Dice [Exalted] O Brave New World (OOC)

[Random Word]

jaydude apologies for the delay, but I think I recognize why I'm stuck. I've thought of and discarded a few calls to arms (Atusa discovers an assassin, Chumiren calls for a crusade against the Court of Bleached Bone, Kotahmun straight up attacks the party before Chumiren can ascend, etc), but ultimately I feel like I'm stumbling blind because I am stumbling blind. Atusa currently has a goal of uniting the Faqari and building a great empire, but does she have a plan to do that, or does something happen to her that gives her the opportunity?

Is Chumiren's ascension and her involvement in the self destruction of the Fayum her next arc, or is Chumiren's ascension the close of the first arc and the Fayum's instability background for an unrelated second arc? We still haven't had the Hematti transition from nomadic to sedentary - a shocking cultural upheaval by itself - mostly because I was optimistically thinking Rykon and D. Rex would be headed to the desert at this point, or that I would jump them ahead and worry about what came before as it came up (which remains an option).

Would you like to discover your Manse next, and meet John & Hazel there, would you like to declare independence from your liege lord first, or execute a completely different plan? I may be looking for a hook in this funeral where it really ought to be nothing more than a bit of flavour text before moving on.

 

[Rykon]

mostly because I was optimistically thinking Rykon and D. Rex would be headed to the desert at this point, or that I would jump them ahead and worry about what came before as it came up (which remains an option).

I'm still hopeful we'll be moving along shortly and make that plan a reality. This week has been really hard. We had a death in the family Saturday, my Dad's youngest brother, that we didn't see coming. I'll be around more frequently soon but everything seems to be happening at once lately.

 

[Sherwood]

My most sincere condolences.

 

[Random Word]

That's awful My condolences as well.

 

[jaydude]

I'm still hopeful we'll be moving along shortly and make that plan a reality. This week has been really hard. We had a death in the family Saturday, my Dad's youngest brother, that we didn't see coming. I'll be around more frequently soon but everything seems to be happening at once lately.

You have my condolences as well.

 

[jaydude]

jaydude apologies for the delay, but I think I recognize why I'm stuck. I've thought of and discarded a few calls to arms (Atusa discovers an assassin, Chumiren calls for a crusade against the Court of Bleached Bone, Kotahmun straight up attacks the party before Chumiren can ascend, etc), but ultimately I feel like I'm stumbling blind because I am stumbling blind. Atusa currently has a goal of uniting the Faqari and building a great empire, but does she have a plan to do that, or does something happen to her that gives her the opportunity?

Is Chumiren's ascension and her involvement in the self destruction of the Fayum her next arc, or is Chumiren's ascension the close of the first arc and the Fayum's instability background for an unrelated second arc? We still haven't had the Hematti transition from nomadic to sedentary - a shocking cultural upheaval by itself - mostly because I was optimistically thinking Rykon and D. Rex would be headed to the desert at this point, or that I would jump them ahead and worry about what came before as it came up (which remains an option).

Would you like to discover your Manse next, and meet John & Hazel there, would you like to declare independence from your liege lord first, or execute a completely different plan? I may be looking for a hook in this funeral where it really ought to be nothing more than a bit of flavour text before moving on.

Heya. No need to apologize.

With regards to your first question, I'd say it's the latter assumption that's closer to the mark (something happens that gives her the opportunity). As much as she'd like to start following the Unconquered Sun's command by becoming independent, she's going to be at least somewhat conflicted about doing so, given how Chuma's rule had arguably benefitted the Hematti through the granting of those trade routes. The main reason I'm making Chumiren so antagonistic towards her and the Hematti is to try and give her a justified reason to not submit to him.

For the second question, I figured it would be something along the lines of the former. At the bare minimum, my plan is for Atusa and the Hematti to acquire riches and renown through fighting in the civil war by defeating opposing clans like the Kesimet, and/or being rewarded for ensuring the succession of one of Chumiren's brothers. Ideally, the civil war and subsequent death/instability would weaken the Fayum enough to allow the Hematti and the other vassal clans to safely break away. That said, unless Chuma's other two sons have become terrible in terms of personality/ability since she last saw them, Atusa's going to feel obligated to continue serving whichever one becomes Nomarch.

