The Sword of the Solar Wyrm

A ray of sunshine for a world which rarely sees that light unveiled by ash or obscuring cloud, the Sword of the Solar Wrym is usually embodied as a Greatsword, its blade composed of vertically linked, razor-sharp, imperishable golden scales, their edges glittering like forge-sparks seen through ice.   The number, condition, and nature of the scales changes from age to age and from tale to tale. This may be the embroidery of legend, or, like many Curia and Artefacts of power, the blade itself may shift in its appearance and tangible nature somewhat over eons.   At some times the sword has been said to be a Flail; each scale moving fluidly as if a great shining whip, curling around the shields and guards of its opponents to slash golden fire against their flesh.   In other sagas, the sword has even been said to be a hoop; a brutal chakram hurled from the arms and wrists of its wielder as they dance the dance of the sun.   (A popular theory amongst the Sophonts of Uud is that at least some of the Timeless Curia, those which seem never to age or suffer harm, exist both in our world and, somehow, beyond it, and that the tangible nature of these artifacts is akin to the shadow of a hand-cast upon paper, showing different aspects in our world as the hand opens, closes, shifts and turns.)   In all of its forms and stories, the Sword of the Solar Wyrm is a symbol of hope which banishes darkness and is particularly effective against the creatures of the dark of Old Esh, Daemons, and Undead especially, both of whom loathe the blade and fear to approach it.   Like many Curia, the powers of the sword are said to vary, from a simple magical blade in one tale to legends in which it exhibits a staggering range of abilities and influences, sometimes enough to cause the formation of a kind of cult around its bearer. Again, this may be the fungibility of Legend or it might be that the power of the Wielder of the blade and the subtlety of their attunement with it, allow them to discover and unveil more and greater powers as their relationship with the Sword deepens.   If there is any patterning of darkness to the sword, it comes through the attention it attracts, and perhaps, some darker-minded sophonts might claim, through the deluding power of hope itself.   And while the sword is extremely powerful against the spawn of the darkness of Old Esh, in these times, even they are few, and against the power of the Grey Entropic Wyrm, the sword, though still potent, is nowhere near the vector of near-divine energy it seems in other cases.   Gold burns bright against the dark, but only glimmers against the Grey.  

History

  The clearest record of says that the scales of the sword come from the Great Wyrm Kryzalvang-zinariya, a dragon of incomparable age and Ultimate Wisdom, guardian and optimate of a Great Realm of Esh, which, in an unknown time, fell deeply into darkness, its sun guttering and its stars extinguished like candleflames.   To save this realm from darkness, Kryzalvang-zinariya rose into the void between worlds and, muttering a murmured incantation of great power, seized their tail in their mouth, shaping a Golden ouroboros, a wheel of celestial gold.   Such was the wisdom and power of Kryzalvang-zinariya that they remained there, glittering with the purity of their own thoughts, acting as a hooped sun for many realms, and thereby preserving the life of many worlds.   Until the slow fall of Esh, and the disappearance of the dragons from the Real.   It was before its ascension as a hooped sun that Kryzalvang-zinariya gave up a handful of their scales and bestowed them upon the noblest of their followers, instructing them to craft them into a tool of Justice and a Symbol of Hope for All Time.   So it was done, and so the sword was wielded by the Avatars of the Wyrm, for all time. Through the fall of Esh, through the last great failed battles against Yggsrathaal, through the retreat to Blackwater and Uud, until the last of the Avatars died and the race passed into memory.   Then, lost and found and lost again over the centuries, borne through many a path made dark by the shadow of the sword’s own golden light.   In more recent times (the last few thousand years) the sword has often been recovered 'bound', that is, looped around, rather than stuck inside, something, with the difficulty of its recovery being the main test of the worthiness of its wielder.   At one time it was found wrapped around the base of a tall, glass-smooth obsidian pillar in the Waste, one beset by regular visitations from many monsters in manifold forms, each of which did everything they could prevent any access to the sword.   At another time it fell into the possession of the Gloom Queen Cectli who wore it as a golden belt and claimed that its presence restored life and vigor to her dying realm. She would not give it up, unless the asker could themselves lift the darkness cast upon her land, although, having dreamed the future, she said she would know this person when they arrived and surrendered the sword to them as they began, asking only that they fulfill her dream.   Fairytale Margin-Stories say the scales were once worn as a golden ring by an enormous giant who ruled their own kingdom out in the Wastes, though this is almost certainly fiction.   What would it be like for a reborn Avatar to wield the sword? Is it terrible to meet the memories of a failed and forgotten race? And what if it is your own race? Your own tragedy?   Would it not be utterly overwhelming? A voyage into memories, not your own, duties you did not fail and failures you did not commit? To re-live the fall of Esh and slow decay of a people.   For such a being the Sword of the Solar Wyrm might even be a blade of shame. It might even be noble to reject such an encounter, such a feeling.   Of course, no-one can say what will happen, the Avatars being so recently reborn....  

