Whelm

Whelm is a plain, unadorned warhammer with a haft made from the golden wood of the gingko tree. When the weapon is wielded, its steel head glows with a soft, silver-black light.

Stats:
+1 Warhammer

Omen
Whelm glows more brightly when you endeavor to assess items of value—the more valuable the item, the brighter the glow. This effect grants you a +2 bonus on Appraise checks.

History
The hammer known as Whelm appeared most recently about twenty years ago in a dwarven community beset by ogres, though no report of its creation by those dwarves exists. Wielded by a dedicated dwarf soldier named Ctenmiir, the weapon proved quite powerful against the clan’s enemies. Ctenmiir later left his ancestral home to become an adventurer, and he and the weapon promptly disappeared from sight.

Long ago, Dagnal Mightyhammer was a skilled weaponsmith of the Dankil clan. She labored at a time when her clan had suffered grievous losses from a large band of vicious trolls. When her husband and shield-mate, Traubon, decided to lead a counterattack against the trolls, Dagnal created a mighty warhammer (which had no name at the time), putting all her love for her husband, her commitment to her clan, and her devotion to Moradin into it. Traubon and his warriors proved victorious, and Dagnal’s weapon was much praised.

In the years of prosperity that followed, Dagnal imbued the warhammer with the ability to sense gems, gold, and other riches, so that it might become a valuable tool in both wartime and peacetime. Many years later, the dwarves were threatened by hordes of goblins led by bugbears. Dagnal, now an old woman, again sought to improve her masterpiece so that it might help vanquish the current threat. Traubon, though he was old and in less-than-perfect health, insisted on going out with the vanguard of the counterattack. The dwarves were again victorious, but Traubon was mortally wounded in the fight. The weapon was returned to the clan with its owner for burial. Overcome by grief, Dagnal threw herself on her husband’s corpse and promptly died. The two dwarves and the weapon were interred together in a single grave. At the time, many said that the three had shared one spirit, and that Dagnal and Traubon had put so much of themselves into the weapon that it had become much more than just steel and wood.