So this this gentle drake is a Sord Sage of Lhankor Mhy and is carrying the sword Shrumgiglorbb which is magical but made of rotten wood and has a mushroom pommel. It was retrieved from a sacred mushroom grotto (a black elf temple). Unlike most swords, this isn't very sharp and doesn't keep an edge well.
It is also noted as allowing its bearer to communicate with the voralan group-mind, which can be an unsettling experience, it has worms and beetles?
I am thinking it has powers like sprout mushrooms (some sort of itching rash), instant mucormycosis (mind blast) and maybe blastomycosis (smother).
On the other hand would it via the voralan group-mind would it be able to communicate via micro organisms so the wielder knows and sees things others cannot? Do they have dark-sense and dark-scan via mold spores underground, maybe it needs to be damp for this feature to work and the sword must be grasped so the voralan group-mind is able to give the wielder information? Maybe it's some sort of moldy soul sight?
Would it be able to detect air movements no matter how slight, sense plant life somehow?
Ophiocordyceps unilateralis may also be a power which is strangely related to the undead of the Upland Marsh and could be used to generate a platoon of undead to do Shrumgiglorbb's master's bidding or maybe it only works on giant insects? Oh, that might be good when messing with troll giant insects. Ophiocordyceps unilateralis is cast at a giant insect and the insect over time becomes a zombie under the control of Shrumgiglorbb's weilder?
Any thoughts on this?
(Sord Sage written by Stew Stansfield Rule1 Issue 8, p.25 Spring 2011)