[OOC] The Relics (No Plot/Fantasy/Character Driven/Worthy of Skepticism)

[WilsonTurner]

'Twas observing monstrous chipmunks in Alida's post-post [signature], when the thought of all the strange combinations of animals in Avatar came to mind, and suddenly wondered, is the world of [insert-the-name-here] consisting of a few such strange hybrids? Twould be a sight indeed.

[Ellri]

if such exist, which is quite possible, it would not be strange to the people there. To someone who has spent his (or her) entire life far inland, the sea is a wonder. To a fisherman, the sea is commonplace. Same can be said for unusual creatures. To people of Earth, a squirrel-tailed mammoth would be quite odd. To someone in a world where that creature actually exists normally, it would be nothing special.

If anyone wants to suggest things for the invasion, like what exactly they've taken so far, we're open for suggestions. We have some ideas, but as they're not fleshed out yet, they can be changed.

[AlidaMaria]

WilsonTurner said
'Twas observing monstrous chipmunks in Alida's post-post [signature], when the thought of all the strange combinations of animals in Avatar came to mind, and suddenly wondered, is the world of [insert-the-name-here] consisting of a few such strange hybrids? Twould be a sight indeed.

Monstrous chipmunks? Unless you mean this cutie badgermole from Avatar or if you happened to see that these girls are youkai from Otome Youkai Zakuro I have no idea what you're talking about, lol.

[Guilty Spark]

WilsonTurner said
'Twas observing monstrous chipmunks in Alida's post-post [signature], when the thought of all the strange combinations of animals in Avatar came to mind, and suddenly wondered, is the world of [insert-the-name-here] consisting of a few such strange hybrids? Twould be a sight indeed.

Azukhar, it's in the OP.

@Alida, it's probably the badger-moles.

[Ellri]

we got half a post ready now, but there's something we're missing. Not sure what yet.

[Guilty Spark]

Genocide?

Flaming oil barrels?

Using peasants as human shields?

[Ellri]

Not Kalesian style. At least not in this phase.

We're thinking that with how the inner and outer cities are so separated... might be that there's a bit of dislike among the outer city commoners and the powerful folks inside? Would that be ok to work on as a thread?

[WilsonTurner]

http://i.imgur.com/7ARyYmP.gif
This one

[Guilty Spark]

Ellri said
Not Kalesian style. At least not in this phase.

We're thinking that with how the inner and outer cities are so separated... might be that there's a bit of dislike among the outer city commoners and the powerful folks inside? Would that be ok to work on as a thread?

That could be, if you take into account that this was a transitory period to a new King who was widely admired by the common folks during his years as the Prince. However, I can see how you can still manage to turn them against him.

[Ellri]

Its not impossible for the relations to be that they hate the nobles, but still love the king. Its not unheard of.

[Guilty Spark]

True, this reminds me of the Seanchan invasion of Ebou Dar in the Wheel of Time series.

And the Seanchan invasion of almost everything else in the Wheel of Time.

[Ellri]

It was an effective form of invasion. Those invasions designed to merely wreak havoc just don't work as well.

[Guilty Spark]

I'm afraid of seeing what your military evokers will do, now that I'm thinking of it.

[No Bite and All Bark]

Would anyone mind if i made a CS for some characters i plan to introduce and use later?

I have an idea for "Barron Blackwill and Beatrice Blackwill" A married pair of evokers who lead a mysterious gang that pull the strings of a coastal towns leader.

[Ellri]

Post is finally up, after a full rewrite. We didn't like the bit we made yesterday, so we discarded it. We'd have liked more information in now, but it was more important to get things moving.

By this post, they've conquered all but the docks of the outer city and that lack is quickly being mended.

one thing we wonder if anyone has thoughts on... as it is on a peninsula, the city of Amaryth has a pretty long waterfront. Currently about 8.4km. Any thoughts on how to shorten it?

here's also a bit of OoC stuff in the form of a couple of bare-bones NPC sheets and a new rank in the Imperial war machine.

Kalesian army NPC sheets

Name: Katarína Kovac
Age: 44
Gender: Female
Rank: Processus

Name: Sykora
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Rank: Commander
Known: Former Mauler cavalry. Skilled commander now. Nominally in charge of the campaign.

Name: Jahoda
Age: 36
Gender: Female
Rank: Commander
Known: Not as senior as Sykora. More hands-on, direct confrontation. Not a brilliant tactician, but stubborn. Loyal.

Kalesian Military Ranks

Processus:
In a Kalesian Army, the Processus is the individual in charge of guiding the commanders’ efforts so that they are as the best they can be. He or she is made aware of every development in a battle, be it major or minor. Where commanders decide which specific tactics to use, the Processus tries to know everything and ensure that all units are in the right places according to the main plan. They’re far from perfect. And they’re not really good fighters, as after the absolute basic training, they were focused entirely upon theoretics.

Commander:
Unlike most armies, there isn't just one commander. Sure, there's one in command over the others, but he, or she, holds the same rank as every other commander. Representatives of the Empress can promote and demote such at need. By the time any reaches this rank, he or she is fully capable of leading an entire army, thus the act of having a commander assassinated isn't as deliberating to the army on the whole as it is in other nations' armies. Most commanders have achieved several great victories before their ascension to the rank of Commander.

Kalesian Nobility

Kalesian Nobility:

The nobility of the Kalesian Empire is hardly the standard when it comes to the upper echelons of power. Where in many lands the nobility are envied or even hated by those below them for often arrogant or cruel behaviour, the class generally known as ‘nobility’ in the Empire is far different. The Empire does not value bloodlines so much as it values competence and the willingness to contribute to the good of all Kalesian society, thus, those that bear a title in the Empire have very likely earned it.

