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The Lore of Prima 16: Weapon and Armor Evolution
Welcome back to the Lore of Prima once again. I must admit that it has been a long while since I have made one of these things. But the time is at hand to continue. Today, the concept of weapons and armor will be the focus. But before we actually continue, there are a couple things to note here:
1. The Xiahwenites do not use words like sword or any form of the english language to describe their weaponry. As such, there will be a translator in the paragraph below the second note.
2. We will be using our english version of these words for sake of simplicity. Now then, we shall translate what we can. Brace yourselves. It is kinda long.
Translator:
Weapons
1. Sword= Havara
2. Shield= Kaniva
3. Spear= Vun
4. Dagger/knife= Hevari
5. Bow= Volari
6. Crossbow= Yenvolari
7. Staff/Stick= Gynik
8. Ax= Schuva
9. Halberd= Schuvun
10. Warhammer= Kinaxa
11. Mace/Club= Tumskra
12. Handgun= Sevari
13. Rifle= Sevuno
14. Cannon= Sevunovera
15. Greatsword= Havaravera
16. Great ax= Schuvavera
17. Lance= Vunvera
18. Towershield= Kanivavera
19. Warbow= Sashinvolari
20. Grenade/bomb= Hohtavi
21. Weapon (general term)= Sashinra
Armor
1. Chainmail/Mail= Rehnleven
2. Gambison/Cloth= Wuxleven
3. Scale= Vashinleven
4. Plate/Brigandine= Jahzaleven
5. Armor (general term)= leven
Now that we have that out of the way, I suppose we can talk about how Xiahwenites came to have such similar weaponry to us.
Well to be honest, convergent evolution is really the largest and quickest answer. Xiahwenites are a logical culture that saw many challenges similar to humanity did back on Earth. Even their ancestors, the protoxiahwenite vernandi, had been fashioning sticks into spears for over a million years. Even in their later years of evolution, vernandi had began creating weapons like knives and primitive axes. These were found in the northern forests of Mynia.
There was however, a lack of armor and any evidence of armor even in artwork (yes vernandi created art) depicting any of them in any form of armor or clothing for that matter. One reason that could be explained is that vernandi, and even modern Xiahwenites for that matter, have tougher skin than we humans do. Due to their carnivorous ancestors, this skin was likely due to infighting over things like mating rights and resources. Skin that would need to be resistant to teeth and claws.
But why did they make spears? Surely they could have come up with a weapon completely different from our own weaponry, right? Well... not really. It was not fashion that caused humanity to create the weapons we have today. It was out of necessity.
I may note to all viewers that the bow and spear had been reinvented several times by cultures that had never made contact with one another on our very own planet. As odd as it sounds, the Xiahwenites would have done the same thing. They would have continued to progress with these weapons as well.
The simple fact of the matter is that, to look at Xiahwenite history of weaponry and armor, one will find quite a similar situation our own species had come across. There were predators that largely influenced their decisions on making weapons and developing better ones to defeat said predators and make easier the hunting of prey. Other clans of protoxiahwenite vernandi and early Xiahwenites would feud and these feuds would lead to violence. Weapons would ensure better chances of victory in said feuds.
What may surprise you is the fact that the Xiahwenites did not originate from Vastania, but Mynia. They discovered Vastania approximately 200,000 years ago, by the Bimamilja, Bawekaja and clans that would later become the races we know today. But these clans were not homogenus with each other. They did not like each other. And they would go to war with each other over food, resources, or vendettas. As such, one can assume they started making better equipment to further aid them. This includes armor.
The first known and recorded instance of armor was discovered in Mynia about 22,000 years ago, however. Scraps of hardened leather had been discovered during an expedition led by archeologist Amari Kinlaxa at a burial site located at the southern area of what is now Lover's Bay in Vastania containing a Xiahwenite we now call Huxul (old man). The hardened leather here seemed to have been used for a type of shirt. Unfortunately, for Huxul at least, he was stabbed by what is believed to have been a copper knife several times in the legs and chest, ignoring the leather armor altogether.
