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Spring, 1423
Jayna walked up to Chagraff busy tabulating the weekly expenditures and income of the Arcadian government. “How much gold do we have currently in our treasury?”
Chagraff looked up from his calculations. “I know that look. What are you planning on buying?”
“We need to get Mera some armor.”
“What, why? Isn’t he a dragon?”
“Gunpowder is powerful now. He needs extra protection.”
Chagraff immediately picked up a graphite and started scribbling furiously. “A dragon of that size will take a lot of metal and expense to equip. I estimate 10 armorers will need 6 weeks to-”
Jayna leaned over. “That shot at Burgess Crossroads nearly took Mera’s head off! He’s a war hero, our strength and my grandfather’s friend.” The Arcadian leader began pacing. “Besides, how would it affect the morale of our army if our strongest asset falls in battle?”
“That’s true." Chagraff stopped writing and threw up one hand as a signal for his commander to cease as well. He took out another parchment and began writing again.
“Very well, Jayna, we’ll find the gold.”
***
Mera was sunbathing atop some large granite boulders when Jayna climbed up besides him with a giant measuring string.
“We’re gonna equip you with a suit of armor Mera.” Logan's daughter announced as she measured out a large wing shoulder, then writing the values on a small linen strip.
The dragon slowly got up, and cocked his head sideways.
“I appreciate it, but I’m not really interested. I've had a metal blanket before, Jayna. In Eroland. It was heavy. I could barely fly. I couldn't see shit. I nearly fell into a hole wearing it. I think your grandfather sold it during the Freeland Revolt.”
“Armor has gotten better since that time, Mera. It should be light enough for you to fly well.”
The dragon shrugged.
“If I die, then so be it. I’m joining this war for you, Jayna Durham, and I knew that I risked death the moment I got involved.”
Jayna stopped.
“Well, I want you alive, Mera. Do it for me, and do it for the memory of my grandfather.”
Mera rolled his eyes and sighed, but finally leaned down.
“Ugh. Very well. Take my measurements.”
***
“And it’s done.”
Six weeks later and Jayna was back at Mera’s sunbathing spot, along with Archie and Mim and three oxen-driven wagons. The plate mail was complex, some 30 separate pieces of articulated plates 2 inches thick, all held by tight leather straps. Mera sat down and spent some time trying to put on the individual pieces while Jayna pulled over the next correct piece to add next.
“This was finished just in time." The Arcadian leader mentioned as they continued dressing up the dragon. "There’s a new Imperial Army advancing against us.”
“Oh?” Mera fumbled trying to add a plate onto one of his upper forelimbs.
“Roza is reporting Emperor Beck is sending Colonel Ailes Anderson over with 20000 men. They’re marching hard. We’ll be fighting again soon.”
The dragon nodded, before carefully placed his multi-jointed helm over his head, checking it for weak points. There did not seem to be any.
“I guess this will be put to good use soon enough.”
Twenty minutes later and Mera had finally suited up, finishing up by tightening the plate on one of his wing fingers. Satisfied, the dragon flexed his paws, then his wings, before bouncing up and down, feeling the weight of the armor as it followed the contours of his body, stretching and straining with his movement. The armor fit well and responded well. Mera smiled. The dragon then suddenly reared up, roared, and threw out a fireball, before taking off and flying a quick circle. With a smile the dragon gracefully landed back upon the boulder where Jayna was still standing.
“Not too shabby. How do I look?”
“Like a knight.” The Arcadian leader smirked.
“Pppft.”
Guided By Voices - Beat Your Wings
From
axelon!
Original: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/45355763/
Jayna walked up to Chagraff busy tabulating the weekly expenditures and income of the Arcadian government. “How much gold do we have currently in our treasury?”
Chagraff looked up from his calculations. “I know that look. What are you planning on buying?”
“We need to get Mera some armor.”
“What, why? Isn’t he a dragon?”
“Gunpowder is powerful now. He needs extra protection.”
