: 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.
The Dwarves are a lot more magical than you might think (especially if you don't have GURPS). Pathfinders not only cast illusions but have learned a number of other telepathic abilities such as empathy. Most Dwarves know the rudiments of magical lore and the mechanics of common magical devices (we've never seen a member of any race except the Dwarves repair a magical device in-game). Dwarven magical artifacts include the Tarnkappen, cloaks that render their owners invisible, and the Maul of the Dwarven Kings that Mumbles was talking about way back at the beginning of this thread. And Dwarves are the resident experts on devices that marry technology and sorcery, such as the World Knots.
Though the most powerful sorcerers in Myth are by and large human, we don't hear a whole lot about humans *creating* magical devices; sorcerers generally prefer to sharpen their own magical skills rather than rely on artifacts they've made. The fir'Bolg do indeed create magical artifacts, but these are generally simple weapons or articles of clothing that would be valuable on their own, with some basic spell added on. A bow that shoots lightning; boots that walk on liquids; that sort of thing. Complex, unusually-formed, semi-technological devices like the World Knots, the lightning towers inside the Tain, and the Tain itself aren't their style. This seems instead like Dwarven magic to me.
: 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...
Well, there's more evidence than that. GURPS says that the Myth Dwarves have historically been miners too, and that they frequently discover connections between the Great Devoid and the tunnels under their mountains. And they probably wouldn't know about the giant spiders deep in the bowels of the earth if they didn't go down there occasionally.
Furthermore, we've been to Myrgard in-game, and it was pretty clear that the city was underground--all we saw aboveground were the mouths of caves which presumably led down to the main part of the city. And Stoneheim must be underground too; otherwise, how could collapsing a single entrance cause the residents to be entombed?
: Good point, but just because it was built by 'em doesn't
: mean they live there.
True, but it does mean they know all the nooks and crannies and, perhaps, secret hiding places no human was ever told about.
: 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.
Why would everyone look for it there? I dunno why the Ibis Crown would have an obvious connection to Clovis' mausoleum. And even if it did, nobody dared to go down there and look for it anyway. Balor certainly didn't try to look for it in the catacombs, or he'd have found it easily with an army of undead combing the tunnels.
And the Dwarven ghosts that attack you are apparently the masons who constructed the mausoleum, and according to their flavor texts they're there to defend it, so it would seem reasonable to conclude that you're very close to the mausoleum at the least.
: 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.
Sure, not *every* defense of the Smiths would be designed to be bypassable by anyone who's a Dwarf (in fact, it'd be silly if every defense was, since then any random non-cultist Dwarf could invade the Smiths' privacy if he wished); that doesn't mean that *none* of them are.
And now that I think of it...precisely how do we know that the Deceiver wasn't associated with the Smiths? His powers are closer to theirs than those of any other Fallen Lord (electrical spells, spacetime-warping magic); he can sense where Tain shards lie and he can easily access the Tain's gate magics; he switched from friend to foe of the Light at about the same time the Smiths did; and as you say, he's the key to getting past one of the Tain defenses. Something to think about...
Anyway, as you've shown, the evidence is quite circumstantial. It's still pretty persuasive to me, though...
--SiliconDream (who is very happy with the revived Asylum)
