They're a race of soldiers. All of them are elite warriors, immune to poison, resistant to disease, with a discipline second to none, and neigh on unkillable. None of those things can be said about Humans. The only thing Humans have going for them is that they outnumber the Basitins, and they can likely outbreed their furry adversaries. (Well, okay, Humans are also devilishly clever, and are bound to notice, as I have, that caltrops are the great weakness of the Basidian soldiery, so I expect that natural Human inventiveness would help a lot, but innovation requires time. Time I doubt the Basitins would grant.) I expect a united Basitin force to be like a hammer on an anvil. In the words of Covenant, "don't stand in the shadow of a hammer." Sure, Trace can take them on. But he does the same thing to everyone he meets, and he's more powerful here than when he last fought the Templar. He's powered by pure, unadulterated plot. The only thing that could save Humanity would be to massively increase weapons technology and to fight smart. Or do as they have tried -- remove your opponent's ability to fight before the war even begins.Brocktree wrote:How do you figure?avwolf wrote:Another thing to remember is that the Templar know full well that the only way they'd win a war against Basitins is if it was a war of attrition. And considering how tough Basitins are, they'd probably destroy the Templar before they could be beaten. The Basitins have the means and capability to land soldiers, establish a beachhead, and pound through anything the Humans can throw at them. A united Basidian people is a nightmare scenario for the Templar.
Now, onto the topic:
I suppose that all depends on what you mean by "balance" and how the world comes to it. I don't expect Keidran technology updates particularly quickly -- they're too short-lived for much "pure" research. Anything that's not of immediate benefit is difficult for them to manage or reasonably conceptualize. Humankind is well known for a couple things -- striving to invent anything to better help us kill each other, and working hard to create things to let us work less hard. Certain technologies there would appeal to Basitins, though the question remains as to how their wargames shape their technological development. They probably won't go much for technologies that makes their work easier, but the other side of that coin is going to be very attractive: technology can make their work more efficient. Agricultural and mining/smelting technology is probably of particular interest to the Basitins, so that they can increase their yields for their limited resources.Sebbie wrote:Hmm...in an attempt to get us back on track, I will repeat the following question, which I never got a good thorough answer to because of our off-topic tangent:
Sebbie wrote:What if the world comes into balance; will the development of technology, both magical and not, continue? Will the three races develop a stable global economy? More importantly, will the technological developments of the races follow similar paths through exchange of ideas and technology in a new era of peace, or will each develop in their own direction: humans and Keidran developing a technology based on magic, Basitins instead developing non-magical technology similar to that in our world?
I would anticipate that, as people tend to build technology off of what they have, Humans, and to an extent Keidran, will have blended magical and nonmagical technology. (Very few innovations are true "leaps" of knowledge. We almost always "stand on the shoulders of giants" as we advance.) As Basitins have no magical talents, they're most likely to develop and utilize only non-magical technology. Keidran technology will probably be more "mystical" than Human technology as well. The Templar have already begun to demonstrate a very...scientific approach to magic and the development of magical technology. From Natani's comments, it seems likely that the Keidran (probably because their lifespans limit their research capabilities) have a more mystical view of magic. They use it in a more natural context, rather than analyzing it and manipulating the underlying principles.