Abusing the Cutlery: Edged Weapons from Victorian Times: Part 2

“Weapons, however highly ornamented, are instruments of destruction. The wise man will have nothing to do with them.”

-Mencius

Weapon	Base Chance	Damage	Range	Attacks per Round	HPs	Malfunction
Katana*	25%	1D10+db	touch	1	30	00%
Katar*	20%	1D4+3+db	touch	1	11	00%
Khanda: 1-handed	15%	1D10+1+db	touch	1	28	00%
Khanda: 2-handed	25%	2D6+db	touch	1	28	00%
Khadga	20%	2d6+3+db	touch	1	19	00%
Kilij	20%	1D6+4+db	touch	1	28	00%
Kirpan	25%	1D4+2+db	touch	1	12	00%
Kora	20%	1D6+2+db	touch	1	12	00%
Kris	20%	1D6+3+db	touch	1	12	00%
Kukri	20%	1D4+3+db	touch	1	11	00%
Pata*	15%	1D8+1+1D6**	touch	1/2	13	00%
Pattani Jamdadu*	20%	1D6+2+db	touch	1	12	00%
Peshkabz*	20%	1D4+2+db	touch	1	20	00%
Phur-bu*	20%	1D3+1+db	touch	1	7	00%
Ram Dao	20%	2D6+1+db	touch	1	17	00%
Scimitar	20%	1D6+2+db	touch	1	12	00%
Shamshir	20%	1D6+2+db	touch	1	13	00%
Talwar	20%	1D6+2+db	touch	1	12	00%
Zaghnal*	20%	1D6+1+db	touch	1	18	00%

*This weapon can Impale

**The extra die of damage accrues only if the Pata is used with a horseback charge

So much for common-or-garden cutlery. Exposure to foreign cultures meant that British and American military types encountered the bizarre motley of other bladed weapons out there in the world. The English in particular, given their interests in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Persia and the Far East, souvenired a lot of the local swords. Sometimes, they were so taken with the stylings of these weapons that they replaced the hand grips and protectors of their own British swords with those of foreign make, leading to the concept of faringi, or ferenghi, blades (and you were wondering where “Star Trek” got that word from!), ethnically-styled weapons of non-Middle-eastern make, on the Middle Eastern market.

These indigenous weapons have their own idiosyncrasies and these are detailed below.

Katana

The quintessence of cool in the geek’s armoury, these weapons are manufactured from layers of folded steel over a soft metal core, giving them incredible flexibility and toughness. The single edge focuses the energy of a blow into a wide area while the flat rear edge of the blade lends strength. The curve means that any downward strike slices as well as bludgeoning, creating better efficiency in the blow. Finally the chisel tip gives the option of a forward thrusting strike in areas of limited space. All up, this is a weapon which causes maximum damage for little effort and, with its no-nonsense fittings and sleek lines, allows great manoeuvrability. An additional rule allows the weapon to be used either one-handed or with two; a one-handed strike only confers half the db.

Tradition has it that every katana also contains a ‘spirit’, built within it through the forging process. Exceptional swords, made by master smiths, assume legendary status and are guarded jealously. In traditional times, swords were ‘tested’ on prisoners to see if they met their makers’ expectations and they were graded according to performance at these trials. The results of three strikes against a human body were sometimes recorded on the sword’s tang along with the smith’s name and any dedicatory or mystical message. During World War Two, demand for katanas meant that Japanese soldiers were issued with swords stamped out of plate steel (where they had no ancestral blade of their own to carry into battle) and these of course were inferior weapons. In the American occupation of Japan after the War, most of these swords – cheap or exceptional - were seized and melted down. A small percentage were saved by diligent guardians or by US art experts who interfered (often too late) in the process.

Katar

The ‘punch dagger’ is a tidy little weapon that saw action throughout India, especially in the Sikh communities. The weapon has a long triangular blade which projects forward from the knuckles of the wielder; two metal bars run down from the corners of the blade either side of the user’s hand and these are connected by a cross-bar which the wielder grips. By punching forward, the user can make deadly strikes against an opponent, or they can slash downwards using the edge to slice with ruthless efficiency. The value of the katar is that it is easily concealed (using a Conceal Roll) and, when coupled with the advantage of surprise, is extremely potent.

Khadga

Buddhism ranges from very mild observances through to some quite startling extravagance and these outbreaks are mostly endemic to the Himalayas. The variation occurs through the degree of ‘exoteric’ interpretation of the doctrines; the relatively benign, predominant Mahayana Buddhism observes esoteric – largely theoretical, or symbolic – attitudes of faith, while the sects of Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia take a more literal, and often more frightening, approach.

Depictions of Buddhist ‘deities’ (for want of a better English equivalent) of these regions often feature a mighty sword surrounded at its tip by roiling flames. This is the khadga, which is a symbol of tactical nous and military might, or philosophical insight and penetration. In religious rites of the Himalayas, these swords have been incarnated and form part of the ritual proceedings. They are often extremely long and heavy, and have the impediment of bearing moulded metal flames around their pointy ends. On the whole, this makes them less than effective in battle and, arguably, they were never meant to be so used; however, invasions by the British, the Russians and the Chinese meant that every now and then, someone would break one out the box and bring it to the party...

