Building an Empire

I cannot think of a logical arrangement of technologies then, which would not allow for motorized transport, but would also allow for Golems

Really?

Perhaps there's limits on the size of the golems before they collapse. Perhaps the machines that make them work are cumbersome and expensive to run. Perhaps the limited quantities of Shadow mean that such draining industries have never arisen.

Maybe magic or animal-powered transport is so much more effective as a means of transport right now that it's not even of interest to most people?


The Greeks discovered the power of steam in the 1st Century but the Newcomen engine didn't exist until ~1712 and early rail locomotives didn't appear for another century after that.

Hmmm... Possible ideas

1: Current Artifact motors/muscles require synchronization to a Soul or Golem Imprint in order to activate; since Golem Imprints are derived from the Soul of an existing being, they have to be in the shape of said existing being for the Imprint to make much sense of it, barring an absurd amount of effort invested in basically lobotomizing several dozen Imprints in a carefully controlled manner just to get a single machine to work. Conveniently, this also allows for power armor and the Chief World-Interrogator's cybernetics.

2: Flying machines are possible, but presently require an utterly absurd quantity of Shadow to stay in the air, as lift balloons haven't been discovered yet, and knowledge of aerodynamics are limited.

3: Methods of creating a heat engine to produce Shadow do exist, but are sufficiently bulky that they have to exist as fixed installations.

EDIT: CSJ, it would be appreciated if you would go into a bit more detail about what the Bright is actually used for and how it works. At present, it is more than a little confusing.

MOAR EDIT: Curiously, if someone doesn't want the blessing, would amputating the offending limb and replacing it with a golematic augment work?