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Last Updated On 20 May 1998

# Moon Swords

## DESCRIPTION

Ornate two-handed scimitars made from a red metal. Moonswords glow with a faint red sheen which waxes and wanes with the phases of the moon, when the Red Moon is dark the sword does not glow, when full it glows almost as brightly as a Light spell.

## CULTS

ASSOCIATED
  Yanafal Tarnils, Red Emperor, Red Goddess, Lunar Cults
ENEMY
  Orlanth, Storm Bull, Moon-hating cults

## HISTORY

There are many demigods serving the Red Goddess and the Red Emperor on the Red Moon. One of these is a master smith who makes magical weapons for the court. After several HeroQuests he came back with the knowledge required to make the Moon Swords. For the past 40 years or so he has been making Moon Swords at a rate of one per year. The process takes so long because the Smith must refine Moon Rock in order to create the Moon Metal used to make the Sword.

Moon Swords are given as gifts by the Red Emperor to those he feels worthy. It is known that Jar-Eel carries two one-handed versions, the Red Emperor has a Moon Sword but never uses it, the High Priest of the Crimson Bat has a Moon Sword as does the head of the Bloodspillers cult.

## PROCEDURE

The only way to gain a Moon Sword is by sucking up to the Red Emperor to the extent that he will gift you with one. Generally, only Lunar Heroes or important religious of political figures may be given Moon Swords.

As Moon Swords only work for their owner they may not be gained through conquest.

## POWERS

Moon Swords share many of the properties of Scarlet Scimitars with which they have much in common.

The Scimitar has the same AP as an iron scimitar and acts as a runic weapon.

The owner may cast a Truesword on the sword once per day except when the Moon is Dark. This spell is provided by the sword itself. On days of the Full Moon, this spell lasts for 1 hour.

On command, the Moon Sword will glow a bright red, illuminating an area of 50m diameter.

A Moon Sword does special damage, depending on the Phase of the Moon. The scimitar does 1D8 + 1 on Dark Days, 2D8 + 1 on Crescent Moons, 3D8 + 1 on Half Moons and 4D8 + 1 on Full Moons.

Once per week the owner of a Moon Sword may call forth a Lune from the Sword. Each personal MP expended (not from POW Spirits or crystals) increases the size of the lune by 1 cubic metre. So, expending 10 MP calls forth a lune of 10D6 POW. This lune will remain summoned for 1 minute on a Crescent Moon Day, 5 minutes on a Half Moon Day and 15 minutes on a Full Moon Day. The Lune must be commanded as usual with Command spells which the Sword does not supply. Once summoned, a lune may not be resummoned until the next Full Moon.

Within the Glow Line or within a Glow Spot, the Moon Sword will function as if the Moon were Full. This makes them extremely powerful within the Empire proper. The Truesword spell affects the Sword fully, so on a Full Moon a Truesworded Moon Sword does 8D8 + 2 damage. If you play special damage as RQ2, the Moon Sword does 8D8 + 2 on a slash or 16D8 + 4 on a truesworded slash when the Moon is Full. Some people may feel that this is excessive, but one has to bear in mind that these Swords are generally given to Heroes as personal gifts from the Goddess.

## VALUE

A Moon Sword is priceless to its original owner. If he loses the Moon Sword, it is a matter of honour to regain it. In this case, the owner will generally pay up to 100,000L to regain the Sword but would be just as likely to try and take the Sword by force.

As trophies, Moon Swords are worth around 10,000L.

## NOTES

### Two-Handed Scimitars

Moon Swords, with the exception of those wielded by Jar-Eel, are 2 Handed scimitars. These are seldom used, even in Lunar areas, as most Lunars use the standard 1 Handed scimitar.

Here are the statistics for a 2H Scimitar, given in both RQ2 and RQ3 formats.

RQ2
  Type Sword, 2H
  Name: Great Scimitar
  STR 11
  DEX 13
  Damage 2D6 + 2
  HP 12
  Cost 150L
  ENC 1.5
  Length (Range) 1.4
  SR 2
  Basic 10
  5-25% 400L
  0-50% 800L
  51-75% 1200L
RQ3
  Weapon Category: Sword
  2H Weapon: Great Scimitar
  Damage 2D6 + 2
  STR/DEX 11/13
  ENC 2.5
  Base Chance 10
  Armour 10
  SR 2
  Price 280L