what one thinks of as traditional "holy men" are servants of the White Temple. The Red Temple is concerned with worship of the flesh. Its chief goddess is Aphrodite. The Red Temple provides and controls much of the traffic in prostitution and drugs, although they also encourage free love, gambling, gluttony, and excessive drinking. The Blue Temple worships money, hoarding wealth, but never does anything with it. At one point, the Blue Temple hoards four of the Twelve Swords of Power, including Shieldbreaker, which they never use for fear of losing them. The Blue Temple Hoard is the famous secret depository of their holdings. The Twelve Swords of Power The Swords of Power were created by the gods and given to humanity as part of a great game, so they could enjoy watching humans scheme and fight amongst themselves in an effort to obtain these magical treasures. Each sword has a different ability, which corresponds to a different god. The series revolves around different characters finding, acquiring, stealing, using, and eventually destroying the swords. This provides the gods with the amusement they desire, until they find out that the swords were made too well, and even the gods themselves can fall victim to them. The swords are introduced in by name and general ability in The Song of Swords, the poem that precedes the story, but it is only over the course of the series that the specific effects, conditions, and loopholes of these weapons are discovered. Although thought to be indestructible, by the end of the series (Shieldbreaker's Story) all the swords except Woundhealer have been destroyed. The twelve swords are: Coinspinner, "The Sword of Chance" or "The Sword of Fortune," makes the wielder supernaturally lucky in any and every situation. Coinspinner does not need to be physically wielded to be used--simply possessing the blade is enough for it to work. However, like luck itself, the Sword of Chance is fickle and tries to escape from its wielder at every opportunity, usually when they need it the most. Its symbol is a pair of dice. Doomgiver, "The Sword of Justice," can turn aside any attack or spell meant to harm the wielder and send it back to the attacker instead. The protection the Sword of Justice provides is near absolute: people attempting to stab the wielder will instead stab themselves; anyone attempting to charm the wielder will instead be