Whosoever
The sword waited.
Someday a hero would come seeking it again. It didn't matter to the sword that it was at the bottom of the ocean and might have to wait a long time. Magic kept it from rusting and from dying and from changing. The runes along its blade gleamed softly.
Whosoever draws this sword from this [mud] shall be rightwise....
Rightwise target for the sword to take over. To slide silent tendrils of mental control into the wielder's mind. To encourage mistrust. To encourage swiftness to anger. To persuade into more wars and more fights and the resulting higher dependency on the sword itself.
To quietly erode any other support, turn friends against them, create too many problems to solve any other way. To destroy kingdoms. To destroy lives.
Up on the surface, divers splashed cheerfully over the side of the ship.
Below them, Excaliber waited, the runes along its blade gleaming softly.
