A Different World: The Age of Heroes [IC|Closed]

by **Ovstylap** » Mon Dec 19, 2022 3:37 pm

Years Thirteen and Fourteen of the Ravarii

Another river! Another river! It was far to the north of Ravar that was for sure, but amongst the freemen they considered that if there was another civilisation then surely it would be established next to a prominent source of water and prime fertile grounds- whether for wild crops or for hunting grounds. As such they trekked north, occaisonally moving by night in order to increase their knowledge of the stars, and to improve their skills.

In Ravar itself great amounts of activity were occurring as hills were cleaved into to yield their bedrock, which was being carved in greater quantities than ever in the history of the Ravarii. Meanwhilst, there had been a breakthrough in the carving of Runes. Now they were beginning to shine. There was widespread celebration, and many rejoiced in their choice to have been taken under the wings of their elders.

Now that many more children were being born and delivered safely, there was a desire to seek the blessings of the Merciful Ones through the crafting of runes to improve resistance to disease and infection in the wake of wounds. After all, if Thusnelda's people lived more years of productivity, surely then would the future generations be blessed by their work.

In the nights, many pondered how many other tribes were out there. Thus far, only the smallest of tribes and clans had been occasionally accounted over the past dozen years, with a number of those simply being people who decided to leave Ravar to be in touch with nature, or after grieving the loss of their families.

Ah how life appeared to be good for the Ravarii. Once again, in the October, a time of thanksgiving occurred for the deliverance of the people from the great lizard. Intricate carvings of the lizard, and of depictions of men hunting it (something which had never truly happened in the end, only imagined by ambitious men) were made, and left in a sacred grove between the urban and hilly rural districts. (-1 Stone, +1 Intricate Carvings)

by **Ralnis** » Tue Dec 20, 2022 12:23 am

Xcotl

Silence, there was a complete silence from the Muxpei. The Night Butterfly didn't send anymore whispers, there were no secrets, no answers, nothing. All of Xcotl were confused as to why. Everything they have given to them and more so. But, perhaps the Muxpei require more? Xantipak couldn't understand the omens were clear! But... But it matters not, Xcotl had been in exile for one hundred years and they can survive for more. Even as they're ever closer to making new promises to their Bloody Pantheon, the scholars just had to continue. As of now, the Immortal One must continue on the affairs of the city as of right now.

The major one was to find the home of the Ocarans. They were receptive to more diplomatic ties when they left years ago. They also had access to knowledge of the cloudy ore that there's north of them which means they are far from the mountains. They also have been east, so perhaps they're closer than the explorers expected? Xantipak allowed for an expedition north and east of them to find the city and be able to make formal contact with them and see about establishing some mutual understanding. Trading was a necessity in trying to rebuild the people as they once were.

With the new amount of people means more food would be needed. Of course, the replacement of the Brazing Bulls was of most importance, even with the new Paddocks that were made to compensate for the loss. Those new people would be needed to at least make sure that new ones were replaced. As for the new population growth, new housing was to be made but so is the making of a new artisans from the freemen. It was something that Xantipak knew the people of Blood desperately needed.

A new source of wealth that came from the people was better than just the palace itself. It would be a change of pace that came from just the taxes of wheat and bone jewelry. Another way of doing so is trying to relearn the art of tanning in making the hides of the Brazing Bulls into further wealth but as of right now, the power of their economy is focused on their agriculture and their blessed cattle.

by **Novas Arcanum** » Tue Dec 20, 2022 7:30 am

中國

"Your highness something must be done! These peasants! Have they no shame!? They bring dishonor and shame to the ancestors by committing such acts of wanton violence!" Qin Li said to King Wei Liang after bowing low to the Son of Heaven. Qin Li was referring to the violent and superstitious acts perpetuated by the peasants who had taken a liking to a peculiar and new sport that had grown in popularity in the courtyards and fields of Zhai Cheng.

Has King Wei Liang listened to Qin Li he sighed deep in thought, as he considered his options. "Yes and what would you have me do Qin Li?" Wei Liang said in a calm, collected voice.

"For this dishonor they must be punished! First the sport must be outlawed. Then every man, woman who still chooses to play this barbaric thing they call a sport they and their family lines should be punished severely!" Qin Li said in an exasperated tone of voice.

King Wei Liang looked at Qin Li." I will... consider your proposal. You may leave now" He said waving him away. Qin Li bowed once more and exited the building. King Wei Liang got up Qin Li's proposal was too extreme it would incite anger from the peasants. Still he was right, these acts of violence did bring dishonor to the ancestors they would not approve of such barbarism.

There must be order and civility. King Wei Liang grabbed his chin as he thought of a more productive and positive way to bring that about.

Beginning of the Year

Starting resources: Salt, Medicinal herbs, Tin, Rice.
Zhai Cheng (Palisade): 1400 Population | 800 Peasants, 100 Artisans, 300 Scholars,100 Explorers,100 Freemen
8 Riverlands, 8 Flatlands, 4 Hills
Palace District: [ ] [0/XX]
Urban Hill: [4 Huts, Creche][II/XX]
Artisan Flatland: [3 Stonecutter's] [II/XX]
Rural Riverland: [ ] [0/XX]
Rural Hill: [ 2 Quarries] [II/XX]
Advancements: Medicinal Herb Comprehension, Social Contract, Labor Coordination Food Preservation.

Government: Celestial Monarchy

Stat Descriptions(So I don't have to keep going back and fourth)

Palace District: Labor 5, Wealth 6, Industry 2 | Provides a seat of government from which a peoples' business are administered. | Terrain: Any, except Sea. Grants +1 Public Order per year. +1 Wealth per year, 2 Housing.
Riverland: 4 Food
Hills:2 Food, or 2 Stone
Flatland: 3 Food, or 1 Food and 1 Timber or Stone
Urban: 1 Food, 1 Wealth per Trade Post - twenty sites for Constructions (Urban) | Constructed
Rural: 2 Food - twenty sites for Constructions (Rural) | Constructed

City-State Ledger

Citizen Actions:
200 Scholars[Palace]ponders the mysteries of a strange silvery white metal with a bluish tinge → [Innovate Tin Smithing, +I Public Order, +I Wealth, +II Housing, +II Tech Roll]
100 Scholars [Urban] ponders the mysteries of a strange silvery white metal with a bluish tinge → [Innovate Tin Smithing, +III Housing, +I Tech Roll]
100 Artisans [Artisans] cut and shape stone → [+ IV Wealth, +I Labor]
400 Peasants labor in the lands of their ancestors harvesting rice as they have for countless eons → [+XVI Food, +IV Labor]
100 Soldiers [Bows] protect the people of the Middle Kingdom
100 Explorers travel north by the decree of the King of Heaven to find lands suitable for future colonization by the Hao Dynasty → [Explore tile northwards]
100 Peasants gather stone in the Quarries→ [+IV Stone, II Labor]
300 Peasants gather timber in the Flatlands → [III Food, III Timber, III Labor]

Construction:
Simple Stone Wall → [Labor IV/IV| Wealth I/II| Industry 0/I | V/V Stone]
Stonecutter → [III/III Labor| 0/I Wealth]
Huts → [III/III Labor| I/I Wealth]
Stonecutter → [III/III Labor| 0/I Wealth]

Cache : IV Timber ,X Stone

Event:The Hao Dynasty chooses to host a sports tournament this year where athletes will come to showcase their skill and martial arts!Wrestling, foot racing, archery, and most importantly this new and swanky sport that has taken the masses by storm Cuju 蹴鞠 are played and the greatest athletes will compete to bring honor and greatness to themselves. Cuju is of special interest the government lays out official rules for the sport no ritual stabbing or other acts of violence for they bring dishonor and disgrace to the ancestors! Spirits of sportsmanship and camaraderie for fellow man are encouraged!
Sports Tournament → [V/V Wealth| IV/IV Food]
Research: 3 Tech Rolls to Tin Smithing (+I Scientific Method Roll)

Miscellaneous Actions
N/A
Exploration:
Explorers traveling North

Government Actions
The Mandate of Heaven is strengthened. The Hao Dynasty adopts the government Celestial Monarchy +1 Peasant during growth

Ending of the Year

Starting resources: Salt, Medicinal herbs, Tin, Rice.
Zhai Cheng (Palisade|Watchposts): 1400 Population | 800 Peasants, 100 Artisans, 300 Scholars,100 Explorers,100 Soldiers [Bows]
8 Riverlands, 8 Flatlands, 4 Hills
Palace District: [ ] [0/XX]
Urban Hill: [5 Huts, Creche][II/XX]
Artisan Flatland: [3 Stonecutter's] [III/XX]
Rural Riverland: [ ] [0/XX]
Rural Hill: [4 Quarries ] [XX//XX]
Advancements: Medicinal Herb Comprehension, Social Contract, Labor Coordination, Scientific Method, Food Preservation

Government: Celestial Monarchy

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Tue Dec 20, 2022 9:41 am

Blood Calls to Blood

Gate of the Dawn, Valda
Eighth of Winter's Breath, Year One Hundred Nine of the Reckoning

They departed as night was falling, traveling as had been agreed by their sword-captains - under the cover of darkness. Shadows and the cloak of the starry sky would be their weapon wielded against the wild men of the fields, and to come upon them unlooked for, necessary if victory was to be achieved against greater numbers. First came the sword-band of the Godblessed, their second skins of iron scales swathed in tabards of sable inlaid with the sign of the Great Sword, their heads high and their mien proud. Most bore only humble spears of cunningly cut flint, and a few ancestral weapons of hammered iron, but upon their backs were newly treated bows of yew and willow, which could fell a charging boar at five dozen paces with the blessing of the Three-in-One. Against wild men in hides and little more, they would pierce muscle and sever flesh with signal ease.

