“It’s bad luck to repair a named blade.”

A famed General related to the royal family by bastard blood, but raised alongside the crown prince as a brother, strikes the killing blow against a dark and powerful wizard, but in doing so damages the magic blade he inherited from his mother.

Every Smith in the city refuses to repair it, citing superstition that great blades if repaired always turn to evil. It would be better to lay the sword to rest, as you would a fallen hero. The reforging of a sorcerous sword is likened to necromancy.

The hero refuses to accept this, and sets off on a quest to his mother’s homeland to find the original smith, in the hopes that he at least would be brave enough to attempt a repair.

Upon arriving in his mother’s country, he discovers that the great smith who forged his sword has just recently passed away. However, he is survived by his apprentice, now regarded as nearly matching the great master in his skill with magic and smithing.

The hero meets the smith and is immediately struck by his strength and beauty. He begs the smith to repair his mother’s sword. He is convinced that the fate of his blade is not yet over. To the hero’s surprise and relief, the smith agrees to at least look at the blade and think about re-forging it.

Smith takes a long time to consider the proposal, and in that time, they grow closer...

Smith knows that once the sword is complete, the Swordsman will return to his kingdom, so he says that such things must not be rushed. But he sees how the Swordsman is anxious over his brother's situation back home, and the Smith cannot delay him anymore.

In the end, the Smith dares the impossible, for the love of his swordsman.

He reforges the sword, as an even greater weapon than before, imbued with his heartfelt wish that this weapon will protect his Swordsman from even the most terrible of foes. 

On the very eve that the weapon is completed, the Swordsman receives an urgent missive to return home, for the castle is under siege by the apprentice of the Sorcerer whose dark magics first shattered the blade!

The Swordsman leaves his Smith in haste, with so much still unsaid. But he must face the Sorcerer's revenge, for there will be no peace in the kingdom until he does. 

He met the Sorcerer and his troops in battle, fighting his way towards the final conflict where destiny would decide the fate of The Named Blade, and prove once and for all if a reforged sword of magic must always bring about a tragic end. The Sorcerer's wrath was great, driven by anger and grief over the defeat of his master. Soldiers from both sides fled the scene as curses melted the earth beneath their feet and sent deadly bolts of lightning cracking unpredictably through the air. But the Swordsman pressed on. What was the wrath or a Sorcerer, compared to the power of his mother's blade, imbued with all the love of his Smith? 

The elemental magic of earth and sky was no match for the protective power of love. With a mighty blow, the Swordsman struck down the Sorcerer. And with it's destiny complete, The Named Blade shattered into a thousand pieces and scattered into the wind, as if daring the Smith and the Swordsman to tempt their luck twice.

The Swordsman was hailed as a hero twice-over. And though the blade lived for only a brief moment in a single battle, legends would place it in the pantheon of the greatest weapons ever forged - and on a pedestal as the only Great Blade to be forged twice.

Once again in need of a hero-worthy weapon, the Swordsman returned to the land of his mother. 

The Smith, who had been sick with worry, embraced the Swordsman and thanked the fates for returning him safely, and defying the superstition of the reforged blade.

Safe in the iron arms capable of forging the world's most legendary weapons, the Swordsman found that he hadn't returned because he needed a sword after all. All he needed was a Smith.

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inspired by this post by @sword-mlm