Fic Updates 49

[Norgarth]

Beware of Chicken
https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/...t-91941990

Tome of the Orange Sky
https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/th...t-27614856

EDIT:
Scaling Up (Worm/D&D/Mangled Mythology)
https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/th...t-27625338

A Thing of Vikings
https://archiveofourown.org/works/104089.../117588121

Much debate rages over the advantages and disadvantages regarding different types of ranged weaponry in use by dragon-mounted archers. Generally speaking, there are three types in common use—full crossbows, classic composite horse-bows, and hybrid mechanical bows, each of which has its own proponents and detractors.

Full crossbows have the greatest potential strength and are the easiest to use, with a simple trigger that looses the bolt, and can be pre-loaded and held at the ready without strain, but they take an extremely long time to reload. Furthermore, they are complex to make, with gears, levers, and, in the cases of the most powerful ones, a significant amount of quality steel for the lath and the string, adding significantly to the cost. In the context of dragonback combat, a skilled crossbow wielder could potentially break contact with the enemy and reload before coming in for another pass, but this is not universally possible. In essence, a flight of crossbow-using dragon-archers will deliver a single powerful punch, upon which they will need to either break contact or gain cover from other units while reloading.

Composite horse-bows require considerable training to use on dragonback, but are the quickest to nock and loose by an experienced archer, and are the cheapest and simplest to construct, being made of laminated wood, horn, and sinew, although there is a lead time required for drying in the manufacturing process. In the context of dragonback combat, a skilled horse-bow archer can potentially loose multiple arrows at their adversaries in a matter of moments, even in the high-speed conditions of a head-to-head pass. However, the training required for effective horse-bow use is unquestionably much higher than that of a crossbow, and the horse-bow is much more tiring to keep ready than a crossbow, and also more vulnerable to being burned by dragonfire.

Hybrid mechanical bows use metal arms, much like crossbows, but use a series of cams and pulleys to draw back the arms, rendering the mechanical bow similar to a traditional bow in use, even though it is much more complicated. Proper design allows the bow to even “rest” after it has been drawn back, lessening the strain on the archer’s body until the arrow is loosed. However, again, they require considerable material and expertise to craft, and the complexities of the design, while not as high as that of a crossbow, still renders them vulnerable to some of the same drawbacks; a slipped cam can result in the bow being unusable until repaired. That being said, they are frequently seen as an effective middle-ground between the two other options.

—The Wing And The Ax, Queen-Marshal Astrid Haddock I, undated draft, Waterford University Archives