Justice and Travesty – Google Docs
Justice and Travesty
Description: two gold-colored falchions (single-edged one-handed swords with a slightly curved thrusting tip) of exquisite manufacture. Both swords have delicate, but incredibly strong basket hilts. One sword glows with blue inlay, while the other one glows with red inlay. It is not recommended that either weapon be wielded by someone who is not a celestial.
Justice and Travesty were created, supposedly, out of the wreckage that was Lucifer’s first rebellion. There were two swords, of differing hue; Heaven kept the blue sword, while the red one tumbled into Hell right beside the Fallen angels. The two swords were essentially willed into existence by the combined need of both sides to make sense of the insanity that descended about them; and both swords were separated from each other in the first moments of battle. They’ve been separated ever since.
Both Justice and Travesty have an evil reputation, mostly for their use since the Rebellion. Both swords are attuned to slay celestials: the blue sword is effective against angels, but only while being wielded by an angel, while the red sword is effective against demons, but only while being wielded by a demon (non-celestial entities who pick up either Justice or Travesty tend to burst into flames). Against anything else, they’re just very good falchions. But when wielded by the right entity against the right target, either sword ignores armor, ignores regular defenses, and will keep the wielder going at full strength and intensity until the fight is over, or the celestial dies.
It seems rather natural, then, that both swords have ended up in any number of celestial internal security agencies over the millennia. And that includes Heaven’s internal security agencies; Lucifer was merely the first Rebel, and the Powers That Be attempt to learn from their mistakes. Better angelic blood be shed before it transforms into demonic ichor, and all that — but, however necessary, the sight of a sword dedicated to killing angels disturbs those angels. Demons, of course, usually just feel envy at their equivalent. But it’s fearful envy, to be sure.
Interesting little tidbit: ‘Justice’ and ‘Travesty’ are semordnilap (words that mean something different when reversed) of each other in both Helltongue and Angelic. Generally, the angel talking about the sword deadly to demons will call it ‘Justice,’ and refer to the sword deadly to angels as ‘Travesty.’ Demons, obviously, reverse this practice. Oddly, celestial beings are never confused by any of that, although all other entities are.