Re: [HoE] Swords of the apocalypse

[Steven Sweeney <stevenrs@cybersurf.net>]

twilight@vbe.com wrote:

    One thing to consider would be what is the nature of these swords?
Does the sword of plague cause plagues? or does it destroy them? Does the
sword of death equate instantenous death in combat or does it act as agent
of resurrection?
  -Guy

Scott Hacker wrote:

> I was just reading a excerpt from The book of Swords, and it got me
> thinking about a cool idea.  What if they're were swords in the wasted
> west like there are in the book of swords; incredibly powerful weapons
> forged by the might of the gods (or, in this case, the reckoners)  The
> reckoners made them for humans to fight for, kill for.  might be a
> cool idea for a adventure: the posse fights it way down to the bottom
> of some godforsaken temple to get the sword of pestilence, or
> something like that.  Any ideas?
> Here's some cool latin names for the swords (my mind wanders...)
> gladius mortis- the sword of death
> gladius pugna- the sword of war
> gladius esurio- the sword of famine
> gladius pestus- the sword of pestilence

Well, if we assume that the swords exist (you can always justify it later...
maybe an angel dropped them off? {Any body ever read Good Omens
by Pratchett?}), there effect could be different depending on the user.   
For example, "Gladius Mortis", the Sword of Death, in the hands of a true
warrior of God grants the user the ability to heal grievous wounds, by
laying the hilt of the sword across said person's heart, and praying. 
In the hands of an evil follower of the Reckoners, however, the same sword
causes all who strike the holder to suffer thrice the injury they cause
upon the sword's owner.  To kill the owner of the sword, someone must
be willing to sacrifice him- or her- self.
    Gladius Pugna, the Sword of War, allows a "good
guy" to project his or her voice over the battlefield, and to bolster the
loyalty and morale of the troops following him or her.  The same sword
allows a "bad guy" to summon the dead to his or her banner, forming an
army with which to wage war in mere weeks or days, rather than months or
years.
    The Sword of Famine, Gladius Esurio, allows the
good guy to summon the beasts and the fishes of the earth to his or her
table, whereupon they multiply and feed the hungry masses.  In the
hands of the bad guy, the sword causes meet to turn rancid and wormy, and
grain decay and attrack rodents.
    The Sword of Pestilence, Gladius Pestus, purifies
toxins and cleanses tainted lands in the hands of the good.  In the
hands of evil, it causes wounds to fester, and pure water to become tainted
with the detrius (sp?) of the war.

    Anyway, those are just some ideas.  There's no reason why the swords should only work for the good guys or the bad guys... *S*  This way, the posse is going to have one hell of a dilemna if they get their greedy hands on one of them...
    "Just think of all the good that could be done with this sword!  Of course... if Dr. Malicium gets his hands on it, the world's in deep caca..."

Steve S.