The Swords of Fairness

Guild of Technomancers Research Log No. 98.451.00

Examination of the three enchanted blades known as the Swords of Fairness is ongoing. These blades were acquired from various locations and each seem to have different properties.

The first one which we have named The Sword of Passiveness, is a pattern forged Nordic longsword with runes etched into the pummel and guard that translate to "This blade shall not bathe in the blood of the unworthy." It was found in an ancient tomb by a chaotic evil barbarian and donated to us when he said "It is useless to me. This thing just forces me to not kill anyone. I don't know why or how."

Initial tests in the arena showed the following:

When met with an unarmed opponent or one that stands no chance at defeating the wielder, it will neutralize the wielder's will to fight. We can confirm this with a neural scan which shows an unknown interference with the parts of the brain that control aggression.

When met with an armed opponent who is equal or better in skill in comparison with the wielder, the wielder can use it to fight. The neural scan shows no interference in the brain when this happens.

The second one which we have named The Sword of Repelling, is a steel European Hand-and-a-Half sword in which the following phrase engraved into the blade: "This sword shall not strike the helpless." This one was given to us by a fallen paladin who is known to pillage nearby villages. She said that "This sword is absolute junk! It can't even kill the peasants! That merchant who sold me it is a lair and cheat!" We were unable to identify the merchant she mentioned.

Initial tests in the arena showed the following:

When used against an unarmed or unskilled opponent, the sword will stop moving once the blade is within a foot of the body. It is as if some invisible force catches the blade before it strikes. And this happens regardless of how it is wielded and how strong the wielder.

However, when used against an opponent who can defend itself, this unknown force doesn't seem to work at all and the blade can strike the opponent like a sword should.

Finally, the third one which we have named The Sword of Restraint, is a traditionally crafted katana. Near the tsuba is a set of characters that translate to "Do not use this blade to kill the innocent." One of our members bought this one from a merchant who deals in esoteric arms and armor. The merchant said "Unless you intend to only kill warriors, I wouldn't get this one."

Initial tests in the arena showed the following:

When met with an opponent who has very little to no experience with combat, the sword cannot be drawn from its sheath. Like, at all. It is held in the scabbard by a very powerful force that not even mechanical means can overcome.

But when met with an opponent that has sufficient combat experience, the sword can be drawn like normal.

All three swords, despite their great differences, share a similar enchantment. When our techno-mages decompiled the enchantments, we found a signature in each one that suggests they were made by the same entity. As of right now, we do not have any idea who would make such enchantments but it is clearly written by a battlemage. Which only makes things more confusing.--

Guild of Technomancers Research Log No. 98.451.01

While the battlemage who created these enchantments has not been identified yet, one of our members suggested this might have been an experiment in creating blades that could only be used for heroic purposes. This is an interesting hypothesis but we cannot prove it at this time. Meanwhile we tried to see if the enchantments could be tricked. To do this, the following tests were carried out in the arena:

Test Number 1 involved equiping one of our agritech researchers with some armor with an enchantment that confers combat skills to the wearer. Our idea was to see if the swords would be able to detect the fact that the opponent is using equipment that grants combat experience and skills. To our surprise, this didn't work and the swords could be wielded normally. So this means that the enchantments can detect if the opponent is artificially boosting combat skills and compensate for that.

Test Number 2 involved a barbarian who has no real skills in the art of combat but is still dangerous none the less. This individual has no skills but plenty of experience. The extent of his "skill" involved him charging forward swinging his weapons wildly around like a madman. Once again, to our surprise, the swords did not activate their enchantments and could be used normally.

Test Number 3 involved 5 newly knighted individuals who have the skills but no actual combat experience. Admittedly, these people were nervous because this was the first real fight they would be getting into and it was against a battle hardened warrior. The results were rather interesting because when the knights showed signs of cowardice, the enchantments activated. But once they found the courage to actually fight, the enchantments deactivated. This is what really intrigued us because this means that enchantments are actually sophisticated enough to determine the skills and experience of opponents.--