GojiBean
Your resident irradiated Kaiju King
Welcome all!
This is going to be a deep dive into the technology of the world so everyone understands exactly what the ins and outs of it are.
So here we go!
1) Weapons Tech
Weapons are only as advanced as the fairly recent discovery of black powder has made them.
In short, single shot flintlock rifles and pistols are the best in the business.
Load the powder, load the bullet, stuff it all down, pull the hammer, aim, and fire. In that order.
Other weapons include the crossbow, bow and arrow, spears, swords, knives, throwing things, smoke bombs, primitive black powder bombs, poisons, maces, sickles, ball and chain, axes, etc.
Also, the human body is a weapon unto itself when trained properly. So if you're a martial artist, you're in luck because you count!
2) Transportation
Horse drawn carriages are the most luxurious way to travel in this RP world.
Having a horse of your own for travel is also very common, but is less convenient than the carriage due to the limits of what one horse can carry versus several. And that's not even talking about the space on the back and top of the carriage. Or the inside.
Traveling by ship on rivers and along the coastline is also a reliable and fairly affordable method of transport.
Ships are primarily simple canoes on rivers. But on larger rivers they can be wider and sometimes even have an upper level for storage of goods. On the open ocean, large Galleys are about as big a ship as we'll find for long distance voyages.
3) Food Production and Irrigation
Growing crops is a simple affair, and it's unchanged since it first began long, long ago. Crops are planted by hand, often times watered by hand at various intervals throughout the day from a well on the farm, and harvested once the crops are ripe and ready for consumption.
It's a very laborious effort and often requires many hands to complete in a timely fashion. However there are sometimes, though it's very rare, single farmers who can work through the process on their own and produce results rivaling those with many more people.
Irrigation is a relatively new technology, and is localized in Cre' Est only at present as it's unrefined and often unreliable.
Due to the proximity to the mountains, Cre' Est's most populous cities make use of long-running stone/metal pipes to collect water from high in the mountains and funnel it down to a lower elevation where it's gathered in larger stone containers before being sent down to the farms in the lowlands which each have numerous branches of piping to spread the water throughout the crop fields.
The reason this is currently unreliable is due to the nature of stone as a primary material in the piping. It's notoriously difficult to create stone pipes due to the limitations of other technologies of the time. As such there are structural weaknesses in many of the pipes which, after transporting so much water, break down and create leaks and/or obstructions in the piping.
For this reason, irrigation is not being adopted by the other nations until it's become more refined and reliable.
4) Lights and Fire
Light in the streets and sometimes in the home are powered by oil candles with wicks.
In the fireplace, fresh slices of firewood are the order of the day.
5) Stone Cutting
The cutting of stone is done primarily through specially made carving tools.
One example is what's called the Chipper. This is a small, one-handed piece of metal with a thick handle that tapers down into a flattened edge which is sharpened at an angle. This is used in combination with a hammer to cut into the stone one chip at a time, hence the name Chipper. Once the stone has a deep enough cut, a larger sledge hammer is typically used to smash the remainder of it off before it's sanded down into a smooth surface afterwards.
In this way, stone can be cut into large, thick blocks or columns. Or it can be cut into thin, fine slabs for use in roads and decorative walk ways.
6) Glass
Glass is a thing.
Sand, largely supplied by Shaharan in trade, is melted down into glass and shaped by Glass Shapers who often work hand in hand with Blacksmith partners to save resources and space. Once shaped, the glass is then sold on the market for use in windows, glass doors, etc.
7) Poisons
Poisons were mentioned briefly in the "weapons" section. However, they are an entire beast all their own to actually concoct.
So here's how it's done!
First, the properties of various herbs, plant roots, seeds, insect venom, snake venom, etc all need to be collected and tested to see what they do to the human body. A lot of these things have been tested already, and the vast majority of these various sources are harmless to humans beyond the initial pain and discomfort that comes with a toxin of any kind entering the body.
So, if they're largely harmless, how do we make poisons?
Very... Very carefully...
Like, seriously... Very carefully.
So let's get cooking! Literally!!
