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During the War of the Undead, the paladins of Yatindar and the crusaders of Arpelos were nearly over run by the millions of undead that Demik Coruth raised. Many of the heroic armies that pitted themselves against the undead were torn apart, and many valiant men died protecting their homes and families against the necromancer's minions.
After the war, the church of Yatindar invoked the Luminar Accords with the church of Arpelos; their combined goals became to develop a weapon against the undead. Though the church of Arpelos was small, its dedication to wiping out the undead had given it considerable experience with fighting the minions and ways of necromancers. The church of Yatindar had a great many followers, but with little working knowledge of the undead. Together, they pooled their resources to create a weapon of considerable power. Disciple Defron Mallick of Arpelos, in the holy city of Karmen, met with Disciple William Orman of Yatindar. Backed by several dozen paladins, crusaders, specialty priests, clerics, and monks, the two Disciples and their followers met near Lake Omen, west of Nor. Their communes led them to beleive that a special type of longsword would be useful to both sides, as the warriors of Yatindar were trained in the art of twin longsword styles, and the warriors of Arpelos were trained with longswords and shields. Disciple Mallick and Disciple Orman placed Gregory Almania, paladin of Yatindar, in charge of finding the right the alloy. Neda McKorvan, monk of Arpelos, was placed in charge of prayers to embed in the blade. Savista, crusader of Arpelos, was placed in charge of the overall sword design. And Lightfoot Novuskant, specialty priest of Yatindar, was charged with the forging the weapon itself. Gregory Almania and his aides spent a considerable time in the libraries of Yatindar, and the monastaries of Arpelos, researching the best ores and alloys against the undead. While they considered their options, Neda McKorvan and her secretaries poured over the holy texts of both Arpelos and Yatindar, and then began reading from other texts, as well -- including the ancient texts of Galanus, the modern texts of Curiss, and even studies of Nathel and then Nabrol. Savista travelled the land with Lightfoot Novuskant, talking to the greatest weaponsmiths in the realms, learning all they could about longswords. After close to three years of research, Gregory Almania finally found an older text in a library of Lul, written by a priest of Infierne -- the long dead god of weaponsmithing. Infierne's priests had discovered that a certain vein of silver in the Shavrinin Mountains had proven particularly devestating against the undead. Though the vein was buried in a landslide, and its exact location unknown, it so happened that one member of Almania's team had relatives in that area. Working through Dolmatia Maurasine's family, Almania managed to discover the ancient site of the landslide, and began the laborious task of excavating the raw ore. Neda McKorvan, meanwhile, had prepared a massive list of prayers. With Almania's discovery, she and her secretaries began the long task of narrowing the list of prayers down to a certain few. Aided by the Diciples Mallick and Orman, the list narrowed quickly, even as Gregory Almania finally found the raw silver ore. Lightfoot Novuskant and Savista had travelled all the way down into the Jaeth Mountains, and the Granite Clan of dwarves. There, they found an ancient and wizened dwarven master smith by the name of Olthanic Stoneriver. Stoneriver was nearing the end of his life, and was none too fond of humans, but the challenge they gave him was as nothing he had done before, and he could not resist. By the time Stoneriver returned to the shores of Lake Omen, Gregory Almania had returned from the Shavrinin Mountains with several tonnes of the raw silver ore mentioned in the texts of Infierne's priest. Neda McKorvan and the disciples had also narrowed down the list of prayers for the sword, and had even begun incanting several of them that would require days and even weeks of fasting. The real challenge began then, with putting everything together. Olthanic Stoneriver balked at having to work with so many humans, and the raw ore itself was useless in the forge, shattering whenever tempered after even moderate temperatures. Frustrated by the situation, Disciples Defron Mallick and William Orman returned to the holy city of Karmen, and sat within the sacred Circle of Glory there for three days straight. Working against time, as the elements of their team fractionated, the two disciples asked for guidance from their respective gods, in the only place holy to both. After three days without moving, the two finally staggered to their feet; the answer had been given to them by the archon Vilsalius of Yatindar. Water was ferried in from the healing waters of the temple of Whalin in Karmen, in enormous cisterns of fired clay. Special salts were taken from the Cora Swamps, from the Ruins of Dalamar. And a special ore was brought down out of the Moorn Mountains. All of this happened quickly, for the Chosen of Arpelos, Garalus, had placed his steed, mount, and companion at their disposal -- Artanus, a titanium dragon. Cowed by the dragon Artanus, and awed by the special ores from the Moorn Mountains, Olthanic Stoneriver set about to forging the raw silver ore. He used a special recipe as called for by the alchemists, which called for treatment with the salts from the Cora Swamps and an alloy of the special ore. Once the raw ore had been processed into a sort of golden-tinted silver, the ingots were turned over to Lightfoot Novuskant. Novuskant, a long-time veteran of the smithies of the Faeleran, reforged the ingots, and with prayers supplied by Neda McKorvan, began to forge the sword into the design Savista had researched. The longsword was light and strong, and though clearly made of silver, had a golden tint to it that seemed to give off sunlight, even in the darkness near the forge. The blade was actually two separate swords, each very thin and needle-like, forged back to back, with only two cross-pieces welded expertly between them. The long, thin blades had such penetrating power that even the grim Stoneriver was impressed by the blade. The extra-long tang of the blade made its handle effective with even two hands, though the blade itself was nowhere near the heft and size of a bastard sword. The cross guards were fairly small, and barely protected the fist of the wielder. The pommel was made of a smooth orb of the sun-tinged, silvery ore, and seemed to have a light of its own inside. The handle of the longsword was wrapped in specially treated leather strips, upon which entire prayers were burned in exquisitely small detail. Once wrapped, the strips were double-wrapped in a thick braided wire, made of the same sun-silver metal. The final fastings were completed, and the last prayers given for the sword to be blessed. The faithfulness and steadfastness of its creators was rewarded, and Arpelos emblazoned the two separate blades of the single sword with his words of wrath against the undead. The designs for the weapon were given to each of the libraries involved, when a volcano in the Shavrinin Mountains blew, taking with it the rare silver metal. The remaining ingots were divided up between the temples of Yatindar and Arpelos, with the majority going to Disciple Defrom Mallick, and the dragon Artanus. The weapon itself was turned over to the paladins of Arpelos. In its first battle against undead, the weapon severed the head of a death knight on the first blow, destroying the undead creature instantly. The sword was thereafter known as 'Severance'. Severance is a longsword +1 against mortal opponents. Against undead, the weapon is a longsword of sharpness +3. In addition, the sword protects the wielder from level draining and ageing effects caused by the undead. Against undead that take reduced damage from piercing or slashing weapons, Severance deals full damage. In the hands of a paladin or priest, the weapon's powers are increased considerably; Severance lets them turn or destroy undead as though they were two levels higher, and the sword gains a +1 bonus for every odd-numbered level of the wielder -- with no ceiling. Thus, a 13th-level paladin would wield Severance as a longsword of sharpness +10 against the undead, and as a longsword +8 against mortal opponents.
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