>>5682998>>5682849>>5682832>>5682830>>5682788>>5682780>>5682775>>5682768>>5682755You don’t want to waste much more time here. Well… maybe ‘waste’ is the wrong word. You’ve undoubtedly enjoyed the time spent here, as you always do, but Bloodrise calls out to you! Nor can you afford to leave the Archer here, not knowing what might await you on the home-front. Still, there is ONE more thing you must do… Which, you hope, will not take long.
“Princess Jazkarmel,” you say, “I require one more service of you, while I am here.”
The elven leader quirks an eyebrow, but nods. You follow her to have your aside and, once there, you ask of her:
“I would ask you to examine my sword.”
“I thought you turned that offer down already,” she jokes.
You tilt your head in confusion, but this only seems to make her laugh.
“The strange scimitar, you mean, right?”
“Yes… What else would I have meant?”
“Obviously,” she agrees, smiling even wider, and beckons you tod raw your blade.
You oblige her, and present it. Jazkarmel bends her head, scrutinizing it closely and running fingertips along it.
“May I?”
You nod, and she takes it in both hands, tracing the queer metal of the Reptilian-crafted weapon. Sized and weighted to be a one-handed blade for a Serpent Priest, it actually has a much more natural heft n your hand than even your long-beloved moon-blade. Still, it does not do to go into battle with a weapon you don’t fully understand. Hopefully Jazkamel’s magical acumen is enough to uncover the secrets of the khopesh.
It is no hurried process, of course—it takes over an hour—but it is well worth it.
“I sense an aura of… Finality,” she answers after a time. “Abjuration, necromancy…”
“Necromancy?” you ask, cringing at the thought of further offending The Lord of Endings with such abhorrent (to him) magic.
Jazk only laughs, and places her hand comfortingly on yours.
“Not that sort. It puts the bed back to bed, not wakes them. It is meant to banish, to dissolve enchantments and end their effects. This is what I sense.”
That… Sounds like a potent weapon indeed. An anti-magic blade, meant to destroy magical enchantments and their effects? A part of you is VERY glad you took pains to slay its former owner without facing him directly… What would such a weapon have down to you <Dragonshape>, or your <Aura of Radiance>, or any other powerful and transformative effect upon which you’ve come to rely? But in your hands…
“Thank you,” you say, genuinely, taking the weapon back and admiring it anew. “This is a great and terrible weapon. I will wield it well, in service of the New Age of Darkness.”
“I’m sure,” Jazkarmel says, bemused at your seriousness.
