Gear of Interest

There are several specialty weapons in the Chronicles that are explained in further detail here. The greater empires, namely the Perilleans and later the Yoneians, driven by the Selerianic Silver Revolution, possessed the resources and skills to manufacture effective weaponry in sufficient quantities to equip their troops.

Quad Bows

Quad bow usually referred to a handheld four-shot counterbow invented by the Perilleanic Empire, first used by the Fire Rider Knights (meusars).

The weapon had a total of eight limbs, either split from four main limbs or as separate, generally made of high-tensile steel similar to the highest quality sword blades. As the name states, the limbs were installed pointing forward instead of back, and the string loops were attached with small pulleys. This allowed the bow to have several times longer pull length than a conventional crossbow, producing significantly more energy.

The weapon was designed to pierce plate armor using long, thin bolts, and indeed, it was one of the few weapons readily capable of stopping warriors wearing a full suit of armor, including meusar armor. While a short bow could be faster to use, the quad bow had significantly more energy and could be used to fire four bolts consecutively without the strength and skill needed to operate a manual bow.

The weapon was cocked using an internal rod and a lever jack with a mechanism similar to that of a modern farmer's jack, allowing cocking all four strings at once, a task that would otherwise require a very high gear ratio winch and/or a very strong archer. One string could hold several hundred foot-pounds of energy.

To fit all four triggers, the designers simply incorporated two grips and two sets of dual triggers to the weapon at a 90-degree angle, the other grip pointing to the right. A front grip was installed for holding to allow the limbs to flex without hitting the user's hand.

Being such complicated and intricate weapons requiring high-grade steels and precision handcrafting, they were exceedingly expensive and could only be used to equip top elite troops. The material used for the bowstring was originally Helithean vine, but after colonizing Ionia, windsilk was preferred as the stronger option.

The Yoneian States quickly established the capacity to produce quad bows for its own needs in all different variations.

Counterbow ballistae

Counterbow ballistae referred to heavy siege bows that had a wide variety of designs, from the very simple, basic single-shot reverse crossbow to the pinnacle of design, Heavy Quad Counterbow, essentially just a huge quad bow, often mounted for mobility, usually on chariots, carriages, ships, or simple carts pulled by infantry crews.

Counterbows were used in a variety of ways, from firing simple heavy bolts to pierce structures and armor to payload ammo, most commonly incendiary - a pottery charge inserted into the tip of a missile, filled with ground oil and lit before firing at structures, ships, foliage, or troops.

Stacked bolts were a type of ammunition used against infantry attacks. The stacks could contain up to twelve arrows or bolts, producing high effectiveness against infantry formations.

Thunderblades

Thunderblades, or lightning swords, were a phenomenon that Secret-Keepers could wield either during a thunderstorm and/or by adding a Powerstone to a bladed weapon (glitterstones, or eye stones, to name the known). The blade essentially acted as a conductor for energy, allowing the formation of light arcs that burned as hot and bright as actual lightning bolts - and about as loud when applied. This arc of energy was sufficiently energetic to sear through almost anything, readily turning any armor or weapons into a flurry of molten metal and sparks. However, the condensed energy arc could be slung from the blade for distances of up to several hundred feet, depending on the skill of the Secret-Keeper; hence, using the thunderblade as a ranged weapon was much more common.

The light arc and its power correlated with the length of the blade to a certain limit, which was the Secret-Keeper's ability to retain focus, or when the blade simply melted under the immense heat. A smaller weapon, such as a stiletto, was referred to as a Sparkblade. These weapons were commonly used to sling small lightning bolts, very effective against infantry.

Any bladed weapon could be wielded as a thunderblade under a thunderstorm in capable hands, but in its absence, a Secret-Keeper was not able to wield this effect. There was an exception, however, by using specific powerstones, whose origin was a mystery. Any weapon could be converted into a thunderblade by inserting such a powerstone into the crossguard or the root of the blade of said weapon. The Secret-Keepers demonstrated this by using simple rope to attach it until a more elegant solution was fabricated. It was known that these powerstones did not generate any energy per se, but simply absorbed it from the environment, acting as catalysts, and places like underground caves proved to diminish their power.

The weapons quickly heated up during use, soon growing from dull red to cherry red and all the way to bright yellow until melting altogether. This would naturally destroy the blade's temper unless made from specific alloys (namely durhanic steel or valcamic alloys).

Due to their nature, thunderblades sovereignly commanded battlefields whenever used, producing a blinding bright cyan light and thunderclaps equal to a real thunderstorm. To give scale, an average lightning bolt in a thunderstorm can carry as much energy as five hundred M1 Abrams tank gun rounds or 2500 pounds of TNT. Harvesting even a tiny fraction of that energy can unleash devastating power.

A capable Secret-Keeper was easily able to take on entire army formations, being able to stop and redirect missiles, produce gales sweeping off ranks, and simply devastate them with lightning in the form of thunderbolts, thunderwhipping, or ball lightning. However, these weapons required immense concentration and honing of skill from a Secret-Keeper; thus, one could keep up the fight only for so long.

Paper Armor

One of the more peculiar inventions of the era was paper armor. Variations of natural fibers had been used in several places, but in dire need and lack of better options, the Yoneians equipped their common army with paper armor made in situ from wood, which was in endless supply at the Highlands. The Ikharonian Republic had mastered the manufacture of wood paper (Sil. limpur), a skill that was brought to life by a few selected relegate slaves who taught the skill to the workers, establishing a papercrafter's guild.

The paper armor needed a lot of fine-tuning to make it durable and ergonomic, but the end product worked sufficiently well to become the main armor of the Yoneian regional troops and later the imperial army. The armor consisted of scale-like stacked paper blocks bound together with yarn, forming an interlinking scale armor. Dipped in tar, it produced lightweight full-body armor that offered plenty of protection, and the inch-thick torso blocks were even able to stop quad bow bolts. The armor also proved to be resistant against sparkblade bolts, as it absorbed the thermal energy, unlike steel plate, which melted and gave way. The armor also had the benefit of being both breathable but warm during cold seasons - and the fact that it was lighter than water could be a matter of life and death to marines, as steel armor would cause one to sink immediately.

In later eras, the technology was perfected by pressing the paper thinner and tighter, further increasing protection. Combination armor became the gold standard. It used a base of paper that was reinforced with steel plates, windsilk, or even spider silk. The most expensive armor was made completely from fine mesh windsilk fabric that almost corresponded to modern fiber armor.

Hellthunder grenades

Hellthunder was an arcane high explosive originating from Hellornia, suspected to contain a mixture of volcanic salts.