u/AstaNUraume

A longer version of the aixmans ekhea (double pointed spear), around 12' to 14' ,see's massive use from chariot warrior's as its their primary weapon as the shape is good for making it more likely that the enemy on the receiving end dies, but also making sure the warrior lands a thrust at all as it can be quite hard at times with the chariot bouncing.

The average length version of the aixmans ekhea, around 10' to 11', sees good, but not nearly as much, use from ground troops in anti chariot/anti cavalry roles, but also in use countering enemy spears. It is more niche for the ground troops, but it isn't super rare to see a hekwetas (warrior class) soldier's entourage carrying them in support of their lords. Police patrolling areas will also carry them since it's good for controlling the limbs of disobedient civilians and criminals.

A surprising but not so surprising place you'll see them often used is on warships to aid in boarding, as the crews use them for grappling with the enemies' spears, preventing the enemy from being able to board by either stabbing them or pushing boarding devices like ladders and ramps away. Sometimes you'll see crews carry shorter versions, around 6', for when they themselves board, but typically they'll have axes, maces and or swords.

- Blade(s): ~15" long, ~4.2" between each tip.

- Handle: ~13' long, made of Spear Wattle with rope near the front to help strength it against spintering and also to help resist anything chopping into the shaft. Bronze pommel for a counter weight and possible place to put your rear hand for maximum reach.

Pereeus (Perseus) is known to many for slaying one of the Gorgon's named Medusa, rescuing Andromeda, killing Polydectes and the suitors to save his mother, founding Mycenae, etc.; But to the Phthians, he has done much more and is one of the reasons they managed to flee the Aegean safely.

It is said when Mycenae and their allies betrayed and turned on the Phthians, Pereeus was so disgusted and ashamed at this blatant and cowardly betrayal, he equipped the Harpe (his sword), his Polished Shield, his winged boots and then flew off to help guide them to their destination, even though it was in direct violation of a few of the gods who wanted the Phthians dead for their perceived ego's and slandering of some of their names.

Along the journey, he slew Kharybdis, Skylla, the ketea, etc. Once he realized early on that the gods were out to kill the people whom he was protecting, he split the Harpe in half and bent one half to the side to form a hook to not only aid in his mission but also to show his defiance by desecrating a gift from the gods. Each head he took from those who seeked to stop them, with the hook of his sword, was twisting and turning and making the gods plans so infuriating and complicated, they seeked to assassinate him; but with him being Diwos' (Zeus') son, they realized if Diwos found out what they were doing, he would not taking it lying down, so they gave up trying to end the fleeing fleet and Pereeus.

- The Handle: 4" long. Its made of a twisted root from a golden apple tree in the garden of the Hesperides. It is covered in the flayed skin of Medusa as a trophy, but also for grip.

- The Blade: Base to thrusting tip is 13.75". Hook is ~4" across. Coated in silver as creatures who regenerate in Phthian mythology cannot do so when exposed to a divine silver blade.

Made for the challenge: Twisted

When winter begins coming to a close and the planting of crops nears, The Festival of the First Furrow begins and those who are deemed to be criminals and those are deemed to have been posssessed by Kakodaimons (malevolent spirits/demons) at birth, must be punished by being sacrificed to the gods as yearly repentance so the gods will remain content and not punish them for taking their benevolence for granted.

After the first day in which they marched to tallest mountain or cliff near them and threw all the infants who were deemed possessed off said cliff and mountain, 2 popular spots being Passage peak and Passage point on Hamilton Island since there is a famous and popular temple to Poseidawonos (Chief god) on the island, all Phthians in the Palace state will gather in the capital that's situated Cannon Valley and march down to the Blackdown Tablelands, specifically to the Horseshoe Lookout, with hundreds of criminals in tow.

Once it's midday after they arrive and the kids forced the criminals to eat a bunch of fruit and meat as a final rite of life for the criminals, didgerdoos begin being played, and circular dances are performed with men carrying tríaina (tridents) and baskets and women carrying labrys and torches. Once a white bird flies overhead, one by one, men thrust their tríaina into the criminals' stomach, and quickly after, the women bring down their labrys down on the criminals' heads. The bodies are thrown down the cliff, down to the previous sacrifices.