Behind them came the loping ranks of the outriders, similarly equipped, though not bearing upon their backs any heavy armor of the city. It was they, the scouts of the fair Valda, who had decried the encampment of the barbarians, and they would act as both the vanguard and the rearguard of the main host, to ward against ambush and silence watching tongues so they might come upon the savages unawares. Thrice in as many years, or near enough as made little difference, the men of the outriders had passed over these wooded lands, the Forest of Bone. The blasphemous monolith they knew by sight, and the desecrated hilltop, and in the hearts of many burned the desire to see that pagan place of worship laid low and destroyed.

So it was that the warriors of Valda departed, the great gate of the wall closing after them. They would travel by night and rest by day, to conceal signs of their passage, until at last they came upon their quarry. Vengeance then would be had for the iniquities of the barbarous outsiders, for their temerity in raising their hands against the Three-in-One, for their foolish enmity with the Faithful. Sons stolen would be reclaimed, daughters freed from bondage.

It was as the Father willed. Of that much the warriors of the city were certain. To strike down the savage and the beast was their duty, just as it had been the duty of the first Hundred who came before them, to laid waste to Suzer and her heathen practices. In mighty footsteps they walked, as they strode west into the night.

by **Theyra** » Tue Dec 20, 2022 3:22 pm

The Hue

Meeting and trading with the Saywend was both a good and yet concerning experience for High Chieftain Thach. While he felt good for helping the Saywend with their plight. He was concerned about the one that had cursed them, the Dark Between the Stars. That begs questions about who or what the Dark Between the Stars is. Still, it was too late to ask the Saywend since they had already left, and it did make him wonder if the demon that had chased the Hue from their first homeland was the same or maybe something similar or something different entirely.

Still, it has not changed his plans, mostly despite the possible danger. However, he might make some changes after the city gets its defenders. However, how could the Hue defend themselves from a curse like the one the Saywend are dealing with? Thach does not know, and it worries him if something like that crosses their way.

Either way, things are going well for the Hue despite learning of the Dark Between the Stars and Thach by the urging of his advisors. He has started to look for a wife though he already has an idea of who that would be.
Plus, in preparation for the growing population. Construction has started on new huts that while they will be empty for some time. They will be filled and be homes for future Hue in time and Thach will make sure that the Hue will thrive. That is his duty, and he will do the best he can in this task.

by **The Empire of Tau** » Tue Dec 20, 2022 6:43 pm

by **Elerian** » Wed Dec 21, 2022 11:50 am

Aederfolk

The rising sun came upon the land and brought its shine down on all. As was traditional for the Aederfolk the front of their homes were positioned in this direction, in order to allow for them to gain maximum sun coverage and the warmth that afforded. Going on about the homes of the Aederfplk if one were to go and see you would find what could be described as elongated houses of sorts. They are as the name implies quite long usually at a roughly 10 to 1 ratio, and they are large, typically clay and daub structures that are surrounded by a low earthen or brick wall.

The Household is the basic unit of organization of society for the Aederfolk. They are a house society with membership or at least affiliation in the various households being an essential prerequisite to being a full functioning member of society. The Household is for the most part a clannish structure composed of extended family members, clients and their families, and servants too who are affiliated with the house.

The city was built atop a small hill, in the times when the Tawe and other rivers still flooded these plains with frequency. Where the earliest settlement stood now rose the Government district, a palace dedicated to the leaders of the city. It was where Ithel Eoghan dor Gwyr lived, where the Council of Elders met, where the Great Houses held their meetings. From the top of the hill, the buildings cascaded down like the tide. Their daub and clay exterior gave the feeling that it was all part of one building, one large construct that rose as the hill did. As Ceridwen rode his caravan through the rising palisade, he noticed that the city had grown. The wall had been started before their last journey with a wide berth to allow the city to expand in safety. Now, only a few years after construction had started, the buildings were already against the walls. Eogan’s reign had done good for the city, and for the Aederfolk.

by **Lazarian** » Wed Dec 21, 2022 11:54 am

Creation

The Riverside
First of Thang Mua He

“And so,” Hy son Dai Quy continued, “man was drawn up from the earth. From the very stones and dirt of the Congvao, Vao sculpted us, seeking to add a piece of the gods themselves to creation.”

A small circle of youths sat around the monk, listening intently. There was little formal education amongst the Tachi - no schools to speak of, nor curriculum to be taught. But it was often expected of the youth to spend at least a few hours daily with the wise men of the village, to learn the ways of their heritage and the truths of their ancestors. When a boy began to show the characteristics of a man, he would often ask to serve as an apprentice for his preferred trade - though it was ultimately up to the master to accept or deny this request, based on the character of the youth.

“But when Vao pulled life from the stone, he did not truly create mankind as we know it. Without the blood of life and spirit, man was one with nature.” his acolyte Chien chimed in, adding to the tale. Part of the learning process was ritual storytelling - each student would take turns relaying part of the story, adding to the communal nature of the activity. “The first men were little more than animals. There was no speech, nor song, nor harmony.”

Little Tao son Hai Lang, a mere boy of six years, stepped forward into the square.

“But Ishizuki, god of the plants, felt sad when he looked at us. Without a piece of the divine among us, we were stuck as dumb creatures. So he pricked his finger with a needle, creating the Blood of Ishizuki, which made us think!” he said excitedly, gesturing wildly.

The other students, all young men past the changing of their voice, frowned at this juvenile interpretation. And the fact that Tao had skipped past five or six parts of the rite as well. Hy smiled, however, raising a hand to stifle any criticism from the others.

“Not quite, Lin Tao.” he said. “Your enthusiasm is splendid to behold, but remember - harmony and accuracy are greater virtues than raw passion.”

by **Olthenia** » Wed Dec 21, 2022 12:48 pm

Year 112 of the Star-Count Ends
Turn 7

Winter comes cool and clear this year; like dawn after a night of sweltering fever. Mirrors are calm. The sun is steady. The silvered airs of sorcery, for now at least, recede.

Ravarii: Words, it is known, can heal as well as hurt. And when graven as runes, the former is doubly true – as wise men amongst the Ravarii now can attest to. Carved in careful patterns at measured depths, symbols and graven runes that flow in a single, unifying pattern glow with the very power of the land itself. They gladden the hearts of men, still the soul, quicken the blood, calm the mind and soothe the spirit. The Rune of Healing, this pattern is called. And the Ravarii now know it.

North of the north, Ravar’s explorers enter a flat and windswept land. A coil of their great, homely river flows even here – and woods thicken in its northernmost reaches. But above all – this is a land of flat, green grasslands and sunscorched heaths. Farther north, more woods stand – dark and thick – almost from horizon to horizon. West loom great mountains, and east the plains roll into steppes – wild and wonderful. Flocks of wild sheep bleat impertinently at the explorers passing here. They seem well fed on patches of sweet, unnaturally tall grass of some sort - and the odd stand of wheat also; fine and golden.

Yet this is not all that occurs amongst the Ravarii this year. For alas - disaster has struck! A series of scaffolds raised during the digging and clearing of the deepest of the town’s new quarries have collapsed during a shift change. More than a dozen workers have tumbled to their ruin, and many more are sorely maimed. This has set the commons alight with angered murmuring – for wagging tongues, though silent by themselves, can voice many grievances when they find common cause. Something, they insist, must be done to better the plight of Ravar’s common people! But what? -3 Stability.

Xcotl: North and east of their marshy sanctuary, Xcotl’s explorers find the land a trinity of familiar mountains, rolling plains and mossy woodlands. And empty of Ocarans, unfortunately – though the trackers all swear, least the gaze of the Immortal strike them dead, that the envoys must have come this way – as evidenced by old campfires and hidden footpaths. North, these lead – almost unerringly. In that direction, grasslands grow lush and thick with flowers, as a great river gleams on the far horizon. Eastwards, more wood and coastal plains sit in solemn harmony, while south great leagues of coastal plains sweep into the great, blue sea. Here, meanwhile - skinny trees heavy with red, familiar pricklepears sway in the breeze – and goats, shaggy and curve-horned, bleat with ill-disguised annoyance at the Xcotl-men’s approach. The odd hillsides dark with grey granite are also worthy of mention.

The Huang: To fold humble tin to man’s will. To heat its ore and burn away its impurities. To cool it again, until its polished form shines as clear as moonlight on water. This knowledge is, by year’s end, known amongst the Huang. And although most men agree that tin is a metal unfit for war or costly tool, it is a fine metal none the less. Its workings, and its wonders, no man should shun – if he has sense to see them.

North of the stronghold of the House of Hao, tall mountains rise almost like a wall. Men must climb here, on foottracks barely suitable to goats – and slowly too, lest a fall be their doom. But the views, at least, are spectacular – especially as dawn sweeps the craggy mountainsides in gold and pink. More tin is evident here – and in great quantity too. Some explorers even insist that they have found queer, blue stones in some of the deeper ravines – as pale and perfect as stars in winter. In the odd mountain meadow, clusters of flowering cherry trees greet the pink dawn with hues of their own. North of here, the mountains carry on into even greater heights. Eastwards, the bones of the earth sweep down into a dry and barren land, and west as the sun sets – green fields and rolling hills go on into the very horizon itself.

