Magelock Machinations - RPLOG
Participants
Date
24/5/480
Log
Early in the afternoon outside the city proper, a wide, open-sided pavillion is set over a flat portion of the field. With the light rain pattering against the grass, a gentle patter plays across the taut, oiled canvas overhead, and several being have begun to collect nearby. A series of lanes have been roped aside with tall posts spiked into the ground. At the end of these are several straw-packed targets and a wall of sand-filled bags behind.
A rugged-looking mole assisted by a gray-peppered badger are going over several firearms and demonstrative munitions set across a display rack and table while the murmur of the collecting crowd issues. The mole lifts his chin, a patched eye marring his features in a distinguished manner as he voices with a whistle past his teeth, "Alright, the demonstration is getting ready to commence! Clear the lanes and come, come and see the wonders of our modern grand new tools!"
Fenris is wearing his unusual uniform with its equally unusual insignias. The big tiger saunters along in the light rain, making his way toward the tent. His friends in the Underhill retinue have told him that this is not a demonstration to be missed, and he does not intend to miss it.
Kilani ambles over to the tent from a nearby road, unbothered by the light downfall playing against her head. She stoops down to enter the pavilion, attempting to avoid any unwanted collisions with the frame of the structure, curiously peering towards the mole at the mention of a demonstration, and of firearms, no less. She could always use an arsenal upgrade.
Flora is doing her usual job, making sure that everything is running smoothly, directing some of her personal security to make sure everyone is a safe distance away, at least for the time being. She, herself, of course, has a prime spot, this being one of the demonstrations she's actually interested in personally.
"Flora would like to examine these guns in detail later, if possible, yes," the she-cat offers with a smile on her lips, a flick of her tails.
Theo makes his way to the pavilion and stops to lean against one of the posts, watching the demonstration from a short distance. The maned wolf had donned a sleeveless tunic and trousers, trying accustom to the weather of Sweetwater.
Turning to the assembled beings, from those of noble bearing andfrom foreign delegation near the front to the other assorted onlookers in further rows, the mole lifts his hands and speaks with a whistling lisp, "Thank you all for coming to witness our demonstration. I'm Dimitri Dadger, and this is my Badger, Ledger Magier, and we're here with a breakthrough long-sweated through." He lifts one of the pieces, a fairly run-of-the-norm musket, "Some of you may be familiar with our current firearms and the complex system involved in firing them. Complications can occur,a nd inconsistency happens. Older models still with their matchlocks were much simpler, but still very inconsistent and prone to the elements and more."
As he speaks, the badger assistant lifts a coupel of the older models to show, pantomiming pulling the trigger and nothing happening and looking downt he bareel before pretending at an explosion to emphasize the points made.
"Well, with the benefits learned from our wheelocks combined with know-how of how the alchemic powders function and much, much, much practice and error, we found that the best solution would be refining the process with a little bit of mathemagic, and that's led to our current model... the Magelock." With this, the badger holds up a musket above Dimitri's head, a little warbling, "Ahhhhhh," of awe coming from the badger, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically. The device looks fairly simple compared to the wheelock, still retaining a sliding cap for the powder chamber, but instead of any of the complex mechanisms or clamps for creating the necessary spark, a series of truly tiny inscriptions of geometric mathemagic are engraved deep into the casing, and a crystal embedded where the swan's neck once was.
Fenris raises an eyebrow and takes up a position near the front of the crowd before casting his eyes around for his new acquaintance, Dmitri Underhill, hoping that the noble is in the audience and that he can get a better view than he will standing with the rest of the rabble. While firearms aren't particularly interesting to the tiger, a bit of clever mathemagic is always worth checking into.
Curious. When it comes to firearms, simplicity is usually for the best. The less parts to be damaged by movement and potential abuse, the better. To that extent, Kilani has a wheellock hidden in the depths of her robes, and finds that a more durable mechanism would be... beneficial. She remains silent as a stone, however, only raising an eyebrow in concern as the badger peers down the barrel. Did no-one ever teach him to not look down a loaded barrel?
Flora is smiling lightly, watching the various parts of the little dramaticized demonstrations. Her tails sway behind her, her ears flick as she watches the other guns. "And the magic does not require a magically capable being to wield it? They are proper runes, yes?" Flora questions, a smile on her lips, and a flick of her ears.
Theo snorts at the theatrics displayed by the assistant, but as he had no idea what else to do at the time, he remained to watch the rest of the demonstration. The maned wolf wasn't one for firearms or mathematics, yet he supposed he could learn something from this show.
The mole being claps his hands in glee, "Precisely!" to Flora's comment, and he inclines his head towards the Lady before continuing, "painstaking attention was done with the assistance of my masterly magician friend Magier, here." Dimitri steps aside and motions towards the badger.
