Shattered Peak Pillar Club 921

Slot: Hand Slot.

Description: A primitive yet devastating weapon consisting of a six-foot column of solid, obsidian-rich rock that has been partially hollowed and fitted with a massive wooden handle made from its own petrified ancestors.

Abilities: As a Tier 1 weapon, it deals 1d4 tier damage plus its base item damage. It is automatically attuned when held.

Lore of the Shattered Peak

In the ancient epoch known as the Great Smoldering, the towering arboreal giants of the world clustered around the base of a singular, monolithic volcano known as the Mother Peak. When the mountain violently erupted, it did not merely burn the surrounding forests; the sheer heat and magical pressure instantly petrified the eldest trees, turning their sap to stone and their bark to iron-hard fossil. The blast was so catastrophic that the top third of the mountain itself exploded into thousands of jagged, obsidian-rich columns.

Centuries later, the surviving “Walkers of Wood” and their artisan allies returned to the blast zone. To arm their vanguard against armored monstrosities, they harvested the fallen shards of the mountain. Because the solid volcanic rock was too heavy even for giants to wield, they partially hollowed the centers of these stones, fusing the dark, glassy rock to handles carved from the petrified remains of their own fallen ancestors. The weapon designated 921 was forged from a shard recovered at the absolute highest elevation of the blast zone, retaining a latent, simmering heat within its hollow core and resonating with the ancestral grief of the fossilized wood that binds it.

Specific Tier One Stats

Item Level/Tier: Tier 1 (Common/Uncommon classification depending on the region).
Base Item Damage: 2d8 Bludgeoning damage.
Tier Damage: +1d4 Force damage (from the latent magical resonance).
Weight: 55 lbs (requires two hands to wield effectively).
Durability/HP: 40/40 (highly resistant to sundering or breaking due to the obsidian-fossil matrix).
Stat Requirement: Requires a minimum Strength of 16 to swing without suffering exhaustion penalties.

Skills Gained When Openly Worn

Intimidation: +2 temporary skill points. The sheer size, jagged edges, and dark history of the weapon naturally cause smaller creatures and combatants to falter.
Athletics: +1 temporary skill point. Simply hauling this massive column of stone and petrified wood forces the wielder’s musculature to adapt, aiding in feats of brute strength.

Multiple Passives Magic

Ancestral Attunement: The petrified handle recognizes the grip of a worthy wielder, automatically attuning to the user the moment it is hefted, bypassing normal attunement rituals or time requirements.
Obsidian Shrapnel: Whenever the wielder scores a critical hit, the brittle but razor-sharp obsidian matrix chips upon impact, inflicting an additional 1d6 piercing damage as glass-like shards embed into the target.
Volcanic Heart: While holding the weapon, the wielder absorbs the latent heat trapped within the hollowed stone, granting them resistance to cold environments and minor frost-based attacks.

Multiple Activatable Magics

Shattered Shockwave: As a full action, the wielder can slam the pillar-club into the earth. This sends a rippling, localized earthquake in a 15-foot cone. Creatures caught in the blast must succeed on a Balance/Dexterity check or be knocked prone and suffer 1d6 bludgeoning damage.
Ash-Vent Release: By twisting the petrified handle, the wielder opens the hollowed chamber within the stone. As a bonus action, the club exhales a thick, 10-foot cloud of blinding volcanic ash, providing immediate concealment or blinding nearby enemies for one combat round.

Specific Slot

Hand Slot (Requires Both Hands / Two-Handed grip).

Acquisition and Commerce of the Shattered Peak Pillar-Club

Obtaining the Pillar-Club

The Shattered Peak Pillar-Club 921 is a rare and physically demanding relic to acquire in the wild. Adventurers typically obtain this massive weapon through three primary methods:

Expeditions to the Mother Peak: The most direct, yet perilous, route is to mount an expedition into the hazardous, obsidian-strewn blast zones of the Mother Peak. Scavengers must brave active geothermal vents and hostile elementals to unearth these pillars from centuries of compacted ash.
Battlefield Scavenging: Occasionally, one can be looted off the body of a fallen giant, cyclops, or heavy-assault vanguard of the Walkers of Wood. These creatures often seek out the pillar-clubs for their sheer destructive mass and auto-attuning nature.
Ancestral Excavation: Archaeologists exploring the petrified ruins of the Great Smoldering sometimes uncover these weapons perfectly preserved beneath the earth, still clutched in the fossilized hands of their original wielders.

