Dirty Little Phased Bolt

Story so far

The Dirty Little Phased Bolt is crossbow ammunition built for murdering crawlers quietly. It is a Phased item: fully invisible, it hides its own entry point and can only be found by physically touching it, so a victim shows no wound at all. On impact it casts Temporary Amnesia and Suffering Bleed, draining the target to ten percent health; a second bolt takes them to one percent. Anyone who then dies is logged as dying from an alternate source, so the shooter gets no kill credit, no experience — and, as the item text cheerfully notes with a wink and a nudge, none of those nasty skulls beside their name for killing a fellow crawler.

Hekla mixed two of them into her volleys during the rescue run and put them into Katia Grim's scoop. Only Princess Donut's laser goggles could see them; Carl found them by groping blindly at Katia's shoulder until his hand closed on something invisible, and the wound only appeared once the shaft was pulled. Both bolts came out broken and are now in Carl's inventory as physical proof of the attempt.

Appearance

Wholly invisible crossbow bolts; the splintered shafts can be felt but not seen, and the wounds they leave stay hidden until they are removed.

Role

The murder weapon in Hekla's attempt on Katia — and a piece of evidence Carl now carries.

Relationships