From the depths of Tartarus emerges a new mechanical nightmare. Born from myths of an insane man bound to a wheel of flame for all eternity in torturous punishment, this weapon shows neither mercy nor pity. It only gives pain and woe. The shrieks of
Ixion cast terror across the skies, carried by burning rings of fire and pain...
So... what is it?
The Ixion is a vortex/hail cannon that fires high velocity vortex rings from a large cone. Rather than a projectile, it fires nothing but a ring of air. Just to make it more interesting (and to defy physics a bit, that ring is also on fire). Think of smoke rings traveling 200 mph and you get the idea, only on fire.
Here we have my concept of the Ixion on a Spire.
That image is a composite of the gun using the Lumberjack textures over an image of the actual REAL gun. Yes, folks, it is real.
Here are some images of the real thing in action.
Just imagine that, only bigger, scarier, and on fire, rather than an invisible air vortex.
What kind of damage would this thing do? There is only one answer. Impact and fire. We would have to break reality a bit to get the damage up where it would need to be to make this an effective weapon.
Range would be maybe greater (or less?) than a Hellhound, but not too much. The real cannon shoots rings at 200 mph, and they travel quite far.
It is a single shot weapon with a relatively rapid reload. A real hail cannon can fire every 4 seconds or so. Depending on damage and balance, the reload would have to be adjusted.
Not sure on the arcs of the gun, but the aiming would be interesting. Since the gunner sits directly behind the massive cone, the only way to aim the gun is through a viewport through the barrel, thus giving the gunner a very limited view. The viewport slams shut upon firing.
If THAT was not enough to convince you,
here is a video of what the real thing sounds like.
