I wasn’t quite feeling myself, so I’m not sure who suggested that we ask a goblin to help us out, but we talked with the leader of the goblin tribe.

He’s a stout fellow, smarter and taller than the rest. His grasp of Common is fairly good. Certainly beats my abilities at Goblin. His name is Lingaub and when Myntilly explained how she thought the mission would go, he was all in agreement.

He stripped to his underclothes (at least they had been fresh a few days before, so this was not as traumatic as it otherwise might have been!) He stood on the dock, waiting the next actions. It was like something from a dream. I remember seeing Myntilly circling the goblin, her lips moving as she cast spell after spell. And then Ian and Acgar joined in. And I heard my voice in the chant as if from a distance.

When the chanting stopped, Lingaub stood there in a swirl of magic. He was stronger, more dexterous, hardier, smarter and somehow, more likeable. He had better resistance to magic. Eagle’s splendor. Mage armor. Protection from evil. Bull’s strength. Message. Endure elements. Shield of faith. Bear’s endurance. Fearlessness. Cat’s grace. Water breathing. Stoneskin.

We gave him all the help we could. And then, he dove into the water.

It felt like hours passed and finally Myntilly got the message. “I am safe.” A smile broke over her face. “Now we can teleport.”

So it occurred to me that I could ask Tad to cast atonement on Indira. Druids can do that spell, too. I mentioned this to Sarah because I know that both she and her character Acgar (the paladin, I might add!) are a bit put out by the whole “lawlessness” thing. Speaking of that, I wonder if I can still get that warg puppy. I did take ranks in “handle animal”.

So Sarah’s reaction was lukewarm to this idea. She said, “Have you even read the spell?”
“Yes! Of course…. I skimmed it.”
“I think it’s going to take more than a spell. I don’t think your heart is in it.”
“No! Really. I want to atone. I feel really badly about the temple. Really.” My words felt lame even to me.

So here I sit with the Player’s Handbook, open to the spell section. I wonder if geas is the way to go?

I blinked to clear my vision and noticed the mace at his side. It was a large, ugly thing. Waves of evil shimmered from it like heat. “Throw it away! Destroy it!” I thought to myself.

I found a scrap of cloth in my kit and wrapped it around my hand. I didn’t want to touch the thing directly. Various came up as I was lifting the mace. “That is one powerful weapon. But I’m not sure you can wield it. I know you’ve been a bit out of alignment, so to speak, but really my dear, an evil weapon is not for you.” I grimaced at the weight of the mace. “I am not going to use it.” I walked toward the river and she followed. “I am going to keep it from doing any more harm.”

“A mace like that,” she said, “would fetch a lot of money.” I stopped and turned angrily. “Fine! Take it out of my part of the loot. Some things are more -” Various interrupted. “Do you have 20,000 gp? That’s probably what Skye would give us for it.” My shoulders drooped. “20,000?” Sadi overheard the talk of money. “That thing is worth 20,000 gp? Put it in the bag of holding. We’ll sell that bad boy!”
“It’s evil!” My hand gripped the handle tighter. I wanted to smash something in frustration. For a moment I thought about swinging the mace at Sadi’s head. “Holy god! Don’t you understand what this weapon has done? The evil it has wrought?” Sadi snorted. “I know what we could do with 20 thousand.” I started to move my arm up. The mace was very heavy compared to mine.

Various stepped forward, between me and Sadi. She looked hard at the weapon and then she searched my face. “Do you trust Skye? She would be a good steward. We can sell it to her, knowing that it’s days of killing are over.” She touched my arm and I felt like cool water had splashed over me. “Yes. I do trust Skye. Yes.” And I let Various put the mace in the bag.

Vortimax Weer

Abstract:

In this study, a new ignition method for catalyzing the reaction between powdered aluminum and ferric oxide was tested, lightning bolt. Lightning bolt proves to be successful in creating comparable values to other ignition methods of all three metrics: reaction temperatures, quantity of melted stone, and completion of reaction.

Introduction:

The reaction between powdered aluminum (Al) and ferric oxide (Fe₂O₃) is commonly known as a thermite reaction¹. This is a single replacement reaction, where aluminum is oxidized and iron is reduced. Great quantities of heat are evolved, resulting in molten elemental iron (Fe). It has been previously shown that surrounding materials can also become molten^2,3,4.

Researchers who first introduced this reaction, stated that a starter reaction between potassium chlorate (KClO₃) and sugar (C₆H₁₂O₆) was necessary to catalyze the thermite reaction¹. Various methods have been used to ignite the starter reaction including concentrated sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄)^1,2,5,7 alchemist fire², magnesium (Mg) ribbon^3,5, tindertwig⁵, tesla coil⁶, and a red-hot poker^3,6. These have all met with differing success. In this study a new method, ignition by lighting bolt is introduced.

Materials and Methods:

The standard method¹ for thermite and the starter reaction was prepared. This mixture was added to a clay pot, this being found as the best container to concentrate the generated heat in one area⁴. A standard caster level 11 lightning bolt spell was then sent at the mixture. During the reaction, calorimeter was used to assess heat change. After sufficient time, measurements of melted stone and reaction completion were also made.

Data and Results:

Tables of data and accompanying graphs can be found in the Appendix. The accompanying picture shows reaction with lightning bolt. In summary, this reaction was sufficient to show success in reaction completion and melting of nearby rock.

Discussion:

While other methods are also capable of ignition of the starter reaction and the thermite reaction, lightning bolt has great advantages. First, it is much safer. Unlike concentrated sulphuric acid, alchemist fire, or red-hot poker, there is no risk of the alchemist becoming burned by contact. Second, the material components (fur, and an amber, crystal, or glass rod) are less expensive and easier to obtain that sulphuric acid, magnesium ribbon, tesla coil, or red-hot poker. Last, it does not require any other accompanying materials unlike magnesium ribbon (flint and steel), tesla coil (electricity greater) and red-hot poker (bellows, fireplace, coal, coke). Further comparative studies are necessary to compare yield with other ignition methods.

References:

¹ Shakhashiri, Thermite: Molten Iron Created by Aluminum Exchange Reaction

² Gravelsmasher and Doomiron, Comparison of Alchemist Fire and Farmer Catalyst as Ignition Sources for Various Reactions

³ Miliari, Unarir, Indilmord, and Degwen, Thermodynamics of Various Metals

⁴ Bimpwocket, Cobbur, and Folmakin Can’t Contain the Fire! – Ceramicks, Plasticks, Beatnicks, Picnicks, and other Gimmacks as Heat Proof Containers

⁵ Shakhashiri and Hiodose, Further Study on the Thermite Reaction

⁶ Faraday, Whimshurst and Tesla, Applications of Electricity