The reason that poison making must be approached with extreme caution is because every source of toxin within this RP world, when treated (aka "cooked") the right way, will produce toxic fumes that can cause extremely harmful side effects to the one making the poison. As protection, glass face masks are worn in conjunction with cloth face masks to protect the mouth and nose from breathing in any of the harmful fumes that are produced. As well, poisons are typically made outside so that it's harder for any fumes to isolate around the poison maker. If it can't be done outdoors, it needs to be done in a structure with numerous windows to give the maker as much chance to release the fumes and create as safe a work environment as possible.
With the fumes no longer a problem, the maker can focus on specific combinations at various amounts to accomplish different effects.
For example:
1 - One teaspoon of Relter Snake venom
2 - Two 2" long roots from a Illum Flower ground to powder
3 - Two cups of water
Mix well, and you have a poison that will completely paralyze the target's nervous system for a total of about 5 minutes. More than enough time to do whatever you want with them.
The catch?... It must be ingested. So if you don't have the social skills to make the target think it's safe and drink the damn thing, it's useless.
Now, for why it is that "amounts" can make such a difference...
1 - Two teaspoons of Relter Snake venom
2 - Two 3" long roots from a Illum Flower ground to powder
3 - Two cups of water
Mix well, and you have a poison that will kill the target in less than 2 minutes providing it enters at least one orifice like the mouth, nose, ears, or eyes. So it doesn't have to be ingested in this more powerful form. And it's only 1 extra teaspoon of venom and two slightly longer roots.
That's the power of "amounts" when it comes with poison in this RP world. The same recipe with differing amounts creates an almost infinite number of possible effects we can all toy with providing the use of poisons are attractive to you and your character as part of their arsenal.
8) Communication
Arguably, this should have been #1 on the list.
However, it's further down because given the time period it's fairly obvious what the primary methods of communication might be.
So here they are:
* Verbal - Not much need be said about this one. NEXT!!
* On-Foot Courier - Can carry either a single message, or a bag full of them from point A to point B. Reliable, but not terribly fast. Depending on the distance between one destination and the next, it may take weeks before you get a response to your sent message. This is still fairly quick for this time period. But not nearly as quick as the next few options.
* Horseback Courier - Far faster than an On-Foot Courier, but less reliable due to how much the courier bounces around on horseback. It's not uncommon for some letters in their possession to be lost from the rigors of traveling in this fashion. However, it's better than nothing!
* Carrier Pidgeon - Arguably the second most reliable and second safest method of sending communications. The asterisks for this come in the form of whether or not the Pidgeon is well trained and knows where the frig it's supposed to be heading.
* Falcon/Hawk - By far the safest and most reliable method of communication (again with the asterisk that they are trained and know where the hell they're going). They have no natural predators, have incredible stamina, and are very, very fast. And it's for these reasons why it's the communication method of choice for nobles and Royals everywhere, as well as military officials.
9) Time Keeping
Time is kept primarily by large clock towers in the city which are large enough to be seen throughout individual city districts. Smaller clocks have yet to be invented due to the complexity of the smaller gears and the fuel needed to power them. But these larger clock towers help everyone keep time so long as they remember to look for it every now and then.
10) Medicine and Surgery
Medicine is largely the same as poison making, except it's done using (mostly) non-toxic resources which are rigorously tested to find positive effects on the human body.
But when we get into surgery is where things get juicy. Pardon the expression.
Scalpels and other cutting tools like bone saws exist in this RP world. But stethoscopes, microscopes, and other complex machines which modern day surgeons have are not present. Light is provided by lamps instead of electric lights, making it more difficult to see which is why surgeries are almost always scheduled during the day when the sun can lend a hand.
There aren't any kinds of surgical precision clamps, but there are pastes and other natural remedies which can act as natural adhesives to bind rent flesh and muscles during surgical procedures. These are, however, temporary and unreliable as it depends on whether or not the application was done in such a way that the damaged flesh/muscle doesn't stretch or flex in ways that cause it to break down prematurely. If it does, then the flesh/muscles remain damaged and the adhesive must be reapplied.
Some of the more adventurous and daring surgeons have developed their own unique methods for dealing with things like severed arteries, damaged organs, torn muscles and tendons, etc. But due to the limits of technology many of them are what we affectionately refer to as "Mickey Moused," and often are janky af. When using more experimental treatment methods like these, the patients often have to be strapped down even long after the procedure is over so the methods have time to properly help the flesh/muscles heal enough to be safely removed without risking re-damaging the afflicted area.
So, the mantra for surgeons?... Better safe than sorry, but better sorry than dead!
