Flightless Hawk

Registration
Ranged Ammo: Steel arrows
 * Delivery Method: Tension
 * Dust type: None

Melee Damage: Piercing

Description
The Flightless Hawk is a weapon designed and crafted by its wielder, Camo Vance. In earlier iterations, the Flightless Hawk was just a single-form composite bow, but it was later rebuilt to be collapsible and spear blades added for a close-range option.

Primary Form
Too large and rigid to be fired by amateur bowmen, this four-foot-long compound bow unfolds into multiple segments and can be carried on Camo's back in its collapsed form via a magnetic tether. A stress-resistant plastic-and-steel-mesh composite forms the limbs, and the bowstring and cables are made from peak-performance polyethylene fiber. He possesses a variety of skins for the limbs and can swap them out as needed for minimal exposure, but he uses a simple hunter-green skin by default. A rubber grip on either end of the middle segment allows him to keep a firm grip on the bowstaff in either hand, and a mounted sight helps him adjust for accuracy over long ranges.

Auxiliary Form
If he finds himself in a pinch, Camo's weapon is not without its uses in close combat. Hidden at the ends of either limb is a small, retractable, leaf-bladed spear head. Once this form is engaged, the bow flattens from a curved shape into a literal staff, with tiny hooks on the insides of the limbs trapping the bowstring in place to prevent it from getting caught on random objects.

Ammunition
The tensile strength of the Flightless Hawk’s bowstring is usually too great to fire wooden arrows without breaking them. He prefers to craft his own arrows, favoring a steel alloy to make the arrows and hawk feathers (the inspiration for the weapon’s namesake) to flight them. These arrows are carried in a light-weight plastic quiver slung over his back, which can carry up to 25 shots at once; the quiver also has a magnetic panel used to catch and carry the compact form of the bow and has some tiny hidden compartments for other uses as well. Because his supplies are so limited, Camo is careful to re-use his arrows as often as possible and may go out of his way (though never into harm’s way) to retrieve expended ammo.

History

 * Peregrine Wing, Mk. I: The initial form of Camo's weapon. This version was a basic, featureless composite bow with limited range and power. Its construction began early in his second year at Sanctum, but production was slowed due to lack of funding. It was completed after about three months.


 * Peregrine Wing, Mk. II: An improvement over the Mk. I's fragility and poor damage potential. The former, low-quality bowstring was replaced with one of superior strength and durability, and the limbs themselves were upgraded from ordinary wood to treated maple. This version was completed near the end of Camo's second year at Sanctum.


 * Flightless Hawk, Mk I: A complete redesign of the Peregrine Wing. The limbs of the bow were composed of plastic segments connected by hinged joints, making the weapon collapsible and easy to carry, and the outermost segments now sported spiked tips on their ends that could be used as an emergency defense in close quarters. The cam system was modified to allow Camo to adjust the torque in the bowstring quickly and easily, perfect for mid-combat improvisation. Construction began early in Camo's third year at Sanctum and was completed within one month.


 * Flightless Hawk, Mk. II: The folding action of the bow was made much more automatic, allowing Camo to arm himself with the weapon in significantly less time. A magnetic tether was added to his quiver to keep his bow's folded form free of entanglements as it rests on his back. Flaws in the Mk. I design prompted Camo to craft these improvements about midway through his third year at Sanctum.


 * Flightless Hawk, Mk. III: The current iteration of the Flightless Hawk. Prompted by an incident during a practical lesson, in which Camo nearly stabbed another student's foot by mistake, the spikes at either end of the bowstaff have been replaced with leaf-bladed spear tips, which are hidden in their respective limb segments. When exposed, the bowstaff straightens into a spear form to be easy to wield, and hooks inside the frame catch the bowstring to prevent it from interfering. An analog sight was mounted on the main segment to aid in long-range targeting, although Camo eventually grew out of using it on a regular basis. Finally, the bowstring has been upgraded to a high-quality fiber, maximizing its resistance and allowing shots of greater power, range, and accuracy. Construction near the end of Camo's third year at Sanctum, and the finished weapon was introduced at the start of his fourth year.

Trivia

 * Camo was taught the form of archery by his grandfather, who was a Huntsman in his own time. When practicing his aim one day, young Camo managed to shoot and wound a peregrine falcon in flight, crippling its wing. He considered this a great feat, but his grandfather was furious, because he had pointlessly caused the poor creature to suffer and, worse yet, condemned it to death by robbing it of its ability to fly. He named his custom weapon the Peregrine Wing (and, later, the Flightless Hawk) as a reminder of that day's events and the lesson that they taught him: that everyone, especially Huntsmen, must be aware of their actions and the consequences that follow them.