Bow of the Black Archer

Bow of the Black Archer
Basic Information
Type	Longbow

The Bow of the Black Archer was the weapon of the elven deity Shevarash until he was captured and slain by the drow.

Description

Apart from the fact that the bow was as black as pitch, it was completely unremarkable in terms of looks. When it was wielded however, the bow intermittently whispered softly in elven to the wielder about grief and loss. If a drow came within 60 feet (20 meters) of the wielder, its whispers became angry and much more regular, talking about having revenge on all drow.

History

Three hundred years after Shevarash was executed, an elven ranger named Valaderion decided he would recover the lost bow from the drow. He killed every dark elf he came across, always striking from the constant darkness of the Underdark so that he was never detected.

He recovered the bow and made his way back to the surface. Along the way though, he met with a female drow exile named Kiralasha and was forced to work with her to kill a nest of beholders that blocked both of their paths. He used the bow to devastating effect and, as a result, both survived the encounter. They grew to respect each other, then admire each other and soon they fell in love. Valaderion was torn, however, on whether to choose his god, the enemy of all drow, or to follow his heart and settle with his new love. He decided to ponder his choices and in the meantime he donated the bow to the nearest temple of Shevarash. As soon as he crossed the threshold of the temple, however, he was struck down for consorting with one of his god's enemies.

The bow was sent to Shevarash's largest temple, which soon became a site of pilgrimage to many of his followers. Around seven centuries later, the drow started attacking the surrounding region. The temple's high priestess, Salariel, took up the weapon and led her clergy to victory, though she herself was slain by a conjured spider-demon and the bow was once again lost to the drow.

Later, a dwarf named Khofar took it upon himself to avenge his clan, who had been wiped out by the descendants of that drow army. He single-handedly slew every drow residing in a small, isolated enclave in a fit of grief-induced rage and discovered the bow amongst the fallen. He took it and used it to wage a one-dwarf war against the local dark elves but the whispers of the bow, in addition to his lingering grief drove him mad. He perceived anyone he came across as a drow in disguise and attacked them. This course of action was bound to mean that eventually the bow would end up in another's hands.