Craven Edge

Craven Edge is a sentient, thick, onyx, two-handed greatsword once wielded by Sylas Briarwood and then by Grog Strongjaw before being thrown into the pocket dimension of the Dread Emperor. Imbued with dark arcane power, Craven Edge drains strength from the foes it strikes, absorbing their blood into its blade. It may even consume the soul of its wielder, as it did with Grog.

As an NPC in Critical Role campaign and a character in The Legend of Vox Machina, Craven Edge is portrayed by Matthew Mercer.

Appearance
Craven Edge is a large, onyx, two-handed greatsword.

Personality
Craven Edge constantly seeks the thrill of battle and the taste of blood on its blade.

Background
While severing Craven Edge's connection to Grog's soul, Pike Trickfoot saw a vision of a nameless man striving for power and wealth, then striking a deal with a dark entity.

The man didn't fully understand the deal he had made, and Pike glimpsed the dark entity punishing him for an unknown action he had made. The dark entity bound the man's soul to the blade now known as Craven Edge, cursing his soul in the process, condemning him to eternal gluttony and an insatiable desire for strength and blood.

The Remnants, followers of Vecna, recovered Craven Edge as they collected powerful artifacts from around the world in anticipation of Vecna's return. After Vecna resurrected Sylas Briarwood and he ascended in the power structure, Vecna suggested Sylas wield Craven Edge, as it was both an excellent weapon and its potential negative effects on its wielder would not affect Sylas as much since he was Undead.

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Vox Machina first encountered Craven Edge as a seemingly normal greatsword that Sylas used to attack Grog in their fight in Emon. Grog felt the sword attempting to draw strength from his wounds, but resisted. Later in Whitestone, in the crypt during their rest, Cassandra warned the party that Sylas' sword "is as dark as he is." During the battle outside of the Ziggurat, Sylas wielded Craven Edge against Percy and sapped his strength. He slashed Keyleth as well but she managed to resist the strength effects. Percy shot the sword out of Sylas' hand. After Sylas was killed, Grog placed the dropped sword in their bag of holding.

During a bit of downtime before the Winter's Crest festival, Percy inspected Sylas' sword. It was a dark obsidian color and so large it required two hands to wield. The sword spoke into his mind, "You, are you my new wielder?" Percy refused and the sword asked to be left until a more worthy candidate came along. Percy put it down, disturbed, as he continued to feel a cold presence around it, watching him. Percy slept on the sword for a few nights, as it pled with him that it was hungry. Eventually Grog inquired about it and offered to trade his dragonslayer longsword for it, as with his greater strength he would be able to use it more effectively. Percy weighed his options and gave the sword to Grog. When Grog first took hold of it, the sword similarly asked him if he was to be the wielder. Grog was surprised, and immediately asked Craven Edge if it had a female setting or if he could rename it "Bacon". Craven Edge was exasperated by this, but asked Grog to pledge his use of the sword in exchange for great power to strike down his foes and make them kneel before him in fear. Grog enthusiastically accepted, seemingly unaware of the risks.

Grog first used Craven Edge to intimidate Jeffrey, an associate of Riskel Daxio, during an interrogation, using its power to grant him advantage on intimidation checks. When he slammed it into the ground, the party observed what looked like mist emanate from the blade. As Jeffrey cried onto the sword while begging for his life, Craven Edge encouraged Grog to "keep the tears coming" and to end his "measly life." Grog was astonished to learn that Craven Edge could see everything that he could. He held the blade under Jeffrey's chin and managed to resist the urge to jab it into his throat. As Pike admonished him, Grog sheathed the sword and Craven Edge sighed in frustration.

The first person Vox Machina observed to be killed with Craven Edge was Riskel Daxio, whom Grog executed by beheading. After taking a life with it, a wave of euphoria washed over Grog and Craven Edge spoke to him approvingly.

Grog used Craven Edge to attack a purple worm in the secret cavern connected to General Krieg's home, and then used it to cut Vax loose from its belly. It approved when Grog killed another worm with three brutal attacks that split it open in two. After the battle, Vax confronted Grog about the sword, having heard Grog speaking to it, and Pike joined him in expressing her concern. During the initial attack by the Chroma Conclave on Emon, Grog was the first to attack back, using Craven Edge, who was excited to try a taste of dragon.

