Skyshear

Skyshear is a longsword of unsettling beauty, its blade forged from the twisted remains of a floating fortress's gravity-defying core. The metal is an unnatural blue-grey, the same color as storm clouds, and bears hairline fractures that glow with faint, pulsing light—like veins of captured lightning running through the steel. The sword weighs almost nothing in hand, as if it still remembers flight, yet strikes with devastating force.

The crossguard is made from a fragment of enchanted crystal, the same type once used to lift entire cities into the sky. This crystal hums quietly when held, a sound like distant wind through high towers. The pommel bears an inscription in High Arcane script that reads: "From heights we fell, and fell, and fell."

Those who wield Skyshear report an unsettling sensation—a feeling of vertigo, as if standing at the edge of a great precipice, and the nagging certainty that the ground beneath them might give way at any moment.

History

Skyshear was forged by a scavenger-smith named Ingvar Ashfall approximately eight years after the Fall. Ingvar made his living salvaging the crash sites of the fallen fortresses, a dangerous profession that claimed many lives. While picking through the ruins of what he believed to be a fragment of a floating citadel, he discovered a intact gravity core: a crystalline sphere still pulsing with residual power.

Rather than sell it, Ingvar became obsessed. For three months, he labored in secret, melting down pieces of the fortress's superstructure and binding them with the crystal's power. The process nearly killed him—the wild magic scorched his lungs and left his hands scarred with frost burns that never fully healed, but he succeeded in creating Skyshear.

Ingvar claimed the sword was "born of hubris and gravity's revenge," and indeed, the weapon seems to embody both the arrogance of the old elite who built the sky-cities and the violent consequences of their fall.

Ingvar wielded Skyshear for two years before disappearing during an expedition into the Shardstorm Crater. The sword has since passed through several hands, each owner meeting an untimely end. Rumor suggests the weapon is cursed, carrying with it the doomed fate of the fortress from which it was born.

Powers and Properties

Enchanted Blade: When you attack with Skyshear, you make the attack roll with 1 boon, and the attack deals 1d6 extra damage.

Featherweight: Despite being a longsword, Skyshear weighs only 1 pound due to residual gravity-manipulation enchantments. You can wield it as if it were a finesse weapon. Additionally, you make Athletics rolls related to climbing or jumping with 1 boon.

Falling Strike: Once per rest, when you attack a creature from a higher elevation (at least 5 feet above your target), you can invoke the blade's power. On a successful hit, gravity itself seems to hammer down through your strike. The target takes an additional 3d6 damage and must make an Agility challenge roll. On a failure, the target is knocked prone and pushed 5 yards directly away from you, as if struck by a tremendous downward force.

Notable Wielders

Ingvar Ashfall (Creator, Year 8-10 A.F.): The scavenger-smith who forged Skyshear. Disappeared in the Shardstorm Crater under mysterious circumstances. His final journal entry read: "The sword sings to me now. It wants to go home. To the sky."

Captain Lyra Stonehand (Year 12-13 A.F.): A mercenary captain who claimed Skyshear from Torven's abandoned camp. Used it to great effect defending a settlement from a cult raid. Died when she inexplicably threw herself from the settlement's watchtower, screaming about "the cities calling her home."

Current Whereabouts: Unknown. Last confirmed sighting was in the possession of a wandering Frostmarked warrior named Kellan Ice-Eye, who was seen entering the northern wastes three years ago. He has not returned.

Lore and Symbolism

Skyshear represents the literal and metaphorical downfall of the old world's elite. The sword's power comes from the very technology and magic that allowed the wealthy to escape the world's suffering—but that same power failed catastrophically, bringing them crashing back to earth.

Some scholars at the Aurora Conservatory view weapons like Skyshear as "artifacts of hubris reforged," tools that channel the mistakes of the past into pragmatic power. Others see them as cursed reminders that should be destroyed, lest they spread the corruption of the old elite's sins.

The Frost Cults, particularly the Brotherhood of the Long Night, view Skyshear with reverence. They believe the sword embodies the "righteous fall"—the universe's correction of those who flew too high. Some cultists actively seek it, hoping to use it in rituals or as a holy symbol of their apocalyptic faith.

Related Articles

• Shardstorm Crater
• Arden Vahl (Floating Fortress)
• Torven Ashfall
• Gravity Magic
• Enchanted Weapons

"The sword doesn't just cut—it makes you feel how far they fell. And how far you could fall, too."

— Captain Lyra Stonehand, two days before her death