Magic Item: Wayedge

Everybody is doing it. I'm just going with the flow this morning.

Gunnar Red-Beard, stared over the bow of his longship, eyeing the coastline while listening contentedly to the straining grunts of his pillagers, pulling at the oars. The raiders had been sailing for several weeks, but morale was still high...the vikings knew their captain had never failed to lead them to ports ripe with plunder.  Still, this southern continent was new, even for them.  

Stroking the haft of his axe, Gunnar dispelled doubt from his mind. Wayedge had yet to point false, and the sea chieftain had come to trust the weapon as his men trusted him. 

The wind picked up and Gunnar signaled the oars stowed as a gust filled the sail. Skimming over the blue sea the longship rounded a jutting spur of rock and a murmur of assent rippled through the crew of the fat and happy seacoast town that came into view. Obviously, the townsfolk had felt their bay sufficiently hidden that little defense was necessary. Gunnar smiled to himself as he gripped his axe....

Wayedge is an axe +2 of razor sharpness; on a high enough attack roll, it will sever a limb (determined at random by the DM) from its opponent. The unmodified roll must be an 18-20 for this to occur against a normal humanoid opponent or 19-20 against a monstrous or larger-than-man-sized opponent. If the target is entirely composed of solid stone or metal (for example, a golem), then a natural unmodified roll of 20 is needed regardless of size. Creatures without limbs (such as purple worms) are unaffected by this ability.

Wayedge is Chaotic in alignment, though it is unintelligent. It exists to lead its wielder to new places where it might be used for bloody slaughter. The owner of Wayedge will never be lost, on land or at sea, instinctively knowing the right way to go. A destination must be held in mind, though it need not be one the character has ever before visited. Wayedge can only grant knowledge of the direction of the destination...obstacles, traps, and secret doors are not revealed.

Owners of Wayedge are subject to insatiable wanderlust and an inability to settle down; a character will never stay in any one location (town/city, castle/dungeon) greater than 1-4 weeks before moving on. There is no saving throw against this compulsion. Once a character has left a location, he or she will not return to it for at least a year.