Arcane Defenses

Lady Cassandra winced she passed the window looking out onto the once beautiful streets of Edelstein. The cobblestones and white granite statues were broken and blackened, crumbling beneath the onslaught of the goblin bombs. She tried not to shutter as the cry of a wyvren echoed through the air, followed by one after another joining in.
The attack had been going on for three nights. The Flightmasters had been called to retreat to the mountains to regroup after the second evening's fall. The dark skies now lit only with the fire brought from the goblins' bombs.
Cassandra swallowed. She trusted the keeps of the Wolkentürme to keep her safe. To keep her, Axel, the Congressmen, and little Beniot and Francis sheltered. It was old. Older than the buildings that had reigned over the skies of Florin. It had withstood the test of time. It would withstand this. It had to.
But--
She trusted for Edelstein to not fall to the Dar, of all races.
But--
Another dull, rhythmic thudding signified bombing against the eastern towers. She had to wonder just how much more damage the roofing of the floating buildings could take. She had to wonder just why her husband had decided to depart of the rest of his peers in the Congressional Chambers in order to walk to a far-flung guard tower, of all places. Why he was deciding to climb the stairs that led to the tower's peak.
The building itself seemed to groan, forcing Cassandra's assent up the stairs to halt abruptly.
Cursed Terrors. Cassandra gripped her hands tightly together in the folds of her dress, forcing her attention away back to the steps in front of her. She quickened her pace to fall into step with her husband. Lord Axel Roth kept his elven gaze firmly affixed to the ceiling, though one of his ears flicked slightly in her direction, as she approached his side. As another onslaught started, he reached a hand out, carefully, to take her own. The gentle weight was a comfort. Cassandra watched as his other hand, however, trailed carefully against the wall of the building, sweeping upwards as he carried on his assent.
"Are you certain that we will be safe? That the children--"
"So long as the runes hold fast, we all will be safe." There was a pause. "We just need to have a bit of a respite, ja, mein schatz?"
"Runes?" Finally, they reached the end of the stairway, and after gathering herself, Cassandra found herself in an empty room. Or, at least, nearly empty. In the middle of the room, was a metallic cube, suspended in the air, etched in carvings that she couldn't comprehend. Every few moments, the symbols lit in time with the explosions outside.
Blue eyes finally flicked back to glance at her for a moment, before an almost smile tugged at her husband's lips. "The Jotnar left us with many tools, creations of power, when they decided to abandon the broken world they had created." Cassandra watched as Axel's free hand struck out sharply, arching in the same blue as the glowing figures.
"Displays of their power." The floor beneath them began to glow, as if in response to his words. Symbols, etched clearly in the stone, began to glow with the same azure light, as Axel's eyes began to glow. Cassandra held onto his hand tighter, even as static began to form between them both.
"Remnants of their will." Axel continues, a grin forming on his lips, savage and wild, as his feet lifted from the ground. "And the will of those that survived the Jotnar will not be combated with those of mere Dar! Löse deine Fesseln!"
Blue magic pulsed out, hot and electric, like lightening, nearly blinding, as Cassandra was pushed backward. She reached out blindly for Axel, grasping only air, as he focused on the spell. Outside, she heard the rumble of thunderclouds that had not been there moments ago. Looking over to the nearest window, she saw lightening arc and net through the sky, linking the eastern tower with its brethren. She watched as each of the towers lit with magic, and she heard the frantic and pained cries of the goblin and wyvren alike.
Ah, she thought to herself, feeling feint, So this is what they meant when they said to remember the fires of old.

Utility

A Jötnar Defensive Artifact Stationed in a Zau'berian Outpost

The Jötnar artifacts are capable of centered or modified to shield specific areas of concern, far more so than their Draconic counterparts. They are also capable of being overloaded, often resulting in an intense feedback loop that can cause an arcane surge that is offensive and destructive in nature. Instigating this arcane surge, however, can have severe consequences, both for the device and the mages causing it. There is a chance that such tampering can lead to either an overload of the system, negating the shields entirely, or the damaging of the artifact itself. It can also cause great injury to the mage or mages in question, as there is a not-small likelihood that they will be caught in the crossfire of the surge. This flux of power can result in injury, arcane nullification, or even death of the mage.

Manufacturing

It is unknown how to manufacture the arcane defensive devices, though it has been the topic of much scholarly debate. Many Zau'berian, Keefin, and Cadorian mages have worked in uniform and on projects to attempt to elucidate the means by which the giants were able to create their artifacts. A significant portion of the academic populous believes that the Jötnar didn't create the arcane warding artifacts, but instead have took them from another conquered race.
Occasionally, new devices will be pulled up from Jötnar ruins, which will lead to another peak in academic curiosity on the subject. The current non-aggression pact between Cador and the Zau'ber empire has been very helpful with peaking professional interest and collaborative works. The Black and White towers recently exchanged both artifacts and a few pupils in an attempt to foster good will between the nations.
Draconic arcane defenses are even less known, with only the Fire Lord available to provide insight. Which he typically refuses to do.

