Accelerator

"I have a reason to be. In the wrong hands, the Accelerator could be the most devastating weapon the world has ever seen."

— Skulduggery Pleasant explaining to Ghastly Bespoke why he is paranoid, Kingdom of the Wicked

The Accelerator was a machine created by Dr Rote. It was used to boost the power of mages. How it did this is currently unknown. The Engineer was used to shut it down, and possibly enable other functions. A soul is needed to be given "willingly" in order to turn it off forever but the soul will be completely destroyed in the process. It first appeared in Kingdom of the Wicked, when Ravel and Ghastly discovered it hidden beneath the Irish Sanctuary.

Mechanics[]

The Accelerator drew its power from the Source of All Magic (possibly True Names). It would use this to boost a mage's power to a certain degree (whatever is set by the user). However, once used, the Accelerator becomes a time bomb, continuing to draw on magic until it overloads and explodes. The explosion would instantly deliver magic to every magical being on earth, including Mortals, who all have a sliver of magic within them. This can be prevented by the Engineer by shutting it down before the countdown expires. During a first time period after the Accelerator's first use, it can be shut down normally. However, after this time period, a soul is needed as a sacrifice to shut it down.

History[]

The Accelerator was created by Roarhaven mages and scientists as a aprt of a coup that did not succeed. When the Irish Sanctuary was established in Roarhaven, Erskine Ravel sent down a team of Roarhaven mages to the hundreds of tunnels below the building, and got them to map it. Because of this, the corridor that leads to the Accelerator room was left out of the mapping, as the Roarhaven mages didn't want anyone else to find it.

Kingdom Of The Wicked[]

When Ravel and Ghastly are on their way back from discovering the room, they run into three Roarhaven mages who say that there is an emergency, and lead them away. The three mages were Brennock, Paloma and Tevhan, which just happen to be the same people who made the map that the two Elders are using. Realising that the Roarhaven mages are trying to lead them away, and possibly into a trap, they quickly dispatch of the three after using Skulduggery's little code.

It was thought that using the accelerator would probably kill the person, since they would be overloaded on magic. Skulduggery said this was a possibility when Doran Purcell was already inside it, causing him to protest and ask to be released. However, when it was over, Doran simply looked up and expressed how powerful he felt. After that, his companions Sean and Kitana also went inside and boosted their powers in order to be able to defeat Argeddion.

Last Stand Of Dead Men[]

The Accelerator causes some strife among the Sanctuaries, in particular between the Irish Sanctuary and the Supreme Council. The Supreme Council claims that the Irish have an "unfair advantage" with the Accelerator. After stating that they wouldn't use the Accelerator to boost their mages, the Supreme Council suggest they dismantle it to allay any fears. Ravel counters that the Accelerator is powering the Cube, the only thing capable of holding someone of Darquesse's power, and thus they need it active.

After an unsettled discussion, the Supreme Council orders Bernard Sult to head a team of Supreme Council mages to infiltrate the Irish Sanctuary and destroy the Accelerator with explosives.

"I admit this sounds incredibly childish, but if we can't have it, then you can't, either."

— Bernard Sult explaining the Supreme Council's reasoning for sabotaging the Accelerator, Last Stand Of Dead Men

Ghastly interrupts his workout routine to take them down, but not before the explosives can go off. No one is killed and when Ghastly recovers from the shockwave, he sees along with everyone else that the Accelerator is perfectly intact.

"When they built it, they built it to last."

— Ravel commenting on the durability of the Accelerator after the blast, Last Stand Of Dead Men

Skulduggery explains to Valkyrie that the Accelerator is the Irish Sanctuary's "nuclear deterrent", alluding to the similar situation in the Cold War. Having the Accelerator active stops the Supreme Council from doing anything too dangerous or risky.

During the Battle of Roarhaven Ravel permits the use of the Accelerator to the Sanctuary mages so that they can fight the Warlocks with an advantage. However, the mages who have their powers boosted soon become over confident and get ripped to pieces. Ravel allows even more sorcerers to be boosted and eventually, they manage to slow the tide. After the battle, many of these supercharged sorcerers escaped, and needed to be recaptured as the power was making them too unstable. After a few weeks, the Accelerator-boosted sorcerer's power would begin to fluctuate, much like Melancholia St Clair when she became The Death Bringer. Unlike the Death Bringer though, the supercharged sorcerers would eventually return to their normal power level, the dips becoming longer than the highs.

The machine wasn't shut down in time by the Engineer built to maintain the device. Therefore, it would blow up shortly and destroy the world if it wasn't offered "a soul, willingly given", within a few weeks. After The Battle of Roarhaven, Skulduggery said they would deal with that problem like they have with all the others before.

After Darquesse is defeated on Devastation Day, Skulduggery and Valkyrie confront the Accelerator problem. Skulduggery finds a loophole in the Engineers instructions and uses Ravel as a sacrifice. The Engineer accepts this, as Skulduggery willingly gave Ravel's soul, and the Engineers instructions never specified that the owner of the soul had to be the one willing to give it. Through Ravel's sacrifice, the Accelerator is shut down. It is not stated whether the Accelerator can be used again, or even if it was demolished.

Appearance[]

The Accelerator has curved walls with jagged tips on the top. It slightly resembles a vase that has burst open from within itself. The front of it is open, allowing users to access the inside of it, where there is a white dais on the base that is slightly raised, making a round, raised platform for the person to stand on. It has chords and plugs running all over it, making it look like it has veins.

Users[]

Appearances[]