Otataral sword

An Otataral sword was the designated weapon carried by the Empress' Imperial Adjunct which enabled the bearer to negate sorcery. Its blade had a rusty red appearance due to its Otataral core.Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 9, UK MMPB p.276 The characteristics of Otataral were well known in Seven Cities but less so elsewhere.Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 9, UK MMPB p.277 
Such swords were often kept in scabbards made of iron and bronze to neutralise their effects until the blade was drawn.The Bonehunters, Chapter 10
==In Gardens of the Moon==
Lorn, as Adjunct, carried an Otataral longsword. Possibly the sword itself or her long association with it gave her the ability to know the patterns of sorcery and the pattern of the minds that used it.Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 1, UK MMPB p.28Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 9, UK MMPB p.270/271
When Lorn was carrying the Finnest of the Jaghut Tyrant Raest, the sword deadened its aura though not completely which is why Tool advised her not to carry it for too long.Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 18, UK MMPB p.554
Captain Ganoes Paran, who was present when Lorn died, collected her Otataral sword. He told Oponn that the blade would not be used to do their dirty work.Gardens of the Moon, Chapter 23, UK MMPB p.679
Paran thought that it was possibly that his heightened sensitivity to magic was due to wearing the otataral bladeGardens of the Moon, Epilogue, UK MMPB p.701
==In House of Chains==
Lorn's successor as Imperial Adjunct, Tavore Paran, also carried an Otataral sword, scabbarded at her belt, as sign of her office and imperial title.House of Chains, Chapter 5, UK MMPB p.279 She kept the sword in a long stone box sealed with wax at times, to stop its characteristics interfering, for example with messengers expected to arrive by Warren.House of Chains, Chapter 11, UK MMPB p.499 Tavore drew the sword to disperse the whirlwind preventing her 14th Army from entering Raraku.House of Chains, Chapter 22, US SFBC p.720
==In The Bonehunters==
Paran was still carrying the sword he took off Lorn, albeit reluctantly. He told the Jaghut Ganath that he mostly kept it buried by the back wall of Coll's estate in Darujhistan. He eventually gave it to the mage Karpolan Demesand of the Trygalle Trade Guild as payment for services rendered. As had been agreed with Paran, the sword was then broken up, achieved by one of the shareholders pounding it with a mace, after which Paran collected a piece of the shards about the length of his index finger and not much wider.The Bonehunters, Chapter 10, UK MMPB p.528The Bonehunters, Chapter 13, UK MMPB p.622/623 Paran later used the shard to impale the hand of the goddess Poliel so she was pinned to the world and unable to escape from the Deragoth.The Bonehunters, Chapter 15
During Tavore's retreat from Malaz City, her Otataral blade meant that the Claw could not employ the usual sorcery in their ambushes against her.The Bonehunters, Chapter 23, UK MMPB p.1108
==In The Crippled God==
Sinn was unable to reach the Adjunct with her mind due to the Otataral sword acting as a barrier.The Crippled God, Chapter 3, UK HB p.72
The Shield Anvil of the Perish Grey Helms, Tanakalian, omitted to mention to the Forkrul Assail that the commander of a force approaching through the Glass Desert was wielding an Otataral sword. As the sword prevented the Forkrul Assail from sensing anything, they had been totally unaware of the possibility even of someone approaching from that direction until Tanakalian mentioned them in passing.The Crippled God, Chapter 21, UK HB p.649
At the barrow, where the Bonehunter marines and heavies were about to make their last stand, Fiddler observed that Tavore's sword seemed to be 'awake' and Banaschar whispered that it 'shall summon'. Tavore then plunged her sword into the ground.The Crippled God, Chapter 24, UK HB p.792
==Author comments==
When asked what an otataral sword looked like, Steven Erikson said he saw "them as pretty plain, like the narrower examples of Norse swords. Nothing fancy."Reddit Ask Me Anything session July 2022
==Notes and references==
es:Espada de Otataralita
Category:Swords