Hammer of Life

Tauren revere nature and, when hunting, they treat their prey with respect. A tauren who requires a powerful weapon sometimes embarks on a complex quest to create a Hammer of Life.

A Hammer of Life is a weapon that embodies a tauren’s respect for nature. The tauren spends three days in the wild, meditating and communing with her ancestral spirits. At the end of this time, the tauren scouts the area and hunts the first animal she sees. Upon killing her quarry, the tauren brings its carcass back to her tribe. There, the tribe’s shaman assists her in crafting a Hammer of Life.

No part of the tauren’s prey goes to waste. The animal’s bones form the hammer’s haft; its organs, stitched into a skin bag, make the hammer head. Sinew and strips of animal hide bind the hammer together, and the animal’s teeth and claws adorn the weapon. The shaman calls upon the Earth Mother to bless the hammer and its wielder, and at the end of the crafting, the hammer morphs into a more aesthetically pleasing form. Its haft appears carved of pale wood, and its head of white stone.

Anyone gripping the hammer, however, always feels smooth, cold bone under his hand, and the hammer seems to pulse with life. To anyone but the creator, a Hammer of Life feels unsettling.