This tells us two things: armor was starting to see its uses around this time and that copper was already being utilized as a material for weapons like knives and possibly even axes and spears. We have zero evidence to suggest that these copper pieces were made to be any larger than a few inches, likely because of how soft copper is.
We believe earlier instances of armor making happened but the armor was likely of organic material and thus deteriorated to the point of never being able to be preserved and discovered. In any case, armor making began to become more popular after Huxul had died. In fact, it is not much longer that we start seeing a lot more signs of cloth armor usage after this. These gambeson like armor would have protected the xiahwenites from weapons such as sticks and other blunt objects. Remnants of this material shows it was made of a linen like substance.
However, as knives of copper or even sharpened stone started becoming more prominent and metalworking was beginning to show signs of advancement and adoption, armor needed to start keeping up with the trend. And in our equivalent of 3,900 BC, the first signs of copper, bronze, and other softer metals began to take prominence. Large chest pieces and lower leg guards, bracers, and even half helmets became far more prominent armor styles. These were rudimentary pieces at first but in as little as one hundred years, they became very intricate in fashion and design.
The invention of these armor pieces lead to new weaponry and war tactics to combat it and this is the first instance we see the rise of small one handed swords, maces, and longer spears seeing prominence. Many shields, which were still made out of wood like always, had thin layers of bronze covering them for added protection from cuts.
For a few hundred years, development of weapons and armor had stagnated a bit until an invention came out that completely changed warfare: iron forging.
While iron was something Xiahwenites had known how to smith with, they had not been able to temper it into sheets necessary for armor or had furnaces hot enough to shape the metal properly. However, that changed in the year 3,600 BC. Smelting technology had reach temperatures hot enough to liquify iron and as iron was much stronger than many of the other metals, the result of its adoption was both sensible and immediate. The metal was also abundant and usually easy to find.
Suddenly, the first true instances of weapons that are famous such as larger one handed swords began to see the light of day. These new weapons were so tough that new armor had to be made to deal with them. One problem was found however: iron was still very difficult to shape and temper at this point. Due to this, we started also seeing war axes and hammers, new designs of maces and winged spears, partizans and the like, see their first uses. These required less material than a sword did, were cheaper to make, and easier to repair. Axes at this time had not been in battle for a long time, relegated to a tool that could be used for offense. However, war axes were a completely different beast altogether and we have several accounts of armor being penetrated by them.
Armor was indeed seeing a lot of issues due to the fact that iron was still difficult to make large plates of intricate design for at this point. For a while it seemed like armor was losing its purpose. But a few blacksmiths began coming to answer these problems.
And a few solutions were found. One answer was to make several strip like plates that could cover the wearer's torso to protect their vitals from sharp objects. Others used cloth that was covered in scales of the iron to add flexibility as well as defense.
It was not much longer after this that steel had been invented and xiahwenites began to flock toward it in the year 1,404 BC. Most weapons and armor were replaced with mild steel at this point. Many still used iron as a cheaper alternative, however.
These got the job done but many Xiawenites still wondered if there was a way to effectively protect one from all bladed and piercing weaponry. And it was not until the year 154 BC that an answer was made: chainmail.
Jemorav Hanrinvi was the supposed blacksmith that invented chainmail. It is unclear if he actually did invent it or not, but the fact was that the armor had become VERY prominent after its introduction, almost completely erasing scale mail armor and even plate armor for a time.
This was because, at this point, standard Xiahwenite infantry would be wielding a shield to deflect projectile objects and wore a cloth armor underneath to cushion blunt force blows, and a metal helmet that covered the majority of the head very similar to the spartan corinthian style helmets we see in our world. While scale mail was used a lot, it was limited to chest pieces and not very flexible.
