Helswath edited

Swanchiquest

A man in noble's clothing approaches you in the course of your normal search for work. Despite his dress and demeanour, his origins are given away by tribal tattoos clearly from your homeland. He hands you a letter, and vanishes into the crowd before you can ask a question.
You got Request!

```
<charname>, we need you back at Ide. The Leader's been assassinated, and the alliance of clans is beginning to fall into disarray. There's talk of bringing The Axe out and we can't go back to what we had before we were united. We hid it for a reason, you know Tardif wouldn't've wanted that.

	~C
```

You return to Ide to investigate the situation. The state of affairs is rapidly deteriorating -- with a leadership vacuum, different clans have begun to scheme and backstab, with some pointing the finger at others to try to shift the blame for who slew the Leader, and just about everyone mobilizing to try to take the capital. The Leader's forces remain in place, and as an unaffiliated citizen of Ide, they trust you enough to let you in.
Counsel Calis fills you in on the details as you arrived, coming forth as the one who called you back. You're asked to stay for a while and do some normal jobs, and serve as the eyes and ears of the former leadership.

In the course of your normal work -- keeping people in a (tense) stalemate, informing the capital's defenses when you notice attempts to move on territory, and the like -- you begin to hear whispers about the possible return of the Atros clan, long ago disgraced and exiled, and its brutal leader. You decide to look into this...
After some investigation, you are able to confirm that Atros scouts are at the border of Ide lands, where it was promised they must never return. You take this information back to Calis, and he suggests you try to get a closer look.

You finally manage to pick up on a scouting pattern of the Atros... and within a few days, you hit the jackpot. You manage to find a hidden leadership meeting deep in the thick woods at the border.
You overhear plans to overthrow the kingdom, and reports that two of the five united bandit clans are planning to defect and join the Atros when they ride in. More concerning still, it seems they have a spy at the castle, planning to unearth the sacred Axe of the land and use its powers to deal the decisive blow.
Unfortunately, you're spotted, but you get away before they can identify you. You'll have to be careful about returning to Calis now.

You find a good opportunity to report back to Counsel Calis. He hems and haws at the updates -- at first, he doesn't believe that anyone would dare unearth the relic, but he comes to terms rather quickly, and comes up with a plan -- you will remove the Axe yourself, once you figure out which clans are siding with the Atros, and you will stash it with one; the castle's forces will report it was stolen by them, and you will unite the clans against them, hopefully turning the other clan on them as they see no way to fight back against your combined might. You wonder aloud if giving them the relic is really a good idea, and he shares a secret about the Axe... it can only be wielded by one with a special mark, the likes of which has not been seen for quite some time.
You get to work to find the traitors.

With some work, you seem to have found the answers you seek. The traitor clans are the traditionally power-hungry Voltos, and, surprisingly to both you and the Counsel, the loyalist Iden. He sends some spies out to confirm your findings, and after a few days, agrees that the reports seem accurate. You have a long discussion about which clan to blame, and Calis finishes it with a rather convincing case to blame the Iden: it's more like the traditional Ide, that roiling sea of once-squabbling bandit clans, to vy for power publicly and openly. If the Iden are planning treachery, there's no guarantee they won't do it again the moment the hostilities cease.
You go to retrieve the axe. While you hold it, it feels like the weight of the world in your hands. You'll have to `~use` it whenever you're ready for the final conflict. Sooner rather than later, too... rumors of the Atros' approach have become a daily thing.
Obtained Ide's Holy Axe!

```
Ide's Holy Axe (Item)
Mt:	   ??
Wt:    30
Hit:   ??
Crit:  ??
Rng:   ??
Uses:  ??
Effects: The sacred Axe of Ide. It seems none exist who can truly use its power.
```

You hide Ide's Holy Axe amongst the reeds in an Iden encampment, behind the chief's house. You report back to the Counsel, and you wait while he moves the pieces into position. The final conflict will happen soon.

There's a call from the castle: "Turn on the Iden. They are treacherous, they have stolen the Axe." Within an hour, the armies have gathered. You prepare to go to Calis' side... and he calls you out on his battlehorn. "It was he who was seen skulking out of the castle with the axe! He is with the Iden!"
You catch a smirk on Calis' face before you get the good sense to run towards the Iden encampment, just ahead of your former allies' ride. The Iden chief, as confused and disheveled as you are, heaves the Axe to the front, cursing that he cannot carry it, that his clan is to be destroyed because of a scheming lackey to the former Leader.
You reach him. The Axe glows at your approach. Wordlessly, and with little thought, the chief hands it to you, to see what happens -- to see if you can `~use` it.
Obtained Ide's Holy Axe!

```
Ide's Holy Axe (Item)
Mt:	   24
Wt:    16
Hit:   65
Crit:   0
Rng:  1~2
Uses:  50
Effects: The sacred Axe of Ide. Are you its claimant?
```

**Helswath** knows its place, now. The weight of the world falls away in your grasp, and makes clear the truth: you are its worthy wielder.
The Iden are strong; even four against one, there's no real guarantee that they can't hold their own. But, more importantly, the Iden are honest, and in a world ruled by raw power, the truly strong need not lie. The Holy Axe, Helswath, lies ready for you to `~claim` it, and cut through your foes.

Do you `~claim` the axe, or do you `~reject` such a power?