Gunpowder

There was smoke, though she saw no fires. There was screaming-- to be expected, when arrows struck and clubs smashed and spears hit their mark, the rhaema or their riders. There was loud noises above the screaming, bangs that echoed in her head as she raised her staff and swung towards an Eskaden woman. Beside the woman, an Eskaden man threw a metal ball with a wooden handle. Embanni ducked as it exploded mid-air, raining hot metal and fire down on an ogre. The woman took advantage of Embanni's distraction and rammed her side with a wooden club. The woman swung the club back again, aiming a second blow; staggering from the pain in her side, Embanni managed to ram her staff into the woman's face. The woman fell down, nose bloody, and Embanni struck her head several times, feeling the bone give beneath her weapon. Standing over her body, Embanni tried to catch her breath, wondering what had caused that explosion. Gunpowder, a voice said, and Embanni had no idea if the voice was in her head or someone on the battlefield. It didn't matter, really, as she watched more explosions rain metal and fire down. For the first time since her first battle, Embanni was terrified-- not just afraid, but thoroughly scared, tempted to run far away from the craziness that was her current life.

Utility

Gunpowder was discovered as an attempt at a cure. Currently, it is used as a weapon of war, though some experiments have found it, when mixed with other substances, to produce colored flames, leading to signals and pretty fires at royal parties.

Access & Availability

The formula for gunpowder is kept secret. Different formulas lead to different burning times and different types of explosions (some producing more gas, others producing more flame, etc. each investigator closely guards their secret, designing weapons for the Emperor (and later Empresses). This, of course, leads to them being brought on campaigns, as they are the only ones who can design the gunpowder for the weapons. The amount of gunpowder that can be produced is dependent on how much dragon dung that can be brought in; this, at times, limits things (hibernation does tend to produce much less, if any, dung.)

Complexity

Dragon dung (containing both potassium nitrate [saltpeter] and sulfur) and charcoal are needed. Charcoal is easy enough to get; dragon dung is harder, especially during the winter.

Discovery

Gunpowder was discovered by Eskaden doctors. These doctors were attempting to discover a cure for a disease; this disease was thought, at first, to be cured by burning dragon dung inside the house, perfuming the abode with the stench. When this did not work, doctors tried burning other substances, at first alone, then in combination. Eventually, charcoal and dragon dung were ground together, moistened with water from a spring that ran by an Ijei's altar, and then burnt. Unfortunately, this particular combination was tried at a room in the palace next to the bed of the then-emperor's ill cousin. The cousin did not survive the experience, but the explosive properties were discovered, leading to more experimentation down that line (though no longer in the palace.) The plague passed, eventually; the experimentation did not.