Edgy Wind Jedi
The Alagos Family
Odyssey:
Image Source: N/AIntent: A unique lightsaber for Laertes Alagos, the prized possession of his family following his death, and eventually the weapon of his descendant Eklan Alagos. (For an out-of-universe reasoning as to the sheath: Purely aesthetic reasons. I think it gives something unique to Eklan's aesthetic, something samurai-ish, which fits his personality and is really what I want to be reminiscent of in his character design. It's also a symbol of the way both Laertes and Eklan think of the weapon - It's not a brand new technology which only a genius could have thought of, it's simply building upon a basic sword. The Alagos Family are people who are a bit old-fashioned and honorable in this futuristic, sometimes treacherous galaxy.)
Development Thread: To be completed.
Manufacturer: Laertes Alagos.
Model: N/A
Affiliation: The Alagos Family
Modularity: No.
Production: Unique.
Material: Standard lightsaber materials. The sheath is made of Songsteel, internal wiring and black leather on the outside.
Classification: Lightsaber.
Size: One or Two-Handed.
Length: 96cm. The sheath is 100cm.
Weight: The lightsaber and sheath are both 1kg, 2kg together.
Special Features: Odyssey is a curved-hilt lightsaber, the most notable feature of which is its inability to be turned off. Odyssey must instead be kept in a custom sheath. (Details of sheath are given below.) The lightsaber is red while inside and first drawn from its sheath, but fades to blue after a few seconds. Odyssey is a very old weapon and doesn't make the same noise as other lightsabers - It is silent within its sheath, and its sound when drawn is a quiet hiss, like that of a lightsaber in constant contact with a surface. Odyssey's sheath's primary material is Songsteel. There are a series of wires within the sheath which constantly generate a current within it. This charges Odyssey and helps to restore its plasma content. This also empowers Odyssey if left inside long enough. Lastly, a thin layer of black leather is on the outside for visual appeal.
Strengths:
- [Empowering]: Laertes Alagos had a custom sheath created for his lightsaber. This item can empower Odyssey. When drawn, Odyssey has an energy current surrounding it and is much stronger than most lightsabers for a short time before reducing to that of the average lightsaber. If it's drawn from the lightsaber with a strike in the same motion, its strength would be enough to go through thin layers of normally resistant materials such as beskar and phrik.
- [Lightsaber-Resistant Sheath]: Odyssey's sheath is made of songsteel, and in desperate situations could be used to block attacks.
- [Plasma-Spitting]: Odyssey is a very old weapon, and doesn't hold its plasma as securely as other lightsabers. During clashes with other lightsabers, plasma can spit off the lightsaber, which inflicts heavy burns if it lands on someone. Primarily effective if the opponent uses a highly defensive style and/or keeps their lightsaber close to their body while fighting.
- [Plasma-Sticking]: Odyssey's strikes leave behind plasma on the surface it struck, continuing to burn it. In combat, this means its wielder usually only needs one good strike to take away an adversary's ability to fight due to burning plasma being stuck to them.
- [Non-Dimetris Circuits]: Odyssey was designed with non-dimetris circuits, and thus is unaffected by lightsaber-disabling effects such as cortosis.
Weaknesses:
- [Required Sheath]: Whether as a philosophical gesture that a deadly weapon should not have an off-switch, a preference for the weapons of earlier times, or just being a moron who thought that continuously turning a lightsaber on and off would damage it, Laertes Alagos did not give Odyssey an off switch. Instead, a custom sheath was made to hold the weapon, blocking all sound, heat and light from escaping. In its age, the weapon can be severely damaged if not placed back in its sheath after hours of not being within it.
- [Visual Indication]: Odyssey's color changes when its empowerment ceases, so those fighting against its wielder can easily tell when the weapon has lost its advantage.
- [Bulky]: Due to the size of the sheath, Odyssey can't be concealed as easily as other lightsabers.
