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[Vostok]

The Angamolen of Damrod: (2) Madman, Vostok
Heavy Hand Crossbow: (1) Stirk
The Creation of the Black Ceramic, and it's use in Lava Stratification: (1) TricMagic
Hadron Ondolin: (2) TricMagic, Failbird

[Jilladilla]

The Angamolen of Damrod: (3) Madman, Vostok, Jilladilla
Heavy Hand Crossbow: (1) Stirk
The Creation of the Black Ceramic, and it's use in Lava Stratification: (1) TricMagic
Hadron Ondolin: (2) TricMagic, Failbird

[Rockeater]

The Angamolen of Damrod: (4) Madman, Vostok, Jilladilla, Rockeater
Heavy Hand Crossbow: (1) Stirk
The Creation of the Black Ceramic, and it's use in Lava Stratification: (1) TricMagic
Hadron Ondolin: (2) TricMagic, Failbird

[Twinwolf]

The Angamolen of Damrod
Damrod, a famed smith whose Macilmire had been acclaimed the finest work of craftsmanship since the Elder Days, fought when his village was attacked by the Ofalians. The tale of his victory is too long to recount here, but in the end the enemy was defeated, and the smith was crippled. He had lost the use of one of his arms, and spent some weeks staring at his forge, unable to work. When a relief force reached his village, they brought with them an engineering group and one or more of the new steam hammer devices. Intrigued, Damrod worked with one of the former smith apprentices, who was a common soldier at the time, to work up a stationary form of the steam hammer, one that could be used in metalworking...one that could be used with only one hand.

An ancient equivalent of the modern power hammer, this new device made it dozens of times easier to hammer metal. Damrod began working with many, many more apprentices to design different shapes and styles of steam hammer to suit the needs of his rapidly growing ironworks. Pounding iron into wrought iron was revolutionized, allowing well-forged iron arms and armor, which is far more plentiful than the components of bronze and can be stronger if worked to near-pure wrought iron before being forged, to supplant bronze amongst the common soldiery. These early forays into iron metallurgy were not as strong as hammered bronze, but were cheaper, and more plentiful, and could thus be supplied to our allies as well as our own soldiers.

Eventually the Ironworks, a large complex of buildings constructed over an underground magma river, would become home to a wide assortment of these steam hammers, a secret jealously guarded by Damrod and his successors. Devices many times larger than the originals and situated over carefully sited vents to the river below would be used to pound great amounts of iron ore down into wrought iron, while smaller ones could be used by any smith to hasten the work of hammering metal to a rough shape. Damrod himself managed to produce a system of clamps and very small hammers that could be used for detail work, and it is sometimes claimed, erroneously we are sure, that his later crafts were superior to the ones made before he lost his arm.

Difficulty: Hard
Rolls: 4+3 - 1 = 6 (Average)

The clang of metal on metal rings through the Angamolen, and through Etroa. Damrod’s ironworks are one of the larger producers and workers of metal in Etroa, working iron and bronze into shapes fit for war and peace alike. Etroan troops had an abundance of metal equipment when needed, for armor or swords or arrows - and while the mass production was certainly not of quite the same quality as those crafted carefully by hand and the heavy hands of the ironworks needed to be supplemented by real smiths for finer work and finishing, they were still of better stuff than many other nations.

It would be needed.

While the Askian forces repelled the invasion of Ofal, Icona was protected The battle was fierce, and we had to use all we had to match them. Until this age, Etroa had largely been unchallenged - but no longer. It had met it’s real rival.

---

The Renaissance Era:

Centuries passed, and the world continued to turn. And skirmishes and wars with Askia were a major theme of them. While there were times of comparative peace, times where one side or the other had an advantage, never did they manage to conquer each other. Power waxed and waned, and the world changed, but Askia and Etroa have never really had good relations.

As the age of sail dawned, Etroa’s tradesmen ranged far, learning of new places and technologies. This decade’s conflict with Askia was a draw. Generally speaking, Etroa is prosperous, moreso than at many points in it’s history.

And so the world goes, things are about to change.

You have two designs this turn. The first prompt asks what military design characterized warfare for your nation in this period? The second prompt asks what design is associated with a major shift, political or cultural, in the country?


---

Spoiler: Prelimary Proposals (click to show/hide)

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.

