Just a few teasers, hoping to get people to come back: In the Hunter's Dream, in addition to using blood echoes to manifest objects and information from the Nightmare - by which I mean being able to "buy" items from the Birdbath Messengers, or showing items to them and having the Messengers access whatever memory of the item resides within the Nightmare - I have also expanded upon the idea from the game of being able to harness certain knowledge from the dead. Occasionally someone dying in the waking world may cause a memory to become available for "purchase" from the Messengers, allowing a character to relive an important experience from someone else's life, almost guaranteed to grant new insights. Currently, still at the start of the story, there are two memories available: "Memory of Desperation" and "Memory of Stars." Though the characters currently have no way of knowing about this weapon, you can also read about the newest weapon I wrote: [HIDER=Fulmen][B]Fulmen[/B] – [I]Experimental[/I] One of the artifacts unearthed by newcomers to Yharnam in the wake of the Night of the Blood Moon the [url=https://bloodborne.fandom.com/wiki/Tonitrus]Tonitrus[/url], and while the old Hunters never appreciated the destructive potential of the weapon and more modern Hunters were mostly unaware of its existence, some among the new generation of Hunters were intrigued. Hunters, craftsmen and scholars of the new workshop of the church took to disassembling this eldritch-seeming armament to discover its inner workings and find ways to replicate it, and were delighted to realize that the Tonitrus functioned on a basis of science rather than the arcane. In a matter of months the first replica Tonitrum were made successfully, much to the delight of many. For some, however, the Tonitrus was not enough. A subset of the group that replicated Tonitrus came to question the design and limitations of the old weapon, and a redesign of a “better” Tonitrus was undertaken and completed after nearly two years of development, resulting in the Fulmen. Much larger and more cumbersome than the relatively refined Tonitrus, the Fulmen takes the form of a hefty maul with in a weight-class just below that of a [url=https://bloodborne.fandom.com/wiki/Ludwig%27s_Holy_Blade]Holy Blade[/url], with a shaft measuring 150 centimeters (4' 11”), though only the two-thirds of the shaft qualify as a handle, as the remainder is wrapped in metallic coils that connect to the head of the weapon: a plain-looking, bulky metal cube wherein the mechanical aspects of the weapon are contained. The head itself weighs close to 15 kilograms (33 pounds), demanding considerable strength for a human to use it properly, but for most part being manageable to most Hunters. The box is visually marked by fissures that run parallel to its edges, basically dividing the cube into eight smaller cubes of equal size centered around the core. The wooden handle is wrapped a thick layer of cloth, and a small, circular wooden guard marks the transition between handle and coiled shaft, with this guard likewise being covered in cloth and additionally treated with beeswax in an attempt to insulate the wielder from the weapon. Unlike the Tonitrus, which required the wielder to actively generate an electric charge that would eventually dissipate on its own, the new workshop designed the Fulmen so that every swing of the weapon would generate charge for it, negating the need to manually recharge the weapon with use. The side-effect of this, of course, is that sustained use causes the Fulmen to build up a progressively greater and greater electric charge, making it more dangerous with every blow it delivers. Recognizing this as well as the potential safety issues associated with having to handle a highly electrified weapon after combat with no way of negating its charge besides waiting, a mechanism was added – triggered by a small lever just below the guard – which causes the segments of the head to split, opening the head and momentarily exposing the core of the weapon, discharging all stored energy at once... which, it turned out, can be a quite devastating attack. As with the Tonitrus, the charge of the Fulmen will dissipate over time if unused. [HIDER=Fulmen experimental data] [HIDER=Test 1: 1-3 swings (subject 1: lupine scourge beast)]The first few swings with the weapon seemed to build a relatively negligible charge, though the lack of effect may owe more to the toughness of the subject than the efficiency of the weapon. The third swing marked the first time hits on the subject produced visible electrical sparks. Triggering discharge produced small visible burst of lightning, visibly searing the fur of the subject near the area of impact. Subject seemed bothered but undeterred.[/HIDER] [HIDER=Test 2: 4-5 swings (subject 1: barely wounded lupine scourge beast)]First three swings repeated the pattern from first observation. At the fifth swing the head began to continuously scintillate in a manner similar to that of a charged Tonitrus, possibly denoting a similar level of charge. Hits caused the subject to visibly flinch. Triggering discharge resulted in an electric burst magnitudes greater than the first one, throwing sparks up to half a meter (20 inches) from the head. Subject was physically repelled and appeared crippled for several seconds, possibly owing to parts of its musculature being temporarily paralyzed. Flesh appeared visibly burnt near the area of impact. An additional two blows left the subject incapacitated after which it expired in a matter of seconds.