The skeleton's greatsword

Stub-class article · First seen: s23 · Last seen: s24
The skeleton's greatsword
The skeleton's greatsword, Greatsword (unidentified), rune-inscribed portrait
Item
StatusActive
First seens23
Last seens24
TypeGreatsword (unidentified), rune-inscribed
HolderTerry
OriginTaken from the first of the greatsword skeletons, destroyed in the ridge temple, s23

The skeleton’s greatsword is the rune-inscribed greatsword that Terry picked up and kept after the first fight of session 23 in the ridge temple [16][17][48]. It was the weapon of the first of the greatsword skeletons, and twice its blade ran Terry through, adding necrotic damage and lowering his maximum hit points [25][26]. Whether that belongs to the sword or to the creature that wielded it is not stated; asked whether the sword was magical, the DM answered “It definitely has runes inscribed on it, but it’s hard to tell.” [23]. It is unidentified and not confirmed magical, and the title is the wiki’s own, since the sword has no name. Session 24 does not mention this sword, but the DM’s words about the third skeleton’s sword bear on the same open questions [31][32].

Overview

The sword came into the party’s hands from the first of the greatsword skeletons, the large undead that stood with the pendant cultist and her prisoner when the party came upon them in session 23 [14]. Hugo’s thrown hand axe destroyed that skeleton as it was about to hit Terry [15], and Terry, the only one the blade had wounded, picked the sword up when the bodies were searched [16][17].

Description

The DM first described it as the creature closed on Terry: “it looks like a greatsword” [18]. The skeleton wielded it in one hand, with a shield in the other; Father Thomas asked “He’s wielding a greatsword with one hand?” and the DM said “Yes” [19][20]. The creature was “roughly one and a half your size”, and against Caelumn the sword was “his greatsword that is the size of your body” [21][22].

Asked whether it was magical, the DM said “It definitely has runes inscribed on it, but it’s hard to tell.” [23], the answer he had just given Kole about The cultist’s dagger [24]. The runes have not been read.

Mechanics (as played)

  • Necrotic damage and lost hit points. The first wound dealt nine slashing and eight necrotic damage: “as the sword leaves your body, you feel it taking something with it”, and Terry’s maximum hit points fell by 8 [25]. The second added ten necrotic damage as blood was drawn “into the sword”, and “you feel your max HP drop even further”, by an amount the DM did not give [26].
  • Shield. Caelumn’s Shield and later Terry’s both stopped the blade, which strained against the spell and was left “stuck inside” it [22][27][28].
  • Recovery. The DM agreed that a loss of maximum hit points to a spectre’s touch is a long-rest fix [29][30]. That was asked about the spectre; nothing was said about Terry’s losses to the sword.
  • A sibling sword (session 24). The third skeleton’s greatsword is a different weapon, and the DM spoke of it. It drove through Hugo’s chest for five slashing and eight necrotic damage, and “you see this blood, purple blood, spout out and almost get absorbed into the sword as your maximum HP is reduced by 8” [9]. Asked whether the runes reacted, the DM said “I mean it reacted to the blood yeah” [31]. When Hugo won a disarm and pulled the sword from the skeleton’s hand, “whatever magic is empowering it seems to fade away” [32], and the skeleton’s shield bash after that took nothing from the maximum: “Okay, no HP reduction.” [33]. Asked whether the sword felt magical, the DM said “Yeah, kind of.” [34].

Open questions

  • Whether it is magical. “it’s hard to tell” [23] is all the DM has said of this sword, and nobody has cast anything on it. Father Thomas’s “what is clearly a magic great sword” is a player’s judgement [35]. Of the third skeleton’s sword the DM has said “Yeah, kind of.” [34], which is not an identification.
  • Whether the necrotic damage and the loss of maximum hit points belong to the sword or to the skeleton. The other skeletons carry greatswords too [36], and Father Thomas’s summary, “It reduces max HP”, is of the creature [37]. Session 24 gives the DM’s first words on it, about the third skeleton’s sword: the runes “reacted to the blood” and the magic faded once the sword left the skeleton’s hand [31][32]. The DM did not say whether “it” in “whatever magic is empowering it” is the sword or the skeleton.
  • What the runes say. They do not match the markings on the sealed door that Rime led the party to: “Do they match up with the runes on the dagger or the sword?” “Uh, no.” [38][39].
  • How Terry carries it, and whether he has swung it. He said he had no carrying capacity to spare [40], and his one attack in the second fight is rolled with “No modifiers” and no weapon named [41][42]. In session 24 he is not shown with it, and he says that “so far there hasn’t even been a weapon I can fucking use” [13].

