I were sittin’ at the table, me deck of cards worn slick from years o’ honest gamblin’, when some lumberin’ half-orc called me out. “Yer a bleedin’ cheat, is wot you are!” he roared, slammin’ his fists down hard enough to rattle me teeth. Now, I ain’t one to take insults lyin’ down, but I also ain’t one to start a scrap when I got a better trick up me sleeve. So I just stood up and flung me cards in the air.
The air went all crackly-like, the way it does before a storm, and then out comes the Card Shark, me own personal guardian. A right beauty, it were: a great flyin’ beast made o’ magic’d cards with teeth like diamonds. The half-orc’s face went white and he stumbled back, trippin’ over his own feet. “Wot in the Nine Hells is that?” he squeaked.
The shark circled ‘round me, its paper fins hummin’ with menace. “This ‘ere’s me insurance policy,” I said, pattin’ its snout. “Call me a cheat again, see how you like fifty two paper cuts.” The half-orc swallowed hard, then tossed his purse on the table and bolted for the door. The shark riffled back into me cards.
I gathered up me winnings. Some folks rely on fists or steel, but me? I got the luck. And a shark that don’t take no lip. I dealt meself a fresh hand and waited for the next poor sod to call me out.
Deck of the Card Shark
Wondrous Item, Rare (Requires Attunement)
As a Magic action, you can fling this deck of cards into a 10-by-10-foot unoccupied space within 10 feet of you, causing the cards to become a Hunter Shark in that space with the following modifications: it has a Fly Speed of 30 feet and its Water Breathing trait is removed. The shark is under your control and shares your Initiative count, taking its turn immediately after yours.
On your turn, you can mentally command the shark (no action required) if it is within 60 feet of you and you don’t have the Incapacitated condition. You decide what action the shark takes and where it moves during its turn, or you can issue it a general command, such as to attack your enemies or guard a location. Absent commands from you, the shark defends itself.
As a Bonus Action, you can command the shark to revert to a deck of cards in its current space, and you can’t use the deck’s property again for 1 hour. If the shark is reduced to 0 Hit Points, it dies and reverts to a deck of cards; the deck then disintegrates, If the shark reverts to a deck of cards before losing all its Hit Points, it regains all of them.
Check out last week’s item: bag of bricks.
