"Morning, everyone!" Amaya greeted the class with the usual eagerness that came with the prospect of getting to blather on about weapons to a captive audience for a certain amount of time, easily one of her favorite things ever. "And welcome back! I hope you're feeling limber and ready to work those arms today, because we're moving onto a personal favorite of Detective Diaz over here, and, really, that's no surprise. Today, we're talking all about axes!"



"Which every woman," Rosa interjected importantly, and it should be noted that, in the context, every woman clearly actually meant everyone, "should have."

"The axe," said Amaya, hoisting up a simple, almost crude looking one, "is one of mankind's oldest tools, and, unlike a lot of weapons, it's main function is as a tool. It just also happens to make a great weapon as well. And it's pretty simple, when you get right down to it, consisting of a handle, called a haft, and a head, and back in those early days, it didn't even have the haft, it was just a piece of sharp stone. They're simple machines, fitting into the category of a wedge, due to the shape of the head and how it's used to wedge itself into a material. These days, the head of an axe is usually made of a strong metal, curved on the edges, but what back in their advent, they were roughly hewn pieces of stone, and they were used for a wide variety of tasks, not just chopping wood as they're associated with now. They were used for butchering animals, for digging up food...it was generally an all-purpose sort of tool until people started refining the process and making tools like knives and hoes that were better suited for those individual tasks.

"There are, essentially, two different kinds of axes," both of which she hoisted up now to show, "non-shaft-hole axes and shaft-hole axes, and then there's plenty of variety within each of those categories, but we don't have all the time to get into that. So a non-shaft-hole axe is an axe where there's no hole in the head for the handle; they're typically made from flint, greenstone, or slate, while a shaft-hole axe does have a hole for the handle, as you can see here, it just goes right through the head by design, and these are your weapon-type axes by far, no worrying about...flying off the handle, as it were, with these ones!

"And actually making an axe head is great, there's actually probably as many different styles and shapes of axeheads as there are swords, and it requires a bit more in the way of actually shaping and upsetting the steel to get those interesting and essential curves and points. You want a good, solid strong axehead, but it's also got to be light; not much uses if it looks pretty but you can't even wield it well! The broad shape also allows for a smith to put in some intricate etching details if they want, as well, which is why axes are very popular as decorative or ceremonial pieces as well.

"With an axe, there are, essentially, eleven parts." And, lucky you, students, you were going to learn about each and every one of them, from bit to beard to butt, in loving details from a woman who clearly found the minute changes in them amazing. Even after she covered it all, it seemed as though she could probably go on into even more detail, somehow, but there was only so much time!

"Now, as I mentioned, a tool axe can still be used as a weapon axe. Technically speaking, anything can be used as a weapon, and tool axes already have a great base for that down. But axes specifically suited for combat, called battle axes, began to develop into their own thing, and there's a wide variety of types. They tend to be a bit larger, intending to really pack a punch rather than being a fast and efficient sort of tool; however, their handles are longer for a better swing and the metal on the head tends to be thinner to help make them light enough to be used effectively. But don't go too long on the handle, because then we're getting to halberd territory, and that's a whole 'nother unit! Smaller axes, with similarly smaller handles, intended to be used as a projectile weapon also came into development, and we call those our throwing axes. I will say this about people who name weapons: they're very efficient, no room for second guesses as to what they're talking about! And, of course, a throwing axe doesn't necessarily have to be just for throwing; they'll make a good hatchet in a pinch, and I know the one Detective Diaz carries around with her pretty much everywhere is usually used that way. And, technically speaking, a battle axe can also be a throwing axe, but if you're about to do that....please let me know, because that's something I'd really like to see in action.

"Today, we'll be focusing on those two types: the battle axe and the throwing axe, and we're focusing on them as weapons, not tools, so we won't be chopping down any trees, these are just for show."

"Actually," she grinned, "if anyone actually wants to chop down some fake trees today instead, come with me, we'll work on that, and those of you more interested in throwing 'em or hackin' with 'em can go with Detective Diaz. You won't even have to wear flannel!"



With that, Amaya concluded her ramble lecture and turned a faint grin to the students. "Are there any questions? If not, I'll turn it on over to Detective Diaz."