[Dragaera] The New Palace

[Jon%20Lincicum]

----- "Maximilian Wilson" <wilson.max at gmail.com> wrote: 
> On Tue, Jun 1, 2010 at 11:03 AM, Scott Schultz <scott at cjhunter.com> wrote: 
> > At first I was inclined to agree about the Renaissance tech, but then I'm 
> > not sure that we've ever actually had much glimpse of the technological 
> > level of the Empire. We're sort of in the "Magicpunk" scene here, where 
> > sorcery is so ingrained into the culture that you can't necessarily separate 
> > it from simple mechanics and say "This is tech level X". 
> 
> The best glimpse we have of the Empire's tech levels is 1.) boats, 2.) 
> warfare. In particular the fact that bows and arrows are an innovation 
> to Dragaerans. 
> 


I'm not certain this is true. It's very hard to judge whether or not Dragaerans are unfamiliar with bow and arrow, or simply elect not to use them. 

Dragaeran warfare has apparently gone through constant evolution with changes in military technology. Specifically, according to Sethra and Paarfi, the biggest technology changes have involved improvements in sorcery. I can well imagine a situation where bows and arrows existed once upon a time, but were supplanted later by other ranged weapons (Flashstones, et al).... until someone figured out how to counter those, and something else was needed. 

In that sense, Bow and Arrow could be an "innovation" only in the sense that they are an old idea that is making a comeback. 

This has parallels in our own world. The advent of the crossbow and longbow (and later the rifle) spelled the end of suits of armor. Armor disappeared from the fields of warfare for hundreds of years afterward. Yet today, modern body armor is worn by soldiers all over the world. 

There are references to arrows in the series, particularly in the Paarfiad. Perhaps it has just taken some time since the Interregnum ended for arrows to re-emerge on Dragaeran battlefields. 

Majikjon