Siege Engine mercenaries

[Ranika]

Bricoli sounds a lot like the Chwythstúag, a British 'siege' engine, though it was actually used more for anti-infantry work. An early British legend states Damux, the first Gallic-blooded king of Ynys Manaw had many of them made, and placed into two lines, hidden in two thickets alongside the battlefield, facing diagonally toward the enemy position, before engaging in battle with Cynlan, the current king of Mann. When Cynlan's forces came between the engines, they opened fire, and killed so many men, so rapidly, that initially Cynlan had thought it was some type of magic that had killed them. Damux's force, which was horrendously outnumbered, proceeded to advance after a second volley, which completely disintegrated Cynlan's front lines, and cause much of his second line to begin to flee in terror. Damux's force didn't actually fight much, they ran down the routers, and engaged in brief skirmishs with Cynlan's men, but before long, Cynlan had been captured, and his army utterly annihilated.

The story doesn't seem toooo unlikely to me, except Chwythstúag don't seem like they'd have too much penetrative power, at least in this case, as the missiles had to be made on the spot, supposedly (this may just mean they had metal or stone heads, with shafts seperated, and needed to assemble them, or they had to improvise missiles). However, Damux may have just been very, very lucky. The story also says most of the wounds were at the necks of the dead. While it'd be an anomaly, it'd not be an impossiiblity, just very unlikely.

Also to note, this story is entirely apocryphal, no proof of the occurence ever manifested, it was just passed in oral traditions, and eventually written down. While I imagine the story is likely not true, the Chwythstúag does seem rather firmly based in reality, and the account is likely based on another battle, or an amalgam of other battles, where such a weapon was utilized.