Swords

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The Daygar are using Damascus Steel swords that was made at the beginning for the 14th Century by the Templars. The Templars had learned how to make it and was only provided to the Templar Hunters.

They captured a blacksmith and forced him to teach them how to use this technique and then began developing their own version on weapons with silver in them. 2/3 - 3/4 is iron, with one part silver and 1 part copper. Exact measurements is unknown and the secret of the Templar swords remained mystery.

History[edit | edit source]

In the later Medieval period (c. 1000-1500 AD) more advanced metallurgical and smithing technology made steel production and sword making progressively cheaper. High quality blades remained expensive, but by the Fourteenth Century not only could poorer men afford a cheap sword, but some laws required them to own one. In Medieval England the Statute of Winchester (1285 AD) mandated that even men of the poorest class, worth less than £5 a year, were required by law to own at least a sword, a knife and a bow or crossbow.

By the mid-Fourteenth Century a poorer man could buy a cheap, mass-produced sword for as little as sixpence, though a better quality blade would set him back 1-2 shillings. In the same period a cow cost 12 pence and a horse from six shillings to £2, while a carpenter earned 3 pence a day and a mason 5 1/2 pence.

So by the later Middle Ages swords were affordable, with price depending on quality, and most men would have been expected to carry one if travelling or to have one around the house. To avoid bloodshed many cities and towns passed laws forbidding men to wear swords in the streets and it was customary to take off your sword when entering a house or to leave them and other weapons in the gatehouse when entering a castle or manor house.

Swords were always the main weapon of choice throughout the period because of their versatility in combat. Unlike shorter weapons, like daggers or the early Medieval "seax", a sword had reach and so could be used in a highly agressive way and could also be used as easily on horseback as on foot. But unlike longer weapons, like spears and polearms, it could also be used defensively. If an opponent got "inside your guard" with a pole-arm or spear, the only defence was to give ground and get him back in strking distance. But a sword could be used closer to the body and enable a fighter to regain the offensive much more easily. Swords could also be used to parry, riposte, feint and guard much more effectively and with more versatility than most other weapons.