As We Knew It

[simj26]

John the Baptist dies. Gets his head lopped off.


Jesus dies too, by the way.


He gets brought back with a phoenix down after three days, though.

 

[Jays]

*gives up on life*

 

[Dusky]

But THEN the writer reveals he's sort of a ghost and not actually back for good. Kinda like Gandalf the White.


Oops!

 

[Jays]

*unwatches the thread*

 

[simj26]

Two spoilers in one shot, how low can you get, dusky oh my god


 

Grigori


Depends on when Grigori and Ana immigrated to Aedra. Even then, Joseph would have been suspicious of foreigners.

Two years, actually. The two've been there for two years. You'd think the shopkeepers and other traders would know Grigori.

 

[Stickdom]

*not sure if sacrilegious heathens or undercover evangelism* <_<

 

[simj26]

 

[Dusky]

*not sure if sacrilegious heathens or undercover evangelism* <_<

Neither? xD Didn't mean to insult anyone's religion, just for clarification - the joke was that everyone knows what happens in the Bible.

 

[Stickdom]

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Neither? xD Didn't mean to insult anyone's religion, just for clarification - the joke was that everyone knows what happens in the Bible.

Not offended, Dusk, that was the joke on my end as well :3 Don't want you to get all bent outta shape trying not to offend anyone, that's like the scourge of today's society anymore. Walking on eggshells around people of different races, genders, beliefs, heaven forbid they get *gasp* offended!


News flash! People are allowed to have opinions that differ from yours! They may not be right, but they don't have to be yours


EDIT: ^In a sheer fit of irony, this last little tidbit was not intended directly at anyone, so don't take it personally xD

 

[Grey]

@Dusky - what can you tell me about the broader administrative and political structure of Findal? I'm assuming standard feudal model, with noble families administering those precious farmlands? And presumably the advisor players are drawn from these families? Do we have, say, a Varys of sorts at the keep? Wards and foreigners adopted by the court? A member of the clergy?


Does Findal have any other border territories, especially dangerous ones? Any subfactions within Findal of dubious repute?


Sorry if these questions were asked and answered already; I admit I do not want to read 8 pages of OOC in detail.


[REALPOLITIK INTENSIFIES]

 

[AlexNos]

Stick just won everything.


(And someone spent a really long time in Windows 95 paint to bring us that picture, therefore they should be given an unspecified amount of money.)

 

[Jays]

Politics terrifies me


Now Grey terrifies me


Imma go get drunk

 

[Dusky]

@Dusky - what can you tell me about the broader administrative and political structure of Findal? I'm assuming standard feudal model, with noble families administering those precious farmlands? And presumably the advisor players are drawn from these families? Do we have, say, a Varys of sorts at the keep? Wards and foreigners adopted by the court? A member of the clergy?
Does Findal have any other border territories, especially dangerous ones? Any subfactions within Findal of dubious repute?


Sorry if these questions were asked and answered already; I admit I do not want to read 8 pages of OOC in detail.


[REALPOLITIK INTENSIFIES]

Fortunately there's a Q&A at the bottom of the overview tab where I've been putting the stuff that comes up here. It might answer some of your questions, but not all of them - I'm writing up a nice thorough response momentarily, but until then you should totally check that out.

 

[Unwavering Knight]

@Cirno - Helbrecht would not conform to any one fairy-tale figure that is commonly known.


What would be relevant to Joseph would be when several years ago reports of a gargantuan black knight travelling from village to village cropped up. Said knight offered help to anyone in need, even for the most trivial of demands, in return only ever asking if they had seen his "Lady", though due to the fact that he could never give anything pertaining to an actual description he was usually only met with headshaking and sent on his way.


Rinse and repeat for several years.


There was, however, one incident that would require some notice. A small town suffered a major loss of life when the knight travelled there, apparently causing a revolution of the poor of sorts, which was little more than a murderous mob of disgruntled citizens. Helbrecht first served the revolutionaries as some sort of icon, before suddenly switching sides, ending with the revolutionaries being subdued after heavy fighting.


As always, the knight would merely continue travelling.


 
@Cirno added something to the post, please read it.

 

[simj26]

While you're dealing with politics, I'll be here, rummaging through my economics notes to see how this war will affect the macro-economy.


I'm a bit rusty, though. It's been two years.

Spoiler

Is it really that bad? I doubt they'd stop trade routes even in these times, and Aedra is hardly a capital for any sort of good and services, so there's no real loss. If anything, the war may just only increase the wages of mercs and soldiers that are hired to protect trade caravans. This in turn increases their spending power. Taverns and the like can increase their prices with no fear, since their customers can now afford more of the services. The same goes for blacksmiths and gunsmiths, effectively increasing their revenue. Eventually, this will only serve to screw businesses that were doing okay-ish in the first place over. Weed out the weak. Eventually, prices will hike, and the standard of living will only keep increasing. Proper investments and manipulation of the economic industry at this point would net you a whole lotta coins. And with increasing standards of living, population, too, will increase, be it immigrants migrating in or people having drunken orgies. If a lord or some sort was to be handed a town to manage, and he does so perfectly and caters to both the rich and the poor (taxes levied according to your monthly wages or so), the poor will not have to suffer so much.

