Superior Ballista Blueprint

Superior Ballista Blueprint glints on the desk, a half-forgotten map of a frontier fortress. The parchment is thick and waxy, edges curled like old leaves. Copper-brown ink has seeped into the fibers, lending a burnished glow that catches the candle’s seal. At the top, a brass emblem—a coiled ballista bolt entwined with thorny vine—marks rival guilds and the long memory of sieges. The drawing is meticulous: layered levers, a robust frame, a wheeled carriage, and a sights-and-aims rig. The texture of the paper is rough under the fingers, yet the lines glide as if the author were sketching from memory, not specification. Margins carry tiny doodles—tired mules, rain-slicked ramps, a storm sigil—hinting at deployment and guard duties. There is lore here of engineers who learned their craft in muddy trenches, bending dwarven metallurgy to human needs. The Superior Ballista Blueprint unlocks a perfected siege engine for engineers who dare to take the field with discipline. It is not merely more damage—steadier, quicker to assemble, easier to repair. The barrel of bolts is longer, the frame more rigid, the torsion springs calibrated to snap with a reassuring crack. When deployed in a pass or atop a palisade, it can punch through raiders, sweep troops from approach, and buy defenders time to reinforce gates or mend ladders. In patient hands, it becomes a lifeline for a besieged outpost to hold until dawn. Market talk slinks into the tale as rumors do in a busy camp. Traders whisper that the blueprint, rare as a storm-summoned bolt, fetches a tidy sum if you know where to look. A quick coin and a few components can unlock not just the weapon but a chain of defense around a camp that seemed doomed. It was at the Saddlebag Exchange, beneath awning-streaked sun, where a dealer laid the parchment on the counter and weighed out a price that shifted with supplies. Silver slid across rough leather as sigils chimed—the moment a small document becomes a fulcrum for struggle and dawn. And maybe, in future campaigns, the blueprint will be remembered not just as an instrument, but as a turning point that echoed through markets, camps, and quiet nights when a single plan kept hope alive.