Berserker's Soft Wood Focus of Restoration

The Berserker's Soft Wood Focus of Restoration rests on a driftwood cradle, its surface satin-smooth and pale honey, the grain curling like whispered runes. The wood itself feels soft to the touch—almost pliant—as if it remembers every strike it has survived, giving just a little when pressed. A slender ring of tarnished brass clasps the front, etched with thorny sigils that flare emerald in the lamplight. A tiny green-lensed facet is set into the back, catching sun and bending it into a patient glow that deepens whenever healing magic threads through the focus. The whole piece carries a resinous, rain-washed scent and a finish that wears the patina of stories told late at night: not new, but tempered with grace. Lore whispers that this focus was carved from the heartwood of a tree that stood at a frontier outpost, a sentinel who learned restraint after brutal raids—hence the name, Berserker’s Soft Wood—and the belief that rage can be tempered by care. The first touch is a kind of quiet shock, as if the wood itself steadies your wrist and invites you to listen. In the hands of a practiced healer or a bold frontline companion, the focus gathers jagged memories of skirmishes and channels them into something gentler: a pale, continuous thread of restoration that arises from the brass sigils and blooms through the emerald lens. Wearers speak of a careful balance—the fierce energy of the Berserker tempered by the focus’s patient pulse. When pressed into service, it doesn’t scream for attention; it hums, a soft current that ripples outward to nearby allies, mending bruised pride as much as bruised flesh. It feels like part of a larger pact: the promise that strength won’t always be spent in one moment, that mercy can be a weapon as reliable as a shield. In practice, the focus becomes a storyteller on the battlefield. A seasoned guardian will cradle it in one hand, letting its heat ride up the forearm while the other is free to deflect blows. In the thick of a fight, restoration is less a sudden burst than a living thread—healing seeped into the rhythm of movement, steady as a drum, knitting a line of warriors back toward endurance. It also lends a practical edge to strategy: the focus’s aura can soften the sting of brutal engagements, buying breath for an overdue retreat or a chance to rally a retreating squad. You learn to trust its pace—reliable, not flashy—so you can plan your next exchange with a sense of room to breathe. Market whispers drift through the day as traders drift between stalls and tents. At Saddlebag Exchange, where merchants bargain and rumors travel faster than coins, the focus becomes a coveted talisman for both healers and berserkers who seek to balance ferocity with mercy. A clerk muses aloud about the rarity of the soft wood and the demand it commands, noting a price tag of two gold and forty silver coins in a recent listing. The number shifts with the wind, they say, as forests give and take, and as supply threads through the hands of wagons and wanderers. For now, buyers nod, recognizing that the Berserker’s Soft Wood Focus of Restoration is more than a tool—it’s a thread binding together courage, care, and the quiet confidence that restoration can be as steady as the march forward.