Soul Bound

1            Soul Bound

1.1          Finding her Feet

1.1.5        An Inscrutable Mastermind

1.1.5.5      Nothung

Suor Isabella was about to go into a meeting when they caught up with her, but she took the time to hand Kafana an engraved silver case about twice the size of her palm with a pleased expression on her face and a quick “thank you”, and then detail a waiting acolyte to take them to Fra Rodolfo with orders for Rodolfo and his team to help them however he could. From what Kafana could overhear, someone had asked the Sanctum for a ruling on a very controversial point, and Isabella was girding herself to win a big argument. She whispered a quick “good luck with the meeting”, and they headed off after the acolyte.

Rodolfo turned out to be the Sanctum’s runesmith, based in a circular room off the main smithy and armoury. The floor was mostly taken up with a complex hexagonal rune diagram, laid out in lines of different coloured tiles, each a hexagon about 6 cm across. It must have taken years to create. In the very center of the diagram was a large hexagonal anvil, made of brightly polished metal. Against one wall was a bookshelf and a writing desk overflowing with pages containing detailed drawings.

Rodolfo himself was a giant of a man, easily 2.25 meters tall, stripped to the waist and covered in sweat and soot. The hair of his jutting black beard looked like it could scratch paint. He waved them over, a scowl on his face, but lightened slightly when the acolyte relayed the Guardian’s orders and positively beamed when Tomsk produced the scaling longsword and explained their needs.

“Never seen one of these before, but I’ve heard of similar. Glad you came. I can’t stand timewasters, but this is a challenge worth spending time on.” he dived into a book and double checked a couple of pages, before turning back to them.

“I think your best option is to enchant it with the element of order. Three reasons.”

“Firstly, you say this is a long term project. Something like this is nearly impossible to repair. When the durability runs out, that’s it. Well, at minimum, enchanting it with order will give it the property: INDESTRUCTIBLE. Which, as it happens, is a prerequisite for it later becoming a unique legendary item.”

“Secondly, because if Cov deems you worthy and we get a critical success, instead of just the ‘of order’ suffix, you might get the ‘of justice’ suffix. That’s got its downside. You’ll do less damage than usual to Covadan, and no damage at all to sentients whom Cov deems to be innocent. But if you are fighting in defence of the innocent, if you are fighting for justice, and especially if you are fighting evil such as those sworn to Bel, you’ll do much more damage than usual. And that will scale as you go up level, because it is a percentage of your base damage. The worse the foe, the more hopeless the odds, the greater the difference in elemental alignment, the higher the percentage.”

“Thirdly, because as a priest of Cov in Cov’s own Sanctum, I get a whopping large bonus to succeeding at this particular enchantment. If you ever want to have it, now’s the time. You can also up the odds by Soul Binding the sword to you and giving it a name as part of the ritual.”

“What do you say?”

Tomsk went down on one knee, and presented his longsword to Rodolfo formally, saying: “By the name granted to me, Tomsk Capitano, I swear to Cov that I shall always try to stand against evil and for the protection of this world.”

Wellington asked, humbly: “As a fellow rune mage, would it be ok if I looked at your intended design, just in case I’m able to make any positive suggestions?”

Kafana added: “I too would like to contribute. If it won’t distract, I can sing a buff that will improve your chances, and I have here a piece of jewelry that I can loan you for the ritual.” she opened the case, took a +3 herself, gave a +3 to Wellington and gave the +5 to Rodolfo. He looked at it, and whistled softly.

“Well then, let’s do this thing properly.” he sent the acolyte off to fetch the 6 mages of his support team, and started talking technical details with Wellington over at the desk. Kafana used the time to think about lyrics, but she didn’t have to think long. She went over Tomsk, who was scratching his head.

“If you’re not already set on a name, please could you pick ‘Nothung’? It is a name with an honourable lineage and means that which will save him in time of need.”

Tomsk smiled: “Agreed! How did you know I was puzzling over a name?”

Kafana: “Your sense of naming always sucked. If left to you, the poor thing would end up named ‘mighty wang whacker’ and Cov would withhold his blessings out of embarrassment.”

Tomsk laughed easily: “True, true.”

