Part 29: 1427-The Fire of Inspiration

The Fire of Inspiration




In Firstmonth of 1427, as the year opened, the High Queen Dagmaer progressed further in her studies of Sorcery, uncovering means whereby a small measure of protection against hostile magic could be provided to many. In that same month, a number of magicians from the Wind Tribes travelled to see if they could seek service under the High Queen, but she had no place for them in her plans.






Also in that same month, the Royal Army stormed one of the ruins in the north of Heimsveldisland, confronting there a giant of earth and stone and the small spirits of Nature that had been faced many times before. The force arrayed against the Royal Army was too weak to endure against bolt and spell, and was swiftly defeated.





In the ruins, the Royal Army found a little enchanted glass, as well as a small bow of silver that nonetheless cast terrible searing bolts of lightning as its missiles. This bow was claimed for the use of Harald of the Golden Company, while a magical shield of modest power went to fuel the High Queen's continued work of magic.



By Thirdmonth, Dagmaer had learned through her studies how to replicate the feat of control of the winds of the worlds that Horus had used, and thereby greatly hampered the shipping of Myrror. Should High Queen Dagmaer choose to work this act of magic, it should have great benefits to the speed of shipping.





In Fourthmonth, the Royal Army, which was continuing on its mission in Heimsveldisland, seeking out the monsters that remained on its western shores. There they confronted a great host of bears and spiders as large as bears, which cast great sticky nets of webbing that hampered Hrodvaldur and Vigny, their guards and scouts, and even Hesed, sending him entangled to the ground.

Giant Spiders can cast Web once per combat, which incapacitates a target until they can do 12 points of damage against a defense of 0 to break the web, automatically assessed from their attacks at the beginning of their turn. As all three of these units have formidable attack strength, the webs get shredded instantly, but it still costs the units a round. Any unit webbed cannot fly for the remainder of the battle.






All the bears and almost all the spiders were slain by bolt and spell at distance, and the last spiders that remained were slain by Hrodvaldur and his guard marching forth ahead of the Army and confronting them before they could reach the front lines. Victory belonged to the Royal Army.






Searching the area, the Royal Army found documents that helped teach Dagmaer how the wind might be bound into roads, much as has been done on Myrror all this time. On Arcanus, the simple methods whereby roads are granted this Sorcery do not function, and greater wizardry is needed to allow such swift travel. A suit of mail armor of modest power was also found, and immediately set to be recovered for the power within it, that the High Queen's work might proceed without interruption.



In Sixthmonth, the High Queen's studies bore more fruit, and she learned how, through the might of the Stalwart Warrior, immense strength and vitality might be granted to warriors, letting them deal blows beyond the might of mortal arms and endure wounds beyond the realm of mortal endurance. Though granting this power to the Army would be a project of immense cost and effort, it might render them near invincible in battle.

Lionheart makes military units much, much stronger. Normal soldiers with Lionheart can face down foes otherwise absurd to face.



A month later, green stars rose together in the sky. Astrologers advised that this should mark a surge in the strength of nodes of Nature, while other nodes waned in power.




The final nest of monsters in Heimsveldisland, barring the tower between worlds on that land, was assaulted by the Royal Army even as the green stars rose. There, half a company of great, brutish giants, larger and heavier than the armored giants the Army had previously fought, set forth to confront the Army, accompanied by a number of vicious bears.

Stone Giants have the highest base stats of the three flavors of giant. They carry two stones, but I could only screenshot them after they had hurled one.




These giants hurled great stones as if they were catapults or cannons, sending them crashing amongst the elven magicians even as the magicians and scouts sent flame and bolts against the giants, felling many of the enemy. Although many elves were crushed and grievously injured, the swift action by Hesed to bring the grace of the Serene Mother to them, restoring health and wholeness, ensured only a very few perished.





With their numbers failing and the shots against them not dwindling, the resistance by the giants swiftly collapsed, and the bears were destroyed immediately thereafter. A famous victory was claimed, leaving Heimsveldisland largely safe and freed of monsters.






With the giants slain, the area was searched for such treasures of the past that remained there. A little enchanted glass was uncovered, but it was as nothing compared to the scrolls and papers and the sword uncovered there. The sword was a blade enchanted for sharpness, swiftness, and strength, and on the attack or defense it moved with glorious grace. But this was not the whole of its power. It glowed with a brilliant red-white light, and that which it struck was flooded with the power of Chaos. If it could not endure, it would be blasted to ash and to dust instantly. This sword Hrodvaldur claimed.

With the information in the papers, the High Queen made discoveries she had not dreamed of achieving, calling forth the incandescent genius of the Sagacious counselor to dwell within a town and kindle the minds of its people. With awe, she prepared that this new magic might be put to use in time.

As the sword was claimed, the ancient bronze armor that Hrodvaldur had worn early on was consigned to the forge. There the power that had once infused it was set to new uses.

Like Prosperity, the text for Inspirations is misleading. It provides a 100% bonus to the base production of a town, not a 50% bonus. This is applied directly to the base production generated by workers and farmers, and does not modify the production gained from good terrain or industrial buildings in a town. Obviously, given the high base production of dwarves, they benefit especially much from Inspirations, just as they do from Prosperity.







