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omorkaNice Movie Night tonight, I think. Rather large crowd, though (and maybe more about that on a more selective distribution later). The bread went over okay - I'm now of the opinion that the "rapid bake" cycle on this machine doesn't let flavor develop properly, that it really needs the second rise, now that I've had the time to let it take the full-length cycle a couple of times. The movie went over quite well - we did Monster In a Box, which most of the younger Movie Nighters hadn't seen.
--
On to tonight's GURPS Jorune addition, which will be a fairly short one:
TL and the world of Jorune: A Complicated Matter
It is simply not possible to give a single TL for Jorune, or even for the various cultures therein. The shanthas, with their advanced isho techniques and mastery of ceramics and some biotechnology but relative lack of metallic technology, are only a minor problem compared to the human TL mash-up. (Then there's the thriddle, who have theoretical knowledge appropriate for a TL much higher than they actually seem to have . . . .) Earth had attained very early TL 11 when the colony was sent out, but most of the equipment it carried would have been TL 10. While humans have universally regressed from this level, they have fallen much farther in some areas than in others - and there is still some TL 9-10 equipment around to be used! The mysterious ramian never appear with equipment higher than TL 3 when dealing with humans, but have suggested (and the thriddle seem to believe them) that they have a few artifacts of higher technology - possibly Earth-Tec that they discovered and somehow unlocked.
A few sub-cultures can be given easy labels. The blount have regressed to stone-age hunter-gathering, and are effectively TL 0. The trarch, similarly, have regressed to a fairly consistent TL 1. The acubon of Lake Dau-ou-deh and their tributaries have no significant progress beyond TL 3, although acubon who live among humans would share the human TLs.
The general TL is 3, especially regarding social structures. If an item is appropriate to TL 3, it can almost certainly be built in Ardoth, Gauss, Jasp, or any of the other large cities. In general, if there is any question as to what TL a skill should be taken at, default to TL 3 unless there is a strong reason not to.
To break down the four large tech areas, hominid society (and bronth, woffen, and crugar society, since they trade more or less freely with the human cultures, and the crugar steal what they can't trade for) stands at these levels in the general sense:
Transportation: TL 3 on land; TL 4 on the oceans, especially where the salu and the woffen are concerned. Crystal skyships probably ought to be considered TL (3+1), or possibly TL (3+2) in the case of the large Jaspian schooners, considering sailing on the isho currents a "divergent" technique. However, there is at least one TL 10 hovercraft in the Earth-Tec cache now in the possession of Ardoth's Dharsage, and there are rumors that he also possesses a single TL 10 craft capable of out-of-atmospheric flight.
Weapons and Armor: TL3, verging on TL4 in the areas related to metallurgy but not in those requiring gunpowder (which is completely unknown to all Jorune races; all the firearms they know fire either lasers or blaster bolts, not projectiles). Earth-Tec armor and weaponry is TL 10, but includes very little nanotechnology and no antimatter.
Power: TL (2+1); horses are used only for riding, but other Jorune animals (the bochigon, lothern, talmaron, and thombo) are used for power, and Khaun Gauss developed the thombo equivalent of the horse-collar. Windmills have not been used as power sources, but water wheels are widely used. Crystal schooners use isho currents rather than wind or water as their motive force, and there are a pair of crystal-powered "isho-mills" operating on the same principle to provide the winding power to open and close the Great Gates at Jasp. Most Earth-Tec is powered by TL 10 rechargeable power cells; there are no sources of new power cells to replace those that fail or are destroyed, and recharging them is a tricky business without the original charging stations, although several methods have been developed. A few of the larger Earth-Tec items have other power sources. Human theoretical knowledge about battery power is somewhere around TL 5, but there are few applications other than recharging the Earth-Tec power cells! Similarly, human Iscin-students (scientists) know that coal will burn, but it is relatively rare on Jorune compared to Earth, and there are no concerted efforts to find and mine it. By the time the colonists left, petroleum was no longer in common use as a fuel, so its use is completely unknown.
