Explosive Elves

From: Joseph Troxell <jmt107_at_psu.edu>
Date: Thu, 03 Apr 1997 03:35:09 -0500

From Michael O'Brien:
>Hey, it of course goes a lot further than that: when a eucalyptus elf
>says to his girlfriend "Come on baby light my fire" he really means it!
>Like the trees they tend, Eucalyptus Elves reproduce by immolating themselves!
>Also like eucalypts, these elves have highly flammable oil running through
>their veins and have unfortunate tendency to spontaneously combust when
>exposed to extreme heat. They get very nervous around people with Ignite
>matrixes...

"It's not a well known effect, but each year dozens of people spontaneously combust."
"It's just not widely reported."

        -from the movie, "This is Spinal Tap"

Would the flaming elf be likely to explode? If the heat is hot enough, I would think it could combust the oil in the elf's veins, causing gas pressure to build up inside the elf, and resulting in: The Exploding Elf!

Using the idea of an exploding elf, take it step further, and I see a particular trollish (really just Zorak Zorani) weapon in this. Throw an Eucalyptus Elf towards the advancing army; cast Ignite on said Elf right when he falls among the enemy. Fawoomp! You've just created the elf grenade! I can picture trolls biting the head off the elf just before they throw them, something akin to pulling the pin on a hand grenade. Besides the humor of the mental image I have, maybe biting the head off lets flaming sap fly everywhere, sort of like napalm.

The traditional warning of explosives about to detonate is, "Fire in the Hole!" I can just the lunar army advancing over the hill. The troops see some decapitated body lofted their way. The sergeant yells, "Elf in the Hole!" and the troops scatter looking for cover.

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