Mageblades

Mageblades are the signature personal weapon of the warmage class. A mageblade is a sword — usually arming sword or longsword length — constructed with thaumaturgic techniques that marry fine steel to layers of enchantment. They are typically linked to the wielder's witchstone so that spellwork can be channelled through the blade, and many are warded against the simple counterspells a mundane smith's sword cannot resist.

The standard issue is plain and functional. Students at the War College received their first mageblades during their training — standardized and unadorned blades, straight-bladed and one-size-fits-all. Nearly every student eventually paid to have theirs customized to fit them better; a few even learned enough blacksmithing to do the work themselves. The straight form is the recognized default, but curved, single-edged "slasher" blades are a well-known customization favoured by those who prefer a cutting weapon.

Minalan carries just such a curved blade — his own Slasher, the personal mageblade he draws when he confronts the Censor General. Dara wields a curved mageblade of her own named Talon. Tyndal and Rondal each carry ornate personalized blades keyed to their training, worn on the back in scabbards alongside their Kasari daggers. Among the masters of the craft, the great pre-war blades were enchanted using irionite — a level of mastery no enchanter could achieve without a witchstone.

Master Cormoran in Tudry, and later Forgemont, was the series' preeminent mageblade smith until Master Suhi and the rescued Dradrien arrived in Vanador; from the later books forward the finest mageblades are reforged of Dradrien steel for superior weight and temper, a metallurgy the Narasi would recognise as akin to their own foundry craft.