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I hate this work.
The cycle of nature is no stranger to me, the often brutal necessities survival demands. I have hunted down and killed animals, avoiding cruelty. I have eaten their flesh. These are not animals, not even whole plants. Just parts. They are not even alive to begin with.
And yet, this bothers me more than killing beasts or intelligent creatures. Some days, it feels like I can hear them screaming.
Creation
When finished, the arrows don’t look very different, perhaps a little paler than your generic wooden sort, as if a little frost was left on them from the early morning. Skilled archers know the difference, but they are rarely marked with different feathers or paint: this variety is cold to the touch.
The Elves make them only in deep winter. The wood is left to freeze outside, over and over. As the bark is slowly stripped away, the piece is drenched in water, and left to freeze again, day after day. Mystical phrases are uttered, words meant to heal and restore, they vary as those who make use of them. The wood is allowed to rest, then cruel winter bites into it. And the process continues - parting into shafts, all the adjusting, adding the vanes, and so on.
Meanwhile, the wood has been frozen to cold death and restored many times; less than a third will come out of the process in a usable form. For the makers, it is a long, tiring work. But the result seems worth it, just be sure to employ them before next winter… they will not bear another.
Magic/Cursed Properties
In shooting, it is a weak magical missile (it can be your generic +1 arrow). But if it hits living matter, it becomes more. The suffering of winter cannot be born anymore, the wood warps and splits like it should at its birth, likely increasing the damage caused, and making the removal a horrible mess. Besides the pain caused by the wound itself, the biting cold it absorbed is discharged, potentially shocking the victim to its core.
The arrow is sometimes called Rank-Breaker, and if used correctly it can shake even massive war beasts, normally impervious to little wooden sticks.
December 29, 2007, 17:07
December 29, 2007, 17:41
Love it! Last sentence rocks.
December 29, 2007, 18:11
Though having been through at least one major ice storm, I can see how magical frost could turn wood into shrapnel.
December 30, 2007, 12:56
Now that you mentioned it, I think these arrows would equally quickly warp and split, were they to be touched by fire... handle with care.
December 29, 2007, 18:49
December 30, 2007, 13:08
Now, that a name has to exactly correspond to the weapon type of an item is kind of silly, but hang on, there is an image behind it: while a single arrow is dangerous, they show their effect best in a volley, in a pivotal moment of the battle, where any additional shock may be enough to break the morale of the opposition...
...and that is, when the winter puts its Claws deep into the enemy, and the Rank-Breakers fulfill their mission.
(Maybe, I should add to them a little special effect: thin white lines left in their flight - then the claws would be actually visible.)
Lastly, yes they are made by users of magic, but let's face it - most magical items are supposed to be. Hopefully the process is distinctive enough to make them stand out.
December 30, 2007, 13:40
While the name of an item need not be a direct representation of the item, it should be an extension of it, to quote one of my old writing handouts from school; A two fisted brawler named Lester Smalls doesnt work. The conflict i had is that a claw is a melee weapon, such as a sword, a dagger, or even Bang-ak (or whatever they are called) rather than an arrow which is a ranged, flying weapon. It is a minor point and though I pointed it out, it didnt impact the score.
In Reference to the Quest
Made by a wizard/magic user is the default mode of magic item/weapon creation and it was my impression that the purpose of the quest was to branch out away from this standard. While this is a good submission, I do not feel that it expressed the spirit of the quest. Cheka's sigil swords are enchanted by familial love, CP's Fatal swords by insane repetition and cosmic alignment, etc.
December 30, 2007, 14:14
December 30, 2007, 14:17
That said, I do love the imagery it conjurs - shafts of wood that glisten faintly with the bitter frost they contain, exploding as they strike to rend flesh and drive the spike of winter's deepest misery into their victim, and the descriptive text is a compelling thing, bringing to mind the grizzled old woodsman crouched in a cleared patch in the midwinter snow, looking down at handfuls of wood - some straight and true, others bent and splintered beyond recognition.
December 30, 2007, 15:05
The submission has been Updated, I've taken even the name. It sounds better. :)
Thanks, Kassil, for the ideas, and the imagery! You really helped this along!
January 10, 2008, 22:34
April 10, 2008, 17:17
April 11, 2008, 17:00
June 19, 2012, 20:58