Powers Of The Scales

   

The Voice

  The simplest and most ever-present power of the Sword of the Solar Wyrm is that it has a voice and a mind within.   This voice speaks rarely, it seems as if the mind within the blade slumbers deeply and that it takes an enormous amount of energy for it to "wake up". The voice is heard more easily by the Wielder of the sword, if the sword considers them worthy, (which is not always the case). To them, it mutters like a mordant, sleepy, grumbling grandmother, ironic and unimpressed, its personality imperious and domineering.   though the sword has lived much of the history of Uud and Esh, and must know a great deal, good luck getting it to talk about any of it in detail. It is as if the memories are too much to bear, and the blade of scales prefers to keep its attention on the here-and-now, on what is useful, (and on the numerous weaknesses of its wielder).   to speak out loud takes enormous power from the sword, and when it does, it has a voice like a solar flare or the god of a mad prophet.   The sword knows, and despises, many daemons, having encountered, banished, and destroyed a great number of them over its existence. On a handful of occasions when in the presence of a demon, the sword has woken, even un-wielded, and roared out that Demons secret name, by which it might be commanded and destroyed, to all nearby.   No wonder they hate it so much    

Annihilating Darkness

  The Sword leaves murderous smoking, and in some cases, ever-burning wounds in the flesh of demons, devils, and the undead. Lesser versions of these creatures will simply incandesce on contact as if they were hit by the white phosphor. their eyes and mouths gout golden flame and then they go up like a bonfire of bad chemicals.   Few demons remain in Uud, and strangely, they have suffered as much from suffering as much from Yggsrathaal as the Gods, and unlike them, cannot enter the Divine Sleep.   Demons have to stay awake, and they HATE IT. Very few remain incarnate in coherent physical form. Instead, they sublimate into meditating darkness, ambient bad thoughts and the shadow of pain -like a gossamer caul cast over the world, darkening it imperceptibly, (or like the lingering smell of old vomit long since scrubbed away).   Exposure to the sword of the Solar Wyrm can cause demons to awaken, (relatively, it’s more like their attention was spread so thinly and so intermixed with the material world, plus they were meditating, that its almost as if they were asleep) and incarnate in frustrated rage.   Which seems bad, because wherever the sword goes demons keep popping into existence, pulling together out of nothing like black silk bunched in a glass fist. This, however, (Sophonts would argue), is good, potentially, in the long term, as the world in that place becomes lighter, with less of a vortex of horror and harm to its moral gravity.   This argument carries less weight with whoever is currently carrying the sword around, and even less than that with whoever is currently helping them.    

