• Solo • Here Comes the Boom!

[Tio Silver]

Scalvoris University
23rd Cylus, 718

It was no great secret to anyone at the university what Taelis Selvar’s alchemical specialty was. His name was practically synonymous with the word explosion! Two thirds of all his experiments ended with one after all. This was fine and all except for one problem; Tio had never actually wanted any of those experiments to explode.

Until now.

Things all started when Tio decided to do a little chemistry. It was fairly common knowledge among the underworld that by mixing saltpeter with a few common ingredients, such as blasting powder or even sugar, one could make a kind of explosive that let out a thick smoke. By putting this mixture into pellets one could create small, easily transportable smoke bombs to cover an escape in an emergency. Tio experimented with this himself and succeeded in making a few working tests, yet found himself unsatisfied by the meagre result it produced.

It was then that a devious little idea snuck into his head. If normal chemistry didn't produce enough bang for his buck, why not throw a little magic into the mix?

Charcoal, sulphur and saltpeter made an effective enough form of gunpowder, but Scalvoris had a unique material that Tio reckoned could mix with it very nicely. Yellow Dragon Wood was cut from a tree unique to the island, and when set alight burned for a long, long time. Tio didn't know what it was about this wood that made it so potent, just that he could hear how overjoyed fire was when someone fed some to it. If this… flammable property… could be properly harnessed then it could make a far more effective kind of gunpowder.

Sulphur and saltpeter were all ingredients he could get from the university, but 100lbs of Yellow Dragon Charcoal was something he had to purchase for himself. Fortunately his endeavours in piracy left him with the spare cash to throw at experiments like this. After purchasing a large pile of the stuff Tio gave them to the technology department to use in their forges on the condition that they return them as charcoal, and a few trials later was rewarded with a large metal drum filled with the stuff that was rank with the overpowering cherry-like smell associated with the wood. Once he added the other ingredients into it Tio was left with roughly 100lbs of a rather more potent form of gunpowder.

Tio took a small sample of this powder in a cup and placed it on a table besides a candle. After taking a few steps back to a safe distance he used his cutlass to push the candle over onto the powder, and was rewarded with a sizeable bang. It was a good powder, yet still he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed in it. As useful as a good explosion could be he'd be heard for miles around if he used this in enough of a quantity to make any real effect!

So then, how to make it quieter?

Off Topic

-100gn Deducted from ledger.

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[Tio Silver]

People tended to assume that the place one was most likely to die from the cold on Scalvoris was the ice caves of Ishallr. It was, after all, formed from ice. But in truth the icy walls of Ishallr protected its inhabitants from any form of strong wind, and it was the strength of the wind, not the temperature, that was actually more likely to kill someone via hypothermia. At the tops of the mountains of Scalvoris the blustery winds could freeze any uncovered piece of skin with a single gust during Zi’da, and thus was a far more dangerous place to be.

Thankfully for Tio it wasn't Zi’da, and his friendship with the wind meant that it pulled his punches on him a fair bit. Wrapped up in his heavy weather clothing, Darbyton Champion’s armour and Scalvwing feather cloak he was actually able to reach the higher parts of the mountains without too much discomfort.

Very few forms of plant life were hardy enough to survive up here, but among those that could was one with a very special property that Tio needed to get his hands on. Wraithgrass was able to feed on the plentiful noise of the howling winds up here, and so grew in large, bulky patches anywhere that was sufficiently shielded from the wind. With a wicker basket around his back and a sickle in hand Tio hunted for these patches wherever he could find them, hoping to get enough to fill his basket before nightfall. The higher up he journeyed and the louder the wind became, the larger the patches of wraithgrass he came across. It seemed like he might be able to realise his hope after all.

As he passed over a ridge, Tio spotted a cozy looking cave in the side of the mountain and decided it was a good time to take a lunch break. Heading over to the cave, a grin began to form on Tio’s face when he noticed some wraithgrass sticking out of the edges. Perfect! He could take a break and harvest the grass at the same time! Blinded by joy he bounded over to the cave and leaped straight in.

Only to come face to face with a wolf.

Tio’s blood froze as he came to a stop, and his mind went completely blank with fright. The wolf in front of him was big, really big, with a number of scars smattered across it to prove how many fights it had been in. Thankfully it was asleep right now, but Tio had no illusions that a hunter like this would be a deep sleeper. If it hadn't been for the wraithgrass lining the place Tio was pretty sure it'd be digging into his throat at this very moment.

