Sammineth [3e]

Sammineth
+3/+1 eagle totem quarterstaff

Sammineth is a curved oak staff, just under six feet tall. The staff is engraved with images of eagles and feathers, and a magically hardened egg is bound to the head of the staff. The engravings are skillfully done, and depict a variety of eagles in flying, hunting, and perched. The base of the staff bears a worn iron cap shaped like a closed bird’s foot.

History: With the fall of the Amerite Empire and the final withdrawal of troops from the Shadowend, bandits, brigands, and worse came to the Hundred Kingdoms. Trade on the Great Road between Triumport and Blackgate  slowed to a trickle, and none of the towns along the route cared to patrol more than a few miles, at best, beyond their walls. Caravan guards were as likely to rob their charges as the brigands they were hired to fend off, and the rude keeps of bandit lords dotted the kingdoms and highlands like carrion crows on a battlefield.

Veraza dauh’Izolla was the daughter of an Amerite footsoldier and a Keirumark tribesman. Blessed with her mother’s rigid sense of duty and order, and her father’s intuitive bond with the land, she swore to drive the brigands out of the Keirumark Highlands. She united the Kierumark tribes behind her, and forged an alliance with the great eagles of the Highland peaks. Sammineth was a symbol of the bond between the tribes and the eagles.

When the Highlands were finally cleared, Veraza gave Sammineth to the eagles, and urged them to remember the alliances they had sworn. The eagles have acted as guardians and caretakers of the staff since then, gifting it to worthy druids and rangers who swear to protect the Highlands.

Properties (3e rules): +3 enhancement bonus to attack and damage / +1 enhancement bonus to attack and damage. Sammineth’s wielder can speak with animals three times per day as a druid of the equal level; gains a +3 circumstance bonus on all reaction rolls when dealing with eagles; and gains a +2 enhancement bonus to her Strength oncer per day. The bonus lasts a number of minutes equal to her level, and activating the bonus is a free action.