Elven Swordmaking

Elven swordmaking is the practice, unique to Elf cultures, of crafting magical "heritage swords" that combine the essence of their material components with the imprint of the bearer's soul. This labor-intensive process creates a powerful and unique weapon that also acts as a conduit for the original bearer to guide their heirs from beyond the grave.

History and Heritage

The practice originated during the Age of Integrity within Moon Elf culture, which leads some to refer to these magic swords as moonblades. Moon elves, by and large, discontinued the practice of making these blades after the War of Great Sorrow, and the moon elven swordmaking tradition has all but died out.
Today, the practice has primarily been adopted by Wood Elf smiths, who use the same processes as in Elven Jewelrymaking to draw the innate powers from the gems and other materials used in creation.
Many fine Sun Elf swordmakers have begun crafting swords with similar properties; however, they use gemstones that generally hold magic well (such as blue topaz or Deep Ruby) and imbue them with outside magic. These swords are more likely to be used by spellcasters such as paladins.

Construction and Properties

Creation Process

A master elven swordmaker spends around a decade working on a single sword, always commissioned for a specific elven warrior. They must work closely with this warrior on a frequent basis in order to ensure the blade's proper connection with their soul.
Before the 800s, all elven swordmakers were located in remote areas, and part of the process of having a sword forged involved an arduous trek and a decade spent living in near-isolation. Today, most well-known swordmakers live in or near Kyolondë, Ramdailos, or the Muilóna-in-Brigida temple-campus.
Traditionally, the warrior to be bound to the sword must defeat the swordsmaker in combat. (Sun elf swordmakers tend to require a duel with a designated Champion instead.) Many swordmakers now make this a largely ceremonial formality, allowing anyone with basic combat skills to "defeat" them in combat if they pay a large enough sum.

Materials

Elven swords require the finest possible materials: woods, metals, and gemstones of high enough quality to hold magic within them, whether innately or imbued by the swordmaker. Carefully chosen woods and gemstones, as well as any symbolic design motifs, represent the personality and ideals of the bearer.

Magic

Swords take the essence of their makers' ideals, but also imprint on the souls of their first bearer. They absorb that bearer's emotions and ideals. Even when the bearer passes on, the sword itself maintains some sentience, and is able to communicate emotions to its current bearer and nudge them towards or away from certain ideals and decisions.
Swordbearers who have passed on to the realms of the dead have the ability to visit the sword's new bearer in dreams, and thus strongly prefer to visit someone they know and consider a successor in life. Thus, they tend to be passed down generationally within warrior families; occasionally, warriors without a suitable relative will pass their sword to a student instead. If the past bearers find a current bearer distasteful enough, they may inhibit the magic of the sword from working at all.
Beyond the sword's sentience and connection with the souls of its lineage, elven swords often have specific powers that improve the battle prowess of the bearer. These powers include, but are not limited to, the following: increasing the speed or strength of the bearer, casting specific spells or heightening their effects, absorbing injury, illness, or bad luck from the bearer and/or their allies, or enhancing a bearer's strengths in combat.