The next day, Nirra arrived back at the guild. In front of her were 10 bottles that contained an orange-red substance that glowed a little.
"Here's the debris ooze that you requested; the adventures really did a good job of collecting it." The guild maid said. "Do you require a small basket for it?" She continued and asked.
"Oh, no thank you, I've already brought one just in case," Nirra replied, as she took out the basket and placed it on the counter for the guild maid. The guild maid then placed all 10 bottles inside the basket and gave it to Nirra.
"Thank you for using our services! Please come back again if you have another request!" The guild maid said while bowing.
Nirra nodded and proceeded to leave the guild. She rushed home in excitement at the possibility of synthesizing gunpowder from the ooze.
Arriving home, she took off her cloak as well as her shoes. She then walked quickly to the forge, where the shop is still closed.
"Guess dad is still out there getting metals for the forge," Nirra said to herself.
She then proceeded to sit on the chair beside the crafting table and took out one of the bottles from the basket. Opening it up revealed that the liquid inside did not have any aroma and was more like a gel than a slimy substance.
Nirra was thinking when she remembered that gunpowder is composed of three main ingredients: the fuel, the stabilizer, and the oxidizer. Nirra needed to know which of the three main components the gel inside the bottle was for, so she used a metal stick and stuck it inside the bottle. When she pulled out a small amount of the gel, it was on the end of the stick.
She thought that in order to find out, she would light it with fire. If the fire burns brighter, it's an oxidizer. If it gets bigger, it's a stabilizer, and if it catches the gel on fire, it's the fuel. So, using the furnace, light a small wooden stick on fire. She placed the gel near it to see its reaction. To her dismay, though, it did nothing.
Nirra was not willing to give up, though. She thought for a second that maybe she could get the gel to crystallize by heating it up inside a crucible using the smaller furnace that they have. Nirra followed through and turned on the furnace. Then she poured a bottle of the gel into the crucible and placed it inside the furnace.
While it was heating up, Nirra did nothing but see if the gel would react to the extreme temperatures inside the furnace. Her hopes were slightly dashed, though, as the gel remained in its semi-liquid form. Did she need to do the exact opposite and use extreme cold so that it would crystallize? That's how most crystals are formed.
Nirra thought, maybe it needed to slowly increase the temperature, so she did exactly that. She turned off the furnace and let it cool. After it did, she turned on the furnace again and placed only a couple of pieces of charcoal inside it to slowly heat up the crucible again.
She sighed in relief as she spotted the gel forming little granules, a brilliant reminder that the gel was crystallizing. This was interesting for Nirra because compounds only crystallize at slowly cooling temperatures, not the opposite. Nevertheless, after all the gel crystallized, she pulled the crucible out of the furnace and let it cool. Once cool, she tried to do the experiment she did earlier and placed it near an open flame.
She noticed that the fire burned brighter, which meant that what she had just made was an oxidizer for the gunpowder she was making. She smiled in satisfaction at her little achievement. Later on, she focused back on the synthesis of the powder. Now that the crystallized gel can be used as an oxidizer, she needed the fuel and stabilizer for it. In her old world, the fuel and stabilizer roles are provided by charcoal, which she has on hand, and sulfur.
Nirra thought for a bit where could she get some sulfur. Then she remembered that in the medieval period, sulfur could be found in fertilizer. The best part is that she just happened to see a shop in the market area that sells fertilizer. She got up from her seat and went to grab her cloak.
"Mom! I'm going to the market to buy some things." Nirra yelled while putting on her shoes.
"Okay Nirra! Just get home before dinner; we're having fish," Mirabel replied with a yell from the kitchen.
Nirra nodded and stepped out of the house, putting on the hood of her cloak. It didn't take long for her to arrive at the market area and find the shop that she remembered that fertilizer could be bought from. When she entered the shop, an old man greeted her.
"Hello, young lass, what do you need from me shop?" He said while he wore that friendly smile the guild maid had.
"Can I get some fertilizer?" Nirra asked, to which the old man nodded.
"How much would ya need?" The old man replied, dropping down from the counter and placing two bags, one small and one large, on the counter.
"I'll take the small one, please," Nirra said as the old man handed her the small bag.
