The last titled blade
Hera couldn't believe her luck. And again, luck might not be the correct word for that. This was effort. Something she worked hard to make. A combined effort of Forge and her. And the result was simply fantastic. Originally, her weapon was supposed to be only an Epic one but now it was Unique. Meaning that was also bound to her, and even better was the fact that the runes they used seemed to be working perfectly.
There was no unexpected outcome or issue they had to deal with. Instead, everything just flowed naturally and worked as intended. Even if she was almost sure the stitching could have been improved, the Empress was satisfied with the end result. Very few people could say they were able to create unique grade weapons without any crafting skills or anything of the sort. Then again, Vulcan did have one skill that improved the quality of crafted items, so in reality, they might have just been able to create an epic one that was enhanced by Forge.
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Shardless Bloodthorn Threads - Puppetry
Bladed String Gloves
Unique
Bound to Hera Quetzaveth
Scaling:
Endurance X 83, Agility X 63, Charisma x 61
Intelligence X 55, Luck X 43, Strength X 33
Passive Skills:
Cosmic Puppetry
The wearer's body is subtly manipulated by cosmic strings, making them resistant to both physical and arcane interference.
Debuff Resistance: +25%
Chance of redirecting debuffs 5%
Starlit Silk
Any damage dealt by the threads can return to the wearer as a moderate healing effect and a minor mana recovery effect.
Thorned Lash:
The strings are able to extend unnaturally, digging deeper into its target's flesh no matter its armor.
Attacks bypass 10% of targets' defenses.
Attacks have a 5% chance to cause a bleeding effect on target.
Targets already under a bleed effect caused by another skill have the intensity of the bleeding harshly increased.
Chasing Sands:
Targets that are under a bleed effect caused by this weapon will be followed by a trail of sands that slows down their movement while the bleed effect is active.
Slow: 10%
Active Skills:
Starforged Marionette
The wearer can use their surroundings to create a large marionette made out of stardust that can be controlled with the strings.
Duration: 2 minutes
Mana Cost: 25% maximum mana
Crowned Bind:
The bladed strings empowered by the constellations of the night sky, entangle enemies in a web or razor-sharp threads.
Immobilizes targets for up to 7 seconds.
Range 10 meters.
Cooldown 3 minutes.
Immobilized targets have a 5% chance of being affected by a bleed status.
If the target forces through the immobilization it will receive a strengthened bleed effect instead.
Event Horizon Rend
The threads lash out with an attack that that shifts through time and space itself. This attack will always hit and pull enemies towards a specific point within range. The more injured the target is, the more damage this attack will deal.
Range: 12 Meters
Cooldown: 2 minutes.
Mana Cost: 5% maximum mana
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Looking over the description of the item, Hera found herself even more proud of her accomplishment. Not just because of the stats, but also because of how the gloves looked. They were still made out of that soft brown leather with the color of Earth, but now there was an intricate stitching of a galaxy on the back of the left hand and the palm of the right hand.
The connections to the strings also changed thanks to Forge's tempering of the materials. Now, instead of simply being a silvery metal, they were golden due to a specific way in which he repaired them previously. Usually, the type of metal that was present in the original version of the gloves wouldn't be changed like that, but once Vulcan's Sacred Fire heated it up, the bits of metallic filament got their golden color by being imbued with the power of the flames.
However, they didn't get any specific attributes due to that, it was mostly a cosmetic change with some added durability to the pieces of metal. From the fingers of the gloves were small holes from which Hera's nails could pass by, but right now they were just being kept open by using some decorative pieces of stone shaped like the Empress claws, created by the blueprint skill.
But the most amazing part of this weapon was the strings. Strings made out of silver but that leaned towards the white, and as they moved, you could see hundreds of sparkles all over the metal. More than that, areas of the threads became darker when shaded, making it seem that anyone who was looking at them was also looking at stars in the night sky.
Hera shared with the guides the end result of the weapon, and they were all quite impressed by the final product. Veridallion specifically felt that this was a very good representation of what bladed wire gloves should look like and the types of skills they should have. They were not so much a weapon made to deal big attacks or cause a lot of damage all at once. They were trapping weapons. Tools made to grab an enemy and make sure they would suffer until they were defeated.
Hera could already add her new title blade to her court. Especially after confirming with Daskka that this was indeed a good match with the cloak pin. However, before doing that, she had one more task to do. And it was also something she had already decided together with her blades. Removing a court member.
The one who would be leaving was Sun. Despite his strength and help throughout the war, after a very long and difficult discussion, the court agreed that he was the one member that overlapped the most with other members of the court. He had ranged attacks, but they cost too much mana. He had a radiance power, but that was also very close to both the sacred fire from Vulcan and the fire from Pyro. He had one devastating attack that could also be mirrored by Hera's weapon break combo.
The only other blade who was as vocal about leaving as him was Storm, but the spear was against that. After all, Storm had already lost a member of her Noble House, and removing another might cause Eira to have the wrong impression about her Noble House.
Hera held Sun while calling the rest of the court so they could all say their farewells.
