Warbreakers

From LSWiki

Before us, the Empire; after us, the Empire.

Where there is peace, we will sustain it; where there is war, we shall break it.
I pledge my life, my blood, and my industry to this calling.
We master Peace and War.  We are the Warbreakers.
 -- Warbreaker Oath

The Warbreakers are a long-forgotten elite cadre of operatives from the lost days of the Altrian Empire. Equipped with shadow clones of the great sword Auldirfeng, these secretive agents were responsible for rooting out and destroying threats of any kind to the Empire, whether those threats were political, military, magickal, or even philosophical. Focused on maintaining peace and stability within the Empire above all else, Warbreakers were trained in a wide array of skills from negotiation and etiquette to strategy and fieldcraft, equally capable of brokering a treaty, commanding an army, and fighting unaided against numerous foes with great skill and effectiveness. In times of great extremity, Warbreakers were even capable infiltrators and assassins, willing and able to go to any lengths to protect peace within the Empire.

Now, many centuries after the fall of the Empire, the great sword Auldirfeng is once again active in the affairs of the realm. Heedless of rumors of the Empire's so-called collapse, Auldirfeng has begun to rebuild the ranks of the Warbreakers, recruiting those in whose blood the power of the old Empire slumbers and once again bestowing the starshadow blades of the ancient legends.

As a Warbreaker, this duty has fallen to you, and Auldirfeng has granted you impressive powers as well as the ability to earn many more. The awakened destinies and magicks within your bloodline grant you sight within darkness and strengthen your soul against death, and allow you to call upon Auldirfeng to summon a powerful weapon through which many other powers may be activated. This blade is also capable of summoning a protective aura, which in turn possesses many unique capabilities of its own.

Joining

You'll need to be of the proper race to join. Humans work fine; half-humans also work but you'll need to get Steve drunk. If you ever change race to something without human blood -- via warpstone or vivisection, for example -- you will be removed from the guild.

Ardhalokh, domandan, kielleth, narja, and urlnlek can join. Aviar and advenus cannot join.

Upon joining you'll gain 2 bonus specialties in each of Power Channeling, Power Direction, Power Focusing, Power Tuning, and Sword.

You'll also have several skills introduced and trained up to 10 skill, as listed in the "You sense skill in.." message upon joining.

You say, "I vow to break war"

    Emperor Stephanos exclaims, "Very well.  Let us see if your bloodline is pure!"

    Emperor Stephanos gestures imperiously in your direction with the silvery metal longsword.

    You are surrounded by an aura of shimmering cyan light.

    A voice echoes in your mind, " Don't be alarmed.  I am Auldirfeng, the Imperial Blade,
protector of the Emperor and powerful magickal sword, if I do say so myself!  His Imperial Majesty
has directed me to determine whether you might be suitable for becoming one of his elite agents.  I
should warn you, however, that this is only possible if such power exists within your blood to be
awakened.  I'm sure you'll have nothing to worry about, however! ".

    A voice echoes in your mind, " Well, now.  Let us take a look at the pedigree of your lineage,
shall we?  Have no fear if you've undergone any surgical procedures or been subject to any
enchantments of note; my powers enable me to scour your very molecular structure for any hint,
however small, of the bloodline of the Emperor. ".

    You feel a tremendously powerful force probing your body and mind along with a dim inkling that
such probing might extend into your soul as well.

    A voice echoes in your mind, " Unbelievable!  Your bloodline is totally pure; I'm literally
detecting traces of the blood of the First Emperor himself within your veins!  And you say you were
unaware of any such Imperial lineage?  Remarkable!  Surely you are a direct-line descendant, with
this such evidence.  You have the potential to be a mighty Warbreaker indeed!  Let us awaken your
power. ".

    A voice echoes in your mind, " Hmm, your skill in some of the basic areas of combat appear to
be lacking somewhat.  Easy enough to fix, however. ".

    You sense skill in armour use, athleticism, courage, combat reflexes, the ability to dodge,
hardiness, killer instinct, the dealing of massive blows, pain tolerance, the ability to make a
precision strike, quickness, recuperation, resilience, the use of the shield, stamina, steadiness,
the use of swords, and tactics being abruptly imparted to you as strange knowledge and sensations
rush into you, subtly altering your mind and body.

    You are now a second-degree specialist in power channeling, power direction, power focusing,
power tuning, and sword. [event logged]

    The aura of shimmering cyan light surrounding you erupts into a blinding flash of bright cyan
light.

    You feel a vast and tremendous power awakening within your blood, a sort of cosmic attunement
to some external force of great power.

    Your eyes turn star-filled cyan.

    You are now a member of the Warbreakers.

    You feel knowledge flowing unbidden into your mind teaching you the methods and procedures
necessary to command the powers of the Warbreakers.

Rejoining

It is currently suspected that after leaving the Warbreakers it is not possible to rejoin. Getting him drunk does not seem to have an effect on this.

Emperor Stephanos exclaims, "You kiddin' me?  I ain't NEVER lettin' you back in!" to you.

Abilities

As one of Auldirfeng's agents you have the ability to manifest a Starshadow Blade, and with it the protective Starshadow Aura.

As ascendancy progresses, further maneuvers and enhancements will will become available, as listed in the respective help files.

Many of an agent's abilities benefit roughly as expected from hir abilities in the power skills, and use hir stores of starshadow energy to activate.

Starshadow energy regenerates at a rate of one point per minute, and one's current reserves can be roughly monitored by notice of messages of one's sword glimmering with energy, or more precisely via the matching sbar option or by looking directly at your summoned sword.

Additionally, agents will find their power skills advance significantly faster with use, and upon reaching milestones of experience find their soul reinforced, their power skills trained further, and their reserves of starshadow energy refilled.

Restrictions

Warbreakers cannot have a second master. This excludes them from being agents or servants to anyone else (like The Stalkers of the Gate or Weapons of Vengeance).

Warbreakers cannot join Questors of Axa because Warbreakers are furtive.

Warbreakers can not join malevolent associations.

As a Seasoned Agent of the Warbreakers, you could not become a champion by joining the Lightbringers.

Specialty Access

Warbreaker specialty access is effectively that of Adventurer's Guild, with the addition of having 15 access in sword and each of the power skills.

Failure to join

[OOC Aummius] A voice echoes in your mind, " Oh dear.  Erm, I regret to be the
bearer of unhappy tidings, but it seems there isn't even a trace of Imperial
blood within you.  Without any power for me to awaken within your blood, I'm
afraid you could never be a Warbreaker.  Still, don't lose hope -- I'm sure
there are many professions that might nobly serve the Empire!  Have you
considered agriculture? ".

[OOC Aummius] on a kurded kielleth, from urga