The Shadowhunter's Codex Read Online Free PDF Page B

weapon
—Two seraph blades
—Ranged weapon (e.g., crossbow, sling) (Optional)
—Stele You’re kidding. Lame. Okay. Custom lesson from Jace here. Yes, take all that stuff.
—Witchlight
    Actually, carry two witchlights. Some other stuff that I always carry with me on patrol: chalk. A multi-tool with screwdrivers and two knives and a corkscrew and all that. A sturdy watch. A strong folding utility knife. A butane lighter. A phone.
—Sensor
    If you are also carrying a backpack, I recommend throwing in nylon rope, a small crowbar, binoculars, a basic first aid kit, a spare stele, two extra seraph blades. Oh, and rubber gloves. Every so often you’ll be very glad you have them.
THE SENSOR
The Sensor is a common Shadowhunter device for detecting demonic activity. Sensors have varied in design over the years, but today the Sensor is usually a small handheld oblong made of a black metal. It bears some resemblance to a modern cellular phone or other handheld mundane communication device, but where that mundane device would have control buttons and switches labeled in a mundane language, the Sensor is labeled in Marks whose meaning must be learned. The original Sensor was invented in the late 1880s by Henry Branwell and for a time revolutionized the pursuit and capture of demons. It’s a tricorder.
    What? What is a tricorder? Three . . . cords?
Unfortunately, the Sensor is somewhat limited in what it is able to sense. It functions as a frequency detector, tuning in to the vibrations that demons create as they pass through the magical ether. These vibrations vary by demon species and change in intensity based on the intensity of demon activity (number of demons, demonic magic in use, etc.). In theory it is possible to create a “frequency table” matching specific demon species to specific frequencies, and in fact much ink and time was spilled in the years following the invention of the Sensor, creating endless tables for “translating” specific demon signals. In the field Shadowhunters almost never have time to consult a table, and it is usually faster and easier for them to learn from experience to recognize demon types by sight. These tables are now considered mostly a historical curiosity.
    But we have wasted your time by telling you about them anyway.
These days Sensors are designed not to be manually tuned (though most can be so tuned if the user demands it) but to scan up and down continuously for all demon activity and offer some educated guesses about the causes of any frequencies that appear. Modern Sensors may have mapping systems, proximity alarms, and other colorful features.
The Sensor often baffles new Shadowhunters, mostly because of its control buttons, which are labeled in angelic runes. This is done to allow the device to be used universally around the world, as the Shadowhunters do not share a single common language other than the language of Raziel and the Gray Book.
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SENSORS THROUGH THE YEARS That title makes me sleepy just looking at it.
    I have never in my life been bored enough to actually read this sidebar.
The first Sensor used as its warning mechanism a standard mechanical metronome, which in the proximity of demons would begin to clack rhythmically, its speed increasing as the demon and Sensor grew closer together. This metronome sat atop a large wooden box clasped in copper, the copper having been elaborately inscribed with Marks, and a variety of Marked and un-Marked mechanical works inside did the sensing and ran the metronome. The whole contraption sat atop a heavy cart with four wheels that had to be pushed around, since the metronome had to be kept level with the ground at all times and could easily be disrupted by unexpected movements. Various experiments took place through the early twentieth century to try to make the Sensor self-propelled and able to follow a Shadowhunter, patrol an area independently, and so on. These experiments never resulted in any usable innovation, and more