Hammer and Sword

Long ago, Hammer Lord was the undisputed ruler in the realm.  His hammer was strongly enchanted, his legions were true, and there were none to challenge his largely benevolent supremacy. The Hammer Lord's legions were filled with knights whose hammers were inspired by their Lord's hammer, and they were a frightful force to behold on the battle field. Their hammers were lightly enchanted and crafted with care, and only one with the resources of landed Knights could carry the hammer's cost. These Hammer Knights were strong, loyal, and proud.

But a jealous Trade Lord sought to attain supremacy of the realm for himself.  Successful trade had made him rich and powerful, but he wanted more.  Using his vast trading wealth, he commissioned wizards from an exotic and far away land to make for him a weapon, a sword, worthy of challenging the Hammer.

The sword came to the Trade Lord with several requested advantageous properties. Among them were near indestructability, follower enhanced wielding force, and leader to follower force enhancement. The more followers the wielder had, the more they all increased in force. There was only one catch; each follower would also need to carry a complimentary sword and ONLY that sword, which could only be obtained from the Trade Lord himself.

He sought out individuals to grow his army. He took advantage of populations far from the ruling city, which were mostly indifferent to power struggles.  As long as they had food in their bellies and safety from invading hordes, they could have cared less who ruled. He sold his vision on lies and easy promises, and swelled his ranks.

Renaming himself as Sword Lord, he finally felt he could start is war for the realm. But when the early battles enjoined, his legions were lacking in numbers and were soundly defeated by the Hammer Lord's well oiled machine.

However, the complimentary swords could be had for the asking, were better quality than most could afford otherwise, and came with the promise of enhanced social standing if Sword Lord were ever to take the day.  It didn't take long to sell the vision to more and more people, and the ranks grew large and powerful.

War had come to the realm, from within the realm itself.  For the first time, Hammer Lord feared capitulation might lay in his future.

Hammer Lord learned of the Sword Lord's unique weapon, and had his guild wizards create similar enchantments for his hammer, and the hammers of his Hammer Knights.

Since that time, Hammer Lord and his forces have been engaged in a long, terrible struggle with Sword Lord, with supremacy of the realm hanging in the balance.

For quite some time, it appeared Hammer and Sword were equally matched, but eventually Sword Lord began to win more matches than it lost. Hammer Lord and his forces would take devastating losses, with Hammer Lord himself barely escaping each tilt, leaving him weaker and weaker with each retreat.

The balance of power was shifting, and Hammer Lord foresaw the end of his rule, so had his guild wizards perform a second enchantment on his mighty Hammer. The secondary hammer enchantment was that on command, the hammer head would fly apart in thin leaves of metal, with each leaf becoming both template and material seed, complete with instructional runes, for making hammers duplicate of the original. Interpreting the runes and following their instructions would not easy tasks, and exotic materials would have to be gathered, but no further enchantments would be needed.

Hammer Lord and his forces lay dying after a final and fatal battle. He uttered a gasping command and released his grip on his prized hammer. In a hail of sparks, the hammer head fanned apart into hundreds of leaves of metal. Each leaf wended its way on the wind, to corners of the realm unknown. The guarded secrets of recreating Hammer Lord's hammer had been laid open for those with the will to try. This could change everything.

For 20 years, Sword Lord and his forces maintained absolute rule in the realm, but the Hammers may yet come...