When Ragnar's ironclads and steam-powered war machines first demonstrated their supremacy on the continent, most European monarchs reacted with archaic hubris. They desperately clung to their castles and armored cavalry, foolishly believing that noble blood could somehow deflect a steel bullet.
Salomon and Rudolf, however, possessed a rare trait among the nobility of their era: basic common sense.
Recognizing the vast technological disparity, they eagerly bent the knee...
In exchange for their vassalage, Ragnar did not pillage their lands or slaughter their people. Instead, the Iron King practically buried them in wealth and advanced technology.
The Iron Kingdom had opened heavily guarded trade routes directly into Brittany and Burgundy, supplying the two fledgling vassal states with crates of smoothbore muskets and massive quantities of refined black powder.
But more valuable than the weapons were the blueprints.
