Technology

[DesertRose]

I had been guessing that your tiles were akin to rune-stones, DoctorM.

As to your actual question, I don't think any of the fan stories here on the forum have any reference to Tarot, but I also don't think it's a huge stretch.  Katherine knows her way around Tarot, after all.  (She mentions it, in passing, in Deryni Magic, and uses it quite extensively in Lammas Night.  I'm failing to remember any mention in the Adept series, but that may be more a failure of my memory than anything else, LOL.)

If you're looking for artwork inspiration, the Visconti-Sforza deck http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/visconti-sforza/  and the Sola Busca http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/sola-busca/ are good reproductions of older Tarot art. 

[DoctorM]

Desert Rose--  Good info! Thanks! I will be using cards, I think. I've always loved the process of doing a spread and then analyzing it. I had a Tarot of Marseille deck once, and some kind of "Moroccan" Tarot, but I will be looking at the artwork you linked me to. I appreciate those!

Watching "Wolf Hall", there's a scene where Thos. Cromwell does 3-card Monte to distract Cardinal Wolsey during a conversation, and I'd love to know how to do that. When I was young, there were still 3-card Monte players with little tables in Times Square or Washington Sq. in NYC, and I loved watching the ritual of Fleecing the Tourists.

[whitelaughter]

There's a technological innovation mentioned; at some point in the original trilogy Alaric is on board a ship with a new way of rigging the sails that allows it to tack further into the wind. I *think* the specific technique was named. Finding that reference and when it was introduced real world would give you a precise date for technological level (although different technologies could progress at different rates, of course).

[DoctorM]

Thank you DR for the correction.
I love that seal. Is that a rose? Neat piece.

It's confusing (because English needs to go home; it's drunk!    ), because "seal" can refer to the (usually) metal ring or whatever that makes the imprint, or it can refer to the imprint itself (the wax).

Thank you!  Yes, it's a rose. I've had it for ages; I think I bought it in a Wicks 'N' Sticks in the mall when I was a teenager. 

I used to use wax seals on all my letters (remember letters?), and I still have the seals--- my initial ---from a Hallmark shop a thousand years ago. I have a Japanese-style personal seal with my name in kanji, and I need to start using that again.

[DesertRose]

I still do seal my personal letters.  I have some purple sparkly sealing wax that is almost gone, and I just bought some silver sparkly sealing wax to replace it.  (Although I have my eye on some dark-red sparkly stuff too.)

It's fun to write letters, or at least I enjoy it.

[DoctorM]

There's a technological innovation mentioned; at some point in the original trilogy Alaric is on board a ship with a new way of rigging the sails that allows it to tack further into the wind. I *think* the specific technique was named. Finding that reference and when it was introduced real world would give you a precise date for technological level (although different technologies could progress at different rates, of course).

I must take a look at that.