The Salamander's Tongue

The Salamander's Tongue was a unique enchanted dagger that possessed several powerful enchantments and colorful history.

Description
The Salamander's Tongue was an exotic grim-looking kris with a wavy blade that split at the end into two ends akin to a reptile's tongue. At the center of the blade, near its grip, a small living part of a salamander's tongue was grafted onto the dagger with some sinister magics. The tongue was bright red. It pulsed and wriggled around independent from the blade's owner.

Powers
The Tongue possessed a +3 enchantment as well as increased the wielder's defenses against poisons, granted them resistance to fire, and made them undetectable by magical means. Additionally, the dagger had a chance of dealing additional fire damage upon a successful strike.

History
The true origins of the Tongue were shrouded in mystery; however, it was believed that the dagger's first wielder was the infamous gnome assassin from Westgate named Turlam Shallowhill. After he was killed by a rival scoundrel, a halfling Deder Seven Fingers, the dagger swapped owners. Deder was not aware of the dagger's enchantments and kept it as a trophy until it was stolen by his flunkey, a fellow halfling, Kreshinal Blackhound. Kreshinal fled from departed Westgate for Selgaunt, moving the dagger with him, staying there for five years that followed. Blackhound discovered one of the Salamander's Tongue's enchantments that allowed him to stay hidden, being undetectable by divinations. Subsequently, Kreshinal lost the Tongue in a derailed gambling scam and later was assassinated by Deder's thugs. Sembian criminal underbelly was in possession of the dagger while Seven Fingers attempted to reclaim his lost treasure. Deder successfully eliminated many members of the rival faction of Selgaunt and reclaimed what was his.

While Deder Seven Fingers was pouring all of his attention into routing the thieves of Selgaunt and returning the Salamander's Tongue, Sembian criminals hired Pieter the Feeble, a priest of Mask, to infiltrate and undermine Deder's operations. The priest successfully manipulated Westgate and Selgaunt thieves into crippling each other's organizations. Pieter became the Tongue's next master and took the dagger off Deder's dead body with him to Hillsfar. Pieter the Feeble thought himself safe from vengeful demihumans of Deder's gang in the city that hated their kind.

In Hillsfar, Pieter sold the Salamander's Tongue to a Mulmaster Hawk in a plot to attract rich buyers and murdering them for cash. However, the Mulmaster Hawk survived the ordeal and escaped with the dagger only to be later murdered by a priestess of Umberlee who was outraged at the Hawk's refusal to pay tithe to the Bitch Queen. In possession of the Church of Umberlee, the Salamander's Tongue traveled as far as three thousand miles away from Sembia.

By 1281 DR, the Salamander's Tongue reached the underground complex of Dorn's Deep on the Spine of the World under control of devil Belhifet. The dagger was wielded by one of his lieutenants, Seth. He was slain by the heroes of Ten Towns hence the dagger switched owners once more.

Appearances

 * Video Games
 * Icewind Dale