The rangers of Rakore redeveloped an old weapon during Rakore's War of the Four Winds: the foot crossbow, or more often, 'footbow'. It was a man-portable crossbow with a bow as tall as a man, reinforced, and capable of hurling quarrels as thick as those for a crossbow and as long as those for a longbow at ranges of nearly 500 yards. The weapon did not require special training, but experts with it could take down a roc-hawke or an ogremai at long distances.

The footbow could also be broken down into pack-sized components for long marches or crawling through the brush, and then reassembled relatively quickly and stealthily when needed. The foot crossbow took about a minute to reassemble or disassemble by most users, although speed assemblies with times of half a minute have been reported.

The reload time of the foot crossbow made it superior to the heavy crossbow, delivering near equal force. The weapon was also of a similar weight to the heavy crossbow, making it quite sought-after. The main drawback to the weapon was it's size, which made it prohibitive in melee combat; many foot crossbows had to be discarded during the heat of battle.

The foot crossbow's primary components could be manufactured by a bowyer, but the trigger mechanism required intricate work, usually by a blacksmith. The device got it's name because a user had to lay on his back, place his feet in the stirrup, and pull with all his might on the bowstring – usually with a special tool called a grapple – to cock the weapon. This of course left the user vulnerable and prone during reloads, but in large armies or under special conditions, this was considered a minor issue.

The tooled nature of the footbow's trigger mechanism, coupled with the composite nature of the woods involved, drives up the price considerably. A good footbow can run as high as 750 silver in areas where it is common, and nearly double that in areas where it is an uncommon or rare weapon. The footbows themselves typically weigh around eight pounds for a conventionally sized weapon, and can throw a heavy bolt nearly 100 yards before gravity even affects the downward pull of the bolt. Bolts, due to their large size and bulky nature, typically run about 10 silver apiece, and can weigh nearly a pound by themselves.

The footbow is sometimes confused for the smaller 'belly bow', which has a bit less power and range.