Ermete DiAgnellio made some final checks in the last few moments before the meeting. The last thing that he wanted was something to go wrong on this day. Part of his mind wished he had another half an hour, but everything seemed to be just fine when their was a knock on the door at 12:00. He sighed, lit the fire and came to meet the client. Regardless of his skill Impressions were important, especially when it was the Doge you would be talking to."My Doge, it is an honor for you to grace my workshop.""That it is, my boy. I have it on the good word of your guild that you have something that will impress me.""That I have." He let the ruler pass the threshold and took him inside.The Serene Republic of Venoa was a fairly powerful, if not particularly large state. It had at it's heart a sizable city and dominated several smaller local cities and a modest area of agricultural land, but it was fairly insignificant in terms of size when compared to a few of the more prominent kingdoms. It's power had to do mainly with trade, a few colonies and local manufacturing. Venoan arms and armor were well respected on the international market (a fact helped along by a sizable dwarvish population) as were their textiles, glass and more civilian products of glass work. Venoan Condottieri were among the most respected and feared of mercenaries. Their army while competitively small was professional, well equipped and able to scrap with the best of them, as well as a navy to be reckoned with. They also had become skilled at finance and banking and one of the most extensive non-drow networks of spies and assassins for more subtle means of exerting influence.Among their more notable products was that of arcane clockwork, an area of magic in which, over the last few centuries they had refined for various purposes, from clocks which never needed winding to ballista and crossbows which drew themselves back with the flip of a switch. They were not ignorant to mundane engineering, however, as the guild of inventors knew well. Emete was among it's younger members. He had a knack for the mechanical that few possessed that his father and the guild felt would be criminal to left uncultivated, and among the areas that fascinated him the most was that of Infrastructure.He, like many members of the inverters guild had an interest in Infrastructural machinery. Most states did after the introduction of rifles and on occasion, although as far as they were concerned their interest was geared to Infrastructural firearms and cannons and how to replicate them in bulk. The Venoans took to making rifles quickly enough, being keen on arquebuses for common soldiers beforehand and was a big producer of them. However, they were also keen to find out other things about this strange new player on the political scene. Distance and lack of connections complicated things as well as the natural, but they did their best none the less to try to figure things out. The inventor's guild went over the reports and images they could get their hands on and tried to replicate them. They were impressed with their mechanically propelled boats and locomotives and amazed by their 'electrics'. Replicating their newer guns was more tricky, as was making enough of them for the army's needs. The inverters also took a keen interest in a few items such as Spinning Jenneys and flying shuttles and were quick to convince the textile industry to make use of them. Uncovering the secrets of steam took more effort, but eventually they managed to crack that as well. The Doge managed to acquire the services of an Infrastructural Engineer a few years ago, though one who specialized in electricity. The mechanical stuff was up to the inventors to replicate.Ermete showed the Doge and his bodyguard to a trough laid out, he was happy to here the popping sound in the distance and smoke rising from a small box at one end. "My Lord, I would like to show you a glimpse of the future of the Venoan Navy." He pulled a string which dropped a counterweight which lifted a small gate and with it a small model boat came puttering out, water sloshing between two paddlewheels on either side."When built full size a small group of stokers and and engineers could do a better job at moving a ship forward than a hundred rowers!" He said, proudly but somewhat nervously."My oh my." The doge said, clearly impressed. "I trust you have plans for the full-scale version.""That I do, would you like to see them?""That I would. It's only a shame that we can't have her on the seas in a few weeks time. It would have been a grand thing to show this to the Committee's Great Embassy."The inventor led the Doge to his draft room "If nothing else your lord, we will have beaten the Allergonians in building a steam fleet.""An astute observation my boy."Previous- [link] Next- [link]