| The Grand Armoury |
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| L'arc d'angoisse: The ballista has been one of the oldest inventions. Derived from Greek diagrams and designs, this bow was the first machine to be made to aid the development of the Kingdom of Dinoland. This machine was especially useful against the Bears because they often marched in dense formation. A single spear loosed from this machine could down several soldiers at once. Its light design and rapid loose rate made it an incredible machine. In the control of an experienced crew they can not only down a dozen Bears in the time of a cavalry's charge but can also be used to set fire to siege hoardings and thatch when sieging. Unfortunately, because of its light design, when a horseman does reach the machine, it takes only a matter of seconds to destroy it. Heavier models are being developed and when they are deployed in a line formation, they form an almost impassable defense. Its only enemies on the front are cavalry charges and onagers. |
| The valor of the soldiers is not the only thing that keeps the tides of invaders from attacking. The soldiers are often overwhelmed by an entire sea of enemies who dare to cross over the kingdom. The French, even when using their massive cavalry pushes could not turn the tide. They knew they must also rely on powerful weapons that are more powerful than a hundred men(or women). They turned to the ancient knowledge of the Romans and Greeks, mixed it with the modern materials and created siege engines and massive machines to aid them in their battles. |
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| Le Dame de Feu: The Lady of Fire is one of the most recent recreations. Aaron commanded the reconstruction of the ancient Siege Onagers to aid the nation in sieges. Before the advent of the onager, castle gates had to be knocked down by battering rams while archers and ballistas hammered the walls and took a shower of arrows. The earlier model "War I" was the earliest onager from the time of Chester's reign. It was about one third the size of the Dame and could not shoot heated shots. The Dame could be used to shoot firepots(ceramic jars filled with buring tar) as well as heated shots. The design of the throw arm allows excess oil to be drained before releasing, ensuring that no harm come to the crew. The Lady of Fire was the only machine to be able to shoot balls of fire, hence her name. The Dame is also much heavier than the previous models and can send a 10 gram shot 25 feet (an actual onager can send a 50 lb shot about 350 yards). Even though the onager promotes war, James thinks the onager is a great addition to the Republic. |
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| Blast Away ray_dolphin: The trebuchet is an Bearish invention. Although the design was foreign, and belonged to an enemy, the design was so efficient that the Dinos adopted their design and used it for their own purposes. Though its range was less than that of the Lady, the trebuchet could be loaded with a variety of items such as: marbles, rocks, firepots, deceased stuffed animals as well as the occasional messenger. The trebuchet is quite different in design from the onager, by the way it releases the load. The trebuchet uses a counterweight system in which the counterweight is placed on the short end of a pole while the shot is placed on the long end. The proportion is about 1 to 3 to about 1 to 5. The shot is not carried on a throw arm directly, but instead hooked onto a sling that attaches to the throw arm. The hook on the sling can be changed angles to release the sling at different times. This causes the trajectory of the shot to change. The trebuchet can be set to throw a shot against a wall hard by making the hook about 70 degrees in relationship with the throw arm and releasing the shot very late at a low trajectory. The trebuchet can also be set to throw a shot over or on top of a target by making the hook about 20 degrees in relationship with the throw arm and releasing the shot very early at a high trajectory. The trebuchet is a valuable asset in sieges, but is entirely useless on ground battles. As for the name, that was made up by the Bearish leader(my sister)... from a member of the Dolphin and whales guild on Neopets(ray_dolphin) and the weapon on Pterattack called Blast Away Ray, also from Neopets. |
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| Le Tonnerre: The cannon is a recent addition to the armoury. The Thunder, is one of the most feared machines on the field. Because of its light design, it's incredibly useful in many situations. Not only is the cannon useful in sieges, like its predecessor the bombard cannon, but it's mobility and rapid fire rate allows it to be useful on the open battle also. Its appearance has almost put the ballista out of use, but because of the recent invasion of a potassium mine in Northern France, the supply of saltpetre has decreased, and thus the presence of this weapon has also diminished (Actually, I'm running out of fireworks to take apart). |
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