Thorn's Chronicle: Val'kira Arms and Armor
by Robert J. Nuttman, Jr.Uther’s dying wish that was his daughters be protected from any harm on the battlefield, that they should live on at all costs.
Val’kira ensured that wish came true, pouring every bit of his metalcraft and magecraft into the making of armor befitting the heiresses of the empire -- an empire they had every intention of fighting for just as had their father.
So Val’kira crafted two pairs of bracers, one of silver, one of gold, each spun in swirling, delicate traceries of seemingly molten metal. At first glance, it seems impossible that they could even support their own weight and keep their shape, yet they have turned aside countless Afridhi swords and spears, been bathed in dragonflame and rimed with the blackest ice from within the Fusion Boundary, survived the millennia to the present day without a scratch, score or scorch mark.
Matching the bracers was a circlet, crafted in the same fashion.
Worn together, the set functions as bracers of protection +3, with a continuous protection from normal missiles effect surrounding the wearer. The bracers or circlet alone only function at a +1 enchantment.
The bracers and circlets have mountings for ornamental gems, and the girls were never seen in public without trace of either the circlet or bracers. Only the Regent, and a handful of wizards knew their true purpose, and only the Fetch knew of the deeper purpose for which Uther had them crafted.
Rather than set them with routine gemstones, the Fetch had the small cache of dragonstones passed down through the Royal Family cut and grafted into the bracers and circlets, shrouding the twins in layer upon layer of some of the deepest magics known in the land.
Val’kira also crafted weapons, having studied with some of the greatest dwarven smiths in the Stormkiller Mountains. Perhaps not his greatest achievement, but the most ingenious was Andahar’s Edge. Incorporating the features of a Blackmoor longblade and a scorpion-tail scourge, the Edge allowed the user to engage foes from a distance, wearing them down before closing in to finish them off. Uther's daughter was perhaps the most famous of Edge wielders, and it is from her that the swords took their name.
A miniature winch and spool of ironwire joins the slide-mounted segments of the sword's blade, holding them tight against each other so the weapon can be used as a longsword or broadsword. Releasing the catch unspools the wiring, and the blade disjoins, separating out into between 12 and 15 segments joined by one to one and a half feet of ironwire cabling. Thusly, the weapon can be used as a heavy-gauge whip.
With the blade segmented and extended, an Edge has a reach of up to 30 feet. With proper training, a user can entangle, trip, and disarm opponents.
Weapon Mastery notes: User must devote two slots to use the sword to its fullest potential: one slot for “normal sword” and another for “whip.” A user must have a Strength of 13 or greater to wield Andahar’s Edge due to the bulk and heft of the weapon. The “whip” deals damage equal to a dagger at equivalent Mastery levels.
Demoncutter
The older of the twins, golden-eyed Leansethar has tinkered with her Andahar’s Edge over the years. It is an Andhar’s Edge +1, +3 vs. summoned creatures. On command, it will burst into golden-green fire, inflicting an additional 1d8 points of damage on a successful hit. She has modified the scorpion-tail’s spring mechanism so that she can fire the tip of the sword at an opponent within an unobstructed line of sight within 30’ (as if from a hand crossbow). This can only be done once per primer charge, which takes 10 minutes to rework through the spring- and cog-workings of the mechanism.
- Leansethar’s Fury: At the cost of an experience level, her sword will nullify a demon’s Anti Magic effect within a 30’ radius burst of ghostly greenish fire for 3 turns.