Clyntahn sat back down, tipped back his chair, and glowered sullenly.

“As you say, you aren’t the Grand Inquisitor; I am. And the bottom line, Zahmsyn, is that I’ll do whatever God requires of me as his Grand Inquisitor. If that means a few innocents are going to get caught up in bloodshed that was provoked by their own parents, then that’s going to happen. And before you tell me anything more about Graivyr or the other Inquisitors in Ferayd, let me point out to you that without the blasphemy, without the schism, being pushed by the goddamned Charisians, none of this would be happening! Forgive me if I seem just a bit more concerned with the future of God’s Church and the protection of the souls of God’s people than with the well-being of a few dozen Charisian heretics or their miserable brats!”
For just a moment, Trynair looked as if he were literally about to explode. The Chancellor’s entire body seemed to quiver, and a neutral bystander might have been excused for thinking he saw lightning flickering from the ends of his hair. But then, visibly, he fought for calm.
It’s just like you to blame every bit of this on the Charisians, Zhaspahr, he thought icily. It was you and your “final solution to the Charisian problem” which started all of this! I should never have let you push us all into accepting your proposals!
Yet even as he thought that, a small voice somewhere deep inside was reminding him that he had let Clyntahn push — or, at least, draw — the rest of the Group of Four into doing things his way. And he’d let Clyntahn do that because it hadn’t seemed important enough to him not to let him do it. Which meant, however much he might try to worm out of admitting it, that the disaster which had resulted was as much his fault as Clyntahn’s.
Of course, unlike Zhaspahr, I’ve at least been trying to make things better since then!
Still, he couldn’t honestly pretend that at least some of the blood wasn’t on his own hands. And however furious he might be with Clyntahn just now, the fact remained that it could be dangerous — even fatal — to push the Grand Inquisitor and the Order of Schueler too far. Ostensibly, and possibly even actually, Trynair’s power and authority as Chancellor was greater than Clyntahn’s. Even the Office of Inquisition was legally bound to accept the direction of the Grand Vicar, after all, and Grand Vicar Erek would direct the Inquisition to do whatever Trynair decided needed to be done. But if it came to an open showdown between him and Clyntahn, it was far from certain that the Order of Schueler would bother to remember to whom it owed formal obedience.
“Listen to me, Zhaspahr,” he said finally, his voice calmer than it had been since the conversation began. “This entire episode in Ferayd has the potential to do us enormous damage. It’s got to be handled very carefully from this point out.”
“Like Hell it does!” Clyntahn’s native belligerence was rousing as surprise began to ease a bit. “They’ve murdered priests, Zahmsyn. They can call it whatever they want, but the fact is that they’ve killed men consecrated to the service of God! Yes, it’s a pity children were killed in the original confrontation. And, yes, servants of the Office of Inquisition were involved. But we’re in the midst of a fight for the very survival of Mother Church. This is no time to handle things ‘very carefully!’ It’s a time to counterattack. They don’t have any proof of the authenticity of the documents they’re claiming to have. Call them on it. Denounce their claims as lies and convict them of murdering priests! Then go ahead and call for Jihad — Proclaim Holy War and burn out the canker of rebellion and apostasy and heresy in Charis once and for all!”
“No.” Trynair said the single word softly, but there was nothing at all soft about his flint-hard eyes.
“Damn it, what are you waiting for?!” Clyntahn demanded. “For the fucking Charisians to invade the Temple Lands?!”
“If it weren’t for what just happened in Ferayd, I’d be a lot more willing to proclaim Holy War,” Trynair said bitingly. “Unfortunately, we have a little problem just now.”
“What problem?” Clyntahn half-sneered.
“The problem that while they may not have ‘proof’ of the authenticity of the documents in their possession, they do have the documents themselves, don’t they? Trust me, when they publish those documents abroad there are going to be enough people — especially sitting on various thrones scattered around the planet — who recognize the truth when they hear it. My office is the one in charge of Mother Church’s diplomacy, Zhaspahr. Believe me, I know what’s going to go through the minds of all those throne-sitters, and we aren’t going to like it very much. Because, Zhaspahr, they’ll also recognize what happened to Ferayd after King Zhames did exactly what we instructed him to do for what it was. They’re going to see these hangings as completely justified, whatever we may say, or whatever they may say openly.”
“So how many Greyghor Stohnars do you want to create, Zhaspahr?”
Trynair’s question was sharp, and Clyntahn paused abruptly. Greyghor Stohnar, Lord Protector of the Republic of Siddarmark, and his predecessors had been the worst nightmare of the Group of Four and their immediate predecessors for years. There was no doubt in Zhaspahr Clyntahn’s mind that Stohnar would gleefully have overthrown the Church of God Awaiting in his own lands if he’d imagined for a moment that he could make the attempt and survive. For his part, Trynair had never shared Clyntahn’s suspicion that Stohnar was actively seeking a pretext to break with Mother Church. His fear had been simply that someday some difference of opinion between Siddarmark and the Church would spill over into open confrontation whether either side wanted it to or not. But in its own way, that difference between his own and Clyntahn’s view of Stohnar only lent his question even more point.

