A lamia is a weapon named after the creature of the same name. It is described as a spiky and particularly cruel whip, and is forbidden in most civilized countries. The weapon collapses into a small disk, making it easy to conceal. It was a favourite tool of the head of the Novigrad secret service, Chappelle.
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The Witcher was not looking at Chappelle. He did not take his eyes off the weapons of the men in leather caps surrounding the fountain. In most countries known to Geralt the production and possession of spiked lamias, also called Mayhenian scourges, were strictly prohibited. Novigrad was no exception. Geralt had seen people struck in the face by a lamia. He would never forget those faces.
”
In The Witcher computer game[]
In one of the opening scenes of Chapter I, when Geralt first meets Shani in the compound surrounding the Inn, she tells him that the Salamandra had beaten a child with a lamia. This serves to underline the extent of their evil.