This is going to be a deep dive into the technology of the world so everyone understands exactly what the ins and outs of it are.
So here we go!
1) Weapons Tech
Weapons are only as advanced as the fairly recent discovery of black powder has made them.
In short, single shot flintlock rifles and pistols are the best in the business.
Load the powder, load the bullet, stuff it all down, pull the hammer, aim, and fire. In that order.
Other weapons include the crossbow, bow and arrow, spears, swords, knives, throwing things, smoke bombs, primitive black powder bombs, poisons, maces, sickles, ball and chain, axes, etc.
Also, the human body is a weapon unto itself when trained properly. So if you're a martial artist, you're in luck because you count!
2) Transportation
Horse drawn carriages are the most luxurious way to travel in this RP world.
Having a horse of your own for travel is also very common, but is less convenient than the carriage due to the limits of what one horse can carry versus several. And that's not even talking about the space on the back and top of the carriage. Or the inside.
Traveling by ship on rivers and along the coastline is also a reliable and fairly affordable method of transport.
Ships are primarily simple canoes on rivers. But on larger rivers they can be wider and sometimes even have an upper level for storage of goods. On the open ocean, large Galleys are about as big a ship as we'll find for long distance voyages.
3) Food Production and Irrigation
Growing crops is a simple affair, and it's unchanged since it first began long, long ago. Crops are planted by hand, often times watered by hand at various intervals throughout the day from a well on the farm, and harvested once the crops are ripe and ready for consumption.
It's a very laborious effort and often requires many hands to complete in a timely fashion. However there are sometimes, though it's very rare, single farmers who can work through the process on their own and produce results rivaling those with many more people.
Irrigation is a relatively new technology, and is localized in Cre' Est only at present as it's unrefined and often unreliable.
Due to the proximity to the mountains, Cre' Est's most populous cities make use of long-running stone/metal pipes to collect water from high in the mountains and funnel it down to a lower elevation where it's gathered in larger stone containers before being sent down to the farms in the lowlands which each have numerous branches of piping to spread the water throughout the crop fields.
The reason this is currently unreliable is due to the nature of stone as a primary material in the piping. It's notoriously difficult to create stone pipes due to the limitations of other technologies of the time. As such there are structural weaknesses in many of the pipes which, after transporting so much water, break down and create leaks and/or obstructions in the piping.
For this reason, irrigation is not being adopted by the other nations until it's become more refined and reliable.
4) Lights and Fire
Light in the streets and sometimes in the home are powered by oil candles with wicks.
In the fireplace, fresh slices of firewood are the order of the day.
5) Stone Cutting
The cutting of stone is done primarily through specially made carving tools.
One example is what's called the Chipper. This is a small, one-handed piece of metal with a thick handle that tapers down into a flattened edge which is sharpened at an angle. This is used in combination with a hammer to cut into the stone one chip at a time, hence the name Chipper. Once the stone has a deep enough cut, a larger sledge hammer is typically used to smash the remainder of it off before it's sanded down into a smooth surface afterwards.
In this way, stone can be cut into large, thick blocks or columns. Or it can be cut into thin, fine slabs for use in roads and decorative walk ways.
6) Glass
Glass is a thing.
Sand, largely supplied by Shaharan in trade, is melted down into glass and shaped by Glass Shapers who often work hand in hand with Blacksmith partners to save resources and space. Once shaped, the glass is then sold on the market for use in windows, glass doors, etc.
7) Poisons
Poisons were mentioned briefly in the "weapons" section. However, they are an entire beast all their own to actually concoct.
So here's how it's done!
First, the properties of various herbs, plant roots, seeds, insect venom, snake venom, etc all need to be collected and tested to see what they do to the human body. A lot of these things have been tested already, and the vast majority of these various sources are harmless to humans beyond the initial pain and discomfort that comes with a toxin of any kind entering the body.
So, if they're largely harmless, how do we make poisons?
Very... Very carefully...
Like, seriously... Very carefully.
So let's get cooking! Literally!!
The reason that poison making must be approached with extreme caution is because every source of toxin within this RP world, when treated (aka "cooked") the right way, will produce toxic fumes that can cause extremely harmful side effects to the one making the poison. As protection, glass face masks are worn in conjunction with cloth face masks to protect the mouth and nose from breathing in any of the harmful fumes that are produced. As well, poisons are typically made outside so that it's harder for any fumes to isolate around the poison maker. If it can't be done outdoors, it needs to be done in a structure with numerous windows to give the maker as much chance to release the fumes and create as safe a work environment as possible.
