Weapon Orbs

A weapon orb is a mercurial ball which takes the shape of any weapon familiar to the wielder. The default composition of the weapons is mithral for the metal pieces and darkwood for the wooden pieces, although the wielder can change its composition (see below). The orb can split into two weapons, each with its own assigned attributes, as long as it's being wielded by the same creature. The orb does not produce ammunition for the form it takes, so a bow-wielder would still have to supply arrows. If the wielder has the orb take the form of a weapon they are not proficient in, they still take the standard -4 attack penalty while wielding it.

The orb is directly linked to the wielder's life force and has an effective magical bonus equal to the wielder's Hit Dice divided by 3, rounded down. The wielder can distribute this bonus a number of ways, including changing the material makeup of the weapon. For example, a 6HD character can have either a +2 weapon, or a +1 weapon with a minor special ability like Flaming, or a +1 Adamantine weapon, etc. The available material types are Alchemical Silver, Adamantine, Cold Iron, Darkwood (default), Ironwood, and Mithral (default). A shield's armor bonus and attack bonus must be distributed from the same pool, so a 6HD character could have either a +2 shield, or a +1 shield with +1 attack & damage bonus, or a MW shield with a +2 bonus on attack and damage, etc.

In combat, morphing a weapon orb is considered a psionic ability. It takes a move action to either change weapon forms or change bonus distribution. For example, changing a +1 Shocking longbow to a +1 Shocking longsword is only a move action, while changing a +1 Shocking longbow to a +1 Adamantine longsword would require two move actions.

Feel free to ask any questions you'd like about weapon orbs as a reply to this post.

Was there like an instruction manual in the box that contained these that said all of this or do our characters have to figure out all the things it can become. and what it can do

You have to figure it out on your own. Brudegan's deduction that he needed a harder material was a perfect example of learning as you go. In-battle Knowledge checks can allow you to deduce some enemies' weaknesses beforehand, but otherwise it'll be trial and error.

do the arrows of the bow take the property of the bow? for instance if the bow is darkwood would it give the arrows the properties of darkwood when doing damage. You would still need to supply arrows but the arrows themselves don't need to be magical themselves.

All the magical properties of your bow go into your arrows as well, but not the special materials. You will need to buy special ammo for that. Luckily, you can buy 50 adamantine-tipped arrows for the same price as an adamantine weapon.