Lion's Rend
'The legendary serpent was the terror of the seas, but this night, he met his demise against a land-dweller that refused to die outside of his town terms. Even cornered, the lion remains a king among predators.'
Summary
The legends tell that to reach the sunken temple of the Snake God (in progress), the weary deity gave it access only to those of it's own seed, judging them worthy enough to gauge a follower's faith and assist on finding it's ancient shrine. Thus, only by having a portion of blood from the Elder Sea Serpents (originally four existed), children of the Serpent God, would the temple manifest itself, revealing it's secrets to the ones judged worthy.
However, one item managed to attune a part of those elder sea serpent's on itself permanently: Lion's Rend, weld by the legendary arena fighter Serwacy Hogblade. A short blade (gladius) slightly longer than the average, with the handle portraying a lion, and a small piece of beige silk looking like a horse tassel at the end.
One stormy night, as he was sailing on a merchant boat to reach the next city, the sailors noticed the dreaded Hohonungaro, son of the Serpent, and started praying for a merciful end. However, Serwacy had no plan to wait on dying, and led the makeshift army to attack the sea serpent with all the possible weapons they had. Luckily, Serwacy also had a blessed pendant allowing him to breath underwater, and used this capacity to ride the serpent while damaging the colossal beast.
By a miracle, the serpent seemed on his last breath, before sinking to the depths, held some stray ropes in it's mouth which entangled Serwacy with him.
Sinking, and starting the water pressure reach to him, Serwacy went for a deadly gambit: as he was entangled near the serpent's eye, he plunged it's own trusty gladius in himself to pierce the serpent's eye. This was the fatal blow, as the serpent slowly stopped struggling and released it's grasp, allowing a severely wounded Murmillo to swim back to the surface.
The warrior reached one of the last boats, but was fatally wounded: along with the critical wound, his bladed was covered of the vitreous fluid of the beast, which was filled with legendarily venom. With final last words, he deceased on the boat.
The legend tells that his blade always has the oily fluid of Hohonungaro on it, making it a magical and deadly weapon. Also, because of the original legend of the serpent God, his blade is heavily expected to be a functional 'key' to the lost sunken temple. However, never did it's owner claimed to have found it yet, either through lack of interest or simple lack of knowledge to the temple's expected locations.
To this day, the sword location is unknown, as it's last owner also meet his death in a shipwreck. The sword is rumored to be lost in the depths of the sea, as it was not found in the ship's remains.
Historical Basis
The event was deemed genuine as the surviving sailors where interrogated for a long time on their arrival, also through means of spells.
However, no one knows the full story behind Serwacy's blade.
During the youth of his gladiator career, Serwacy also completed some mercenary work and protection contracts for politicians and nobles. However, something changed him during a contract: While raiding a rival of a corrupt noble, he captured a fleeing young girl holding a parchment having serious allegations that could destroy the noble's career. Wanting to keep his resume intact, he kept the girl in his custody and the parchment which he gave back to the noble. However, the noble killed the child in cold blood in front of him. Serwacy felt responsible for the death of an innocent that never killed. Thus, when he received a new masterwork gladius for his arena successes, he made a solemn vow to kill only those that caused harm for their benefit. 100 souls to pay for the one he directly cause to be judged hastily. And as reminder, he used a part of the beige dress' cloth from the little girl which he had while capturing her, and made it a tassel connected to the pommel.
When Serwacy was travelling, he was expected to fight another city's grand champion for an enormous amount of gold and glory. His new blade, which he named Lion's Rend, claimed the life of 98 fighters, not a single slave nor animal. he was expecting to finish his streak through the grand champion, and the noble there, as revenge and atonement. this was going to be his last fight.
However, by some sick irony, the 100th victim was himself after he killed the notorious sea serpent. His last word: ' I guess one can't escape his sins. This may not have been the best way, but it's the only one i knew. I hope she will forgive me. Living and dying by the blade.'
Spread
The myth remains strong and well known, as Serwacy got his own statue in the Hall of Legends after his body was recovered. His own village also made a memorial to his name, and many fighters and children heard his tale against Hohonungaro.
Cultural Reception
In the country the legend began, it is usually a local housemaker tip to avoid making or buying beige dress to girls with male siblings, as it may get cut by the little guy to make his own Lion's Rend tassel.
In Art
Lion's Rend had its own share of art along serwacy, as children made wooden replicas of it, but also master smith tried to emulate the weapon's design as a tribute to the blacksmith and hero wielding it.
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