"That'll be 21 copper coins, lassie." He said. Nirra nodded and gave him a silver coin.
Once she got her change, the old man thanked her and waved her goodbye from the shop.
"What a nice young lady," the old man said as he waited for more customers for the day.
Nirra hurried back to her house, and once home, she took off her cloak as well as her shoes and ran to the forge. Inside, she opened the bag of fertilizer.
The fertilizer was clumped a bit, so she used a sieve to get rid of the clumps. She then thought of ways to separate the sulfur from the fertilizer mixture. She then remembered a way she could do exactly that.
She picked up a steel box container and poured in all the fertilizer. Then, she poured water on the fertilizer and mixed it around with a steel rod to dissolve the fertilizer in the water. She then used the sieve she had earlier used to filter out the clumps and other debris that came with the fertilizer and put it into another container. Then she used oil to separate the impurities, which are other compounds, from the water that contained the dissolved sulfur. She then poured out the water that contained the dissolved sulfur into another container. Next, she heated that metal piece using the furnace, and what is left is the sulfur residue. She then chipped the residue from the steel container and put it into a mortar and pestle where she could turn it into fine dust.
What is left is what Nirra estimated is 200 grams of sulfur. Now that she has all 3 parts that are needed for the gunpowder, she mixed 10 grams of sulfur inside an iron plate, 15 grams of pulverized charcoal, and 75 grams of pulverized crystalline gel from the doomslime. She then mixed them together, and what she is left with is a dimly glowing dark-red powder. Hoping that everything she did was correct. She took a small sample from the mixture and placed it on the anvil. She then grabbed a shield that her father had forged earlier in the week and hid behind it while slowly lowering a stick that had one end on fire.
When the flame made contact with the compound, the fire immediately spread to the mixture and burned really bright for a brief second before dimming back down to normal brightness. This is what Nirra wanted; she pumped her fist in joy, completely ecstatic that she made gunpowder. She then took a look at the drawer where the firearm was sat inside waiting to receive its payload of gunpowder and steel balls.
"Almost there, just the projectile to go as well as the wooden handle and I'm finished." She said to herself.
The next day, Nirra arrived back at the guild. In front of her were 10 bottles that contained an orange-red substance that glowed a little.
"Here's the debris ooze that you requested; the adventures really did a good job of collecting it." The guild maid said. "Do you require a small basket for it?" She continued and asked.
"Oh, no thank you, I've already brought one just in case," Nirra replied, as she took out the basket and placed it on the counter for the guild maid. The guild maid then placed all 10 bottles inside the basket and gave it to Nirra.
"Thank you for using our services! Please come back again if you have another request!" The guild maid said while bowing.
Nirra nodded and proceeded to leave the guild. She rushed home in excitement at the possibility of synthesizing gunpowder from the ooze.
Arriving home, she took off her cloak as well as her shoes. She then walked quickly to the forge, where the shop is still closed.
"Guess dad is still out there getting metals for the forge," Nirra said to herself.
She then proceeded to sit on the chair beside the crafting table and took out one of the bottles from the basket. Opening it up revealed that the liquid inside did not have any aroma and was more like a gel than a slimy substance.
Nirra was thinking when she remembered that gunpowder is composed of three main ingredients: the fuel, the stabilizer, and the oxidizer. Nirra needed to know which of the three main components the gel inside the bottle was for, so she used a metal stick and stuck it inside the bottle. When she pulled out a small amount of the gel, it was on the end of the stick.
She thought that in order to find out, she would light it with fire. If the fire burns brighter, it's an oxidizer. If it gets bigger, it's a stabilizer, and if it catches the gel on fire, it's the fuel. So, using the furnace, light a small wooden stick on fire. She placed the gel near it to see its reaction. To her dismay, though, it did nothing.
Nirra was not willing to give up, though. She thought for a second that maybe she could get the gel to crystallize by heating it up inside a crucible using the smaller furnace that they have. Nirra followed through and turned on the furnace. Then she poured a bottle of the gel into the crucible and placed it inside the furnace.
While it was heating up, Nirra did nothing but see if the gel would react to the extreme temperatures inside the furnace. Her hopes were slightly dashed, though, as the gel remained in its semi-liquid form. Did she need to do the exact opposite and use extreme cold so that it would crystallize? That's how most crystals are formed.