Grog got in a few hits on Vorugal with Craven Edge before they retreated back into Greyskull Keep. Percy quietly asked Grog about "his new friend", to indicate he knew about Craven Edge, but Grog played it off.

When attacking the looters, Grog drew the blade of Craven Edge across his hand and observed it absorb his blood. For the first time, Grog used the sword to sap the strength of his opponents.

The party were in Vesselheim to meet with Earthbreaker Groon, who expressed to Grog, "You carry such a dark weapon with you." While fighting in a match against Groon, Grog attempted to switch from using Craven Edge to his Firebrand Warhammer but found himself unable to resist the sword as it shouted at him, "You fool! This fight is ours!". Groon then encouragingly told Grog that he was stronger than "this thing that binds you," and Grog said that he found strength in his friends.

In Whitestone, Grog asked to use the outhouse, where he secretly took out Craven Edge and attempted to converse with it. He expressed his concern that Groon called it a "dark weapon." He wanted to know what was in their arrangement for the sword. Craven Edge replied, "there is no feeling more terrifying than hunger. And I hunger forever. You help satiate that hunger. That is our arrangement. I give you the strength of those you cut down, and I feed upon them." It threatened that if this is unsatisfactory to Grog, it could find another willing user, but Grog assured it that he was a "big fan." When he asked if Craven Edge could ever be full, it replied, "I have never been full before. Perhaps you're the one to find out." Grog acknowledged that he had been a little unsettled when he had seen it drink blood. Craven Edge expressed its distaste for the outhouse air, and Grog said they would continue the conversation another time and sheathed it.

Grog had a nightmare where he used Craven Edge to uncontrollably kill innocent farmers, children, and Pike, whose corpses all lied at his feet. Vox Machina subsequently captured Horace, one of the Herd, on the outskirts of Westruun. After he answered their questions, Grog unexpectedly stabbed him with Craven Edge through the abdomen and out of his mouth, killing him. As the rest of Vox Machina looked on in shock, they observed the level of blood in Horace's mouth visibly decrease as the blade soaked it up. "What the fuck is that sword, Grog?" asked Vex.

Grog then confided Craven Edge's true nature to Scanlan, including the dream and that the sword spoke to him. Grog unsheathed it and asked if it had enjoyed its snack, to which it responded, "it was a good snack" and asked for more. Scanlan couldn't hear it, so Grog went to hand the hilt to Scanlan, to Craven Edge's consternation. "You will hand me to no one," it commanded, and Grog found that he couldn't give it up. He told Scanlan not to worry about it as he went to sheathe it again, but Scanlan was suspicious and cast Suggestion on him to get him to hand over the sword. As he grasped the hilt, Scanlan asked the sword if it had been talking to Grog. Craven Edge sighed and said Scanlan must prove himself to hold him. Scanlan asked how he could prove that he was worthy, and the sword shifted to point at their friend Reginald like a divining rod. Scanlan resisted its influence and handed it back over to Grog, expressing concern about him wielding this sword. Grog swore him to secrecy about its power, and Scanlan agreed, though he did want to ask Pike about it later. They both could hear Craven Edge say, "Always hungry."

Scanlan asked Pike if she would take a look at Craven Edge. She agreed as she had already detected there was something weird about it.

Grog attempted to avoid sleep for the second night in a row so that he could keep the strength bonus from his earlier attacks with Craven Edge. He held it in his lap and decided to have a chat. He asked if it remembered Lord Briarwood, and Craven Edge recalled, "he was a stalwart champion. He kept me fed, mostly." It also said that it was almost full, but wouldn't tell Grog what would happen when it was. In a later battle with the androsphinx Kamaljiori, Craven Edge sapped enough strength to change in form. The shadow aura around it expanded, and the blade thickened and grew a foot longer. Jagged thorns protruded out from its previously smooth edges as it would now deal necrotic damage as well. When Grog leapt into the tornado to retrieve part of the letters-based puzzle, he nearly was pulled into the portal to the Elemental Plane of Air and used the Chain of Returning to fling Craven Edge at the doorway, connect to a secure object, and reel himself back in. He discovered that Craven Edge was sticking through Pike's abdomen, as she was bracing herself against the wall and said, "It's okay, Grog. You're back, that's all that matters." Vex grabbed the jagged edges of the blade, fingers bleeding, and pulled it out of Pike.

