So, basically, you could say that because of what happened to the dwemer...The people of tamriel are....
... *snigger snigger*...
...Oh man, this is too much. *giggle*...
Afraid of technology?!

Kagrenac's Tools are about as technological as Gandalf's Staff.

Currently, the mages guild do not have that right. The Guards in the IC will defend you from that white robed idiot with the sword. Unless you mean in the future? In our world, attempts to ressurect the dead eventually led to the invention of the defibrillator. So I'd imagine Necromancy will have its uses on Nirn, with less of a focus on electricity, though.

Given that the empire's usual state is civil war (it was only in Uriel VII's time that is all stopped) having no single authority figure is going to seriously destabalise the whole of Tamriel. You can see that is has already started in the Summurset isle from the rumours NPCs talk about. Therefore it is safe to assume that there will be some backwards movement in terms of civilization, people aren't going to have time for self improvement when they are fleeing for thier lives, or don't have a sufficient food supply. Those institutions that manage to survive will only be able to do so by tightening thier belts, restricting membership and over charging for services.

On the other hand the technologies of war will go forward apace, as each army tries to find new weapons and ways of fighting in order to win. I would expect armor to advance dramatically as well as weapons and offensive magicks.

As for the political map of Tamriel there is the possibility for massive change, it is likely that Nibenay and Colovia will separate again, and I would expect border disputes to alter or eliminate some areas, e.g Orsinium. We might even see another invasion from Akavir, which would bring in a whole new armor and weapon philosophy (although some of it is already present). I for one would like to see the Tscesci (sp?) make a reappearance in Tamriel.

Maybe someone will figure out how to recreate dwemer technology.
Dwemer runs on steam

So far, most people know very little. And a whole hell of a lot less know some. It is, at most, a mages guildsman's hobby. Also, no one is really able to translate dwemer to cyrodiilic, except for one person, but don't hold your breath. Also, no one really understands steam powered tech.

Cool Avatar Ningy - and very appropriate to this thread.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned MK's composite being from the future packing a laser yet - contrariwise add in the satchel charges and the obvious failure with the cannons as included. It may be that the presence of tangible Gods and magica has persuaded woiuld-be inventors that 'pure' Aristotlean science, 'physics' and 'chemistry' is not the way to go. A tiny gun cannot compete with a World-sized God

There are also the influence of the other continents to consider - what is going on over there that we have not yet come accross but that Tamriellians are awarre of?

What stood out here was proweler's post. I read that as describing a process of devolution - hence the mer attitude to 'The God who is Tamriel and the Moons' - Lorkhan.

There is another side to things, that in the macrocosm all is believed to have devolved, but in the Aurbis does every action have an equal and opposite reaction? It may be that indeividual 'people' are actually getting physically smaller and lesser in every new kalpa ... until in the far future they are so small that they can only manifest themselves to 'us' as composite beings made of micro-essences.

At the same time they may be gaining in knowledge, intelligence and their ability to manipulate the forces of magica and 'reality' on a pound for pound basis so that when assembled into their composites they become very powerful. The law of the conservation of energy applied in a new way and to new forces.

So does anyone know what changes from one kalpa to the next? Given that we know that although kalpas are part of a cycle it is not perfectly repetitive.

It just occurred to me that maybe the next step for mortals would be for them to forget magicka existed; to be only like Iron Age or medieval peasants. But we probably won't see that -- I think magicka will continue as the primary "technology" in the Mundus.

There's a book by Harry Turtledove about how would the world look if all of the technology was based on magic instead of usual science. Its name is "The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump". I think Tamriel won't look too different than the Earth in this book, with some minor differences.

He has some fine books but he aint ES. His stuff is based on another 'world' and he is a different writer entirely. Thing is that world is not part of a ring cycle like ES. ES all repeats - so what are the fundamental changes that occur with each repetition, that's what will give you a basis for your futures.

Don't trust Harry Turtledove - he axed the reign of Maurikios from Theophanes.

Other than changes in territory, I doubt that society would be all that different. Look how little has changed since 2920...

why do people always think the roman empire collapsed?
It just turned into the byzantine empire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empire

It would seem to me to be more liek geothermal power. You can't power electric lights without electricity, surely?

Lava heats water, which spins turbines.

So that would be geothermal and steam...

Assuming that the steam doesn't instead power brass bagpipe organs which create energy via strategically differing gradations of tonal oscillation.

Well, I suppose that would be within their means... Would prove once and for all the Scottish origin theory as well.

Technology is not a certainty in any cultures development. If you look at the history of our planet, the ancient Greeks had toys based on steam power, mechanical water clocks, and various other items that could have became steam locomotives, computers etc ... But without the one genius with an " AHA!" moment of inspiration to implement them they were eventually forgotten and lost for thousands of years. Were the people in the ancient world stupid? No. I believe most innovations are more a matter of chance than destiny.

There might not ever be a technological revolution in Tamriel. And their society could continue as it is without ever developing any of the things we consider to be modern inventions.

No, you're right we do assume that the natural progression of a society is to gain technology of some sort or another.

However, given the rather advanced state of scholarship within the mages guild and (to a lesser, but more focused, extent) the Telvanni, it does lay the groundwork for creating a method of scholarship for uncovering the true governing principals of that world, which then lead to technology or magic-aided technology, or just very refined magic enchantments.

We also assume that that natural progression has to exactly mirror what happened in Western Europe between 1100 and 1900.

Would that be that the origin of all true music is in a sheep's belly?

Another thing that we have overlooked is the importance of the Black Death in the development of machines in western europe in the middle ages. If there had never been a plague that wiped out a vast majority of the populace, there never would have been a shortage of laborers that necessitated a need to mechanize things that had been previously done by hand. As long as the population of Tamreil never has a need to mechanize, they might not do so.

Warhammer fantasy is a place where, magic, technology, and the darn right insane (e.g.; "Old Ones" aka Space gods) Co-exist with each other. I don't think a tad technological advancement in Tamriel would do the series harm, but as long as it's done right and not suddenly 18th century Tamriel.

There has already been a Great Plague in Tamriel. It was attributed to the Sloads and the response to that was the submerging of the Sload Continent - take that technological development!

Yet thanks to magic, the Sload Continent rose again

I would be interested to see some technological progression in Elder scrolls, perhaps like Arcanum, anyone who has played that should remember how well that game merged Medieval and Technology together along with magic.

:D Maybe they used giant inflatable rubber duckies to do that