[center][h2][b]Kareet of Arcaeda[/b][/h2][/center]

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This time, Kareet had no trouble at all understanding Vigdis’ meaning. In their world as well as her own, it seemed, no one ever truly worked alone. Scholarship fundamentally built upon the work of their predecessors. To “stand on the shoulders of giants”, as Vigdis put it, was an apt phrase. Though, Kareet was coming to realize exactly how unique their situation was now. The Humans seemed to have centuries more progress in the pursuit of knowledge to build upon, so what would happen now if she were to have the chance to learn from them?

Kareet had to think a moment on how exactly she wanted to answer Vigdis’ question. How would be best to describe her invention, considering what she had learned of them so far? The first machine that had used her mechanism was a siege weapon, though it had found many more uses since then. Indeed, her siege weapons had not yet been used in battle, but barges operated by her mechanism traversed the Ascendancy’s rivers every day. “In my travels to Mythadia, I was inspired to create a new type of mechanism.” She answered. Turning aside for a moment, she reached into her backpack and pulled out another of her notebooks. She flipped through a few pages, then laid it out between them, beside Vigdis’ tablet. On the pages were a series of complex, finely-detailed blueprints of a variety of machines, all operated by a gear-driven mechanism. On the pages she could see now, there was what appeared to be a ballista, an elevator, as well as what looked like a paddlewheel boat’s propulsion mechanism. On a different page, there were mechanisms that were not attached to specific machines, but concepts, resembling a gearbox, that could be used for different purposes. On some of them, the gears were arranged to allow a user to change which parts of the mechanism were being powered by the motion of a single, central gear. The only thing that was not apparent from the diagrams was what was powering the drive gear.

“You see, for a Lightning mage, or any mage really, performing a complex task is more difficult than a simple task. That…probably sounds obvious, but what I mean are that power and complexity are two different things that contribute to overall difficulty. Let’s say you have two boulders, one half as heavy as the other. If a Force mage had to simply lift both of them in the air, then it would be easier to lift the lighter one. But if the Force mage had to start focusing on maneuvering the lighter one between obstacles, or something of the sort, it might start to become just as difficult, just as taxing, as lifting the larger one. My mechanisms use gears to perform different types of tasks, all from the singular motion of a lightning mage rotating a central steel gear. It lets one mage do the work of many.” Kareet explained. 

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[center][h2][b]General Kvarr[/b][/h2][/center]

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General Kvarr’s expression betrayed some mild amusement. “You are getting close to it, Castigator. With all he has done, Silbermine would be quite a [i]poor[/i] guest. But you have to understand, Mythadians are mired in quite a bit more formality and tradition than ourselves. The formality they inherited from Kolodon, but in their culture, it builds off of even older traditions. Trace the Glen to their roots, and you will find a nomadic culture, with certain expectations for hosts and guests alike, when they come upon another’s land. Other Glen would not judge Silbermine harshly for trespassing on our land. What they would judge him for would be as a disrespectful guest. When Silbermine’s allies arrive, should we treat them with honor and respect, then it will be quite shameful for him to do anything less than to reciprocate. It will very much set the tone for negotiations.”

The S’tor straightened up and gave an understanding nod. “Your concerns are understandable, but I would also point out that treating them as guests upon our land does still insist upon it being [i]our[/i] land.”