Publisher's blurb:
The Tanakul blade is the sacred Diar Fighting Glaive, a short dual-bladed polearm used for close personal Combat. The Tanakul has been the cornerstone of Diar martial culture since time immemorial. It is said that when the first Wind Clerics (the cultural ancestors of the Diar and the Formar) arrived in the Known World it was the invention of the Tanakul, and it’s use in hunting and raiding, that distinguished the first Diar clans and provided them with an edge over their peers. Many experts in the weapon’s mastery have produced texts and founded schools to instruct proper form in the wielding of Tanakul; little of these early teachings have deviated since their origin. The art of Tanakul fighting is called Death’s Crescendo, named by the first recorded teacher of the form – Itazun Kanda. Kanda posited that the art of Tanakul can be likened to the exhilaration of the dance, the pursuit of the hunt, and the satisfaction of the sleep. Thus the Crescendo can be described as the death of the enemy within and without.
Despite a massive divergence in Diar spiritual, cultural, and political belief during current times the Tanakul is a unifying symbol of the past. It’s use is favoured by Diar of all social statuses and the instruction of Death’s Crescendo is considered one of the greatest vocations in life. The Diar fascination with the blade has led to many from other Species learning it’s ways and becoming recognised Tananun (practitioners of Death’s Crescendo) in their own right.
Wherever a paradigm shift has occurred throughout Diar history, the Tanakul blade may be found in the hands of the prime movers.