Faervian

Faervian is a Baneblade of Demron, the fourth in that series, and is in the shape of a longsword. It was originally created for the Spell-Major of Cormanthyr as a replacement for the lost Ary'Faern'Kerym  elfblade (the Artblade). It is known to humans as "Battlebane", and more colloquially as the Sword of Art or the Mage's Blade.

Appearance
Faervian looks as though it were forged from one solid piece of burnished steel, and it glows a deep purple when drawn. The craftsmanship of this blade, unlike the others, is distinctly elven.

The hilt of the sword is longer than normal and gently twists, creating a good gripping surface. It has no quillons (meaning there is no cross guard). Its distinctive feature is a large spherical "eye" that is placed at the top of the hilt (between the blade and the hilt). The carved eye's pupil always faces outward, as if looking at its target, creating an eerie effect to its foes. The blade weighs half as much as a blade of its size should weigh, yet is quite strong.

Like the other baneblades it has a corona of flames dancing along its edge, of purple color in the case of Faervian.

History
Before retelling the history of Faervian, it's important to first understand the structure of the Cormanthyr army. Its arcane branch is called the Akh'Faer, and the first-in-command is known as the Spell-Major while the second-in-command is known as the Spell-Captain. Any candidate for the Spell-Major position had to be accepted by the Ary'Faern'Kerym elfblade, also known as the Artblade, a semi-sentient sword that was created specifically for the purpose of determining whether the wielder was worthy of the post.

Unfortunately, the Ary'Faern'Kerym elfblade was lost in 450 DR during Spell-Major Zaos Durothil's disastrous attempt to fight off the red dragon Edallisufanxar. The archmage Demron had already gained renown for enchanting the first three baneblades, and he was commissioned for a fourth one.

In 462 DR, the archmage Demron finished enchanting Faervian. It was commissioned specifically for the office of the Spell-Major.

Then Josidiah Starym returned to Myth Drannor in 674 DR from his long personal quest to redeem his family's honor, with the Artblade in hand. As such, he took the rightful place as Spell-Major, since the Artblade had chosen him. As a consequence Paeris Haladar was dropped to the rank of Spell Captain, which rankled him to no end. Fifteen years later he tried to claim his previous post as Spell-Major, but the Artblade found him unworthy and the blade stripped Paeris Haladar of all his magical powers.

A new Spell-Captain was named by Josidiah Starym, a moon elf bladesigner named Phyrra Iliathorr. She wielded it until her demise during the events of the Fall of Myth Drannor. She was in the point position of a flying-V formation, about to order a strike down towards the enemies below, when the corrupting influence of the demons made the Mythal's flight power blink out. As such, she was one of the first to fall painfully to the ground. The traitor mage Nezras then cast dig, earthquake, and sink spells on the surviving elves, entombing them (and Faervian) beneath the Tower of Song.

Faervian was found hundreds of years later in the crypts underneath the Tower of Song, guarded by a baelnorn named Breithel. The sword was recovered by a group of adventurers, and is now in possession by one of them -- the adventurer's previous deeds identified him as a worthy wielder. Its return was heralded by the whole of Myth Drannor, and the adventurer in question is now a Knight of Myth Drannor.

Known Wielders

 * Spell-Major Alea Dahast, the "High Lady of Art"
 * Known to have wielded it in 650 DR.


 * Paeris Haladar, a gold elf archmage, while he was at times Spell-Major or Spell-Captain
 * Known to have wielded it during at least 674 DR to 689 DR.


 * Spell-Captain Phyrra Iliathorr, moon elf
 * Known to have wielded it from 689 DR to 714 DR.


 * Breithel, a baelnorn
 * Known to have possessed it in 1479 DR, though its unclear if he actually wielded it or just guarded it.


 * A young adventurer, and now Knight of Myth Drannor
 * Known to wield it in 1479 DR, recovered from the baelnorn Breithel.

Original
When it was first created for the Spell-Major it had two magical restrictions place on it: It could only be wielded by someone of good alignment and who was also an arcane spellcaster. Like the other baneblades it held a powerful enhancement on it allowing it to strike more accurately and with more force, it allowed its wielder to more easily shrug off effects, and it had a particular hatred of any undead creatures, anything evil, and anything not of the Prime Material Plane.

Specific to Faervian were the following powers which the wielder could invoke:
 * Armathor's Armor Rest
 * The wielder could briefly step "out" of its armor, leaving the armor and sword itself floating in air and engulfed with purple flames, thereby allowing the Wizard to cast any spells without suffering the effects of armor hindrance.


 * Prismatic Pyre
 * Once per day, at the wielder's command, Faervian could launch itself up to 50 feet away, ending with the tip of the blade pointing down and the sword balanced on a surface. Flames then burst out of the sword up to 30' away, but doing no damage to anyone.  Any metal weapons in the area of effect were immediately thrown out, effectively disarming fighters.  Those without any innate spellcasting abilities were also slowed.  Essentially, this cleared out any non-spellcasters from the area of effect.


 * Spell-slashes
 * The caster can, three times per day, cast a touch-range spell and store it within the blade for up to 6 hours. Once recalled and after the wielder hits a target with the sword the stored spell would unleash on the victim.

Era of Upheaval
The Time of Troubles appears to have had a subtle effect on Faervian. It retains its distinctive corona of purple flames, its powerful enhancement, and its holy, evil and outsider bane qualities, as well as its being a spell-storing weapon. Furthermore, it allows its wielder to cast up to three spells each day without requiring any somatic parts on the caster's part. However, it lost its Prismatic Pyre ability and it no longer allowed its wielder to shrug off effects as easily.

After the Spellplague
The Spellplague no doubt had an effect on Faervian as well, like it did many other things, as the sword has now appeared to have lost some of its power. It still glows distinctly purple when drawn, though its wielder need not be an arcane spellcaster or of good alignment any longer. Its properties are now that of a Sun Blade, meaning that it strikes with radiant power. It can also, once a day, cause motes of light to burst out and sear enemies. There may yet be other powers as well, but so far they remain undiscovered.