> A Dwarf Floating Castle might have mechanical devices that could
> precisely measure distance and time travelled (enabling the ships
> position of longitude to be calculated). Perhaps they have
> plans for Global Positioning Satellites?
They already _have_ Lozengal Positioning Satellites, it's just that
they are not all functioning very well at the moment. The heavenly
body known as 'Zenith' (according to recent suggestions a Darkmetal
Dirigble, ie a lead zeppelin)is still under dwarven controll, but
large parts of the Sky are still malfunctioning. The worst thing is
that some of the mechanisms have accquired some kind of unnecessary
sentience and even worse free will (that dreadful thing); this is
probably because the gullible humans have started to worship them as
'star gods'.
I reckon that they do have very precise timekeeping devices (the best in Glorantha, IMO, since they actually have a society which needs them, and being anally retentive about exact things like distance and space they probably have good instruments for determining that, too. I suggest, however, that they are NOT able to determine longitude exactly (at least not on a regular basis - there might be some Diamonds who can contact the correct True Mostali to achieve it) in an easy way, since navigation shouldn't be that easy for anyone. They are more correct than the average human navigator, for what that's worth.
Instead of compasses, I have a suggestion: I've read in a rather disreputable source (so it could be wrong) that the ancient Chinese had automatons which always pointed in the same direction; some kind of gyroscopic device in the shape of a pointing man, generally mounted on a wagon, which no matter how you turned it always pointed in the direction it was originally placed. Of course a heavy jolt would stop it from functioning.
I thus suggest that the Mostali have these devices on their ships, and that when the ship sets out, they are tuned in by a skilled Gold or Silver expert to point in some useful direction for the ship's destination. Of course, if the ship is hit by a really heavy storm, the engines blow, it is attacked by Kling... Vadeli, or whatever, the device will be upset and no longer point in the right direction. If this isn't obvious (if the device is overturned, it would be obvious, for instance) the dwarves could end up on the wrong end of the world - and of course only the PC's, closet Individualists, are capable of questioning that the procedure has gone wrong. If it IS obvious, the navigators probably throws an Enthropy Tantrum or is stuck in a Reiteration Loop, and when you have gotten them out of it, they open the box Only To Be Opened If Necessary and bring out the costly and seldom-used instruments to recalculate their position using other methods - like contacting Zenith using long-distance telepathy (in Morse... ur Octagonal Code, of course), or measuring the height of various heavenly bodies and desperately tries to compensate for changes during the Darkness (for of course their tables haven't been updated since then!).
A Floating Castle with its Pointing Dwarf out of control could be steaming along on a dangerous course, threatening human and nonhumans in its path alike. It might be stuck in a circle, wreaking havok with the local shipping lines until some heroic people (you know who we are talking about, dont you?) board the vessel and put her on the right course - and the biggest trouble might be getting anyone to notice you, your next biggest trouble being getting them to listen.
If you want Mostali to have genuine compasses, they should of course point to the original location of the Spike, and be made of 'magicomagnetized admantite' or somesuch. Of course, it will be disturbed by any amount of Truestone in the vincinity; anywhere between the Fever Coast and the Pool the Block in Prax will cause a hefty deviation which have caused many a swearword to issue from the lips of dwarven captains. Not to mention those pesky humans who consider that sharp piece of admantite some ridiculous fairy-tale weapon (spearhead, dagger, whatever) from their superstitions ('myths' they call 'em), meant to kill some evil wizard or demon or whatever.
==
'The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea,
In a beautiful, pea-green boat...'
>From 'The Owl and the Pussycat' by Edward Lear
Erik Sieurin
Did you think I would reveal things about myself in this .sig?
HA!
sieurin_at_yahoo.com
End of The Glorantha Digest V6 #343
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