Angul

"We do not suffer abominations!"

- The blade Angul

Angul was a longsword made from a soul shard of Nangulis, a Keeper of the Cerulean Sign, around the year. The intelligent weapon bore an overwhelming force of personality that threatened to subsume the will of most who attempted to wield it.

Appearance
Angul bore an inlay that read "Keeper of the Cerulean Sign" in star elf script. Kiril carried it in a white leather sheath as of 1374 DR. There were runes on the blade, which glowed with white light when unsheathed. The hilt was wrapped in leather as of 1375 DR.

The sword sometimes groaned or howled an atonal sound in presence of aberrations.

Powers
The sword, even when not wielded, could cover itself with flickering fire that glowed blue, if it wanted to be noticed. More than that, if touched by something of a demonic nature, it could strike back with a backlash strong enough to destroy some demons. Angul could use this power to punish its wielder, if it desired, too. It sometimes attempted to strike in its vicinity with this flame. The flame could also be used to evaporate dangerous fluids that covered the wielder.

Angul bore a very intense glow, like daylight, when unsheathed and wielded. It had no problem damaging incorporeal foes such as some undead, and it could heal its wielder or help them power through pain as it desired, even inflicting pain sometimes. The weapon also possessed some measure of ability to protect from blows or grant strength. The weapon's light could hold some forms of darkness at bay, at least for a time.

Those who wielded the blade had their doubts and hesitation burned to nothing in the blade's conviction, with only the mildest reprieve provided by alcohol in their system. Even an intoxicated wielder, once wielding the weapon, found it extremely difficult to retain the least thread of awareness of their own self in the face of the weapon's sheer power, caring nothing for their own allies and very little for their life. Its influence was so alluring it could bring a wielder to take up the blade immediately upon waking, but its call could not penetrate intoxication with alcohol.

In a pinch, Angul could be thrown. As a last power, Angul could be used to open the doors of the Underdungeon, just like a Cerulean Sign. When joined to the Cerulean Sign and wielded competently, Angul was used to scribe a Sign of Sealing that was expected to slay even the Eldest. In a similar situation, the sword was employed to seal anew the Far Manifold, though this was its final task.

Lastly, it was wreathed in flames while attacking. Those were capable of reducing someone to bones in a blaze, or prevent trolls from regenerating.

Personality
Per Kiril Duskmourn, Angul was even more unbending in his saintliness as a sword than Nangulis had been. The sword was made of the fractions of Nangulis' soul that aligned with purity, self-sacrifice, a higher ideal, and duty; all of the righteousness, justice, and goodliness of his soul became a part of Angul, and she found the weapon itself to have been especially effective at controlling her precisely by being similar to Nangulis. Kiril even insisted Angul was male.

The weapon acted with unyielding, holy conviction, and actively quelled its wielders' ability to consider consequences both to themselves and to others. Its impulses never wavered, and it never compromised. It did not take notice of ignorance, in fact, it did not take notice of just about any circumstance or emotion other than to disregard it. It did not even bother to comprehend weakness.

The weapon was jealous, and it did not like wielder employing any other magical weapon, though it did not retaliate for that. It was not above injuring a recalcitrant wielder, sabotaging them in battle or causing them to come to injury as punishment, but it honored deals brokered with it. The weapon was willing to withhold healing and even its influence until the wielder was in a more smiting mood. At all times, it wanted to be in control.

It gladly struck down demons, trolls, pirates, and probably tavern-goers too, but not Keepers of the Cerulean Sign. Though it might've protected the world from abominations, its wielders were not certain protecting the world was an issue for it.

For a few minutes in 1396 DR, Angul was showing signs of sorrow, remorse, and self-awareness, bemoaning Kiril's abandonment, and blaming its own lack of restraint for it. That lasted only until Raidon Kane asked for its help in cleansing abominations. However, after that point, Angul began to show some changes, actually providing warnings and reasoning with its wielder rather than simply taking them over, and recognizing that accomplishing the latter might not be sufficient for its appointed tasks, going so far as to take its wielder's emotional state into account. This could possibly have been because Angul felt its final battle was approaching.