(To reflect all of this, I've gone ahead and given Atusa a new Aspect: "Conflicted ruler (Torn between loyalty to her people and the Unconquered Sun, and loyalty to her liege)". I assume that's okay, right?)

For the third question, discovering the Manse isn't really a priority for me right now. I'm more inclined to have Atusa choose which side she's likely to take in the subsequent civil war, or have the scene that motivates this decision the most, i.e. she finds out that Chumiren's planning to screw her and the Hematti over.

 

[Psychie]

I'm still hopeful we'll be moving along shortly and make that plan a reality. This week has been really hard. We had a death in the family Saturday, my Dad's youngest brother, that we didn't see coming. I'll be around more frequently soon but everything seems to be happening at once lately.

That is terrible news. I am so sorry.

 

[Random Word]

Understood, leaning into civil war time it is. Manse later.

given how Chuma's rule had arguably benefitted the Hematti through the granting of those trade routes

It's important to remember that vassalage is typically only a good deal when considered in the context of the violence that is its alternative. There's the carrot (manage these parceled out lands and rights for us and give us a cut), but the stick is much bigger (or we'll kill you and replace you with someone who will). Your clan was granted valuable rights and guarantees of security against other clans, but in exchange you have to pay a nontrivial portion of your earnings to the Fayum and come fight their wars when they call the banners. It's usually not a great deal if the threat of being killed should you refuse were to be suddenly removed. The Fayum primarily demand a cut of all the activities that you'd already be doing, and in exchange they promise not to kill you and to prevent anyone else from killing you.

Typically bending the knee is done at the expense of your people, as it's a decent deal for those at the top (i.e. you and your highest captains), but the alternative for everyone is worse. The exception being if there's a significant external threat on your doorstep and you genuinely need the protection of a liege for your people to avoid catastrophe.

In this case your father was offered the carrot of additional trade routes to take the sting out of the stick: the threat of violent subjugation by the Fayum. The choice was really an alternative between vasallage to the Fayum or the Yafeu, and he judged the Fayum a better deal because he expected in a war between the Fayum and the Yafeu, the Fayum would win.

All of that is to say, while culturally Atusa likely finds vassalage a natural arrangement and takes her oath of fealty seriously, to say the lot of the Hematti has improved under the Fayum is probably a stretch. Their 'generosity' was taking trade routes from a broken enemy who could no longer meaningfully defend them from Raksha and presenting them to a strong new vassal who could. The Fayum had nowhere near the numbers to manage all the territory they now nominally controlled. A trade route with no one protecting it makes no one money, so a cut of something is much better than all of nothing.

 

[jaydude]

Understood, leaning into civil war time it is. Manse later.



It's important to remember that vassalage is typically only a good deal when considered in the context of the violence that is its alternative. There's the carrot (manage these parceled out lands and rights for us and give us a cut), but the stick is much bigger (or we'll kill you and replace you with someone who will). Your clan was granted valuable rights and guarantees of security against other clans, but in exchange you have to pay a nontrivial portion of your earnings to the Fayum and come fight their wars when they call the banners. It's usually not a great deal if the threat of being killed should you refuse were to be suddenly removed. The Fayum primarily demand a cut of all the activities that you'd already be doing, and in exchange they promise not to kill you and to prevent anyone else from killing you.

Typically bending the knee is done at the expense of your people, as it's a decent deal for those at the top (i.e. you and your highest captains), but the alternative for everyone is worse. The exception being if there's a significant external threat on your doorstep and you genuinely need the protection of a liege for your people to avoid catastrophe.

In this case your father was offered the carrot of additional trade routes to take the sting out of the stick: the threat of violent subjugation by the Fayum. The choice was really an alternative between vasallage to the Fayum or the Yafeu, and he judged the Fayum a better deal because he expected in a war between the Fayum and the Yafeu, the Fayum would win.

