[Dragaera] Cycle Surpresses Technology

[Scott Schultz via Dragaera]

>From: Christopher Martin [mailto:dance.scholar at gmail.com] 

>FWIW, a paper mill is moderately advanced technology; especially if water powered.  

That's an excellent point, actually. (Steve must have spent some time around a real paper mill to so eloquently describe the stench that accompanies such operations.)

That kind of goes to the whole, "The East is a black box" thing. We really have little clue to what The East is like, and whether "The East" is actually a "place", per se. It's a bit like a 17th century European referring to The New World. That one monicker covered half the globe and all of the lands and civilizations therein. We knew a tiny amount about Fenario, and now we know a tiny bit about a place near Fenario. We still know next to nothing about The East. There could be a Steampunk empire and an Industrial Age level of tech in lands that are far away from the Empire, as long as there are reasons why that tech hasn't spread outside of its home domains.

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