----- Original Message ----- From: "Scott Schultz" <scott at cjhunter.com> To: "'Listserve Steve Brust'" <dragaera at dragaera.info> Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2005 12:38 PM Subject: Where's the technology? <snip> So, why has the East remained in this state some 3000 generations of men after the founding of the Empire? You could ask the Egyptians. . . (heh) But how do you know it has? The only snapshots we have are relitivly close to the Interegnum (spelling). when is Brokedown Palace set? The only other example we have are provided by Paarfi, a source almost as unreliable as Vlad as far as the truth goes. What if the society in the east has had as many rises and falls as ours? Also, remeber all of the disasters brought on by the loss of the Orb. If the rest of Dragaera is as unstable as is hinted at by Sethra when recounting the Interegnum, that could account for a slow rise in Easterner tech. Or they could be driving around in SUV's, and the Overcast in Dragaera is their way of dealing with pollutants (let someone else deal with it.) Jeff