Timekeeper Clockwork Marksman Rifle
Ever since the classical era, Etroan craftsmen have always been fascinated with small, fine machinery. As a result, is it any wonder that the art of clocksmithing has been so much more prolific in Etroa? This fascination has also lead to some strange inventions, the Ancient Lunguma was merely the first. Created by a watchmaker turned gunsmith; the Timekeeper is a fairly bulky contraption, made to address the perceived shortcomings of a bolt-action.
The Timekeeper is the worlds first 'Clockwork Action' rifle; the trigger the weapon merely acts to arrest the motion of these mechanisms. As a result, as long as the trigger is held down, the Clockwork Action will automatically cycle through bullets and fire them, delightfully ticking the entire time, until either the magazine runs out of ammunition, or the clockwork winds down (in which case they'll need to be rewound). The mechanism was designed specifically so that a marksman did not have to 'break aim' in order to work the bolt; all they need to do is hold their aim steady and count the seconds until the rifle fires the next round; for the rifle doesn't just run like clockwork, it *is* clockwork and the soothing sound of its ticking clock will keep the time for the gunner.
With a barrel machined to the same precision as its mechanisms, a carefully adjusted set of sights, and stabilized by the fact that our soldiers will never have to take their hands off it during operation; the Timekeeper may not see universal presence due to its lovingly crafted mechanisms, but those who do carry one will do so proudly, for a better marksman rifle there is not.
Difficulty: Average
Roll: 3+3+0 = 6 (Average)
Many say that in modern warfare there is no place for craftsmanship, only for efficiency and volume. Armies are larger than ever, and the cost to equip them equally so. To a degree, Etroa begrudingly accepted the logic; their primary infantry weaponry is mass produced, if still to a high level of quality, as are replacement parts simply because otherwise an army wouldn’t be able to go very long at all without restocking. But what Etroa did not accept was that the place for high standards of quality and hand craftsmanship was a thing of the past, especially not the designer of the ‘Timekeeper’ Clockwork Marksman Rifle.
The Timekeeper was this philosophy manifested into a weapon. Requiring precision clockwork and significant skill to create and maintain, each one was a valuable piece of equipment, and there would never be enough to fully equip Etroa’s army with them even with workshops across the country dedicated to their construction. But then, there was no need to do so; the Timekeeper was the marksman’s weapon. It’s unique clockwork action takes some getting used to, but those that can do so and use it with a steady hand would be well rewarded.
Popular myth was that enemy soldiers could no longer stand to be in the same room as a ticking clock after battle. While the ticking was far too quiet to hear at a range that a marksman would be using it, the weapon certainly made it’s mark on the battlefield.
Anor Armored Cruiser, modernized Skytear Galleon
An evolution of the use of the large frigate as a fast warship, the Anor Armored Cruiser is a more modern warship for more modern times. Like the Skytear Galleons of old, alloys of Skytears and metals lighten various elements of the ship, especially those above the waterline, to reduce topweight issues and allow more weapons and superstructure protection to be added.
The ships are powered by SCTA turbine powerplants, making them fast despite their excellent armor protection. They are armored by a fairly advanced, face-hardened steel armor plate enabled by our advanced metallurgy. Their structure is similarly composed of tough steel alloy to give them additional survivability, even beyond that given by their Skytear Galleon-inherited tendency to never sink.
The ships are covered in weapons of all sorts, with a main battery of 8" guns capable of punching straight through any ironclad warship, secondary batteries of 4" guns to deal with lighter warships and harass larger ones that get too close. Shells with Sunic interiors serve us for incendiaries capable of destroying any wooden warships still in service while devastating shore targets, while explosives and armor-piercing shells sometimes use Sunic lead components to add a little incendiary ability to their normal purpose.
These armored cruisers are the most common unit of our fleet, being less expensive than a full battleship yet capable of defeating battleships protected by only iron, and capable of resisting fire from low-velocity guns of the time due to their steel armor.
Difficulty: Easy
6+2+1 = 9 (Above Average)
While the Eclipse was a grand vessel, it could not possibly be everywhere at once. The Anor-class armored cruiser applied Etroan shipbuilding philosophy to modern designs, showing the Etroan navy to be a fearsome force in the ismuth and the world at large.
As time has passed, Etroa has only become more adept at including Eld in their designs, and it shows with it’s extensive incorporation into the design. As with past ships, it is incredibly difficult to actually sink an Anor cruiser; if one is defeated, it’s through a hit to critical systems or simply by destroying its ability to retaliate rather than simply sinking them and while expensive to outfit the fact that they are easily repaired or salvaged helps to keep cost down. Of course, a ship that’s durable is all well and good, but not very useful if it can’t hurt the enemy - so of course, the Anor cruiser is quite capable of this. It has a heavy main battery for the size, with armor piercing and explosive shells to pierce opposing ironclads. Secondary guns, while smaller, are loaded entirely with sunic shells that allow them to easily set fires to enemy ships even if they have difficulty actually piercing it’s armor.
