The Story of Xidra’s Hoard:

Xidra, “The Taker of Life”, was a Black dragon renown throughout Illantul.  Said to have his lair deep in Ironspine mountains, Xidra regularly took the lives of humans, elves, and dwarves equally and only showed any preference for victims that possessed wealth, especially those that flaunted their riches.  Over the centuries, Xidra was said to have accumulated the wealth of a hundred kings and hoarded it within his caverns.  Long had the dwarven champion, Kargen Greatrock, searched for Xidra’s lair, eager to try and take possession of Illantul’s greatest treasure.  For the purpose of slaying Xidra, Kargen had a great axe forged by the legendary dwarven smiths. But unbeknownst to the dwarven masters, Kargen also employed a dark sorcerer to endow the blade with spells that the dwarven lords would never have allowed.  The sorcerer claimed that if Kargen killed a dragon with this magical axe, the dragon’s soul would be forever trapped within the mighty blade, giving its wielder the strength and powers the wyrm possessed in life.  Venturing deep into the Ironspines and armed with this axe, Kargen finally discovered Xidra’s lair.  The battle that followed was fierce and Kargen lay grievously wounded and unconscious aside the dead wyrm for many days.  Upon regaining consciousness, Kargen dragged his broken body across the cavern floor and retrieved his axe from deep in Xidra’s chest, and it was at that moment that he knew the sorcerer’s magic was real.  Kargen quickly recovered from what were certain to be fatal wounds and found he now possessed the strength of ten dwarves, but strangest of all was the perfect likeness of Xidra and his hoard that had somehow been forever etched into the steel of his great axe.  From that day forward the great axe became known as Xidra’s Hoard, and undoubtedly earned its place among Illantul’s greatest and most priceless artifacts.  

Actual Design and Construction:

The axe head is a reclaimed double bit high carbon steel head that I ground back to clean steel and cut into its current form.  Both sides are hand etched with the image of Xidra guarding his hoard deep within his lair.   The handle is made of charred hickory and the head is hung with a walnut wedge.   Dual steel belly plates adorn the upper portion of the handle and are attached with brass nails, each plate has an etched image of Xidra’s head.  There is a steel butt plate on the bottom of the handle that also contains an etched silhouette of a dragon. The bottom five inches of the handle are wrapped in black deer hide lacing, giving the axe a comfortable grip.    

Specifications:

Axe Head Length: 9.5 inches

Axe Head Width at widest point: 4.5 inches

Handle Length: 11.5 inches

Overall Axe length: 14.25 inches

Overall Axe Weight: 2 lbs 10 oz