Firedust in the South West
Though less famous than the great deserts of the South, the South West is also rich in firedust deposits. They are most commonly found in and around volcanos, whether still active or extinct. The further South you go, the more you find - until there are volcanos whose slopes gleam red-orange in the morning sun.
However, South Western firedust is relatively low-grade compared to the dust from the far South. Water contaminates most deposits, and so the firedust does not form as the fine powder that is most desirable. Instead, it takes shape as large, reddish-orange hydrated crystals, usually embedded in igneous rocks.
Mining these sources is highly unsafe, because of the risk of sparks. The mines of An Lu get through hundreds of slaves a year from accidents, while the island nation of Tu avoids this through the fish-beastmen who work in flooded volcanic chambers, where there is no risk of sparks. Surfaces deposits are safer, because the slow, gentle heat of the sun evaporates most of the water - which causes the firedust to crumble and resemble the powder it is more commonly seen as - but these have been exhausted in many regions. Most of the untapped deposits lie in the Far South West, where barbarian tribes use crude firewands made from green bamboo to fight in the dense jungles and fend off tyrant lizards and other such beasts.
The problems do not end there. The water is trapped in the crystals, and even when ground down - which is also dangerous - the firedust burns slower and more unreliably. However, the trapped water flash-boils when the firedust does ignite, which produces sometimes violent steam explosions along with the usual flame. It is an arduous process for an alchemist who wishes to refine it down, as they must slowly evaporate the water from the crystals without ever letting them get hot enough that the fire within escapes. They must be kept dry as well during this process - often an issue in the hot and humid South West.
All this means that most of the firedust produced is used locally. Gem alone exports more firedust to the rest of Creation than the entire South West combined. However, as the prodigious mines of Gem empty the most exploitable sources, the South West's exports have been growing. Princess Vanefa of the Realm has expressed an interest in the untapped reserves here, and has dispatched trained negotiators from the Realm's Merchant Navy to entire that the Scarlet Dynasty's supply of firedust can be maintained, even if through misfortune supply routes from the classic suppliers should be cut.
Firedust Weapons
The water in most South Western firedust gives it a few peculiar properties not seen in dry firedust. When damp firedust burns, it burns cooler and more slowly, but produces large amounts of steam as well as flame. This expands greatly, giving it much more 'kick' and adding scalding steam to the fumes it produces.
Firerams
The fireram is one of the most feared naval weapons of the South West, capable of sinking even the heaviest wooden ships. A large quantity of firedust is packed into a thick-walled, heavy bronze tube the width of a man's head or greater, which is stoppered with wax to avoid a casual spark from igniting the weapon. The weight of the fireram, combined with the terrible force of the fire and steam, means that most vessels with one will mount it at the bow. When mounted astern, the vessel is at risk of capsizing. The use of South Western firedust means the plume is as much steam as it is fire, and the force of the expanding water means the entire ship shudders when one is used.
When it must be fired, a hollow bamboo rod packed with firedust is rammed through the wax, usually by a young boy - a so-called fireboy - who lights the end then dashes for cover. The fire passes down the tube, and ignites the mass of firedust in the fireram. With luck, the bronze withstands the heat and a long column of fire and steam comes belching out of the fireram, consuming everything within its path. It is for that reason that the mouths of firerams are usually shaped like a dragon. A solid hit from such a weapon can leave a three-masted junk a burning husk, filled with the screams of steam-scalded men.
After firing, a fireram is usually red hot. Only an idiot would attempt to reload a fireram with volatile firedust until it has cooled down completely. Many captains douse their firerams in salt water, which cools them down and potentially allows them to be fired a second time in the same battle, but the salt damages the bronze and the cold water may even crack the tube because of thermal shock. Should a crack appear and the weapon be fired, the firearm will detonate and likely doom the ship as red-hot bronze scythes through the superstructure.
When two ships with firerams go up against each other, their duel is the stuff of poetry. Both fight to get into a position where they have their ram trained on their opponent while their foe's fireram is pointed away. Should they wind up on a head-on approach, it is likely both will die, because should one fire their ram, the heat will cook off the forewards firerarm of their foe which will fire in turn, producing a most pyrrhic victory.
Flamerain
Kin to the fireworks seen in celebrations throughout Creation, flamerain is a common naval weapon used as one might use a fire arrow. A single flamerain is a long arrow, with a metal-tipped head which contains a wax-stoppered cylinder of damp firedust with a protruding cord. When the firedust is ignited, the steam propels the flamerain up until the firedust burns out. When this happens, the flamerain falls - the arrow shaft now burning fiercely - with the sharp heavy metal head pointing downwards.
In battle, flamerain is used to sweep the decks of hostile ships and ignite their sails. It is inaccurate and requires the occultist making use of it to have a good knowledge of both the weather and mathematics. As such skills are rarer than they should be, most captains instead launch flamerain in large numbers, in the hope that something in the salvo will hit.
Certain outcaste Dragonblooded in the South West have gained infamy for their use of flamerain in powerbows. With the prodigious heft of an artefact bow, such arrows hit their target before the propulsion burns out, and spray burning firedust over the area.
Dragon javelins
Dragon javelins are the ancestor of flamerain, and still see extensive use among pirates and the firedust-wielding islanders of many archipelagos. Instead of using the damp firedust for propulsion, the weapon is instead a javelin with a pouch of firedust tied to the head and a slow-burning cord coiled around it. The thrower lights the cord, and then tosses the javelin, hopefully quite quickly. These weapons are meant to lodge in the side of ships, though few people complain if they instead hit a man with it.
