The Imperial Shovel

The Imperial Shovel are a number of legendary weapons from the Third Era. Like the other superweapons, they were formed using ancient Helmsdeepian blood magic.

History

During the Third Era, the Kythiran armies needed as much support as possible to conquer the northern realms. To this effect, the last surviving members of the Ancient Helmsdeep Order of the Hollow Core were tracked down by the Kythirans, and secretly forced to use their blood magic in the creation of weapons of much greater potential than normal enchanted weaponary. These weapons, such as the sword Kythiran Justice, were used with great effect across battlefields.

The blood magic was relatively simple. It had to happen at the ancient Helmsdeep Cathedral, the future White Gold Tower, where the magic was at its most powerful. The death of a simple creature, such as an animal, would wield a weapon of moderate power. However, the death of a human would create weapons of much greater magnitude. To this end, the Kythirans brought the Order a steady supply of prisoners of war, who were subsequently sacrificed in order to create the many Kythiran Justices that can still be found in homes of wealthy collectors.

However, according to the members of the Order, the strongest magic came from those of royal blood. To this end, the Kythirans brought along the recently captured leader of south-eastern Alcanzar, a man who called himself King Ferdinand. In a dark ritual, his death led to the creation of the strongest superweapon ever created. The Imperial Shovel.

The reason for a simple shovel was security, nobody would expect it to be a great weapon.

It is unknown how many Imperial Shovels were created, but there are two publically known. One is housed at the highly secure library under Radenór Castle. The other is on display in the Imperial Museum in Helmira.

Those who have not been trained by members of the Order get overwhelmed by simply holding the shovel. If they survive it at all, their vision will be blinded by flashing white lights, their movements will seize, and their view will be distorted. Those trained by members of the Order, known as Knights of the Shovel, were however able to wield it with great effect. Eye witnesses have been that, during some battles, a single Knight could use an Imperial Shovel to destroy an entire enemy army in a single blinding flash of light.