[/HIDER] [HIDER=Test 3: 1-5 swings (subject 2: deteriorated giant, alias “troll”)][url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/bloodborne/images/4/42/Art-bloodborne-screen-c12b.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150426134829]Subject 2[/url] proved somewhat more resistant to the first three hits with the weapon than subject 1, likely owing to its larger physical bulk and protective fatty tissue. Blows did not seem significantly more effective than those of a mundane blunt instrument. Fourth blow made the subject shy away in intense pain, and the fifth blow incapacitated the subject entirely. On request, the wielder triggered discharge into the subject's head. Resulting blast of comparable magnitude to that observed in test 2. Subject's hair was lit on fire and third degree burns were inflicted to the targeted area. Subject twitched briefly upon being hit by the discharge, but then seized all signs of life and was confirmed to have expired.[/HIDER] [HIDER=Test 4: 6-7 swings (subject 3: lupine scourge beast)]The first five swings reproduced the results from prior tests on subject 1, confirming their validity. Sixth and seventh blow intensified the scintillation of the head significantly, and the seventh blow seemed to momentarily daze the subject, the combination of blunt force trauma and electrical shock possibly causing cognitive difficulty. The wielder reported feeling a faint vibration in the handle of the weapon after the seventh hit. Triggering discharge produced a sound almost reminiscent of a muffled clap of thunder as well as a bright flash of blinding light that made estimating the range of the effect difficult. The subject appeared to expire instantly, though its remains continued exhibiting random muscle-spasms for approximately ten seconds after the occurrence of death. Subject was propelled several meters away by the discharge, and area of impact was charred almost to the bone.[/HIDER] [HIDER=Test 5: 1-12 swings (subject 4: superior lupine scourge beast, alias “cleric beast”)]Weapon taken in use against high-threat target, with additional Hunters as support. First six blows seemed almost entirely ineffective, though earlier tests suggest this has more to do with the resilience of the subject than with the weapon. Seventh and eighth hit caused a reaction in the subject, triggering mild spasms in muscles near the area of impact. Ninth hit caused the subject to start ignoring all other Hunters and focus on the wielder. Tenth hit seemed to momentarily stun the subject, and left a burn-mark on impact. Eleventh hit was predictably even more effective than the previous one, but unexpectedly caused the scintillation to increase to the point where sparks successfully overcame the the countermeasures for the protection of the wielder, occasionally electrifying them. Twelfth hit caused the subject to cry out in pain and, remarkably, seem to start retreating from the wielder. Wielder was at this time being almost continuously electrified by the weapon, making combat obviously challenging. The weapon was observed to produce an audible continuous hum in addition to the sound of jumping sparks and appeared to be visibly vibrating. At this point the wielder ignored requests to hit the subject again, opting instead to trigger the weapon to discharge once the subject was in range. All crew present, observer and Hunters alike, were temporarily deafened by the resulting boom, and bloodstains found on Hunters indicate that anyone within a dozen meters needed to regrow their eardrums. A scorch-mark measuring about three meters (9' 10”) in diameter was found at the location of the discharge. The wielder was badly burned and charred, with both hands appearing to have been effectively disintegrated, and only barely survived the ordeal. The weapon was severely damaged upon recovery and required extensive repairs before further use. Subject appeared to have been slain instantly, nearly all flesh having been stripped from its torso while the rest of its remains were charred almost beyond recognition.[/HIDER] Conclusion: The Fulmen unexpectedly appears to built up charge exponentially rather than linearly. The first several swings receive no or negligible benefit from its electrical accumulation, whereas subsequent swings become significantly more damaging, eventually building the charge to unstable levels. It is [I]highly inadvisable[/I] to perform more than ten successive hits with the Fulmen without discharging the weapon. If more than ten hits are made, discharge should [I]not[/I] be triggered; the charge should instead be allowed to wane naturally, preferably somewhere it does not endanger anyone else. [/HIDER][/HIDER] And finally... false Paleblood Hunters may experience some interesting and unpredictable things when traversing the Nightmare (including the Hunter's Dream) that regular Paleblood Hunters won't. Dying will also trigger this.