Lance

Ken Shinjin

Newbie

Gained Aura: 0
Offline

Offline

Posts: 16

Lance

« on: 06 January 2006, 22:33:00 »

The lance can be thought of as a heavy spear. Being a little larger and a tad heavier than the standard spear, the lance is the preferred polearm by many cavalry, especially the Centuraurians and Kassites. With a stronger fortification of the blade to the shaft, the lance can also be used as a light slashing weapon in addition to its deadly piercing capabilities. Due to this, the lance is a feared weapon on the battlefield and any wielding them command much respect from his/her peers.

Name
Lance

Category
Polearm

Description
The lance is often confused with the spear. The main differences between the spear and the lance are as follows: the lance is a little longer than the standard spear, heavier (about 1 hafeb), and sturdier. The lance is a weapon designed for use from horseback, so its head is usually fixed onto the shaft with more reinforcing. Usually nearing 3 peds in length, the lance stands much taller than its wielder.

The actual head of the lance can vary based on the culture it is from and the purpose of the weapon. Some have two smaller blades on either side; some form a cross-shape to catch enemy blades. Others fan out, or have more ceremonial blades, some even use a hook for catching armor and ripping pieces off.

The usual material for this deadly polearm is separated into the haft and head. The haft is most commonly made of oak, due to its durable make up, but black birch is the most sought after wood. Black birch is strong enough to resist breakage, which makes any lance of black birch a most valuable catch, one in which most lords will capture and ransom similar to one of their kin.

The head usually comes made of steel, it being shorter than most sword blades and thus easier to forge. Iron is a very common substitute, and mithril has been known to be a rare, powerful instance, but the most valuable (relatively easy to get) lances are those made of black birch and steel.

Lances have sometimes come to be confused with the commonly seen tournament lances used in tournies all throughout Sarvonia. These lances tend to be made to widen outwards to protect the hand from shards, made of light, easily broken wood. The head is merely a wooden or weak metal, forged to widen out into a broad tip to lessen the impact, and helping to prevent the death of the victim. However, a “tournie lance” and a normal lance are not to be confused with one another, so the term “war lance” as often been heard to mean the normal lance.

Usage
The Centoraurions are renown for their devastating lance charges. A full regiment of Centoraurion knights wielding their lances are capable of striking down even rival spearmen. The power of the impact from the lance makes short work of even full-platemail, impaling the poor soldier hit by the lunge. The lance soon began to spread, but most cultures use a normal spear in place of the javelin, usually because of its versatility.

Being so heavy, the lance is usually solely used by cavalrymen, but it can also be wielded by infantry. This normally requires specialized training, but the effects can be devastating. The weight of the lance requires it to be wielded two-handed, but a firm thrust is all that is needed to finish opponents.

Due to the construction of the lance, it is rarely used outside of wartime or by mercenaries. Guards and sentries normally are, instead, issued a similarly sized spear to wield. Centoraurions almost always use the lance, however, as it is commonly associated to their horses, giving them much more interest to the tribe.

Fighting Style
The lance is relatively heavy, requiring the one-handed use of a knight to rely on his/her sheer momentum to keep the lance upwards. But the impact of a cavalry charge with lances is not to be underestimated, usually resulting in the complete shattering of a unit.

On foot, the lance is a two-handed polearm capable of impaling nearly any enemy. Although made for thrusting, the lance is also fully capable of slashing. A large, powerful two-handed slash will most likely be more than enough for a fully armored footknight, the impact and momentum of the blade driving it deep into his/her body. The strong wood and the steel head are connected with overlapping steel, with a small bit of steel being pushed through a hole in both materials, keeping the head of the lance from snapping off.

However, this is still merely a secondary option for a lancer to use, as its first and foremost usage is for the standard, but ever-so-effective, thrust.

Origin/History
The Centoraurians were first noted using the lance about halfway through the first Sarvonian War. The Centoraurian cavalry were so powerful that the usage of lances quickly spread to surrounding lands. Due to the lances’ durability making it capable of being retrieved from one enemy and used on the next, it became a very feared weapon on the battlefield.

