Dagger of venom

A dagger of venom was a common magic blade with the power to poison.

Description
Daggers of venom were black daggers with serrated edges. If viewed by one able to detect magic, they glowed with a faint necromantic aura.

In Zakhara, jambiyas of venom and katars of venom were also common&mdash;as well as other magically venomous dagger-like weapons.

Daggers of venom typically sold for over 8,000 gold pieces.

Abilities
In addition to being a mildly magical blade, once per day, the bearer of this blade could will the magic of the dagger to poison its victim, as if the poison spell had been cast. The attacker could make this choice either before or after striking, but it must have been within a few seconds of the wound in either case.

Another variant of the dagger of venom possessed a somewhat more lingering power: once activated once a day, it remained coated in black poison for about one minute.

Creation
Darkmasks, specialty priests of the drow god Vhaeraun, often crafted daggers of venom. Such blades required two black star sapphires and either adamantine or mithral as the metal. A crafter must have been able to invoke the poison spell.

Notable Owners

 * Laerekh, a drow necromancer.
 * Sememmon, lieutenant to Lord Manshoon.
 * Malabeth Tr'rudena, a drow priestess of the She-Spider Cult.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Dungeon #28, "Visitors from Above" • Hellgate Keep • Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
 * Video Games
 * Dungeon Hack • Baldur's Gate • Icewind Dale
 * Card games
 * AD&D Trading Cards • Dragonfire