I'm truly not trying to be difficult, although reading through my last post I can see it could come across as more than a little, um, strident.
But I just don't see Kalinn
pursuing the awakening or enhancement of intelligence in her sword at all. And that's not at all the way I pictured the "growing along with her" aspect. When I used that phrase I was thinking of more than simply mechanics.
This is an old sword, long asleep but gradually awakening and becoming more aware of the world around it. As it grows more aware of the externals it also becomes more aware of the role it is supposed to play in that world, and gradually starts exerting itself more and more. I'm thinking more of self-enlightenment, or of old intellectual pathways that haven't been used in a LONG time waking more and more fully as they are used (much like us old crotchety folk need more and more time to stretch and move around before we're fully limber and alert in the morning
).
It looks to me like so long as we use the thread SatinKnights is setting up (and many thanks to you for it, SK! Not meaning to detract from this undertaking at all as it's a really cool idea!) to keep the record, and use the same mechanics as we would for any other intelligent item (cost, wait times, dice rolls, etc.) it should be acceptable to write the fluff in a way that preserves Kalinn's story/personality/development the way I see her.
(Also, I'm not ruling out that at some point in the future she
wouldn't go to the alien/outsider mage-smith for some help or advice . . . she's growing organically, and her story will change with each adventure, and with the entrance and exit of each other character in her life. But for now . . .)