This is a class of very sturdy, long bladed basket-hilt swords both very popular with heavy cavalry from the Baroque to the Enlightenment period, though developed in the late Renaissance. The schiavona is long single-handed cutting sword characterized by a distinctive type of complex cage-hilt usually also featuring full or partial quillions, and a distinctive 'cats-head' pommel. The blade is fairly broad tapering to a stiff thrusting point, with single or multiple fullers in the forte, though it is primarily a cutting weapon. Some are fully double edged, while some have only half of the false edge sharpened. In the Middle Ages the Doge (mayor) of Venice hired the Schiavoni, a tribe of Slavonic mercenaries from the Dalmatian (Croatian) coast as bodyguards. The Schiavoni wielded a unique type of sword which was called the schiavonesca; a kind of a hybrid between a cut-and-thrust sword and an arming sword. The Polish Palasch sword has a similar role and overall format.

Name	Size	Reach	Speed	Defense	Base Damage	Attack Types	Primary Attack Types	Armor Pierce	Grapple	Hardness	HP
Sword, schiavona	L	4	3	5	1-8	SCP	C	0	0	0	0

Brass hilted Schiavona, Venetian, 18th Century