Audio (Early evening)| Anonymous

[angel_of_death]

[This is a youth who has communicated over the network a handful of times; sometimes through writing, sometimes through audio, and even a couple of times through video. But, always without an account, and only once saying his name in the open.

But there are things one can glean from his voice even without digging and listening for anything that sounds like him. He sounds like a young boy — not overly young, but somewhere on the cusp of adolescence, only just starting to get that tinge of masculine tone, not having yet broken into the deeper notes of adulthood.

He also has a distinctively English accent. Received Pronunciation, in fact.]

I've been contemplating something for a little while now.

While there are weapon shops in Camelot, their range of wares is... shall we say, limited.

One sword, or knife, or whatever your choice of weapon isn't necessarily equal to another of its type in every given situation, especially when the supernatural is involved. Certain metals work better against certain enemies... at least as far as my experience goes.

It would also be nice if we could find a way to create a magic incendiary and put it in a bottle or something of the like for those of us who aren't able to wield fire magic on our own, as it happens to be the only known weakness of the Bear Firs in the Brocéliande. That may be tricky, though, since the Brocéliande can interfere and interact with magic in odd ways. But I imagine it would be a useful thing to have if the same creatures end up present in the Dusklight Woods, or any other area, really.

That being said, would anyone care to work together on weapon design and development?

Comments

Text; anon

[corpsewarblade]

[Mukuro is very, very excited to see this message - she always was a military nerd - so couldn't resist slipping into her anon persona to reply. After all, there was no way she could work out how to reply to this as her Fashionista persona. She'd been caught out the last time that happened!]

Agreed. One must use a range of different weapons for different combat engagements depending on the enemy and terrain, amongst other tactical considerations.

For the Bear Firs, you're thinking of something like a rudimentary magical grenade or Molotov cocktail right?

I've been intrigued by the options of magical ammunition as well- the traders can upgrade firearms to run on magic but I've not been able to test this yet, or establish how different forms of magic affect the calibre, rate of fire, etc. of the resulting bullets.

🔪

Replying in Text

[angel_of_death]

Fancy meeting you again.

Yes, something like a Molotov. Something in the style of the SIP grenade would work even better if it didn't have the same issues regarding stability and storage. Having an incendiary that can ignite on contact with air would be grand, but we also don't need people to be accidentally setting themselves on fire.

[Even without tone being easily translatable through text, it's probably easy enough to tell that he would expect that to happen on a somewhat regular basis if the aforementioned issues remained.]

Ammunition is a tricky thing. While I presume the magic would accommodate to the calibre of weapon involved, that doesn't mean it would compress to the same density as a standard bullet. Muzzle velocity and accuracy at range could be impacted and would need to be tested for. There's also the matter of bullet shaping. I would be curious to know if firearms running on magic would be able to replicate the effects of different bullet types.

[Would they all work like a basic lead or full metal jacket bullet, for example? Or could the magic be tailored to create hollow-point bullets, too? Would light magic inherently produce tracer rounds? Would fire elemental magic produce incendiary rounds?

It would be interesting to find out.]

[corpsewarblade]

So it is you.

[She had her suspicions, but until he said that she couldn't be sure if this was the same anonymous person she spoke to previously or not.]

Yes, we are working with civilians. They're likely to set them off by accident without training in their storage and use. We'd need something with better safety measures.

Those are all things I would like to test as well- and whether more refined magic control could lead to the ability to alter the properties of bullets between shots. That could lend itself to a lot of flexibility.

I have animal magic and I cannot be entirely sure what kind of ammunition would form from that. We would need to gather firearms users with different magic types in order to fully exhaust the possible effects.

[angel_of_death]

[Indeed. It is him.]

I expect they'll each need their weapons serviced by the Elphame Traders. The traders work their magic so that most if not all of what they do is linked directly to the one who buys from them, so having one gun with multiple users probably won't work.

[So, a user for each magic type, a gun for each magic type, and the service from the traders performed on each gun. It's a lot to look for. Dark magic and animal magic seem to be covered, but what about the other types? Will they be able to find enough users and firearms to put to the test?]

audio; un: birdofprey

[notquitetamed]

[Well, now this is a subject Hawk can get behind. Never hurts to consider the most effective ways to kill shit and he doesn't even care if people know he enjoys killing shit.]

Is it doable to put an effect into an item here? Seems like a better idea to have a lasting effect that could be put on or removed as needed.

[angel_of_death]

I can say with certainty that it can, at least as far as dark magic is concerned. I saw a young woman put your theory into practice some time back.

[He doesn't mention Claire by name, but he can't help but be a little proud of her in this moment.]

However, it was her magic, and it was applied to her ammunition shortly before use. I do not know how long such an effect would last, or if or how well it would work with the other forms of magic accessible to us.

Nevertheless, it is an idea worth pursuing.

[notquitetamed]

Another idea could be to find a material with the properties of fire and use that. That's how the craftsmen back home did it without magic. I got elemental magic though, so I could try the first idea. Monsters don't exactly bother me.

[angel_of_death]

Making non-magic fire is easy.

[Though he doesn't have the transmission set to video, there's an audible metallic click as he opens up his lighter, followed by the scraping of the flint wheel, and not a second after, the sound of a flame leaping into existence.]

The question is whether it will remain useful in the application I mentioned. I was specifically told that magic fire was what would do the trick against the Bear Firs when I asked around about it.

[There is, of course, one way to find out. But he isn't in the habit of hunting things down to slaughter them when they haven't caused trouble.

He flips the lighter closed with a solid clap.]

I would, however, be glad to know of the results you achieve with imbuing your magic into items. Please do keep us informed.

text: un: jean

[rustyhonesty]

We do have blacksmiths in town that could probably help with variety. Especially if you provide them with plans and materials.

