Despoiler of Flesh

The Despoiler of Flesh is a short staff made of human tongues, sewn together end to end. The tongues are slightly animated, so the staff occasionally bends and curls of its own volition.

The Despoiler of Flesh is currently in the possession of a Clasp mage, who used it to turn a former member of the Clasp into a copy of Vex.

The demonic artifact allows the wielder to cast Polymorph Other and reshape the flesh of any creature, except the Despoiler of Flesh allows the shape to be any that the wielder can imagine (whether such a creature actually exists in that form or not). However, if a form is bestowed without careful forethought, the creature that is created will be unwieldy, untenable, and simply die. For example, the wielder could turn a wolf into a human with purplish black skin and tentacles for arms. But if he attempted to also give the "human" six spider legs and bat wings large enough to carry it aloft, the form would simply collapse into a pile of fleshy goo. Thus, most wielders have used forms that are actually known to the wielder.

An unwilling victim can try to resist the effect of the Despoiler of Flesh with a Fortitude save (DC 25). The wielder can make one change per round, with the victim getting a chance to resist each change.

Trivia

 * The Despoiler of Flesh is one of many items described in the infamous Book of Vile Darkness. Its creator was a powerful nalfeshnee (demons that act as judges in the Abyss) named Tapheon, and its story of how it came to the Prime Material Plane is just as twisted as the demon. How the Clasp came to possess the Despoiler of Flesh from its original human wielder is unknown.
 * Vex's stalker, the Despoiler of Flesh, and the doppelganger of Vex were all written out-of-game by Liam and Matt in preparation for Pike's entry into the campaign, to explain why he was a member of the Clasp when she first met Vax.