Stalking the Mournland like a spectral juggernaut, the Lord of Blades has emerged from the turmoil of the Last War as a symbol that calls to all the warforged of Khorvaire. Regardless of what they have become, the warforged were created to fight and die on the orders of their creators. Some warforged accept their history for what it is and look toward the future, but others hold a grudge because of how they were exploited by their creators. Those warforged make up the followers of the Lord of Blades.
The Lord of Blades preaches of an apocalyptic future in which the warforged will destroy or enslave the nations of flesh and blood. “We were made as weapons,” the Lord of Blades has declared over and over. “Let us be weapons! Let the nations of the land reap what they have sown!”
Today, warforged roam the Mournland in service to the Lord of Blades, patrolling the devastated terrain and salvaging resources from the ashes of Cyre. Most of these dissidents despise creatures of flesh, and any meeting with outsiders usually ends in blood being spilled. Other disciples of the Lord of Blades launch attacks on targets across Khorvaire: destroying Cannith workshops, killing nobles known for their abuse of warforged, and seizing shipments of weapons or arcane research to further deplete their enemy.
To the flesh-and-blood citizens of Khorvaire, the Lord of Blades is a figure of terror and pain. But the warforged under his sway (and some objective observers of other races) believe that his rage is fueled by the injustice heaped upon the warforged after their creation. The warforged were treated as disposable soldiers, almost slaves, during the war, and the postwar arguments over what rights the warforged should be granted — as if fundamental rights were meant to be bestowed or withheld by political authorities — gave the warforged themselves no voice, as if they were still the property of their creators. The Lord of Blades’ call to action is appealing to many warforged because it is grounded in legitimate grievances, even if the proposed action is abhorrent.
Compared to the total number of warforged created and deployed in combat during the Last War, the followers of the Lord of Blades are not especially numerous. His existence and message are well-known in the countries bordering the Mournland (especially Breland), but less familiar in the rest of Khorvaire. Hoping to swell the ranks of his followers, the Lord of Blades has agents spreading his apocalyptic message in every city with significant warforged populations.
The Lord of Blades in the War
The Lord of Blades didn’t appear in the world until after the Day of Mourning. Only he knows what his identity was before then, but many suppositions have been put forth. Some scholars say that he was originally a warforged named Bulwark, the personal bodyguard of King Boranel of Breland. Others believe that he was the last warforged to emerge from the creation forges at Eston, completed in the last moments before the Mourning.
Perhaps the most outlandish idea is that the Lord of Blades is not a true warforged at all. The first warforged were created by an artificer named Aaren d’Cannith, who became furious when the house used his invention to create weapons of war. Based on that knowledge, some believe Aaren transferred his consciousness into a warforged body so that he could personally seek vengeance for the wrongs done to his children.
In the years following the war, the Lord of Blades is a force to be reckoned with. The warforged are some of the few beings able to thrive in the desolation of the Mournland, so the followers of the Lord of Blades are building a nation of their own amid the devastation. They search out and scour sites that were devastated in the Mourning to gather lost weapons and magic, all part of their preparations for full-scale war against the creatures of flesh.
Lord of Blades NPCs
The Lord of Blades highlights the issues surrounding the creation of the warforged. He and his followers are ready antagonists, employing deadly methods in pursuit of their aims, but their ire isn’t born from evil. The Lord of Blades’ greatest desire is to ensure that his people have a future, but his methods are colored by his anger at the injustices the warforged have suffered, and in some cases are still being subjected to. Examples of villains linked to the Lord of Blades appear in the Lord of Blades NPCs table.
Lord of Blades NPCs
| d6 | NPC |
|---|---|
| 1 | A House Cannith apprentice warforged becomes obsessed with the Lord of Blades’ message, disrupting house operations in the hope of becoming a warrior in the Mournland. |
| 2 | A warforged druid devises diseases and poisons that have no effect on warforged, and starts to unleash them on the general populace. |
| 3 | A warforged ranger relentlessly hunts creatures of flesh in the wilderness near the Mournland. |
| 4 | A warforged assassin poses as a simple workshop assistant while exterminating those who speak out against the rights of the warforged. |
| 5 | A mad artificer is trying to reactivate a destroyed warforged colossus. |
| 6 | A band of warforged attacks a lightning rail, intent on stealing something in one of the cargo carriages. |
Lord of Blades Campaign Themes
The Lord of Blades is a charismatic leader seeking to incite the warforged to violence and thereby to take vengeance against their former oppressors. Although low-level characters might not be prepared to face the Lord of Blades himself, they can easily encounter a squad of his followers anywhere on Khorvaire.
While the Lord of Blades and his minions can be a straightforward foe, it’s also possible to add more depth to the conflict. Perhaps a squad of warforged attacks a foundry in Sharn. After repelling the attack, the adventurers realize that the owners are mistreating the warforged who work the forges. What do they do?
Another way to explore the facets of this issue is to introduce a warforged supporter of the Lord of Blades who doesn’t engage in violence personally, such as a bard who moves among the warforged of a major city while speaking about the many abuses leveled against warforged. Especially if one of them is a warforged, how would the characters react to this individual?
The Lord of Blades can serve as a long-term opponent, as he continue to escalate his attacks over the course of the campaign. While he builds up his stronghold in the Mournland, he is also gathering the components to construct eldritch machines and other weapons. What would happen if the Lord of Blades were to discover the power that caused the Mourning and unleashed that power across Khorvaire?
Lord of Blades Adventure Hooks
The Lord of Blades Adventure Hooks table sets out some reasons how the characters could come in contact with the Lord of Blades.
Lord of Blades Adventure Hooks
| d6 | Adventure Hook |
|---|---|
| 1 | A newly awakened docent (see chapter 5) tells its new owner that the Lord of Blades is the only hope for averting a coming catastrophe. |
| 2 | A military officer hires the characters to retrace the steps of a lost scouting party into the Mournland and rescue the commander, who is the officer’s son. |
| 3 | Warforged go missing over the course of several weeks; then one resurfaces, badly damaged and raving about the Lord of Blades. |
| 4 | Characters strike out into a ruin held by the Lord of Blades and recover a lost relic that has resurfaced in the possession of warforged soldiers. |
| 5 | A warforged accused of murdering several members of their mercenary company claims to have no memory of the night in question. |
| 6 | The characters are met by a warforged who delivers a written summons from the Lord of Blades himself. |