The Sword of Baldanders
Category: Weapon (Heavenly Beings)
Chain of Custody:
- The Tower of Fang
- Azalie (Stolen)
- Childman
- Ekintora
- Bloody August (Childman)
- Orphen
- Vulcan
The Sword of Baldanders is an ancient relic from the Heavenly Beings. A powerful weapon with the ability to transform whatever it cuts into something else, based on the wielder's wishes. This weapon proves to be more than the normal sorcerer can handle, when Azalie, the only person able to decipher the spell, is transformed into a horrible monster.
The original name (月の紋章の剣) is read as (バルトアンデルスの剣).
Concept Art
Appearance
The Sword of Baldanders is a longsword, decorated with a dragon emblem for a guard. This dragon wraps around a gemstone moon, with wings spread out across the blade. The blood trench is filled with runes, an incantation of sorts, which was only ever deciphered by Azalie. When activated, the runes glow blue. A large emerald is placed at the pommel.
The sheath of the sword is noted to be leather.
Magic
"Always Something Else"
This incantation is written on the moon, the blade's magic seal.
The Sword of Baldanders is an immensely powerful artifact. It's said to be able to transform who it cuts into whatever the wielder desires, be it an animal, or even stone. This is why Azalie thought that she could use it to gain power, but the spell failed when she lost her concentration.
Anime Appearance
The story for the Sword of Baldanders is slightly different in the anime. Azalie and Orphen found it on a research expedition, and rather than report it to the Elders, Azalie kept it a secret, hoping to use the spell for herself.
After the failure of the experiment, it fell from the dragon into the woods. It was later sold by an antiques dealer to Cleao's father, who gifted it to her for her 15th birthday. It gives Cleao an excuse to come along on Orphen's journey, claiming that she needs to make sure that she gets her sword back.
History
The Tower of Fang
Although there are numerous magical weapons throughout the world, it's said that human sorcerers aren't capable of creating them. Instead, they were created by the Heavenly Beings, the Dragons. Long after its creation the sword was taken to the Tower of Fang.
It is here that Azalie stumbled upon the sword, and being the only one who'd managed to decipher the spell, stole it to use for a magic experiment. She hoped to gain power, enough to make Childman deem her worthy. However, she failed to harness that power, succumbing to the pain of her wounds and breaking her concentration. This lead to her being transformed into a massive dragon, a false dragon, based on the image she saw upon the sword.
The Everlasting Household
After the failed experiment the sword was deemed a prohibited curse by the Tower of Fang. Rather than to let it be confiscated by the elders, Childman placed the sword in the Everlasting Mansion, entrusting it to his friend, Ekintora Everlasting, Cleao's father. It's said that he entrusted many dangerous artifacts to this man during his lifetime.
After Childman's soul was switched with Azalie's, resulting in him becoming the Bloody August, he immediately beelined towards the Everlasting mansion. This was in spite of his insistence that the sword could not return Azalie to her true form. Azalie, in possession of Childman's body, then tracked his movements to find the sword herself. Ultimately she killed the beast once it was located.
After this defeat, Orphen insisted on meeting Azalie. He confronted her about her crimes, and after a fight with his former friend, he used the sword to return her to her true form. Shortly after, the Sword was stolen by Vulcan, who planned to take it to the Tower of Fang to sell it.
Mythos
Soon Another
Baldanders is based on a creature from the stories of Hans Sachs, a shapeshifter who could take many forms, meant to symbolize the continous change of nature and even society itself. Its name is based on a combination of the German words for Soon (Bald) and Another (Anders).