one or more levels of exhaustion. Once this property has been used, it shouldn't be used again until the next dawn. Each time it's used again before then, you gain one level of exhaustion. You can use this property once on each of your turns.

Any levels of exhaustion you gain as a result of this weapon's properties are lost after 1 minute.

As my feet glided across the sand with strange ease, I couldn't help but scorn myself for taking the bizarre weapon—unceremoniously—from the collapsed traveler. But the more I travel these desert dunes, the more I realize that if I am to make it out one day, I have not the time for regret.

If I must steal to live, so be it. If I must kill to live, so be it. I can not stop.

I used to think of my heart as a pure oasis in this scorching sun and burning sands. However, if I never leave the oasis behind, I will not survive."

—Entry in the notebook of a lone adventurer, found dead a day's walk from the edge of the H'rethi border.