In order to be declared a noble, a Kalesian citizen must have the approval of the existing nobles as well as the Grand Imperial University and the governor of the closest city. The stringent and demanding standards these groups will hold people to ensure that only individuals that can truly live up to Kalesian ideals will join the highest echelon of society. The only exceptions to this are either the favour of a Quaesitor or the Empress herself. Furthermore, once a Noble, one must continue to prove one's worth in academic, economic or civil areas. A noble proving particularly lax for any length of time will have their title stripped and will not be able to regain it, encouraging dedicated service to the good of the Empire. The Empress possesses Veto power on both the instatement and demotion of nobles, but rarely is this power used.

Bloodlines do exist among the nobility, and the Empire is not without long standing noble families. Children of noble parentage (where only one parent need be a noble) are considered to be noble until the age of eighteen (unless confirmed as nobility earlier), though lacking titles throughout this time. At the age of twelve, their actions and temperament begin to come under a review known as the Titling trial. If they consistently meet the standards against which they are measured for two years, they will be granted full titles. Should a noble child have failed to live up to the standard for at least one year by the time they reach eighteen, they are demoted back into the common citizenry. This means that the oldest a noble child may be granted full titles is nineteen, though it is rare that the successful ones have not proven themselves before this. Those that do not make it at this time will conditionally be either banned from attempting to regain their position as if they’d been stripped of title or allowed to regain it in the future. Such a rule is to ensure that those with late blooming potential are not penalised, while those that clearly are unworthy of a privileged position are never allowed another chance.

The tradition of naming within noble bloodlines is one that ensures the nobles names continue. A child of one noble and one commoner bears only the nobles name, regardless of genders involved. The child of two nobles will carry both the nobles family names, with the order determined by their gender. A female child will have her mothers name first and fathers second, while a male child will have his fathers first and mothers second. In the case of a parent that bears two names, they will pass on only the first of their family names, a rule instituted not long after the modern practice of nobility was established to ensure that names did not become exceedingly long, as well as to dissuade dynastic tendencies somewhat.

Quaesitor:
Individuals who bear this title wander are generally well into adulthood by the time they gain it. They might be men or women, gender is of no relevance. While the title tends to move in families, its not exactly hereditary. The traits most common to Quaesitors are often hereditary, but also a bit cultural. If your father (or mother) is extremely fond of wandering the land, chances are you might end up sharing that interest.

Their role, is to wander the empire and find individuals suited especially for different services to the empire, be it military, research, government, or virtually any other. The attention of a Quaesitor is sufficient for individuals of otherwise no chances in life to reach the highest ranks in Kalesian society. If your family are the poorest of farmers, its not normally likely you’d have much chance of being anything else yourself. Changing that is the very goal of the Quaesitors, given that you show the potential for it. According to imperial policy, low (or high) birth should not be a barrier.

Quaesitors can also assign new noble names if they deem it necessary. Or they can ‘recommend’ that a certain noble family adopts someone particularly suited to their favored field. While a noble family can say no here, most generally do not. Quaesitors do not bear family names, as they might come from any origins within the empire.

Imperial Evokers

Ivona Danica - Speed, strength, etc. + gifting - Vocator leader (Sep)
Unknown - Empress (All the sparse evidence indicates she is some form of Evoker)
Alessia Rezalla-Rhidian - fear & calm - Kalesian Noble (Echo)
Slavómir “Weaver” Rezník - Shadow weaver - imperial citizen
Unknown - Fire field creator - presumed imperial citizen
Unknown - Metal field creator - presumed imperial citizen
Unknown (female) - Farseer - Imperial citizen
Jana - Shaker - Imperial citizen
Unknown - Unknown - Imperial citizen
may be more.

[Guilty Spark]

@Ellri, the information looks good. I'll read the IC post in a second. When you say "shorten it" do you mean shorten the cities access to the waterfront, by say limiting the size of the docks? And if you make any more quick CS, or add any more ranks, edit them into that message. I'll link it in the OP as "Kalesian Military Ranks & Personnel"

@All Bark, I don't see why not.

[Ellri]

Limiting access. I.e. make the docks cover not the entire 8.4km length.

One option is always some sort of cliff or such, but we wouldn't mind ideas from people. Including where to place such, and how much to place it on. While vertical stone walls is possible to do there and would be relatively easy to draw, we'd rather have something less regular and more imaginative. The height is also something we wouldn't mind suggestions for. Anything up to around 130m is ok without too much remodeling. We'd rather also maintain fairly low height near the outer walls. Especially the western wall, where the wall is better drawn.

Oh, and there's a river entering the lake at around 3.6km from the eastern outer wall. That would need taking into account for any cliffs or whatever.

[WilsonTurner]

I'm going to have to go on without Sep; the IC is progressing faster than he or I can roleplay in sync, and he's mostly absent. Soz.

[Ellri]

Toss him a PM. Then you can work out a longer post through that. He won't mind.

[Guilty Spark]

Ellri said
Limiting access. I.e. make the docks cover not the entire 8.4km length.

One option is always some sort of cliff or such, but we wouldn't mind ideas from people. Including where to place such, and how much to place it on. While vertical stone walls is possible to do there and would be relatively easy to draw, we'd rather have something less regular and more imaginative. The height is also something we wouldn't mind suggestions for. Anything up to around 130m is ok without too much remodeling. We'd rather also maintain fairly low height near the outer walls. Especially the western wall, where the wall is better drawn.

Oh, and there's a river entering the lake at around 3.6km from the eastern outer wall. That would need taking into account for any cliffs or whatever.

Are there any historical references to draw from? I've never been good with coastal cities, or the like.