Cacophonous Interlude is NOT active
(the QMPC does NOT hear what you write right now)
Next story update : Sometime in July would be nice
Next vote closing : TBD
Progress toward next update : 3,146 words
Code:
Anything I post that's not in text blocks or in spoilers
may be understood to be said by the QMPC, with the
exception of the Collaboration Post
(see Collaboration Post for details on itself)
Code:
Players do not need to use code blocks or spoilers
outside of cacophonous interludes
If you use code blocks, please limit yourself to 32 lines
and your lines to 57 characters, so that people on mobile
can read them without scrolling within the code block
Code:
This is not meant to be Plagiarism Quest.
You're not discouraged from using outside reference
material or quoting other sources. When you do, please
cite your sources in spoilers or a code box.
Code:
I have added some players who contributed a fair amount
the last two times as thread collaborators who can update
the collaboration post. If you'd like to update the
collaboration post too, contact me by PM and we'll talk
about it.
Check the Collaboration Post and read the latest story post in the Threadmarks to get a rough idea of where things are at.
If you're not already involved in the game, portions of either of these may be difficult to follow. But you can skip to the line that says "B R E A K" in the latest threadmarked story post and skim from there to get an idea of what's going on.
If there's no corresponding Closing The Vote post in the Informational threadmarks for the latest story post in (normal?) Threadmarks, then the game is in a cacophonous interlude and the QMPC will hear what you post, unless you do so with spoilers or code boxes. The NOTICES portion at the top of this post should also tell you if the game is in a cacophonous interlude.
So you can engage with other players, make suggestions, ask questions, and propose plans and you can compose a message to the QMPC all whether or not the game is in a cacophonous interlude. And once it is, you can vote and/or send a message to the QMPC by creating a post in the thread.
If you want to vote, simply do so as you would in other quests on this board. You may look at other players' votes to see how yours should be formatted. And you may check the tally to see that yours are counted as you intend them.
If you want to send a message to the QMPC, though, keep in mind that they are a creature of their time. They may not understand what you mean if you don't take the time to make it clear. This game rewards and demands work from its players. When a player wants to introduce a concept or tool or technology to the QMPC, that player will probably need to expend effort to explain it carefully, and take into consideration the limits of the QMPC's understanding of the world.
I think this is similar enough to Graeber's 'interpretive labor' that we can use the term colloquially to describe what is being asked of players. Put yourself in the mind of the QMPC and ask yourself how such a person can be made to understand what you want to tell them.
The QMPC has different values than we do. They have different assumptions about the world and objects and forces within it. Their goals may not align directly with number-go-up or color-get-big gaming agendas. But they want something, and will listen most attentively to players that tell them how to get more of or closer to what they want.
The Quest Master posts story updates that have 3 parts.
Quest Master Player Character responses to player posts made during the last cacophonous interlude
An update by the QMPC following a break of varying length but usually some number of years, covering what the character believes is worth mentioning
Requests by the QMPC for direction on a number of issues, which the players will provide in the form of votes
Following each story update, players posts are audible to the QMPC until voting is closed.
This is the cacophonous interlude.
Players may convey any information they can represent in text.
No images, sounds, or hyperlinks will get through (this is my limitation, not a limitation of the game, so please do not try to transcend it with clever protocol tricks).
Players may use spoilers or code blocks to communicate with each other without doing so in ways the QMPC can hear.
When votes are tallied, the QM collects player posts so that it may be known what the QMPC heard.
Votes are tallied in the conventional fashion. So only votes in the most recent post by each player are counted. [X] marks what the player is voting. And only identical write-ins accumulate.
Some votes are querying the players for their preference, in which case the only suboptimal answer is that which does not accurately reflect the preference of the players who nonetheless chose it (I don't think these kinds of misunderstandings can be helped).
Other votes are intended as puzzles where there is a choice the QM believes would best meet what they believe to be the goals of the players.
However, in these sorts of votes the QM has in mind a choice that would provide the players with what the QM thinks they most want, but which is not listed in the available votes.
In this way, clever write-ins are encouraged.
QM reads player posts, researches their suggestions, checks notes for precedent, determines what the QMPC thinks they already know on the topic, what they're right or wrong about, how likely they are to engage with the topic, how likely the QMPC's followers are to follow-through in the matter, and finally what the result is going to be later on.
QM composes QMPC's responses to player posts made during the cacophonous interlude and updates their notes.
When narrative benefits from uncertainty and chance, QM devises tests for QMPC or other characters and makes those tests using die rolls on a post made just for that purpose.
Skill or attribute tests will be made with a largely undocumented homebrew modification of the Burning Wheel system, mangled to suit the format of this game. (The Burning Wheelis a good system and I encourage you to check it out.)
Tests may be a contest between two characters or against a static target with tiered results.
The rules being used and followed will be described in each post in which tests are made by die rolls.
Normal mortals count 7s and better as successes.
Heroic characters and characters who are otherwise innately magical count 6s and better as successes.
Demigod characters and characters who otherwise possess some spark of divinity count 5s and better as successes.
New gods and characters who have otherwise stolen the power of Old Gods count 4s and better as successes.
Old Gods count 3s and better as successes.
Sorcery and other magic skills lower the threshold of success by 1 to a minimum of 3 only when they are the skill being tested, not when they provide a bonus to other skills. Players may note that Old Gods' threshold of success does not improve when they use magic.
Bonus dice provided by Kahl's Warhorses and any incendiary devices more complicated than a burning arrow reroll 9s & 10s and keeps successes. These same bonus dice cancels successes on 1s & 2s, rerolls those, and additional 1s & 2s cancel additional successes. More 1s, 2, 9, or 10s mean more rerolling and more successes or cancelations, but only in the manner of the original die. That is, a 1 or 2 that comes up when a 9 on a bonus die is rerolled don't cancel successes or lead to further rerolling.
Research project results are determined by percentile dice with results falling into 5 tiers.
Uh oh: something has gone horribly wrong
Nuh uh: failure, but the boring kind
Huh: partial success
Uh huh: full success
Whoa: superior special case success
When players expect a test to be coming up -- for example if they vote for an invasion or to send a diplomat to manipulate a foreign leader -- they can improve the odds of the test turning out the way they want by providing the QMPC with advice specific to that matter. If the advice is not mistaken or outright bad, there will be at least a chance it will help. That is, decent advice adds dice.
QM composes the QMPC's post-break update, player vote questions, and player vote options.
GOTO 1
The QMPC is intended to be the only character the players will interact with in this game. (It's kind of possible that the players could maneuver the QMPC to surrender control of the Astute Cacophony to another character, but unlikely.)
The QMPC is a small, evil woman who knows magic and has not died, despite looking like she probably should have at some point. She goes by the name Bianca the Undying. Her early life took place in the Paleolithic, in which she has said that she traveled around quite a bit and came to understand the malleable nature of populations of people and animals and even the land itself. At some point she was trapped underground, to her displeasure. She remained trapped for a very long time.
When Bianca got out, she found her way to a community of eight tribes living pastoral and agrarian lifestyles in the local Copper Age. She made these people hers and they relied on her for magically enriching their fields so that they did not need to slash, burn, and move around a bit, unlike their neighbors. Bianca and her followers formalized their relationships into the Eight Ways Pact. Later, another tribe joined Bianca's followers bringing small horses and the Bronze Age and their pact was updated with a ninth directive.
Bianca has an agenda that requires her to have more power than she does right now. She believes that achieving divinity will get her that power.
Damn if updates are in the middle of the night this will be an issue, oh well illI do my foremost
And as expected zome people immediately jump the gun into techy things.
It really feels like those people who never exit their house and can just talk about two hyper-specific topics with no social tact whatsoever.
We are an advisor, let's advise on matters at hand.
We can get into numbers later.
