Hand Cannon
The hand cannon is a ranged weapon where the devastating destructive power of a normal cannon is condensed into a small enough format to carry and fire with only one hand.
Construction & Materials
In its most basic form, a hand cannon is just a barrel small enough to hold in one hand, where a bullet is fired by igniting gunpowder. The oldest models were exactly this - a plain metal barrel where the gunpowder was lit by setting fire to a wick, though it didn't take long until a handle was added to the barrel to prevent some of the burning risk.
The wick was later replaced by a complex mechanism which made sparks to ignite the gunpowder to prevent having to handle open fire around the extremely combustible powder. However, these early mechanisms were prone to get jammed due to its complexity, which didn't make them safer after all. A more safe flint and tinder based mechanism was made, making the hand cannon a safer weapon to use. Yet, most of them were still not safe to use, as the first versions of the new mechanism still needed some work to not jam.
When the gunmakers finally figured out how to make the mechanism safer, the general populace was already distrustful of the hand cannons and would rather not risk their health by being too close to one.
Handle
The handle is usually made of wood, but some more expensive versions are made completely out of metal. Though the metal hand cannons are solid and usually crafted like a piece of art, it's harder to switch out broken mechanisms and they weigh a good deal more. Most shooters go for the version with a wooden handle.
Not to say the ones with a wooden handle are never stunningly beautiful. The wooden parts can be decorated with designs cut into the handle, and some producers take great pride in making these deadly weapons into amazing pieces of art.
A Risky Weapon
Using a hand cannon is not for the faint of heart. The technology is relatively new and still comes with a decent risk of something going wrong. A bullet may jam itself in the barrel, which can make the pressure inside too high, making the whole thing explode. Due to the relatively thin metal walls of the body, which is the reason why the hand cannon can be fired with one hand in the first place, these explosions will not only burn the unfortunate user's hands, torso and face, it might also release a storm of metal shrapnel that might do additional damage to the shooter.
This, of course, makes most people highly skeptical about using the weapon in the first place. It's seen as a sign of stupidity to wield one for anything else than as a decorative accessory.
With the new models, carefully developed by the Stormfeather Lodge, the risk is highly reduced. As long as the hand cannon is properly maintained and the bullets are of high quality, the risk for an explosion is so small it's more likely a skilled fencer will accidentally stab themself in the foot. However, most people still see hand cannons as lethal explosive accidents just waiting to happen, and no matter how much the Stormfeathers try to sell their new models to other people the sales haven't exactly taken off yet.
Mirral & Gheer
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