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39 Responses to BY HERESIES DISTRESSED — snippet 26

  1. E says:

    And still they underestimate Charis for the enemy next door.

    Stohnar’s relevance is going to need some fleshing out, as will the history of Siddarmark as a whole. I’m guessing that Siddarmark has some restrictions on how far the Church goes into the government and Zion doesn’t like not being in control. The trouble with the Church’s top-heavy approach is that they’re pretty much playing out the role of Lumberg in Office Space. Their explotations have resulted in an employee that doesn’t show up or work, Siddarmark, and one that’s going to set the building on fire and put stricnine in the guacamole, Charis.

    Saw Office Space this afternoon btw and for some reason I was reminded of these snippets.

  2. Jeff Ehlers says:

    I’ve never seen that movie, but the comparison is apt from what you describe. Of course, they’re a lot more concerned about the one who’s merely upset rather than the one who’s gone postal, which says a lot for their priorities.

  3. Karina says:

    Clyntahn’s comments are sounding awfully familiar right now.

  4. lockswriter says:

    Given how quickly Chisholm and Emerald renounced the Church, Trynair has to be wondering how many other realms are just waiting for the right moment. And Siddarmark really can threaten the Temple Lands, which Charis isn’t yet strong enough to do.

    To me, Trynair is a more interesting villain. He’s caught on that the rules have changed and the Church actually has to struggle for hearts and minds now. For the head of an organization dedicated to maintaining the status quo for eternity, that’s a major accomplishment.

  5. Alan says:

    Trynair is getting more interesting by the moment. The question is fast becoming whether Trynair or Clintahn is the better player and how governments like Siddermark would react to a complete Clintahn take-over of the church.

  6. erispope says:

    Siddarmark is known to have the armies to threaten – directly – Zion. They may not be able to actually invade, but they could certainly make a good push, obliterating any pesky intermediate armies in their path and possibly start a siege of Zion before the Church could stop them. Siddarmark is a known possible threat – Charis is an unknown possible threat that can’t (as far as the Church knows) threaten directly.

  7. Chuck S. says:

    I thnk I recall something about ‘dealing with the kraken in nyour bath tub before worrying about the doomwhale outside the harbor’? It is hard to evaluate a serious long term threat when confronted by an equally serious short term one. The short term threat uses up all the talent and time and so gets the lion’s share of the resources. At least until the doomwhale comes through the bathroom wall, and then it’s too late.

    Wthout Sidemark, Charis would have no chance and the whole series would loose all internal logic.

  8. JN says:

    Stohnar is the boogie man because he is above the law, as the Inquisition practices it. With Charis, Clyntyn used a main force approach. With Siddmark, he already knows it would not work.

    I wonder how much actual fighting will be involved before this all burns out. Even in religious wars, economics plays a large part. Other than Charis, and now the C&C Empire, I do not see much much wealth to sieze. Because of that, the conflicts would stay small, and die quickly.


  9. Maggie says:

    Of course, sometimes the employee goes postal so quietly that no one notices. For example read “The Young Poisoner’s Handbook”.

  10. Peter Z says:

    J@8, Sure enough and that’s why the war (both hot and clod) may actually linger instead of wane away. The Church has massive amounts of wealth locked away. This war has encouraged them to open the vault doors without charging interest or extracting a massive political price for that wealth. Some nations Like Dohlahr fight primarily to get those funds. Used wisely those freed Church funds could mean financial independance from the Church for client state. Pay down your existing debt and build up your reserves. Pretty soon the Church will not have the same leverage over its client states and a much smaller war chest to do anything more aggressive.

