Tesla Gun

 

A completely imaginary electrical pulse weapon favored by the Bend Sinister that fires a jaggedy bolt of lightning much like the discharge of a Tesla Coil. Much like run-of-the-mill armaments, these weapons come in several forms—pistols, rifles, and cannon. The Blood Guard feel that Tesla guns (much like any gun) are dishonorable. Worse, they are crude and difficult to use with any sort of precision or grace.

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Swords (various)

 

Blades are the favored weapon for the Blood Guard. Why? Perhaps because of a credo that if a Guard must inflict pain, that Guard should have to do so up close—that way she or he shares the pain.

 

Special enchantments can strengthen a weapon's metal, and a true Guard's skill in fencing and swordplay make the Guard a far more fearsome opponent than your average swordsperson. Unfortunately, however, the Bend Sinister are also expert wielders of swords.

 

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Weaponry craft projects

 

Not an Etsy page, but rather a mindset: Members of the Blood Guard are rigorously schooled to use anything near to hand that might work as a weapon. A dinner plate? A coat rack? An unopened can of Spaghetti-Os? All of those things and more can double as defensive or offensive weapons. This can include any object that can be hurled, used as a shield, or employed to prevent an agent of the Bend Sinister from completing his or her evil mission. 

 

The Verity Glass

 

A purple lens, similar to a monocle, that has multiple purposes. When viewing a person, the Verity Glass can reveal that person's soul (or soullessness, as the case may be when looking at Bend Sinister minions). Directing the Verity Glass at a member of the Guard lays bare the Guard's flame sigil—a tiny bundle of flames on the forehead that seem to flicker, rippling and distorting like the reflection of light on water.

 

And when the Verity Glass is held up to that sigil alongside enough other members of the Guard ... [highlight text following for a spoiler] the flame of the sigil casts a projection through the Glass known as the Spangled Globe.

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The Perceptor (Le percepteur)

 

This evil mask is a tool of the Bend Sinister that allows the wearer to see the soul of the Pure burning bright. Similar to a Verity Glass, it has a far darker origin story ... [highlight text following for a spoiler] hundreds of Bend Sinister acolytes donated their lives to forge the Perceptor. It is their trapped, distilled souls that ripple across the face of the mask when it is used; it is their combined perceptive abilities that enhance the vision of the wearer. 

 

In honor of that long-ago sacrifice, some Bend Sinister acolytes wear a tattoo symbolizing the Perceptor's all-seeing eye.

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The Damascene 'scope

 

Like the Glass Gauntlet below, the Damascene Scope is a relic of the Victorian Age. Originally called the Damascene Achromatic Animascope, it was destroyed a hundred and fifty years ago, by order of the Guard's Grand Architect, and its pieces scattered so it could never be used again. 

 

The 'Scope was constructed to do two things... [highlight text following for a spoiler] First, it can focuses the energy of a Pure's soul like a laser beam. That light can then be aimed at a bad person and the radiance of the Pure will burn away the bad person's defects. "They'll be all sunshine and smiles afterward," according to Dawkins. The second, never-tested setting allows the projection of a Pure soul into a host body.

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The glass gauntlet

 

Both a test run by the eccentric billionaire Agatha Glass, in which children complete tasks within an enormous hedge maze ... and also a literal gauntlet. An antique sort of steampunk device, the gauntlet is a sort of oversized glove fashioned from a strange transparent material like fogged-up glass. Veined with brass wires and strange circuitry, the device is generally kept in discrete pieces—wrist, palm, fingers, and thumb—because it is so dangerous.... When fully assembled, the gauntlet can be used to reach into a person's body and pluck out their soul. 

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