Khosava Bracebow

Khosava Bracebow was a dwarven artificer and the inventor of the modern crossbow. The wife of Thane Zazem Bracebow, she was the matriarch of Clan Bracebow, though she never cared much for her station, preferring instead to focus on her inventions. Those inventions revolutionized warfare and was one of the primary reasons the undead wars were defeated in Night Wars.

Appearance

By 68 2A, Khosava Bracebow was well into her third century and showing it. Her hair had long ago turned ashen gray and she kept it shaved on the sides, so that it wouldn't interfere with her work. While working, she typically wore heavy overalls and a leather apron, plus thick gloves and heavy goggles. Age sapped her strength somewhat and, as she aged, she required an assistant more and more.

History

First Age

Born Khosava Quicklime in 666 1A, Khosava was interested in inventing from a young age. Her Proving attracted so much attention that she was invited to Castle Cloudpeak to make demonstration of her prototype siege engine. It was here that she met a young Zazem Cloudpeak.
As she grew up, the Elder Clan continued to call upon her expertise to help them design an elaborate gauntlet of traps to help ward against potential intruders. Khosava was instrumental in designing many of the devious traps that littered both iterations of Castle Cloudpeak. That's where her interest in the concept of a personalized ballista was truly honed.
It wasn't until 770 1A that Khosava finally had a working prototype of what she called the bracebow. A cumbersome precursor to the modern crossbow, the bracebow required a complex harness to keep the recoil from knocking the archer over. When word of this device spread, it was quickly adopted by the crownguard and made Khosava a household name. It also brought a familiar face back into Khosava's life – Zazem Cloudpeak.
Searching for an excuse to form an underclan, Zazem proposed to Khosava and, after a surprisingly short courtship, they were wed in 776 1A. Together, they petitioned the heads of Clan Cloudpeak to allow them to found a new clan – Clan Bracebow, named for Khosava's famous invention – in the Roofbeams. Promising to make more weapons for the Elder Clan, they were approved and construction on Snowperch began.

Second Age

Khosava received a brief moment of fame during the Night Wars when her invention, brandished by King Havhed's dwarven soldiers, made quite the impression on the allied armies. Soon, small, leaner and more effecient bracebow imitations were growing increasingly popular, until they eventually led to the modern crossbow.
Khosava paid hardly any attention, too busy with her new workshop on Snowperch's highest level. There, she spent her time on new inventions. The greatest of these was the Messenger, a gargantuan crossbow afixed to Snowperch, that she might shoot letters clear across the kingdom to her friend in Clan Ironwonder.
When Dûnya Dragonbane came to slay Zhoraska, the Red Matron, she sought to use the Messenger against the dragon.

Personality

Khosava was infamous for her one-track mind; always thinking about her next invention. Though she may appear scattered or absentminded to others, she could work with intense, unbreakable focus. She was also somewhat socially clueless, unable to read the faces or emotions of those around her. As much as she enjoyed designing her engines of destruction, she was not a particularly violent person and was only interested in their theoretical application.
She was assisted in her experiments by an animated dummy she called Feathers.

Campaigns

The Menagerie

• Khûm: The Commander's Tent first met Khosava atop Snowperch when the eagles dropped them off. The artificer and Umber immediately hit it off, Khosava appreciating him for his brute strength. He even managed to convince her to switch her vote to allow the Menagerie to enter Snowperch ahead of Queen Dûnya's arrival (Chapter 11). In the intervening days, she offered to make the company some siege weapons but couldn't quite understand Mouse's request for some wings. She also was among those petrified by the cockatrice venom that Brother Sorav slipped into the war council's ale (Chapter 12 – 14). She was unpetrified by Goatherd of the Iron Word but remained fascinated by the process all her days (Chapter 15).

Name: Khosava Bracebow
Ancestry: Dwarf
Class: Artificer
Born: 666 1A
Height: 4'2"
Weight: 146 lbs
Hair: Gray
Eyes: Brown
Alignment: Neutral
First Appearance: Khûm – Chapter 11