Wooden Spear

Biodata

Design and Crafting

• Original spear: Lu Heng removes the wood’s forks and side branches, then repeatedly grinds and sharpens its end into a solid point. He carries it diagonally behind his waist, secured beneath his outer garment for quick drawing without restricting movement 15.
• Replacement spear: After the original breaks, he selects a hard, tough oak branch. Using his iron axe, he removes branches and knots, straightens the blank, smooths away burrs, and tapers the front into a thick, sharp point 24.
• Maintenance: A dulled, chipped point can be restored by shaving it with the iron axe. Lu Heng also checks the shaft for cracks before setting out 19 26.

History

Cold Stiff Encounter

Lu Heng initially prepares the spear as a fallback against weapon failure. It becomes his only usable weapon when his damaged stone axe lodges in a Cold Stiff’s chest and cannot be retrieved. Keeping beyond the creatures’ poisonous claws, he thrusts into an elbow joint and kills another through the back of its neck 15.

During the fight’s conclusion, he uses the shaft to trip the final Cold Stiff, then drives the point downward through the back of its skull. Gray-black corpse poison clings to the spear tip during the encounter; he carefully keeps it away from his clothing and skin 15 16.

Maintenance and Complementary Weapons

Back at the shelter, Lu Heng crafts a bone dagger to cover the spear’s weakness at very close range. The two weapons provide separate options for distance thrusting and close combat 18.

Before his next quarrying trip, he repairs the spear’s rough, chipped point with the iron axe. He recognizes that its reach lets him strike first more safely than the axe, although it inflicts less damage 19.

Destruction and Replacement

Against the Swamp Poison Lizard, Lu Heng initially favors the iron axe because the wooden spear offers little margin for error and an insufficiently sharp point. When the wounded lizard breaks free, he switches back to the spear and attempts to deflect its lunging body with upward strikes. Repeated pulling and bending snap the shaft in half at its midpoint 22.

The ruined weapon is unusable. Before returning to the swamp, Lu Heng crafts an oak replacement and advances with its point probing ahead of each half-step 24.

Continued Use

The spear remains part of Lu Heng’s equipment after he acquires a crossbow and Bronze Hunting Blade. During an upstream expedition, he chooses it over both his blade and axe to confront a Blue-Spotted Snake concealed in tall grass. Its reach allows him to pin the snake away from his legs, and he survives the encounter 28 34 36.

At the cold pool, he cannot reach the submerged Springwater Treasure Chest from shore with the spear alone. He instead enters the water and plants it in the silt to steady himself while retrieving the chest 38.

Abilities and Uses

Reach and Precision Thrusting

The spear’s main combat advantage is maintaining distance while targeting exposed weak points 15 19.

• Pierces vulnerable areas such as Cold Stiff joints, the back of the neck, and the skull 15 16.
• Offers useful reach against snakes striking from dense vegetation 36.
• Lacks the hardness of a stone edge and cannot deliver comparable forceful chops or slashes 15.

Tripping and Restraint

The shaft can control an opponent’s movement rather than simply wound it 16 36.

• Trips a slow-moving Cold Stiff by obstructing its stepping leg 16.
• Pins the Blue-Spotted Snake to muddy ground, preventing it from closing in despite its struggles 36.
• Can snap under sustained bending, pulling, and direct clashes with a powerful beast 22.

Exploration and Support

The spear also serves as a tool for checking terrain and stabilizing movement 24 38.

• Probes the swamp’s concealed footing before Lu Heng advances 24.
• Sweeps aside tall grass to expose potential ambushers 36.
• Braces against the pool bed during underwater chest retrieval 38.
• Performs poorly when prying stones from compacted riverbed silt compared with the iron axe 18.

Situational Limitations

• Wear: Repeated thrusts wear down the point, while impacts against rock can chip it 15 19.
• Confined positioning: During the Blue-Backed Jackal siege, the spear is difficult to use from the tree branches. Lu Heng rejects throwing it because a lethal penetration is uncertain and doing so would sacrifice a defensive weapon 32.