Release that Witch Wiki

Hey there, welcome to RTW Wiki! If you're planning on staying here, it's highly recommended you create a personal account. Have fun!

READ MORE

Release that Witch Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Release that Witch Wiki
Warning: Information provided by web novel author may be purposefully or unintentionally incorrect.


Black gunpowder is the first chemical explosive created by Roland Wimbledon. It consists of sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter mixed in a ratio of 1:1.5:7.5[1]. Black gunpowder was eventually replaced by smokeless powder.

Overview[]

Gunpowder was made from easily accessible ingredients for snow powder, an alchemical product used at banquets and ceremonies. Due to its different proportions (60% of charcoal, 20% of sulfur and saltpeter and 20% of other ingredients) snow powder had slow combustion speed and couldn't be used as explosive.

The Alchemist Association of King's City independently found the right production formula for black gunpowder after repeated tests.

Production[]

Initially, Roland purchased saltpeter at Willow Town and sent to the warehouse. There it had been ground and measured, ready to be sent to labs built near North Slope Mine when needed. All three main components mixture and transportation had been completed by different groups to avoid leaking secrets of production. When mixed, gunpowder would go through the process of soaking, compressing, drying, grinding, and screening. Its granulas would be similar in size and inflammable, therefore, to prevent sparking, all metal products were replaced by wood and ceramics[1].

Uses[]

Gunpowder was used as a propellant in flintlocks and 12-pound field artillery, as well as throwable explosives put into wooden boxes or packages.

History[]

Gunpowder can be described as a product that was perfect for mass production. It didn’t need any exotic materials. As long as you had charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter and mixed them at a ratio of 1:1:7.5 it could be produced without any technical barriers.

In this time period, snow powder was mixed into a ratio of 3:1:1 and it also sometimes contained some strange materials (such as mercury, butter, honey, etc.) which were sometimes mixed into it at a 2% ratio, but with the result of slower combustion and less gas release this held no advantage for the gunpowder. However, Roland knew that the alchemist would constantly test other ratios, and he predicted that they would only need 30 years until a recipe close to the original gunpowder’s recipe would appear.

In the history of Roland’s former world, gunpowder was invented a long time before the production of the first cold weapon. The reason for this was because the recipe and the corresponding weapon manufacturing process didn’t work in unison.

However, what many people ignored was the fact that one did not need to rely on guns, the gunpowder itself was a very formidable weapon.[2]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Chapters 33-34
  2. Chapter 33 (novel)
Advertisement