Enserric the Longsword

Enserric was a magical intelligent sword that was discovered in Undermountain among the Hall of the Sleeping Kings.

Description
As a sword, Enserric was black with a red glittering appearance, with the intensity increasing whenever Enserric spoke. Initially, the weapon appeared as a longsword, but Enserric could change his form to a dagger, a short sword, or a greatsword.

Personality
Enserric was generally irritable, arrogant, and easy to annoy. Even as a sword, Enserric held himself in higher regard than most people, including the Hero of Undrentide. He had little regard or respect for several of the smaller-sized races. He was said to be as nasty as the sword he was in.

Enserric became more in tune with the nature of the weapon, such as no longer being unsettled by the sight of blood, stating what the blood of an opponent tasted like, and making remarks on enjoying the sound of being used. However, he didn't like to be reminded of being dead himself and went quiet when asked about it.

Relations
At some point in his life (rather than his unlike), Enserric sired a daughter, who was largely neglected because of his absence and general lack of interest in her.

Enserric the Gray
Because of Enserric's fading memory, lack of renown, and few close acquaintances, his early life was largely lost to time. From the few shreds of information that could be gleaned, Enserric was possibly the son of a fighter, in whose footsteps he did not follow. During his childhood (or possibly later), he was bullied by a half-orc, an event he did not recall fondly.

At some point, he learned to be a wizard, after which he joined an adventuring party.

Death, or Something Like It
In the early 14 century DR, this adventuring party decided to explore Undermountain in search of treasure and glory, which eventually led them to the Hall of the Sleeping Kings. There, Enserric found a sword in the hands of one of the kings. Intrigued by the weapon, Enserric attempted to take it as his own, only to awaken its owner and be slain by it.

When this happened, Enserric's soul became aware that he was being absorbed into the sword. Not willing to be consumed, Enserric tried to reverse the flow and escape back into his own body. This was only partially successful, as while his soul was not consumed by the sword, his soul did not return to his body, and became a sort of extension of the sword, or perhaps just an echo of the soul consumed, as Enserric himself later speculated.

As he tried to call out to his companions to save his body, they simply fled into further reaches of Undermountain. While their fate is unknown to him, it was clear that Enserric was abandoned.

For the next four to five decades, Enserric spent a very unhappy existence as a sword, with little to no action taken by his undead owner. The only adventurer who got as far as meeting Enserric and hearing his plea for rescue merely took the opportunity to steal Enserric's belongings from his body. After that, the only thing he could watch were his remains being consumed by rats, leaving him feeling very (and understandably) undignified and bored.

A Chance Encounter
“''Pardon me to make a simple request, that an adventurer might just do as he asks for once? No? sigh… fine. Let's start this out correctly, shall we?''”—Enserric the Grey

During the events of Hordes of the Underdark, the Hero of Undrentide was sent by the Waterdavian Lords to discover the nature of, and if possible, quell the invasion coming from Undermountain. This may have lead the hero into the Hall of Sleeping Kings, and also into Enserric. Seeing this, Enserric begged for the hero to be taken away from the hall, even willing to change his shape or even just to be sold off to a merchant just to leave.

Whenever the hero did or didn't agree to the wizard's request was not known. On the account that the hero refused, Enserric simply screams at being left behind again, infuriated that the Dead King wouldn't do anything. On the other account that the hero accepted Enserric's offer, the sword would be ecstatic in being rescued, while leaving the hero to fight a moderately difficult battle.

In the (possible) service of the Hero of Undrentide

“''So! You have rescued me from an existence of boredom. How can I ever repay you?''”—Enserric the Grey

After the battle in the latter case, the sword expresses his gratitude to being freed from the Sleeping King. After which, the hero stated his/her intention on what he/she will do with Enserric. It may have been possible that the hero sold Enserric to a merchant for a handsome price, which would be something that Enserric agreed to, as it was a more preferable fate than in the hands of a dead king, but is somewhat disappointed that the hero would be so willing to be rid of him.

