Enserric the Longsword was a magical intelligent sword that was discovered in Undermountain. It held the trapped soul of Enserric the Grey, an adventuring human[note 2] wizard who was killed by the sword.[1]
History[]
Enserric the Grey[]
Because of Enserric's fading memory and few close acquaintances, little is known of his life. He was apparently the son of a fighter, who wished him to follow in his footsteps. He declined, but in a way this fate would catch up to him, after the end.[1]
Instead, he learned to become a wizard, after which he joined an adventuring party. He also had a daughter.[1]
At some point in his life, he was bullied by a half-orc, which he of course hated.[1]
Death, or Something Like It[]
In the early 14th century DR, Enserric's 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, Chief Urdon, a long-deceased leader from the North. Intrigued by the weapon, Enserric attempted to take it as his own, only to awaken its owner and be slain by it.[1]
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. Instead it became part of the sword, or perhaps just an echo of the soul consumed, as Enserric himself later speculated.[1]
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.[1]
For the next five decades or so 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.[1]
A Chance Encounter[]
Finally, in the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR, the Hero of Undrentide and companions were sent by the Lords of Waterdeep to discover the nature of, and if possible quell, the invasion coming from Undermountain. This might've led the hero into the Hall of Sleeping Kings, and to Enserric. Seeing them, Enserric begged for the hero to be taken away from the hall, even offering to change the sword's shape or be sold off to a merchant in order to leave.[1]
If the hero refused and left the sword, Enserric would simply scream at being left behind again, infuriated that the Dead King wouldn't do anything. But if the hero accepted Enserric's request and took the sword, he would be ecstatic at being rescued, but the hero would then have to fight the awakened undead kings first.[1]
In the latter case, after the battle, Enserric expressed his gratitude at being freed from the Sleeping King. After which, the hero stated their intention as to what they would would do with Enserric. The hero may have sold Enserric to a merchant for a handsome price—something Enserric would agree to, as it was a more preferable fate than staying in the hands of the dead king, but would be somewhat disappointed that the hero would be so willing to be rid of him.[1]
Or it was possible that the hero kept the sword for them or their companions to use, throughout their subsequent adventures. On a few occasions, the hero could converse with Enserric, though whenever it was for advice, the sword merely gave a snide remark. Enserric did, when asked, try to the best of his abilities to recount his early life, though with very little success.[1]
Description[]
A depiction of Enserric the Longsword.
As a sword, Enserric had a black blade with a red glow, 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.[1]
Powers[]
Enserric was a +4 sword with a vampiric quality. With each injury inflicted on a living foe, it absorbed some of their life-force and transferred a portion to its wielder, healing their injuries. It might've had other powers, and other side-effects, but these were not even known to Enserric himself.[1]
One was the power to form a symbiotic link with the wielder, and absorb some of their life-force instead to enhance the enchantment on the blade itself, becoming a +5 to +7 weapon. This was only a temporary effect, fortunately.[1]
Enserric could change the sword into a larger or smaller weapon to suit his wielder, though he only did this once in an effort to be rescued.[1]
Abilities[]
In life, Enserric the Grey was a wizard. He claimed to have made a habit of summoning elementals. However, as a sword, he forgot the details of all his spells, but not their names, and could no longer cast them in any case. Ironically for one who would become a sword, he stated that he generally relied on his spells in combat, very rarely using any weapons bar a crossbow.[1]
Personality[]
Said to be as nasty as the sword he was in, Enserric was generally irritable, arrogant, and easy to annoy. He was also, by his own proclamation, highly intelligent, more so than anyone he found in his company. He had little regard or respect for several of the smaller-sized races. Even as a sword, Enserric held himself in higher regard than most people, including the Hero of Undrentide, generally criticizing their performance at swordplay or the treatment he got as a sword. Ultimately, though, he was grateful for liberation from boredom and did show appreciation of the occasional sympathy he received from the hero.[1]
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. Nevertheless, he speculated that he was, 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.[1]
In the end, it appeared that Enserric had resigned himself to his fate as a sword. He took a small consolation in the fact that, as a sword, he was no longer responsible for his actions, he was simply there to be used for whatever purpose.[1]
Relations[]
At some point in his life (rather than his unlife), Enserric sired a daughter, who was largely neglected because of his absence and general lack of interest in her. While she might've been still alive as of 1372 DR, he doubted she would want to see her father again for this reason. She would also be older than he was when he died.[1]
He wasn't very close to his adventuring comrades either. After they thought him dead and abandoned his body in Undermountain, Enserric had some vengeful glee at the thought of being used to kill them if they were still alive.[1]
Quotes[]
- On the sword's powers...
- 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 off existence as this weapon!? And that the last owner of this blade was quite devoid of any health at all!?!"[1]
- On everyone...
- Aberration: "Foul-tasting thing! Hit it again!!"[1]
- Animal: "Hacking dumb animals, are we?"[1]
- Construct: "Immune to magic, hey? We'll see about that!"[1]
- Dragon: "Ah, yes! A dragon! Slay it, we shall!"[1]
- Dwarf: "Ha! Let's cut its beard off once it's dead!"[1]
- Elemental: "I used to summon these all the time..."[1]
- Elf: "I love the taste of elf blood in the morning, oh yes!"[1]
- Fey: "Take that, you little strumpet!"[1]
- Giant: "The bigger they are, the harder they fall!"[1]
- Gnome: "I so despise gnomes!"[1]
- Goblinoid: "Blech! What a horrid taste!"[1]
- Half-elf: "Take that, half-breed!"[1]
- Half-orc: "A half-orc once bullied me! I hated that!!"[1]
- Halfling: "Couldn't you just step on these creatures?"[1]
- Human: "Ahhh, human blood! How I miss it so!"[1]
- Orc: "Orcs! There's always orcs!"[1]
- Outsider: "Careful! These outsiders can be tricky!"[1]
- Reptilian: "Remember to wipe the scales off later!"[1]
- Shapechanger: "Shapeshifter! Kill it quick!"[1]
- Undead: "The essence of undead is so... so vile!"[1]
- Vermin: "Why must I debase myself striking such vermin?!"[1]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ Neverwinter Nights uses the same artwork for the black blade of disaster spell.
- ↑ Enserric being human is surmised from his statement "Ahhh, human blood! How I miss it so!". Assuming, of course, he wasn't a vampire.
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 1.34 1.35 1.36 1.37 1.38 1.39 1.40 1.41 1.42 1.43 1.44 1.45 1.46 1.47 1.48 1.49 1.50 1.51 1.52 BioWare (December 2003). Designed by Brent Knowles. Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark. Atari.