Completed [Job Thread] [Tipsy Wench] Weaponry and Gadgets

[Shimoje]

90th of Spring 516 A.V.

The Tipsy Wench was preparing for it long voyage once more. Every person aboard was moving about hauling trade goods aboard the ship and placing it in the caged cargo drop. A flurry of words and passing bodies bumped into each other as they worked on fixing and preparing sails. Yngvarr and Siv made sure that everyone was working hard, and were barking out a flurry of different orders. The loaders walking back and forth from the docks and the centreplank in sequence from the storehouse in the Syliras.

Shimoje’s task, given by the Captain himself, was to make sure everything aboard the ship was in operational order. He was particularly more worried about the weaponry aboard the ship. Two Ballistaes and a bombard, which had been worked on the days before.

Shimoje checked his surroundings at the main ballistae, and then with a loud prevalent yell “Test Fire!” He let the spear fire into the waters below. The spear was attached by rope so he could retrieve it after firing. As the springworks and elastic drawstring did their work the spear seemed to fire fine and the rope got taught just before flinging back as it was tied down to the ship. The easy part was firing, but now Shimoje was sweating trying to pull in the spear from the water’s below. Every heave of his body on the rope struggled as placing hand over hand, wound about his armband for added leverage.

Eventually Shimoje grew tired of using his arms and decided to walk it back to the other side of the ship. Every step was a struggle, and he staggered across to the other of ship. He didn’t dare let go of the rope though, knowing it would just slip back into the sea below. Walking a bit forward leaving some slack on the ship, he worked on securing the slack by using his back to lift a crate full of Alcohol bottles.

In his struggle he sat on the rope and then lifted part of the box up just enough to slip it under. Now that the rope was secured he could finish hauling in the spear. It seemed harder than it should be. Finally, the spear appeared from atop the side of the ship and Shimoje walked forward positioning it by the Ballistae.

Using the crank mechanism on the Ballistae he readied it to be loaded and positioned the spear once more into it. He almost forgot to lock the Ballistae as he walked off to the other one, then with labored breath walked back to it and locked it so it wouldn’t accidentally fire. “Shyke.” He sat down next to it for a small while and drank from his waterskin. Looking around Shimoje could see that the crew were fast in loading the ship. Most of the crew were annoyed by him taking up space and room from his work with the rope, and looked at him eerily while he was sitting down.

“Get up, slacker!” Siv said, being quick to get Shimoje back to work. “Else, I make you carry stuff from the storehouse as well!” Shimoje stuck his tongue out at Siv and then got back up and walked to the other Ballistae. He prepared it in the same manner as before and yelled once more “Test Fire!”

The snapping of the line projected the spear once more into the sea and this time there was more slack upon closer inspection he noticed the gear to be loose. He worked on hauling the spear once more, and it was far easier to move aboard the ship.




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[Shimoje]

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It was time to fix the gear to the ballistae. It was almost like one seen on a catapult, and some bolts lay next to it. These were mostly expendable and Shimoje relished in the opportunity to use it. Taking full draw Shimoje worked hard to crank the ballistae back and soon enough it was ready to be loaded. It was a slow process to crank it, and he almost thought that there had to be a better and faster way to crank it. Regardless, he did the duty and then knelt beside one of the larger bolts.

Positioning his body head on, he attempted to lift in the way he saw other crewmember lift, with his knees bent and using his legs to stand up. He hugged the bolt closely and then attempted to stand. His body was shaking under the pressure and every step he took to position the bolt on the ballistae was a hassle. Luckily the ballistae was positioned at full draw so it didn’t much lift aside from torso height. He placed the bolt in the crevice which would sling it out, and smiled.

He never saw anyone use the ballistae alot aboard his long voyage, and it mostly was in result that it was a complicated piece of equipment. Not so much to use, but to calculate and actually hit something. A large lever on the left side of the ballistae would release the tension and allow it fling up and out. As he walked over to it Captain Yngvarr approached him and the stood there watching him with his arm’s crossed. “You know how this equipment works, Shimoje?” He asked him.

As Shimoje caught his breath from the previous lift “Seems simple enough, you just pull and the bolt or whatever you have in the tray there flings out, right?” He responded. “Well, it is a bit more complicated than that. One has to take into account mathematics when using this. The draw of the ballistae will tell how much rand it has, and how far it goes. The load or weight of whatever you put onto it will also affect that as well. You may actually be able to figure it out more than me.” Yngvarr smiled “Go ahead let ‘er loose!”

Shimoje was giddy with excitement and with one great pull of the lever yelling “Test Fire!” let the ballistae do its work. As it started to fling out the torsion started to let loose. As the ballistae reached half way the bolt slung outwards at great velocity and angled istself out. Shimoje and Yngvarr both watched the bolt, but turned their direction to a loud noise on the ballistae as teeth on the winding mechanism let loose and fell off track from a falter.

