Side view of Ballistae showing ratcheting levels to control torsion on the machine's arms. The wheel connected to the worm gear on the far side of the machine controls the angle of elevation. The blue band is to keep tension on the trigger mechanism which is comprised of a series of gears. The winched is used for cocking the weapon, which is a tedious operation and can by by-passed with some help from the human operater. A wide variety of projectiles can be launched from this model, making it definitly NOT child friendly. A minimal amount of tension is able to launch a ball point pen about 30 feet and more power is possible, but stress on the pieces is the likely result.

"A powerful ballista created by the Death Lord Night Bane out of a thirst for mortal vengeance against the decendents of the acursed Raduel line. This powerful war machine is propelled to the battlefield by a powerful dragon and has an operating crew of more than 20 men."