Innovations

World-threatening events often inspire social and technological transformation.

Terranuova's colonists don't always understand the cutting-edge magic which brought them to a new continent but one thing is very clear to Terranuova's citizens: things can never go back to the way they were in the old times, on the old continent. Starting over in a new land was hard on the first generation of colonists, but it also brought opportunity. The chance to subvert or overcome the old social order, to entertain heretical or eccentric new ideas, a little more freedom to experiment.

Science, Art and Craft
To most Ladinh peoples, there isn't a clear distinction between spellcraft and academia. There's a general understanding that some magic is 'clerical' in nature, derived from the study of holy books or a closer communion with the divine. And some people are capable of coming to their own, atheistic understanding of magic, through intensive scholarship or some other form of mystical bargain. Some spellcasters use geometry and mathematics as the basis for their work.

People also experiment and tinker with machines or ideas and don't necessarily use magic to do it - but to the general public, study is study. Did you invent something bizarre and fascinating? People might start calling you a 'wizard'. Does your philosophy describe a whole new way of looking at the world? Congratulations, you're probably a 'sage' or 'prophet' now.

More prevalent distinctions between types of innovation involve the practice or appearance of that innovation.

The Craft
Something which involves constructing, weaving, copying by hand or a lot of kinetic energy is The Craft, or just craft. Even homemade magical wards, carpentry or shoeing a horse are forms of Craft. A few higher-class Ladinh types, especially very old elves, take a dim view of Craft activities. Humans and Yd take to it with zeal, and have used their practical skills to grab wealth and social clout.

The Art
The Art is a performative, instinctive type of innovation - the act of creation and self expression, a sense of communion with forces that can't be explained. Bardic and illusion magic, as well as some forms of sorcery and clerical magic, would be considered as Art. Magic is often known as The Art, because for all the scholarship that goes into devising spells, there is something profoundly hard to grasp about its workings. Many religions believe that the world itself was performed into being in some great artistic moment of inspiration.

The Sciences
Lastly, and sometimes living alongside Art and Craft, is a fairly new concept, that of Science, or The Sciences. It's never The Science: for no two intellectuals seem able to wholly agree on the same set of scientific ideas. Concepts, theories and the life of the mind seem to take centre-stage with this kind of innovation. Many a would-be Scientist ends up living off the charity of their relatives, absorbed in their study of odd books or specimens. Quite a few Scientists take up adventuring, as this gives them a rare opportunity to observe the natural world in exotic locations, or delve into ruins to solve ancient mysteries and of course, loot antiquities for their research libraries. Not many people are fond of Scientists - for all their cerebral claims they seem messy and haphazard.

Technical schooling
Ladinh has no secular Universities with a clear focus on science and technology, but there are plenty of places for would-be innovators to explore. Speranza's magic school is sought after because it covers an incredible variety of techniques; their library is rumoured to be the most comprehensive in all of Terranuova. House Speranza occasionally branches out into mechanical experiments, and will happily sponsor archaeologists for dangerous missions into the surrounding Deshi ruins.

House Pontevecchio runs an august Engineering School and has uncanny trade secrets, especially in the domains of road building, civic engineering and surveying. Cartel del Flor and House Speranza are both lively innovators in the field of... fields, advancing farming techniques including developing the rotary hoe, and adapting Deshi infrastructure to suit human and elvish needs. Cartel del Flor would be interested in any studies of plant genetics or attempts at breeding less hostile, more productive jungle flora.

Ereb, in the Hot Lands, is rumoured to have an impressive madrasa which accepts both religious and non-religious scholars, incorporates a medical and alchemical school and features a completely kin-made, huge watered garden and stoa. Erebi scientists are applying themselves to streamlining the logistics and supply chain of desert warfare. A mysterious Erebi sage known as Sifr has put out a continent-wide call for artifacts related to Deshi irrigation and aquacuture.

Each Y'd schtetl and Yazid encampment features two classrooms - the open school for laypersons, and a closed religious school. The Haskala - a dwarven Renaissance - has popularised the study of economics and statecraft. Greasepaint, a great acting school in Gabi run by Y'd thespians, also designs special effects for theatre (and espionage). Yazid schooling focuses on esoteric languages, cartography and astral projection. Gopniki schools are strictly forbidden by the dominant culture of Vestfal.

Kingdom Plantae features a massive glade known as the Hotbed, where fey and sentient plants once resolved disputes through duels and chemical warfare - now it plays host to philosophical and religious debates, while elves, alraune and ancient trees spectate and place wagers on the outcome.

It's not known exactly how the inhabitants of Ningalu convey their knowledge - written transmission seems unlikely, given they live in the sea. It is possible that cultivated coral beds can be shaped to convey messages and lessons to future generations, or that the Gillies keep ancient knowledge which can only be shared telepathically.

New Albion's scholastic traditions come in three varieties: elaborate spoken and sung rituals called Dreamings, cryptic rock paintings or carvings, and Manimani, a complex beadwork that records geneology, spell patterns or 'tricks' for coaxing reactions out of the land.

The Spelling Press
Operated by Gli Siri Cacciatone in Venere. The local populace love magical glamours so much that the market for facsimiles is intense. Normally, a magical inscription can only be copied into a paper scroll 1d4 times (using a special roller and an infusion of magic) before losing its potency. The Cacciatone brothers have invented a technique called Moveable Rune Spelling, which imbues metal blocks with magic, then prints runes onto paper scrolls for as long as a human concentrates on a patented ritual. It takes an hour to set a page of runes, magical aptitude equal to the spell being cast, and knowledge of how to work the press and say the ritual - but potentially hundreds of scrolls can be created.

So far, nobody has capitalised on the fact that nonmagical writings could be transmitted the same way as runes but without all the incantations. But the local Fratres are very interested in the press's business.