Vowrend: Black-Etch

Category: Weapon (Melee, Longsword – Elegant Black-Etch Relic)
Damage Type: Slashing + Halverish Burn

Description

Vowrend is a longsword forged in silence. Its blade — sleek, dark, and impossibly straight — reflects no light, only consuming it. Forged from Black-Etch alloy in a stolen Faye tower, the weapon radiates quiet precision. The fuller bears three hidden runes that only reveal themselves beneath leyflow or moonlight, their meanings lost to all but Heath himself. The guard flares subtly like the wings of a still creature, and the grip is spiral-wrapped with leysteel wire fused to vowsteel.

At the pommel, engraved with surgical precision, lies the Shaded Flame — a silver ring surrounding a hollow black flame. Its glow is not visible, but felt, like pressure behind the eyes.

Properties

Type: Longsword (Versatile – 1d8 one-handed / 1d10 two-handed)
Material(s): Black-Etch alloy, vowsteel inlay, leysteel threading
Rarity: Very Rare
Rune Inscriptions: Three vow-runes carved from stolen Faye ritual stone, re-forged by Heath
Damage Type: Slashing + Halverish Burn (see below)
Attunement Requirements: Martial weapon proficiency, a deal with someone or something that is soulbinding.

Halverish Burn

This unique wound is not physical, nor fully magical — it is a reality-deep rupture caused by oathbound forging. It lingers, defies healing, and resists restoration.

A creature struck by Vowrend takes 1d4 Halverish Burn damage on a hit.
Halverish Burn damage cannot be healed by any magic short of Wish, True Resurrection, , only by rituals older than the Severing.
If the target is chaotic, they take double Halverish burn

Unique Abilities

Vow-Forged Edge – Passive:
All attacks with Vowrend deal Halverish Burn damage in addition to normal slashing.
Seal the Word – Active (2/day):
As a bonus action, whisper an oath into the blade. The next strike you land within 1 turn silences the target for 1 round (no verbal spells, commands, or speech).
Echo of the Oath – Active (1/day):
You may replicate your last strike on a second target within 15 feet. The echoed strike uses the same roll and damage type, including Halverish Burn.

Origin

Crafted in a Faye tower turned silent forge, Vowrend was shaped by Heath not with flame, but with stillness. He reforged ancient vow-runes from the tower’s core, binding them into a blade meant to hold truth in the face of war. The Halverish Burn was not invented — it was discovered, a byproduct of merging stolen ritual with soul-splitting metallurgy.

Heath spoke no words while forging it. The runes were set by intent alone.

Associated Lore

Vowrend is not a weapon of vengeance. It is a weapon of reminder — a blade that remembers what others wish to forget. When drawn, it hums faintly in the presence of broken vows, and it has been known to weep black condensation when near perjury or betrayal.

To carry Vowrend is to risk baring your own oaths to scrutiny.

If you lie, the blade tells the truth. be aware!

Known Wielders

Heath – The weapon's only confirmed wielder; said to have used it to seal a void rift closed with one final, unhealable cut
Watcher Eliran – Brought the blade into the heart of a Faye court; did not return, but the blade did
The Knight of Quiet Flame – An armored figure who speaks no lies, and whose foes never speak again, as told by Heath

Vowrend: Black-Etch