The Story of Tanith’s Viper

Originating across the shifting sea in the deserts of Lanchar, the Viper was forged for a radical religious sect that worshipped the snake goddess, Tanith.  Tanith’s devotees were more of a criminal enterprise than a religion and the magic within this blade served the temple well.  Any victim grazed by Tanith’s Viper is injected with a lethal poison that kills in exactly one hour’s time.  Yet the weapon was rarely used as an assassin’s blade, instead it was used to extract items of great value or unsavory deeds from its victims.  The followers of Tanith would use the blade to inflict a small cut upon a victim and thus they would begin the hour-long sandglass of extortion.   For the only cure for the Viper’s poison resides in the blade itself, so if a victim delivered the demanded boon within the hour a second scratch of the blade could deliver the antidote for the original poison. Using Tanith’s Viper in this way brought great riches to the temple of Tanith. 

Actual Design and Construction:

The original blade blank was forged by Windlass Steelcrafts using 1085 high carbon steel.  I dramatically altered the ricasso and reshaped the blade.  Each side of the blade’s riccaso was hand-etched with the image of a sand glass entwined by a serpent and runes decorate the remainder of the blade.  The guard and the pommel were both carved from blocks of mild steel.  The handle was carved from Central American Bocote.  Steel lineup pins are used throughout and the pommel is tapped to complete the blade’s takedown design.  

Specifications:

Blade length: 12 inches

Overall length: 18 inches

Hand grip length: 4 inches

Blade width at widest point: 1.5 inches

Guard width: 5.5 inches

Weight: 17.1 ounces

Balance point: At the guard

 Sheath Construction:

The Sheath is constructed of 4-5 oz premium veg tan leather, wet formed to the blade, and hand stitched up the back.  The sheath body is stained saddle tan and hand-tooled to appear as snakeskin. The throat and the chape are stained walnut with black antiquing covering the entire piece.