Board Thread:Off Topic/@comment-27144409-20181126150808/@comment-25479664-20190607150023

- Name: Dirhae Alriyh (Roughly Arabic for "Arm of the Wind")

- Wielder: Name not yet decided (I'll let you know when I can actually get some good Pashto or Farsi translations, but the name will roughly translate to "Whisper of the Wind")

- Maker/Smith: Not yet decided

- Classification: Spearman's Electromagnet-Assisted Jezail

- Weapon Derivation: ​​​​​​Afghan Jezail, Chinese Guandao/Yanyuedao

- Form 1 Design: Long Jezail with telescoping barrel and modified black wooden stock. Barrel folded inwards where the muzzle is safely covered with an automatic cap. Stock is swept with an outfolding recoil brace which grips the shooter's arm and also features a ready rack capable of holding up to 12 rounds on each side. When deployed, a long rod with a sharp metal point may be automatically extended either on a hinge to act as a monopod or fixed forward as a bayonet. Additionally, the barrel will telescope out, with variable rifling, accompanied by electromagnetic coils and a two-piece open scope will pop up, projecting a rear aperture from just in front of the breech gate and a front reticle down at the muzzle, with optional magnifications from 1x to 40x. Action is single-shot breech-loading with a flaired breech gate when opened to allow for much faster reloading. In this form, a skilled user can fire at around 15 RPM (or 20 RPM when using the ready rack). Alternatively, a cylinder holding up to eight rounds may be attatched just in front of the breech block, though this limits the weapon to only using more conventional ammunition types.

- Form 1 Aesthetics: While retracted, the weapon resembles, in many ways, a shepherd's cane, though much beefier. The weapon is marked by various signs of wear, but it is also covered in a beautiful series of engravings, inscriptions, and patterns along its entire length. The weapon's stock is made out of a very dark (if not outright black) wood. When deployed, the weapon becomes considerably longer and the inscriptions may turn from a polished to a matte bronze color in order to prevent glare. When the rifling is not in use, the barrel is smooth, but when rifling is deployed, then segements of the barrel elevate slightly off the surface of the barrel to create rifling grooves, forming a coresponding "corkscrew" pattern along the outside of the barrel.

- Form 2: In this form (hereby to be called "dao form" or "DF"), the barrel retracts almost-fully into the stock, which becomes a noticably-thinner and slightly-oval-shaped handle. The stock becomes a Yanyuedao blade, with the wooden elements of the stock folding into the handle and the metal elements flattening and folding outwards to create a blade effective for slashing and somewhat useful for jabbing. The spike on the end towards the muzzle moves all the way to the bottom end of the handle and acts similarly to a pike head, though it can also be fired like a harpoon with an attached cord allowing the wielder to use the weapon to pull an enemy into blade range. The actual muzzle of the rifle still remains visible and can still fire ammunition, though the lack of the recoil brace or electromagnetic assistors in this mode limits the user to less powerful cartridges

- Form 2 Aesthetics: The DF is much more remenischent of a usual Guandao, though even in this role it is quite unique. Much of the decoration on the handle re-appears (when compared to form 1's activated mode) and the patterns on the swept stock now form corresponding metal patterns on the blade. On the end of the handle is a red tissle, attached to the "harpoon".

- Dust Usage: Various types of dust-based ammunition, electric dust stored in the stock is used to power the electromagnetic coils

- Ammunition: Caliber TBD, caseless. Fires various types of ammunition, including conventional "ball" ammo, HE, Dust-based rounds, and Sabot projectiles which can penetrate almost anything and deliver a large amount of kinetic energy. The attatchable cylinder may fire various less-powerful munitions, including conventional ball and incendiary rounds as well as "smokescreen" rounds, which are useful in form 2.

- Usage: In form 1, the weapon is incredibly accurate and reasonably powerful and can be fired from extrermely long distances with reasonable accuracy. Most single-loaded rounds function as a sort of two-stage ammunition, with the initial powder charge propelling the round down the barrel before being further accelerated by the electromagnetic coils to very high velocities. In form 1, the weapon can also be deployed to fire very accurately using the monopod-pike fired from the shoulder like a normal rifle from a greater variety of positions. Meanwhile, the cylinder typically limits the wielder to shorter and more conventional 1-stage munitions, but increases rate of fire changing the weapon from a high-accuracy sniper rifle to something more akin to a DMR. The weapon can then easily switch to form 2 for close-range combat, with the blade being able to deliver powerful hacks and slashes with reasonable agility, while the spike on the end can be shot out like a harpoon (either to break up the wielder's attack pattern, pin down enemy limbs or weapons, or pull enemies in closer for a follow-up strike with the blade), allows it to be used like a pike to keep enemies at a distance, or even like a lance by putting the blade into stock form 1 and using the spike on the end like a lance point. Even the handle may even be used like a quarterstaff, blocking attacks and delivering heavy bludgeoning blows. In form 2, the wielder may also fire "smokescreen" ammunition, which creates, as the name implies, a large cloud of smoke, blinding and stunning enemies at close range while obscuring the wielder and allowing him to safely retreat or attack from an unseen angle.

- Planned/Possible Upgrades: Will take from suggestions

- Notes: The name refers to the wielder's name: the wielder is the "Whisper of the Wind" and as such his weapon is the "Arm of the Wind". The weapon is a family heirloom that has beein constantly repaired and upgrated with the latest available technology by each user over the years. As such, the weapon has a very old and classic look and is condusive to modular upgrades. I was initially going to make two seperate weapons for two seperate characters, one based on the Yanyuedao and another based on the Jezail, but after thinking about it, I decided to combine them into a single weapon for one character.