Valgard's Vice

'''Valgard's Vice is a very unique Heavy Crossbow, of which only one of it's kind and class exist in the realm of Fastheld today. Black in colour, and featuring a 28-inch (2.4ft) ebony-steelwood stock, the Crossbow remains --}- shaped in design, consisting of a mortised and reinforced horn lock, a polished bronze prod (that remains approximately 85 lb at 6 inches of draw), inlet foreplates and lockplates, and a distinctive wooden wedge safety. A tight steel-wire bowstring runs from one end of the bow to the other, while a steel trigger mechanism can be found under the rear arm of the stock, allowing bolts to be fired automatically once the bowstring is hooked over the lockplate, while a sleek metal groove covers the nose of the weapon, allowing bolts to be held in place and ready to fire. Finally, a steel-wire loop can be found at the very fore of the Crossbow, permitting the weapon to be attached to a holster or hook.' Legend has it that this distinctive Heavy Crossbow was named not by its designer, Valgard Surefire, but by his wife Lendela, who was responsible for the arduous stringing the crossbow and then checking its aim and speed of fire. There was apparently no love lost between the couple, and their arguments on everything from maintaining the home to maintaining their accounts were legendary within the Guild Halls. Shortly after Valgard was unluckily crushed to death by the falling body of Jamot Seamel after he threw himself from the battlements of Brooding Keep in 558 ATA, Lendela proceeded to lay her husband's name (and backlog of uncompleted work) to rest by finishing off the last of a series of unusual weapons that still lay in Valgard's workshop, cursing each one with Valgard's name. After finishing the last of his weapons, Lendela apparently left the Guildhall they owned in Northwatch and traveled southwards, gladly ridding herself of the Surefire name and creations. No other Crossbow of this kind - falling between an Arbalest and a standard Crossbow in terms of power - has been made by any other craftsman to date, much to the relief of Nobles planning on marriages and Priests across the realm.''


 * Status: Owned by the Imperial Tribune