Magic as Technology in Kerithar

The great lands of the different races are the most settled and successful and thus have experienced the greatest advancements in technology and industry. For some, like the elves, these traditions extend into the vague and distant past. For others, such as the tribes of southern humans or nomad peoples, this is a much more recent occurrence. Rather than use the crude coal and wood burning engines of some gnome and dwarf communities, the greater civilized lands have developed advanced public works using magical aid, built magnificent machines powered by magic, or even built on the steam engines of the gnomes by using magical techniques to produce heat or alchemical substances to boil the water.

This has generally been to the betterment of the various races. While there will always be those who shun magic as evil or technology because of mistrust, in large cities most people have access to clean running water due to sewers and filtration systems and pumps. While general society still uses horses, carts and hard labor, in the greatest cities many often float down streets on flying sedans, carriages that move without a horse, and disks of force allowing passengers to float a dozen feet from the ground as they travel.

The dissemination of magical technology is so great that in the largest and most powerful cities, rulers have come to realize that a healthy and educated population is far more capable than the poor downtrodden of less advanced cities. A population where disease is less common means more young men and women to serve in the army, greater numbers of laborers, and more successful merchants. All of this means money for the state and less crime to deal with. On the other hand, not all nations have benevolent or enlightened rulers. Some city-states capable of feeding and caring for their population through magical technologies instead use their power to increase their control of their people. They force their will and objectives on the populace and crush dissenters. Governments that treat their people this way do so far from the great centers of human learning and power because the threat is always there that a ruler of a powerful and enlightened nation will deem it time to liberate the destitute population from their ruler and take control of the city.

In the largest cities merchant-wizards use golems or other automotans as hired laborers for special projects that require strength far beyond an adult human. They use spells to lift and move large piles of material, send messages between patrons, and even to whisk merchandise instantly to far off locations at the behest of those willing to pay. Sealed or hidden messages can be delivered by magic or via enchanted animals while beasts summoned from other planes can be used as body-guards, investigators or even for more sensual delights.

Magic has even grown to allow the image of famed bards to be transmitted through small objects such as mirrors, to be enjoyed by those a mile away from the performer, reaching hundreds or thousands instead of a handful. Such devices have been used to deliver news to the populace, broadcast proclamations or great speeches, and to allow clerics to bring the teaching of great scholars into poor neighborhoods.

All of this has come from harnessing the primal force of magic in ways that ancient shamans and sorcerers wouldn't have dreamed. Beyond crude fireballs and lightning bolts, these ways of improving the health and well-being, and therefore the happiness and spirit, of a people are more powerful than any one archmage could ever be.