Crossbow

Janira Gavix wields a crossbow. See also Category:Images of crossbows.

A crossbow is a ranged weapon consisting of a tensioned bow-like device mounted on a handled stock frame called a tiller. A typical crossbow fires short arrow-like ammunition called bolts by releasing the bow's tension with a pull of a trigger in the tiller. Gunslingers are particularly adept with crossbows and can wield them as readily as firearms, while some rangers are also experts in their use.

History

The first mortal inventor of the crossbow was Ligai Fei, whose soul was damned to the Library of Oaths in Hell for swearing and breaking an oath to his wife that he would never invent another weapon.

Variants

Abadar wields a crossbow.

Crossbows are made in several sizes and weights, and with varying loading and firing mechanisms. In addition to magical crossbows, mundane variants include:

• Alchemical crossbows, invented by Vilree Eldara, fire alchemically treated bolts
• Arbalests are large crossbows with fast and powerful firing mechanisms
• Double crossbows, popularized in Absalom, feature two firing mechanisms
• Hand crossbows, also known as alley bows, are more concealable and can be fired in one hand similar to a pistol
• Light and heavy crossbows require less or more effort to load and fire less or more powerfully than a typical crossbow, respectively
• Repeating crossbows are automatically reloaded from bolts stored in a magazine each time they are cocked

Accessories

Crossbows and firearms have similar available accessories, including holsters, bandoliers, scopes, and stabilizers. Their stocks can both be reinforced and mounted with bayonets for use in close combat.

In the Great Beyond

Abadar's favored weapon is the light crossbow. Abadaran priests carry a gold-headed bolt for executions and grant the bolt to the dead criminal's family as compensation for their loss.

Other deities and divine entities who favor the crossbow include the daemon harbingers Laivatiniel and Uaransaph; Nocticula when she was a demon lord; the empyreal lords Ondisso and Zohls; the infernal dukes Malthus, Sabnach, and Xhasnaphar; and the malebranche Scarmiglione.

External links

• Crossbow (real-world weapon) on Wikipedia