Technology In Eden I: Military

The world of the Spirits of Eden varies in its technology. While most of it is set roughly to the standards of the 1300s and 1400s, some bits of practical magic and unique elements have elevated technology in certain areas, while scarcity and location has made it lower in others. Tradition and religion is also an important element to consider – most people in Adel wear robes with cloth belts, because of the tradition religiously recurring throughout the land, even if perhaps some sturdy pants and a good shirt and vest would be better. There is also the matter of the Dromidae Empire – their level of technology is above Adel’s.

In this article series, we’ll look at choice areas of technology in Eden.

Military Technology

First and foremost it is important to discuss military technology in Adel. The Adelians have always been a war-like culture. They began as very war-like cultures in antiquity, and prowess in battle is still respected and even venerated. Every Adelian learns some martial arts, however minor, and even the youngsters can be dangerous if properly armed. Any civilian can shoot a crossbow, but the military in Adel has some particularly sinister weaponry at their disposal that makes even lowly recruits very dangerous.

Basic Weaponry: Many Adelian soldiers are armed with a shotstaff, a firearm weapon detailed below, and a sword. The other basic configuration is a spear and a shotwand, a type of pistol, that they retain slung in their side. If a particular soldier has a training in an exotic art, he or she is allowed a special weapon, but most aren’t. Crossbow Archers are common support troops, with a few skilled Longbow Archers here and there. The Adelian Longbow is a treasured possession that traditionally is made by the wielder, and is said to contain its creator’s soul, and painstakingly made. Crossbows, however, are cheap and mostly disposable, and easy to use. The expense of shotstaves and shotwands means that they are typically spread out among the common troops, rather than being consolidated into dedicated shooting squadrons. Some soldiers may receive neither weapon at all.

Basic Armor: The Adelian elite, officers and warlords wear more metal as they get higher up the ranks. The highest-ranked officer in the field is recognized by a majestic full plate. This is dangerous, because a smart enemy knows exactly who to hit to disrupt command – but Adelian pride goes before all things. However, that full suit of plate is very protective, made from rare ores dug from the mountains of Noshiki by skilled dwarven miners. Rookies wear a high-quality military uniform, including jacket, padded protective under-vest, long pants and a padded cap. From there they move up in rank to a chain hauberk instead of a padded vest and then to selective plates of steel along with the hauberk, working up to the full suit of metal armor.

Grenades: Alchemic processes have led to the implementation of volatile substances for combat. Potion-makers had been making caustic cocktails for generations, but only during the later and more desperate stages of the Intolerable War did the militaries of the world give thought to using them. People who are expected to swing swords and shoot bows are unlikely to be given grenades, as they may accidentally blow themselves up. Instead, specially trained grenadiers armed only with volatile potions are kept in sparing amounts as support troops. A variety of grenades have been concocted, from frost vials that paralyze soldiers or weaken structures, to explosives capable of breaking down doors or causing burns and concussive damage to personnel. Grenadiers should have a good throwing arm and must be meticulous with the checking and fastening of their equipment – some militaries, however, merely arm anyone not fully able-bodied as a grenadier.

Medicines: Spirit-Herbs and alchemic minerals and ingredients have allowed for field medics that can do a bit more for soldiers than previously. Though they cannot yet mend broken bones or external injuries quickly without heavy (and usually dangerous, for both healer and patient) applications of magic, medics can apply ointments and treatments on-site and quickly that can relieve pain, stop bleeding, stop infection and cure light wounds. Other injuries still require more time for care, from days (if enough exotic supplies allow), to a week or a bit more than one.

Cannons: Adelians do not generally have the ability to take out vast swathes of enemies with cannons. Cannons are slow to be reloaded and the cannonballs don’t explode, so they can only bludgeon whatever they hit. Where cannons do excel is in taking out fortifications and in taking out other cannons. They have all but displaced ballistae as siege weaponry. Ammunition for cannons typically consists of metal spheres.

Cannons in Adel function by, essentially, loading an alchemical explosive (basically a grenade as above) into a metal cannon, and then loading the piece of ammunition you plan to fire so it sits in front of the grenade. A piston in the back of the cannon smashes from behind and thus explodes the grenade outward, which propels the ammunition through the cannon and out the end at a high speed. Reloading a cannon involves pulling back the piston and setting it to release upon the pull of a rope or kicking of a switch, loading in the grenade, loading in the hard ammo, aiming the cannon and then firing. In a pinch, a soldier can punch the grenade, lose some fingers or the whole hand, but fire the cannon somewhat faster. Prayer all throughout is recommended.

All these steps must be done with enough care that the grenade does not accidentally either explode on the cannon crew or leak harmful fluids over them.

