Trial of Echoed Souls question

[Ualaa]

I've got the 3e softcover 'War of the Burning Sky: The Complete Campaign".

Towards the end of the second act of Trial of Echoed Souls, under 'Concluding Act Two', it says:
If any of the heroes accepts the offer Rhuarc's sword makes, that hero can speak with Rhuarc and comple him to answer a few questions before his spirit mingles with the countless others the shadowdancer has killed, erasing his individuality.

Unfortunately, in the adventure it doesn't mention any offer made by the sword or go much into detail of the sword beyond giving its name and that it can trap souls in gems, one of which has been destroyed... which sends the heroes onto the next part.

Is there a missing section regarding the Scimitar?
The text implies it is intelligent, if it can make an offer to the PCs.

 

[RangerWickett]

Maybe it got missed in the collection by mistake? Is the item not in an Appendix in the back with other magic items?

Here's the text from the final draft document:

New Item – Black Scimitar: Created by Rhuarc’s diabolist mother to shelter their souls against an infernal pact, this +1 adamantine scimitar, named Shaalguenyaver (“bright shadow”), is almost completely black. The S-shaped crossguard is fire-blackened ivory, the hilt is wrapped in black velvet, and the pommel is capped with a large black pearl. The blade itself is lined with flawed, smoky diamonds, with one piece missing near the blade’s base. It radiates no magical aura.

When a wielder picks up the sword for the first time, he hears a dark, feminine voice whisper, “Be with me, my child.” The wielder inherently knows he is being offered a pact – give over his soul, and his life will be protected. If the wielder agrees, he gains access to the following benefits.

• The scimitar gains the ghost touch ability.
• When the wielder holds the black scimitar, it generates a ward against disembodied souls, such as ghosts and other incorporeal undead. Such creatures must make a Will save (DC 27) to approach within 20 ft. of the wielder or to attack him. (Rhuarc’s shadow is an extension of himself, and is not limited by this.)
• The wielder is immune to energy drain.

In exchange, the wielder forfeits his soul into the blade upon his death. He still has a soul while he is alive, but he cannot be returned from the dead, and his soul never passes into any afterlife. For Rhuarc, this is a better fate than the hell his mother bargained him into.

Anyone making this pact also is considered to owe payment on the bargain Rhuarc dodged. Evil outsiders are subconsciously drawn to the wielder, and will attack him first, hoping to subdue him and sieze his soul for the archdevil to whom it is pledged.

Additionally, when Rhuarc wields the weapon, it has several abilities only accessible by him personally.

• When Rhuarc kills a creature with the sword, he can choose to trap its soul. The dying creature makes a Will save (DC 27), and if it fails its soul is pulled into one of the gems along the scimitar’s blade. Sometimes, for his own reasons, Rhuarc will pry out that gem and toss it into a cave or into the sea where it will be lost forever, so that the spirit will never reach its resting place. Usually he does not trap souls, however, since the blade can now only hold seventeen.
• Once per minute as a free action, Rhuarc call forth some of the souls trapped in the sword, summoning d4+1 tragedies, which serve him loyally for one minute before vanishing.

No aura; CL 17th; Craft Magical Arms & Armor, antipathy, death ward, nondetection, trap the soul; Price 31,315 gp; weight 4 lb.

 

[Ualaa]

Thanks for that.

I've got an Appendix B in my book, with all of the NPC stats.
I had just assumed they accidentally used B instead of A.

I guess Appendix A is missing, rather than having the appendix mislabeled.