    There are more ways to skin a cat than the G4 realize just now. Trynair is beginning to realize just how true this is as his drawing back from Jihad illustates. Clyntahn is likely to begin losing it more and more trying vainly to insist nothing realy has changed.


  11. E says:

    The Church needs to go for a low-blow right now. They need to start whipping up fanaticism in their subjects if they want to keep a hold of the situation. The Inquisition is pretty much specialized in fanaticism, so if they were to create an organization to “support and educate” the children/adults who have suffered with the Charisian schism, then they’d have people flocking over to take whatever instruction they give and hand over their kids for instruction just to get at whatever funds would be doled out. Basically it’d be like a timeshare meeting but with anti-schism sentiments being propagated. They don’t even have to recruit anyone directly, just repeat the same message and make it interesting so they frame the thoughts of their visitors into making them potential recruits. The Order of Scheuler would get double bonus for this tactic because they’d officially be doing “penance” over Ferayd at the same time.

    To correlate this to American history, mobsters and kingmakers in places like Chicago and New York would found poorhouses in order to seem like “heroes to the common man” when in reality they created prime recruiting grounds for loyal thugs and disposable assassins. In the Church’s case, they could recruit an army.

  12. E says:

    Ah wait… Clyntahn only sees military solutions. The Church is going to have less short term fallout from backing down if that’s what Trynair orders, but if that’s what happens I’ll reserve my expectations of grand warfare for the next generation. Not to mention the long-term problems with having so much capital out there in a fluid economy with no interest returing to the Church on it, financial independence is not going to sit well with the Church and they might try to tax it out beyond what the Writ says only to meet with resistance.

    How powerful is Siddar? We know their strengths are pikemen and proximity to the Temple Lands, but other than that they don’t have good definition. With the navies and merchants of the other nations under attack they’re also the only other potential trading power now. They haven’t demonstrated any kind of force projection like Charis and they’re not mentioned as even being interested in militarily intervening on either side of this conflict despite favoring Charis to the point of warning them. To put in a question of corellation, is Siddarmark Pre-entry WWI US? Switzerland? Napoleonic Russia? Right now I favor the Russia correlation because they’re basically Charis’ only ally and considered the bigger long-term threat. Napolean made the mistake of trying to take out Russia to get at Britain so I’m wondering if the Church will try to take out Siddar to get at Charis if they keep getting frustrated. Would certainly give plenty of room for the “burn and retreat” style warfare that go so many Frenchmen killed by starvation and winter.

  13. Peter Z says:

    E, Its worse than Napoleonic Russia for the Chruch, if it attacks Siddermark. Charis can resupply Stonahr’s forces from the sea quite easily and the Church must use overland supply routes. If Siddermark remains tactically defensive forcing the Church to attack into strong defensive positions that constantly retreat burning fleids along the way, the entire Church field force will be extremely vulnerable in short order.

    A deep strike using modern musketmen against the Church forces’ primary supply depots after the field force overextends and that force is done winter or no winter.


  14. RobertHuntingdon says:

    E, I think Siddar is probably somewhere around equally powerful with each of the two other empires on the mainland individually. If they were too far behind either they’d have been crushed already. If they were too far ahead of them they wouldn’t be so focused on securing their borders. That still leaves a fair bit of wiggle room, however. A defender can almost always be at least a bit smaller than the enemy and still have a good chance.

    Pikemen are horrible for force-projection. They are extremely formation-limited and are essentially a defensive force by nature. Sure they can attack a land army they catch in the wrong spot or something, but they have no hope whatsoever of seizing a fortified city. Not on their own at least. They can be a valuable part of an offensive team that includes other forces that can take cities, but on their own they can’t do it. For that matter any kind of foot-army isn’t a good means of force-projection, especially in feudal cultures. They can’t personally carry huge amounts of stores with them for a deployed mission, taking a huge supply train greatly increases the needed size of the army in order to secure the supplies (or greatly reduces the effective size), and resupply isn’t easily solvable by other means in land armies. Short of a massive numerical or technological superiority, both sides are likely to be a bit cautious and figure they need more than the true “minimum” to be able to launch an attack. I think this is why Desnair is still expanding by gobbling up the minor powers rather than gearing up for a major attack on Siddar.

    Desnair with its horsemen might be a bit more “frisky” … maybe … because they likely figure they can run away faster than anybody else can pursue if it comes to that. They are probably the closest corollary to Charis’ ability to project force because mobile forces can skirt the enemy (or avoid them entirely) as needed to get to where they really want to be (either to attack OR defend). But they still have possible supply problems if they aren’t very careful.