I can see if the one I work for would do custom weapons.

Replying in Text

[angel_of_death]

That would be most appreciated. The ideas I have in mind may ultimately require the effort of smiths within multiple metalworking disciplines, but the core strength of any finished product will be dependent upon the skill of the blacksmith involved in its creation.

[rustyhonesty]

Well, I messaged my employer and he said he'd at least be curious to hear about your ideas.

[angel_of_death]

That's good to know. Would it be better for me to stop by in person, or would it be more convenient to just write them out here?

text, un: filament

[omnicrafter]

I do blacksmithing work, and I'm twice as interested in design besides. It seems like a practical solution to a sorely needed niche, if you ask me.

We'll have to do some trial and error on what metals are best for certain purposes, but it seems doable.

Replying in Text

[angel_of_death]

Research first, and then trial and error, as you say, as far as which metals will be needed.

The first step is to figure out what all we may be facing as potential foes and what their weaknesses are, ascertain which of the information has actually been verified and which is rumour, and then start work on designs and prototypes.

Trials will help us verify or refute rumoured knowledge and put new ideas to the test. I personally recommend documenting the failures as well as the successes, as information on what doesn't work is useful, too.

What metals are you used to working with as a blacksmith?

[omnicrafter]

Many of the basics -- iron, steel, silver, molybdenum, chromium... plus a handful of regional variants as well that I expect do not exist here. It'll be an extensive project, but it's needed, if you ask me.

The first step would likely be to put together a list on the kinds of opponents these are going to go up against. Could such a thing already exist, though, I wonder? For your example with the bear firs, I imagine a flamethrower of some kind would do the trick, though you'd want to take care not to set the whole forest ablaze...

[angel_of_death]

[Iron, steel, silver... All the metals listed are good metals to have experience in. She's like to be of significant help, he imagines.]

Such a list does not already exist in a comprehensive and already combined form. I will be going around for that information.

[He already has a research partner for the Land of Rot.]

text; un: alsoagun

[redfightinghood]

Hey there, new here, but what you're describing is honestly pretty familiar to me. And weapon development is something I actually have a pretty decent amount of experience with!

Back on my world, Remnant, we have this stuff called "Dust." Each type corresponds to different elements, and it gets used in a variety of ways, and is able to be put into different sorts of containment. Such as, for instance, Fire Dust can be put into a cartridge or bullet and then you can use that use that in combat. Use it for combustion, or light something on fire. If you used Ice Dust, you could freeze a smaller enemy, or body parts of another. There's a lot of different ways to implement it into weapons or combat styles.

I landed her with a few magazines of Dust bullets for my weapon - which, not to brag [This time!] I made myself. I've got to be careful with how many I use until I figure out a way to replenish it, buuuuuut...

If you want an example, a Dust bullet is kind of like just what you're describing with cramming magic into something to then use it.

Replying in Text

[angel_of_death]

[Interesting. Very interesting.]

Do you mix the Dust in with the propellant, or insert it into the cavity of a hollow-point round?

[With a name like 'dust' it sounds like it might be something like a powder, or at least a fine granule.]

We might be able to adapt the technique if infusing substances with elemental magic bears fruit.

Re: Replying in Text

[redfightinghood]

Dust isn't exactly what I'd call a STABLE material, so using it as a propellent is possible but pretty dicey. You wanna be hitting things WITH it, but not be HITTING it, if that makes sense.

[Sudden flashbacks to her first meeting with Weiss Schnee and managing to blow up some of it right in their faces, right there.]

But yeah, that's what I was thinking. I could spare a bullet if like, you wanted to take a look at it for reference. It might not be QUITE the same, but maybe it's similar enough.

text; un: fireprince

[rediscovering]

i want in
i don't have experience with weaponmaking but im open to learn. i have more than enough experience with both swords and something like fire magic at home, and i elemental magic here
i also know a very clever guy with fire magic and engineering experience, as well as a skilled bomber and another swordsman. i can ask around.

[ Technically he knows an alchemist too, which would be very useful, except this alchemist has no weaponry experience, never fought in any battles, and only spends his time recreating corn syrup for knock-off Arizona teas to sell... Maybe not their guy. ]

I am sorry. A kitten jumped on the keyboard and posted that unfinished comment for me.

[angel_of_death]

Even if you don't have experience as a smith, your magic could prove useful for the process.

[Elemental, dark, and light magic are the types he expects may prove the most useful for the infusion process, while the form of alchemy expressed in Avalon will likely prove invaluable to the earlier steps of design and creation.]

Does the bomber make their own explosives?

that's a great reason to delete a comment

[rediscovering]

i'd help however i can
i know a lot about swords, even though im not a smith i was taught how it goes by my swordsmanship master as a pupil

and im pretty sure he does yeah
my friend with the engineering experience has swordsmanship experience too. he forged a sword from a meteorite at home.
i dont know if theyll be interested but i'll pass the word along

VIDEO | UN: HAMMERTIME

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Now this? This is music to my ears.

Name's Darin Altway, Master Blacksmith, and it's a pleasure to meet someone who knows that every weapon has its place, its strengths, and its weaknesses.

I'm in the process of raising funds to open a forge myself.

Congrats you get a (still anonymous) video!

[angel_of_death]

[The first thing that shows is a boy; a youth of pallid features and dark, dark hair seated on what looks to be a rooftop. There's a good view of roof there, though the evening light is starting to dim on the horizon.]

I believe the Elphame Traders are able to assist with setting up business. Have you stopped by there before?

Ooooo mysterious!

[forgeabettertomorrow]

You're damn right I have! I'm in the process of securing the last bit of funds I need to get the permit and a bulk of supplies to start working with. I mean, what good is a forge if I don't have materials to actually make weapons, you know?