: 1. The
: Smiths are known primarily for the artifacts, most or
: all of them magical, which they created. Now, the
: Dwarves are the preeminent craftsmen of the Mythworld;
: if *anyone* builds *anything* particularly unusual and
: impressive, the chances are good that he's a Dwarf.
: Furthemore, we know the Dwarves are capable of
: constructing magical artifacts as well as advanced
: technological ones.
Actually, the dwarves (to my knowledge) work mostly or all in technology. The only time we see them use magic is to become invisible or repair the world knot. Most of the magical stuff we know about was built by either the smiths (who we dont even know about) or the fir'bolg. I'd say if anything's technological, it's dwarven and if anything's just plain magical, human or fir'Bolg.
: 2. Both on the Earthly plane and in the Tain, the Smiths
: seem to have always conducted their affairs
: underground. This suggests that they might be members
: of a burrowing race which is naturally comfortable
: below-ground, such as the Dwarves.
Another interesting fact is that the only mention of dwarves burrowing is the fact that Stonehiem _might_ have been underground and we aren't even sure of that! While it is true that most of thier normal fantasy counterparts are indeed little creatures that spend most of thier time mining and tunneling, it aint necessarily so in the case of Myth. Never jump to conclusions...
: 3. On the Earthly plane, the Smiths' base of operations
: was Muirthemne's complex of catacombs, which was
: originally built by the Dwarves (or at least its
: nucleus, the Mausoleum of Clovis, was).
Good point, but just because it was built by 'em doesn't mean they live there.
: 4. The symbols within the Tain and on its artifacts are
: strongly reminiscent of symbols carved on the inner
: walls of the Mausoleum by its Dwarven builders, and
: also of symbols on the outer walls of Muirthemne.
We never actually go to the mausoleum. That was just of of the many catacombs 'neath the city. I'm sure that in the effort to hide the crown the Emporer wouldn't have been stupid enough to bury it right in the first place anyone would look for it.
: 5. Of all your units, only the Dwarves are able to pick
: up, transport and correctly position the crystals
: which unlock the barriers within the Tain (in the
: Summoner level, for instance). Now, this could just be
: a gameplay thing, since only Dwarves have the
: animations to make picking up and dropping the
: crystals look good. But then why aren't Dwarves
: required for crystal transport in a Murder of Crows?
: It seems as though perhaps the Smiths designed those
: barriers to be unlockable only by Dwarves, which would
: make sense if they were Dwarves themselves. Further,
: your Dwarves place the crystals properly when they
: approach the barrier locks, and they do this
: automatically and without any instructions. This
: suggests that some aspects of the barrier mechanisms,
: at least, are based on long-standing Dwarven
: technology and so can be easily understood by your
: Dwarves upon inspection.
But then of course the deciever is the only one who can pick up the lightning key, not your dwarves, and we _know_ he wasn't one of the smiths.
Yours in Chaos
Discordia
