Technology FAQ

From FiranMUX

Contents 1 Firan Technology 2 Military Technology 2.1 Ballistae 2.2 Griffons 2.3 Net Catchers 2.4 Siege Towers 3 Fires/Firefighting 4 Time 5 Construction 6 Travel 6.1 Air 6.2 Land 6.3 Sea 7 Communication 8 Trade Goods 8.1 Iron Shortage 8.2 Silk Expense 8.3 Glass 9 Medical

Firan Technology

The purpose of this article is not to lay out exactly what Firans can and cannot do, it is instead to give a general appreciation of where Firan society is in terms of what we consider modern technology and science. One thing to remember is that Firans are an innovative race constantly trying to learn new techniques and with some ingenuity and favor of the gods (or Wizards) are able to at times ignore or break some limits.

The Firan Republic is roughly early Iron Age technology. Iron itself is quite new primarily present due to its high use by the Shamibelian forces. The Republic as a whole is suffering iron shortages making an already valuable commodity even more expensive and rare (news iron armor rules2). Where the Shamibelians have difficulty adapting to new situations the Firans are much better. Still there are often questions of just what we know and can do.

One thing to note is that Roman Imperial Era is often bandied around in discussion. Time and time again we are reminded that this is Anarinuell, not Earth. Roman technology is FAR more advanced than Firan. For reference, Firans are a Bronze society burgeoning into Iron. In other words they are an Early Iron Age society. In human history this would place them at roughly 11th Century BC. The common Roman era is considered roughly 1st Century BC. So the Romans are roughly a millennia more advanced than us. However the Firans have some advantages and special considerations. Let's take a look at some individual fields.

Military Technology

Military Technology is for the most part abstracted on Firan. Until the the 2008/42 A.U. War Season military technology did not play a significant role in most of Firan war and military life. While over time Firan military technology continues to grow, below are some of the most frequently asked about items and concepts of note in the Firan arsenal.

Ballistae

Firan ballistae were developed by Saltuk Cottonmouth. These were primaily developed as an anti-griffon weapon as Net Throwers were found too difficult to make, however due to their slow speed to fire, they have primarily developed into a siege weapon and to assault large enemy formations.

A firan ballista is described as "a strong wooden frame carrying two skeins vertically, with a groove in the horizontal stock of the weapon designed to hold the projectile. Two horizontal wooden arms pass through each skein and are linked by a strong bowstring. As the arms are pulled back, the rope is twisted to become a powerful spring. Like a very large long bow, the bowstring is pulled back using a large winch, and is held in place with a simple trigger mechanism. Firan ballistas can be deadly (the missles can reach a speed of 115 mph), but they are not very accurate. At the extreme high end, a 50-pound missle can go as far as 400 yards; at the low end, a 1-pound missle might land 300 yards away. In other words, a ballista cannot fire outside the dspace it's in. If an attempt wants to be made to shoot into an adjacent room, a GM will need to be summoned."

Griffons

Griffons, once thought by the Firans to be beasts solely out of myth, came to the attention of the Firans as actual beasts in 0 A.U., when the Shamibelians invaded the Firan Republic and their armies were supported by an air force of griffon-mounted pilots. Perhaps the most famous tale regarding the beasts is that of their introduction to the Firan Forces. The aerial superiority afforded by griffon-mounted Shamibelian archers induced the Clan Council to offer a reward or pardon to anyone who could capture one and bring it back to them. Garen, the assassin of Kenirikas, promptly delivered a griffon to the Council, securing a pardon for his murder of the Clan Leader without a trial.

In battle, griffons attack with their two powerful, taloned forelimbs as well as their beak. Enormously strong, griffons can carry up to 800 lbs. of weight, and can carry a horse into the air with both talons. They can support a rider and one passenger comfortably, when tamed and outfitted to do so. However, even when they are tamed, the most skilled pilots are barely able control griffons at all; on a scale of 1-10, controlling a griffon would be in the 7-8 range, at the very least. Given they are dumb, wild and hard to tame, pilots can really only maneuver griffons by yanking their heads in the direction they want them to go and griffons are dumb enough that they'll fly where they're looking. Beyond that, griffons want to avoid getting poked in the neck with a stick, so they behave most of the time. They will attack targets that are in their face, regardless of who the target is (friend or foe). Pilots generally try to keep their griffon mounts distracted by combat on the battlefield so they don't just start feasting in the middle of battle. They also keep them well fed; a hungry griffon is a dangerous griffon.

While a variety of 'innovative' uses for griffons have been established most tend to rely on dropping objects or linking multiple griffons which tend to cause them to crash into each other or be limiting their agility that they are easily struck down by enemy Air Forces.

Time and again Firans have been assaulted by Shamibelian Air Forces during the night. Primarily these forces fly in under the cover of night drop bombs and then leave. The Firan Air Force has on occasion flown up into the sky to fend them off occasionally to great success and occasionally to utter mayhem. The Firan Air Force and their birds are trained neither to navigate, stay in the air, or fight in the evening. The have little to no ability to find enemy griffons, identify friends or foe, or even identify the ground unless it's on fire.