Chainmail was very flexible. And while not as protective as plate armor, it was far more flexible and could cover areas even scale mail could not cover. Its defensive value was also still quite effective for protection against many weapons.
In fact, chainmail was such a game changer that every bladed weapon now had to be redesigned to answer its impressive defense. We see this happen almost immediately after chainmail is heavily adopted in the year 100 BC. Spears started having tapered points, swords were generally ineffective and used as a sidearm instead of a main weapon. Arrowheads had to be narrowed to thin points to even get passed the armor and new weapons like crossbows had become a reality, further increasing issues when in mid range combat.
The only issue with chainmail was, at the time, it was only used in the torso area. Chainmail took a long time to make and there was no real automated way to do it. Even a shirt of chainmail could take several days to complete. As such, this armor was very expensive to own and only high class warriors actually had it.
For a time, chainmail was the king of armor. But mounted combat even made that become a mute point once striders had been bred and started being used in combat. In 400 AD, calvary with spears, javelins and lances began to pulverize the chain mail. In 500 AD, extremely high poundage warbows had been created with enough force to finally pierce the armor at close range.
And somewhere, in what would be known as Prima Centralia, a young blacksmith girl was crafting the first instance of intricate plates for armor in 535 AD. Kuruvah Valiah became a very popular blacksmith within a week due to a nearby knight like warrior praising the armor for being capable of defending even against the new weaponry and mounted combatants.
This lead to the first full plate armor (though it was not quite as protective and covering as our own versions) and it was a popular armor for nobility and high ranking warriors to own. But one problem it had was the cost. While the armor itself had the most impressive defense of any armor to date, it came with a very high price. Thus even some nobility were looking for alternatives. They didn't have to wait long.
Gerin Visimal, a young competitor blacksmith in the year 584 AD (and the man who mentored Keveranu in smithing), had created the bringandine armor, which was a sort of evolution of scale armor, having many small plates of steel riveted onto a thick cloth. Brigandine became a bit of a fashion statement due to its customizability in things like color and flare.
In fact, brigandine armor became the most popular armor for nobility and high class warriors because, while not being as effective as the plate armor, it was cheaper and easier to fix and maintain. It was also lighter and even more flexible and did not have to be completely tailored to an individual to work effectively. This lead to its widespread adoption. That is not to say that plate armor didn't see its uses. It did. Quite a lot, in fact. Even in the latest parts of this age, brigandine had issues with limb protection.
The simple answer to that? Simply have the brigandine in places where it was most effective, plate cover areas it could do what it did best, chainmail to protect the gaps where needed, and gambeson like material under the armor to soften it. And thus we reach the zenith of Xiahwenite defensive armor.
With these armors, shields started disappearing and armor was effective enough to justify the creation of weapons like the halberd, the poleax, the longsword and many other two handed weapons. Many weapons had to be designed with the thought that you may run into an armored opponent. So many swords began to have extremely tapered blades to compensate for this. For many still, it was polearms that were most effective against this armor. But that was not saying much because this armor was still highly effective.
One thing we have not talked about is how magic affected armor: the answer was not much. Armor was still very useful to have and the way magic was combated in warfare was through mages using defensive spells against other mages and protecting units from fireballs and the like. But as far as spells and enchanting went, generally you wanted a wizard helping you against another wizard.
And in This Primal World, the year is our equivallent of 634 AD. So Raiser and company would be aware of these advancements to an extent. I have also not touched up on guns. But that is because guns are extremely rare. Its a very unknown weapon that is only now beginning to show any form of identity. It would not be for another decade that flintlock weapons would appear and another forty years before cartridge based ones became a thing.
And that is the history of Xiahwenite weapon and armor evolution. Also keep in mind that I was using our equivallent timeline to explain how this all works. In their world, they started a BC and AD thing when written text became a thing. So in their world, 634 AD is really 3265 KN (kinun nektura or "after writing")
I will see ya'll next time. Ciao!
