"To shape a Runeforged weapon is to harness the very essence of the sins and virtues that bind existence, an act both wondrous and perilous. The Runeforge itself, a crucible of boundless potential, draws upon the threads of Thassilon’s foundation—its sins, its virtues, its eternal contradictions—to create tools of immense power. Yet, these tools are no mere implements of destruction; they are symbols of dominion, forged not only to slay but to transform their wielders into avatars of Thassilonian ideals."
"The process requires three ingredients above all else: the resonance of opposing schools of magic, a shard of the bearer’s intent, and the essence of the Runeforge itself. In combining these, the weapon takes shape—not as a reflection of the Runelord’s will, but as an embodiment of the bearer’s mastery over the conflicting forces that define our empire."
"Yet I wonder, does such power bear an inherent flaw? What binds the creation of Runeforged weapons to our present ambitions? Could these tools, born of sin and hubris, act against their wielders if one’s will falters or one’s intent grows clouded? Would a weapon forged of lust lead its bearer to ruin through seduction of the mind, or might a blade imbued with pride sunder not its enemies but its master’s soul? This I have pondered in my long hours of study, for our artifice exceeds even the wisdom of our greatest sages."
"More troubling still is the resonance such a weapon holds with its Runelord. Though forged without direct intent, the weapon cannot escape the influence of its progenitor. It craves the hands of those worthy of Thassilon’s glory, yet recoils from those unaligned with the sin it embodies. If one were to wield a weapon forged of envy against the Runelord of Greed, would its power falter—or would it rise to meet the challenge, empowered by the clash of opposing ideals?"
"Perhaps this is the truest purpose of the Runeforge—not merely to arm us in our struggle against one another, but to bind the destinies of its wielders to the eternal cycles of power and ambition that rule Thassilon. For no weapon of the forge can exist without reflection. In wielding the weapon, one is wielded in return."
"May we never forget: to create a Runeforged weapon is to forge a fragment of Thassilon itself, to carry its sins and virtues into the age that lies beyond."
- Excerpt from Meditations on the Sevenfold Path
by Xellarian Korthos,
Apprentice to Runelord Belimarius
Runeforging
During Thassilon’s height, many of the empire’s greatest soldiers, mercenaries, and arcane assassins wielded weapons infused with two allied schools of magic that worked together to grant the wielder additional prowess over practitioners of an opposing school of magic. Weapons steeped in enchantment and illusion magic, for example, held great power over wielders of transmutation. Such weapons were often banned in Thassilon, so wary were the runelords of their propagation, yet all seven kept champions and assassins armed with runeforged weapons targeting their enemies’ weaknesses in secret.
Each runeforged weapon opposes a school of magic. The wielder gains a +2 morale bonus on all saving throws against spells from the weapon’s opposed magic. All runeforged weapons are, to a certain degree, empathic. They enhance sin or virtue in those who wield them, so a fighter armed with a dominant weapon becomes more domineering than before, for example. Anyone wielding a runeforged weapon takes a –2 penalty on all Diplomacy checks, as her vices or virtues are magnified at the expense of personality. No weapon can have more than one runeforged weapon quality at a time, and a creature that carries two runeforged weapons (even those of the same type) takes a –5 penalty on all attack rolls, Will saving throws, and skill checks, as her mind is constantly assailed by multiple empathic urges.
Each of the seven Thassilonian schools of magic is opposed by a single runeforged weapon quality—each of these being the combination of that school’s opposition schools. In any event, a runeforged weapon functions the same, regardless of whether it magnifies a wielder’s sin or virtue.
A wielder who is considered sinful or virtuous with the same type of sin/virtue as a runeforged weapon he wields becomes more aware of danger around him—gaining a +2 insight bonus on Initiative checks and a +1 dodge bonus to AC.
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