|
I mean, Istvaanians look at the event that essentially crippled the Imperium for the rest of its history and go 'Oh yeah! THAT MADE US STRONG, MORE OF THAT!' They are tremendous, tremendous idiots who mostly exist so that a group of DH Acolytes suddenly realize why their master has been trying to burn them and have to turn on their Inquisitor. Recongregators know what's what. Who better than one who knows every form and mode of paperwork to change the Imperium for the better?
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2019 19:31
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 28, 2024 14:19 |
|
|
Ithle01 posted:So out of curiosity did they expand on the Sea of the Mind in anyway? The original version in Outcastes was pretty out there - in a good way. I'm a fan of Jenna Moran's work so I'd love to hear if they implemented anything from this or just sort of left it blank. Not in this book but I believe it's slated for the companion/player's guide that got unlocked with the Kickstarter.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2019 19:31
|
|
|
Yeah, everybody but the Realm and Lookshy have very sparse details here, but they get the lavish spread treatment to make it clear that they're character options with equal weight. I think you could adequately describe the Forest Witches by staying that they're engaged in magical transhumanist cyberpunk in the middle of the Exalted setting.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2019 19:40
|
|
|
Reform the imperium with the awesome power of triplicate forms.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2019 19:42
|
|
|
So hang on, if I'm a Forest Witch I can play as a suit of ghost-animated Dragonblooded armor? Are there actually rules for this or is it an NPC only option/mechanically unsupported fluff? Because it being Exalted I somehow expect both.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2019 19:49
|
|
|
PurpleXVI posted:So hang on, if I'm a Forest Witch I can play as a suit of ghost-animated Dragonblooded armor? Are there actually rules for this or is it an NPC only option/mechanically unsupported fluff? Because it being Exalted I somehow expect both. It's getting rules in the Dragon-Blooded companion, it was a Kickstarter stretch goal. Also Forest Witches are the worst/best, if they've been to Astiluth they literally can't perceive the suffering of others unless it's dramatically and aesthetically compelling.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2019 20:01
|
|
|
Joe Slowboat posted:It's getting rules in the Dragon-Blooded companion, it was a Kickstarter stretch goal. Sounds an awful lot like they've been had by a Fair Folk MLM scheme honestly.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2019 20:36
|
|
|
What Fire Has Wrought: Sorting Hats The Ten Great Houses of the Scarlet Dynasty each bear the name of the legendary ancestor that founded the line. In the first days of the Realm, the Empress adopted many powerful and influential Dragon-Bloods as her daughters, elevating their families to Great House status. As she further consolidated her rule, she rewarded those of her children that proved themselves, winning her favor, with the right to found a Great House of their own. The ten that exist now are far from the only ones that have ever existed. Several Houses have fallen in the history of the Realm, struck from the Imperial ledgers in punishment of their failure or treachery. A House is more than just a family, however. Each has spent centuries gathering glory, jade, relationships, traditions and feuds. Their numbers have grown with them, and even the smallest of them has hundreds of Dragon-Bloods within its ranks. Most have over a thousand. Each house's members fight alongside the house legions and garrisons, join the intrigues of the Thousand Scales or the Deliberative, or work in business ventures across the Blessed Isle and Threshold. Each is practically a nation in itself, embedded into the Realm's political institutions. While many Dragon-Bloods consider themselves patriots, others, possibly even the majority, are of their House first and the Dynasty second. The Great Houses have always vied for power, influence and wealth, but before now, the Scarlet Empress used their conflicts to serve herself. With her gone, their ambition has no check and they all are eyeing the throne. When a Dynatic household within a House produces many Exalted offspring and gathers great wealth and prestige, its renown stays with its children. A House matriarch may recognize these linages and elevate them to major bloodlines within the House. A member of a major bloodline will take the name of its founding matriarch after their House name - so Mnemon Rulinsei Ghova bears the name of his great-grandmother, Mnemon Rulinsei, to recognize her status as the founder of the Rulinsei bloodline. A particularly prestigious husband married to a less prestigious wife might give his name to the bloodline instead, but this is considered quite unusual, and most bloodlines are founded by women. A House bloodline might have its own distinct traditions, such as dedication to a specific part of the Imperial Service, or a noted history of a different primary elemental Aspect than the rest of the House. By and large, however, they're just a part of the House with somewhat extra prestige. Each House's matriarch controls great wealth, power and respect. They have little chance to use it for themselves, however, as a matriarch's responsibilities are many and heavy. They must arrange for the schooling and marriages of their House's scions, manage several businesses, properties and other House assets, oversee the House treasury and hand down orders to the House's senators, ministers and so on. They are also responsible for mediating conflicts within the House or conflicts with other Houses, as werll as managing generals, admirals and strategists to oversee the House's military efforts. To accomplish all this, they have access to massive treasuries, legions, fleets - and of course the Dragon-Blooded scions of the House themsevles. These tools are not always loyal, however. Struggles for House dominance rarely escalate to open conflict, for fear of the House matriarch deciding to remove traitors from the family entirely, but in the current chaos, even that might not protect a particularly hated or incompetent matriarch. Some Houses have multiple leaders, with the matriarch sharing power and responsibility with others, either from need or tradition. The Imperial Service wants the matriarch's seal on official matters, but in all other affairs, it varies by House. A Dynastic household matriarch has similar powers and responsibilities on a smaller scale, within her own household. The Great Houses in theory leased their lands from the Empress, who owned all real estate on the Blessed Isle. The matriarch holds onto most of the leasing deeds, but may transfer individual leases, such as those for Manses, to specific members of the House or to specific households, usually temporarily. Similarly, the matriarch controls the treasury and may allocate it as she sees fit. A House's hearthstones and artifacts belong to the matriarch to be handed out to its members. However, because bonding with an artifact takes time and an appropriate disposition, a matriarch will almost certainly allow a Dragon-Blood to retain an artifact for as long as it is of use to them, especially if they've managed to awaken any of its Evocations. Realm naming schemes are, side note, drawn from the old Shogunate naming tradition, which used Old Realm. Old Realm is a language that alternates consonants and vowels, and Dynastic (or Lookshyan) names typically reflect this, usually with lead consonants. Patrician and cadet house naming usually follows the same pattern, either due to the Shogunate tradition or just to emulate the Great Houses, but this is hardly universal. Each House also is signified by a mon, a sort of heraldic emblem in a circle, which they paint on their war banners, sew on their clothes, display on their gates and use in wax seals on official correspondence. Some of these trace back to periods of Realm history that were less aniconic than the current era, but those are far too entrenched for the Immaculates to be able to get rid of. Other mons also exist, such as the Imperial mon of the Scarlet Empress, or the mons granted to prestigion patrician houses. Each Great House also has an emblematic color pairing, though their use is currently unfashionable and relegated mostly to traditionalists or tose seeking favor with less progressive elders. House Cathak, the Fire that Marches Against the Tide. is represented by the colors red and gold. They are a primarily Fire-Aspect House, driven to excel in the field of battle. They have a renowned history as soldiers, generals and strategists that have produced some of the finest military icons of the Realm. Only the now-failing House Tepet can rival them for military skill - but that is not all that Cathak gave her children. The legions may be the glue that holds them together, but few Cathak scions are happy to be only one thing. Their passion and discipline are their key trait, and military service just gives them many chances to learn and adventure. Almost all Cathaks have at least one tour of duty with the legions, but they are far from uncultured. Most can debate art and speak of stories from exotic lands, and they are beloved at social gatherings as a result. Cathaks are highly competitive in nealry every field, from the team sports they use to drill their legionnaires to formal dueling to strategy games like the popular Gateway, which was itself invented by a member of House Cathak. While at one time they were pragmatic about religion, they have grown more religious under Matriarch Cathak Cainan. His personal piety has bled into the House's policies, and many younger members feel like it's always been this way. House Cathak tends to use the military as a sort of mental metaphor for politics as well, using their battlefield tactics and strategies philosophically in application when it comes to political intrigue. This does, however, mean they tend to be something of a political blunt instrument. Their manual of political maneuvering, the Silken Blade Codex, is taught to their children as a companion to the standard military textbook of the Realm, The Thousand Correct Actions of the Upright Soldier. Being predictable doesn't make them any less good at it, however. The daughters of the House are heavily encouraged to join the military, and this tends to mean they need husbands that can handle finance and administration. Cathak marriage negotiations tend be tense, because they value skill more than the normal status or pedigree, and it does give them a unique strategy - they occasionally offer lowborn sons of poorer families achance to improve their station by marrying a Cathak daughter, and so many young male Dynasts view them as a kind of romantic dream. Poetry and romances about some impoverished son of a branch family getting swept off his feet by an experienced and dashing Cathak officer to live a life of luxury and adventure are exceptionally popular in the ream. In contrast, House Cathak has very little time for military husbands. They tend to look down on the soldiers of other Houses as undisciplined, unrefined and brutish. A soldier that marries into the House will have to work hard to gain respect, and he can generally expect his wife to put him through a strict set of tests and training exercises to ensure he meets House standards. If he's from a House that doesn't already have respect from the Cathak for their military expertise, such as Houses Cynis or Nellens, the tests are going to be even harder. These men must be twice as good as a Tepet would be to earn their place among the Cathak legions. House Cathak is engaged in diverse business ventures, ranging from salt panning to jade mining to food export, but their income is fundamentally centered on their military. Before the Empress vanished, only Houses Tepet, Sesus and Cathak were permitted to keep private House legions. Any other House requiring soldiers beyond the guards and paramilitary forces allowed to them would need to either call on the Imperial legions (and face censure for being unable to do the job themselves) or hire one of the military Houses. House Cathak has never restricted their mercenary work to the Dynasty, though, and have always offered their services to anyone that can pay and has a cause not in opposition to the REalm. When it suited her, the Empress sometimes deployed the Imperial legions alongside the Cathak to create a nearly unstoppable conquering force. While they rarely kept the conquered lands themselves, this was very lucrative for House Cathak, who usually earned the greater part of each new satrapy's resources by establishing businesses to exploit them, then selling those to the new satrap's House at premium prices. The legions also bring in money by serving as escorts for goods and personnel in the Threshold. While these fees are much smaller than, say, those earned by House V'neef for escorting shipments of tribute, they are not insignificant. The Cathaks usually have several such jobs going at any given time, and they make for a great excuse for a young Dragon-Blood to get out and see the world. The Cathak legions also make a habit of surveying all lands they travel through, recording the locations of valuble resources and military concerns. Much of the House's military might is dedicated to securing its best satrapies, allowing the less profitable ones to go their own way while maintaining much of their income. This earns less than the desperate clutching of House Peleps, but is more easily sustained...for certain values of 'sustain,' anyway. While the House may hold its tributaries in slightly less of a vise grip, it still squeezes out their lifeblood - just slower. House Cathak has recently found a new revenue stream as well. When the Imperial legions devolved to control of the Great Houses, Cathak Cainan held a massive gala in honor of the new Cathak legions, inviting some of the most notorious gossips and rumormongers of the Realm. At