Iliu-Ktuvok Wars

[PyroKinetic]

From the description of the iliu on the Almeopedia, I get the sense that, in terms of general destruction, the iliu-ituvok wars must have been eventful, to say the least, something supported by the advancement of the iliu relative to other thinking kinds; yet I can't help but think that ktuvok civilization must be at least comparable in age to iliu civilization if at one time they were able to mount any real martial resistance to them, even if it was only by sheer numbers.

From the description of the kutvoks, though, and modern-day Dhekhnam, I don't get the sense they're particularly technological. Did they use to be? Did the iliu do the Almean equivalent of bombing them back to the stone age? If so, where are the ktuvok ruins, or the relics of their former civilization (if those ideas even apply to the ktuvok)?

And as I side note, I ran across the term "Einalandaue" in the article on the Count of Years. Intentional homage to "Ainulindalë", or coincidence? Either way, it made me happy.

[zompist]

Yes, the ktuvoks must have been advanced technologically-- though even then, they relied heavily on other species to do the actual work, including intellectual work. And the iliu did much better (after the devastating final war) at retaining the high technology they'd achieved... ktuvoks aren't much for libraries and graduate work.

As for ruins, they certainly exist on both sides; but they're a minimum of 30,000 years old-- and neither side built much in the drier areas that would preserve them very well. Discovering such ruins must be an interesting experience; I suspect they underlie such things as the Axunemi tales of earlier ages of men and gods.

As for "Einalandaue", yes, oh dear yes, there's a Tolkien influence there.

[PyroKinetic]

Nifty. I guess then that if other lesuniae had any acquaintance with high technology, it would have been lost in that final war as well. By the way, is there a name for a/the language the ktuvoks speak?

Is it ever tempting to sketch in more details of that area of Almea's history (or the language of the iliu)? Not that you ought to; I love the impression of depth that the vague, half-forgotten, half-mythical past (from the human perspective anyway) provides.

[Gremlins]

Heh. I'd always assumed that both the Ilii and the Ktuvoks still know how to make some pretty serious weaponry, but the reason that the Ktuvoks don't, say, blow up Verduria with some WMD is because they know the Ilii would then retaliate with technology just as advanced, as they have before (e.g. the Ktuvoks teach the Eynleyni rudimentary civilisation, so the Ilii come into contact with the Qarau peoples, and the Ilii use of gunpowder against Ktuvoki invasions of Eretald.)