Of course, I've been taught to bullshit, so that's probably a lot of dung up there, but hey, that's just my preliminary observation on the whole war thing.

 

[Dusky]

While you're dealing with politics, I'll be here, rummaging through my economics notes to see how this war will affect the macro-economy.
I'm a bit rusty, though. It's been two years.

Spoiler

Is it really that bad? I doubt they'd stop trade routes even in these times, and Aedra is hardly a capital for any sort of good and services, so there's no real loss. If anything, the war may just only increase the wages of mercs and soldiers that are hired to protect trade caravans. This in turn increases their spending power. Taverns and the like can increase their prices with no fear, since their customers can now afford more of the services. The same goes for blacksmiths and gunsmiths, effectively increasing their revenue. Eventually, this will only serve to screw businesses that were doing okay-ish in the first place over. Weed out the weak. Eventually, prices will hike, and the standard of living will only keep increasing. Proper investments and manipulation of the economic industry at this point would net you a whole lotta coins. And with increasing standards of living, population, too, will increase, be it immigrants migrating in or people having drunken orgies. If a lord or some sort was to be handed a town to manage, and he does so perfectly and caters to both the rich and the poor (taxes levied according to your monthly wages or so), the poor will not have to suffer so much.

Of course, I've been taught to bullshit, so that's probably a lot of dung up there, but hey, that's just my preliminary observation on the whole war thing.

I know I cited economic troubles as part of Aedra's PLOT STUFF - it's something I'll provide exposition for within the RP itself. It's more than just the war, as you're right, the war itself wouldn't impact Aedra too hugely - enough to be felt, but nonetheless...


Ineptitude may be involved.


EDIT: I haven't forgotten your questions, Grey, just got paranoid and decided to double check all my research. Understandably this is taking a while.

 

[Cirno]

[QUOTE="Unwavering Knight]There was, however, one incident that would require some notice. A small town suffered a major loss of life when the knight travelled there, apparently causing a revolution of the poor of sorts, which was little more than a murderous mob of disgruntled citizens. Helbrecht first served the revolutionaries as some sort of icon, before suddenly switching sides, ending with the revolutionaries being subdued after heavy fighting.
As always, the knight would merely continue travelling.

[/QUOTE]
After the rumours and reports trickle into the Capital, Joseph would be very displeased at this shadowy figure menacing the public under a fairy-tale guise (being ignorant of the stories' origins), and advise the equivalent of a federal investigation/inquisition to take this Black Knight down.


What? Nothing recovered? No pattern to his movements? Not even a-a favorite blacksmith or something? Damn that Knight. *forced to shelve the inquisition, gets some mixed performance reviews from the heads of the treasury and military*

 

[simj26]

Let's give a big hand to whoever's handling the situation.

 

[Unwavering Knight]

After the rumours and reports trickle into the Capital, Joseph would be very displeased at this shadowy figure menacing the public under a fairy-tale guise (being ignorant of the stories' origins), and advise the equivalent of a federal investigation/inquisition to take this Black Knight down.
What? Nothing recovered? No pattern to his movements? Not even a-a favorite blacksmith or something? Damn that Knight. *forced to shelve the inquisition, gets some mixed performance reviews from the heads of the treasury and military*

And now it's Aedra's turn! Saddle up for the ride, kiddies, the trees shall be our breaks!


[media]



[/media]

 

[Dusky]

What can you tell me about the broader administrative and political structure of Findal? I'm assuming standard feudal model, with noble families administering those precious farmlands? And presumably the advisor players are drawn from these families?

"Standard feudal model" is a bit funny given how challenged the idea is that feudalism was ever at all a consistent or uniform practice - but history lessons aside, yes indeed. Findal's a bit lax in that respect - nobility tends to leave the smallfolk to their own devices as long as they get their dues, with perhaps one or two exceptions. More involved on higher levels, especially as Nobles - of the highest variety - have seats on the Council. Vassal Houses comprise a sort of second tier Council which handles smaller matters, and is generally more partitioned into departments with specialized functions - in short, it's far more efficient than the actual Council. And on the one hand, they tend to actually get stuff done as they're handed matters that need attention, and enact decisions the Council makes; on the other hand, they don't get to influence these decisions at all.


Findal's government is not intended to be ideal or even particularly functional. It kinda bumbles along and has been mostly labelled "good enough" if that makes sense. It's also not horrible - there's no significant murmurings of dissent or dissatisfaction.