the party, he hinted that he would support the first claimant to the throne that seemed likely to win, that he might ensure the absence of the Empress would not tear the Realm apart. Since then, the Cathak bureaucrats have noted their income doubling as a result of bribes, dowries, trade agreements, concessions and so on. Playing queenmaker has proven enough to ensure House Cathak's economic stability and independence...for now, anyway. They're still deeply in debt to House Ragara, but the bribes and gifts keep the interest paid, and while their income is diminished from the loss of their mercenary hiring within the Dynasty, it's enough to maintain their legions and lifestyle with only minor belt-tightening. The Cathak military juggernaut isn't gone, either. Once, its four legions were surpassed in power only by the Imperial legions and matched only by House Tepet. Now, the Tepet are much dimished and the Imperial legions have been scattered to the Houses. The Cathaks got four of them, bringing them up to eight fully trained legions led by excellent strategists, and most Houses have no desire to test them. Their military doctrine is drawn from the teachings of Hesiesh, focusing on discipline and resource management as well as reverence for the Fire Dragon. Each dragon of troops has an attached Immaculate monk to lecture them on virtues and vices revealed in battle or training, usually focusing on the importance of restraint, the joy of good timing and the rewards of service to the greater whole, as well as moral parables and the importance of knowing right from wrong. They teach that the warrior loses to the soldier, and that the hero is no match for a coordinated army. The legion, the dragon and the scale must all be heroes in their own right, not just the individual. All military service is held to be admirable, and a Cathak scion can earn as much acclaim as a trainer or supply bureaucrat as they can as a general. House orthodoxy favors direct confrontation, but only under carefully designed circumstances. Clever tactics and strategies have their place, but overwhelming force at the right moment is the House's ideal, both in immediate tactical concerns and as a long-term plan to make themselves seem invincible to their foes. One victory prevents ten thousand battles. House Cathak tries to maintain its status as queenmaker, playing at neutrality and control over who takes the Scarlet Throne. They have no desire or ability to seize it themselves. Either House Cathak will remain unbowed until some credible claimant shows up, or someone will attack them in order to remove the biggest obstacle to claiming the throne, giving them an excuse to fight. They are natural rivals of Houses Sesus and Tepet, the other military houses. House Sesus sees them as a major threat, while the Cathaks see Sesus as inferior, focused on dishonorable spycraft and idiotic scheming over true military might, which often means they overlook the very real danger of Sesus spies or saboteurs. House Tepet is seen tragically - fallen, but poetically struggling. Practicality matters more, however, and so rather than help the other House now, thery are waiting to see if the Tepets will survive first. House Cathak distrusts the Ragara, wary of the many rumors of dark magic that cling to them, but they owe substantial debts to the Ragara banks. As a result, the Cathaks make occasional noises of support for House Ragara in its bid for rule, but commit very little to actually helping it. On the Blessed Isle, House Cathak controls Myion Prefecture, on the southwestern coast. It's an ancient, sacred site that, in the First Age, was dedicated to the Unconquered Sun. After the Usurpation, it was rededicated to the Immaculate Dragons. It is a land of flying buttresses and airy structures, home to the ancient manse known as the Fortress of the Greatest General, one of the Realm's most fortified positions and the headquarters of House Cathak for centuries. The architectural beauty is awe-inspiring, and it has led more than one unbeliever to repent of their sins and dedicate themselves to proper Immaculate faith on the spot. The House also has several fortresses, on and off the Isle, and extensive Southern holdings. Most notably, they own Harborhead, the seat of the god Ahlat and the source of some of their best auxiliaries. While their satrapeis are usually run strictly, Ahlat's presence means they need a more delicate touch, and only the best administrators are sent to Harborhead, to maintain the House's grip and discourage rebellion without angering the god. They also control Fajad, once the Realm's gateway to the West, but now less important since House Peleps mapped out the sea routes. It's become hard to manage, and to keep the Fajadi placated despite their growing tributary demands, the Cathaks have allowed them to practice their native faith once more, which has not made the Immaculates happy. Even Fajad's satrap, a Cathak herself, is considering giving the monks free rein to suppress the heretics. The place is also home to the ancient sorcerer Aqadar, whose tower has never been entered by a Dynast that survived the experience. The House was founded by Cathak, a mighty swordswoman and general adopted by the Empress. She was also an ascetic plagued by doubt and depression, who would often spend months in seclusion to write military texts and contemplate the spiritual, then emerge for days-long wild benders. She wrote many of the annotations to The Thousand Correct Actions, and most areas now in solid REalm control were once its enemies before she arrived to tame them. She refused to allow her private trouble to show in her public demeanor, and she was always a strict and disciplined leader who preferred plans to improvising and always put forth the air of confidence. She saw this as the duty of a Fire Aspect, in emulation of Hesiesh, and after her death, she was interred under the Fortress of the Greatest General. The house's current matriarch is a man named Cathak Cainan, a shikari educated at the Cloister of Wisdom. He married within the house as a relatively unprestigious husband to Cathak Urima, an excellent but unproven officer, and in the legions, he proved to be an inspirational leader, earning the eye of his ancestor, Cathak. As she lay dying of Yozi venom, she called him to her deathbed and explain to him his many flaws before she named him her heir, as the only descendant she saw as matching her temperament. Ever since, he has tried to liv up to her legacy and feared that he hasn't. He despairs to see the Realm fall around him and has dedicated the House to holding it together no matter the cost. He is respected through the Dynasty and many would think him a candidate for the Empress' throne if not for his increasing age - no one wants a ruler who will quickly die and set off another succession crisis. Cathak Garel is Cainan's younger sister and the commander of the Cathak Legions for nearly a century. She is an excellent strategist and tactician, to be sure, but her true passion lies in logistics, where she is unsurpassed. She spends msot days studying legion records and debating economic policy with her husband, Peleps Kozurin. She's got a taleny for estimating the effects of specific losses in the long term, and she is very grgual about use of her trtoops, to conserve their resources as much as possible. In politics, she is unbendingly honest and seems unable to tell even a polite lie. She is honorable, disciplined and maintains the highest of personal moral standards. She is also the expected heir to the House, which she is very much not comfortable with, and while younger than Cainan, she's also growing old and privately wondering how long she has until her spinal pain forces her to retire. Cathak Elanda, on the other hand, has suffered from birth with a disease that caused her body to grow uncontrollably, and her health started to fail in her teenage years. This and abuse by her peers made her quiet, soft-spoken and awkward despite her powerful mind. Still, Exalting saved her life, allowing her to adapt to her illness, and while she remains slow and clumsy, her strength is terrifying. She graduated from the House of Bells and joined the legions, happy to find an escape from social events and her classmates. As a legionnaire, she has proven skilled in the mental and physical aspects of war, and has risen to the rank of general over several campaigns. However, she has also learned something that she refuses to talk much about - that Dynasts are often cruel, and the Realm itself broken as a society. She is extremely disillusioned by the Dynasty, but can think of no real alternatives - everything she's seen that was different has turned out worse. Next time: House Cynis
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2019 20:44
|
|
|
PurpleXVI posted:Sounds an awful lot like they've been had by a Fair Folk MLM scheme honestly. There is not, to my knowledge, a canonical answer as to why the Sea of Mind and Atsiluth Eternal work the way they do, but it would not be surprising if the Fair Folk were involved. All that is really known is that it probably dates back to the First Age, it's a guaranteed nice afterlife, and it eats magic.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2019 20:47
|
|
|
 Neotech 2 Part 33: Here in my car, I feel safest of all.  Possibly the second worst picture in the book. Travelling between various destinations is second nature in the 21st century. From people commuting in and out of the major cities or using aviation to reach their destination. Not to mention the various shuttles taking people into the orbiting stations and beyond. But the most common means of travel is subway, train or maglev. There is obviously a detailed table breaking down the various means of transport, price, waiting times and travel times. When the average citizen needs to get anywhere far away they use either the subway or a skyway. In some cases even busses might be used. As long as you don’t try to use them during rush hour the subway and skyways are a rather comfortable. The old policy of not running the subway after midnight that was standard during the early 21st century has been removed and all subways and skyways goes around the clock. This obviously have put higher demands on security but thanks to partly police efforts but also sponsored gangs the worst dregs are kept away from the stations. Obviously that doesn’t make it completely risk free. Inside the centre of the city the easiest way to get around is by foot. But these days the sidewalks are so crowded during rush hours that they’ve been forced to build culverts with travelators. As well as glassed in walkways over the streets and between the buildings. In some parts the car traffic has been shut off and pedestrian streets opened which has made things easier. As mentioned before the subway is the single most used means of transportation in the year 2059. It goes far out into the suburbs and all way the into the centre of the city. The congestion in the downton stations is indescribable, caused by everyone who needs to change connections as well as the various security controls that has to be done to prevent terrorist strikes or riots. People live in the subways and the crime rate is high, which has lead to police stations being located on each downtown station. Once you’ve stepped off the train whereever you need to be, culverts in many cases lead directly to the skyscraper you need to go to without having to reach the surface again. Owning a car in most countries is a sign of prestige. Sadly they’re also a really bad way to get around inside the cities. But if you live in the suburbs or some smaller city it can be practical. There are countries however, where the roadnet is very expansive. One of example of this is California Free States where it’s a civic right to drive a car. The main reason why its a bad idea to use a car is that road tolls make usage of them expensive. Highways in Europe costs 5 euro per ten kilometers, or mil in this case. The fee to enter most major cities is 25 euros. There are similar systems on the American continent as well as in Japan, but there the prices are usually somewhat lower. Road tolls, or fines, are usually directly charged to the users account. Another, very common, issue are the traffic jams that can happen from overloaded roads, accidents, emergencies, strikes or road works. Using a taxi is a great way to avoid the issue of finding a parking spot. But it can also be fairly expensive and sometimes it might even be hard to find one when you most need it. Many modern taxi cabs are automated but regular human drivers are common as well. The upside with a driver is that they can handle tricky situations, but the downside is that you can be robbed or tricked. Nice to see the N2 writers having such faith in cab drivers. Limousines can also be rented for either twice to quadruple the average price for a taxi, the exact cost is dependant on the level of standard you want. Another alternative is the ‘Combat Cab’ that are very frequent in unsafe neighbourhoods. They’re armored cars that are driven by armed drivers who usually know their job. The price for one of these can go from double to ten times the usual price depending on the risks and equipment. Amazingly enough there are no price tables for any of those options. The public transit table comes next with includes both terrestrial and space transports. All prices are in Euro per mil. The most expensive means of travel here is a trip to Mars via ITP, more on that later, that costs 15000 euro and takes a month. In comparison an ITV trip to Mars costs 5000 euro but takes 10 months. If you want to go longer distances there is a couple of options available. The cheapest, slowest and most uncomfortable way of doing it is by bus. Bus Stations tend to be unpleasant places where homeless usually live and gangs tend to gather in. People who have the money usually spend it on maglev trains. The benefits of these is the high comfort and short travel times. It’s also very easy to reach downtown with the stations usually being underground and with connections to elsewhere. Security checks on maglev stations tend to be very