Zhai Cheng’s first ever cuju tournament is a rousing success. To be sure, the footraces and martial arts contests are nothing to quibble at either – and free festivities are approved of by many. The winner of the latter is a peasant girl from the western suburbs, scarcely eighteen winters. And for martial arts, a great, hoary barge-rower amazes all with his oxen grip and stony stamina. But it is cuju, in the end, that has the heart of the crowd. In the final inning – the tournament’s remaining teams are none other than the Pale Dragons, a favorite of Zhai Cheng’s laborers and fieldhands, and the Lucky Twelve – whose firm supporters amongst the city’s fishermen and river-folk have come up with a particularly embarrassing chant about the Pale Dragons’ top lineman. Nevertheless, with the great helpings of free food handed out by the Hao Court, and pageantry fit to match a nobleman’s wedding – the crowds are largely content to watch, cheer, roar approval – and leave it at that. Cuju, after all, like any contest, must have its losers as well as winners. And as long as cool heads can keep order, all is well.

Nirat: Scientific research, in the end, is slow research. It is to question, show and wonder. It is to submit ones findings to the review of ones peers. To admit doubts, cast aside prejudice and superstition, and hopefully – in the end – arrive at common truth. The mysteries of this intricate art is now known amongst the wise of fair Nirat. May their fates be better for it.

A curious, if grisly, affair is uncovered in an empty tithe-barn on Nirat’s outskirts this year. Namely, a makeshift shrine – and the bloody remains of several dead animals and, horror of horrors, a child. Strangled, apparently – and bizarre symbols carved upon its back and brow. A brief investigation points the finger of blame at a local tithe collector. Apparently, this miscreant and several accomplices sought to dabble in cultic practices of what they termed ‘Blood Sorcery’. To earn the favor of dark deities, and the spirits that court such horrors.

The public outcry against this affront to man and nature is loud and immediate. In Nirat’s squares and byways, the Word and Law of the old Ketarch-That-Was is still well known. Death – swift and sudden – should come to all who practice such! But although many of the commons might demand a high price for the cultists dabblings, there are voices in Nirat’s halls of power that would council a second option. Clumsy and cack-handed though the cultists were, their aims were not unworthy. If Nirat is ever to stand up to its brethren – vile Mujand and horrid Balbenon – every edge must be sought and gained. And blood sorcery, though an ugly business, is a mighty edge indeed.

Valda: It takes time to sort gold from dross, wheat from chaff, blood from water. This, then, the wisest of Valda’s Tower has accomplished. The secret of the School of Runecrafting has come to them. The land itself sings with a secret harmony – tides and tones of which clever hands can capture and amplify in graven symbol and carven rune. Surely, if the Valdani’s gods ever smiled at truth – they will smile all the wider at this.

With night and shadow as their cover, the scouts and soldiers of fair Valda approach the wild men’s camp. In hushed lines and scrambled squats, the Valdani warriors form their main line amongst the pale trees east of the camp’s light – while the scouts and tracksmen form up to the south and north – like the great jaws of some cantankerous beast – bows at the ready. Then fires are lit, pitch-smeared cloth scraps wrapped ‘round arrow shafts – and sent smoldering into the night sky, arching for the barbarians’ tents!

The barbarians scramble for their bows, and to take up their weapons, while archery continues to strike the camp from this side and that. At the bellow of their war chief, the barbarians direct their fire both south and north. They are certain enemies lay in this direction, and loose volleys of black-fletched barbs against their enemies. More Valdani arrows are their answer – and in the end, in this furtive hour before dawn – this brutal little skirmish is settled there, though its aftermath is more drawn out, like a dying deer scrambling to rise and run on, even past sense and pain. In the end – it ends thusly. With the casualties on his warriors mounting, and the enemy continuing to pelt him from reaches he can't decry, the barbarian chief's resolve breaks, and he flees west - his men running with him. At the flight of their foes, the Valdani warriors let lose a cry of happy victory. Bows are stowed then, and amidst the pale trees of this dawn-dark wood a brief and furious chase is begun. Stragglers are slain then. Cowards clobbered. Foemen corpsed. Other Valdani meanwhile set themselves the far happier task of plundering their fallen foe’s tents and – from bone-wood cages and cruel pens – raise up and rescue their own imprisoned kinsfolk, pale and ill-treated. To a brave new dawn, and freedom. 2 Wealth are scrounged from the camp’s sacking, and 100 Peasants freed.

North of Valda, the explorers from the Hundred Hills enters a flat and barren land. Grass grows but sparingly here, and the wind tastes of dust - gray and cloying. North and east the horizon is much the same; fat, brown and featureless - an abode empty of all but man, his thoughts and certain unmentionable gods. Westwards, the foothills of the Star Mountains rise tall into the cobalt sky - gray and familiar. Sheep huddle here, feasting on shoots of wild wheat and the bark of lean, golden olive trees.

Ngai: East of fair Ngai and its cozy, hut-strewn neighborhoods, a great wall of mountains rise. Ngai’s life-giving river is born amidst the crags here. Farther east, the land sweeps down into rolling foothills and great, dry savannahs, while to the north another mountain-arm frames what appears to be a lush river valley of some sort. Southwards, peaks rise ever higher into pale, blinding whiteness. A flakey rock of dubious provenance litters the crags here; as black as soot and starling feathers. Black also are the great, grim feline predators that stalk the land – for in their yellow eyes lies no love of man. In the lee of caves and rocky outcroppings, brown mushrooms with caps large enough to shelter half-grown children squat – slick and nourishing. Their taste is surprisingly kind, almost nutty, if braised above an open fire, and their bulbous stalks hold more sap than they have any right to.

Aederfolk: A method of certain scientific inquiry has been established amongst the Aederfolk. To be sure, the path to knowledge is a treacherous one, fraught with pitfalls for the ignorant and follies for the unwary. But there is also a proverb amongst the practitioners of the invisible arts. ‘Truth belongs to the man who knows what he knows not’. With the tenets of Scientific Method as their guide – the Aederfolk’s wisest will know truth – and benefit from it.

But - in other news - strangers have come to the lands of the Folk! Traders, braving the waters of the not-so-distant coastline on a great, red-sailed galley. After much bowing - and a fanciful sweep of a great, feathered hat - their leader bids the Aederfolk blessed greetings. He offers goods for trade - tools of artisanry and industry, made of finest cedarwood. For the generous price of a mere 3 Wealth per load, up to 2 loads of Industry could well be the Aederfolks'. And if tools of industry tempt not his new hosts, the red-sailed merchant also offers other things. Implements of war, for instance. Weapons - enough to equip a warband, shiny and terrible; of cruelest iron. In exchange for these, the traders will happily take either 8 Wealth or 100 Aederfolk - criminals and deplorables, perhaps? - into bondage as slaves.

Tachi-na-Vao: North, from where the gods once ascended, climb the bold Vao. Their warm coats and sturdy mittens soon prove a wise decision, for the rocks here rise steeply, and the air is soon bitter cold – even at the sun’s greatest height. East of here, more mountains loom out of the mists – great and gray and grim, while to the north and west, the land falls away into dry, colorless flatlands where the sun knows no mercy. Veins of odd, greenish ore lies bare amidst the rock here – and clusters of broad-leafed flowers also. Their leaves hold little flavor, and their roots are paltry, but the explorers swear they dull hunger, numb the mind and sweeten the air. What other uses could this plant hold?

This mystery, however, must be pondered another day – for a hidden horror brooks little interference here where gods once walked. They swoop in on gossamer wings, their eyes like faceted stones, mandibles chittering – stingers white and at the ready! Vile, horrid wing-beasts as large as Lac-calves! A humble rift in the rocky crags spews forth a dozen of the horrid monsters, then a dozen more, and a dozen more! and… – As the sky darkens and the air thrums to their buzzing, the Vao explorers beats a hasty retreat. It is by the gods’ own grace, and the thickness of their warm winter coats, that none perish.

And alas – because misery loves company – darker news still besets Nha Tachi this year. From out of the eastern hills one misty morning, bands of brigands – reavers and ravers! – have launched a daring raid upon the Vao’s outlying farmsteads. One rural district is most savagely burnt, and will require no less than 3 Labor to be rebuilt. The commons are understandably made fearful by such news – and a delegation of monks have petitioned the tribal elders to do something about this dreadful state of affairs. Something! Anything! While farmsteads burn and monks pray, fate hangs in the balance. -3 to Stability.

Alikos: South along their mighty river’s banks go the Iron Gate’s explorers. A lush and fertile country embraces their senses – lush, green and alive with all things that stir and creep. And, joy of joys, veins of silver are clearly visible here – cool and twinkling in the shallows. Clusters of curious plants stand farther up the river’s banks; bushes, for the most part, with a brown, unsightly, bean-like fruit. It tastes like death, to be sure – but men and animals alike are strangely energized by it; minds cleared and bodies calmed. Flocks of tall, speckle-breasts poultry native to the area seem particularly enamored by it. Their eggs and flesh make for fine eating – even if their clucking and cawing is downright deplorable.

Farther south still, even beyond the foothills, Alikan warriors have followed their quarries tracks towards the mouth of a wide mountain vale. Here, as evening falls, their eyes spy a settlement. No mere camp or fortified holdfast – but a place of tall walls and squat towers of stacked stone. The home of a foreign kindred.

Strangers have come before the Iron Gate. And a caravan, at that, of strange, hump-backed beasts guarded by robed men, iron spears gleaming. They greet the men of Alikos in the name of their mighty Vizier Wadi-Maru – first of fair Balbenon – and offer goods for trade. Foodstuffs, tools of industry, or even a modest herd of the brazen beasts upon which their loads have been carried. Camels, they name them – and insist that, once a man gets used to their unseemly smell, ungodly braying and vile spitting – they’re actually charming mounts. No, really! Tools can be purchased at a mere 3 Wealth per Industry, Food at 1-per-1, and a heard of ill-tempered hump-beasts for 6 Wealth.

by **Ovstylap** » Wed Dec 21, 2022 2:07 pm

Years Fifteen and Sixteen

The tragedy of a collapsing structure is almost nothing compared to the tragedy of people being upon such a falling structure. Such an outrageous tragedy rightly raised much anger amongst the Ravarii people. Workers downed tools, and scholars strayed from their work. One mason destroyed a sculpture he had been preparing for one of the chief carpenters. Anger, fury, misery, all were afoot. It took the humblest of apologies, and sacrificing of all of the personal belongings to those who had lost loved ones by several men who took responsibility for the collapse. Thusnelda the Kind-Hearted matched with her own wealth the compensation given, but also offered housing for the carpenters who had given up everything. She would not raise divisions in her own community, and would do what she could to treat people with justice and fairness.