Grog decided to take a short rest with everyone else, and Craven Edge shrunk back down to its normal size. It whispered, "hungry" and Grog felt as if the sword was trying to pull him in, but he initially resisted. It still demanded to be fed. Just a bit later as Grog was walking through the snow, he fell over face first, dead. The party rushed over to help and Scanlan told them what he knew about the sword. Pike casted Revivify on Grog's corpse with assistance from the others, as his soul was pulled out of the blade and back into his body. Percy and his shadow got into a battle of wills with Craven Edge. Grog stood to go retrieve it but everyone else blocked him. Vax, Vex, and Keyleth were indignant to discover that the other four had already known about the sword's dangerous properties. Grog still wanted to keep the sword, but Vax made him choose between it and Vox Machina, and Grog chose the party. They debated how to get rid of the sword. Pike received snippets of Craven Edge's dark past as she touched the blade, and severed Craven Edge's connection to Grog with a Greater Restoration spell. Keyleth then banished the evil sword to the Dread Emperor's realm using Plane Shift.

The Legend of Vox Machina
Craven Edge is shown being wielded by Sylas Briarwood against Grog in. As Sylas apparates it from hiding after the political feast with the leadership of Tal'Dorei, he says, "My blade thirsts" as he attacks, and the blade absorbs Grog's blood several times during their battle, seemingly growing in power as Grog weakens.

Features

 * Dark Aura: Grants the wielder advantage on Charisma (Intimidation) checks when unsheathed.
 * Devour the Weak: Whenever Craven Edge damages a living creature, that creature must roll a Constitution saving throw (DC 12). On a failed save, Craven Edge drains one point from the creature's Strength score and transfers it to the wielder (increasing to a maximum of 25 Strength) until the next short rest or long rest. Creatures brought to 0 Strength by this feature are slain.
 * Gluttonous Evolution: If Craven Edge devours enough strength from Devour the Weak to bring the wielder to 25 Strength, then the blade shifts form into a larger, jagged blade that seeps shadow. Until the wielder's next short rest or long rest, all attacks with this sword deal an additional 2d6 necrotic damage. After the short rest, the attuned creature must make a Constitution saving throw (DC 16) or have the now-hungry weapon, energy spent, devour the wielder's soul, causing instant death.

Secret features

 * Sentience: Craven Edge is a sentient, chaotic evil weapon with an intelligence of 16, a wisdom of 12, and a charisma of 18. It has hearing and darkvision out to a range of 60 ft. This weapon can understand abyssal & common, and can communicate with anyone who's wielded it telepathically. While you are attuned to it, Craven Edge also understands every language you know.
 * Personality: Craven Edge is cold, vicious, and seeks violence at any opportunity. It wishes to be used by merciless creatures who will feed it when ordered to.

Appearances and mentions

 * Campaign 1, Craven Edge, as a greatsword, made a speaking appearance in every episode except as follows:
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina
 * The Legend of Vox Machina

Behind the scenes

 * When Travis got Craven Edge, he didn't know what a sentient weapon was.
 * Matt didn't expect that Vox Machina would take Craven Edge. He assumed that they would either forget to loot it or leave it behind as soon as they learned what it was, and it would end up in an archive somewhere.
 * Craven Edge is an anagram for "Vecna Greed", which Matt confirmed was by accident.

Quotations

 * "You... are you my new wielder? [...] Leave me until one worthy lifts this blade. I am useless left here; I seek the thrill of battle—I am hungry."
 * "Do you enjoy drinking the strength of your foes, watching them beaten before you, and have that very power become your own?"
 * "Do you wish the shadows to encase your form and grant you resilience in anger, forcing those to kneel before you in fear?"
 * "No... Keep the tears flowing."