The Anor Cruisers served as the mainstay vessel of the Etroan fleet during the Yuzuan War, clashing constantly with the ships of the overseas empire.
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The Yuzuan War was the bloodiest conflict in Etroan history, and many were glad to see the back of it. For 50 years, we’ve given this “peace” thing a try, and for some it’s enough. But those awful Askians keep pushing, and pushing, and pushing. Something’s gonna give. And we’ll be ready when it does.
It is the
final preliminary Design phase. You have two designs in this phase. As your forces build and prepare to return to battle, someone takes the lead; perhaps an old veteran from the Yuzuan War, or a youthful new firebrand eager to end the tale of Askia and Etroa;
Design your first Commander. They will be added directly to the armory. For the second, design
any ground-based military equipment or unit; this will be added directly to the armory.Designs
Tamin Orodruin: The Tamin Orodruin caldera, while it’s status as the center of the world is debated, is the cradle of metalworking - it’s resources and the easy access to heat helped Etroans develop the trade early, and they have improved on it in the time since.
Sunshard Spears: Bronze spears tipped with sharpened sunseeds, a weapon combining two unique factors of Etroa. It causes heavy burns where it pierces - and while it cauterizes the wounds such that bleeding out isn’t a worry, the pain can often be incapacitating all the same.
-Maclimire Craftswords: Before they can take an apprenticeship, an Etroan blacksmith must first craft a Maclimire to be recognized as a master. The swords are much like their cousins, the sunshard spears, in how they use sunseeds to turn already bad wounds into lethal stabs, although a bit better in close range.
-Timekeeper Clockwork Marksman Rifle: The Timekeeper is a clockwork rifle of high craftsmanship, ticking along. Hand-crafted, it was rare but of impeccable quality and accuracy.
Etroan Water Purifiers: Devices used in the ritualistic cleansing of water. Effective at making water safe to drink, although used primarily for ritual rather than day to day use.
Lunguma, The Heavy Hand: A bronze apparatus worn on the arm and part of the body. Using the power of fairly high pressure and steam created by sunseeds and water, it drives a bronze piston with speed into whatever is in front of it. While too unwieldy for combat use despite the attempts of several youths, it allows combat engineers to rapidly build defenses given a couple hours.
-The Angamolen of Damrod: A large ironworks created by the great smith Damrod after his invention of the Heavy Hand. Using similar technology, the forge would later be an example for others to follow, making it easier to forge large amounts of metal into usable shape.
Sunic Cartridges: Special ammunition for Etroan musketmen, using Sunic Lead. While it doesn’t pierce as well as traditional ammunition, it easily ignites on impact.
-Sunic Cannonballs: Sunic lead cannonballs, with a bit more lead and a bit less sunseed in the formula to avoid premature detonation, lending an incendiary exponent to Etroan naval and ground cannons.
-Colonial and Protectorate Forces: Cavalry equipped with sunic lead blunderbuss-pistols, serving as fast attack forces capable of shredding infantry formations from outside of bayonet or pike range.
Skytear Galleons: Huge cargo ships with skytear-infused support beams. Incredibly difficult to actually sink due to the use of skytears and sunseeds to reduce density and lighten it as it takes on water.
-Anor-class Armored Cruiser: Heavily armored and armed cruisers using sunic cannons for incendiary attack as well as eld-infused steel to give it a surprisingly light weight and ability to stay afloat as long as it has more hull integrity than Iconan cheese.
E.R.S. Eclipse: A massive floating castle created to repel the invading Yuzuan Empire and enable a counterinvasion. Made of super-pykrete and Olszewskium, the frozen fortress makes up for it’s nature as a single vessel and it’s incredibly slow speed with sheer volume of fire and durability.
SCTA: The Self-Contained Turbine Apparatus is a highly efficient, easy to scale up or down and quite easy to miniaturize, steam engine. It carried the industrial revolution on it’s back, powering many factories and inventions both military and civilian.
Resources and Interactions
Sunseeds: Iridescent stones resembling opals, with fantastical properties focused around heat. Not much is known about it, but it surely has potential.
-When making contact with water, it rapidly heats up.
-When mixed with lead, it creates Sunic Lead, which is pyrophoric, igniting in the air and setting fire to targets hit with it.
-When used in alloyed steel along with zinc and chromium, sunseeds create Olszewskium, which cools water instead of heating it.
Skytears: A pitch black stone, with fantastical properties focused around density.
-It changes density in response to temperature, with higher temperatures reducing density.
"You're done? Alright then, to answer your questions in order... Yes, I am Catherine. I'm doing surprisingly well actually, this whole experience is fascinating. The memories I'm finding seem to confirm the earlier idea that I was a scholar... although interestingly enough, I also remember a lot more combat than I'd expect for even a mage of high skill. A name floats to mind as well... Kizamo, I think, was the name of my home country. I remember... a lot of sand. Which does have me wondering why I'm not tanned from the sun as I think is normal for desert regions; either I didn't spend much outside, I was of foreign birth, or just didn't spend much time in the country... Oh, now I'm the one talking a lot... Have you remembered anything of home yet?"
