The Sword of Angradhat

Appearance: The City of Angradhat is known for two things, imposing stonework and mercenaries. The Sword of Angradhat is known for one thing, spreading fear and doom through the ranks of the soldiers and militias that it is drawn against. The sword is a basic cruciform sword with a black haft and crossgaurd and a fairly thick heavy single edged blade.

Benefit: The main power of the sword is its ability Bane a group designated by the bearer of the sword. To be used, the bearer of the Sword of Angradhat sweeps the sword in front of him in a theatric flourish, and pronounces woe and doom upon the foes to be fought. For the duration of the battle, the forces of the designated foe suffer a -1 penalty to all of their dice checks, representing the sudden wave of doubt and despair projected by the sword.

Drawback: The sword is not without cost, the bearer of the sword must remain visible for the effect to work. He cannot wave the sword about and retire to a tent in safety. So long as he stands and fights, the power remains. If he is defeated in single combat, the effects are instantly broken, same if he is disarmed in combat. As a limitation, the power of the sword can only be invoked in one battle, or once a day for battles lasting more than one day.

Lore: The Sword of Angradhat is strongly tied to the local festival of Saint Audt. Audt was a holy man who was devoted to Terat, the Goddess of War and promoted the sanctity of combat, and decried the increasingly common practice of militias and levies being fielded in massive destructive wars, rather than in limited combats between smaller groups of elite warriors. This stance lead to increasing friction between Audt's chapter of the Goddess of War, and with the increasingly progressive and modern minded leaders of the city. There would be no fewer than 11 revolts, rebellions, and major civil disturbances based around this conflict of interest. Taking sides against the Goddess of War and her chosen has long been proven to be a fools game, and as such the council of lords governing Angradhat were eventually toppled and the city was lead by an interrim council of men appointed by the head priest of Terat, and eventually a governing council of mercenary captains was established. The Sword of Angradhat was forged to commemorate the event, and was blessed by the devoted of the Goddess of War. It is a potent tool to be used by a small group of warriors when faced by larger groups of inferior peasant militias, goblin mobs, and other numerical based superiority tactics. Faced by vastly superior forces, the enemy factions are forced to make periodic morale checks, with the negative bane penalty from the sword, many such groups will break and run rather than face an almost certain death.

Twist: Once per battle, the bearer gets a True Strike +20 attack bonus