Before the Plague War
A Tale of Two Cities
Most of the recent history in Hauther can be explained as a rivalry between two cities, Thyrell and Casperia, and their pursuit of technology is no different. Thyrell, which lied on the western side of the Hirols, was in the middle of a resource rich region. With lumber from the Northern Woodlands to the north, stone and ore from the Hirol foothills to the east, and vast arable flatlands to the south, Thyrell had all it needed to develop steel, windmills, water mills, and more advanced building techniques, such as the flying buttress. Coupled with the advances in magic lore that Thyrell was able to accomplish, there is no doubt why Thyrell became such a formidable power. Despite all this, Thyrell didn’t have what it truly needed to become a world power, a viable port to trade with the rest of Ferron, which is one reason why it sent out its army to conquer Casperia, and Hauther along the way.
Casperia, on the other hand, began as a port town that grew because it was on the eastern coastline of Hauther, which is much more accessible to the rest of Ferron. As a result, traders berthed in Casperia, bringing in the latest shipbuilding techniques. As more traders from around the world came to Casperia, they brought their technology, ideology, philosophy, and traditions. This transformed Casperia into a cosmopolitan city state and the de facto trade capital in Hauther. This means that as Thyrell labored to develop its own technology, Casperia more or less acquired its technology from others.
By the time Thyrell began its push to conquer Hauther, black powder technology was just beginning to flow into Casperia from across Ferron. During the sacking of Casperia, very early black powder mortars were used to fend off an early assault of Thyrellan soldiers on the field and naval vessels at sea. The Thyrellans, who were surprised by the new weaponry, decided to lay siege to the city and wait for Casperia to exhaust its supplies. When Thyrell finally sacked the city, personal black powder weapons, such as matchlocks, had yet to be developed, forcing Casperia to defend itself traditionally against a better trained and better equipped traditional fighting force.
After the Plague War
The Age of Sail
By the time the Revenarum began their march across Hauther, the age of sail had begun. Fully-rigged sailing ships could carry black powder cannons, captains had telescopes, and navigators used sextants. Thyrellan platoons were already phasing out crossbowman in favor of matchlock muskets. Armor was becoming lighter or irrelevant, and swords were becoming lighter and more flexible slashing and thrusting weapons. Magic and technology were beginning to strike a balance on the battlefield where black powder gave a non-magician the ability to do what only a magic could before.
The Devolution of Technology
As the plague war carried on, however, black powder supplies were quickly exhausted. Even if there were enough black powder charges and bullets to fight off the entire blood plague army, it became apparent that noisy muskets attracted too much attention. Soldiers reverted to heavier weapons, shields, and armor to defend themselves against the ferocity of plague zombie attacks, and the developing techniques of dextrous swordplay were abandoned for traditional shield and weapon techniques. The balance between technology and magic on the battle field was lost. With a seemingly unstoppable and supernatural threat, magic and brute force were needed on the battlefield more than ever.
Hauther Today
Technology has not changed much since the early days of the Plague War, largely because trade with the the rest of Ferron ended when the Plague War erupted (see Beyond Hauther below). What little that has made its way to Hauther is minor. For example, wheellock and flintlock muskets and pistols have updated the matchlock design, but black powder weapons still attract too much attention to be useful in the outlands or plague lands. Printed books have also found their way to Hauther, but printing technology doesn’t offer much in the plight to defeat the Revenarum. Rumors of more wondrous and unbelievable technological advances, such as ships that float in the sky, have reached Hautherian ears, but until the blood plague is ended and the Revenarum defeated, Hauther’s technology is most likely to continue falling behind the rest of the Ferron.