Serviceable and concealable, Daggers are the principle form of cutlery in the Old World rather than the preferred weapon of combat. Still, given their availability and versatile use, nearly everyone who can afford one, has one. Daggers, as a category, include all short-bladed weapons ranging from the short leaf-bladed knives used by Halflings to the Elven Long Knives, which measure nearly 16 inches, and even the longer Tilean Stiletto or Bretonnian Misericorde. These blades have a wooden handle covered with a leather grip, and most have a short hilt to protect the hand but not all. Daggers are very different from the main-gauche, which features a broader hilt to parry incoming attacks.[2a]
The best-crafted of daggers always have a hilt. Their pommel is often a cut gemstone, though any ornate device serves. Like larger blades, dagger blades have a fuller to channel blood off the weapon. Other exotic versions feature a curved blade, while others have acid-scored runes or engravings on the blade itself.[2a][2b]
Somewhat less well crafted daggers have blades of steel, instead of iron, with a stitched grip instead of just being wrapped, and the pommel, though of the same metal as the rest of the knife, is carved to reflect a design like flames, or it features the maker’s mark or house insignia of the owner.[2b]
