Arms and Armour: Axes

Axes were first designed as tools, to break apart timber for human use, but from the simple woodsman's axe to the mighty double-bladed axe, these are dangerous weapons. The basic rules for an axe is simple: take a wooden shaft, stick metal on the end, carve one end down to a blade. The end product is often surprisingly effective.

While widely used across Fastheld, axes are in especially common use within House Lomasa, being the weapon of choice of a majority of its nobles.

Woodsman's Axe
An axe with a two-foot-long wooden shaft topped by a sharpened wedge of steel.

While dangerous, the woodsman's axe is generally used as a tool, not a weapon, and is not particularly effective in battle at all.

Citizen Axes
These axes are designed to be used as weapons as well as tools, and are free for use among any citizen of Fastheld. Primarily meant for self defense, they are not the most effective of the weapons, but are normally enough to ward off any cutpurse.

Hatchet
A Hatchet, consisting of a simple axe blade at the top of a ten-inch haft. The blade is unerringly simple in design, merely a block of metal, narrowed until one end is sharp enough to chop through its target. Leather thongs help hold the hatchet blade in place, while a simple leather grip sits on the bottom of the haft.

Bearded Axe
A Bearded Axe, consisting of a bearded, crescent axe blade atop a one foot haft. The axe blade is rather thin where it is set to the shaft, but as it extends, the blade curves out and downward, creating a good seven-inch crescent cutting edge without sacrificing much in the way of weight. A simple leather grip is on the bottom quarter of the haft, making it easy to hold in one hand.

War Axe
A War Axe, consisting of a two-pronged blade at the top of a eighteen-inch haft. The forward section of the blade, curving away from its narrow neck up and downward to make a twelve-inch cutting edge. The aft section of the war axe is a downward-curved, almost scythe-like blade, for catching opponents coming from a less suspected direction.

Gothic Axe
A Gothic Axe, consisting of a two-part axe blade mounted on a heavy, eighteen-inch, double-layered haft. While the weight of the haft allows for a more forceful blow, the axe blade itself is a rather simple, ten-inch crescent sharpened until the metal around the edge shines. A simple backspike sits opposite, serving as a counterbalance, or as a pick weapon if the axe is reversed.

Noble Axes
The most powerful of the axes, these are also the most restricted. Axes designed for use by the nobility were designed with the battlefield in mind, to be wielded by knights and noble commanders. Freelanders are not permitted to wield such weapons.

Battle Axe
A Battle Axe, consisting of a three-part blade atop a four foot timber haft. Two grips are on the haft, one at the base and another halfway up, to allow for ease of grip and use. The forward, actual axe portion of the blade is a large, bearded crescent some twenty inches in arc-length, while opposite it, a downward curved blade serves the axe for slashing. At the top of the haft is the final portion - a foot long spike for piercing through armor.

Double-Bladed Axe
A double-bladed axe, comprised of twin crescent blades set on a five foot long shaft. The metal used to form them is typically two-toned - a long stretch of dark metal, with the edge polished to a bright, almost silvery sheen. A spike juts from the top of the shaft, adding an extra full foot to the weapon.