** Aludra's Dragons, grenades, and pyrotechnics **

Aludra, a former Illuminator and now a pioneer in military explosives, joins Mat Cauthon's Band of the Red Hand for the promise of revenge on the Seanchan.

Nightflowers are Aludra's first contribution to Mat's military campaigns: fireworks sent high into the sky, for signalling purposes, or to illuminate a battlefield. Mat juggles one, "a dark ball the size of a large melon ... the covering seemed to be stiff leather, with a tiny stub of fuse sticking out of one side ... Something the size of this nightflower would likely blow him and Aludra to scraps." <KoD: 8, 213-214, Dragons' Eggs> The nightflower is loaded fuse-down, and pushed down with a capped rod <KoD: 8, 215, Dragons' Eggs>.

Special "tall, metal-bound lofting tubes ... [with a] broad wooden base" are used to send these projectiles skyward <KoD: 37, 738, Prince of the Ravens>. These are as tall as Mat (approx. 6 feet; see Measurements), made of wood bound with metal, and about a foot in diameter; each takes about two men to move. With such tubes, a melon-sized nightflower can be sent 300 paces high <KoD: 8, 213-214, Dragons' Eggs>.

In its last battle against the Seanchan, the Band uses grenades provided by Aludra: "stubby leather cylinders larger than a man's fist with a short length of dark fuse sticking out the end." <KoD: 37, 743, Prince of the Ravens> Each has a layer of hard pebbles around the charge: shrapnel that bites deep when it explodes. Launched using four-feet sling-staffs, these have a range of over 100 paces, or some 300 feet <KoD: 37, 748, Prince of the Ravens>. Sling-men are described in detail in the section on Shen an Calhar.

Not yet uncovered in Knife of Dreams are Aludra's Dragons: cannons. Heavy artillery. We do, however, have some knowledge of what form these will take. With lofting tubes made of bronze, "I could use a charge that would send something a little smaller close to two miles. Making the slow-match slower, to let it travel that far, is easy enough. Smaller but heavier, made of iron, and there would be nothing for pretty colors, only the bursting charge." <KoD: 8, 214, Dragons' Eggs> That is, dragons' eggs aren't simple cannonballs, but explode at their destination. Likely, these will resemble Aludra's unnamed grenades, but on a larger scale and using iron instead of pebbles.

Such cannons do not move themselves. Four horses will draw a single dragoncart; a second cart the eggs <KoD: 8, 215, Dragons' Eggs>. Expect to see them, soon.