Ben knew about that kind of thing, using discarded magic crystal shards as primers and striking the shards with active element probes to ignite the gunpowder—'a firearm belonging to this world.' The Ofrans had begun equipping flintlock guns thirty years ago and had even established two flintlock gun teams; the dwarfs' history with matchlock guns stretched back even earlier, to the Silver Year.
Firearms had tremendous power at close range, with the finest flintlock guns dealing damage comparable to brass label weapons of the same level within fifty paces. Moreover, the tactics of concentrated firearm use had become very sophisticated in this era, though they still lacked a decisive edge compared to the equally mature enchanted projection forces.
