K’brin: Chapter 5, Journal 1 – The Shadow of War

Posted on May 2, 2019 by K'brin
  • I spent the next sevenday studying and beginning to memorize the Book of Crossings.  As soon as I reached the chapter on special crystals and how they should be cut, I immediately sent Chance with an urgent message to Masterminer Magnus telling him to stop cutting the few raw stones we had.  I sent pictures of all of the cuts from the Book of Crossings to him a few hours later, with clear instructions to share them with only the Master jeweler who was cutting them and absolutely no one else.
  • B’dir arrived at the end of this sevenday, more than a little bedraggled from several days in the field.  He desperately needed a bath, and Borheth obviously needed a thorough scrubbing and oiling.
  • B’dir had spoken with N’vor at Fort Weyr, V’gor at High Reaches Weyr, and F’tan at Igen Weyr. 
    • N’vor of brown Renseth, Wingsecond of Diamond Wing 
      • Lord Gavrien is storing siege weapons in a huge, unused beasthold near Ruatha Hold. 
      • Lord Gavrien is telling people that this is a new hobby, but one of his Captains admitted that they are training teams to transport, quickly reassemble, and rapidly fire them.
    • V’gor of bronze Brontith, Wingleader of Fortitude Wing 
      • Lord Jaromir has built a warehouse for his siege engines. 
      • He’s telling people that he and Lord Berengar are in a competition to build the best one. 
      • Lord Berengar’s people believe the same. 
      • They are experimenting with different designs and methods of power:
        • Tension – where you use flexible wood, like a bow. 
        • Torsion – where you use a crank to twist ropes to make them shorter and shorter, pulling the arm down. 
        • Traction – where there is a long arm and a short arm, and a group of men pull the short arm very fast to make the larger arm move.
        • Gravity – where you use a seesaw that spins all the way around and flings things in a sling at the end of a rope. 
    • F’tan of brown Jovoth, Wingsecond of Tempest Wing 
      • Lord Valkran is storing siege engines in a large storage cavern at Igen Hold. 
      • The other Holders haven’t been given an official explanation, and are wondering if he plans to reclaim land. 
      • They are experimenting with different types of projectiles that you can launch out of catapults: 
        • Stones 
        • Huge wooden splinters 
        • Pots of liquid fire 
        • Quicklime 
        • Burning balls of tar 
        • Burning sand 
  • The four Lord Holders are obviously working together, with one training teams, two experimenting with different designs, and one experimenting with different types of projectiles.
  • Since B’dir was only a few Turns older than me, I told him of N’rion’s death – and how he had died a hero.  He tried to wrap his head around why N’rion couldn’t return, why he had chosen to go between, but just couldn’t understand.
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