So, you’ll probably never encounter all the science behind the magic, for there is much of it, and it is dull and boring for anyone who doesn’t care for long explanations and excessively complex detail. However, the magic gun is a bit interesting, enough so that I think I should share it. Now, you haven’t met the creator of the magic gun, nor have you met the one who wields it, however you will. Anyways, this is a curious bit of technology. I am not terribly knowledgable about firearms, so I had to do some research to figure out how to describe this weapon. I’ll leave the comments open for anyone who knows more about firearms than me to critique the weapon design if you like.

The Magic Gun: A Bit of Science in a World of Magic

The magic gun is a unique piece of technology in Eirmoda, as other forms of firearms don’t appear until many centuries later, and those are crude at best. The creator of the magic gun is a man named Richard Foreignheart, a Koeleth-born Arilese man. A genius but a hermit, Richard rarely allowed the secrets of his many inventions to leave his laboratory, leaving many to wonder about the mechanisms which drive such items as the magic gun. Aside from the gun, he also made a “boom staff,” a force magic infused metal staff; the chain blade, the first manmade snake sword; the arcana shield, a badge worn to ward off magic; and several other artificially crafted magical items.

A brief exploration of the resources used is necessary. Many magic crystals are used in the making and use of the gun. Such magical crystals can be acquired by somehow sealing away the magic from wild guardians. This does not kill the guardian, just weakens them. Richard also used home made crystal capsules to hold the magic for each round, opting to store the source of the magic in his workshops and reuse it.

The magic gun is a repeating, bolt action, smoothbore long gun. Instead of using gunpowder or other explosive propellants, a small magically charged crystal creates a wind current that functions in fundamentally the same manner, though a tad bit safer overall. The magic gun uses a unique kind of ammunition. Instead of the metal bullets we’ve come to expect in the modern real world, the magic gun uses specialized crystal capsules. Each capsule contains a certain kind of magic and is designed to achieved certain effects. The effect of the bullet is determined by certain runes that direct the flow of the magic when the rune is broken. This ammunition allows the magic gun to be far more versatile and useful than a simple musket or shotgun. For example, the typical crystal bullet is charged with arcane magic, completely neutral with a basic effect. The arcane bullet is the most similar to real world bullets in its function. A basic arcane bullet is conical in design, functionally the same as a metal bullet, and is reasonably accurate, though it suffers from the gun’s lack of rifling. The mechanics get weird, however, when the bullet actually leaves the barrel. The crystal shell is thin, so when it hits the target, it’s not the crystal causing damage, it’s the arcane magic stored within: in essence, a magic missile in ammo form. From this basic bullet, modifications can be made. Sticking with arcane magic, another way of using the crystal is designing it so that magical “feathers” grow when it leaves the barrel, causing the bullet to spin, enhancing the accuracy, more or less making up for the lack of rifling. Alternatively, when accuracy is not as important, a rune may be inscribed on the bullet that causes the magic to spread out after leaving the barrel, producing a shotgun spray effect. Another form of customizing the bullet is to change the element contained within. Rather than serving strictly as projectiles, most fire magic bullets dissolve upon leaving the projectile, either creating a fire ball or, in special cases, effectively turning the magic gun into a flamethrower briefly. Light bullets are most frequently used as tracers or flares, while dark bullets are used to stain things similarly to paint balls, but with magic instead of paint, or create smoke screens. Earth bullets are typically just more powerful versions of the arcane bullets, since the magic literally creates stones and rocks. Cold magic might be used to create a nonlethal numbing blast, while heat magic might be used to create a cloud of sweltering heat. Decay magic might see use as a toxic, venomous or poisonous bullet, for when you want to go for a slow kill. Growth magic might be a peculiar case of long range healing. Water magic might serve as a way to hose people down or create a ball of water that could serve as a bean bag.  Lightning bullets could act as tasers or long range emps. Force and wind bullets would have non-lethal bean-bag like effects. Energy bullets would shoot seems of energy instead of projectiles.

There are, of course, near limitless possibilities. However, I thought that these examples might serve as obvious applications of magic principles. Of course, the more powerful the magic and the more advanced the spell the harder and more expensive it is to create the crystal bullet. Thus, the gunman who wields the magic gun favors the basic arcane bullet, but keeps a variety of specialty bullets on their person just in case.