The Story of Dark Claw:

Forged five thousand years ago when the world was young and the name Illantul was no more than a whisper carried on the lips of men; a time when its inhabitants warred to force the gnoll armies back into the wastes of Uhl.  During these dark years the gnolls were led by a chieftain of great renown, named Ursark.  Ursark wielded a dark blade framed by a guard of reaching claws.  When Dark Claw was unsheathed all light was consumed by its mere presence, thrusting all in the blade’s vicinity into unnatural darkness. Wounds inflicted by the blade are said to never fully heal and those who survive its magic are doomed to live with a constant feeling of overwhelming despair for the remainder of their pathetic lives.

Actual Design and Construction:

The blade was forged by Windlass Steelcrafts using 1085 high carbon steel.  I altered the top of the blade around the ricasso and etched both sides.  The ricasso is etched with the image of a beast’s claw and the remainder of the blade is etched in a menacing pattern and then blackened. The guard is fashioned from mild steel with each side shaped into the same beast’s claw.  The handle is carved from two pieces of African Blackwood separated by a 1\4 inch brass spacer and sits atop of a 1\4 inch brass riser.  The handle and guard are secured with a hidden nut threaded onto the dagger’s through tang. The nut is hidden under a pommel cap formed of mild steel.  The pommel cap is secured with a threaded brass pommel nut, completing this dagger’s takedown design.

Specifications:

Blade length: 12 inches

Overall length: 17.625 inches

Hand grip length: 4.375 inches

Blade width at widest point: 1.375 inches

Guard width: 4.375 inches

Weight: 16.4 ounces

Balance point: At the guard

 Sheath Construction:

The sheath is a traditional dagger design (wet formed to the blade with hand stitching down the back spine) constructed of 4-5 oz premium veg tan leather.  The body of the sheath is, stained black.  The leather throat is tooled with a quilted pattern surrounding the image of a skull.  The chape is also tooled with the quilted pattern and both are stained an antiqued brown.