Band Of Blades

Everyone likes having npcs to help, hinder, surprise, behind, or ambush the player characters.

Everyone (well, a decent chunk of everyone, anyway) likes magic swords.

Let’s combine them! :D!

Presented here are a dozen sentient, sapient swords. They all have names along with titles; they have personalities, and some magical abilities, and some areas of specialized knowledge they might share with a bearer if they feel like it.

Did I mention that there’s no guarantee you can just pick one of these folks up and get the benefits? Because, yeah, that’s a thing. You’re going to have to make friends, or at least a working relationship — and locking horns with your bladed companion can very well be a surefire trip to badness town where a refusal to communicate is the least of your worries.

All of these npcs have the following traits:

– The ability to injure subjects immune to mundane weaponry
– The ability to communicate, always telepathically and potentially also aloud
(feel free to apply or ignore any (intelligent or otherwise) magical weapon rules that may exist in your system of choice; feel free to tweak any details here that you want to tweak, for that matter)

Oh and just to make things fun —

They also have humanoid appearances. At least some of the time.

Yep.

Now, how that works is up to the individual using a sword or swords in a game. By the same token, each sword’s description gives a handful of notable (“iconic”?) visual traits for the humanoid form, but declines to commit to things like a complete visual appearance, a species, or a gender. These things may well even change for a given sword, unlike their iconic traits.

(yes, a sword wandering around as a humanoid can remove or even lose iconic clothing items. if they become a blade and then a humanoid again, they have them again. they’re iconic for a reason.)

How to encounter a sword as not-a-sword?

Here are some possibilities — it’s probably best to choose or roll one, maybe two, for a given npc and stick with it:

01. Dream visitation
02. Illusionary projection only visible by bearer
03. Illusionary projection visible by everyone
04. Shapeshift from sword to living being
05. Possess an individual
06. Possess sword’s bearer
07. Visible in reflective surfaces
08. Possess and reshape a corpse
09. Spontaneous independent manifestation (carrying themselves, even)
10. Weapon only (a temporary restriction?)

So, without further ado —

01. Tannah, the Silent Wanderer

– A worn, but still serviceable longsword, blade washed on both flats with a thin shadowy film that almost reveals some sort of calligraphic verse, hilted with cedar and black-enameled iron quillions and pommel

-> As a weapon, can harm all subjects but does no greater damage; however, Tannah’s bearer may never have terror be inflicted on them while on the road, and the blade warns of danger in the dark
-> Specialties: major trade arteries, travel logistics

– A lean figure in simple traveler’s gear, dark leather and rough brown wool, black of eye and grey of close-cropped curls, one hand scarred but functional

: inquisitive : patient : centred : light-footed : silence is golden :

02. Runi, Bring-Hither

– A greatsword, polished mirror-bright and never scratching, with heavy gilded quillions and a hilt of oak threaded onto steel — and an amber pommel that unscrews to reveal a hollow in the hilt itself

-> casts light to two lanterns in strength, as willed; if driven point-first into the earth, any who have placed a drop of tears or blood inside Runi’s hilt hollow immediately sense the blade and bearer’s location
-> Specialties: provisioning, legendary epics

– Strongly built and well-padded, with ready smile and strong features and coiling russet hair, dressed in rumpled linen tunic and leather breeches

: friendly : bridge-builder : guiding : remembrance : the ties that bind :

03. Lian, the Laughing Flame

– A brilliant piece, this: a slim sabre of translucent, orange-red porcelain as strong as steel, hilted with golden mother-of-pearl plates and twisting bronze quillions

-> doubles damage against aquatic or frozen adversaries, erupting in dancing flames; striking with Lian’s flat, however, against any fire extinguishes it no matter the size
-> Specialities: musical history, elemental lore

– Shockingly red-gold hair tumbling around bare, scarred shoulders, golden eyes that dance with mirth, and whirling split-skirts over leggings of multicoloured layers of patterned silks

: joyous : impulsive : instigatory : passionate : it is easier to ask forgiveness than permission :

04. Cor, the Veiled

– A shortsword of rough steel, unpolished save for the edges and tip of the blade, with ivory hilt and silvered, half-basket quillions