- Priest's trident: 6.75' shaft made of Eucalyptus blackbutt, a socketed head with a 7.8" central spike, 2 side projections with nephrite jade and agate gems. It has the words "Spring Offering" engraved in Linear b

- Priestess' labrys: 9" Handle made of Queensland Ebony, 7.2" long head. Has "Gods" engraved in Linear b, and a depiction of the sun and moon.

Made for this weeks theme: Execution

Though sphendonē hippwoide (slinger riders) might not be as rich or prestigious as aniokhosi (charioteers), they still play a very important role in most military endeavours, from flanking an enemy force that is engaging their friendly troops to harassing incoming enemy troops and supply lines.

Originally they were just simply a bunch of lawos (conscripts/common soldiers) who were given an iqo (horse) and enkhos (spear) that wasn't being used to scout and send messages for the army, but their usefulness in combat was quickly figured out when they charged into the backs of an enemy force that was engaging with friendly troops as they were coming back and easily routed them. Since then high status lawos (conscripts/common soldiers) and low ranking/poorer hekwetas (warrior class) men who can't afford a chariot but still want to be mounted become sphendonē hippwoide.

A sphendonē hippwoi will always be equipped with a smaller than average sphendonē (sling) and around 25 stones, give or take, at a time which'll be used from horseback. They're also nearly always equipped with a scabbard/quiver of 3 enkheha mewyo (short javelins), which were shortened so it's significantly easier to carry and use on an iqo (horse), they also have a throwing etawo (string) on them to aid in power, distance and accuracy. Finally, they'll have some sidearm of their choice, like a makhaira aryōma (curve bladed sword).

- Sling: Lomandra rope treated with animal fat, with a leather pouch to hold the projectile.

- Short javelin: 30" from end of bronze butt cap to the base of the blade, 6" head, a simple ankyle. Shaft is made of Spear Wattle.

- Makhaira aryōma: 26.7" blade, ~4.5" handle. Handle is made of Queensland Ebony.

Made for this weeks theme: Cavalry

Courting a woman is already difficult with needing to protect the image of yourself from other men, going above and beyond to seem like a worthy man, and a whole host of other stuff just for her to show interest in you within Phthian society, but the struggle is not felt by anyone more than by a young man from a poor demos (commoner class) family who makes pottery for a living and who acquired a massive interest in a woman who's a priestess who belongs to a Telestas (priest/priestess class) family, which is several social classes above him.

The young man spent the last of his money commissioning a phasganon, the most common type of knife shape you'll find being used by the Hekwetas (warrior class) and Demos alike, and a somewhat richly decorated scabbard, which he put a good layer of pottery clay on, which was smoothed out to give it a smooth finish in hopes of her father liking it and allowing him to marry her..

The name shown in the 9th image is the name of the god Zephyrus (Kakodaimone slayer, Protector of innocence, Protector of homes, God of Luck etc), The name shown in the 10th image is the name of the goddess Preswa (Goddess of love, Goddess of beauty, Goddess of pleasure, Goddess of procreation). Both are written in Linear B.

- Blade: 11" long, 1.9" base width. The handle is ~4" and made of ivory.

- Scabbard: Made of Australian cheesewood with an outer layer of pottery clay. A silver mouth, band, and chape. Multiple silver, copper, bronze and gold bumps. Names of a god and goddess engraved on the silver band to show that he's serious about this and for good luck in this courting attempt essentially.

When the Phthians landed in Queensland after being forced from their home in the Aegean a year and a half ago, they set up camp to start planning their future in the new land, how to deal with this drastically new environment they were led to and just generally where they were. At night in the camp they were beset by a large group of Aboriginals who ran through the massive camp attacking unprepared lawos (common soldiers/conscripts), men, women, doeri (slaves and prisoners) and anyone else who rushed out of their tents in the commotion.

After the initial confusion, the hekwetas (warrior class) organised themselves and the lawos, successfully pushing the attackers back out of the camp; although the attackers suffered heavy losses, they had inflicted a decent number of casualties at the beginning of the conflict.

A ton of unique weapons and shields were left after the fighting was finished, including a stone axe constructed in a very foreign manner, a decorated club (it's a fighting boomerang) and a shield using a foreign construction method and shape.

- Stone axe: 16" overall, handle is 13" with a resin wrap to hold it together.

- Hooked boomerang: 27"~ overall, 2" width, 7" back projection. Made of Gidgee wood that is painted with natural ochre with a kangaroo depiction near the top of it.

- Shield: 34" overall, 14" wide, 2" thick. Made with one solid carved piece the buttress root of the rainforest fig tree.

