The Sword is the most common close range weapon, and is often favored amongst all other weapons. Swords exist in different varieties, ranging from small, medium to great sizes.

Picture description: A Knight of the Flame presenting his Long Sword. Pic drawn by Quellion.

Description. The Sword is made up of three parts, the handle, the hilt, and the blade.

The handle is the area where the user holds the weapon, and is usually made of metal and wrapped in a leather material to keep the hands comfortable. Some handles are made of hardwood, which are lighter, but are more prone to breaking. 

The hilt is the area that separates the blade from the handle. Its most useful property is that it can stop the descent of another blade as it travels down the Sword, should the parry be done poorly. It is commonly about a hand length total, though some are longer and shorter. The hilt can come in a wide array of designs, from the simple small circular design of a moonblade, to the v-shaped design of a claymore.
 
The blade is the part of the Sword that the weapon is most valued for. It is a sharp piece of metal, normally wedged at the top, with either two sharp edges for cutting, or one sharp and one dull. The length of the blade depends on the Sword type, and the width depends on this variable as well.

Some Sword blades are also designed with 'temper lines', a small groove that runs from a short distance out of the hilt to the near end of the tip. This groove is also known as the blood groove, in that when one slashes someone, the blood can more easily flow from the wound, allowing clear passing for the Sword as it travels through. Sometimes, a Sword could get stuck if it does not have the aid of a blood groove.

Small Swords, knives, Daggers, and Dirks, are commonly coated with a layer of venom to increase their damage output.

Of course, all Swords may also be customized by their owner, and may only turn out to be a shell of their original type.

Weapon Types. The following Sword types are the most commonly known ones, separated into three categories, small Swords, medium Swords, and large Swords:

• SMALL SWORDS (Knife, Dagger, Brownie Sword)

• MEDIUM SWORDS (Short Sword, Moonblade, Scimitar, Broadsword, Longsword)
• LARGE SWORDS (Two-handed Sword, Great Sword, Flamberge)

SMALL SWORDS

• The Knife
  A small, usually one-edged weapon that is often used as a kitchen utensil or to carve wood with. It is a rather poor weapon to use in combat, and often the blade is not as sharp as what is needed to grant sufficient wounds. It is most effective in piercing. Knives are fast and easily concealed, but aren't much of a tool to those other than farmers and regular citizens. When using a weapon of this type, the most common target to aim for would be the neck. The temper line of a Knife, while rare, due to the Knife having only one edge, runs about a nailsbreadth above the sharp edge, on both sides, curving along with the blade.
  
  Throwing knives are double-edged knives that are balanced to be thrown, but aren't too effective due to their small size, compared to a larger Sword. 
  
  Customizations of the Knife are:
  - The Arhk
   

• The Dagger
  A small, double-edged, normally secondary weapon. It is used for piercing attacks primarily, and is fitted with a very sharp point. It can be used for slashing, but being small and designed for piercing, it does not fit well into doing a slash-type attack. Daggers are fast and small, and are easily concealed.
  
  A special type of dagger is known as the Dirk. It is longer and slimmer than the dagger, and often has a wavy blade. It is common to see necromancers and other practitioners of dark rituals using the Dirk as a sacrificial blade. The Dirk has an exceedingly sharp tip, but this makes it far less durable and poor at slashing. Dirks also rarely have hilts.
  
  As with all small Sword weapons, the most common target is the heart of the neck, and the blades of these weapons are often coated in poison.
  
  Customizations of the Dagger are:
  - Crystal Dagger
  - Helcrani Dodger
  - R'unorian Commoners Dagger
   

• The Brownie Sword
  While smaller than even the tiniest knife, the Brownie swords are still put into the categories. The Brownies possess nearly all of the same categories of swords as the larger versions, but just in smaller sizes.
  
  The Memnoor Brownies also have a sword made of glass called simply the Glass Sword. These swords, while ineffective in Caelereth itself, have proven very combat worthy in the Void, better than most iron and steel weapons there.

MEDIUM SWORDS

• The Short Sword
  The Short Sword is a small, double-edged Sword, not much longer than a Dagger or a Dirk. It is usually wielded in one hand, as to leave the other arm open for a shield or secondary weapon. It is a very common weapon, and one of the first thought of Swords when one mentions the word "Sword". The differences between the Dagger and Short Sword are few, basically the Short Sword represents a longer Dagger.
  
