Unusual items found in the Frontier

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Unusual items found in the Frontier

Postby jedion357 » Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:16 pm

Sonic Weapons by Master Waki Shizaku

The following article is from Encyclopedia Galacticana from a period of time future to the current game:

Encyclopedia Galacticana:

Master Waki Shizaku began his career as a weapons tech at age 25 and is reputed to have produced superior sonic weapons for the rest of his life until his presumed death at 220 years of age.
He is the father of many variations of sonic weapons including the silent sonics, Bite of the Serpent and Roar of the Dragon variations. His work is often imitated but rarely is his quality achieved.

All of his weapons are considered works of art and often carry double and triple the value of a comparable weapon even if the original krik hide presentation case is missing. Older weapons can be valued at even steeper prices especially if they have the illegal silent sonic feature.

Most historians agree that Master Shizaku only developed the silent sonic as an intellectual exercise in understanding sonic theory. He produced weapons with silent sonics from age 145 till age 171 when he was embroiled in a nasty series of court cases over the illegal sonic feature. He even attempted to sue Star Law for the return of his “children” as he called them to prevent confiscated sonic weapons from being destroyed but was unsuccessful. Eventually Star Law judged that they had confiscated and destroyed 80-90% of all Shizaku blades with the silent sonic feature. Master Shizaku never made another weapon with that feature the rest of his life but it is believed that he tried to buy back a number of blades to prevent them from falling into Star Law’s hands.

Interestingly, at the time of the Star Law controversy, he presented the monarch of Clarion with what he called one of his greatest masterpieces. It was in appreciation for the king refusing to allow a number of beautiful Shizaku blades that had been confiscated by the Royal Marines to be destroyed like those in Star Law custody. These blades now reside in the Royal Museum in Clarion’s capitol. The blade presented to the king bore the inscription “ライオンの力は彼の名誉にある” and is believed to read, “The Power of the Lion is in his Honor”. This sword has become the sword of state for the Leonine dynasty and is borne by the reigning monarch as a personal weapon. Its abilities are kept a closely guarded secret but it is rumored to be a mark 4 Bite of the Serpent sonic sword among other things. It is decorated in lion motifs and the emitter head is recessed into the mouth of a roaring lion.

After the Star Law controversies Master Shizaku retreated from public life and continued to quietly make his beloved weapons which continued to appear on the market till his presumed death at age 220 as that was the time that new Shizaku blades ceased to appear on the market.

Over the years a number of beings claimed to have been apprentices to Master Shizaku but none of them were able to demonstrate the quality of craftsmanship of the master and are considered frauds. It appears that the master took the secrets of his phenomenal ability to tune sonic emitter heads to the grave. Yet there are persistent legends of lost manuscripts written by the master weapon smith describing his techniques and of lost workshops on Volturnus. The Volturnus connection gained credibility after mass spectrometer readings revealed that Shizaku sonic weapons, with the exception of very early creations, all use a particular Volturnian crystal in their emitter head.


The following is research on a few variations of Shizaku sonic weapons:

Bite of the Serpent Sonic Weapons. These weapons were developed by Master Waki Shizaku, the premiere sonic weapons craftsman of the Frontier. Master Shizaku developed techniques to fine tune sonic emitter heads that would cause consistently higher damage and come in 3 marks. A mark 1 sonic weapon will re-roll all damage dice that come up 1, while a mark two re-rolls all damage dice that come up 2 or less, and a mark 3 will re-roll all damage dice that come up 3 or less. After Master Shizaku developed these weapons others learned to duplicate his work but critical failures with a cheap knock offs result in a loss of tuning and the sonic weapon will only perform as a normal sonic weapon after that and cannot be repaired. Master Shizaku’s Bite of the Serpent sonic weapons, due to superior craftsmanship, never suffer this result. To price a bite of the serpent sonic weapon add 100% for mark 1, 300% for mark 2 and 700% for mark 3. An authentic Shizaku blade should add 100% to the value just for the master craftsman’s name being attached (and the ability to not lose tuning during a critical failure). Additionally a referee can assess additional cost for authentic Shizaku blades as each is individually hand crafted, a work of art and are very much in high demand. Most Shizaku blades of this sort bare the ancient Earth inscription, “蛇のかみ傷” that some linguist assert translates “Bite of the Serpent” and they have their emitter head recessed in a serpent’s mouth.

The Dragon’s Roar sonic weapons. These weapons are originally the work of the renowned sonic weapons smith Master Waki Shizaku but now there are numerous cheap copies on the market. The Dragon’s Roar model is a specially tuned emitter head that upon a successful strike produces a load roar like sound that can stun an opponent like a stun grenade. The blade can be used in stun mode without causing damage for 2 SEU per hit causing a STA check to resist the stun effect or in a combined damage and stun strike for 3 SEU per hit. A sonic screen nullifies the stun effect. A non Shizaku sonic weapon will cost double but will lose its emitter tuning on a critical strike and cannot be repaired. It functions as a standard sonic weapon of its type after that. A Shizaku blade of this sort never loses its tuning and will cost triple the standard cost off the blade Additionally a referee can assess additional cost for authentic Shizaku blades as each is individually handcrafted, a work of art and are very much in high demand. Most of the Shizaku Dragon’s Roar weapons bare the ancient Earth inscription, “蛇のかみ傷” that some linguist assert translates “The Dragon’s Roar” and their emitter head is recessed in a dragon’s mouth.

Silent Sonics Modification. Another development of Master Shizaku, the silent sonics were originally called the “Stalking Cat” by Master Shizaku but entered the common lexicon as “silent sonics”. Master Shizaku’s creations that had this feature are quite rare now since the Star Law controversy where many were confiscated and destroyed. Also it was rumored that Waki Shizaku himself attempted to buy back many to prevent their eventual confiscation and destruction. Eventually Star Law judged that they had accounted for 80-90% of all the weapons made by Master Shizaku with this feature. He never made another with the feature after failing to prevent the destruction of so many of his creations. Today they are incredibly rare and prices for an authentic Stalking Cat can fluctuate widely due to individual circumstance. At the very least a Shizaku blade will cost double the standard price of the weapon and will never lose its tune from a critical failure. The cheap knock offs sell for 1.5 to 2 times the standard costs but are prone to losing their tuning during a critical failure. A Shizaku weapon of this type can often be identified by the inscription, “つきまとう猫” that some linguist assert translates as “Stalking Cat” and the emitter head is recessed into the mouth of a cat.
A second year delivery driver who still could not back up his van told me, "Its Not that I Cant back it up a van its that I Dont want to." Funny I use to say the same about sex in high School.
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