#arnorian

Had another “Eöl’s dart was a plumbata” big-brain moment and I think the legendary numenorean steel bows were crossbows. Maximum hitting-power, punches through armour like nobody’s business, and bigger + stronger numenoreans could obviously use some genuinely terrifying crossbows, even compared to the monsters used in the late-medieval and early renaissance eras before early firearms replaced them. The ease of using a crossbow also means it makes sense for their armies to be feared for using them, since it’d be easy to train sailors and basic troops to moderate competency then having them shoot 1-2 times before the battle proper starts.