The Swords Dilema...

[Greylen]

[Boric Glanduum]

Earl Varinso walked into the room and looked each one of us in the eyes. It was clear that his gratitude knew no bounds. His weariness--physical and emotional--was evident on his face. In his arms he carried the spoils I, and my friends, had stripped from the fire giant's corpse.

Odd. He carries no greatsword, but a short sword, a short blade. That blade is barely...well, it's fit for none but a gnome, I'd say. Looking around, my surprise was shared by the others. Trident actually jolted and shook his head when he saw the blade.

Varinso spoke, "We have been able to identify these objects for you. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. I've had this done in gratitude for your valiant efforts and bravery. We thank you...although words hardly carry sufficient weight for that...."

He handed me the helm, now cleaned of gore and giant-sweat. "This, friend dwarf, has been identified as a 'Helm of Brilliance.'" He began to relate to me what his mages had told him about its powers and function.

He turned to Eli, handing him the giant's belt, "From this, the giant drew much strength. Frankly, my mages have never seen its equal. They tell me that they cannot conceive of such an item granting more strength to its wearer than this one does."

Finally he turned to Trident. "This one is a puzzle, master gnome. And an embarrassment. You gave us a mighty greatsword and we bring you a blade, the size of which makes it barely worthy of the name. Try as they might, my people can tell me very little about this blade other than the fact that it definitely is magical; its aura is quite powerful, they say."