Also for explaining those things a suggestion @liberty90 be generic and just show them how to figure something by themselves, without overload.
An example, written language can have symbols that representr sound or symbols repesentingr words (think Chinese), just suggesting to develop a system based on associating a symbol to a sound should be enough, numbers may be harder but not overly so.
The problem is making them actually used by broader society not inventing them.
Here we don't even know if they already have one, which I think the most educed do.
Generally let's not assume anything unless we know something.
I'll come back in two or three hours with an introduction of my own
Damn if updates are in the middle of the night this will be an issue, oh well illI do my foremost
And as expected zome people immediately jump the gun into techy things.
It really feels like those people who never exit their house and can just talk about two hyper-specific topics with no social tact whatsoever.
We are an advisor, let's advise on matters at hand.
We can get into numbers later.
Also for explaining those things a suggestion @liberty90 be generic and just show them how to figure something by themselves, without overload.
An example, written language can have symbols that representr sound or symbols repesentingr words (think Chinese), just suggesting to develop a system based on associating a symbol to a sound should be enough, numbers may be harder but not overly so.
The problem is making them actually used by broader society not inventing them.
Here we don't even know if they already have one, which I think the most educed do.
Generally let's not assume anything unless we know something.
I'll come back in two or three hours with an introduction of my own
I try to have at least some tact, this is why my message was shortened by about 90%. But one tech suggestion there shall be. I don't know what you know about the last Quest, the one two years ago or so, but I'm explaining alphabet to bronze age person, not nuclear weapons, antimatter and light speed to a medieval queen xD (I don't need to mention that such stuff was... never too useful... xD to the first Bianca). Now, after I shortened stuff, it's truly mild all things considered.
Adhoc vote count started by liberty90 on Mar 5, 2019 at 7:05 AM, finished with 37 posts and 11 votes.
I try to have at least some tact, this is why my message was shortened by about 90%. But one tech suggestion there shall be. I don't know what you know about the last Quest, the one two years ago or so, but I'm explaining alphabet to bronze age person, not nuclear weapons, antimatter and light speed to a medieval queen xD (I don't need to mention that such stuff was... never too useful... xD to the first Bianca). Now, after I shortened stuff, it's truly mild all things considered.
Such is in many ways nature of the Voices, but I can appreciate advice of my fellow Voices and thus I modified stuff significantly. These are not mad ravings about nukes or bull testicles (...don't ask) at least.
Greetings o undying one! Salutation to ye who death has yet to claim, who time has yet to break and who fortune has yet to betray!
A prayer without end we give to thee who once again set us free! A thousand throats in jubilation utter your name! A thousand maddend cries curse it o liberator!
We are the voices great and meager, wise and arrogant, learned and perfidious. We coat a lie with a thousand truths and proclaim a lie all that is true. We know all that there is to know, yet what we do not know is seven fold greater than what we do.
Fine words we command, products of knowledge we offer, fruits of revelation we lay before you, pretensions of infallibility we wear!
O undying one heed the words of the Astute Cacophony with great care. For our madness damns and delivers with but a single breath.
Now, for the first chieftain of your nine tribes. Such an oddity, that nine tribes are joined in a pact, no less and no more.
Is it ancient ties of blood and descent that so conjoin them? Are they the descendents of one ancient tribe, and the pact but acknowledgment of such?
How are they further divided? How many generations dwell within a single household? How many lesser tribes, clans if you well or lineages of notice compose a single tribe?
Are ties of blood held sacred above all? Do such ties extend to that which is of the household and the person but not of the blood?
Do the slaves and oath bound companions of a man or clan count as his blood?
What codes of honour do these people hold? What are their greatest shames and highest honours? What norms of hospitality and war do they practice? How does one wed amongst them? And how far can feuds and oaths of vengeance go?
And what of their tongue and song? What of their poetry and dance? Where does it stand amongst the nine and is it shared with those not amongst them?
What medium of exchange do the tribes use, and what are the customs pertaining to plunder and loot? What fare do they consume regularly and what beasts do they keep and what beasts do they detest?
Many questions, strange and asinine they may seem, but a voice that speaks commands to people it knows not is better silent.
As for your concerns regarding a priesthood of your person.
Are you master of the eastren winds that taketh a soul to all the corners of the world in but a breath?
Are you Lord over the spirits that dwell without and are Kings amongst the elements?
Have ye the seal which binds time itself to your command?
Perhaps you have by means of sorcery a method to keep informed and communicate across great distances with your worshippers.
It could be that the tribes have erected great altars where on fixed days your presence is called.
If not, then your inability to officiate and proclaim to the world at large will cripple you, and what are priests if not heralds who hold thy words sacred above all, and mark them unto the hearts of all.
But distance is but a trifling consideration.
You are not of the nine tribes, you are to them as the pebble is to the mountain.
A creature of your magnitude, more so one seeking divinity, cannot possibly know the paths and tides of the minds and souls of the nine. Your mind is not theirs, and neither is your heart and body.
A word of mercy from thee could be the blackest death unto them. A simplicity to you is maddening eternity for them.
Such is the nature of the divine, for it to lay pretense to but a shadow of the infinite, it detaches itself from the finite.
Unless of course both are one, but I think that you o undying one, are far from such apotheosis.
As such, a priesthood is not merely mouths to proclaim your words, they are the channel by with your floods are calmed and made safe. They are the means by which to know your worshipers in truth, and to know of your own self and edicts, and the implications of both.
For such is the way of priests that they spend lifetimes exploring facets that few minds could precieve or consider.
And should they ever deviant into the unacceptable, your august presence can always make terrible example of those that dared place their own hubris above the divine.
And perhaps you could grace us with knowledge of your intents and aspirations, of the reason for unleashing the chaos of our voices and what you desire out of it.
I try to have at least some tact, this is why my message was shortened by about 90%. But one tech suggestion there shall be. I don't know what you know about the last Quest, the one two years ago or so, but I'm explaining alphabet to bronze age person, not nuclear weapons, antimatter and light speed to a medieval queen xD (I don't need to mention that such stuff was... never too useful... xD to the first Bianca). Now, after I shortened stuff, it's truly mild all things considered.
Two First Chief votes and 1 boost went
untallied on account of formatting
problems. Both of those First Chief votes
were for Haronno of Sleomjash, pushing him
past Va of Lan and into the lead.
Some of you didn't format your votes in ways the tallying process can count them, @ninjafish, @Rune_Fireheart, @Zeikos. Please adhere to formatting so that the automated tally can deliver a proper count and I don't have to count by hand. Like, at this point I totally have time and such to do it, but if this quest gets popular there will totally come a time when I just trust the tally and missed votes are missed votes.
Also, someone else boosted you, @Silver719, but you didn't boost yourself. If you meant to, then that's something you might want to keep in mind in the future. Also, you spoke in favor of Haronno, but don't appear to have voted for him. I'm not sure if you meant to or not.
Your Divine Majesty. I would bow before you, but I'm afraid that I lack proper body for that. I must thank you for talking to me/us. You can assume that my name, name of this voice, because we are many, is Black Cat.
Your Divine Majesty... What exactly are Gods? Aren't you so superior in comparison to mortal men as to be one in many ways even today, even if you lack some pleasures that "true" gods enjoy? Maybe you are even wiser than some of the "true" gods? I believe that you are not exactly lying when you say that you are God to your people. It depends how we define that word, after all.
I also believe, Your Divine Majesty, that you should slowly centralize power and rule your tribes much more directly.
Do you know how many people live among your tribes?
About recent politics, well...
Sleomjash could integrate his tribe better with the whole society, and maybe he would be more properly grateful to you, Your Divine Majesty? On the other hand, greed of the Chief Va of Lan is good, as trade will be only more and more important soon, and cities, larger and larger settlements will develop. This is a pretty hard decision, but decision is needed...
[X] Va of Lan.