In the advent of the advancement most of the world has gone through, though, terminology and general attitude's a bit different than your typical medieval set-up. (Georgian title conventions... People will be giving Helbrecht funny looks because armor like that is considered something very important people wear at formal military events/ceremonies, and otherwise quaint and irrelevant... I know I'm forgetting stuff. >.>) Most notably in the very existence of the Council - correct, by the way, Councilmembers are pulled from these noble families though they caaaannnn appoint someone in their stead - a notable figure, etc. It happens. The wealthy are more focused on enjoying their money than politics generally.


I know I could explain this better, but my brain is going "Oh you wanted to be informative and well-spoken? TOO BAD, BUTTERFLIES."

Do we have, say, a Varys of sorts at the keep? Wards and foreigners adopted by the court? A member of the clergy?

A Royal Spymaster

A Royal Spymaster that actually does stuff

Foreign diplomats

Folks kept around the court as charity cases, entertainment, etc.

Adopted wards that actually have bearing on court besides flavor

Religious figures

I'll be honest, I haven't given religion in this world much thought.


As for someone like Varys who deals in secrets, stolen information - anyone could fashion themself as such, and there is a Royal Spymaster if you fancy that, but it's the Spymaster's second-in-command who actually does stuff. Because who the hell's gonna get the wool pulled over their eyes by the Royal Spymaster? Unfortunately, second-in-command would not be a regular fixture in the court.

Does Findal have any other border territories, especially dangerous ones?

Other bordering nations

Other hostile bordering nations

I'm leaving some of this to you folk, if you want to base a character around it. I do have some plans - an allied nation whose general populace is very much in favor of lending military aid to Findal but whose leadership is far stingier. Another nation who has been maintaining strict neutrality and some degree of isolationism since before recorded history. Everywhere nearby is either friendly or neutral with Findal, currently at least.


I suppose you could piss them off if you tried~.

Any subfactions within Findal of dubious repute?

Findal's terribly disorganized politically speaking, everyone sort of does their own thing (though do feel free to dramatically change the political landscape as events progress), so I don't know about any official sub factions, but there'll be about the same dubious activities going on you're probably imagining. Corrupted nobles, brothels, criminal networks. But folks doing things like... plotting to overthrow the King? Nah. He's well-loved, actually.


I will note that the outer ring of the Capital is near dominated by The Dusty Bones, a gang which charges poor souls "protection money" and suchlike - though areas of the ring where they're in power are, though Council is loathe to admit it, in far better upkeep than those not. The Bones and the Council engage in practiced ignorance of each other.


Won't say more. Future plot point.


Further questions welcome~. I'm sure I could have been clearer in places. As I said before, "TOO BAD, SHINY OBJECTS." Or was it butterflies?

 

[Unwavering Knight]

Be aware, while I do not want to contest the distinct lack of cost-efficiency when it comes to protection of plate against advanced projectiles, the protection still should not be completely discounted.


Certain forms of plate armor were used right up to WW1, most notably by the German Stormtroopers who were tasked with clearing enemy trenches

Of course, by then the armor was not designed/capable of protecting against direct hits from rifles, but rather served against grenade-splinters, shrapnel and various melee-weapons. Important to mention is that these breastplates were rather heavy, considered the maximum weight a human male could wear while moving and fighting with adequacy. Alas, the armor was indeed found to be lacking, too heavy to be comfortable and only the helmet was kept to WW2.


A most glaring case for the protective capability of plate would be the infamous Ned Kelly and his gang:

Those dents? Those are from bullets that failed to penetrate. The armor was crudely made from ploughblades. Their armor granted them protection from 1880s guns, though the standardization of such weaponry in Australia at that time is, of course, debatable. Fact remains that the gang could only be brought down by shots they received to their - unarmored - legs and arms.


In WW2, the Soviets made use of the Steel Bib, 2 mm thick steel plates that weighed 3.5 kg, supplied to assault engineers. They managed to withstand 9 mm projectiles as fired by handguns and the german submachine gun MP 38/40 at a distance of 10 to 100 meters.


I don't want to make the case that Helbrecht's armor would make him invulnerable by any stretch. I just like plate armor and dislike how it is thought to have been rendered completely useless directly after the medieval age. I will willfully ignore that silk vests are, in fact, better.

 

[Dusky]

-mumbles something about blunt force trauma-

 

[DeusExAlice]

-mumbles something about blunt force trauma-

Apply directly to the forehead!

 

[simj26]

Maces and smashy weapons make for good fun against armor. Just saying. Surviving a blow from morgensterns in armor tend to give the wearer plenty of time to reflect as shards of his armor are extracted from his flesh.


If I recall, Dusky mentioned that some of the places are still medieval in nature, and it won't be surprising if some of them had one of them...what are they called? Those warhammer like things that have a pickaxe-head instead?

 

[Unwavering Knight]

Indeed, after the introduction of helmets in WW1, headinjuries immediately skyrocketed. Because these were now injuries instead of instant casualties.