Solo Stringing the Bow

[Ishgrameer Windwalker]

Time Stamp: Fall Day 67, 512 The sound of hammer against metal bounced off the walls, and cascaded down the halls side by side with the sounds of bellows being blown. Ishgrameer was sitting in a branch of the Arms Gallery upon a bench in an otherwise unoccupied work room. A small fire roared with life within its hearth. A workbench sat at the center of the room, and was laden with a number of supplies. Ishgrameer sat debating within himself what he should craft. A shortbow. A longbow. A compound. Regardless. Ishgrameer stood and walked over to the workbench. Grabbing a piece of wood he began to shave away at it until it was the proper shape, thickness, and width. He already had the sinew pre-constructed, and had laid out a bundle of it on the workbench. He would work on arrows afterwards once he decided on the bow, but based on the wood he was holding it was most likely to be a shortbow. Several shafts and eagle feathers were scattered across the workbench (his feathers). There was much work ahead of him, and he decided that he had enough wood for at least three bows and twenty arrows.

[Ishgrameer Windwalker]

Wood shavings fell away, and by now littered the floor of the work room. Two frames sat ready and waiting to be strung upon the workbench: one a shortbow, and the other a longbow. The third bow frame was only half carved, and still sat in his hands. He was unsure of whether or not to turn it into a compound longbow or shortbow. On a whim he decided to make a compound shortbow figuring that it’d be more likely to sell among the Inartans who preferred the shortbow. Shaving by shaving, and stroke by stroke the bow gradually took form. He had to be careful lest he broke the wood. He also had to worry about making the bow frame to thin or thick, thus causing it to break or not properly bend. He had done it a number of times previously and his mother had taught him well the ways of the craft. Minutes passed away, until the third of the frames was done. Taking up each frame individually he cut a curve in the ends of the bow where the sinew would be tied and fit so that it didn’t slip off of the bow frame. One by one he made all the slits until all that remained was to string each bow. Taking the set of three lengths of sinew he strung each bow, and adjusted the sinew to fit the proper length of the bow, and poundage as he saw fit. At last the bows were done, but he still had to finish the last set of arrows, which would make 6 sets of 20 arrows total (2 for each bow being made). Taking the last remaining shafts-which already had the nocks in them-he trimmed the tops a little more and then sanded them until they were perfectly smooth. The he grabbed the bag of arrowheads. He fastened each arrowhead to a shaft and for good measure-despite those being fitted arrowheads-he tied them to the shaft with a strip of light-weight chord. Finally after each arrowhead was attached he grabbed the already separated feathers, which were almost all of his own-shed-feathers. Taking some of the remaining adhesive he glued three feathers to each arrow. He sat the arrows down so that the glue could dry and took an arrow that he had made a while ago, which the glue by now had dried. Picking up the shortbow he nocked the arrow and pulled it, and fired it at a piece of wood he had hung from one of the walls. The arrow flied true, and the bow bent perfectly. Everything was in order, and after a good days work he was tired. He put out the fire, and made to collect his things.

[Whimsy]

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Experience Award

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Ishgrameer Windwalker

Exp
+2 Fletching/Bowing
+1 Weapon: Longbow

Lores
Proper Thickness of a Bow
Different Types of Bows
Method for Crafting Arrows

Comments
Nicely done! I hope you enjoy your rewards. Be careful about overplaying your skill: as a novice in Fletching & Bowing, and in Longbow, you'd have a much harder time crafting things so perfectly, so easily. Just remember: longer, more detailed threads grant you more xp! PM me if you have any questions or concerns.