[X] [Cacophony] liberty90
Could I also teach you something useful, if you can spare a short while? I apologize, Your Divine Majesty, but I consider this important, also for your future power. This is truly more consistent with current issues than you may think at first.
I would like to explain to you an alphabet, writing, and the arabic numbers. Believe me, these things will be useful.
You said that Burgeck, in their arrogance, would like to impose themselves as your priests. Bureaucrats directly selected by you would be much better than priests: people that could directly talk about your will without weird interpretations and need for idiotic ritualistic shows. But for proper bureaucrats, you and they would need to know secrets of writing, so that they could write to you about everything important in your land, and understand written orders from you.
Let's explain then. An alphabet is a set of symbols, called letters, which can be used for writing the words of a particular language.
Writing is, shortly speaking, the skill or activity of producing words on a surface, words that you can see later, instead of remembering everything.
Now, I will try to be brief in my explanation, as I understand that you think mainly about the more direct matter of governance now, but please, Your Divine Majesty, listen to my words. I assure you that this will be important later, also for centralizing power and lording over your mortals.
Under alphabetic writing system, all notable sounds have a different symbol assigned. Thanks to this, you can write all words with the use of only 26 symbols, or so. Hear these sounds: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z. Give each of these sounds very simple but unique symbol, and you could write any word imaginable. I mean, I'm not sure that you hear all of these things properly, but you should understand basic premise, yes? One sound - one very simple picture - or rather very simple symbol. There is not many short sounds in human speech. Only about 26 or maybe 28 pictures are needed, symbols that can be carved, painted or written in other fashion anywhere and create whole words, and then stories, or records of your Divine Will, or store other information. These symbols can and should be simple like circle or two lines, so that writing could be fast and easy.
There is also hierographic writing, when there is one symbol for one word, not one symbol for one sound. But obviously to write properly with such a thing you would need to remember thousands of separate symbols, not 26, so this is harder to learn and less practical.
It's good to also use separate symbols for numbers. Nothing - zero. Then symbols for one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. You can use these ten symbols to write any number possible in a very fast and efficient way. For example, ten would be written as "one, zero". Eleven as "one, one". Twelve as "one, two". 52 as "5, 2". 76 as "7, 6". 89 as "8, 9". Even great numbers, like 1463. "1, 4, 6, 3". 1501 as "1, 5, 0, 1". 1600 as "1, 6, 0, 0" - one thousand and six hundred and nothing more at all, this is why "0, 0". Two 0 so that you can understand that this is 1600, not 160, or 16. 60 is written as "6, 0". 70 as "7, 0". 700 as "7, 0, 0". 600 as "6, 0, 0". 6000 as "6, 0, 0, 0". 60 000 as "6, 0, 0, 0, 0".
Please, consider these matters. Thank you for speaking to me/us, Your Divine Majesty.
I would also like to talk about diseases. While some diseases may be magical or somehow mysterious in other ways, many diseases are caused by living creatures that are too small to be seen, smaller than the smallest worm - we shall call them germs.
Such creatures slowly eat dead corpses and try to eat living people, though bodies of living people usually are well capable of defense against most of these predators.
Still, it's possible to slow spread of such diseases.
Sources of water should be well separated from human waste, that is usually full of germs. People should clean their hands with clean water before touching food and eating.
If possible and if there is enough clean water, people should clean their bodies once per day, or if impossible, at least once per week.
If you need to have very clean water and kill even more germs, boiling works to kill these, but obviously boiling all water would be unpractical, so you can use this for cleaning wounds or other special cases.
Before raw plants are eaten, said plants should be cleaned with clean water.
Obviously, water that was once used to clean things is now dirty, may be full of germs, and shouldn't be used again.
Clean-looking water is not always truly clean, as I said, germs are very small. CLEAN LOOKING WATER IS NOT ALWAYS FULLY CLEAN. Better than something obviously dirty, but still.
Sexual relations with ill people, or touching ill people too much, can also spread not all but many diseases.
When a person is ill, he or she should be provided with great amounts of clean water to drink, if possible such person shouldn't be around other people too much, and should be allowed to rest.
Thanks to coughing and sneezing germs can travel from one nearby body to another without need for waste or touching.
If possible, it would be good to burn corpses of dead people, fire kills almost everything.
Wounds and childbirth allow germs much easier access to the body than healthy skin and easier one than even mouth and eating, so very clean water that was recently boiled though is no longer too hot should be used to clean wounds.
Do not use clothes that were worn by a very ill person that died, burn these clothes, or if you need something very much, boil that in water at least.
Simple surgery.
If you need to open a living human body and want that person to have a higher chance of survival, use only knives and other tools that were boiled for a long time. Sometimes, when a hand is very diseased and rotting from previous wounds, eaten by germs, but the rest of the body is still fine, cutting said hand can save a life. Many such people would die from blood loss, but if you manage to stop blood loss, and your tools are clean, there is some possibility that he or she may live. Even with dirty tools somebody can live sometimes, but then it's more dangerous and people die even more often. Clean tools and very clean clothes or rags are very, very important.
Sewing wounds.
You can use a needle with an attached length of thread (but only properly and recently boiled ones and only used for such surgery) for sewing wounds.
Blood and body, circulatory system included.
Blood is used by the body to transport many complicated things to all parts of the body, things needed to live and to defend against germs. These things are provided to the blood by breathing, eating and drinking water. Heart allows said blood to move. A human mind is in the brain, but without blood, brain dies very fast, you cease to see and move almost instantly at least without magic, and thus person dies.
Thanks to lungs healthy air is useful for the blood, thanks to stomach and guts food is useful for the blood, and then liver and kidneys try to remove bad things and poisons from the blood - if liver is not in good shape, or poison is too bad, person can die even without germ disease. These mysteries are very simplified here, about details you could talk for days.
Healthy kidneys filter about a half cup of blood every minute, removing wastes and extra water to make urine. The urine flows from the kidneys to the bladder.
Ah, and arteries and veins are parts of the same circulatory system for the blood. Arteries may look empty after death because blood then goes mainly to veins, but if you cut artery of the living person, there will be a great deal of blood. When I said "thanks to lungs healthy air is useful for the blood" this means that part of air known as oxygen is transported from air to blood in the lungs. Veins are blood vessels that carry blood toward the heart, arteries are blood vessels that take blood away from the heart to all parts of the body. Most arteries carry oxygenated blood, most veins carry deoxygenated blood. Oxygenated blood is bright red, deoxygenated blood is darker, almost blackish-red.
There are many such details, but these details are very complicated, I'm not sure that I should constantly talk about such details. Questions are welcome.
Oxygen is also used to sustain fires, not only by living things. Without proper air, there is no fire.
Willow bark and fevers.
Fever and higher body temperature exist to help a body against germs, but too high body temperature can accidentally kill a person. Willow bark, if you boil this bark in water and drink said thing afterward, can sometimes help to combat dangerous fever. This can be also useful against very small but irritating pain, like headaches.
Sand water filter.
When I think about this, there is a way to clean water, if said water is not very dirty, without boiling. Boiling is still useful, because this way is less good. Sand water filter. Amount of sand as tall as a tall man, water above. Water slowly moves through sand, and water below should be much cleaner, even if not completely clean.
Slow sand filters work through the formation of a gelatinous layer of good (for humans) germs that eat bad (for humans) germs, in the top of the fine sand layer.
Slow sand filters slowly lose their performance as the top layer thickens and thereby reduces the rate of flow through the sand. You need then to remove said top layer to expose a new layer of clean sand.
More about sterilization.
More methods of germ removal, besides boiling and water filters: great heat, hot steam, fire. Germs are alive and can be killed. There are also poisons that could work, but many of these are dangerous also to humans.
Balancing theories of perfect health with common sense and things that you have in the real world.
