The tale’s the thing with the artifact known as the Taleblade. Take a look at what it could bring to your campaign—it just might add another story element that your players will remember for quite awhile.

The Taleblade is appropriate for mid-heroic level characters.

The Taleblade begins as a sleek rapier with a silver hilt. Though masterfully constructed, the sword is unadorned. Once acquired, however, the Taleblade begins to record the deeds and experiences of its owner and companions. Over time, the Taleblade records its owner’s journeys in incredibly fine, flowing script along the length of the blade.

Taleblade     Heroic Level

A traveling storyteller of great renown created this shining rapier. The Taleblade records the journeys of whoever owns it and seeks to complete a great tale worthy of record.

Artifact: Weapon (rapier)
Enhancement: +2 to attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +2d6 damage.

Properties
• The Taleblade functions as a bard implement, adding its enhancement bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls for bard powers that use implements.
• You gain a +2 item bonus to History checks.
• The Taleblade sheds dim light within 2 squares. This can be turned on or off as a free action.

Utility Power (Arcane, Weapon) • At-Will (Minor Action)
Effect: You can imprint the blade with a record of your own senses. The blade can store a single scene that you witness, including visuals and sound, up to one minute in length. Once this process begins, no action is required to sustain it. Anybody who holds the blade can summon the scene in his or her mind. Imprinting the Taleblade with a new scene removes the old one.

Goals of the Taleblade

• Record the stories of eager new explorers.
• Witness wondrous new sights and experiences.
• Complete a tale worthy of legend.

Roleplaying the Taleblade
The Taleblade seeks to find new, untested adventurers and witness their deeds, their growth, and the wondrous locations they are sure to discover. Though the Taleblade does not communicate directly, it imbues its owner with a great sense of wanderlust. The owner feels a strong desire to explore new areas, meet new people, and take roads less traveled. The Taleblade prefers owners with a strong interest in history and legend.

Concordance
Starting score: 5
Owner gains a level: +1d10
Owner is a bard or trained in History: +2
Owner witnesses something fantastic and rare: +1
Owner meets a figure of public importance (maximum 1/day): +1
Owner declines to listen to a story, song, or historical tale: –1
Owner stays in one area for more than seven days: –1

Pleased (16–20)
“We come to the climax of it all.”
The Taleblade is pleased to have witnessed many great sights and to have been a companion on a fantastic journey. It urges its owner to bring the tale to a conclusion.

Property
• The Taleblade‘s item bonus to Endurance checks and Perception checks increases to +2.

Utility Power • Daily (Immediate Reaction)
Trigger: You fall to 0 hit points or fewer.
Effect: You can spend a healing surge as a free action.

Satisfied (12–15)
“Forward, further—the second act brings us ever closer to our conclusion!”
The Taleblade is satisfied with the progress of its owner, though continues to urge its owner forward in the pursuit of quest goals. The Taleblade grants its owner powers to assist it in these goals.

Properties
• You and all allies within 10 squares gain a +1 item bonus to Endurance checks and Perception checks.
• The Taleblade serves as a sixth sense for you. You cannot be blinded or deafened while holding the Taleblade.

Normal (5–11)
“Let us write a suitable introduction for this long journey.”
The owner of the Taleblade feels a strong urge to embark on a journey and explore new areas.
At this concordance, the Taleblade has the properties, powers, and other characteristics included in its description.

Unsatisfied (1–4)
“I shall never compare to the heroes I’ve read so much about.”
The Taleblade’s owner shows little ambition or interest in his or her journey. The Taleblade grows restless and attempts to inspire a desperate longing for adventure.
The Taleblade’s enhancement bonus decreases to +1.

Angered (0 or lower)
“It would be easier to read of adventure than write my own…”
The Taleblade regards its owner as hopelessly dull and unpromising. Upon reaching 0 concordance, the Taleblade teleports several hundred miles in a random direction.

Moving On
“They will sing of this for years!”
The Taleblade feels that it has witnessed a complete tale worthy of remembrance. As soon as the Taleblade feels the tale has concluded, it creates a lushly illuminated manuscript with the full record of the story. The blade then teleports several hundred miles in a random direction, hoping to find another young adventurer to join.

If the Taleblade is pleased when it moves on, the previous owner gains a permanent +2 bonus to History checks as an aftereffect of the Taleblade‘s potent magic.

About the Author
Grayson Davis is a gamer and writer with an excessive interest in games of all kinds. He started playing RPGs as a young boy and only wishes he had more time in the day to draw maps for his weekly D&D group. He lives in Chicago, Illinois, and has run the video game website Beeps & Boops <http://beepsandboops.com/> since 2009.