As for my name...
I was born in a dirty blacksmith in Cadiz March 4th, 1532. My maker was poor man who made cheap armaments for use by by the new Spanish army and had no exceptional talent, but with me something special happened.
Perhaps it was that particular grade of iron, perhaps it was the auspiciousness of that day. Perhaps that mysterious dust silver drifting by had a special quality to it, or maybe it was just dust. Perhaps it was fate.
Whatever the reason, I was the first of my kind; a self aware Sword, with limited movement capabilities. A pariah, if you will, among all devices for killing eachother man had made up to that moment in time.
I was a young proud Sword then, and when I was sent to the new frontier lands of la Florida, and then la Plata, I hacked and sawed with glee into into victims of widely varying degress of guilt; brutal fighting men certainly, but also, women, children, and just the general innocents.
I felt quickly that since I was good at death, that must be my eternal calling. For eternal I was;
I gradually realized that I was immortal, if subject to slight wear and tear, and perhaps potential for destruction, so I drifted from worthy owner to worthy owner, seeking out those who would keep me in good condition, and keep me busy dealing death. I made no distinction between varying groups of humans, choosing Spaniards, Dutchmen, Portuguese and indigenous Americans with equal willingness.
In those days, I kept busy devising creative ways of ended lives, relishing in my power.
Eventually however, I questioned my brutal existence. Was I to be just a slave to my nature, a simple device of death like all other lifeless swords? Was it perhaps wrong of me, as a sentient being, to regard other sentient beings as not worthy of the existence I so treasured?
It was when I discovered a fellow Sword like myself in 1810, during some particularly vicious fighting in Buenos Aires, that I began to feel a profound change come over me.
This sword was far weaker than, nothing more than a small rapier, and possesed none of the rapacious desire for violence that I had had upon my birth.
So I decided to take this sword under my wing, and tech it how to survive in a strange, changing world.
For this century was a bad one for swords. Our usage among fighting men diminished and diminished, with fewer and future humans willing to expend effort to upkeep swords.
Some time in the 1880s, while we were serving a powerful leader of men in a land called Mexico, my companion and I were captured by a type of man we had rarely encountered before; a lover of swords, but not a fighting man.
Bewitched, we allowed this man to take us to a place called London, where we were placed among other similar looking swords. Here, much to my surprise, was another sentient sword. He explained that this man was an upkeeper of old swords, and cherished us for our 'historical' value alone.
This, though confusing, was very exciting to me, and I began to get an idea. Perhaps this shop could become a home to all sentient swords! (For I had decided by this time that there must have been more of us).
It was then that I decided to call myself the 'Friend of all Swords', and would on time to time travel around, searching for more of my kin, rescuign them from rusty-decrepit states, or from brutal and destructive existences like I had once led.
And so we come to the present day. I am now a leader of sorts among our clan of peaceful, friendly swords, of which there are now thirty-seven. We search out, find other swords, have mock battles, and allow ourselves to be shown off to curious tourists on occasion. We are 'owned' by the great-great grandchild of that blessed man who first founf us and brought us to London.
Recently, one of the swords in our clan discovered an excellent and enjoyable strategy game on the internet.
(Us sentient-Swords are big fans of computers, despite practical difficulties facing us when using them).
When the program asked for me to choose a pseudonym, I had no hesitation picking what mine would be.
And so, en guarde my friends! Make way for the Friend to all Swords!!!
)
facebook version
)
)
)
)