The Way of the Infinite Blades
In the world of Semita there are many martial schools of combat that associate themselves with swords and general swordcraft. One of the most feared is that of the Way of the Infinite Blades, a dangerous death cult of swordsmiths. A practitioner of the Way of the Infinite Blades weaves magic into blades they craft so that they are but extensions of their soul. In this way much like how an eldritch knight or similar people can be attuned to a given weapon without many meaningful ways to deny them access a Infinite Blades user is able to call forth any number of weapons over the course of a battle, as long as it is one they crafted themselves and is one with their soul.
Often students of the Way of Infinite Blades spend decades honing the skills of simply crafting blades and then having to fight with a single blade until it breaks, unable to rest until they bring their creation to the breaking point and learn its weakness to make their next blade stronger. These rites of training are accomplished by putting the student into a trance like state through the burning of ritualistic herbs in their forge to spur them on into battle far longer then their body would normally allow. After such a trance the student spends no less then a month resting their body and mind while planning out their next forging.
It is only after a student is able to defeat the master of their branch of the school by making them use each of their soul blades that a student is considered a master and allowed to go out into the world and practice the way on the roads and seas as they see fit.
After their graduation the practitioner of The Way of the Infinite Blades will always seek a challenge worthy of their skill until such time as they need to return to their school to teach new students. A practitioner does not truly become a master, and must return to teach, until they are bested in battle by a swordsman not of the school. This mark of shame spurs them on to pass on all of their hard fought wisdom to a new student who may one day surpass them and defeat the enemy who shamed them into seclusion.
History
The Bloody Growing Pains
The Way of the Infinite Blades was founded at some time during the 1st Age of Strife in the aftermath of the fall of Ashe. it is known that the first members were former members of the Kensei Order of Monks who sought a deeper spiritual connection to their weapons. Unable to sustain their experiments with Ki the members left their order behind and went out into the world seeking new innovations out on the road. Eventually the founders began to travel as a mercenary band of law bringers being charged by the emerging nations of the 1st Age of Strife to hunt down war criminals and former members of Ashe's Draconian Empire that had evaded justice. These targets were the first experiments. It was through torture of these criminals that they learned of the innate power of blood and how it could be weaved into blades. After this early period of mercenary work the founders settled down in what would come to be known as the city of Daggersfall and found the Sanguine Blade Fighting School and began to collaborate with emerging Lyssian Blood Hunters and Blood Sorcerers to truly understand the nature of the blood magic that sought to pioneer. Eventually however, the founders would break away from the goals of the Lyssian Blood Hunters and Blood Sorcerers and pave their own way closer tied to their monk roots but also deeply rooted in the blood magic they'd discovered, closely aligned with the maligned school of necromancy.The Guild Reborn
After the departure of the other early of Blood Magic from the halls of the Sanguine Blade Fighting School, the founders in their old age reorganized the Fighting School into The Way of the Infinite Blades an order of sword smiths and sword masters that would take the best of their old monk traditions and integrate the most controllable aspects of blood magic to create an order whose goal was to create some of, if not the best, warriors in the world armed with as many blades as their soul could allow them to forge and wield. Their finest art ever honed is the soul strike, a means by which for a master of the art to use each soul blade attuned to them at the same time for a decimating strike, with the risk however of overwhelming the soul and leaving the swordsman as dead as their target. The honor of perishing in battle however, makes the use of this masterful art less feared and more desired. Other arts were created as well as the Guild needed to compete with other martial oriented guilds amongst the many guilds of Daggersfall. These innovations would lead to The Way of the Infinite Blades being one of the most prestigious fighting guilds in the known world to date.Components and tools
Forging of soul blades is similar to the crafting of normal blades in that a student need only maintain a forge that they can use to create the weapons. However, to anoint them as soul blades the student must be prepared at all times to temper the blades post forging in their own blood and then commit a bonding rite that ties the blade to their very soul.
Most students of the rite can be fond traveling with the following tools of the trade:
- A set of metal workers tools
- A small collection of minerals, ingots of ores fit for crafting with, or other materials the student is fond of integrating into their blades
- A set of manacles meant to restrain the target of the blade sacrifice to finish the bonding ceremony
Observance
After tempering
After the forging of a blade it must be tempered in the blood if its maker to allow the blade itself to begin to awaken as a vessel fit for holding a pocket of the forger's soul. The blade must be tempered in at least one ounce of blood per pound of weight on the blade. Often members of the order blood let themselves daily to ensure constant supply of blood for forging purposes.The Sacrifice
To allow the full transition of a portion of the soul into the blade, the soul must be wounded to allow it passage into the blade. As such, the ritual rite of The Sacrifice was innovated by early adopters of the Way. While the nature of the sacrifice is different for each user of the Way, there is one constant: the sacrifice must be unwilling and it must suffer. Often members of the Way choose to use criminals, or wild animals, but some more zealous members of The Sanguine Circle a subsect of the Way choose to use people of significance to them sometimes maintaining very deep emotional ties to people for the sole purpose of later sacrificing them. This particular means of The Sacrifice is seen by members of The Circle as more meaningful as the hardship of such sacrifice also begins to temper the user's very soul into a weapon.The Combat Trance
After each of their blades forging the student adds the blade to their collection of weapons and enters a combat trance through herbal burning in their forge to go test their metal against whatever foes they can find. If they survive the night without either a. falling in battle, or b. breaking the blade, they are successful; should they fail the blade must be destroyed and a new one forged. Should the rite be successful the blade is allowed to be kept and used as long as it is able to serve.
Primary Related Location
In response to the prompt I want to become a master swordsman in your world. What unique methods of training do I use?
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