Character:Starcc Antonee, the Adamant Man/Fang of the Fox General
(Grand Daiklave previously owned by Shofei Lynndra, retrieved by her Shard's reincarnation, Starcc Antonee, the Adamant Man
This moonsilver and orichalcum grand daiklave was crafted in ancient times by a fox-totem Lunar for his Solar mate, after he watched her die in the Usurpation. Tragically, he never lived to give it to her, as the centuries wore on and she never returned. Due to its construction, however, the Fang of the Fox General can be attuned to by either a Lunar or a Solar for 8 motes, and grants the magical material benefits of the constituent magical material native to the wielder. A Lunar or Solar can choose to commit double the normal number of motes when attuning to the Fang of the Fox General, in which case he or she receives the benefits of both magical materials used in it's construction. It is otherwise a standard Grand Daiklave, with three hearthstone sockets.
That is but the least part of its power, however.
When its attuned wielder commits 7 motes and takes a Speed 6 miscellaneous action, the moonsilver in the blade flows off like mercury, leaving only an orichalcum blade with its crossguard and much of its back end missing. Silver, glittering motes of essence shimmer in the void left behind, glinting with reflected glory of the orichalcum that remains and reinforcing the structure to retain its original strength. The liquid moonsilver pools in a mirror-like puddle at the wielder's feet, and on each tick for the next 6 (ending when the character may take her next action), six silver foxes climb forth from the pool. This magnitude 2 complimentary unit has Drill 3 and Might 1. It uses the Fang of the Fox General's wielder's Melee for its Close Combat stat, though this is capped by the wielder's War as normal, and it uses the wielder's Valor or Conviction (whichever is higher) as its Morale. They are incapable of ranged combat. Despite their silver fur and the blade's glittering appearance, the foxes are particularly adept at stealth, and thus are only detected when attempting to move stealthily if the wielder, himself, is. (In other words, the wielder makes stealth checks as normal, and the foxes do not impact the difficulty in any way.)
Should the wielder combine this unit with a larger one, it imparts Magnitude as normal. Additionally, when the wielder takes his foxes into a larger unit and becomes a Hero, his foxes add +1 to the Might of that unit, though they impact the statistics in no other fashion. He may detach from the unit to form his own without harming the larger unit's Magnitude, however.
As an additional power, by spending 3 Willpower and committing another 7 motes, the wielder may hold the orichalcum skeleton of his weapon overhead, calling the full might of the Fox General's army to his banner. The moonsilver foxes leap to the blade, pulling it from the wielder's hands and warping even the orichalcum. What lands on the ground before the wielder is a monstrous moonsilver fox with fangs, claws, eyes, and seven tails of orichalcum. It crouches for its wielder to mount, and then howls in a terrible keen, calling forth a unit of mundane foxes with a Magnitude equal to the wielder's Permanent Essence. The army arrives over a number of Long Ticks as determined by the wielder's Join War roll.
Though the foxes are mundane, the presence of the daiklave-cum-giant-fox grants the unit a Might of 1, and supernaturally whips the foxes into a Drill 2 unit which determines its Valor as did the smaller guerrilla unit of silver foxes. Further, the Close Combat value of this unit is equal to the wielder's War, and the entire unit counts as mounted. Unlike the smaller force, this unit is as difficult to hide as any other of its size.
Should the Magnitude of the silver fox guerrilla force be reduced to 0, the larger army cannot be summoned. Once the wielder uncommits the motes devoted to his army, normal foxes withdraw and the moonsilver ones flow back into the blade. Any missing moonsilver regenerates from traces left in the blade over night as the moon passes over head. It cannot regenerate during a New Moon, nor during Calibration.
Tragically, the crafter of this marvelous weapon descended into the madness of the Chimera. In a final moment of lucidity before one of his oldest and best friends - a Sidereal of the Bronze Faction leading a Wyld Hunt - put him down, he pleaded with the man to see to it that the blade would find its way to his mate. Honorable, and trusting that such a promise would lead to no problems given the existence of the Jade Prison, the Sidereal (a Chosen of Endings) agreed, and crafted two Destinies which he tied to the god of the sword: Any attempt to keep the blade from finding its rightful bearer shall meet with disaster; and any action which brings it closer to its rightful bearer is blessed with serendipity. Though the Sidereal put a great deal behind the duration of both, they are about to expire. Blessedly, the weapon has still found its way back into her hands, even if it took the shattering of the Jade Prison to do it...
