This isn't your typical Tradeskill topic, but looking at how crafting fits into the world of Norrath. A bit of history. A little over 500 years ago, back in the Age of Turmoil adventurers were different than what you find today. Monks didn't have ki abilities. They simply learned how to move their bodies better than others. Rogues, Warriors, Rangers and Monks didn't infuse mana into their techniques. It wasn't until the Age of Cataclysms that the techniques of infusing mana, or as we say now power into special fighting moves that we refer to as Combat Arts was invented. Combat Arts changed the nature of fighting. Before a warriors taunt was merely an insult that could momentarily draw a monster's attention. Now a taunt has a magical force behind it that can override a monster's sense of danger and cause the monster to think the fighter represents a larger threat to them than the amount of damage that the fighter can actually cause. A rogues backstab can do more than just wounds. But all of this came with the use of power. Magical energy that we store in our bodies and learn to use through certain formula. Every adventurer now uses power to augment their abilities. Crafting too has changed in the same period of time. In the Age of Turmoil crafting was a haphazard affair that was more prone to failure than success. It was also much more material focused. Gathering was in what can only be called a crude rudimentary state. Crafting materials weren't really gathered so much as they were taken from whatever creatures remains came closest to what was desired in a raw material. Harvesting skills at the time focused solely on gathering wild food stuff and herbs. It is difficult to imagine what developed first, the advanced gathering techniques that we all practice today or the modern day practice of using magic to create items. Now I know some of you are going to object to the word "magic" when applied to crafting, but think about it. Magic uses ritualistic formula to shape power to generate specific effects. The same applies to combat arts. The main difference between the two is that combat arts generally are physical in nature, and magic tends to create an effect that could never be accomplished physically. Crafting relies on manipulating tools through crafting formula contained in essential and advanced manuals. Crafting uses power, like other forms of magic. Without the correct tools and materials crafting can't be done. You can't simply sharpen a stick and stick a metal tip on it and call it a spear. It has to be the right kind of wood, and the right kind of metal or you can't even begin to craft. Crafting is a kind of magic similar to combat arts and the more traditional forms of magic. It can be argued that harvesting is a type of magic as well, even if it doesn't consume power. Maybe it is such a weak ability that the amount of power used is inconsequential? I don't think its worth experimenting to determine if it is a form of magic and just an outgrowth from the discovery of Combat Arts and how to infuse mana into physical activities. Simply noting the possibility is enough. Anyways, when one wonders at the marvels of a previous generation you should also remember the vast differences between the modern method and the ones used in the past. The heirlooms of the past that still shine today are one in a million happenstances of good fortune. The products produced today are standardized and we are better able to provide them to a wider audience. Only through experimentation and pushing the boundaries of modern crafting are we able to approach the wonders of bygone eras.
There are certainly some interesting theories here, and a good insight into the history of crafting. I should like to address one aspect, however. I have certain theories about harvesting that would doubtless benefit from more experienced eyes and minds than mine. I humbly lay these out for consideration. You state that: Essentially, this seems to me to mean that a crafter needs to know whether or not a particular type of material is capable not only of withstanding the crafting process, but can in fact hold and channel the appropriate type -- and indeed level -- of power that is needed to create the item in question. The simple conclusion that can be drawn from this is that some materials have an affinity for magic. A harvester, then, needs to know about these materials, but not necessarily how to use them to create objects. Given that we know what materials can be used, a harvester needs to be able to identify them in their natural state, and then extract them in usable quantities. In other words, harvesting has two facets: identification and extraction. In terms of identification, each material has certain physical properties -- shape, colour, texture, odour, taste and so forth* -- that can be experienced both in its natural state and in its extracted state. Thus a harvester identifying these materials need not rely on magic, but may rely on their natural senses. The particular glint on a rock that is likely to contain useable ores, the increased number of a species of insect around a certain type of bush, all these things speak volumes to an experienced harvester. The ability to track down harvests over great distances, however, must perforce operate in a different manner. Materials that are used for crafting can absorb power. What is to say that these materials cannot do so even in their natural state? The obvious conclusion is that they will alter the surrounding "natural mana field" (for want of a better term). Thus, an experienced harvester will be able to locate harvestables and other items that affect this field by the troughs and peaks they make in that field. It does not require power, but merely a sensitivity to that power. Extraction of usable raw materials from harvests in their natural state is, I feel, a matter of experience rather than some form of magic. Learning to cleave an ore-bearing rock such that the ores may be extracted does not rely on magic. Rather, as one comes across the various subtly different ways natural resources of the same type can vary, one gets better at maximising the amount of raw materials extractable from those resources. This can be shown by the extraction of "rares", those materials which are less common but more "powerful". A harvester with little experience will struggle to extract these rares; those who have spent more time harvesting will have learnt over time the best ways to extract them in usable quantities. To conclude: harvesting does not rely on power, because no magic is needed. Merely time, patience, and a willingness to learn. The theories I have expounded here, however, do not explain how the ponies trained by the Augren family can do what they do. The concept of "magical harvesting" may indeed apply to them; I hope that someone else will have an insight into these delightful beasts. __________ *Including, obviously, the particular sound it makes when you accidently stub your toe on it.
nice research Merriel. would you please consider writing a book for the museum? i would greatly appreciate it and will supply the notebook of your choice for it. and you are right on with the history of how mana was not used 500 years ago by fighters and scouts. only casters - mages, enchanters, wizards and priests used mana. and there were no dual systems either. you were one of those classifications or none. i think bards were considered priests back then too.
actually, in the past - over 500 years ago, there was a technique called foraging. i really miss that magical technique in today's world- eq2 . the ability to go to a new place (everyone could get an aa to forage up to 50 points but only rangers and druids could really forage with rangers being better) and begin to forage to see what you could find was awesome. and often the forages were used in quests - some for in the zone like in ancient oceangreen for example - and others for epic quests. i would really love to see foraging brought back and a newly discovered skill that all high level harvesters can do. some zones like the frozen tower actually had stuff that was placeable to forage - like little stones. others had things used in fletching and other crafts and all had some kind of vegetable or fruit- although some like in oceangreen were inedible. i loved oceangreen most of all. it was the area qeynos and antonica came from. it had some nice little flowers you could pick to make a nice beverage or catnip from. and the diseased stuff you got from there were used in faction quests. the vials from the quests were placeable vases. it was a lot of fun and there was an old mother bear who followed my druids and rangers around like a little puppy but attacked all other classes. druids and rangers had a special affinity with animals and snakes back then - a magic of their own. no animal would attack them unless it was deranged in some way
