Swords of Roland

The Confraternity of Roland is a craft guild of Verditius magi who specialize in the making of magical swords. The leader of the Confraternity, Ruberus, lives in the Provencal Tribunal. He is a century old and is keeper of one of the forges of Hephaestus, located at his covenant of Aedis Mercurii. There is one member of the Confraternity in Hibernia: Styrbjorn, a Scandinavian born in Dublin who returned to Hibernia when he learned of the English invasion.

Members of the Confraternity have Minor Magical Focus: Swords. They also learn the mysteries of Item of Quality, Item Attunement, and Elder Verditius Runes.

While magi of the Confraternity can make magical swords of many varieties, those who have accumulated Hubris are usually unwilling to make cheap or inferior examples of their work. Instead, their swords are enchanted with a set of common properties upon which additional custom enchantments are placed. Members of the Confraternity share lab texts for these three effects, and sometimes will even work on two swords at once to save time. These weapons, which take more than a year to complete, are called Swords of Roland.

• A Sword of Roland is an Excellent weapon, with a +3 bonus to Attack and Defense.

• It has been made into an Item of Quality, at a cost of 1 pawn of vis and one season of lab work. This usually gives it a +4 further bonus to "harm human and animal bodies", but sometimes the owner prefers a +3 bonus to "block a single attack" instead.

• It is opened for enchantment using Elder Verditius Runes and Item Attunement; the sword must be opened for at least 140 pawns but usually much higher. The magus already knows what effects will be instilled in the sword and opens it for precisely the number of pawns that the Verditius will require. Hubris prevents most Verditius from making a sword which is incomplete, and which another magus might add to. The magus gets a vis discount on opening the item equal to his Craft: Swordsmith, usually at least 5, for a final cost of at least 9 pawns.

• It includes a Hardness of Adamantine effect (MuTe 44; Base 4, +2 Sun, +2 Metal, +4 lvl: Continuous, +20 lvl: Penetration 40), which makes it all but indestructible, adding +1 to the weapon's damage. This effect has a Penetration of 40 and cost 5 pawns of vis.

• It has an effect identical to Keen Edge of the Razor, and is always preternaturally sharp. This adds +3 to the weapon's damage. This effect has Penetration 40 (MuTe 39; Base 3, +2 Sun, +2 Metal, +4 lvl: Continuous, +20 lvl: Penetration 40). This effect costs 4 pawns of vis, and can be combined with Hardness of Adamantine to be performed in a single season.

• Finally, it has Vulcan's Favor. This is a Creo Terram effect that constantly repairs the sword of any damage it might suffer. As a result, the sword always looks brand new and is in perfect condition. This takes one season of work and costs 5 pawns of vis (CrTe 49; Base 15, +2 Sun, +4 lvl: Continuous, +20 lvl: Penetration 40).

All these effects take a year. At this point, the sword is a Sword of Roland and is ready for whatever enchantment the owner wishes. Common effects are CrIg spells which make the sword into a firebrand, CrCo effects which heal the bearer, ReTe effects which allow the sword to automatically block incoming attacks, or Perdo effects which harm whatever the sword strikes. A Sword of Roland can be studied as a work of art, and functions as a Craft: Swordsmith tractatus, typically of Quality 10-12.

With a minimum creation cost of 24 pawns, a Sword of Roland never sells for less than 72p, almost always costs over 100p, and can easily approach 200p. Few magi would even consider such an expensive weapon. However, archmagi in vis-rich regions such as the Greater Alps occasionally buy one as a display of conspicuous wealth, House Mercere has bought one to be passed from Redcap to Redcap, and once in a great while a covenant will purchase one as an heirloom or symbol of rulership. It is more common for a Sword of Roland to be traded for something of equally priceless value, such as a legendary book.

The statistics here include only the basic enchantments of a Sword of Roland. A given Sword always has additional magical powers.

• Short Sword of Roland: Init +1, Atk +10, Def +4, Dmg +9, Str -1, Load 1

• Long Sword of Roland: Init +2, Atk +11, Def +4, Dmg +10, Str 0, Load 1

• Great Sword of Roland: Init +2, Atk +12, Def +5, Dmg +13, Str +1, Load 2