There also isn't a lot of wood in Mongolia , yet the Mongols traveled in carts. And while there may be a shortage of wood in Prax, they are perfectly able to go into the surrounding areas where wood isn't so rare. It certainly seems to be a long hike from the middle of the Gobi to the northern forests if a Mongol broke an axel. But they still used them.
I guess it depends on how you want to play the Pol Joni. As Pentan types, they would want to use carts. The main limitation of carts is that they are not as fast and as capable of crossing obstacles as a pack animal is, though a herd is probably just about as limited. But a carts enable you to carry lots more stuff, including stuff needed for more advanced technology than stone tools. For example, anvils seem like something that might be difficult to put on a pack horse.
I'll admit that there is probably more wood in Mongolia than in Prax, and that the Mongol analog is really the Pentans. But Pol Joni carts are not totally implausable. The most obvious reason to not have the Pol-Joni using carts would be that you don't want them to use them. If they use carts the culture would seem likely to be rather more like the Pentans than they seem to be now.
Kevin
Powered by hypermail