The Encyclopedia of Sanctum

The Wheel of Aerinor and the Xepheus Stake (weapon)

"The red metal disc of the Wheel of Aerinor flings out sword blades, guns mounted on each one. Rosalie clicks a trigger on the handle and with steel sonic bangs the weapon lashes out randomly at the enemy in three hundred and sixty degrees with flashes of red light."

- Crimson Assassin, "In The Trap Of A God"

Befitting of Rosalian Balcazar's unhinged personality, The Wheel of Aerinor and the Xepheus Stake were her personal weapons. Overambitious, no one except her and fellow assassin Dakota could really grasp the concept of its outlandish design. 

The Sacrificial Altar

History

It was in the summer of 715 of the Fourth Age, when witch hunters descended upon the town of La'etl in northern Cerhelia. Though a century after Dahlia coming to power and the realm seceding from Asteria, there were still those amongst the White Tower who still believed Dahlia's lies of witchcraft being tied to the Abyss. It was not long before a ten year old Rosalie came home to find her parents, her family, stolen by the hunters. There was a heartfelt letter on the table that in the end, promised Rosalie would be safe with the Hannestra Coven, and to not pursue. Rosalie however, could not stand by this, and instead spent a week hunting the hunters down to their hideout in the Shield Hills. And it was here where Rosalie slew every one of them with a single blade and chain. A resurrected blade of the forges of Xepheus, was what the purists from the White Tower called it in the hands of the little witch, before it ended their lives. 

At last Rosalie found her family in the topmost tower, but they could not even look at her. There were no warm embrace, not a single shroud of gratitude. Invisible, she found herself exiled. Left in the Shield Hills, alone, her family fled for La'etl, leaving their murderer of a daughter behind. Murder, the taking of human life, was not permitted by the coven even in self defense or to protect another life. The strength of the human spirit to resist, to be a martyr, was held above it, and her family had already made amends to protect the safety and secrecy of the Hannestra Coven. 

Utterly broken, Rosalie did not return to La'etl, but became a violent wanderer, slaying witch hunters as her actions only drew their ire to the Mian La'etl and to her family. It was her only way of protecting them now, but soon that devotion would fade as her hope crumbled, her spirit fading. She gave up, her biggest regret. But somewhere along her trail, she was picked up by Cerhelian mercenaries from The Edge and became well versed in combat with daggers and chain flails. She was jokingly known to them as "tornado girl" due to her aggression with swinging dagger-bound chains, and she still used her original blade she named the Xepheus Stake. Years later and somewhere near Vega, the mercenaries were fighting raiders in a crumbled castle and Rosalie's chains got stuck between boulders. This was Rosalie's biggest weakness, her chains would often wrap around errant objects or get wedged into crevasses. But in this instance, her arms were also bound by the chains (she would often wrap them around her arms) and she could not unwind them. She was seemingly trapped when she overcame, using her dire situation to her advantage. Rosalie was able to defeat the raiders by swinging around the two large boulders where the chains were wedged into. 

This event caused Rosalie to come up with the ultimate idea, to keep Xepheus Stake but attach her other chain to a giant destructive object, so that she could become unbound when needed. In Fo.A. 723, Rosalie designed the Wheel of Aerinor, the counterbalance to the dark blade Xepheus. It was named after the dwelling place of the gods, Sanctum's bright celestial body. The Wheel would at first start out as just a hunk of metal, but over the years be modified with greater technology. Upon joining the New Moon in Fo.A. 725, her close agent Mallorn suggested much of its eventual mods as a joke. Rosalie left on her first solo mission to Valeon where in Hydrascent, she worked with a blacksmith mechanist to do them. Mallorn would join up with her in the Mian Eristar where she helped him in his fight against Aries. Mallorn had to tell Aries to "time out" so he could laugh at her. 

Rosalie used these weapons throughout the events of Crimson Assassin until her disappearance, where the weapon's status became unknown. 

Appearance

The Wheel of Aerinor was the larger part of the weapon, a cylindrical metal object painted crimson red, a little over a foot in diameter and four inches in thickness. On each flat end was five gun barrels, around which was her gothic cross symbols painted in black and grey. Folding out from the circumference of the Wheel were five curved blades that looked like mini scythes, and on each one pointed outwards, a gun barrel. A long metal chain wound around a hollowed out crevasse in one of the sides of the weapon and it could spin freely like a yoyo, which in short, is what the Wheel of Aerinor looked like. 

The chain ran from the Wheel for several meters to connect with a black handle grip. On the handle was a long guard trigger running parallel to the handle and two smaller triggers between it and the handle. The long handle controlled the chain reeling function and the two small triggers controlled the guns on the Wheel's flat face, and the guns mounted on the blades. The handle could split in two to allow for extra mobility. 

Another chain ran from the other end, this chain shorter than the one attached to the Wheel, to attach to the Xepheus Stake. The Stake was a short silver dagger with no handle, and two smaller blades pointing outwards from the chain connector like a cross. Rosalie could wind up it all and mount the Wheel on her back like a shield, which is where it was stored when not in use. 

Rosalie swinging around the Wheel of Aerinor

Abilities

One of the most difficult weapons to master, the Wheel of Aerinor had many functions. The Wheel and the Stake could both be swung around, though the Wheel was for long range and the Stake for short range encounters, and they could both be split in two or connected by the handle. 

The Wheel could be swung like a giant flail but its weight reflected its slow movement. However, Rosalie could use the three triggers to bypass this downside. The long trigger could quickly draw back in the Wheel, and Rosalie would often throw out the Wheel and snap it back in like a whip with the trigger. The two small triggers, as explained above, could not only shoot (they had very low accuracy), but be used as momentum to move the Wheel in combat. Guns facing in the x and y coordinate planes, each shot could wildly fling the Wheel around making this weapon an unpredictable adversary. Both the Wheel and Stake could be used as grappling chains, and if one got stuck, the Wheel would easily break it free. 

When Dakota joined the New Moon in Fo.A. 735, he was fascinated by this mechanical weapon and made small modifications. Dakota soon grew tired of how many times he would be asked to repair the weapon, as Rosalie had a habit for destroying or jamming it on her travels.