Kusanagi, Sword of Snake - Legacy Item (3.5e Equipment)

Kusanagi-no-tsurugi (Japanese: 草薙の剣) is a legendary Japanese sword as important to Japan's history as Excalibur is to Britain's. It is actually called Ame no Murakumo no Tsurugi (天叢雲剣, lit. "Sword of gathering clouds of heaven") but it is more popularly called Kusanagi (lit. "grasscutter" or more probably "sword of snake"). It may also be called Tsumugari no Tachi (都牟刈の太刀). The actual Kusanagi, if it exists, is likely to be a sword in the style of the bronze age which is typically double-edged, short and straight; very different from the more recent katana backsword style, which features typical curved single-edged blades.

Nonlegacy Game Statistics

Normally. Kusanagi is a +1 defending shortsword of bronze, that glows with a sligthly bluish light when held to the light.

Omen: When you hold Kusanagi for the first time, you suddenly feel a great wave of water pushing against you and knocking you prone, even though none actually existed, and you are not harmfully affected because of the experience.

User Level	Attack Penalty	Save Penalty	Caster level Penalty	Hit Point Loss	Abilities
	-----------------------Personal Costs---------------------------
5	---	---	---	---
6	---	---	-1	2	+2 defending weapon
7	---	-1	---	2	World under the waves
8	-1	---	---	---
9	---	---	---	2	Kiss of the ice maiden
10	---	---	---	---
11	---	---	---	---	Breath of the goddess
12	---	---	---	---	+3 defending weapon
13	---	---	-2	2
14	---	---	---	---	Will of the goddess
15	---	---	---	2
16	---	---	---	---	+4 defending weapon
17	---	---	---	---	Will of the goddess
18	---	---	-3	---
19	---	---	---	2	Protected by the goddess
20	---	---	---	---	+5 defending weapon, Beloved

Wielder Requirements

Kusanagi, Sword of Snake Wielder Requirements: Ability to use arcane or divine spells, psionic powers or spell like abilities.

Legacy Rituals

Three rituals are needed to unlock all the abilities of Kusanagi, Sword of Snake at levels 5th, 10th and 17th.

Warden of the land: 500exp at 5th level, Least Legacy (Kusanagi) bonus feat. You must declare your protection over an area of wilderness no lesser than a hundred feet per side, caring for the creatures within it regardless of their type, so long as they are natural inhabitants of your chosen area. That is, as long as they have the animal or fey type. You must defend and care for both the area and the creatures inhabiting it, and your chosen area must include at least a natural manifestation of water such as a spring.

Warden of the water: 1100 exp at 11th level, Lesser Legacy (Kusanagi) bonus feat. You must watch and protect an area of wilderness no lesser than a thousand feet per side, caring for the creatures within it regardless of their type, so long as they are natural inhabitants of your chosen area. That is, as long as they have the animal or fey type. You must defend and care for both the area and the creatures inhabiting it, and your chosen area must include at least two natural manifestation of water such as a spring and a river.

Warden of the world: 1700 exp at 17th level, Greater Legacy (Kusanagi) bonus feat. You must watch and protect an area of wilderness no lesser than ten thousand feet per side, caring for the creatures within it regardless of their type, so long as they are natural inhabitants of your chosen area. That is, as long as they have the animal or fey type. You must defend and care for both the area and the creatures inhabiting it, and your chosen area must include at least as much water as it does dry land.

Legacy Item Abilities

All of the following are legacy abilities of Kusanagi, Sword of Snake:

World Under the Waves (Su): You are under the permanent effect of a Water Breathe spell, and can just as easily breathe air or water.

Kiss of the ice maiden (Su): You are highly resistant to the extremes of temperature found on the natural world and find right at home anywhere you go, gaining energy resistance 5 against both heat or cold.

Breath of the Goddess (Su): While you are holding, carrying or wielding Kusanagi, light gusts of wind constantly stream from you, billowing your cloak or hair. At will on command, you can focus the wind to blow away or knock down smaller creatures, as the gust of wind spell. The save is DC 13, or 12 + your Charisma modifier, whichever is higher.

Will of the Goddess (Su): Once per day when you issue the command word and gesture with Kusanagi, you are protected from 1st-through 3rd-level spell effects. This works like the lesser globe of invulnerability spell, except that only you gain this protection. At 17th level, this protection can be summoned up to three times per day, and it defends you against spell effects of up to 4th level.

Protected by the Goddess (Sp): Once per day, when you issue the command word and gesture with Kusanagi, you gain the ability to reflect spells back at a foe, as the spell turning spell.

Beloved (Sp): As a champion of balance in the world, Kusanagi grants you three wishes as the wish spell. You must state the desired effect while holding Kusanagi. As long as you have performed the appropriate legacy ritual and meet the level requirement, you gain this benefit, even if a previous owner has made three wishes using the item. A given creature can never gain more than three wishes in this way. If a save is allowed, the save DC is 23, or 19 + your Charisma modifier, whichever is higher.

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