Net Catchers

Griffon Catchers, or Net Catchers were developed during the Great War by the legendary smith Throg. Unfortunately the devices fell out of disuse and it was thought none since him could recreate them. Several Firans were involved in attempts to recreate them most notably daughter of Throg, Throgana. Attempts were however abandoned when most members of the team were killed or captured, including Throgana herself.

In a surprising twist, the Shamibelians were observed to be in possession of a number of net-throwers during the war season of 42 A.U.

Siege Towers

Firans have a variety of basic sieging equipment available to them. Of major import is the Firan Siege Tower. These towers are described as "A tall construction of sturdy wood, this tower rises overhead on a sturdy wooden base with wheels. The sides are carefully covered over with leather, decreasing the flammability. The top is open, allowing archers to shoot, or sword and spearmen to pour out over the enemy defense." Essentially these towers offer some cover as soldiers climb to scale the walls of an enemy fortress. They can be rolled with limited mobility and either pushed by soldiers or drawn by animals such as oxen.

Fires/Firefighting

One of the most useful and deadly things in Firan society. Fires are greatly used, in every walk of light, to light the streets at night, to cook, to forge, and for funerals. However Firan’s haven’t developed many fuel sources, to this day the most common fuel sources are bones, and wood with occasional oils, but primarily some form of cotton or other combustible item drenched in oil because it burns longer. On this vein Firan’s are able to launch flying weaponry that is lit on fire, but is rarely used. Firan’s don’t use excessive fire weaponry because it isn’t particularly more effective against people and inside cities it can easily destroy most wooden commoner buildings, or outside of cities destroy farmlands in the dry seasons. This latter is the major reason.

That being said on FiranMux, the most notable sight of fire are Firebombs, the Firans have spent years attempting to mimic the Shamibelian firebombs, but have only deciphered essentially that it is an oil based fire that requires sand rather than water to put out. Firefighting itself is a newly arrived skill and technology, but again is based upon empirical evidence rather than scientific understanding. Firans do not know WHY a fire will go in a certain direction, or why a certain area is most effective to stamp out. But they do understand that such things work. Firan’s have not yet developed advanced firefighting techniques such as backburns.

Time

Firan’s have no advanced method of time telling other than watching the sun. Sundials of a rudimentary sort are undoubtedly in use by the clergy, but not by the general populace. It is however widely established that cultures without modern time telling items are much better at accurately judging relative time by their own inner sense of time, and basic things like sun and shadow. So while your character can probably not tell that it is 5:42:03, they can probably guess that it’s nearly six. In general Firan’s time and calendar is not explained, it is conveniently matched to our own to keep us all from going more insane.

Construction

Firan buildings, in general, tend to be long rather than high, although second stories are becoming more prevalent. You're not likely to see one more than four stories high. They do have basements, although they generally need to dig those before building the structure atop it, as doing so after will seriously weaken foundations. They're sturdy enough to hold up to your average rainstorm, but get seriously dented by falling griffons. And Firans don't have anything to power elevators, although they're advanced enough with pulley theory to create a dumbwaiter type system for moving goods.

Firans have at least moderate levels of experience in public works. Firan forts have been seen to have significantly high walls as well as moats. Similar most major cities have aquaducts or some form of public waterworks (read baths). However this skill is rare outside of a limited number of Firan architects and masons who specialize in the work.

The City Walls of Anarinuell are one of Firankind's achievements of construction.

Travel

Firans travel by a variety of methods. However by and far the most common method of travel for Firans is walking. Firans walk everywhere. If you are not walking there is usually a specific reason. If you are travelling inside the city you would walk.

Air

There are two methods of flight in Anarinuell. These include flight on Griffonback and flight on a Great Eagle. Great Eagle's are rare enough that there is only one known to reside in Firan lands and this is the Great Eagle Garissa.

More common but still rare are Griffons. The creatures themselves are described above, but this is not a common form of travel unless you are part of a military. All griffons are owned by the republic or a clan none are owned by individuals. Travel by griffon back unless you are a pilot is heavily restricted to those on official business for the Republic or a clan.

Flight on both Griffons and Great Eagle are considred 'relatively' safe. By far the most dangerous method of travel they are susceptible primarily to weather and enemy attack. It's not uncommon for a Firan to be crippled when falling from a griffon back and Great Eagle's fly even higher. For this reason most Firans will avoid travelling on griffons, and pilots are branded their own unique level of insanity for doing so willingly.

Land

Land travel is the most common in Firan lands. As noted above most of the time this consists of walking. However there are a few modes other than walking/running/jogging.

The most 'popular' form of travel remains horse riding. This is primarily used when travelling outside of the city due to the nature of crowds and griffons within the city. The animals though are rare and expensive to both purchase and maintain. Skilled Horse breeders are even rarer than the animals themselves. While Firans were once much more common with the animals with the advent of griffons in the military the use of horses is ont he decline. This decline was marked by Elianos' disbanding of Firan cavalary forces. Firan Horses are primarily those for simple riding, as their expense makes them prohibitive to most farmers.