  Customizations of the Short Sword are:
  - Centoraurian Short Sword
   

• The Moonblade
  The Moonblade is an elegant weapon, and the sharpest and most sleek of any mundane Sword. Moonblades are believed to be the most feared ones of any Caelereth blade. The blade is slightly curved, very slightly, and it looks almost straight. Though the curve can be made out. The blade is very slim, and the one-sided edge is sharp enough that if a sheet of cloth were to be dropped on it when facing upwards, the cloth would separate when passing over the blade. These weapons are the pride and glory of the Kasumarii, and few outside of their order are known to possess these magnificent blades, except for, of course, cheap replicas. No imitation has ever even come close to matching a true Moonblade.
  
  Moonblades are very light, weighing approximately the same as a Dagger or Knife. They can be used either one-handed or two-handed, though it has been shown to be faster and more elegant in two hands.
   

• The Scimitar
  The Scimitar is the category composing nearly all of the curved one-handed weapons. The base weapon is the Scimitar, but the Sabre, Cutlass, Shamshir and Falchion also fall into this category. Scimitar-class Swords are slashing weapons only, as their heads are bulky, and having only one sharpened edge prevents the blade from being a very good piercing weapon.
  
  a) The original Scimitar
  The Scimitar itself is a long, one-edged Sword, that is used to quickly cut down enemy troops. It curves in a crescent form, like the moon, and has a relatively medium width blade.
  
  b) The Sabre
  The Sabre, also known as the Saber, is one of the most common weapons used on horseback, thus the name "Cavalry Sabre" it is sometimes called. The blade is curved inwards and then outwards, and relatively wide to increase its durability.
  
  c) The Cutlass
  The cutlass is basically a Scimitar with a really wide blade. It is one of the most common weapons used by pirates, originating from the Avennorians and their ancestors, the Glandorians from the Sarvonian North.
  
  d) The Shamshir
  The Shamshir is the exact opposite of the cutlass, in that it has the crescent blade of a Scimitar, but has a very thin width. It is a common elven weapon.
  
  e) The Falchion
  The Falchion isn't as curved as the other Scimitar weapons, and is actually rather straight. The blade comes out from the hilt first thin, and then gradually widens. The flat edge is straight to the end, and the sharpened edge is straight until the very end, where it finally curves to connect into a point.
  
  Customizations of the Scimitar are:
  - Centoraurian Cavalry Sabre
  - Forsaken Blade (Remusian artifact)
   

• The Broadsword
  The Broadsword is another common knight weapon, used equally well on foot or on horse. It possesses the widest blade out of all Sword weapons, and its length is completely random, ranging from the shortness of a short Sword to even two-handed versions. The blade is very wide at approximately 6 nailsbreadth, and the tip is rather square, making this weapon useless in piercing. This weapon is highly durable, and it takes a lot more to break than most other Swords.
  
  Customizations of the Broadsword are:
  - Erpheronian Broadsword
   

• The War Sword (Long Sword)
  Also, and more commonly known as, the Long Sword, this is the weapon most commonly used by knights on foot. It is one-handed, allowing the use of a shield, and is double-edged. The Long Sword is named due to its length, which is, as it says, 'long'. The long Sword is the longest one-handed weapon. The War Sword's tip is not too blocky, and can be used for piercing attacks as well, though this is not the Sword's primary function.

LARGE SWORDS

• The Bastard Sword
  At one point or another in time, warfaring people came to conclusion that mankind needed a stronger Sword than the Long Sword, but not as encumber-ome as the Two-handed Sword. So a Sword longer and more powerful than the Long Sword was designed, but gave it the ability to be wielded in either one hand or two hands. This was the "hand and a half Sword" which demonstrates that it can be used in one hand, or one hand and half of another, meaning basically, two hands. However, the man who first designed this Sword was a mean guy, as everyone called him, and people soon started to call this Sword the bastard Sword, or Sword made by a bastard. Others of course simply deduce the name from the not flesh-nor-fish design of the Sword. Be it as it is, this name, became the standard used name for this Sword.
   

• The Two-handed Sword
  The Two-handed Sword, also known as the Two-handed Long Sword, is the basic two-handed weapon. It is mainly an extended Long Sword, thus resulting in the inability to use it in one hand, though having increased power. Two-handed Swords with very wide blades are also known as Two-handed Broadswords.
   

• The Great Sword
  The Great Sword is the most powerful Sword to be used as a melee weapon, and is rather effective. The Great Sword category also includes the Claymore, which is a simple conversion of the Great Sword.
  The Great Sword is a longer Two-handed Sword, with a slightly wider blade. It is slower, but stronger, and far more durable. The tip is rather bulky, preventing the weapon from being used as a piercing weapon, but keeping its durability high.
  
