The Miraje is an exotic and rare weapon found on the continent of Nybelmar, which is thought to have its roots in the ancient Krean. It is amongst the most inconspicuous arms in all of Caelereth, which only adds to deadliness.

Picture description. The Miraje Finger Blade, an exotic and rare weapon, appearing inconspiciously like a ring... Image drawn by Bard Judith.

Description. The Miraje, as already mentioned, is a very inconspicuous weapon. If you were to see the bearer of a Miraje walk right past you, the weapon would look like nothing more than a silver ring. However, when the weapon is laid out on a table you truly realise how remarkable its design is.

The blade of the weapon looks like a downsized version of knife, being five nailsbreaths in length. The flat end of the blade is bound to a silver ring, though where is determined by who the weapon was smithed for, since they are custom made so that the entire length of the blade is concealed by the middle finger.

With the wealthier citizens of Nybelmar, a simple silver band won't do, so it isn’t that uncommon to come across Mirajes which have a ring made of more precious metals, such as gold, or being encrusted with valuable jewels. If the bearer has also come across a piece of the rare mineral, the blade may also be tipped with bloodstone. These are incredibly rare though, as only a handful of individuals are able to set the bloodstone on such a small scale.

Usage. The Miraje is used for only one thing, assassination. The Miraje originated in the scheming and deceitful jungle tribe of the Krean, and it was in their hands where it found most use. It is used very stealthily to quickly ‘dispose’ of opponents in hostile environments, normally where the wielder is not supposed to be.

Fighting Style. The Miraje has a very unique fighting style. The ring is placed over the bearer’s middle finger. Though this impairs the bearer from clenching a fist without cutting open their palm, it does cleverly disguise the weapon.

The wielder is most likely to infiltrate an area of high security (if they weren’t they wouldn’t waste their time with such a small weapon) and they are normally capable of sneaking. The victim is snuck up on from behind. The wielder quickly jumps up and performs a quick left to right hand swipe (if right handed, the opposite) across the victim’s neck, slicing their gullet and instantly killing them. If they survive the underhanded attack for a couple of seconds, the blood hemorrhaging unstoppably from their neck will quickly kill them.

Though this is the most common way to use the weapon, usually by the cloak of night, many successful eliminations have been accomplished in broad daylight in very crowded areas, the lethal attacks appearing as nothing more than simple hand gestures. The true masters of this weapon have formulated ways to kill people and make the action appear as some trivial, such as scratching their nose.

Problems. Though they are very effective weapon, the Miraje is not without its flaws. The most common disadvantage when using the Miraje is its renown. When assassinations kept occuring, and it was known that the weapon was disguised as a piece of jewelery, a ban of jewelery was placed on areas where high officals or other potential targets would meet, making the brilliant disguise of a finger ring somewhat obsolete.

Origin/History. This weapon exists due to the assassinations within Krean society. As influential and controversial Krean diplomats seemed to be more prone to "accidents", they began to employ more efficient security measures. So, when an assassin walked into the senate with a dagger in his belt, he would be killed. The assassins therefore sought after a way to sneak in a lethal weapon, but it would have to be completely hidden from the searches that the guards conducted.

Although the actual creator of the weapon is unknown, it is known that the idea of a knife disguised as a finger ring was genius. Although hard to create, Miraje Finger Blades were the weapon of choice for many murderers in the west of Nybelmar, from the jungles of Shar to the dark city of Marmarra.

Though this eventually led to bans of jewelery in areas of high security, there have been rare occurrences when one has been smuggled in, leading to tragic consequences.

10th Frozen Rivers 1666 a.S. Information provided by Decipher Ziron