    So maybe at this time I think the reason the Knights are afraid of Siddar is because they don’t have a large army themselves. Which makes sense, after all, because if they have the imprimatur of “God said so” and everybody around still believes that the church really has everybody’s best interests at heart then they don’t need one. Unfortunately they’ve thrown the second half of that away. Not just by attacking Charis, though in the long run that will be the straw that breaks the camels’ back, but also with their corruption and decadence over the centuries.

    But I don’t like the Russia analogy. Russia retreated the way they did because they couldn’t face Napoleon head-on and they had lots of “empty space” of low value. I don’t see Siddar as having enough space to pull it off. They probably have *some* but not nearly as high a percentage (and they aren’t so incredibly weak in comparison that such strategies are their only hope). Plus the Russian winters aren’t terribly likely to be available as a trap source. Winter in Zion is harsh, true, so there are likely going to be some nasty winter storms, but at the same time the Church and everybody else has 900 years of experience with the exact same types of winters that Siddar has (unlike Napoleonic France which was nearly tropical in comparison) so they won’t be caught by surprise by the winters the same way.

    No I think if anybody around is Russia it’s got to be Harchong. The arrogance of the nobility, the outright slavery by another name, the corruption, etc… that fits with Napoleonic Russia far better than Siddar does.

    My guess for Siddar is either Pre-WWI US or Switzerland. The Swiss make some sense in the short term because of the pikemen. The US makes more sense in the long run because if there is some kind of agricultural revolution at some point then Siddar could likely free up a LOT of people to turn into soldiers and/or factory workers. And the US didn’t start the Ag-revolution themselves, and likely Charis would be the first to come up with the ideas that Siddar would then adopt, so that fits too. (And Charis is obviously England in so many ways, and England was one of the primary sources of the Ag-revolution and the industrial one as well.)


  15. robert says:

    I still wonder why Davis Weber brought up the issue, in OAR, of Merlin’s inability to penetrate the Temple and to get close to the orbital weapon if it will play no role in the Church’s ultimate attempt to rid itself of Charis’ threat. Makes all the speculative commentary going on a bit, um, super-speculative. Let us speculate on that for a bit, shall we?

  16. robert says:

    Oops. David Weber. Bad forefinger!

  17. RobertHuntingdon says:

    That’s the downside of two-finger hunt-and-peck… :)

    As for the Rakurai, I think that was already hashed out a book or two ago… not sure how many want to bring it back up. But in short I’m pretty sure the church will try to use it eventually… and I’d suspect that Merlin will have already disabled it without them realizing it. The only idea I can think of so far is a variant on how Sean and company got down to the planetary surface in the Dahakverse. I figure Merlin will go out in a skimmer and accelerate a large number of small asteroids (so that those that miss will harmlessly burn up in the atmosphere) to high speed and aim them at the planet and/or the Rakurai platforms themselves. Unless the computers are a LOT smarter than Weber’s past writing would lead us to suspect I would expect that to work.


  18. E says:

    Does the Church even know how to use it? I’ve postulated some form of ritual to mask the truth as an access granter, but I think it’s more likely that the Angels would reserve the ultimate power for themselves and get into cryostasis. Clyntahn obviously doesn’t know about it, otherwise he’d have probably used it because he seems to believe in the instant power of his authority and righteousness. If the satellites are all in autonomous mode then this is a matter of trigger emmisions and Charis isn’t at the level of electricity as power yet. And another thing, It’s been centuries since Rakurai was used, and apart from lightning as a “reminder” the power of the satellites is as much a myth to anyone that hasn’t seen Armageddon Reef as Seijins are to people who haven’t met one. So I believe the Church is out of the Rakurai business until Weber decides to prove me wrong or right.

  19. Drak Bibliophile says:

    There has been speculation that the mysterious power sources are sleeping ‘archangels’ which may require the Grand Vicar to do something to wake them. These sleeping archangels may be only way the Rakurai can be unleased.

    As for Clyntahn not knowing how to unlease Rakurai, I suspect that if the Church could unlease Rakurai, it would require a majority of the Council of Vicars to authorize it. IMO Clyntahn would never get a majority of the Council to agree with using it. God knows who else Clyntahn would use it against besides Charis.

