Technology

## Firearms

The Dwarven machinists have developed sophisticated firearms that are only infrequently found outside of the Dwarven armies. The power of firearms can be greatly offset with the use of magic, for which reason firearms are not as dominant and effective as one could suspect.

Firearms are generally not used outside of Dwarven soldiers because of several reasons. For one, most firearms in currency throughout the world have been designed for the Dwarven frame, for which reason they are clumsy and awkward in the arms of most other users. In addition, firearms tend to be very inaccurate, even in the hands of skilled marksmen -- for accuracy, a crossbow is ideal, or, after years of training, a longbow. Finally, the effective use of firearms requires very specific technicians, training, and regimental order, none of which exists outside of the Dwarven world.

### Rifles

Dwarven rifles used a revolver-like mechanism to fire several rounds without the need to reload individually for each one. However, the rounds fired are smaller and less effective than those fired by muskets, even if they are more accurate. Despite the name, Dwarven rifles are smoothbore, for which reason they are still very inaccurate. Because of their low stopping power, these rounds can be ineffective against heavily-armored enemies.

### Muskets

Dwarven muskets use larger rounds and a much larger charge of powder, for which reason they are far more powerful than their rifles. However, they must be reloaded after every round, which takes twelve seconds in the hands of trained musketeers and up to half-a-minute in the hands of a novice. Despite their impressive stopping power, Dwarven muskets are extremely inaccurate, for which reason they are only effective when fired at large enemy formations by a firing squad in carefully-coordinated volleys. Dwarven muskets have a blade at the end of the barrel, and are sturdy enough to be used as axes in hand-to-hand combat.

## Transportation

### Railroads

The Dwarves have developed primitive versions of railroads to link the various quarries and cities they have built into the mountains.

### Steam power

Steam power, still in its infancy, has been developed by the Dwarven machinists deep within the mountains. Although still experimental, it allows for comparatively agile transportation within the Dwarven kingdoms.

## Automatons

Automatons, often considered the pinnacle of Dwarven engineering, likely developed from golems, which saw major use in the Second Age as a means of bolstering dwarven forces in their eternal battle against their foes in the Underdark. Although incredibly useful in holding their attackers at bay, golems could only be fielded in limited numbers due to the extreme difficulty of maintaining them. Dwarven mages quickly figured out that less investment was required if the golem's material provided less resistance to motion, and so, what were originally solid statues were lated carved with jointed pieces and eventually lubricated, but the issue remained of control. Giving any sort of direction - even to the extent of differentiating friend from foe - required either active concentration or binding elemental spirits, either of which locked up the power of the dwarves' few mages. As such, efforts were made to minimize the golems' dependencies where possible.

Although several advancements were made, the single breakthrough that transitioned the creations from golems to automatons was the development of Operational Schemas. These were complex sets of runes built upon the theory of certain wards which could guide a magical action without the enchanter having to underly his or her own specific intent, merely providing the energy with the runes guiding the rest. They required the brightest minds to devise, but could be recreated and reproduced by any attentive scribe, and inlaid and enchanted by lesser mage smiths for placement in the automaton. With the further development of Dependent Schemas in which instructions could reference other Schemas, automatons could achieve surprisingly complex behaviors by chaining together simple ones. Though not as capable as actively guided golems, automatons required only an initial rather than recurring investments, and could accept basic commands while acting relatively independently after being issued. Slight variations in Schema encoding would make sure that they could only obey designated operators, which could be varied with the appropriate commands without changing the Schema, allowing automatons to be assigned to specific individuals and protecting them from the possibility of outside dominance.

The first automatons were still limited by the ability to bind animating spirits, and thus required more powerful spirits for larger automatons. This resulted in the proliferation of small drones, which found their way into many establishments as minor guards. However, this limitation would also be surpassed with the separation of animation and control aspects via mechanical transmission systems. Where once spirits had to move automatons directly, they could now trigger lighter valves and levers, with the energy for movement supplied by physical systems, allowing even the largest automatons to suffice with minor control spirits. This combined with the production of mass assembly lines in Mzundelft allowed the production of even larger sentinels in significant numbers, to the point that it sometimes whispered in hushed tones that it is a good thing the kingdom fell when it did, lest an innumerable army of killing machines have been unleashed upon the world.

Automatons are typically distinguished by form and function, though the two facets generally feed into one another. Smaller units are usually fielded in large numbers and used as warning systems, minor deterrants and scouts, while mid-sized units are relatively rarer and specialized for hazard management, and larger units tend to work independently as moving bulwarks and heavy duty transports. Units meant to operate in a specific location generally rely on an internal energy store that can be recharged by external power systems, while those meant to be moved about generally carry their own means of power production. This is typically a magically rotated flywheel, which provides a constant output to charge the internal store and thus requires time to replenish upon extreme exertion, though there do exist steam-driven automatons that can vary their burn rate to keep up with current power demand at the expense of requiring periodic refueling.

Notably, passive perception is a function of the animating spirit, thus allowing an automaton to slumber until encountering a proper trigger to conserve its energy. This, coupled with their hermetically sealed shells and instructions to refuel when nearly depleted, is what has allowed Dwarven automatons to survive decades in near mint condition to the misfortune of those adventurers who encounter them. The undisturbed automatons have not exerted themselves for most of this time, and their tough exteriors have defended their relatively delicate internal workings from the outside world, as well as from those who would try to damage them.