Sophia has quite a few. Not that I think about it, she's getting very close to Batman-levels of preparedness. Seeing as she's a skinny blonde incapable of magic, I like the idea of her having a bunch of tools to serve her needs when the going gets tough. If Gadgeteers were a job, she'd totally be it!
-Arminius: A pistol gifted to her by a respected ally. It has three barrels and is capable of firing aether-charged rounds to simulate crude spells.
-Collapsing Sword: I've always liked the idea of a fold-up short sword. While the Blazefire isn't exactly what I had in mind, it serves as a nice skin for Sophia's sword, which collapses in its hilt.
-Mythril Wire: Sophia's gauntlets have a mechanism that can both 'launch' and retract a wire attached it a small hook and barb. This has a variety of uses, from good ole' piano wire to yanking a weapon out of the hand of an unwary opponent or even as a whip.
-Karambit dagger: As mentioned above, Sophia is a dainty midder. Cesti or not, she won't be punching through any armor anytime soon. Considering she's a capable hand to hand fighter, she uses a karambit to stab in weak spots while still retaining use of her hands.
-Throwing dagger: For when a gun/gunshot is just too high profile.
Aside from her usual gear listed above, she's used a few more gadgets in various RP:
-A high powered magnet shaped like a horse shoe, which she used to incapacitate an enemy in seemingly impenetrable armor by binding his sword arm to his back.
-A bootknife. Because bootknives.
-Several types of poisons, administered via syringe or coated arrow. A few explosives as well, smoke bombs, etc.
As to the how, well, the Empire spares no expense. Sophia generally designs what would be useful to her along with her regular blacksmith (who is more along the lines of a tinkerer at this point).
-Arminius: A pistol gifted to her by a respected ally. It has three barrels and is capable of firing aether-charged rounds to simulate crude spells.
-Collapsing Sword: I've always liked the idea of a fold-up short sword. While the Blazefire isn't exactly what I had in mind, it serves as a nice skin for Sophia's sword, which collapses in its hilt.
-Mythril Wire: Sophia's gauntlets have a mechanism that can both 'launch' and retract a wire attached it a small hook and barb. This has a variety of uses, from good ole' piano wire to yanking a weapon out of the hand of an unwary opponent or even as a whip.
-Karambit dagger: As mentioned above, Sophia is a dainty midder. Cesti or not, she won't be punching through any armor anytime soon. Considering she's a capable hand to hand fighter, she uses a karambit to stab in weak spots while still retaining use of her hands.
-Throwing dagger: For when a gun/gunshot is just too high profile.
Aside from her usual gear listed above, she's used a few more gadgets in various RP:
-A high powered magnet shaped like a horse shoe, which she used to incapacitate an enemy in seemingly impenetrable armor by binding his sword arm to his back.
-A bootknife. Because bootknives.
-Several types of poisons, administered via syringe or coated arrow. A few explosives as well, smoke bombs, etc.
As to the how, well, the Empire spares no expense. Sophia generally designs what would be useful to her along with her regular blacksmith (who is more along the lines of a tinkerer at this point).