 Battle Tank [high-res] (A) / (B) / (C) / (D) Battle Tank outside Irondune Battle Tank Int. Control Panel (A) / (B) Power Transducer Unit (A) / (B) cabinet containing lead suit (closed) |
The Thaddium-powered Battle Tank was one of Thaddeus Kaine's inventions produced by Thaddius Manufacturing in the first half of the tenth century. Roughly the size of a small galleon, this armored machine looked like a cross between a Leonardo Flathead sketch of a war vehicle and an early Antharian siege machine, but with caterpillar tracks. The entry port on the side was high enough off the ground that a ramp was normally used for deft access. The interior included an operator's chair, energy dial, coordinate display with dial, power transducer unit, and a lead suit behind a door locked with key.
The only way to power the tank was by inserting a TED (Thaddium Elemental Diverter) containing Thaddium into the Power Transducer Unit. A specific code was required to ignite the engine, which worked in alignment withe coordinate control system. (Kaine programmed the shots of his pool table in a specific way as to remember the six digit numbers that started his machines.) The tank's massive propellants were fired from its large-caliber gun. As many of Kaine's inventions were prototypes, the TED upset the battle tank from time to time by producing a Thaddium energy spike which was required to be released immediately. This buildup was emitted through the tank's barrel.
While all of Kaine's other war machines were destroyed in the war against Ellron, this tank survived, and was even used by an unknown female pilgrim in her 949 alchemical quest at Irondune. It is not certain what became of this war vehicle, but it seems that no future models were produced. The automobile, invented during the late 14th or early 15th centuries, does not appear to have been based on Kaine's technology of the battle tank. The battle tank along with his other products of warfare have been the pinnacle of weapons development for nearly eight hundred years, which even today have yet to be surpassed.
| SOURCE(S): Zork Nemesis (game, design documents), A History of Quendor |