Velok the Younger
When I Was A Young Warthog
Image Source: Canon DL-44
Intent: Mortality reeducation; specifically, the correction of certain misconceptions relative to death.
Development Thread:
Leviathan acquisition - http://starwarsrp.net/topic/20761-they-speak-in-blood-listen-rave/
Leviathan acquisition - http://starwarsrp.net/topic/22966-and-with-strange-aeons-rave/
Sword development research - http://starwarsrp.net/topic/25684-weapons-of-ancient-power/
Acquisition of Moridin's journal - http://starwarsrp.net/topic/25105-ssb-auction-akure-executive-leather-works-tenloss-corp-and-ordo/?p=341860
Acquisition of soul anchors and experimentation - http://starwarsrp.net/topic/27039-requiescat-in-pace-cavill/
Force-imbued blade expertise acquired - http://starwarsrp.net/topic/23792-poetics-of-the-forge-rave-merrill-completed/ - http://starwarsrp.net/topic/24356-to-tame-warriors/ - http://starwarsrp.net/topic/29724-overstock-auction/page-3
Manufacturer: BlasTech Industries, modified by Akure Executive Leatherworks/Mohc Extractives
Model: DL-44 (alchemically modified)
Affiliation: Independent
Modularity: No
Production: Semi-Unique (1 + 1 backup)
Material: Standard blaster components and materials, heavily alchemized and Force-imbued using, among other things, leviathan blister trap crystal
Description:
After the successful creation of Daesumnor, sword of Darth Kryptus, Rave turned her attention to a different iteration of soul containment. Much of the following description is adapted from Daesumnor's approved tech submission - http://starwarsrp.net/topic/30911-daesumnor-sword-of-darth-kryptus/
When Rave Merrill's top student made his axe with a combination of alchemy and Force imbuement, he was working from Merrill's teachings and experiments, which ultimately took longer but produced a more profound result. Her experiments drew from both traditions, as well as Nightsister crafting, to produce a weapon of special purpose. The weapon's construction combines all three methodologies. The gemstone integration aspect of Force imbuement is satisfied with the integration of alchemized Leviathan blister trap crystal. As an item of alchemical masterwork, the blaster is effectively indestructible; however, it can intercept but not reflect blasterfire, as the angles of a blaster's construction render that much less safe than those of a sword.
-Function
The blaster traps the souls of those it kills. A simple wound will not suffice, though anyone who dies within thirty seconds of being wounded by the blaster will also be trapped. The blaster's purpose is secure containment for beings such as Velok, who are capable of taking new bodies after death. Its user cannot draw power or knowledge from the souls of the trapped by any Force-based means. Trapped souls experience darkness and noise (generally from the mental voices of the other prisoners). The combined strength of the trapped is insufficient to break the prison, regardless of Force power or powers, and regardless of how many souls are trapped. A Master intimately familiar with the blaster might be able to release a special soul from the trap or communicate with it. As a rule, however, there is no communication with those trapped. Reminder: Apart from staff ruling, no character can be killed without their writer's consent. Consent is generally given if one's character could not reasonably survive.
-Theoretical foundations - 1
It has long been known to most Sith Lords that the most reliable way of attaining a form of immortality is to bind one's soul to an object or a location. Andeddu, Karness Muur, Exar Kun and others chose that route, as it offered greater security than the weaknesses, rarity, and unpredictability of Transfer Essence. Uncounted dozens, hundreds, or thousands of Darksiders have wittingly or unwittingly anchored themselves, or an echo of themselves, to a location or an item, such as at the Valley of the Dark Lords or the Valley of the Jedi. The art of binding another's soul to an object was already within Rave's grasp when she acquired the diary of Moridin and access to two legendary soul anchors, in order to further her studies. She then improved her skills by creating Daesumnor and its backup.
-Theoretical foundations - 2
The aura of a Force-imbued blade or piece of armor has long been known to destabilize the link between a spirit and its unnatural anchor. This weapon's construction accentuates that aspect of Force imbuement, permitting a shot from the blaster to destabilize any such potential links, whether to an item, a location, or even a new body. This prevents any other method of transcending death from superseding the imperative of the blaster. It should be noted that the Force-imbued aspects of the weapon, which are critical to its soul disruption function, are contained within an alchemized casing. The blaster does not glow. Its Force-imbuement aura is contained within the blaster assembly, rendering its bolts slightly brighter than normal and preventing them from being handwaved away by various Force-related means. For example, a tutaminis user may find that the bolts prove resistant to absorption, accruing delays which could allow multiple bolts to take out even a Force-user experienced in energy manipulation. Lightsabres, of course, still deflect the bolts.
-Theoretical foundations - 3
The Leviathan of Corbos, with which Rave has more experience than any alchemist in thousands of years, has the ability to trap and feed upon the souls of those it consumes. The souls are trapped inside crystalline blister traps, likely related to the golden globe within which Exar Kun trapped the souls of the children of the Massassi. Over the course of alchemizing Leviathans into Akure Leviathans and Leviathan-hide Sith artifacts, Rave has acquired hundreds upon hundreds of pounds of crystalline blister trap. Much as her wearable creations amplify and preserve certain aspects of the source creature, such as terentatek hide, she has used Leviathan blister trap crystal for the Force imbuement's procedural requirements while amplifying the crystal's soul trap significance. Force imbuement permeates the blaster with the crystal, keeping the crystal from breaking like a Leviathan blister trap or the golden globe of Yavin. In short, to break the trap, one must break the blaster. The blaster, being alchemical masterwork, is effectively indestructible, apart from days of effort by a master alchemist or a Force Light specialist, or a personal interview with a singularity. The blaster power packs are standard; while the Force-imbuement prevents the blaster's inner workings from being messed with, including the packs, those packs are vulnerable to counterfire, lightning, lightsabres, etc., and without a power pack the blaster cannot fire to trap souls.
With Daesumnor's creation, as well as the creation of this blaster, Rave has crafted a mental key of sorts which allows her, and only her, to escape if trapped by one of these weapons. This sort of conditional escape has precedent in the conditional escape mechanism of Exar Kun's golden globe.
The stun setting does not trap souls.
Classification: Blaster
Size: Handheld
Status: By all accounts it is a standard heavy blaster pistol, with all the legality or illegality that implies based on regional standards. If governments were capable of understanding what it actually does, it would either be banned in a heartbeat or replicated en masse.
Length: Identical to a DL-44 - around 30cm
Weight: Slightly heavier than a DL-44 - 1.6kg
Ammunition Type: Identical to a DL-44 - blaster gas/power pack
Ammunition Capacity: Identical to a DL-44 - 50 shots
Effective Range: Identical to a DL-44 - 50m optimum, 75m maximum
Other Features: Fully lightsabre-resistant, traps souls
