Pole arm

Pole arm was a term for an expansive variety of weaponry that all shared a common trait &mdash; the main fighting part of each weapon was mounted on either a short handle or a long shaft that would be wielded with two hands.

Description
Pole arms varied widely in appearance. Their shafts were typically made of either some form of wood or metal. Some had special attachments to topple mounted targets.

Weaponology
Pole arms were relatively easy to wield and granted their users a longer reach, keeping them out of range from melee weaponry with a shorter reach, such as most swords. In large groups or armies, pole arms allowed their wielders to attack over the shoulders of the foremost or "first rank" attackers. And enabled the commanders of military units to contribute to the fighting while leading from behind.

When being charged at, pole arms wielding troops would line up in the front row, stand sideways, and set their pole arm at an upward angle facing the enemy while holding it with both hands. This tactic was known by some as a "wall of polearms." One could "sweep" their enemies, striking all within reach, by whirling their polearm around.

Some fighters trained to become specialists in pole arms, becoming what was known as a polearm master or a longarm marshal.

Availability
Generally speaking, pole arms were easy to manufacture. Places in the Realms where one could purchase different varieties of pole arms included:
 * Magnificent House of Weapons in the town of Cham Fau.
 * Major Cargunn's Military and Equipment Shoppe in the town of Eshpurta.
 * Tatha's Broomworks

History
Polearms were a common variety of weapon among the people of Myth Drannor. They were a standard weapon among its army's military elite, including its elite cavalry troops.

In ancient Netheril, most varieties of polearms came into use around 2312 NY (−1547 DR), with glaives preceding them and halberds coming later. The lance was never employed in that magic-rich empire, as the stirrup never came into use there. Surrounding cultures, however, knew of the lance since ca. 1300 NY (−2559 DR).

In 1350 DR, King Azoun Obarskyer IV of Cormyr published a book on polearms entitled, Treatise on the History of Polearms in Warfare.

Some time later in the 14 century DR, Alusair Obarskyr introduced Earthfast's ruler Torg mac Cei to the use of polearms, particularly recommending Azoun's treatise on them. Torg would go on to train the soldiers of Earthfast in the use of polearms.

Polearms in the Realms
A wide variety of the weapons that could be found throughout the Realms were grouped together under the classification of pole arms:

Agricultural-Based
A number of polearms were, or started out as, simple agricultural tools that had been adapted for use in warfare.
 * Bill-guisarme: a type of polearm that was derived from an agricultural tool known as the bill hook. There many different designs for this weapon, but bill-guisarmes were generally similar in appearance to guisarmes. Unlike a guisarme their sturdy hook's inside or "concave" edge (and sometimes its outside edge) was sharpened to be its cutting edge and their back spike was typically L-shaped, pointing forward.
 * Fauchard: a scythe that had been properly developed for the purposes of combat and warfare, rather than agricultural use.
 * Guisarme: a type of polearm that was derived from pruning hooks. They had elaborately curved blades, with a sharp cutting edge along its convex side up to the point of the hook, much like a glaive. Their hook was proficient at pulling riders off their mounts. Later versions added a back spike which gave the guisarme another sharp point for sideways swinging and minor defensive capability.
 * Military fork: a type of polearm that was derived from garden forks. Their poles were mounted with two parallel spikes. Some had a blade mounted just below these spikes, in the crotch of the fork, so as to prevent opponents from safely going between the two main piercers. They lacked the penetrating power of spears, but were efficient at holding enemies at bay, and had a variety of secondary uses.
 * Voulge: sometimes known as a lochaber axe or a pole cleaver, were long stout staffs mounted with large heavy cleaving blades that narrowed to a spike at their top and had a hook-shaped fluke at their rear. They were used for the purpose of cleaving through armor, with their tips used for piercing.

Poleaxe Family
Poleaxe was a term for any pole arm that had a pole mounted with any combination of axehead, beak, or hammerhead. Axeheads had two basic forms, broad and narrow. Narrow blades were often made thicker to adjust a weapon's weight, allowing the wielder to inflict more damage. The primary purpose of a poleaxe was to chop, though many also had spearheads to provide them some thrusting capability.
 * Bardiche: Also known as a berdysh, were elongated battleaxes with large, narrow curved heads attached to their shaft by a metal strap, typically iron, with one or two rings. Those with a single ring had a shorter axehead and were backed with either a spike or hammerhead. They were a heavy and cumbersome poleaxe, with shafts shorter than halberds due to their weight. In the history of polearm development, they represented a transition stage between pole cleavers and other poleaxes.
 * Halberd: Polearms mounted with a concave, broad axehead set at an angle, with a fairly long spearhead on top and backed with a spike that was angled or hooked slightly downward. The rear spike was designed for piercing heavy plate armor and dismounting opponents. They required more room to wield than a spear.

