Gunpowder Weapons

With thunderous boom and plumes of smoke, a battlefield is turned into an ochestra of raining lead and fury. Gunpowder weaponry is seen as new and innovative, but has its own share of problems and trials coming with this discovery. However, it has since widely been adopted across the world for its general utility in both domestic and combat applications.

Discovery

THe discovery of blackpowder weaponry is hard to accurately pin down to an excat date or people. Some old tomes and ruins tell of weapons as far back as when Shezarkai still existed in the mortal realm of "staves of thunder" that produced loud bangs in battle. Some tales of "great light weapons" seem to be a common recurring weapon in old Ishtari ruins. Regardless, if one wants to find the first well documented discovery of blackpowder, one needs to look no further than a dwarven alchemist by the name of Ralger Runecoat.
Ralger is said to have traveled around the world and saild to Catai in around the year 1700EC. He made a habbit of talking with local wisemen and other people of the learned arts whereever he went. While discussing alchemical concotions with a Cataian Alchemist by the name of Jin Lan when apparently Ralger knocked over some jars full of various powders. While an argument ensued between the two, Ralger angrily threw his still smoking pipe down near the pile, and both were rather startled when a sudden explosion occured upon embers contacting the pile. As the fire was put under control, Ralger and Jin began running tests for what even happened. Soon they dsicovered that upon mixing certain materials, they created a fine black powder that would spark and explode upon contact with fire or sparks. The first application made with this was a small pack of what would become the first fireworks. It is said that on the night of a particular emperors birthday, Ralger and Jin launched them from the palace as a gift, and the beautiful colors of the fireworks excited the emperor so much that to this day it is a holiday in Catai known as "The Night of Blooming Colors". While Ralger would soon depart and head back home, he and Jin remained on decent terms and tried to contact each other perodically.
While Catai for the most part continued using blackpowder in fireworks, the first combat application of blackpowder came from the Dwarves once again. Ralger upon returning to his home hold, told of his discovery to the lords of the holds, and while once again they first tested fireowrks, soon they got the idea of using it to propel rocks through a tube. This would in turn eventualy culminate in the dwarves being the first to use blackpowder in any combat related context. Only some 600 years later would gunpowder weaponry begin to be seen in the hands of other mortlas. The first to start were Catai, Kanto, and Tajir, but it quickly began to spread further and further. These days, while dwarves still remain the unrivaled masters of gunpowder technology, they have been seen more and more in the hands of other nations, albeit in varrying quantities and qualitys.

Utility

To this day, Matchlock is the prime standard of gunpowder technology. Matchlock is a method of having a burning cord attatched to a gun, and using a match or some form of small magical fire that keeps it always slightly burnt. When pulling the trigger, the match strikes a pan of powder, which in turn ignites powder in the barrel, that sends a projectile flying out. Rangers and loads can vary based on the type of weapon fired. While rifles and pistols are the most common form of weapon, the most recent innovation is the use of multibarrel firearms. These allow for one to get more shots in before having to go through the lengthy reload these weapons are notorious for. However, these repeater weapons are exceptionally rare and costly, not to mention expensive.

Access & Availability

While in demand, the complexity of production and general nature of gunpowder weapons being not as reliable as arrows has led to gunpowder weapons' not being as widely adopted as the crossbows and bows of the world. However, it has been getting popular slowly, and though we are far away from entire armies being outfitted with it, more nations have had units outfitted with them as specalist ranged artillery. Cannons however have been popular for a while, though typically only on ships before eventually made smaller to use on the battlefield.