Adventuring Gear

Very Rare

Wrapped in layers of pristine white silk embroidered with delicate golden runes, this manuscript radiates a quiet, regal brilliance. Within, sheets of pale ivory parchment are inscribed with sharp, perfect glyphs of Empyrean—each character inked in shimmering gold, catching the light with every tilt of the page. The text details a formidable fighting style known simply as Doves Dance. It teaches the methods to bind a sword to one’s will, allowing it to float and strike independently through focused mental commands. The blade moves with eerie grace, circling its wielder like a silent sentinel or darting forth with sudden, lethal precision.
This technique was devised over a thousand years ago by Vaalerie Rhuul, a legendary mage and swordswoman revered as a hero of civilization. Her mastery of both blade and magic safeguarded entire kingdoms, and tales speak of her summoning storms of floating swords that danced around her in impossible harmony. Though she never really Documented how she Faught the original copy of this Esoteric Text was made by a good friend of hers after her passing.
Today, only those who combine arcane power with true sword skill can hope to learn this technique, commanding their weapon to hover by their side like a patient phantom—awaiting the silent command to strike.

Prerequisites: The Natural ability to cast at least one spell (meaning having at least one spell Slot), Proficiency with Martial Weapons, Can only be Used with Swords lacking the heavy property.

Initial Understanding - (Dove's call)
Initial Understanding Allows you to use your action to Bind a single sword, within 30 ft. of you that is not worn or carried by any person other then yourself, to your will through Pure Concentration, as long as you are Concentrating (as if concentrating on a spell) the targeted Sword Hovers in the Air and gains a Flying Speed equal to your Movement speed, if the Sword is ever More then 30 feet away from you for more then one turn Your Concentration automatically ends and the Sword falls to the ground. On your turn you can command the sword the Sword to move up to its speed and do the following things:
- Attack. The Sword can make one melee attack against a target within range, this attack uses your spell Modifier instead of a Physical modifier for attack and damage Roles, retaining any magical properties it has if any.
- Defend. The Sword begins to hover around a target of your Choice and dose its best to defend it from Incoming attacks. The Targets Ac increases by your Spellcasting Modifier until the sword is commanded to do something else. A Creature can only benefit from one Sword acting in this way.
Commanding a Sword has a Somatic Component and requires to have at least one hand available to guide it. If a Sword is attacked directly it is treated as having the same ac as you, if it is hit you need to Succeed on a Concentration check with advantage to keep the sword aloft, on a Success it is pushed 10 feet in a Direction of the attackers Choice but remains Animated.

Moderate Understanding - (Quality or Quantity)
Moderate Understanding is available at 7th Level. Now with a deeper Understanding of Both magic and the Sword you can tackle the next chapter of the Doves Dance. once learned the Quality of your Control has improved to the Point where you now have to choose if you want to aim at Quality or Quantity. When animating a Sword you can choose to Animate two Instead or keep only one Animated but give it an additional action each turn. Further more the animated swords gain one additional action they can perform based on if you chose to animate Multiple or just One.
- Intercept (Quality Only). The Sword Readies itself to Intercept and incoming attack targeting a Creature within 15 feet of it, when the creature is targeted by a Melee or Ranged Attack the Sword darts to the target and makes a Contesting attack role against the original attackers role, if it wins the attack is completely negated, if it Looses the attack commences as Normal but with the sword taking halve the damage resulting in the same thing as if it was attacked Directly.
- Pincer Maneuver (Quantity Only). For this action to work both Swords need to take the same action targeting the same creature, they each make an attack against the target dealing 1/2 of the Normal damage Rounded down, regardless if the hit or not the target then has to make a Strength saving throw against your Spell save dc or be grappled by the the Two swords.
Additionally the range at which you can Command your Swords and which they cant Leave increases to 40 feet.

Advanced Understanding - (Spellflame)
Advanced Understanding Becomes available at 12th level. Your mastery of the Dove’s Dance allows you to fully weaponize your will. When animating a sword you are holding, or whenever you hold the sword again while concentrating on Dove’s Dance, you can expend a spell slot of your choice to imbue the blade with an energy known as Spellflame.
For 1 minute, the sword becomes wreathed in white flames of pure arcane energy. While the blade is ignited in this way:
- The sword deals additional force damage equal to a number of d8s equal to the level of the expended spell slot.
- You no longer need to maintain concentration to keep the weapon animated and active for the duration of the Spellflame.
- The sword’s attacks ignore any AC increases granted by spells such as shield or mage armor.
- If you are wielding the sword yourself and hit a creature with it, that creature has a penalty to its next saving throw against one of your spells equal to half the level of the spell slot expended (rounded up).
Once you use this feature, you must finish a long rest before you can imbue a weapon with Spellflame again.

How it Works
To learn a technique from a Esoteric Text, a character must spend a total of 40 hours studying and practicing the contents described within. This time does not need to be consecutive but must be completed within a 1-month period. The Text must remain in the character’s possession for the entire duration of this training. Upon completion, the character becomes an Initiate in the given technique and gains its initial Understanding.
A character may only have one technique memorized at any given time, unless they have acquired another technique through a different feature than this method.
At specific levels, as defined individually by each technique, a character becomes proficient enough to advance their training in the technique. Doing so requires 20 additional hours of training, following the same rules as the initial training. The Esoteric Text is not required to use a technique, but it is required to progress it or to retrain a different one.
A character may retrain and replace their current technique by following the same rules as initial training. Upon completion, the previous technique is lost, and the character gains only the new technique's initial abilities. Any features granted by the replaced technique are no longer available.