Oohh!  Good question!  Magic aided industrial revolution....sounds intruguing!!

Hi Nobilis!

Great question. Steam power got a major head start in the world of Metamor because the secret of Greek Fire was never lost. (In this world, the House of Greek was a Whalish family that developed the first steam-propelled incendiary weapon, which they then used to lead a successful war of independence from the Suielman Empire. The Greeks were then chosen to become the royal family of Whales, a title they hold to this day -- though modern Whales is a parliamentary democracy and King Philip is only a figurehead.)

The principles of steam power and the Greek Fire projector are basically the same, and the techniques used to solve problems with the latter could easily be applied to the former once the science was known. As a result, steam-powered ships were invented in the 1200s and began to see broad use by the 1400s, though mostly for warships at first. (The existence of Greek Fire was a strong inducement to develop iron-clad ships at the earliest opportunity, which meant that steam was the only viable propulsion system.) A prototype steam-powered locomotive was developed as early as 800 CR, but they saw very limited application (mostly hauling ore from mines to refineries and wood from forests to lumber mills) until the expansion of the Empire and the revitalization of Quenardya opened up new economic markets in the south and east.

The world of Metamor thus saw a very long and well-developed "steampunk" age that became far more sophisticated than its equivalent in our era, where the internal-combustion engine soon rendered the steam engine obsolete. (Internal combustion was delayed in the world of Metamor, as in our world, by the time it took to discover a way to refine kerosene and other mineral oils from the rocks that contained them.) Steam-powered locomotives were a common site for about 500 years, from 1400 to 1900. Steamships entered broad commercial use by the 1600s, as steam power made it possible to access and refine much more metal ore than had previously been accessible.

The first world war (1832-1838) was the last steam-age battlefield, and all sides made heavy use of airships and steam-powered vehicles. The war spurred new advances in technological development, as wars often do; by the time of the second world war (1885-1893) airships had given way to skyships and aerocraft, while steam-powered vehicles had been replaced by internal-combustion versions.

That's about as much detail as I've established at this point. If you've got an idea for a story in the steampunk age of Metamor, feel free to share it. I've had an image in my mind for some time of a young Artax working as a battlemage aboard an Allied airship in the first world war, desperately fending off enormous flying beasts called forth by Spakean summoners to ravage the incoming flotilla...

This is my first post and my first time looking around the cursed forums so if this is covered somewhere else I apologise in advance. The history of metamor is simultaneously similar to and radically different from our own history. I was just wondering how similar the two world wars in metamor were to our own history?

Did the first war break out because of the upset to the establish balance of power caused by the emergence and modernisation of new states like our Germany? Or was it more like two or more centuries old empires slugging it out on a previously unmatched scale? 

Was it some kind of preventative war fought to stop a perceived enemy from achieving modernisation and surpassing other states?

Was it blundered into like our WWI or was it started deliberately?

What was the international system like before and after the first war? Did the end of the first war lead to the creation of some kind of league of nations? For that matter is they're an equivalent to the UN in the modern world of metamor?

What was the conection between the first and second wars. Is it like our history where the inequalities of the first postwar settlement provided a major motivation for the Germans? Was it more the case that the second war began for a completely different set of reasons from the first. Were the combatants the same how had alliances shifted in the interrum?

Did metamor have an equivalent of the Nazi's who committed genocide against non-human races? Has any of the races in this world ever tried to wipe out another?

How set in stone is this part of the history? Obviously talking about two world wars has instant recognition for the audience, but that doesn't have to stop you from imagining a single longer conflict rather than two relatively short ones or even 3 or more separate conflicts? 

When did Metamor's Information or Computer age start? Your answer to Noblis mentions the development of the internation combustion engine but nothing about the development of information technology.

In our history the race to crack the Enigma machine led to the near simultaneous development of the first electronic computers. In the world of metamor city did the second war also lead to the development of computer technology or was it already in use by then.

Charles Babbage designed the Analytical Engine, the worlds first programmable computer in the 19th century. The British Science Museum has built two working engines to 19th century tolerances. So it is possible steam age Metamor had mechanical but not electronic computers. If they've had that kind of technology for longer it might explain how they're able to achieve the technology to create working nanobots like the ones in Victor's head. I get the whole magical and technological synergy could speed up development but aren't nanobots pretty much pure tech?   

UsWeeU order cialis duo phentermine 56557 propecia hke ambien overseas cheap %PP buy xanax in florida ynetf accutane auquvi discounted phentermine 96614