Ilbratha (Magic Sword)

Ilbratha is a bronze sword with a row of six matched bloodstones set into the fuller of the blade along one side only. Each bloodstone is worth 70 gold pieces: as an undamaged set of stones, they might bring 500 to 600 gp if sold shrewdly. Ilbratha does no! glow and bears no inscriptions. It is -M on attack and damage rolls, and, when grasped by a fighter of any alignment, its powers are communicated telepathically to the holder. This is a feature of its magical manufacture-it is not sentient.
Ilbratha gains its name from its powers, which are very useful in combat. When held (bare flesh on the handgrip) and mentally ordered, Ilbratha can jump (as the spell: one leap only) with its bearer three times a day, blink itself and its bearer once a day, and create a mirror image of itself and its bearer once a day. It also rings like struck chimes or tubular bells when it touches magic: this includes spell effects from devices and physical contact with enchanted items, but not physical effects (such as a stinking cloud or gust of wind) caused by spell casting. This power is a warning only, and is in not a protection against magic.
Ilbratha was created by unknown hands at the behest of Azoun I, long-dead king of Cormyr. He bore it once into battle, at Ithmong in his war with Tethyr, and then lost it in a storm that wrecked his ship on the rocks of The Neck. The sword was found by the fishers of Teziir and sold to a rich merchant, Sevan of Amnwater. He took it west on a caravan along the Trader's Road and the river Chionthar to Scornubel, where he sold it to Phelas Urm, a merchant of Thentia. Phelas brought it overland through Cormyr, where it was recognized in Arabel. Agents of King Azoun 1 attempted to recover it, and slew Phelas, but in the confusion the blade was either lost or stolen by one of the agents.
All trace of it was lost until, 200 winters later, the sage Thallastam of Procampur was offered the blade for 1,500 gold pieces by a peddler from a nearby town who seemed ignorant of its true nature. Thallastam brought the blade to Elminster in Shadowdale, the only Loremaster with an interest in swords whom he trusted.
Elminster identified the blade from the writings of Azoun 1 (the old king's great-grandson had just come to the throne), and Thallastam bore it back toward Procampur by way of Tilver's Gap and Essembra. But he was never seen again, and did not reach Procampur. His ruined diary, staff, and a skeleton were found some years later when the Pool of Yeven in Battledale was dragged, but the sword was never found. Elminster believes it in the hands of brigands, or perhaps mercenaries, who have not drawn the blade since, at least not in battle near the Dales.
Category:Encyclopedia Magica Magic Items
Category:Magic Items
Category:Magic Swords
Category:Magic Weapons