The Voice
The longbow is the Vantari's voice, and the Vantari's voice is the only voice that flies true at a gallop — because the Vantari are the only ones who shoot from one. The bow is yew, the string is sinew, and the draw is a decision: the arrow leaves when the hand says it leaves, and the hand says it leaves when the moment says it leaves.
A journeyman longbow is a season's labor in the wood, and the wood is named — the tree, the year, the hand that felled it. A master longbow is a name on the limb. A masterwork longbow is a story event, and the story is the one where the arrow lands and the fight is over and the ground is still yours.
In the Hand
The bow is slow to draw, fast to land, and the sound it makes is the sound of a decision. It is the ranged band's answer to everything: the distance where the other man is a rumor, the ground where the fight is still yours, and the moment where the arrow leaves and the fight is over.
"The Vantari do not shoot the bow. The Vantari shoot the moment, and the bow is just the voice." — Vantari sky-keeper