In some ways, this should of been two submissions - one with Slyven Sallind and one with the Blackbirds.

So why prison wardens? What special power do they have other than they have some mutual contact with each other? And how many prisons does this land have?

Why not military nobles, or clergy, or ???

Well you get the idea. Go to Comment

Only voted Go to Comment

I like it, another good idea from you. Go to Comment

Maybe he thought prison would be a better and longer lasting, more drawn out punishment then an execution would be. Go to Comment

It's not unknown in real life for prisoners to become guards. It happened in the Nazi system (the "kapos") and in the Soviet Gulag system as well. And there used to be US prisons that used "trusties" as guards until they were shut down because of gross abuse. Go to Comment

Only voted Go to Comment

Not bad. I agree with manfred's take, but this is certainly usable. An intriguing idea, prison wardens out to screw the king. Hmm, I may play around with this concept for my campaign.

I would be remiss if I didnt add that I like the name Blackbirds, for a secretive group, and the rhyme starter is one of my favorites because it reminds me of Agatha Christie :) Go to Comment

Updated: Finished, and now being added as a Normal Submission. Go to Comment

Above the comments on why, its pretty good, apart from the main character's survival. Why did the king simply not do away with him? Go to Comment

I have asked myself the same question concerning the Pharoah and Moses... Go to Comment

Why would a prisoner (accused of murder) become a guard? Why not just escape? What kind of "odd jobs" can a prisoner do to earn money from guards? Alot of this doesn't make much sense. I could see him bribing the guards to leave a gate or two open, but that is about it. Go to Comment

Thank goodness it is nonmagical and has absolutely no powers. :) The story built up predictably but the final nail hit with it being just normal made the submission worth every word. Go to Comment

Very nice bait-and-switch. I'd love to put it in the hands of a villain and watch my heroes cower from his blow, hahaha. Go to Comment

A finely crafted blade with expert metal work. I would assume that the Smith made other weapons of fine make. Thus , would could have another fine smith NPC as defined in Swords. Why does it always have to be swords? such as LLorryn of The Singing Steel or Nial Ironspirit.

I like weapons of repute with minimal to no magic. In Runebearer ( www.runebearer.com / http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~tpope/bostonia/frameset.html and a shout out to Chris Magoun who is a member here), weapons gain in power as their stories/ legends grow and wielders learn more of the item's history.

However spellish magic is not required. It is all about the reputation here. And that can be the greatest magic of all. Added to Interesting Weapons- Non-Magic While it is not a "class of weapons" as normally is the case for that submission, it is clearly appropriate.

This weapon, even if you don't use it directly, serves as a great example for your own world. It shows the power of reputation. Go to Comment

Silly Moon, forgot to vote after that huge response. Go to Comment

I like this submission. Go to Comment

This is the kind of submission we enjoy, Drackler. I look forward to more like this one. Go to Comment

Feel free to link this to manfred's Red Herrings codex.

Hmmm, yet its a perfectly functional sword. Good item. It's the ol' "its power comes from perception" routine. I've always liked those types of weapons. Its basic, but good.

Add some spaces between headers and text.

Ok, I'll say it again. Great to see you posting, Colonel! :) Go to Comment

The short amount of time is to, somewhat overly, portray Charles' abilities. Go to Comment

Updated: Adjusted a few things. Go to Comment