Ba'ichai

The ba'ichai is a lesser known type blunt melee weapon made by the native ovinex culture. Essentially a slightly more advanced hardwood club, the ba'ichai has the advantage of being useable in one hand and incredibly simple to make and wield.

Mechanics & Inner Workings

A ba'ichai is a wooden club up to four feet long from pommel to tip. The base is carved such that it looks like the wood has been curled to one side, creating a directional pommel that helps keep the weapon in-hand even when one's fingers have become slippery from moisture. The handle is knurled to further enhance grip and may be large enough to accomodate two-handed grips. Like the ba'amba, most ba'ichai feature a loop of leather or cord strung through the pommel, though this is generally draped around the user's wrist with the ba'ichai to make the weapon easier to carry and retain.
Above the handle, the club proceeds straight upwards before flaring slightly at the tip, the overall impression of the weapon being that of a ram's horn that has somehow been straightened out. The flared end may be ringed with a narrow ridge carved directly into the striking edge or, in some cases, may include a disc-shaped stone head. This structural element concentrates force and is capable of cracking skulls if the wielder has good timing.
The overall smaller size and lighter construction of the ba'ichai make it much faster-striking than the ba'amba, though it does so at the expense of raw striking power or the ability to ensnare opponents.

Significance

Like the ba'amba, the ba'ichai was designed to aid in the taking of captives in the era before the Rostran-Ovinex War renderd slaving infeasible for the ovinex peoples.
Notably, the ba'ichai is significantly less effective against ovinex than it is against Rostrans. Ovinex have a much more sturdy physicality overall, and numerous parts of their bodies are covered in protective chitin which may be used to deflect blows. Furthermore, the predominany martial art of Gam Pfa'a includes many techniques designed to foil strikes from weapons swung in the manner of a ba'amba or ba'ichai, including pre-emptive horn rushes and grappling techniques. For this reason, when an ovinex warrior is expecting to face others of his own species, he is more likely to employ a spear or, in modern times, to purchase knives or even firearms from their Rostran counterparts. Still, ba'ichai techniques and counters to them are still taught as part of Gam Pfa'a training for the Island Rangers and Black Sheep just in case.

Item type

Weapon, Melee

Rarity

Unlike the much more popular ba'amba, the ba'ichai is seldom found outside of the Ovinex Island Tribes territories.

Raw materials & Components

Ba'ichai are constructed almost entirely of ironwood or other dense hardwoods, though embellishments in cord, leather, or stone (especially jade and other semi-precious minerals) may also be included in their construction. Like all ovinex carved goods, well-made ba'ichai are as much peices of fine art as they are weapons.