Seven Talismans, Seven Weapons

Once upon a time there was a weary old man.  All this man had left was his wife, son and the
family heirlooms – seven talismans, forged in gold and white jade.  Each had the symbol for a different
animal on it – a hedgehog, a tiger, an elephant, a wolf, a stingray, a lion and a dragon.  It should
have been a prosperous time for the man, for the countryside around him was ravaged with war, and his
family were known for making beautiful and deadly weapons.  Alas, gunpowder had taken over, and guns
were now the main attraction.  No one wanted to buy swords or whips or scythes anymore.

One day, he sent his son out to the field with the cow to try and find some grass.  The boy was gone
for a day and a night.  His father despaired that he had been killed by a mortar or mine, but soon the
boy returned with an armful of broken handguns.

“What is this junk?! You have worried your mother and I for broken weapons?!” The man cried angrily.
The boy answered “I thought you could fix them and sell them father.”

All of the guns were revolvers, and only one of them had a functional cylinder.  The man worked as hard
as he could, even chopping down the old tree that was dying in the yard to make new handles.  As he put
the guns together, he noticed his talismans.  Inspired, he carved a special design into the handles
of the guns, the only difference between them being the symbol for the animals.

One day, a cocky young man came to the door.  He was looking for a new dagger and a new gun.  While the
old man was working on the dagger, the young man showed the boys son how fast he could reload a
revolver with just two fingers.

“Son,” The old man said, “I believe this gun was made for you.”

He handed the man the revolver that had only two chambers.  While the man admired his new weapon, the
old man finished the dagger.  With a beautiful leather braid, he attached the hedgehog talisman to the
end of the dagger.  The man was happy, and gave the old man 50 gold coins.  So the Speedy Two and the
Hedgehogs Quill were born.

A few weeks later, and a small band of soldiers came through looking for food and shelter.  The old
man dared not refuse them, and they sat down to a meal of cabbage and pork.

“When I get to the city I’m going to find me a nice girl.” One of the soldiers commented.  The others
cheered and agreed, except for one.  He just smiled and continued his broth.

“Why do you not join in?” The old man asked.

“I have a wife and three boys.  They are the only reason I will ever raise a gun to another man.” Said
the soldier.  The old man smiled and showed him the gun that only had three chambers in its cylinder.
The soldier liked the gun, and asked if the old man could fix his scimitar since he was so good at
fixing weapons.  The old man agreed, and after repairing the scimitar, he attached the tiger talisman
in the same fashion he had with the hedgehog.  The soldier left with the Trinity Three and the Tigers
Tooth, and the old man had another 50 gold coins.

Months passed, and a scared woman came to the door. Her village was often the target of raids by
enemy soldiers, and she had no way to defend her home.  A regular revolver was too heavy for her, but
the old man had one of his repaired guns which only had four chambers, and was lighter for her to
carry.  He also fashioned her a spear for her to hunt for food with, as she was poor and often had no
meat for her children.  He fastened the elephant talisman to the spear, and the woman was blessed with
the Quadroon Four and the Elephants Tusk.

A few more weeks passed.  The old man was working on another gun, trying to fix the sixth chamber so
that it would be a proper revolver.  However, he was forced to give up or risk destroying the other
chambers. His son happily took the gun however.  The boy was getting older and having ideas for
weapons of his own, for he would soon be old enough to go to war.  When one of the old cows died, he
took the leather and created himself a bladed gauntlet.  With his fathers blessing he embedded the
wolf talisman.  He named the pair Dangerous Five and Wolfs Fang.

The boy grew up and went to war, much to the sadness of his mother and father.  The boy sent back as
as much money as he could to his parents, who were now living in comfort.  One day the old man came
across another soldier, who was upset that he’d broken the handle of his six-shot revolver.  He was
clumsy and often broke his guns, and his commander refused to give him another one.  The old man
snorted, not surprised that the flimsy handles always broke.  He made a new handle for the gun, and a
whip for the mans horse.  The whip was known as the Stingrays Tail with the talisman attached, and the
gun was merely Palatable Six.

The old man was starting to get quite wealthy, so he bought some metal that he could use to make new
cylinders for the gun parts he had left over.  Not quite knowing what he was doing, his first attempt
turned out a cylinder with seven chambers. The second one had eight.  The old man laughed at his
foolishness and went back to making swords, scimitars, whips, scythes and daggers.  His wife was able
to fix one of the guns, and the old man called it the Lucky Seven, pairing it with his latest sword
which he called the Lions Claw.  Unfortunately they were robbed that night, and they never saw the
Lucky Seven nor the Lions Claw ever again.

The man was quite old now, and after putting the eighth cylinder into a gun his hands could no longer
handle the little parts.  His old scythe now doubled as a walking stick, and the man was often seen
carrying both, along with his last talisman, the dragon. The boy soon came back from the war, and the
man declared it was due to the talisman, the gun and the scythe.  When the man died, the Dragons Scale
Scythe and the Mystic Eight Gun were left with him in his tomb.