Vorpal Sword

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Description

A vorpal blade is a powerful weapon that grants extensive additional power to a heroic warrior, as well as putting even an unskilled fighter on par with a skilled soldier.

Artisans in Wintermark especially like to inscribe the rune Jotra on a biting blade along with one or both of the runes Verys or Hirmok. In Dawn these swords are often called Gryphon Talons.

Rules

• Form: One-handed Weapon. Despite the name any one-handed weapon may be a vorpal sword.
• Effect: Twice per day, you may call CLEAVE with this weapon.
• Materials: Crafting a vorpal sword requires thirteen units of orichalcum, seven ingots of green iron, and four ingots each of weltsilver and beggar's lye. It takes one month to make one of these items.

The battle raged around them but both magicians remained perfectly still. The barbarian's face was contorted with rage as he desperately fought against the magic that held them both in place. It was his own spell and yet still he fought it, the inevitable response, so unhelpful, so difficult to unlearn. The true danger occurs in the moment the spell first strikes, but her sentinels were well trained and had reacted instantly throwing themselves forward and pushing the line back, separating the two standing figures from their allies. Now the only thing that remained was to wait.

There was no need to count the seconds, better to relax and prepare. The ignorant often assume that poise is easy to maintain when paralyzed. She remembered the long years she spent learning to calm the mind as well as the body - to wait for the perfect moment to strike. This fight was already over, her opponent was already defeated, he simply didn't realize that yet. His struggles were the last gasps of a fish pulled from the water, floundering frantically for breath.

She watched his confidence bleeding from his eyes as they stood locked together. He ran through spells in his mind and settled on one. A repel probably, an entangle perhaps. Predictable - and under the circumstances entirely rational. If he could just complete his spell before she could complete her own then victory would be his. They were both magicians, what else could they do?

The barbarian's grasp of his staff tightened and his jaw dropped open as the spell released him. She reacted instantly to her enemies movement, breaking poise to begin her own strike. Her mage staff started its slow fall towards the earth the moment her hands left it and dropped to her waist. A single fluid motion to pull the short blade and drive it towards the magician's gut, her target cheerfully outlined by the gaudy decoration on his belt. Such a small weapon, so easy to overlook, so inconsequential for someone who has been convinced their opponent is just a magician.

She activated the Gryphon Talon as the long knife struck the belt. The magic parted his mage armour like tissue paper opening his belly and allowing his guts to spill forth. She stooped to kneel as she stepped back, allowing her to wipe the blade clean on the wet grass, before sheathing it once more at her belt. She collected her staff as she stood, the barbarian distracted by his agony and his weakening grip on his own entrails.

In Urizen, we are never just a magician. She allowed herself the moment of pride as she rejoined her sentinels.