The scholars took the wounded into their care, and laid upon them stones with runes of healing upon them. In the event of the tragedy, it was agreed that the construction of a great obelisk, covered in such runes of healing, in the centre of the settlement, to bless all those who laid their gaze or hands upon it. The spiritual power imbued in the gift lands by the past presence of the Merciful Ones would actively bless the community.

Meanwhile, considerably to the North of Ravar, the explorers had realised that the river was actually part of their very own River of Rest! On the one hand that meant that they were presumably unlikely to find another civilisation to interact and trade with, which disappointed some of them. On the other hand, since the Merciful Ones had given the lands beside the River of Rest to the Ravarii, then surely all of these lands also were rightfully set aside for their kin and descendants!

Along the river, there were other concerns though. Among the soldiers, some were beginning to question how wasteful their ways of butchering the seals were, surely from each seal more could be gathered? This was likely to be a question for another time however, as the Scholars were involved with rune crafting and looking into how copper can be made useful after being taken from the earth.

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Wed Dec 21, 2022 4:48 pm

In Victory, Peace

Gate of the Dawn, Valda
Seventh of First Seed, Year One Hundred Eleven of the Reckoning

It had been a glorious sight, the return of the lost sons and daughters of the city to fair Valda. Names had been sung in the feast halls that night, of the clever three who had come up with the plan to set the barbarian encampment alight: Axios, Ygriegos, and Tulimos. All men who had marched forth returned in honor and power, their hands sought by good fathers to marry to their daughters, the doors of their kinsmen opened so they could recite the story of their triumph over the flesh-eaters of Chimulan.

A fine day indeed, though not one without sorrow. The funeral dirges of the lost were recited also after the feasting grew long, and the men grew maudlin with drink. They were few, but each death had been a brother, a son, a father who whose children would never laugh and play beneath the sunlight of the Thousand Hills. And it was not only of the Valdans that the skalds sang when they played their sorrowful ballads - in the dark halls and blood-soaked tents of the Chimulans had been found men and women not so lucky to have kinsmen to redeem them out of the bondage of the darkness, who had been butchered like so many wild goats to feed the revolting appetites of the savages which the Three had turned their backs upon.

The bones of those unfortunates had been found, cracked for their marrow, gnawed by filed teeth. The sword-captains had taken it upon themselves to remember the nameless souls of other kindreds who had perished in that dark place. A week and more had it cost the host to pull down the ancient monolith, to break it with hammers and wedges and flame. Men had been happy of the chance to wash away the stain of darkness that was to be found in the Forests of Bone, and the standing stone had gradually been completely destroyed, ten thousand broken pieces which the spear-host had raised over the grave of the unknown kindreds.

Let their cairn stand until the stars grew old and the world was broken to be made anew, a witness to the triumph of the light over the darkness, and a warning to any of those whose unworthy feet might defile the cleansed glades and sunny glens which the Father had given to his children for their stewardship.

Now long years had passed since that triumphant return, and the Lost had been returned to the bosoms of their families, to their trades and their apprenticeships and fealties. It had not always been an easy transition - some marriage pacts had been called off when strong young men returned as half-starved captives, and some hearts had simply moved on, a cause for grief undeserved but understood. Many found solace in the honorable sweat of the labor to raise high and repair the ancient Tower of Wisdom, where the learned men of the city spent their hours in contemplation.

The Hierarchs hoped the demons had been banished forever back to the void which had given them life, but they knew better. The Hundred stood on watch, their squads of seven patrolling the great walls, their spear-arms untiring. It was not the way of the dark places of the world to give themselves over voluntarily to the will of the Three, to allow the remaking of the marred tapestry. The Faithful would have to bear that light always in their hearts, with their hands upon their swords.

by **Novas Arcanum** » Wed Dec 21, 2022 6:57 pm

中國

On his explorations Zhuan Chao watched the sun rise in the west casting it's rays of golden honey on the Jizhu Mountains far to the north of Zhai Cheng.The mountains turned awe-inspiring shades of purples,reds,oranges, and whites.He took out a brittle and long rusted metal sword. It was old, very old forged by the smiths of the long defeated Xianbei tribe. So ancient was this sword that it nearly turned to dust in his hands but it spoke volumes to Xianbei craftsmanship that it had survived all these centuries.

Zhuan Chao along with other explorers were tasked to find a mythical metal. Oral traditions spoke that the Xianbei mightiest of the barbarian tribes lived to the north of the Huang forging powerful weapons that made them a threat beyond reckoning.The Xianbei had crafted weapons of legend swords that sliced threw men as if they were air, armor that turned back the heaviest of blows that would kill most men.

Unfortunately the Xianbei were no more their tribe defeated by the Huang and a alliance of other tribes who put aside their differences to face the menacing and nearly unstoppable threat that was the Xianbei.As a consequence one could not simply pop over to the Xianbei Kingdom and ask them the secrets on how to craft their awesome weaponry and armor.This bronze 青铜 was said to be forged from two different metals one that the Huang possess tin 锡 and another that has eluded the Huang for centuries.

Thus Zhuan Chao and his team of explorers were here countless leagues from their warm and comfy homes in Zhai Cheng in the cold and bitter north to see if there was any truth to those oral tales. Stories did tell kernels of truth aye Zhuan Chao did hold a relic that had slain countless Huang and men of other tribes with deadly ease but memories could become messy with time and he wasn't sure if these tales told the truth on where this mythical metal was located or not.Still it was better then nothing thus he trudged on never giving up until he succeeds in his quest.

Beginning of the Year

Starting resources: Salt, Medicinal herbs, Tin, Rice.
Zhai Cheng (Palisade): 1400 Population | 800 Peasants, 100 Artisans, 300 Scholars,100 Explorers,100 Freemen
8 Riverlands, 8 Flatlands, 4 Hills
Palace District: [ ] [0/XX]
Urban Hill: [4 Huts, Creche][II/XX]
Artisan Flatland: [3 Stonecutter's] [II/XX]
Rural Riverland: [ ] [0/XX]
Rural Hill: [ 2 Quarries] [II/XX]
Advancements: Medicinal Herb Comprehension, Social Contract, Labor Coordination Food Preservation,Smithing,Scientific Method

Government: Celestial Monarchy

Stat Descriptions(So I don't have to keep going back and fourth)

Palace District: Labor 5, Wealth 6, Industry 2 | Provides a seat of government from which a peoples' business are administered. | Terrain: Any, except Sea. Grants +1 Public Order per year. +1 Wealth per year, 2 Housing.
Riverland: 4 Food
Hills:2 Food, or 2 Stone
Flatland: 3 Food, or 1 Food and 1 Timber or Stone
Urban: 1 Food, 1 Wealth per Trade Post - twenty sites for Constructions (Urban) | Constructed
Rural: 2 Food - twenty sites for Constructions (Rural) | Constructed

City-State Ledger

Citizen Actions:
200 Scholars[Palace]Discuss philosophy and governance amongst each other on how to better rule All Under Heaven → [Innovate Governance, +I Public Order, +I Wealth, +II Housing, +II Tech Roll]
100 Scholars [Urban] Discuss philosophy and governance amongst each other on how to better rule All Under Heaven → [Innovate Governance, +III Housing, +I Tech Roll]
100 Artisans [Artisans] cut and shape stone → [-III Stone,+ III Wealth,-II Wealth,+I Industry +I Labor]
400 Peasants labor in the lands of their ancestors harvesting rice as they have for countless eons → [+XVI Food, +IV Labor]
100 Soldiers [Bows] protect the people of the Middle Kingdom
100 Explorers travel north by the decree of the King of Heaven to find lands suitable for future colonization by the Hao Dynasty → [Explore tile North of North]
100 Peasants gather stone in the Quarries→ [+IV Stone, II Labor]
300 Peasants gather timber in the Flatlands → [III Food, III Timber, III Labor]

Construction:
Simple Stone Wall → [Labor IV/IV| Wealth I/II| Industry 0/I | V/V Stone]
Huts → [III/III Labor| 0/I Wealth]
Stonecutter → [III/III Labor| I/I Wealth]
Stonecutter → [III/III Labor| 0/I Wealth]
Smithy→ [Labor III/III| Wealth 0/III| Industry I/IV]
Cache : VII Timber ,XI Stone

Event:N/A

Research: 3 Tech Rolls to Governance

Miscellaneous Actions
N/A
Exploration:
Explorers traveling North of North

Government Actions
The Mandate of Heaven is strengthened. The Hao Dynasty adopts the government Celestial Monarchy +1 Peasant during growth

Ending of the Year

Starting resources: Salt, Medicinal herbs, Tin, Rice.
Zhai Cheng (Palisade|Watchposts): 1400 Population | 800 Peasants, 100 Artisans, 300 Scholars,100 Explorers,100 Soldiers [Bows]
8 Riverlands, 8 Flatlands, 4 Hills
Palace District: [ ] [0/XX]
Urban Hill: [5 Huts, Creche][II/XX]
Artisan Flatland: [4 Stonecutter's] [IV/XX]
Rural Riverland: [ ] [0/XX]
Rural Hill: [4 Quarries ] [XX//XX]
Advancements: Medicinal Herb Comprehension, Social Contract, Labor Coordination, Scientific Method, Food Preservation,Smithing

Government: Celestial Monarchy

by **Theyra** » Thu Dec 22, 2022 8:43 pm

The Hue

Things have been uneventful since meeting the Saywend. The new huts have been built and waiting for their new residents. Which will not be for some time, and for now, they will sit empty. But High Chieftain Thach is enjoying the quietness and is always happy that the city's guardians are finally being assembled. The first of the Hue warriors, and Thach is glad that he was able to raise them without issues, both men and women are a part of the Hue's first warriors. Even if the Hue has no enemies, it does not hurt to have warriors just in case a foe makes itself known.

