The Sword of Truth
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The Sword of Truth is a magical sword in the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind.
[edit] Physical Description
The Sword of Truth is a magical sword wielded by the Seeker of Truth. It has a silver scabbard embellished with gold flourishes that gleams in sweeps and waves. The finely tooled leather of the baldric is old and supple. The gold and silver buckle matches the scabbard. Steel crossgaurds sweep out and down aggressively. Finely twisted silver wire covers the grip, and gold wire interwoven along the side of the braided silver forms the word Truth on each side of the hilt. The Sword of Truth is a magnificent sword which even a king is not worthy of wielding. The sword normally makes a unique ringing, metallic sound when pulled free from its scabbard. The Sword of Truth belongs to the seeker as long as he or she is alive, or as long as he/she chooses to be Seeker. In between, while a new Seeker is sought, the Sword of Truth belongs to the First Wizard.
[edit] Powers
Holding the hilt of the Sword of Truth causes its magic to stir anger from deep within the one who wields it and brings the anger to life. This awakens the power within the sword, a twin to its wielder's anger. The wielder's anger feeds the force from the sword and in return, the wrath from the sword feeds the wielder's anger in a pair of twin storms that spiral through the wielder in a frightening and seductive sensation. The heat of anger from the sword can come of the sword's own volition, or it can be summoned forth by the Seeker. Once the sword has been bonded to its master, the anger and magic within the sword can be awakened by the Seeker without having to touch the sword. The Seeker will be able to sense this magic and thus find the sword wherever it is. The magic also allows the Seeker to sense certain kinds of danger, such as the touch of a confessor.
The Sword's magic is divided into two halfs - Additive and Subtractive, depending on the color of the blade of the Sword of Truth. The additive magic of the sword uses its wielder's anger and adds to it, takes power from it, until it becomes something else. The white magic is the opposite and balance of the additive magic, summoned by turning the physical blade of the sword white. Instead of being powered by anger, it is fueled by love. This allows the wielder to kill anyone, but at an enormous cost-- killing someone you love.
The magic of the Sword of Truth gives its wielder unnatural speed and power. It can also cut clean through objects most weapons would be barely able to damage. The Sword of Truth also has the ability to destroy shadow people and other creatures of the underworld. However, the magic normally will not allow the wielder to harm someone with it that he thinks is innocent, the blade will stop just before it hits the target, as if the very air about it becomes too thick to allow it to pass. The sword will destroy whoever the wielder perceives to be the enemy, within limits. Reality isn't relevant, perception is everything. If the wielder thinks it is the enemy, he can destroy it, regardless of the truth. In addition, the magic of the Sword of Truth can block wizard's fire.
In exchange for being the tool of the Seeker, and granting the powers noted above, the Sword of Truth retains all of the fighting techinques in which it has been used. The abilities can be accessed by the Seeker. To date, the only person to have had access to this fighting knowledge has been the current Seeker, Richard Rahl. This was first revealed in Stone of Tears, when Richard killed thirty blademasters by using the knowledge held within the Sword of Truth.
Just like any ability, the magic of the Sword of Truth grows more powerful as its wielder learns to use it, recognize it, and understand it.
[edit] Drawbacks
Due to the finality of death, whenever the sword is used against an enemy, there is a price to pay. The more powerful the enemy, the higher the price that the magic extracts. The payment is that the wielder must suffer the pain of seeing in himself all of his own evil, all of his own shortcomings, all the things he doesn't like to see in himself or admit is there. In addition, he sees the good in the one he has killed and suffers the guilt for having done so. The pain comes not only from himself, but also from the very powerful magic of the sword. It is real and it punishes the wielder's body as well as his soul. That is why anger is so important. Rage is the only armor against the pain; it gives a measure of protection. The stronger the enemy, the stronger the pain, but the stronger the rage, the stronger the shield. It makes the wielder care less about what he has done, in some cases enough to not feel the pain. One who is not able to use his anger would be naked before the magic and it would tear him apart.
The first time a Seeker uses the Sword of Truth is different than every other time. The magic tests its user and takes a measure of the Seeker with the pain, and nothing can protect him from it. The magic has to join with the Seeker with its first ultimate use, to ascertain his intent when he kills. It has the power to do terrible things to a Seeker. It tests with the pain, to see who will be the master, who the ruled. Passing the test brings the Seeker a better understanding of what it means to be Seeker and a better understanding of the magic, how the Seeker uses it, how it uses the Seeker, and how they are joined.
A third drawback is that in the end the magic of the Sword of Truth turns the Seeker into a creature similar to Samuel, a small apish, demented creature that is reduced to little but lust, greed, hate, and fear. The prophecies say that the one who truly master's the sword's magic, and in so doing makes the blade turn white, will be protected from that fate, a feat accomplished by Richard Rahl.
