>One last - I swear! - comment in this thread: >Re the Empire not fully conquering the East, it's a well- >known historical phenomenon that invading barbarian armies indirectly exert >enormous pressure on distant civilizations - one tribe pushes out another >etc. etc. and soon the Germans are knocking down the walls of Rome. To be sure, but I think it's too much to suppose that Dragaerans fighting Easterners on their border would invariably lead to technological suppression among Easterners for whom the Dragaerans have always been fifth-hand rumors, if that. >Still, I think the gods must be keeping the Eastern scientists down (and >keeping the Empire from suppressing the East). I think so too although... the more I think about it, the more I'd like to substitude The Cycle for The Gods. The Gods aren't infallible, and there's no clear reason why *all* the gods (and various supernatural agents) would want a status quo where Dragaerans were in a materially superior state to the East, but The Cycle is described as a "fundamental" aspect of the reality of the Dragaeran universe. As I suggested in my previous post, it doesn't seem like The Cycle exerts its force directly, but rather subtly. In this case, the universe actually is perversely effecting the development of Eastern technologies. If this is the case, one must wonder why the Cycle keeps Easterner's around at all. Considering that a very significant Dragaeran found himself reincarnated as an Easterner (who has had a substantial impact on his world), it may, indeed, be the case that the existence of Easterners is, in some mysterious way, crucial to The Cycle. _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail