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Full Item Description
The Maul Shank is a short, hiltless one-and-a-half-edged weapon, wickedly curved and with handle and blade all one piece. The length of the blade varies between 4 and 8 inches and the handle is usually wrapped in cord to provide a better grip. The wrapping is intricately done, and differs subtly between different makers.
Many Maul Shank users engrave their blade with their name or their personal sigil, if they have one.
The materials used in the construction of a Maul Shank is usually impure, second-hand metal forged together under insufficient heat, giving the blade a damascine-like finish. It is traditionally worn horizontally on the belt at the small of the back, like a scramasax.
In the context of modern warfare, with breach-loading muskets and cannons, the Maul Shank is strictly a last-ditch back-up weapon, but also has significant symbolic value.
History
The Maul Shank was the traditional weapon of the gangs of the Old Maul, before the Great Fire scattered the few surviving people of the Old Blood like leaves in the wind. The Maul Rats, the counter-revolutionary Maul milita (and later official Regiment of Locastus) adopted the weapon to commemorate their origins.
When a new recruit joins the Maul Rats, he (or she; the Maul Rats is the only Regiment that recruits women) is given a probation period to prove himself, before he is given his Maul Shank and accepted as a full member.
Special Properties
Absolutely none; the weapon is a crudely made, ugly piece of equipment. The Maul rats, however, revere it as a holy symbol, and wear it with pride. It also serves to mark the wearer as affiliated with the Maul Rats, which can cause problems in interacting with members of the ruling classes of Locastus - The reputation of the Maul Rats is less than good.
Plot Hooks
The PC´s are asked by representatives of the Maul Rats to locate and assassinate a renegade from their own ranks. To prove that the job is done, they have to bring back the target´s Maul Shank.
The PC´s are sent to an old battlefield to locate and dig out the Maul Shank of a former Maul Rat hero. To do this, they have to study the layout of the battlefield, to determine where the hero fell, and then dig him up. Once they have the prize, they have to defend it against the scavengers of the battlefield and grave robbers, who violently defend their turf.
November 7, 2007, 9:52
...Otherwise they seem to be a nice addition to your expanding setting, solid explanations and dead-on. Sweet idea.
November 7, 2007, 10:14
November 7, 2007, 11:16
November 7, 2007, 12:13
November 7, 2007, 12:59
I like it a great deal as it adds realism.
Now even if you don't use this item directly, and you probably wont', take the idea from it and adapt it to your own world.
November 7, 2007, 15:59
November 8, 2007, 2:52
November 8, 2007, 13:33
Plus I have just learned that scramasax is an actual word! Now, where did I hear something like that again...
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Plot hook: while searching the personal effects of a deceased citizen, presumably with a solid reputation, the PCs find a carefully preserved Maul Shank. Hmmm... how comes?
November 8, 2007, 19:21
January 1, 2010, 17:33
Anyway, nice little addition and a trip down memory lane. :)
January 26, 2011, 0:34
A nice little mundane weapon with a good back story to hook it into the world and make it memorable. It could be interesting to have a characters buy one of these blades from a traveling merchant and then later on find themselves unwittingly treated as a Maul member or accused of killing one.