also, joe_at_sartar.toppoint.de (Joerg Baumgartner) has this to say:
> Plow it? You mean condense it to road fastness! Your average gazzam
> may be useful for clearing land of forest, and its dung may be excellent
> fertilizer, but I wouldn't let the damn beasts near my fields.
Once again I stray far outside my actual area(s) of experience, but wouldn't a triceratops have a lower ground pressure (i.e weight to foot area) than oxen? The pictures of triceratops I have seen have nice big round feet, while oxen have (relatively) small hooves. If the dinosaur actually had comparable or lower g/p, it shouldn't do too much damage to the field. Of course, it would have larger footprints, covering a greater area of the field, although it would be dragging a plow behind it, tending to turn up the earth...
> And: If there still are tame triceratops around, don't you think the
> Lunar Empire would use them instead of siege engines, or as heavy cavalry?
>
I can think of many limitations as to why the lunar army wouldn't take them
into the field. Perhaps the dinosaurs are most active (and useful) during
the warmest parts of the year, while the army tends to campaign when it is
somewhat cooler (wouldn't you if you had to march around wearing an oven).
Perhaps the dinosaurs are somewhat like the Praxian lion; anachronistic,
and sustained only by extraordinary efforts of a cult -- the cult of Gazzam?
(with rune spells such as Warm Egg, and the ever-useful Speak Gazzam skill?)
Powered by hypermail