Wizard's Ax

In the ancient shaftbuilder empire, magic was dug up from the earth, and the carving of tunnels and digging of mineshafts were feats of mighty sorcery. The words for miner and wizard and were one and the same, and wizard's ax arose as a symbol of this foundational class of people in the old empire.

In its basic form, the wizard's axe is a heavy pickaxe, with a daggerlike blade affixed to the end and a diamond-shaped inlay between the three blades in which an unimprinted green stone was placed. Thus, for the wizard the ax would be a tool, a weapon, a symbol of their station, and a source of magical power.

Construction

Few proper wizard's axes have been made since the fall of the shaftbuilder empire as no modern civilization digs for green stone as the shaftbuilders did. Thus to create a wizard's ax would likely require taking green stone from an existing shaftbuilder artifact, something few are willing to do. However, in many cases the wooden handle of a wizard's ax has been replaced, even if the blade is the ancient original.

In the old days, the highest quality steel was used to create wizard's axes, and magic was often used to harden the materials used for the item. While counterfeits have been attempted, often replacing the green stone with some other jewel, these are easy to spot by educated Thaner. Magically-assisted shaftbuilder metallurgy is nearly impossible to imitate today, and the green stone is a rare commodity indeed.

Significance

The Thaner today hold that they are the heritors of the Shaftbuilder empire, and their rulers descend from the Imperial Dreamers of the shaftbuilders. Thus the wizard's ax has become a Thaner symbol as well, and the stylized form of the wizard's ax, often as simple as a cross with the horizontal lines angled downward and a diamond-shape in the middel, is common in Thaner heraldry. An authentic wizard's ax, particularly one that belonged to an Imperial Dreamer is an important symbol of legitimacy and heritage, and many sat in protected displays in the palaces of the Thaner before their fall.

Today, Ras Gafhi Yaner possesses one wizard's ax and keeps it under lock and key in his fortress in Harhoun. Many other pieces have been lost to the dragon, and wizard's axes are among the more recognizable shaftbuilder artifacts even outside the Thaner realms. Many find their way to private collections after their excavation by archeologists specializing in the millennia old shafts.

Item type

Weapon, Melee

by Made by me.