Umbral Stinger

Umbral Stinger

Artifact Weapon (Hand Crossbow) — Attunement required by a Rogue with Sneak Attack
Forged by the Beekeeper as the twin to Nadir

Appearance

A compact hand crossbow carved from black Angstone and lacquered hardwood, inlaid with faint golden honeycomb patterns. The string appears woven from spider-silk but hums faintly with a bee’s drone when drawn. Bolts shimmer briefly with spectral bees crawling across their shafts before fading to shadow. When fired, they vanish into silence, leaving only the stillness of inevitability.

Overview

Where Nadir ends the foe before her, Umbral Stinger ensures none escape. Forged in the same oubliette as its twin, this weapon was steeped in centuries of anguish until it drank the echoes of suffering itself. In battle, Eztli wields them together — rapier and sting, silence and swarm — embodying the Beekeeper’s creed: “One cut. One sting. No survivors.”

“Her rapier ends the man before her. Her crossbow ends the man behind him.” — whispered among the markets of Coatlán

Weapon Properties

• +3 Hand Crossbow — Light, Range 30/120, indestructible.
• Treated as Finesse when wielded alongside Nadir.
• Damage: 1d6 + DEX modifier (piercing).

Powers of the Sting

Silent Bolt (Always Active):
Bolts fired make no sound; their origin cannot be detected by hearing.

Swarmstrike:
Once per turn, when you deal Sneak Attack damage with Umbral Stinger, add +3d6 poison damage.

Stinging Return:
After making an attack with Nadir, you may use a bonus action to fire Umbral Stinger. This ignores the Loading property.

Ghost Sting (PB/short rest):
As a bonus action, declare your next bolt spectral:

• Ignores cover.
• On hit: +3d8 necrotic damage in addition to normal damage.
• Target must succeed a CON save (DC 18) or be poisoned until the end of its next turn.

No Solace (Angstone property):
Any creature struck by Umbral Stinger cannot regain hit points until the start of your next turn.

Attunement & Bearing

When held, Umbral Stinger hums faintly with the drone of a distant hive. In Eztli’s hands it feels less like a weapon and more like an extension of silence — the sting to Nadir’s cut. Few see it fired, fewer survive the shot.

Background Story

The Beekeeper forged Umbral Stinger not as an afterthought, but as a promise. After Eztli’s ascension, the goddess whispered: “The hive cuts. The hive stings. Nothing escapes.”

In the same shadowed oubliette where Nadir was honed, the Beekeeper bound silken threads of venom, shadow, and Angstone into a compact shape that drank light and silenced sound. Witnesses of its creation claimed the swarm itself crawled over the wood, sealing the inlays with their golden venom.

It was first tested not in battle, but in silence — loosed across a darkened temple hall. The bolt struck its target unseen and unheard, the victim collapsing without cry or struggle. From then on, the weapon was known as “the sting you never hear.”

“Her sting is the silence between heartbeats.” — whisper of the Fangs of Midnight