Aragorn

[bluejay]

No I was meaning that the fact they were specifically meant only for Dwarven weapons and that's the most famous Dwarven weapon we know so they seemed to be very apt, particularly Flame of Hope. Still I should have been more clear because I can see how it could be misread.

[bluejay]

But you are absolutely right about Francesco! He really knows what he's doing!

[Láthspell]

So, I belatedly realized that my post in Royalty Revealed would have been more relevant in this thread.

I also realized that with all the focus on Andúril, we have been over looking the fact that Legolas and Gimli would undoubtably have Magical Treasures of their own by the time the Battle of the Hornburg would occur. Aragorn had Narsil reforged into Andúril in Rivendell, Legolas was gifted a bow in Lothlórien, and for the sake of argument we'll say Gimli recovered an axe of his ancestors while the Company passed through Moria.

There a two Enchanted Qualities to consider that could have considerably assisted Legolas and Gimli's scores of 41 and 42 respectively. With the great Bow of the Galadhrim and Biting Dart Legolas would have been causing a minimum of 14 Endurance loss per hit, enough to take down most Orcs in one shot. For Gimli's part, if his axe has Cleaving and we assume that he has Valour 6, Old Hatred and is fighting primarily Orcs, then he could be doing 12 Endurance loss to a second opponent, meaning he could be taking out two Orcs a round.

In any case, here is my interpretation of the magical and famous weapons of the Three Hunters.

Companion: Aragorn Elessar, "Strider"
Item: Andúril, Flame of the West

Type: Long Sword
Craftsmanship: Dwarven
Banes: n/a
Qualities:
1. Flame of Hope
2. Gleam of Terror
3. Superior Keen

Notes: The Elven smiths of Rivendell reforged the Shards of Narsil, also know as the Sword-that-was-Broken, into Andúril on the behalf of Aragorn. It was given into his keeping prior to the Company of the Ring setting out from Imladris on the 25th of December 3018 of the Third Age.

Companion: Legolas Greenleaf
Item: Bow of the Galadhrim

Type: Great Bow
Craftsmanship: Elven
Banes: Orcs
Qualities:
1. Biting Dart
2. Sure Shot
3. Fell

Notes: The Bow of the Galadhrim was longer and stouter than the bows of Mirkwood, and it was strung with a string of elf-hair. It was given to Legolas by the Lady Galadriel as the Company of the Ring was departing Lothlórien on the 16th of February 3019 of the Third Age.

Companion: Gimli Lockbearer
Item: Durin's Axe (One caveat, I'll grant that there is no indication that Durin's Axe was recovered from Khazad-dûm by the Company of the Ring, nor is there any definitive proof that it was found by the Dwarves of Balin's Colony. This is primarily me being nostalgic for an old, yet brilliant DOS game called Lord of the Rings Volume 1, which had an optional side quest to recover Durin's Axe while in Moria.)

Type: Great Axe
Craftsmanship: Dwarven
Banes: n/a
Qualities:
1. Cleaving
2. Runes of Victory
3. Grievous

Notes: This axe was an heirloom of the Longbeards, though it was lost when the Dwarves were driven from their Halls of Khazad-dûm by Durin's Bane the year 1981 of the Third Age. The Axe was one of the treasures that Balin's expedition to reclaim Khazad-dûm sought to recover when they established their ill-fated colony from 1989 until it met its doom in 1994.

[Angelalex242]

Shouldn't Gimli have Axe of Az on that thing? It is a traditional Dwarven Reward.

Also, Andruil deserves Wraith Bane, or something like that. Though perhaps that's covered by Aragorn's maxed out 'against the unseen' virtue. If so, it might have Maia Bane.Cause how else are you going to cut a piece of Sauron's body off when he's wearing the One Ring, no less...

[Láthspell]

As per page 97 of the Rivendell supplement Cultural Rewards cannot be applied to magical items. Also, for this particular artifact, from an in universe perspective the Battle of Azanulbizar takes place in 2799 of the Third Age, over 800 years after Durin's Axe would have been lost when Durin's Bane drove the Dwarves from Moria.

