The Sword Tombs

What it is

A rare buried gallery of the Marchkeepers. A broken stone arch marks the stair down. At the bottom waits the Buried Keeper, a blindfolded stone effigy with a long bound sword.

How to get it

Search meadows, windswept hills, windswept gravelly hills, plains and snowy plains. The inside is protected: you can’t dig through or break the gallery, duel chamber or burial room.

How to use it

The two gates

Use an Intent Gate while holding an Aura weapon. The outer gate needs Flow; the inner gate needs Edge. Each gate shows two or three marks for its stage. One qualified player opens it for the whole party. Gallery chests hold modest supplies.

Wake the keeper

At the far end, clear the centre of the chamber and use the Keeper Reliquary while holding a weapon, at Edge or higher. One keeper at a time. It won’t wake on Peaceful.

The blindfolded stone keeper prepares a broad sword sweep beneath hanging lanterns; its boss bar names the attack and advises leaving the front

The keeper fights with plain sword strokes, no magic. It has 160 health and 8 armour, and its boss bar names each move and the answer. It opens with the drill it was taught: a broad sweep, a straight thrust, then its forward guard. After that it picks its blows from what suits where you stand, and never throws the same one twice running.

Move	How to spot it	What to do
Broad sweep	Blade held out to its side, stone dust scuffing its front	Leave its front, flank it, or get more than 5 blocks away.
Straight thrust	Blade lined up down a narrow lane, dust scuffing the lane	Step sideways. The lane is only 1.5 blocks wide, but it reaches 7.
Forward guard	Blade braced across its body	Blows to its front barely land. Hit its side or back, wait it out, or break it with an axe from the front.
Heel-turn	Blade trailed low with sparks, a ring marking its reach	Used when you get behind it. One full turn at ankle height, about 4 blocks out. Jump the blade.
Listening	Stands still with a hand to its blindfold, sculk clicking	Stand still or sneak. Any footfall, hop or blow on it gives you away.
Leaping on what it heard	A crouch, its landing marked and following you until the last moment	Leave the marked spot. Its blade sticks fast in the floor after.
Hands of the buried	Kneels with the blade plunged in the ground	Hands burst up under each player in 3 waves, each spot marked a moment first with grave dust and a wisp. Whoever is caught is slowed and lifted. Keep moving. It favours this when you keep far off.
Charging	Blade held crosswise, stamping, its lane scuffed	It runs about 12 blocks down the lane and shoves hard. Step aside, or stand before a wall and step aside late so it runs into the wall.
The keeper’s rite	Once, at half health: it kneels and a ring of soul fire draws in	Back away. It takes only half while it kneels, then throws back everyone within 6 blocks.

The sweep and the thrust wind up for 1.8 seconds and lock their direction before they land. Walls block them. Each has its own wind-up sound.

Openings. These are your times to strike:

Opening	When	It takes
Recovering	After a sweep, a thrust, a heel-turn or a charge that ran out	A quarter more
Guard broken	An axe broke its guard from the front	A quarter more, for longer
At a loss	It listened and heard nothing	Half again as much
Stuck in the wall	Its charge ran into a wall	Half again as much

It also takes a quarter more the whole time it kneels for the hands, and all through a leap, best of all while its blade is stuck in the floor after.

Roused. After its rite the keeper fights on roused, and its bar turns red:

Shorter rests between blows, and its sweeps and thrusts wind up in 1.2 seconds.
A sweep runs straight into a thrust, quicker still.
A leap runs into a heel-turn.
A charge that runs out turns into a sweep.
The hands come in 4 waves.

The keeper stays in its chamber and is put back if it strays. If it has no target for about ten seconds, it heals to full, calms down and starts its drill over.

The reward

When the keeper falls, each player who took part can use the reliquary once to claim:

two different technique scrolls,
three Aura Shards,
The Keeper’s Testament, a three-page book.

Once the keeper is hurt by a player, any living survival player in the arena counts as taking part, healers included. Arriving after the fight does not count. Each tomb is cleared once.

The awarded Keeper's Testament open on its first page, explaining the Marchkeepers' buried blades and the keeper's blindfold

Tips and counterplay

Watch the blade, not the body: held out to the side means sweep, lined up means thrust, trailed low means it’s about to turn.
When its hand goes to its blindfold, freeze or sneak. If it hears nothing, it’s left wide open.
Fight near a wall. A charge that runs into it leaves the keeper stuck fast.
Bring an axe to break its guard from the front.
Aura Shards from the reward forge the Bulwark Maul and Skyrend Glaive.

Server settings

aura_world.sword_tombs turns new tombs, gates and the reliquary on or off. Existing blocks stay. New tombs only appear in newly generated land.