Made from the wool of the hardy short-tailed taiga sheep and then enchanted, a froststrike scarf is prized by explorers and mountaineers for its ability to protect the wearer from extreme cold conditions. The method of their creation was lost in the past, but rumors persist that a frostweaver named Aktorus combined techniques he learned from Digan Snowborn himself and a dryad weaver named Vesoola.
Crafters and enchanters argue over the formula of the dye, the order which the enchantments are cast, and even the diet of the sheep that the wool is harvested from is in doubt. As of yet nobody has been able to recreate one, but perhaps there is an undiscovered folio of Aktorus’ notes that may contain a definitive procedure.
Froststrike Scarf
Wondrous Item, Rare (Requires Attunement)
This item is a scarf made of blue wool adorned with a snowflake pattern.
While wearing this scarf, you have resistance to cold damage. In addition, you and everything you wear and carry are unharmed by temperatures as low as -50 degrees Fahrenheit (-45 degrees Celsius).
As a bonus action you can doff the scarf and speak the command word to transform the scarf into a whip made of blue leather. While wielding the scarf this way, you have proficiency with whips and it deals an extra 1d6 cold damage to any target it hits.
Whenever you strike with or crack the whip, you create a brief flurry of snowflakes. The whip will transform back into a scarf when you use a bonus action and speak the command word again.
Storyhooks for DMs:
- The adventurers encounter a lake covered with a thick, crystal-clear layer of ice. The water underneath is deep enough that the bottom of the lake is shrouded in darkness. A froststrike scarf can be seen slowly swirling in and out of the darkness. If they enter the lake to retrieve the scarf, they will disturb the tide giant (a storm giant with a water elemental template) slumbering at the bottom.
- In a ruined temple to a deity of winter, the party find four detailed murals of the deity defeating powerful extraplanar creatures and rival deities. When they enter the innermost sanctum of the temple they are magically sealed within. An incorporeal image of a solar speaks to them. If the party can recall the details of the murals, convince the solar that they are not agents of a rival deity, and persuade the solar that they will praise the winter deity from then on, they will be freed and gifted a froststrike scarf.
- In a cemetery kept in darkness by the thick canopy of the forest, a group of wraiths have set a trap. As the adventurers travel past, they can see illuminated by glowing moss a froststrike scarf wrapped around the top branch of a twisted tree. As soon as the party touches the scarf, the wraiths emerge from nearby mausoleums and crypts to attack.
