Willy's Unfortunate Fauchard

Reaching out, you take the polearm from its resting place in the tall cabinet. It seems to be of fine quality, nicely balanced with a keen cutting edge. As you start to lean the weapon against the stone wall of the tower, the elven woman quickly steps to your side, taking the fauchard from your hand.

Smiling, she points to the cabinet, "There's a reason I keep it in there." With a slight flourish, she steps to the center of the room and releases the polearm. To your astonishment, the pole drops straight through the stone floor! Faintly, you can hear a "ta-tink-thunk" as the fauchard lands somewhere below. "I lined the basement with metal . . helps keep the vermin out. Come, I'll explain as we walk," she gestures for you to follow her back down the steps.

William, a talented warrior who had been hired by a local official to investigate some disturbances, once wielded this particular fauchard. Inevitably, the investigation led him to some underground antics, during which time he was unable to use his favorite weapon. As a reward for routing the trouble, a wizard hired by the official enchanted the fauchard so that it would pass completely through stone and earth, allowing it to be wielded in tight, underground spaces. Very useful, as more than one imaginative warrior has discovered. It's amazing how many people you can kill with this thing just by standing on one side of a wall and poking them as they pass by. As to your next question, yes, if you lay it on the ground, you might as well count it as irretrievably lost. That's how the unfortunate Willy lost his weapon in the first place. He dropped it in the middle of battle and it was not seen again until it was discovered wedged between two veins of gold by a local miner. This can be avoided by simply taking the time to have a metal cap attached to its base. That way, should you drop it, it will dangle from the cap, which is stuck on the surface of the ground.