Marketplaces and Costs in Saṃsāra

Because of its immense weight (55 lbs) and the strict physical requirement to wield it (16 Strength), the Pillar-Club is a highly niche item. It cannot be sold at standard village general stores, as ordinary merchants have no clientele capable of lifting it. Instead, it is traded in specialized commercial environments:

Deep-Mountain Smiths and Giant Enclaves:
- Description: Forges run by goliaths, giants, or subterranean artisans who specialize in oversized, primitive-tech weaponry. They appreciate the weapon purely for its martial utility and raw kinetic potential.
- Buying Cost: 120 to 150 Gold pieces. They sell it primarily as a functional siege-breaker weapon.
High-End Antiquity Brokers:
- Description: Located in the wealthy districts of major trade capitals, these specialized dealers trade in historical artifacts. They care little for the weapon’s damage output, valuing it instead for the fossilized ancestral wood and the flawless obsidian matrix.
- Buying Cost: 250 to 350 Gold pieces. The price is steeply marked up due to its status as a preserved relic of the Great Smoldering.
Gladiatorial Arena Quartermasters:
- Description: Weapon-masters who supply gear to the massive combatants in underground fighting pits. They highly prize the Pillar-Club because the Shattered Shockwave and Ash-Vent Release abilities are incredible crowd-pleasers.
- Buying Cost: 180 to 200 Gold pieces.

Selling Mechanics: When players attempt to sell the Shattered Peak Pillar-Club 921, they are usually offered about 50% of the item’s local market value due to the extreme difficulty the merchant will face in finding a buyer strong enough to use it. Additionally, all official commerce within civilized city limits is subject to the World Bank’s 1% transaction fee, meaning the final payout is slightly reduced during currency exchange.

Tactical Deployment of the Shattered Peak Pillar-Club

The Shattered Peak Pillar-Club 921 is not an elegant weapon; it is a brutal instrument of ancestral fury and seismic power. Wielding it in a roleplay setting requires the avatar to commit to a style of heavy, deliberate momentum, treating the weapon as both a sledgehammer and a piece of mobile artillery.

Offensive Roleplay and Tactics

In Open Battlefields (Plains/Valleys):
- The Vanguard Breaker: The avatar roleplays swinging the pillar in massive, sweeping arcs. They do not target individual soldiers but entire formations. By activating the Shattered Shockwave, the wielder leaps into the center of an enemy phalanx, slamming the obsidian column into the earth to scatter shields and shatter leg bones before following up with crushing overhead strikes.
In Enclosed Environments (Dungeons/Corridors):
- The Choking Ram: Swinging a six-foot stone pillar in a hallway is difficult. Instead, the avatar uses it as a battering ram, gripping the petrified handle and driving the flat top into doors or shield-bearers. If overwhelmed in a tight space, the wielder twists the handle to trigger the Ash-Vent Release, filling the tunnel with blinding, choking volcanic ash while they pummel coughing enemies in the dark.
In Geothermal or Icy Environments:
- Thermal Weaponization: The latent heat of the Volcanic Heart can be weaponized. In icy environments, the avatar might drag the head of the club along the ground, creating a trail of steam and boiling water, or strike a frozen lake to instantly shatter the ice and plunge enemies into the freezing depths. In volcanic areas, the club hums with sympathetic power, and the wielder might roleplay the obsidian glowing white-hot with each swing.