Since then, almost all the tribes in North and South Sarvonia has adopted the use of the lance, and even the Santerran Army in Nybelmar has. Most of these said tribes prefer to give the lances solely to cavalry, preferring the lighter spears for infantry work. The humans are the ones who use it the most, but even some elves have been seen walking into a battle with a lance under their arms.

The Kassites of Nybelmar were often compared to the Centoraurians, as both cultures became extremely proficient with mounted lancers.However, the Centoraurians are more renown due to their participation in the Sarvonian World War and other large-scale battles.

Many famous individual lancers have also graced the history of Caelereth, even before the first Centoraurians were recorded using them. One such lancer was the great Teimor, who led his people to the Celeste Lowlands in 1627 b.S.

Quote:
"…after leading his people to where they are now, [Teimor] found an enormous Cartashian bear. He battled it one on one, the ferocious bear swatted the horse right out from under him. Teimor's lance was shattered beneath his mount. Using his shield he deflected the bear again and again, its jaws tore a hole in the shield. In the end, Teimor grabbed a piece of his shattered lance and pierced the immense creature's heart. Honouring the creature, Teimor founded the first town here."

The lance has always dotted the world of Caelereth, but after the Centoraurians' usage of it in the first Sarvonian War, it became a staple in polearm warfare.

Edited by: Artimidor Federkiel at: 1/8/06 8:20


	Logged

Artimidor Federkiel

Administrator

Gained Aura: 538
Offline

Offline

Gender: Male

Posts: 23.091

Re: Lance

« Reply #1 on: 08 January 2006, 03:43:00 »

Just had a closer look and am very satisfied the way you wrote this piece, Ken - it really leaves nothing to be desired, even Santharian measures are integrated properly! :thumbup

So it seems you've indeed done your researches regarding the weapon as well as the Santharian stuff, and this is exceptionally pleasing and exciting for a first entry, I have to admit! No typos or misspellings either, and as far as I can tell it wasn't copied directly from another site or something, which had forced us to take some stuff down again already in the past due to copyright issues. So if you can confirm that you've gathered the information, put it together yourself and didn't steal it directly from somewhere else, I guess it can go straight up the way it is, Ken!

- Just have to ask, though, because I've made bad experiences in the past with newcomers posting quite lengthy and detailed entries, you know

The Santharian Dream Webmaster - Let Fantasy Dreams come true!
World Development Admin - The Forum where Worlds are born...

Edited by: Artimidor Federkiel at: 1/7/06 10:47


	Logged

"Between the mind that plans and the hands that build there must be a mediator, and this must be the heart." -- Maria (Metropolis)

Ken Shinjin

Newbie

Gained Aura: 0
Offline

Offline

Posts: 16

Re: Lance

« Reply #2 on: 08 January 2006, 11:38:00 »

Well, I am very pleased that my entry has made such an impression.

First I wrote it in Word (prevents it from being deleted due to a temperamental internet), which helped prevent typos and misspellings. I'm slightly anal, and posts and such must be as perfect as possible.

Yes, this is all my original work. I do most of my research at en.wikipedia.org, which I have found to be the most reliable encyclopedia on the internet. So you can feel free to double-check my work at anytime against their posts there.

I hope my further updates will please you as much as this one has!


	Logged

Artimidor Federkiel

Administrator

Gained Aura: 538
Offline

Offline

Gender: Male

Posts: 23.091

Re: Lance

« Reply #3 on: 08 January 2006, 12:33:00 »

BTW: In order to get even more Santharian references in, don't forget to use the "Search Site" function (click on the magnifying glass left of the text "Site Menu"). If you search for "lance" you'll find a bunch of tribes where the lance plays an important role - you could mention those as well and make the entry even more complete and integrated.

For example we have a cool picture we can re-use at this entry as well, Eratin's Kuglim lancer, see here:

The Santharian Dream Webmaster - Let Fantasy Dreams come true!
World Development Admin - The Forum where Worlds are born...