Biotechnology/Medicine: TL 5 in most areas, subject to the limitations of available materials; as high as TL 6 in some places. In particular, the descendants of the colonists did not forget about the germ theory of disease or Mendelian genetics. Practical first aid was a constant necessity, and most of the original colonists were given the equivalent of a full first aid/CPR certification. Anatomical knowledge of all of the major races is widespread and fairly accurate. Some knowledge of nutrition is available, especially given the deficiencies of the native Jorune life in that regard. Among the known limilates are several reasonably effective antibiotics and one decent local anesthetic. Vaccination is not currently known. The distinction between bacteria and viruses has been largely forgotten, so viral illnesses that are not common are usually treated with antibiotics, ineffectively. A very large amount of TL 10 biotechnology - mostly escapees from the Gauss Valley Research Center, but some from other colony location - is still alive and breeding across Jorune; most of this takes the form of incupods and recos, but other biotech items are around. (Note that, technically, the Children of Iscin also count as TL 10 biotechnology!)
A few other notes on available technology: both metallurgy and the creation of glass and ceramics are at higher quality than the TL would indicate. If someone were to come up with a diagram of a TL 5 steam engine, the materials to build it could be had; they would just be incredibly expensive. Jorune is rich in quartz and other silicates, as well as kaolin, but relatively metal-poor compared to Earth.
There are at least two known printed books, brought by colonists with a taste for antiquities, still in existence (a Bible and a Complete Works of Shakespeare; the first is in Thantier, the second in Ardoth). Printing is known and used in Burdoth and Jasp, but not movable type; an entire page is carved in a woodblock and used to print a page at a time. Papermaking is advanced enough that paper, as opposed to parchment, is fairly readily available. Bookbinding is fairly primitive. The typical writing instrument, feathers being in fairly short supply, is a glass stylus.
Of the Terran animals brought to Jorune, few have survived. There are wild pumas and a coyote/wolf hybrid, possibly descended from the stock Iscin used to create the crugar and the woffen. Some of the coyote/wolf hybrids have been tamed, but the woffen are distinctly ambivalent about this; there are no domesticated dogs or cats. All the cattle died in one of the early waves of plagues; the thombo has largely taken the place of the ox both as a beast of burden and as a meat animal. Riding horses survived, just barely, and are owned only by the rich. There are no chickens or pigs. Neither sheep nor goats survived as such, but a hybrid (possibly also created by Iscin, but the record does not say) called the geep is kept in the northern areas, especially in and around Jasp, for its wool and for food. Geep have the intelligence and independence of goats, combined with the size and woolliness of sheep. Oddly enough, deer, squirrels, and crows were brought by the colonists, escaped into the wild, and survived in large enough numbers that they are occasionally spotted even today. The only Terran fish known to have survived is the catfish, and only in some lakes and rivers in Burdoth and Khodre.
Terran plants have fared somewhat better. Some Terran vegetables - in particular, lettuces, squashes, peas, sweet corn, and onions - have survived even without artificial fertilizers or pesticides. Of the Terran seed crops, only barley has survived to the present day; a thriddle seed crop called codditch that grows fairly well in Jorune's soil has replaced dent corn (and strongly resembles it, also having cobs and shucks). Terran blackberries have established a niche in the ecosystem on both Tanidoth and in Dobre; they are rarely cultivated, but they grow wild. The only fruit tree that has survived is the pear, and that only with intensive cultivation; they are rarely seen outside of Burdoth itself, although the thriddle have taken a liking to the fruit, possibly because of its shape. However, the water oak, white oak, willow, and blackthorn, which the colonists brought as shade trees, have survived in the wild, especially in the Glounda forest. Technically, gerrig and durlig are also of Terran origin, being descended from the cabbage and the turnip, respectively, but they no longer much resemble their ancestors in form or in flavor. Finally, a hybridized flax has survived, producing both oil and fiber; a bioengineered plant called creal combining many of the properties of jute and hemp has also survived as a fiber crop for the making of both clothing and rope. Cotton is extinct.
