Faervian

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

Description
The longsword appeared to have been forged from a single, solid piece of burnished steel, and its craftsmanship was clearly elven in nature, in contrast to the other baneblades. It was designed for folk of human or elf size, and weighed 4 pounds (1.8 kilograms). The blade weighed half as much as a blade of its size should weigh, yet it was quite strong.

The hilt of the sword was longer than normal and gently twisted, creating a good gripping surface. It had no quillons (meaning there was no cross guard). Its distinctive feature was a large spherical "eye" that was placed at the top of the hilt (between the blade and the hilt). The carved eye's pupil always faced outward, as if looking at its target, creating an eerie effect for its foes.

When drawn, like the other baneblades, it had a corona of flames dancing along its edge, of purple color in the case of Faervian. It glowed a deep purple, as bright as a torch.

Original
When it was first created for the Spell-Major, it had two magical restrictions placed on it: it could only be wielded by someone of good alignment and who was also an arcane spellcaster. Like the other baneblades, it had 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 that the wielder could invoke:
 * Armathor's Armor Rest: The wielder could briefly step "out" of their armor, leaving the armor and sword itself floating in air and engulfed with purple flames, thereby allowing a 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 (15 meters) 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 feet (9 meters) 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 could, 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 hit a target with the sword, the stored spell would be unleashed on the victim.

Later Powers
After the, as one of baneblades, Faervian was a +4 holy weapon that was a bane to both undead and evil outsiders. It was a spell-storing weapon and it enabled its wielder to cast three spells a day without requiring any somatic component on the caster's part. It could only be wielded by one who was an arcane spellcaster.

After the Spellplague of 1385 DR, its properties were those of a sun blade, meaning that it struck with radiant power. Its wielder no longer needed to be an arcane spellcaster or of good alignment. It could also, once a day, cause motes of light to burst out and sear enemies.

History
Before retelling the history of Faervian, it's important to first understand the structure of the Cormanthyr army. Its arcane branch was called the Akh'Faer, and the first-in-command was known as the Spell-Major, while the second-in-command was 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 the 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 the, Demron finished enchanting Faervian. It was commissioned specifically for the office of the Spell-Major.

Then Josidiah Starym returned to Myth Drannor in the from his long personal quest to redeem his family's honor, with the Artblade in hand. As such, he took his 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 daemons 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.

After Phyrra Iliathorr's demise, the chaos of war guided the Baneblade Faervian into the hands of Hachaam Selorn who himself fell in the battle for Crownfrost Tower the same year. Faervian was left with Hachaam's body in his tomb in the Dwarven Dungeons shortly before the survivors of the war fled from the fallen city, sealing the Dungeons and many other important locations around the city.

Sometime in 1369 DR, the drow House Freth found their way through the Underdark into the deeper levels of the Elven Catacombs and started looting the ancient tombs and crypts, transporting the ancient Myth Drannorian artifacts back home. One of the tombs raided was the one that housed the Baneblade Faervian.

The loss of the Baneblade awakened Hachaam Selorn's ghost who begged a group of adventurers from Phlan for help in retrieving the stolen artifact back to his tomb. They succeeded and deposited it back to into Hachaam's final resting place. In exchange for help, the ghost of Hachaam led heroes to an ancient imprisoned demon Rivener who back in the glory days of the City of Song stole Morvian. Rivener was too powerful to be defeated and was sealed under Castle Cormanthor by Myth Drannor's gold dragons. The adventurers from Phlan were strong enough to destroy the beast, retrieving another Baneblade and granting Hachaam Selorn well-deserved rest.

Faervian resurfaced 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", circa 650 DR.
 * Paeris Haladar, a gold elf archmage, while he was at times Spell-Major or Spell-Captain 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.
 * Arm-Captain Hachaam Selorn wielded the blade in 714 DR, from Phyrra's death and until his own demise same year.
 * Breithel, a baelnorn, known to have possessed it in 1479 DR, though it's unclear if he actually wielded it or just guarded it.
 * A young adventurer, later Knight of Myth Drannor, known to wield it in 1479 DR after recovering it from the baelnorn Breithel.

Appearances

 * Video Games:
 * Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor