Winning Entry 3: Vorpal Sword

I'm just extremely happy for having a design chosen. And even more, this is probably my favorite or at least in the top 3 of all 28 entries I submitted.

A bit more background: what is a Vorpal Sword for me? Well my first exposure to the concept was not D&D actually, but the original inspiration - Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky poem (that I had memorized as a kid). In the poem, the Vorpal blade went "snicker snack" as it went through the head of the monstrous Jabberwock. It spoke so much to me as a child that I had always tried to imagine what kind of a blade it would be.

Firstly, I knew it had to be the sharpest possible blade because if you're going out to hunt a monster, it's not just flesh and blood against your sword. You need to go through monster hide, bone, muscle, sinew, all manner of tissue... after all, just a snicker snack left him dead and with his head the young man came galumphing back.

Secondly, as some might know my original favorite sword was Prince Philip's sword of truth in Sleeping Beauty. In the original cartoon, the blade was very broad, hacking through the entire thorn forest and ultimately killed Maleficent in her dragon form by piercing her heart after a mighty throw. This also speaks to me as dragon-slaying seems to require a broad but acutely tipped blade.

Thirdly, I am a historical sword nut and I have to draw my inspiration from somewhere real even if it's fantasy. Now one of my favorite ever swords is the Harriet Dean sword from the armory of Alexandria. Its reproductions by Albion and more importantly some insanely talented smiths like Peter Johnsson, Michael Pikula, and Mateus Sulowski definitely inspired the overall look. But I always thought these looked a bit fat... too practical for a sword that's required to kill a monster beyond human comprehension. Cue major adjustments to these designs:








Blade

First adjustment was keeping the extremely wide base but giving it curvature to accentuate the fantasy element. I also happen to like this kind of concave profile taper and I feel that it keep the weight at the base better but more aggressively reduces mass and hence giving you a faster sword at the expense of some toughness (again, this isn't meant to be a sword that will survive brutal tests - it simply has to be stupidly sharp to kill a monster).

Second, the geometry would be hollow ground or at least flattened diamond to keep a lot of stiffness. While the blade should be a good cutter (snicker snack), it is meant to thrust beautifully as well through monster hide.

Third, the final acute drop in profile towards the point makes its tip the most dangerous and sharpest part. The angle has to be extreme since the depth of penetration required against monsters is greater than that against humans.

Last, the polish has to be high, almost mirror and glasslike to be more in tune with the super-sharp like obsidian type of look.

Guard

The guard is a big diversion from the long steel/ironguards of the historical pieces. I didn't want the guard to get in the way since the sword isn't meant to bind against other swords but purely cut and pierce through. Thus the guard length is just enough to stop the blade from overpenetrating and getting stuck. It's also brass because the golden hue looks more magical and again, strength is not a high priority. The design of the guard is actually quite angular, deviating from the historical pieces because I am emphasizing sharpness. It could also be used as a close quarters weapon.

Hilt

The hilt is two part because I think a gold colored brass ring is perfect for this fantasy sword - I've had a sword like that and I really liked it. The wood is also bare because BCI has access to amazingly beautiful kamagong wood that would give the sword a more natural, faerie magic-ish feel.

The second part is blue because I thought it would make for a nice contrast to the gold and brown, but that's easily interchangeable with any other color. You could go subdued with maroon, bright with green, regal with red or purple, and even stick to a different piece of wood with texture.

Pommel

The pommel is another deviation. I chose my base to be a fishtail pommel since I feel these look the most "magical" of pommels. Brass again for the bright and enchanted look. The part at the end is a peen, though to be fair I don't mind nut construction so long as it's well made. I just liked it peened because the tang will need to be strong and thick given the massive blade.

As for other angles Paul, I'll work on some more drawings tomorrow.

A couple of quick sketches to help imagine the sword:

Currently I am working on adding the detailed backstory on the swords to the dedicated site - and am a little stuck with this one, so would like some feedback on my ideas on how it can be incorporated into the Fantasy World we are building.

