Magic versus Technology and how the existence of magic would affect technological progress in a world that magic exists

Time: 140,000 - 10,000 years ago Location: Grass plains of the western half of the supercontinent History: The first branch we're going to examine is actually the continuation of the original pre-exodus human culture. These descendants of the first humans remained in the central plains, though spreading out through that area as the era progressed. The other human groups departed during this time, populating the rest of the world. The reason for these migrations are varied, from aggression and hostility between groups to overcrowding. And of course for every successful splinter group there were hundreds of failed migrations. Another important shift during this period was the expulsion of the other hominid species from the area. During 80-75,000 years ago, a slow-burning "war" occurred between Homo sapiens and the other competing hominids in the central plains, leaving the humans in sole possession of the area. Society: One hundred thirty thousand years is a long time. Still, the basic form of the Xëskran hunter-gatherer culture remained virtually the same for much of that period. Even when permanent settlements, agriculture and animal husbandry began to appear in the later half of the period, the majority of the Xëskrans appear to have preferred the nomadic lifestyle. The social order remained largely devoid of hierarchy or formal organization. The role of the sorcerer-priest began to gain prominence, but would have been seen in the context of its role in the community, just as a particularly strong or clever hunter would have been, or a particularly nurturing parent.

Mythology and Religion: The original pseudo-religious reverence given to natural forces and animals in the pre-Exodus age now gave way to a universal animism (by around 40,000ya). Certain proto-shamanistic tendencies began to appear by around 20,000, possibly imported from outside cultures. Early sorcery and language were both highly tied to the mythic impulse (see below). 

Language: Though relatively well preserved over the course of the early Exodus period, like any language Xëskran was altered by the passage of time. Part of this evolution was spurred by the persistence of language as a force of sorcery. Though by this time, the communicative power of language had spread into mundane areas of the culture, it was still associated with both magic and with myth. In form, the language mostly retained its overall syntactical structure.

Magic: Late Xëskran sorcery was focused on appeasing and manipulating the animistic forces of the natural world, interwoven heavily with the proto-shamanistic religious forms of the day. In this form, every physical object, whether animate or inanimate, was treated as though having a lifesource "behind" or "inside" of it. As such, all objects could be interacted with, in a sort of symbolic version of the way one would deal with a fellow human (or animal). This type of personification was far more effective and sophisticated than the preceding method of sorcery, which could be as crude as simply stating the desired effect using words. 

(These lists aren't complete, of course, but they do give some examples to sift through should the need arise.)

Contemporary Archetypal Animals List

Birds: Chicken, Crane/Stork, Crow/Raven, Dove/Pigeon, Duck, Eagle, Flamingo, Goose, Magpie, Owl, Ostrich, Parrot, Peacock, Penguin, Robin, Sparrow, Swan, Vulture, Woodpecker

Reptiles: Alligator/Crocodile, Chameleon, Lizard, Snake, Turtle

Mammals: Antelope, Ape/Monkey/Gorilla, Badger/Wolverine, Bat, Bear, Beaver, Cat, Cattle, Deer, Dog, Elephant, Ferret/Mongoose/Weasel, Fox/Coyote, Giraffe, Goat, Hedgehog/Armadillo, Hippo/Rhino, Horse/Donkey, Jackal/Dingo/Hyena, Jaguar, Kangaroo, Koala, Lion, Panda, Panther/Cougar, Pigs, Platypus, Rabbit, Racoon, Seal, Sheep, Skunk, Squirrel, Tiger, Otter, Walrus, Whale, Wolf, Zebra

Amphibians: Frog/Toad, Salamander

Fish: Chilean Sea Bass, Flounder, Piranha, Salmon/Trout, Shark, Sunfish, 

Invertebrates: Bee/Wasp, Beetle, Butterfly/Moth, Crab/Lobster, Cricket/Grasshopper, Centipede/Milipede, Dragonfly, Fly, Jellyfish, Ladybug, Mantis, Octopus, Seahorse, Snail/Slug, Spider/Scorpion, Starfish, Termite Contemporary Unique or Odd Animals List

Birds: Cassowary, Dodo, Flycatcher, Frigate Bird, Hoatzin, Hummingbird, Kiwi, Pelican, Shoebill

Reptiles: Alligator Snapping Turtle, Cobra, Constrictor, Iguana, Frill-Necked Lizard, Mata Mata Turtle, Thorny Dragon

