Daily life in Melza: Melzan law enforcement hilt designs for single-edged swords

Concept art of hilt designs for single-edged swords (hangers, messers) in the law enforcement organizations of Melza (the City Watch, the Frontiersmen Corps).

 

 

I am still bewildered I haven't posted this image yet, even though I made it a long time ago. (Possibly because I'm slowly working on a big, detailed chart version of this image, which includes the scanned sketches, with all the fancy bells and whistles that implies.)

This is another design for my fantasy setting, specifically for the single-edged swords used by Melza's City Watch and Frontiersmen Corps. The upper image shows the hilt of a police messer (one-handed or two-handed, depending on the size), while the lower image shows the hilt used for police hangers, short sabres and cutlasses, all one-handed. (OTL hilt comparison images for the former and the latter.)

Both hilt types include the simple but distinctive feature of a pommel forged into the decorative shape of a griffin's head, the griffin being the traditional shield-bearer of the Melzan coat of arms, and also the inspiration for the name of its currency, griffins. It's only natural that the law enforcement of Melza and its surrounding territory would adopt this symbol for their single-edged swords, as a means of telling their swords apart and dissuading criminals from stealing and selling them from ambushed watchmen. Despite a fair amount of detail on the pommel, the griffin-head shape is actually quite monolithic and compact, the finer details are incorporated into the pommel and do not stick out into the surrounding space. This keeps the pommel of the weapon practical in daily use.

The latter hilt style also sees use among mounted members of the Frontiersmen Corps, for their horseback sabres. City Watch members patrolling and guarding the docks of the city even have a heavier cutlass variant of the same hilt, with the front of the knucklebow expanded into a a robust bell-guard of the cutlass.

 

 

 Other Thick as Thieves weapons and tools concept art
- City Watch insignia and info
- Frontiersmen Corps insignia and info
- Trick arrows and other projectiles
- Trick bombs and trick mines
- Lockpicking tools and equipment

 





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