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Arinajak
Pronunciation: “Arin-nah-jack”
Plural: “Arinajak”

Crovalahn first developed this weapon for use against selynah, but the arinajak’s use has gradually been adapted by other races when confronting creatures much larger then themselves. Unlike other weapons, arinajaks are designed for a specific purpose; bringing down and immobilising massive creatures. The weapon’s lengthy chain is wrapped around an organism’s limb, lodging a pair of sharp hooks into the creature’s flesh to establish a stranglehold on the entangled limb. After gaining a firm hold, the user attempts to pull the giant to the ground, sometimes requiring the assistance of one or more comrades to help pull on the chain. At least one in every five crovalahn warriors is designated an arinajak as a secondary weapon, in the case that they contend with selynah or slykes having broken free from their shackles.

The arinajak’s structure is composed of a weighted orb with two slender, narrow hooks projecting from either side. The orb is riveted upon a chain or cord measuring around 50-feet in length, connected to a long, two-handed staff. When thrown, the arinajak’s pole is spun around in a circular motion to build momentum, before the user hurls the chain towards a victim’s limb (typically an arm, leg or similar appendage that would incapacitate the creature). The arinajak’s chain wraps tightly around the soon-to-be-immobilised limb, driving the orb’s hooks deeply into the flesh, puncturing both armour and bone.

After lodging themselves deeply within a limb’s tissues, the user establishes a stranglehold upon the creature. By pulling the fastened chain firmly, the wielder can attempt to pull the punctured creature to the ground, which usually requires the combined strengths of more then one user. Crovalahn troops are infamous for their fearsome use of these chains, capable of pulling selynah warriors to the blood-stained battlefield literally moments after they enter the fray. Working together with flawless cooperation and entangling a selynah’s arms, legs and tails with multiple arinajaks, selynah are pulled to the earth at an alarming rate, helplessly immobilised by their shackles as crovalahn warriors hack apart the paralysed selynah. Because of the crovalahn’s fearsome mastery of the arinajak, even the surest-footed aylandran knows the stupidity of plunging headfirst into the ranks of crovalahn warriors, each whirling their chains through the air in clustered formations.

Use and techniques
Bringing larger opponents to the ground isn’t the arinajak’s only use. Even if a creature proves too strong to immobilise completely, the chain hampers movements greatly, and is extremely painful and difficult to tear from one’s flesh once driven deep. Arinajak are also frequently seen being used by crovalahn to control slykes, whose explosive rage would threaten to strike at anything within range… including their crovalahn masters. By tugging certain chains, a crovalahn driver can curb the screaming slyke’s rage to be directed towards their enemies. Many a time has havoc broken loose upon a battlefield when an arinajak’s chain has been snapped by a desperate soldier, and half the crovalahn’s army was consumed in an attempt to stabilise the now-rampant slyke, having broken free from the rest of its shackles.

Crovalahn aren’t the only creatures who’ve used arinajak in this fashion. Many a stable-hand has dealt with uncontrolled tainoks and riding spiders, and by entangling the unbridled creature’s limbs, the owner could attempt to calm the creature by applying medicines to sooth the creature’s unprovoked rage (these incidents, while not unheard of, are still considerably rare). A similar technique is applied to cavalry for riding mounts that’re rebellious, undisciplined, or otherwise easily provoked.

Lastly, arinajak are sometimes improvised as a grappling hook when an explorer lacks proper climbing equipment. While the arched hooks will not grip onto stone walls or pylons the same way a grappling hook will, the chain is well-suited to wrapping around tree branches, pipelines, and other cylindrical surfaces. Having been fashioned to bear the full strength of a creature twelve times a user’s size, the arinajak’s chain can support incredible weight, and as many as five heavily-armoured users can climb an arinajak’s chain without so much as straining the weapon.

