Fantasy history lesson! There exists a parallel universe called Azulorn. It is identical to the dragons' universe, but can only be accessed through specially enchanted rooms. When entering these rooms, the person is transported into a place in Azulorn where there is a rare metal called azulorum. This metal is found only in Azulorn. Powerful objects are forged from it in Azulorn. One item made of azulorum will call out to the one who has entered its realm. When the dragon brings it into reality, his azulor is awakened, and he can perform magic. He bonds with the object, and when he dies, it returns to Azulorn when his grandchildren have passed away. There are five swords born of azulorum that are the Elder Swords. They possess phenomenal powers and do not and cannot be returned to Azulorn, for the Ristlaron has decreed they be bound to the physical realm. One sword is named Siothra. It has power over the mind. The great emperor Knizor used it to inspire his forces when leading them to battle. He used it to purge bloodthirst from his opponents. The sword was buried with him and had many decoys. Another is called Thugron, a sword of immense physical power. It was wielded by Rishta, a humble smith, who used the sword to give himself great strength and endurance. It was entrusted to him by Knizor upon the Shuzirons' retreat into hiding, and was passed down for generations to his descendants to protect it. There was Qualor, a sword of the supernatural. Phyandarst used it to heighten his abilities and commune with spirits. It was taken from him by his brother Knizor shortly before his death and hidden in the depths of the sea. Aciphar was a weapon of imagined power. It bestowed value upon anything, removed it from others. Phyandarst employed it attempting to seize the throne from his brother and bring himself riches. It was confiscated and sent to the land of Dralor for safekeeping. And Aeleron was not to be forgotten, for it possessed the powers of nature itself. With it, Knizor buried a mountain and a forest grew in its stead. When the swords are united, they become a single weapon of unimaginable power. To protect the power from falling into the wrong hands, the Shuzirons kept the swords separated, though the Kenjai strove to locate their hiding places and bring them to the place where they could be combined. Well, now that I've described what the swords do individually (to recap: one has mental powers, like persuasion, inspiration and intelligence; one has physical powers, like strength and stamina; one has supernatural powers, like magic; one has constructed power, like monetary value and political influence; one has natural powers, like bending the elements) I don't know what they should do when combined. Here's what I do know: There was one instance where the swords were combined by Phyandarst. He was defeated and retreated back in time to correct his errors. He was not able to travel back in time as it reversed itself, however, and he doomedly repeated the process and failed the exact same way he had before. Thousands of years later, he trained a Kenjai apprentice named Zarakharn in magic from beyond the grave, and Zarakharn is able to unite the Elder Swords an exercise their power until he is defeated by the protagonist. The question is, how do I make the Elder Swords defeatable? I've come up with a rule that any time their magic is used, the user is extremely vulnerable, but that's about it. What should the antagonist do with the power? I mean, it's not like he can kill the protagonists, but I guess technically he'd be able to, so... have I written myself into a corner?
It seems you've gotten a little caught up in world building. why is your protagonist even choosing to face off against this super powerful wizard-swordsman
No such thing! The question to begin any story is "what does the antagonist want?" After all, he's the one that puts the story into motion. The protagonist is usually reacting to some event perpetuated by the antagonist. So, what does your antagonist want to use these swords for. How many does he have? ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT? Would the story be better if he was looking for the very last sword and the protagonist happens upon it? The Empire controls the whole Galaxy, and is sittin' pretty. They pretty much have whatever they need. But for some reason, the rebel alliance bothers them enough to risk destruction in order to defeat them.
Because they're trying to stop him from becoming that powerful. He doesn't have the swords yet, but eventually he'll get them despite the protagonists' efforts, and then they'll defeat him.
Okay, okay, I don't know anything about your world and stuff, but hear me out. What if the protagonist's item made out of supermetal is a sword VERY SIMILAR to one of the epic swords, and the antagonist actually steals the PROTAGONISTS weapon, and fuses it with the other four swords. Then the protagonist has a piece of himself in the combined superweapon, and can use that, along with the REAL fifth sword, to defeat the dude? Eh? EEHHH???
OK....you've got parallel universes, right? And the swords are in the physical world? (if I read your history right?) So...what if there was some sort of matching object in Azulorn that was kind of linked to the combined swords and had to be destroyed first? And once the parallel object was destroyed in the parallel world it made the swords vulnerable to destruction?
I like the idea of the sword that controls minds/emotions. If the antagonist has them all it sounds as if he pretty much controls the world. As for something that can defeat them. Perhaps a sixth sword? I like the idea of the user being vulnerable when using their magic. Maybe they can't be destroyed and instead need to be sealed. Leaves you open to further books about them until a way is found to destroy them. Keep brainstorming. It'll come.
He retrieves Qualor from the bottom of the ocean. (Not mentioned.) He kills the protagonist's father and grandfather to obtain Thugron, which they were protecting. (The protagonist thinks they died in a smithing accident.) He finds out that someone has found the authentic sword of Knizor (called Khriza in the modern language) and pays him for it, because Knizor's sword is actually Siothra. So he has three. Until he finds out Thugron and Siothra are fakes. A dragon named Digdit has Thugron and he's taking it to Farazar up north. On his way back he retrieves Aeleron from its protector so he can take it somewhere else, and finds out the original protector transferred it to another protector, who also has Siothra, so Digdit takes both. Meanwhile, Zarakharn finds Aciphar in a Shuziron's house after being trapped there so its residents could escape. So now he has two of them: Aciphar and Qualor. Rival dark wizards (Zarakharn defects from the Kenjai order) steal Siothra and Aeleron in the aftermath of a battle, and another Kenjai steals Thugron. So the score is: Zarakharn: 2, Kenjai: 3, and protagonists (Shuzirons): 0. The Shuzirons manage to steal Thugron from the Kenjai in a fight before he can bring it to their base for safekeeping, and Zarakharn gets someone to sneak into said base and remove Siothra and Aeleron from safekeeping. So now the score is Zarakharn: 4, Kenjai: 0, and Shuzirons: 1. Zarakharn coerces the Shuzirons into giving him Thugron and begins to fly off to Farazar to unite them. Only, he finds that the closer he gets, the less magic he can use. So towards the end of the book, none of the characters can use magic and they have to fight in the mundane way. Once Zarakharn succeeds in uniting the swords, then he is able to do magic again, but only through the power of the swords, now combined into one sword, and he is vulnerable while using it.
Actually, I like that! While Zarakharn wreaks destruction to test his newfound power, the protagonists sneak off to Azulorn to find the object to be destroyed, and then they do it. If Zarakharn tries to follow, he'll have to leave the swords behind because they can't enter Azulorn. Destroying the object removes the swords' power. After some time, perhaps a few centuries, the object will reform and the swords will regain their power. That's a good device! Man, forums are a lifesaver. You know, azulorum was actually created because I had a question I couldn't figure out that I posted to a writing forum.
Intriguing... I already have a solution, thanks to @Stormsong07, but that would be interesting. I don't know if it would really work with my story, but I'll have to file that for another story.
>Thousands of years later Well, you'd think that they would have advanced to a post-industrial era by then. Modern technology vs magic swords would be pretty darn interesting.
Their average lifespan is 200 years. And, you know, some civilizations are slower than others. But eventually yes. Just not at the time of my story.