rigorous, but not as much as airports. A usual feature is large x-ray screens that lets security personnel check large amounts of passengers at a time for any suspicious. Flying is your primary means of getting to far off places. There are short distance flights as well but they only serve as connections to the longer lines. Airports are always well connected via subways and maglev lines. If you have money to spare you can always hire a helicopter or a vector jet to get you there. Most major international airports are since the 30’s considered international ground. So there are residential areas, company complexes and other service establishments there. Security and passport controls in and out of the airports are strict and the airport cities are controlled by the airport police. Who are directly subordinate to the UN. But the strictest controls are however are at the entrances to the departure halls. All baggage and passengers are x-rayed and scanned with metal detectors. In some cases passengers might be frisked and all their belongings are searched. People without passports or the necessary visas are rejected instantly. Any smuggling attempts or preparations for acts of terror leads to very quick trials at the airports own court, usually the accused are punished in accordance with the outside country’s laws. Interesting to see this in a book released in 1999 featuring this stringent airport security considering that 9/11 is only two years away. Long distance flights are either done via large jumbo jets or quick supersonic jets. The jumbos can take up to a thousand passengers but everyone is packed in tight and it’s very uncomfortable. In comparison the supersonic jets fly at mach 2.5 and are very comfortable, and the service is a lot better. In the future all flights would be either handled by jumbo jets and supersonic flights is something I remember reading from at least a couple of science magazines from the 90’s. Or remember being touted elsewhere. Concorde is 4 years from retiring and the crash that arguably sealed its fate is roughly six months away from the release of this book. Unrelated trivia, the first resumed flight after the crash with passengers for the Concorde happened on 11 September 2001. It landed in New York shortly before it the attack happened. Jumbos have arguably managed to survive the longest in comparison. The 747 is still in use for instance. But it’s worth mentioning that the super jumbo, the Airbus A380 is going to end production by 2021 due to economic reasons. For the one who can afford it a semi-ballistic shuttle is to be preferred. They’re far more expensive in comparison but have a top speed of mach 20. While they take off and land as normal aircraft they quickly accelerate into a trajectory that takes into the edges of space. At the top of it the passengers experience a brief moment of zero gravity. The absolutely cheapest way of travelling long distance is by ship. It’s fairly uncommon these days but almost all ships have passengers cabins these days. Another good reason to do it is that you avoid the stringent security checks. This in turn means that sea travel might be the only way a heavily cybered person can travel anywhere. So sucks to be you if you decided to go heavy into cyber and be even more punished if the campaign has an international bent to it. For some dumb reason the text repeats all the information you can find from the table just to pad the word count a little with a few additions that working onboard will lower the price of travel. Travelling to space or the moon is still considered rather exotic. Shuttles and carrier-rockets take off daily from the bigger space ports but the waiting time can be long regardless. If you need to go into space you first need to get into orbit, from there it’s far cheaper and simpler to continue on. The most common way of getting up into order is via space planes that take off and land as regular aircraft but quickly accelerate into escape velocity. They’re very comfortable to travel in if you ignore the inevitable weightlessness. Another, and much cheaper way, is to pay for a trip in a Russian or Chinese carrier rocket for the trip up or a capsule for the return trip. These transports are one way trips and not as reliable as space planes. People who take up jobs as space workers or emigrate to the moon usually get up this way. Travels to the various lagrange points or in orbit around the moon is done with an Orbital Transfer Vehicle, or OTV. This can take between a couple of hours to two days and the cost is 2000 euro for a one way trip. A trip to orbit around Mars is done via a Interplanetary Transfer Vehicle, or ITV. There are several different types of ITV-craft and with the simplest and cheapest the trip takes around 10 months to do, but then you’ll also be waiting Ob2D6 months for a launch window. Using one of ESA’s Interplanetary Transports, or IPT’s, the trip only takes a month and the waiting time is decreased to Ob1D6 weeks instead. But as mentioned before the costs go up considerably. The various space ports are usually connected directly to various international spaceports. While they’re also under supervision from Interpol’s airport police the only real difference is that security checks are if anything even more stringent in comparison. There is a table for some reason with the various space ports. Some of them are well known launch sites like Cape Canaveral or Bajkonur but there’s also a bunch of others. They also have longitude and latitude listed for some inexplicable reason. Did the writer want to brag about something in particular? Also the formatting for them seems to slightly incorrect too. Can’t imagine what would really happen if any of these places had a launch accident considering some are located rather centrally. For instance the Charles du Gaulle Space port is situated just west (49 00 N 2 30 E) of the airport with the same name that is located just outside Paris. A city I’m sure also has grown considerably over the years. Any accidents involving a space plane or similar would become catastrophic quickly. Most transit methods come in various classes with their own standards and services, and of course varying prices. First class trips costs twice as much as an economy class one for example. Traveling via stand-by can make the trip a lot cheaper but you need to succeed on an average difficulty check against luck to get a spot. But at the same time the difficulty can increase depending on how much traffic the line has. If you fail you need to wait for the next departure, this doubles the waiting time. You can also charter an aircraft, helicopter or vector jet. While it cuts down on the waiting time it’s very expensive and needs to be done way ahead of time. The size of the vehicle is adjusted after how many paying passengers are travelling but you at the same time need to pay for all seats. This means if there are any empty seats they need to be paid for as well. Then there’s rules about how to ship things and how much it might cost but that’s really nothing interesting. There’s a table for rates later on. I’m sure this would be very important if you were to play cyberpunk shipping company or something. Europe and the US were the first to start building the TransNet infrastructure in the early 2000’s, with Japan following a few years later. It’s a system for control, and guidance for motorists, police and authorities. By putting sensors and transponders on all vehicles the traffic can be regulated, the accident rate decreased and vehicle density increased. TransNet also sends out information where free parking space is available. The transponders send continuous information involving the vehicles position, estimated time of arrival, average speed, fuel consumption and so on to a network. This network in turn sends back information to the vehicles onboard computer or autopilot about which are the most effective routes, about which speed limits to keep, what security distance to hold, which roads are overloaded and how to quickest get from point A to B. TransNet is also connected with the traffic light system so the car always knows if you’re able to cross over before the light switches. The same system also indirectly controls the car’s autopilot. A car in 2059 looks more or less the same as it did in 1999. Trends and fashions play a large parts in what design it might have, but principally a care looks like a car. The biggest difference lies mainly in the propulsion and the travel computer. In these days the electric cars are now as good as combustion engine ones. They have speed and relatively decent reach thanks to fuel cells fed with hydrogen gas from nanofiber tanks. Older talks are still driven by batteries that put out far less impressive performance. Multiple high performance sports cars exist that are driven with electric motors. Another benefit with using electric cars is that you skip the combustion engine tax that exists in almost all cities. Gasoline driven cars still exist, mainly in the third world and out in the countryside. However, many metroplexes have banned these kinds of vehicles because of the pollution. Gasoline companies have nowadays gone over to exploited the third world as their profits in the industrialised world decreased. Car manufacturers are also complicit of this as they produce gasoline driven versions of all their popular models. Once again that weird Eurocentrism and “gently caress the third world” angle show up. Really the only reason the gasoline companies exist in this case is just so they can be exploitive elsewhere. Otherwise, why are they a thing in this setting? Traffic security has developed and improves. Almost all cars these days have strengthened bodies, airbags, built in fire protection and collision warning radar. With the help of data from TransNet serial crashes can be avoided and the car can be kept on the road at a suitable speed. This does obviously doesn’t mean all issues are gone, there have been times when TransNet has crashed which has led to extreme traffic accidents with thousands of vehicles involved. In any other game that would’ve been a fantastic set piece for a chase sequence where the TransNet has crashed and things are going haywire around the players. In this system that almost sounds like an utter chore to do with the vehicle rules. Theft protection has also increased but it’s far from good. Some say that the car companies willingly make cars with bad locks to generate more sales long term, but that’s just rumors. The most common method is that the car as some kind of alarm and there is a number of products on the market to make the theft harder to pull off. There’s identification though voice, retina, face, fingerprints or palmprints. Then there’s systems that lock the thief inside and knock them out with gas or electric chairs that stun them and then contacts the police. I’m disappointed there are no bombs. The travel computer is mandatory accessory for a car in Europe, the US, Japan and elsewhere. It provides the driver with a wealth of information from TransNet and other vehicles in close proximity and helps making decisions regarding picking routes easier. The transponder sends out information to warn and inform other vehicles about their relative position. If the braking distance would become too long for instance then the car with slow down by itself to eliminate this risk. While the travel computer gives advice and handle the speed, it is the car’s autopilot that drives the vehicle without any driver involvement. It’s mainly limousines and more expensive luxury cars that come with one, but many cab companies also use it. With an autopilot running the driver can read the newspaper, watch TV or talk over the phone without turning into a traffic hazard as the car drives itself. All the driver really needs to do is to decide where they need to go and the car handles the rest in the best way possible. An autopilot is also very handy to have when you need to park. Thanks to the transponders rarely no accidents will ever happen while you park as cars know exactly where they are in relation to each other. Another thing that can be done whenever there is no parking spot is to step out of the car and then program it to circle around the block while the driver does whatever they need to do. When they return it’s just a case of pressing a button on their remote and the car will stop and wait for the driver to get back in. It’s practical, but also kinda illegal, thing to do whenever you’re short on time. Another thing is that you can let the drive and refuel on their own. Otherwise you can send the car to service on its own or use it to pick someone else up. Sadly no rules about how to hijack the pilot or the car in order to kidnap them. Not even a single mention of that being used by anyone. I guess the crime syndicates and various hacker groups are too honorable for something like that. A dud of a chapter really, bunch of flavour but there’s really nothing all that interesting going on as per usual. Next time: Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2019 20:52
|
|
|
Mors Rattus posted:There is not, to my knowledge, a canonical answer as to why the Sea of Mind and Atsiluth Eternal work the way they do, but it would not be surprising if the Fair Folk were involved. All that is really known is that it probably dates back to the First Age, it's a guaranteed nice afterlife, and it eats magic. Based on its general deal, 'some kind of prehuman god-monster' would be my guess. Something unique spat out by Chaos or the creators of the world. There were also some late-2e implications that the barely mentioned primordial being Cytherea might be behind the Sea of Mind but honestly I prefer to just say 'it's a thing from the oldest eras of the world which is up front about wanting to replace the world with itself, by replacing all worthy souls' perceptions, thereby ending death and uncertainty.' It's an extremely sinister entity in my opinion, but it's also very direct about what it does and wants... unless the storyteller wants to give it some other motivations, of course.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2019 21:17
|
|
|