Nirra thought, maybe it needed to slowly increase the temperature, so she did exactly that. She turned off the furnace and let it cool. After it did, she turned on the furnace again and placed only a couple of pieces of charcoal inside it to slowly heat up the crucible again.
She sighed in relief as she spotted the gel forming little granules, a brilliant reminder that the gel was crystallizing. This was interesting for Nirra because compounds only crystallize at slowly cooling temperatures, not the opposite. Nevertheless, after all the gel crystallized, she pulled the crucible out of the furnace and let it cool. Once cool, she tried to do the experiment she did earlier and placed it near an open flame.
She noticed that the fire burned brighter, which meant that what she had just made was an oxidizer for the gunpowder she was making. She smiled in satisfaction at her little achievement. Later on, she focused back on the synthesis of the powder. Now that the crystallized gel can be used as an oxidizer, she needed the fuel and stabilizer for it. In her old world, the fuel and stabilizer roles are provided by charcoal, which she has on hand, and sulfur.
Nirra thought for a bit where could she get some sulfur. Then she remembered that in the medieval period, sulfur could be found in fertilizer. The best part is that she just happened to see a shop in the market area that sells fertilizer. She got up from her seat and went to grab her cloak.
"Mom! I'm going to the market to buy some things." Nirra yelled while putting on her shoes.
"Okay Nirra! Just get home before dinner; we're having fish," Mirabel replied with a yell from the kitchen.
Nirra nodded and stepped out of the house, putting on the hood of her cloak. It didn't take long for her to arrive at the market area and find the shop that she remembered that fertilizer could be bought from. When she entered the shop, an old man greeted her.
"Hello, young lass, what do you need from me shop?" He said while he wore that friendly smile the guild maid had.
"Can I get some fertilizer?" Nirra asked, to which the old man nodded.
"How much would ya need?" The old man replied, dropping down from the counter and placing two bags, one small and one large, on the counter.
"I'll take the small one, please," Nirra said as the old man handed her the small bag.
"That'll be 21 copper coins, lassie." He said. Nirra nodded and gave him a silver coin.
Once she got her change, the old man thanked her and waved her goodbye from the shop.
"What a nice young lady," the old man said as he waited for more customers for the day.
Nirra hurried back to her house, and once home, she took off her cloak as well as her shoes and ran to the forge. Inside, she opened the bag of fertilizer.
The fertilizer was clumped a bit, so she used a sieve to get rid of the clumps. She then thought of ways to separate the sulfur from the fertilizer mixture. She then remembered a way she could do exactly that.
She picked up a steel box container and poured in all the fertilizer. Then, she poured water on the fertilizer and mixed it around with a steel rod to dissolve the fertilizer in the water. She then used the sieve she had earlier used to filter out the clumps and other debris that came with the fertilizer and put it into another container. Then she used oil to separate the impurities, which are other compounds, from the water that contained the dissolved sulfur. She then poured out the water that contained the dissolved sulfur into another container. Next, she heated that metal piece using the furnace, and what is left is the sulfur residue. She then chipped the residue from the steel container and put it into a mortar and pestle where she could turn it into fine dust.
What is left is what Nirra estimated is 200 grams of sulfur. Now that she has all 3 parts that are needed for the gunpowder, she mixed 10 grams of sulfur inside an iron plate, 15 grams of pulverized charcoal, and 75 grams of pulverized crystalline gel from the doomslime. She then mixed them together, and what she is left with is a dimly glowing dark-red powder. Hoping that everything she did was correct. She took a small sample from the mixture and placed it on the anvil. She then grabbed a shield that her father had forged earlier in the week and hid behind it while slowly lowering a stick that had one end on fire.
When the flame made contact with the compound, the fire immediately spread to the mixture and burned really bright for a brief second before dimming back down to normal brightness. This is what Nirra wanted; she pumped her fist in joy, completely ecstatic that she made gunpowder. She then took a look at the drawer where the firearm was sat inside waiting to receive its payload of gunpowder and steel balls.
"Almost there, just the projectile to go as well as the wooden handle and I'm finished." She said to herself.
