[@Aristo] A very good point. How I see it is like this, given the nature of the war they are fighting and the losses the emperor has faced lately, he really wouldn't give a damn about the nobility. He would deal with any consequences afterwards, depending on if they survived. The nobility would have to be told of this, and even then some would probably welcome the chance for the Emperor to become weakened, so that they could scheme for the throne. The weapons were really only a deterrent to stop nobility aggression so I could see two sides arguing over what to do but at the end of the day, it is the Emperor's final decision.

Once the weapons are received, they will begin to bond with their wielder over a certain amount of time. Experience and status won't matter for the bond to take place. Its how you use your artifact that matters, the more you use it the more the bond will strengthen. Eventually it will be at full strength and capable of doing great feats.

I will add this plus the negative consequences of the artifacts in the relevant tab and let everyone know. It slipped my mind when I was writing everything.

Does that help though?