Shades of things to come......Well, probably not in our lifetime....

"You warriors should know," Synizn sighs. "That the one big complaint that generals have had from the days of Rome to today was that the average magic user, while deadly in battle, took years of training and too many resources to produce more than a few for battle."

"I've heard of that complaint," Astra murmurs. "That's why most battles are....were won by strength of arm of the common soldier vice the magical might of spell. However, the cost was always high and you needed a ridiculous amount of soldiers to hold down the land you gained in battle."

"And you can't produce magical weapons in quantity," Pally puts in. "Not like ordinary weapons. Especially not like that philospher/sage Mark DeLonk, who proposed a system he called an....assembly line. It is where a worker would produce one part of the product and one part only. That way, it would take no time at all for him to get good at his job....and the rate of overall production would increase to a dizzying rate. At least in theory. But, magic production can't work that way." Fred nodded, understanding. Pall had come in contact with the most interesting people before that damn dragon got ahold of him and his family.

"Now we've gone far with our ordinary weapons," the were-bear says. "We can hit and kill a man at great distances, but bows are faster. Cannons are good and are not magical, and thus anyone can use with a bit of training. Compare it to the might of these visitors......" The mage shakes his head in wonder.

"Now," the were-bear continues. "I didn't say that war was the only thing that this......non-magical method was good for. I've examined other items from the visitors. They are for more mundane, everyday things. Why a bunch of golems or lizards would have them is beyond me, but....... Well, perhaps we shoujld look into other fields...if only to be able to handle any future encounters."

The discussion goes on well into the night, resolving nothing, and raising many questions that maybe never could be answered.

As the were-bear lays down to sleep latter that night, he remembers that strange discussion his friend had in the Circle had. Malachi had insisted that the weapons that the humans could and would get more powerful until sometime in the future they could rival the power and fierceness of the dragon.....magically and otherwise.

I laughed then just as I would have laughed at the idea of helping a dragon slayer, the were-bear thinks as sleep approaches. Yet, not only does it look like she was right.....I'm helping this former dragon slayer........Wish I had an idea of how that those flippin' bastards did it so we could return the favor....

*********************************************************************

"But they died," Fred whispers hoarsly. "We were only looking around and......we almost all ended up getting entirely eaten by bugs or bit by snakes!"

"There was no way that you could expect this," Alicia whispers back, stroking Fred's furry cheek ruffs. "Your Kingdom never had to develope the magical defenses mine had. In that respect, consider yourself blessed! My land had to or be overran by the Sultans. They say the Necessity breeds Invention. What was necessary made us VERY inventive. I....just never dreamed that whatever the Enemy did to my land would effect the castle treasurey defenses like that! Still, I also feel responsible for what happened, yet nobody blames me or you for the deaths! They say that they knew their lives might be lost on this trip, but came anyway!

"Now, who knows what might come out of this....land of glass," she continues, shivering. "Now I'm doubly glad that Quaz'hawad has Malachi as her protector!"

Fred, taking that all in, finally nods despite his feelings. The deaths will always be remembered, and plans will be made to try to avoid the mistakes of the past. But, as much as he would like it to be otherwise, he knows that now is a time for leadership....a time for teamwork. Much as he'd like to ride off on his horse on a quest alone to save the day, his "lone wolf" days are done and dead. Fred had responsibilities and duties. Hopefully, no more would die. Fred prayed as he slipped off to sleep that that would be so because so many had died already!

1. The adventerures dream of the disturbing shape of what could come in the future. Some wonder what could have lead up to the development of what was unleashed here and find no answers.....for now.

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