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In lugnet.castle, Anthony Sava wrote:
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It’s pretty well known (in Ikros anyway) that Dragons and Dwarves just don’t
get along. Dwarves want gold, so they mine. Dragons want gold, so they kill
Dwarves. They just don’t mix well at parties.
So how is a short little Dwarf supposed to defend himself against a giant
flying reptile with flaming breath?
Why, with a Prismatic Mirror!
Post Mod Gallery
In order to protect their more valuable investments from dragons and other
raiders, Dwarves strive to implement as many defenses as possible. On the
front line of that defense are the Prismatic Mirrors.
Exaggerated stories of the Greek inventor Archimedes describe something akin
to it. The large crystal and parabolic mirror gather light, which is focused
through an array of three very strong magnifying lenses, and the resulting
blast of searing light can flash-fry a dragon in mid-air.
The effective range of the Prismatic Mirror is enormous, and borders on
anything in line of sight. As the Dwarves like to say, “If you can see it,
you can fry it.”
A Prismatic Mirror is usually manned by a team for three dwarves. One pulls
on a large chain to move a cover from between the crystal and the lens array
to fire the device, one acts as a spotter and aims, and one pulls on another
chain to rotate and tilt the device following the directions of the spotter.
The Prismatic Mirror has been expertly balanced and sits on an almost
frictionless turntable, so aiming it takes little effort at all.
While the effects of the beam are greatest in full daylight, even moonlight
or firelight can fuel the weapon, though at a greatly diminished capacity. A
moonlight powered Prismatic Mirror will cause mild to moderate burns to its’
victim, while a firelight powered mirror will merely blind the target.
Maintanence is extremely important. The Prismatic Mirror is a finely tuned,
highly delicate device, and dirt or imperfections in the lenses or mirrors
can produce less than desired results. The mirror is also rather fragile, so
it is usually accompanied by other defensive equipment.
I was inspired to build the Prismatic Mirror while playing one of my favorite
games, Total Annihalation: Kingdoms, which has a military unit of the same
name. I know it’s a bit high tech for most people, but if Atlantis could have
something like this, medieval Europe could have had it, too ;)
--Anthony
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Brilliant. Pun intended. This sure beats the ol’ boulders-from-high-places
routine. I can just imagine a little rabbit hole from the surface filled with
mirrors to bounce sunlight precisely into the device in the deep-down caverns.
You should make little stickers of dragon stamps to mark how many it’s fried,
heh heh.
I don’t see the concern that the technology wasn’t there, Islamic civilization
had mirrors and all that around 1200AD (or maybe earlier). That and Dwarfs are
smart. Would anyone really be surprised that they’re a couple hundred years
ahead of medieval Europe? Denis Pouchain made a medieval Dwarfish zeppelin, if I
remember correctly...
Kevin
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | The Prismatic Mirror
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| It's pretty well known (in Ikros anyway) that Dragons and Dwarves just don't get along. Dwarves want gold, so they mine. Dragons want gold, so they kill Dwarves. They just don't mix well at parties. So how is a short little Dwarf supposed to defend (...) (20 years ago, 30-Aug-04, to lugnet.castle, lugnet.general, FTX) !
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