Of the Avoloch

The Tale of the Swords of the Ancients And Other Blades of Power

A Mythology

By

Kit Rae

 

Of the Ellexdrow Spear

 

Kethol av Torketal, a high Mithrodin master and teacher, was well over two hundred years old when he was recruited to fight in the Red War against the Dark One and his sorcerers. He was the finest mentor and combat instructor among the Mithrodin, being a master in all forms of hand-to-hand and melee weapons, though at this time all hands were needed in the Red War so he was recruted to take up arms and fight. It had been many years since Kethol saw the battlefield, and he relished the thought of real combat. Though he often carried a short sword and wood staff, KetholŐs preferred weapon for war was the bladed war staff. Having been a trainer for near seventy years, Kethol had long ago passed his own ancient war sword staff to a top student. That bladed staff had been well used in many a battle, but Kethol had no need for such a fine weapon as a teacher. Toukol, the chief Mithrodin weaponsmith, and KetholŐs instructor in ancient days, took it as an honor to forge a new bladed staff for the old master. ToukolŐs skills were legendary, as he was instrumental in forming the order of the Mithrodin under the direction of the Ancient One, Atnal, and Toukol was the chief designer of their weapons.

Toukol decided upon a design similar to the old masterŐs original bladed staff with blade catcher, but with a second curved blade as requested by Kethol. He thence labored in his smithy for many days, crafting the weapon. Combining his preferred hard and soft steels, Toukol heated and hammered the alloys into two fists. He then heated and folded the steel until the blades were ready to quench. After the quenching Toukol tested the blade edge hardness and flex, finding them to be exceptional. They were then polished and engraved by his understudies while Toukol forged and shaped the fittings. The shaft he carved and shaped from the hardest spring iron. Thin and hollow for speed, but strong and flexible, able to withstand a blow from a sword without breaking. After the balance was tested the blades and fittings were fastened and pinned to the shaft, a tanned hare hide was wrapped over two places to make the grips. Toukol gave the main blade his finest combat edging, sharp and strong enough to cut through bone or even steel armor if needed, without chipping.

He tested its heft and throw, fine tuning the weight of the center fittings to have a perfect balance. Upon loosing it he found the flight to be straight and true to the throw, but this was also a fighting spear, deadly in the hands of an elf trained in staff and spear combat. No enemy would get close enough to lay hand or sword edge upon the wielder.  When complete, Toukol engraved his maker mark in the curved blade fittings. The staff was as fine as the Allaxdrow bladed staff he created for his beloved Estea, so named for reason of Allax meaning one, and that great weapon was her first. Toukol named this one Ellexdrow, or second spear. Though in his mind, Toukol deemed this to be the better weapon, indeed his finest bladed staff.

To be continued.

 

The Tale of the Swords of the Ancients and Other Blades of Power and its previous versions, The Swords of the Ancients and its abridged excerpts, and other forms, are ©1997,©2005, ©2008, and ©2010 by Kit Rae. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any other form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, computer networking, or otherwise without prior permission in writing by the copyright holder(s). Avoloch is a trademark of Kit Rae.