What Fire Has Wrought: DRUUUUUUGS House Cynis, the Wood Nourished On Tears of The Fallen, is not known for its martial or scholarly skill, but for being the height of fashion. It is a Wood Aspect House whose colors are green and gold, and it dictates what is and is not in vogue in the Realm. Cynises are known for their good humor in the face of scandal, for their style and for their complete and total understanding of high scoiety. They are masters of blackmail, rumor and poison in the achievement of their ends, and they're not ashamed. They are possibly the most popular of all of the Great Houses, and also the most notorious. They don't throw parties - they host the finest galas that can last for days. They don't sell slaves - they deal in only the finest trained majordomos, the most skilled pleasure slaves and entertainers. They don't grow food - they produce the best crops and most exotic drugs in the world from their home prefecture of Pangu and their many satrapies and holdings as well as bringing it from trade with far-off lands like Gem or Halta. They do not bathe - they construct elaborate, expensive bathhouses that become the center of gossip, business and more. Their standards are high, when it comes to pleasure and lifestyle. A Cynis commonly takes many lovers, even after marriage, and the House views marriage as a tool purely for procreation, while love is a tool of pleasure. The two are largely unrelated, and as long as a Cynis is happy, the rest of the House is happy, too. House Cynis respects perfection - in any form. Perfection is not, of course, a moral quality. House Cynis is the foremost dealer of the Realm's slaves and drugs. Its members tend to be lax or at best unorthodox in their interpretation and faith in the Immaculate Philosophy. While they are holy by definition of being Dragon-Blooded, no one expects them to act the part. They've built their reputation on scandal, to the point where it is more surprising to not hear about their debauches, affairs and ill-advised experimentation with drugs. While they aren't atheistic or overtly blasphemous, few make any effort to open righteousness or give much thought to the Immaculates. It isn't unusual to see them giving tribute at a shrine, but it's more about being a show of wealth through piety most of the time than it is any real devotion. Their irreverance has become one of the greatest obstacles for them, as the Immaculate Order will hold a great deal of sway in the choice of the next Empress, and their disdain for House Cynis is well known. They wouldn't back any Cynis candidate if any other, more pious House were in the running. However, this also means the other Houses underestimate the Cynis. They buy the wine and the drugs and the slaves, they attend the feasts, and the Cynis just smile and play along and wait for the money and information to flow into their hands. =It is very much a working strategy. House Cynis is the largest dealer in all kinds of luxuries in the Realm, no matter what they are. The Cynis can get you anything, if you pay. They are most famous for their monopoly on the slave trade, given them at their House's founding by the Empress in order to establish their financial footing. House Cynis takes pride in finding and dealing in slaves with specialized training in difficult trades or abilities. Merchants or artisans who give up their children that show skill often get their debts cancelled, while the kids are then trained by other slave-experts until they are ready to be sold. Unskilled labor is extremely easy to find and is quite cheap, with Cynis buying labor slaves in bulk and packing them tight, whether they're military prisoners, dissidents or the dream-eaten victims of the Raksha. Their monopoly also extends to the rental of slaves. Particularly skilled or specialzied slaves are often required only for specific tasks, and so the House prepares extensive contracts to protect their interests in rental agreements, and they also rent out large groups of unskilled slaves for construction. While a significant portion of these slaves are bought from the Guild, debtors or other merchants, House Cynis is not above raiding "uncivilized" lands beyond the Realm's borders, and since the Empress' disappearance, they've even been willing to raid the less defended satrapies of other Houses. House Cynis also deals heavily in drugs, ranging from opiates to hallucinogens to narcots to alcohol. They maintain a standing deal with the Guild on drugs, and they pay vast sums of money each year to buy and sell addictive substances of all kinds. Many hard drugs can only be legally purchased with jade rather than sivler, which in theory limits their access to Dynasts. In practice, the Cynis are more than willing to break the law. While they can't control the entire black market of the Realm, much as they'd like to, they have great influence in the underworld of the Blessed Isle. (Lowercase u, not uppercase.) Further, the Cynis doctors are the best on the Isle. They charge steep fees and so attend mostly the wealthy, but the House also deals in medical concoctions, most of them proprietary and produced by the House's experiments. They never sell their recipes, and their prices are always high, in favors or cash. Other Houses are simultaneously grateful and resentful of the service. The military forces of House Cynis are unimpressive even at their best. Their troops on public duty and their guards are selected as much for being pretty as for their skill, and their paramilitary forces in the Threshold are mostly legbreakers and slavers first, Imperial forces second. Slaves taken by the House as children may be pressed into becoming slavers themsevles, and mutiny is not rare, but it's usually put down fast. Regardless, discipline is very much not a strong point. House Cynis claimed three Imperial legions when they were distributed, and they have been in secret negotiations with Guild agents to exchagne appointments to the Deliberative's Lesser Chamber and some influence over policy for a huge discount on Guild mercenaries from Nexus. But then, the army was never what made the Cynises dangerous. What makes them dangerous is that they control high society to a terrifying degree. Anyone who wants to maintain a social name for themselves attends their parties, and any household worthy of mentioning buys their slaves. Everyone has to eat. House Cynis has fingers everywhere, and the vast knowledge it has access to on the activities of the other Dragon-Bloods would shock even the Empress. House Cynis knows it has no chance at seizing the throne by force. The Cathak alone could defeat their entire army along with any mercenaries they hired. Thus, they have decided to seek the throne on their terms, not those of their foes. They offer friendship while preparing the knife. Those that take their hospitality - which, shockingly, isn't everyone - know the Cynis reputation for discretion. It's well earned, and no matter what happens at a cynis party, you can be sure they'll keep your reputation safe. But they watch it all, they record it. Nothing is too small to be useful. The problem is that this information is a tool of last resort. A public release of information on a scandal means no one will let themselves go at a Cynis party ever again, and there's no way to control the spread of information once released. Thus, most Cynises keep their blackmail secret and work through rumor and insinuation. Stil;l, if a rival must be burned, well, just discreetly mention something to the monk you know, who will then find a way to censure them without bringing your name up - or, more importantly, the House's. Some members of the House use ciphered dossiers or magically sealed ledgers, while others train themselves to memorize decades' worth of scandals with perfect clarity. There is no central register of information, but trading juicy details with your kin is a common pastime in the House, and giving your elders especially useful or scandalous information can greatly help your advancement. Further, the House's experiments with the plants and animals of Creation in search of drugs and medicine has made them the world's leading experts in toxins, venoms and poisons. Many compounds in the House vaults simply cannot be replicated without access to their wide trade network - and neither can the antidotes. House Cynis discreetly sells use of these poisons to Dynasts or criminals that will pay the fees, using their information networks to figure out who the intended victim is. If it's someone they want gone, well, no reason to act at all - they've been paid for the privilege of having a foe assassinated without them doing any work. If they want the victim to live, on the other hand, all they have to do is arrange for the victim to meet a Cynis doctor, who will make appropriate noises about summer fever or winter chill or some other made up ailment while administering an antidote. That means they've been paid twice - once for the poison, once for the cure, and of course the price of a patient's goodwill is no less worth it. House Cynis is usually well-liked but has few deep relationships with other Houses. The V'neef buy plenty of slaves for the vineyards and marry many Cynis sons, while the Cynis buy the V'neef wines for their parties. House Mnemon buys many labor slaves for their many construction projects, and every House has people in it that have some kind of deal with the Cynis or just enjoy the parties. Their greatest problem, however, is Mnemon herself, eldest daughter of the Empress. She thinks the throne is hers by right, and the idea of anyone challenging her is a joke. A challenge by the Cynis, however, is an insult. Yes, their bloodline is worthy of marriage, certainly - but Mnemon will never allow a whoremongering, slavetaking hedonist to sit on her mother's throne. Her throne. House Cynis is terrified that she would seize their lands, ships and forces in the name of virtue and piety, and if she were to come close to taking the throne, the House might be compelled to act directly against her, for fear of losing everything. House Ragara is another issue these days. The Cynises have always spent heavily on their parties and their general lifestyle, and far, far too many have gone into massive debt with the Ragaras' Imperial Bank. With civil war on the horizon, House Ragara is calling in those debts and are threatening to suborn many, many members of House Cynis. The House is now faced with the prospect of having to use blackmail far more directly than they'd like to counter the Ragara extortion. At least House Sesus remain an ally, often tied to Cynis by marriage and affairs. They provide vast amounts of information gathered by their own spies, while House Cynis provides them with the finest of goods, not all legal, and access to some of their own information network. Many Sesus scions are addicted to some drug or other and kept supplied only while their loyalty can be relied on. The intermarriages between Sesus and Cynis strengthen these loyalties, though it isn't clear which side has better dirt on the other. In theory, the Cynis headquarters is the living wood castle known as the House of Trees, built atop the crypt of Cynis herself. In practice, their heart is the city Pangu, capital of the prefecture of the same name. It is home to many Cynis courts and many Cynis slaves. There's always a party somewhere in Pangu, and the tribute flaws in endlessly. The palaces there are known for their open layouts, rich carpeting and sensuous bathing. At the other end of the prefecture is the Tourmaline Monastery, named for the veins of semiprecious stone that run through its walls. It is the largest Immaculate stronghold in the area and for many years, the abbot there, Cloud Lotus, has offered sanctuary to what few escaped slaves can manage to reach it, allowing them to remain as lay worshipers and protecting them from their owners. If war were to come to Pangu, however, Cloud Lotus' neutrality and political immunity as an Immaculate leader would probably cease to protect the monastery. The chief satrapy of the Cynis is Greyfalls, the easternmost holding of the Realm in the Scavenger Lands. IT is named for the massive waterfall there and the Cynis have controlled it only briefly. It is home to one of the war manses that channels Creation's Essence into the Realm Defense Grid, which makes it a key strategic area, and it also serves as the Realm's gate to the Eastern trade routes with the Ixcoatli, the spider-ridden Kubal, the Jaguar Princes and other nations on the Golden Road. It's lucrative, but the distance from the Blessed Isle makes it hard to collect tribute or keep control. As House Cynis prepares for civil war, some of them wonder if it is perhaps the better option to leave Greyfalls to fend for itself. Cynis was an explorer, a trailblazing merchant and hedonist. She died centuries ago of a massive heroin overdose laced with dreamstone dust. The crypt under the House of Trees is always kept decorated with fresh-cut flowers and beautiful art pieces. The House makes no secret of how she died - that a Wood Aspect was evne able to die of a drug overdose is something of a heroic feat, after all. The House is now led by a triumvirate of her daughters. The eldest, Cynis Belar, serves as the matriarch. She is a socialite of great fame and skill, known for her wit and sophistication as well as an able and celebrated painter and sculptor whose pieces often from the center of parties. Behind the scenes, she is a ruthless, secretive woman dedicated to the welfare of the House and especially of her own descendants. She uses the House's connections and information network to ruin potential threats before they can appear, and while she makes a show of her sisters being peers, they both ultimately defer to her to the point that most of the House currently assumes she has amazing blackmail on both of them. Cynis Falen is the second of the three sisters, a financial mastermind that runs the family slave trade. While she is friendly and easygoing, she is also the most openly coldblooded of the trio, and she cares far more for maximizing profits than any semblance of morality. She is the best-traveled of the trio, often spending