-> cannot harm the living; doubles damage against spirits, shades, ghosts and similar incorporeal beings, granting the wielder the ability to sense such even when hidden
-> Specialties: the otherworlds, folk magic

– Grey robes and loose trews; a white shawl over dark, tangled locks and a white veil over which pale blue eyes gaze steadily, bisected by bright scars

: relentless : observant : secretive : fatalistic : be thee now at rest :

05. Turien, Pledgetroth

– A thick ox-tongue of a shortsword, mounted in a hilt wrapped in darkened leather with brass fittings; the blade is of blued steel, but a centre channel glows and flows as if molten

-> wrapping one’s hand firmly around Turien’s blade causes no harm — unless one is an oathbreaker or is actively taking part in a lie or deception
-> Specialties: manuscript illumination, battle tactics

– Fleecy mantle over leather jack; with weathered features, neat silver hair and battlescarred hands stained with scribe’s work

: steady : legalistic : particular : inquiring : uphold your virtues :

06. Anrath, Winterdark

– A bastard sword of odd white metal, mounted with horn hilt-plates on the tang and ornamented with twisted silver wires wrapped around with tassels of white fur

-> freezes the core of those struck; whether the flesh (slowing them to half capability) or the spirit (forcing them to flee or cower)
-> Specialties: law codes, northern histories

– Tangled coils of long white hair threaded with icy blue, framing high cheekbones, hollow cheeks and a jaw sharp enough to cut, falling around fur-lined woolen robes

: grim : sharp-tongued : resigned : piercing : so shall they fall :

07. Ronken, the Stormlord’s Pride

– A fancy sabre, this, and no mistake: ebony hilt and golden quillions, gleaming blade etched with clouds and raindrops, inalid with gleaming electrum thunderbolts like twisting runes

-> casts a thunderbolt when swung, like a dagger of shocking electricity, while protecting the wielder against storms and lightning (though not drowning)
-> Specialties: gem appraising, liquor appraising

– A brazen shock of shaggy dark hair like a lion’s mane, a square jaw slashed by scars; booming laughter and a long coat decorated with pearl-buttons and pride

: jocular : bombastic : covetous : vengeful : no risk too daring :

08. Adonai, Bane-Breaker

– A longsword of dark finish, blue-silk-wrapped hilt and curving steel quillions, engraved with an inscription in niello condemning foes to lingering, eternal agonies

-> against a specific category (frex. “dragons”, “knights”, “sorcerers”) chosen by Adonai’s bearer when first claiming the sword, Adonai inflicts crippling pain and leaves venom in the wound, destroying life bit by bit over time as black ichor continues to bleed; if Adonai’s bearer ever spares a target, they suffer the same
-> Specialities: heraldry and blazons, genealogy

– Slender, green-eyed, braided hair coiled against fire-scarred scalp; savaged tabard, its insignia slashed, over flowing scarlet tunic

: driven : unforgiven : argumentative : lost : no quarter :

09. Ku, Defender of the Six Fallen Walls of the Charcoal Palace

– no sword of forgework, metal or otherwise; a blade of smooth, iridescently blue-green chitin, its hilt a pad of resinous feel that clasps a brassy-scaled basket around one’s grip

-> Ku’s bearer may designate a subject to be protected, animate or inanimate; all maledicta against said target is redirected to Ku’s bearer in a blue-brass flash
-> Specialties: contracts, architecture

– Broad-shouldered, looming, draped in indigo cloak and forest green mantle whose hood does not hide baroque brass horns nor clashing tusks, nor the barbed bony tail lashing behind, or the chitinous shell along limbs and spine

: loyal : unearthly : sorrowful : redeemed : failure is not an option :

10. Julien, Steel-Dancer

– A slender fighting-rapier, blade engraved with twining ribbons and a declaration of integrity in tiny, graceful script, its basket hilt polished steel wrought like twists of ivy and dotted with green glass ornaments

-> A successful strike may instead be used to automatically disarm (or disable) rather than injure; Julien grants all bearers the ability to wield a blade
-> Specialties: social mores, the etiquette of gifts

– Graceful and lean, dazzling green-gold eyes and a disarming smile, a fillet of steel-wrought ivy holding back shoulder-length, dark ringlets