Secret :

This is a catapult I know, but it is the gear that is important. This is what is used on the ballistae to crank the sling back and operate the spring mechanism

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[Shimoje]

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“Shyke. How long has it been since you used this?” Shimoje asked and turned to the captain. He just shrugged in response. “Suppose we will be using it more often with you around, that is if you can fix that?” Shimoje already worked on replacing one of its wheels not too long ago, and now for this mechanism that gave it the force of slinging it out. “I might be able to make a new gear. It’ll take me the rest of the day though. Luckily, carpentry and carving I know a bit about. Have any spear wood large enough?” He asked the captain.

“Do I!?” The captain chuckled and then ordered a crewmember to bring up a block of wood from the lower decks. Soon enough the rather large piece of wood was slammed in front of Shimoje and a few grumbles were heard as they walked away.

Shimoje first had to find a way of dissembling the ballistae and upon closer inspection realized it was actually a construct placed on a simple turning mechanism using rotational force. Climbing up on the ballistae Shimoje stood on the wood and quickly grabbed hold of the some of the wood on one side of the draw string and pulled it towards himself to release the tension and let the rope loose and dangle. He did the same thing to the other side.

Dismounting the ballistae, Shimoje worked on releasing the rope from their wound up state, paying close attention to how it was constructed and then took out his carpenter’s mallet and started to pound on the wooden piece holding the main part of the ballistae and gear together. Soon enough it fell out and the gear and log piece dropped to the deck of the ship letting out a large bang and attracting some of the crew in the process. Most shook their head and continued on to their work.

Shimoje grabbed the gear and noticed how the teeth of it rested against a block that locked it place earlier. When it was flung that block moved and allowed the teeth to unlock from it. It was an ingenious design of weaponry, but a simple gadget.

Shimoje worked on measuring the teeth of the gear and took out parchment, ink, and quill to start working on drafting up a design. Using rope for measurement and painstakingly getting every detail he copied the basics of the gear on paper. He now knew more of the specific design. It seemed to be about 2 feet in circumference and each teeth of the gear worked inwards with an angle and curve. He realized by drawing it out that it wouldn’t be easy to carve out

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[Shimoje]

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Shimoje started to ready every tool in his woodcarver’s toolkit, hatchet, crafter’s toolkit, and his iron drill. For the first part he took his iron drill and found the center of the block using rope aboard the ship. He marked it with ink and then held the rope on the centerpoint then dragged it across the wood in a compass like fashion to make a perfect circle outline on the wood. The harder part was drawing the teeth onto the wood. For this he carved out a shape of the teeth in a spare piece of wood he chopped off the edge of the block of wood, he then traced it being careful to align it around the circle he drew earlier.

Soon enough, the measurements and the drawing was placed on the wood and it was ready to carved out. Working hard to chop at the wooden block, Shimoje removed most of the excess wood and then took out his finer woodcarving knives and started to carve inwards on the teeth of the gear. After about 9 bells without break the gear was fully carved and ready to be placed back on the wooden block. He was tired from all of his work and got a few crew members to hold the larger piece of wood in place as he positioned the hole of the gear on the guide line to the crank. “Alright, hold it in place while I hammer it back in!”

“Steady! Make sure the rod is close to the hole, Shyke!” Shimoje walked over to the other side of the ballistae and started to hammer it in place. The gear rested into the lock block and he noticed that it had to be in alignment. “Twist it! Only slightly!” Shimoje gave a few more knocks with his mallet and the ballistaes’s gear was now locked into place.

“I need help in attaching these ropes to those larger pieces of wood sticking out!” Shimoje noted towards the two tired crew that were helping him out. They responded in a grumble and Shimoje climbed up with two guide ropes in hand and worked on attaching the loop to the catches. Finally, the ballistae was fully positioned. “Hey Captain!” Shimoje yelled. “Want another test fire?”

The captain rushed over a bit excited and picked up a bolt with ease and waited for Shimoje to start cranking it back to full draw. The teeth grinded onto the block and properly locked at each turn, and no slipping occurred. Shimoje was lucky that the gear worked and held up. “You’ll have to clean up your mess too Shimoje. Can’t always just have fun. This time it is my turn to fire it!” Captain stated and he motioned for Shimoje to stand back. The captain pulled the lever with a full smile on his face as the bolt was flung out and splashed into the water a bit away from the ship.

The Captain let out a huge manly roar and patted Shimoje on the shoulder. “We are very lucky to have you aboard the Tipsy Wench. I think it is time for you have a ship’s wheel carved into your armband, son.” Shimoje looked at him in shock, knowing that it meant he was officially now part of the family.

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[Konrad Venger]

Shimoje XP: Bodybuilding - 2 Observation - 3 Gadgeteering - 3 Planning - 2 Carving - 2 Lore: Test-Firing a Ballista The Mechanics of a Ballista Carving a New Gear for a Ballista The Tipsy Wench: Part of the Ship, Part of the Crew Click Me! : I have to admit, the (sorta) techno-babble about the construction of the ballistae meant I had to slow down to understand this, but you still did a great job of capturing Shimoje's earnest love for mechanical devices. Here's hoping the Cap'n recognizes talent, eh? I didn't give you any Drawing because that was really part of the Gadgeteering/Carving repairs in this thread. Oh, and please make sure you go back and edit your post in the Request Thread to reflect the fact this one is now done and dusted. PM me with any questions and later 'tater!