Notes on Pyrocrux

Pyrocrux: How Two Mountains Became One Nation

By Biltz Scrimp Amateur Historian, Pyrocrux Institute of Higher Learning 189 AT

Look, I know what you're thinking - another history piece about the big merge? But hang on, because this ain't your typical Ferrocrown slow-walk through the past. This is the story from our side of the gap, and let me tell you, we've got a different way of seeing things up here in the steam-filled streets of Pyrocrux.

Picture this: two mountains, standing like kings in the mists, close enough to wave (if you could see through the acid clouds), but might as well have been on different worlds. While our Ferrocrown neighbors were taking their sweet time with their deep mines, we were building up AND down, turning our peak into a maze of underground streets and steam-powered everything. Sure, we could see their lights. Sometimes we'd catch glimpses of their mining operations when the mist shifted just right.

Drove everyone crazy, knowing there were other folks so close but unreachable. Some of our hotshot engineers tried everything to bridge the gap - rockets, gliders, you name it. Lost a few good people that way. Acid mists don't play favorites, let me tell you.

Then comes 512 BT - big year, folks! Our spotters noticed the Ferrocrown crowd setting up some kind of launching mechanism. Word spread through the underground markets faster than a steam burst. Everyone was talking about it, betting on what they were up to.

Here's where it gets good - we figured it out before they even got their first shot off. Their magnetic hook idea? Brilliant, sure, but it needed something to catch onto, right? So while they're carefully planning their shots (and boy, do they plan everything), we're up here putting up metal plates faster than market prices change during a levium shortage.

First time our people went over that bridge? Classic culture shock. We're rushing around, talking a mile a minute, full of ideas and plans, and there's our Ferrocrown cousins, taking everything in with those steady gazes of theirs.

But here's the thing - it worked. It really worked. You've got to understand, we're the people who built entire cities inside a mountain. We've got streets stacked on streets, markets on top of markets, everything moving at full steam, literally.

Meeting the Ferrocrown folks was like watching a glacier meet a steam engine. Should've been a disaster, right? Instead? Perfect match.

Let me paint you a picture of Pyrocrux before the merge. Streets carved into the mountain, lit by gas lamps and steam vents. Markets everywhere - not your quiet, calm, organized Ferrocrown trading posts, but real markets.

Folks shouting deals, steam-powered lift systems moving goods up and down, everybody in a hurry to get somewhere. It's glorious.

We had (still have) whole neighborhoods built around steam vents. Power's everywhere if you know how to tap it. Sure, it's hot, humid, and loud, but that's how we like it.

Everyone's got an angle, everyone's got a scheme, and if you're not moving, you're falling behind.

Here's what made it work - we're fast, they're steady. We rush in with a hundred ideas, they sort out which ones won't blow up in our faces.

Take the levium discovery. Our vents were pumping that stuff out for ages, but we never thought about it twice. Just another gas, right? But pair our natural resource with Ferrocrown metalwork? Boom - you've got airships.

First few decades after the bridge went up, it was like watching two different species learn to dance. Our folks would race over with new ideas, talking fast and waving their hands. Ferrocrown people would just stand there, arms crossed or hands on hips, nodding and taking it all in, then come back three days later with all the problems worked out.

We learned to slow down (a little). They learned to speed up (a bit). Met in the middle, you might say. Though if you ask me, that middle's got a pretty strong Pyrocrux beat to it.

You want to see how it really worked out? Take a walk down the Transit Span today. Start on our side - all steam and hurry, vendors everywhere, people shouting and yelling to be heard. As you walk across, it changes. Gets a bit quieter, more organized. By the time you hit the Ferrocrown side, it's all solid and steady.

But here's the beautiful thing - nobody stays on just one side anymore. We've got Ferrocrown engineers maintaining our steam systems (because nobody builds safer than they do), and our traders helping move their goods (because nobody moves faster than we do).

Kids these days? They're something else. Growing up with both cultures, they switch back and forth like changing gears on a steam lift. You'll see a kid talking rapid-fire Pyrocrux style about market prices, then switch to that slow, thoughtful Ferrocrown way when discussing engineering problems. It's nuts and beautiful.

Let me tell you about how we do business now - it's a thing of beauty. Ferrocrown steady planning mixed with Pyrocrux quick dealing. We spot the opportunities, they figure out how to make them work safely. They build it to last, we find ways to build it faster.

Some folks worried we'd lose our Pyrocrux spirit when we joined up with Ferrocrown. Ha! Like a steam vent's gonna stop venting just 'cause you ask it nice. We're still us - fast-talking, fast-moving, always in a hurry to get to tomorrow. We just have partners now who make sure we get there in one piece.

You want to know the real secret of why it worked? Because deep down, under all the differences in style and speed, both our peoples love to build things. They go down, we go up. They take their time, we rush ahead. But at the end of the day, we're all makers and doers.

Sure, they think we talk too fast and move too quick. We think they take forever to make a simple decision. But put us together? You get something that works better than either of us alone.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got three more articles to write, a market to visit, and a steam vent that needs recalibrating - all before lunch.

Note: This account is based on personal research, family stories, market gossip, and whatever else I could dig up between deadlines. Is it all true? Probably. Any mistakes are likely because I was writing too fast, but hey, that's the Pyrocrux way!