: cavalier : courtly : amiable : insightful : shall we explore all options :

11. Vetiver, the Pearl Thunder Scholar

– Odd blade; a shortsword of frosted steel inlaid with a row of tiny mother-of-pearl teardrops, but never sharpened, mounted in a simple hilt of cherrywood wrapped in pale leather

-> not meant for physical fighting, Vetiver strikes at spellwork and enchantments; the greater the injury that would be inflicted by a sharpened blade, the stronger the magic severed
-> Specialties: sorcerous identification, herb-work

– Long coils of pearly grey hair, and a night-blue eye — the other lost — and a silver-grey mantle over simple clothing, a girdle-book hanging from a twisted sash

: reserved : obstinate : hopeful : inquiring : be unbound :

12. Benit, the Black Wolf’s Fang

– A longsword of bone? More like a great split tusk, dense and sharp as glass, its sculpted root wrapped in braided leather stained reddish black, etches of the hunt lining the flats and picked out with ochre

-> Doubles damage against manmade or other artifical constructs, alive or dead; Berit’s bearer can forage for sustenance in anything but the most barren, lifeless of environments
-> Specialties: wilderness survival, healing

– Golden-eyed, shaggy grizzled hair; sharp of teeth and striped with scars across throat and chest, dressed in black woolen coat and fur mantle to match

: territorial : possessive : black-humoured : biting : home is everything :

Xenos Philios

That’s right, doing terrible things with other languages now to fit letters —

How about a few interesting folks to meet on your travels? Love and friendship not, alas, guaranteed; but it’s not impossible ~

01. Linet Woodwalker

Born and raised in Rowan’s Cross, a sprawling broch complex in the Shadow, Linet sports both the milky eye-tint common to the locals and their casual unconcern for death and what might come afterward. The latter serves her well when she’s bartering her services as a guide and portal tracker to lost and confused newcomers to her neck of the (metaphorical and literal) woods; maybe not so much when her brashness takes her through the Shadow and into a Corerealm. Linet honours all her contracts regardless. It’s the principle of the thing — and once she reaches one hundred contracts fulfilled, the salt-and-shell curse will be lifted from her sister.

: driven : delver : practical : punctual :

02. Silphil

Most fleshy throats cannot pronounce this scintillant mathemagician’s actual name, so “Silphil” it is. It doesn’t mind; no more than it minds the necessity of simulating fleshy words in eerie tones by vibrating scores of its rapidly rotating light-rings together. Silphil wants the calculations of the afterworlds, and it collects them constantly and eagerly, identifying those calculations by its own inscrutable standards — proofs and poetic stanzas, perfect solids trapped in realm-stuff and intangible integers tangled in thought, it absorbs them all into its chiming form. It’s happy to crack mundane esoteric maths if approached politely, seeing it as a gentle hobby.

: melodic : flighty : acquisitive : enchanter :

03. The Water-Lion

There’s not a trace of actual felinity in this senior Ringwalker’s bearing; but any questions about his name are met with nothing but a faint smile and a shake of his head that sets his mane of silver-shot sooty hair swinging. The Water-Lion’s taught more would-be explorers than he likes to think about, these days, and far too few of those have come back to Guildhouses intact, a fact that gnaws at his innards and dulls his silver-bright eyes — and keeps his prodigious notations private and his riversteel blade in its scabbard. But the right reason, the right cause, could well lure him out; and he knows both many strange magics and the secrets of delving hearts and minds.

: experienced : timeworn : honourable : haunted :

04. Malifleur

He was the heart of a world, once. That’s what Malifleur claims, anyway, to anyone who listens — or finds themselves trapped in his grip, or entranced by the grinding rumble of his broken voice. He’s a sight to behold, certainly, with his titanic stature and his brazen skin, tangled crop of blood-rust ringlets and eyes like blue-green suns. Pay no mind to the wounds of throat, palms, navel, brow, eternally weeping ichor; pay no mind to the ghosts of shattered aureoles that dog him like a faded mockery of peacock-eyed lost glory. Malifleur brings far greater things to be concerned over: the goldshadow echoes of his might; his drive to claim any knowledge, any power that may restore him; and the possibility that his claims may be true.

