 |
| Aranalar by Luigi Castellani |
Aranalar possesses a single magical ability, from which it receives its name. So long as the sword is held, its wielder is completely immune to the melee attacks of any Unmade of equal or lesser level than himself. This immunity does not apply to either ranged or magical attacks, however. The ability has no duration and is usable at will, so long as the sword is held. Sheathed, Aranalar no longer provides this immunity. Likewise, this immunity extends only to the current wielder of the sword and to no one else.
The precise date of Aranalar’s forging is unknown. However, its magical ability suggests that it was created for use during either the Consolidation of Light (1:1–4) or the Daybreak Wars (1:15–25). The third book of Samakan’s Lesser Chronicle of Dawn makes mention of the warrior Besu Tankuli, who, during the Siege of Itixtar, emerged seemingly unscathed after facing off against “an Unmade host the likes of which none have seen since the Epoch of Shadows.” Samakan notes that Besu wielded “a mighty blade, whose enchantment protected him against the twisted creations of the Unmakers on that day.” General Daljan Chayusi (1:301–2:5) unambiguously wielded Aranalar during his career, most famously at the Battle of Uchiran (1: 344). Upon his retirement, he gave the sword to his son, Dalen (1:326–2:3), who was murdered by persons unknown, possibly for his role in the Second Archontic Succession Crisis (1:358). Aranalar was then stolen and disappeared from history, though rumors of its location or current wielder continue to this day.
I love reading the background to a magical item like this; how would you reveal it to a player that ended up finding this sword? Do they have to find a knowledgeable sage type, spend time in a library, wait until someone recognises it, or do you just skip straight to telling them the cool details?
ReplyDeleteI use lots of different approaches to this sort of thing. In some cases, the background is never learned. In others, it comes about because someone else recognizes the weapon and informs the characters of its history. And in other cases still, the characters seek it out.
DeleteI love this kind of stuff. It reminds me of the "Blades of the Realms" article in Dragon which I thoroughly loved at the time.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great way to bring the setting alive.
For many (perhaps most) magic items, some of the background should be in the foreground (public knowledge) to motivate treasure seekers. For example, I've never found the Holy Grail, but I know a lot about it. Spaniards never found the Fountain of Youth, but they "knew" a lot about it. Same goes for countless medieval relics. Item first, knowledge second, seems out of order?
ReplyDeleteSo, just how clumsy is it to try to use one of these osuna when you're on foot? Likely situation to come up if you wind up in melee with a bunch of lesser Unmade, since they can still kill the mount even if they can't touch the rider.
ReplyDeleteBetting you can't be grabbed, tripped or grappled but do disarming attempts count as melee attacks for purposes of the item's ability? And how about exotic stuff like acid blood spurting all over you?
The osuna is similar to the historical kopis, which, from what I've gathered, weren't unwieldy on foot so much as less effective, because their blades were designed for chopping from above rather than thrusting. In game terms, an osuna suffers some mild penalties when used from a position other than mounted.
DeleteYou're correct about grabbing, tripping, or grappling. I never really thought about acidic blood, to be honest, but my initial thought is that the special ability wouldn't protect against that. I may need to think about it more.
...seems to work alright for the Ghurkas on foot. Though kukris are typically shorter than this, I suspect it would be manageable.
DeleteI have to be honest - I can't figure out for the life of me how one would wield that thing - the blade edge seems like it's on the wrong side (like I know anything about sword fighting in real life)
ReplyDelete