Bombards: Bombards are hand-held, potent ranged weapons consisting of, in essence, a very small cannon on a crossbow-like frame. The trigger sets off a piston which erupts a very small magical explosive that propels ammunition outward. Bombards are inaccurate and prone to blowblack. They are hard to aim, because getting the weapon too close to your body will leave you hurting, and because the volatility of the grenade at bombard size is inexplicably variable – the same combinations of elements can produce different results. Some argue it might be problems with pistons as well. The reloading is also an annoying and volatile procedure. However, the projectiles are quite damaging, enough to regularly chew through plate armor. These are again committed to support roles, and bombardiers are quite often injured and out of commission.

Shotstaff: A lighter version of a bombard, it fires a much smaller pellet with much more accuracy. The Shotstaff is a long chute of wood, lined with metal with a small sliding opening at the top through which it is loaded, and a wooden stock, handle and trigger. Most have bayonets as well, making them look like weird spears. Its cartridges include both the miniature explosive and the metal pellet, so reloading requires only popping a cartridge in – however, it still takes time to seat the cartridge properly. It has lesser capacity for damage, but it is more practical. In modern armies, it is quickly replacing the crossbow – but not yet the Longbow, for an expert trained longbow archer is still a fast, deadly, and respected warrior, who can shoot a greater volume than with a shotstaff.

Shotwand: A miniaturized version of a shotstaff, it is handheld, with smaller cartridges, a shorter barrel, and a smaller handle and trigger. It can be reloaded much faster due to its size and the ease of sliding in a cartridge, but it has less a damaging effect. A preferred weapon for officers, who can hold one in one hand while having a sword in the other.

Prisms: Prisms are essentially crystalline devices that burn fuel to exert magically pushing force. Without counter-weight and an operator, a prism would thrust off eternally on its own in one direction until it reached a barrier it could not pass through or until it runs out of fuel. Prisms are used as flying machines by the Adelians, by constructing a platform around them or under them. The common type of Prism vehicle is called a Float, and can hold five or six passengers and their equipment. It looks like a wooden basket hanging from a large dome.

Some of the grander prism constructions include the rare Prism Ships, which are basically a Prism (or a few of them) built into the frame of a naval vessel. As long as a weight is applied to the prism, an operator can regulate its fuel use, speed and the direction in which it attempts to move. Prisms can push very large amounts of weight around, allowing them to give flight to large, grand objects.

However, Prisms are difficult to construct – it can take months to build a Float, and years to make a ship. The construction of the alchemical engine is esoteric to ridiculous extremes – some scholars believe the phases of the moon, or the temperatures outside, or even the mental state of the alchemist all go into the construction, and nobody knows for sure why some turn out to be duds, why others take much longer or shorter construction times than normal. It seems to be up to luck whether a Prism is built successfully.

So far, only Andaliel, Vedaria and Sargasso have Prism Ships that they have unveiled publically and actually activated and used. All countries except Selvage (which, technically, doesn’t really have much in the way of technology or a military) have Floats. There are two distinct models of alchemical engine, one produced and distributed by Andaliel, and another by Vedaria. Noshiki, Sargasso have adopted the Vedarian one, while Emderuer and Periterim prefer the Andalian model. It is unknown what the real differences are, but rumor has it the Vedarian is more efficient in its usage of fuel, but modest in power output.

Attitudes Toward Technology: The military, and by extension most people in Adel, have an odd view of technology. Most people believe that, like everything else in their life, their magical technology answers to the whims of powers beyond their control. Prayer before battle is common for grenadiers and bombardiers, particularly those who have had their bombards jam and explode on them beforehand, or grenadiers who’ve thrown duds. Cannon crews have a variety of rituals, and their reloading and firing is accompanied by hymns or prayers in reverence to the spirits of fire and war.

The Alchemists who construct these things know only that they don’t have all the answers, just guesses. They’ve stumbled upon powerful processes by experimentation, by trial and painful error, that they don’t always accurately reproduce. They believe many of the factors involving construction to be out of their control, and take their duties religiously as well. The construction of a bombard involves not just the alchemist, but a woodworker making the frame that has respect for his or her craft, a metalworker forging the bullets with love, care and appreciation. The same goes for all other weaponry.

All weapons in Adel, when sold, come bundled with a note which has a small hymn, and the words “It is recommended that one pray before employing the item.”

Spirits: By far the most powerful and most unreliable and vexing technology in the employ of Adel’s military powers are the Spirits themselves. Spirits sometimes join the armies, either as patrons (everyone is more confident that their cannons won’t spontaneously combust if a Spirit is around to watch them), as service crew, or as soldiers. The variety of spirits in the armies and their varied powers and demeanor adds a vexing level of randomness to most military conflict in Adel. Andaliel tend to employ Muikara, wing-armed humanoids who can exert control over the winds. Sargasso employs many spirits, from the steel Tulwar spirits to the Rashine Wraiths, canine beasts made of water. Vedaria has Sandcloaks, humanoid wraiths in red cloaks with varying appearances and abilities. Besides this, hosts of other spirits join every other military power. They are not as common, obviously, as soldiers of the mortal races, but they are not rare either. They are employed enough to matter.