>To me this doesn't quite fit. Part of the problem is that I
>can't imagine the world machine as mechanical.
Well, the Mostali do. Perhaps that's why you have difficulty getting to grips with their mind-set.
>We know dwarves produce nilmergs and jolanti, but the process is
sorcerous
>rather than technological.
True, but at the end of the day sorcery and technology are both magic.
> ......A jolanti climbs cooling from a vat of magma
>only after the appropriate spell has been cast. His sensory organs are
>carved by stonemasons, but require sorcery to get them working. If you
>were to cut one open, you would surely find stone organs rather than
>little cogs. My point here is that dwarves put as much effort into
>working with spirit as they do with stone, iron, bronze, fire, dark
etc.
I think by spirit you realy mean spells, but stone, metal, fire, etc - all these are magical too. Mostali have a mechanistic conception of how magic works, which fits in with their pseudo-technological world view.
Simon
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