Adventuring Gear

Varies Rite of the Quietus

Silent Wound

  When a creature is struck by Final Breath, the wielder may choose to delay the damage dealt by the attack.   Instead of taking damage immediately, the target suffers no damage and no visible wound.   The dagger stores the damage dealt as a Breath Mark.   A creature may carry up to three Breath Marks at once.  

Release the Breath

  As a bonus action, the wielder may trigger any stored Breath Marks on a creature they have previously struck.   When activated, the target immediately suffers all stored damage simultaneously, regardless of distance.   If the creature is reduced to 0 hit points, it dies silently, unable to cry out or make noise.  

Assassin’s Patience

  While wielding Final Breath, the user gains:  

• Advantage on attack rolls against surprised creatures

 

• Advantage on attack rolls against sleeping or unconscious creatures

  If a creature dies from released Breath Marks, nearby creatures do not automatically detect the cause of death.  

Enhanced Properties (Post-Attunement)

 

The Invisible Kill

  A creature carrying Breath Marks from Final Breath cannot detect the wound through magical or mundane means unless the caster succeeds on a DC 20 Arcana check during a magical examination.   Spells such as detect magic reveal only faint necrotic residue.  

Death From Anywhere

  The wielder may activate Breath Marks regardless of distance, as long as the creature remains on the same plane of existence.   Victims have been known to collapse suddenly days after being struck.  

Special Powern - The Quietus

  Once per week, the wielder may invoke Muera’s divine authority over death.  

• As an action, the wielder selects a creature that bears at least one Breath Mark.

 

• The target must make a DC 20 Constitution saving throw.

  On a failed save  

• The creature instantly takes 10d10 necrotic damage

 

1. All Breath Marks immediately trigger

  The creature falls unconscious and begins dying   On a successful save  

• The creature takes half damage and Breath Marks trigger normally.

  Creatures killed by this ability die peacefully and silently, appearing as if they simply fell asleep.  

Curses

 

The Weight of Quiet Death

  Each time the wielder releases Breath Marks that kill a creature, they must make a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw.   On a failed save, the wielder gains one level of Quiet Fatigue, representing Muera’s growing influence.   Quiet Fatigue effects include:  

• 1 — Disadvantage on Charisma checks involving compassion or empathy.

• 2 — The wielder grows emotionally detached from life around them.

• 3 — The wielder begins viewing death as peaceful and preferable.

• 4 — The wielder becomes compelled to continue killing in Muera’s name.

  Only greater restoration or wish can remove Quiet Fatigue.

Final Breath is a slender dagger forged from a dark, mirrorlike metal that absorbs light rather than reflecting it. Its edge is impossibly thin, and when drawn it seems to silence the air around it. The blade bears no decoration save for a single engraved symbol near the hilt: the inverted drop of blood, the sacred mark of Muera.

Those struck by Final Breath often do not realize they have been wounded at all. The blade leaves almost no mark, no pain, and no immediate consequence. Victims continue speaking, walking, and living—until the moment the wielder chooses to release the blade’s power.

Followers of Muera believe the dagger represents the truth of death itself: it often arrives long before anyone realizes it has begun.

Assassins devoted to Muera consider Final Breath the ultimate weapon of the Quiet Death.