Arkanotars (Patreon)

Weapon (dagger), very rare

Arkanotars are weapons from a far-flung age and can sometimes be found in the lairs of sphinxes that have traveled through time. They always come in pairs, and can only be used when worn together. It takes an action to don or doff the arkanotars.

The item appears to be a pair of gauntlet-like devices. While wearing them on your hands, you can use a bonus action to cause an electrical blade to spring forth from them, or make them disappear. For the duration, the blade only persists while your hands are clenched into fists. The blades emit bright light in a 15-foot radius and dim light for an additional 15 feet.

You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with these magic weapons, which deal lightning damage instead of piercing damage. Due to their worn nature, these weapons lack the thrown property. For the first time on each of your turns when you hit the same target twice using the blades, that target also takes an extra 2d6 lightning damage. When a target takes this extra lightning damage, you can choose to overload it with electrical force: doing so causes tendrils of lightning to lash out at other creatures within 10 feet of the target. Each creature within that area (excluding yourself) must succeed on a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or take 2d6 lightning damage. If a creature is made of metal or is wearing metal armor, it makes the saving throw with disadvantage.

The weapon runs on a power source that's fueled by magic. The weapons' blades can persist for up to 1 hour before the power source is empty. Deduct the time it persists in increments of 1 minute from the power source's total time. You know how much remaining time the source has while holding the weapons. Any creature can use an action to expend a spell slot level of 1st level or higher into the power source, adding to its total remaining time, by touching either arkanotar as the spell slot is expended. The power source regains a number of minutes of power equal to the spell slot level that was expended into it. When found, a pair of arkanotars have 3d20 minutes of power remaining, and it can't have more than 60 minutes of power at a time.

Lightning Bolt. You can use an action to rub the two weapons together and use them to punch forwards, duplicating the effects of the lightning bolt spell when you do (save DC 16). Doing so deducts 10 minutes from the weapons' remaining time, and this property can't be used again until the next dawn.

Mender held his prototype in his hand. After nearly a year of research, it was time for a moment of truth.

Grasping the hilt, he activated the device's blade. It held for a moment, blue and unearthly, before shuddering and winking out once again. He smelled ozone—and then burning skin—as the hilt grew suddenly hot in his hand. He dropped the device on the table and gently nursed his burnt palm.

The door creaked open from the other room. "Sir?" a familiar voice called out.

Mender gritted his teeth and tried to shake the sizzling pain from his hand. "Somethin' new from th' desert?" he asked, trying to keep the frustration and hurt out of his voice.

"Yessir!" said the boy. "Won them this time for a riddle. Fair and square."

"Them? Plural? You tryin'a take me for 'nother doubled fee then, I take it. Let's see 'em, then."

The boy handed Mender a pair of devices. Unlike the other weapons he'd seen, these were seemingly worn. Not quite gauntlets, but not quite like anything else he'd seen, either.

On the underside was a series of perfectly painted numbers and letters, followed by what seemed like a warning and instructions.

S/N: A112GIIKA000. Developed by Criirtech Enterprises. Do not point at others. Clench to activate.

Mender looked up at the boy again. "Who'd you say you won this from again?"

"Another scavenger in the desert, sir. Hadn't seen 'em around before, but they seemed honest enough. Asked me a riddle about something that walks with different kinds of legs throughout the day, so I came up with a monster that fit the description and insisted it was real. They bought it well enough eventually. Didn't get to see where they went to, though. Vanished by the time I put these in the bag."

Mender nodded absently and looked back down at the devices. "...And you brought 'em straight here again?"

"Yessir, of course!"

"Alright, grab your fee from the purse over there. This one's worth triple again. You've given me a lot to think about again."