Tales of the Dispute

Quicksilver Canals

Artificial canals criss-crossing the Dispute. Instead of water they are filled with a silver fluid, which appears to be (but is not) liquid mercury. The canals flow at high speed, completely unaffected by gravity or wind. They ignore the altitude or slope of the surrounding landscape, often flowing uphill.

The flow is fastest in the center of the canal, and grows slower closer to the banks.

It is assumed that these canals were used to transport men and materiel to and from battlefields.

The Canal Fluid

Alchemists from across the Empire have spent lifetimes studying the silvery fluid within the canals, with little having been learned. The fluid, which flows freely in the canals, is completely inert when samples are removed.

Is is rumored that large pools of liquid collected outside of the canals tend to attract lightning in stormy weather.

Quickslips

Boats, normally of metal, are used to navigate the Quicksilver canals. Wooden vessels will work, but seem to only move at a fraction of the speed of metal ships.

Piloting a quickslip is incredibly dangerous. Quicksilver Captains spend years learning to control the speed and direction of their ships. One wrong move, and a quickslip can collide with an obstacle or be thrown out of the canal at a high speed, likely injuring or killing its occupants.

The Silver Lore

The network of the Quicksilver Canals are vast. Only a small portion of them have been explored.

The Silver Lore, the detailed knowledge of the various canals is jealously guarded by the Quicksilver Captains. Their knowledge of the various canals and their dangers is never written down, and is only related verbally to their apprentices, usually in the form of a series of complex navigation-songs.

Tempests

Occasionally, discharges of lightning flicker across the surface of the Quicksilver Canals. The cause is unknown, but the result can be deadly to travelers on the canal.

Many Quicksilver captains have methods for protecting their ships from the tempests: special hull coatings, elaborate devices, magical rituals, etc. It is unknown if any of these methods are effective.