Winning Entry 4: Castir
Sept 9, 2017 12:37:26 GMT
Post by sevicler on Sept 9, 2017 12:37:26 GMT
You know, after reading through Paul's website currently under construction, I suddenly realized something: This is the only mundane sword in the fantasy world.
Flame of the Host/Brand of the Fallen: Made by GODS(!). Turns its bearer into invincible physical gods/manifestation of gods on earth.
Aelutian Gladius: Functionally indestructible, ignores armor. Can be used as a prayer tool. Also mass produced and used by soldiers numbering 60000. Wow.
Sword of Danu: Sentient and autonomous. Powered by moonlight. Can talk to its bearer and give ancient advice.
Vorpal Sword: Liquid sword. Imagine the T-1000's arm-blade from Terminator 2 in fantasy. Yeah. Also has a spirit that will not harm 'good people'.
Goblin Knicker: Inherently poisonous and powered by moonlight. Makes people scared and unable to sleep. And controls the undead during a 'blood moon'. Also teleports to its owner's hands if its thrown.
Orc King War-Cleaver: Blood magic. Also is an autonomous boomerang for some reason. Gets more powerful the more it kills.
Odin's Oar: Contains the essence of a demigod. Slows down time (wat). Makes its bearer immune to magic. Also indestructible. Preserves the memories and soul of its wielder so that any future wielder would gain access to their skills and knowledge. (Yo dawg, I heard you like magic swords but dislike magic, so I made an anti-magic magic sword so you can be magical without being magical.)
Lhasian energy sword: Jedi Lightsaber. Enough said.
Castir: A run-of-the-mill carbon steel blade forged by a normal smith in a normal workshop. Its only advantage is the fact that the Castir is easily mass produced.
But so is the Gladius.
That's an interesting dynamic, don't you agree? Story-wise, this makes the Escians interesting because they somehow are able to fight opponents with magic blades and their special properties without actually dying in droves and still maintain their warrior-culture. And actually winning the current war with the Empire.
Practicality wise...Poor Escians. It's really difficult to justify their current victories. I think I'm gonna add an arbitrary 'special ability' for the Escians.
Not for the Castir, mind you.
Escian Anti-Magic Talismans: Now, because the Escians have no 'super-special magic blade' in their inventory and that they basically despise the use of magic at large, they began developing new methods to counter everybody else's super-special sword. The current mass production Talismans worn by the Escian soldiers are the focus of their attention.
The Talismancers of Escia began working on a new mass production model. Now, instead of simply protecting its owner from magic spells, these new talismans also affect their enemies' magic swords. The talismans disrupt any magic blade's more exotic properties such as a goblin sword's inherent poison being negated or the Gladius' armor-piercing ability being greatly reduced.
Of course, the talisman's ability to affect the super-special-swords are affected by chance. It doesn't always work as intended. The more enchantments and magic a sword is imbued with, the less likely these talismans would affect it.
But this is no incentive for people to pour magic into a sword. Making magical swords should always be a lengthy and expensive endeavor. Especially for those blades completely immune to these talismans.
Your suggestions are welcome.
(This post is copy-pasted in the Escian vs Empire thread)
Flame of the Host/Brand of the Fallen: Made by GODS(!). Turns its bearer into invincible physical gods/manifestation of gods on earth.
Aelutian Gladius: Functionally indestructible, ignores armor. Can be used as a prayer tool. Also mass produced and used by soldiers numbering 60000. Wow.
Sword of Danu: Sentient and autonomous. Powered by moonlight. Can talk to its bearer and give ancient advice.
Vorpal Sword: Liquid sword. Imagine the T-1000's arm-blade from Terminator 2 in fantasy. Yeah. Also has a spirit that will not harm 'good people'.
Goblin Knicker: Inherently poisonous and powered by moonlight. Makes people scared and unable to sleep. And controls the undead during a 'blood moon'. Also teleports to its owner's hands if its thrown.
Orc King War-Cleaver: Blood magic. Also is an autonomous boomerang for some reason. Gets more powerful the more it kills.
Odin's Oar: Contains the essence of a demigod. Slows down time (wat). Makes its bearer immune to magic. Also indestructible. Preserves the memories and soul of its wielder so that any future wielder would gain access to their skills and knowledge. (Yo dawg, I heard you like magic swords but dislike magic, so I made an anti-magic magic sword so you can be magical without being magical.)
Lhasian energy sword: Jedi Lightsaber. Enough said.
Castir: A run-of-the-mill carbon steel blade forged by a normal smith in a normal workshop. Its only advantage is the fact that the Castir is easily mass produced.
But so is the Gladius.
That's an interesting dynamic, don't you agree? Story-wise, this makes the Escians interesting because they somehow are able to fight opponents with magic blades and their special properties without actually dying in droves and still maintain their warrior-culture. And actually winning the current war with the Empire.
Practicality wise...Poor Escians. It's really difficult to justify their current victories. I think I'm gonna add an arbitrary 'special ability' for the Escians.
Not for the Castir, mind you.
Escian Anti-Magic Talismans: Now, because the Escians have no 'super-special magic blade' in their inventory and that they basically despise the use of magic at large, they began developing new methods to counter everybody else's super-special sword. The current mass production Talismans worn by the Escian soldiers are the focus of their attention.
The Talismancers of Escia began working on a new mass production model. Now, instead of simply protecting its owner from magic spells, these new talismans also affect their enemies' magic swords. The talismans disrupt any magic blade's more exotic properties such as a goblin sword's inherent poison being negated or the Gladius' armor-piercing ability being greatly reduced.
Of course, the talisman's ability to affect the super-special-swords are affected by chance. It doesn't always work as intended. The more enchantments and magic a sword is imbued with, the less likely these talismans would affect it.
But this is no incentive for people to pour magic into a sword. Making magical swords should always be a lengthy and expensive endeavor. Especially for those blades completely immune to these talismans.
Your suggestions are welcome.
(This post is copy-pasted in the Escian vs Empire thread)