  20. E says:

    If the entire Council of Vicars knew about how to use Rakurai then much of the priesthood would know by now given that over seven or eight generations the value of that information would have shifted and traveled. If the entire Council knew of it then for them to keep it a secret would either require the institutional discipline of WWII Japan with an overdose of pure bloody-mindedness, or keep the number of people that actually know about it limited to maybe one of the dynasties that run the Church. Wylsyn’s truth rock is a case in point but even then the Wylsyns became known for it until they “lost” it in order to protect it. I’m very much against the Church having direct control of these satellites because it doesn’t make sense for them to have not even discussed using it these last years in the book if they had it to begin with.

  21. robert says:

    I think we can understand how the Church evolved, in general. But how a particular institution within the Church came to be is not described. So which (one or more)of the Church’s Orders may have been given, or assumed, control of the “thunderbolt” is not really known. I disagree with the notion that the weapon’s controls have deteriorated or the available power to run them is insufficient. Merlin has lasted and so has the weapon. Understanding of the principles may have been lost but the knowledge to use controls exists somewhere and with someone.

  22. Erik Ker says:

    RE: 21. It is possible that the information was limited to a small number of people, but, over a generation or two (which generation does not matter) the knowledge of its use was lost. Let’s assume, for arguement sake, that the key to unlocking the power is a literal key. Perhaps it was inherited by a minor child, but the person who knew of its use either died, or for reasons he thought best, did not explain its use to the person who received the key when he reached the age of majority.

    Yet, I think it is more likely that some force is available that can destroy Merlin or like tech. Whether under church control or not. Otherwise, 200 years in the future, Merlin enters the temple, turns off the switches, and behold, he could of done it at any time. Anticlimactic.

  23. Mike says:

    I think it’s just a plot device to answer the questions: 1) “Why doesn’t Merlin just go in and wipe out the church?” and 2) “Why doesn’t Merlin just ignore the proscriptions and bring in the Industrial Revolution wholesale?”

    Thus, I don’t think it actually needs to be used in order to fulfill its plot function. So I wouldn’t be too surprised if it’s never used.

    On the other hand, I wouldn’t be all that surprised if somehow it is used against the temple itself.

  24. robert says:

    Mike, I like that last sentence.

    I don’t think Weber would introduce the “Thunderbolt” just for a plot device. I speculate: somehow Merlin as Merlin (not the PICA Nimue Alban) has to die or her secret gets exposed–nobody lives forever. The Merlin construct is destroyed while destroying the Rakurai. But Nimue must continue to guide the remains of Humanity (Safehold) out of the equivalent of the early middle ages (can’t have the Gbaba find them). So she assumes a new identity and lo’ David Weber has another 20 book series. Just kidding.

  25. Mike says:

    “Merlin” could easily take a “fatal wound” and be found with no pulse and no respiration. As long as no awkward embalming or cremation is involved, Merlin could be entombed. Changing the appearance of the PICA is obviously easily accomplished.

  26. E says:

    I’d like to see them try to cremate Merlin. Good luck finding a funeral pyre that can burn at several thousand degrees.

  27. Drak Bibliophile says:

    Well in the absence of Merlin getting a ‘fatal wound’, I believe that Merlin can fake old age but ‘old’ Merlin will at some point leave Charis and will be assumed dead by those not in the know.

    I’ve specuated that Nimue will then assume a female persona again and will take ‘Merlin’s place’ as an advisor/special warrior.

    Nimue took a male form because a female would have a harder time stepping into the position needed than a male would have. Now that Nimue knows that some know of her, it will be easier for her to step into the position needed.

    Minor note, I suspect David Weber made his hero female because his hero would be switching sexes. He may have suspected that some readers would have a problem with a male taking female form while a female taking male form would not cause reader problems.

  28. shadowsryder says:

    While waiting for the book, let’s read the Hornblower series again. So many parallels to Napoleonic period.
    1. mechanical semaphore… Wikipedia summarizes the French version and intros signal flag systems used at sea even now, and flag semaphore (wig wag signaling) still used by USN.
    2. firearms… Breech-loading flintlock blackpowder rifle. 1770’s level technolgy. Ferguson rifle. google the term to see images. Wikipedia for summary and defects as produced. Sharps action is better for percussion and transition to cartridge then smokeless.

