Scythe

A scythe () was a farm implement that could be used as a two-handed, martial melee weapon.
==Description==
A scythe was a long, curved, sharp-pointed, one-sided blade mounted at 90° on a shaped haft and was normally used for harvesting wheat or corn. The blade was tilted and the haft was shaped to make it easy to swing just above the ground and cut the crop stalks. One or two handles might jut out of the haft to make it more comfortable to swing in a mowing fashion.
==Weaponology==
It took two hands to wield a scythe and some training to use it effectively. They could be used to pierce or slash an opponent, much in the same manner as some pole arms, like the halberd, though it did not have a comparable reach. And because their blades were long and slightly curved, scythes could be used to trip opponents.
==Varieties==
* Fauchards: scythes that had been properly developed for the purposes of combat and warfare. Compared to farming scythes they were reinforced, a bit straighter, and more balanced.
* Fauchard-fork: fauchards that had blades curved more like a sickle, putting their cutting edge on their convex side (facing the opponent). 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.
==Availability==
* Aurora's Whole Realms Catalogue sold whole scythes, as well as scythe blades or shafts individually as separate parts.
* In the village of Ghars, Cormyr, scythes were one of many agricultural tools that Aunsible Durn's smithy manufactured.
* Many stores throughout the Sword Coast openly sold scythes by the 1370's DR.
* The Weaponers of Cormyr sold fauchards among their wide variety of weapons.
==Notable Scythes==
* Nature's scythe: dreadful magic weapons of war left behind by the creatures of the Army of Darkness after the Weeping War.
* Rose Scythes of Chauntea: Sturdy scythes carved with the images of wheat sheaves, and whose blades were engraved with the image of a single rose. They could be used as walking sticks, farming tools, and could also provide help to divine spellcasters—empowering their spells and protecting healed allies against their foes.
==Notable Users of Scythes==
===Races & Sentient Creatures===
* Derro were often known to fight with hooked-fauchards.
* The spirits summoned by the skull card in a deck of many things always wielded a scythe.
* Myrmyxicuses, a type of aquatic tanar'ri, typically carried four scythes that were suitably large and incredibly well-made.
* Some of the night riders that served the deity Myrkul wielded +1 scythes with an enchantment similar to the sword of wounding.
* Redcaps often wielded scythes as weapons.
===Religions===
* Amaunatori of the Three-Faced Sun heresy favored the use of scythes in combat.
* Scythes were often known to be used by followers of the deity Myrkul.
==Trivia==
* Scythes were a favored weapon of the goddesses Chauntea and M'daess.
==Appendix==
===See Also===
* Kama
* Reaver
* Sickle
===Notes===
===Appearances===
===Gallery===
Chauntea and silvanus.jpg|A cleric of Chauntea and her scythe.
Farmer-Scythe.png|A human farmer puts a scythe to its intended use.
Cormyrean Farmer.png|A doughty Cormyrean farmer with a scythe.
===External Links===
* 
===References===
Category:Tools
Category:Farming tools
Category:Weapons
Category:Two-handed weapons
Category:Martial weapons
Category:Melee weapons
Category:Piercing weapons
Category:Slashing weapons
Category:0-24 gold pieces
Category:Items from Aurora's Whole Realms Catalogue
Category:Items from Aurora's Emporium
Category:Items from Cormyr
Category:Items from the Sword Coast