Brighthope

UPDATED IMAGE: redrawn hilt and reposted

This was supposed to be a Bastard sword. Brighthope belongs to one of my oldest characters, a paladin named Anna. Like it's mistress, it has gone through some changes over the years. I think I'm finally done with it though, as I like the hilt design. The crosspiece and grip are supposed to be a phoenix design with nine tails, the grip being the center and longest. Thank Star Wars for the inspiration of the wings and neck.



Brighthope was the weapon of Narn the Hunter. A famous paladin of the Goddess of Luck from long ago, he is featured prominently within the holy texts of the church to this day. A humble man, Narn was not one to laud his own battles, still he was known as one of the greatest hunters of demons the church had ever known. Before the weapon Brighthope came into being, it was the holy blade of Narn, a magical weapon to be sure, but not of the power it was to become. Consecrated to the holy cause, the weapon, in the hands of Narn, served him well as he tracked down and destroyed the demonkind that had found their way to the mortal world for many years. It was in the autumn of his time that Narn chose to travel on a pilgrimage into the wilds to where a new temple to the Goddess was being founded, one that would be located in a valley of oak trees within a newly constructed village called Oakendale by the people who dwelled there. Unknown to Narn, only a few months prior, during the construction of this temple, an individual known only as ‘The Prophet’ had arrived at Oakendale. Charming, handsome, and blessed with a honeyed voice, this being came to the people claiming to be a representative of the Goddess Herself sent to lead all the worthy of the church into a millennia of peace and prosperity. At first all seemed to be well, the Prophet did indeed instruct the people in their paths to following the Goddess, the priests were given instruction to tend to the people and aid those in need, the families helped one another and the town flourished. The Prophet spoke from the scriptures of the Goddess, extolling the people to follow the teachings within and the priesthood could find no fault in his words. Over time however, the prophet supposedly sent from the Goddess slowly began twisting the doctrine, instructing the people that luck meant for misfortune to occur to some and that it was wrong to help those that were punished by the Goddess. Slowly the town turned inward on itself, each watching to see whom the Goddess would next punish and reveling in the suffering of that person. When Narn finally arrived at Oakendale, instead of the quiet happy community he was expecting, he found a small distrustful knot of people who looked at him with stony eyes. The prophet, wearing the holy symbol of the high priest of the temple, welcomed him and asked for news of his travels and destination. When he heard that Narn planned to retire to this temple however he grew reserved and soon excused himself from the audience. During the following days, the Prophet seemed to avoid meeting with Narn, citing official obligations, personal matters, and other excuses until the third night after Narn’s arrival. Having been in prayer within the chapel of the temple before retiring, Narn was disturbed to discover the prophet meeting with a cloaked figure in the darkness of the garden late in the evening. The figure spoke with a friendly tone not unlike the prophet’s own, but with words of dark and evil nature calling for Narn’s death. Ionna blessed Narn that evening with the luck to escape the pair’s detection as he retreated into the woods surrounding the town. There he prayed to the Goddess to reveal his duty to him and a servant of light appeared to him instructing him to return in three days time, at the time set forth to dedicate the temple. Narn was told that he must challenge the demon of lies that held the temple and village within his grasp or else the temple’s dedication would become instead a bastion to those of the Lower planes. With dedication and faith in his deity, Narn returned to the temple and stepped forward among the masses that stood before the false prophet as the ceremony commenced. Calling forth the power of the Goddess, he raised his voice in challenge against the pretender. Angered and surprised, the prophet called to the people around him declaring Narn a traitor fallen from grace and commanding them to seize him. But Ionna’s blessing came forth to protect her champion and the ground trembled beneath their feet causing all but Narn and the imposter to lose their footing and fall to the ground. Finally the false prophet swept off his robe and attacked the paladin with a vicious dagger that sang like a harpy’s tongue as it cut through the air. Together they dueled, neither gaining an advantage, until finally Narn drove his sword deep into the chest of the prophet. With the last beat of the false one’s heart, the creature reverted back to its demonic form in front of the townspeople. “Behold that which you would have followed to your eternal misery.” came a voice from the heavens and descending among them came the servant of light that had visited Narn before. Stretching forth her hand she pointed to the medallion that hung round the demon’s neck. “Faithful and true, take forth thy blade and the symbol worn falsely and let them be bound together to purify it once more.” And the symbol merged with the guard of the blade as if they were one and the same. “Behold thy blade Brighthope.” The servant exclaimed. “Let it now and for always be a beacon to this people and all others who serve the light of goodness.” With this declaration the servant departed and the town began the slow healing it required. A year and a half later the temple was consecrated on the day of Narn’s birth, as the aged paladin sat beside the new high priest. For seventeen more years the paladin served his Goddess before finally returning to her arms. The remains of Narn the Hunter were interred within the altar of the chapel with Brighthope lain under a crystal pane as a holy relic. Years went by with the town prospering in relative obscurity and peace until a group of adventurers attacked the temple in an attempt to secure the blade for some unknown dark benefactor. Seizing the weapon, they fled the ravaged town leaving behind only a handful of survivors. Among them was one Anna Nelvinor, a young girl just beginning her training as a paladin aspirant. After watching her family slaughtered and her mentor cut down defending the altar with his last breath she vowed to track down the adventurers and return the blade to where it belonged. The tale of her eventual triumph is one for another fireside as it encompasses a very personal interaction with Ionna and Anna as the girl became for a brief time one with her deity, but in the end the blade was returned to the temple only to be taken forth once more by Anna to defend the cause of Ionna abroad by the personal choice of the Goddess. Once a year Anna returns to the temple on the day of rededication and relinquishes the blade to the priests for the ritual. Aside from this one time a year, Brighthope has remained with her for the past twenty years. If it were shown as the will of the Goddess that Brighthope be passed on to another, Anna would not hesitate to do so. However it seems unlikely that another would come forth that would be more favored than this child of luck to make such a claim.