However, dragon javelins see another use, and that is against the Dead. When the Dead rise, fire is one of the most commonly used ways of slaying them. A dragon javelin that hits a shambling walker will burn the corpse beyond the capability of a possessing spirit to keep it animated. As a result, this pirate's weapon sees surprising use by exorcists. Indeed, there are even variants of the weapon where the dust is kept in censor-like ball at the end of a staff, and the whole weapon is used more like a flail.
Garda Crows
The sea crows of the South West are intelligent birds, capable of understanding verbal orders if hand-reared from an egg, and are fiercely loyal to the one who raised them. In the wild they live in tightly knit family groups. It is said that the idea for the first garda crow came about when the the Third Shogun of the Blue Monkey Shogunate had a garda bird show him a sea crow drop a rock on a colony of gulls, stunning one so it could not fly away. Less romantic historians, however, point out that many cultures across the South West use trained sea-birds for hunting.
Regardless of the myth, however, garda crow are a weapon of war used by many naval powers across the South West. Quite apart from the fact that they can be trained to catch fish and return them to the vessel - always a blessing for hungry sailors - their offensive use is to drop firebombs made of canisters of firedust with a slow-burning fuse on hostile ships. With a suitably long fuse, a garda crow can engage an enemy vessel long before other ship-borne weapons can fire accurately. Particularly well-trained garda crow can even learn to place the firebomb where it will do most damage, such as hiding it in the crow's nest or swooping in through a window to drop it inside. Of course, the crow-master must ensure that the fuse is set properly for the distance of the engagement - too long and it will be found by the crew of the enemy ship, too short and the bird will die when the firedust ignites.
Of course, vessels with their own trained hawks often keep them defending it from garda crows rather than going on the offensive. Most garda crows will drop their canister of firedust if threatened by a hawk, which will safely fall in the water. Such guardian hawks are also used to fend off demon-riding aerial attackers. An agata does not appreciate hawks attacking its wings, or going for its jewel-like eyes.
Despite their usefulness, many sailors are wary of garda crows. Sea crows bully albatrosses, and are said to bring bad luck to a ship. There are even whispers that sea crows that feast on the bodies of drowned sailors consume their souls, and pass them down to their children - which is how the birds are so clever. It is certainly true that sea crows can sense wards against the Dead and instinctively avoid them. For that reason, many fleets choose to keep their crows on a single vessel, to 'focus the bad luck' on that ship. It is customary for sailors on a black-sailed crowship to receive a double ration of alcohol, for the hardship of enduring their presence.
Nathma
An exceptionally volatile blend of tree resin, tar, firedust and certain alchemical reagents beloved of Venus, nathma is named for the hellish Anathema. It clings to the skin of men, and someone running screaming covered in fire is said to remind onlookers of presence of one of those demon-claimed souls. The firedust in it means that it is not even extinguished by water, but must be smothered by earth. It must be scraped off wood, and a ship that gets coated in it is often abandoned by its crew if they cannot extinguish all flames onboard.
In battle, nathma is usually catapulted towards the enemy. Even if it misses, it can still be of effect, because it floats on the water and so can form incindinary slicks. The lintha are said to have trained demonic creatures to swim towards the ships of their enemies and attach barrels of nathma to them below the waterline, where they can still be ignited.
The Imperial Navy has declared that any pirates caught using nathma will be coated in it, and burned to death. This does not dissuade its use, because anyone desperate or callous enough to make use of it despite the risk it poses to their own vessel will not be dissuaded by threats from the Realm. For their part, the Imperial Navy makes use of it, most notably aboard its Shogunate-era flagships which do not fear flame in the same way as a Second Age vessel.
Certain demon-worshiping cults have made use of an even more wicked variant, which uses algarel in place of firedust in the recipe and adds vile Malfean compounds into the brew. Such fire burns green, and releases potent toxic fumes and acids - and is consequently even more dangerous to handle, because even before it is ignited a splash on the skin leaves the victim in agonising pain.
Other Uses for Firedust
Fireworks
The relatively low cost of low-grade firedust in the South West means that fireworks see notable use in religious ceremonies. Fireworks scare away ghosts and can even harm them, while many breeds of demon are distracted by fireworks and prefer to watch them rather than carry out malicious deeds. As a result, across the South West there are often large firework displays on calibration, as priests attempt to scare away ghosts and distract the demons that creep into the world when the gods are distracted.
Fireink tattoos
So-called fireink tattoos do not, despite the name, involve any ink. Instead, sailors and tribesmen alike make a number of cuts across the skin, rubbing firedust into the skin. This is exceptionally painful, and is used as a test of manhood in many cultures. The scars this forms are a livid fiery red-orange. A particularly skilled tattoo artist can produce elaborate firelike wavy patterns from this, which some swear move under the skin and can save a man's life in cold water.
Pyresnuff
Pyresnuff is used by the Zu Tak, ancestor-cultist pirates from the Wailing Fen. It is made from a mix of firedust cut with grave ash and herbs, dissolved in alcohol and then dried out to form pale orange powder. Pyresnuff is snorted, and gives a man a manic energy that lasts for at least a day. He does not sleep in this time, does not hunger, and he runs a fever. The Zu Tak say that this makes a man burn through his life, and so he does not fear death - or indeed anything else. Once he comes down from the high, he falls into a deep depression that can last for a week. Only more pyresnuff can bring him out of this depression. It is highly addictive, and control over it and its manufactures is one of the way that the matriarch-witches of the Zu Tak control their husbands and sons. It is also the reason that few men among the Zu Tak see their fiftieth birthdays, for the human body is not meant to burn days worth of its fire at once.
Pyresnuff is a potent teratogen. Should a pregnant woman take it, she will likely miscarry. If the child survives, they will be eyeless and mute, with patches of ashen grey skin that feel no pain.
