Sword of Fathoms

Sword of Fathoms
Official art of Fjord's Sword of Fathoms, by Selina Espiritu from Diana Sousa.[art 1]
General information
TypeWeapon (longsword)
Properties
Notable propertiesCan consume other magical weapons and replicate their properties
Historical information
Owners
StatusThrown into a pool of lava by Fjord[2]

A Sword of Fathoms is a falchion granted to those that have been favored by the leviathan Uk'otoa.[3]

Description[edit | edit source]

Appearance[edit | edit source]

A Sword of Fathoms is a one-handed falchion. They are not magical in and of themselves, rather they represent the pact forged between a warlock and their patron Uk'otoa. Its most remarkable feature was that some areas of the weapon were covered in sea weed and mollusks. Moreover, whenever the sword was summoned, a small jet of sea water was shot from the user's hand, and the blade continued producing sea water for as long as it was summoned.

Properties[edit | edit source]

Though not magical itself, a Sword of Fathoms could absorb other magical weapons and take their properties, as well as some of their physical features.[4] It could absorb as many weapons as the wielder desired, but upon absorbing new properties, the old ones were lost, taken by Uk'otoa.[5] Fjord for example used it to absorb two blades, the Waste Hunter Blade[6] and Summer's Dance.[7] Additionally, a Sword of Fathoms form changes based on the number of Cloven Crystals that its user had absorbed (one yellow glowing eye appeared on the blade per crystal consumed by its wielder).[8]

History[edit | edit source]

Vandran owned such a sword, bound to him by the blade pact with Uk'otoa. When Vandran attempted to rid himself of his pact, he was unsuccessful, but still managed to throw out the sword.[9]

Campaign 2: The Mighty Nein[edit | edit source]

Fjord inherited the sword when signing the pact with Uk'otoa and named it the Sword of Fathoms.[1]

After Uk'otoa punished Fjord for not putting the remaining cloven crystal in the last temple, Fjord abandoned his pact and destroyed the sword by throwing it into a pool of lava in the Kiln under Kravaraad.[2] While he believed that the Cloven Crystal remaining in the sword was thereby destroyed, that was not the case. In "Dark Waters" (2x98), the Mighty Nein's ship was attacked en route to the peace negotiations between the Empire and Dynasty by several deep scions carrying their own Swords of Fathoms. Fjord was killed and the scions appeared to be stabbing and digging at his chest and attempted to carry off his body. Fjord realized when he was resurrected that the crystal was not within the sword that had been destroyed, but remained in his chest.[10] This was confirmed when Caduceus ejected the crystal with a Greater Restoration.[11] The Mighty Nein stored the crystal in Caleb's Vault of Amber to shield it from divination magic.[12]

Tide of Retribution[edit | edit source]

When the sahuagin Selachai made a pact with Uk'otoa, she was granted a Sword of Fathoms, as well as a magical Rod of Retribution.[13] Selachai's Sword of Fathoms can cause a creature she hits to momentarily choke on seawater.[14]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Dubious Pursuits" (2x40) at 2:41:00.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Clay and Dust" (2x72) at 3:11:14.
  3. Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, Chapter 1: "Story of Wildemount", p. 33.
  4. "The Journey Home" (2x30) at 2:21:40.
  5. Matthew Mercer (MatthewMercer) on the Critical Role subreddit: "To answer your question, I've customized some elements of the Hexblade for Fjord's journey. With the Weapon itself being so central to the class and the story I want to weave for him, I didn't want him to just continue swapping new weapons for upgrades (or always finding some form of magical falchions like they were candy). As it stands, when he "consumes" a weapon (which works as attunement), the properties of the weapon transfer to his Falchion (meaning it will always have a falchion's damage die). This is quite good, depending on the weapon found. // However, whenever he consumes a new weapon, the previous is lost forever... the item and enchantment now taken by his patron." (August 11, 2018)
  6. "Fleeting Memories" (2x14) at 2:24:26.
  7. "The Journey Home" (2x30) at 1:10:28.
  8. "The Diver's Grave" (2x44) from 3:34:42 through 3:35:57.
  9. "Fond Farewells" (2x141) at 6:03:37.
  10. "Dark Waters" (2x98) at 5:06:50.
  11. "High Seas, High Stakes" (2x99) from 56:40 through 59:21.
  12. "High Seas, High Stakes" (2x99) at 59:45.
  13. Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, Chapter 5: "Adventures in Wildemount", p. 206.
  14. Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, Chapter 7: "Wildemount Bestiary", p. 297.

Art:

  1. Official art of Fjord's Sword of Fathoms, by Selina Espiritu from Diana Sousa. This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.