The month later, the long labor that had consumed Dagmaer's time was finally completed. A suit of adamantine plate, half an inch thick, and enchanted further for greater strength and durability, was finally forged and enchanted completely. Though this armor would be far beyond the strength of any warrior to bear unassisted, an enchantment of motion upon it caused the armor itself to respond to the motion of its wearer, allowing them to march and to fight as if they bore the weight of no armor whatsoever. With the strength provided by the armor, its wearer could make great leaps, crossing battlefields with effortless speed, and almost nothing could threaten its wearer. This great suit of armor, perhaps the most powerful suit of magical armor ever created, was sent by magic to Hrodvaldur, who set aside his old shield in favor of the walking fortress of adamantine, and bore in one hand the mighty sword Defender recovered this year. Few things indeed could stand against him now. Yet more of the ancient gear of war recovered by the Army was destroyed with this new armor created.

With Invulnerability, the first two hits of damage from any attack Hrodvaldur takes are ignored. Combined with the very high defense on the armor, his excellent sword, and his high base combat abilities, he is now more or less a one-dwarf wrecking crew.





With Heimsveldisland cleared of threats and with no force yet ready to hold the tower there, the Royal Army turned for a time to Trollsheim. The first ruins they found there were dealt with swiftly, against trivial opposition.




By Tenthmonth, the High Queen learned how giants much like those that had held the node of Sorcery on Dvergursheim might be called forth, cementing her command of Sorcery, but this was hardly the work of magic that month that she took greatest pride in. She completed calling forth the brilliance of the Sagacious Counselor upon the city of Goldwash, and, almost immediately, a surge of innovation beyond even what was customary for the dwarves came forth. Every dwarf of the city applied themselves to their labors, and every means whereby a task might be achieved better was explored. The High Queen herself was seized by an idea, and in partnership with the merchants and savants of the city, she created a press for books, that they might be copied swiftly by machine rather than laboriously by hand. This was but one of many new ideas in the city, and the produce of its workshops and forges multiplied in the face of the unleashed ingenuity of the dwarves.

The little candle at the bottom marks Inspirations. Lightbulb! As it were.





Meanwhile, far from Goldwash, the Royal Army confronted three stumbling hills of earth and stone, which could not endure the assaults of spell and crossbow. They fell before they might assault the Army.





There a great trove of enchanted glass and a shield of modest powers were found. The glass was claimed for Dagmaer's work, while the shield was destroyed that its power might be set to use.



Before the year closed, Ironbridge also was suffused with the brilliance of the Sagacious Counselor, and, like Goldwash, the surge of invention and ideas brought unprecedented prosperity to the city. More and more, the these cities had achieved an opulence previously unimaginable.



Although Dagmaer's puppet-spirit has continued to explore Arcanus, little but improved charts of a great sea have come of it this year. No new discoveries of great note have been made.

The Kingdom of Nine Crowns as of Twelfthmonth 1427






The immense and surging prosperity of the realm continues to reflect itself in the royal coffers, which are further strengthened by the High Queen's interests in the new craft of printing. The conjunction of Nature, however, has harmed the power available for the High Queen to work with, as only one of the six nodes she has thus far harnessed to her will is a node of Nature. The Royal Army has returned to Heimsveldisland, as an air ship recently completed at the Fangrock shipyards has been dispatched to hold the tower after the Army clears it of foes.




In Goldwash and Ironbridge, invention and the dwarven passion for better methods of making have reached a fever pitch, and their workshops turn out goods at a prodigious rate for the whole kingdom. Some hold that now this is the true era of Industry in Myrror, dawning over a work that only a few decades earlier was struggling for mere survival.



Darkshore now hosts its own great academy of magic, and its artisans and traders participate fully in the great web of the kingdom's trade.



In Fangrock, work on another ship to hold the final tower between worlds is nearly complete, while the new academy of magic contributes to the great learning of the realm.



Darkhold, too, supports a mighty academy of magic, and has focused its efforts more fully on trade and producing goods for the whole realm. Darkhold is particularly famed for the agricultural produce it exports, and is a great source of wine for the whole realm.



Firesands, over the past year, has adopted the use of Nature magic to boost the harvests of its district, and established alchemical workshops that help provide materials for the workers of magic of the kingdom. Though a small place, relatively speaking, its prosperity only continues to grow.



Shadowwood has joined Firesands as a major long-distance shipping center, and has likewise adopted Nature magic in the agriculture of its district, bolstering the prosperity of the whole area. Its prosperity supports alchemical workshops, flourishing with the demand created by many magicians.



The huge temple to the Bright Gods in Bantanu, built by goatkin and by dwarven engineers, now stands as a great monument to the faith of the beastkin of Bantanu. The huge complex is possibly one of the greatest architectural and artistic triumphs of modern Myrror. Though peace has reigned, with the monsters of the region defeated, King Torbax has sought to train and equip a force of minotaurs to preserve their warrior heritage. A great armory has been established, preparing to raise his new elite force of minotaurs to replace the old goatkin militia.



The mistrust for High Queen Dagmaer amongst the Arcanian wizards endures. Horus the Holy, taking the lessons of Jerome the Magnificent to heart, has expended great effort in creating an alliance of all the Arcanian wizards, joining them together so that any war which touches Horus' realm should bring both other Arcanian wizards in support.

1427 has marked the dawn of a new era for Myrror- the future shall surely bring us wonders! Hail the dawn of the day of Industry!