The Morningstar

Glásáj Rásh

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The Morningstar

« on: 02 October 2014, 12:55:35 »

The Morningstar is a one handed weapon that allows for speed and power. It is used by both horsemen and foot soldiers in battles and the spikes at the end of the weapon make it extremely effective at puncturing even the heaviest of armours. It derives its name from the spherical spiked ball at its end which bears a resemblance to the sun.

Description: The Morningstar is composed of a spiked metal ball at the top of a wooden shaft. One handed maces used by foot soldier tend to be one to two fores in length while riding Morningstars tend to be four to five fores. Two handed Morningstars can be as long as six fores and one palmspan and require a large amount of strength to wield. The end of the shaft of the Morningstar is wrapped in leather bands if it is of poor quality and copper or iron if it is of high importance to provide a decent handle. Variations of the Morningstar include the flail which separates the Morningstar's head from the shaft by a metal chain making it harder to deflect.

Usage: Humans, dwarves, orcs, and even some elves have been known to use the Morningstar. The most prevalent usage of this weapon amongst dwarves lies with the Mitharim in conjunction with either a shield or another Morningstar held in the separate hand. Many human lords and guardsmen have been known to favor using the Morningstar as a symbol of justice due to its connection with Foiros. Amongst humans it is used mainly by the Helcrani, Centoraurian, Erphoronian, and Kyranian tribes. Clerics and servants of Foiros also use the Morningstar believing it to be a holy weapon blessed by their god.

Fighting Style: The Morningstar is often paired with a shield while being used on the ground in order to provide more protection. The user of the Morningstar attacks his opponents by swinging it as hard as possible in their general direction. The weighted ball at the end of the Morningstar will then use the momentum of the swing to crash as hard as possible into the opponent allowing the spike to puncture whatever they are hitting. Horsemen utilize the Morningstar by swinging at opponents as they pass by knocking them down or moving away before they can retaliate. Variations also include a two handed Morningstar used by stronger individuals to throw back opponents by the sheer force of a swing.

Origin/History: The Morningstar is said to have been created by a priest of Foiros with some knowledge in smithing. Having received a message from his god in his dreams he set about constructing a new weapon that would be used by the just to protect the weak. The fires of his forge were so bright and the glory of his creation so great that he was blinded upon the creation of his masterpiece. Since that day the Morningstar has served as a symbol of righteousness and justice to be feared by evil doers.


« Last Edit: 06 October 2014, 02:03:45 by Glásáj Rásh »	Logged

Artimidor Federkiel

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Re: The Morningstar

« Reply #1 on: 03 October 2014, 14:47:33 »

Welcome back, Glásáj! wave

I gather you wanted to work on weapons like this already years ago, but somehow you disappeared... Well, looks like you've managed to find your way back and have an entry in store for us... Great to see

Just it read it through, and it's short, but precise and has it all covered, even the Santharian connections to Foiros are there, and the story with the priest is also a nice addition. So this looks pretty good from my point of view and you get an aura +1 for it! Hope you plan to do more so that we can build our arsenal!

Below the entry again with a couple of fixes. Some letters seem to be missing here and there, and in general we use ancient British spelling in words like armour, colour etc.

The Morningstar is a one handed weapon that allows for speed and power. It is used by both horseman and foot soldiers in battles and the spikes at the end of the weapon make it extremely effective at puncturing even the heaviest of armours. It derives its name from the spherical spiked ball at its end which bears a resemblance to the sun.

Description: The Morningstar is composed of a spiked metal ball at the top of a wooden shaft. One handed maces used by foot soldier tend to be one to two fores in length while riding Morningstars tend to be four to five fores. Two handed Morningstars can be as long as six fores and one palmspan and require a large amount of strength to wield. The end of the shaft of the Morningstar is wrapped in leather bands if it is of poor quality and copper or iron if it is of high importance to provide a decent handle. Variations of the Morningstar include the flail which separates the Morningstar's head from the shaft by a metal chain making it harder to deflect.

Usage: Humans, dwarves, orcs, and even some elves have been known to use the Morningstar. The most prevalent usage of this weapon amongst dwarves lies with the Mitharim in conjunction with either a shield or another Morningstar held in the separate hand. Many human lords and guardsmen have been known to favour using the Morningstar as a symbol of justice due to its connection with Foiros. Amongst humans it is used mainly by the Helcrani, Centoraurian, Erpheronian, and Kyranian tribes. Clerics and servants of Foiros also use the Morningstar believing it to be a holy weapon blessed by their god.

