Dragaera

Vallista

Thu Jan 1 22:22:14 PST 2004

ummm. what if their physics/chemistry are just different than ours? say like
nothing exists on par with bat guano that can be played with to make a
rudimentary explosive/propellant.... their 'oxygen' isn't fast enough
reacting to allow near instantaneous explosions to occur or some other fancy
notion... but then i'm recalling those highfalutin terms for pulling ideas
outta my a** at the moment..

andy
>
> >
> >Speaking of Vallista, I find myself wondering just how inventive
> >they are.  This ties in to the whole notion of technology on
> >Dragaera possibly being limited by the intervention of the gods,
> >or by demons, or by the Orb, or by the Jenoine or *something*.
> >After 200,000 years, they've just barely invented bows & arrows?
> >
> >Are Vallista who are too creative (or are too creative in certain
> >areas, such as military applications of chemistry or basic mechanics)
> >just disappeared?
> >
>
> Another thought about Vallista:  Perhaps it is the Vallista Council
> who are the final arbiters of what technologies may be used in the
> Empire (and they are presumably backed by the laws of the Empire), and
> all Vallista are presumably bound to abide by their decisions.  So
> perhaps the Vallista know about bows, and maybe even gunpowder, and
> have know of such things for many Cycles now - but they make sure that
> no-one *uses* it.
>
> Fornia may have been due to suffer penalties for using bows in his
> campaign, but perhaps the penalty would have been light enough (for
> such fairly simple tech) that he figured it was worth the risk.
>
> The question arises about how they might prevent such inventions from
> arising in the East, but perhaps there are Vallista agents of the
> Empire who keep an eye on technologies outside the Empire, and are
> licensed to destroy anything too advanced or being used in a way they
> don't like, along with the hapless inventors.  Or perhaps the
> inventors are conscripted into House Vallista, and kidnapped into the
> Empire, where they may work on inventions under the Vallista Council's
> strict supervision, thereby increasing the Vallista's knowledgebase
> while being under their control.
>