Managing heat dissipation in a magic wand
Backstory
You won't believe it, but I'll tell you anyway. I'm a Level 61 wizard. If you think about it, wands aren't all that hard to use. Point, invoke, joyfully watch your enemy burn in the fires of Reetath. I've watched wizards do it all my life.2
So, when I stumbled across a fairly new-looking wand,3 I picked it up. Wands are fairly generic, right? They all shoot little darts, lightning bolts, fireballs... We've all heard the stories.4 So I wanted to see what I could do! I visited the local library and asked the librarian5 what the word was for "fireball." Then skipped6 to an open field (I wasn't looking to roast a cow or anything), pointed my new wand at some unsuspecting tree, and said Lamboobalar!
The next thing I remember was waking up in my mom's house7 with my hand wrapped up to my elbow and wishing someone would hit me behind the ear with a hammer. It hurt! And what I want to know is, what'd I do wrong?
World Rules
- Wands are a bit like magical rifles. Fire a bullet through a rifle and the barrel heats up. Fire enough bullets fast enough and the barrel becomes burning hot! No matter what you cast with your wand, the more powerful the spell or the faster you cast the hotter the little honker will get.
- Magic is the funniest thing. The wand must be held. Not touched by skin necessarily, but held. If you set a wand on a table and scream Wapatay! the wand will happily sit there and ignore you. If you pick up the table, it'll still ignore you. But! grasp it with some chopsticks or with a gauntlet and BOOM! pink mist!8
- As a bit of a reference point, casting the fireball spell generates enough heat to cause 3rd degree burns on the unprotected hand and wrist. Using the wand to magically rap someone's knuckles, causing them to drop their sword, would only cause noticeable heat if you were paying attention. Casting the dread Sheeeaaaaah-Moogatee-Hah! spell, which consumes your enemy's castle in a somewhat makeshift volcano, will cause an intensely bright light followed immediately by the unprotected wielder converting into a lovely cloud of carbon.9
- For the purpose of this question, the wand is indestructible. You can't drill through it or cut slots into it, either. The surface has friction similar to any smooth hardwood and does taper from the base to the tip. It's about 1.5cm (5/8") at the base and 0.6cm (1/4") at the tip.
Question Limitations
You cannot use magic to solve the problem. Using magic to solve a problem that's a consequence of magic would be like trying to put out a fire with a bucket of gasoline.10 That's why the science-based tag has been applied. No magic!
If you're thinking, "this is just a heat-sink problem!" you're exactly right! Good luck!
The wand must be usable in a melee situation. In other words, you can't simply encase the wand in a 2-foot diameter column of iron sitting in a custom-designed cart wherein the wizard sits comfortably on a velvet stool while embracing the rod bar. (a) while that would probably work per my rules, it's not practical in a melee situation and (b) the wand would probably blow a hole in the front of the bar, spewing sub-vapor-point iron all over the place. It would look spectacular — and probably fry the wizard anyway. So, the wizard must carry the wand and can't be more encumbered than a suit of plate mail.
You may only use 13th century technology (my sincere apologies to TimBII for not stating this here, I can see where it was easy to overlook).
Question: Using 13th century technology, what can I do to protect my erstwhile wizard when he casts a fireball spell with this wand?
Bragging rights to answers that point out how to avoid the cloud of carbon problem — but that's optional.
1 Fine! I'm a level 1 wizard... OKAY! I'm some dumb schmuck who found the wand in a gutter! So sue me.
2 YES! There are wizards in Grubda! Well there only had to be one! It didn't LOOK that hard! If it means that much to you, ask your own @#*& question! Sheesh, everybody's a critic!
3 That body on the sidewalk had nothing to do with the wand. Yes... I'll swear on my mother's grave! Now let me finish!
4 Except you! Now shut up!
5 You know she's my sister... right?
6 Yes, I skipped! Like a 6-year-old girl! I was excited, alright? What would YOU do if you found a wand? Turn it in to the constabulary!? Are you nuts!?
7 Don't say it! You were thinking it! Yes you were! I'm saving up for my first horse, alright?
8 And molten metal thinly plating everything in a 3-meter radius. Wapatay! is not for the faint of heart.
9 Magic should always have a price, don't you think?
10 This is obvious, right? Just because it's liquid doesn't mean it'll act like water? Yeah.
This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/147181. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1 answer
Treat the wand like it came from a blacksmith's forge
While some blacksmiths don't use gloves at the forge, others do. And they generally wear them for very short exposures to heat (a wand going whamo should count).
Leather gloves won't be enough to protect against very high heat (fireball spells) but it will protect you from radiant heat near the wand. You also want a leather apron, some kind of safety glasses, and boots.
About the Leather gloves - Experienced blacksmiths will sometimes recommend no gloves. I strongly recommend a glove on your not-hammer hand. At least just to start. This will prevent burns. Later, as you get more experienced with blacksmithing you can decide what you like.
About the boots - This is important because you are going to be dropping hot pieces of steel and you want a solid pair of boots to protect your feet from burns. If you plan on handling heavy pieces of iron and steel then I would go with steel-toed shoes.
So lots of safety gear to start then you can reduce it when you get used to spellcasting.
This site also recommends wolf jaw tongs (not plain jaw/flat). I'd recommend some made special to firmly hold your wand near the base. If blacksmiths can use these to hold on to heavy metal glowing like a miniature sun, and then be able to manipulate the metal on the anvil, you can use them to hold your freaking wand still while you cast.
Remember, the apron and boots and eye coverings (if possible) are for when you are an idiot and drop the hot wand as soon as something blasts out of it.
Okay, so this covers you for basic fireballs. Now, what about the Sheeeaaaaah-Moogatee-Hah! spell?
Okay, this requires some setup. I recommend the following:
- A large barrel made of thick oak plated with metal with a 3-4 inch hole drilled near the top.
- Fill with water such that it will later reach up to the bottom of the hole.
- Get in the barrel with something protective on your head.
- Put on a leather glove.
- Stick your blacksmithing tongs out the hole and grab the wand.
- Make sure that under the wand is a bucket of water or a pile of sand.
- Cast the spell.
- Drop the wand.
Alternatively...fire that sucker from a stone castle window or rampart, the kind archers shoot out of. Have a trusted running retrieve the wand after it drops in the water/sand and is cool enough to pick up with tongs or a gloved hand.
No, it's not melee-worthy like your fireball and other low to high level spells are. But if you want the nuclear option, you need to build a launch point. This completely violates your requirements, but seriously, do soldiers with fire launchers run around with them in combat? No, they use a sturdy base, sometimes one that is somewhat portable. If you fight with a cannon can you carry it in your pocket then pull it out and boom? Nope.
Remember, your question was protection for a fireball spell. And you state: "casting the fireball spell generates enough heat to cause 3rd degree burns on the unprotected hand and wrist." My solution easily protects against that.
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