Creation (ca. 1364 DR)
The weapon was created around the year, during an escape attempt by the Traitor in Stardeep. Unable to stop the traitor at their present strength, both keepers, Nangulis and Kiril, as well as Cynosure, the constructed intelligence that oversaw the fortress, required a stronger weapon. The crafting method they selected at the moment required the sacrifice of an ensouled being in order to complete the weapon, which would be imbued with the parts of their soul that were aligned with goodness and duty; almost out of time, the Keeper of the Cerulean Sign Nangulis was chosen as the sacrifice. The weapon was in turn wielded by Nangulis' fiancee, Kiril Duskmourn, who, wielding it, managed to weaken and subdue the Traitor, then return him to his prison.

Kiril Duskmourn (ca. 1364-ca. 1386 DR)
Kiril kept the weapon afterwards. Its influence eventually drove her to slay a number of young elves who had become too curious about the gates of Stardeep in violation of the Compact of Yuireshanyaar. After she realized what she did under its influence, she fled Stardeep, and became a brigand. She kept the weapon throughout this period, bearing the weapon throughout the year, when she became involved in the battle against Pandorym. She often disregarded the weapon's tactical advice, but a barrage of foes of overwhelming power eventually forced her to resort to the artifact multiple times, even where other weapons without an ego of their own were available, as the situation was dire enough to render half-measures unworkable.

After Pandorym was sealed anew, she resolved to return to Stardeep. While lingering at Laothkund, her weapon was stolen by the Shadow Tongue crime ring. It was retrieved from the lair by her friend Gage; he too was forced to resort to Angul during his escape from the Shadow Tongue lair, despite it destroying one of his enchanted gloves, the Hands of Paymon. He too became overwhelmed by the weapon. Kiril relieved him of the weapon at the Green Warrior Inn and Tavern, relating to him afterwards the story of Angul.

Kiril continued her path to Stardeep afterwards, accompanied by Gage. The weapon slew Sathra of the Shadow Tongue along the way. Once she arrived at Stardeep, Kiril had to defend herself from the Empyrean Knights, who wanted to take away her weapon; the sword itself chose not to help. After the fight, Kiril parted ways with the thief, and was joined by two others, Raidon Kane and Adrik Commorand on a quest for a hidden path to Stardeep: Angul slew nilshai in Sildëyuir, where the hidden path lay. The weapon then accompanied her into the Underdungeon, where the sword smote down revived fossils until Kiril's courage failed her, and then helped Keeper Telarian, who was armed with its twin sword, slay the relic lich. Kiril bore the sword and joined Telarian's party as it returned to Stardeep. When Telarian, whom the sword saw as still keeping faith with the Cerulean Sign, attempted to slay Kiril, she blocked the strike with Angul; on contact, Nis absorbed it, merging both weapons into Angul-Nis.

As Angul-Nis, the weapon became Telarian's to wield. Within moments, he used it to strike down Keeper Delphe and sunder her Cerulean Sign, smash Kiril's pet dragonet Xet, destroy Cynosure's body, and break the wards keeping the Traitor imprisoned. At the same time, the reconstructed soul of Nangulis, whose halves had been used to create the twin swords, reached out to Kiril Duskmourn. After learning Telarian was actually trying to release the Traitor, the full soul attempted to part itself and the sword back into its component parts. It did not succeed, however, until the thief Gage made his appearance again, and struck Telarian from behind, breaking his concentration. Angul-Nis was once more split into two halves; Angul landed on the ground of the Chamber of Observation, while Nis was lost in the Traitor's prison.

The newly sundered Angul almost allowed its half of Nangulis' soul to move on to the afterlife, but at the last moment, Kiril took the weapon, thus binding the half-soul to continue on.

