Fyr-gun Isbeil

Many feats of architecture, engineering, seafaring, and warfare accomplished all over Teleria would not be possible without devices and insights that Dwarves originally provided. Isbeil, creator of the Fyr-gun, would love to join the illustrious list of world-renowned Dwarven inventors, but it will not be easy given the forces arrayed against her who would see her innovation crushed and forgotten. Isbeil’s detractors point to her youth and her rebellious streak, calling her a dangerous renegade tinkerer and her device a menace to herself and others. Their prejudices merely blind them to the Fyr-gun’s true potential, she believes. In Port Wretched, Isbeil was effectively an orphan, ignored by her neglectful parents and herself scornful of relying on them. She was socially awkward, leaping from topic to topic in her conversations and logic. But this feverish pace of thinking produced bursts of visionary insight, and a passionate need to create. She was nearly caught numerous times breaking into workshops, forges, and guildhalls for tools and materials. In so doing she cobbled together a sort of hybrid apprenticeship for herself despite the vicious canines and dangerous traps supposed to be defending against intruders like her. Isbeil’s efforts culminated in mechanical engineering, geochemistry, and Dwarven rune magic literally crashing together to create an explosive result. First, she concocted a secret mixture of stone powders and acids. The resulting paste she dabbed onto the receiving tray of a steel contraption resembling a spring-loaded hammer and anvil. She then triggered the device and the paste was struck at high speed by a miniature hammer bearing upon its head a Dwarven rune-mark which variously denotes ‘ignition,’ ‘spark,’ or ‘inspiration.’ The power of the rune interacted with the chemical matrix of Isbeil’s fuel as it was compressed by the swift impact, and converted the fuel into fire – so explosively fast that this first prototype blasted itself apart and gave Isbeil a swath of painful scars. Isbeil quickly realized that she could weaponize the reaction, and finally perfected her Fyr-gun, the seventh prototype and her beloved magnum opus. She made the detonation useful by channeling the blast down a long tube, to which she added an blade so it could double as a sturdy hatchet if needed. It had to be robust, to contain and direct the energies of Isbeil’s reaction. The blast wave from the detonation was an impressive sight and a lethal percussive force. It had drawbacks compared to traditional bows and crossbows. But it had distinct advantages in terms of raw destructive power and the spectacular terror it could cause. Because of her lack of charisma and unsavory origin, Isbeil struggled to garner the credit she deserved. The owners of the arms manufactories where Isbeil tried to publicize her creation were outwardly dismissive of it, but in confidence among each other, they were greatly concerned that the Fyr-gun would disrupt their tidy, profitable businesses. To showcase her creation, Isbeil began snapping up high-value bounties and mercenary contracts, claiming a dozen at once just to hog the opportunities, and left charred and splattered bits of various criminals and outlaws lying on the planks of ships or in the back of blind alleys. In the process however she angered several people whose bounty offers she took up and then ignored. Between them, the wealthy cabal of arms traders, and the vengeful associates of those whose bounties she hunted, Fyr-gun Isbeil is perhaps due for a series of explosive confrontations. Word of Isbeil has reached Hurndig, the Supreme Engineer of the Skyiron Dominion, however. He is deeply intrigued, and if he has his way she will soon be working in his forges, with all the resources she can dream of.