[Dragaera] Arrows vs Javelins

[Mark A. Mandel]

Summary: they're bows and arrows all right.

--- Martin Wohlert <martin_wohlert at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Jon_Lincicum at stream.com wrote:
> 
> >Vlad does state that the "Javelin-shooters" are firing "javelins" that
> are
> >much skinnier than those that Cropper Company use, and have feathers
> >(read: fletching) on the back.
> >
> >Likely, Cropper Company is using something rather like a Pilum, and the
> >javelin shooter is more like a crossbow.

> Or atl-atl or a ballista... However, I don't think it's anything like
> bow and arrow (to answer Tom).

I do. Vlad as much as tells us so:

"Take a length of green, bendable wood," said Virt. "Put a string to it,
and you can use it to shoot those things a long distance. Longer, even
uphill, than we can throw our javelins downhill." (Dragon, ch. 15, p. 249
Tor paperback)

No ratchet mechanism, no pulleys, no recurve even. That's the simplest,
most basic form of bow. Maybe somewhere on Dragaera somebody has compound
or recurved bows, but that's not what Virt is describing. There's no
indication that they're facing anything but simple bows or that she knows
of any other kind. Maybe someone who actually knows something about bows
will correct me.

-- Mark A. Mandel, proprietor, Cracks and Shards
   http://www.cracksandshards.com
   a Steven Brust fan website



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