[X] The Atgeir, Sagaseeker (4d6, but is two-handed)
(Trick Attack: 12, Max Success! vs Reinforced Trick Defense: 12, Max Success trumps Defender's Tie... 3 Endurance Damage Dealt)
"This is for kicking me in the chest, asshole!" You growl as you spring-board off the ground. Your leg shines with blazing crimson orthstirr as you lead with your powerful knee.
Your knee flies up and you lock eyes with the Skirsvikingr. Realization half-cut with fear flares in his eyes as, for the second time in your life, you knee someone in the groin.
The Skirsvikingr squeaks as he falls back, pain screwing his eyes shut. His axe clatters to the ground as his hands rush to his groin. It's like he's trying to curl into a ball while still standing on his feet.
The acrid stench of shame fills the air as the Enforcer groans, tears in the corners of his eye. He falls to the ground, giving you the perfect angle at his head.
Damn, that knee is picking up some serious legend.
The first time it hit a bandit so hard his soul exploded because we rolled like god.
The second time it took down a greater warrior than us,
through a monstrous defense roll because we rolled like god.
That knee has gotta be picking up some armor piercing or something.
Second: as far as I know, spears/polarms were given to the weaker/less skilled combatants, because the reach gave them more leverage, especially because they were fighting with other people armed with spears as well.
And swords took a hell of a lot more time to learn, not to mention being kept as the weapon of nobility, because the could affor the time to train with it and the money for the lump of metal.
This is not true to begin with.
Polearms were primary weapons of people who fought for a living a great deal of the time, and halberd variants were the primary weapons for some of the most elite troops in both Europe and Asia.
Reach is a big deal, naturally, as was leverage, and a bladed head on a long stick offered a hell of a lot of leverage. Given the construction, a polearm also was often sturdy enough to be used to deflect or block with either head or haft, while the butt itself was a weapon in its own right.
Of course, basic infantry got a spear because its easier to get a spear to minimum competency with low chances of hurting the dude next to them, but that didn't mean anything for how good the weapon was.
Swords were meanwhile the overpriced sidearm.
Anything a sword does, another weapon does better, except a sword does all those things in one unit, so if you wound up finding your main weapon not being a good fit for the situation, a sword is usually a good idea as a backup, and if you had cargo limitations, and could only bring one weapon, you'd probably take a sword.
But making a good sword is skill intensive, demanding in material quality, and so its a status symbol.
Which means swords cool, which means you see swords in a lot of stories.
Ironically this does mean in quests swords are relatively rare.
