Black Powder

Black Powder is an important piece of technology that exists with some abundance in Siliren. While still expensive due to the limited amount of sulfur – an ingredient in the Black Powder mixture – and the dangerous nature of the powder and the ability to safely transport it, the material is still used widely for many different reasons.

In Winhem, Black Powder was invented by a Human named Toivo Salminen in the year 32 AC after the discovery of a small thermal vent in the southern Great Plains. While the vent itself is tiny and not of much use or interest, the area was found to be extremely rich in sulfur. The vents location was close to the southern tip of the White Wood Forest and so Charcoal, another ingredient in the mixture, was easily obtained – making this location the home of Black Powder manufacturing. While Black Powder can be made outside of this location as long as all the materials are present, the sulfur in Winhem comes exclusively from this mine in the Southern Great Plains. Because of this exclusivity, Black Powder creation in Winhem is under direct control of the Lysium government and Human race. While, currently, trade of Black Powder and Sulfur is open to the Hellbends, this can change at Lysium’s will.

At this discovery, Salminen founded a small village that has grown as the production and demand of Black Powder in Winhem has risen. The village is named Goldensands – a play on the color and texture of the Sulfur found there – and nearly every resident is in some way related to the mining of Sulfur or production of Black Powder.

Salminen himself had been looking for Sulfur for many years after the Change Days, knowing the element could be useful in the supposed coming fight with the Anorians. Taivo, before the Change Days, had come from a family adept in explosives of many kinds. So the recipe for Black Powder was known to him prior to the Change Days and can be considered a Relic  Technology. 

Black Powder is made of Sulfur, Saltpeter and Charcoal. It is important to note that Black Powder is not the same as Gunpowder. Gunpowder, while being made from the same ingredients, is finer, purer and smokeless and has a higher reaction speed when ignited. Gunpowder, as we know it in real life, has not yet been invented in Siliren. Because of this important distinction some technologies are limited.

Charcoal is the second ingredient needed for Black Powder and is most easily accumulated by simply burning organic material – most trees and other woody materials – to create the substance. In Goldensands, Charcoal is made mostly from burning wood from the White Wood Forest, but Charcoal itself is abundant throughout Winhem and easily acquired.

The final ingredient in Black Powder is Saltpeter which can be extracted from many different substances. Most commonly it is made from organic substances such as animal urine. While Saltpeter can be made almost anywhere – despite the long and arduous refining process – the village of Goldensands has created a complicated production system of the mineral and even imports urine, organic matter, straw and manure to aid in the massive amounts needed for production.

Once Black Powder is created it is shipped throughout Winhem to serve a variety of purposes. The most common uses are for cannons and cannonballs aboard ships to fend off pirates – or to supply pirates – for offshore battles. Another use is in explosives often used in mining operations in underground mines and especially in quarries. Another use is for fireworks, but these celebratory displays are often expensive. Other uses of Black Powder may exist and it is suggested that if the use is not listed here, to ask a Spirit Moderator if the technology has been invented yet. Many uses of Black Powder have not been invented and will need to be through IC storylines.