Welcome back to the Lore of Prima once again. I must admit that it has been a long while since I have made one of these things. But the time is at hand to continue. Today, the concept of weapons and armor will be the focus. But before we actually continue, there are a couple things to note here:
1. The Xiahwenites do not use words like sword or any form of the english language to describe their weaponry. As such, there will be a translator in the paragraph below the second note.
2. We will be using our english version of these words for sake of simplicity. Now then, we shall translate what we can. Brace yourselves. It is kinda long.
Translator:
Weapons
1. Sword= Havara
2. Shield= Kaniva
3. Spear= Vun
4. Dagger/knife= Hevari
5. Bow= Volari
6. Crossbow= Yenvolari
7. Staff/Stick= Gynik
8. Ax= Schuva
9. Halberd= Schuvun
10. Warhammer= Kinaxa
11. Mace/Club= Tumskra
12. Handgun= Sevari
13. Rifle= Sevuno
14. Cannon= Sevunovera
15. Greatsword= Havaravera
16. Great ax= Schuvavera
17. Lance= Vunvera
18. Towershield= Kanivavera
19. Warbow= Sashinvolari
20. Grenade/bomb= Hohtavi
21. Weapon (general term)= Sashinra
Armor
1. Chainmail/Mail= Rehnleven
2. Gambison/Cloth= Wuxleven
3. Scale= Vashinleven
4. Plate/Brigandine= Jahzaleven
5. Armor (general term)= leven
Now that we have that out of the way, I suppose we can talk about how Xiahwenites came to have such similar weaponry to us.
Well to be honest, convergent evolution is really the largest and quickest answer. Xiahwenites are a logical culture that saw many challenges similar to humanity did back on Earth. Even their ancestors, the protoxiahwenite vernandi, had been fashioning sticks into spears for over a million years. Even in their later years of evolution, vernandi had began creating weapons like knives and primitive axes. These were found in the northern forests of Mynia.
There was however, a lack of armor and any evidence of armor even in artwork (yes vernandi created art) depicting any of them in any form of armor or clothing for that matter. One reason that could be explained is that vernandi, and even modern Xiahwenites for that matter, have tougher skin than we humans do. Due to their carnivorous ancestors, this skin was likely due to infighting over things like mating rights and resources. Skin that would need to be resistant to teeth and claws.
But why did they make spears? Surely they could have come up with a weapon completely different from our own weaponry, right? Well... not really. It was not fashion that caused humanity to create the weapons we have today. It was out of necessity.
I may note to all viewers that the bow and spear had been reinvented several times by cultures that had never made contact with one another on our very own planet. As odd as it sounds, the Xiahwenites would have done the same thing. They would have continued to progress with these weapons as well.
The simple fact of the matter is that, to look at Xiahwenite history of weaponry and armor, one will find quite a similar situation our own species had come across. There were predators that largely influenced their decisions on making weapons and developing better ones to defeat said predators and make easier the hunting of prey. Other clans of protoxiahwenite vernandi and early Xiahwenites would feud and these feuds would lead to violence. Weapons would ensure better chances of victory in said feuds.
What may surprise you is the fact that the Xiahwenites did not originate from Vastania, but Mynia. They discovered Vastania approximately 200,000 years ago, by the Bimamilja, Bawekaja and clans that would later become the races we know today. But these clans were not homogenus with each other. They did not like each other. And they would go to war with each other over food, resources, or vendettas. As such, one can assume they started making better equipment to further aid them. This includes armor.
The first known and recorded instance of armor was discovered in Mynia about 22,000 years ago, however. Scraps of hardened leather had been discovered during an expedition led by archeologist Amari Kinlaxa at a burial site located at the southern area of what is now Lover's Bay in Vastania containing a Xiahwenite we now call Huxul (old man). The hardened leather here seemed to have been used for a type of shirt. Unfortunately, for Huxul at least, he was stabbed by what is believed to have been a copper knife several times in the legs and chest, ignoring the leather armor altogether.
