THE
SLING |
A Sling is a very basic missile weapon. Simply put: It is an instrument for throwing stones, however, the Sling is an 'easy to learn but hard to master' weapon with a great range. It is one of the few ancient weapons people still use today, in the 17th Santharian century with a minimum of changes to its primary design.
Description.
A Sling is a missile
weapon.
It usually consists of a short strap with two strings attached to its ends or
with a string fastened to one end and a light stick fastened to the other. Is is
a primitive small
weapon
with not much weight, which can nevertheless be quite effective. A main
disadvantage is that the ammunition can be quite heavy if you need to take it
with you. But that is, on the other hand, an advantage to, because you can grab
the ammunition from the ground at location – if you're a bit lucky… The only
things required to construct such a
weapon
are two strings of any type or a small stick and some hardleather. The only
exception on the usage of the hardleathder to build a Sling are the
Shendar people, who managed to make
the pocket of a Sling strong enough from fibres of different plants (read more
details below).
Usage.
The Sling is an excellent
weapon
for combats because it outranges bows. The Sling is mostly
used by humans,
Brownies, the nomadic
elves of
Northern Sarvonia (Méladrhim
or Grey Elves) and the
Boltgrumm
dwarven clan (just for above ground hunting
and tunnel clearing). Especially the human
tribe of the Shendar in southern
Santharia has developed an extraordinary
accuracy in using the Sling, as have have the Penda'u nomads living at the
continent of Akdor. In general it can be said that the Sling is a very common
weapon in
weapon
and for the hunt, especially for tribes with nomadic nature.
Brownies can also outweigh the disadvantage
of their modest strength with a
weapon
like the Sling, especially as they know how to handle poisoned ammunition.
The Sling, though unimpressive looking for those who don’t know the
weapon, can be a very destructive in the right hands,
knocking down a foe with one single, precisely aimed shot. In big combat most
users of the Sling are placed on a high position aiming on the back lines of the
enemy lines, so that they can’t hit a fighter of their own army accidentally…
The Sling is a beloved weapon also in challenges by
quick people who can run and shoot before the-man-with-the-sword
gets near and engages the opponent in a melee fight! The Sling is even such a
simple weapon even dads unexperienced in regular
weapon usage can teach their sons unlike for an
example the bow wich is mostly learned in the recruiting
centres. However, though shooting stones with a Sling can be learned in moments,
mastering the weapon shouldn't be underestimated and
neither its impact it can cause.
Fighting Style.
The sling is simple to use. By swinging the Sling around in various ways, one
develops a strong force, which keeps the stone in the sling until you are ready
to release it. If you aim on a target far away you can fire the Sling with the
stone best above your head, and if you aim on a target with no man in front of
you, swing the Sling clockwise at your flank and release when the Sling is down.
The stone will go either up or straight. A disadvantage to this methode is that
you can’t sling far.
The size of the stone used depends on the size of the wielder and the length of
the material used for the Sling. The length needs to be long enough for the
wielder and have a decent swinging width.
If you swing the Sling at your flank, you’d better not use your wrists for they
would certainly break. But if you’re swinging above your head, it’s one of the
most important things to use your wrists giving just that first start. This is
an important fact you’d better not forget if you’re going to use the Sling and
like your head.
It is not just stones that can be slung using a Sling however; various peasant
uprisings have seen tomatoes and other assorted fruit and vegetables flying
everywhere.
Origin/History. It
can't be said that a single man or tribe invented the Sling. In the Era of
Harmony it is said that Arvins,
God of the Hunt, first taught the races
to use the Sling for the hunt on smaller animals. He showed them how to hunt all
beasts, starting with the smallest, with a Sling. When he had killed a lynx he
said to the children that the lynx was the biggest animal they where allowed to
kill with a Sling. When Armeros saw the
Sling he started teaching it as a weapon for war to
the children immidiately. Most people simply ‘forgot’ a
human is bigger than a lynx or said a
human is no animal so they could kill them
with a Sling. Therefore the people truly loyal to
Arvins never use a sling to kill a
human. But this was a long time after the Era
of Harmony, cause in that time no human killed
an other human.
When the bow was invented most people preferred the
bow over the Sling, but there were tribes like the
Shendar that gained on with the
developing of more efficient Slings.
Shendar Slings for example managed to outrange the bow
and whenever it came to fighting, the
Shendar were known for the usage of their Slings. In the long run many
hunters also of other tribes rediscovered the advantages of the Sling and still
use bows and Slings today, depending on the occasion.
Special Types. The only different kinds
of Slings
are the Brownie-Sling
and the Warrior-Sling of the
Shendar.
The
Brownie-Sling
Where a normal Sling is used to knock down an enemy
with blunt amunition the Brownie-Sling
uses poisened nails of a rat or a
mouse attached on each side of the
stone. This makes the Brownie-Sling
even harder to work with because you need to Sling the
stone with the right side to the target. The nails attach themselves with the
help of the weight of the stone to the skin of the target and
then the poison does its work.
The
Shendar Warrior-Sling
A Shendar Warrior-Sling
uses the skin of a ráhaz-estár,
a giant rock snake. That
Sling is harder to master, but it has a greater range
than a normal Sling. It is a rare
weapon and fighters who have mastered it can be very
dangerous.
Shendar are
known for these Slings, made
of various fibres of plants. Only the
Shendar know
the technique of knotting the pocket so that it is strong enough. However, the
Shen-Kha‘si (Clay-People) and the Shen-Siuu
(Salt-People) use different techniques. The
Shen-D‘auras (Scent-People) use both the techniques of
the Shen-Siuu and the Shen-Kha‘si. Other
Sarvonian tribes
don't use the Sling as much as the
Shendar and
therefore still use leather versions (for more details check out the
Weapons section at the
Shendar entry).
The Shendar also have
another advantage, they can use the
burning stones as ammunition, because they are
a common resource in their
lands, at least in the Lands of Pain near the Norong'Sorno
Volcano.
Burning stones will only explode upon impact, so they are the perfect tool
to make major damage by using a Sling.
Information provided by Maglor
Grubb
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