Teflonshugenja/Forever
Artifact •••
Spd 5 Acc 4 Dmg 8L Def 3 Rate 4 (these stats include orichalcum material bonus)
The daiklaive named Forever is a kingly blade, originally forged for one of the Rising Suns during the early days of the Primordial War before the arts of artifact creation reached the heights of the High First Age. 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 a shining alloy of steel and imperishable materials. Through a quirk of the blade's composition, it appears as shining steel unless held in open sunlight, when it flashes brilliantly golden to the eye. Bright orichalcum 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 owner is Rain, and the bond between them is nearly unbreakable. 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. Drawing the daiklaive from its sheath will always initiate flashbacks, though they rarely interfere with the business at hand. Rain was reluctant to draw Forever for some time due to the disorienting nature of the memories it would provoke, though as time has passed and he has come to accept his heritage this effect appears to have faded. How much Forever remembers is unknown - theoretically, Rain could attempt to delve into the memories of his many former lives in search of knowledge otherwise lost to the ages, though what effects such an undertaking might have on his state of mind are impossible to say. It is possible that echoes of some ancient Solar, long dead, might attempt to reassert themselves and live again through him - a frightening proposition. For this reason, Rain has never tried.
In addition to being a deadly weapon, Forever offers its owner two other significant benefits. While being wielded in combat, the current owner of the blade does not suffer from wound penalties - the blade mutes the pain and lends him strength to fight on in spite of injury. This 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 also remembers the heroes that have wielded it in previous incarnations, and urges its owner to greater heights of virtue. 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 - a completely unintended side-effect of Forever's attempts to make him a better man.
