A Brief Treatise on the Grenade

Battle-Maestro Ar-Dakon of the Shattering Fusion

This book is meant to serve as both a necessary guide for the servicemer of the Echmeri armata and armada as well as a introductory pamphlet to the soldiers of the Imperial Legion stationed on the Ynesleaic archipelago who wish to learn how to use such weapons safely and efficiently. By the spirits of my peoples’ ancestors I swear that this tome follows the necessary guidelines established by the Shattering Fusion’s first High Hypothesian, Trokak, in his four-thousand-eight-hundred and eighty-four page work that laid out the groundwork of the Echmeri military known simply as the War Praxis.

INTRODUCTION

Out of all the weaponry that the Echmeri people has invented, it is the tra’graka – the grenade – that has been one of the greatest examples of our unique craftsmership compared to the works produced by the denizens of Tamriel and other island kingdoms. Some races refuse to believe that they actually exist as functional equipment, similar to our legged-ships (why those simple devices our considered ‘fabled’ and ‘infamous’ is beyond my comprehension), but that is their own folly to partake in.

Ever since the early stages of my races’ creation we have always been what Tamrielic scholars and mages deem ‘magnephobic’, which means to have a strong dislike or fear of magic. This trait is one of the largest imprints left upon us by the Noraken Clan of Dwemer that settled Yneslea in ancient times, as they taught our foremost ancestors the Protoechi to rely on our own ingenuity rather than the unstable nature of magicka. Of course however, the Protoechi being the Protoechi conducted secret (and utterly terrifying) experiments with magic that the Dwemer were not aware of before or after they vanished in 1A 700. Thankfully after the Battle of the Dweech and the Council of Dull Chimes was established those experiments came to an end with the creation of the Law that still mystically binds my race to this day.

But so many years of using magic couldn’t just be wiped away, and that is why our brother Penta Ward the Confined Abyss dedicates itself to understanding and controlling the raw nature of magicka to keep the Echmeri safe. Eventually, however, the Fusion realized that small amounts of magic could aid our race in the growing domestic conflicts happening at that period of time and so we began to work closely with the Perception to create such a tool.

The tra’graka were devised to bridge the gap between mundane and magical equipment for war, an example of harmonic machinery combined perfectly with fluctuating energy. Grenades are, for lack of a better term, ranged explosives that can be thrown at enemies by the typical soldier with little to no difficulty. The first series of the weapons were forged in 1A 822, three years after the formula for binding stones was perfected.

CREATION

Like the majority of Echmeri weapons (and armor), tra’graka are forged from solarite, an ore that is almost exclusively found in the Ynesleaic archipelago. The ‘hardened tears of GANUS’ we call it, and it is only seconded to ebony (of which it is lighter) in terms of strength and power. You’d have to ask an experienced metallurgist why solarite is so rare outside of the archipelago, but we Echmer have kept the secret of its mining, smelting, and shaping for generations.

Tra’graka are always forged in the shape of a hexahedron; we Echmer have always been fond of squares and circles, but the former are undeniably more popular of the two. They are considerably small in size, each side about one and a half inch in length, and the wielder can hold one or two in the palm of their hand without much discomfort. As is tradition with all weaponry and armor the tra’graka are carved with ancestral quotes or images, which provide some comfort for the servicemer on tour.

After the grenade has been crafted the next step is to insert the element that will allow for the explosion to occur, which is the residue left behind by atronachs when they die: frost salts, fire salts, void salts, etc. For members of the armada this creation process sounds nigh-identical to the creation of cannonballs for our sea vessels, which also utilize atronach salts for power. Depending on the salt used the grenade/cannonball will have a different effect: fire salts explode in flame and burn anything they touch; frost salts freeze both flesh, wood, and metal in place for more bombardment; void salts, the most deadly, unleash the power of storms on the unfortunate victims as chain lightning ricochets throughout their ship.

The last ‘ingredient’ is a binding stone, which provides the necessary ‘spark’ to cause the tra’graka to explode in the first place. All Echmeri know what binding stones are and used for; for you Tamrielics, consider them my peoples’ equivalent to your filthy necrolatric soul gems except used to store Daedric vestiges for the same purposes.

USE

To activate a grenade simply press the trigger button on the outside panel, which cause the binding stone to break and the vestige inside to react negatively with the atronach salts kept within it (because vestiges are usually immediately recalled back into Oblivion upon a Daedra’s death, to have one suddenly exposed to Daedric remains like that will result in it going into a frenzy in an attempt to use them to avoid the legendary ‘waters of Oblivion’ and painful reformation), resulting in the salts igniting (in the loosest sense of the word) and exploding. The vestige will escape unharmed, being blown back into Oblivion to reform, but the victim of the blast could be severely to fatally wounded.

So when you find yourself in possession of a few tra’graka, remember to use them well and correctly. They are not tools to be played with, similar to harquebuses. I hope this guide serves you well.

Honor to the Council! Honor to the Law! Honor to the Echmeri People! Honor to Yneslea!

– Battle-Maestro Ar-Dakon of the Shattering Fusion