Reflecting cultural differences between mountain tribes in equipment and tactics

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Michele

With such a background, I'd give somebody a distinctively-shaped sword that can be made both in bronze or iron. Something curved, with the edge outside or inside the curve. It's helpful, visually, and I think that GURPS Martial Arts also covers the difference in stats in comparison to a straight blade. So you have both flavor and function.

Just so.

Convex curved swords are popular in the region, with the Threskeli using iron or steel ones that range from knives to polearms in length. Those would be sica, kopis and rhomphaia, respectively. They are, after all, Thracian-like (or Dacian, too, given that these tribes have relatives in neighbouring lands). Here are some good pictures of the shorter versions, i.e. the one-handed ones. Here's a good sword for a chieftain or legendary warrior, while these would be typical for their shock troops in general.

The longer ones would be like this in the hands of a warrior, except his shield would be crescent-shaped and not entirely round.

The Untheri of the reference culture to the east (where the PCs currently are) have a religious reverence and a cultural fondness for sapara sickle-swords. Version of them are in use by the Rammanu and Assurites. Most of them are not as heavily curved as the example in MA/LT, instead looking something like this. I imagine that most would be Shortswords or Broadswords with the Falchion mod.

The Zouavas, meanwhile, have more traditional curved daggers, with the edge on both sides or just on the outside, i.e. like a saber and not a kopis. Most have blades between 6" and 12", but some sword examples exist. They would look something like this.