Medrethe the Vampire Bane (Rune Sword):


Since man first began to congregate cities, predators followed them. One of the most fearsome of these creatures is the vampire. Creatures of the dark and shadow. Very little can hard these creatures, the undead. Not quite alive yet not quite dark. These shadowy creatures can enter a persons mind and turn brother against brother, daughter against mother, lover against lover. Still there were those who fight vampires. Vampire hunters. Few survive to old age but they do much to hold back the dark. Some are simple soldiers, some are knights, and yet others are those steeped in magic. The battle between vampire and hunter has gone on since time began and would likely not end until the sun dies.


Marissa had been a member of the Empire's elite guard. That had been many years ago and before vampires had struck. They had killed her entire unit when they had been sent to deal with a rash of disappearances. Only she had survived and she was marked by the vampires as well. Eventually the Imperial guard had cleaned of the nest of vampires which had tried to take control of the city but Marissa had been changed. She vowed to hunt vampires until there were no more left to hunt. She fully expected to die in her battles against the blood suckers but somehow had prevailed.


Now she knew it was at an end. She was surrounded by four vampires and they were preparing for the final kill. There had been a half dozen like minded allies when she had entered the lair but she was the sole remaining survivor. She was more afraid that they would turn her into what she despised than she was of death. Suddenly she heard a voice call out to her. The voice said that it was trapped in the chest beside but if she could get it free, it would help her win the battle against the vampires.


She jabbed the silvered dagger between the bottom and lid of the chest and pried with all of her strength. There was a cracking sound and the lock shredded. Inside the box was a black bladed Claymore Sword. In the blade were etched runes. In all her time in the Empire military and as a vampire hunter, she had never seen a rune sword. Still, it was pretty obvious that this was one. She had heard that the vampires had been hiding something.


She grabbed the sword and jabbed the sword into the gut of the closest of the vampire and it passed into the flesh as if it the creature was made from butter. Suddenly, the creature simply froze with a look of surprise as if it had been a puppet with its strings having been cut. Marissa withdrew the blade and the vampire simply collapsed. The wound would have been lethal to a normal but it would have taken some time for them to bleed out. The vampire appeared completely dead.


Sword in hand, she prepared to the battle the remaining creatures of the night.



There is a legendary rune sword which is known to be deadly to vampires. Stories tell the name of the sword as "Medrethe the Vampire Bane." Few weapons are as feared by vampires and some simply call the weapon "Bane." They cannot be hurt at all by normal weapons and although magical weapons can harm them, they can regenerate damage inflicted by them incredibly quickly. Because of their fear of this claymore, vampires have hidden the weapon several times but it seems to always find its way back into the hands of vampire hunters. It was even said to once be hidden in a temple to the vampire god. There are stories that the vampire god is deathly afraid of the weapon and that it will be brought to his realm. There is even a whisper that the weapon will someday be used to slay him in the hands of a great hero, perhaps a Demi-God. The origins of the weapon are obscure although some scholars believe the weapon dates from before the founding of the Great Elven Kingdom. There are some references from quite early in that kingdom's founding which would seem to be of the claymore. Some scholars think that the sword was made by Thoth himself. There are many tales told about the weapon wielded against the creatures of the dark. Several famous vampire hunters are said to have carried the weapon. Of course many of the possessors of this weapon had families or friends killed by vampires. One of the saddest tales associated with the weapon was in a vampire slayer had to kill her own mother who had become a vampire.


In appearance, Medrethe is a wide bladed claymore with a shinny black sheen. Even though a huge weapon, the sword is extremely well balanced. It is like the weapon was crafted by the finest of Dwarven weapon makers. The massive blade is incredibly sharp and comes to a point for stabbing as well as slashing. Through the center of the blade runs a narrow but deep blood groove. One each side of the groove runs runes. Near hand grip, the blade widens out slightly. The hand guard is in the design of a skull with long canines pointed down toward the blade, perhaps to represent death to vampires. On each side of the skull are a set of horns which act as guards to protect the wielder's hands. They curve slightly in the direction of the blade. The hand grip itself is simple and is simply grooved for a better grip. The hand grip is long and slim and it is quite comfortable for a two handed grip. The pommel ends in a simple ball. If there was a scabbard designed for the weapon, it was lost long in the past. Few wielders of the rune weapon have had special scabbards made from the weapon, often carrying it in a simple leather scabbard.


What is best known about the personality of the sword is its incredible hatred of vampires. Its hatred of vampires in an all consuming passion. Virtually all of the wielders have possessed this same hatred. When it comes to slaying vampires, the ends justify the means. Some scholars who have stated that they believe that the weapon passes this hatred on to its possessor while others believe that the owners of the weapon already possess the hatred and the weapon chooses them because of it. This hatred sometimes gets in the way of common sense and some of the people who have carried this weapon have engaged in extremely behavior in their quest to kill vampires. Even vampires who have kept to themselves are fair game for the sword. Vampires are not considered people but simply enemies to be slaughtered like rapid dogs. The sword actual belief structure is hard to determine. Some of the possessors have been extremely ruthless while others have been quite honorable. No wielders have been downright evil with no redeeming qualities. Usually wielders of the sword do try to protect the innocent but there have been cases where the person has killed many when attempted to destroy vampires. Wielder have almost as much hatred for vampire minions as they do of vampires themselves. A lesser hatred is the hatred of necromancers. The personality of the sword appears to be that of a male and does like to tell possessors about itself but mostly talks about the incredible number of battles it has been involved with against vampires. The mental voice is soft spoken and rarely seems to get perturbed. In fact, the sword generally is extremely deliberate. It has many lifetimes worth of battles against vampires and possesses incredible knowledge about vampires and how to kill them.


Even without the incredible knowledge carried in the blade, the weapon is incredibly effective against vampires. It has the powers standard to a rune weapon with powers of a cleric including the ability heal wounds and turn animated dead. In many ways these could be considered the lesser abilities of the weapon. Like all rune weapons, the blade inflicts terrible damage as a weapon. The wounds are multiplied when used against vampires and vampires cannot regenerate the damage like they do from most weapons, when they can even effect vampires. There is debate among scholars if vampires have a soul or not. Whatever the case, the sword is able to drink the life essence of a vampire just like a soul drinker can on a normal person. Suddenly a vampire will simply go limp when stabbed by the sword. It appears to have no special effects against others. Most possessors of rune weapons just get slightly harder to attack with magic and psionics when bonded. The sword gives more than this and the wielder is immune to the mind control of a vampire and is much harder even to control by normal mind control and is very resistant to fear. As a final ability, when the weapon is pressed against a vampire bite, it will heal completely and stop the vampires control on the person being bitten. It is extremely painful and feels like molten lead being poured on the bit. The pain is such that the person will have trouble moving for several moments.


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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).


Copyright © 2006, Kitsune. All rights reserved.


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