The Advance of Science

Faerun was a continent heavily suffused with magic, affecting life for many. The Longest Year disrupted the world’s ability to use magic for nearly everything as it once had. The world had to adapt instead, fearing that magic would never return. Wizards and tinkerers of all races retained their intellect, and applied it to new advancements in old sciences.

When magic did return, albeit far weaker, progress was well underway in several fields that had at best a minimal reliance on arcane or divine magics.

The practice of mundane medicine was one such science that made spectacular progress during and since the Longest Year. Without the occasional reliability of divine healing, natural remedies and surgical practices became more advanced and commonplace. Anesthetics, antiseptics, and anatomy became widely known and relied on. Natural remedies distilled into usable form began curing simple illnesses and even common ailments such as headaches.

Tied to medicine was the greatest field to advance of them all: Alchemy.

Alchemists that had always relied on a combination of ingredients and magic began to rely more on the former and less on the latter, if any at all. Alchemy became a true science rather than a passing fancy in a world that had greater powers available to it, and began to substitute magic in many places, including in the arsenal of adventurers.

Alchemy mirrored divine healing, though in limited degrees. It allowed for contained alchemical fire, acid, and potent poisons. It led to solvents and adhesives, to balms and tonics that could provide practically magical benefits.

One of the most high-profile advents in Alchemy was in explosives and propulsion. A brilliant but short-lived wizard created an alchemical paste-like compound that could produce substantial explosions, but only when it reached a rather large critical mass; his invention had earned the monicker of “fireclay” for its dull red color, consistency, and explosive properties. Substantial metallurgical work was required to contain the explosive power and harness it to what humans made best: weapons. These cannons were extremely large and bulky, and could not be made smaller due to the nature of the fireclay itself. Some already adorned wealthy harbors and, according to rumor, some large warships even employed the weapons to be even more frightening on the seas.