This tells us two things: armor was starting to see its uses around this time and that copper was already being utilized as a material for weapons like knives and possibly even axes and spears. We have zero evidence to suggest that these copper pieces were made to be any larger than a few inches, likely because of how soft copper is.
We believe earlier instances of armor making happened but the armor was likely of organic material and thus deteriorated to the point of never being able to be preserved and discovered. In any case, armor making began to become more popular after Huxul had died. In fact, it is not much longer that we start seeing a lot more signs of cloth armor usage after this. These gambeson like armor would have protected the xiahwenites from weapons such as sticks and other blunt objects. Remnants of this material shows it was made of a linen like substance.
However, as knives of copper or even sharpened stone started becoming more prominent and metalworking was beginning to show signs of advancement and adoption, armor needed to start keeping up with the trend. And in our equivalent of 3,900 BC, the first signs of copper, bronze, and other softer metals began to take prominence. Large chest pieces and lower leg guards, bracers, and even half helmets became far more prominent armor styles. These were rudimentary pieces at first but in as little as one hundred years, they became very intricate in fashion and design.
The invention of these armor pieces lead to new weaponry and war tactics to combat it and this is the first instance we see the rise of small one handed swords, maces, and longer spears seeing prominence. Many shields, which were still made out of wood like always, had thin layers of bronze covering them for added protection from cuts.
For a few hundred years, development of weapons and armor had stagnated a bit until an invention came out that completely changed warfare: iron forging.
While iron was something Xiahwenites had known how to smith with, they had not been able to temper it into sheets necessary for armor or had furnaces hot enough to shape the metal properly. However, that changed in the year 3,600 BC. Smelting technology had reach temperatures hot enough to liquify iron and as iron was much stronger than many of the other metals, the result of its adoption was both sensible and immediate. The metal was also abundant and usually easy to find.
Suddenly, the first true instances of weapons that are famous such as larger one handed swords began to see the light of day. These new weapons were so tough that new armor had to be made to deal with them. One problem was found however: iron was still very difficult to shape and temper at this point. Due to this, we started also seeing war axes and hammers, new designs of maces and winged spears, partizans and the like, see their first uses. These required less material than a sword did, were cheaper to make, and easier to repair. Axes at this time had not been in battle for a long time, relegated to a tool that could be used for offense. However, war axes were a completely different beast altogether and we have several accounts of armor being penetrated by them.
Armor was indeed seeing a lot of issues due to the fact that iron was still difficult to make large plates of intricate design for at this point. For a while it seemed like armor was losing its purpose. But a few blacksmiths began coming to answer these problems.
And a few solutions were found. One answer was to make several strip like plates that could cover the wearer's torso to protect their vitals from sharp objects. Others used cloth that was covered in scales of the iron to add flexibility as well as defense.
It was not much longer after this that steel had been invented and xiahwenites began to flock toward it in the year 1,404 BC. Most weapons and armor were replaced with mild steel at this point. Many still used iron as a cheaper alternative, however.
These got the job done but many Xiawenites still wondered if there was a way to effectively protect one from all bladed and piercing weaponry. And it was not until the year 154 BC that an answer was made: chainmail.
Jemorav Hanrinvi was the supposed blacksmith that invented chainmail. It is unclear if he actually did invent it or not, but the fact was that the armor had become VERY prominent after its introduction, almost completely erasing scale mail armor and even plate armor for a time.
This was because, at this point, standard Xiahwenite infantry would be wielding a shield to deflect projectile objects and wore a cloth armor underneath to cushion blunt force blows, and a metal helmet that covered the majority of the head very similar to the spartan corinthian style helmets we see in our world. While scale mail was used a lot, it was limited to chest pieces and not very flexible.