Ledger's slightly sonorous and stuffed-nasal tone rolls rapidly and readily, 'Oh, yes! We used rune inscription in the crystal, here," pointing to the finely-shaped point of quartz mounted in the magelock mechanism, "which, though decently durable in its own right, is still a crystal and can suffer damage. This is intentional, though, for if you're in a situation where the tool could fall into the hands of pirates, one can remove or damage the crystal to remove function! The layered mathemaics in the housing," tilting the gun and motioning towards the deep engravings, "help provide the direction and compacting the minute enrgies into the necessary, focused spark. The trigger mechanism resembles those of prior designs to maintain familia-"
Dimitri cuts in, the mechanical parts being more his forte and pride, it would seem, "Yes, we wanted to make sure prior users of other models wouldn't need any additional adjustments, though ours do have a pin mechanism to keep the trigger locked so there is no accidental depression of it." He's fairly beaming with how they're finally getting to show off their hard labor to the interested masses. "Any other questions before we give a demonstration?"
Fenris rolls his eyes at the general geekery of the two creators as they talk about the magnificence of their creation. "I just want to see if it works," he snorts, a small smile on his face, "Let's see your toy in action!"
The tiger's searching gaze finally falls on a little, covered booth where several Underhill moles are sheltering from the rain and he raises a hand in greeting, hoping for an invitation.
Quiet as always, Kilani merely quirks her ear to the side, then shakes her head at the antics of the the two. A pin to prevent the gun from firing sounds useful, though, certainly to her. She's content to watch for now, however.
Flora nods, her tails flicking behind her. "Doesn't that mean that if the pirates have another crystal, they can still use it? Wouldn't it be better to secure the crystal in place properly? How many shots can you get off before you need a new crystal?"
Flora seems just as interested in the actual design-process as in the demonstration itself, if not more...
Theo huffs and walks forward closer to the demonstration from the post he was leaning on, parting through the crowd to get a better look at what exactly was being talked about. He wasn't terribly interested but stepped forward to get a better grasp of the conversation.
The mole laughs merrily at Fenris' enthusiasm, "Soon, soon! Oh, yes, soon!" before Ledger pitches in with the Lady's questions, "we had considered permanently affixing the crystals, but we wanted convenience for their replacement for users. Best to keep the crystals out of the pirates' hands to begin with! Tehy'd need the proper runes to begin with, too, should they have their own. Other failsafes are being contemplated, too, to ensure solidarity of usage, such as matching a partial rune to crystal and housing alike so that only ones witht he known partial rune would complete the magical circuit."
The badger smooths over his vest, and he continues, "The number of uses for a crystal tend to vary, and there is time between each firing, so, no rapid succession. Barring a faulty crystal, we've witnessed no less than six shots from the average crystal at minimum." Sure, he was redundant in that comment, but he seems to be proud of his statement none the less.
With everything venturing more towards the magical side of things, Dimitri seems more inclined to get the demonstration going, "So, who's ready to see some live demonstrations?"
Fenris is rather disappointed to get only a wave in return, but since Dmitri himself doesn't seem to be present, he lets it pass and turns his attention back to the Mole and Badger giving their demonstration. "Let's see it then!" he urges with a smile, "That's what we are here for!"
Kilani takes a single step forward. She's ready to see a demonstration, yes. "Perhaps there's a such thing as too many failsafes," the bat finally utters, projecting her voice towards the two beings. "I'd rather my gun work when I need it to, than to have it misfire or not fire."
A nod, a small smile, a flick of the ears. "Flora will want to discuss some things later, yes. But, to avoid keeping things up too much... Flora suggests moving on to the demonstrations, yes. Flora can ask more specific questions later, on the way back to the fair."
Theo stops amid the crows, feeling as if he is close enough. He wasn't aware who was in earshot of him, but he didn't care when he spoke. "Can't be much better than cold, hard steel..." He murmurs while taking a closer look.
Handling the magelock musket, Dimitri sidles over to one section of lane. Coincidentally, it's set up with six lines along the lane, six straw targets. Seems the fellow's got a hand at using the devices, too, not just working with the mechanics of the guns as he levels the musket to firing position, pushin gthe pin to release the trigger. Aiming, Dimitri pulls the trigger, aaaand....
... There's just a hint of a flash from teh crystal's runes, and a bark of detonation as the spark sets off the powder in the enclosed firing pan. The whud of the ball slapping through the straw and into the wall of sand bags behind is audible, even throught eh patter of rain. Taking a strafing step while pulling a ball, dropping and packing it down with a rod before powder horn from where it hangs at his side, he deftly begins to refill the pad, nuding the point of the horn to slide its cover aside. In moments, he's got it filled right, and he pushes the pin and pulls the trigger again. Another bark, and anotehr whud of impact.
Four more times over the course of a few minutes, and four more impacts before Dimitri turns, a grin on his face, "There we are... still maybe a shot or more left in the crystal, too! So... any more questions?"
"So, you have to replace the crystal every six or seven shots?" Fenris asks, "Doesn't that get. . . well, pricey?" The tiger folds his arms, rain pattering on his head and shoulders. "And the load time isn't really that much better," he offers, "I mean, I like the idea, but what is the point if it still takes all that time to reload?"
Replying quickly to Fenris, "Reliability, for one. Less chance of mechanical failure. Also, they could probably implement a hinge mechanism or a lever for quickly ejecting a spent crystal. So, not much quicker than a wheelock, but more steady, from what I gather. Besides, if you have to get more than six shots off in a fight, you're better off retreating and attacking from a different route."