Chagraff immediately picked up a graphite and started scribbling furiously. “A dragon of that size will take a lot of metal and expense to equip. I estimate 10 armorers will need 6 weeks to-”
Jayna leaned over. “That shot at Burgess Crossroads nearly took Mera’s head off! He’s a war hero, our strength and my grandfather’s friend.” The Arcadian leader began pacing. “Besides, how would it affect the morale of our army if our strongest asset falls in battle?”
“That’s true." Chagraff stopped writing and threw up one hand as a signal for his commander to cease as well. He took out another parchment and began writing again.
“Very well, Jayna, we’ll find the gold.”
***
Mera was sunbathing atop some large granite boulders when Jayna climbed up besides him with a giant measuring string.
“We’re gonna equip you with a suit of armor Mera.” Logan's daughter announced as she measured out a large wing shoulder, then writing the values on a small linen strip.
The dragon slowly got up, and cocked his head sideways.
“I appreciate it, but I’m not really interested. I've had a metal blanket before, Jayna. In Eroland. It was heavy. I could barely fly. I couldn't see shit. I nearly fell into a hole wearing it. I think your grandfather sold it during the Freeland Revolt.”
“Armor has gotten better since that time, Mera. It should be light enough for you to fly well.”
The dragon shrugged.
“If I die, then so be it. I’m joining this war for you, Jayna Durham, and I knew that I risked death the moment I got involved.”
Jayna stopped.
“Well, I want you alive, Mera. Do it for me, and do it for the memory of my grandfather.”
Mera rolled his eyes and sighed, but finally leaned down.
“Ugh. Very well. Take my measurements.”
***
“And it’s done.”
Six weeks later and Jayna was back at Mera’s sunbathing spot, along with Archie and Mim and three oxen-driven wagons. The plate mail was complex, some 30 separate pieces of articulated plates 2 inches thick, all held by tight leather straps. Mera sat down and spent some time trying to put on the individual pieces while Jayna pulled over the next correct piece to add next.
“This was finished just in time." The Arcadian leader mentioned as they continued dressing up the dragon. "There’s a new Imperial Army advancing against us.”
“Oh?” Mera fumbled trying to add a plate onto one of his upper forelimbs.
“Roza is reporting Emperor Beck is sending Colonel Ailes Anderson over with 20000 men. They’re marching hard. We’ll be fighting again soon.”
The dragon nodded, before carefully placed his multi-jointed helm over his head, checking it for weak points. There did not seem to be any.
“I guess this will be put to good use soon enough.”
Twenty minutes later and Mera had finally suited up, finishing up by tightening the plate on one of his wing fingers. Satisfied, the dragon flexed his paws, then his wings, before bouncing up and down, feeling the weight of the armor as it followed the contours of his body, stretching and straining with his movement. The armor fit well and responded well. Mera smiled. The dragon then suddenly reared up, roared, and threw out a fireball, before taking off and flying a quick circle. With a smile the dragon gracefully landed back upon the boulder where Jayna was still standing.
“Not too shabby. How do I look?”
“Like a knight.” The Arcadian leader smirked.
“Pppft.”
Guided By Voices - Beat Your Wings
From
axelon!Original: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/45355763/
Category Artwork (Traditional) / Fantasy
Species Western Dragon
Size 1280 x 932px
File Size 240.2 kB
Listed in Folders
I wonder how much it might cost to outfit a dragon with plate mail. Think of how large a piece of metal it would take to make those breast plates! Somewhere, there is a very wealthy blacksmith haha. Awesome piece though! I always enjoy seeing the armored art you get of your characters!
Well I actually did my research, and basically plate armor of the early 15th century would be around $100k - $3.5M today depending on the quality. Estimating my dragon to need about 20x more plate than a single knight and putting into account more metal in my world, and an earlier advent of industrialized munitions armor, I estimate that this would cost the equivalent of $2-5M. In my story, that's probably the equivalent of at least 20,000 pieces of gold.
Thanks! Credit to axelon for his hard work!
Thanks! Credit to
axelon for his hard work!
Lol. Thanks! Mera probably doesn't appreciate the comparison, based on his past experiences with knights.
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