The Blackblade is a mystical soul-drinking weapon created by the blacksmith Dakkon after the planeswalker Geyadrone Dihada promised him the power of a god. It is also known as the Soul-Drinker.

It spilled the blood of one elder dragon. In Gideon’s hands, it may yet taste another’s.

Geyadrone Dihada had given Dakkon ten years for the creation of the finest sword ever made. Dakkon knew that, for the task, his craft alone wouldn’t be enough and that he needed the magical power of sacrifice. At first, Dakkon spilled only his own blood in sacrifice to the forging of the sword: the blood was seared by the flames, and grafted the power of Dakkon himself into the making of the weapon. The sword, however, needed not only blood, but life itself. After two years passed, the work was not going well and Dakkon knew that more needed to be done. He called to his side his young son, Daron, and as he pulled the sword from the forge he told his son to close his eyes. When the boy did so, Dakkon plunged the white-hot metal into his own son’s chest. The boy’s blood, soul, and energy were drawn from him and pulled into the sword. Dakkon held the sword before him and saw that this was only the beginning, since the work would require many, many more lives to succeed. In the following years, Dakkon slew countless slaves, among the worst villains in Corondor. Each one fed the sword with their blood, soul, and energy, making the sword ever stronger.

When Geyadrone received the Blackblade, she found out that the sword was truly the most excellent weapon ever wrought by human hands. The real weapon she was seeking, however, was the ultimate warrior: Dakkon himself, honed by years of work spent on the blade and by the callous acts he performed in the decade before. After giving him the promised power, she stabbed Dakkon’s shadow on the ground, treacherously stealing his soul with the sword. In this way, she was sure that the warrior would follow her among the planes to exact his revenge, becoming in the meantime ever stronger until Geyadrone would need his services once again. It is unknown what happened later, but the sword was reforged and – probably during the Rift Era – came into the possession of Korlash, possibly a descendant of Dakkon.

By the time the sword came into the possession of the Cabal minion Needle, its origins were totally rewritten by the Cabal to having been forged by the Cabal’s new leader, Belzenlok. When the Weatherlight crew learned of its existence, they devised a plan to slay the Elder Demon with the blade. Gideon Jura stole the Blackblade from the Cabal’s vaults and took it up against Belzenlok, but found himself outmatched in swordplay and thus unable to actually strike the demon with it. However, Liliana’s taunting of Belzenlok allowed Gideon to lodge the cursed sword into his leg, at which point Liliana grasped its hilt and activated its curse, draining Belzenlok’s soul. Afterwards, Gideon kept the Blackblade, in preparation for the Gatewatch’s looming fight against Nicol Bolas.

When Gideon arrived on Ravnica for the final confrontation with Bolas, he used the Blackblade to attack Bolas and struck the Elder Dragon in the head, but the sword broke against its flesh. Bolas revealed that he had enchanted the Blackblade in the past, so that it would never be able to hurt another elder dragon again.

In Dungeons & Dragons

As you can say from its story, the Blackblade is a formidable weapon, forged to make its wielder capable of defeating the most terrible foes and even absorb their souls within. That sounds like something we know.

The Blackblade is a legendary greatsword that requires attunement. You gain a +3 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it. When you hit a dragon with it, that creature takes an extra 2d10 necrotic damage.

The sword has also 1d12 charges. If you score a critical hit against a creature that has fewer than 100 hit points, it must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be slain instantly as the sword tears its life force from its body (a construct or an undead is immune). The sword loses 1 charge if the creature is slain, and such creature can not be resurrected. When the sword has no charges remaining, it loses this property.

In Eberron

Such a powerful and terrible sword can have only one origin in Eberron: the Rekkenmark Academy. In Eberron, Dakkon could have used not only his mastery, but also dark teachings from the Blood of Vol to empower the blade’s necromantic properties. Used by a famous Karrnathi warlord during the Last War, it became lost in the frontier with Cyre, where its wielder witnessed the Mourning. If the sword is still in the Mournland, the effects that this event may have had on it are still unknown.

How are you planning to incoporate the Blackblade in your campaign? Is getting their hands in the famous sword a quest for your adventuring party, the only means for the heroes to actually vanquish their nemesis? Has that villainpous mastermind had the same ideas Nicol Bolas did, enchanting the famous sword long ago? Tell us all about it in the comments!