How would you interrogate an artifact battleaxe?

[Wolfwood2]

High level (~19) message board game (so it goes real slow).

We just came out of some trouble with frost giants and discovered that their real leader was this powerful intelligent artifact battleaxe that had taken control of a useful lackey. We smashed up the battleaxe good during the fight, but it now appears to be slowly regenerating.

A Legend Lore has revealed how to destroy it (feed it to the right bear), but it has occured to us that this battleaxe is in possession of useful information. (It was there when the god Vatun was imprisoned, and might be able to tell us how to free him.) Telling us this information would likely be in direct opposition to its special purpose, though.

Given this, what's the best way to get info from it? We can probably buy a scroll of any necessary spell, and we have clerical and wizard casters. This is a two-parter, given that we need to both safely communicate (preferably before it reassmebles itself) and get it to talk.

Oh, and I checked and our best Bluff score is +13 (while wearing a +6 charisma item). Decent, but hardly earthshaking.

 

[Lord Zardoz]

Interrogating it directly is probably going to be either very time consuming, or very dangerous.

I suggest you use the Axe as a bartering chip. Trade it to some extra-planar power in exchange for verifiable information you want. Or bargain with a Good power to destroy it in exchange for the information you seek. If the axe is artifact level in the same way that it would be in a game that I was running, than even gods would have a vested interest in the fate of the item.

Why are you destroying it anyway? Is it because it is powerful enough to dominate any party member who tries to use it, or because the thing is of an opposed alignment?

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Mark]

I'd haft to axe it some sharp question and dodge any cutting remarks it might throw at me.

 

[Ruslanchik]

Magic fire obviously won't kill it, but, as we know, if it doesn't cause organ failure then it is not torture.

Bonus answer: Waterboarding.

 

[Wolfwood2]

Interrogating it directly is probably going to be either very time consuming, or very dangerous.

I suggest you use the Axe as a bartering chip. Trade it to some extra-planar power in exchange for verifiable information you want. Or bargain with a Good power to destroy it in exchange for the information you seek. If the axe is artifact level in the same way that it would be in a game that I was running, than even gods would have a vested interest in the fate of the item.

Well, we're not Vatun-worshippers or anything but we figure freeing him would mean a god owing us big-time. That could be real useful in the near future. This axe, Atakido, was weilded by the legendary frost giant hero who helped lock him up and was trying to continue taht legacy.

This is an epic-level Against the Giants adaption for 3.5, and we've got to go deal with the Fire Giant king next. Given how incredibly tough the Frost Giant Jarl was, I shudder to think what the Fire Giants will do.

Why are you destroying it anyway? Is it because it is powerful enough to dominate any party member who tries to use it, or because the thing is of an opposed alignment?

Given that its dominated patsy was a 25th level human (greatest treasure hunter in the world, living legend) disguised as a giant (epic magic ring of True Guise), we're not going to take any chances on it dominating our lowly 19th level selves.

I suppose we could dump it in the snow somewhere, but we seriously messed with its plans. I don't know if an axe is going to be back for revenge, but nobody particularly wants to chance leaving something that powerful as a potential enemy.

Basically, we're treating it as a character in the form of an axe, not a magical item to be used.

 

[Eidalac]

Zone of Truth.

Offer it a deal - it tells you what you want to know or you feed it to the bear. If it does tell you, you agree to 'just' drop it down a ravine or other deep hole sufficient to keep it out of circulation for at least the rest of your lives.

Remember, if you were able to smash it up once, you can always do so again to buy time.

 

[Warren Okuma]

Here's my five...
1) Do a Carrot top. Annoy it until the DM breaks. Role-play it.
2) Preach to it until the DM breaks. Role-play it.
3) Bribe it. More gems and jewelry on hilt etc...
4) Find it's psychological weakness and exploit it.
5) Disjunction.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

Threaten to dress it up in pink ribbons and flowers.

 

[Klaus]

Threaten to dip it in lava. If it falls in, it'll die, no save.

 

[KrazyHades]

Threaten to kill giants with it (assuming that helping giants is its purpose)