Emberverse manufactured goods Ive noticed that Steve has cleverly inserted little bits to let us know how the Emberverse economy has developed without a big info dump to slow things down. Im assuming that outside of a few treasured heirlooms, all pre-Change products have either worn out or deteriorated beyond use due to weather, etc, and so these are things unique to Emberverse industry. Here are my thoughts. Please add anything youve noticed along this line as well. Manufactured Goods Directly Mentioned: *Catapults: These have been mentioned in previous books quite a bit, but apparently the ones on the Tarshish Queen are sleeker and more efficient. Theyve always been mentioned as having truck springs. Are these still being salvaged or has Montival produced its own? *Printing Presses: These have also been mentioned but their use was sparing because of expense. Now, theres a Newport newspaper complete with a crossword puzzle and young Karl Mackenzie has a copy of a Conan book. Paper, ink, binding and so on has made publishing a widespread business. *Watches: High end goods for the nobility/elite to be sure, but fine clock making is possible. *Clocks: On the sides of buildings like stations or churches, but no mention of indoor grandfather clocks and the like. Im sure the wealthy own them. *Heliograph systems: The network is growing and messages are moving. Im not sure where the system will top out in terms of bandwidth. Bad weather shuts it down, but could something be done with transmission inside buried tubes? I have no idea. Balloon transmitting stations for flat areas without castles. *Hippomotives: Im sure the gears mentioned being mined from Eugene are seeing use here. Its exciting to see this faster form of transportation evolving. *Wind up phonographs: Another high end good, but perhaps communities could share the cost and get to hear things they never could before-- concerts, High King speeches, etc. Short newsreels too? *Bicycles: With solid rubber tires. I suspect they are of middling price if Karl and the gang can ride them off into McClintock territory. Provision must have been made to get them back into Mackenzie hands. Manufactured Goods I Surmise Are There *Treadle sewing machines: Cuts the time and price in making garments. *Water turbine powered sawmills *Biogas digesters *Stirling refrigeration systems, at the dun/village level certainly and perhaps in wealthy homes *pianos *rocket mass heaters: see youtube/watch?v=Sqznv5GDSWc for a good introduction. Steve hints at this with a reference to a tile heating stove set into the wall in the Mermaid, but I suspect this is more of a masonry heater a la Russia, Scandinavia and other places. Rocket mass heaters require less fuel and often incorporate cob construction, but much of the principles are the same. So what am I missing?
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 03:40:53 +0000
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