Richard Avery Hornsby‘s Blunderbuss

Origin
Richard Avery Hornsby was a British tradesman making a routine journey back home when French pirates sieged his ship. Although their cannons and blunderbusses were in poor condition, his crew agreed to stand with their captain. The captain called on Hornsby several times to lay down their flag and surrender, but Hornsby refused even under a hail of bullets. Instead, the incoming pirates found extreme difficulty defeating the captain and his motley crew. They retreated, leaving behind many of their weapons. A return several hours later only resulted in a formal defeat for the pirates, who lowered their flag and quickly departed. However, their ship was destroyed seconds into the journey by British cannons, drowning almost the entire pirate crew by the hands of one captain and his smaller crew.

Effects
Sprays any stream of shrapnel directly into attackers. The pieces will imbed themselves in the body causing great swelling and pain until they depart. Firing it empty crystallizes dust and other floating particles to form a burrowing pellet. The wounds only widen over time to cause great internal swelling until it eventually ruptures a hole within the victim’s muscle. They then experience a brief but worse sensation of pain, enough to make them lose all interest in attacking their quarry.