So Thach's plan has succeeded, and the Hue now has warriors to defend themselves with. Still, now Thach now moves on to other endeavors, and once the scholars are done with their current study. He has plans for the giant bats that live near Ngai. So big that someone could ride them maybe, and the possibilities of having an aerial force are just too much to pass up. But he will have to wait for the scholars before such a task can be undertaken.

So now Thach continues on doing his duties, and the Hue continue to thrive in their new homeland. Something that Thach knows his father would have been proud of and now he can only watch as they thrive and things are quiet. Which Thach will pray that his continues.

by **The GAmeTopians** » Thu Dec 22, 2022 10:11 pm

Alikos, Iron Gate of Godhome
Year 12 in the Time of Wonder

Wisdom of stone and scholarship alike had graced the Iron Gate the year prior. But only metal could protect the Proven that marched against the foe beyond their great walls…

Notable: Scholars research Furnaces (2 rolls). Soldiers track the food thieves. Explorers explore South.

by **Elerian** » Sun Dec 25, 2022 6:51 pm

Aederfolk

It had caused quite the stir in Aled Aederyn when a red-sailed ship had turned up out of the blue. Curious onlookers had flooded the beaches when the ships signaled they meant no harm, and wished to come ashore. Still, the wiser men and women of Aled Aederyn stayed in their homes and watched from afar. Should things come to blows, the bustling fishing town could do little to fend off a well equipped warship. The only thing that could hold interlopers at bay was a flimsy palisade.

The Ithel of the Aederfolk had a great deal of interest in the foreigner’s wares. As such, they gave the seafarers a warm welcome before trade would be discussed. This was in part to foster a positive first impression, but also to try and prevent any hostilities from forming between the Aederfolk and this until now unknown group. For the seafarers, a banquet was held with a three course meal. The feast consisted primarily of seafood, including a gumbo, grilled Bay fish, and sugar pulp to finish the meal. For the men still aboard the ships, fresh provisions were provided.

Once the festivities were out of the way, a formal dialogue began. First and foremost was establishing where these sailors came from, and what exactly it was they sought in Aled Aederyn.

[Trade 6 Sugarcane for knowledge of the ship’s last few ports of call, -5 Food for Feasts and Provisions]

by **Ralnis** » Mon Dec 26, 2022 5:16 pm

Xcotl

The Oracans are a tricky bunch but the Immortal One was not distraught at it. For now, the manner of reconnecting with the Gods as their food situation was secured for another generation and the people were building a shrine fitting for the gods. As of right now, the people were looking to the skies like their ancestors, asking for any signs from the Black Butterfly to come and bless them as the Messenger to the Muxpei. Even now the people believed that the shrine could work while the scholars work with the Immortal One in order to try and find any rituals or stories that could be used in experiment.

Xantipak was more than happy to do so. As the main goal of the exiles were to regain their lost Arcana. It was then, and only then, that the exiles can finally be a true civilization. They aren't a successor if they couldn't regain their Blood Magic. It would be the symbol that they need for prosperity.

by **Olthenia** » Mon Dec 26, 2022 8:04 pm

Year 114 of the Star-Count Ends
Turn 8

Spring comes late this year, particularly to the lands around the Star Mountain. And with spring come rains; cool and heavy. During one particularly fierce storm, three bolts of lightning strikes the mountain’s highest peak. Three! The land – as the thunder recedes – is a thing bereft. Changed and silent. An empty abode. This is an omen, some say – and those of a superstitious bent shake their heads and murmurs prayers.

Balbenean traders – third sons and baseborn sheols, for the most part – have founded a new colony. Ikirmawa, they call it – in honor of their Vizier, the Great Wadi-Maru’s, favorite wife. From the anchorages in its harbor, it is hoped that Balbenan traders can sail their galleys to even stranger shores still. Their rivals, the Merchant-Priests of Kah’lo, are ill inclined to like this, of course – for while commerce is divinely ordained, competition with the god of Kah’lo’s chosen people is most certainly not!

* * *

Huang: North of north, the Huang’s explorers ascend into a maze of narrow mountain valleys. Red pines – tall and aromatic – stand in great clusters here, and grow in great numbers up even the rockiest defile. Between their roots gleam deposits of an odd, purplish ore with a hue like that of an old bruise – dull and flakey to the touch. Herds of woolly, squat-faced beasts wander here also – tall as men and skittish to a fault. Yet the most noteworthy feature of these far mountain valleys may well be the buried dead.

In a remote, almost unremarkable valley-arm – right up beneath the highest peaks – the Huang explorers encounter a series of carven tombs. Hewn from the very rock itself, these tombs are marked by graven images, remains of offerings and threadbare, half-rotten animal skins. And the odd trinket of flaky, eroding Xianbei-bronze. Did these ancient foes of the Huang bury their dead here, before their fates were sealed? Could their tombs hold more of their metal weapons – cold and terrible? Perhaps even the secret of their making? Other scouts are less eager to force their entry into the rocky tomb-warrens, however. The dead remain there, sealed and buried, and for mortal men to disturb their rest is an ill thing indeed. One of the older scouts even points out that – near the valley’s bottom – a lone shrine of sorts stands, half-collapsed and wind-worn. But the offerings there are scarcely old. No more than a year, he’d venture. If these tombs are visited still – visited by someone who revers their occupants enough to offer grain and animal hides to their honor – they would not be well pleased.

In any case - grim news from Zhai Cheng. On the highest day of hottest summer, a fleet of war-canoes have sped steadily down the Yu river. Warbands of tattooed brigands in their hundreds have streamed ashore to pillage, raid and reave outlying districts of the heavenly city. Yet the damage, in the end, is light. By the bravery and diligence of Huang soldiers and their officers, alerted as they were by their watchposts’ warnings - and a war-whoop worthy of the fiercest cuju-match! - the brigands were soon turned back. Now a dozen soldiers are dead, and though the foe's war-canoes have departed – they did so with a mere 1 Wealth worth of ill-gotten gains. Court officials estimate that at least 1 Labor must be spent before the damage to the Rural District is repaired. Zhai Cheng’s commons are actually rather pleased by this. Granted, some farmsteads were burnt - but all in all vile foes came to their doorstep, and were seen off handily! Hah! +2 Stability!

Valda: A brace of apple-tree seedlings are gently transported from their home environs to fair Valda. By year’s end, many of them have flourish into fine young saplings. Likewise, success in another area is also reported – for explorers and laborers from the south have filled half a storehouse with samples of the odd, gray ore discovered in recent years. With such quantities at hand, Valda’s wisest will surely have an easier time discerning its uses and intricacies.

In Balbenon, affable Wadi-Maru greets Valda’s envoys with much pageantry. Drums are sounded, gentle flutes weep, and in a columned hall opposite the Avenue of Ancestors, pinkfish is served, with sides of roasted mussels and pitchers of chilled cactus wine to wash it all down. If the Valdani can indeed supply the foremost heir of the Ketarch-That-Was with ore of solid iron, this ancient treasure of Old Suzer? Fine – well and fine. Wadi-Maru, and Grand Balbenon, shall not be ungrateful. 3 camel-loads of Wealth per 1 Iron Ore are the Valdani offered, and for finished weapons and armor - 7 and 6, respectively.

Ravarii: West of west head Ravar’s bold explorers. Into a land shrouded by deep, dark woods. Ancient and gnarled are the trees here – almost primeval. Could it be that man ever has set foot on these leafy paths? Surely not, surely not. Grand oaks stand here, green and silent, and great swaths of berry-bushes too – heavy with clusters of blue, surprisingly delicious fruit. Flocks of tall, elegant birds with plumage the color of dirty sea foam regard the explorers warily. North of this land, the woods continue still, while the west opens up into a series of soggy coastal floodplains, and the south surrenders to wind-swept heaths and a sea-sprayed coastline lined by white, chalky cliffs.

But trees and tasty berries are not the only news to befall the servants of the Merciful Ones this year. A procession of wary and travel-worn strangers have come to the lands of the Ravarii. They have camped but several bowshots from Ravar – and in halting but serviceable speech hail their new neighbours in the name of ‘the illustrious Lady Ai’ – who promptly presents herself. A smiling woman in costly robes is she, and regal of mien. Her eyes are lined by blackest khol, and when she smiles her teeth flash as white as mother-of-pearl. She names herself the rightful heiress to the throne of a mighty kindred – the Oghul of the Seven Peaks! – and a victim, she insists, of blackest treachery. For her mother’s throne has been usurped by a gaggle of vile eunuchs, former royal advisors, whose scheming, murderous ways forced her to flee. Flee! Into ignominious exile! If the Ravarii would but stand with her in her time of need, and perhaps provide her followers with food and sustenance – she insists they will be well rewarded. For once the usurpers are undone, as the gods know they must be, the Oghul’s heiress will remember her friends.

The Hue: To smelt metal - to peel away its impurities and turn it from wretched ore to clean, clear bars of hardened possibility - is an art now known to the Hue. Well may it serve them. Long may it keep them.