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.

Resources and Interactions
Sunseeds: Iridescent stones resembling opals, with fantastical properties focused around heat. When making contact with water, it rapidly heats up. Not much is known about it, but it surely has potential. This resource’s sphere is Heat.

[Stirk]

We should probably raid Da Vinci's workshop.

Non-military design: Great Galleon.
With no room to expand on land, Etroans inevitably took to the seas. This allowed us to found overseas colonies, both founding peaceful settlements on virgin land and conquering foreigners. Before long Etroa was a mighty empire with fleets of ships carting cargo into port from across the globe. At this point in time the ship best showing our Naval tradition was the Great Galleon, large multi-decked ships capable of hauling and defending massive stores of cargo. Depending on the size, they would have three to four masts allowing them to run on wind power. Our fine craftsmanship not stopping at metal, each was finally made by highly skilled Etroan craftsman using advanced toolwork and high quality lumber. The expense in crafting these ships helped lead to the rise of trade guilds, which rose to power during this period. At the time, the largest and most powerful was the Blacksmith's guild, followed by the Craftsman's guild, with the Merchant guild in a close third. These three guilds became quite wealthy, sponsoring the arts and sciences in addition to creating wonderful works to show off their own craftsmanship. To this day, the Etroan Renaissance is lauded as a period of art and science. The ships themselves do not directly utilize sunstone, though the tools used to construct them often did. They run entirely on wind power. Each is armed with demi-culverin broadsides, though as armed merchant ships these were typically used to deter piracy rather than fight wars.

Military Design: Sunseedlock Musket
While the other nations were hitting flint against steel like cavemen, the brilliant Etroans came up with an advanced yet simple weapon loading system. A small steel bulb was placed on a cock above the pan of gunpowder. Water would be placed in the bulb, and a screw lid with a small bit of sunstone on the end would be screwed on the bulb. Thanks to fine Etroan engineering, the steam would be unable to escape. The amount of water was kept incredibly low to avoid having the bulb explode like a grenade. While one would expect the sunstone to heat up only to the temperature of steam, it was discovered that holding sun-stone in a small container with permanent connection to water causes it to continue heating to around 500 degrees centigrade. This was plenty hot enough to ignite Etroan gunpowder, allowing us to have a very reliable firing mechanism while everyone else was struggling with the concept. The bulb would slam into the pan, igniting the weapon, which would then immediately be cocked back by means of a special handle to prevent the pan from overheating. The cock was designed to minimize exposure to the soldiers, with a protective heat shield adding some weight to the weapon. Future scientist would discover that holding it in even smaller containers or increasing the amount of water would lead to even greater temperatures.

[TricMagic]

We should probably raid Da Vinci's workshop.

+1


Non-military design: Moonseeds and the Steam Train

One thing that led the great renasiance was the discovery of moonseeds. During one skirmish with Askia over this decade, a deposite of sunseeds was left forgotten in the snowy peaks during a winter. As we all know, Sunseeds interact with water to boil. But snow is far more solid, and doesn't actually interact with it.

Eventually, a Etroan came across them during a scouting mission next summer. They looked like opals and were found with Etroan gear, but when they tried to actually use them, water turned to ice rather than steam.

They were brought back, and eventually it was discovered that leaving sunseeds in the snow turned them to moonseeds after a month of cold. While leaving moonseeds near lava's sweltering temepatures for a month turned them to sunseeds. Or just leaving them buried in a hot enough fire for a few hours.

In this manner, the first proper Steam Engine was created. While there were the steam-hammers before that, now a combination of a Moonseed where steam gathered, and a Sunseed where water rested. Together, these two created a compact steam engine with great water retention. It could continue to produce power for days steadily and continuously. And so they were used to turn the gears and wheels of the First Steam Train.

With the The Angamolen of Damrod and Lunguma, The Heavy Hand, tracks were set up. To the east trains ran to the Icona people, greatly improving their ability to travel and the transport of food and materials. This is also where, each winter, Sunseeds became Moonseeds. And to the west, we built our tracks to the many people beyond the Isthmus. Though expansion, trade, diplomacy, and sometimes a good war, we expanded the empire and brought their people and cultures into our own.

And so we entered a Cultural Renaissance, where travel was easy, trade plentiful. And peace secured by hammer and trade, or shard and war.


