Garnak and Palindor, with the aid of Brogan, Damond, Gart, and Grol, had by this time nearly finished organising the armoury. The array of weapons arriving from Croft and Ghund was daunting, and many were incomplete. Arrowheads were given over to the fletchers who would make the completed arrows. Mace and battleaxe heads were given over to carpenters who toiled on stools amidst the wood-shaving strewn floor as they fashioned handles, thongs and grips. Swords needed leather grips, belts, and leather scabbards overlaid with hammered bronze leaf. Helms and armour and mail needed leather fittings, thongs, and ties. Though the dwarves of Darkhun were wonderful workers of stone and metal, wood and leather were more the work of Elves and Men, in part because wood was in short supply in the Red Hills.
Workers were busy fitting arrow and spearheads, adding handles and thongs . . . everywhere wood was being cut, shaven, scraped, shaped, oiled and polished . . . cured leather was being cut, stretched, wet, oiled and dried, punched, braided and woven . . .
Several workers were sorting out the parts of a huge catapult. Others assembled crossbows whose bows were of the finest black spring steel, that could hurl a dart with such force as would kill a fully armoured destrier with a single shot. The largest weapons were a dozen huge catapult-size crossbows that fired darts as thick as a strong man's wrist, each missile weighing well over a hundred pounds. The head of each was blunt like a battering-ram.