Kal-Sharok: Technology

The High Speed Mine Rails
One of the greatest feats of Kal-Sharok even before it fell was the mining carts and rails on the ceiling of the city. Over the centuries it has incorporated the glyph tech and is fully unmanned. The tunnels are not big enough to permit dwarfs, thus the spawn cannot use them either. All carts are sealed with lids and are attached to the rails via magnetism and are controlled by the glyphs.

Minerals and metals and mining
Due to lack of access for miners outside of the city all resources around Kal-Sharok are mined by golems and sent into the city to be used. The metals are even refined outside. Over the years dwarves have volunteered to make repairs in these mines and refineries and due to natural disasters and darkspawn attacks some of these mines and refineries have been lost. The reason the lottery is not used to send out dwarves is because it requires a specific skill set that only a handle of Kal-Sharok dwarves possess. Their sacrifices are all recorded in the Memories. The materials come into the city via the high speed cart system that is glyph activated and "manned" by mini golems (who are much smaller than dwarves but possess the souls of the volunteer mechanics). Over the years less mini golems have been made since the need for them has diminished, the current batch of mini's do all the small repairs needed and have lived for many centuries.

Here is a list of the various metals and minerals mined outside of the city:


 * Lyrium (various types and uses, some unknown to the surface)
 * Gold, silver, bronze, copper - all the mundane and special metals.
 * Jewels such as diamond, emerald, ruby, amethyst, sapphire, aquamarine, opal, spinel
 * Minerals such as firestone, lifestone and runestone
 * Silverite, veridium, steel, iron, aurum, onyx
 * Precious metals; Orichalcum, platinum
 * Rare metal unique to Kal-Sharok such as iridium, obsidian and osmium

Orichalcum
Orichalcum is a crafting resource used to craft runes. Like lyrium, orichalcum is a metal most commonly encountered in liquid form. Unlike lyrium, however, orichalcum forms pools and must be drawn like water rather than mined. Deep Orichalcum is the most common type of the metal, and is often found in places where opals are mined. The rarer Crystalline Orchalcum is found in small pools in the mountains. Folk wisdom says that a drop of orchalcum mixed with wine is a potent aphrodisiac, though it has a pungent smell similar to lye.

The central Spire - The "Time Keeper"
In the centre of Kal-Sharok, rooted in the depths of the city and piercing maybe even the surface itself is a thick column that is a twentieth of the cities diameter in width. Within this central structure are important rooms (such as the Council Chamber, the Lottery Chamber, The Viceroys Chambers) but its main function is that of a time piece. Every hour the column turns (via pulleys and gears and magnets) to reveal the mineral or metal that names the hour. It takes less than a minute for the column to transform, it is now a smooth transition and barely makes any noise (apart from in the Commons areas which are wide and open). There are small Spires that work in sync with the central spire and these smaller time pieces are scattered through homes and sectors and places where the spire may not been seen or heard.

"Active" hours
(all gems/minerals)
 * 6am = "Diamond Hour"
 * 7am = "Emerald Hour"
 * 8am = "Ruby Hour"
 * 9am = "Amethyst Hour"
 * 10am = "Sapphire Hour"
 * 11am = "Firestone Hour
 * Midday = "Hour of the Ancestors"
 * 1pm = "Lifestone Hour"
 * 2pm = "Runestone Hour"
 * 3pm = "Aquamarine Hour"
 * 4pm = "Opal Hour"
 * 5pm = "Spinel Hour"

"Sleep" hours
(all metals)
 * 6pm = "Lyrium Hour"
 * 7pm = "Silverite Hour"
 * 8pm = "Veridium Hour"
 * 9pm = "Steel Hour"
 * 10pm = "Iron Hour"
 * 11pm = "Aurum Hour"
 * Midnight = "Hour of Obsidian"
 * 1am = "Onyx Hour"
 * 2am = "Platinum Hour"
 * 3am = "Osmium Hour"
 * 4am = "Iridium Hour"
 * 5am = "Orichalcum Hour"

The Bronto Express - aka "Inter Sector Tramline"
Throughout the city on all levels rivets or "tramlines" run, connecting the sectors. Within these tramlines are rails whereupon "trains" run. There are two types of lines. The "Stampede Line" and the "SlowPoke Line". As you can imagine the names speak for themselves. To clarify though, in the Stampede Lines the Bronto which pull the carriages are huge and strong and "encouraged" to run very fast indeed. The SlowPoke line is for the general public, though some do dare to use the Stampede if they are in a hurry!

The Bronto Express Stations are in each sector and at important intersections and places within the city. They are well maintained and often used, not only for dwarves to travel but to move cargo about the city as well.

Golem Glyph "Technology" - the evolution of Golems
Golem glyphs are the heart beat of Kal-Sharok. They make the sewers work, operate golems in the distant mines, give light, some light stones are even used to help grow vegetation in the Farming Chambers - the light they expel being almost as powerful and bright as sunlight.

Golem tech is the height of experimentation,various dwarves seek to make their name in developing new golem glyphs, but Sectors Hirol, Ortan and Armgarrek are the leaders in this area. Ortan make the Fel-Sals, the tiny golem that work inside of the city. There are no large golems inside the city - there is no room - however, they have golem glyphs to run the "machina". This "machina" are inventions that help maintain the city and keep the dwarves alive and thriving. War is an art lost on these dwarves and with good reason. The Revolutionary Accord forbids war machina, though it stands to reason some of it could be applied for War. Something these dwarves have learned more about since the doors of Kal-Sharok opened again to the world.

They guard their golem glyphs though and refuse to share the knowledge of its crafting. No matter what they are offered they will not share it and if anyone tried to steal it... well... they will not need to be drawn in the lottery, they can be a part of the glyphs as their punishment and "reward".

The Defences of Kal-Sharok
The greatest defence the city has is its ability to be self sustaining and shut its doors. The huge mechanisms have been improved over the years and the city can seal itself in less than a minute once the levers have been thrown.

Outside of the city are the typical pitfalls and death traps that all dwarves employ (lava pits, death holes, chasms, etc). There are a few secret defences which the city commissioned the making of that are as yet "not triggered" by enemies. Not even Kal-Sharok knows what they are now, since they were installed by Paragon Kader'ash long before the First Blight.

Geothermal Mechanisms inside of the City
The Geothermal energy of Thedas crust originates from the original formation of the continent and from radioactive decay of minerals, also deep stores of lyrium.

The simplest use of such energy is in hot springs to bathe. The silverite pipes spread the heated water to the more wealthy houses, creating a highly functioning plumbing system that is rarely seen anywhere else. It also helps in maintaining high temperatures deep underground.

Other use of geothermal energy in Kal Sharok is to maintain steam machines, including railway station with the use of boilers. Only the cargo-carrying trains use this technology.

The real cutting edge usage of steam comes with constructs who with help of lyrium embedded in their bodies as well as energy of steam engines can be used as workers to mine lyrium in places too dangerous for living organisms. These constructs are larger golems, their Fel-Sal cousins do not operate by this technology alone.