Hunter's Blade

The Weapon of the Clans

These...hunters...as they call themselves have not only learned how to stalk our kind, but how to permanently hurt us. With the help of some of these witches, they have forged weapons that not only cut but scar. Be careful from here on out, my children, and warn your children of the danger. Remember, we are not invulnerable to death.

— Nazar, the First, to the Elders, circa 5000 BCE

The blade of a hunter is historically a two-fold work between the blacksmith that forged the blade and the witch that enchanted it with their power. In modern times, this often remains so inside of the clans as the cheaply made blades that are rife upon the general market are not hardy enough to stand up to the rigors of their work. The sort of equipment that modern military forces employ in their bladed weaponry is closer to the quality the clans require and often the older, smaller knives will end up being purchased from surplus shops. However, longer weapons such as swords are made by in-house blacksmiths who are members of the clan or married into the clan.

The Forging

Clan blacksmiths have long forged weapons in batches in order to have several hundred weapons enchanted in one go. These sets of weapons often share the same properties, including little quirks that the casters at the time put into them. An example of one such weapon is the long knife carried by Hunter Marie Smith when she was alive. This knife, an already ancient blade when Marie was gifted it by her father upon passing her hunter's trial, has enchantments upon it that gives the blade an almost sentience. The weapon recognizes those with Smith blood that hold it, giving them a unique awareness of where the blade is at at all times once bonded to it.

Each batch of weapons themselves may be made up of both long and short weapons, but are also usually unique to the clan they are made for. Nerugal and Alkina, for example, will produce blades similar in shape to the scimitar, khopesh, shamshir, or kard. In contrast, the Kosho typically carry katana, kama, or even sai.

The Enchanting

Once a set of weapons are forged, they must go to the witch or witches who are going to imbue the blades with their magic. Given that each clan is allied with a specific sect of witches, the blades are as unique and identifiable by this magic as the hunters themselves.

In older times, the weapons would be packed up, taken from whoever had forged them, and transported to the sect allied with the clan in question. As times changed and need to weapons to be enchanted more quickly, witches from the sect were given space amongst the clan in their home location. Usually picked by volunteer, these spots were also sometimes picked to be filled by witches who were the most skilled at imbuing their power into objects. These positions inside of a clan typically last for five years, after which the witch is consulted by the head of the clan and the head of their sect as to whether they wish to remain in the position or leave.

Special Weapon Batches

While the majority of hunter blades are relatively the same in their forging and enchanting, there are many surviving blades that are unique in their form and function. The features in these blades may vary even inside of their own batches, with some having stronger properties than others and some not having some properties at all. Given the amount of detail that has to go into these such enchantments, these are few and far between and have only been done in the past by witches who had a specific agenda in mind.

Two examples of these such batches of weapons come from the Smith clan. One of these batches includes the blade mentioned earlier, the one that had a sort of sentience for recognizing those who carry the bloodline of the clan and bond with their wielder. Another was created sometime during the 1600s, the weapons forged and the magic cast by the same Hancóc witch. These weapons have only one extra property from normal hunter blades: they will horrifically scar any vampire that they wound who bears the blood of the Smith clan.

Vampires of Bigby Fork    Species      Hunters      Hunter's Blade

Working table of a hunter clan blacksmith by Terion

Blades Specific to Each Clan

NERUGAL

Scimitar, khopesh, shamshir, kard, combat knife.

ALKINA

Scimitar, khopesh, shamshir, kard, combat knife.

KOSHO

Katana, kama, sai, combat knife. Rare example: naginata.

CORANUS

Spatha, gladius, spear.

SMITH

Longsword, shortsword, dagger, long knife, combat knife.

BONGAM

Axe, cledd, javelin, combat knife.

HOLT

Longsword, shortsword, dagger, combat knife.

WOLFE

Longsword, cavalry sword, machete, combat knife.

Item type

Weapon, Melee

Raw materials & Components

Hunter blades have been made of all of the same materials that any weapon have been made of, from copper to iron to steel to modern carbon steel.