Le Fa'avaivai Savavali
Le Fa'avaivai Savavali ("The Tired Walk") is a Stenzan booby trap of tribal origins that has been widely used in Stenzan guerilla warfare.
Description
Although variations of the trap exist, it is widely accepted that the base element of the trap exists of sharpened sticks of bamboo or a similar material. The trap is usually spread around in large numbers throughout areas one does not want an enemy to pass through, hidden between foliage or under hidden trapdoors. Most incarnations of the trap are covered in feces, manure and other unhygienic materials, adding a biological element to the trap in an attempt to make those who step on it sick and thus unsuitable for further fighting.
Those who step on the trapped spikes are usually impaled or otherwise wounded, the open wound allowing the biological matter to get into the victim's system. Illness usually ensures.
Historic Use
Le Fa'avaivai Savavali has been used in tribal conflicts throughout Stenza's history, being an easy way to defend an area through the fear of getting sick alone. The weapon truly earned a place in the history books during the Daxian colonization of Stenza though, with many Daxian colonizers falling victims to traps left by Stenzans unwelcoming to the new colonizers.
The traps were also widely used to the Stenzan War of Independence, with Guerilla formations laying large fields of these traps before luring Daxian units into them. The Daxian, bogged down within the trapped fields, were easy targets to pick off by the raiding Stenzans. It is rumored that these traps are responsible for low morale among Daxian units during the war of independence, with the prospect of attacking just to step in a spiked stick covered in shit being considered very unattractive.
The traps remained a staple of Stenzan defensive warfare after the War of Independence, with modern fieldcraft manuals still containing instructions on how to set these traps. A Stenzan soldier has been cited as saying setting these traps, feces included, is still taught in basic military training as late as 2026.