Redesign a classic fantasy sword!

Nice! Although, with such a relatively long blade, I'd add some sort of brace for the forearm so the whole thing doesn't just rotate around the grip with the slightest lateral pressure. And maybe make the blade more diamond-shaped in cross-section, to increase stiffness and penetration.


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See, that's where the distinction between plasma and steel comes in. With plasma, you can cut through any kind of armor once the shields are down, which is why a slashing weapon would work just as well as a thrusting weapon. Personally, I think it would work better as a slasher than a thruster simply because of its length.

A katar is so effective because of how short it is; make it the length of the T-1 and it'll be pulling itself out of your grip by gravity alone. That's why the pata had several braces for your arm in addition to the grip, since its blade could be up to 44" long and was far thinner than the katar (and T-1).

Fighting wise, if it becomes a solely thrusting weapon with limited slashing capabilities, you kinda doom it to a long range thruster like a rapier, but with none of its speed (In game, the T-1 is 51.25" long overall and weighs 5.2lbs even though the majority of its bulk consists of plasma). Because you can't shift your grip like on a conventional sword, any shorter thrust while drawing your hand back beyond your body becomes very difficult; to do so, it would have to be a horizontal thrust, which, due to the design of the blade, could result in you disemboweling yourself. Meanwhile, as a slasher, it would retain most, if not all, of the liveliness and maneuverability of an arming sword.

Lastly, the weight of a steel weapon this size. It's 1.5' wide at the very base where it curves around the hand in game, so without that, it's still be likely to be something on the order of about 4-5" wide at the base. Even with all that profile taper, that's a lot of steel to be swinging around; you'd need fullers running down the blade similar to on an XVII.

Also, a little off topic, but as to the armor they wear, the MJOLNIR Powered Armor System is composed of layered titanium alloy, which I imagine would be quite brittle unless properly treated, so a good slash would probably break through it. The Sangheili combat harness, on the other hand, is really just that: a harness. It's not actually armor. It's meant more as a psychological weapon as well as a uniform than armor, which their energy shields handle. There's a reason humans gave them the name "Elites".

Anyways, sorry for going into that little tirade.

That he is. But then, the sword in "The Thing in the Crypt" (and thus, in the movie) was not made by Conan's people - unless you count his antedeluvian ancestors from aeons past, long enough ago for Atlantis to sink, its exiles wander north beyond the lands known to mankind, there to degenerate into literal apemen, and then claw their way back up to humanity, all already far beyond living memory in Conan's time.

Of course, there's a similar incomprehensibly vast chasm of time between the Cimmerians and the Celts, too... But on the other hand, Conan's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay distant Atlantean ancestor King Kull once fought alongside Gaels, Britons, Picts and Norse raiders against the Romans occupying Britain... so damned if I know. "Time and space exist not. There was no past, and there shall be no future. NOW is all. All things that ever were, are, or ever will be, transpire now. Man is forever in the center of what we call time and space. I have gone into yesterday and tomorrow and both were as real as today - which is like the dreams of ghosts!"

That pointless aside notwithstanding, I'd worry about hurting myself with all the pointy bits on the hilt.

I want, I want, I want, I want! That thing is gorgeous, MOK! Although, I should point out that Heron Marks have the Heron on the grip, as well (at least, Rand's does, which is why he was rather noticeable in Eye of the World).

Definitely. It'd have to be on the palm side of the hilt for a righty, since I think there's supposed to be something about it getting burned into someone's palm (I've only read the first book, though I've got two more on the way), plus it'd be more visible to people who're just looking down at your waist.

That's true. But, I gotta admit, I agree with you, herons or no herons, it's a sweet design. I was talking about from an accuracy point of view. I'd personally prefer it with no herons since I'm not a major fan of engraving on the blade.

True dat.

That's actually kinda cool, but I'm still not one for engravings that much.

Well, since we don't have the One Power to call to work our blades, we'll have to settle for etching. Though you could always plate the herons into the blade after etching them.