Cardinal Blades

## Intro

**The Five Cardinal Blades** are a set of five magical weapons that were less made than they were *found*; full-formed in the earth, and dug from there in the forever-unbroken forms they have today.

They
 are themed; of course; after the classic five cardinal gems Amethyst,
Emerald, Sapphire, Ruby and Diamond, and will be discussed in order.

They
 are all indestructible and each has affinities for various elemental
magics; Amethyst for Poison and Light, Emerald for Wind and Sound;
Sapphire for Ice and Water and Ruby for Fire and Lightning; and Diamond
for Force; and each can sheathe themselves in such and enhance the
casting of spells thereof, but these are considered secondary; utility
powers to their main ones.

## Amethyst

**Amethyst** is seemingly the
humblest of the weapons despite its affinity for Light magics; and the
quietest of thought and speech, but its powers are still potent.

Any
force that could incapacitate the user; whether it be poison or drugs or
 disease or dark magic or even (at its greatest bonding power) sleep or
hunger, will not touch those who use it.

And; in fact; such
things are stored in its blade for use and release. Which can be a
devastating weapon in the wrong hands, and while it has seen plenty of
use with heroes, sometimes the most unexpected of villains wield it.

## Emerald

Then there is **Emerald**,
 a sword made for casters. It has power over illusions, and may cut
through them, but more often it is used to create them and give them
solidity far beyond any spell cast without it.

It may reply; with
its bombastically humbuggish personality; that its powers only function
dependent on how much those around it want them to function, and this is
 true. But, it is still a powerful tool for any showman or scammer out
there; and only the strongest of hoodwinks and humbugs whether for good
or for evil can use the apex of its power and make the illusions truly
real in a way that will last even without the sword; at least unless
they have some outside help.

It does not like the Amethyst sword, which can swallow its illusions whole.

## Sapphire

**Sapphire**
 is a sword of prophecy, of oracles and of destiny. Its power is to
simply tell you what things might happen next; but as many know that is a
 strong power indeed.

Inside a battle it can predict a
blow-by-blow of what would happen next if the wielder does not take
action. But, outside of battle, it never does tell one directly what
will happen; just what might; usually in multiples of three
possibilities dependent on actions taken then. The longer of a time it
must predict the larger the possibilities are.

This has not
resulted in a fatalistic personality; but rather an obsequieous one to
the interests whoever wields them due to their sheer interest in
weilders as agents and breakers of fate, with them often even lying to
their weilders if they think their actions will be in their best
interests.

## Ruby

**Ruby** is a sword with a firey passion and an
enormous personality; which is appropriate in that it kindles the
internal flames of those around it. It takes the passion of the wielder
and translates it into the internal power of those allied around them,
enhancing their core abilities in proportion to the weilder’s bond and
zeal.

Ruby is often the most active of the swords
personality-wise; trying to find the wielder with the most passionate
heart and to encourage their wielders to their full potential; but also
eager to enhance the bonds of them with others; offering advice that is
enthusiastic and exuberant to the fullest.

It is not quite fond of the
self-directed nature of Sapphire, and while they don’t have an enmity
per-say, they are not fond of each other.

## Diamond

**Diamond**, of
all the swords, is the most dangerous but deeply simple in its powers.
For, those who wield it; no barrier can stop them; and no weapon may cut
 them down. Neither walls nor space nor time nor a

ge can halt their
progress, they are the purest essence of adamant.

It believes
that the user’s purpose must be of purest clarity; untainted by
compassion or weakness, and of the swords is one of the very few to try
and wield its holders. Anyone may wield this sword, but only the truly
powerful can tell it to shut the hell up and stop its efforts to erode
at their purpose in pursuit of their goal.

Of course, it’s power
does have one weakness; always different for each wielder but always
related somehow to their purpose for their actions. And; if it is
shattered, so too is the sword, only to appear beneath the earth in
another place or another time.

None of the other swords like them, and will do as much as they can to try and get rid of the bastard.

## Lesser Cardinal Blades

Manufactured en-masse, often on worlds torn by war, the **Pearl Sword**
and **Amber Sword** are both artificial; weaker imitations of the Cardinal
Swords, still difficult enough to design that they still only show up in
 the hands of those honored or elite enough to receive them.

The
 Pearl Swords have the power of Stars and the Amber Swords have the
power of Preservation. At their base level this usually amounts to the
Pearl Sword sending out sparkling elemental motes and the Amber Sword
shooting a ray putting people into a crystalline torpor.

But, they
 have a major ability that lets them do so much more. For, you see, they
 accrue power over time, growing with their wielders and having their
core specialties shaped in any number of directions, with their
appearance continually changing to reflect such.

Related to their mercurial nature, no two of them are alike in personality as with most people, though there is a *slight* tendency
 for the Pearl ones to be either overly-humble or complete divas and for
 the Amber ones to be down-to-earth but somewhat stubborn.

While
 none of them have reached the power levels of the original Cardinal
Swords, the

y do have the potential for such, and some iterations are
getting close. And, for the most part, the Cardinal Swords welcome them
as kin and friends.

Well, except for Diamond, who basically wants them *gone*, but that’s Diamond for ya.

It
 is said there are also other mass-production varieties either made or
in development by their mysterious creator, with Coral; Petrified Wood;
Ammolite and Stalactite ones rumored, along with more dubious ones of
Fordite or Bezoar or; god forbid; *Kidney Stone*…

## Author Commentary

A slightly different format for these to fit them better, these essentially started out as attempts to make pretty-looking swords, which I then felt I needed to figure out a story for. Which took exceedingly long, especially given the research into gem symbolism I did (Yes, that's where I got the inspiration from, not Steven Universe), and overall they're some of the ones I'm the most proud of!

## License

These artifacts are free to use as you see fit under a CC-BY 4.0 license so long as I; Thomas F. Johnson, am credited as their creator!

## Blatant Shilling

And, if you wanna support me, maybe check out my Patreon, which I previewed this design on ages ago, or even just send a Ko-Fi my way! Every penny is appreciated, and I am eternally grateful for those who donate!