Acid Arrows

Acid Arrows

"Sturdy enough for the quiver, fragile enough for the target."

What they are

War arrows that carry, just behind the point, a small glass vial filled with acid. Everything rests on the thickness of that glass. It must be thick enough to survive a march, a quiver set down or a trotting horse, and thin enough to burst at the first impact. Hence those quivers padded at the bottom, where each arrow travels like an egg.

What they do

The point goes in, the vial shatters against armor or flesh, and the acid floods the wound. It eats through leather, bites into steel, and turns an ordinary wound into a burn that will not stop on its own. But the vial weighs down the front of the arrow: the archer must learn another flight, and the first shot always surprises whoever has never tried one.

What they cost

It takes a glassblower who blows vials all alike, an alchemist who brews the acid without leaving his lungs in it, and a fletcher who rebalances every shaft around this new weight. An acid arrow costs the price of three crafts, and it serves only once.