  29. E says:

    What you’ve identified is a cultural issue, involved with Western civilization, that is relevant because of the dispersal of gender roles with the recent three generations. Nimue is Merlin because the gender roles of men in the society of Safehold are geared towards directive leadership. Negotiation occurs between the specialized leaders, but for all intents and purposes the concept of power on Safehold is hierarchial, a position reinforced by the top-heavy structure of the Church. Power in modern times is split now on the views that power is either negotiable or hierarchial, which manifests in any number of ways from companies forming teams of self-regulated employees instead of standard beuracracies to the assignment of accounting division representatives to a company’s engineering wing.

    Merlin has probably already begun dispersing some of the gender-roles in society by enabling more women to work in Charis. He has done this in two ways: firstly by increasing the manufacturing capacity of Charis to the point where higher labor demands will make women a viable workforce, especially for textile mills. And second by getting child-labor laws enacted. He may not realize it consciously, but it’s because of Charis’ population shortcomings and tolerance to new ideas that women are going to become relevant enough to start defining Charisian society instead of being a piece of it. Having Sharleyan as Empress also helps a great deal.

    I wonder what the Writ says about gender roles.

  30. robert says:

    One thing we all know is that David Weber likes to write about heroines: Honor Harrington, Helen Zilwicki, Queen Berry, Abagail Hearns, Alicia DeVries, etc. So Nimue returning as a woman is not only possible, but I would bet on it if Merlin’s fate is as speculated. To further speculate (fun, huh?), she returns as guard and advisor to Charlayne’s and Cayleb’s daughter, the Empress ??XX??

  31. E says:

    If the schism war breaks down and loses steam, and peace (shudder) ensues then the role of Nimue in a future encarnation might have to follow a different tact as far as advancing the game goes. Schoolteacher maybe?

  32. Mike says:

    Plus, in some versions of the legends, Merlin is placed in suspended animation for 800 years by Nimue. He is also supposed to have switched sexes. Of course Merlin was such a popular character that his name became attached to many legends that vary from his core Arthurian myth.

  33. Mike says:

    Or rather, I should say “that vary from his well-known Arthurian myth”. Probably his role with Arthur was one of the add-on legends, not the originals.

  34. E says:

    Err… the bit where Merlin is alive for 800 years crops up nowhere in the “standard” Merlin fare I’ve heard of in Arthurian mythology, usually it’s only about a hundred or so if he isn’t the victim of his love/rivalry with Nimue. Did you actually mean current fiction?
    Under semantic analysis Merlin might have actually been a title given to sage-like inhabitants of England’s countryside, spanning multiple figures from bards to druids until it coalesced into the wizard archetype we know today.
    It doesn’t really matter, since Merlin is Nimue’s little joke to herself and a befitting name to one who brings the magic of science into the world that doesn’t know it. It’d be pretty much the same if thirty thousand years from now the name Loki was something to inspire hope, and people didn’t know for sure that it was the name for one who would ruin the world.

  35. E says:

    If there’s one good thing Charis has done for Siddarmark, it’s set up a precedence for breaking with the Church.

  36. LambdaDriver says:

    29 – The Writ probably isn’t clear on gender roles, the writs authors were men and women who came for a society that had gender equality and I cant see those women giving that up as a conscious act in their “holy book”. Its more likely that women on Safehold fell victim to the same pressures that kept women out of power in every other low-tech agrarian society on earth, it wasn’t until the industrial revolution that women had a shot at equality.

  37. E says:

    @ 36 Thought I was posting the last word there, simultaneous release of statements ftw.
    It doesn’t matter if the Writ is clear on gender roles, but it does matter that they say or don’t say something about Men should do this and Women should do that. The teachings of Buddha are equal, the Quran is more equal in its views on women than the Bible, but society can transform even blatant support for equality into opression in practice. It matters that the Writ says something (or nothing, which implies equality anyways) because it sets the groundwork for societies in which power can be negotiated between sexes instead of kept in its agrarian view of strength as power. When women entered the workforce during the industrial revolution, it freed up a lot of men to do grunt labor (since their hands couldn’t fit in the machinery very well) but it also meant that worker smarter not harder would be even more of a priority. (Note that this really only applied to cities that directly benifitted from the Industrial Revolution, as far as rural practices are concerned there was little change until the Cold War and the start of the Information Age era on Earth… what is the current Age btw?)

  38. E says:

    argh… too tired… replace worker with working, remove era. I thought I had a great deal when I replaced the devil on my shoulder with a spelling nazi and three quarters of a Brough Superior 680

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