--
On to tonight's GURPS Jorune addition, which will be a fairly short one:
TL and the world of Jorune: A Complicated Matter
It is simply not possible to give a single TL for Jorune, or even for the various cultures therein. The shanthas, with their advanced isho techniques and mastery of ceramics and some biotechnology but relative lack of metallic technology, are only a minor problem compared to the human TL mash-up. (Then there's the thriddle, who have theoretical knowledge appropriate for a TL much higher than they actually seem to have . . . .) Earth had attained very early TL 11 when the colony was sent out, but most of the equipment it carried would have been TL 10. While humans have universally regressed from this level, they have fallen much farther in some areas than in others - and there is still some TL 9-10 equipment around to be used! The mysterious ramian never appear with equipment higher than TL 3 when dealing with humans, but have suggested (and the thriddle seem to believe them) that they have a few artifacts of higher technology - possibly Earth-Tec that they discovered and somehow unlocked.
A few sub-cultures can be given easy labels. The blount have regressed to stone-age hunter-gathering, and are effectively TL 0. The trarch, similarly, have regressed to a fairly consistent TL 1. The acubon of Lake Dau-ou-deh and their tributaries have no significant progress beyond TL 3, although acubon who live among humans would share the human TLs.
The general TL is 3, especially regarding social structures. If an item is appropriate to TL 3, it can almost certainly be built in Ardoth, Gauss, Jasp, or any of the other large cities. In general, if there is any question as to what TL a skill should be taken at, default to TL 3 unless there is a strong reason not to.
To break down the four large tech areas, hominid society (and bronth, woffen, and crugar society, since they trade more or less freely with the human cultures, and the crugar steal what they can't trade for) stands at these levels in the general sense:
Transportation: TL 3 on land; TL 4 on the oceans, especially where the salu and the woffen are concerned. Crystal skyships probably ought to be considered TL (3+1), or possibly TL (3+2) in the case of the large Jaspian schooners, considering sailing on the isho currents a "divergent" technique. However, there is at least one TL 10 hovercraft in the Earth-Tec cache now in the possession of Ardoth's Dharsage, and there are rumors that he also possesses a single TL 10 craft capable of out-of-atmospheric flight.
Weapons and Armor: TL3, verging on TL4 in the areas related to metallurgy but not in those requiring gunpowder (which is completely unknown to all Jorune races; all the firearms they know fire either lasers or blaster bolts, not projectiles). Earth-Tec armor and weaponry is TL 10, but includes very little nanotechnology and no antimatter.
Power: TL (2+1); horses are used only for riding, but other Jorune animals (the bochigon, lothern, talmaron, and thombo) are used for power, and Khaun Gauss developed the thombo equivalent of the horse-collar. Windmills have not been used as power sources, but water wheels are widely used. Crystal schooners use isho currents rather than wind or water as their motive force, and there are a pair of crystal-powered "isho-mills" operating on the same principle to provide the winding power to open and close the Great Gates at Jasp. Most Earth-Tec is powered by TL 10 rechargeable power cells; there are no sources of new power cells to replace those that fail or are destroyed, and recharging them is a tricky business without the original charging stations, although several methods have been developed. A few of the larger Earth-Tec items have other power sources. Human theoretical knowledge about battery power is somewhere around TL 5, but there are few applications other than recharging the Earth-Tec power cells! Similarly, human Iscin-students (scientists) know that coal will burn, but it is relatively rare on Jorune compared to Earth, and there are no concerted efforts to find and mine it. By the time the colonists left, petroleum was no longer in common use as a fuel, so its use is completely unknown.
