Breck Device

Part of Technology of Otheia
A Breck device is an extremely rare piece of arcane technology in the possession of a select few cities of Otheia. Designed by the famed engineer Haldon Breck in 140, and based off technology salvaged from ancient ruins far beneath Otheia, it is capable of generating a field which nullifies any form of magic for the duration of its activation.
The method by which the magic-absorbing-field is generated is utterly unknown, and as such the devices are considered dangerous in the extreme. While within the field, no magic can be cast, and when without, any magic cast toward the field will be absorbed.
As stated above, the devices are based on fragmentary designs discovered in ancient ruins far beneath the surface world. Three of these devices have been scavenged and assembled in their entirety, and are housed at Hihhil, Rasek and Estya. These devices are far safer and easier to run than the reverse-engineered versions created by Breck, though are far rarer. Any man who discovers the component to one such device may sell it for a city’s worth of silver.
There are some two dozen devices assembled by Breck himself, who gives his name to them. These are scattered throughout the realms, though they are rarely used. As shown at the Carnolbe Incident in 223, these may go critical and unleash deadly waves of energy which kill any living thing within several miles of the device. The fields are also far less stable than the original ancient devices.
The devices are started by providing a large source of energy at first, typically by way of a coke-fired furnace to reach maximum thermal energy output. The field will then activate and cover an area proportional to the size of the device, typically in the way of a mile in diameter. No magic may enter or be cast within the field without being absorbed into the field; the more energy and magic the device is exposed to, the stronger the field becomes. This is what caused the Carnolbe incident, as this was poorly understood at the time, and resulted in the device releasing an incredible amount of energy which destroyed everything nearby. To shut down the device, one must slowly reduce the energy available to the device, until the field eventually dissipates.
The devices are not often used, due to the risk involved in running the new, non-ancient devices, the stigma involved in employing such dangerous tools of defense, and the fact that Otheiae society depends on magic. To use a Breck device would upend society for the time it is in use, a dangerous choice for any Kara or city governor.
Breck devices are considered the single most technologically advanced machine in the world, for good reason. None save the Otheiae currently possess them, and none since Breck have managed to create one since, merely maintaining existing ones, and cobbling old devices together from parts of others.
There are 27 total known devices in existence, all within the Augkarate.
Category:Technology of Otheia
Category:Artificial Wonders