If we look at the weapons of the Iron Lords over the years, we see some interesting designs among them, from the names of the weapons to the physical designs. Lets begin where it all did, Year One. In year one, we have Iron Regalia armor, across all three classes, which is interesting. Its not like the later gear that mimics that worn by the Iron Lords, at least from what we can see from their statues. No, this equipment is different. Its Regalia, which if we look at the definition of means : “the distinctive clothing worn and ornaments carried at formal occasions as an indication of status.” So that means that this gear wasn’t intended as combat equipment of the main Iron Lords, per say, but rather as equipment that they wore for formal occasions.
As well, during the first year of our journey, we see the names of the Iron Banner weapons. They are either names of an action or attribute attributed to the Iron Lord associated with it, or the name of a weapon, such as Hammer, Lash, Spear. I believe that these names vary for a reason. We see that members such as Jolder were around from the start, and so its not unbelievable that in early days Jolder might have used a Hammer. It is also possible that the weapon was named not by Saladin, but rather by Skorri. She has been seen in the grimoire to be a rather poetic one, and so its not out of the realm of possibility that part of the Iron Song lists the Lord with their attribute or weapon. This helps with the fact that their names are rather poetic. Jolder’s Hammer, Felwinter’s Lie, Silimar’s Wrath. But we also see that the weapons are much like the designs that were used by other factions. Likely to get the guardians to work their ways into the items.
Then Year Two came. We have the Iron Companion gear, this is armor that was like some of the Iron Lords armor, and the weapons tell another story with their weapons, but are again, very similar to year one’s design. This trend kept itself until Rise of Iron. Where we see a radical re-design of the weapons produced under the Iron Banner. Lord Saladin, or Efrideet perhaps, created weapons that I believe were solidly based on the ones that the Iron Lords used long ago, when fighting Warlords. If you read the grimoire then you know of the story that they held off a Warlord and his troops using shields and rifles wrapped in cloth and chainmail. The Rise of Iron weapons are much like this, and for a reason. They are used for if you run out of ammo you can still use the weapon as a melee weapon. The Armor is brutal and tough, comprised of fur and maile, the ornamented variants show fire within the armor, representing the light of our guardians.
The weapons have evolved over the years to tell a story many of you have theorized about before, but I believe that story is actually part of the Iron Song, and that the newer equipment is more in line with the historical weapons of the Iron Lords.
Thanks for reading,
Ling