Name: Ratapult
Type: Weapon
Credits: Image 1 / Image 2
Consolidation Thread: N/A
Description: The Ratapult is a massive wooden siege engine used by Eshkin. It uses a variety of objects, from large rotting corpses and other disease-ridden materials to large doomstone-infused boulders or barrels filled with a variety of liquids as projectiles. Most of the infected payloads explode upon impact spreading deadly diseases and creating fear among the enemy ranks. The Ratapult itself is crudely constructed, with its structure reinforced by rusted metal and scraps. Its got blades and Doomstone-infused mechanics in addition to its unique claw-based bucket to house the various projectiles.
ATTRIBUTES
- Defence: Low
- Defensive Elements: There are none besides the crew that operate this weapon.
- Offence: Extreme
- Offensive Elements: Launches large infested projectiles that can cause terror and massive casualties with its wide splash damage. Able to hit long-range targets and even use indirect fire to hit enemies behind fortifications
- Durability: Average
- Scarcity: Uncommon
- TvM Requirement: 3vX
STRENGTHS
Terror from above: The diseased projectiles cause not only physical damage but also extreme fear and demoralization. Enemies exposed to the noxious fumes or diseases spread by the projectiles are likely to break ranks or flee in terror.
Big Splash: The Ratapult's projectiles spread deadly diseases across a large area, capable of infecting multiple units at once. This makes it highly effective against large formations or entrenched positions.
Indirect Fire: The long range and high arc of the Ratapult’s shots allow it to strike behind enemy lines, out of direct reach of counterattacks or enemy artillery, making it ideal for sieges.
Plague Infestation: The aftermath of a successful strike often leaves terrain and the battlefield contaminated, further hampering the enemy’s ability to regroup or hold positions.
WEAKNESSES
Eshkin Construction: Built from cheap, scavenged materials, the Ratapult is highly prone to damage from enemy fire, environmental conditions, or even its own Doomstone-based instability.
Inaccurate: The Ratapult’s rudimentary targeting system means it can miss its intended targets frequently, and its payload is often more effective against clustered forces rather than small, mobile units.
Too Slow: While effective against slow or stationary targets, fast-moving cavalry or skirmishers can quickly close the distance and destroy the catapult, leaving it vulnerable to direct assaults.
Friendly Fire: The disease-infested payloads and Doomstone machinery pose a significant threat to the Eshkin crew themselves, often resulting in accidental infections or explosions.
The creation of this ingenious weapon is attributed to the mad genius of Arch-Plaguelord Skrotik Foulgaze, a Eshkin prophet and worshiper of the Rat God. Legend has it that the idea for the Ratapult came to Foulgaze in a nightmarish vision. While deep in the swamps of Terra, after a catastrophic defeat at the hands of the Lizard People, Foulgaze fell into a delirious fever, wracked with disease. In his fevered dreams, he beheld the Rat God standing atop a mountain of decayed corpses, hurling their rotting bodies into the enemy’s midst. Foulgaze awoke with one twisted thought: to replicate his dark vision in the real world. He began his foul experiments by gathering the dead and dying from Eshkin-infested tunnels, infecting them with the most virulent diseases his plague-priests could concoct. These rotting corpses were soaked in Doomstone to accelerate their decomposition, turning them into sacks of living pestilence. But the challenge was not in creating these diseased bodies—it was finding a way to launch them at their foes. In the subterranean depths of the Eshkin empire, Foulgaze and his followers began construction. Using rudimentary blueprints stolen from captured Dwarven engineers and cobbled together with the Eshkin ingenuity, they designed the first iteration of the Ratapult. Its initial versions were crude and unstable, often collapsing under their own weight or backfiring, sending diseased projectiles into the vermin's ranks. However, Foulgaze persisted, driven by visions of death and decay. Since then, the Ratapult has become perfected and widely used amongst the vermin, adding to the list of horrid inventions. Its mere appearance can cause dread among soldiers, as they know that death will not come quickly or honourably but will be slow, agonizing, and pestilent. For the Eshkin, however, it is an offering of death and decay to the great Rat God and, a symbol of their dominion over disease itself.
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