The boomerang is a shaped throwing stick, flung flat rather than end over end, and it exists in two quite different forms. The heavy non-returning kind is a hunting and fighting weapon — a hardwood club thrown at a running animal or a standing man, and thrown to stay where it lands. The light returning kind is the specialist’s tool, curved and cambered so that a miss comes back to the hand, useful for driving birds into nets and for the sort of display that makes a reputation at a gathering.
Throws are resolved through the missile sequence, and each stick carries its own base range, volley multiplier and impact. Because the flight is a curve rather than a line, the skill is a matter of reading wind and rotation as much as of aim, and a thrower trained on one culture’s sticks does not automatically get on with another’s.