Dear Jon,

In AOS you mention zoroastrianism and in GE you mention Judaism in Prague, so one of my questions is, Is there a dominant religion, such as Christianity today, in the world of Nathaniel and Co.?

In Prague, Nathaniel and Bart are shot at by soldiers. Are guns common with commoners and magicians? How frequently are they used and are they ever used by spirits?

Last one, Has there been continental warfare in the magician's past like there was in ours?
I mean like the 7 years war and the Crusades...







Thanks for taking time out of you schedule to read these.

Hello.

In Nat's world we've got a pretty similar pattern of religions to the ones we know in ours, although their spread and influence through history is rather different, owing to the presence of magic. Although it's not in the foreground it's clear that Christianity was dominant in Britain earlier in its history (as shown by Westminster Abbey), but the upsurge of magic in centuries past has essentially suppressed it by Nat's period. In other countries, where atheistic magicians are not in control, religions - Christianity and the rest - may well be flourishing, even during the time of the Trilogy.

Like a lot of technical developments, guns exist in Nat's time, but are not nearly as advanced as in our world, thanks to the preponderance of magic. Magicians generally despise them, seeing them as a sign of weakness; people who do not have access to magical slaves, however, might find them more to their liking, so they are used in battle, and in guerrilla warefare. Spirits such as Bart tend to avoid them, for aesthetic reasons.

Mention is made by Bart of the 'Great War' early in the 20th Century, although it's markedly different to the real one in our world. There were major continental battles in the 19th Century, largely stoked by Gladstone. And there were certainly many other major conflicts in Europe and the Middle East through the centuries, some of which were very similar to the ones we know, others of which were entirely different. It's all because of the differing dynamics caused by magic.

Best wishes,

J