The Sword That Never Sleeps

[Cloudgatherer]

If you are one of my players, then stop reading....

I'm going to be using "Namarra" from Magic of Faerun in my game. It's a sword that can cast silence and on one side of the blade is the word "Namarra" and the other side says "Never Sleeps." The weapon also has the ability to float on water, something I want to use.

The party's cleric wants to find the "items of Surial" (an important paladin from long ago). So, this sword Namarra is going to be one of them.

(The party is 10th level: Fighter, Rogue, Cleric, Bard, and a 9th level "Successor", a home brew core class)

So here's what I have to work with: a lich-cleric, optional beholders, a monk recently freed from the lich cleric, and a wizard NPC who can help the party with info.

Here's what I want to work in: a holy pool/body of water, an old abandoned castle, protected by a pair of riddles (I have these, one to get in to the castle, the other to obtain the sword), the lich-cleric and minions attempting to gain the weapon.

I'm looking for some meaning behind the word "Namarra". Originally, I'm thinking the sword can be used to bring a powerful demon (named Namarra) into the world. The sword once served to remind the paladin of the ever present threat of evil. Or, perhaps Namarra is an angelic/celestial creature, and the lich-cleric intends to offer the blade to his evil god.

Anyhow, thoughts on a back story/importance of the sword would be great. I intend to have the party fight the lich-cleric somewhere near or in the "pool room" where the sword is floating and waiting to be claimed.

Thanks!

 

[wolfpunk]

In a very strange occurance, I was looking at latin words and came across an interesting bit of word play. Nam in latin means for; working with marra I came up with two possible words mare, maris which mean sea, and maritus which means husband; now there was no direct correlation to ra, but if you use re, you come up with back or again.

So we have a rough collection of words, for, sea, husband, back and again.

Perhaps the name of the sword means, from the sea and back again. Hence why it was found in a pool of water. Maybe it can only be used to a certain amount of time before it must be returned to the pool of water. I think if that were true, it would have a specific purpose for which it is to be used, and then it is to be returned to the pool of water.

Now I doubt that you had a sea motiff in mind for your sword. So perhaps there is a reason why it must be placed in water when not in use. I am thinking it could be a flaming sword, one whose fire can not be extingushed, and whose mere touch bursts nearly anything into flames.

It could be a sword that turns things into stone. The logic being that it would have an antithesis which in this case is water. It could be that on a critical hit , whatever it hits is turned to stone as long as it is not made out of water.

I hope this gives you some ideas.

 

[LostSoul]

Perhaps the sword gives the demon Namarra some power whenever it strikes someone dead (below -10). That soul either returns to the impotent Namarra, or spawns as one of his unholy brood.

 

[Marius Delphus]

How About This...

In line with the "demon Namarra" idea, perhaps the sword was at one time the *prison* for Namarra. The paladin Surial was the last to bear this sword in the cause of Good, for the following reason: the sword itself would consume and destroy Namarra *forever* if used *only* to further Good causes for a certain length of time. Wielding the sword, which is in effect an intelligent magical item with a fairly high Ego, requires a strong, unbending will; in fact, the sword itself is inscribed "Never Sleeps" to remind its bearer to be vigilant regarding the sword's wily occupant, who can still whisper foul things in the bearer's mind during the day and send shocking, terrifying nightmares at night.

Now, Surial lost the sword before Namarra could be fully destroyed. Namarra still lingers in the sword, but at only a fraction of its former power. Enter the lich-priest, who recently became aware that a captive demon lurked in the lost sword. The lich-priest becomes interested in obtaining the sword because he believes he can bend the weakened Namarra to his will, to further his own inscrutable schemes. The lich-priest learns that the sword currently floats upon a pool of water underneath (or within) an old, forgotten castle, and he also learns that entry to the chamber containing the pool, which was at one time heavily consecrated, is probably still protected by powerful divine magic (perhaps the riddles are the only remaining defense, or perhaps the lich-priest is correct about the additional divine protection).

The lich-priest becomes convinced that subterfuge is the only way to obtain the sword. To that end, he captures and dominates a monk character, only to swiftly release the monk with information regarding the sword and deeply-hidden orders to return it to the lich-priest or some minion thereof (the lich-priest is canny enough to make it look like heroes freed the monk from captivity). Hedging his bets, the lich-priest also allows information to trickle down to one of the heroes' known associates, a wizard from whom they've previously received information.

The lich-priest intends to gather some of his more powerful minions and follow the heroes to the castle (from a distance of course, so as not to be spotted). Again, the lich-priest is too wary to attempt retrieving the sword himself or risk losing his minions to the potent divine wards he believes are present. At the very least, he's perfectly happy sending guinea pigs to do the hard work... once they emerge from the castle, he'll simply engage, intending to claim the sword from the heroes' dead, cooling bodies....