When not in use, an arinajak’s chain or cord is wrapped around the handle-shaft, typically slung upon small hooks that protrude from the upper-half of the arinajak’s pole. Sometimes arinajaks are kept inside leather-like sheaths for easier transportation, and to minimise the risk of a user entangling his or her own hands when withdrawing the weapon in combat. These sheaths are generally slung across a user’s shoulders on a belt-like sling, ready for use yet getting in the user’s way.

Composition
Unsurprisingly, crovalahn forge their arinajaks entirely from dark iron. As their holy metal is nearly unbreakable, so too is an arinajak’s chain that’s been driven inside a selynah’s flesh. While the chain isn’t indestructible, the only known means of severing an arinajak chain forged from dark iron links has been to land a very precise hit where a link is riveted upon another. This knowledge is particularly crucial when attempting to free a shackled slyke to wreak havoc upon the army, as explained earlier. Crovalahn arinajaks are always elaborately emblazoned with hideous symbols of worship, barbed points that’re bristling along the handle-shaft, and engraved prayers to Azarnlu.

Other races are limited to using more mundane materials in forging our own implementations of this weapon. Chains are always forged from the strongest of reinforced iron-alloys, as anything less then a smithy’s mightiest materials will inevitably snap when a user is attempting to wrest control of a struggling creature’s movements. Cords are a cheaper and unusually effective alternative to using chains, as certain fabrics don’t snap as easily as one might expect. Using a composite of natural resins, vines or fabrics, cords composed of such materials are lightweight and easier to throw then chains. In addition, some cables are woven from supple, stretchable extracts capable of being stretched three-times beyond their normal length. While this makes hefting creatures to the ground more difficult, it also makes entangling a struggling creature’s limbs more effective. When attempting to free itself from several entangled arinajaks, a creature will undoubtedly wrap the supple cords further around itself, hampering movements and confusing the victim long enough for its enemies to take advantage.

Many races use the arinajak when confronting creatures dramatically larger then themselves. With their swift movements and wiry physiques, galagi have little problems in manipulating tangled creatures and dray animals, using cooperation instead of strength to overcome stronger creatures. Thresheun have also made frequent use of the arinajak, as their underground realms are known to be wrought with enormous, powerful predators who’re large enough to trample even the thresheun underfoot. Only selynah are known to have never used an arinajak, as there are few creatures whose size is beyond the massive giant’s capability to handle (as well as the truth that there exists no written record of a creature existing whose massive size is considered colossal even by a selynah’s standards). While their hideous strength allows them to contest with anything of equal or larger size, the selynah’s abstinence from the arinajak’s use is a consequence of a deeply-rooted cultural taboo, rather then simply lack of necessity. As the arinajak was originally a crovalahn creation built specifically for use against selynah, their tradition ordains the restrictions of using, forging or acquiring such a weapon. While the selynah adhere from using an arinajak, their disposition towards humans using an arinajak nonetheless remains unchanged.

“I swear the most awesome example of “that’s showing ‘em, buddy!” happened one night when me and me fellows were fighting alongside a selynah against a eight crovalahn. Up on a mountain top, during a thunderstorm. Would’ve been a bloody magnificent view from where we were too, if we hadn’t been fighting for our lives. Those crovalahn were too tough and just kept coming; they had our selynah mikishlar impaled and chained to about twenty separate arinajaks. It looked like a hopeless battle, but the selynah managed to tear one loose and throw it into the clouds. Heh, since dark iron conducts electrical currents like any other metal, and a selynah’s bones are metallic, I reckon you could imagine what happened next. All eight of the crovalahn that’d been pulling their chains were suddenly blown back as the lightning bolt passed down the chain the selynah through, and channelled straight through the arinajak them crovalahn were using. Didn’t hurt the selynah a bit, mind you; they don’t seem to be hurt by electricity. But when we inspected those crovalahn’s bodies, their skin was so badly scorched y’could’ve poked it with a stick and it probably would’ve collapsed into ash all together. I’ll never make fun of the selynah’s thundercatching tradition ever again…”