Megaloth Automatic Loom

Written by JoshForeman

Below him, a huge hall contained a bewildering welter of rods, leather belts, wheels, cogs, shafts, regulators, cones, cops, rollers, supports, beams, shuttles, battens, brakes, and threads that thumped or ground or rolled or pivoted. A fine dust of broken fibers swirled in the air coated everything that wasn’t moving. Hundreds of tired-looking women exchanged spools, tossed shuttles, guided threads, and stacked rolls of ivory fabric on dollies. Because he did not know the names and purposes of the machinery, it seemed a confusing jumble of motion that magically produced cloth.

Utility

Megalothi Cloth is unrivaled throughout Talifar, and so as long as Megaloth has the monopoly on it, Megaloth has tremendous bargaining power when it comes to trade.

The Pattern Slats used to guide the Control Rods

by Josh Foreman

Inventor(s)

Due to the intense secrecy around the M.A.L. those involved in the invention, innovation and continued operation are redacted from any official records. Historians from other nations often cite four major evolutionary leaps over a 2,200 year span. The names mentioned rarely agree except for the most recent innovation that allowed the factories to scale to immense sizes powered by windmills. The method for generating a consistant speed and output from variable sources is attributed to an engeneer by the name of Chalss Gwennon working under the employ of the Megaloth Emperor Corvell around the year 2350 A.C.

Access & Availability

The production of Megalothi Cloth is a closely held state secret. The machinery workers and technicians are kept in locked down warehouses in the Megaloth City Tower. Running all day and night, and guarded by soldiers, any leaks concerning the production methods are ruthlessly suppressed.

Complexity

Aside from Magical Items, the MALs are the most complex technological mechanisms on Talifar. Even the simplest versions have hundreds of precision parts. The largest and most complex MAL is as large as a majismotem, filling a cavernous factory that takes up three floors of the Megaloth City Tower. It is so complex that the Foreman who oversees its operation requires 37 chief engineers who all specialize in separate components and functions. Simply keeping spare parts in stock required an entire team of sub-specialists who head up several departments dedicated to the task. The additional burden of secrecy ads many layers of additional complexity, leading to a bloated and often chaotic industry that some refer to as "The Second Emporer" due to the immense labor and capitol require to keep it operational, and it's fickle needs that seem to never be fully satisfied.
Due to the incredible complexity most MALs are inoperable for at least half of their lives, waiting on parts, stuck behind a bottle-neck or having priorities change; which requires a very long and tedious process of tearing down and setting up new Pattern Slats. This last difficulty usually comes about when the Emperor decides that they ought to tour a factory, at which point any off-hand comment or 'suggestion' they have is interpreted as the highest priority. This creates an intense pressure on those who work the machines and their supervisors.