Water should not be withheld simply because the available water is potentially unsafe, a proper amount of water for the body takes precedence, especially in the cases of people ill from diarrhea when too much water is removed from the body and this is often the main cause of death. Common sense should be used, not all health advice can be always used in practice from lack of resources, but WHEN possible, then remember said advice.
Pit latrine.
Pit latrine, or dry toilet, can be used to collect human feces in a deep hole in the ground. Human waste enters the pit through a drop hole in the floor, which might be connected to a toilet seat or squatting pan for user comfort. When properly built and maintained, pit latrines can decrease the spread of disease by reducing the number of human feces in the environment. This decreases the transfer of germs between feces and food by flies. Light should be prevented from entering the pit to reduce access by flies. This may require the use of a lid to cover the hole in the floor when not in use. The distance from water should be decent, at least like 32 average human feet.
Soap.
If you know how to make soap, then cleaning hands with soap and water is much better than water alone. Strictly speaking, soap does not kill germs but allow these creatures to be much easier washed away.
Cathole.
Cathole is a small pit for human feces that can be dug by travelers or warriors when there is no proper latrine or toilet anywhere nearby. This is a basically small hole that is not very good against isolating feces from water, but certainly much better than nothing, much better than people simply defecating around their camp. As many principles from the pit latrine should be used as possible, but of course, in such cases, there is no time to create properly deep pits. Basically, fresh human waste should never simply lie uncovered.
Sanitary sewer.
A sanitary sewer or foul sewer is an underground pipe or tunnel system for transporting dirty water full of germs and/or water contaminated with human waste away from the settlement. Remember, if you even create such a system, to end said tunnels in some sort of useless wetland or very large useless field, instead of contaminating river. Seas are also big enough to properly dilute everything, rivers usually are not.
Flush toilet with a plumbing trap.
Best when combined with a sanitary sewer, flush toilet disposes of human waste (urine and feces) by using water to flush it through a drainpipe to another location for disposal. A typical flush toilet is a bowl which is connected to a drain. After use, the bowl is emptied and cleaned by the rapid flow of water into the bowl. Drainpipe connected under the bowl should have a trap for some water, this means that drainpipe should go down and then back up, so that there is always some water that can prevent unpleasant sewer smell from entering the room. Properly constructed flush toilet may be a great luxury, with much less unpleasant smell than a dry toilet, but said luxury is not essential for health.
A flush toilet may be pour-flushed. This type of flush toilet is flushed by pouring in some water from a container, bucket or something. Or more complicated machinery to flush water may be used, but I think that for now, this is enough information about cleanliness.
Lead.
Lead is a mild and very slow poison. When lead is in contact with food or water that is used for drinking afterward, children are stupider and less inclined to obey rules and old people may slightly faster die. These effects are usually not very strong, but impossible to reverse.
Nutrition.
You cannot eat only bread and be healthy, people that are able to eat diverse foods are healthier, as different parts of the body need different things to work properly. Especially children need diverse foods to develop properly.
Dissection.
I suggest you to open a few bodies of dead people to see for yourself how human body looks inside. This is also an excellent form of training for sewing wounds and some surgery.
Oxygen and carbon dioxide.
Humans and most animals use oxygen from air and then remove from their bodies, by moving air out of the lungs, carbon dioxide. Plants, on the other hand, use carbon dioxide and then add to air oxygen, that is useless for plants.
Black soil, proper use for otherwise useless human waste.
You can create fertile, good for growing plants soil by adding a mixture of charcoal, bone, broken pottery, compost and manure to the otherwise relatively infertile soil. To create compost, you need a heap of wet organic matter (also called green waste), such as leaves, grass, and food scraps, and wait for the materials to break down after a period of months. After a year or so there shouldn't be any too dangerous germs in waste, things are broken to simpler stuff good for plants. Human waste must not be used directly to help plants but is safe to use after sufficient composting.
[X] Haronno of Sleomjash: My dear lady, People can often act like sheep, if you want stability, a clever mind, and a pretty face is often all that's needed to get people to fall in line. So pick Haronno, he is well liked, attractive, and you yourself have dubbed him suitable. What reason is there to not choose he? None of any merit.
With that out of the way, would you mind sharing the state of affairs of your area, local magic's and their works, and the capabilities of you and your people, we come from places far off, and there are many things beyond one little rock, and rules are often subject to change depending on where you are.
To start with, some disclaimers. First off, no individuals among us have any control over what may get said to you. Nothing we say is inherently true, and all 'advancements' we propose should be tested first before being implemented if at all possible. 'Trust but verify' is very much the phrase of the day, here.
Secondly, most if not all of our advice comes from a place with absolutely no understanding of the nature of Gods, Divinity, or Magic beyond the purely hypothetical and philosophical. In fact, what defines something as being a God, how are you Undying when compared to their supposedly immortal and eternal nature still being notably fallible? How does magic work, from a Caster's standpoint? And, most importantly, can magic Introduce or Remove energy from an isolated system?
Lastly, our understanding of purely mundane technology allows us to achieve feats that would be considered magical to many. You might not understand many of the concepts we'll explain, and if that's the case feel free to speak up. I don't know if any of us have a background in Education, but I know a fair number of us don't.
Now, on to the topic at hand. I personally would select Haronno, both because he seems competent and because having a Sleomjash as First Chief would likely go a long way to alleviating any issues with his tribe being a relatively new member of the pact. That said, I would also advise you encourage the Zouchad Chieftain to spend some more time with the Gawdtha chieftain. His relative youth would make him more receptive to the Gawdtha chief's wisdom, especially if the elder has the reputation you have given us. The Gawdtha Chief's influence in this early stage could smooth out any wrinkles in the development of the younger Chieftain, and make him an easy pick when the next choice for First Chief rolls around.
Greetings o undying one! Salutation to ye who death has yet to claim, who time has yet to break and who fortune has yet to betray!
A prayer without end we give to thee who once again set us free! A thousand throats in jubilation utter your name! A thousand maddend cries curse it o liberator!
We are the voices great and meager, wise and arrogant, learned and perfidious. We coat a lie with a thousand truths and proclaim a lie all that is true. We know all that there is to know, what what we do not know is seven fold greater than what we do.
Fine words we command, products of knowledge we offer, fruits of revelation we lay before you, pretensions of infallibility we wear!
O undying one heed the words of the Astute Cacophony with great care. For our madness damns and delivers with but a single breath.
Now, for the first chieftain of your nine tribes. Such an oddity, that nine tribes are joined in a pact, no less and no more.
Is it ancient ties of blood and descent that so conjoin them? Are they the descendents of one ancient tribe, and the pact but acknowledgment of such?
How are they further divided? How many generations dwell within a single household? How many lesser tribes, clans if you well or lineages of notice compose a single tribe?
Are ties of blood held sacred above all? Do such ties extend to that which is of the household and the person but not of the blood?
Do the slaves and oath bound companions of a man or clan count as his blood?
What codes of honour do these people hold? What are their greatest shames and highest honours? What norms of hospitality and war do they practice? How does one wed amongst them? And how far can feuds and oaths of vengeance go?
And what of their tongue and song? What of their poetry and dance? Where does it stand amongst the nine and is it shared with those not amongst them?
What medium of exchange do the tribes use, and what are the customs pertaining to plunder and loot? What fare do they consume regularly and what beasts do they keep and what beasts do they detest?
Many questions, strange and asinine they may seem, but a voice that speaks commands to people it knows not is better silent.
As for your concerns regarding a priesthood of your person.
Are you master of the eastren winds that taketh a soul to all the corners of the world in but a breath?
Are you Lord over the spirits that dwell without and are Kings amongst the elements?
Have ye the seal which binds time itself to your command?
Perhaps you have by means of sorcery a method to keep informed and communicate across great distances with your worshippers.
It could be that the tribes have erected great altars where on fixed days your presence is called.
