Swords of the Arvorians

Art by Ian Miller

Standard Magic Swords

The Arvorians are dangerous and powerful warriors and mages, so it is not surprising that they have found techniques to forge and enchant powerful magic weapons. The Arvorians can, of course, create the standard Sword +1 and Sword +2, often using Hellforged Iron which gives their weapons a dark, nearly black, sheen. Hellforged Iron can be found around the polar portal at the current north pole of Mystara, so mining expeditions are organised by Arvorians to find and retrieve this metal. Other recognisable enchantments can be placed on these Hellforged Iron swords, including particular effectiveness against certain creature types such as dragons or lycanthropes. The Arvorians have had centuries to experiment with such crafts and so some of their swords will have enchantments that humans will not have seen, such as Dancing Swords, Swords of Sharpness and even there are rumours of Vorpal Swords being wielded by the most powerful Arvorians. 

Soulbound Blades

These swords have the soul of a deceased Arvorian bound into them. Sometimes the soul resides in a gemstone in either the pommel or the hilt, or sometimes in the metal blade itself. The soul is still relatively sentient, and as such soulbound blades will have an intelligence, an ego and ambitions and desires that manifest as a special purpose. The sword is forged while the Arvorian is still alive and as the Arvorian's body expires (sometimes natural causes, sometimes deliberately) a ritual takes place that transfers the soul from the dead body to the sword. It is rumoured that if the ritual goes awry then the sword becomes a cursed sword of some sort (Sword -2 Cursed, owner cannot get rid of it without Remove Curse spell). Note that these swords often share the name of the Arvorian spirit now inside it. 

Ketatheukis

• Sword +1 in the hands of most races
• Sword +2 in the hands of an Arvorian

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  Art by Ian Miller
  

  Intelligence: 12, Ego 14, alignment Neutral towards Arvorians, Chaotic to other races, communicates by speaking Arvorian language or (in hands of an Arvorian) empathic feelings with its wielder
• Ketatheukis can allow the wielder to telepathically communicate with any Arvorian within 100ft
• Against enemies of the Arvorians Ketatheukis can exude an aura of fear. All NPC opponents have -2 to their morale and anyone struck a damaging blow by Ketatheukis must save vs Spells or be hit by a Fear spell. The sword decides who counts as an enemy of the Arvorians. 
• Ketatheukis was an Arvorian politican and general who wanted to see the Arvorian race strong again and he was responsible for several important victories against other races, including humans, elves and ogres. Becoming one with a magical sword was his best way of continuing to protect and promote the Arvorians. If the wielder is not Arvorian then Ketatheukis will tolerate them as long as they do not attack Arvorians. If the wielder demonstrates they are an enemy of the Arvorians then Ketakeuthis will seek to betray them or lead them into lethal situations. 

Tannaheiga 

• Sword +2
• Intelligence 15, Ego 16, Align Chaotic, speaks by Telepathy 40ft radius or by speaking Arvorian language 
• Tannaheiga can cast Detect Magic once per turn and can enable her wielder to Read Magic once per turn. 
• Once per day Tannaheiga can be used to Dispel Magic as if a 12th level caster
• Tannaheiga was an Arcane Knight who was fascinated by magic. Tannaheiga still wants to collect magic items and spellbooks, and will encourage and expect her wielder to do so. She has no respect for ownership or the rights of others, and will encourage armed robbery if it will lead to more magic items. She can be a useful source of arcane knowledge, albeit with a chaotic and selfish slant to her answers. If her wielder is not cooperative or is not a spellcaster then she will try to find a new wielder quickly. 

Gullishaar

• Sword +1 +3 vs Lawful creatures
• Intelligence 13, Ego 15, alignment Chaotic, speaks Arvorian or empathy with its wielder. 
• Once per turn the wielder may cast Detect Law 
• Once per day on a successful hit, Gullishaar can cause insanity - the target must save vs Spells or be affected by a Confusion spell. 
• Once per day Gullishaar can shoot out a ray up to 30ft and target one Lawful creature. That creature must save vs Spells or be Charmed for 1 day, doing as either Gullishaar or its wielder asks. 
• Gullishaar was a powerful priest of the Scions of the Outer Dark and a fierce opponent of Law. Thus when his soul passed into this sword, he still seeks to cause Chaos and thwart and destroy the forces of Law. Gullishaar will encourage its wielder to travel Norwold to find and slay Lawful creatures and to cause havoc to those who do not follow Chaos.  If a Lawful being tries to wield Gullishaar then the sword will cause 1hp unholy damage per turn until the wielder discards Gullishaar or discards the sword. 

Demonbound Blades

Even more sinister and dangerous than the soulbound blades, the demonbound blades are, as the name suggests, hosts for demons summoned from the Planes of Chaos and bound into service. As many demonic names are unpronounceable by most mortals, these swords are given more evocative names in the Common tongue.  

The Blade of the Corroding Beast

• Sword +2
• Intelligence 10, Ego 14, alignment Chaotic, communicates by empathy with its wielder 
• Any creature hit by this blade takes normal weapon damage and also has a corrupted wound. This will continue to cause 1d4 acid damage per round for 6 rounds after being hit.  
• If the Blade of the Corroding Beast is wielded by a Chaotic creature then once per day the sword can be commanded to shoot forth a linear jet of acid that reach out to 40ft in front of the wielder. If any creatures are in this line they will be hit for 4d10 acid damage, or half damage if a saving throw vs Wands and Rays is successful. 
• The Blade of the Corroding Beast can devour a magic weapon or suit of armour if placed in contact with it. This happens over the course of an hour so does not happen in the heat of combat. However, the Blade of the Corroding Beast requires one magic weapon or piece of armour per month or else it refuses to function to its fullest, becoming a regular Sword +2

Claymore of the Ravening Hordes 

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  Art by Ian Miller

  Two-Handed Sword +2
• Intelligence 14, Ego 18, Alignment Chaotic, Communicates in Arvorian, Orcish, Goblinish and Gnoll languages
• Wielder always has a charisma of 18 when dealing with orcs, goblins, hobgoblins and gnolls
• Wielder can cast Charm Person 1/day - target suffers -3 to saving throw if an orc, goblin, hobgoblin or gnoll
• The sword will encourage its wielder to find and raise armies of chaotic humanoids to overwhelm the forces of Law and civilization. To this end it can gradually attract orcs, goblins, hobgoblins and gnolls to itself and its wielder. Refusal to go along with this will cause the Claymore to attract humanoids anyway but the charisma increase is reversed (Cha 3) and the humanoids will attack the wielder on sight.  

Sword of Enervatic Draining

• Sword +2
• Intelligence 10, Ego 13, alignment Chaotic, communicates by empathy with wielder
• On a successful hit the target suffers normal damage and also is afflicted with a -1 to hit and -1 to damage. This is cumulative with multiple hits. Undead, constructs and elemental creatures do not suffer this penalty. 
• Any humanoid slain by this sword will become a Shadow
• Once per day the wielder can cast Darkness 15ft radius (duration 1 turn, range 60ft)
• The Sword of Enervatic Draining is hungry and its hunger is sated by draining strength and energy from victims. If "fed" once per week or more the sword can be wielded normally. If starved for more than a week the sword will try use its ego to force the wielder to attack a random target so the sword may feed again.