did you know...?

[slipshod]

The watch was invented 21 years earlier than the bottle cork (1509 vs 1530).  That seems a little strange.  The watch has so many complicated little moving parts.  

Anyway, how far off do you think Zalanthas is from some other old world inventions?

I guess they say necessity is the mother of invention.  Does that mean crank-operated oscilating fans are next?

[Agent_137]

can I be your drummer?

I can just do rimshots all day long.


daDumTsss!



:mrgreen:

[Teleri]

Zalanthan technology really doesn't fall into a definite RL time.  In the more civilized places, it seems to be about on par with the dark ages (what with the crossbows and some of the other advances).  Amongst the elven tribes it's more like the Stone Age (but more stream-lined), and just about the same with the humans.  

Overall, Zalanthan cultures possess a sort of Biblical-times technology level, with some being less developed.  Since metal is so scarce, one could say that everyone's still in the Stone Age, but many elements of the game world are quite more developed than that.  Fans like you describe are possible, but it would be very crude and would likely take a large amount of thinking/resources to effectively work.  Watches will likely never come about, as it is just too useless.  Most everyone will rely on the positioning of the sun to determine what time of day it is, anyhow.

[Jacques]

I guess they say necessity is the mother of invention.  Does that mean crank-operated oscilating fans are next?

There is a Zalanthan equivalent for this already....

Lounging on the ivory-inlaid, silk-covered sofa, the fancy-pantsed noble man says, to the miserable-looking dwarf, "You there, with the large feathered fan. A little to the left, and faster."

I think that it really is a case of necessity being the mother of invention. There are some really impressive "technologies" for keeping people alive in Zalanthas, but comparatively few for making them comfortable. Alive is a necessity - comfort is a luxury, and very few spend the effort needed to advance it.

However, you will have the occasional enthused hobbyist that discovers something very neat, but hardly directly applicable to survival. Say... the microscope, or something similar. Whether or not that invention dies with the inventor... well, that's up to us, I guess.  :wink: