Along with the mage staff, this piece was designed to be flexibly presented by the Game Master as any number of different special/magical in-game items, so rather than having a specific energy or type of aesthetic, it has decorations that could be taken in many different directions.

For the weaving-plant pattern, I drew from this Silver-Inlaid Katar from Srirangam, Tanjore, India, circa 1650, seen here.

The below is from when I took a picture of the cut-out grey layer lying next to a piece of the rainbow tape, then digitally superimposed one upon the other to check how it would look.

On the reverse side, I used a pattern from this 19th-century Turkish dagger, seen in the Met Museum’s collection here.

I eventually cleaned up the corners to not have such hard 90-degree angles, so it blends together more nicely, but here’s a picture from when I first cut the design out.

The design of the handle I made is totally free-handed, just going for something that would look like the right balance of real and whimsical. The blade having such a wedge shape to it I think enhances the feeling that it’s some kind of ceremonial or special dagger (In duels there’s not as much need to make such a wide cut). The handle is wrapped in purple faux leather, and the pommel has some clever padding tricks so that it can knock into people safely. The tip having a slight curve to it also means it’s fine to stab with, since the foam all deforms and squishes in the direction of the curve.

Can’t wait to hear what this gets used for in the creative adventures the kids have.