Flame-Captain's Iron Longsword

The iron revolution that ended the Bronze Age in the Ashenmere Basin. This Flame-Captain's sword represents military technology that the Kethari had no answer for. The pattern-welded blade would have shattered any bronze weapon it struck.

Inscription

Flam kremat ferkus. Gladus fortum deviktat noxus et belum kremat-vi.

/flam kɾemat feɾkus. gladus foɾtum deviktat noksus et belum kɾemat.vi/

Translation

“The Flame burns the iron. The unyielding blade conquers darkness, and war is consumed.”

Interlinear Analysis(click to expand)

Form	Gloss	POS
Flam	flame/ONE-FLAME	noun
kremat	burn-3SG.PRES	verb
ferkus	iron/strength	noun
Gladus	sword/blade	noun
fortum	strong/unyielding	adjective
deviktat	conquer-3SG.PRES	verb
noxus	darkness/enemy-territory	noun
et	and	conjunction
belum	war/sacred-conquest	noun
kremat-vi	burn-3SG-PERF	verb

Script: left-to-right

Description

An iron longsword with a distinctive volcanic stone pommel carved into the shape of a single flame. The blade shows evidence of pattern-welding — alternating layers of high and low carbon steel folded multiple times. A Serath Ascendancy military inscription on the flat reads: "By ash and iron, the One Flame conquers."

Scholarly Analysis(click to expand)

The pattern-welding technique indicates sophisticated understanding of carbon content in steel — the Ascendancy smiths deliberately combined different iron grades. The volcanic stone pommel is carved from Serath basalt, reinforcing the One Flame religious symbolism. The inscription is in the 28-character Ascendancy alphabet, derived from simplified Kethari script. This confirms the Ascendancy was literate from its earliest period.

Provenance(click to expand)

discoverer: Graduate student Maria Santos
discovery date: 2022-08-11
condition notes: Light surface rust. Blade intact. Leather grip partially preserved. Volcanic stone pommel slightly chipped.
excavation team: Ashenmere Institute Field Team 1
discovery location: Flame-Captain burial, Citadel of Serath, Level 3