Chargebreakers

"Leave it to the Hammers ta come up with something so reprehensibly clever" - Knight Commander Halwin Beldane, Order of the Golden Spur

Utility

It is used to halt a charging enemy. Typically this is in the form of a calvary charge but it can be used again any vehicle moving at speed, such as a chariot line. It can very fast advancing infantry, though that will have an extremely less dynamic affect

Manufacturing

Iron gears, steel rollers and brass fittings had to be cast and forged from scratch. The molds, once made, can serve for a long time and makes any repair easier then the initial creation. The initial design of Sir Alexi was vetted and modified based on need and production began. The forges of the Passfort began initial production with more and more matierial and personnel arriving daily. Temporary foundries, forges and workshops were set up and members of all seven of the Knightly Orders helped build and deploy the Chargebreakers

Social Impact

From that moment on Knights of the Kingdom's main calvary formation, the Order of the Golden Spur, held a reservation about the Order of the Striking Hammer. To such a degree that the Duchy of Lanca will not employ Chargebreakers, stating it could hurt the kingdom's own equestrian resources by accident.
In return, Knights from the Order the Striking Hammer, generall have a smirking smile for the calvary brethern.

Inventor(s)

Sir Alexi Velpelous, Knight of the Order of the Striking Hammer

Access & Availability

Each Passfort is built with successive lines of Chargebreakers. Every Ducal capitol has at least some in strategic locations, except for the Duchy of Lanca which will not employ them.

Complexity

It is a highly complex gear system that has to be able to lift and hold a series or rollers against the weight of a calvary charge.

Discovery

Invented by In 55 AF Cef Barbarians attempted to invaded Sendilar. A horde of almost 20 thousand savage horsemen. The Order of the Vigalant Eye kept the Kingdom alerted to the Hordes progress.
Sir Alexi Velpelous, a Knight of the Order of the Striking Hammer stationed at the Northern Passfort came up with an ingenious solution he called a Chargebreaker.
It was comprised of a long, broad trench. The originals as devised by Sir Alexi were a meter wide, 3 meters long and three meter deep. The first deployed were in a rows forming three long concentric curving half circles at the entrance of the two passes in Guardian Range as well in successive ranks along the passes themselves.
Inside each trench was a series of gears protected by a steel plate at the bottom. These gears, connected by deeping buried small tunnels to the Passforts, were the heart of the Chargebreakers.
At rest the chargbreakers are shielded by stout oaken trap doors. When activated the doors would swing down and once clear a set of close fit steel rollers would rise to even with the ground level and lock into place. If deployed right before a calvary charge hit them the rollers would spin under the horses hooves, denying them purchase and causing the front ranks to stumble and crash and those behind to collide with them.
Which is what happened. When the Horde finally drew near The Order of the Golden Spur launched a recklass charge under cover of smoke from strategically placed burn pits. They hit the Horde with a slashing attack and sped back towards the Northern Pass. Enraged the Horde gave immediate chase. Lookouts had been placed high on the cliff faces and as soon as the Order of the Golden Spur were clear of the first ring word was called.
Only a few of the barbarians were acrosss the first line of chargebreakers when the trapdoors of those before the charging Hord, now conceled with light layer of sand to hide the bleached wood, snapped down and the rollers lifted and locked into place by operators in the deep tunnels.
The result was almost a thousand dead and injured as the initial reckless charge of the Horde met a sudden wall formed by it's own vanguard. Large portions tried to sweep right and left and right only for other Chargebreakers to be deployed causing furthur injury and loss of life. Over the next month the amount of enemy injured and dead grew till the Horde, down a third of it's original number, retreated to find easier targets.