This wavy-bladed shortsword has a blunted tip and a flared ivory hilt, with a broad pommel carved with swirling abstract patterns. The scabbard is solid pear-wood, with bronze caps. It was found on the body of an unfortunate in the blood-pool caverns beneath Hillsfar.

This shortsword counts as a magical weapon for determining what creatures can be struck by it, and grants a +1 enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls. It is oddly weighted, and has the thrown property, with a normal range of 20 feet and a long range of 60 feet.

Any time the sword successfully deals damage, it immediately transforms into a venomous serpent and attacks the sword’s target. In snake form, the sword has the normal statistics of a poisonous snake (see PHB pg. 308), save that the damage dealt by its poison escalates with each successful hit (2d4, 2d6, 2d8, 2d10, 2d12, 2d20).

The sword remains in snake form for 6 rounds, after which point it reverts to sword form. The snake will concentrate its attacks on the original target. If that target is slain it will then turn on the nearest living creature (which is almost always the wielder if he was not wise enough to let go of the snake’s tail by this point).

If the snake is killed, it immediately reverts back to sword form and cannot transform into a snake again until 24 hours have passed. A dispel magic or similar spell also forces the snake to turn back into a sword. A snake that returns to sword form without having been slain will revert back into a snake the next time a successful hit is scored.