When his panic finally died down enough for him to think Tio assessed his situation. On the one hand he couldn't afford to pass up on this much wraithgrass, but on the other hand if he harvested it then there would be nothing left to damped the sounds of him being here and wake up the wolf. It was too bad he couldn't take out the wolf.

Or could he?

Reaching into his domain bag, Tio pulled out a vial of the Bunny Blaster potion he'd made a few seasons ago. He opened the vial and placed it down a little while away from the wolf so that the contents spilled out towards it, then dashed out of the cave before it woke up.

As expected when the spilled potion touched the wolf's cheek it was enough to rouse it from its slumber. Groggily the beast woke up, and after sniffing the potion curiously for a few trills gave it an experimental lick. Apparently it was pretty thirsty after its nap and didn't mind the taste of the potion, because it decided to lap up the rest, and once it was done let out a might howl as the strength filled its veins.

And then, mid-howl, the wolf exploded into a million fleshy chunks, filling the cave with echoes of a meaty popping sound.

Well, that was disgusting. It would take quite a bit of cleaning to get the wolf blood off of it, but at least he had all the wraithgrass he needed. Tio stepped back into the cave, grimacing a little bit as he sidestepped around what seemed to be a portion of the wolf’s foot, and got to work filling his basket with the black grass.

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[Tio Silver]

Using the cauldron in his university lab Tio boiled down the wraithgrass he'd collected up in the mountains. The biggest problem with wraithgrass was that it needed to be collected in large amounts and refined for about a full trial to be of any use, and that meant that when the process was finished a lot of work was only rewarded with a handful of useful substance. Tio had been repeating the process of boiling down and sieving through the mixture for ages now, watching as a full basket of wraithgrass shrunk down to a single half-cauldron of sticky black liquid, and couldn't help but feel that trudging through the snow and risking death via wolf might not have been worth this. If the end result wasn't what he hoped it would be he was going to be so disappointed.

When it finally seemed like the wraithgrass could be refined no more Tio added a few handfuls of sugar into the mix. Sugar wouldn't hinder the explosive effect when added to the gunpowder, but after a while the goopy black mixture took on a glassy sheen. After taking it off the fire and leaving it to cool for a while the substance began to set like candy.

Tio crushed the black candy into dust and mixed it in with the gunpowder, which still looked the same but now had a sort of sparkle to it. Once again he scooped up a small sample into a cup and introduced it to a flame. The gunpowder sparked for a little, and then with a flash of light exploded, blowing the wooden cup apart. There was still an accompanying loud noise, but instead of the sharp and attention grabbing bang you'd normally hear it was more of a whooshing noise, like a tidal wave of sizzling fat.

He put ninty pounds of the powder into separate ten pound bags for use at a later date, and mixed the remaining ten pounds with extra saltpeter to add that extra smokey effect. He then divided the mixture into small pellets and threw one down, watching with satisfaction as a thick column of smoke rose up from the floor without a sharp popping noise.

This stuff had turned out pretty well if he said so himself. Maybe when he was a more skilled alchemist he could refine this formula to make an even more powerful, even quieter version? What should he call it anyway? Something that summarized the fact that it was quiet and explosive, and was probably some kind of pun?

“Got it! Bombshee powder!” He declared, looking at it proudly. He briefly thought about selling it, but decided that he'd likely make a lot more money if he used it to supplement his life of crime.

Come to think of it he only tested a small portion of the gunpowder. What would happen if he set it all alight at once?...

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[Arlo Creede]

Tio

Knowledge:
Alchemy: Banshee Powder
Alchemy: Using Yellow Dragon Wood in alchemy
Alchemy: Using Wraithgrass in alchemy
Alchemy: The quieting property of Wraithgrass
Alchemy: How to make magical gunpowder
Chemistry: Yellow Dragon Charchol Loot:
-100gn
9 x 10lb bag of Banshee Powder (Gunpowder alchemically enhanced to be a little stronger and quieter)
Bag of Smoke Bombs Points: 10 (these points may not be used for magic) Comments: Fun read! I enjoyed reading the creating process for the powders and pellets. It was both informative and entertaining. We at the university however are pleased that Tio, once again, has opted not to burn down or blow the place up!
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