Technology Level

• Northland Iron History – The Northlands possess the most advanced level of technology and science in all of Vaskeer. Iron was named thus due to the abundance of the mineral it owns found within the Virnach Mountains. This mineral was used not only for economic uses, but also to create weapons and armor with. At the beginning of the Burning War, Iron created Steel; an alloy of Iron and Carbon that was more durable and lighter than regular Iron. They mass produced steel, filling and army with it and marched upon the Ember Dominance and Highlands. Now, Iron is known for their beautiful and intricate pieces of steel armor that covers a knight head to toe, and their large swords and other weapons that are not found elsewhere in Vaskeer. Iron Plate Armor (which is actually made of steel) makes the wearer almost entirely immune to slashing swords, and has made weapons like halberds, pollaxes, and hammers more common instead of the regular sword that has dominated Iron’s history. This era of technology is advanced right up to the point before the invention of the flintlock and guns. It is before they are invented (in correlation to the real world) due to a lack of resources, but means that technology focused around plate armor and steel weapons is fully advanced. The abundance of Iron in the Empire has also allowed its people to advance in other regards.
• Northland Ferrous Metallurgy – the metallurgy of iron and its alloys. Metallurgy’s focus has developed from being entirely economical with the occasional development of weapons and armor to being mainly that. It used to focus on items like chain mail and small plates, but now full plate armor has become more commonplace. Basic foot soldiers often are equipped with just half plate armor, for they need to be more mobile, and it costs less. Also, common ranged weapons like light crossbows are much more common in Iron’s army, due to the avoidance of absorbing a soul.
• Technology Elsewhere – Less advanced, and focuses on stone and wood. Soleri tribes prefer to make items by hand, which takes much longer but allows for more care, whereas Iron pumps out product through their factories and smithies.
• Warfare – Due to warfare being so rare, there are not many tactical minds outside of Iron. The main parts of warfare that differ in Vaskeer is the reliance on ranged combat for as long as possible, to avoid soldiers succumbing to become Lost. Now, soldiers also train their minds in an attempt to use souls they gain in combat to continue fighting their enemy with.