Blades of Mars

Artifact 3, Attunement 6

Speed: 4
Accuracy: +5
Damage: +7L
Defense: +1
Rate: 2
No off hand penalty to wield paired set.
Stats shown with Starmetal bonus included.

This artifact is a series of five Starmetal Short Daiklave's bound together by a cable woven of equal parts Starmetal, feathersteel, and red silk. These five blades were made to represent The Maiden of Battles herself, and each Starmetal blade has one of her five corresponding constellations etched into the blade. Of the five bound blades only two may be drawn at any given moment, and the bearer may only receive the benefits of a drawn blade. Therefore the bearer can never receive the benefits of more than 2 of these blades at any one time, though he could re-sheath one and drawn another to switch out during a scene. If the cable that binds the swords together were ever to be severed the artifacts would loose their powers until repaired.

The Banner: The blade carrying the sign of The Banner adds the Overwhelming (O) tag permanently, raising the minimum damage of the blade 3 or users permanent essence, whichever is higher. When used in Mass Combat the Banner of Mercury guides the user, spend 3 motes of essence to add the users permanent essence to his War for the scene.
The Gauntlet: The blade carrying the sign of The Gauntlet adds the Martial Arts (M) tag permanently, allowing the user to use their Martial or Melee rating with this weapon. The user may also spend 3 motes to add the users permanent essence to disarm attempts made with this blade for the scene. (This functions exactly like the Disarming tag, other than it adds the users essence rather than the set +2 modifier.)
The Quiver: The blade carrying the sign of The Quiver adds the Reach (R) tag permanently, allowing it to be used against mounted targets or targets with an elevation advantage at no penalty. For a cost of 2 motes per attack the user may extend the reach of the blade and make a ranged attack using the attackers normal dice pool at a maximum range of the users permanent essence x2 yards. This attack functions exactly like a normal attack with the weapon other than the increase in range. The appearance depends on the user, for some the starmetal blade itself extends, others a corona of essence covers the blade and reaches out to strike the victim. This effect is always obvious.
The Shield: The blade carrying the sign of The Shield adds the Natural (N) tag permanently, making it impossible to disarm this weapon. The user may also spend 3 motes to add his permanent essence to the defense of the weapon for the scene, raising his parry DV appropriately.
The Spear: The blade carrying the sign of The Spear adds the Lance Type (L) tag permanently, making the damage +7L/10L. (10L when charging.) The user may also spend 3 motes to add the piecing tag to this weapon for the scene.