Hi, I think the anti-gunpowder arguments are wrong, because: 1) the level of control needed to remote-explode gunpowder would be equivalent to that needed to explode oil lamps, burn down tents, set horses' tails on fire, dephosphorylate specific proteins in soldiers' brains; 2) gunpowder (or better a binary equivalent) could be assembled or mixed at the last moment (sorcerously, say); 3) such weapons would be ideal for Teckla troops against Easterners, _especially_ if the Tecklas knew that their battalion commander could blow them all up with a thought. Could go on... Here are three more (final, still no car) points for the naturally-techless folk: 1) During Teckla reigns (republics, we're told somewhere) non-sorcerous science would be encouraged. 2) The China etc. analogies don't hold in my view because the Chinese etc. never had experimental science, which _is_ present on Dragaera - it's an aspect of sorcery (see Aliera's forensic exchange with Sethra). 3) Island science isn't a joke - the polis in Greece was island-based or island-like, and ditto for the Italian city-state, and ditto for pre-industrial age England. A lot of progress comes from isolation or scary neighbors or a maritime industry. Just to have three theses here: The Serioli present the same Orb-problem I assert elsewhere. Someone-with-too-many-consonants-to-remember-his-name has the know-how to make Pathfinder, Blackwand, Spellbreaker, assorted goodies - how is it that the Serioli didn't ride into battle against the Empire on Morganti tanks? - Philip On Thu, 9 Jan 2003, Chris Olson - SunPS wrote: > Alexx Kay wrote: > > Consider Spell-sticks (as described in Orca, p. 224). They went out of > > fashion as soon as a sorcerer discovered a way to make all of the enemy's > > spell-sticks spontaneously detonate. It's easy to suppose that a similar > > spell could be developed for gunpowder. (And remember that early guns in > > our own world were already likely to spontaneously blow up in the user's > > hand...) > > This is a very valid point. If gunpowder were to be used, > it is completely probable that sorcerers would simply create > a spark that would ignite the gunpowder, blowing up the > "gun holder". This could also be why other technologies > have either not be invented, or have been tossed aside when > sorcery overpowered or made obsolete the new invention. > > And, as has been said, why would Dragaeran sorcerers research > technology that can already be performed with magic? Seems like > it would be a waste of time, when they could use that time to > research and develop new sorceries, improving upon the old. > > Just my thoughts and agreements.... :) > > Chris > > "So farewell hope, and with hope, farewell fear, > Farewell remorse! All good to me is lost; > Evil, be thou my Good" > - John Milton - 'Paradise Lost' > > >