Technology

Modern Technology

Although the city was once home to a society with very advanced technology, the generations since the Fall have left modern society with a largely pre-industrial tech base. The skills and resources for making and working with synthetic materials have been lost, as have the concepts of mass production and automation. All communication with outside polities — if any still exist — has been lost, and with it all trade in resources and products. Fortunately, the bones of the city provide materials which would otherwise be unavailable.

Materials

Bone and Horn: These materials are mostly used for small items, such as combs or spoons. As they can be elaborately carved, bone and horn are used for decorative as well as functional purposes.

Ceramic: Some pottery has survived from before the Fall. There are also a few clay deposits on the rivers which can be used for new pottery, although getting the clay from them can be dangerous; all are outside the occupied regions of the city. New pottery is largely colored through salt or ash glazing, resulting mostly in white, browns, or greens.

Fabric: The most common fabrics are wools and felts made from goat hair or the fleece of wild sheep. Flax is grown in some areas, particularly Collumbra, but very limited amounts of linen are produced from it; accordingly, linen is much more expensive. Other textiles are unknown, as ancient fabrics have not survived.

Glass: Most glasswork is made from ancient glass, scavenged and melted-down; fortunately, there's an abundance of it in the city. Coloring is often provided by adding a small amount of previously-colored glass; this tends to result in paler, washed-out hues for the finished product. Other coloring agents are sometimes experimented with. Glass is rarely molded, and more often blown.

Leather and Fur: Leather from a variety of animals is a common material, generally in the forms of rawhide, buckskin, oak-tanned leather, and furs. As with fabric, ancient leather cannot be scavenged.

Metal: Metals were widely used in the city's construction, and thus are relatively abundant even though there are no local mines. However, many advanced metals and alloys cannot be worked with modern forging techniques. Metals which are both easily obtained and relatively easy to work with include: copper, tin, bronze, brass, aluminum, and iron. Several steel alloys can be scavenged, but reforging them tends to produce more ordinary carbon steel. Metals such as nickel and titanium are uncommonly found and not often used. Soft metals such as gold and silver are available, but on average less valuable, because their only use is in jewelry.

Wood: Wood is available both as scavenged timbers and from fresh-cut trees, though sound scavenged wood is becoming scarce. Wood is one of the most widely-used materials in the city, for both furniture and small items such as combs and bowls; it's both readily obtained and easily worked. The most commonly used woods are oak, fir, cedar, maple, pine, ash, and hemlock.

Structures

This is a placeholder for what people build, and construction skills.

Transportation

This is a placeholder for how people get around now.

Artifice

This is a placeholder for smiths and artificers.

Ancient Technology

See also: golems

This is a placeholder for an overview of ancient technology.

Materials

This is a placeholder for things the ancients built with: glass, metal, composites. Discuss nanites here?.

Structures

See also: housing

This is a placeholder for an overview of buildings.

Artifacts

See also: golems

This is a placeholder for artifacts, such as the remnants of ancient vehicles; also pottery and golems.

Technomancy

This is a placeholder for technomancers.

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