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[Skyrunner]

"...Do you care if she takes a loss or two?"

[filiusenox]

"Depends on the type of loss and if she deserved it."

[Skyrunner]

"Huh. Well, I'm going to Shola with Laythe to acquire backing for a Plan I have."

She waited, expecting William to either ask what the Plan was, or dismiss her.

[filiusenox]

William shrugs.
"What plan?"

[Skyrunner]

"Getting gunpowder, and cannons, into a country's navy (and or military) and ruling the seas."

She said it matter-of-fact-ly.

[filiusenox]

"Why do you want to do that when you're afraid of the ocean?"

[Skyrunner]

Eurika shrugged and crossed her arms.

"Being afraid of the ocean and ruling it is different... With a cannon-armed navy, we as a nation can take on any of the existing island nations' navies and probably come out unscathed. They use ballistae, which means either they shoot the ship's hull, or they shoot the sailors. Or, they could shoot the sails. The first two can be easily prevented: hulls can be reinforced, and sailors are hard to hit. Cannons can most probably rip through wooden hulls, can be used to massacre enemy sailors like never before, rip sails with impunity, and most of all shoot farther away from the ballista's maximum range. With a cannon-armed army, the enemy's best fortifications are rendered a minor nuisance, at best. "

[filiusenox]

"You've put a lot of thought into this, Eurika. Why do you dream of ruling the seas?"

[Skyrunner]

"Weak nations die. Strong nations prosper. When you have a hammer, the nails cower. You don't really need to wield the hammer all the time to make the nails stay in line... and I do think this metaphor was a bit off. Still."

She cautiously sat on a tiny corner of the bed.

[filiusenox]

Now that Eurika is closer to William; she notices thin cuts on the tips of his fingers on one of his hands. He scoots over on the bed a bit, to free up space.
"Do you believe that by becoming strong that you‘ll be right, whatever you do? Because your argument is backed up by strength?”

[Skyrunner]

Eurika glances at William's fingers.

"No, of course not."

She shook her head.

"It's more like... say, a strong nation tries to threaten us. We could avoid that happening, and people dying, by showing the world, we are strong! We are not going without a fight!"

She clenched a fist in the air.

"It's more of a threatening use, than actually fighting... the fact that gunpowder is expensive doesn't help."

Her voice was still light and conversational.

[filiusenox]

"Well, what goes into gun powder? Because all you would have to do is find places with those resources, and build mines or distilleries or mills or whatever, then start producing the ingredients by the tonne. Then make a place to produce it quickly and efficently. It might not be cheaper, but you can make it en-masse."

[Skyrunner]

"It is still expensive... I believe you need sulfur, charcoal and saltpeter. Also, what is also expensive is the use of cannonballs made of solid iron, and the amount of training. Artillery operators have to be trained... and there has to be research to determine the best way to fire. All costs accounted for, it is much more expensive then lining up a number of infantry and charging. "

[filiusenox]

"Sulfur and Saltpeter will be problematic...why do the cannonballs need to be solid iron?"

[Skyrunner]

"To crash into the ships and destroy walls. I imagine other types of shot such as 'chainshot' to rip up sails, and 'grapeshot' to kill people could happen..."