Reunion: Gunsmiths

[opius]

It had been only three days since the announced battle plan to... Essential sit tight and actually -prepare- for a wide scale conflict. Compared to the by-the-seat-of-their-pants snap-decision planning in Kel Mar, this was an entirely different animal. Every hour he wasn't working, Alastair felt like he was wasting time. Like an assignment loomed over him and time was short.

It had been three days since the "young people yelled" at Roland Deschane, three days since Alastair signed Sae up for yet another high risk agreement. With the potential of that agreement gnawing at a very specific part of his brain, he was thrilled when the elven gunslinger set a time and date to begin his apprenticeship.

The day prior had been spent in the astorian workshop, where the two had put together a proper bow for their new ally, Mirrai (who seemed to be sticking around at least to confront the Dragon of Kyr). And though Alastair referred to the gesture as the "Apology Bow," Sae refused to refer to project by that name. Pretty much any name but that one specifically.

It was a whole thing.

He left the Bow's delivery, and it's naming, to Sae. During that time, the subject of firearms was broached, and the date set.

Skip ahead to the morning after, Alastair sat at a hardwood table in the Chapterhouse' workshop, tools at the ready. Hung up was his adventuring gear, his coat, his bag. Now was the time to work, and the now familiar patchwork overalls and apron rested comfortably on his person.

...He could have passed for a janitor were it not for the magical bracers on his forearms.

[redcoat]

Sae was practically naked when she showed up to the workroom- or rather, Ve'ra had jokingly referred to her as 'practically naked' when she went out without armor or her coat, or her mantle, or even her gloves. She'd even rolled up her shirt sleeves to her elbows. She wore her gun belt loose over her hips, and her rifle across her back.

"Right- do you prefer your lecture first, or a practical demonstration first?"

[opius]

Alastair was, perhaps, overdressed. He gave it only a moment's thought. "Practical. I think we've had enough lectures flying around to last us the week. You just tell me the import bits as we go, and I'll ask questions until you're good and annoyed."

He seemed to be in high spirits despite the growing bags under his eyes. Sae knew that he'd been basically -living- in the shop the last few days, and the hours he'd been pulling were not trivial. It wasn't quite overextension, but he was flirting with behavior that might exhaust the average smith.

[redcoat]

Sae chuckled and nodded, motioning for him to follow her down the stairs and deep into the basement of the chapterhouse- where a range had been set up. On a side table, she put all of her guns. It was almost comedic, as guns just kept getting put down on the table.

"These are Stormcaller and Retort- they are small hand pistols. Rebuttal is a hand pistol, but has a single, wider barrel. Reprisal is a shot gun- twin wide, short barrels. And then Regards-it's a rifle, a long single barrel that has a groove cut into the inside of the barrel."

Sae looked the collection over for a moment.

"Short barrels improve power, but sacrifice accuracy. Wider barrels means bigger projectiles- which means more damage. Guns are all about balancing accuracy versus power. Which one do you want to shoot first?"

[opius]

His brows lifted as she lead away from the workshop toward destinations unknown to him. He was curious, a little confused, and followed without piping up. It seemed she had taken the time to prepare and set up a lesson- a practical lesson in the usage of the weapons.

"... Oh. Well, I hadn't planned to- you know- fire one off. I imagined I'd be taking them apart, be handed a schematic or.."

Prone to rambling as always, he muttered and mulled over the choices. He lingered on Stormcaller. "That one was... Kaladin's, right? As cool as it is, it seems- I don't know, disrespectful to have a newbie fire off..."

He hemmed, hawwed, and hovered over Regards. "The longer the barrel the more accurate the shot, right? It would make sense to start with accuracy before utility. The shot has to land, after all."

[redcoat]

"It's hard to design a gun without shooting them, at least every once and awhile." She picked up Regards and loaded it easily, moving to the firing line.

"Right, so, the safety rules are very similar to a crossbow. You should assume every gun you handle is loaded at all times. Never point it at anyone you aren't willing to put a hole into. Finger off the trigger until you're ready to shoot. I keep a little play in my triggers." She lifted Regards to her shoulder and sighted down range, before giving the trigger the lightest of wiggles to show the play.

Then she would put the gun down and step back, motioning Alistair forward. "Now- be prepared when you shoot- the force if the gunpowder ignition throws the gun back just as much as it throws the bullet forward. Make sure you have a good grip on the weapon and it firmly settled into your shoulder."

