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Originally known as 'Marcus', this shortsword +3 was made of pure crystalline ebonite, or tanisan. The blade has a long history, changing owners frequently over a nearly thousand-year time span. The originally ebonite blade was made by a dwarven weaponsmith from the Granite Clan's thieves' guild. The weaponsmith, Alkul Ironeye, crafted a wonderful weapon designed to level drain an opponent upon a successful backstab.
Marcus spent several years with various thieves of the guild, passed from thief to thief, depending on the needs of the guild. The shortsword was lost when one of the thieves, Malek Stonegrudge, was discovered by orcs deep inside their territory. The orcs used the weapon for decades, passing it from clan chief to clan chief, until the tribe was wiped out by hatori. Marcus lay in the sands of the Rakis desert for nearly two centuries, before being discovered by lost caravaners. The caravaners, still lost, managed to find the ruins of Spritara in the middle of the desert. There in the ruins, a mummy guardian killed the caravaners and took their treasures meant for trade -- and Marcus. Nearly a century later, an adventuring party from Kusitaman discovered a map of the ruins, and went to Spritara. Only two of the original six within the party survived, barely defeating the mummy. Hauled out of the ruins was a considerable amount of treasure, including Marcus. The adventurers, Neiman Azlath and Aladante Fierdemos, went on to join the adventuring group, the Giant Slayers. Contrary to their name, they didn't go into 'giant slaying' until several years later. Neiman, armed with Marcus, rediscovered the shortsword's capabilities. With the help of Adalante, the human thief began the slow process of transforming Marcus from an 'evil' level draining weapon, to something else. Adalante, a fire elementalist, helped reforge the weapon into a crystalline form of ebonite -- tanisan. Marcus was renamed to 'Slythe'. All of this happened just before the Giant Slayers set out for the Northern Wastes. For two long and weary years, Neiman and Slyth battled frost giants, ending the reign of their empire. Adalante went back south to warmer climes, carrying with him the secret of ebonite reforging. Neiman remained behind, helping to rebuild the human settlements in the area. As the years rolled on, Slythe became colder and colder, much like the dispirited Neiman. The thief finally gave up on rebuilding, and took to wandering the wastes alone. In the deep darkness of the long northern winter, Neiman battled creatures as cold as his own heart had become. When he returned, Slythe had become Frostbiter. Neiman Azlath and Frostbiter went back to Kusitaman to make a name for themselves as assassins. Bodies would be found either frozen, or shattered. Eventually, Neiman was forced to flea the city, as priests of Yatindar began to hunt for him. Moving from city to city, and nation to nation, he barely made ends meet, staying one step ahead of the law. And then he ran into Aladante. The elementalist hired the assassin to protect him throughout the Storm Wars, and later, through the Inquisition. Fleeing here and there, always one step ahead of the Inquisitors, they became lost deep in the Warkore mountains. The roving orc bands out of the Choranil desert discovered their bodies during their invasions of the dwarven clans. After the Undead Wars ended, and the Centaur War began for the orcs, the ogre magi Mish gave Frostbiter to Herod Notimeh for use against the Rakorans; the ogre magi wanted Rakore more than ever, but couldn't afford a two-front war. Herod lost the weapon through stupidity; it was stolen from him when thieves broke into his home in Kashin. The master thief Arkumil happened to lose it in a game of chance -- to Rial Mhenace. Frostbiter is a shortsword +3. Somehow tapping into its ebonite powers to absorb, it can drain heat from a victim. When used normally, this +3 weapon deals 1d6+6 points of damage, absorbing 3HP of heat from its opponents, in addition to the damage the blade inflicts. Upon a successful backstab, the crystalline shortsword deals 3d6+6 points of damage, absorbing another 2d6HP from its victims. The weapon's blade is made of pure crystalline tanisan, looking like a slice of some blue-white glacier. The crossguards are made of the same material, and swept up much like jagged icicles. The crossguards are emblazoned with silver, and the pommel and hilt are made of a silvery steel. The hilt itself is wrapped with winter-wolf hide strips, and bound with silver wire. The weapon glows faintly of necromatic magic, and fairly strongly of elemental ice magic.
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