Cruel Justice

This work provides a backstory /history for a new hexblade warlock patron (Cruel Justice), a variant of the hexblade (the scourge), and a story-based justification for a player who wants to multiclass in hexblade and paladin.

Ashanalla was created as an angel tasked with defending humanity from demons and undead. While she began as a loyal servant of the celestials, their willingness to tolerate the existence of demons and undead at first baffled and then enraged her. When she engaged in an unsanctioned war against these foes, the celestials first admonished her and then were forced to send her to the border between the abyss and Hell. While intended as a punishment, she found this situation ideal: she could slaughter demons without any concern about the Eternal Laws governing the intervention of the powers in the affairs of the material plane.

Ashanalla sees Orcus, the demon lord of the undead, as a great enemy and opposes his efforts at every opportunity. During one epic battle, Ashanalla slew two of Orcus’ balors but was badly wounded in the encounter and her radiant sword, Justice, was shattered. Denied access to the forges of Heaven and finding that the forges of Hell rejected the holy metal, Ashanalla could not repair her blade.

Much to Ashanalla surprise, the Raven Queen offered to reforge Justice in the Shadowfell. True to her word, the Raven Queen reforged the weapon, somehow melding the holy metal with the stuff of shadows and creating the seemingly impossible: a weapon burning with both radiant light and necrotic fire. Sages speculate that this was made possible because the weapon was infused with a great and conflicted soul. And thus, Cruel Justice was born.

Ashanalla was greatly pleased with her new blade and rushed to slaughter demons with it. The two get along fabulously, delighting in the destruction of demons and undead. But Ashanalla sometimes thinks that Cruel Justice has an agenda of its own.

With its connection to the Shadowfell and the Raven Queen, Cruel Justice can serve as a patron for warlocks. But its relationship with Ashanalla complicates matters, for she has no tolerance for demons and the undead. To address this, Cruel Justice grants certain hexblades abilities that fit within Ashanalla’s moral framework. These warlocks often serve in one of the orders loyal to Ashanalla and some of them are also called to service as paladins.

This work presents:

• The Scourge Hexblade variant
• Cruel Justice, patron of hexblades
• Backstory
• A New Spell: Radiant Brand
• A New NPC: Scourge Blade