Night Garden's Cannons

There are twenty-four in total — twelve per side, each a colossal beast measuring twelve meters in length and more than two meters in diameter. They fire iron balls almost as tall as a person, so heavy that only Ascended could load them into the barrels. Instead of being cast from metal, the cannons are carved from seemingly indestructible black stone, their surfaces marked with intricate carvings. When asked about the material, Sunny remarked that he had borrowed some obsidian from the Shadow Realm. As for the engravings, he claimed they were simply to make the cannons look pretty.^[1]

The cannons are enchanted with simple, but ingenious magic, allowing them to absorb soul essence and convert it into kinetic energy to launch their projectiles with devastating force. The projectiles themselves are charged with essence, giving them the ability to wound Nightmare Creatures of high Ranks. While the quantity of essence is sufficient for charging the cannons — making it possible for crews of Awakened to operate them — the quality of essence is critical for infusing the cannonballs. Against foes of the Corrupted Rank or higher, a Master was required to oversee the artillery, and against even greater threats, a Saint was preferable.^[1]

To address this limitation, Sunny designed the cannons so that they could consume essence not only from Awakened, but also from soul shards. At the time, he possessed thousands of Transcendent soul shards, spoils from the conquest of the Burned Forest. These shards were distributed among the soldiers of the Night Garden, ensuring that nearly every Awakened or Ascended carried a fully saturated core. The remaining shards were given to the cannon crews, who used them to feed powerful essence into the cannonballs, greatly enhancing the firepower of the ship’s artillery.^[1]