Military Design: Plasma Bomb Reaction

The Plasma Bomb Reaction was probably the first discovery towards true dominance. And one of the worst cases of destruction imaginable.

By mixing magnesium powder into sunseed powder, and then filling a shell with the result, we created a shell. When flung by a catapult or shot by a cannon, it didn't do much. But once hitting something and cracking, the air around it turned to plasma.

What actually happened was the mix actually triggering a chain reaction in which oxygen in the air was superheated. This was primarlily due to the combanation of kinetic impact with a surface, and the cracked shell letting an influx of air mix with the powder combination. Magnesium ignites, and the ignition ignites the Sunseed powder, which in turn ignites all the air around it until there is no oxygen left from the shockwave the plasma creation produced. Which turned out to be around 20 meters for a basic 3 foot shell. Larger shells tended to add 10 meters for every foot.

By using cannons, catapults & trebuchets, and sometimes bows, we mowed down our enemy with fire and plasma, busting apart fortifications and enemy lines. The bow in particular used a simple tin arrowhead casing filled with it, and always cracked on impact, generally removing whatever it hit as an issue.

[Vostok]

Sunseed glass was first created sometime during the tenth century by a glassblower known as Ivan Nazarov, famous for finding inspiration for his work while under the influence. While drunk one day, he decided to try creating glassware with crushed sunseed added to the mixture, which resulted in a vase with an otherworldly glow to it, shining even in the dead of night. Lucky for him, this impressed the priest who commissioned the piece enough that he managed to avoid getting executed for heresy. This technique was then passed down through the Nazarov family for the next four hundred years, bringing great renown to his descendents, who used the technique in everything from vases to stained glass windows.

The first recorded use of sunseed glass for practical purposes was in 1570, when a brilliant young naval officer by the name of Jaroslav Obdržálek commissioned a set of marine telescope lenses made of the material from Aleksey Nazarov. It quickly became evident to Obdržálek that what he had was the world's first night vision telescope, and after some experimentation it was discovered that Sunseed Glass amplified the light passing through it. Seeing the potential of such a technology, he partnered with Aleksey to explore the use of sunseed glass in practical applications as soon as he left the military. Soon after, they patented a system of sunseed-glass light amplification known as NOLAS, or "Nazarov-Obdržálek Light Amplification System."

The first and most obvious use of NOLAS after night vision was to create a spotlight far brighter than what came before it by mounting several NOLAS lenses in series, adding a light source (parabolic mirror optional), and sticking the whole thing on either an artillery carriage or some other mounting mechanism that allowed it to be aimed at things. When used as part of a fortress or other fixed installation in conjunction with NOLAS-based night vision devices, this allowed Etroan defenders to flash-blind would-be attackers at nighttime and in some cases set things on fire, incapacitating the enemy and allowing our men to strike with impunity.
---
This wouldn't be figured out until much, much later, but the sunseed-glass reaction operates as a special case of blackbody radiation. Some of the incoming photons are absorbed by the sunseed glass, exciting the atoms within it, and is quickly re-radiated along the same path as electrons fall back to lower energy levels. Because of the special properties of the sunseed particles inside the glass, however, more photons are emitted than are absorbed, creating a light-amplification effect.

[Stirk]

Sunseed glass was first created sometime during the tenth century by a glassblower known as Ivan Nazarov, famous for finding inspiration for his work while under the influence. While drunk one day, he decided to try creating glassware with crushed sunseed added to the mixture, which resulted in a vase with an otherworldly glow to it, shining even in the dead of night. Lucky for him, this impressed the priest who commissioned the piece enough that he managed to avoid getting executed for heresy. This technique was then passed down through the Nazarov family for the next four hundred years, bringing great renown to his descendents, who used the technique in everything from vases to stained glass windows.

The first recorded use of sunseed glass for practical purposes was in 1570, when a brilliant young naval officer by the name of Jaroslav Obdržálek commissioned a set of marine telescope lenses made of the material from Aleksey Nazarov. It quickly became evident to Obdržálek that what he had was the world's first night vision telescope, and after some experimentation it was discovered that Sunseed Glass amplified the light passing through it. Seeing the potential of such a technology, he partnered with Aleksey to explore the use of sunseed glass in practical applications as soon as he left the military. Soon after, they patented a system of sunseed-glass light amplification known as NOLAS, or "Nazarov-Obdržálek Light Amplification System."