In regards to Andúril, while I considered adding Bane of Mordor given that Narsil cut the Ring from Sauron's hand, Andúril itself was never used (directly) against Sauron, or any wraith for that matter. Thus, regardless of what the Flame of the West may or may not deserve, I concluded there was no reason to deviate from the RAW in regards to a weapon of Dwarven Craft not having any specific Banes.

While it may not been as effective against wraiths and ghosts as Blade of Westernesse woven with Banes of Mordor and the Undead, being a magical weapon, Andúril would still be able to harm such specters, whereas more mundane weapons would not.

[Glorelendil]

What's all this about Sauron being a spectre? It's not even clear to me that the One Ring made him invisible, but even if it had, that's not the same as being a wraith. When Frodo wore the ring it may have been slowly turning him into a wraith, but he could still be hurt by non-magical weapons, such as troll spears or spider fangs. (Or even teeth, as the case may be.)

[Láthspell]

My apologies for the confusion, my third paragraph was meant to specifically address the issue of not making Andúril a Wraith Bane, not in regards to Sauron (which I was addressing the in second paragraph). The point I was trying to convey was that after the end of the Second Age, Sauron would not be involved in any physical contest that Andúril might be used in, and just intended to let it go at that.

In regards to whether the Ring would make Sauron invisible, I'm inclined towards the viewpoint that Maiar and the High Elves, both of whom already had a strong presence in the spiritual world, would not be affected by the Ring in the same way as a Hobbit or a Man.

[Angelalex242]

Well, Anduril should, for tradition's sake, retain the power Narsil had to be Mordor's Bane.

Because even if he never actually stabbed Sauron with it, Sauron still freaked out when Aragorn showed him the sword in the Palantir. Possibly the only time in the 3rd Age Sauron legitimately got frightened.

That's good enough for a Mordor Bane.

Likewise, the King of the Dead recognized it as the Sword that Was Broken, and it was effective against him, where other weapons were not.

As for the reasoning behind this? Even if a Dwarf forged it originally, it was still REFORGED by the Elven Smiths of Rivendell. So they could've put the Bane there when it was reforged.

[Láthspell]

While I agree that Andúril should retain the properties of Narsil, I'll less and less inclined to believe that Narsil itself would have either Bane of Mordor or a Wraith Bane. This would have to do with the fact that Narsil was forged in the First Age, and the idea that Banes are wrought into weapons to defeat specific foes. Hence Glamdring and Orcrist being made for the "Goblin Wars" and having Orc Bane, or the Blades of Westernesse having been forged to fight the Witch-King of Angmar earlier in the Third Age, proving to be his Bane when wielded by a Hobbit on the Pelennor Fields.

I have not trouble believing that Narsil, forged by the Dwarven smith Telchar could cut the Ring from Sauron's hand (Bane or no), when another blade forged by Telchar, Angrist, cut a Silmaril from Morgoth's Iron Crown.

Sauron's reaction to Andúril is more appropriately represented by Aragorn using Intimidate Foe with the Gleam of Terror quality on Andúril.

Andúril does not need to have a Bane for the King of the Dead to recognize it as the Sword that was Broken. In the books, Aragorn never actually physically combats the Dead Men of Dunharrow. He summons them to Stone of Erech to fulfill their oaths (which could be represented by an Inspire check, with a possible circumstance bonus for the Flame of Hope quality), and the Dead follow.

Even if it had come to blows (as in the movies), Andúril has (three in my version) Magical Qualities, which even in the RAW makes it effective against Undead, even without a specific Bane against them.

[Glorelendil]

I agree with you, Lathspell: I like the idea of Narsil/Anduril having both Gleam of Terror and Flame of Hope. And because it's...you know...freakin' ANDURIL it should have a third enchanted quality, but I don't think any one of them is better than any other. "Runes of Victory" seems thematically apropos, although it scales poorly.

(As I've said in other threads, I'd like to see the list of Enchanted Qualities grow.)