The mountains south of bustling Ngai prove a tiring, if rewarding, climb. The land is riven by narrow defiles and gray, barren plateaus. Quartz is very much in evidence here – pale and whorled – wherever men set their eyes. Schools of great, green fishes play in mountain streams – and to the west, gleaming crystals stand against the elements, pale and glistening – yet brittle enough to crumble under but a few hammer-blows. East of here, more mountains loom – their peaks nearly disappearing into pale, pale skies. Both west as well as south, the mountains descend into foothills and wide, grassy plains.

That aside, however – the Hue’s explorers have also discovered something else of interest. Amidst the stony peaks and barren promontories lies a lake – cool and shallow – veiled by mists. Quays of ancient, tumbledown stonework lines its northern shore – and the remains of a handful of barges and crude boats lie not far from them. Alter-shrines also – stony and quiet – adorned with yellowed skulls in dark recesses. Their makers, however, are not in evidence. But the sweetest point of interest may well be the lake itself. The explorers spy objects in its shallows – gleaming even through the mud and silt. Copper? Gold? Precious stones? All of this the giddy explores insist is to be found at the lake’s bottom – almost two dozen loads of the stuff! Granted, it would take a solid effort to drain the lake enough for enterprising hands to get at these treasures, yes – but the Hue would be rich! Rich beyond their wildest dreams! And what, by all the gods, do dead men or foreign gods need with gold and lucre, anyway?

Aederfolk: The traders from the dawn-red ships accept the Ithel’s trade with good grace. The festivities arranged in their honor surely aids in that respect - and by the evening's end, the lead merchant doffs his hat at his Aederfolk hosts and proclaims them good, trusted friends indeed. In short order, stacks of sugarcane are duly transported aboard the foreign vessel - and fresh talks are begun. For these ones, the lead merchant's servants bring forth a great, big animal hide of some description - scraped and cleaned. On its pale back are scrawled a mess of precise lines and strange drawings. A map, the merchant insists, of god-blessed lands and foreign shores. As for their business in the Aederfolk's lands, the traders claim that - first and foremost - they seek to establish commerce. The city from which they hail, blessed Kah'lo, is ruled by a caste of fair and proper priests who deliberate on the desires and goodwill of Kah'lo's god - Mah'lo. Benevolent is he, and generous too! And above all a friend to merchants, hagglers, grocers and barterers. The Aederfolk, then, are potential customers - they must be! - for where fair commerce holds sway, all men flourish.

Xcotl: Success! In ecstacy and horror, in blood-stained satisfaction, Xcotl's wisest announce their discovery - or re-discovery, rather - of the School of Blood Magic. In the red froth of dying bulls, the Xcotl have called to their ancient gods, begged for guidance, wisdom and knowledge - and the Muxipei have finally, after many a year and many a slit throat - answered. A century of silence is broken, and the world trembles at what might come. At last. At last!

In the forests to the north and east of the riverlands that Xcotl's explorers discovered in previous years rises a settlement. Ocara is a ramshackle city of wood, daub and earthen mounds, from whose gaveled houses silken pennants flutter brightly. Ruled by an elected council of oracles, the Ocarans are a pious kindred – safe and certain in the knowledge that their benevolent God-Spiders, creatures they insist are made in the image of their patron goddess, shall ensure their safety from all harm. Whether it is they who keep the spiders, or in fact the spiders who keep the ocarans, is a subject on which the wise may bicker. That, however, is as may be. The Xcotl wished to know their neighbors - and here they are. Oc Ocara, fat and pregnant, a dark mother of the woods with a thousand young.

Unsettling news from the eastern quays this year. A sickness is spreading there – vile and awful. Its victims pale and sicken over the course of days, languishing in their own sweat, voiding their bowls in endless misery. The first death was reported just this morning. So far, close to 100 Peasants have become afflicted by it – and are quite unable to work. What, if anything, can Xcotl do to save itself from this affliction?

Some say that anyone showing signs of the vile sickness must immediately be exiled to a lesser islet upstream. One of the sandbars, perhaps? Or the mangrove isles by the coast? There they must remain, lest the contagion spreads to more neighborhoods. Some may perish, yes – but the survivors can be repatriated in time.

Others insist that this must be a sign of divine displeasure. Or – no! No! A sign from the gods! The First Whisper is surely testing the Xcotl – their exiled people, their wayward chosen. What else can this be, but a divine challenge to overcome? To banish this sickness from the Xcotl’s marshy sanctuary, a fresh sacrifice of brazen bulls might serve, they argue. Or a whole harvest’s worth of fish, plums and mashed prickle-pears? In any case – the gods must be appeased!

Calmer heads, however, bid the pious be silent. The Xcotl have weathered disease and sickness before, during their century of flight-and-exile. In time, this illness may well burn itself out – plain and simple. And perhaps a sanctuary of healing could be established, to aid the afflicted? Like an apothecary? Or perhaps a finer understanding of medicine and healing could be pondered by Xcotl’s wisest? These measures, they argue, will surely better Xcotl’s future far more than exile or sacrifice.

Tachi-na-Vao: Success. The grayish ore that the wisest of the Vao had studied has revealed its secrets this year. Pale and clear when heated, yet soft enough to yield to the force of even a man’s hand when cold, this metal is named ‘Tin’. Though unfit for war by and of itself – Vao smiths see uses for it still. In small, subtle, yet important ways – for even the humblest trinket, if bright enough, may catch the eye.

The envoys from Tachi-na-Vao travel far. Along grassy plains and wind-swept coasts. Past rushing rivers and through deep, dark woods where mighty cedars bloom. On their way east – and although Kah’lo is indeed their destination? – the Vao’s explorers are certain. Past the mouth of a mighty river – many leagues before Kah’lo and it’s forest was seen – the haze of many cookfires marked a settlement. A large one. Could this be an outpost of the Merchant-Princes? Or the home of another kindred entirely?

The Merchant-Priests of Kah’lo greet the Vao’s far-traveled envoys with due decorum. Through fruit-laden markets are they herded, past domed temple-shrines and parades of oiled dancers – into the cool, echoing majesty of the Hall of Exchange. There, beneath the benevolent gaze of the Holy Factors, their request is heard. And accepted. In the annals of the Merchant-Priests, the Vao are known. As saviors, as generous hosts, and friends worthy – it is written – ‘of many discounts’. So yes, with this in mind, Kah’lo does have arms and armaments for sale – and of sturdy iron, too. For helmets, greaves and chestplates – six Wealth must be requested, and for weapons themselves, a mere seven. Such is Kah’lo’s offer – generous, the Factors insist, and honestly made.

In other news, a queer creature has come amongst the people of Nha Tachi this year. A tall, gaunt man, his empty eye sockets sewn shut by coarse catgut thread. He is led by a girl, pale of skin and plump of face – a child, almost, but for the tattoos on her lips and brow. With a voice as clear as a bell, the gut-eyed man extolls the virtues of a being he names as ‘She of Many Eyes’ or ‘The Four-Paired One’ – the Righteous Regnant of Oc Ocara; wherever that might be. The Vao are unfortunate, ignorant and miserable in that they know not Her love, he insists – but they can still do Her homage. Still win Her protection! They can, oh – they can! Five loads of food, he claims, and the same in wealth will serve to make it so. Oh, it will. It will. In two humble years, he warns, he will be back to collect – but! Should the Vao scorn this most generous offer, the fates will not be kind to them. Oh, no. No, no, no. Then the pale child leads him away – and his minders with him. And the Vao are left with a choice. Is this disfigured wretch a mere madman? Another flavor of Maquy? Or a harbinger of something more insidious?

Alikos: The envoys sent to approach the southern polity are most roughly handled. Not so much questioned as downright interrogated, the envoys are separated, held for days in lightless cells and scarcely fed. But they are, in the end, allowed to leave – “by the grace and kindness of the Grand Magistrates”. The Saywend, as their hosts name themselves, hold little regard and less love for the men of Alikos.

A flock of camels are duly purchased – and seem, for the most part, to find themselves a grumpy if noisy home in the hilly meadows around Alikos. Their traders describe their home as a grand and bustling port city – Balbénon. It is ruled by a mighty vizier ‘Wadi-Maru’, and a true heir of the mighty Ketarch-That-Was.

East of the Iron Gate, the land flattens into rolling hills and, ‘ere long, plains and flatlands. South and north, the land goes on much in the same way – and east also, with a coastline glimmering in the far distance. Red apples cluster in the odd grove of trees here, and great, shaggy aurochs too. They are clearly fond of the salt-crystals that litter the area – pale as clouds in a sea of green.

In other news, a pitiful rabble of peasants have appeared before the Iron Gate’s grand wall this year – begging entry and succor within. They number a mere hundred, more or less – and claim to be refugees from a dreadful tyrant – the God-King of Tondak – a polity several leagues west of Alikos. The litany of the God-King’s crimes and the excesses of his capricious court are many, they insist – from the sullying of virgin boys to the swift and arbitrary punishments his barons meet out at will. And the tithes – oh, the endless tithes! Truly, the refugees insist, they have been forced to live almost as slaves. And yet some amongst the Iron Gate’s wisest demur. A craven refugee is no man’s friend save his own – that is, if they’re even telling the truth. And worse yet, if they are, should the people of Alikos risk the wrath of Tondak and its tyrant?

by **Lazarian** » Mon Dec 26, 2022 8:53 pm

RETROPOST:

Savages!

Emerging from his tent with bleary eyes, Toda son Hurong Thi stared helplessly at the rabble that had gathered outside the Chieftain’s Hall. Workmen and monks, washerwomen and weavers, and even children were all present, each one voicing a note of fear. Angry faces illuminated by the light of torches gnashed their teeth and launched quarrels. Many amongst them wore masks of bark and grass and cloth, as to obscure the shame of their actions. It was not uncommon for the Tachi people to air their grievances at night in this manner, their faces hidden under the guise of a mask or a veil. In a way, it was a loophole to preserve one’s honor - words said under a mask were not a direct face-to-face disrespect of a superior. Thus, anonymity allowed even the most pious to voice their anger. Perhaps a blessing, as it revealed the honest thoughts of the people. Perhaps a curse - anonymity allowed dangerous thoughts to bubble to the front.