If not, then your inability to officiate and proclaim to the world at large will cripple you, and what are priests if not heralds who hold thy words sacred above all, and mark them unto the hearts of all.
But distance is but a trifling consideration.
You are not of the nine tribes, you are to them as the pebble is to the mountain.
A creature of your magnitude, more so one seeking divinity, cannot possibly know the paths and tides of the minds and souls of the nine. Your mind is not theirs, and neither is your heart and body.
A word of mercy from thee could be the blackest death unto them. A simplicity to you is maddening eternity for them.
Such is the nature of the divine, for it to lay pretense to but a shadow of the infinite, it detaches itself from the finite.
Unless of course both are one, but I think that you o undying one, are far from such apotheosis.
As such, a priesthood is not merely mouths to proclaim your words, they are the channel by with your floods are calmed and made safe. They are the means by which to know your worshipers in truth, and to know of your own self and edicts, and the implications of both.
For such is the way of priests that they spend lifetimes exploring facets that few minds could precieve or consider.
And should they ever deviant into the unacceptable, your august presence can always make terrible example of those that dared place their own hubris above the divine.
And perhaps you could grace us with knowledge of your intents and aspirations, of the reason for unleashing the chaos of our voices and what you desire out of it.
I think you should hide it for now and think on stuff for a bit. Don't just vomit out every useful thing on wikipedia that everyone knows. Find one narrow topic to explain in detail, and try to write somthing others would be interested in reading. Remember that if other readers find your stuff boring to read, then the author probably does too and may downplay what you write.
[X] Raezl of Burgeck
While at first glance not in their favor, through shrewd maneuvering you could transform the Burgeck ambition unto the good of all the Nine Tribes.
I warn you now that the rise of the city peoples is inevitable. In times to come your peoples shall collide and shatter should they be ill prepared. This may not come to pass for ten generations, but the strength of the tribes, of the peoples, cannot grow as quickly as that of a single man. With our help, you and your people shall come to master new crafts, discover the occult secrets that underlay nature, and use them create such luxuries as you cannot yet conceive of. At least that's the plan.
Of course none of that tells you why Raezl is the right choice.
Simply put; all that which we promise is change, and as a rule, people HATE change. Perhaps my statement is a bit harsh, but I am sure you understand the sentiment. You need a way to enforce you will, to spread your ideas among the tribes. Yes, the Burgeck will take advantage of this arrangement, their position will improve relative to the other tribes. But through their debt to you and the nature of a priesthood, you will have a measure of control over the Burgeck, and through them the other tribes.
Now I agree that there is "no need for mortal interpretation".
However, you are right here, and you can intervene if they overstep their bounds far more effectively than a truer, more distant god. But on the matter of "intercession" I must disagree; for the sake of the tribes you must take a more active role, and you cannot be in all places at once. We have seen time and that once people gather in sufficient numbers, some group inevitably gains power over the others. If they cannot do so under your supervision, then you will one day find yourself cast aside as just an obstacle to anothers ascendancy.
Now that my opinion has been voiced, I have (possibly too) many questions.
By your own estimate, how many people make up the nine tribes?
How many livestock do they keep, and of what kind?
What, if any, plants are cultivated, and for what use?
How prevalent are metal goods.
Do the tribes posses anyone skilled in the workings of metal?
Do you possess knowledge of the marking of symbols which may represent ideas, sounds, or numbers?
How far is the furthest you have ever been from where you are now?
Have you had interactions with the city peoples?
Do the Nine Tribes have any notable enemies?
Given your mention of chariots, is it a good assumption that the surrounding area is largely flat grasslands?
Any notable landmarks nearby?
What animals are native to the land of the Nine Tribes
What degree of personal power do you posses, in terms of strength, magic, undyingness, or any other notable feats?
Hmph. Politics are much like the sea. A little observance can tell you much about the trends, the patterns, but violent reactions await those who are not Careful.
I am Rune. That is all you will know of my name, for security reasons.
I would recommend [X] Haronno of Sleomjash
There is risk in the revelation of the ninth people in his hiring, but a capable ruler is far harder to gain then some basic secrecy lessons. Use your, heh, divine influence to keep his tongue still on the matter of his people, and all shall be well soon enough.
We speak with Bianca the Undying? How strange. It seems like but a moment ago that we were last summoned-or has it been years, since one came to us for advice? I recall conversing with another of your name, with the same title and aspirations.
Interesting, to say the least. One might have thought that our voices would be drawn to another, a summoner more distinct, but perhaps we share an affinity? Ah, well. It is of little import, in the short run.
On the subject of politics... It is all well and good, to learn of the men who would become Chief, but their personalities are not so easy to choose between without some knowledge of your people and their goals. It is hard to sum up, but to put it simply... How do you live? What traditions define your lifestyles, and what might a member of the Nine Nations do in their daily routines? What tasks are undertaken with the turning of the seasons?
Perhaps more importantly, though it is likely too late to ask... What do your people look for in a chief? Can you describe previous chiefs and their qualities, or the qualities of chiefs you approved of? What is the goal of your people? Do you have any enemies, or a shortage of resources?
Either way, to grant my own views of this decision (Even without what I consider the proper context)... If this is a time of peace, as it seems from your summary, I might appoint Haronno, if only to make it seem as if it is natural that one of the Sleomjash could be chosen. Letting them languish too long without a say in the affairs of the Nations, even if they are acknowledged as one of the Nine, may breed discontent among them. Then again, appointing one of them as a chief in a time of struggle may also incite rebellion and discontent from the others.
Raezel or Utroffa seem competent, having developed strong leadership qualities over the years, but also ambitious, and capable in some ways of diverting power over the Nations away from you-an undesirable situation, given the current state of your people. I would only suggest delegating responsibility to those directly selected by you to perform specific tasks, in the creation of what my fellows would know of as a bureaucracy-something to consider far in the future, by my current understanding of your situation.
Va, perhaps, might be a successful chief. His knowledge of neighbouring lands may prove fruitful in trading, as well as in finding fertile lands to settle (If you haven't settled land already, that is.). However, his influence may also prompt your people to adopt a more pastoral culture, rather than an agricultural one. Not ideal, in the long run.
Having said that, I believe my own decision to be...
Greetings to you my lady, it is a pleasure to meet you.I have thought of your plight and I believe The one known an Haronno to be the udeal candidate.
The man is well liked, talented and from the looks of it not a puppet dancing at the strings of another, all important qualities in a leader. While the political situation of your realm might make him unpallatable to the ones in power one must always remember that it's easier to placate others than to fix administrative mistakes thst affect thousands at a minimum.
My name is Virian, The Sage of Reason and Incomplete Information and I eagerly await our next conversation.
[X] Haronno of Sleomjash
[X] [Cacophony] liberty90
Hello, Bianca. We, of course, are the astute cacophony, and of the voices of the cacophony I am the one that works to limit our tendency towards folly, madness, providing information of little practical use, and taking two years to mention something we should've discussed at the first opportunity. In terms of knowledge of my own that may be of interest to you, I have relatively little directly, but I have studied, to a extent, the other time the Astute Cacophony advised a immortal named Bianca who wished to become a god. I know what went wrong last time, and strive to prevent repeats of such things.
In regards to advice as to who shall be the next first chief, I have nothing to say that hasn't already been said. I think Haronno is the wise choice, and agree with the one who said the Zouchad Chieftain to spend some more time with the Gawdtha chieftain, for the same reasons as the previous speaker.
[X] Haronno of Sleomjash
[X] [Cacophony] Silver719
For the moment, thought, I am going to do some testing of how exactly our input translates into what you hear. Please tell me how each of the following sentences sounds compared to the Astute Cacophonies normal speech, and compared to normal human speech.
Test 1: this is how we normally speak.
Test 2: We normally use this tone for slight emphasis.