Made this weeks theme: No Metal

Oh, how tragic it is to love a person who finds you repulsive, an affront to an entire people's very existence, whom the one you love belongs to; such is the life of the goddess of the moon, Mene. Mene has a deep, unwavering, one sided love for the god of the sea, Potnios Poseidawonos (the chief god of the religion), but he finds her utterly repulsive due to not only being a titan, whom the theoi (gods) fought against and won, but also due to her purple skin and pointed ears. Her marriage with Hāwélios (the god of the sun) is said to be very rough, as Mene visits Poseidawonos every night (the reason the moon reflects on the sea/water), but when Potnia Sitos (the chief goddess, the goddess of women), who is Poseidawonos's wife, finds out Mene is around Poseidawonos, she confronts Mene for this transgression. Mene flies away in the form of a white bird, praying to be with Poseidawonos one day. Mene's husband, Hāwélios, punishes her by only allowing her to be around half of the day. When it is summer, it's said Marineus (the god of summer and winter) is at his angriest with Mene for her antics and appearance, so he forces Hāwélios make her stay away for longer or else suffer the wrath of all the theoi, both Ouranic (sky gods) and Chthonic (earth gods). When it is winter, it's said Marineus is too busy with his wife (the goddess of spring and fall) to really care, so she oversteps her bounds and stays longer.

The first 4 images are of the mythological version of her sword. The other 6 are the ones the cults (ancient definition) of Mene use for their sacrifices and what hekwetas (warrior class) men who are in a cult dedicated to Mene use in duels; the right point is armor-piercing, and the left one is for non bronze armor. It has a bird shape due to the myth of her flying away.

On the front blade, it has "Purple" in linear b and then a linear b logogram for "Woman". The handle is 15.6" with a 23" blade.

The faith in the gods is strong among everyone, but no one's faith is stronger than a Hekwetas (warrior class) man who devoted his blade and body to the god who he attributes his very survival to; this axe and chalice are the very testament of his faith for Paiawon (Apollo).

While in the midst of a battle with some invaders of a rival palace state in the south, the enemy slingers launched a large volley of akon (kestros like projectiles) toward him and his retainers. As soon as he heard the buzzing and whistling, he knew it was too late to flee, so he just turned his back to them since his shield was on his back and he prayed. When he did, he could have sworn he heard the sound of a lyre (one of Paiawon's symbols) playing, and then all the projectiles that made contact with him either somehow stopped in his figure-of-eight shield, which they'd normally punch through, the rest managed to deflect off his panoply's pauldrons.

Even though the fight was lost, he managed to escape and decided then he'd dedicate his life to Paiawon when he got home, for what he believes was divine intervention that led to him seeing another day.

The Phthian culture's unique style of epsilon axe has a richly decorated central tang that has a copper and silver chevron inlay design that is unique to the culture.

Near the central socket has the design of the fins for an akon (kestros like projectile) since the akon is one of Paiawon's symbols. The eye symbol and the slowing shape around it are for a mystic feel since one of the things he is the god of is prophecy & knowledge. The eye is also inlayed with ivory. The arrow like head designs are the heads of the akon.

The golden chalice says in Linear B, "Glory to Paiawon". It is filled with the blood of a prisoner, who was a blasphemer; he sacrificed for Paiawon, which he will offer half as a libation and drink the other half after he finishes praying.

The axe head is around 10 inches straight from the top to the base; it is also equipped with a 40 or so inch handle.

After Achilles made his name known for being a very successful warlord and an even more successful fighter, his reputation even reaching the shores of Troad and beyond, he decided to have a sword commissioned to not only show off his great prestige but also to replace his broken sword, which he broke in a fit of rage as his father refused to give him credit for expanding the borders of his father's palace state and instead dismissed him like some dog in front of other important figures. His wife secretly told the bronze smith, who was requested by Achilles to make the sword, to add some holy symbols, in hopes of possibly pleasing the gods to soothe his mind and mood swings (Achilles is suffering from PTSD, which causes his famous mood swings), and for them to possibly stop him from joining in the fighting at Troy that will be happening soon.

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The sword has a 23.45 inch blade, and the grip is 4.5 inches long. The blade is 2.76 inches wide. It has a nonsharpened section that is tapered inward to help with half swording against opponents that are heavily armored; also, it gives another grip position so it's easier to maneuver when grappling. The guard and pommel are golden, and the handle is made of olive wood (the saltwater crocodile skin is a latter addition once they have landed in Queensland).