Some of the Thi clan was already engaged in attempting to subdue the crowd, but to little avail. Toda’s brother Thao was in the midst of an argument with the head of the mob - a tall man with a long reddish scarf wrapped around his face, covering everything except the eyes. This was mostly a societal requirement, and not an actual attempt at anonymity. The man’s thick cudgel and tall stature made it quite clear who he was.

“I told you that we had grown too soft!” snarled the lawman Shiro son Da Banh, the foremost among them, thumping his cudgel on the ground. “Farms in flames! Pastures torn to pieces! Lac scattered all over our lands!”

“Indeed, he speaks the truth!” responded a bald monk in torn robes of wool. “This is clearly an ill omen from the Heavens! A portent of malice! Vao has looked upon us and judged our hearts of greed!” the elderly man wailed, pressing his face against the stones. These words sent the crowd into a frenzy - the words of a lawman were one thing, but of a priest? Oh - those were words to be taken seriously.

“Calm yourselves! Silence! Quit this dishonorable display!” shouted Toda son Hurong Thi, who had been so rudely awakened by the mob. The crowd quieted down slightly, eager to hear what their leader would say.

“I am aware of your concerns. Not a single night passes without worries in my household.” he continued, looking over to his brothers. “But we have plans in motion. Do you think we harvest such an excess of stone for no purpose? Do you think that the bows we string are simply for hunting cattle? Do you think I have been assessing the youths of the village for my own entertainment?”

He shook his head.

“Let all hear me clearly - if I did not have answers, I would have resigned already. But let me remind you, sons and daughters - there is a place for all in our society. Mine is to lead, and yours is to follow. I hoped that you all would trust me and simply follow along as I ordered - but it is clear that I must dictate my every step for you all to be satisfied!” Toda chastised, waving his finger in disappointment. More and more of the Thi clan arrived on the scene as the speech continued - young men and elders, marked by black scarves and thick cudgels.

“That is all I have to say. Now disperse at once.” he demanded, and the crowd quickly melted away. Content for now. Perhaps.

Matters of the State

Food: 12 Food in, 12 food out
Stability: 4 Starting. +1 from Palace, +3 from Shrine. -3 from Bandits. -3 from forced labor. -3 from Unhoused Citizens. 0 Ending.
Scholar Assignment: 200 Scholars look into the comprehension of the Greyish Ore. What secrets lie within?
Government Response: A Grand Wall is (mostly) raised around the Artisan District, so that all may take refuge there if foul outlanders show their hideous faces again. Soldiers are raised from the strongest amongst their people, bows are crafted for brave warriors to wield, and Watchposts are erected in the new Rural District. The Maquy, as the people have taken to calling the brigands, will not find easy plunder here.
Outlander Diplomacy: The explorers sent to Kah’lo ask if the Merchant-Priests have arms and armament for sale - and if so, what prices would those fetch? They do not speak of the Maquy or the attack, as to not have the prices unduly driven up.

by **G-Tech Corporation** » Tue Dec 27, 2022 7:50 am

Iron-Hard Coin

Upper Hills, Valda
Eleventh of Rain's Hand, Year One Hundred Fourteen of the Reckoning

Word had gone out from the clan fathers to the smith-houses and stone-houses; men would pay coin, coin and coin again, for the humble iron beaten from the veins of silver which laced the Thousand Hills. In the hills and byways men thronged, pick-axes and mattocks and hammers upon their shoulders, to find their fortunes in the mines of House Peaktender, and House Hammerhand, and House Silvervein, and many others beside.

The Hierarchs implicitly encouraged this, or at least, did little to dissuade the masses. Wealth there was to be gained in the trade with the men of the Ketarchy, this was certain. And though Valda did not lack for wealth, to be rich and prosperous was hardly a thing to be despised. Especially in times such as these, when merchants were reopening the routes of old, and barbarism had, for the moment, been dispelled from the beleaguer of the city.

Not all was so well though, of course. Even as the rising tide lifts a fair ship, it threatens the gardens of quays. Omens had been read, upon the wind and in the entrails of the weekly sacrifices to the Three-in-One. Men had seen storms doubled and redouble about the peak of the Star-Mountain, and many bolts of heavy lightning fall to earth there, the molten blood of the sky. The portents were unclear, and muddled. A time of testing? A time of triumph? The Faithful could not be certain, and in times of uncertainty it was wise to be pragmatic and prudent.

So it was that men took the spear-oaths, and the coffers of the city were opened to put weapons in the hands of those who would swear to rise in her honor. Stern men and hard would turn second sons and third-born wastrels into soldiers instead of brawlers, warriors instead of thugs, and Valda would be ready. Superstition was the province of those without hope, without the confidence that their Father held the world in his keeping. But to watch, and wait. That was the province even of the righteous.

by **Novas Arcanum** » Tue Dec 27, 2022 10:03 am

中國

"We mustn't disturb the sacred grounds of the Xianbei! If the oral tales are to be true then the Xianbei worshiped their ancestors as we do! It would be an affront to Heaven!" Qian Tai said in a exasperated voice.

"The Xianbei are gone! Defeated by the Huang many moons ago who cares if we disturb their sacred grounds there is no one amongst that fallen tribe!No one amongst them who honors their ancestors!" Qin Li shouted at Qian Tai with an annoyed look on his face. Qian Tai merely shook his head in disagreement.In truth like most defeated tribes, the men were slain, the women and children enslaved,of course there were no slaves amongst the Huang nowadays.

Still even today all Huang had Xianbei blood flowing through their veins, but Qin Li cared not for that distinction, like all tribes of the East at least those who had interacted with the Huang up into this point they had been absorbed by the people of the Middle Kingdom and many considered themselves Huang there were no other tribes nearby that considered them different.Well except for the barbarians who attacked them by boat but that was a discussion for another day.

Besides Qin Li was wrong.Some of the shrines discovered up north had recent sacrifices as well,no doubt filial sacrifices to the ancestors as the Huang practiced perhaps some of the Xianbei lived on or their descendants? Strange times indeed.

Kong Jianzhu looked at King Wei Liang who watched the advisors argue amongst themselves. Kong Jianzhu spoke up out of all the men he had the deepest voice so when he spoke men listened. "Perhaps it would be wise to find this.... copper first before we make a decision on rather to take the bronze from the fallen Xianbei or not" Kong Jianzhu said.

King Wei Liang nodded his head in agreement. "The bronze weapons and armor are useless on there own many of the relics our explorers found have long since rusted beyond use it's best to keep our minds on what truly matters".

The other men stopped their arguing and nodded in agreement. King Wei Liang thought deeply about the changing world. Strange men from the north attacked Zhai Cheng the first time in centuries on rowboats nonetheless. And again whispers of men honoring the long forgotten Xianbei? He had to prepare and make sure the Middle Kingdom was ready for the threats that were sure to come in the future.

Beginning of the Year

Starting resources: Salt, Medicinal herbs, Tin, Rice.
Zhai Cheng (Palisade): 1400 Population | 800 Peasants, 100 Artisans, 300 Scholars,100 Explorers,100 Freemen
8 Riverlands, 8 Flatlands, 4 Hills
Palace District: [ ] [0/XX]
Urban Hill: [5 Huts, Creche][II/XX]
Artisan Flatland: [5 Stonecutter's] [II/XX]
Rural Riverland: [ ] [0/XX]
Rural Hill: [ 4 Quarries] [XX/XX]
Advancements: Medicinal Herb Comprehension, Social Contract, Labor Coordination Food Preservation,Smithing,Scientific Method

Government: Celestial Monarchy

Stat Descriptions(So I don't have to keep going back and fourth)

Palace District: Labor 5, Wealth 6, Industry 2 | Provides a seat of government from which a peoples' business are administered. | Terrain: Any, except Sea. Grants +1 Public Order per year. +1 Wealth per year, 2 Housing.
Riverland: 4 Food
Hills:2 Food, or 2 Stone
Flatland: 3 Food, or 1 Food and 1 Timber or Stone
Urban: 1 Food, 1 Wealth per Trade Post - twenty sites for Constructions (Urban) | Constructed
Rural: 2 Food - twenty sites for Constructions (Rural) | Constructed

City-State Ledger

Citizen Actions:
200 Scholars[Palace]Discuss philosophy and governance amongst each other on how to better rule All Under Heaven → [Innovate Governance, +I Public Order, +I Wealth, +II Housing, +II Tech Roll]
100 Scholars [Urban] Discuss philosophy and governance amongst each other on how to better rule All Under Heaven → [Innovate Governance, +III Housing, +I Tech Roll]
100 Artisans [Artisans] cut and shape stone → [-IV Stone,+IV Wealth,-II Wealth,+I Industry +I Labor]
400 Peasants labor in the lands of their ancestors harvesting rice as they have for countless eons → [+XVI Food, +IV Labor]
88 Soldiers [Bows] protect the people of the Middle Kingdom
100 Explorers travel northwest by the decree of the King of Heaven to find lands suitable for future colonization by the Hao Dynasty → [Explore tile Northwest]
100 Peasants gather stone in the Quarries→ [+IV Stone, II Labor]
300 Peasants gather timber in the Flatlands → [III Food, III Timber, III Labor]