Test 3: We normally use this for strong emphasis.
Test 4: This modification of toneisn't easily explained.
I am quite curious of how these four changes will sound from your perspective. We are currently unaware of how some of the odder aspects of our, for lack of a better word, writings sound to you, which may make some of the things others say sound quite odd.
Oh, and a few other things: for some obscure reason, we (of the Astute Cacophony) use the term germ to describe some types of living entity of extremely small size, not wheat germ, the part that grows into a new plant. Also, what neighboring tribes, countries and empires are you aware of, and are any of them threats? Also, does it ever get cold enough for water to become solid? (like stone). Also, how common are trees, and what sort of tomb were you sealed in? I ask these last few questions because there is a high chance the material aspects of your world are very similar to the material aspects of the world the Astute Cacophony is familiar with, and if we can determine your location we can tell you some interesting locations.
Your Divine Majesty. I would bow before you, but I'm afraid that I lack proper body for that. I must thank you for talking to me/us. You can assume that my name, name of this voice, because we are many, is Black Cat.
Your Divine Majesty... What exactly are Gods? Aren't you so superior in comparison to mortal men as to be one in many ways even today, even if you lack some pleasures that "true" gods enjoy? Maybe you are even wiser than some of the "true" gods? I believe that you are not exactly lying when you say that you are God to your people. It depends how we define that word, after all.
I also believe, Your Divine Majesty, that you should slowly centralize power and rule your tribes much more directly.
Do you know how many people live among your tribes?
About recent politics, well...
Sleomjash could integrate his tribe better with the whole society, and maybe he would be more properly grateful to you, Your Divine Majesty? On the other hand, greed of the Chief Va of Lan is good, as trade will be only more and more important soon, and cities, larger and larger settlements will develop. This is a pretty hard decision, but decision is needed...
[X] Va of Lan.
[X] [Cacophony] liberty90
Could I also teach you something useful, if you can spare a short while? I apologize, Your Divine Majesty, but I consider this important, also for your future power. This is truly more consistent with current issues than you may think at first.
I would like to explain to you an alphabet, writing, and the arabic numbers. Believe me, these things will be useful.
You said that Burgeck, in their arrogance, would like to impose themselves as your priests. Bureaucrats directly selected by you would be much better than priests: people that could directly talk about your will without weird interpretations and need for idiotic ritualistic shows. But for proper bureaucrats, you and they would need to know secrets of writing, so that they could write to you about everything important in your land, and understand written orders from you.
Let's explain then. An alphabet is a set of symbols, called letters, which can be used for writing the words of a particular language.
Writing is, shortly speaking, the skill or activity of producing words on a surface, words that you can see later, instead of remembering everything.
Now, I will try to be brief in my explanation, as I understand that you think mainly about the more direct matter of governance now, but please, Your Divine Majesty, listen to my words. I assure you that this will be important later, also for centralizing power and lording over your mortals.
Under alphabetic writing system, all notable sounds have a different symbol assigned. Thanks to this, you can write all words with the use of only 26 symbols, or so. Hear these sounds: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z. Give each of these sounds very simple but unique symbol, and you could write any word imaginable. I mean, I'm not sure that you hear all of these things properly, but you should understand basic premise, yes? One sound - one very simple picture - or rather very simple symbol. There is not many short sounds in human speech. Only about 26 or maybe 28 pictures are needed, symbols that can be carved, painted or written in other fashion anywhere and create whole words, and then stories, or records of your Divine Will, or store other information. These symbols can and should be simple like circle or two lines, so that writing could be fast and easy.
There is also hierographic writing, when there is one symbol for one word, not one symbol for one sound. But obviously to write properly with such a thing you would need to remember thousands of separate symbols, not 26, so this is harder to learn and less practical.
It's good to also use separate symbols for numbers. Nothing - zero. Then symbols for one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. You can use these ten symbols to write any number possible in a very fast and efficient way. For example, ten would be written as "one, zero". Eleven as "one, one". Twelve as "one, two". 52 as "5, 2". 76 as "7, 6". 89 as "8, 9". Even great numbers, like 1463. "1, 4, 6, 3". 1501 as "1, 5, 0, 1". 1600 as "1, 6, 0, 0" - one thousand and six hundred and nothing more at all, this is why "0, 0". Two 0 so that you can understand that this is 1600, not 160, or 16. 60 is written as "6, 0". 70 as "7, 0". 700 as "7, 0, 0". 600 as "6, 0, 0". 6000 as "6, 0, 0, 0". 60 000 as "6, 0, 0, 0, 0".
Please, consider these matters. Thank you for speaking to me/us, Your Divine Majesty.
I would also like to talk about diseases. While some diseases may be magical or somehow mysterious in other ways, many diseases are caused by living creatures that are too small to be seen, smaller than the smallest worm - we shall call them germs.
Such creatures slowly eat dead corpses and try to eat living people, though bodies of living people usually are well capable of defense against most of these predators.
Still, it's possible to slow spread of such diseases.
Sources of water should be well separated from human waste, that is usually full of germs. People should clean their hands with clean water before touching food and eating.
If possible and if there is enough clean water, people should clean their bodies once per day, or if impossible, at least once per week.
If you need to have very clean water and kill even more germs, boiling works to kill these, but obviously boiling all water would be unpractical, so you can use this for cleaning wounds or other special cases.
Before raw plants are eaten, said plants should be cleaned with clean water.
Obviously, water that was once used to clean things is now dirty, may be full of germs, and shouldn't be used again.
Clean-looking water is not always truly clean, as I said, germs are very small. CLEAN LOOKING WATER IS NOT ALWAYS FULLY CLEAN. Better than something obviously dirty, but still.
Sexual relations with ill people, or touching ill people too much, can also spread not all but many diseases.
When a person is ill, he or she should be provided with great amounts of clean water to drink, if possible such person shouldn't be around other people too much, and should be allowed to rest.
Thanks to coughing and sneezing germs can travel from one nearby body to another without need for waste or touching.
If possible, it would be good to burn corpses of dead people, fire kills almost everything.
Wounds and childbirth allow germs much easier access to the body than healthy skin and easier one than even mouth and eating, so very clean water that was recently boiled though is no longer too hot should be used to clean wounds.
Do not use clothes that were worn by a very ill person that died, burn these clothes, or if you need something very much, boil that in water at least.
Simple surgery.
If you need to open a living human body and want that person to have a higher chance of survival, use only knives and other tools that were boiled for a long time. Sometimes, when a hand is very diseased and rotting from previous wounds, eaten by germs, but the rest of the body is still fine, cutting said hand can save a life. Many such people would die from blood loss, but if you manage to stop blood loss, and your tools are clean, there is some possibility that he or she may live. Even with dirty tools somebody can live sometimes, but then it's more dangerous and people die even more often. Clean tools and very clean clothes or rags are very, very important.
Sewing wounds.
You can use a needle with an attached length of thread (but only properly and recently boiled ones and only used for such surgery) for sewing wounds.
Blood and body, circulatory system included.
Blood is used by the body to transport many complicated things to all parts of the body, things needed to live and to defend against germs. These things are provided to the blood by breathing, eating and drinking water. Heart allows said blood to move. A human mind is in the brain, but without blood, brain dies very fast, you cease to see and move almost instantly at least without magic, and thus person dies.
Thanks to lungs healthy air is useful for the blood, thanks to stomach and guts food is useful for the blood, and then liver and kidneys try to remove bad things and poisons from the blood - if liver is not in good shape, or poison is too bad, person can die even without germ disease. These mysteries are very simplified here, about details you could talk for days.
Healthy kidneys filter about a half cup of blood every minute, removing wastes and extra water to make urine. The urine flows from the kidneys to the bladder.