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The guard is a stylized version of the horns of consecration. It has 2 engraved tridents to represent Poseidawonos (the chief god), an engraved golden and silver circle to represent Hāwélios and Mene (the god of the sun and the goddess of the moon), a bunch of richly decorated and neatly arranged engravings on the ridge for Paiawon (basically everything that Apollo is the god of), and then 2 silver and gold phalluses for Dionysus (the god of madness and fertility).

The Phasganopelekus is unique to cultures that reside on the peninsula east of the Kyklopion Pelagos (Cyclopean Sea; it's the Eromanga Sea IRL), but the Phthians specifically make the most use of them. They are the ones who you will see carrying them the most into battle, either as a sidearm to their spears or a primary weapon, for good reason too, as due to being a smaller palace state in the region, they often find themselves butting heads with other palace states that tend to be larger and therefore tend to be more heavily armored, which the phasganopelekus excels at dealing with along side lighter armored lawos.

Its back spike, which has a ridge running from the eye on the axe down to the tip, makes pretty good work of any panoply (think of the Dendra panoply) or lesser armors a Phthian lawos or hekwetas soldier might face in battle. The knife like blade delivers deep devastating strikes that will easily put anyone out of commission with little effort if it is able to penetrate the body.

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This Phasganopelekus in particular belongs to a Lawagetas (the position just below the king/warlord in the social structure), who is very proud of his culture and never leaves his woikos (house) without it. It is decorated with the symbol of the Phthian culture, in the Phthian style, that is found on all flags in said culture, an ant, due to the creation story of them being created by Diwos (Zeus) from ants. It has a stylistic symbol of the sun for Hāwélios, the god of the sun and this particular Lawagetas' patron deity.

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The bladed side of the axe is around 7 inches; the back spike is around 5 to 6 inches. The handle is around 16 inches and has 3 wedges in the eye of the axe to secure it.

Even though the bident might be a chariot warrior's primary and favoured weapon, stuff goes wrong from time to time, whether it be the shaft snapping after ramming both points into a rival chariot crew or their horses, some lawos (common foot soldier/conscript) getting a lucky chop onto the shaft as the warrior was thrusting, or it simply getting stuck in someone's chest as you're riding past. When incidents like those and others render the chariot warrior's primary weapon useless, he needs to have a sidearm, and what better sidearm to use from a chariot than the makhaira aryōma?

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The makhaira aryōma shown in pictures 1 through 8 is from a warrior in the Hekwetas (the warrior class). It has the name of Enyalios, the God of war and the manslayer, engraved on the mouth band in Linear B. The handle has two wooden scales made of Queensland ebony and is pinned to the tang. The scabbard is made of white cheesewood (Alstonia scholaris) that is wrapped in saltwater crocodile skin due to it being a status symbol and the animal being a symbol of Enyalios.

The makhaira aryōma shown in pictures 9 and 10 is from a less wealthy warrior who is a slinger cavalryman. His scabbard is wrapped in rope with a trident engraved on the mouth band of the scabbard for good luck since it's the symbol of Potnios Poseidawonos (the chief god).

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The blade is around 26.7 inches with a 4.5 or so inch grip. It has a ridge all the way to the tip and has a clipped point for easier penetration. It is a convergent evolution of the Kopis that would come much later.

Scared the shit out of me as I wasn't really paying attention when I did teleport him to me. Who tortured poor Arturo?!

A Minoan style dagger that belongs to a Priestess assigned to a dual temple for Hāwélios (Pronounced as Hah-WAY-lee-os) the God of the sun, and Mene (Pronounced as Meh-neh) the Goddess of the moon. The Priestess belongs to the Telestas, a high ranking social class, like the other religious leaders of the society she belongs to; so she needs some protection from would be thieves, kidnappers or other neer-do-wells, and for the sacrifices of the temple she is assigned to.

The blade is made of bronze with a length of 8.3 inches and it has ornate designs to not only show off her social status and wealth, but possibly ward off bad spirits when the blade is drawn and used due the face-like shape of the design. The gold band across the sheath has the names of the Moon Goddess and the Sun God respectively in Linear B. The Chape on the end of the sheath has a crescent moon made of ivory as this Priestess patron deity is Mene specifically. The black leather of the sheath is supposed to symbolize the night which her patron deity watches over.