TinkerToy Mage

1

.^^ the Magicannon/Rifle ^^

— Rune —

The spring surrounding the Focus was always the trickiest part of any Sending Weapon, or at least the ones that didn't involve black powder, which were almost all of my weapons.

It cracked at the last second, making me growl obscenities at it, and stomp away for a moment, kicking the iron walls of my workshop.

It groaned at me quietly, in the Language of Machines. "Try heating the coil, this time." The giant's advice had been invaluable in teaching me all I knew about technology, so I was inclined to do as he/it said.

The second time, with the coil heated by my hands to a pleasing warmth, nearly red-hot, I pressed it into the slot around the focusing crystal, twisting it carefully into place. It slid in, and then began cooling, the metal shrinking as the heat left it. Almost back to its normal size, it slipped perfectly into the Runes that had been carved under the focusing crystal in a spiral, and then tightened audibly, as they got smaller, but couldn't move anymore.

I grinned, as the spiral pulsed gently, the focusing crystal turning blue, and then set about placing the tiny, slim cylinder into the firing mechanism of my newest creation, a long-ranged magicannon.

"I need a new name for this other than Magicannon..." I muttered, and set the completed weapon on the wall, next to the seven other intrinsically different versions, each Enchanted with a different crystal inside, and a different design.

The one I'd just finished was quartz, which could gather any magic placed in it, and refract it at incredible speeds, and across long distances, due to the thousands of tiny platinum-backed mirrors that were blanketed throughout the barrel, and the Runes carved into every side of said barrel.

On the bottom, in the hidden side of the barrel, I'd carved my name, 'Rune', as well as a Rune that let me always allowed me to find my works. My Maker's Mark, just like all my work.

A scuffle outside had me grabbing my new rifle, and kicking open my door. "Godsdamned fucking Goblins! Stay away from my stuff!" I roared, taking aim.

A small humanoid elf was currently in the process of slamming goblins to the ground with bolts of fire, whilst their hands seemed to blaze with power. They didn't look like they needed help, but I took aim again, and fired once at the goblin behind them.

The new rifle shivered in my grasp, happy to be used, and I poured raw magic into the crystal, the only type I had. A millisecond later, a bolt of prismatic energy surged from the barrel, knocking me on my ass, and the goblin disintegrated where he stood.

When everyone stopped, I shook myself off, and leveled the rifle again. "Now SCAT!" I roared in goblin-tongue.

They panicked, yelling for retreat, melting into the forest, and I turned to the elf. "Now what the hell are you doing this far into The Deep, Elf? Lose a very expensive comb from your airship?" I asked dryly.

They frowned at me. "I thank you for the assist, and I do not appreciate the condescending tone! But... if you must know, I'm on a research mission! It's very important, of course." They drew themselves up proudly.

"Mm... not going well, is it?" I smiled.

They deflated. "Well! I am guarding the entrance!"

"Mm... you won't get anything from inside that there temple. I made charcoal scrapings of everything in there, then looted it, maybe ten years ago. You're Welcome to my notes, if it'll make you leave; I never did translate most of the Runes." I shrugged.