Blackwand

From the Lyorn Records of the Dragaeran Empire

Blackwand is the longsword carried by Morrolan e'Drien, one of the seventeen Great Weapons. Blackwand's sentience is perceived briefly by Vlad Taltos as being very aggressive and in some way female. Morrolan obtained her from Sethra Lavode. Paarfi of Roundwood relates this (in a probably apocryphal account) as having been the result of Morrolan demanding tribute of Sethra, whose domain, the Barony of Dzur Mountain, is technically a fief of Morrolan's then-county (and now duchy) of Southmoor

Blackwand has been described as 'an infantry battalion disguised as a sword.'

When Morrolan first appeared in Blackchapel, he told the coachman Miska that, in addition to his name, he was searching for a place of power, a sacred artifact, and a soulmate. Arguably, Blackwand is all three of these things.

While Blackwand can consume souls, like all Great Weapons, the bond that she has with her bearer means that Morrolan can tell her not to do so. He has done this at least once explicitly, on the Paths of the Dead, and may have done so less obviously at other times — most notably, when Morrolan and Vlad attacked Loraan.

[edit] Notable Powers

• Intense magical artifact -- strikes fear or intense discomfort into all but wielder
• Can deflect some spells
• Assists Morrolan in witchcraft, acting as his familiar.
• Can produce magical attacks, even when Morrolan is unconscious
• Blackwand has struck back at Morrolan's killer on at least one occasion; she attacked a Jenoine with a 'black flash' after it killed him.
• As Morrolan killed Tri'nagore, he fell unconscious from the shock. When he awoke he found the bodies of three Easterners who had tried to kill him, but had been stopped by Blackwand.

[edit] Serioli Name

The Serioli name for Blackwand is something like Magical-Wand-That-Creates-Death-in-the-Form-of-a-Black-Sword (Phoenix), or "Magical wand for creating death in the form of a black sword" (Dragon).

Note that a particular Serioli has suggested that "creating death" in the latter example is not quite right, and more preferable would be "removing life-substance" or "sending life-substance to —". Alas, he was interrupted before his linguistic analysis was complete, so we do not know, at this point in time, where the life-substance is sent to.