I is for Ilkwa of Itinerant Impaling

[over the course of the month of April, I shall be posting a topic for each letter of the alphabet, sequentially, for every day of the week except Sunday. Our topic this month? Magical weapons for a B/X campaign. All such weapons are +1 to attack and damage rolls unless, unless specifically noted otherwise. Each of these weapons should be considered unique items]

I is for Ilkwa of Itinerant Impaling.

The ilkwa is a short throwing spear, in all respects equivalent to a B/X javelin. The ilkwa of itinerant impaling, on the other hand, is quite a bit more than that...specifically a weapon designed to make up for the deficiencies of its wielder with deadly effect.

The ilkwa of itinerant impaling functions in all ways as a +1 javelin unless the thrower misses its intended target. When such a miss occurs, the javelin will break off from its path of flight, turn, veer, an unerringly home in on the target, skewering it to great effect, inflicting triple damage! Any target so pierced will have a terrible time removing the weapon, so deep is the impalement (D4 rounds to remove the weapon, and removal inflicts an additional 1D6 points of damage if the subject is still alive).

It should be noted that the ilkwa of itinerant impaling cannot be made to miss on purpose...the ilkwa understands the intention of its thrower, and will move to strike the intended target (if a thrower aims at a tree behind an opponent, the ilkwa will move to strike the tree, for example). The weapon has some (minor) intelligence, but an immense amount of pride; it will expect to be well-kept and decorated, and may refuse to function if wielded by a party member with "low status" (a henchman or hireling, for example).

The classic Zulu weapon.