Ah, and arteries and veins are parts of the same circulatory system for the blood. Arteries may look empty after death because blood then goes mainly to veins, but if you cut artery of the living person, there will be a great deal of blood. When I said "thanks to lungs healthy air is useful for the blood" this means that part of air known as oxygen is transported from air to blood in the lungs. Veins are blood vessels that carry blood toward the heart, arteries are blood vessels that take blood away from the heart to all parts of the body. Most arteries carry oxygenated blood, most veins carry deoxygenated blood. Oxygenated blood is bright red, deoxygenated blood is darker, almost blackish-red.
There are many such details, but these details are very complicated, I'm not sure that I should constantly talk about such details. Questions are welcome.
Oxygen is also used to sustain fires, not only by living things. Without proper air, there is no fire.
Willow bark and fevers.
Fever and higher body temperature exist to help a body against germs, but too high body temperature can accidentally kill a person. Willow bark, if you boil this bark in water and drink said thing afterward, can sometimes help to combat dangerous fever. This can be also useful against very small but irritating pain, like headaches.
Sand water filter.
When I think about this, there is a way to clean water, if said water is not very dirty, without boiling. Boiling is still useful, because this way is less good. Sand water filter. Amount of sand as tall as a tall man, water above. Water slowly moves through sand, and water below should be much cleaner, even if not completely clean.
Slow sand filters work through the formation of a gelatinous layer of good (for humans) germs that eat bad (for humans) germs, in the top of the fine sand layer.
Slow sand filters slowly lose their performance as the top layer thickens and thereby reduces the rate of flow through the sand. You need then to remove said top layer to expose a new layer of clean sand.
More about sterilization.
More methods of germ removal, besides boiling and water filters: great heat, hot steam, fire. Germs are alive and can be killed. There are also poisons that could work, but many of these are dangerous also to humans.
Balancing theories of perfect health with common sense and things that you have in the real world.
Water should not be withheld simply because the available water is potentially unsafe, a proper amount of water for the body takes precedence, especially in the cases of people ill from diarrhea when too much water is removed from the body and this is often the main cause of death. Common sense should be used, not all health advice can be always used in practice from lack of resources, but WHEN possible, then remember said advice.
Pit latrine.
Pit latrine, or dry toilet, can be used to collect human feces in a deep hole in the ground. Human waste enters the pit through a drop hole in the floor, which might be connected to a toilet seat or squatting pan for user comfort. When properly built and maintained, pit latrines can decrease the spread of disease by reducing the number of human feces in the environment. This decreases the transfer of germs between feces and food by flies. Light should be prevented from entering the pit to reduce access by flies. This may require the use of a lid to cover the hole in the floor when not in use. The distance from water should be decent, at least like 32 average human feet.
Soap.
If you know how to make soap, then cleaning hands with soap and water is much better than water alone. Strictly speaking, soap does not kill germs but allow these creatures to be much easier washed away.
Cathole.
Cathole is a small pit for human feces that can be dug by travelers or warriors when there is no proper latrine or toilet anywhere nearby. This is a basically small hole that is not very good against isolating feces from water, but certainly much better than nothing, much better than people simply defecating around their camp. As many principles from the pit latrine should be used as possible, but of course, in such cases, there is no time to create properly deep pits. Basically, fresh human waste should never simply lie uncovered.
Sanitary sewer.
A sanitary sewer or foul sewer is an underground pipe or tunnel system for transporting dirty water full of germs and/or water contaminated with human waste away from the settlement. Remember, if you even create such a system, to end said tunnels in some sort of useless wetland or very large useless field, instead of contaminating river. Seas are also big enough to properly dilute everything, rivers usually are not.
Flush toilet with a plumbing trap.
Best when combined with a sanitary sewer, flush toilet disposes of human waste (urine and feces) by using water to flush it through a drainpipe to another location for disposal. A typical flush toilet is a bowl which is connected to a drain. After use, the bowl is emptied and cleaned by the rapid flow of water into the bowl. Drainpipe connected under the bowl should have a trap for some water, this means that drainpipe should go down and then back up, so that there is always some water that can prevent unpleasant sewer smell from entering the room. Properly constructed flush toilet may be a great luxury, with much less unpleasant smell than a dry toilet, but said luxury is not essential for health.
A flush toilet may be pour-flushed. This type of flush toilet is flushed by pouring in some water from a container, bucket or something. Or more complicated machinery to flush water may be used, but I think that for now, this is enough information about cleanliness.
Lead.
Lead is a mild and very slow poison. When lead is in contact with food or water that is used for drinking afterward, children are stupider and less inclined to obey rules and old people may slightly faster die. These effects are usually not very strong, but impossible to reverse.
Nutrition.
You cannot eat only bread and be healthy, people that are able to eat diverse foods are healthier, as different parts of the body need different things to work properly. Especially children need diverse foods to develop properly.
Dissection.
I suggest you to open a few bodies of dead people to see for yourself how human body looks inside. This is also an excellent form of training for sewing wounds and some surgery.
Oxygen and carbon dioxide.
Humans and most animals use oxygen from air and then remove from their bodies, by moving air out of the lungs, carbon dioxide. Plants, on the other hand, use carbon dioxide and then add to air oxygen, that is useless for plants.
Black soil, proper use for otherwise useless human waste.
You can create fertile, good for growing plants soil by adding a mixture of charcoal, bone, broken pottery, compost and manure to the otherwise relatively infertile soil. To create compost, you need a heap of wet organic matter (also called green waste), such as leaves, grass, and food scraps, and wait for the materials to break down after a period of months. After a year or so there shouldn't be any too dangerous germs in waste, things are broken to simpler stuff good for plants. Human waste must not be used directly to help plants but is safe to use after sufficient composting.
"'True' gods, 'Black Cat,' have greater power than I do in the way I have greater power than spiders. The Old Gods, what few remain, are the creations of other Old Gods, or so it is said. The first three the Old Gods are said to have been the creations of the stuff of the world itself, in a manner. But two of those were slain and the last sleeps hidden away, waiting to end the world.
"The New Gods were people who slew gods and consumed their flesh or who were made into divinities by Old Gods. Perhaps. Time breeds complacency or doubt, after all, and I have had so much time.
"I know that the people of the Nine Nations number in the many thousands. Many.
"The Sleomjash chief and soon-to-be First Chief of the Nine Nations does not know that his people should… become more whole with the Nine Nations. The Sleomjash have their own stories for their differing tongue, as do the other tribes. But only those few who meet with others outside the Sleomjash tell those stories to each other. In any case, he would not know to be grateful if a greater coming-together occurred. To him, as to all the people of a single lifetime, the world of their youth is the world as it should be and as it always has been and any changes that occur are frightening threats.
"And this shortness of memory is useful to me. What is important, what is good is practiced and retained. Other things fall away.
"I have heard of the stone laws which rule over distant people. Among the Nine Tribes there are fine pieces of clothing and panels of wood from far away on which have been painted figures said to speak words from the past. And I see how this will go. When the stone and wood and leather and metal and cloth speak then my words will be drawn into question.
"'How can you say now, Great Undying One, that one slave must be given over for every two slaves slain in unlawful raid when these marks on hide say that in the time of my grandmother's grandmother you said one must be given over for every three?' 'How can you say now, Great Undying One, that these hills are to be shared pasture of sheep and cattle between Lan and Naumo and Tash when these marks on the stones of the hill say that only cattle of Lan and Tash should graze there?' 'How can you say now, Great Undying One, that the Forest People of Koh are friends of the Nine Nations when figures hammered into this bronze shield that has been in my family since the creation of the world say that all the Forest People are the enemies of the People and must be driven to famine?' Gah!
"The people question me already enough. Even with the memory of only their own lives and the memories and tales spoken to them directly, there is interference with my desires. How much worse will that be when every scrap of cloth, every pot, every stone of every wall preserves memories as well?