Khanda

The khanda is a standard sword widely encountered in the Sub-continent, but mainly in the western parts of the country. The khanda may be one- or two-handed and, while most often having only a single edge, is sometimes encountered with two. It is generally a straight sword, without a curve to its blade, and frequently it sports a bar-like projection from the quillons to lend greater, downwards, chopping force.

As we will see with the kirpan (below) one of the five symbols of the observance of Sikhism is the carrying of a sword at all times; the khanda proliferates in the Sikh homelands for this reason. In fact, the holy symbol of Sikhism is called the khanda and bearing this symbol is a means of sophistry whereby a Sikh can be bearing a ‘sword’ in places where an actual weapon would be frowned upon.

Kilij

The kilij is the standard military sidearm for Ottoman, Persian and Turkish troops; in essence, it can be seen as a kind of ‘heavy scimitar’. Like the scimitar and the shamshir, the kilij has an elegant curving blade and, like the scimitar, the furthest end of the blade is double-edged, while the end closest to the hilt has only a single edge. The kilij tends to be of heavier construction however, making it a weapon best suited for cleaving and chopping: not a lot of point-work goes on with these swords.

Kirpan

In the Sikh faith there are five outward signs of devotion (or panj kakaar) adopted by baptised male members of the faith (khalsa): one, observing the rule to never cut one’s hair (kesh); two, bearing a wooden comb (kanga); three, the wearing of kaccha, specially-designed breeches; four, wearing an iron bracelet, or kara; and finally, the bearing of a kirpan. The kirpan is a small – sometimes only decorative – dagger, notable for the fact that the sheath has a sharply backwards-pointing tip.

Wearing the kirpan is a reminder that those of the Sikh faith were once cruelly persecuted and that such persecution is to be fought against. Sikhs aspire to adopt the role of ‘soldier-saint’ in the defence of their faith and society and the injunction to be armed at all times carries the implicit message that one should be always prepared to defend one’s community. Some Sikhs feel that carrying the representation of a sword – a pendant, pocket-knife, or the khanda, Sikhism’s holy sign – is sufficient to meet this obligation; others are more stringent. Many places in India - especially the Punjab region - in Pakistan and Afghanistan, will restrict access to those wearing edged weapons, with the sole exception of the kirpan.

Kora

This is the big brother of the kukri (see below). The blade of this short sword curves forward and the inner edge of that curve is sharpened. Moving out from the hilt, the blade widens, ending in a wide irregular plane at the furthest extremity: it’s immediately obvious that these swords are meant as huge choppers and they are intended for use in executions as decapitators, when not at service on the battlefield. Given their width and the large surface area they display, these swords are often extensively patterned. They are found mainly in the Himalayas and Northern India.

Kris

This wicked-looking weapon is synonymous with Indonesia, although various pulp writers enjoy relocating it to other locales to do service as an instrument of mayhem. The technology for making these knives arrived in the archipelago during Hindu rule, but the mysticism and legendry surrounding them is purely indigenous.

A kris is easily identified by its wavy blade; this is always an odd number of turns, although some kris’s are, in fact, straight. The blade is damascened; that is, it is made up of folded layers of metal, endlessly re-heated and beaten flat: the metal shows a distinct rippled effect, reminiscent of water as a result.

Each kris is believed to have its own soul, installed within it during the creation process. This is no benign animus, however. The spirit of the kris is supposed to thirst for blood, and requires that blood quenches its blade each time it is drawn, before being returned to the scabbard. Some kris’s are said to be cooled in the blood of the living at the end of their forging, making them very powerful and dangerous indeed. A traditional pattern dyed onto Indonesian fabric came about as a means of shielding the wearer from the inherent evil of these blades: the parang rusak, or “broken knife”, pattern is said to help turn aside the spirit of the kris.

The Indonesian village shamans are said by some to be able to animate the spirit of the kris, separating it from its metal form and sending it out in the night to enact vengeance or terror. Sometimes, this spirit is said to be able to possess the shaman upon return, transforming them into a homicidal agent bent on slaking the kris’s bloodlust. Only the most powerful shamans therefore, are able to so command these weapons.

There is a martial art style associated with the kris which combines sinuous, low circling movements with strikes and parries using one or two blades, or the blade in combination with its scabbard. Like other forms of Martial Art in Call of Cthulhu, attacks using these skills add extra damage to successful strikes.

Kukri

This is the traditional fighting knife of the Gurkhas of Nepal and many are the legends surrounding them and their use. The oft-repeated tale is the one of the sentry who was crept up upon and heard a sudden gust of wind. Looking around as his Gurkha assailant stepped into view from behind him, the sentry’s head rolled off his neck and thumped to the ground. Or so the story goes.

