The Sword of the Rock is the common name of one of the Three Immortal Weapons.
History[]
Early History[]
The sword of the three Immortal Weapons, which later be known as the Sword of the Rock, was crafted by the Super-Ancient Beings long ago at a currently unknown point in Earth's history, to be included in their fourth trial, the Trial of the Cities.
When the Super-Ancients realised that even after they were gone from the Earth (by extinction, or otherwise departing the planet), there may yet be intelligent life, and so devised a series of trials for such a race to undertake to confirm they were worthy enough to survive the Omega Event. The fourth of these trials came to be known as the Trial of the Cities.
The Ancients chose three of their cities and left a mysterious blue gem deep with each city's vault which would need to be collected and added to the Three Immortal Weapons in order to "empower" them. The Sword's gem was secured within the vault at Thule. The empowered Weapons were needed for a sacrificial ceremony at the Altar of the Cosmos, wherein after the Helmet and Mace would be laid with the sacrifice in the pool, and the Sword would be used to kill the sacrifice and fulfill the trial.
Eventually, the Super-Ancients would pass on some of their knowledge to the group of humans that would become known as the Four Legendary Kingdoms; among the things they shared were the Immortal Weapons, and their importance in the fourth trial for humanity. The Four Kingdoms split the Weapons between them, with the Kingdom of Land taking the Sword.
Over the millennia, the Sword, wielded by the Kings of the Kingdom of Land during the course of conflicts, earned a footnote in many tales and myths, and became known by many names, primarily the Sword of the Rock. In the 9th century, the Sword was laid to rest in the Tomb of Arthur near the castle of Avalon with its last wielder.
The Three Secret Cities[]
A few days after the conclusion of the Third Trial, the mission to begin the Trial of the Cities began in earnest. The current King of Land, Orlando Compton-Jones, claimed the Sword of the Rock from its resting place, and set out to retrieve the Helmet as well.
Later, Jack and Lily West infiltrated the Gallerie dell'Accademia to view a full rubbing copy of the tablet, discover that when the Sword was implanted into the altar at Thule, it activated the defences of all of the Cities.
Unaware of the mistake he was making, Orlando ventured to Thule and prematurely initiated the trial by implanting the Sword in the altar, and then left Ricardo Mendoza and his Swiss Guards to empower the Sword. Soon, however, the uninformed Cardinal and his men found themselves caught between the Bronze Guardians marching slowly behind them, and the Silver Guardians baring their way to the vault containing the Sword of the Rock's matching gem.
Jack's team proceeded to Thule, Ra and Atlas with the intention of backing Orlando's people up in case they needed the help. Soon, Stretch and Pooh Bear began working to catch up to Mendoza and his remaining Swiss Guards at Thule, and as each group from Jack's team came up against the Guardians, Jack realised that the Weapons themselves were the key to getting past the Bronze and Silver Guardians. Stretch took the Sword from Mendoza, and, upon stepping onto the cupola bridge, felt the sword become warm through some unknown mechanism. Stretch then proceeded to use it to slay three of the Silver Guardians baring the way to the vault, but after being injured by the final Guardian, Pooh Bear took up the Sword and finished it off.
Pooh Bear proceeded to carry the Sword to the inner vault of Thule, where he added the blue gem to the hollow in the Weapon's grip, empowering it for the final ceremony. However, upon returning to the bridge, Pooh Bear was forced to hand the Sword over to Mendoza when the Cardinal threatened Stretch's life. With the trial at Thule completed, the Bronze Guardians stood aside and kneeled as Mendoza and his remaining men departed with the Weapon.
As the Kings of the Four Kingdoms gathered at the Rock of Gibraltar for the sacrificial ceremony to finish the Trial of the Cities, the Sword-carrying Mendoza soon arrived and allowed Hardin "Sphinx" Lancaster to take it from him. As Orlando commended Sphinx, his cousin initiated a coup by stabbing Orlando with the Sword of the Rock. Setting the stone tablet in the sacrificial pool and closing Lily inside with the empowered Mace and Helmet, Sphinx proceeded to complete the Trial as the Sagittarius A-star's radio waves hit the Earth and stabbed Lily in the heart with the Sword. With the Oracle's death, the Trial of the Cities was successfully completed, and before the group departed, someone tossed a pill of greystone powder into the pool, solidifying the Sword and the other Weapons within.
The Two Lost Mountains[]
As Sphinx was about to deliver the fatal blow to Lily, her twin brother Alexander, who had also been held captive by the Trismagi, appeared and shot Sphinx in the shoulder, only to be gunned down himself. Furious, Sphinx had the mortally wounded Alexander take Lily's place in the sacrificial pool, and then used the Sword of the Rock to stab him in the heart, successfully fulfilling the Trial of the Cities.
After Pooh Bear, Stretch and Alby Calvin arrived at the Altar of the Cosmos to retrieve what they thought was Lily's body, only to discover that it was in fact Alexander, they set about extracting the abandoned Immortal Weapons, and took them with them to Hades's Estate. The trio soon began working on the Sword and the other Weapons in the hope of finding ways to counter Sphinx's new army of bronze and silver automatons, with Stretch spending hours using a grinder getting slivers and shavings of the Sword's blade off. Once they had enough, Easton began the laborious task of affixing the Sword shavings onto numerous bullets and shotgun shells, believing that the metal that the Sword's blade was made from would enable them to penetrate the armour of the automatons.
Attributes[]
Though the Sword of the Rock appear to simply be an ordinary forged weapon, like many other creations of the Super-Ancient Beings, it possesses special properties that modern human technology cannot analyse. Constructed out of an unknown metal alloy, the Sword's blade is extremely strong and sturdy, and its unique composition is able to penetrate the armour of the bronze and silver automatons with ease. It's sturdiness also ensured that it took several hours over several days to grind off slivers of the blade's metal.
Trivia[]
- The Sword of the Rock is noted to have been known throughout history by many names, including;
- Excalibur, the legendary sword of King Arthur.
- Caliburn, as above
- The Sword in the Stone, as above
- Calibor
- The Sabre of Fire
- The Burning Blade