Paddydiver wrote:First, I apologize for being a back seat driver in this but I have a few questions.
Taking that there ARE full satellite systems AND that there are all those SNARC's out their, Why, oh why, do those admirals and generals always have trouble with such poor maps? How hard would it be to have the Senjins or other "spies" find "good" accurate copies of them?
Part of that is going to be about encouraging do-it-yourself attitudes - scout-snipers, for instance, will have some role in working out the shape of nearby terrain and/or finding local guides. The more that is done, the more often seijin help could be sneaked in under that cover, but the more it comes right from seijins, the less of that work will be done or the sloppier it will be.
Another factor is avoiding reprisals against innocent locals who "have" to be responsible for what the good guys know are seijin interventions. Excessively accurate and precise maps, available to enemies from the far side of the world, would lead right to that kind of conclusion, and fishermen in the Gulf of Dohlar and its surroundings are too precious an information source (and disinformation vector) to risk that way.
And suspicion isn't always on the enemy side: there's only so much supernaturally effective mapping you can hand over to an Eastshare or an Ahbaht before their sneaky, twisty, overactive minds start worrying that these are beyond traditional seijin tricks and look too much like the gifts of Shan-wei. (And "Well yeah, they come from her satellites!" is NOT a comforting answer!)
Mr. Weber does an awesome and incredible job of making
up this world, I know I could never do it, but some things stand out, like the above. Or the fact of the Iron clad falling into Church hands in Hell's foundation. Did Merlin want the church to have it? That is the only reason I can see for a SNARC not going into the powder room and destructing.
That one's got a huge thread or two on it already, and responses from RFC. Just regarding that and satellite mapping though - Would a satellite map even necessarily show a shifting sandbar in a channel? I don't recall if the water there was shallow enough to show a different wave pattern, much less leave the bottom visible. If not, it may just not be something that could even have been located by those satellites, but even if it were - or located by other surveillance systems and mapped - there are still the problems of putting them in the hands of people on the spot practically, plausibly and without intolerable costs or risks.
The conflict isn't just on a military plane. Charis and Siddarmark can't simply beat and beat and beat people some more til victory and happily ever after. They need to create a Safehold where innovation is a common virtue. They cannot secure that with too much done for them by a seijin, or with wide open minds and cleverness discouraged on the other side. That
will bind their hands at time on the military plane, or leave them exposed to sheer bad luck as repeatedly in HFQ. It may not be in detail perfectly satisfying narrative, but it fits the total picture.