6
by Nasnandos
The name Exotath means Oracle of Steel. The background mythology is not completely fnished yet, but here is an excerpt about the sword, runes on the blade, and name.
"The most skilled weapon smith in Ammoria was the elf Firaneth, and he forged two identical swords for the Dark One, each with a blade considered by Firaneth to be the finest ever crafted in his lifetime. Those blades were of deeply fullered dark elven iron with leather wrapped blade-grips, each edged to cut plate steel armor. The hilts were made with hook taloned iron side guards, decorated with an e xp ertly wrought iron skull of the Yievelloch, a beast of the underground seas. The grips were hand-and-a-half, leather skinned, and ended in long, weighted pommels. The swords were lightweight and could be wielded with ease. When these were presented to the Dark One he was very pleased and he contemplated many long days as to the power he would affect upon these weapons until he at last chose one that would suit his needs well.
For fourteen days the Dark One labored with his most powerful sorcerers over the steel of these elven blades, enchanting each with the power to open a passage a few moments forward in time so as to see how events unfold. With this he would make decisions that would best favor his battle plans, for he would be able to see his enemies’ strategies in advance, and by the sword’s edge he would also have the power to change them. In hand-to-hand combat an opponent would be at extreme disadvantage to the one who could see his every move beforehand. To give these nechantments the Dark One had to bequeath the Exotath a part of his own essence, a part that he could not recover. The sacrifice would allow him to control his own destiny, but the Dark One did not realize how much power he had truly given these swords. When the enchantments were complete he named them the Exotath in the ancient language of the Anath, Thant. The word “exo” translated as oracle and “tath” as steel, thus the oracle of steel was born. In the runes of Thant he engraved these words: “By the Anath that which is to come is revealed to me. By Evruc, master of the Ancients, I am empowered”. The Dark One envisioned that a fierce soldier would wield the Exotath and lead his army…thus he called for his sorceress Methuscia to use her oracular sight to divine the one he must find for this task…"
Ted, the center of the guard is indeed inspired by Conan's father's sword. The two Conan swords from the first film, designed by the incredible Ron Cobb, were my primary inspiration to get into this kind of work so I thought I would finally put some type of homage into one of my designs. As far as Galmdring, I love that design but it did not inspire my pommel. The Exotath pommel design has been flaoting around on various unmade sword designs of mine since the mid 90's. I think I was was inspired by a similar pommel I saw on an antique German rapier.
Balrog, the leather wrapped section on the bade can be gripped, but it is there primarily because I thought it looked cool. The design always goes before the function in my fantasy blades.
KRDS
I just ordered my Kit Rae Exotath. According to Kit's website, they should be shipping the first week of March (next week). However, my supplier reports he e xp ects them to arrive Feb. 29th (tomorrow). I am so stoked!
Other than that I Love my Exotath 
:th