"That's a conundrum, yes. If only the enchantments on the crystal could be put on the gun, yes?" Flora offers with a smile on her lips, a flick of her tails. That way, you don't need specially crafted crystals to use the gun, yes?"
"Flora would like to try a shot, yes. Are there any pistols, or just muskets? Flora does prefer pistols."
Theo watches as the actual demonstration begins, frowning slightly as he feels rain patter down on him. Seems it was very good at shooting straw. "Has it been tested in actual combat yet?" The maned wolf asks, louder than he had before.
Dimitri and Ledger say in tandem, "Reliability," before the mole, hading the gun off to Ledger for the moment to inspect the crystal, adds in, "and, have you ever been to an iron mine before? We chose quartz both for its abundance, naturally, and its relative durability. This isn't diamond or corundum crystals we're dealin' with, which are rarer to get in size and quantity." He points to what the bat says, "see, she gets it. I wager you're no stranger to the tools, eh?" He gives a wry chuckle, "and, this is still prototype! Tehre are many changes that will likely be made to improve the design, and I'm certain different crafters, once the techniques are a bit better spread, will have their own specific embelishments to add in. Such is the nature of the beast that is crafting."
Ledger bobs his head in a genteel manner to the Lady Longtail, "Of course you may take a try, my lady, though I'm afraid we have muskets on display, at present. We're still prototyping,a fter all, an-," but Dimitri interrupts, "Wait, wait. I do have this one." Flicking open his satchel, the mole pulls out a pistol done in a similar design. Definitely a magelock, and he handles it carefully, "Only one we've got in pistol form, just yet, but you're welcome to take a shot with it, my lady."
Ledger, a little miffed at being interrupted, adds in, "though it requires a well-crafted crystal, at present, future refinements could prove even better, less time-consuming designs that won't have as much wear and tear and far more continuous usage." With Theo's question, the mole takes up, "Moving targets and the like? Yes, we've stress-tested them for active usage, but not in an actual combat. Wouldn't want the pirates gettin' ahold of this while still in the budding stages, eh? And, not precisely somehin' you want to point and pull at an ally."
Fenris shrugs and continues to watch the demonstration as the rain continues to soak his fluffy fur. He IS however interested to see what Flora decides to do. This duo must be pretty confident in their product to hand it off to the noblewoman.
Flora looks the entire gun over, her tails flicking, swaying. She's certainly not firing right away, inspecting the gun from every angle. AFTER removing the crystal, of course, and making sure the safety's on. After a little while, she seems satisfied with the things she's seen. She takes a little while to examine the runes carved into the crystal, before slotting it in again, and setting to load the gun... It certainly takes quite a while for her to actually fire.
A little while later, though, she takes aim, fires, and then repeats the process of reloading, just to test out the gun a bit more...
Theo takes a step back to watch the demonstration by the noblewoman, though he still thought that it needed to be tested more vigorously. Nonetheless, he continues to watch with out another word on the matter, for the time being.
Watching over the loading and readying, just in case anything might occur with the process like potentially a ball looking unsuitably ground round or the like, Dimitri is pleased by the shots fired. Since it's the only pistol, he's just a hint nervous, but it seems the Lady has quite hte capable paw at it.
The badger gingerly plucks out the crystal that'd been used in the musket earlier and then brings that for the Lady to inspect, "As you can see here, there's a fault in the crystal. Striations like this make it likely the crystal will shatter in the next shot or perhaps two, and it's a good time to change out. Still usable in a pinch if you want to take a chance, but best to use a fresh onee for a guaranteed six shots."
Fenris has seen about all he needs to here. It was quite the discovery, of course, but not particularly useful to him. Not with a scorcher in his belt. And probably not any more useful than the collection of ranged weapons he has collected over his time in Firmament. Still, it is interesting.
A smile, a nod, and the pistol is handed back. "Needs some minor adjustments, but it works. And no headache," the she-cat offers with a soft rumble and a smile, looking the crystal over for a while, and examining the fault. "Flora sees, yes."
Theo grunts and makes his way back to the pole he was leaning against prior, having seen enough for the time being. If something else was added, he may step forward to gain another look but the maned wolf was not terribly interested in firearms.
"Thankfully, there's a sign of wear so one isn't caught off guard while still vigilant," Ledger explains before the demonstration starts winding down. Dimitri lifts his arms, and he says, "Thank you all for coming to witness the Magelock! Please, enjoy the rest of the air, and bring any further inquiries to myself or my badger, Ledger Magier, while we pack up supplies!"
Flora is quick to follow after the duo, ready to bombard them with her own, very detailed questions about the workings of the magelock, any ways they see improvements happening, and so on. And, of course, whether they'll be sharing their methods with any academies or crafters, or intend to keep them under wraps...
Theo huffs and watches as others from the crowd take their lead. Looking about, he decides to head back to the city. There must be something else to do in this place, he thinks to himself as he shakes the rain from his fur on his way.