Mammals: Camel/Llama, Fruit Bat, Giant Anteater, Lemur, Mara, Manatee, Mole, Naked Mole Rat, Narwhal, Ocelot, Okapi, Pangolin, Red Panda, Saiga Antelope, Sugar Glider/Flying Squirrel, Tapir, Vampire Bat, Wombat

Amphibians: Axolotl, Horned Frog, Poison Tree Frog, 

Fish: Anglerfish, Frilled Shark, Goblin Shark, Lamprey, Oarfish

The animal life of Arol is intended to be fairly naturalistic (taking into account the slightly different natural laws that exist there). This will of course affect the sorts of made-up creatures that will fit into the Arolian milieu, as some far-out or extravagant fantasy creatures simply won't fit in (at least not without some heavy explanation). Chimerical animals, which directly combine features from more than one type of Earth animal, are particularly suspect in the light of naturalism: i.e., owlbears are out. (I know, I know. "Wizards did it." I highly doubt we're going to see that level of high magic in Arol.)

As I see it, there are six categories of animals from which we'll draw the fauna of Arol:

Contemporary Earth animals

Extinct Earth animals

Variations and riffs on Earth animals

Naturalistic legendary animals

Legendary animals that require modification

Newly created animals

1. Contemporary Earth animals  These include all the animals that exist on both our own present Earth and on Arol. These will be either iconic or archetypal "staples" (the wolf, the spider, the horse), or slightly bizarre and underappreciated (the tapir, the ocelot, the ).

2. Extinct Earth animals This will include any animals that once existed on Earth that no longer do, but that might be good fits for Arol. Unlike the above category, these should not be animals that are overly familiar or archetypal. Dinosaurs, woolly mammoths, and sabertoothed cats are therefore out, while other Pleistocene examples, might be in, as well as therapsids and synapsids (excluding Dimetrodon), and Cambrian or even Precambrian monstrosities are totally ripe for the picking.

3. Variations and Riffs on Earth animals This is the category for animals that are found on Earth that we decide to tweak a bit, or to add new breeds or variations. Examples might be something like a Spined or Quilled Fox, or a Giant Tardigrade. 4. Naturalistic Legendary animals Includes creatures that on Earth are legendary or fictional but that seem able to fit into a natural evolutionary system. Preference should be given to slightly lesser known examples; so, for example, even though at its most basic form the unicorn seems like a believable enough animal, it's probably a little too overused.

5. Legendary animals that require modification Creatures that otherwise wouldn't fit the naturalistic aesthetic, changed to make them fit. For example, Pegasus is a horse with the wings of a bird. That won't fit, obviously. However, if the basic form only superficially resembled a horse (e.g. in the way that a koala only superficially resembles a bear), and the wings were more mammalian than avian, and the skeletal structure and size was such that it could actually physically manage to fly (however briefly)...then we might talk. This is likely to be a very, very small category, because if you have to change the creature that much to fit it in the aesthetic, the iconic name attached quickly ceases to work. (Pegasus, by the way, is probably not going to make the cut.)

There were, of course, an incredible variety of early cultures among the migrating groups of Arolian humans during the time of the Exodus. We're going to focus on seven very general groups of these cultures. The above two charts show both the physical location of these groups, and also their position on the timeline and their connection relative to each other. Linguistically, the time periods involved here make it impractical to note every sound change the various languages undergo: Proto Arolian (or, more properly, "Xëskran") alone would undergo somewhere near 20,000 changes in that time (determined as per my previous post); add in the seven branches and some of the intermediate stages, and that would take years for your humble blogger to chart out. (Although perhaps I could write a bit of Python to do it for me?) In the real world, our reconstructed PIE (Proto-Indo-European) language is thought to have been spoken around 3500, and the time between then and now is about, what, half of *one* of the above ticks on the timeline. After 140,000 years, it seems unlikely there would be enough resemblance between Xëskran and any of the branch languages to make it worth charting the path from point A to point B.

However, it is just possible that in certain of the languages traits might have been passed along the line unblemished, or certain words retain their very basic form. (For example, that documentary I linked to a while back, The Incredible Human Journey, mentions the theory that the "click" sounds in certain African languages (found nowhere else) may be derived from the earliest Earth languages).