Getting back to basic physics, the thing that defines these knives’ effectiveness is the powerful blow that they are designed to deal out. The short length of the weapon lessens inertia; the forward curve of the blade brings greater force to bear on the razor thin edge; the curling profile of the edge ensures that, as the sword strikes it also slices forwards into whatever it pounds upon. Given that high-quality examples of these blades are super-sharp, maybe that story about the sentry isn’t so far-fetched after all...

Pata

A holdover from the days of the Mughal rulers of India, this weapon is designed to be used most effectively from horseback. It has an enclosing handgrip that keeps the fist and forearm free from any attack by foot-soldiers, or the attack of another mounted pata user. The long blade is double-edged and terminates in a fine point, allowing the pata to be used like a lance in the hands of the knights of old. In fact, jousting is what this weapon is uniquely designed to do.

Contrarily, on a not-so-chivalrous note, it is also very good at despatching pesky unmounted troops, allowing the wielder to stab and slash at them from the lofty heights of their saddle. It does an extra 1D6 points of damage to a target if the user charges on horseback, a distance of at least 5 metres. Using the pata while unmounted is largely an exercise in futility as it is far too long and slow to be used effectively.

Pattani Jamdadu

This is a transitional phase between the katar and the pata: essentially it is just a sword weapon with the handgrip of the katar dagger. It is much less clumsy to use than the pata, but nowhere near as efficient as the katar. Various forms of this blade exist and the extreme number of iterations is testament to the fact that it is a transitional form of the blade.

Peshkabz

Another holdover from the Mughal overlords of India, the peshkabz is an elegant straight-edged dagger – sometimes with a slight curve – noteworthy for the reinforcement along the back of the blade. It is, quintessentially, a stabbing weapon, and was designed to punch through the chainmail armour of the Mughal warriors. As such, it completely ignores chainmail or similar armour in combat. These weapons were highly decorated and are much sought-after by collectors in the modern era.

Phur-bu

The phur-bu is a weapon distinctly Himalayan, and designed for the exoteric practises of the mountain Buddhists. Highly decorated, they consist of a grotesque bronze-cast head, or series of heads, as a pommel, a handle shaped as a ritual ‘lightning bolt’ talisman (vajra), and a three-edged, arrow-shaped radial blade. As with the khadga (above), its use in battle is limited, and, fundamentally, it was not meant for anything but ritual purposes. However, occasionally needs must, and the phur-bu is put to a less-than-holy use.

As seen in the movie “The Shadow” (1994), the phur-bu can be all kinds of fun in the hands of an innovative Keeper. If you haven’t seen that film (and if you haven’t, why haven’t you?), check it out to see what I mean.

Ram Dao

The Ram Dao really has only one purpose – it is used for decapitating condemned prisoners. There are two distinct versions of this weapon, an Indian and a Nepalese variety, and they vary only in terms of their blade complexity.

Both weapons are two-handed - that is, they require two hands to use properly. They are very heavy and often quite ornamented. The Nepalese version, while also used to despatch those sentenced to death, also has funerary uses which have created strange deformations of the blade. The Nepalese butcher their dead after the funeral rites and leave the flesh out in the open to be eaten by birds and wild animals. This butchering is done by specialist priests and the Ram Dao has mutated in their hands, sprouting curls, serrations, handles and reinforcing, to allow the dismembering process to take place as efficiently as possible.

They also look bloody scary!

Scimitar / Shamshir

The scimitar is the non-pareil djinni sword, seen in every “Thief of Baghdad” or Ray Harryhausen film. It is an elegant blade that was much-admired by British troops stationed in India and it influenced the style of the cavalry sabres which the British army leaders affected during the time of the Raj. Both the scimitar and the shamshir are very similar weapons and thus have identical statistics; the only real difference between them is that the scimitar’s pointed tip is double-edged, while the shamshir is a completely singled-edged sword.

Talwar

The talwar is the province of the hill tribes of Afghanistan and Pakistan and was adopted by many Russian units including Cossacks and Mongols. It is a long, heavy, single-edged sword, with a grooved cross-section that allows blood to flow freely from the wounds it inflicts. It is not a speedy blade, but it is devastating in its impact leaving horrible damage. It is noteworthy for its disc-like pommel and handguard.

Zaghnal

Another Mughal weapon, this is a narrow-bladed pickaxe designed, like the peshkabz, to pierce through the chainmail armour of the opposition. Like those daggers, these weapons completely ignore chainmail armour – or similar – which they impact against. Unlike the more prosaic digging implements which they represent, these mauls are made all of steel rather than having a wooden haft; this makes them very heavy and capable of landing wicked blows. Typically, they are highly ornamented often with representations of animals included in their imagery.

*****

Obviously there are many more types and styles of bladed weapons out there and this list is not exhaustive. It does however, identify many forms of swords and daggers that are prevalent in the literature and cinema of Britain and the US throughout the Twentieth Century, and which, by extension, are familiar tropes within the roleplaying games that focus on this period.

Given the threat posed by the Mythos in all of its forms in Call of Cthulhu, wise Investigators will know not to place too much trust in any weapon, taking a leaf out of Mencius’s book in this regard. Still, it never hurts to be prepared!