The Cursed Thunderbolts

The Cursed Thunderbolts is a set of ancient artefacts that resides in a temple in the capital of Principality of Clifia Bardines. The artefact takes the shape of a crossbow but without a string. According to the legend, it works when the user wants to fire, they hold it up like one would with a crossbow and a blue string of pure energy as well as a bolt will appear out of thin air ready to be fired.
The priests believe the temple and scholars who have investigated the writing and symbols on the artefacts that the gods have crafted the artefacts, although it is unknown which gods are behind the creation. According to the legend, the artefact was created by the gods when the world was still new, and the gods were inspecting their new creation but like the humans they grew jealous of each other and began fighting among themselves self and that was when the artefact was said to have been created.
While the creation of the Thunderbolts is still shrouded in a cloud of mystery, it is known that usage of the artefact comes at a grave price, as every time a Thunderbolt is fired, a tiny bit of the user's life energy is fired with the shot but the legends of the users have all said that the risk is nothing compared to the reward as when a Thunderbolt hits its target, it explodes with a force that is said to have taken down fortress walls.
The artefact were last used during the civil wars that followed the Clifian defeat in The war of Western expansion were it was used to break down the walls of rebel strongholds and while the government tries to keep it a secret, but when the civil wars were over and peace once again reigned, rumours began to spread that at least five people had been killed by the artefact due to extended use and that these were elves, a people that at best is regarded as second class citizens but at worst is simply tolerated to exists in the Principality.