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Stone Age Technology

This article lists the technologies available in the Iron Age of Kur. Each entry opens with any technology prerequisites. The bulk of the entry is a description of how that technology came to be.

Following the description of each technology is an enumeration of the skills unlocked by that technology. The final paragraph lists the cultural groups that have discovered that technology in the Stone Age.

Advanced Arcanum

Requires Basic Arcanum

Inspired by the advances in Noctis, the colleges in Percoland began trying to outdo each other. As the experimentation grew ever more elaborate, several cataclysms were narrowly averted. The codification of knowledge that arose from the manic chaos of the iron age in Percoland is one of Kur's great ironies.

Skills: Arcane Healing, Arcane Summons, Arcane Visions, Aura Lore, Bladerunes, Counterspell, Fire Manipulation, Gargoyle Mastery, Light Manipulation, Nature Manipulation, Power Mastery, Power Perception, Reality Awareness, Shifting Law

Cultural Groups: Percoland

Astronomy

Requires Mysticism, Mathematics

Humanity has looked to the stars for as long as they have existed. Astronomy builds on the rudimentary knowledge of cosmic motion. In Qod, shamans were interested in how the celestial bodies control dreams. In the Wetwoods, sailors were interested in using the movement of the stars to track their progress on the seas. In Percoland and Perdu, studying the heavens was a scientific end of its own.

Skills: Astronomy

Cultural Groups: Percoland, Perdu, Qod, Wetwoods

Currency

Requires Bronze Working

After several large-scale conflicts arose from dramatic shifts in the relative value of commodities, the Council of Lytia established the standard value for a long list of goods. These prices were originally published using an abstract 'kernel' as the unit of measure. From there, it was natural to establish coins as a means to translate goods into kernels and back again.

Skills: Bribery, Contacting, Counterfeiting, Gossip, Juggling, Mingling, Picking Pockets, Scrounging, Streetwise

Cultural Groups: Qod

Curses

Requires Advanced Psychic Theory, Basic Prayer

The early forays into the Void revealed the existence of 'dream bubbles' drifting in the collective unconscious. By attaching a lingering malus to the surface of a dream bubble, an effect can be transferred to the waking world. Practitioners of this technique are known as warlocks.

Skills: Circle Lore, Doom's Law, Faith Destruction, Look of Terror, Revenging Law, Transformations, Wyrd Mastery

Cultural Groups: Qod

Dream Ken

Requires Astronomy

Floating in the Void are the 'dream bubbles' that host an individual's dreams and nightmares. By entering these dreamscapes, a dream walker can interact with that person's unconscious. Heroïc dream walkers battle the demons that prey on the anguish of nightmares; villainous dream walkers create nightmares of their own.

Skills: Dream Law, Dream Lore, Dream Lores, Dream Travel, Dreamworld Control, Dreamworld Lore

Cultural Groups: Qod

Exploration

Requires Seafaring

The natives of the Wetwoods have an obsessive need to explore. To assist in these endeavors, they developed spell lists designed to keep explorers safe. Any sailor or traveler encountered outside of the Wetwoods is almost sure to have learned at least the basic of exploration.

Skills: Ocean Law, Traveler's Ways

Cultural Groups: Wetwoods

Feudalism

Requires Warrior Code, Monarchy

The hobgoblins were the first to discover that land is power (from there the other goblins are orcs were quick to adopt this social arrangement). Feudalism provides leaders with food and people. It also creates an obligation to protect those resources. Life at the bottom may not be pleasant, but knowing that your lord derives value from a serf provides a strong foundation for large standing armies.

Skills: Feint (Armed), Leather Lamellar (Armor), Leather-crafts, Lie Perception, Rigid Leather (Armor), Trebuchet, Weapon Style Lore

Cultural Groups: Kurian

Fortune Telling

Requires Mysticism

Through careful experimentation, mages in Perdu realized that certain focuses provide a simple way to obtain basic magical results. Tarot cards, crystal balls, and mirrors can all offer insight. Knowing if a given practitioner has received true knowledge or is simply spinning a yarn allows for widespread fraud (and distrust).

Skills: Mirror Magic, Predictions

Cultural Groups: Perdu

Iron Working

Requires Bronze Working, Warrior Code

While iron ore can be found nearly everywhere on Kur, before quality iron can be produced, the impurities must be removed. Early ironworking relied on smelting (and eventually smithing). Iron tools and weapons formed the basis for orc and goblin raiding parties as well as trade with the Wetwoods.

Skills: Ball and Chain, Brigandine (Armor), Chain (Armor), Crossbow, Lamellar (Armor), Long Curved Sword, Pole Arm

Cultural Groups: Kurian, Wetwoods

Item Ken

Requires Wheel

Simple, pragmatic spells dealing with items were developed independently in Venat and Perdu. In both cases it became necessary for scouts to have easy ways to mend broken items and to manipulate rope. Trusted scouts would even be blessed with flying carpets to speed their efforts.

Skills: Magical Ropes, Mending Ways

Cultural Groups: Perdu, Venat

Literacy

Requires Code of Laws, Alphabet

Throughout Kur, the advent of alphabets made it easier to convey information in written form. Literacy is the insight that reading and writing are important components of formal education (which is not to say that most people benefit from education). The rules of diplomacy changed forever; propaganda is possible once most decision makers can read the material.

