BurnFlow pen

"It is simple, you know how Burning nabs away at any material as it turns it into the mist-like Flow? This pen send out concentrated stream of the Burning Flow directly at whatever you want to carve into, relatively rapidly removing the material no matter how resistant it otherwise is.
It is also one hell of a task to make one of these. And even worse task getting crystals to feed it."

-Nurle Skoritzel

Description, Creation, and Mechanism

BurnFlow pen consists of a ceramic cylinder created by pouring ceramic into a grid made from strong and durable metal. This reinforced cylinder is then further polished on its insides to reduce the chances that Burning Flow latches onto it and burns through. A holder with its squeezing mechanism for a small crystal is then placed into this casing via its wider end. This inside mechanism is then sealed by a ceramic top, leaving out only the pressure setting screw of the mechanism inside.
When the screw is spined, it makes the squeezer apply pressure onto the crystal inside. This crystal then releases raw Burning Flow, which can escape from the inside only via the nib of the pen.
The nature of the Burning Flow does not leave the pen intact. While the reinforced chambers were perfected after many iterations, and are now almost perfectly redirecting the Flow through the nib, the crystal holder and the squeezing mechanism itself need to be replaced often.
Thanks to concentrated raw Burning Flow, the BurnFlow pen can carve into any material, as the unique property of the Burning element turns any material into a Flow-like state.

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Usage

The intended use for BurnFlow pens was to carve into materials that last for a long time as a means to preserve knowledge. Raiders later started using these pens to carve their names onto their gear no matter from which material they were created.
But a more morbid and surprising use is rumored to have appeared. It is said that one Atocite started using Burnflow pens on their own skin and flesh as a way to tattoo their names. This method even replaced the use of rare colors on the position of greatest honor.

"Colors are for weaklings! At my home we use these!"
"You mean these pens that are used to carve knowledge into stone, names into metals, and in some extreme case dig holes into monsters alive?"
"You guys are using pens to kill monsters?!"

A conversation of raiders from various Atocites

Some extremely daring Raiders figured, that if concentrated Burning can get through any materials, it could be used to get through some of the toughest armors and chitins of monsters on the Ground below. These Raiders, while borderline crazy, did bring up a genuine idea. Ongoing research is currently considering full-on weaponization of the concept this pen is built around.

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History, Origin, and future research

After the cataclysm, it was determined that paper is simply too fragile to hold something so valuable as knowledge of the past.
A more long-term and durable approach needed to be invented, and it was thanks to the discovery of crystals and harnessing their stored Flow that one could be created.
While Crystal Harness is good enough for industrial and field use, BurnFlow pen needed approach that was more delicate than its crude predecessor. Thus the squeezer mechanism was created.
The first prototypes usually lasted less than the crystal inside, as the Flow inside them slowly degenerated the chamber and holder. While the chambers were made more resistant, the holder and its mechanism are still decaying fast.
The ongoing research on the topic of weaponization of stream of concentrated Burning Flow ran into an obstacle.
No weapon is currently known that could be made durable enough to fight the monsters on the Ground below while hosting a mechanism similar to the BurnFlow pen.
The research also progresses slowly because the amount of work needed to make prototypes of such weapons is enough to rival custom-made weapons. And due to the high chance of failure in combat, not many Raiders are volunteering to risk that their weapon will become useless in a life-threatening situation.

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Item type

Tool