There are two new Arms Races.
Sollir, with the Deepspawn in Heisenbaudos, has started the Monster Arms Race.
Acererak and Kas have begun the Construct Arms Race.
Anyone may join either of these races.
There are other Deepspawn, and pretty much all the Powers can locate at least one.
Constructs require mages to build, and there are mages aplenty and to spare in the Flanaess.
The God Emperor of the Dark Union is, indeed, closing in on Divine Ascension.
He is beginning to feel the wondrous spark of divinity, the special warmth of awesome power, flowing in his veins.
The Lortmil Technomancy has been protected from all attacks.
The Lortmil Peoples and Kron Hills protect it on the north, Celene and the Welkwood on the northeast and east, the Pomarj to the southeast, and the Kingdom of Ulek on the south, southwest, west, and northwest.
Protected by this peace, the Lortmil Technomancy has progressed into the early 20th century, in terms of their weapons.
They have discovered the secret of light without magic (electricity.)
They have discovered the secret of motion without magic (electrical motors.)
They have created transport without magic, using something called gasoline which is created in something called refineries.
Railroads now extend throughout their realm, and into neighboring realms if GnomeWorks sees fit to do that, and if their neighbors agree.
They have discovered the secret of long range communication without magic, using poles and lines hung in the air.
They have even discovered the awesome secret of flight without magic; this new invention has wings like a bird, a strange windmill that goes at incredible speed in the front, and it takes off and lands on a cleared space of land.
They have also discovered and are mass producing new weapons of destruction, which they are either not sharing, or sharing only with allies whom GnomeWorks chooses.
They are mass producing very fine rifles, machine guns, strange chemical brews that fill enemy trenches with death, very powerful high explosives, and they are working on some secret machine that supposedly is proof against any enemy swords or arms fire, and which shoots a giant explosive for hundreds of yards. Able to travel through any terrain, crush trees before it, and squash the mightiest enemy with it's weight.
They call it a tank.
Across the rest of the Flanaess, arrivals of the new weapon, the firearm, are finally reaching the front lines in huge numbers.
These strange new weapons penetrate all armor: armor is useless against them, except for magical armor only.
They are longer ranged and more accurate than a bow, and they can be fired quickly - a vast improvement has been made in these firearms over the last two Turns.
Increasingly, soldiers are finding that it is more expedient to use these firearms than arrows.
Some have combined the firearms with swords, producing bayonets.
Others are abandoning swords, and combining knives and swords.
The new weapon, the cannon, is being heard on the battlefield for the first time.
It is proving very effective against castle defenses, and it is also proving very effective against elementals and other large monsters.
These cannon aren't entirely accurate, but improves are quickly being made in them, especially where the Lortmil Technomancy is helping out.
A number of bright people got the idea at the same time of enchanting these firearms and cannon, machine guns and explosives.
The result are much more accurate and powerful firearms, more rapid firing machine guns, and explosives with a wider radius.
Technomancy, the combination of science and magic, has been born in the Flanaess.
I see the secret of the Flying Citadels has been given out.
Very well ... those the secret has been given to can begin tearing their castles out of their own soil, and lofting them skyward.
This will enable the transport of entire armies from one area to another.
