The quotes attributed to "Giacomo" are paraphrased from Giacomo di Grassi's work on "The True Art of Defense", [Chapter XV].
[OC: The following text is in Romish]
Appendices
The Vera Natio makes use of many types of weapons, but the axe is the foremost of these. It is a versatile and adaptable design that has secured the lands and the future of the People for generations. As with any weapon or tool which serves extensive and varied purposes, the axes used by the People have developed into a number of forms. This short essay provides a guide for the uninitiated in the basic forms of military and martial axe that are in customary use in recent times. As the intended audience is a professed duellist, I have included an appendix on the recent fad for the light duelling-axe.
In the manner of any sensibly organised system, the lengths of the main classes of axe are based on one unit, the standard Romish cubit. The typical dwarf stands between three and four cubits tall, and the standard size of a small passage in any of the delves is four by two. The cubit is, in short, a fundamental unit. Of course, great individual variation exists between axes, for dwarves themselves differ in stature. The four common classes of martial axe are the short belt axe, of approximately one cubit; the shield-fighting axe of two cubits; the deadly three cubit war-axe; and the long and fearsome pole-axe that reaches five cubits. The apparent gap in the system was conventionally filled by the four-cubit long-axe, but this weapon fell out of favour about a full generation ago, as the three cubit weapon gained ascendancy for raw power, and the five-cubit eclipsed it for reach.
This is the basic and most fundamental of the martial axes. Serviceable in a fight, particularly as an off-hand parrying weapon, it also shines in particularly tight quarters, and anyone who has faced a dwarf in cramped conditions will know its efficacy. They also serve as excellent utility tools, although the dwarf wishing to prioritise such a goal is generally well-advised to instead invest in a sturdy hatchet. Primarily, though, belt-axes provide an every-day and backup weapon to the typical dwarfish fighter, not a primary fighting tool.
The foremost military institution of the People for the last two millennia has been the legion. The dwarfish legion possess no spiritual miracles or dread magical prowess, but they do boast unity, discipline, and finely-crafted dwarf mail. They fight in closely ordered ranks, using the great tower-shield and a two-cubit axe, powered by alchemy to strike killing blows and ignore all deleterious effects. These dense fighting formations are bolstered by units equipped with powerful crossbows, by various forms of elite guard, and by battlefield siege engines and bolt projectors of all sizes and types.
At the core of the legion is the armoured dwarf. A shirt and chausses of finely-linked forge-welded mail, reinforced with leathers and small scales, serves to protect them from nearly all harm. For fighting, the shield-axe is their primary weapon, paired with a kite shield that protects the wielder from shoulder to ankle. The shield-axe is a carefully crafted weapon two cubits long, with a crescent shaped cutting blade paired to a spike for armour penetration on the reverse. The combination can deal tremendous damage to both armoured and unarmoured foes alike. The two cubit length provides for an ideal balance between reach and manoeuvrability, and is a weapon that is perfect in a closely ordered formation, or in the looser and more open combat patterns adopted by the legions when pursuing a routed foe.
The one-handed balance of the shield-axe, coupled with its reach, also make it a natural choice for use by ambidextrous light skirmishers and other such fighters. The duelling-axe developed from this use into a tool for solely sport engagements, for reach has been gained at the cost of sturdiness for delivering telling blows, and it is detailed further in Appendix 1 of the current document.
Next in the logical approach to sizes used by the people is the War-axe at three cubits. This is a fearsome weapon, the traditional tool of the Wardens, and more generally of any who might have to fight one against many. As Giacomo, an esteemed master of martial skills, put it:
In war or for defence, these long weapons strike devastating blows. They are constructed with a point as well as a blade, which gives the skilled wielder many options for the one on one fight, as they are able to bind and disable the weapons or shield of their opponent, before rapidly dispatching them with one well-placed thrust. When it is time to face multiple foes, however, the pattern of use changes back to a more normal seeming one---as Giacomo writes:
Used in this way, the trained wielder of a war-axe can effectively dominate a large gateway, street, or small hall, facing and defeating multiple foes with ease, while preserving their own person from any form of bodily harm.
Recently, the decline of the now archaic long-axe (a brief description and account is given in Appendix 2) has lead to an extension in the standard length of the war axe to some ten-thirds of a cubit, in order to guarantee additional reach and power over the long-swords favoured by some tribes and associations of barbarians.
The longest axe any dwarf can handle effectively in war is the five-cubit pole-axe, and due to this extended length it is used in another style again. The long arcing slashes that Giacomo describes are no longer effective, for they require too long to deliver, and the momentum generated prevents the recovery of the weapon in a timely fashion, leaving the wielder dreadfully exposed. Instead the primary blows are based on the use of the long handle to generate leverage to keep the relatively small blade active in front of the user.
Of course, the pole-axe truly shines in a formation. As the second rank of a line behind disciplined troops with shields, the users can rain blows down upon the heads and shoulders of the foe with impunity. Stabbing attacks are also excellent in this context, and the ability of the shield-axe to bind and disable the weapons of the barbarians enables the pole-axe to then come crashing down upon any desired location for rapid disablement.
So in short, the scientifically based system of axes serves essentially every purpose that might be required by a weapon for a military force. The varied lengths provide for multiple types of usage, and permit a defensive close-quarters fighting style, an aggressive and mobile style that can dominate an area, or a careful and precise style that uses reach to disable opposition without taking undue risk. When paired with the superior metallurgy and design of Romish axe technology, it is little surprise that the sword has never been pursued to a great extent, although the gladius remains used by some cohorts among the legions for close quarters work.
Melissa
An offshoot of the shield-axe which has recently developed is the controversial duelling-axe. This device has been criticised for its supremely long, slender haft, and lightweight artificially shaped blade. The former provides it with an extra hand of reach over a normal shield axe (for a total of two and one third cubits, the maximum any dwarf can practically control in a single hand), and the latter is sufficient to perform basic binding motions and place marking cuts upon an opponent. Neither will stand up to true martial use, however, with any serious force being more than sufficient to shatter the haft or twist the blade out of alignment. The design is fundamentally a toy, and one only useful for fighting games based on touches with no real resemblance to true warfare. The classic pugil-axe, of four cubits and carved entirely of heavy wood, is a much more combat applicable sparring tool, but does lack the grace and elegance attributed by some to the rapid duels enabled by this shorter single-handed weapon.
For quite some time, the four-cubit long-axe was a standard weapon in the armoury of the People. It provided a balance between the sheer power of the war axe, and the reach of the pole-axe, and was useful in particular for those dwarves of smaller stature. The weapon has dropped out of favour, however, primarily due to improvements in the armour construction of some barbarian tribes. The additional power of the war-axe became more useful at this point. Meanwhile, continued construction works and progress in engineering nearly abolished spaces in which the four-cubit axe was significantly more usable than the five-cubit, and so most People depending on reach for their combat strategies traded up to the pole-axe. This did provoke further development in the construction of both adjacent axes. In particular, the war-axe is only a nominal three cubits, but most examples are actually a hand or two longer, while the pole-axe has generally been shortened by a similar length for the slight increase in speed and transition between foes.