The first and most obvious use of NOLAS after night vision was to create a spotlight far brighter than what came before it by mounting several NOLAS lenses in series, adding a light source (parabolic mirror optional), and sticking the whole thing on either an artillery carriage or some other mounting mechanism that allowed it to be aimed at things. When used as part of a fortress or other fixed installation in conjunction with NOLAS-based night vision devices, this allowed Etroan defenders to flash-blind would-be attackers at nighttime and in some cases set things on fire, incapacitating the enemy and allowing our men to strike with impunity.
---
This wouldn't be figured out until much, much later, but the sunseed-glass reaction operates as a special case of blackbody radiation. Some of the incoming photons are absorbed by the sunseed glass, exciting the atoms within it, and is quickly re-radiated along the same path as electrons fall back to lower energy levels. Because of the special properties of the sunseed particles inside the glass, however, more photons are emitted than are absorbed, creating a light-amplification effect.

>When used as part of a fortress or other fixed installation in conjunction with NOLAS-based night vision devices

Putting light amplification devices meant for nighttime use in front of your eyes then shining bright lights sounds like a good way to get your own men blinded.

[Vostok]

>When used as part of a fortress or other fixed installation in conjunction with NOLAS-based night vision devices

Putting light amplification devices meant for nighttime use in front of your eyes then shining bright lights sounds like a good way to get your own men blinded.

...that's why you don't use both at once? You use night vision to try and find people, point a big fucking spotlight at them to flash blind them and point them out to everybody and their mother after the guys with NVDs put the things away and then you start shooting.

[Stirk]

...that's why you don't use both at once? You use night vision to try and find people, point a big fucking spotlight at them to flash blind them and point them out to everybody and their mother after the guys with NVDs put the things away and then you start shooting.

Better hope your soldiers can hear the men in the back shouting "HEY GUYS I'M ABOUT TO TURN THIS ON TAKE OFF YOUR GOGGLES!" and follow the orders before getting themselves blinded then.

Edit: Honestly the spotlight seems like a waste in general. For the same amount of glass you could make a bunch of your NV goggles. For the same size and weight you could have an artillery piece. When put together you have a less-lethal weapon that is ineffective during the day, risks blinding your own people at night, and competes with effective heavy weapons. Even in the situation it works as described and we mainly use it to defend facilities, the enemy can avoid its effects by not attacking at night.

[Vivalas]

+1 To moonseeds / steam train. The potential of having such a complete thermodynamic cycle with almost no fuel is too great to pass, if it works out.



Military Design: The Tulenov Steam-Clipper

The great oceans on both sides of the Etroan peninsula held great interest to early Etroan strategists, who devised a plan to develop a strong naval force with which to project power and base their strategic doctrines on.

The power of the sunseed was too great for the naval engineers employed by these strategic thinkers to pass up, and a young aspiring naval architect from the University of Etroa named Victor Tulenov devised a ship capable of harnessing the power of the sunseed to propel itself at speeds far greater than that of sail or the ruminants of early forays into naval steam propulsion.

The first prototype Tulenov Steam-Clipper was a wooden craft, light as to save weight for maximum maneuverability. The craft had a water intake at its front which lead into the main mechanism of the craft, the Double-Bypass Sunic Converter. (Sunic, being the new engineering shorthand for sunseeds that had developed among the burgeoning academia of the Etroan Renaissance.) The device gorged itself on water as the clipper gained speed, before entering a proto-turbine of sorts that funneled the quickly moving water into a flashbox of sunseeds that quickly heated it to steam. The next phase in the Sunic Converter was a manifold that directed steam back through the intake to act as a vaccuum of sorts, to increase water consumption and flow into the converter, and a shunt that directed the steam through a crude early turbine system that drove a screw in the back of the craft. Despite its rather complex method of function, the converter had no moving parts other than the turbine blades and shaft which directly connected to the screw. Early designs were rumored to get as fast as 25 knots on test runs, and the design very quickly pleased the infantile Etroan admiralty, who devsied ways to militarize the design and use it to gain command of the seas through quick-swarm and hit-and-run naval tactics.

