Simple Bow

Illus. by J. Nelson

The Simple Bow is a wooden longbow of unusual size and asymmetrical shape, with the grip lower down the length of the weapon, making it look awkward to shoot. While its appearance is plain, this bow is exceedingly well made.

Nonlegacy Game Statistics: +1 longbow; Cost 2,375 gp. Omen: With the bow in hand, you can perfectly calculate the distance to any target. HISTORY

Furukaze Miyo, the spoiled son of a wealthy merchant, traveled everywhere with his father. During these journeys, Miyo was allowed to indulge himself in just about any way he saw fit. One night, after an evening of debauchery, the adolescent found himself in the arms of a wise and lovely older woman named Chimiko. The two fell in love. Miyo met Chimiko whenever he visited the same town, and she came to call him “my Wind,” because she knew he’d always return to her. Through Chimiko, Miyo came to love archery, for she spoke often of her great respect for master archers. To show his devotion to her, Miyo vowed to become the world’s greatest archer before returning to her arms. At their parting, Chimiko gave Miyo the longbow that would later come to be known as the Simple Bow. (DC 15) When Miyo left Chimiko, he was barely a man, but he was shrewd and quick to learn. Before his twentieth birthday he had become an expert archer and supported himself by winning competitions. Miyo spent years learning from unconventional archers willing to share their secrets. These veterans treated Miyo as a younger brother, always impressed with his vigor and discipline. Miyo, however, was never awed by his instructors. The young archer drifted from teacher to teacher, gleaning everything he could from each one. He practiced trick archery to challenge himself and found that firing blindfolded, catching arrows, and avoiding shots came easily to him. (DC 20; The Arrow is the Master) On one occasion, Miyo mentioned to a fellow archer that he most enjoyed the moment before firing an arrow, when the future becomes clear. The other reacted with only a confused stare, and it dawned on Miyo that he might learn more from wise folk than warriors. Ever motivated by his enduring love for Chimiko, Miyo then traveled to monasteries across the country. He heard of a magic of the mind that grew within persons of wisdom, granting them otherworldly powers. He sought those who knew such secrets, and ascetics he met told Miyo that eating mixtures of certain herbs and venoms might let him tap into these abilities. Sadly, even with the aid of such foul remedies, Miyo remained without psionic power. Believing he had failed, he remembered Chimiko’s words—”My Wind always returns to me.” Miyo realized that even without the understanding he sought, Chimiko would welcome him into her arms again. He was nearly thirty, which had been Chimiko’s age when they originally parted company. Miyo wondered if they would even recognize one another. (DC 25; Finding the Master Within) When Miyo was reunited with Chimiko, he was amazed to find that she had not aged a day. For the first time, Chimiko explained that she was not truly human. She was elan—a race with human roots but evolved into much more. She had sought Miyo out so many years earlier because of the psionic potential she sensed in his mind, but he was still too young then to survive the elan evolution process. Chimiko

Though unassuming in appearance, the made it clear that if Miyo chose Simple Bow makes an archer of great skill to become elan, he would be into one of legendary ability immortal but would also lose his lifetime of learning to date. Miyo thought about this. He was worried about how the transformation might change him. Having lived for only thirty years, he could only imagine what a burden immortality might be. He had spent his entire adult life becoming widely recognized as the greatest archer of his time and wondered if he would be able to bear losing that. Miyo eventually decided to let his bow make the decision. He would fire a single arrow into an orchard, using none of his instincts or finely tuned senses. If the arrow