months at a time in the Threshold for business. While once as hedonistic as any Cynis, she has lost much of her test for wine and revelry over the centuries. The youngest of the three is Cynis Wisel, a frail poet whose beautiful appearance disguises a master of poisons that craves the safety and stability granted by poer. She runs the House's drug trade and has many contacts in the criminal underworld. Her husband, a Sesus, spends far more time drinking than he does in her presence. Her lvoer is Cynis Petalin, also her second cousin. Petalin is over six feet tall and made of muscle, with a sharp and powerful laugh. She commands the Cynis legions, such as they are, and is beloved by her men for her sense of humor, her tactical acumen and her talent for keeping morale high. Wisel intends to make Petalin the Empress, with herself as trusted vizier and, once this is done, leader of her trio of sisters. Petalin's second in command is Cynis Laseral, known for her brilliance both as a soldier and teacher, but feared by her troops. She is a lecturer at both the House of Bells and the Spiral ACademy, with her seminars on how to profit from warfare always being well attended. She treats her soldiers as game pieces, willing to take massive casualties if it will mean victory against great odds. The only thing that can undermine her reputaiton for ruthless triumph is the deep and romantic love she has for her husband, Mnemon Oroth Takor, and he for her. The pair go to lengths to conceal it publically, and Laseral is famed for her mastery of realpolitik. She's the favorite aunt of many younger Cynis, who think that she would be an able Empress...assuming her soldiers didn't kill her out of self-preservation, should she aim for the throne. Meanwhile, Cynis Umara and Cynis Cerise are the twin daughters of a famous slaver by one of his slaves. Umara is one of the best doctors in the entire House, said to be able to replace a missing soul if paid enough. She accepts no jade in payment, though - only medical stock, which sometimes can only be found in the most remote parts of Creation. Cerise is less lucky - she had her growth stunted by an accident in youth and is barely four feet tall. She makes the best of her height, dressing in massive amounts of jewels and moonsilver-heeled shoes. She runs their father's procuring business, dealing only in the best in jewels, slaves, wine and illegal drugs. Cynis Falen Parda, formerly an ambitious sea captain in the Merchant Fleet, now commands his own squadron in the House's navy, escorting Cynis merchants in the Inland Sea. He is a brilliant tactician and judge of character, but he far prefers negotiation to fighting and he has more than once persuaded pirates to surrender without a fight. His talents are best shown at parties, though, where his beauty and his rakish demeanor make him many friends and earn him many lovers...and enemies, as so many of those lovers tend be married. Next time: House Ledaal
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2019 22:35
|
|
|
Joe Slowboat posted:There were also some late-2e implications that the barely mentioned primordial being Cytherea might be behind the Sea of Mind Were there? I could've sworn that was a forums thing that all the writers were immediately allergic to.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2019 22:55
|
|
|
That Old Tree posted:Were there? I could've sworn that was a forums thing that all the writers were immediately allergic to. The same phrasing was used about both of them at one point, iirc, which the forum seized on. There were plenty of writers who liked to do things like that in any case, like that one continent which wasn't supposed to exist and multiple authors had what was effectively an edit war over. The one associated with the dancing fire-demons.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2019 23:05
|
|
|
Mors Rattus posted:...and enemies, as so many of those lovers tend be married. This bit confuses me. I’ve always gotten the impression that most Dynasts marry for power or breeding, and that lovers are super common. Further, it appears that only the prissiest Dynasts even particularly care about marriage as more than a formality so why does anyone care if their spouse steps out? It’s not like you think they love you, and it’s not as if you love them. It seems like the Realm is aping Victorian social conventions and blending them with a very modern sexual libertinism without reconciling the two.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2019 23:10
|
|
|
Joe Slowboat posted:The same phrasing was used about both of them at one point, iirc, which the forum seized on. There were plenty of writers who liked to do things like that in any case, like that one continent which wasn't supposed to exist and multiple authors had what was effectively an edit war over. The one associated with the dancing fire-demons. Any more details on this? It sounds like an amusing bit of design drama.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2019 23:18
|
|
|
Oberndorf posted:This bit confuses me. I’ve always gotten the impression that most Dynasts marry for power or breeding, and that lovers are super common. Further, it appears that only the prissiest Dynasts even particularly care about marriage as more than a formality so why does anyone care if their spouse steps out? It’s not like you think they love you, and it’s not as if you love them. It seems like the Realm is aping Victorian social conventions and blending them with a very modern sexual libertinism without reconciling the two. The reason is because they wanted a dashing pirate who pisses off spouses. That's literally it. e: like, this particular character is definitely kind of weird because of it, though. Mors Rattus fucked around with this message at 23:25 on Apr 26, 2019 |
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2019 23:20
|
|
|
PurpleXVI posted:Any more details on this? It sounds like an amusing bit of design drama. Basically, the gilmyne in Games of Divinity have a myth about the Saigoth Gates, which are... well, I forget, but the point is they don’t exist but the gilmyne believe in them. Somebody wrote them into Dreams of the First Age, pissing off all the other writers because “what if the myth... is actually true???” is the most obvious possible take and using it on the gilmyne takes away something they had that was different.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2019 23:35
|
|
|
What Fire Has Wrought: Demon Hunting Princess House Ledaal, the Air that RAised the Bones of Giants, is the blade that guards against the night. It is Air Aspect, with the colors blue and gray. The House is fully aware that disaster is coming and that the Realm must act. There's just one problem: everyone else is geairng up for a civil war. Ladaal herself died centuries ago, and in her place she left the Flashing Tempest Council, a group of worthy elders to guide the house. Its membership includes the matriarch, Ledaal Yasmet, as well as the veteran wyld Hunter Ledaal Sivarin Vanek and the daring sorcerer Ledaal Zenitar. Historically the Council has been close-knit, but now they differ on very urgent problems, with each working to do what they think is best for the Realm's stability and the House's authority. However, they work at cross-purposes and are spreading the House thing, with even the youngest member sensing their disagreements of leadership. The council must juggle politics, its inquisitorial duties and the preparations for the brewing war. Whether they can manage to do all that long enough to keep the Realm alive is unclear. House Ledaal's loyalty, brilliance and vigilance are unquestionable. Dynasts and patricians both trust Ledaal in business and to protect them against the dangers beyond the Realm's borders. However, their relentless obsession with hunting for danger in the dark leaves others sour. The Ledaals delve into forbidden tomes and work with strange mystics, often seeming to care more for their distant threats than the politics of home. Trusting their competence is one thing, but no one really wants to marry a Ledaal. Despite the stereotypes, the House has as good an eye for strategic marriages as anyone else. They are raised in the certainty that falling in love is a game for barbarians, idiots and Cynises. Any dalliance should profit the House somehow, whether that means getting a child, a political relationship or a lost book. The sons of House Ledaal are married off to wives whose interests and abilities align with House goals. Their daughters take husbands whose expertise is useful to them. Since the Empress' disappearance, however, House Ledaal cannot afford its usual choosiness, instead having to cement its standing where it can. The elders do not want the throne for their House, at least. Their authority as a Great House is drawn from their role as the Realm's watchdogs, and they see themselves as indispensable in that role. They would only ever seek a Ledaal Empress if they thought it necessary to secure the Realm's very survival. The Realm protects Creation from the Wyld and the Anthema and the undead. House Ledaal protects the Realm. They obey the dictate of their founder in this, the Shadow Crusade. Ledaal was granddaughter to the Empress, daughter of Jurul, who founded House Jurul. Ledaal exposed her own mother's conspiracy - that Jurul and her conspirators had made pacts with the Lunar Anathema and the lords of Malfeas to fuel their personal ambitions. She personally led the Wyld Hunt that slew the Lunar and brought the evidence directly to the Scarlet Empress. For her loyalty and her vigilance, the Empress struck House Jurul from the ledgers and named Ledaal her own daughter, founder of her own House. Discontent to just distance themselves from Jurul's madness, Ledaal and her family took up the cause of fighting Anathema and other monsters, that their betrayal could never again threaten the Realm. House Ledaal has since become a line of demon hunters, scholars of dark lore and ancient history and crusaders against the darkness. They encourage their members to train as shikari of the Wyld Hunt, and support the Wyld Hunters with many donations of jade and supplies. In more recent years, this devotion has drawn them into a desperate struggle. The threat of civil war means even the fall of Thorns to the Deathlord Mask of Winters is merely a footnote to much of the Dynasty, and the horrified warnings of House Ledaal, their many proposals to rally the Realm's forces to reclaim Thorns and other kingdoms fallen to the Anathema - these have fallen on deaf ears. Yet the Council cannot bury itself too deeply in the Shadow Crusade, or House Ledaal will be torn to bits by their fellow Great Houses while not paying attention. They must dedicate some of their resources to playing at politics, and while they do, they see the shadows growing darker. The ancestral home of the Ledaals is Arjuf Dominion, one of the most important ports on the Blessed Isle, and that makes the House painfully aware of how the Peleps or V'neef could destroy them with a blockade. They have a small navy for shipping cargo and their forces, but nothing that could stand up to the maritime Houses. In Arjuf city, the un-Exalted of the House manage the businesses so that most of the incoming foreign revenue flows into House coffers, with the Ledaals taking a cut from every tariff and docking fee as well as owning or sponsoring many businesses on the pier. The Ledaal ships bring in much wealth from their satrapies, which the House takes an active role in managing. They believe knowledge is the key to all strategy, and many of the House's members live in the Threshold, to better understand local culture and bring home local wealth. They aren't any more loved by the ocals for it - most of their tributaries are well aware that the House sees them as nothing but a resource or a staging ground for the Shadow Crusade. Ledaal satrapies are, at least, some of the safest places in the Threshold due to the House's constant guard against danger, but this comes with sacrifices of privacy and autonomy. The Imperial yoke grows ever heavier as the House scours its lands for Anathema sympathizers and seeks ever more resources to maintain control of Arjuf and fund the Wyld Hunts. The House also houses some money in the form of relics and texts of First Age lore. The House seeks these things out constantly and will pay a high price for them, searching for weapons against Creation's unnatural foes. Many of the Realm's greatest experts on ancient history, the powers of the Anathema and stranger things in the world are Ledaal, and the house is happy to hire them out as translators or archaeologists for a sizable fee. Lately, however, this particular income stream has been dwindling as other Houses attempt to keep their finds secret in hopes of using them more effectively against rivals. Before the Empress disappeared, House Ledaal maintained as sizable paramilitary force designed to root out cults in the Threshold, hunt down creatures of darkness and supplement the Wyld Hunt as needed. Their specialized tradition was never intended to defend the Realm against invasion - that was the job of the Imperial legions. Now, however, Arjuf Dominion is a ripe target for the other Houses, with its rich ports, trade routes and access to the best war academy. House Ledaal feels exposed, and while it has claimed three legions, each member of the Flashing Tempest Council has different ideas about how they should be deployed. The generals have sent some of the soldiers to FAxai in hopes of achieving the longtime House goal of reclaiming the Caul, and more strike teams for the Hunt have been trained. However, the Council fights over whether to shore up satrapy defenses, as the heavier tribute dmeands have weakened the strapial militias, or if they should focus their full strength on Arjuf to defend against the threats of the Cathak legions or the Peleps warships. Thorns remains a rallying cry for House Ledaal, especially since the total destruction of the garrison there and death of several Ledaal scions when Mask of Winters seized the satrapy. Ledaal generals do not currently have a staging ground to