The Encyclopedia of Sanctum

Sunburst (weapon)

"Out from the forest runs Tangerine, wielding his folded parasol as a weapon. The canopy of the umbrella has magical orange blades down each panel in the shape of the white Valeonic runes painted on it."

- Crimson Assassin, "Price On Life"

Assuming the form of an ordinary umbrella, Sunburst was Tangerine Windleaf's weapon of choice. Much more than just a parasol and a stolen family heirloom, Sunburst held immense magical power within, the power of light and creation, crafted only by a god. 

A Lustering Sunrise

History

Some time in the Fourth Age, Sunburst was gifted by Eristar to the Windleaf family as they rose in prominence due to Citronne's invention of the gem sheaths that helped save the realm. The master crafted umbrella was made by Eristar to reflect the light of the star, Aerinor, and in memory of the Vitanien Stone that once stood over all. "I wanted to thank you, Windleaf. For reflecting the great light back over our lands with your invention," said Eristar. Sunburst would remain in the Windleaf family estate in Harlech, hung on the wall of their library. 

In Fo.A. 724, Tangerine Windleaf would be kicked out of the family for desiring a different life path at the age of thirteen. He had little time to gather his belongings, but one item he took with him was Sunburst, hiding it inside his coat as he was forced to leave. Promised he could return if he reconsidered his future, Tangerine accepted his fate and entered the world, Sunburst as his only defense. 

The onset of 724's winter was cold. At night while starved and sleeping in a cave outside of Fennanwy on the brink of death, Tangerine was approached by a hungry pack of vale bears. Getting up, he had grown weak but would put up a fight nonetheless. He was easily pinned down but before teeth could rip flesh, his finger touched the wooden handle and Sunburst suddenly lit up with daylight. Blinding the bears, Tangerine got up and struck each beast down with flashes of piercing light, each hit cutting through like a hot blade. The villagers of the nearby hamlet of Moss Valley saw the flashing lights, and they came to find Tangerine alive, sitting on a rock above five dead bears. The villagers managed to provide him with food and coin for defeating the bears plaguing their livestock. Though thankful, the stoic Tangerine was dissatisfied with their aid as they did not show this same kindness when he first had arrived, and had shunned him away. In Moss Valley, however, Tangerine was met with a lore master who took interest in Sunburst's "awakening" and provided him passage into Fennanwy, as the weapon he bore now had talent. In the capital, Tangerine would learn to master the abilities of Sunburst as he formed a band of like warriors who travelled the kingdom, defenders of the lost but also enemies of the found. 

Tangerine would later be approached by Eristar, under the guise of Lawless, who heard of Tangerine's Robin-Hood status in his former realm, and how he wielded the fallen god's own gift. Tangerine would join the New Moon and use Sunburst through the events of Crimson Assassin until his death in Fo.A. 737 by the hands of Johannes Carlo, Sentry Prestige of Aestagia. Johan kept a ruined Sunburst by his side as a trophy, during the Battle of Aermont, until it was taken back by Melanee Rever-Kanone, Tangerine's best friend. Melanee would depart for Valeon where she would live out the next chapter of her life, keeping Sunburst with her until she died of old age in Moyasu Village in the Fifth Age. The weapon was then sent to Aermont where it remained with Eristar, kept safe in the vaults of the royal palace. 

Appearance

Sunburst in its simplicity looked like an average umbrella, albeit on the nicer end. It had a long handle made out of wood from the Mian Keyvori, with a slight curve in the center of the shaft with a couple of small burls giving it character. The handle then attached to a wide canopy made out of thick orange colored fabric from Ralyme, and written on each panel were Valeonic runes, written by Tangerine himself to amplify the weapon's power to specific uses. Tassels hung from each panel tip to house extra rune scripts. When the weapon's power was activated, the runes would all glow with a bright light. The magic auras when revealed were transparent and orange in color, weightless, and could take on the shape of anything. 

Tangerine let out a secret, that he uses a small portion of the weapon's magic bank to coat the handle with a small invisible shield, to avoid splinters. After all, the umbrella was never designed to be used like a weapon. 

Tangerine using Sunburst

Abilities

Sunburst held many unique abilities that Tangerine could use. First of which, it could simply be used as a blunt weapon, as seen time upon time in Tangerine's irritation toward Dakota... no other people too right... yeah no, just Dakota. But Sunburst could be imbued with magical energy so that when folded, it could cut like a knife and be used like any sword. When in this mode, the parasol would have small ghostly blades running down the length if one looked closely. Tangerine used the blade in tandem with opening the canopy to serve as a shield, as the energy also made the fabric hard as diamonds. 

Sunburst could also emit beams of light from the tip to serve as visibility in a dark place, or perhaps a beacon. More importantly, the creatures of the Abyss hate the light. This light could also be captured and used to draw in the air like a pencil, and Tangerine helped create many impromptu battle maps on the New Moon's missions. In this way, Sunburst could create ghostly matter out of thin air. Tangerine could wind the orange plasma into whatever he wanted, but this would take time. Instead, he created rune scripts written on the umbrella for different spells. Some of these creations were shields, barricades, stairways, and floating platforms, usually used for assisting his allies. But Sunburst also carried a few offensive abilities as well, such as manifesting and extending light into flying blades and bottling it up and exploding it when embedded in an enemy. 

And then of course, Tangerine liked to use Sunburst as a personal gliding device. He was not too fond of taking the stair route.