Spear Family
Spears were one of the earliest types of pole arms, mounted with heads that one could describe as being similar to a dagger. They were primarily used for thrusting, but could also be thrown. Experimentation with different spear heads over time lead to the development of many subtypes or "specialized spears" that had secondary capabilities. Though it should be noted that not all pole arms with spearheads were considered to be a type of spear, only those whose primary function was thrusting.
 * Javelin: A very versatile, light spear. Good for unleashing loose volleys upon an enemy force.
 * Lance: Spears with long shafts that were designed for use by cavalry, though there were some lighter varieties that could be wielded effectively by people on foot.
 * Partisan: A more defensive form of spear. Their heads were doubled-edged, with two diagonally-set flukes at the base.
 * Pike: also known as an awl pike, were infantry spears with leaf-shaped heads and shafts that typically measured in length. They were designed to do thrusting damage at relatively long range and keep opponents from closing the distance.
 * Ranseur: Spears similar to partisans, though less sturdy than them. They had three-pronged heads due to longer flukes. Their secondary blades were set further back from the central blade, backward-hooking, and were shaped and angled to deflect or better yet trap an enemy's weapon. The large central blade was indented at the base to facilitate entangling.
 * Shakujo yari: Spears that were concealed within sheaths to look like staffs.
 * Spetum: Spears similar to ranseurs, though sometimes their side blades angled backwards. Their secondary capability was deflecting attacks, as well as catching and holding foes at a distance.

Special Cases
There were a few weapons in the realms that were sometimes considered to be in the same general class as polearms due to their size, despite having designs designs that would be considered incongruent with what a "true pole arm" was. This included the agricultural tool threshing flail, the weapon derived from it, and the morningstar.

Combination Weapons
Over time as people sought to improve upon the designs of pole arms, either to mitigate weaknesses or enhance their strengths, a new classification was developed.
 * Fauchard-fork: A type of polearm whose design was derived from both fauchards and forks. Unlike a fauchard their blade's cutting edge was on the convex side (facing the opponent) and curved more like a sickle. And much like a gardening fork they had two parallel spikes, which either projected from the blade or tipped the pole end.
 * Fauchard-guisarme: Also known as a hooked-fauchard, were fauchards that had a heavy hook attached to the back of their blade that one could use to dismount their opponents.
 * Glaive-guisarme: Glaives that had two parallel spikes mounted on the back of their blades, in a similar fashion to a guisarme.
 * Guisarme-voulge: Guisarmes with a curved axehead, similar to a voulge, but with a rear hook-shaped fluke formed from its blade, rather than being added separately.

Miscellaneous

 * Gythka: A two-handed polearm invented and used by the thri-kreen.
 * Bec de corbin: A type of polearm similar to a Lucern hammer, but with a spike tip that was much shorter and broader. While some had a four-pronged head like the Lucerne hammer, others had a flat hammerhead or even an axehead. And further unlike the latter weapon, the part primarily used for attacking was the spike tip.
 * Lucern hammer: A type of polearm similar to a halberd, but resembling a pick. They had long poles, but were mounted with a smaller four-pronged hammerhead instead of an axehead, along with a spike atop the hammer and at its rear. They were designed to pierce heavy armor.
 * Mancatcher: A type of polearm that originated in the land of Kara-Tur. These consisted of two parallel prongs that were curved to encircle a humanoid creature. They had both spikes and sharpened edges on their concave side.
 * Naginata: A type of glaive unique to the land of Kara-Tur.
 * Nagimaki: A polearm that was a shortened variety of naginata.
 * Tetsubo: A type of polearm unique to the land of Kara-Tur. These were similar to a mace, having their upperhalf covered in studded iron strips, but their shafts were long.

==Notable Polearms ==
 * Leech, a unique cursed polearm that could be found in the temple Darkmoon.
 * Libertas, a type of enchanted polearm used by the elves of Myth Drannor.
 * During the days of Myth Drannor, there were known to exist enchanted staves that could magically transform into a variety of different polearms.

Group

 * The Ninth Blue Cohort, a platoon of the Lance Defenders, was composed of warriors specialized in the use of polearms.

Individuals

 * Alias was proficient in the use of all polearms.
 * Amerigo owned a variety of polearms.

Races & Sentient Creatures

 * Some giff kept large collections of pole arms from the various worlds that they had visited in their travels.
 * Gnolls were known to fight with a variety of different polearms.
 * Ultroloths often wielded a variety of enchanted polearms.

Religions

 * Helm-bulwarks, the specialty priests of Helm, were known to utilize a wide variety of two-handed polearms.

Regions & Settlements

 * The city guards of Athkatla's Gem District were known to wield a variety of polearms that all had a wand of paralyzation attached at their end.
 * In the land of Sespech, warriors were known to fight with all manner of polearms.

Glaive
What else is there to put on the end of a stick? How about single-edged knives. The glaive is a knife-bladed spear which can be thrust at an opponent with the tip or slashed to attempt to cut the enemy. This weapon evolved quickly toward pole cleaver status as the blade was enlarged to give it a bigger cutting edge and more weight for cleaving. As with the spear and fauchard, it is not very effective holding opponents at bay or forcing them off their mounts. The glaive has gone the way of the fauchard and is most often seen in combination weapons.

Appearances

 * Video Games
 * Gateway to the Savage Frontier • Eye of the Beholder III: Assault on Myth Drannor