Defensive Roleplay and Applications

Defending Choke Points (Bridges/Gates):
- The Obsidian Barricade: Because the Pillar-Club is six feet of solid, indestructible stone, the avatar can plant it vertically into the ground. Roleplay involves crouching behind the thick pillar to use it as absolute cover against arrows, magical blasts, or charging cavalry. It becomes an immovable post that enemies are forced to navigate around.
In Treacherous or Shifting Terrain (Mud/Sand):
- Terrain Alteration: Defensively, the Shattered Shockwave is used to control the battlefield rather than deal damage. If enemies are charging across soft mud or loose sand, the avatar slams the pillar down to crater the earth, instantly creating impassable difficult terrain or collapsing sand dunes onto their pursuers, halting an advance in its tracks.
In Urban Environments (Cities/Taverns):
- Preemptive Intimidation: The best defense is often preventing the fight altogether. The +2 Intimidation bonus is heavily utilized here. The avatar roleplays simply dropping the 55-pound pillar onto the cobblestone street—the resulting crack and tremor sending a clear message to thieves or city guards. The sheer primitive brutality of the weapon discourages all but the most heavily armored foes from engaging.
Against Heavily Armored Foes:
- Sundering Armor: When defending against a heavily armored knight or mechanical construct, the avatar does not try to parry. Instead, they roleplay the Obsidian Shrapnel passive. They allow the enemy to block their strike, knowing the sheer force will buckle their shield, while the brittle obsidian chips off upon impact, sending razor-sharp glass splinters through the enemy’s visor or joints.

Perception of Activation:

User’s Perspective
- Upon gripping the petrified handle, the avatar feels an immediate, surging warmth that travels up their arms, replacing the chill of the air with the oppressive, dry heat of a volcanic caldera.
- When the Shattered Shockwave is triggered, the avatar’s bones rattle with the kinetic feedback, feeling the exact moment the earth’s crust fractures beneath the obsidian tip.
- Twisting the handle for the Ash-Vent Release produces a loud, hissing pop in the avatar’s ears, accompanied by the sharp, metallic taste of sulfur on their tongue.
- Extra-sensory (Tectonic Resonance): The user experiences a fleeting, phantom awareness of the fault lines and bedrock deep beneath their feet, feeling briefly “rooted” to the planet’s molten core.
- Extra-sensory (Ancestral Grief): A psychic echo washes over the wielder—a momentary, overwhelming sensation of blinding light, intense heat, and the collective sorrow of a thousand ancient trees turning instantly to stone.
Observer’s Perspective
- Observers see the dull, dark veins of the obsidian column suddenly ignite with a fierce, pulsing magma-orange glow just before the weapon strikes the ground.
- The Shattered Shockwave produces a deafening, bass-heavy CRACK that sounds like a glacier splitting, accompanied by a visible ripple in the dirt and air that forcefully shoves bystanders backward.
- When the Ash-Vent is opened, observers hear a sound like a pressurized geyser, followed instantly by an expanding, choking cloud of thick grey smoke that obscures the wielder completely.
- The surrounding temperature noticeably spikes, and the air smells strongly of brimstone and burnt wood.
Positives
- The overwhelming sensory feedback of heat and noise creates an aura of terrifying dominance, naturally forcing enemies to hesitate or retreat before the blow even lands.
- The immediate, blinding nature of the ash cloud provides perfect, instant concealment, allowing the wielder to control the flow of engagement or mask an escape.
- The tectonic awareness allows the user to intuitively know the exact density of the ground they are striking, ensuring maximum kinetic transfer for the shockwave.
Negatives
- The psychic weight of the “Ancestral Grief” can be mentally exhausting; prolonged use in a single battle may leave the avatar feeling hollowed out or deeply melancholic.
- The activation is entirely indiscriminate. The deafening noise, choking ash, and localized earthquake affect allies just as severely as enemies, making it a liability in close-quarters team combat.
- The immense heat radiating from the core during activation can singe the avatar’s clothing or ignite highly flammable materials nearby, causing unintended environmental hazards.

Recipe: Forging the Shattered Peak Pillar-Club

Materials Needed

Volcanic Obsidian Monolith: A solid, six-foot shard of raw, obsidian-rich rock salvaged from the blast zone of an active or dormant volcano.
Petrified Ancestral Timber: A thick, unyielding branch of fossilized wood to serve as the handle, preferably sourced from a forest swallowed by ancient ash.
Geothermal Magma-Slag: A measure of magically or naturally preserved molten rock to provide the weapon’s “Volcanic Heart” and latent heat.
Compacted Volcanic Ash: Several pounds of fine, blinding ash to pack into the hollowed chamber for the venting mechanism.
Iron-Sap or Magmatic Resin: A specialized, heat-resistant alchemical bonding agent capable of fusing stone to fossil.