  The claymore is a thinner, more melee worthy weapon, though weaker and less durable than the Great Sword. Its blade is the same width as the Two-handed Sword, but longer. The hilt is commonly designed in a V-shape, and is rather useful at trapping the blades of an opponent's Sword. A skilled Swordsman can use this opportunity to pluck the enemy's Sword from their hands, although the assailant can do that to the claymore-wielder as well, with a great deal of effort. Its tip is somewhat less blocky, but not very useful in piercing.
   
  Customizations of the Great Sword are:
  - Whirlwind
   

• The Flamberge
  Flamberges are the "pikes" of the Swords. They are so huge and powerful, that they are of practically no use in a melee. They are used in the front lines of an army, directly in front of the pikemen, and serve to cut down advancing troops in one swift wave. The pikemen behind them use their pikes in-between each of the men armed with Flamberges.
  
  Flamberges are double-edged, and often have a "windy" blade, which means it curves back and forth up to the tip of the blade in a straight manner. Very few Flamberges have temper lines, and the ones that do are on the Flamberges with completely straight blades. The handle and hilt of the flamberge are approximately one half of the total, and the hilt is actually almost in the middle of the handle. The blade occupies the second half of the Sword.
  
  Being so huge and slow, when a Flamberge user enters into melee combat, he is forced to drop the Flamberge and brandish a more suitable weapon.

There are, of course, far more types than listed here, but most are just customizations of one of the general types and are too similar to be listed as separate classes of Swords.

Below is a table showing the measurements of the various Sword types. Average Handle Length lists the length of the handle and hilt. Blade Width measures the width of the blade. Average Blade Length Measures the length of the blade, and Total Length measures the total length of the Sword. Measurements are rounded to the nearest tenth.

	Sword Types Comparisons Weapon Average Handle Length Blade Width Average Blade Length Total Length Knife 11.5 Nailsbreadth 2.0 Nailsbreadth 17.2 Nailsbreadth 28.8 Nailsbreadth Dagger 12.0 Nailsbreadth 2.0 Nailsbreadth 18.0 Nailsbreadth 30.0 Nailsbreadth Short Sword 11.2 Nailsbreadth 3.2 Nailsbreadth 31.8 Nailsbreadth 43.0 Nailsbreadth Moonblade 27.9 Nailsbreadth 3.5 Nailsbreadth 68.5 Nailsbreadth 96.5 Nailsbreadth Scimitar 17.7 Nailsbreadth Varies 76.2 Nailsbreadth 94.0 Nailsbreadth Broadsword 16.5 Nailsbreadth 7.6 Nailsbreadth 74.9 Nailsbreadth 94.0 Nailsbreadth War/Long Sword 20.3 Nailsbreadth 5.1 Nailsbreadth 83.8 Nailsbreadth 104.1 Nailsbreadth Bastard Sword 25.3 Nailsbreadth 5.1 Nailsbreadth 94.0 Nailsbreadth 119.3 Nailsbreadth Two-Handed Sword 35.5 Nailsbreadth 5.1 Nailsbreadth 106.6 Nailsbreadth 142.2 Nailsbreadth Great Sword 35.5 Nailsbreadth 6.4 Nailsbreadth 106.7 Nailsbreadth 149.9 Nailsbreadth Flamberge 45.7 Nailsbreadth 5.1 Nailsbreadth 137.2 Nailsbreadth 182.9 Nailsbreadth or 2 Peds

Usage. Swords are used primarily melee combat in war, though tournaments and hunts often use these weapons as well. The smaller Knives are commonly used as tools for everyday chores. Depending on the weapon, the Sword may have a different use. For example, the Flamberge is used to cut down the first lines of advancing enemy troops.

Fighting Style. Swordsmen usually close in to their opponents, on foot or on horseback, with Swords raised. Once close enough, they begin about with slashes and parries. A slash being a swing of the Sword at the opponent, and a parry being the blocking of a slash. Various other styles exist on how to fight, and there are various other moves, such as a riposte: a parry and then a counter-attack.

Origin/History. Swords date back nearly to the rise of the sentient races. When a few took long, thin pieces of stone and sharpened them, they learned of the usefulness of the rock as a weapon to slash with. Eventually, a handle was added and blacksmiths began to make the blades out of steel. The various races and tribes came up with the Sword idea at one point in there time, and each had their own various styles and types of Swords.

There are many customizations of the Sword classes, but very few of them reach legendary status. Such is the status of artifacts, those weapons of legends and myth, believed to be only bardic tales and stories, rather than actual items.