Carduus

@DavidLindon Do you genuinely believe that education teaches you what to think as opposed to how to think? I think you're confusing it with indoctrination.

@JBH I'm trying to make a comparison so you can better understand. I would not house my worldbuilding world on Earth, I'm just trying to see what is physically possible and see if I can craft an internally-consistent world. The money-is-no-object part is just so I have a better chance of possible choices. If, for example, Osmium was the answer, then I'd make a planet with lots of easily-accessible, cheap Osmium. I would not create a world sans-economy. Bottom line, I want a railway that could be designed to last for hundreds of years for our protagonists to find, which could still work.

@JBH If I would have added this question to the last thread, I would have gotten in trouble for being off-topic. As for its tie to worldbuilding, I find that worldbuilding is so much easier when you start with a set of unbreakable (usually) scientific rules and chase down if-this-then-that sorts of logical pathways. I imagine something akin to the ruins of the Roman empire encountered just after the Dark Ages, where nobody can reproduce the tech but much of the infrastructure is still functional. Steam 'precursors' could be awesome.

@RobbieGoodwin Google "can't be pronounced by humans" . I imagine slightly modulating the phrasing would get even more results, as I'm focused on the concept, not the specific words.

@N.Virgo I chose consonants because anything with lips and a voicebox can make all vowel sounds I can think of, but teeth and tongue placement matter in consonents.

There are most certainly situations where a raise is larger than asked-for. In large companies, they want to be seen as paying market value for a position. So when an audit is done and they are no longer paying market value, they raise it. It very often has nothing to do with you.

@Kyyshak +1 to this. If Jill can work with Jack and not vice-versa, then the problem is only with one person, not two.

@Cœur They're Space Spartans.

Have you ever heard the phrase 'Intent is 9/10 of the law'? It's why we still punish people for attempted murder.

Does cryomancy exist from the beginning of time, or does it show up one day?

@Dunk Proven by whom? What body of law? What authority?

Yes, I was more using the layman's terms. 'Seditious Conspiracy' just sounds like a bad band name.

@HerrDerb When dealing in asymmetrical warfare, deterrents such as nukes are often the only way to avoid an attack. Traditional arms aren't going to provide any barrier at all to the superior might of Russia.

Apologies for answering and then leaving for the weekend. I will flesh it out further in accordance with all of your suggestions.