Tools Required

Adamantine Chisels and Borers: Standard steel will shatter against the obsidian; adamantine is required to hollow out the stone’s core.
Geothermal Forge or Magma Kiln: A workspace capable of reaching the extreme temperatures needed to soften the stone for binding.
Heavy Suspension Pulleys: Necessary for lifting, rotating, and suspending the 55-pound stone column during the delicate hollowing process.
Diamond-Grit Grinding Wheel: To refine the grip of the petrified wood and sharpen the jagged “shrapnel” edges of the club’s striking face.

Skill Requirements

Master Stonemasonry: Working with brittle, massive obsidian requires expert knowledge of fault lines to prevent the entire column from shattering during hollowing.
Primitive Engineering: Required to design and implement the internal chamber and the twisting ash-release mechanism without compromising the weapon’s structural integrity.
Fossil Woodcarving: The ability to shape petrified wood without snapping it, requiring the carver to treat the wood more like stone than timber.
Elemental Attunement (Earth/Fire): Necessary to trap the latent thermal energy and the ancestral resonance within the finished weapon.

Crafting Steps

Step 1: The Rough Hewing: Secure the six-foot obsidian monolith in the pulley system. Use the diamond-grit wheel to grind away the most uneven exterior edges, balancing the weight while purposefully leaving the striking end jagged to facilitate the “Obsidian Shrapnel” effect.
Step 2: Hollowing the Core: With painstaking precision, use the adamantine borers to drill down into the top end of the column. Hollow out the upper third of the stone to create the main chamber, taking care not to thin the outer walls too much.
Step 3: Carving the Ancestral Handle: Shape the petrified timber to comfortably fit a two-handed grip. Carve the base of the handle into a grooved plug that perfectly matches the circumference of the hollowed stone core. Channel small vents along the sides of the base.
Step 4: Seeding the Volcanic Heart: Carefully pour the geothermal magma-slag into the very bottom of the stone cavity to establish the heat source. Above the slag, pack the chamber tightly with the compacted volcanic ash.
Step 5: The Magmatic Fusion: Coat the grooved base of the petrified handle in Iron-Sap. Insert it into the stone cavity, sealing the ash and magma inside. Lower the joined weapon into the Magma Kiln, allowing the extreme heat to cure the resin, permanently fusing the fossilized wood and the obsidian together.
Step 6: Mechanism Calibration: Once cooled, test the twist-release mechanism. The handle must turn just enough to align its carved channels with the internal chamber, allowing the pressurized ash to forcefully vent outwards without unseating the handle from the stone.

Stick-Pillar of Mountain That Broke Into Many Sharp Pieces 921

In the time of the Before-Eyes, when the sky was a different color of breathing, there was the Big Mother Rock of Fire. The Big Mother Rock of Fire was very tall, touching the wet clouds. Around her feet stood the Leaf-Haired Giants who drink dirt-water [translator’s note: this likely refers to the ancient trees or the Walkers of Wood]. They were very happy in this time, singing the slow songs of growing.

But then, the Big Mother Rock of Fire became angry in her stomach. The old writings say she “ate too much of the deep hot spicy.” She screamed with a voice of breaking dirt, and the top of her head exploded into the sky. It rained the bright hot soup of the deep down [magma/lava]. The hot wind breathed on the Leaf-Haired Giants. They did not have the time to run, because trees do not run fast. Instantly, their juices stopped. They became the wood-that-is-rock [petrified wood]. It was a time of many many sticky eye-waters for the ones who survived.

The top of the Big Mother Rock was now thousands of black glass teeth, sitting in the grey dirt.

In the next sun-circles, the bad things came. They were the Bugs of Hard Shells [armored monstrosities/knights]. They wanted to cut the remaining Leaf-Haired Giants to make houses. The Giants tried to hit the Bugs, but their arms were only normal wood. When they hit the hard metal, their arms made the sound of snap and they fell down into the death-sleep. The Giants were losing the big pushing-match.

There was one Giant named Bark-Nose The Loud Who Does Not Bend. Bark-Nose saw his friends becoming firewood. He did the loud face to the sky. He said, “I will go to the broken teeth of the Mother Rock. I will find the supreme hitting-tool. I will make the Bugs into flat berries.”