On different reports, it was possible that the hero kept the sword for its powers, which did prove to be an effective weapon throughout the whole adventure, possibly even becoming more powerful than usual through the hero's actions. In a few occasions, the hero would converse with Enserric, though whenever it was for advice, the sword merely gave a snide remark. Enserric did, when asked, tried to the best of his abilities to recount his early life, though with very little success, which also leads him to the possible conclusion that he is in fact, not Enserric at all, but rather an echo made by the sword when it consumed a soul. He also speculated that as a “cure” for his predicament, he could try and transfer his soul into an empty body, or a construct, though is in doubt that such a thing could be possible, and that it would do little good, as his mind is already fragmented as it is.

In the end, it would appear that Enserric has resigned to his fate as a sword, and takes a small consolation that as a sword, he is no longer held for his actions, he is simply there to be used for whatever.

Fate

Should have the hero have kept the blade, the sword's fate is unknown. Whether the hero still wields the blade, sold it, or passed hands to another adventurer are possible outcomes. Moreover, if Enserric himself still speaks within the blade or as he suggested, has his conscience truly eradicated by the sword is equally unknown.

The Sword's Biography
In Regards to the sword, its origins are completely unknown. While it might be speculated that it might be an artefact from the times of the ancient north, due to where the Hero of Undrentide located the blade, but it may be equally possible that Halaster merely found the sword somewhere else and gave it to one of the sleeping kings to act as an extra precaution and/or a lure for adventurers. Regardless, the sword was most like of a dark creation due to its nature of stealing the life force of even its owner to fuel its power.

Relationships
Family

Enserric stated that when he was alive, he had a father whom wished that Enserric took up the occupation of a fighter for adventuring, though this wish was obviously not carried out. Enserric also mentioned that he once had a daughter in life, who he expects likely to be dead or very old at least. In the latter case, he doubts that the said child would want to see her father again, due to his poor and generally absent parenting with her, and the fact his current state as a sword would be generally be a generally uncomfortable encounter as he has trouble remembering his mortal years.

Friends

It was highly unlikely that Enserric made many if any friends, due to the high status he puts himself in. Enserric stated that Prior to his exploration of Undermountian, the wizard was part of an adventuring party though the names, numbers and occupations of his comrades was lost to his failing memory. It was not likely a very close relationship, as Enserric stated that his body was abandoned by his comrades to further explore Undermountain, as such, the deceased wizard states that he finds the idea of his comrades being slain by the same weapon he fell to would be an appealing one.

When he was retrieved by The Hero of Undrentide, he was generally a serviceable, if irritable weapon. The sword generally does not think very highly of the hero, generally criticising his/her performance at swordplay, or the treatment he gets as a sword. Though ultimately, is grateful of the liberation from boredom at the hands of the sleeping king, and does show appreciation at the occasional sympathy he receives from the hero.

Abilities
Beyond the fact that Enserric was a wizard, it was not known what talents Enserric had before his soul was absorbed into the blade, though it could be assumed that he was able to cast conjuration spells on the account of him mentioning that he made a habit of summoning elementals, and considering where he was found, it was possible that he was a fairly competent one (or highly overestimated his skills). He has stated that he generally relied on his spells in combat, very rarely using any weapons, which by his choice was a crossbow. He was also, (by his own self proclamation) highly intelligent which was greater than anyone he found in his company, though possibly lacked prudence necessary for self-preservation (which has ultimately cost him his life).

As for the sword itself, its principle power was to draw the life-force out of its opponents and use it to heal the wielder. A more exotic though temporary property of the sword was to form a symbiotic link with the wielder, by absorbing some of the life force of the user to create a stronger enchantment on the blade itself. As the sword, Enserric had some control over the said powers and indeed its shape, able to change it into a larger or smaller than its initial size, though was only able to do this once as a plead to be rescued.

Notable Quotes
Hero of Undrentide:  "Do you have any advice for me?"

Enserric:  "You're asking a sword for advice? Here's some advice, DON'T DO THAT."

Enserric: During Combat  "Hmmm... is it dead yet?"

Hero of Undrentide:  "You appear to be affecting my health, is there any reason for that?"

Enserric:  "Hmmm... I'm not quite sure, I noticed that myself..."

Hero of Undrentide:  "What do you mean 'you're not sure'?"

Enserric:  "NEED I remind you that I did not start of existence as this weapon!? And that the last owner of this blade was QUITE DEVOID OF ANY HEALTH AT ALL!?!"