James Maliszewski
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Friday Feature: Aranalar
🕑 Added 2022-12-09 14:26:05 +0000 UTCAranalar ("Indomitable") is a sword +1, +2 vs the Unmade forged from alchemical steel. Its blade is single sided, forward curving, and,like all Kulvuan osuna, intended to be wielded from the back of a teteku, The blade itself is approximately two feet in length and bears a maker’s mark that identifies it as a product of the famed Bejanakoru workshop of lost Onoritash, though it is unlikely that its enchantment took place there. The grip is wrapped in ridzor-leather, while its pommel bears an early example of a nasha-charm that would later become commonplace on Kulvuan imperial weaponry.
Aranalar possesses a single magical ability, from which it receives its name. So long as the sword is held, its wielder is completely immune to the melee attacks of any Unmade of equal or lesser Hit Dice than himself. This immunity does not apply to either ranged or magical attacks, however. The ability has no duration and is usable at will, so long as the sword is held. Sheathed, Aranalar no longer provides this immunity. Likewise, this immunity extends only to the current wielder of the sword and to no one else.
The precise date of Aranalar’s forging is unknown. However, its magical ability suggests that it was created for use during either the Consolidation of Light (1:1–4) or Daybreak Wars (1:15–25). The third book of Samakan’s Lesser Chronicle of Dawn makes mention of the warrior Besu Tankuli, who, during the Siege of Itixtar, emerged seemingly unscathed after facing off against “an Unmade host the likes of which none have seen since the Epoch of Shadows.” Samakan notes that Besu wielded “a mighty blade, whose enchantment protected him against the twisted creations of the Unmakers on that day.” General Daljan Chayusi (1:301–2:5) unambiguously wielded Aranalar during his career, most famously at the Battle of Uchiran (1: 344). Upon his retirement, he gave the sword to his son, Dalen (1:326–2:3), who was murdered by persons unknown, possibly for his role in the Second Archontic Succession Crisis (1:358). Aranalar was then stolen and disappeared from history, though rumors of its location or current wielder continue to this day.
Comments
James Maliszewski
I'm working on the magic item list and a great many of the items will be unique. I'm also contemplating the inclusion of a random system to aid the referee in generating his own unique items.
Stephen Vossler
I like the idea of unique magic items. I despise the generic +n swords, typical wands, and armories stocked with magic armor. Every magic item should have a story attached, whether it is known to the character or not. The ring of Gyges had a story but the generic rings of invisibility I cannot abide. Ambitious wizards may attempt to create knock-offs, of diluted ability, but that is also a story. I loved the magic items introduced in Empire of the Petal Throne. There numbers and locations were often listed. When you found the Gauntlets of Chirene, or the Box of the Topaz God, you knew what a valuable find it was. Eyes would be the exception, due to there mass production in earlier ages, and their prodigious, copying, repairing and modification in later ages.
James Maliszewski
I wouldn't call it an artifact in the Eldritch Wizardry/AD&D sense, though the idea is something similar. I very much like magic items with histories and weapons seem to lend themselves to this especially well. I haven't made up my mind yet as to whether I'm going to incorporate XP values for magic items. It's a practice I fell out of in recent years, though I have experimented with it in my EPT campaign.
DominusCaveaVulpes
Interesting. Is this an artifact, then, or are you going to give it an XP value as well as a monetary one?