Bark-Nose walked for three tens of sun-circles up the smoking dirt. The ground was very spicy [hot]. His feet smoked. He reached the place where the sky was thick and grey. There he found a black glass tooth. It was six feet of dark, sharp heavy. He tried to lift it, but his back made a bad song. It was too heavy for a naked hand. It was the solid heaviness of the earth’s anger.

Bark-Nose sat and did the crying. Then he looked to his left-side-vision. He saw the arm of his Grandfather. His Grandfather was dead and was now the wood-that-is-rock, petrified by the angry hot wind. Bark-Nose spoke to the stone-Grandfather. He said, “Grandfather, give me your hand. We will hit the Bugs together.” He broke off the Grandfather’s arm. It was very disrespectful, but also very brave.

Bark-Nose then took a harder rock and chewed [translator’s note: carved/bored] a deep hole into the black glass tooth. He chewed the stone for many moons until the top was hollow. Inside the hole, the stone was still bleeding the hot spicy soup. Bark-Nose took the Grandfather-arm and pushed it deep into the black rock hole. He used the sticky earth-blood [magmatic resin] to make them kiss forever.

When Bark-Nose held the joined thing, the magic happened very hard. The heavy stick remembered it was a tree, but also knew it was a mountain. The writings say: “The stick knew his hands without asking his name.” This was the Stick-Pillar of the Mountain That Broke Into Many Sharp Pieces, and it was the Nine-Hundred-and-Twenty-First one that was made, or maybe Bark-Nose just liked that number.

Bark-Nose walked back down the mountain. The Bugs of Hard Shells were laughing with metal noises. They saw Bark-Nose and ran at him with their cutting-iron.

Bark-Nose did not swing. He lifted the heavy black stick and threw it at the floor. Boom-Crack! The ground screamed! This was the Shockwave of the Broken Floor. The dirt did a great jump. The Bugs of Hard Shells fell on their back-faces, like turtles who are confused.

Then, Bark-Nose twisted the Grandfather-arm. The stick made a coughing noise. It breathed the thick grey breath of the sick mountain [Ash-Vent Release]. The air became dark. The Bugs could not see. They coughed the grey dirt. They rubbed their seeing-balls.

In the dark grey breath, Bark-Nose swung the heavy stick. He hit the Bugs. When the black glass hit the metal, the glass chipped and bit them with tiny flying teeth [Obsidian Shrapnel]. The heaviness of the angry mountain crushed their hard shells until they were soft on the inside and the outside. The hot spicy soup inside the stick burned them. Bark-Nose hit them until there were no more Bugs, only flat metal and juice.

Bark-Nose saved the forest. But his heart was heavy. When he held the stick, he felt the Grandfather-sorrow. He felt the sadness of the burning trees in his head-meat. He put the stick down in the dirt because it was too sad and heavy to carry when you are not crushing Bugs. It sleeps there now, waiting for hands that are strong enough to carry the angry mountain and the dead grandfather.

The Moral of the Story: When the bad things with hard shells come to cut you, you must not use your normal arms. You must climb the spicy mountain, break off a piece of your dead stone-grandfather, stick it into the angry black glass, and make the floor jump. Also, anger is very heavy to carry forever, so put it down when the hitting is finished.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)

Unique Name: The Obsidian Monolith of the Smoldering Peak

Weapon Type: Fighting (Brawl) or Great Club
Damage: 2D8 + DB (Build 3 or higher required)
Skill Modifier: Grant a +10% bonus to Intimidate while the weapon is held openly.
Special (Obsidian Shrapnel): On an Extreme Success, the obsidian shatters upon impact; the target takes an additional 1D6 piercing damage as shards embed in the wound.
Active (Seismic Shockwave): By slamming the club into the earth, the wielder may force all nearby Small or Medium-sized enemies to make a DEX or Dodge roll; failure results in being knocked prone.
Active (Volcanic Exhalation): The wielder can twist the handle to release a cloud of ash. This creates a “Penalty Die” for any visual-based rolls (like Firearms or Spot Hidden) within a 10-foot radius for 1D3 rounds.
Extra-Sensory (Ancestral Echo): The wielder must pass a POW check upon first attunement or lose 1/1D4 Sanity as they experience the psychic grief of the petrified forest.

