Flame of the North

The Flame of the North was an enchanted greatsword that belonged to High King Arthangh of Emberden and was entombed with him in Undermountain.

History
What Emberden was and where it lay, and who Arthangh was and why he fell were not known—all trace was lost to history. Only the Flame of the North and Arthangh's tomb lay within the first level of Undermountain by the 1360s DR. The tomb bore the following inscription written in Thorass: "Here Lies High King Arthangh Son of Meirra Lord of Emberden He Should Not Have Fallen."

The unsheathed sword would be found lying atop the tomb. When someone approached, a magic mouth announced: "Lay hand to sword and it is thine; The Flame of The North—but beware, for death is very close to thee."

Description
The blade was made from steel and gleamed as bright as a mirror, as if freshly polished.

Powers
The Flame of the North was a +2 greatsword, but increased to +4 when used against chaotic evil creatures.

Only a chaotic good being could safely and effectively wield the Flame of the North. If anyone else so much as touched it, it would spit blue fire that shocked them; it was safe thereafter, but was deteriorated to a −3 weapon. In the hands of a chaotic good wielder, the blade burst into blue-white flames, shedding light like faerie fire but inflicting hindrance to the bearer. These were flames were illusory, gave no heat, and didn't ignite fires, and they could not be dimmed by any means except breaking the blade or putting it down.

In addition, the Flame of the North detected chaotic evil creatures without fail. When the drawn blade, in the hands of a chaotic good creature, was brought within of a chaotic evil creature, the blade would whisper "Strike! Strike! Strike!" in the wielder's mind, regardless of any magical attempts to conceal the creature's alignment or identity. However, the sword itself had no intelligence or compulsive powers of its own.

When drawn, the blade had a 10% chance to reflect any spell directed at the wielder back upon the caster, whether they wanted it to not. Moreover, it would absorb all magic missiles and electrical attacks directed at the wielder without ill-effect, the magical energy recharge the sword's own powers.

The blade was everbright, preventing rust, tarnish, staining, or damage from blood, acid, fire, and so on.

Appearances

 * The Ruins of Undermountain