Axe of Essential Inversion (Patreon)

Weapon (greataxe), legendary (requires attunement)

This axe's mighty twin blades are edged with ruby and sapphire. You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon, which deals an extra 1d12 force damage to any celestial or fiend it hits.

Charges. The axe has 5 charges for the following properties. It regains all expended charges daily at dawn.

Banishment. When you make an attack with this weapon, you can expend 2 of its charges to empower it with planar magic, or 1 charge if the target is a celestial or fiend. If the attack hits, the target is affected by the banishment spell (save DC 17). You must concentrate on the spell as normal, but if you fail a Constitution saving throw made to maintain concentration on the spell when you take damage, you can expend 1 of the weapon's charges to succeed instead.

Dilution. When you hit a celestial or fiend with this weapon, you can expend 1 of its charges to deal an extra 1d12 force damage. When you do, the target's essence is diluted until the end of your next turn. For the duration, the target is considered to have no damage resistances, immunities, or vulnerabilities.

Inversion. When you reduce a celestial or fiend to 0 hit points using the axe, you can expend 1 of its charges to force the target to make a DC 17 Charisma saving throw. On a failed save, the target's sense of self is shattered; it drops to 1 hit point instead, and its alignment is changed. Lawful becomes chaotic, good becomes evil, and vice versa. If its alignment is true neutral or unaligned, or if the target has legendary actions, this property has no effect on it.

Gripped by agony, Calamity, the elder demon, faced death at last. She felt herself unravel: a welcome still to her wild bloodlust. At last, she would have quiet.

Then her eyes opened. A giant stood before her, silhouetted. An axe rested on their shoulder, and only a pair of soul-piercing silver eyes cut through the darkness of their form.

She braced for a bloody end, waiting for her feral rage to overcome her; even when she'd pulled against it, it had always managed to overwhelm all other thought.

Now, her mind was quiet, and the bloodlust was gone.

"What did you do to me?" She croaked, coughing between the still-present pain and confusion.

The giant spoke, loud and resonant. "You were granted a choice. I gave victory to what rang most true."

Behind the giant, Calamity saw the angel she'd been fighting, tooth and nail. His golden blood stained the giant's axe. Behind the angel's righteous fury, she'd seen herself in his hunger—so controlled he may not recognize it, but unmistakably the same.

The giant gestured to the angel, now still. "I offered him the same. If it tears at his soul, he may seek absolution. Or perhaps his truest self, free of moral shackles, will glory in its fall."

The giant turned to pick up the angel, finishing, "I leave you now, once-Calamity. Do as suits your newer nature best."