Chainmail was very flexible. And while not as protective as plate armor, it was far more flexible and could cover areas even scale mail could not cover. Its defensive value was also still quite effective for protection against many weapons.
In fact, chainmail was such a game changer that every bladed weapon now had to be redesigned to answer its impressive defense. We see this happen almost immediately after chainmail is heavily adopted in the year 100 BC. Spears started having tapered points, swords were generally ineffective and used as a sidearm instead of a main weapon. Arrowheads had to be narrowed to thin points to even get passed the armor and new weapons like crossbows had become a reality, further increasing issues when in mid range combat.
The only issue with chainmail was, at the time, it was only used in the torso area. Chainmail took a long time to make and there was no real automated way to do it. Even a shirt of chainmail could take several days to complete. As such, this armor was very expensive to own and only high class warriors actually had it.
For a time, chainmail was the king of armor. But mounted combat even made that become a mute point once striders had been bred and started being used in combat. In 400 AD, calvary with spears, javelins and lances began to pulverize the chain mail. In 500 AD, extremely high poundage warbows had been created with enough force to finally pierce the armor at close range.
And somewhere, in what would be known as Prima Centralia, a young blacksmith girl was crafting the first instance of intricate plates for armor in 535 AD. Kuruvah Valiah became a very popular blacksmith within a week due to a nearby knight like warrior praising the armor for being capable of defending even against the new weaponry and mounted combatants.
This lead to the first full plate armor (though it was not quite as protective and covering as our own versions) and it was a popular armor for nobility and high ranking warriors to own. But one problem it had was the cost. While the armor itself had the most impressive defense of any armor to date, it came with a very high price. Thus even some nobility were looking for alternatives. They didn't have to wait long.
Gerin Visimal, a young competitor blacksmith in the year 584 AD (and the man who mentored Keveranu in smithing), had created the bringandine armor, which was a sort of evolution of scale armor, having many small plates of steel riveted onto a thick cloth. Brigandine became a bit of a fashion statement due to its customizability in things like color and flare.
In fact, brigandine armor became the most popular armor for nobility and high class warriors because, while not being as effective as the plate armor, it was cheaper and easier to fix and maintain. It was also lighter and even more flexible and did not have to be completely tailored to an individual to work effectively. This lead to its widespread adoption. That is not to say that plate armor didn't see its uses. It did. Quite a lot, in fact. Even in the latest parts of this age, brigandine had issues with limb protection.
The simple answer to that? Simply have the brigandine in places where it was most effective, plate cover areas it could do what it did best, chainmail to protect the gaps where needed, and gambeson like material under the armor to soften it. And thus we reach the zenith of Xiahwenite defensive armor.
With these armors, shields started disappearing and armor was effective enough to justify the creation of weapons like the halberd, the poleax, the longsword and many other two handed weapons. Many weapons had to be designed with the thought that you may run into an armored opponent. So many swords began to have extremely tapered blades to compensate for this. For many still, it was polearms that were most effective against this armor. But that was not saying much because this armor was still highly effective.
One thing we have not talked about is how magic affected armor: the answer was not much. Armor was still very useful to have and the way magic was combated in warfare was through mages using defensive spells against other mages and protecting units from fireballs and the like. But as far as spells and enchanting went, generally you wanted a wizard helping you against another wizard.
And in This Primal World, the year is our equivallent of 634 AD. So Raiser and company would be aware of these advancements to an extent. I have also not touched up on guns. But that is because guns are extremely rare. Its a very unknown weapon that is only now beginning to show any form of identity. It would not be for another decade that flintlock weapons would appear and another forty years before cartridge based ones became a thing.
And that is the history of Xiahwenite weapon and armor evolution. Also keep in mind that I was using our equivallent timeline to explain how this all works. In their world, they started a BC and AD thing when written text became a thing. So in their world, 634 AD is really 3265 KN (kinun nektura or "after writing")
I will see ya'll next time. Ciao!
Category Artwork (Digital) / Fantasy
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