Construction:
Simple Stone Wall → [Labor IV/IV| Wealth II/II| Industry 0/I | V/V Stone]
Huts → [III/III Labor| 0/I Wealth]
Stonecutter → [III/III Labor| I/I Wealth]
Stonecutter → [III/III Labor| I/I Wealth]
Smithy→ [Labor III/III| Wealth 0/III| Industry II/IV]
Smithy→ [Labor II/III| Wealth 0/III| Industry II/IV]
Rural District Repairs → [I/I Labor]

Cache
X Timber ,XV Stone

Event:
+2 Stability from defeating Barbarians

Research:
+4 Tech Rolls to Governance [One from Scientific Method]

Miscellaneous Actions
N/A
Exploration:
Explorers traveling Northwest

Government Actions
The Mandate of Heaven is strengthened. The Hao Dynasty adopts the government Celestial Monarchy +1 Peasant during growth

Ending of the Year

Starting resources: Salt, Medicinal herbs, Tin, Rice.
Zhai Cheng (Palisade|Watchposts): 1400 Population | 800 Peasants, 100 Artisans, 300 Scholars,100 Explorers,100 Soldiers [Bows]
8 Riverlands, 8 Flatlands, 4 Hills
Palace District: [ ] [0/XX]
Urban Hill: [5 Huts, Creche][VI/XX]
Artisan Flatland: [7 Stonecutter's] [VII/XX]
Rural Riverland: [ ] [0/XX]
Rural Hill: [4 Quarries ] [XX//XX]
Advancements: Medicinal Herb Comprehension, Social Contract, Labor Coordination, Scientific Method, Food Preservation,Smithing

Government: Celestial Monarchy

by **Elerian** » Tue Dec 27, 2022 12:49 pm

Aederfolk

A great god is Ard Feainn, who makes excellence on this earth, who made man on this earth, who makes happiness for man, who makes good works and good cities. On me he bestowed them. Other sons of Gwynn there were, but thus to Ard Feainn was the desire, Elgyr my father made me the greatest after himself. When my father Elgyr went away from the chiefdom, by the will of Ard Feainn I became Ithel in my father's stead. When I became Ithel, I built many excellent works. What had been built by my father, that I protected, and other structures did I add. What moreover I built, and what my father built, all that by the favor of Ard Feainn we raised.

Thou who shall be hereafter, if you shall think, "Happy may I be when living, and when dead may I be blessed," have respect for that law which Ard Feainn has established; worship Ard Feainn and Gedymdeith reverently. The man who has respect for that law which Ard Feainn has established, and worships Ard Feainn and Gedymdeith reverently, he both becomes happy while living, and becomes blessed when dead.

May Ard Feainn together with his fellow gods protect me, and my house, and what has been inscribed by me.

[Explorers Investigate the East, Scholars Research Copper Tools]

by **Lazarian** » Wed Dec 28, 2022 12:13 pm

Disharmonious Beings

The House of Clan Pham
Sixth of Thang Xuan

“Did you see him?” Ha daughter Dai Pham whispered to her sister, pinching her nose and squinting her eyes in mockery. “Disgusting!”

Indeed, the Tachi had found their visitors this last year to be abhorrent. Abhorrent in their words, in their appearance, and in their ways. Rather than keeping the body undefiled and pure, the White Priestess had etched webbed patterns across her brow and lips. To do such artwork on your own body was to attempt to make improvements to something given by the divine - a taboo in the eyes of the village. Vao had granted their forms, and there was to be no improvement upon that.

And that was the least of their complaints! Sending a blind man as a spokesperson? That was the image of which the Oca-curo decided to use as their first impression? Disgraceful. The Tachi believed in sending those pleasant in form and speech as their diplomats and emissaries. When a guest visited, simple wisdom dictated that it was proper to display the finest possessions and food that one had to offer. And a foul-marked youth leading a blind elder (yet another aberration - it was the old who were meant to lead the young!) was the finest display that She-of-Many-Eyes chose? Shameful, shameful, shameful! The Tachi had been polite enough, providing food and lodging for the Oca-Curo, and allowing the strangers to speak - but politeness did not mean agreement.

“Disharmonious.” croaked elderly Sen Fan, the patriarch of the family, slurping the broth between his few remaining teeth. “Disharmonious!” he repeated with emphasis, waving a shaky and shriveled finger. His milky-white eyes stared forward, seeing nothing, but even the description of the visitors had made the old man upset. His mind was largely addled from old age, but even these simple judgements held value to his children.

“Sen Fan is right. Did you hear what they said about us? They called us ignorant! Miserable! Unfortunate!” uncle Quan son Fan Pham grumbled, taking a bite of the bittersweet psarmelon. “I heard their foul discourse with my own ears. They should be sent to the bottom of the river to speak with the carp for those words against our gods. See what Four-Eyes does for them there.” he scoffed in between bites, quickly shoveling the fish down his throat. Quan was one of the Hau Ve - the newly assembled defenders of the city. Formerly a mere mud-dauber, he had ascended from a common laborer to a respected figure. Though he still lacked dignity and wisdom, the mighty bow of ox-horn affixed to his back nearly every waking hour compensated well enough for those personal shortcomings.

There had been some concern amongst the townsfolk about this development. Men who made good soldiers were callused men. Bold men. Strong men with minds tuned for violence. To take these sorts of men and give them weapons and authority was risky. But at the end of the day, it was better to face a danger amongst your own kin than it was a dangerous outsider.

“And if we turn down the protection of Four-Eyes, the fates will be unkind? It did indeed sound like a threat.” Dai son Fan Pham agreed, carefully taking a piece of fish from the bowl with his skewer-sticks. “But we do not know the strength of these people. Their demands for tribute are not outrageous. Perhaps we should not turn our hearts to anger so quickly, brother.”

“Hmph.” Quan snorted, slurping the last of his soup down. “Doesn’t matter how we feel. You know that.”

The others around the table nodded in quiet agreement. At the end of the day, it didn’t matter how they felt about Four-Eyes - it was up to the Thi clan and the monks who guided them to make a decision. Leaders led and followers followed according to their rightful place. Such was the way of the Tachi-no-Vao.

For now.

Matters of the State

Food: 17 Food in, 12 food out, 5 given to Oc Ocara
Stability: 0 Starting. +1 from Palace, +3 from Shrine. 4 Ending.
Scholar Assignment: 200 Scholars attempt to discern how to better move resources from one place to the next. [Research: Sledges]
Governmental Action: Disgusting and abhorrent as the servants of Four-Eyes may be, it is best not to directly affront them and their god. The five food is provided - but the five wealth is not. Upon their return, the Sightless Speaker and the White Priestess are told that the Vao are a poor people, with little riches to their name. They ask to send the explorers of the village back with the Oca-curo to witness the might of Four-Eyes, to see her glories in person, before spending their few riches in tribute. Should the Regnant be everything her servants claim, the Vao will pay the full tribute with no hesitation - five wealth and five additional food.

by **The GAmeTopians** » Wed Dec 28, 2022 1:11 pm

Alikos, Iron Gate of Godhome
Year 14 in the Time of Wonder (RETROPOST)

The mysteries of melting metal elude the Proven… for now. Only time could tell if arms and armor might indeed come forth from the iron of rocks beyond this earth. In the meantime? Diplomacy would have to make up the lack.

The strange beasts of the wandering traders were quite disgusting, but undeniably useful all the same. It was decided that a herd would be purchased for the use of the Proven - a steed for each warrior, once the method of riding them is determined. The wisemen of the Proven inquire with these traders as to the location of their fair city - the scholars of Alikos would surely learn much from the masters of such animals, and they in turn from such an ancient people as the Guardians of the Iron Gate.

Notable: Scholars research Furnaces (2 rolls). Envoy travels to the city to the south. Explorers explore to the East. Camels purchased. Traders asked about the location of their home.

by **Ralnis** » Thu Dec 29, 2022 1:40 pm

Xcotl

The scholars have done it! The explorers have done it! The first contact with the Oc Ocara was met with some form of understanding between the two cities. They lived in a city similar to their own and worshipped giant spiders they dubbed God Spiders. It was a strange place, but they seemed to be as strong as them and knew more about the region than they did. There was much that could be learned from them and their strange ways so it may be a good idea to make a good rapport with them could have them introduced more trade and people that they know.

However, the Immortal One didn't believe that they would know many people outside of the People of the Blood. He believed that the Oc Ocara had went to the mountains that the Xcotl now neighbor as a means of mining the ore and working it. It only made sense to the scholars who were staring to learn more about the surrounding lands outside of their marshy island. That was before tragedy struck.

A sickness that came from nowhere danced along a neighborhood. The peasants, bedridden and weakened, were not able to work on the creche. The scholars, focused on trying to reconnect with the gods didn't not see this coming. The problem was that they didn't know much about medicine and there was no healing herbs that they knew of. So, they needed to quarantine the neighborhood. The soldiers forced to make sure that the people don't leave the neighborhood as fear of the sickness to spread across the city.

On the other hand, the explorers were forbidden to go meet with the Oc Ocara in case that they too get the disease. It was something that they needed to do.

by **The GAmeTopians** » Thu Dec 29, 2022 11:21 pm

Alikos, Iron Gate of Godhome
Year 16 in the Time of Wonder

Any voices that suggested the refugees from afar might be denied shelter were quickly silenced - any man of the gods’ creation may become an Aspirant, so declared the Speaker. And so it would be. The new citizens of the Iron Gate were set to work on increasing its wealth, that they might be prepared for any future battles to come. Soon, for certain, their research into the art of smelting would be complete, and the arms and armaments to follow would be legendary.

Notable: Scholars research Smelting (2 rolls). Envoy joins Balbenon traders on the return trip to their city. Peasant refugees are welcomed to the ranks of the Aspirants. Explorers explore to the Northeast.

A Different World: The Age of Heroes [IC|Closed]

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