With the fumes no longer a problem, the maker can focus on specific combinations at various amounts to accomplish different effects.
For example:
1 - One teaspoon of Relter Snake venom
2 - Two 2" long roots from a Illum Flower ground to powder
3 - Two cups of water
Mix well, and you have a poison that will completely paralyze the target's nervous system for a total of about 5 minutes. More than enough time to do whatever you want with them.
The catch?... It must be ingested. So if you don't have the social skills to make the target think it's safe and drink the damn thing, it's useless.
Now, for why it is that "amounts" can make such a difference...
1 - Two teaspoons of Relter Snake venom
2 - Two 3" long roots from a Illum Flower ground to powder
3 - Two cups of water
Mix well, and you have a poison that will kill the target in less than 2 minutes providing it enters at least one orifice like the mouth, nose, ears, or eyes. So it doesn't have to be ingested in this more powerful form. And it's only 1 extra teaspoon of venom and two slightly longer roots.
That's the power of "amounts" when it comes with poison in this RP world. The same recipe with differing amounts creates an almost infinite number of possible effects we can all toy with providing the use of poisons are attractive to you and your character as part of their arsenal.
8) Communication
Arguably, this should have been #1 on the list.
However, it's further down because given the time period it's fairly obvious what the primary methods of communication might be.
So here they are:
* Verbal - Not much need be said about this one. NEXT!!
* On-Foot Courier - Can carry either a single message, or a bag full of them from point A to point B. Reliable, but not terribly fast. Depending on the distance between one destination and the next, it may take weeks before you get a response to your sent message. This is still fairly quick for this time period. But not nearly as quick as the next few options.
* Horseback Courier - Far faster than an On-Foot Courier, but less reliable due to how much the courier bounces around on horseback. It's not uncommon for some letters in their possession to be lost from the rigors of traveling in this fashion. However, it's better than nothing!
* Carrier Pidgeon - Arguably the second most reliable and second safest method of sending communications. The asterisks for this come in the form of whether or not the Pidgeon is well trained and knows where the frig it's supposed to be heading.
* Falcon/Hawk - By far the safest and most reliable method of communication (again with the asterisk that they are trained and know where the hell they're going). They have no natural predators, have incredible stamina, and are very, very fast. And it's for these reasons why it's the communication method of choice for nobles and Royals everywhere, as well as military officials.
9) Time Keeping
Time is kept primarily by large clock towers in the city which are large enough to be seen throughout individual city districts. Smaller clocks have yet to be invented due to the complexity of the smaller gears and the fuel needed to power them. But these larger clock towers help everyone keep time so long as they remember to look for it every now and then.
10) Medicine and Surgery
Medicine is largely the same as poison making, except it's done using (mostly) non-toxic resources which are rigorously tested to find positive effects on the human body.
But when we get into surgery is where things get juicy. Pardon the expression.
Scalpels and other cutting tools like bone saws exist in this RP world. But stethoscopes, microscopes, and other complex machines which modern day surgeons have are not present. Light is provided by lamps instead of electric lights, making it more difficult to see which is why surgeries are almost always scheduled during the day when the sun can lend a hand.
There aren't any kinds of surgical precision clamps, but there are pastes and other natural remedies which can act as natural adhesives to bind rent flesh and muscles during surgical procedures. These are, however, temporary and unreliable as it depends on whether or not the application was done in such a way that the damaged flesh/muscle doesn't stretch or flex in ways that cause it to break down prematurely. If it does, then the flesh/muscles remain damaged and the adhesive must be reapplied.
Some of the more adventurous and daring surgeons have developed their own unique methods for dealing with things like severed arteries, damaged organs, torn muscles and tendons, etc. But due to the limits of technology many of them are what we affectionately refer to as "Mickey Moused," and often are janky af. When using more experimental treatment methods like these, the patients often have to be strapped down even long after the procedure is over so the methods have time to properly help the flesh/muscles heal enough to be safely removed without risking re-damaging the afflicted area.
So, the mantra for surgeons?... Better safe than sorry, but better sorry than dead!
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