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Originally Posted by fireiceviper
or.... maybe a scepter!
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It's interesting that you say scepter. Scepters or something scepter like have long been used in cultures all over the world as symbols of power. A scepter is basically a very ornate club or mace when you boil it down. The further you look back in art work that depicts scepters the more flat-out club like they become.
I have to wonder why this specific form of object is so often wielded by Kings, war chiefs and the like. I mean as apposed to a spear or axe, perhaps even a sword. No doubt we see these as well but the prevalence of the scepter over them is clear.
A thought I had on this is that a club is a weapon that is as dangerous as you want it to be. One could jab someone in the stomach to cause them pain but likely do no lasting harm. They could also break a leg with it to cause pain and lasting harm that a person could recover from. Or it could be used to crush the skull and end a person relatively quickly.
It imparts to the user a level of control as to how much harm they do if any that not many other weapons allow for. It's a very judicious weapon.That might be what it represents conceptually (it's deep meaning). The wielder has the power of measured and deliberate force.
Beyond that there likely is no craft which exists that does not have to it one or more club like tools. The herbalist see's a muddler. The cook sees a meat tenderizer. The cleaning servant see's a rug duster. The carpenter sees a mallet etc. So there is something that is common core and widely relatable about the shape of what is basically a top heavy stick.
In theory all could make good use of it. But the best one (at least aesthetically) only one gets to posses and with it they can decide the fate of others. There is definitely something primal and powerful about it as a status symbol (i.e. clubs/maces/scepters).