Fighting Style: The Morningstar is often paired with a shield while being used on the ground in order to provide more protection. The user of the Morningstar attacks his opponents by swinging it as hard as possible in their general direction. The weighted ball at the end of the Morningstar will then use the momentum of the swing to crash as hard as possible into the opponent allowing the spike to puncture whatever they are hitting. Horsemen utilize the Morningstar by swinging at opponents as they pass by knocking them down or moving away before they can retaliate. Variations also include a two handed Morningstar used by stronger individuals to throw back opponents by the sheer force of a swing.

Origin/History: The Morningstar is said to have been created by a priest of Foiros with some knowledge in smithing. Having received a message from his god in his dreams he set about constructing a new weapon that would be used by the just to protect the weak. The fires of his forge were so bright and the glory of his creation so great that he was blinded upon the creation of his masterpiece. Since that day the Morningstar has served as a symbol of righteousness and justice to be feared by evil doers.


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Ta`lia of the Seven Jewels

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Re: The Morningstar

« Reply #2 on: 04 October 2014, 05:39:24 »

Nice first steps in our world!

I'm not much in weapons, so I can't comment on the weapon itself.

Two suggestion though:

Choose another name, not the earthen one (Morningstar - As far as I know, the name derives from Venus, as this planet is the celestial body which sparkles most and is the brightest, the spiky appearance might have helped - we don't have it. Ava's Tears don't fit...). Santharize it.

What about:
Foiros' Wrath?
Injèrá's Ire?
Something along this line?

I think it would be cool, to link the creation of the weapon to a distant historical or mythical event, maybe a time of need where the priest/smith prayed to Foiros and the god answered with the dream. Perhaps make it vague and just say, the priest lived in northern Santharia and invented the weapon during one of the times when the orcs and darkfriends came down from the Tandalas and threatend human culture.


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Glásáj Rásh

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Re: The Morningstar

« Reply #3 on: 05 October 2014, 02:19:54 »

@ Artimidor:

Unfortunately my life tends to be very busy and filled with various adventures and complications. I did not expect to be absent for such a long period of time and for that I must apologize

. However, now that I've reached a more stable period in my life I thought I might set out to finish my promise to Seeker and finish the Morningstar entry (even if it has been two years in the making grin

).

To that extent I have made the appropriate spelling corrections in red .

@Talia: I would definitely be willing to add an additional name (possibly in elven) to make it feel more Santharian. The only issue I have against scrapping the name entirely is that it is already established in the Maces Overview entry. I agree with your observation that the story of the priest needs expanding and had intended to do so later on. The entry that you see now is copied word for word from my old notes that I discovered lying around. I made the decision to post them first to see how well they would hold up under criticism.


« Last Edit: 05 October 2014, 02:23:17 by Glásáj Rásh »	Logged

Ta`lia of the Seven Jewels

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Re: The Morningstar

« Reply #4 on: 05 October 2014, 05:04:45 »

Quote

is that it is already established in the Maces Overview entry

As the paragraph in the overview is a kind of placeholder, it would not be a problem to change the name in the overview also. I don't think that Ruil or Seeker would have a problem with that.


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Altario Shialt-eck-Gorrin

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Re: The Morningstar

« Reply #5 on: 05 October 2014, 15:31:59 »

Just an opinion here. A Morningstar is a Morningstar. Why complicate it? Now, a special one, used in a legend or as an artifact, etc, could very well use one of those names. I really like Foiros Wrath (Foiros' Fury?). But, I don't think we should change the names of things that are universally known simply to change the name.

Again, just my opinion.


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Artimidor Federkiel

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Re: The Morningstar

« Reply #6 on: 05 October 2014, 16:10:28 »

Yep, I have to agree with Alt here. This is an established weapon term and we should keep it that way. Otherwise things get too complicated, because you can't write a story for example without having to explain such a standard weapon. It would just be too much. You wouldn't want to change the term for a "sword", or?

In the same vein I think that a fox should be called a fox and not a "shir", because it's just a fox here on Earth. If we're dealing with something Santharian which is derived from an Earthen weapon/animal we can adjust the name in that case, but not the name of the original item/animal we also have in this fantasy world.


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The Morningstar