"Sun, you are a great help and a great friend. Thanks for everything you did," Hera did her best to keep a smile and not show the hurt she was feeling. This was the one part of her Legacy that she truly hated. Having to let go of her friends every time she was going to get a new weapon. And worst of all, keeping them around would just make things even harder. After all, they would be influencing her in bad ways and turning what was supposed to be a group of protectors into a group of liabilities.
It sucked, and it hurt, but it had to be done. One by one, they just said their goodbyes, with members of his Noble House being the ones who took the longest. Even the Guides joined to thank Sun for everything before Hera finally used the skill [Revocation of Nobility] to add the spear into the blade graveyard.
Just as she did so, in the back of the private room in one of the many open spaces, the spear appeared together with a plaque listing his skills, his name, and a few words from the blades that were part of the Court while he was there. This was a new addition that Hera changed, and she had also placed a few words herself for each of the previous blades. In the empress palace, another representation of the blade appeared. This time, a stained glass picture of Sun pointing to the sky, shining as brightly as his skills would let him.
Hera quickly added the new weapon to her Court, calling her Filigree, as she had already decided on the name. There wasn't really a reason for that. Just whenever she looked at the gloves and the thread, it was the only word that came to mind. But she didn't stop there, already placing the cloak pin by the side of the gloves. Hera started speaking before the weapon was fully attached to the court.
"Filigree, you are the first weapon that I have made with the intention of joining my court, and the first Titled Blade that was always meant to be a part of us. You are here to make us whole. To be that one missing piece. The one position that has yet to be taken by anyone will now be yours. I hope you can join our family and accept the title of the Weaver, for your strings shall be our enemies' bane and our allies' salvation. Welcome to the Court of Blades."
As the mist enveloped the gloves, Hera quickly pulled up the stats of her new blade. Once she did, her smile was so large that it started to hurt. Whatever she was expecting was nowhere near as incredible as what she had just got.
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Weaver Filigree - Puppetry
Bladed String Gloves - Sphinx
Total Stats: 1080
Strength: 116 Endurance: 251
Agility: 197 Charisma: 197
Intelligence: 176 Luck: 143
Weapon Scaling
Empress Attribute: 180
Endurance X 83.7, Agility X 65.7, Charisma x 65.7
Intelligence X 58.5, Luck X 47.7, Strength X 38.7
Passive Skills:
Cosmic Puppetry: Filigree's body is subtly manipulated by cosmic strings, making them resistant to both physical and arcane interference.
Debuff Resistance: +25%
Chance of redirecting debuffs 5%
Starlit Silk
Any damage dealt by Filigree can return to the wearer as a moderate healing effect and a minor mana recovery effect.
Sand Lash
Filigree's strings are able to extend unnaturally, digging deeper into its target's flesh no matter its armor.
Attacks bypass 10% of targets' defenses.
Target leaves behind a trail of sands that slow down their movement by 15%
Sphinx Brand
If a target is affected by a bleeding effect caused by Filigree and would receive an additional one, they will hear a riddle of the Sphinx. Solving it will cause the bleeding to stop. Failing it will cause the duration of the bleed to double.
Active Skills:
Starforged Marionette
Filigree can use her surroundings to create a large marionette made out of stardust that can be controlled with the strings.
Duration: 2 minutes
Mana Cost: 25% maximum mana
Bleeding Dunes
Filigree can create an aura where all attacks dealt by her allies have a chance to cause bleeding.
Attacks have a 2% chance to cause a bleeding effect on target.
Targets already under a bleed effect caused by another skill have the intensity of the bleeding harshly increased.
Range: 10 meters
Crowned Bind
Filigree's bladed strings empowered by the constellations of the night sky, entangle enemies in a web or razor-sharp threads.
Immobilizes targets for up to 7 seconds.
Range 10 meters.
Cooldown 3 minutes.
Targets immobilize have a 5% chance of be affected by a bleed status.
If the target forces through the immobilization it will receive an strengthened bleed effect instead.
Event Horizon Rend
Filigree can use an attack that shifts through time and space itself. This attack will always hit and pull enemies towards a specific point within range. The more injured the target is, the more damage this attack will deal.
If used on a riddle trapped target, the target will be forcefully ripped out of the cage, being severely damaged in the process.
Range: 12 Meters
Cooldown: 2 minutes.
Mana Cost: 5% maximum mana
Decipher Me or I Will Devour You
Filigree traps a target inside a cage of mana based on the target's attributes. Inside the cage, the target is unable to interact with the outside world and they are unable to leave until they solve a riddle posed by the Sphinx. If the target fails to answer in three attempts, the cage is reinforced and lasts for an additional 4 hours. Each time the target answers incorrectly, Filigree can transfer one debuff currently affecting her or the court to the target inside the cage.
If the target answers the riddle correctly, the cage vanishes.
Cooldown: 24 hours.
Duration: 4 hours
Gates of Mana
Filigree can pose a special riddle to those affected by the skill [Decipher Me or I Will Devour You]. By correctly answering the riddle in a single attempt, the cage will be flooded with mana, increasing the target's mana regeneration. The Gates of Mana last for 1 minute before the cage vanishes, closing the Gates of Mana. The increased regeneration will slowly decay after the Gates of Mana are closed.
Mana regeneration while inside the Gates: +20% per second.
Decay duration: 10 minutes.
Decay rate: 1% every 30 seconds
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