[opius]

Well that checked out. And it was pretty obvious in retrospect.

The quick rundown on the basics made sense- safety came first in safety and operations. Comparing it to a crossbow also made a measure of sense- Rudie was at least partly inspired by retort. Though the talk of triggers got his gears turning. "Play- oh, interesting... I hadn't considered adjusting the trigger mechanism on my crossbow, but I can see a few applications where it might benefit."

She stepped back, he moved forward. Right. Just like a crossbow. But on the shoulder. "I've heard the sound this thing makes- I can only imagine the impact. Let's see.."

Alastair -easily- overcompensated. A wide stance, extra time taken to check his balance. Not only did he not touch the tiger, he kept his digits anywhere but near it.

"Right, so... Aim, point- oh, this is a bit unwieldy yeah?" He took aim, held his breath, and went for it.

((Ranged martial attack, in proficient: 11 total))

[redcoat]

Sae chuckled, moving forward and shifting Alistair this way and that, to fix his stance and form. "Don't worry- you did better than I did. I gave myself a black eye the first time I shot Stormcaller."

[opius]

Alastair adjusted his aim, being a bit... Mannequin-esque to her suggested posture. He took a few moments to try and familiarize himself with it. Truth be told, even with magical strength that jolt -hurt- a bit more than he was expecting. Surprised him too. He winced and glanced back at her. "That sounds painful. I imagine different ones have more kickback than others...?"

[redcoat]

"More powder, more power, more kick." She explained, gently taking the rifle from him and replacing it with her shotgun.

"Like this one."

[opius]

He looked as she took one and replaced it with the dragon-headed instrument. He didn't exactly wince, but he -was- taken aback slightly.

He knew the kind of mess this thing could create.

"Right, the ah, dragonsbreath weapon. Reprisal, was it? I've seen you stuff two cartridges into this one- it looks different from the other ones." Finger off the trigger, he looked the thing over- partly to note the craftsmanship, partly to note the functional design.

"The barrel on this is wider, so... Bigger bullet, bigger boom. Shorter too, so... less accurate, right?" He glanced down and half muttered, already taking notes. "I reckon you could shorten the barrel to cause even more of a mess." He shifted and took the stance Sae had showed him, braced, and took aim at a target, uncertain if he could hit it from such a range.

Yet, there was an odd familiarity to this piece. A vibe that brought an odd kind of confidence with it.

(Magic weapon? Dope. Int-based attack Roll: 17 total. Strength saving throw: 13)

"WHUP-" Momentary confidence in the moment was quickly supplanted by panic as Alastair was sent teetering on the back foot. He didn't drop the gun or blow off a shoulder, but he *did* reel back with the barrel pointed at the ceiling. Finger off the trigger, finger off the trigger. A few stumbling hops backward he half hollered a, "holy ssugar- you make that look easy!"

Judging by his lack of indoor voice, Sae could probably guess about how bad the ringing was.

[redcoat]

Sae gave a loud, good natured laugh and reached up to stabilize Alastair's grip on the gun. "The design is based off of an older style gun, called a blunderbuss. These will shoot big cartridges, but I've also heard of gunslingers loading them with rock salt to do non-lethal damage. Lots of damage, and not a lot of accuracy- that's why I use this one in close up fighting."

She waited for him to get his bearings before letting go.

"This one has lots of room for you to freestyle on the design. Cartridges that explode, cartridges with shrapnel, cartridges filled with blessed silver or iron. There's a lot to be done with it."

[opius]

He nodded and rolled his shoulders a few times, recalibrating. "A big payload means lots of room to change the formula. So long as that formula equates to lots of little things going in many different directions. It's certainly not elegant- but I can see the appeal in that kind of design."

He chuckled, clearly a bit amped from the demonstrations. "There's a lot of potential here."

[redcoat]

Sae nodded, pulling out a tracer round for the shot gun. "For example, this one- Less lethal, but it makes the enemies shiny. I used that amethyst glitter."

[opius]

He nodded some before giving the concept some further thought. "Saltpeter, particulates... I wonder- is there any particular reason that shells use lead-shot? I mean- rather- why *not* use a different material?"

He placed the shotgun down. "We've been dealing with a lot of people, folks we don't necessarily want to bleed out. If rock salt can be used as an effective deterrent, maybe other materials could work too. Id have to figure out just how hot the propellant gets- I imagine there's a book around here that has some useful information- but it wouldn't take much to alter some alchemists wax to meet the conditions, I think."