attack the place, however, and they have been unable to convince anyone else to help them. The Flashing Tempest Council reached out to House Peleps when Thorns fell, hoping for a joint campaign to defeat the Mask with an approach by sea from Ledaal's holdings in Incas Prefecture. However, House Peleps refused, and the elders hesitate to make a better offer for fear that their rivals will take any excuse to get their claws into Arjuf. Ledaal has no particularly strong enemies in the Dynasty, but their reputation as zealots and their tendency to be involved with unnatural things means they also have no strong allies. With House Nellens so close, some believe the House is best served by crushing their young cousins and absorbing them, especially as House Ledaal has no love lost for the weak-blooded Nellens. On the other hand, it would leave them terribly vulnerable. Further, House Ledaal maintains a deep suspicion of the Ragara. Their careful watch has revealed patterns in Ragara business dealings, archaeological expeditions and military maneuvering that seem designed to cover up something darker. They've been quietly gathering evidence that the Ragara are misusing occult secrets and Anathema relics in order to build a case, hoping that soon they will have proof enough to demonstrate treason and destroy the Ragara before the civil war makes the bankers too valuable to take down. Some Ledaals even seek allies among the All-Seeing Eye or the Imperial magistrates. House Mnemon is the top choice of the Ledaal for an alliance - and for the throne. Mnemon's strong actions against Jiara have earned the grudging respect of the Counil, and her devout nature along with her sorcerous might makes them believe she has both the power and mindset to support the Shadow Crusade. They've made overtures of goodwill, but because Mnemon's forces are on the other side of the Imperial Mountain, some question if there'd be any real potential return on their investment, given how openly they'd be admitting to needing help. Arjuf Dominion is the largest and most important of the Ledaal holdings. It covers the west bank of the Caracal River all the way to the Inland Sea, and it is a rich, fertile region with many skilled crafters and multiple trading ports along the coast, open to Southern wealth. The greatest of these is the city of Arjuf, perhaps the richest and most cosmopolitan place on the entire Blessed Isle after the Imperial City itself. Arjuf is the center of Ledaal wealth and power at home, and they guard it closely. They also command Howling Heart Prefecture, a mountains region with several jade mines that rely on Ledaal artifacts and engineering innovations to reduce mining dangers. The prefecture takes its name from the whistling winds through the mine shafts, though the mortal populace also use the name to refer to dark experiments run in Howling Heart City. The city's elite shikari training ground is built atop a potent demesne, and House Ledaal sends most of its shkari to study there, to better understand the ways of the Anathema and the tactics of the undead from retired hunters and scholars. However, the city also plays host to many cabals of occultists who have been pushing the limits of their power by magical experimentation for centuries. They hope to produce shikari that can fight as equals against Solars and Lunars, and their work has grown faster since the destruction of the TEpet legions. By use of sorcery and reverse engineering of Anathema artifacts of the First Age, they have developed a theoretical protocol to greatly amplify a Dragon-Blood's Essence temporarily, at the cost of much of their lifespan and blood potency. It has not yet been tested or deployed, as it would risk inciting Essence Fever strong enough to cause utter madness...but the resurgence of the Solars may prove enough to push the scholars to it anyway. Incas Prefecture, former seat of House Iselsi, was granted to the Ledaal by the Empress when she crushed the ISelsi. House Ledaal despises the fallen Iselsi for their teachery, doing their best to further marginalize the remnants of the former Great House. The Council had hoped for a freer hand in directing the Wyld Hunt by taking over the province that houses the Palace Sublime and the Cloister of Wisdom, but between the surviving ISelsi households and Mnemon's work to move the Order's heart away from them, they've done little but increase their expenses. Still, it's nice to have a prefecture close to Thorns. Perch, in the Southern land called Zephyr, is another important holding. On the east bank of the Elidad River, it provides fine harvests - and on the west bank is the Twilight Grove, the shadowland and necropolis of the city. The dead there keep their hearts close, to recall the passion of life, and the ghostly princes known as aeons ride forth on sphinxes made from their own hungry ghosts. The satrap, Ledaal Yasmet Imara, deals as an equal with the seven archaeons that rule the necropolis, bargaining with the dead for occult secrets and Underworld lore. Besides burial rites, she forbids all interaction between the two cities, though she ignores many of the manifestations of Perch's ancestor cults. She'd love to root them out and destroy them, but Perch has had too many uprisings, and Imara doesn't want to risk another one at this juncture. Ledaal is long dead, but her legacy lives on. The House hails her as a hero to be emulated, courageous and honest. Elders recall her as a stalwart and inquisitive woman who would never stop until she found the truth. She was decisive and accepted no compromises, and she had both an insatiable curiosity for the mystical and an unbreakable backbone, which led her not to share many of the dark things she learned - not even with her descendants. Many Ledaals dream of being the discoverer of secret journals or messages left as tests for her future children. Ledaal Yasmet serves as the matriarch. She is a potent sorcerer who spends vast amounts of money on delving into distant ruins, believing that the Realm needs occult power to survive - and that House Ledaal must be at the forefont of that power. She works closely with Liminal and Exigent mercenaries and even studies tomes of necromancy in secret. The others of the Flashing Tempest Council have noticed her growing pessimistic streak, blaming it on her second husband, the philosopher Ragara Gaiban. Ledaal Rae is a longtime diplomat who remained within his House by marrying a patrician rather than a Dragon-Blood, and he belivees the House must put aside its old grudges against the Scavenger Lands to forge an alliance against Mask of Winters. Both of his daughters died at Thorns, and those that oppose him believe his thirst for vengeance and masculine intemperance are clouding his judgment. With the Empress gone, Rae believes that Lookshy could be convinced to sign a treaty, and he has sent his own grandson to the embassy there for preliminary talks with the General Staff without telling the other elders. Ledaal Kebok Coren is a young and untested scion, but an excellent swordswoman with a knack for controlling the weather. She is uncharacteristically passionate for the House and has some trouble controlling her strange powers, which alter the weather with her mood. Her great-grandmother, Sulco, has told her that they originate in truth from her great-grandfather, the storm demon Yan. Coren is wary of Yan and the inheritance he has left her, keeping it a desperate secret for fear that the Shadow Crusade might be aimed at her if it were revealed to the House at large. Next time: House Mnemon Mors Rattus fucked around with this message at 00:34 on Apr 27, 2019 |
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2019 00:05
|
|
|
Rand Brittain posted:Basically, the gilmyne in Games of Divinity have a myth about the Saigoth Gates, which are... well, I forget, but the point is they don’t exist but the gilmyne believe in them. And then a later writer, if I remember correctly, claimed that Saigoth was an artificial continent constructed by a First Age Solar who was sick and tired of searching for the Saigoth Gates of the gilmyne. Therefore, Saigoth never really existed, but a Solar named their continent that because that's how First Age Solars do, if they can't find the thing they're convinced exist they make one themselves.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2019 00:18
|
|
|
Oberndorf posted:This bit confuses me. I’ve always gotten the impression that most Dynasts marry for power or breeding, and that lovers are super common. Further, it appears that only the prissiest Dynasts even particularly care about marriage as more than a formality so why does anyone care if their spouse steps out? It’s not like you think they love you, and it’s not as if you love them. It seems like the Realm is aping Victorian social conventions and blending them with a very modern sexual libertinism without reconciling the two. The actual issue is that an open affair looks bad to the spouse, and different spouses have different opinions on this. Marriage matters deeply as a way of organizing society; spousal fidelity matters insofar as it helps maintain that order. Different houses have different opinions, of course, and different individuals, but the most important thing in Dynastic society is never showing weakness. Having a spouse who has affairs you haven't consented to, with someone who might be a social threat to you, can easily be seen as weakness. Especially when the dashing pirate captain acts completely unafraid of you as he seduces your spouse. That's really the issue with his whole thing - extramarital affairs can threaten the spouse's social standing. Moreover, for Dynastic women, there's a threat of the husband's 'progenitive essence' being wasted, which Dynastic marriages are explicitly about controlling. In any case, it's about power and control. I think it works more or less as something that will piss off plenty of Dynasts; nobody ever said Dynastic society wasn't deeply hypocritical.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2019 00:24
|
|
|
Joe Slowboat posted:And then a later writer, if I remember correctly, claimed that Saigoth was an artificial continent constructed by a First Age Solar who was sick and tired of searching for the Saigoth Gates of the gilmyne. Therefore, Saigoth never really existed, but a Solar named their continent that because that's how First Age Solars do, if they can't find the thing they're convinced exist they make one themselves. These were both in Dreams of the First Age, but yeah.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2019 00:31
|
|
|
Joe Slowboat posted:Moreover, for Dynastic women, there's a threat of the husband's 'progenitive essence' being wasted, which Dynastic marriages are explicitly about controlling. In any case, it's about power and control. That's right, you really don't want any possible contenders to your stuff because your idiot husband went off and got someone else pregnant. That alone is bad enough let alone the whole essence thing where they might have messed up their one task of giving you children that exalt. Not providing powerful children is considered a breach of contract! And yeah, Dynastic society is hella hypocritical, that's sort of the point that it's bad bullshit.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2019 01:30
|
|
|
What Fire Has Wrought: First Among Equals House Mnemon, the Earth Carved in the Image of One, is an Earth-Aspect House whose colors are white and purple. Of all the Houses, they are seen as the most devout and the closest to the Immaculates, renowned for their piety and particularly for the fact that Mnemon remains alive and well despite being nearly 400 years old. She established the house 350 years ago and has long relied on public devotion to the Immaculates and emulation of Pasiap by construction of some of the greatest of all temples in the Realm. Since then, they have offered shelter and protection to the Order, supporting them even in dire times and using their reputation for piety to become almost as hard to target politically as the Order themselves. Mnemons study construction, religion and sorcery, with a majority (not much of one, but a majority) of their scions receiving Immaculate training at the Cloister of Wisdom. While some become rigid, others study at distant temples and cities, getting exposure to some of the most outlandish and strange cultures and spiritual paths that Creation has to offer. The House has a flair for the exotic that is almost salacious, and their scholars are known for sometimes heretical wisdom. Despite this, their works always renew their dedication to the Immaculate Order. House Mnemon is either wildly popular or wildly unpopular with the other Great Houses. Their piety is no lie, and the House is deeply spiritual, which means they push a hard line when the Immaculates seem to be ignored...especially Mnemon herself, the unstoppable big fish of Dynastic politics. Her descendants are charismatic dreamers and artists, and the House is full of renowned scholars of all subjects. They are legendarily loyal to their family - spouses, children and the House in general. Some also seek notoriety through the practice of the scandalous art of sorcery. But above all, House Mnemon is known for pride. After all, Mnemon herself is among the greatest of any heroes of the Dynasty, and she continues to tutor her descendants in secret arts of architecture, artifice and sorcerous power. Through her, they know they are the top bearers of the lineage of the Empress, closer to her than any other House. They've kept the blood strong with favorable marriages and are infamously tough bargainers at the marriage table, with a history of snubbing other Great Houses they deem to have less pure bloodlines. House Mnemon was honored by the Empress herself for their skill at construction, and it brings them much of their income. Mnemon herself was an architect as a youth, working in the hinterlands of the Realm to avoid her brother Ragara's assassins. Today, House Mnemon has right of first refusal on any Imperial construction contract. It is the foundation of their wealth and the most visible proof of their