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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/42849
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/42849
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

In a story I'm working on, humanity had sometime in the past reached a very advanced technological level (far higher than ours), but then had a devastating global war, and afterwards technology had been banned.

Now at the time of my story, those events are long gone, and have passed into the realms of legends. All abilities that technology provided, as far as they are referenced in those legends, are ascribed to magic. The society that evolved is about medieval level.

However there are (very rare) occurrences where old “magical” (that is, technological) artifacts (mostly weapons) are found, some of which actually still functional (in particular, that happens to the protagonist).

Now later in the story it will be revealed that this magic is in fact ancient technology, but I'd like to foreshadow it from the very beginning.

So far I've described the magical (technological) artifact the protagonist found as shiny, and the effect of the artifact (which is causing hallucinations, making people fight against each other thinking they fight monsters) is triggered by some sort of knobs.

I also tried to hint at it with tales about what magic could do, but anything I can think of is stuff that's either unsurprising for magic, or so obviously technological that it wouldn't be foreshadowing any more.

Are there any other good ways to hint at magic actually being very advanced technology?

Original score: 8