Returning to Ancient Raikonia for a moment...

Many Auran Sages possessed melee weapons like swords and staffs to compliment the supernatural gifts they were blessed with upon awakening; many of these gifts were projectile weapons in themselves (throwing lightning, etc.). Even those who lacked the range usually figured out a way to close the gap in battles against their foes, where they would unleash the power of their Aura-charged Verrocite weapons. Verrocite required constant contact with an Aura to be charged, however, explaining how nearly every Verrocite weapon known was a melee weapon.

NEARLY every...

Firearms back in those days were extremely rare. Not only were the ingredients to make reliable combustibles hard to come by (and then there was the effect of loud BANGs against the sensitive hearing of most Ri'khana), but manufacturing the components with the limited technology of the era was an expensive and extremely specialized job; a job few were able to afford. Those that could, however, found themselves in possession of a powerful tool that in trained paws could fell even an Auran in some instances.
One particular Sage found an ingenious way around this. He was among the few gunsmiths of the region, and through numerous experiments, forged the world's first Verrocite firearm.
It would be natural to consider the practicality of the weapon; Verrocite will react only to its owner, so no one else could fire the gun, and since it's reacts to an Aura anyway, there's no need for a trigger. All one has to do is charge the crystal and the bullet is already out the barrel, which only takes a fraction of a second (far less time it would take to pull a trigger). Consider the heightened reflexes and senses a Sage already has and you have an extremely deadly warrior. He had effectively turned the gun into a martial art in itself (if you've seen the movie Equilibrium, you have a good idea of what you'd be facing ;) ). The rare few who were able to utilize this weapon were later called "gunslingers" by their peers.

Due to the distinct form of construction of the weapon and the unorthodox method of training to use it, Verrocite guns never gained widespread use before the war against Shielakar. The exotic nature of it WAS enough to gain its own legends, though, which millennia later a budding Sage would learn of the techniques used in building one...