piety. Mnemon architects designed many of the grandest structures on the Blessed Isle, including many of its manses, and the House is renowned for its masterful geomantic skill. They oversee and direct the work crews that make the roads, tunnels, bridges, levees, weels and aqueducts across the entire Realm, collecting a fraction of all of the funding for these projects from even the Throne itself. This has made House Ragara a necessary but distasteful business partner, for major projects require major funding, and unforeseen delays mean loans. Mnemon has always regretted her dependence on Ragara credit, and she does not trust the honor of that House at all, given its founder's attempts to murder her in her youth. The relationship is complicated further by recent problems with Mnemon satrapies withholding tribute, which is placing the House in danger of defaulting on its loans - which would give Ragara even more power over them. That's one of Mnemon's nightmares. Before the disappearance of the Empress, House Mnemon had no legions and employed only a small paramilitary security force. In the reformation of the legions, they took five by providing proof that they had both the generals to lead them and the money to maintain them, vowing that it would their duty to defend the Realm against the Anathema. Predictably, several satrapies went into open rebellion when the legions were recalled. One of them was an Eastern satrapy of House Mnemon, Jiara, which provided food, textiles and sorcerous relics. Jiara was particularly problematic because it was the stronghold of a group of Solar Anathema that raised the country in revolt against the Mnemon garrison - not the distant threat of the Bull of the North, but a Solar outbreak right on their doorstep. Mnemon moved the bulk of her forces away from their defenses in Dejis Prefecture and other House strongholds to personally lead the reclamation of Jiara. In doing so, she delivered a scorching tirade condemning the other Houses for their indolence, which has drawn many unaffiliated Dragon-Bloods to her cause. She has left about one and a half legions at home to protect her interets and has instead invited the Order to use many of her family's homes, temples and manses for festivals, in the hopes that their presence will make the other Houses hesitate to attack. The elders of the House would like to ally with House Pelpes. Their naval might and reputation as exemplars of virtue work well with House Mnemon's piety and reputation for magnanimity to ensure they are popular with the mortal populace of the Realm, which Mnemon's inner circle thinks will end up deciding the civil war. However, stable alliances mean intermarriage, and while House Mnemon respects the shared values of sophistication, ambition and resolve, she doesn't like the Peleps pedigree. She also undervalues the love of the people, because they have never loved her. She would rather use the Peleps as a sword against the V'neef, but not at the cost of promising them control of the Merchant Fleet. The House would also like an alliance with the Cathak, who are devout and command a formidable army. Mnemon knows that if she wants the throne, she's going to need to go through them eventually. However, she'd like to angle herself to be the only legitimate contender first, or else delay confrontation long enough to deal with the other Houses. House Ledaal has prven an unexpected potential ally. They respect Mnemon as a potent leader and admire her for taking the fight to the Anathema personally, despite the risks. As a candidate for Empress, they believe her to be sympathetic to their goal of wiping out threats to the Realm in the Threshold. Howeve,r their major holdings and forces are on the opposite side of the Blessed Isle, which makes their ability to cooperate in battle somewhat limited. Instead, the most abiding support House Mnemon has is the Immaculate Order. Mnemon famous promised one third of her children to the Order, and the House continues this tradition, though not all to that extent. Donating public works to the ORder's care and repairing their temples at nearly no cost has earned them much affection, and while the Order remains officially neutral in Great House conflicts, its leaders privately consider Mnemon one of the few candidates spiritually fit for the Throne. They are paying vast amounts of money for construction projects right now in the quiet understanding that this money will, for the moment, go to other uses. All other Houses are either rivals or enemies. In theory, House Sesus is an ally. In practice, they are a roadblock. While heavily intermarried with Mnemon's House, she has no belief that they will be loyal, and she knows better than to try and goad them into fighting her battles. She will retain the alliance as long as possible, but Mnemon knows that she will need, at some point, to humble the Sesus. Worse, House Cynis has them under heavy influence and is using them to further Cynis ambitions, which means they will be coming into conflict sooner rather than later. Even worse is V;neef - the woman, that is, not the House. V'neef got all of the Empress' beauty, charm and joie de vivre that Mnemon did not, which has undercut Mnemon's public persona as the image of the Empress. However, Mnemon has largely kept this grudge political rather than personal - she acts against V'neef interests in the Deliberative and sabotages V'neef careers, but has not moved any further than that. Her true hate is reserved for House Ragara. While Ragara himself is aging and retired, Mnemon has never forgotten his many efforts to kill her. She also hates the centuries of debt her House has accrued, especially among its younger generations. While House Ragara eagerly gave them credit on good terms while the Empress was around, they now squeeze the Mnemons financially and try to suborn them. Mnemon will under no circumstance whatsoever seek any alliances in the civil war that would put her on the same side as the Ragaras. She plans to decimate House Ragara and force them to pay war reparations as well as canceling her family's debts. Dejis Prefecture is the center of Mnemon power, northeast of the Imperial Mountain. Once it was full of weak demesnes, but the House has carefully remade the geography to grow stronger ones, allowing a number of powerful manses throughout the prefecture's many hills and cliffsides. The mountains of Dejis are especially known for their temples, manses and other holy structures built by the Mnemons. The capital is Mnemon-Darjilis, built on the restored ruins of the First Age city Darjilis by Mnemon herself. Other cities include Chainbright, built into a cliff face between waterfalls, and Ajakai of the Jewels, full of museums and tombs to the siblings that Ragara slew, centuries back. They also control the vacation destination that is Halcyon Prefecture, where shepherds drive their flocks through beautiful First Age ruins and hold parties in resort towns like Iru-by-the-Sea, where the men of House Mnemon often hold court alongside the widowers that married into the House from Houses Cynis and Sesus. Painters and poets prefer toe island Aura, where Mnemon tamed the spirits and dragon lines to raise a manse named the House of Violet Pergolas, which bathes the entire island in healthy energies. A massive spay complex encircles the place, accessible only to House Mnemon and its scions' personal guests. The satrapy of Paragon is an important holding in the Threshold. The locals there have no fear of thieves or con artists, and visiting Dynasts are welcome guests. The buildings are green-black basalt and white marble, leaid out in a perfect grid centered on the mosaic-covered palace of the Perfect of Paragon, a former scavenger prince and archaeologist who took power many years ago with the aid of a First Age relic that prolongs his mortal lifespan and binds his citizens to total obedience of his laws. His rule over Paragon is absolute, but he has never shown any sign of disobeying the satrap, as he knows that for all his power, he would have no hope of defeating the Realm's legions. Mnemon is often seen as the closest there has been to the Empress herself. She is a brilliant, ruthless sorcerer of unmatched skill in the entiry Dynasty. For centuries, she has brought power and wealth to her House, and now she is ready to take her mother's throne. And if the Dynasty actually wanted a second Scarlet Empress, she'd have done so already. Despite her age, she appears barely over thirty, which she claims is the results of practicing the Immaculate martial arts and maintaining attunement to specially designed Earth manses, though surely sorcery is also involved. She dresses richly but severely and prefers a spartan and austere lifestyle, which she has maintained since her years with the Immaculate Order, centuries back. She has no patience for flattery and finds actions much more significant than words. She loves her family, but she truly trusts only a small handful of people enough to give them responsibility over the House's interests. Almost all of them are at least a century old, as she finds younger and more inexperienced scions to lack the knowledge she requires, and are almost all blood relatives, though a few are lovers or the spouses of her descendants. Each is bound to her, either by fear or obligation, because Mnemon knows better than to trust anyone who might be able to betray her without immediately dooming themselves. The inner circle has no official rank or standing, and it never meets formally, but its members know each other and often meet informally at family events or correspond with each other. They rarely overtly work against each other, as Mnemon has no patience for feuding. Notable members include Senator Mnemon Oroth, who has knowledge of the scandals of practically every member of the Greater Chamber within her balding head, Cynios Solado, a doctor and poisoner of extreme skill and father of one of Mnemon's daughters, and the monk Mnemon caras FArim, who keeps an eye out for Iselsi subversion in the Immaculate Order, particularly from a specific assistant to the Mouth of Peace. Mnemon Rulinsei looks much older than her sister, Mnemon, but she is actually the younger of the two. She lost an eye and a hand to Ragara's assassins long ago, and Mnemon adopted her as a daughter for her protection. After outliving two Cynis husbands, she has retired to Mnemon-Darjilis to lead her large household and serve in Mnemon's inner circle. She is a master of geomancy and a sorcerer of middling skill who has traveled many realms, debated philosophy with the ghosts of Shogunate savants and studied architecture with demons. Her hand has been replaced with the black jade artifact Demon sTrangler, which glows with ultramarine glyphs, and she wears a patch over a starmetal eye that magnifies her second sight intensely. Rulinsei is currently placing her affairs in order, because she is completely and perfectly loyal to the sister that saved her life. She is ready to give up her own life, which she considers long enough already, to put Mnemon on the throne. Dragonlord Mnemon Pallan is a skilled officer in the Sesus legions and a good fencer, but his real fame is as a poet. His works have been compiled and published by his wife, Sesus Elissa, and they've earned him fame among the Realm's literary circles. They focus on the might of the legions, their honor, the majesty of the Realm and the glory of death to ensure victory. These poems are sung at military banquets or chanted by marching troops, for they inspire officer and foot soldier alike. Pallan is a sight to behold in society, with his good looks, eloquence and generosity earning him many lovers. Rumor has it that he even had a night with the Empress herself, though he does not speak of it. His longest-running affair, with Ragara Sarisan, has been going on for over a decade. His family disapproves but will not speak of it, for fear of breaking the polite fiction of fidelity. The problem is that Sarisan's first child may be Pallan's, which would be a grave offense to House Sesus, who by rights have claim to the potency of his progenitive Essence. Mnemon Rulinsei Ghova is one of the best armorers in the entirety of the Realm, but his wares are rarely in demand. This is because he covers them with phantasmagorical images - storms covered in eyes, beasts with flames for heads, vines with flowers of human hands. Some reject this because of its heretical iconism, others because it's just weird as gently caress. He is inspired by opium dreams and the traumatic memories of his time in the bordermarches, where he and his Hearth quested for the Noumenon and fought the raksha Llirian-Llai, She Who Drinks the Wine of Light. Only the Wyld Hunt can draw him from his salon, temple or forge. He always wears a veil, an affectation that is tied to his private heretical belief that the Immaculate Dragons have withdrawn to beyond time itself as living bodhisattvas, ready to return in the Realm's time of need. In doctrinal debate with his family, he supports his beliefs with scriptural quotations and particularly the apocryphal Hollow Codex. While his family disagrees, they respect his views as long as he doesn't raise any awkward questions via proselytizing. Recently, he believes he's seen the Dragons themselves in an opium haze, instructing him to seek their glorious reincarnations in the Threshold. Next time: House Nellens
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2019 01:38
|
|
|
There's a picture of Mnemon with a huge poo poo-eating grin as she makes a statue of herself that is a 100% perfect summary of her character. It's good.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2019 01:54
|
|
|
Mnemon is one of my favorite characters in the entirety of Exalted at this point, and I'll get into why when we get to her stat writeup. Suffice to say: she is a pretty complex figure and is neither fully good nor fully bad. And she's a really good grandma.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2019 01:55
|
|
|
