War fan

A war fan was a hand fan adapted for use as a weapon. Some monks were specially trained in its use.

Description
A war fan appeared at first like the fans often used by ladies to cool themselves. Most were beautifully decorated. Upon closer look, however, it was revealed that the vanes of the van were made of steel, and the tips ended in sharp points that were used for slashing at foes. Because it appeared as an innocuous item, one could sometimes trick foes into not realizing the danger of the weapon until it was too late.

Notable Owners

 * Ozamata Ku Murawa
 * Galimer, a Faerûnian mage that modified a war fan to serve as his spellbook.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * The Nether Scroll

Background
In the real world, there were three types of Japanese war fan, the gunsen, the tessen, and the gunbai. The gunsen was essentially a hand fan used by soldiers to cool themselves, like a normal hand fan. It was not used as a weapon. A tessen was essentially the weapon described in this article. Both could fold. The gunbai was a non-folding, fan-like item used as a sort of shield. Strangely, 1 edition called this latter type of fan a gunsen, while 3 edition called the same item a tessen.