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From: jd1196_at_rtccnh1.serigate.philips.nl
Date: Wed, 4 Sep 1996 15:19:36 +0200


 Hi all,

+Mermen metallurgy

Sandy said that the only metal used by the mermen is aluminium.

There is more to metallurgy than armor and weapons.

I will take as an example a merman hunter. His job is to catch sea creatures. To ply his trade, he needs some traps (fishing hooks, nets and lobster pots), some needles to mend his net, a knife.
He may need a harpoon or a trident to kill a large prey that is in his net, and maybe a sharkskin vest and gloves if his catch is dangerous to handle.

A stone (or bone) tipped harpoon will sink as easily as a metal tipped one.

A bronze needle is better than a bone one, and IMO will have rusted away long after the bone one had broken.

About the fishing hooks, Bougainville noted that Polynesian women sold themselves for only one nail. It allowed them to make hooks that broke less often than their usual (non-metallic) ones. A very high price for them.

Metal objects are useful for the mermen, they last longer and are more solid than normal ones. And since aluminium is sacred for them, they won't use it for day to day objects, like a normal fishing hook or a needle.

It is simpler for a merman to buy those objects than to craft them. Maybe dire sorcerers among them know how to transform raw surface metals in useful objects. Since Waertagi are already despised because they live at the surface, they are prime candidate for the role.

+Waertagi

The Waertagi don't want another battle of Tanian's victory. I think that they are split on this issue: some would like to forbid any ocean going ship for the groundlings, others only want to eradicate only the hostile groundlings so that the others (more tolerant) will not want to kill them.

A groundling who only travels at sea, the Waertagi lives only at sea. Technically, the Waertagi who did not dare to go through Magasta's Pool are groundling.

+Sorcery

Joerg said that old Basmoli used sorcery. The problem with this word is that any vile magic is called sorcery and that the westwern way of doing magic is called sorcery too. I think it would be best if malkioni wizard did wizardry instead of sorcery.
With that term, a spirit attack, a demoralize, a sunspear and a stupefy spell are all vile sorceries if you are at the receiving end, and none are in themselves sorcery for the caster.

	Peace
		Jean

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