>>It might for instance be impossible
>>for non-Mostali to reproduce them just by following a recipe or somesuch.
>
>There's a simple way in which this could be done. Dwarvern recipies
>would take an inordinately long time to complete and require constant
>supervision. Humans do not have their patience and constantly try to
>speed up the process or don't constantly supervize it and end up with
>inferior products of varying potencies and effects.
Sounds great. Two other possibilities (which can be combined with this):
Dwarven senses. Dwarves have very exact sense of temperature, texture and structure through their Earthsense. Exact temperatures were very important to RW alchemy, where you used specialized ovens to produce certain temperatures in certain little niches. If dwarven alchemy depend on fine-tuned judgements of things you bloody well cannot determine without Earthsense, then human alchemists are toast (or will at least produce vastly inferior products).
Dwarven work structures. When it comes to Silver Stuff (the dwarven Thing closest to normal magic) I had this theory of dwarven rituals being like a clockwork - each dwarf casts a different spell that each weave together in a different whole. Each "cogwheel" can actually be used in several different spells - but almost none is useful without a dozen others (and umpteen chanting nilmergs mindlessly sacrificing MP). The leader of each ritual is, like in most dwarven teamwork, the one with so much experience in his own little part that he can do that without thinking. Thus, those dwarves that masters their little thingy first are those programmed for the most mindless, numbing and uncreative stuff, and thus those with anything amounting to influence. Tells you a lot about dwarven society.
Again, all IMG
Erik, late this time.
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