The craft was equipped with sails as well to gain the speed needed to switch to converter propulsion, which limited the efficiency of the design, and the hull was largely that of a catamaran design that minimized cross-section in the water and allowed the intake to function as a scoop rather than a full feature of the hull. Because of the double-bypass nature of the converter, the ship gained more and more thrust as it gained more speed, scaling even moreso than drag as it gained speed, but at a certain point the turbulence within the converter system rapidly decreased the gain until a max speed was reached (In an effect similar to that of stalling in modern aeroplanes, where angle-of-attack can only be increased so much until lift is lost). Later designs would improve upon the process and increase the max speed of the Tulenov Sunic Converter, but the design was still very impressive nontheless.


EDIT: The double-bypass concept is based on edjuctor-jets, which use very fast moving liquids to create a suction of sorts, as described here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Injector

[Stirk]

Military:
Sunseedlock Musket: ()
Plasma Bomb Reaction: ()
NOLAS: ()
The Tulenov Steam-Clipper: ()

Civilian:
Great Galleon: ()
Moonseeds and the Steam Train: (1) Vivalas

Military Design: Sunic Cartridge
As materials advanced across the ages, the impressive ability of sun-stone to explode any human it managed to enter became less and less relevant as new armor conspired to prevent the rock from eliminating its target. Fortunately, those same advances in materials came up with a solution! Etroan alchemist had, in attempt to turn the base metal into gold, combined crushed sunseed into molten lead creating a material known as Sunic Lead. Sunic Lead is pyrophoric and flammable, a strong enough impact causes it to release heat and ignite (helpfully igniting anything in contact with it). It is also "Self-sharpening", impact with a hard object causes it to fracture in a way that retains an edge thanks to the sunseed fragments layout. With this material, the alchemist had ironically struck gold - centuries later it would be the choice round for Etroan musketmen. It would easily pierce even the greatest plate armor, set alight the mightiest of ships, and send any cowards who dare face the might of Etroa running for the hills.

In short, it is not-Depleted Uranium.

With this development allowing firearms to become much more common than in many foreign lands, Etroa tended to be on the cutting edge of gun development. While their ammunition retained the ball shape popular at the time, they developed a paper cartridge to allow for faster rates of fire and to give the powder some amount of water resistance. There would be two compartments made out of paper, one with a Sunic Lead ball and another with the powder charge. The end of the cartridge would be bit open to allow for some powder to be placed on the pan while the rest of the powder would be poured down the barrel, followed by the remaining paper and the ball (with the helpful assistance of a rod). Our now-loaded firearm could then be fired, the Sunic Round igniting whatever target is unfortunate enough to be in its sights.

[Vostok]

Military:
Sunseedlock Musket: ()
Plasma Bomb Reaction: ()
NOLAS: (1): Vostok
The Tulenov Steam-Clipper: ()

Civilian:
Great Galleon: (1) Vostok
Moonseeds and the Steam Train: (1) Vivalas

[Stirk]

Military:
Sunseedlock Musket: ()
Plasma Bomb Reaction: ()
NOLAS: (1): Vostok
The Tulenov Steam-Clipper: ()
Sunic Cartridge: (1) Stirk
Civilian:
Great Galleon: (1) Vostok
Moonseeds and the Steam Train: (1) Vivalas

I like the Steam Engine ideas, but I think we are a bit too early to implement them (Twin's comment was that we might get a single train rather than a train route). We 100% need to get moonstone at some point. I am also in love with using Sunic for sunseed things. I'll wait until we get more civilian ideas before picking any of them.

We should probably pick out a government system at some point, from the sound of it Askia has some fancy background organizations (Soldier Priests, Warrior-Sorcerers, etc). Making our own is probably a good choice, since we've mostly been focusing on things instead of people. I tried my hand at it with the guilds, to fit into the craftsman angle we've been playing. If we want to have a royal family, this would be a good time for it to be introduced. If we want to have a major religion, this is a good time for a reformation. We have three Design Phases left and have to remember we arn't designing a bunch of weapons, we are designing Etroa.

[Vivalas]

We have three Design Phases left and have to remember we arn't designing a bunch of weapons, we are designing Etroa.

You raise a good point. We should probably focus on the type of social and cultural stuff that we can't really change as easily once we're in the shorter timeframe of the war. Although maybe that's what the military / civ split is all about.