She went back to her picked position, slipped Harlequin’s ring on her other hand, tested the room’s acoustics and warmed up her voice. Six priests filed into the room, each holding rune decorated staves taller than they were, and stood at the points of the hexagon. Wellington and Rodolfo were both nodding excitedly, having come to some sort of epiphany. She used orglife mode to carefully set up three sets of iconic visualisation foci, and checked with System that it could bring up each one in turn when she started the appropriate song. She set limiters; her plan was to spend no more than a third of her mana on each spell, with a reserve left over. She checked her stat points and, on impulse, allocated all her unallocated ones to INT and MAG.

Kafana: “On behalf of Suor Isabella, thank you for aiding this morning the questing spirit before you holding a sword, that was sent here by Cov himself to help protect Covob. When you tell me you are ready, I will cast my first buff. When you start inscribing the diagram, I will cast my second buff and then sing a prayer to Cov.”

Wellington and Rodolfo moved to the anvil, and instructed Tomsk what to say and when. Wellington produced his athame of light, while Rodolfo held a hammer in one hand and his Cov’s pendant in the other. The six surrounding mages were holding theirs as well, so Kafana and Tomsk did the same. Wellington used his spare hand to steady the sword so it wouldn’t move. He didn’t seem at all worried, as he spoke to Kafana without looking at her:

“Ok, we’re ready. Start singing in your own time.”

She started with her skill buff, wording altered for the circumstances, hoping to produce +3. She got a +5. Good omen. Possibly because she was now a priestess, and was in a Sanctum? Or maybe Harlequin’s ring was just that awesome.

Wellington started working, hands moving with precision and confidence. Just how much skill transference was there from computer programming to rune inscription? She took a deep breath, and this time really poured in the emotion, putting in her hope, and visualising Tomsk standing between the orphans and a monstrous shadowy threat that blotted out the stars, his sword held high, incredibly dense, and flowing with blazing pure light, his heart resolute.

There is a sword that he could not shatter:

Nothung’s fragments he would not defy

if I could forge the mighty pieces

that all my craft knows not how to weld!

Could I but shape the weapon,

I should win the wage of my shame!

Es giebt ein Schwert, das er nicht zerschwänge:

Nothungs Trümmer zertrotzt’ er mir nicht,

könnt’ ich die starken Stücken schweißen,

die meine Kunst nicht zu kitten weiß!

Könnt’ ich’s dem Kühnen schmieden,

meiner Schmach erlangt’ ich da Lohn!

As she finished the extract from Wagner’s Siegfried, it didn’t seem enough. Three’s the magic number. She repeated it twice more, each time building in volume and intensity. On the last repetition she felt a large surge of mana whoosh out of her, immensely glad she’d added those extra stat points. Blow half measures. She believed in Tomsk, she believed in him. She took out a high mana potion and drank it. She’d spend all her mana and die of shock if that’s what it took. Please Cov, help him. As she sang a wordless spiraling prayer to Cov she thought back over her years of knowing Tomsk, all his kindness, of how wonderful and deserving he was. She sang her love of him, and opened her mind to Cov that Cov might learn to love Tomsk too. She scarcely noticed how brightly every pendant in the room was shining as Tomsk’s voice rang out:

“I name you ‘Nothung’, and in life and in death, I bind my soul to you. May the Justice of Cov fill us both.”

Rodolfo’s hammer smashed down on the very centre of the anvil, sealing the ritual, and things went a little hazy for Kafana.

She came to, lying flat on her back, with Isabella’s hand on her forehead.

[[GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT : “Kafana”, “Tomsk”, “Wellington”, “Bulgaria”, “Alderney” and “Bungo” are the first group in the world to create a new “legendary” level item.]]

*ding* [Your global reputation has increased by 5. There is now an increased chance that you will attract the attention of bards, deities and Key NPCs.]

I love him? Oh dear, I love him that much?

Nothung (UNIQUE)

Legendary Scaling Longsword of Justice

Legendary - +100% to chance of critical success when enchanting this sword

Scaling - this weapon takes a share of experience equal to a party member

Scaling - this weapon gains an enchantment slot per 10 levels it gains

Soul Bound - this weapon cannot be stolen, looted or otherwise taken or lost

Soul Bound - this weapon is protected against penalties from dying

Of Justice - this weapon will not target innocent sentients

Of Justice - this weapon will not cause collateral damage

Of Justice - base damage increased by +100% versus evil

Of Justice - base damage increased by +100% versus foes 5+ levels higher

Of Justice - base damage increased by +100% when defending innocents

Of Justice - base damage increased by +100% versus Beladan

Weapon level: 15

Enchantment slots used: 1 / 1

Durability: INDESTRUCTIBLE

Soul Bound to: Tomsk