Teflonshugenja/Forever
(a weapon currently in the design stage for yet another potential PC/NPC)
Artifact ••••
Spd +7 Acc +4 Dmg +6L Def +3 Rate 5 (these stats include orichalcum material bonus)
The daiklaive named Forever is a kingly blade, originally forged for one of the Rising Suns during the glorious days when the First Realm was stood ascendent over Creation, and every day saw a new wonder. The sword measures in at nearly four feet in length from the pommel to the tip of the blade. Its hilt is long and designed to easily accomodate either a one- or two-handed grip (a "hand-and-a-half" style construction). The hilt is wrapped in the hide of some unknown beast and dyed a deep, cerulean blue. The pommel is an asymmetrical orichalcum-and-steel crescent worked in a curved, feathered-wing design and intended to accept a hearthstone. The guard is of similar construction and is intricately graven with abstract figures. The blade itself is straight and double-edged, forged from gleaming steel, but for the cutting edge: a barely-visible, hair-thin line of orichalcum. Golden script is etched into the face of the blade on both sides, from the guard halfway up it's length. Forever is partially sentient and recognizes only one wielder - it will simply refuse to attune to anyone not the current incarnation of that Solar, and even refuses to be so much as drawn from its sheath by anyone else. The daiklaive's current wielder is an earnest young Dawn Caste named Rain.
While Celestial Exalted find that seemingly random occurrances can provoke flashbacks to previous incarnations, they tend to come over all unexpectedly. Forever's ties to its wielder are unusually strong, however, and that bond has powerful consequences. Drawing the daiklaive from its sheath will always initiate flashbacks, though they rarely interfere with the business at hand. For this reason (and the next), Rain is reluctant to draw the blade, as it is disconcerting and often leads to awkward and difficult situations.
While being wielded in combat, the wielder does not suffer from wound penalties - the blade mutes the pain and lends strength to him in his efforts to fight the wicked. It does not negate the sensation of pain entirely, though, and so the wielder remains aware of how badly injured he is, even if it does not hinder him - a safety mechanism intended to prevent the wielder from pushing himself beyond the limits of his body.
Forever remembers the heroes that Rain has been in previous incarnations, and wants to make him more like that. While the blade is drawn, it increases all of the wielder's Virtues by +1; this does not affect secondary calculations like Essence pools but otherwise the increase extends to everything. In Rain's case, that means that while Forever is drawn, he is subject to Virtue compulsion by all four Virtues, which often lands him in hot water and makes him very reluctant to draw the blade. As a result, he tends to accumulate Limit more quickly while the blade is drawn, as he is forced to override these heroic (but often ill-advised) impulses - a side-effect of Forever's efforts to make him a better person that is entirely unintentional.
