Demon Soul Shield (3.5e Equipment)

Demon Soul Shield: Once long before 3.5e, there was a Demon Lord named Aztraght, who ruled the three lowest planes of hell. He was an uncommonly chivalrous demon, seeming perfectly reasonable right up to the point where he made you eat your own digestive tract raw. He and his horde of lesser demons terrorized the Material Plane in its entirety once every ten years, raping the houses and burning the women. Aztraght was a foul looking thing, too. He had a penchant for looking his absolute worst before every raid on the mortals, spending hours sharpening his jagged claws, teeth, spikes, and other lethal appendages, so that when he finally tore through the veil between his world and ours, he was a vision of hellishness, his teeth dripping with acid, tusks quivering with bloodlust, claws flexing, impaling tentacles spearing various objects that dared to fall into his range of sight. He would raise his horrible face to the heavens and scream his rage at everything in general, before going to destroy everything in general. One dark night, however, he tore through the sky and found a small party of adventurers using ridiculously overpowered builds making rude gestures at him. He stared, shocked at their stupidity, for a moment, then laughed, a horrible, rumbling, earth shattering sound that made a minor god who happened to be enjoying a pleasant night with one of his numerous mortal lovers nearby run screaming back to his plane and hide under his covers, whimpering and refusing to be consoled until someone reassured him of his supremacy over the rodents of the multiverse and gave him a hot chocolate. Aztraght watched the Lord of All Hamsters flee in amusement, then turned back in surprise and anger to the mere mortals that were now launching glowing little things at him that hurt a lot. He vomited phosphorescent green liquid on them and watched in satisfaction as all but one, who was obviously warded powerfully against common Demonic attacks, melted into screaming, steaming, streaming puddles of flesh. The one who was left stood silently for a moment, then ran screaming back home. Later that night, his home was raped and his wife burned. He swore vengeance on that vile lump of evil stuff that had desecrated his home, melted his friends, burned his wife, and scared away his hamster. He practiced and practiced in the decade until Aztraght returned, mastering binding spells and summonings, swordplay and archery, foul language and vile gestures. Then, when Aztraght came the next time, he was waiting. Aztraght was running late this time, so he attempted to simply part every cell in his opposer's body from every other cell, which usually dispatched his enemies fairly quickly. He watched in amazement, however, as the mortal reformed himself, and drew a sword that he should not possibly have been ably to fit in his sheath, much less wield. After a long and horrific battle, the champion of everything in general defeated Aztraght. As he looked upon the broken body of the foe he had devoted the last ten years of his life to defeating, he was overtaken by rage, and, twisting the threads of the universe in a way that strained and nearly broke them, he tore the soul from the great demon's body. As he held it, writhing, in his mind, he looked about for a proper receptacle. He spotted the shield of his friend Brottor, a great Paladin of Heronious, who had been defeated by the Demon Lord ten years before, still intact thanks to the great holy magic within. He thought it fitting for this foul being to be imprisoned in one of the prized possessions of a great man he had so brutally destroyed. So he forced the incorporeal mass of evil into the shield, where it was bound by the might of Heronious and bent to his will, so it made the shield one of the greatest ever created. The mere mortal that had defeated a mighty Demon Lord on his own took the shield, which was now curiously mirrored, with the true name of the foul demon within etched inside the lightning bolt in Heronious' symbol, and put it within a shrine to everything good, where it has been since a new mighty warrior of Heronious found it. Congratulations. It will serve you well.

AC Bonus: +8

Arcane Spell Failure: 10%

Sentient

The demon within the shield can be telepathically communicated with by the wielder, though they must take a DC 20 Will Save against insanity from the sheer alienness of Aztraght's thoughts flooding their mind. They can communicate with him freely after succeeding their Will Save, though all they are likely to hear from him is his endless roar of rage and indignation. The Will Save must be retaken every time they communicate.

Prerequisites

You must be at least a level 15 Paladin with Heronious as your patron deity. (If these are not met, it is still wieldable with the above statistics, just not the magical effects listed below.)

Magical Effects

When you are targeted with an arcane or divine spell, you may roll a d100. If the result is above 35, the spell is blocked with one of the following effects, determined by rolling a d8: (1) If the result is 4 or below, the spell is blocked with no ill effects suffered by the target. The spell is still considered expended by the caster. (2) If the result is 5 or 6, the spell is reflected completely back at the caster, for whom the spell is expended. (3) If the result is 7 or 8, the spell is absorbed by the shield and the energy is fed back into the wielder, restoring 2 HP to them per each caster level of the caster. Any health points that exceed the maximum health of the wielding paladin are instead converted to points for their Lay on Hands ability. The spell is considered expended for the caster.

CL <!-Caster level for creation-->; ; Weight: 25 lb.

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