Farm animals themselves are another form of land travel. They can be hitched to a variety of wagons and plows. The most common beast of burden being the Ox. These can often be seen pulling wagons, though for the most part they're used either to transport goods to sea or from individual farms to larger markets. Rarely are oxen and wagons used for simple travel purposes.

Sea

For long distances wherever possible Firans use water travel. These are however by nature limited to destinations along the coasts of the Firan Lands or along one of the major rivers that divide the Firan Lands. Firans don't have the boats or the navigation to brave open water. As most things this has occasionally been accomplished by individuals, such as the heroes leaving for Vreland, the expedition rumored to have navigated towards other Shamibelian cities, and the expedition to Nekaht.

Larger Firan boats are powered by a combination of oars and sail and they tend to be open. As noted above, other races specifically Nekaht and Vrelanders are known to have much farther advanced sea skills.

Still when rapid movement or movement of large amounts of equipment are needed aquatic travel is the method used.

Communication

Related to travel is the concept of communication. The most common method of communication on Firan involves messengers. For most social classes this involves a messenger who walks. For those with more money when sending a message across distances one can use messengers that book passage on boats. Clan Leaders, and Military personnell enlist the use of their Air Forces as the primary means of delivering secure messages over distances.

Over medium distances Firans are also known to use a variety of instrumental communication modes such as horns and drums. These are however limited to primarily military orders, Attack, Advance, Retreat, Regroup, and only the most advanced forces have signals even identifying the unit an order is sent to. Similarly Firans have developed a variety of flag signals that are similarly limited to their communication modes. Again these are both primarily used during battles or military operations.

The rarest form of communicatino is messenger birds. These are primarily seen only in use by the Uffian priests. It is rumored that a handful of bird handlers however are also able to mimic the abilities of the Uffian Priesthood.

Trade Goods

Iron Shortage

A common question is the reason for an Iron shortage. While when it was originally brought due to the influx of the Shamibelians, iron seemed in great supply. However, once the Shamibelians were driven out it was quickly found that surface stores of Iron were rapidly depleted and with no trade to the Shamibelian realms it was difficult to find. The Iron ore itself is rare in Firan realms causing there to be few sources, and even in those sources it is difficult enough to extract that while they may not run out in the forseeable future, the ability of these mines to produe the ore are limited at best.

Silk Expense

Firans did not until recently have silkworms. All their raw silk was bought from Bonduins, and the Bonduin merchants were not common or reliable. Silk is also very difficult to weave, and a great deal of silk is lost in the weaving process. It's also difficult to make clothing from without ruining it. Its rarity and the fact it requires great skill to make drives the prices very high.

More recently even the most reliable of Bonduin contacts has gone missing, but limited amounts of silk is still produced exclusively by the Bear Clan.

Glass

Firan glass is thick and wavy , sometimes tinted. It is not available in big sheets, so windows usually consist of small panes in a framework. Only the glass in the better houses (read: where they have more money to throw around) will be clear enough to see through, and then it will be very wavy and distorted.

Medical

The first thing to declare is that Firans have no knowledge or skill in surgery or basic biology. They have some understanding of basic anatomy, but they don't understand things like microbes or the functions and interactions of internal organs. They DO realize that keeping people and wounds clean reduce the risk of infections and diseases, but this is more a product of priests and healers declaring it so. Even the priests and healers understand this more from empirical observation rather than scientific understanding.

The majority of medicine is similarly empirical, over the years they have accumulated the knowledge that by doing things a certain way they are able to allow the body to heal faster. There are certain breaks in this, most commonly in relation to one god or goddess where certain Firans are empowered to do amazing feats like restoring life to the recently deceased or healing crippling wounds.

Surgery such as cesarians were, until the advent of modern medicine, a last ditch operation to save a living baby from a dead or dying mother, and thus wouldn't have saved any women dying in childbirth.

Given Firan beliefs about the sanctity of dead bodies, they're unlikely to be performed in Firan. Firan medicine is mostly applying/ingesting medicines and bandaging, yes. Firan religious beliefs about soul death, etc, will prove a substantial barrier to anyone trying more invasive medicine.

Much of the Firan healing and medical procedures, not to mention supplies, are very rudimentary and basic. Many supplies sometimes do not work, or cannot be used, due to the level of healing or the abilities of the healer in question. Tea's happen to be one of the most popular forms of medical supplies: they can be very easily made, and anyone can use them!

One of the most advanced and newest firan inventions are something as rudimentary as 'splints' - although easily made, they are one of the most difficult forms of treatment, and can only be used by a handful of healers. There are also a variety of rare items that healers use to combat diseases, illnesses, and outbreaks. These include items such as the garlic ginger compress, used to combat the Red Bloom after the sick Firanite has come in touch with it.

Firan medicine is one of the fastest growing fields driven by a variety of healers of legendary renown such as Queen Sabine, Wylma, Balinda, and Odoni.