The Boiler

The Boiler was the name given to the infamous siege weapon used by the Flaming Fist in defense of the city of Baldur's Gate sometime before 1372 DR.

Description
The Boiler was effectively a giant iron cauldron used to pour boiling hot oil on the heads of invaders attempting to scale the walls of Baldur's Gate. However, the weapon was as dangerous for the operators as it was for its targets. The cauldron often rocked back after being emptied, spraying its operators with blistering oil.

History
The Boiler was a gift from a noble family of one of the former Dukes of Baldur's Gate, sometime before 1372 DR. Even though the mechanism became a terror among the Flaming Fist mercenaries, there continued using the deadly machine in fear of offending the noble family of high status. Even though multiple attempts to fix the contraption were made, they all were for naught, and the Boiler remained as deadly for the invaders as it was for the defending forces.

During one siege by orcish forces, Sergeant Lukas Oteril saw an opportunity to rid the Fists of the accursed device. The Boiler was emptied several times over the city walls, leaving the defenders without any oil to use. Sergeant Oteril ordered the Boiler to be flung on the heads of orcs crawling up makeshift ladders propped against the city walls. As a weapon, pummeling Boiler did a poor job as more orcs replaced the ones hit with the machine, but the Flaming Fists were grinning to no end, knowing the accursed machine was no more.

Following the siege, the Boiler disappeared from the battlegrounds. It was said that the chieftain of the invading orcs took the Boiler for himself to be used for cooking. However, later the Boiler resurfaced among many curious items available for sale in Torleth's Treasures of Gillian's Hill. How it got there was a mystery, and the Boiler was still in Torleth Mindulspeer's store as of 1372 DR.

Appendix

 * Video Games
 * Neverwinter Nights: Darkness over Daggerford