Silex Model 7

Guns on Vreathe do not have widespread use on the battlefield. They are devastating weapons, sure, but the slow rate of fire and the discipline required for reloading makes lines of musketeers useless against a platoon of combat mages and the loud noise makes concentration difficult for mages on the musketeers' side. Guns are used in much smaller numbers by quick moving cavalry or by designated sharpshooters. The most popular rifle used in Cassel's army for several centuries were the Silex models of rifle produced by the Central Wrethas Armory, which gradually improved on the design as time went on.

The last model was the Silex Model 7. It is a flintlock rifled carbine and was one of the last muzzle-loaded muskets used in any army on Vreathe. The weapon was in production for 55 years and was primarily used to equip Cassel's cavalry units and sharpshooters. The weapon is still a popular model for hunters even long after production stopped.

The Central Wrethas Armory improved on their previous Silex Model by making the barrel out of Iron-Nickel and adding a piece of Aethercite in a process known as Gem Forging. Uvarovite, a variety of garnet crystal, has a strange property when charged with magic, reducing friction to nearly zero. Since the properties of the crystal are transferred to the metal during the gem forging process, the steel barrel had the same property.

Combined with advances in rifling technology at the time, the result was a hardened barrel that was accurate to roughly 400 meters and was resistant to fouling, even after dozens of shots. Most of what would foul the barrel is pushed out on the next shot. This didn't completely negate that issue though. Friction was reduced but little pieces of lead and powder will still stick to the metal. Other than regular cleaning of the weapon, nothing will fully solve the issue.

Most of the rest of the weapon is based on the venerable Silex Model 6 carbine, which was in production for nearly a hundred years by this point. The stock is made of oak or cherrywood. Most of the non-load bearing fittings are made of brass. Most of these weapons have engravings on the metal with gold leafing. The weapon can also be completely disassembled and the barrel removed to make cleaning easier.

Cassel's armies made use of the weapon for the next fifty years until the year 2955. The Silex Model 7 was replaced by the Izicara Model 1, also produced by the Central Wrethas Armory. This newer carbine has the same gem steel technology and it also made use of percussion caps instead of a piece of flint, making firing more reliable. Production of the Silex Model 7 stopped in the year 2959. While it was sometimes used as a hunting rifle for years after this, flintlock weapons across Vreathe are widely considered to be obsolete technology in the current year of 2992.