As scientists began analyzing their discoveries in a manner resembling the modern scientific method, they encountered problems with magic-workers.
Many of the strongest wizards had a sort of aura about them that caused things in their vicinity to tend to happen the way they or those around might want them to. While this was all well and good in everyday life, it threw a monkey wrench into any attempt at serious scientific study. If you did an experiment and got the expected result, was it because your theory was right? Or was it just that magical aura making things seem to come out right for the moment? And if you got an unexpected result, was that perhaps just because you were bending over backward to try not to want to get the expected result?
Eventually someone figured out a spell to damp out all other magic in the vicinity. This solved the scientists' problem, but was bad news for wizards. Most wizards, unlike certain other creatures, could live in an area without magic. But it made them very uncomfortable. Various wizards described the sensation as similar to having the lights turned out, or being deaf, or having one hand tied behind your back. And even if they could take the discomfort, they couldn't really do anything worthwhile without their magical powers.
The eventual solution was to give the scientists a no-magic zone of their own to work in. Wizards are free to enter so long as they abide by the no-magic rule, but few ever do. Generally the only wizards found there will be those whose job is to maintain the shield against all other magic.
The Scientists' Quarter is home to more than research scientists. Much engineering development is done there, along with manufacturing of high-tech goods such as computer chips.
The Scientists' Quarter fronts the river both above and below the rapids. They have their own docking facilities for river boats and for ocean-going ships, and their own elevators between them. In addition, they have diverted a portion of the river water through a pipeline to a hydroelectric plant to power their homes and industries. (Electrification of the main Upper and Lower Cities did not begin until much more recently.)
Back to the Ancient City.
(40k GIF) This page was created by Tom Digby and is copyrighted with a fairly liberal "fair use" policy.
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