Why so? I see no Logic at all in oddles of low-flying Brithini (Captain).
> but the main thing is
> that this is irrelevant. If one in 1000 *can* fly, or one in 10k, then you
> have enough to make it a cottage industry, really.
Not at all. If the one in 10K are all Bishops, then having them flying around making maps would be a little odd, as would them having cottage industries in general, come to that. OK, perhaps a moderately silly counterexample, but what I'm saying is that such magical resources will not be availble arbitrarily to just _anyone_ in a society, but to those whose socio-magical role makes it appropriate.
> While I realize the source material the Orlanthicentricity of this
> discussion is understandable, it's discounting most of the world.
I thought the Orlanthi were the _topic_, not just a bias in the discussion. If you want to discuss other cultures, then by all means lets, but let us also be wary of generalising.
> Not to be considered a rules-rape wheezer (on a regular basis anyway)
Please consider that a stand-by rhetorical flourish, and not an accusation pointed at anyone, BTW. (Or a manifestation of me feeling rather grumpy last night, as one prefers.)
> 2) if you have a need, and the means to satisfy that need, it will be
> satisfied, subject to limitations or better uses of the required resources.
You'd think, eh? But look what a gradual process the development of half-decent maps has been in most of the RW. Few people have had the _foresight_ to invest the large amount of effort required to do this in advance of the use to which it might be put. (One obvious exception being the OS geezer, whose name I forget, but who decided that having detailed maps of Scotland _before_ there was a bit of ruck there might be a jolly good plan (I think this was 18th post-Jacobite, if my history isn't seeming _too_ threadbare already).) Most people seem happy enough to content themselves with much less systematic knowledge obtained for their present needs. Heck, I _know_ what my tula is like, to just about the nearest rock and tree, and how to get to Jonstown and back, and a fair bit about the lands of the tribes we raid -- what do I need a map for?
> However, I refuse to debate with someone brave enough to drink the Aer
> Lingus OJ. I thought they just gave it to us to hold in case more
> lubricant was suddenly needed somewhere on the plane...
Well, it was that or the beer, which I strongly suspected would be reminscent of _used_ plane lubricants...
Slainte,
Alex.
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