SwordOfTheUnconqueredLight2E
Sword of the Unconquered Light - by Fifth
- Artifact: 5
- Statistics: Speed 5, Accuracy +4, Damage (9 + Essence)L, Defense +2, Rate (3 + Essence)
- Commitment: 10 motes
- Attunement: Special
The Sword of the Unconquered Light was forged by one of the greatest Solar smiths in the first age. Formed after the War on the Primordials, the sword is a testament to the powers of the Unconquered Sun, and to his champions, the Solar Exalted. The sword was lost during the Usurpatation when its wielder was struck down by his betrayers, but the sword was useless in their hands, and it was buried with its last owner.
The hilt of the sword is forged from pure orichalcum, with each of the symbols of the solar castes engraved upon it. The blade of the sword is nothing less than the light of the Unconquered Sun woven into the shape of a Reaver Daiklave. The sword stands nearly 7 feet from hilt to point. The edge of the blade is formed of several different colors of light woven together into an edge so sharp that it can cut anything short of itself. The sword has only this one edge; the other side of the sword doesn't really exist, as the light woven into the edge bleeds off into the air, giving only a hint of a shape. If the Sword is currently unattuned, only the hilt exist; the blade will only spring into existence when a Solar attunes himself to it.
The sword can only be attuned by Solars. The Sword's primary color is gold, high-lighted with the associated color of the Solar currently attuned to it (Dawn: Saffron, Lavender, Zenight: Blue, Gold, Twilight: Orange, Night: Violet, Eclipse: Silver). The Solar's caste mark on the hilt also glows brightly with his associated color(s). The Sword is also even more closely attuned then normal to the wielder?s essence, and the higher the essence rating of the attuned character, the brighter and more defined the blade gets. At essence ratings of 7+ this can cause penalties and blindness if the Sword is stared at directly; the exact rolls and results are left up to the ST. The Exalt can dampen this at will, but it requires concentration, and the Sword will always be at least as bright the character's anima banner at 8-10 motes.
System: The Sword of the Unconquered Light counts as a Reaver Daiklave. The blade can cut anything; the Five Magical Materials, sound, water; if it exists, it can be cut by this blade. This has the following mechanical effects:
In combat: The sword is still parryable (albeit at a +1 difficulty penalty), as only the edge of the blade is so extraordinarily sharp. However, a weapon that attempts to parry the Sword and does not succeed is destroyed as it is cut in half. Furthermore, as the Sword simply passes through the offending weapon, successes on a failed parry do not reduce the damage normally. The Sword can be dodged normally (and successes on dodges decrease damage and reduce the amount of successes needed for a parry). If the attempted parry was unarmed, then the sword cuts off whatever part of the body was used. This does no extra damage. In addition, if the Sword successfully parries any weapon, that weapon is destroyed, as the edge of the Sword cuts through it. If the sword successfully parries an unarmed attack, the Sword does lethal damage equal to the extra successes on the parry, and cuts off a dramatically appropriate amount of attacking limb. If the sword is used in conjunction with a perfect defense, the amount of damage the sword deals is equal the wielder's permanent Essence.
In addition to its normal damage, the Sword automatically destroys the armor (if any) of its target if that armor soaks any damage the Sword deals.
The above abilities do not fully work on artifacts rated 5 or N/A. The Sword does not automatically destroy these; instead, the Sword deals unsoakable Aggravated damage to these items equal to the wielder?s permanent Essence with each blow. The wielder still gains all other benefits (such as ignoring successes on a failed parry). In addition, level 5 and N/A artifacts rendered useless by this are not fully destroyed, and they may be repaired by a sufficiently skilled craftsman. Any applicable powers also fail if the opponents uses a perfect defense. For example, if the sword is unsuccessfully parried and then perfectly dodged, the parrying weapon is still destroyed; however, if some unlikely martial arts perfect defense stops the sword, then the martial artists' hands would be unharmed. If the opponent uses a perfect soak defense they take no damage, but anything blocking the sword would still be damaged.
The Sword cuts no matter how hard it is pressed, so if used carefully, it can do some excellent detail work in crafting situations, or as an extremely sharp(but clumsy) surgical tool. The Sword CANNOT do Bashing damage (even with charms); the edge is too sharp.
Against undead, Abyssals, Deathlords, and the like, the Exalt's minimum damage (Equal to his permanent Essence trait) is Aggravated.
The Sword cannot be hidden by anything short of encasing it completely (or deattuneing it). Anything short of this causes the wielder to automatically botches all attempts at stealth. This cannot be hidden by charms or sorcery.
