Greater Woe-Blades

Death comes in many forms, but none as cruel as these.

Greater Woe-Blades are artifacts of dire power; avatars of entropy, bound into iron and bone. Each weapon has a history of bloody terror and Greater Woe-Blades have seen the end of kings and tyrants, monsters and gods. Every Greater Woe-Blade is a unique construct and those with the power to make them have always been exceptional individuals. As such, there are no more than perhaps a dozen Greater Woe-Blades in the world. To compare the simple Woe-Blade found in present times to one of the Greater Woe-Blades is like comparing a house cat to a tiger.

by Rock Cafe.info

Making Woe

Greater Woe-Blades begin much like regular Woe-Blades before they are ensorcelled. The weapons are first made from grave iron and forged into the desired shape, then the true crafting begins. With great effort, the maker brings out the inherent qualities of entropy from the grave-iron and focuses them to a razor's edge. These forces are bound into fixtures of power along the blade, like sigils or gems. Many of the Greater Woe-Blades are decorated with rare and powerful reagents for this purpose, as the only things capable of containing their power. This is a delicate process as such forces improperly bound will bring the decay on the blade itself and cause it to collapse into rust and ash.

by Rock Cafe.info

Once the foundation is set, each blade diverge. Depending on what their maker wants to bring out of the artifact. It might be steeped in the blood of plague-victims to absorb their essence or left in places of great misery. The Grave-Iron in itself is not enough and the weapon must be fed with more for it to truly awaken.

Wielding a Greater Woe-Blade is an inevitable death sentence for any mortal. Bearing the blade for any length of time takes a terrible toll on the body and mind, as the force of the blade poisons all life around it. Even the unliving must use care when carrying one of these dread artifacts, for the decay of a Greater Woe-Blade is more than enough to damn them too.

Woe-Blades

Made from Grave-Iron, taken from the land of the dead and of perpetual decay, Woe-Blades are weaker and more common variants of the dreaded weapon. In the present day of fading magic and wonder, the artifacts of old are beyond the grasp to make anew... But what they lack in power, they compensate for in numbers.
Read About Woe-Blade

Grave-Iron

When a land falls into darkness and becomes one of the Darklands, everything within is tainted by the same gloom and entropy. Even the ore in the ground transforms, as the rot seeps down into the stone.
Grave-Iron is metal made from such ore, taken from the heart of old Darklands where the touch of the underworld has long since reached everything. It is a vital material to use for any form of Woe-Blade.
Read More About Grave-Iron

Sometimes, the blade chooses what it will be. These blades come out of the furnace already radiating entropic power that only needs to be harnessed and focused.

Names of Legend

Below are some of the Greater Woe-Blades in the world.

Wailing Worm

One of the most powerful of the Woe-Blades, the Wailing Worm is a spear with a scream that age any who hear it. It has tasted the blood of devils and gods, seen empires to their end and been wielded by heroes in the most desperate of occasions. The Worm rests in an unknown tomb, but not for long.

Lord of Plagues

Born from festering plague-pits during one of the worst outbreaks in recorded history, the Lord of Plague is unique among the Woe-Blades in that it was made with good intentions. The Lord devours disease like a starving man, leeching it from any who are near. Its maker hoped to quell the cataclysm with its power. Others, less well-intentioned, now inflict the collected sickness on those they strike. A single scratch can unleash a thousand horrors upon its victim.
The Lord of Plagues is currently lost.

by Rock Cafe.info

End of Hope

A long, curved blade set with midnight stone, the End of Hope sings when it slays. Blood and bile that splatter across the blade brings out different tones, creating a dirge that calls the dead from their graves and forces them to dance. The more death it spreads, the greater the horde of undead grow and the less hope remain for the living.

Sunslayer

True to its name, the spiraling lance once pierced the heavens and darkened the sun. It ushered in the Long Night and nearly ended all life in Creation before the wounds it inflicted could be healed. The Sunslayer has been shattered and each of the seven pieces is coveted to make things anew from them. The power within even a single shard is enough to make a weapon to bring low a kingdom. Only the most fool-hardy would risk a return to the Long Night, however.

Plot Hook

A vengeful vigilante wielding the End of Hope is tearing a bloody swath through the kingdom. As the death toll mounts, more and more undead are drawn to the carnage. Can he be stopped and the weapon's song silenced?

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