Welcome to the Discworld & Pratchett Wiki. Have fun, contribute and be warned articles may contain nuts and spoilers to the plots of the books.

From Discworld & Pratchett Wiki

The Gonne, like so many other devices, was invented by Discworld's greatest genius Leonard of Quirm. As usual, he had the best of intentions when he devised it, but it turned out to be one of the most dangerous weapons.

The weapon is powered by a kind of firework mechanism. It consists of a long tube with a feed mechanism for 6 small cartridges that can be fired with dangerous accuracy over a long distance. This fact makes the Gonne much more dangerous than the common crossbows.

It was so dangerous, in fact, that Havelock Vetinari ordered it destroyed. But the Assassins' Guild disobeyed the order, and instead secretly kept it under lock and key in their Guild Museum. Disaster strikes in the book Men at Arms, when the Gonne is stolen.

With almost supernatural power, the Gonne can possess the mind of the man who uses it. It shows him the power he has in his hands, and erases all scruples by telling him what could be achieved with this power. Even Samuel Vimes struggled against this temptation and the only man who seemed to be entirely immune to the Gonne's promises was Carrot Ironfoundersson, who finally managed to destroy the weapon once and for all. Carrot is immune because he has a dwarf's pragmatic attitude: a made thing is just a tool crafted for a purpose. why should I listen when it talks to me, as there's nothing there to do the talking? (This is probably why Hammerhock was killed after his purpose, of performing a minor repair on the gonne, was over. He also viewed it as a device, a clever device but nothing more, and was loudly speculating on building more - a prospect which the Gonne did not like.)

The Gonne has never been seen again. It has been suggested that Carrot buried it in the coffin of Lance-Constable Cuddy. His reasoning was that as the Gonne "died" when he smashed it against a stone pillar, its spirit could accompany Cuddy on his journey into the Afterlife, so as to provide a suitable weapon to fend off the evil spirits that Dwarfs don't believe in, but which may believe in Dwarfs. The fact that it was well hidden and no man could re-create such a dangerous device ever again (unless they find Leonard's original sketch and get interesting ideas) was of course purely a secondary consideration.