Berserker's Soft Wood Focus of Hobbling

Berserker's Soft Wood Focus of Hobbling sits in the palm like a warm ember—a focus carved from wind-smoothed soft wood, its grain a honeyed ribbon that catches the light and seems to glow just beneath the surface. The handle is wrapped in cracked leather, worn smooth by years of hands, and a tiny morsel of resin seals the top where the wood meets the metal cap. The runes along the shaft pulse with a pale green light when magic threads through, and a faint scent of sap clings to the air, tangy and a little resinous. On the side, a scar-like groove runs lengthwise, as if the wood once bore something heavier than itself, a notch that hints at violence tempered by discipline—a small, almost affectionate memory etched by a berserker who learned to channel rage into careful footwork. In lore, this focus is said to have been carved by a berserker smith who wandered with a caravan of chancy traders and taught himself to stride with pivoting steps; the "Hobbling" in its name marks a vow to curb unchecked momentum. When wielded, it is said to bend the tempo of a fight, letting the user press forward with sudden bursts while keeping opponents from closing in too swiftly. It carried many a tale of long nights and new dawns along the trade routes where raiders waited by the campfires. The wood's softness belies its steel-like purpose: it invites the user to grip lightly, to sense the room, to choose when to strike rather than crash through. Gamers know the feel of such a tool—the way it adds power to a measured strike, the way a frost-coated ice of the foe slows behind it; the focus has a small reservoir of energy that fuels a hobble aura, a targeted curse that slows foes when you land a critical hit or perform a precise combo. It pairs with agile stances and precision builds, letting a frontliner pull a rout-bound enemy into a trap or letting a backline disrupt a pursuing foe. The lure of its wood and lore makes it more than a stat stick; it's a story in hand, a talisman that changes the rhythm of a skirmish and the way a village whispers of a Berserker who learned restraint. For crafters and collectors, its lore adds a layer of meaning to any skirmish—it is as much a map as a weapon. Prices drift with dust and tides at the caravan markets; near Saddlebag Exchange I heard a buyer trade a bundle of pelts and a ledger of runes for this focus, the vendor noting its balance of utility and myth. The seller swore it feels heavier in memory than in weight, as if every swing remembered the step that followed. I picture it traveling from hand to hand, along rain-slicked wagons, until it rests with someone who can slow time just enough to choose the moment to strike. In that moment the Berserker's Soft Wood Focus of Hobbling becomes not merely a tool, but a thread through the road itself.