The Iron Rods

The Iron Rods once wielded by by the disgraced Torrid Forlorn are very old artifacts of malevolence designed by an unknown hand—thought to be a devil of great power. However, the truth is that the Rods together comprise the Sixth Imaskarcana, one of the seven diverse artifacts created by Imaskari artificers as a record of all Imaskari magical lore. Recovered from the crypt of Ozymandius in the forbidden expanse on the remote plane of Pandora, how the Iron Rods came to be in the hands of a half-fiend blue dragon cleric of Tiamat is unknown. What is known is that they were used to create a sphere of force around one of Bahamut's temples and slaughter the inhabits within before being stopped by a party containing dragonborn of Bahamut.   Each rod is a 3-foot-long iron shaft. A hook tops the Submission Rod, and the Retribution Rod bears a number of crossbar-like phalanges. Artifacts of unmitigated evil, the Rods were used in the subjugation of slaves from across the planes.   The Submission Rod: This rod is a +5 shocking burst unholy heavy mace. Three times per day, it forces anyone it touches to make a Fortitude saving throw (DC 20) to avoid suffering 1d6 points of temporary Strength damage.   The Retribution Rod: This rod is a +5 heavy mace that grants the wielder a +5 deflection bonus to AC. It allows use of each of the following spell-like abilities: 1/day– charm monster (Will DC 18 negates), dimension door, stoneskin, wall of force. Caster level 20th.   Both Rods: The possessor of these rods can use them both at once as weapons, subtracting up to 4 to the penalties involved (so a character with Two-Weapon Fighting can use them both with no penalty). Further, every other week the possessor can use a wish spell so potent that only another artifact or a god can undo its power.   Anyone who wields both of the Sixth Imaskarcana rods gains spell resistance 28. The rods’ spell resistance, weapon enhancements and special abilities, and deflection bonus are always active. Any other power must be activated as a standard action. The powers of the Retribution Rod and both Iron Rods respond only to commands spoken in Roushoum, the ancient language of Imaskar. If a command is issued in any other language, the wielder instantly becomes the target of a wish spell that transports the wielder to one of the Nine Hells of Baator (Will DC 23 negates; determined randomly the Rods remain behind on the current plane. If a wish has already been used that fortnight, the Sixth Imaskarcana simply refuses to activate.   The Sixth Imaskarcana also holds the collected knowledge of Imaskar’s planar outposts and holdings. It does not engage in conversation, however, and offers only the briefest answers to direct questions (+20 bonus on Knowledge [history] checks regarding Imaskar’s ancient planar interactions only).