- [Fragile Wiring]: While Odyssey can be used to block attacks, this risks doing damage to the internal current generation. Blocking strikes with the sheath can easily render it unable to recharge Odyssey, as can directly attacking the sheath several times.
- [Loss of Plasma]: While plasma landing on opponents can be a good thing, it's still a loss of plasma. Over longer fights Odyssey's strength becomes severely, so its wielder has to count on winning the fight and winning it fast. This effect can replenished by storing it in its sheath for an equal amount of time as it was drawn.
Description:
Odyssey was the weapon of Laertes Alagos, the earliest known member of the Alagos Family and a legendary lightsaber warrior among them. A number of legends exist about him among the family, but if there's one certainty, it's that this was his weapon.
Laertes created Odyssey in a time when little precedent was set for lightsaber design. He knew that the ones which usually existed had an off switch, but he chose to not include this feature, and instead to use a sheath with his weapon. It is red while in its sheath and shortly after being drawn due to its empowering changing its color. After a few seconds outside its sheath, however, it returns to blue, its natural color. Despite its oddities, Odyssey served Laertes in countless battles. Laertes always referred to the weapon as a blade, not as a lightsaber. His descendent Eklan speculates that Laertes did not think of Odyssey as a prototype, weak lightsaber, but rather as an amplified sword, and to refer to it as a weak lightsaber instead of an amplified sword was to pay a disrespect to the weapon. Laertes eventually died in battle against an unknown force, believed to be doing so in defense of his family, with last words which have become mythical among his bloodline: "Kill me, you devil! The winds of glory sustain the Alagos Family, and as long as my blade is with me, we will never die!"
Laertes gave his family enough time to escape, and they even managed to recover his body and build him a small tomb. Laertes' opponents, however, were able to steal the lightsaber. The family later recovered this too, and the family fled to the planet of Asaiyo. Ever since, Odyssey has remained within the first farm on that planet, a revered family heirloom, the physical manifestation of their ancestor who died so they could live. When drawn in its older age, Odyssey's sound is similar to a quiet hiss, like a normal lightsaber continually lightly touching a surface. Laertes is legendary among the Alagos Family, and one can feel the respect that is paid to the weapon when one holds it.
Odyssey has to be kept in a sheath. While this is sometimes an inconvenience which makes it hard to conceal and often brings up questions, it can also empower Odyssey, giving it additional energy and power for a short time after it's drawn from said sheath. The hilt of the lightsaber clicks into place in the sheath to prevent the blade from bewing in constant contact with the walls of the sheath.Songsteel is used in case Odyssey does touch the walls of the sheath by accident.
The rest of the effects were not possessed by Odyssey at the beginning, and have instead come from its age. They are experienced by Eklan, not Laertes.
Odyssey doesn't hold onto its plasma as well as other lightsabers do. Odyssey's strikes can cause some of its plasma to spit off, which can burn opponents of its weilder. This is most effective against opponents who use a defensive style and/or hold their saber close to their body. While this spitting can burn adversaries, it's still losing plasma. Over the course of long fights, Odyssey begins to lose power and energy as its plasma weakens, down to a minimum strength. (This is the strength that it falls to if disabled.) Furthermore, Odyssey isn't as easy to repair as newer lightsabers. If reduced to minimum effectiveness by a lightsaber-disabling effect, it can't regenerate on its own, be repaired quickly or fixed by placing it in its sheath. It must instead be repaired, using the force, by its wielder, for several hours. Lastly, while the plasma can fall off the saber, it still sticks pretty well. A single strike with odyssey can cause plasma from it to stick to an opponent, continually burning them, usually rendering them unable to continue fighting. Because of these factors, its second wielder Eklan considers Odyssey's age to actually be an improvement. He's developed an extremely aggressive and fast style to compliment the weapon, focusing on winning fights as quickly as possible before Odyssey's empowerment runs out and it begins to become weaker. To Eklan, its greatest strength might be that it's a great listener, as he talks to it when he's alone and in deep thought, and it's a better listener than most beings he's met in the galaxy.
Primary Source: N/A