Tamin Orodruin
Etroa, as has long been known, is in the shape of a very large bowl. Travel towards the capital and you travel steadily, though very gently, downwards. We live, of course, at the center of the world, and in the very center of our territory is the true center of the world. Down one travels, to the place at the center of the world, to the very forge of Aule, where rock flows like water in streams from a bubbling caldera and the air is often poisonous.
Here, we first discovered that certain rocks could melt into materials that didn't behave like rock, and began our long history of using metal tools. Long before others knew how, we were using tools that did not shatter, tools that could be used even against hardwood, tools that could be made into weapons that would last for more than a few strokes before losing their edge and shattering.
Our culture rose around the great Forge, and we rose with the growth of a metal industry focused around the heat of the mountain of fire and the advantage of metal tools
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Difficulty: Hard
Rolls: 5 + 6 - 1 = 10 (Superior)
The core of Etroa is Tamin Orodruin, a dormant volcanic caldera of massive proportions. Modern scientists believe that it may well have been the source of a significant portion of the land on which Etroa and it’s neighbors sit. For the most part, Etroa is a temperate land of forests and springs. But at the center of the caldera are streams of lava and toxic gas, lethal to any foolish enough to venture lower.
When the gods created the world, the ancient Etroan shamans said, they began at Tamin Orodruin. The fires of creation flowed underground, and from a good vantage on a clear day, one could see through the poisonous mist to the Aule Forge, still molten hot from the day that the gods completed their greatest work, believing the the heat and gas were the gods’ way of protecting their forge. The disparate Etroan tribes were united in their reverence of this place.
It is unclear how the first smiths of Etroa discovered the ways of metal production, but it is well known that they did so quite early compared to the rest of the world. Some claim the gods gave the First Smith a divine inspiration, from which he started the craft. Others posit it was a cascade of accidents regarding a part of the caldera lacking the poison gas but having tremendous heat from below, and the shiny parts of rocks. Whatever the case, one of the oldest communal buildings in Etroa is the Great Forge, built over such a vent from below and the oldest dedicated metalworking facility in the world.
The Etroans were the first among men to shape metal and glass, and over the generations, the forge has become a major part of their culture. One of the most respected men in the average village was the blacksmith, who passed his knowledge to his apprentices. At the time, the advantage of bronze weaponry assisted the clans who achieved it in their conquest of the others. It’s thought that the quick advent of metal tools and weaponry accelerated Etroan growth, helping it’s later power in the region.
To this day, Etroan metalcraft is world renowned for the care and quality that goes into it, beginning from the tradition of the Great Forge and Tamin Orodruin.
Special Resource: Sunseeds Redux
A form of opal found throughout the land of Etroa, Sunseeds are extraordinarily volatile, flooding any water they come in contact with with an energy resembling their own fiery iridescence. Said water, of course, becomes very very hot from all this energy. Even trace sweat on a hand can become scalding hot, so Sunseeds are best handled with respect and care. Pre-Etroans gathered their first Sunseeds from exposed cliffsides, and regarded them as the stuff of gods, believing them to contain the energies of the First Creation.
Sunshard Spears
As the Ancient Etroan's know; Sunseeds have an exceptionally volatile reaction when in contact with water. A reaction that has had many tales and legends made about it. As one such legend goes, one tribal leader with a desire for wealth and the other finer things of life (such as they were back then) had commissioned a spear; tipped with a pointed Sunseed gem. Then one day, this chieftain was attacked and mauled by a bear, or some other large vicious animal (the tales aren't clear and vary on this); his son, in pure panic filled adrenaline, took the Spear hafted with a Shard of a Sun; a tool initially meant entirely for decoration, and stabbed the beast with it. Legends say the fury of the Sun then smote the beast where it stood; but modern scientists know that it 'merely' boiled the beast from the inside.
Regardless of the tales truthfulness; the Ancient Etroan's made and wielded these 'Sunshard Spears'; intended primarily for emergencies against the more powerful fauna that were native to the lands instead of generic hunting. Our first weapon intended solely for conflict, some say.
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Difficulty: Normal
Roll: 6 + 2 + 0 = 8 (Average)
The “sunseeds” or “sunshards” of Etroa were for a long time mistaken for iridescent opals. Or perhaps, for Etroans, iridescent opals were mistaken for sunseeds. The odd rock, which has an orange-tinted iridescence, is found glittering in caves of the Tamin Oroduin Caldera. They display an extremely interesting property: When a sunshard makes contact with water, it heats up dramatically, and the water glows bright. To many Etroan shamans they were the crystalized blood of one of the gods, or perhaps tears, depending on precise doctrine, a belief still carried by some.
The property of heating was first used in the homes of Etroans, heating their homes in the winters and helping in the cooking. Then, as with all things, people thought of how to use it for combat. With their metalcraft, Etroans already had competent weaponry. Adding on sunseeds made them even more effective.
A sharpened sunseed attached to a spear was meant to be a display of wealth at first, scholars are fairly sure. After all, the ancient Etroans didn’t know that blood was in large parts made of water. But there is evidence that they learned very quickly. The sunshard spears went from weapons of ceremony to weapons of war, and many early Etroans died at the end of a burning hot spear. Two Etroan tribes, the one that built the Great Forge and the one that created the sunshard spears, merged together and would go on to conquer the other tribes in the region.
Sunseeds are a special resource with the sphere of
Heat.----
Some accomplishments were more or less grand and wide reaching than others. It is now the Revision phase, and you will have
two revisions this turn to do with as you please. For the preliminary phases, you can either improve existing designs, bring them to the current age, or make less impactful new things.
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.
Revisions
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.
Author
Topic: Commander Arms Race: Etroan R&D (Preliminary Turn 5 - Final Phase) (Read 20810 times)