IN> The Alkahest Projector

[Maurice Lane]

http://moeticae.typepad.com/weblog_licentiae_moeticae/2008/03/the-alkahest-pr.html

The Alkahest Projector

Because in 1008 AD they didn't really have "pistols"
or "muskets," that's why.  They still had to call it
something.

The workmanship is clearly Creationist; there are
seven Alkahest Projectors whose whereabouts are still
known, and they all somehow manage to simultaneously
look identical to, and completely distinguishable
from, each other.  The basic form is that of a
crossbow, with a thick tube filling the slot where the
quarrel would normally go, and a vestigial bow (more
meant as a rough sight than as anything else.  Firing
was accomplished by grasping the stock and willing
activation; pulling the fake trigger actually disabled
the weapon until the proper mental command was given.

This was deemed necessary because the Alkahest
Projector was precisely that; a weapon that shot
"universal solvent."  The phrase is in quotes because
the Projector didn't actually create some sort of
mystical substance that could dissolve anything.  Such
a thing would be absurd.  What it actually creates and
shoots is chlorine trifluoride, which is a
perfectly-explicable colorless, poisonous liquid
capable of setting water on fire, let alone sand. 
This is apparently done by a variant of Creation's
Abracadabra attunement, which has been somehow imbued
into the Projector.  Successful attacks require a
successful Ranged Weapon (crossbow) roll.

Damage done by this artifact is... tricky.  Again
anything corporeal, don't bother to roll damage.  If
it hits, it's an instant kill, followed by spontaneous
combustion, and probably a hole in the ground. 
Against anything in a vessel, note the CD of the skill
roll, and reduce the level of the vessel by that much.
 Protection is irrelevant, as is anything up to (but
not quite including) the Corporeal Song of Shields. 
If this reduces the level of the vessel to 0, then the
vessel is destroyed.  Even if it doesn't, the vessel's
Charisma immediately goes down to -2, reflecting the
large gaping holes burned through the victim.  The
Corporeal Song of Healing will fix the cosmetic
aspects of this relic, but will not return lost
vessel-levels.  Lastly, while the artifact is designed
to create miraculously unstable chlorine trifluoride
molecules, there's just enough lag time to justify 6
dice of explosive damage, centered on the target (but
not including it - or, rather, it's already factored
in).

The Alkahest Projector is an excellent example of an
artifact that has pretty much had its day.  The only
reason that Eli even created the blessed things was
because he was fairly certain that his Servitors might
soon need to be able to inflict damage that even a
Renegade Shedite Prince would not be able to ignore...
and he turned out to be completely correct.  After the
Legion Incident ended, one went up in the wall in
Eli's Cathedral, one went into Lightning's Museum, a
third took its place in Laurence's Hall of Weapons,
and a few more stayed in utterly reliable hands; the
rest were promptly recycled.  It's easy to see why: by
modern standards Projectors are loud, Essence-hungry,
short-ranged, unsubtle, and generate clouds of
hydroflouric acid as a by-product.  No sane angel
would want one of those around.  No sane demon or even
Habbalite would, either; Vapula in fact does have one,
but it's just for looking at.  There are a lot easier
ways to kill things.

Still.  The first time Legion got hit with one of
these things, it blinked.  As in, "every vessel
blinked."  That's something worth respecting.

Power: Special Acc: 0 Range: 20 Shots: 1 per Essence
spent (capacity: 1)

Cost:
Variant of the Abracadabra Attunement		10pt
Activation Cost: 1 second, silent			+1pt
Use Restriction: Mental command			+0pt
Visibility: Automatically Detectable		-3pt
Final Cost:					8pt



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