Of Anshu and the blades Myrsky and Palo

Image Source

When the Titans splintered the surface races, it was Anshu who negotiated with the Dwarf King Gethen to allow elves to join them and take refuge in the hollows of Pohjola and the underground.

As the Titans discovered the Dwarven alliance with Elves, they used their magic to unleash foul creations such as goblins, orcs and other under-horrors to drive out and slay the two races.

It was Anshu who taught Dwarves how to use magic to power the runes in their weapons and it was the great female Dwarven smith, Gormall, who forged the two runic blades Myrsky and Palo for Anshu.  The blades were forged with a strange obsidian metal found deep in the under-halls of Pohjola.  With the thin but unbreakable blades, Anshu ended many foul incursions of the Titan's minions into Pohjola and the blades drank deeply of the green blooded monstrosities that threatened Dwarf and Elf alike in the deep places of the world.

When the Age of Titans ended and the Dwarf King Gethen asked Anshu and his people to return to the surface, Anshu was angered. His people had bleed and died in these cavernous places and established their own city and villages deep in the the veins of the world.   They had defended Dwarf and Elf alike and this was now their home as much as the Dwarves.

The Dwarves felt betrayed, as if a house guest had decided to move in permanently and robbed them of part of their home. What started as conversations, became negotiations.  What failed as negotiations became anger, bitterness and eventually war.  Myrsky and Palo which had slain so many green blooded horrors, turned their sharp edges onto their makers and drank deeply of dwarven blood.

Great bounties were offered by the Dwarf Kings for seizing the blades Myrsky and Palo back from Anshu.  Many a Dwarf, Man and tales say even a Titan tried over the centuries to wrest the blades back. Only tales of death and the demise of the seekers returned.

Anshu eventually disappeared. Some bards sing tales that he was killed by a Fire Titan living within a molten tower deep within the world. The fabled blades are burried with him in an infernal tomb.

Elven runoilija recite poems saying he went back to the surface to seek peace after a life of danger and sorrow, the woodland elves accepted him back at the price of giving up his blades.

Dwarven skalds say his treachery cursed him to become undead. As the Dwarven runes used against their creators became fouled with dwarf blood, the very soul of Anshu was corrupted, twisted and he went mad with pain, anger, and the curse of the undying.

Whichever tale, if any, is true the blades Myrsky and Palo are still sought after by Dwarf, Man and Elf a like.

MYRSKY (the larger runic blade)
MIN ST:12
DM: 2d6+3
Once a day, when the rune for storm is drawn with the blades tip in the air, a snow and ice storm bursts forth from the blade. Foes with 50' must pass 4/ST or freeze in place for d6+2 turns. Shooting weapons, throwing weapons or casting targeted spells into or through the storm all suffer a +2 dice penalty.

PALO (the smaller blade)
MIN ST:10
DM: 1d6+3
When Palo slices into a foe doing damage roll 1d6, on a 1 or a 2, the foes under clothing, padded or leather armor, or any flammable gear catches fire.  The fire does an extra 1d6 damage per turn (no AR protection) for 1d6 turns.  An opponent's clothing or equipment can only be "blazed" once per combat.