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You had, for quite a long while now, pondered the sciences of gunnery. That hidden science, that well-kept secret of the Artillery Guilds that was protected at knife and cannon point. Although they were unable to keep the secrets of blackpowder for long, they have done very well in keeping the specifics of the making and maintaining of cannons, culverins and mortars. It might surprise one, upon learning, of how different the makings of firelocks and of artillery guns are.
The Mirevalian Empire, mightiest upon the earth, produces arquebuses in great quantities every year. You yourself had acquired enough guns to fit your regiment with little issue, with supplies of your own country. Yet a single cannon, owned by a Straccian mercenary, was all you could muster. Such an crucial part of warfare, held entirely within the hands of a hundred disparate guilds, utterly unrelated except for their common goal of ensuring the control of that field which they have created.
Today, you make your first foray into these arts.
It would be a lie to say you know the intricacies of the matter, but you believe what you know is enough. Even as covert as they may be, the masters of cannon cannot help but explain certain things to the armies they accompany, to show them their tools of war in practice. For though as different to arquebuses as they were, the concept was none too different, and for you, that was enough.
And so, one day, you approached Vettorio, the Straccian whose <span class="mu-i">Culverin</span> you had hired. For quite a while now, he had remained within the same position: a patch of sturdy ground that had not turned to mud when the rains began. Day after day, they fired upon the curtain wall upon the hill, oft hitting and oft not. By now, they had deemed it all but safe from any forays or return fire from enemy guns. And such was the way you found him that day, leisurely looking as his assistants continued to perform some form of maintenance upon the gun.
"Your lordship!" he says, bowing. "It has certainly been some time since I have been graced with thy presence. If it is the efficacy of my barrage you question, I am certain that we've little time until progress is ma-"
"That is not what I had come here, Artillery Master." you say, interrupting his apologies. "My matter is..of the hypothetical kind, if you will. I've a question over this cannon of yours."
Vettorio's face strains in your question, though he attempts to hide it. "Ah...of course, your lordship. I shall answer as I am able."
"Although it is most often that this cannon of yours is used to target walls and earthworks, I am left in wonder over its application against other targets. In the sea, or perhaps against the very housing that hide behind these walls...certainly, it would benefit greatly were it able to set these things alight, would it not?"
