Ruby Dagger of the Starchild (Artifact)

While shrouded in centuries of embellishment and mostly false truths, there are some points in the story of the Starchild that remain consistent throughout. Nearly everyone can agree that her birth is connected to the falling of the spider star - named so because when it fell from the sky, red streaks of light trailed off resembling the legs of a spider. However, some argue that either the child was born during the falling of the star, or was brought to the world by the star itself. In either case, all can agree that the crystal she carried with her was gathered from the remnants of the fallen heavens.

Born with an innate magical gift, the Starchild quickly became feared as she had no qualms in harming those around her in order to get what she needed. A quality to be weary of in an adult, to have such a lack of compassion in a child is a terrifying thing, for they want that which is least important with such passion that the Starchild would often inflict the worst punishments on those that would so much as deny her a doll or piece of candy.

Once more, the description of the Starchild differs greatly - anything from stark black to pure red to strikingly white hair, red or blue or grey eyes, and pale white to pitch black skin. The only feature that you could definitely identify her by was the silver skull she wore around her neck, which appeared to be spewing out a ruby crystal.

The life of the Starchild is still more covered in mystery. Some say that her life was ended when the citizens of the surrounding towns and cities banded together and destroyed her. Others pass on that she destroyed herself when she realized the evils that she had committed (this ending is mostly told to small children as a moral). Less say that she eventually killed everyone in the area, then resurrecting them to do her bidding thus living her life out as the queen in an undead city. Nobody knows which of these is true. For that matter, nobody even is entirely sure if she existed in the first place.

This dagger has a silver handle and a blade that appears to be made from ruby. The silver handle is sculpted with a very ornamental pattern, with an open-mouthed skull at the hilt. Bursting from the mouth is a jagged piece of crystal that eventually works its way to a point.

Requirements
To successfully wield the Ruby Dagger of the Starchild to their fullest potential, a character must meet the following requirements:
Feats: Any metamagic feat
Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 4 ranks
Alignment: Within one step of Lawful Neutral
Special: The character must be able to cast 1st level arcane spells

Weapon Level	Minimum Wielder Level	Ability
1	---	+1 dagger
2	4	Animate Dead (3/day)
3	6	Terrible Remorse (3/day)
4	8	+2 dagger
5	10	Boneshatter (3/day)
6	12	Slay Living (3/day)
7	14	+3 dagger
8	16	Waves of Ecstasy (3/day)
9	18	Implosion (3/day)
10	20	+4 dagger

Simple Light Melee Weapon
Critical 20/x3
Slashing
Damage 1d4
Weight 2 lb
Cost Priceless Artifact


Animate Dead (Sp): At 2nd weapon level, the wielder can cast the spell animate dead up to 3 times per day. For purposes of effect, the wielder adds half of their character level to their caster level.

Terrible Remorse (Sp): At 3rd weapon level, the wielder can cast the spell terrible remorse up to 3 times per day. For purposes of effect, the wielder adds half of their character level to their caster level.

Boneshatter (Sp): At 5th weapon level, the wielder can cast the spell boneshatter up to 3 times per day. For purposes of duration and effect, the wielder adds half of their character level to their caster level.

Slay Living (Sp): At 6th weapon level, the wielder can cast the spell slay living up to 3 times per day. For purposes of effect, the wielder adds half of their character level to their caster level.

Waves of Ecstasy (Sp): At 8th weapon level, the wielder can cast the spell waves of ecstasy up to 3 times per day. For purposes of duration and effect, the wielder adds half of their character level to their caster level.

Implosion (Sp): At 9th weapon level, the wielder can cast the spell implosion up to 3 times per day. For purposes of duration and effect, the wielder adds half of their character level to their caster level.

Any spell can be cast either as normal, or as a touch attack after a successful melee attack with the dagger. After every spell that is cast, the wielder must make a Fortitude check (DC 10 + 1 for each spell that is cast). The first time that the wielder fails his Fortitude save, a small ruby will appear embedded in the user's palm.

From then on, every time the wielder casts a spell using the dagger, the ruby will begin to spread, until it eventually envelopes their entire hand (usually after 5 spells). When that happens, the wielder loses mobility in their hand, causing a -4 penalty to all attacks and Dexterity based skills. The ruby slowly begins to spread up his arm, at this point each day the wielder must make a Fortitude save (DC equal to the current Fortitude check) or the crystal will spread 6 inches.

Due to the magical properties of the crystal, any unarmed melee attacks the wielder makes with their ruby hand are treated as lethal and deal 1d4 slashing damage. The crystal itself has 10 hit points and has a hardness of 20.

There is no way of reversing the spread of the crystal. The wielder's only chances are to either hope that they can stave off the spread, or they can sever the limb before the ruby has a chance to spread to the body.