Blackpowder

A technology discovered in the year 477 by the dwarves.
It is a black powder that when ignited burns extremely quickly, when packed into a tight space such as a metal tube it releases large amounts of energy quickly enough to fire projectiles or if packed into a sealed container it can be used to create an explosion. This powder has military and industrial uses. Due to its volatile nature, in normal dwarf fashion it had to be tested for a few centuries before it was approved for use.
In the year 877 it was approved for use.
With it the dwarves were able to perform much faster mining operations as well as build cannons to use against buildings and infantry.

Access & Availability

The dwarves have easy access to it and can field various cannons for offense or defence whenever needed.
The humans were given access to it in 990 due to being close allies with the dwarves. The dwarves were reluctant to share this technology, however the canons were hard to hide from the various human envoys and diplomats. To show their loyalty and friendship, the dwarves ended up sharing this technology, though the dwarves guard the knowledge on how to make this technology as a great secret and informed their human allies to do the same lest it falls into the hands of the orcs or elves.

Discovery

It was discovered by a group of dwarven alchemists that experimented with various powders to test their properties. Sulphur, coal and saltpetre combined were tested with an open flame, aside from a burnt beard this gave birth to blackpowder.

Related Species

• Dwarf