History in the campaign

Session 23: The Changeling in Manacles

Main article: Session 23

The first greatsword skeleton swung its sword at Terry, ran him through on a natural 20 for nine slashing and eight necrotic damage, and took eight off his maximum hit points [18][3]. Caelumn’s and Terry’s Shield spells stopped it twice [22][27]. Dropping its shield in desperation and going two-handed, it hit him again for four slashing and ten necrotic, and his maximum fell “even further” [43][44]. Hugo’s thrown hand axe destroyed it [6]. After the fight Terry took the sword, was told it had runes but it was hard to tell, and decided to keep it: “I could use a great sword in Bladesong” [16][45].

Session 24: The Knight of Smoke

Main article: Session 24

Terry’s sword is not mentioned, but the third skeleton’s sword is, and the DM’s words on it bear on this one. Its blow cut Hugo’s maximum hit points by 8 with his blood almost absorbed into the blade, its runes “reacted to the blood”, and when Hugo disarmed the skeleton under an improvised rule “whatever magic is empowering it seems to fade away” [9][31][32]. Hugo threw the sword across the room, and Caelumn later asked to pick it up and feel its magic and was told “Yeah, kind of.” [46][47][34]. Terry grumbled that so far he had had no weapon he could use [13].

Status

As of session 24. Carried by Terry by the record [17][48]; he is not shown with it in session 24. Rune-inscribed, unidentified, not confirmed magical. The third skeleton’s sword, thrown by Hugo, is a different weapon, and no line says who has it [46][34].

See also

References

  1. ^ Session 23, line 526-593: First seen as the skeleton closes on Terry, and wielded in one hand with a shield.
  2. ^ Session 23, line 642-644: A near miss that Terry feels as necrotic energy.
  3. ^ Session 23, line 748-756: Through Terry's back, nine slashing and eight necrotic, and his maximum hit points reduced by 8.
  4. ^ Session 23, line 854-975: Stopped twice by Shield spells.
  5. ^ Session 23, line 1019-1046: The skeleton drops its shield, takes the sword in both hands and hits Terry again, lowering his maximum hit points further.
  6. ^ Session 23, line 1090-1092: Hugo's thrown hand axe destroys the skeleton.
  7. ^ Session 23, line 1453-1500: The sword is found, and Terry picks it up and keeps it.
  8. ^ Session 23, line 1661-1662: The runes on the sealed door do not match the runes on the dagger or the sword.
  9. ^ Session 24, line 126: The third skeleton's greatsword cuts Hugo's maximum hit points by 8, his blood almost absorbed into the blade.
  10. ^ Session 24, line 201-202: The DM says the runes on that sword reacted to the blood.
  11. ^ Session 24, line 219-227: Hugo disarms the third skeleton, the magic empowering its sword seems to fade away, and he throws the sword.
  12. ^ Session 24, line 394-395: Caelumn asks to pick it up and feel its magic, and is told "Yeah, kind of.".
  13. ^ Session 24, line 937: Terry says that so far there has been no weapon he can use.
  14. ^ Session 23, line 347: Inline citation.
  15. ^ Session 23, line 1092: Inline citation.
  16. ^ Session 23, line 1453: Inline citation.
  17. ^ Session 23, line 1492: Inline citation.
  18. ^ Session 23, line 526: Inline citation.
  19. ^ Session 23, line 592: Inline citation.
  20. ^ Session 23, line 593: Inline citation.
  21. ^ Session 23, line 847: Inline citation.
  22. ^ Session 23, line 854: Inline citation.
  23. ^ Session 23, line 1498: Inline citation.
  24. ^ Session 23, line 1494: Inline citation.
  25. ^ Session 23, line 752-756: Inline citation.
  26. ^ Session 23, line 1035: Inline citation.
  27. ^ Session 23, line 974: Inline citation.
  28. ^ Session 23, line 975: Inline citation.
  29. ^ Session 23, line 1856: Inline citation.
  30. ^ Session 23, line 1857: Inline citation.
  31. ^ Session 24, line 202: Inline citation.
  32. ^ Session 24, line 219: Inline citation.
  33. ^ Session 24, line 266: Inline citation.
  34. ^ Session 24, line 395: Inline citation.
  35. ^ Session 23, line 1491: Inline citation.
  36. ^ Session 23, line 1720: Inline citation.
  37. ^ Session 23, line 1778: Inline citation.
  38. ^ Session 23, line 1661: Inline citation.
  39. ^ Session 23, line 1662: Inline citation.
  40. ^ Session 23, line 1490: Inline citation.
  41. ^ Session 23, line 1809: Inline citation.
  42. ^ Session 23, line 1811: Inline citation.
  43. ^ Session 23, line 1019: Inline citation.
  44. ^ Session 23, line 1033-1035: Inline citation.
  45. ^ Session 23, line 1492-1506: Inline citation.
  46. ^ Session 24, line 227: Inline citation.
  47. ^ Session 24, line 394: Inline citation.
  48. ^ Session 23, line 1500: Inline citation.
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