Steam Drill

Steam Drills are an invention of the gnomes that has allowed them to create extremely efficient mining operations. The drill’s power source is, naturally, a large steam engine that drives a Mounted on a wheeled chassis, the drill is able to automatically advance forward as it clears the way. When not employed in mining power usually applied to the bit can be diverted to the wheels, which can also be replaced with larger diameter ones, allowing the drill to move large distances in a short time. The gnomes in their ingenuity have also taken to hitching wooden carts behind the drills to carry supplies. The main drill bit used spans 10 feet in diameter, extending beyond the edge of its chassis. A cutout along the bottom of the drill bit’s brace allows debris to be deposited beneath the chassis where a series of rotating plows mounted beneath draw it towards the rear where it can be shoveled away.
This marvel of invention is almost solely responsible for the gnome’s prosperous mining culture in their homelands. Eleven drills accompanied the gnomes when they arrived in Ersterwald, with all quickly being set to work in the mountains near their landing point. In the haste of their abandonment of this position, however, it was impossible to extract all of the drills from deep below the surface. Only one drill that was already above ground under maintenance and the gnomes’ cache of spare parts were able to be taken when they moved to where Gadael was eventually to be formed. Due to the immense amount of metals required to construct the drills, particularly their bits, and the needs of resources for other purposes, only two new steam drills have been able to be constructed.