A Florin Mage, Activating the Castle's Innate Defenses During the Long War

Inventor(s)

It is unknown which of the giants first made the devices, however it is far more easy to determine which draconic Lord or Lady cast their form of protections on the holds and castles. There was a tenancy for them to leave their arcane marks and sigil engraved in the stones and runes of the arcane circles.
Currently is is known that The Cadorian Keep was warded by the Bright Lord Xoddrem, the Golden Palace was warded by both the Lady of Brass and her lover Xandolin the Bronze, and at least one former dwarven hold in the lands of Azarrkul was taken and then warded by the Crimson Queen. Currently, many buildings in Yu Long are also warded by the Fire Lord.

Access & Availability

Both Draconic and the Jötnar artifacts have been sequestered to the castles, palaces, and keeps of old. As such, they are mainly only dealt with, or known, by the upper echelons of society. Very few people know of these last measures of defense, and even fewer know how to work them. In the Zau'ber Empire, a person must train for years, if not decades or more, before being allowed access to the devices. Previously, they were also pressured to take a vow of silence before doing so, though such measures have fallen out of favor in the recent years.
Draconic measures of defense are even more complex than their Jötnar counterparts, as the magic is generally woven into the frameworks of the buildings themselves. The wards and barriers that lay beneath the castle of Gravenwall have been the subject to much debate and scholarly discussion. It has been reported that the only people who can truly activate these wards are those with draconic blood running through their veins. This thought has been at least moderately disproved by the staff of the Black Tower. However, it has been shown that blooded casters have an easier time communing with, and shifting through, the shields that their ancestors once established.

Complexity

As stated before, the complexity of the Jötnar devices was limited by the necessity for them to be moved by their owners. However, the lack of a knowing guide or means of activation often lead to such devices being forced to work via sub-optimal methods, generally with raw arcane power being provided to them by desperate mages. Their processes and activation methods are still not fully understood by the individuals that work them. However their limited complexity allows for the elven mages to at least be able to nominally guide them.
The same cannot be said for the Draconic defenses. Most of the arcane defenses that line and ward the Keeps and cities of Cador, Florin, and Aljahim have been rendered dormant by time and lack of use. Very few mages know how to activate these wards, and even those that do risk feedback or fluxes of power should they attempt to re-activate the devices. Many of the stones or gems that once allowed for easier control of the arcane defenses in these palaces have been misplaced, stolen, or destroyed. It is said that the Fall of the House of Ashmore was facilitated by the loss of one such ruby, which the Mad King was said to have hidden away in a fit of paranoia. Rumors state that he hid the gem beneath the Castle of Gravenwall, tucked away in the winding ruins that crawl their way through the grounds beneath the keep. It is also reported that the Golden Palace of Alhazred, the former home of the Lady of Brass, is one of the few places left that has a fully functioning draconic defensive network. How the Archlich managed to overcome the initial resistances of the keep after killing its previous owner, however, is still unknown.

Discovery

The use of arcane wards and magics in the defense of castles and citadels have been utilize since the Time of Shaping, and even before. The Dragons originally utilized such magics in the defense of their lairs, though this trend quickly expanded to their more mortal holdings. Within the walls of their castles, the Architects of Man wove spells of protection, calling upon the stone itself to harden and defend against attacks wrought by others of their kind. Most often, these enhancements would be inlaid in stones or gems of the dragon's horde, and would be placed, most commonly, in the thrones of the creatures. Most would carry residual resistance to the element that the draconic patron was most attuned to.
Many of these magics and stones were destroyed or damaged in the Dragonfall, however. In their place, came the defenses of the Jotnar.
The Jotnar and their artifacts have been the matter of much study and debate, mostly in the Imperial Circles. However, it is assumed, or at least theorized, that the giants came across such contraptions in their cosmic expansion. It has also been concluded that a significant fraction of the artifacts are not of their own, original, design. That being said, the majority of the Jotnar artifacts have an offensive basis, even when nominally designed for defense. These artifacts could also be easily moved, likely due to the giants' transitory nature. The wards tended to not be centered within the castles or holdings themselves, but were instead erected from smaller statues, objects, or figurines. These, in turn, could be transported whenever the giants left a land. It is uncertain why so many defensive artifacts were left when the giants vanished from Orbem.