City of Guts and Lead Items (II)
A few more items as I finish up the equipment list for an upcoming mini-campaign.
RING-CROSSBOWS - Favored by Guts Divers and Assassins for their reliability, silence, and ease of concealment. A surprisingly strong crossbow built into the wrist of a glove. The release mechanism is often operated by a string attached to a ring worn on one finger, allowing a simple movement to release a bolt or dart with impressive lethality at close range.
The anarchist students by the name of 'The Married Men' were inspired by this grisly weapon. Renouncing their studies and marriages to women of good standing, they instead wed themselves to a future only possible through violence. Initiated into the cause with an ornate ring, with their targets selected a simple flex of their finger meant that even the gentlemanly handshake was weaponized for the cause.
ANCIENT MASK AND STIMULANTS - The executioners donned these metal helmets before carrying out the atrocities required to construct the state. The bronze mask hid them from their families, while the stimulants kept their axes swinging and their minds from questions even as the Anchetta Lake turned red. The Executioners' castle was dragged down into the waters along with the tools of their trade under the weight of horrors.
Despite the centuries that have passed, Guts Divers find these macabre relics frequently during their delves and put them to good use in their own grim trade.
CAVALRY SABRE - This design, inspired by the works of the Plainsmen, became standard issue across the farthest reaches of the Hanith Empire for the cavalry and officer corps. While its use as a symbol for the warrior class remained, most accepted that their use in combat at its end when the Coalition proved the might of their machine guns.
The Royalist folk hero Baron Grigios and his cavalry formed from a combination of Plainsmen and the most reckless sons of the aristocracy challenged this defeatist attitude. They demonstrated the continuing utility of cavalry charges when paired with brutal military cunning. As he waged his guerrilla campaign against the Coalition, Imperial High Command sent him repeated radio requests for updates on his movements. His possibly apocryphal one sentence response "Dust behind us, death before us." has become a battle cry for all brave or deluded cavalry men who rail against their relegation to history.