: prideful : resentful : primordial : lessened :

05. Aatacana

Inquisitive and insightful, with a canny mind behind her lilting tongue, Aatacana has been traveling throughout the realms for a very long time indeed. She can be found throughout the Manifold Palaces — having less interest in the Foundations of the planes — and currently chases down whispers and gossip about the dreaming Mirror, willing to pay in starjewels and honey-dust and even mundane coin. Pay no mind to her great lemon-gold coils, or gleaming silver eyes, or to the simple fact that she is a massive serpent the thickness of a warrior’s thigh, festooned with hovering pouches and two “hands” of magical force.

: wanderer : secretive : dreamer : amused :

06. Master Thea

Oh she’s sharp, is Thea. You don’t wend your way to prominence as the captain of a merchantry that spans six realms without being sharp. Sharp as a blade, and just as likely to cut if crossed the wrong way — as many discover when they think they can pull the wool over the Master Of Fortunes. Thea’s tossed more than one such fool over the rail of an umbraship into the nothing between realms for that, and for less; her temper’s as sharp as her mind, these days, and none know what has her so worked up. Even when tallying up her earnings, her shimmering tail lashes like an angry cats’. Oh and never ask about that appendage, come to think — that will earn a bloodglass blade in the gut instead.

: cunning : vengeful : methodical : betrayed :

Dicember 2021 – boss

When an adventurous soul — or two, or eight — ready themselves to hurl headlong into a newly-found dungeon or maybe to chart unknown lands (maybe an island rose from the sea, even, or a cloud bank lowered enough to show the spires atop it), sometimes they want to hire on some extra hands before they go. Not even just to swing an extra sword, but to help with everything else that needs done on an adventure.

And then, of course, there’s the times when some hopeful helpful soul decides to offer their labours ahead of time … (now, don’t take advantage of that!)

For the times when an interesting new face is due amongst hirelings and helpers, there’s this little table.

All of these folks are, at start, Normal/0-level/however your game phrases it, and they aren’t trained for combat; with some encouragement, training, and maybe an ambush or two, though, maybe they’ll even pick up the rudiments of an adventuring lifestyle!

01. Tanare Pawsen — coil of rope, herding dog: adept at handling animals, domestic and merely tamed; claims he and they understand each other without words, and maybe they do
02. Vika Glaem — willow baskets, iron snips: seems to know every secret berry field, mushroom patch, and hidden spring within ten leagues of her hometown
03. Norwi Willoweve — pouch of flavourings, pot-in-a-poke: now here’s a rare and valued bird — they’re a virtuoso at camp cooking, making even iron rations into something actually pleasant to eat
04. Ren Dama — bark-paper scrolls, writing kit: delicate of fingers and fussy of details, recording absolutely everything with whatever means he has at hand, including attempting maps
05. Merry Duskr — hooked staff, spindle and roving: unschooled but eager to learn, and one would swear she has a sixth sense for weak structures and failing light sources
06. Bonra Curthi — shoulder yoke, leather pannier: they insist on carrying as much gear as possible, which is a lighter load for the party but perhaps just a bit of overkill — and yet, they don’t seem even winded
07. Vikren One-Eye — pouches of herbs, collection of linen squares: has a broad and prodigious knowledge of herbs, poultices and possets, and he’s happy to share them for the small comforts they are
08. Iilimani Foxfire — prayer beads, weathercloak: an acolyte at a local temple or shrine, she’s willing to vouch for any whom she works alongside and who at least listen to her words as she works
09. Acan Brighthorn — lacework iron lantern, trained corvid: actually a scion of a high family a cousin or two removed; they’re a little awkward on ‘common’ social graces at times but learning quick, and will remember those who take it all good-naturedly
10. Sefrit Duskwell — garlic drops, silvergilt pendant: can often sense the approach or presence of the unliving — or is good enough at reading signs to make it look that way — and he will not explain why that is
11. Janu Burran — pouch of whimsies, tiny whittling knife: perpetually making and then toying with little amulets, good luck charms and wardaways, hedge-lore really … but suppose she’s correct?
12. Kelvran Summer — sheaf of illuminated manuscript, hand-copied map: they fled a scholastic, monastic life and regret nothing; short on experience, long on surprisingly intriguing trivia and scraps of legendry