Biotechnology/Medicine: TL 5 in most areas, subject to the limitations of available materials; as high as TL 6 in some places. In particular, the descendants of the colonists did not forget about the germ theory of disease or Mendelian genetics. Practical first aid was a constant necessity, and most of the original colonists were given the equivalent of a full first aid/CPR certification. Anatomical knowledge of all of the major races is widespread and fairly accurate. Some knowledge of nutrition is available, especially given the deficiencies of the native Jorune life in that regard. Among the known limilates are several reasonably effective antibiotics and one decent local anesthetic. Vaccination is not currently known. The distinction between bacteria and viruses has been largely forgotten, so viral illnesses that are not common are usually treated with antibiotics, ineffectively. A very large amount of TL 10 biotechnology - mostly escapees from the Gauss Valley Research Center, but some from other colony location - is still alive and breeding across Jorune; most of this takes the form of incupods and recos, but other biotech items are around. (Note that, technically, the Children of Iscin also count as TL 10 biotechnology!)
A few other notes on available technology: both metallurgy and the creation of glass and ceramics are at higher quality than the TL would indicate. If someone were to come up with a diagram of a TL 5 steam engine, the materials to build it could be had; they would just be incredibly expensive. Jorune is rich in quartz and other silicates, as well as kaolin, but relatively metal-poor compared to Earth.
There are at least two known printed books, brought by colonists with a taste for antiquities, still in existence (a Bible and a Complete Works of Shakespeare; the first is in Thantier, the second in Ardoth). Printing is known and used in Burdoth and Jasp, but not movable type; an entire page is carved in a woodblock and used to print a page at a time. Papermaking is advanced enough that paper, as opposed to parchment, is fairly readily available. Bookbinding is fairly primitive. The typical writing instrument, feathers being in fairly short supply, is a glass stylus.
Of the Terran animals brought to Jorune, few have survived. There are wild pumas and a coyote/wolf hybrid, possibly descended from the stock Iscin used to create the crugar and the woffen. Some of the coyote/wolf hybrids have been tamed, but the woffen are distinctly ambivalent about this; there are no domesticated dogs or cats. All the cattle died in one of the early waves of plagues; the thombo has largely taken the place of the ox both as a beast of burden and as a meat animal. Riding horses survived, just barely, and are owned only by the rich. There are no chickens or pigs. Neither sheep nor goats survived as such, but a hybrid (possibly also created by Iscin, but the record does not say) called the geep is kept in the northern areas, especially in and around Jasp, for its wool and for food. Geep have the intelligence and independence of goats, combined with the size and woolliness of sheep. Oddly enough, deer, squirrels, and crows were brought by the colonists, escaped into the wild, and survived in large enough numbers that they are occasionally spotted even today. The only Terran fish known to have survived is the catfish, and only in some lakes and rivers in Burdoth and Khodre.
Terran plants have fared somewhat better. Some Terran vegetables - in particular, lettuces, squashes, peas, sweet corn, and onions - have survived even without artificial fertilizers or pesticides. Of the Terran seed crops, only barley has survived to the present day; a thriddle seed crop called codditch that grows fairly well in Jorune's soil has replaced dent corn (and strongly resembles it, also having cobs and shucks). Terran blackberries have established a niche in the ecosystem on both Tanidoth and in Dobre; they are rarely cultivated, but they grow wild. The only fruit tree that has survived is the pear, and that only with intensive cultivation; they are rarely seen outside of Burdoth itself, although the thriddle have taken a liking to the fruit, possibly because of its shape. However, the water oak, white oak, willow, and blackthorn, which the colonists brought as shade trees, have survived in the wild, especially in the Glounda forest. Technically, gerrig and durlig are also of Terran origin, being descended from the cabbage and the turnip, respectively, but they no longer much resemble their ancestors in form or in flavor. Finally, a hybridized flax has survived, producing both oil and fiber; a bioengineered plant called creal combining many of the properties of jute and hemp has also survived as a fiber crop for the making of both clothing and rope. Cotton is extinct.
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Date: 2007-03-17 01:31 pm (UTC)Tekumel is metal-poor, too, even more than Journe--in fact, iron is used as currency and an iron sword would be extremely rare. (Swords and armor are made out of treated hide and are about as hard as bronze)
Overall, though, Tekumel has a lower TL than Journe, not having some of the advantages of Journe. Plus, there is a lot less old tech around, except things like the subway that runs underneath the entire planet.