Lesser, And More Rarely Embodied Powers

  Healing - For some the Sword is said to illuminate the intellect, aiding the quest for knowledge, inspiration, and understanding. Especially for some with medical knowledge and aptitude, the Sword seems to have massively deepened their sensitivity, skill, intelligence and ability in the arts of healing   Gold! - Thieves and individuals of Low Character believe the Sword can lead the way to gold. And it can. The scales react with the noblest qualities in the Wielder, refining and purifying them, so only a truly, and utterly mediocre person, someone who's highest quality was simply lust for gold with nothing in them superior to, or greater than, that lust, would find themselves lead to gold by the sword. Who knows, you might be one of the lucky few?   On a few occasions, Legends claim that the sword has been able to return parched or ruined lands to life, like a rising sun. Plants re-growing, and animals becoming more vital and abundant. Though how this was done and what rare hero achieved it is utterly unknown.   The Legends speak also of the forgotten 'Dance of the Sun'. Here the Blade is embodied in its form of a flail or whip, and wielded by a person of rare nobility, purity, and great physical artistry. In the Dance of the Sun, the Legends say, the Flail of Scales moves so quickly and dangerously around the dancer that to approach them is certain death. The dancer must push themselves to their absolute limit, approaching something like a shamanic state, and perform every individual movement with exacting skill and full emotional expression.   But should they succeed, the Legends say they will attain a small sliver of the power of the Solar Wyrm in their bright, life-giving, and illuminating aspect.   Perhaps the saddest power of the Sword is that of restoring lost memories. But more on that later...      

Sub Artefact - The Sunrazor, Blade Of The Golden Scar

  A curious sub-legend of the Sword is of a minor item associate with it. This story claims that at some point, a piece snaps, or is snapped off, one of the scales. This fragment then forms a golden knife; the Sunrazor.   The Sunrazor is said to have a small expression of the power of the blade as a whole. But while the Sword of Scales itself is imperious and domineering, even unforgiving, and quite authoritarian, the Sunrazor is said to be chaotic, rebellious, irreverent, and to have the voice of a child.   The wielder of the Sunrazor very often ends up working either against or slightly at cross purposes to whoever wields the sword.   In these stories, the Sword itself wants nothing more than the return of its fragment and pursues it like a parent chasing an errant child.    

Curia Balance Of Power Politics In Blackwater

  A brief aside on the interrelationship between the control of Curia and politics in Blackwater.   Possession and controlled use of high-powered artifacts is part of the balance of power. If a nation or a Queendom has use of more than one - or if holds one that makes it "too powerful", (whatever that means relative to the current situation), it will come under serious pressure from their neighbors, the Tolerance, the Druids, etc, to give one up.   This can be by 'Archiving' it; putting it the Tolerance’s 'Library' - an actual, real vault system they have through which super-powerful artifacts are rotated and 'leaned out' to different actors for limited and various roles before being returned, (no one is thrilled at the Tolerance accumulating power in this way), or by bestowing it on a Quester themselves.   There have been, and are, wars over these items, their possession, and use (or disuse). These are referred to in History with the name of the Curia which provoked them, i.e. "The Fifth War of the Sword of the Solar Wyrm", (though the individual wars may have nothing in common other than the presence of this item).    

The Memory Cult - The Illuminated Knights

  One of the darkest tales of the Sword of the Solar Wyrm came about through its ability to restore memory.   In that particular incarnation of the Sword, anyone wielding it, and anyone who could remain in its direct presence, would be slowly healed of any damage to their memories or their mind.   But this effect only lasted in the direct presence of the Sword. Once they left, or if it left them, these healed individuals sank back into darkness.   So came about the Order of Illuminated Knights.   Each was the victim of some terrible memory loss or mental trauma, either from the Children of Yggsrathaal or from some other cause. Because the sheer number of people who could be around the Sword was seriously limited, any member of the Illuminated Knights needed to fight for their place in the group.   Sometimes, by accident or design, this fight was to the death. Should the petitioner win, and gain one of the limited places around the Golden Scales, only then would their memory and selfhood return, and they would fully understand what they had done do gain their place, either force out another at least as deserving of being healed as they or even to have killed them.   The Knights did well in the world, they were dedicated to heroism, and lead by one wielding the Sword of the Solar Wyrm, as well as being each, individually, extremely dangerous individuals. Many evils were defeated by their hands. It was a moral necessity to all of them that they not stop or slow for a moment in their endless Questing, for only by doing the greatest amount of good possible could they balance out the dark moral exchange they had already made.   The Knights did well, but perhaps we’re not good themselves. At least, they were not a happy group, though they worked together with terrifying effectiveness.