All of that is to say, while culturally Atusa likely finds vassalage a natural arrangement and takes her oath of fealty seriously, to say the lot of the Hematti has improved under the Fayum is probably a stretch. Their 'generosity' was taking trade routes from a broken enemy who could no longer meaningfully defend them from Raksha and presenting them to a strong new vassal who could. The Fayum had nowhere near the numbers to manage all the territory they now nominally controlled. A trade route with no one protecting it makes no one money, so a cut of something is much better than all of nothing.

Ah. In that case, I'm probably going to get rid of the Aspect and Intimacy I mentioned earlier.

 

[Rykon]

One or both of you should roll Wits + Survival (Difficulty 2 if you're flying, 3 on foot, with benefits for net successes) for getting there in one piece and on time, or hire/summon a guide to make the roll for you. Other than that, there's nothing holding the scene.

I somehow missed, or more likely forgot, the call for a roll when reading that the first time. Was about to ask if there was anything else to do before changing scene.

I'll throw 5 motes for an excellency to bring John's pool to 10 given his recent luck. 5 Successes.

 

[Random Word]

( Random Word Random Word Would you like me to roll to shape the sorcery?)

I will never have you roll Shape Sorcery outside of critical time pressure, as its only function is to determine how many combat rounds/seconds it takes you to cast a spell.

Sherwood's game invite is keeping me busy, but everyone is blocked on me so once that's settled I'll work on getting all three posts done.

 

[jaydude]

Sherwood's game invite is keeping me busy, but everyone is blocked on me so once that's settled I'll work on getting all three posts done.

Game invite?

 

[Random Word]

You're in that game Dice - UEEF: The Shadow Chronicles - OOC Thread

 

[jaydude]

You're in that game Dice - UEEF: The Shadow Chronicles - OOC Thread

Right. I'd only been looking at the Interest check; that was my first instinct with regards to new players showing up.

As for the game's OOC thread, there must have been an unread post in there that I never got around to checking. Otherwise I'd have been notified that you and Wlf were posting there.

 

[Sherwood]

That's why you need to be OCD like me, to check your posts constantly.

 

[Random Word]

[I assume Craftsman Needs No Tools can justify the hand engraving stunt. What rolls do you need Random Word ? Intelligence + Occult]

CNNT will definitely let you carve stone with your fingers. First you let me know what John is trying to accomplish, then I'll let you know what (if anything) to roll.

 

[Rykon]

John is picking option 2, trying to summon the guardian of the tower. Seeing the incomplete writings would obviously bother him until he figured them out.

 

[Random Word]

Let's call that Intelligence + Occult (Derive from first principles) or Lore (Recall a similar inscription, prayer, or text). Given the partial text and the time pressure, I'll say it's difficulty 6 to do inside an hour. An extremely difficult feat for even the greatest of mortal savants.

 

[Sherwood]

I'm going to go ahead and put 8 xp into raising my Stamina to 3, and 1 xp to raise my Resistance to 2. That helps me out by giving me another -2 health level.

 

[Random Word]

Costs for dots are flattened in an attempt to eliminate the BP/XP split, so attributes for Solars are:
(4 + 8 + 12 + 16)/4 = 10 XP each, regardless of number of dots.

Favoured abilities for Solars are:
(1 + 3 + 5 + 7)/4 = 4 XP per dot beyond the first, the usual 3 XP for the first.

Non-favoured is, unsurprisingly (2 + 4 + 6 + 8)/4 = 5 XP per dot.

(If you'd like to redo your initial dot allocations in light of this, you're welcome to.)

 

[Sherwood]

Crap. I missed that. Hmmm. I'll have to reconsider my options.

 

[Random Word]

Oh, as an added note, I haven't been giving enough opportunities to earn Solar XP, but as you receive it in future you can trade out any regular XP you've spent on Solar XP-eligible purchases to get regular XP back.

 

[Sherwood]

I went ahead and raised my Willpower to 6. So many of my Charms need the WP point to activate.

 

[Random Word]

It's hard to go wrong buying WP.

 

[Psychie]

I have so many things on my wish list, I don't know what to get. I may end up banking my points for now.