Stone-Battering Hammers
Stone-Battering Hammers are the signature armament of the Orcish Ramming Brigades, oversized war-hammers forged from a composite of Iron-Blood Steel and basalt-reinforced iron that makes them substantially heavier and harder than standard military equipment. Each hammer features a head the width of an adult Orc's torso, its face inscribed with impact-amplifying runes that focus the kinetic energy of a strike into a smaller area than the head's actual size would suggest, allowing it to punch through fortified stone that would deflect a conventional battering ram. The haft is wrapped in fire-cured stone-bull hide for grip in wet or ash-covered conditions, and the butt end is weighted with a secondary iron cap engraved with the brigade's clan-mark. A Ramming Brigade warrior who has carried a Stone-Battering Hammer through three sieges is permitted to engrave their name on the haft — a practice that produces hammers with decades of accumulated personal history readable in the accumulated carvings.
Artifact Details
- Type
- Weapon
- Rarity
- Uncommon
- Origin
- Stone-Battering Hammers are produced exclusively at Gor-Mok Forge-Citadel under the oversight of the Ministry of Warcraft, using Iron-Blood Steel produced through the Orcish blood-alchemy process. Each hammer is tested by driving it through a standard-thickness section of test basalt before being cleared for service — hammers that fail to penetrate cleanly in two strikes are returned to the forge for rework.
Overview
Stone-Battering Hammers is a uncommon weapon in Landorya. Its known origin is Stone-Battering Hammers are produced exclusively at Gor-Mok Forge-Citadel under the oversight of the Ministry of Warcraft, using Iron-Blood Steel produced through the Orcish blood-alchemy process. Each hammer is tested by driving it through a standard-thickness section of test basalt before being cleared for service — hammers that fail to penetrate cleanly in two strikes are returned to the forge for rework.. Its most cited abilities include Impact-focus runes concentrate striking force into a fraction of the head's surface area, multiplying effective pressure against stone, Iron-Blood Steel composition allows the head to retain its edge through hundreds of high-force strikes without resharpening, and Runic resonance with basalt specifically makes it disproportionately effective against Orcish-style basalt architecture — and its enemies' imitations.
History
The Stone-Battering Hammer was developed during the Runic Age as the siege-engine program matured and the Orcs recognized that some fortification sections required close-assault equipment rather than ranged bombardment. The current design, with its impact-focus runic inscription, was standardized after the Siege of Ember-Peak when an earlier variant proved insufficiently effective against the particularly dense volcanic-glass sections of the human fortress walls. Forge-Master Baruk Gear-Tooth's great-great-predecessor is credited with the impact-focus rune innovation that defined the modern design.
Powers & Abilities
- ✦ Impact-focus runes concentrate striking force into a fraction of the head's surface area, multiplying effective pressure against stone
- ✦ Iron-Blood Steel composition allows the head to retain its edge through hundreds of high-force strikes without resharpening
- ✦ Runic resonance with basalt specifically makes it disproportionately effective against Orcish-style basalt architecture — and its enemies' imitations
- ✦ The secondary butt-cap can be used to drive runic stakes into fortress foundations as part of the Wall-Breach Deterrent installation process