Skills: Anthropology, Propaganda

Cultural Groups: Noctis, Pax, Venat

Magical Theory

Requires Basic Impulse Theory

On their remote island continent, the scientists of Perdu determined that there is magic within all things: plants, animals, and even rocks. This magic can be harnessed to reduce the burden on impulse casters.

Skills: Corpist Casting, Corpus Lore, Crystallist Casting, Herbalist Casting

Cultural Groups: Perdu

Metal Mastery

Requires Copper Working

Instead of mastering smelting and ironworking, crafters in Ambitus and among Celsior's undead took to magic. Metal mastery provides a shortcut to crafting, at the expense of power. Tools in these regions quickly became commodity items to be replaced in the event of failure.

Skills: Metal Crafting (TP list)

Cultural Groups: Ambitus, Sun-Bleached

Monarchy

Requires Rites of Passage, Code of Laws

The sorcerer kings of Noctis were the first to declare that their children were the natural choice to lead. The notion of monarchic dynasties spread quickly, adopted by rulers eager to cement their control through a (supposed) divine right. If nothing else, the gods' silence on the topic reinforced this theory.

Skills: Edged Fencing Blade

Cultural Groups: Ambitus, Kurian, Noctis, Qod

Requires Seafaring, Astronomy

The earliest sailors remained within sight of land or relied on some simple heuristics. In the Wetwoods, they spent considerable effort turning navigation into a science, complete with elaborate equipment for estimating position, bearing, and speed. For centuries they kept these secrets hidden from the world.

Skills: Navigation

Cultural Groups: Wetwoods

Prognostication

Requires Mysticism, Basic Psychic Theory

In far Perdu, reading the future can be key to survival. Given the high frequency of dangerous creatures, fortune tellers perfected their methods, allowing them to see into the past and future with relative accuracy. These tricks were only rarely used for the benefit of outsiders.

Skills: Far Visions, Future Visions, Mind Visions, Past Visions, Vision Borrowing, Vision Guard

Cultural Groups: Perdu

Republic

Requires Literacy, Code of Laws

To the inhabitants of Pax, the country is not the property of a monarch; it belongs to the people. Their rulers, therefore, are custodians of public goods. At least in theory. Even in Pax, personal ambition results in greater personal gain, but at least (on paper) open corruption is illegal.

Cultural Groups: Pax

Runes

Requires Writing, Basic Prayer, Basic Impulse Theory

As the Lost people skirted the deserts of Noctis, their peculiar brand of Impulse magic blended with the Divine magic of Noctis. After several fatalities, they managed to release power directly from the written word (provided the writing has three dimensions).

Skills: Commanding Will, Inscriptions, Nomenclature Mastery, Physical Manipulations, Symbolism, Warding Lore, Warding Ways

Cultural Groups: Aerlos, Noctis, Perdu

Sorcery

Requires Basic Prayer, Advanced Impulse Theory

The most terrible death priest was known only as the Bell Ringer. How the priest found her way into the Pale is not known. What is known is that she returned with an encyclopedic knowledge of how to destroy. Many sorcerers still wear a small bell at their throats as a reminder of her contributions.

Skills: Demon Lore, Flesh Destruction, Fluid Destruction, Gas Destruction, Mind Destruction, Pale Manipulation, Solid Destruction, Soul Destruction

Cultural Groups: Noctis

Unified Impulse Theory

Requires Advanced Impulse Theory

Having mastered both basic and advanced impulse theory, the mages of Pax embarked on a mission to unify elemental theory with magic ritual with impulse theory. The result was a new branch of impulse theory (so, not really unified after all) with its own spell lists.

Skills: Air Mastery, Allurement, Circle Mastery, Counterspells, Earth Mastery, Elemental Summons, Familiar Mastering, Familiar Mastery, Fey Conjury, Fire Mastery, Light Mastery, Magic Staff, Matter Shaping, Mechanism's Way, Shadow Mastery, Sound Mastery, Sustain Body, Water Mastery

Cultural Groups: Pax

Warrior Augmentation

Requires Wheel, Basic Impulse Theory

The sea-krals were, for a time, thwarted in their piracy by the presence of boat's mages wielding impulse magic. The sea-krals countered by adapting impulse magic to augment their warriors. The Earth shared these spells with the rest of His children.

Skills: Combat Illusions, Combat Ways, Spell Defenses, Warrior's Enhancements, Warrior's Weapon, Will of the Warrior

Cultural Groups: Kurian

Wheel

Requires Horseback Riding, Road Building

The origin of the wheel is a mystery. Its invention seems to have been rolled out nearly everywhere at roughly the same time. Historians point to some conspiracy, finding the hand of En in every tire and spoke. The truth is probably more pedestrian; given suitable materials, the wheel is obvious to anyone that's rolled a log or ball.

Skills: Driving, Operating Vehicle, Stilt-walking, Surfing

Cultural Groups: Aerlos, Kurian, Noctis, Percoland, Perdu, Sun-Bleached, Venat

Wood Mastery

Requires Warrior Code

Boat builders in the Wetwoods developed magical tricks for fashioning wood. Their artisans created beautiful works, and their shipwrights churned out ships faster than ever.

Skills: Wood Crafting (TP list)

Cultural Groups: Wetwoods