INITIAL THOUGHTS: The Vorpal Sword is an elven weapon made from 'Elfsteel or Quicksteel' in the elven homelands. Unlike most other steels, elf steel (which is only found at one location in the elven mountains) is actually like liquid mercury in its natural state, but by a process known only to the elves, can be poured cold into a mould and become solid.

The Vorpal blade was made 500 years ago by this process to hunt a 'Jabberwocky' like creature that was stalking the elven woods, a beast immune to magical attacks and whose hide turned away even the most powerful magical blades.

The lone hunter received the Vorpal sword to challenge the beast, and with its extreme sharpness - which was said to be so keen that it could cut through almost anything - snicker snaked its head off. But on the way back, something happened to him - the sword was lost - and we need to figure out where it went and why..

The suggested magical properties of the sword are as follows:

• Able to cut through almost anything. Will cut through all normal weapons and armor with ease and cannot be blocked by a non magical weapon.
• Seeks the neck - the blade dances and has a life of its own, guiding the hand at precisely the right moment to snicker snack an opponents neck.
  
• The sword has a spirit inside it that is good and will NOT cut an innocent person, but will return to a liquid state and 'splash' through them harmlessly. This also means that the sword will not accidentally harm the wielder.
• Scabbard is like a dagger with sword handle protruding as the sword returns to a liquid state while sheathed.

With regards to the actual 'Jabberwocky' - we want to be careful with copyright here and do not wish to upset the Lewis-Carol estate, so I think the beast should have a different name, though a reference to snick snacking is going to have to be in there something as a nod to him.

So in short, it should be a legendary one off sword, not one of many 'Vorpal blades' churned at out at the Vorpal Forge. 

Thoughts? Feel free to take a different direction, but I think that this backstory is a decent starting seed point.

Alright.

So this is a weapon made by the elves right? To kill a creature that even they couldn't handle regularly?

So let's make the creature first: the sword will be made specifically for this foe right? So it's unique properties should counter whatever the creature has.



so I read the original Jabberwocky poem. It has: Claws. Jaws. Flaming eyes. A snout to "whiffle" with, and it burbles. And it as a singular creature can be enough of a threat to elves that they made a unique blade just to kill it.

We can infer that it is magical, and immune to magic or else a wizard could have done it in. I'm thinking it could have been a punishment from the elves own deity. Like cannot hurt like, right? It's probably very fast too or else it would have trouble with standard fantasy elves.

The picture in my head is something like an alligator.



Maybe give it longer legs for extra creepy effect, but keep it thick. Hard to cut the head off of.

With the eyes it could be like a basilisk or medusa in that the glare makes you freeze, a deadly effect for anyone, even an elf.



So this thing is terrorizing settlements, magic glances off of it, and every swordsman that tries to get close is petrified and crushed in the jaws. So they make a sword - the sword is naturally sharp, as in no enchantment adds to the edge - they use hardened quicksteel for the best result. The enchantment doesn't affect the beast at all but instead affects the wielder, putting them in a trance where they aren't aware enough to be affected by the gaze. "Uffish thought" if you will.

The warrior goes out into the woods, is attacked, and without thinking cuts the beast's head off taking four strikes because of the thickness of the hide and neck. "One-two, one-two, snicker-snack."

After a celebration the sword is hidden. Two possibilities I see - one the sword was designed to kill creatures of the same bent as the elves and so they hid it away to keep it out of the wrong hands, or like my previous post it ended up killing someone it shouldn't have - either quicksilver isn't friendly-sensing and someone was killed by a tranced-out wielder, or the effect of the sword builds up and causes the wielder to loose their mind through prolonged use.

So what we have is a very sharp sword that makes the wielder immune to mental effects, but will cause madness if not stored or hidden between uses?

Just adding a bit to the lore page: feel free to disregard. =)

ive been trying to come up with a name for the creature, thats unique yet in the theme of the jabberwocky and the best name i could think of is the "wickaswitch". or maybe thats the sound the sword makes?

Thought id do a doodle of the jabberwocky based on the alligator concept. Just a quick one at work. Didnt have an eraser on hand so please pardon the smudges.