Brabrer

Brabrer^listen (Arkronian meaning "Faith") is a longbow reputed to have been used by the Arkronian hero Atamaxus to kill the dragon Kyipoigeusiox^listen.

Physical Description

Brabrer is yew longbow, approximately 5'6" in length, with a silk drawstring, chimera leather grip, and adornments made from dragon horn. The bow is one single piece of wood with only a slight, nearly imperceptible inward curve. It has a light brown color, often described as similar to the color of burnt sugar. The string is surprisingly thin, yet is sturdy and makes a high, clear note when plucked. The grip is wrapped in a thick piece of leather which has the telltale tripartite composition of chimera hide. The leather has been shaped and molded to fit the grip of a human hand; those trained in archery all report that the grip seems to perfectly fit their own hand, even those with vastly different sized hands. Above the grip is set a stylized carving of a phoenix's head, while below the grip are the phoenix's tail feathers and talons. Both carvings are done in alabaster colored dragon horn. Along the upper curve of the bow is carved its name.

History

In 27 AC, the town of Tiocte was beset by three disasters. First, a harsh and long winter caused the town to run short on food and supplies, leading to a famine as the citizens waited for the ground to thaw enough to begin planting. However, a month into the planting season, the Psepho River flooded, washing away a number of the farms, causing the first harvest to be insufficient. The people scrambled to replant the flooded farms, only to be beset by a terrible drought when the summer arrived.
The hero Atamaxus, in between the second and third of his Five Journeys, arrived at the Tiocte midway through the summer. Finding the people there suffering, he went to the town elder and asked what was wrong. The elder explained the troubles and Atamaxus remarked that the weather had been mild throughout the rest of Arkron, both during the preceding winter and current summer. The elder admitted that the first half of the winter had been mild, but it suddenly turned at the midpoint. Knowing that something was amiss, Atamaxus vowed to discover the cause of the foul weather and free the town from their troubles.
Atamaxus traveled up the Psepho to its source in the southern end of the Alympan mountains. As he ascended the mountain, rather than the weather growing colder, it instead grew hotter and drier, the waters of the river receding more and more with every mile he traveled. After a week of travel, the river had dried completely, though he could still see the bare bed, laden with fish gasping for air. He continued traveling upward until he reached a large outcropping of stone where the river bed ended.
Frustrated at having failed to find the cause of the troubles, he leaned back on the stone and sighed, upon which the stone itself sighed back. Leaping from his seat, Atamaxus turned to see a large eye looking at him from the center of the outcropping. Atamaxus realized that the river's source had been made into the lair of a great dragon. The beast swiped at Atamaxus with its claws, but he dodged its attacks and grabbed it around the neck. Knowing that no mortal weapon could pierce its scaly hide, he tried to strangle the creature, but it rose up into the air and shook him off.
The creature rose high into the air and Atamaxus thought it meant to flee, but instead it wheeled around and unleashed a blast of flame at him. Atamaxus barely managed to cover himself with his chimera cloak, barely turning away its heat. The dragon landed, assuming Atamaxus had perished in the flames, but as soon as it touched ground, Atamaxus threw aside his cloak and leapt upon it again. Once again, the dragon threw him off and took flight. Once again it turned on Atamaxus and opened its maw. Atamaxus readied his chimera cloak again, but this time its breath froze the air in front of it.
His chimera cloak absorbed the blast, but it was frozen solid and the cloak shattered, destroying it completely save for the small piece Atamaxus had been gripping to keep hold on it. This time the dragon did not land, but waited to see if it had finished Atamaxus off. Seeing that he lived, the dragon called out, demanding to know who dared to stand against it. Atamaxus told the dragon that he would answer, but only if the dragon gave its name first. The dragon answered, "I am Kyipoigeusiox, child of Hethapai and Thiopaika, the inward and outward winds."
Now knowing who he faced, Atamaxus told the dragon his name. He realized that as the child of the two primary winds, Kyipoigeusiox's weakness would be its center, where the winds would meet and be still. Atamaxus swore to make a sacrifice in honor of Ashan if his next arrow flew true, then raised his bow and fired. It struck dead center in Kyipoigeusiox's breast, splitting the dragon cleanly in two.
Atamaxus took a single horn from Kyipoigeusiox's head, then burned everything else in a pyre. As the body fed Ashan, the sweltering heat of summer lifted and water began to flow from the source of the Psepho once more. As a further tribute to Ashan, Atamaxus etched the word for "faith" down the upper curve and carved the horn into a representation of the sacred phoenix. He affixed the phoenix to his bow, then wrapped the remains of the chimera cloak around the grip.
Atamaxus continued to use the bow through many of his adventures, until he left it in the care of his nephew Theocharon prior to his Fifth Journey. The bow passed through the descendants of Theocharon for generations, but at some point was lost. The current whereabouts of the bow is unknown.