Mors Rattus posted:Mnemon is one of my favorite characters in the entirety of Exalted at this point, and I'll get into why when we get to her stat writeup. Suffice to say: she is a pretty complex figure and is neither fully good nor fully bad. And she's a really good grandma. Glad they retconned away the whole "eternally 16" thing. Would still have her blowing up the Heptagram.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2019 02:02
|
|
|
MuscaDomestica posted:Glad they retconned away the whole "eternally 16" thing. Would still have her blowing up the Heptagram. The main thing preventing it is that she's older than the Heptagram - she went to school at the Versino, which was the sorcerous academy preceding it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2019 02:06
|
|
|
Mors Rattus posted:The main thing preventing it is that she's older than the Heptagram - she went to school at the Versino, which was the sorcerous academy preceding it. I'm pretty sure she still was involved in the Versino being destroyed. Everyone loves/fears Mnemon! She's terrible, it's great. Mnemon smiling as she carved a statue of herself frowning is a work of beauty.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2019 02:16
|
|
|
Oh, almost certainly. And it was probably Ragara's fault. Seriously that guy's awful. Mnemon's a cool grandma! And, y'know, a terrifying foe who wants to rule the world. But nobody's perfect. e: like when I say cool grandma I mean that Mnemon has time for all of her family. If one of her great-grandchildren needs someone to talk them through a nervous breakdown and help them be ready to go off to school grandma's genuinely and truly here for you, baby. just, uh, she wants to rule the world. Mors Rattus fucked around with this message at 02:21 on Apr 27, 2019 |
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2019 02:17
|
|
|
Joe Slowboat posted:The actual issue is that an open affair looks bad to the spouse, and different spouses have different opinions on this. Marriage matters deeply as a way of organizing society; spousal fidelity matters insofar as it helps maintain that order. Different houses have different opinions, of course, and different individuals, but the most important thing in Dynastic society is never showing weakness. Having a spouse who has affairs you haven't consented to, with someone who might be a social threat to you, can easily be seen as weakness. Especially when the dashing pirate captain acts completely unafraid of you as he seduces your spouse. That's really the issue with his whole thing - extramarital affairs can threaten the spouse's social standing. My knowledge dates from 1E but in that: * Everyone is having affairs all the time * Everyone is supposed to pretend they aren't * Noticing fact 1 is extremely rude and will make you a social outcast * Being so blatant that you leave other people no choice but to notice that you're having an affair is also very rude As long as you present the faintest fig leaf that this is not in fact your illicit lover, everyone will go along with that. (In 1E the Houses were running a eugenics program so having children with anyone other than your spouse was also a substantial faux-pas. But not as big a faux-pas as mentioning that someone else had a child with someone other than their spouse)
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2019 03:14
|
|
|
Mors Rattus posted:Oh, almost certainly. And it was probably Ragara's fault. Does she also teach them to throw fireballs and/or curses at those they despise? Because I might overlook the world domination thing in that case.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2019 03:17
|
|
|
 Inquisitor The Anatomy of a Character So, our Inquisitor is a Recongregator of the Ordo Scriptorum. Seeing as this ties into some very fun concepts, Inquisitor Janoslav is starting to come together conceptually. The mechanics of Inquisitor should seem moderately familiar with anyone who’s played the 40k RPGs, mixed up with a bit of Rogue Trader and their own unique design elements. It is, after all, a miniatures game, for all that entails, and so it sits in an incredibly strange place when compared to other wargames and RPGs. The goal of a game of Inquisitor is to create a story using the rules of this book, along with the terrain and miniatures that you are using. This was conceived as something that is vastly different in scope and tone to the mainline game; as mentioned before, you’re not fielding mighty armies, but individual models that should have backstory and motivation. This is not a wargame, but rather, a Narrative Wargame, in the style of old scenario-based games. The 54mm miniatures that were set as the “default” scale for Inquisitor certainly help that. There’s an apocryphal story that the reason for the scale choice was so that players wouldn’t be tempted to turn it into another 40k game and ignore the flavor and intended themes by porting in all of their aliens and space marines. After all, what would be the point of writing a game about weird members of the Inquisition and their retinue if all players would ask for is how to stat up their favorite space marine character to go fight orks, but larger? One essential player that could take wargamers by surprise is the Gamemaster, who is described as the impartial observer and referee of Inquisitor, who prepares the scenarios, makes in-game rulings based on what players want to do if it isn’t covered by the main rules, and sometimes even controls a few models, although most of the time, they are there to adjudicate, inject tension, and make the game go smoothly. My thoughts: This is almost word-for-word some of the concepts that have been brought up by the OSR movement. It’s weird to say, but I think my current view of Inquisitor is influenced by that - there’s the similar sense of it being an ‘evocative’ game where the concept of balance is eschewed in a lot of design for narrative convenience. It’s the kind of old-school throwback that’s gaining popularity, except it was made in 2001, before the whole OSR movement as we know it got started. As someone pointed out, this is obviously a passion project for Gav Thorpe, and he still answers questions about it, much like Tuomas Piranen still gives answers about the design and ideas behind Mordheim. Aside from that, there’s the usual spiel about materials needed to play the game. The basic resolution system is d100 roll-under-stat, though it has some unique twists that are part of what I decided to do this writeup. When explaining these dice mechanics, they helpfully point out what to do about fractions, modifiers, and distances. Fractions round down if less than 0.5, up otherwise. Modifiers do division/multiplication, and then addition/subtraction. Distances are all given in yards, but they recommend 1 yard = 1 inch. Nothing incredibly exciting. Characteristics should be mostly familiar to people who have seen the other WHFRP/40k RPGs here. They’re split into Physical and Mental, and most of them were carried over into the later games. They are on a scale of 1-100, with 100 being essentially the human maximum and certain things allowing you to surpass that:
You’ve probably noticed a few things about the averages - for one, none of them seem to be on the same scale, so a 50 in BS is a lot more impressive than a 50 in WS. There’s also the fact that it’s pretty clear that Initiative is the key stat, as with all games with an action economy. This, of course, brings us to the Derived and Miscellaneous Stats, which is where we determine some other stats based off of the bigger numbers.
This section is my first real quibble with the organization, as there are a few derived characteristics that can be calculated now. I would have included the other derived statistics here as part of the general characteristics, rather than waiting to introduce them. Most of them are static during a game, so there’s no real reason to wait, although when looking at the game as a teaching aid, it does make sense to have them come up later in the book. Since we’re preparing our own Inquisitor, we’ll skip ahead to rolling for stats - it should be noted that there are absolutely no guidelines for character creation beyond some suggested stat ranges. We’ll use the suggested stat ranges for a standard Inquisitor for Janoslav:
Character generation generally makes a badass Inquisitor. Seeing the above stats, you can see that he’s a drat capable combatant, with pretty high skill in melee, great reaction and willpower, and generally high abilities. Other members of his Inquisitorial warband will a little less ridiculous. Now that we have these stats, let’s see how Inquisitor Janoslav can perform actions. There will be a few more derived stats later on, but they’re pretty quick to figure out. Now that we know how well he can do things, let’s see how to actually do things. To keep up participation, suggest concepts for the other members of this little Inquisitorial cell. As badass as Inquisitor Janoslav is, he can’t reform the Imperium’s Most Holy Bureaucracy on his own, and I can pull a few more archetypes out to show how other characters are made. Rather than rolling, the GM can assign characteristics, and this lets me make less ridiculous characters for some of the other roles. Plus, it’ll play a part in a secret aspect of this review. Next time: Actions and movement!
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2019 03:17
|
|
|
Every Inquisitorial cell needs a terrified Adept. All of them. Also a Sister Dialogus would be a perfect fit. Can he have a bored Techpriest who is wondering why they're here, or an Arbitrator who is excited to see new laws to smash into peoples' faces with the proper paperwork?
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2019 03:20
|
|
|
wiegieman posted:Does she also teach them to throw fireballs and/or curses at those they despise? Because I might overlook the world domination thing in that case. I mean, in any game I'd GM? Yeah if you want to learn sorcery from Grandma Mnemon, she will happily be your mentor and give you nice cookies and sit up with you when you're sick and hold your hand and teach you how to curse your foes and place Grandma Mnemon on the throne of the world. e: to me this is half the fun of playing Dynasts. Yes, your relatives probably include some people who want terrible things or do awful poo poo or stomp their boot on the colonial faces of the Threshold. But they love you and care about you and want you to be happy, genuinely and truly, and your friendships and camaraderies and feuds and passions matter. Being Dragon-Blooded is like being in a pro wrestling soap opera with elemental powers. Mors Rattus fucked around with this message at 03:49 on Apr 27, 2019 |
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2019 03:46
|
|
|
The thing about Mnemon in 2e is that she was a heinous bitch with no real good qualities and everybody in the setting knew this. The thing I like about Mnemon in 3e is that I'm not actually sure whether she has real good qualities now or whether maybe she just has a much better front.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2019 03:52
|
|
|
My read on her is that, partially as a result of her childhood traumas, she doesn't trust anyone but herself and her descendants - which also means if you betray her, you are going to suffer. But she's incredibly ambitious in part because she literally cannot imagine being safe without being powerful to an unrivaled degree. So, a sympathetic person in some ways and a terrifying Empress-style tyrant in the offing. E: and this extends to her family: she wants to keep them safe and happy, and literally can't imagine how they could be safe or happy in the long run without her protection or advice.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2019 04:02
|
|
|
^^^Yea her worldview and ethos are very much rooted in the core idea of 'I want my family safe, the only way I can be SURE they're safe is if I'm on the throne protecting them'. Once you figure that out she becomes a simultaneously more sympathetic and dangerous character Mnemon is the best, she's never really made clear if the whole 'kinda off kilter openly harsh and ambitious godlike being who only cares for her family' is an act to keep rivals on their toes and from thinking they're easy prey or if she just is one opening away from saying 'gently caress all you bitches, I'm Scarlet Empress now, do something if you disagree' and knows not many can actually stop her. Her and the sisters running Cynis are probably my favorites, I love Cynis' general vibe of 'yea we're just kinda openly the scheming spymaster hedonists. What of it? We're gods to 99% of you and our weird mutual assured destruction web of secrets keeps poo poo in line' and the three sisters are cool at representing different elements of that. I also love that Cynis is about the weakest house military wise just because they literally pick soldiers/guards for looks above all else. Like, some all powerful dragonblooded who's a genuine contender for the throne of their empire going 'look I want our stronghold protected but if you bring me one more uggo general I'm gonna burn this house down myself' is extremely On Brand. Dragonblooded are so good, guys. sexpig by night fucked around with this message at 04:18 on Apr 27, 2019 |
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2019 04:16
|
|
|
Hedningen posted:To keep up participation, suggest concepts for the other members of this little Inquisitorial cell. As badass as Inquisitor Janoslav is, he can’t reform the Imperium’s Most Holy Bureaucracy on his own, and I can pull a few more archetypes out to show how other characters are made. Rather than rolling, the GM can assign characteristics, and this lets me make less ridiculous characters for some of the other roles. Plus, it’ll play a part in a secret aspect of this review. A tech-priest who washed out of the cult in shame because he's allergic to augmetics. Edit: Lassie. Literally just a really really good dog. RiotGearEpsilon fucked around with this message at 04:46 on Apr 27, 2019 |
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2019 04:39
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 28, 2024 14:19 |
|
|
A biokinetic psyker who claims that they're just using all kinds of experimental combat drugs.
|
|
#
?
Apr 27, 2019 04:41
|
|