Raidon Kane (1396 DR)
Kiril kept the new Angul until one point after the Spellplague, when she traded it away to the Chalk Destrier at the Plaguewrought Lands of the Vilhon Reach in exchange for passage to Returned Abeir. It remained there until it was retrieved by Raidon Kane and Cynosure in 1396 DR. Though the weapon was at first intent on abandoning its own existence, Raidon managed to reawaken its lust for destruction. The monk then teleported to Taunissik on Cynosure's advice, looking to slay the kraken Gethshemeth, who wielded the Dreamheart, an aberrant artifact of the Abolethic Sovereignty. At the island, Angul battled several kuo-toa and a dragon, Scathrys, before its wielder decided to go straight for Gethshemeth. The blade later inflicted severe damage on the kraken, disarming it of the artifact and forcing it to flee.

Before Angul could sunder that artifact, it was stolen by the warlock Japheth Donard who used it to teleport away. Some tendays later, Raidon caught up to Japheth, and attempted to run him through with the weapon; Japheth managed to escape at the last minute again. Raidon made his next target the Eldest in Xxiphu, an abomination he glimpsed in the Dreamheart just before Japheth took it. Once in the underground city, Angul wounded the kraken Gethshemeth again, slew a guardian aboleth, and fought against the strange silver grass of the city.

Unfortunately for the sword, Raidon became disabled when the Eldest employed phantom children to attack his mind, which was still reeling from the loss of his daughter; disturbed almost to the point of catatonia, Angul took full control of Raidon's body and slew the phantoms. Wielding Raidon Kane, Angul proceeded along the way to the top of the city of Xxiphu, where aboleth were attempting a ritual to awaken the Eldest. The sheer number of aboleths in the area forced it, however, to attempt to empathize with Raidon Kane, so as to be able to call on the power of his sign. Angul eventually managed to rouse Raidon from his hopelessness; with his power and that of the Sign, the weapon managed to destroy scores of aboleths and scribe a sign of Sealing that completely thwarted the ritual. Unfortunately, the sign's power fell short of actually killing the antediluvian horror, perhaps due to Japheth's meddling again.

Angul found itself rebuffed by its wielder briefly during the latter's subsequent bout of heavy drinking, until the home of Anusha Marhana, his host, was attacked by Neifion, who was after Japheth. Using the blade, Raidon managed to fight off Neifion, but Angul was prevented from slaying Japheth by Yeva, whom he had previously rescued from Xxiphu. Raidon later agreed to accompany Japheth to the Yuirwood, looking for Stardeep. After the two crossed a portal to the Feywild to reach Stardeep's ruins, Angul helped slay an abomination summoned by the eladrin noble Malyanna, a student of the Traitor, to cover her escape. They were later attacked by Neifion again; Angul's offers of aid were rebuffed again for that fight. Raidon and Japheth later joined the Feywild forces from the Watch on Forever's Edge that rushed out to do battle with Malyanna and Xxiphu at the Citadel of the Outer Void; on their march acros the void, Angul was essential to battling the abominations that tried to stop them. At the Citadel of the Outer Void, Raidon drew Angul, but then eschewed the weapon when it came to fighting Taal. He later wielded it against more abominations, and finally Malyanna herself, though it turned out to be of limited use: Malyanna was only defeated when Taal, spurred on by Raidon, finally turned against her, well after she managed to unlock the Far Manifold.

Destruction (1396-1475 DR)
After the battle at the Citadel of the Outer Void, Anusha Marhana pointed out that Raidon's spellscar was a Cerulean Sign, and thus could be used to seal anew the Far Manifold. Raidon agreed to do it, sacrificing himself, as he was one with the sign; he considered relinquishing Angul, but the weapon explained this was to be its final task as well. Together, Raidon and Angul sealed the Far Manifold again, and were destroyed in the process. Angul's shell was laid to rest in Nathlekh, on the, atop the grave for Raidon's spent body.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * Darkvision • Stardeep • Abolethic Sovereignty Series (Plague of Spells • City of Torment • Key of Stars)