	Logged

"Between the mind that plans and the hands that build there must be a mediator, and this must be the heart." -- Maria (Metropolis)

Ken Shinjin

Newbie

Gained Aura: 0
Offline

Offline

Posts: 16

Re: Lance

« Reply #4 on: 08 January 2006, 11:54:00 »

Alright, that sounds great. I had chosen the Centoraurians as a likely source due to their deep connection with their horses, but that is a wonderful idea, Artimidor. Thank you for pointing that out to me. That will help greatly in further integrating the weapons into the world of Caelereth. Afterall, there are many weapons that kingdoms and peoples were known for, such as the Scottish claymore.

I shall revise my lance post to make it even better, and feel free to use the picture. Or is that a job I do?

*has never dealt with pictures before*

EDIT: How's that, Arti?

Edited by: Ken Shinjin at: 1/7/06 19:59


	Logged

Artimidor Federkiel

Administrator

Gained Aura: 538
Offline

Offline

Gender: Male

Posts: 23.091

Re: Lance

« Reply #5 on: 08 January 2006, 14:13:00 »

Looks cool to me

I'll give it a further check upon integration, so I'll take it in this week's update. I'll also add the picture of course, so don't worry about that

The Santharian Dream Webmaster - Let Fantasy Dreams come true!
World Development Admin - The Forum where Worlds are born...


	Logged

"Between the mind that plans and the hands that build there must be a mediator, and this must be the heart." -- Maria (Metropolis)

Artimidor Federkiel

Administrator

Gained Aura: 538
Offline

Offline

Gender: Male

Posts: 23.091

Re: Lance

« Reply #6 on: 08 January 2006, 15:39:00 »

Already prepared it, only had to make some small adjustments (e.g. the Santerrans aren't from Sarvonia). We can also use the Brave Helvet coat of arms here to show the importance the lance has for the Kuglimz. Here:

One final thing is still needed, though:

We usually have an Overview on top of the entry, summarizing the essence of the entry in 2-4 lines, so that the reader can check these lines and see if this is what he's been looking for to read on. Also these Overview lines will be put into the main Weapons entry, which links to the specific weapons entries (may be should split this Weapons entry up into weapon categories if you progress further

). So if you could provide this as well, we're done

Great work, Ken! :clap

The Santharian Dream Webmaster - Let Fantasy Dreams come true!
World Development Admin - The Forum where Worlds are born...


	Logged

"Between the mind that plans and the hands that build there must be a mediator, and this must be the heart." -- Maria (Metropolis)

Ken Shinjin

Newbie

Gained Aura: 0
Offline

Offline

Posts: 16

Re: Lance

« Reply #7 on: 08 January 2006, 16:22:00 »

Alright, I've added the overview (I don't think it has to be labeled...), and I've fixed a couple typos, as well as changed the sentence with the Santerrans to hopefully make more sense.

A thought on the coat of arms: will that have its own description under the picture, or shall I incorporate it into the entry itself? Either way's fine with me, so whichever you prefer shall be done.

Oh yes, and if/when you put the entry up into the database, could you put the author as "Ruil Mallister"? This is actually a temporary name, because I really want my character's profile to be the account's first post on Santharia. I'd really appreciate it. :biggrin

Thanks!


	Logged

Artimidor Federkiel

Administrator

Gained Aura: 538
Offline

Offline

Gender: Male

Posts: 23.091

Re: Lance

« Reply #8 on: 09 January 2006, 02:20:00 »

I've already added a text to go with the coat of arms in the final version, so no need to worry

If you make new entries and discover a picture (see Resources Forum) somewhere which suits it, you can of course point that out, include it here and provide this text yourself as well already next time.

Will add overview and adjust the name as well - make sure to register anew with this name, so that people don't get confused!

The Santharian Dream Webmaster - Let Fantasy Dreams come true!
World Development Admin - The Forum where Worlds are born...


	Logged

"Between the mind that plans and the hands that build there must be a mediator, and this must be the heart." -- Maria (Metropolis)

Pages: [1]

Santharian Development

Forum

Santharian World Development

Miscellaneous (Moderators: Seeker, Valan Nonesuch)

Lance