Silverblade The Enchanter is a wizard from the world of Erynavar, but now lives on the Rock of Bral, the famous asteroid city in the Tears of Selune, orbiting Toril, the Forgotten Realms.
His background and style of wizardy has resulted in him using and also enchanting knives and daggers a LOT. His sobriquet comes from the fact he is so experienced in the enchantment of magical objects.
(In 4th ed he uses daggers as an implement and he has the Arcane Trickster path, which lets him do “nasty stabby things”, though mostly he’s about using his magic in non-lethal ways)
This article details two of his favourite and most used weapons and tools.
Though I write it thinking of 4th ed it’s easily changed to other editions of our favourite game.
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SILVERBLADE’S SKEIN DHU
Knife (1d3 base damage)
Materials: dwarven steel, brass, rosewood, silver
+3
Owner’s Safeguard (it can never harm its true owner, even if stabbed into him by someone else)
Bane vs wood and paper
Most people think a Skein dhu is a specific design of knife, where as in Silver’s homeland, it is the designation for HOW it is used and applies to any style of knife.
A Skein Dhu, to an Alban, is the knife they use in their workaday tasks.
His is a locknife anout four inches long with a three and a half inch clip point blade of “dwarven steel” (which is stainless steel and thus resists corrosion very well).
The handle has brass fittings with rosewood hanldles which are inlaid on each side with a unicorn’s head, which is a holy and national symbol to his people.
Made by his father, who was a sword and knifesmith in their home town, as a cherished gift and useful tool, he’s had this knife since he was a boy. It was the first he used in combat, and the first he enchanted, and has upgraded it since then.
He put the rather obscure “Owner’s Safeguard” enchantment on it to prevent it cutting him when he’s whittling, cutting rope or whatever use he may have it. Also it’s saved his life when an enraged kidnapper stabbed him with it, leaving Silver’ dead as he thought….
The bane vs wood and paper came about by habitual use and other factors, becoming an enchantment all its own! Turned in very handy when he was attacked by a raggomoffyn.
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UNICORN’S TEAR
Dagger
Materials: adamantine, ocean opal, silver
+4
Counts as both silver and adamantine
Holy
Demon bane
Keen
This deadly weapon is a form of side opening flick knife, working by gravity and a flick of the wrist. Seven inch handle, six inch blade, smooth design with no guard (but see after)
The grip sides are made from “ocean opal”, a form of opal from his homeworld, it is very clear and translucent compared to normal opals, but the same flashes of crystal fire can be seen as it is moved around, and has a slight blue colour to the almost transparent,translucent material, hence the name as it resembles the clearest ocean.
Four slight horizontal grooves about an inch wide run down the opal handle to help with a good grip, and opal ocean isn’t like most gemstones, offering a surface that doesn’t feel too smooth and gives good traction.
Though there is no guard normally, note all the metalwork except decoration is adamantine, a bas relief unicorns head is on top of the adamantine each side of the handle where it meets the blade, whixh is also the swivel point.
When the weapon is extended the enhancements cause the adamantine to temporarily fuse into one solid piece, removing a weakness of the design.
Also a hilt grows out, the unicorn’s head forming out into a larger altered form of silver overlaid adamantine, with the unicorn’s muzzle curving down to protect the fingers, the ears and main curve forward to provide a blade trap, and the horn lengthens to link up with the blade.
The blade is not the usual stiletto design of such weapons, instead it has an angled chiselled edge like a tanto but with a straight layout, not curved. The bottom three inches have scallop like spiked serrations, Good for cutting leather, rope etc.
Silver celtic knotwork is engraved and inlaid into it, a style of art common and very much part of his homeland’s tradition, as is the unicorn.
The weapon’s “holy” ability come from.the fact he used a unicorn’s tear to give it the ability to punish evil creatures. Silverblade defeated a necromancer who’d been killing unicorn foals in foul rituals, and later when he enchanted the blade, he asked for their tears to help fight such horrors and they eagerly and sorrowfully did so.
Silverblade has a particular loathing of the undead and also and most especially, demons, hence the “holy” and demon bane enchantments.
Keen ability of course, makes it a more deadly weapon. He didn’t actually put this enchantment in the weapon himself, it has “grown” it through useage and time, perhaps because of the strange creatures and magic it has touched, as well as being adamantine.
Because of the design, inlay and enchantments, it counts as both adamantine and silver.
Hostile golems and wizards protected by “Stoneskin” spells can of course be serious problems, thus adamantine, plus the fact it makes such incredibly deadly sharp blades by its own innate nature. Silver tends to work well on evil creatures.
To cap it all, he wears the Unicorn’s Tear in an enchanted sheath on his right arm.
The sheath acts akin to a Bag of Holding, and is very thin, seemingly too thin to hold the blade but it can thanks to the extra dimensional ability. On top of this, this spells of camouflage and Non-Detection woven into it, meaning it’s almost impossible for anyone to find the sheath and dagger within, making it a handy hideout weapon if captured.
Wildspace: The Spelljammer Fanzine 