Re: Amazon Tech level
I'm just going to throw in a ref to one of the novels of my favorite series, The Modern World, by Steph Swainston, which I think you'll love.
I was actually going to put up the second novel in that series, No Present Like Time, which has a culture-interaction between a war-run culture and a peaceful, democratic (in the original Greek sense) homogenous culture (sound familiar?) but I think the Modern World deals with this a great deal actually. In it, Swainston expands upon how and why certain weapons have developed in the Fourlands and why others have not. A character from another dimension (this gets confusing fast if you haven't read it) notes that the Fourlands has all the resources able to create gunpowder and rifled weapons, yet hasn't done so. Why? Precisely because the military leaders are immortal. Because their immortality depends on their being the best at their chosen profession (Archer, Swordsman, Cavalry, Engineer, Artillery, etc) they choose to develop their skills and weapons to the utmost, but only within the limited range available. As such, the Archer will not develop the gun, because his skill and developments of the bow preclude any development of the gun - after all, the hand-gun as we know it was infinitely inferior to most ranged weapons until the development of the musket. Even then, Benjamin Franklin noted that it would've been more effective to have a corps of longbowmen than musketeers (hypothetical, since longbowmen require more training). I see the same thing with the Amazons. Because they are in a constantly warring culture, fighting constantly the forces of mythology and darkness, they don't have the luxury that our world cultures have. We fight human foes, for human reasons, and with largely a similar pattern, before some game-changer upends the whole thing (Alexander, Genghis, Timur, the Ottoman Empire destroying Byzantium, etc). Even then, our engineering feats tend to occur because of cross-cultural pollination, geopolitics, and religious/cultural factors. The Amazons may be immortal, but as they have a primarily Grecian view point, their paradigm of weapons will likely stay in that form. They'll invent the hell out of the spear and bow, but what possesses them to create an aircraft? Personally, I'd say they'd go the whole Icarus route, create some mechanical contraption not unlike Leonardo Da Vinci's designs, combined with some of the stuff that some Greek inventors supposedly had a hand in, and create a winged corps. An Icarus-flight, if you will. Combine with the fact that they do have to fight creatures of a demonic nature on a more constant basis, I'm not so sure they'd be so willing to engage in the dabbling that created much of our tech. That is no reason to make them primitive. Things that I think would be completely feasible, considering Amazon immortality, knowledge, Grecian influence, and conservation:
Magazine-fed crossbows: The Chinese already did this. I'm imagining several different types - a standard one, holds maybe 15, good range and tensile power. A short-ranged one, incrase to 50 incredibly small bolts, close range weapon. Perhaps a machine-gun version, weightier but more powerful. All of these would be auto-loaded. Mechanically-held bows: increased tensile strength without the need for incredible drawing power - makes it easier to use for larger amounts of population Spear-launchers: Standard spear, but with the ability to launch spear as well. I'm thinking something like the Romans fought - First line threw spears, then charged in. Now, imagine platoon fire... Icarus-Wings: Yes, I know Icarus is a cautionary tale, but it's also a catchy name. Winged corps. I imagine that the construction will be very delicate - the ability to create durable light composites requires advanced smelting technology that is highly polluting. Parachutes: Especially after seeing Trevor's grand entrance into Themyscira, I think parachutes would be a happening thing. Naptha bombs: Old-tech, new applications. These would range from the anti-personnel grenades to artillery bombardment. Now imagine if they could do stuff like timing the fuse...have it erupt BEFORE it hits the ground...mmm.