Cut back to the Page of the Twelve SwordsHaving worked for quite some time on the mechanics of the Game of Swords, with the intent to create a real-life game based on the premise of the books, I have worked through many of these interactions, trying to preserve the irony and surprise often associated with these grandest of blades.
Stories Collected Here:
John felt a
certain need to strike out at the forces of
evil which had lately been taking their toll upon his land and
his sanity. As he strode purposefully toward his goal,
across the short grass on the floor of the wide valley, his
face wore no particular expression.His only good
luck as of late -- mind you, it was sizable --
was the acquisition of Shieldbreaker, which he now wore at his side.
He had also been fortunate (though most would simply credit his
caution, rather than fortune) enough to retain Wayfinder over these
many years, and it had brought him here. It was now sheathed across
his back, safely out of the way. It would not be needed soon, and even
with Shieldbreaker near and John's own personal love for the Sword
of Wisdom, he did not like to consult Wayfinder too often, and usually,
he didn't need to. His sense of direction was keen, and his tendency
to confront risks already rather large. Today, the risks
he was taking would be great enough. No need to add to them.Night was falling.
The light was still more than adequate, but diffuse and ruddy.Ahead, he saw his goal.
Still his face changed not. The lone figure in a dashing
outfit (which looked pieced together from many separate sources)
stood in the center of a well-trampled patch of ground that was, roughly,
one hundred meters in radius. The man in the center of that patch
seemed to radiate smugness, which might have accounted for his lack of
personal guards despite his apparent position as the leader of a
sizable force.Not long after
John entered the area of recent heavy traffic, the man
regarded him, and waved.Getting no
response whatsoever, his eventually called out to the
approaching figure. "Hello!" he said.John moved
forward at the same determined pace. He was only fifty meters
away by the time the man spoke again."I don't believe
we've met, have we?"No change in
the approaching warrior. Shieldbreaker remained at bay for now.Thirty meters."Have you lost your
ability to speak?" the center-man asked, with a slight chuckle.Grimly came the terse reply, "No."Twenty meters.
Closing fast."Then what can
I do for you tonight, my friend?""No one who
would use a Blade like that one, the way you have here
today, has any right to call himself my friend."The man made
a move for his Sword, but John already had Shieldbreaker
fully drawn before the strange leader had even pulled on his Sword.He drew, just
the same, and smiled at John.Even at
twilight, the leader's Sword shone brightly, but John ignored
its influence and held his course, quickening his pace only slightly.The man who
had just drawn the Mindsword now realized the lack of change in his
adversary, and a look of panic swept across his face.Five meters away,
and it was John's turn to grin.The wielder
of the Sword of Glory thought quickly, knew he faced
Shieldbreaker, and did what he felt would not only save him, but
perhaps win himself the Sword of Force.Unfortunately for
him, he thought quickly, not well.As he dropped
the Mindsword to attack John unarmed, the power of
Skulltwister unsheathed caught him off guard. He felt dizzy, as
though he were on the verge of insanity. He fought it, trying to reclaim
a hold on his mind, and quiet the screaming of the Mindsword's power.As he did this,
John changed course to pick up the discarded Mindsword.
A momentary surge of power washed over John as he picked up the cast-off
Sword, and the man next to him dropped to his knees in worship."Master," he grovelled,
"what can your humble servant do for you today?""Fight me,"
John said, tossing him the Mindsword.The man caught
the Sword, and through the confusion and chaos
gripping his mind, carried out his orders, charging John with
Blade raised high.Jumping to life,
Shieldbreaker struck in a violent down-dropping
arc, blasting the Mindsword into poisonous fragments of gleaming
metal, and reducing its wielder -- once the master, but at the end,
a slave -- to something John had only to look at once to be sure it
would never again wield such power over innocent folk, or indeed,
over anything.Wiping his
Blade clean, John returned to the nearest town just
the way he had come, pausing only to pick up the smoldering hilt
that still displayed a fluttering banner in white.