Blades in the Dark

Unique Name: The Ancestral Breaker

Item Category: Heavy Weapon / Relic.
Load: 3 (Extremely Heavy).
Special Effect (Sunder): This weapon has Potency when used to smash through armor, stone walls, or heavy fortifications.
Special Effect (Auto-Attune): You do not need to spend downtime or coin to bond with this item; it recognizes your intent instantly.
Active (Seismic Stomp): You may push yourself (take 2 stress) to slam the club down, causing a localized tremor. This creates a “Great Effect” on rolls to unbalance enemies or disrupt a formation.
Active (Ash Cloud): Spend 1 Armor use (or take 2 stress) to vent volcanic ash from the core. This provides a “Controlled” position for any Skulk or Prowl actions taken to move within the immediate area.

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

Unique Name: Shattered Peak Pillar-Club 921

Weapon: Martial Melee Weapon, Uncommon (Requires Attunement).
Damage: 2d8 Bludgeoning + 1d4 Force damage.
Weight: 55 lbs (Properties: Two-Handed, Heavy).
Strength Requirement: 16. If a creature with a Strength lower than 16 tries to attack with this weapon, they have disadvantage on the attack roll.
Auto-Attunement: Unlike most items, this weapon attunes to a creature the moment they grasp the handle with the intent to fight.
Shattered Shockwave (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest): As an action, you slam the club into the ground. Each creature within a 15-foot cone must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.
Ash-Vent Release (1/Day): As a bonus action, you twist the handle to release a 10-foot radius cloud of ash centered on you. The area is heavily obscured for 1 minute or until a strong wind disperses it.
Volcanic Heart: While attuned, you have resistance to cold damage.

Knave (2nd Edition)

Unique Name: Obsidian Pillar-Club

Item Type: Weapon (Two-Handed).
Slots Occupied: 3.
Damage: 2d8 Bludgeoning.
Quality (Brittle Shrapnel): On a natural 20, the target takes an extra 1d6 damage from obsidian splinters.
Passive (Volcanic Warmth): The wielder is immune to the effects of extreme cold and freezing weather.
Active (Earthquake): Once per day, the wielder may strike the ground to force all nearby enemies to make a DEX save or fall prone.
Active (Ash Cloud): Once per day, the wielder may release a cloud of ash that fills a room. All creatures in the cloud (including the wielder) are blinded for 1d4 rounds unless they have a way to see through smoke.
Requirement: Must have at least a +3 Strength bonus to wield effectively; otherwise, all attacks are made with Disadvantage.

Fate (Core/Condensed)

Unique Name: Obsidian Monolith of the Mother Peak

Type: Extra / Stunt-Granting Weapon
Aspect: Massive Pillar of Obsidian and Petrified Ancestors
- Invoke: To smash through barricades, terrify foes with raw size, or resist freezing temperatures.
- Compel: To be hindered by extreme weight in social or agile situations, or to accidentally harm the environment during a swing.
Stunt (Shattered Shockwave): Once per scene, you may use Physique instead of Combat to perform an area attack against all enemies in your zone. Those who fail to defend are knocked prone and gain the Unbalanced aspect.
Stunt (Ash-Vent Release): You may spend a Fate Point to release a cloud of volcanic ash. This creates a Heavily Obscured aspect on your current zone with two free invokes.
Passive (Volcanic Heart): You gain +2 to Physique rolls when resisting environmental cold or frost-based hazards.

Numenera & Cypher System

Unique Name: Shattered Peak Column

Level: 1d6 + 1
Form: A six-foot (1.8-meter) column of hollowed obsidian bound to a petrified wooden handle.
Type: Heavy Weapon (6 points of damage).
Passive (Auto-Attuning): The wielder is always considered trained in using this specific weapon once they have held it for one round.
Passive (Volcanic Heart): The wearer is “Inured” to cold, easing all Intellect or Might defense tasks against cold-based effects by one step.
Active (Shattered Shockwave): By spending 3 points from your Might Pool, you slam the weapon down. All creatures within immediate range must succeed on a Speed defense roll or be knocked prone and take 3 points of damage.
Active (Ash-Vent Release): By spending 2 points from your Intellect Pool, you release a cloud of ash. For the next minute, all tasks performed against you that rely on sight are hindered by two steps.
Depletion: 1 in 1d20 (Check only when using Active effects).

Pathfinder (2nd Edition)