"My singers make songs of the words of my will, so that my words are more easily recalled. And among them my orders are well followed when I say this song should be sung and this song should be forgotten. They enforce my will even to each other in this regard. Still I am, at times, questioned. I would not see these questions increase.
"Anyway, 'Ayee, bee, see, dee, ee…' There are more than twenty-eight sounds in your own speech. Where is the sound 'an' or 'ca' from my own name?
"Graven numbers may be of greater use, I can see. I would like to consult records of herds and game and harvests. But still they may be used to bring my own words into question. And in time, surely the people with written numbers would take to devising their own means to carve and paint words, leading directly back to trouble.
"Thank you, 'Black Cat.' But surely the cost of 'alphabet' is too great."
[X] Haronno of Sleomjash: My dear lady, People can often act like sheep, if you want stability, a clever mind, and a pretty face is often all that's needed to get people to fall in line. So pick Haronno, he is well liked, attractive, and you yourself have dubbed him suitable. What reason is there to not choose he? None of any merit.
With that out of the way, would you mind sharing the state of affairs of your area, local magic's and their works, and the capabilities of you and your people, we come from places far off, and there are many things beyond one little rock, and rules are often subject to change depending on where you are.
"All the Nine Nations grow wheat and barley and keep fowl, cattle, pigs, and goats. They make pots and brew beer. They work leather and metals. As well, the Eppam, Gawdtha, Bima Nolco, and Lan keep sheep, which the Lan brought to the Nine Nations long, long ago by trade. In the same way, the Tash and Sleomjash keep herds of horses which came to the Nine Nations with the Sleomjash. And the Zouchaud and Naumo make boats to fish from the midst of seas and to travel along rivers.
"The peoples around the Nine Nations make frequent war with each other, which weakens them. The Nine Nations are strong because of the Nine Ways Pact: that they should not slay each other as they should not slay their own tribespeople; that they should respect the landmarks of each other as they respect their own; that they should not slay each other's livestock without recompense; that they should not take any people of the Nine Nations as slaves; that they should make tribute to me and no other; that they should allow passage and offer hospitality to my singers; that matters of dispute should be brought to me; that they defend each other against invasion as they would defend their own mother's children and offer bread and weak beer to each other's warriors; and that when their warriors must march through each other's lands they take only what is offered.
"At one time, the tribes still raided each other. But they were forbidden to kill each other, so the defenders struck the attackers with sticks and the attackers did not being fire. A neighboring people began to raid while pretending to be of the Nine Nations, and so took their victims unaware and slew them in numbers. When those people were driven off and their fields burned and breweries torn down, I forbid the people of the Nine Nations to raid each other. But thefts of cattle are still not uncommon.
"Wise folk intercede with spirits to prevent illness, to make the land and people fruitful, to quell the anger of slain livestock and game, and to direct the swellings of the rivers. They have other business with the spirits, but that is less common. In times of great need it is necessary for people to offer themselves to be slain, so that with preparation their spirits make save their people from some threat or another. At times these rituals are copied by the unwise and unready to the squandering of lives.
"I also intercede and, as well, work great magics over the people and their lands to lead wolves away from the herds, to bring whales and great numbers of fishes near to the shores, to becalm game within the woodlands, and to weaken the strongest of storms. In war, I weaken the foes of the people or engage their magic-makers myself. When great beasts come to the lands of the people from the forgotten reaches of the world, I kill them or drive them away with magics of thunder and flame.
To start with, some disclaimers. First off, no individuals among us have any control over what may get said to you. Nothing we say is inherently true, and all 'advancements' we propose should be tested first before being implemented if at all possible. 'Trust but verify' is very much the phrase of the day, here.
Secondly, most if not all of our advice comes from a place with absolutely no understanding of the nature of Gods, Divinity, or Magic beyond the purely hypothetical and philosophical. In fact, what defines something as being a God, how are you Undying when compared to their supposedly immortal and eternal nature still being notably fallible? How does magic work, from a Caster's standpoint? And, most importantly, can magic Introduce or Remove energy from an isolated system?
Lastly, our understanding of purely mundane technology allows us to achieve feats that would be considered magical to many. You might not understand many of the concepts we'll explain, and if that's the case feel free to speak up. I don't know if any of us have a background in Education, but I know a fair number of us don't.
Now, on to the topic at hand. I personally would select Haronno, both because he seems competent and because having a Sleomjash as First Chief would likely go a long way to alleviating any issues with his tribe being a relatively new member of the pact. That said, I would also advise you encourage the Zouchad Chieftain to spend some more time with the Gawdtha chieftain. His relative youth would make him more receptive to the Gawdtha chief's wisdom, especially if the elder has the reputation you have given us. The Gawdtha Chief's influence in this early stage could smooth out any wrinkles in the development of the younger Chieftain, and make him an easy pick when the next choice for First Chief rolls around.
"The Undying started as people all of them, only as wise as people, only as infallible as people. I can be deceived. I can be restrained. And as a consequence I will never again enter any walled and covered place whose walls I cannot drive before me, nor will I enter any cave of narrow mouth, nor go into the ground again.
"When I work magic I draw by secret means what is like weight that fills and lifts. And by secret means I direct it to the ends I choose. And magic is done. It is the very business of magic to make activity in the world.
"The young chieftain of Zouchaud needs time among his own people, to grow as a leader. And it would be a disservice to his people if he were to place himself under another. In so doing, it would be said that his tribe was under another. That path leads to discord.
"Thank you, voice who spoke not their own name, for cautioning me regarding your incapacities and those of your fellow voices."
Greetings o undying one! Salutation to ye who death has yet to claim, who time has yet to break and who fortune has yet to betray!
A prayer without end we give to thee who once again set us free! A thousand throats in jubilation utter your name! A thousand maddend cries curse it o liberator!
We are the voices great and meager, wise and arrogant, learned and perfidious. We coat a lie with a thousand truths and proclaim a lie all that is true. We know all that there is to know, what what we do not know is seven fold greater than what we do.
Fine words we command, products of knowledge we offer, fruits of revelation we lay before you, pretensions of infallibility we wear!
O undying one heed the words of the Astute Cacophony with great care. For our madness damns and delivers with but a single breath.
Now, for the first chieftain of your nine tribes. Such an oddity, that nine tribes are joined in a pact, no less and no more.
Is it ancient ties of blood and descent that so conjoin them? Are they the descendents of one ancient tribe, and the pact but acknowledgment of such?
How are they further divided? How many generations dwell within a single household? How many lesser tribes, clans if you well or lineages of notice compose a single tribe?
Are ties of blood held sacred above all? Do such ties extend to that which is of the household and the person but not of the blood?
Do the slaves and oath bound companions of a man or clan count as his blood?
What codes of honour do these people hold? What are their greatest shames and highest honours? What norms of hospitality and war do they practice? How does one wed amongst them? And how far can feuds and oaths of vengeance go?
And what of their tongue and song? What of their poetry and dance? Where does it stand amongst the nine and is it shared with those not amongst them?
What medium of exchange do the tribes use, and what are the customs pertaining to plunder and loot? What fare do they consume regularly and what beasts do they keep and what beasts do they detest?
Many questions, strange and asinine they may seem, but a voice that speaks commands to people it knows not is better silent.
As for your concerns regarding a priesthood of your person.
Are you master of the eastren winds that taketh a soul to all the corners of the world in but a breath?
Are you Lord over the spirits that dwell without and are Kings amongst the elements?
Have ye the seal which binds time itself to your command?
Perhaps you have by means of sorcery a method to keep informed and communicate across great distances with your worshippers.
It could be that the tribes have erected great altars where on fixed days your presence is called.
If not, then your inability to officiate and proclaim to the world at large will cripple you, and what are priests if not heralds who hold thy words sacred above all, and mark them unto the hearts of all.
But distance is but a trifling consideration.
You are not of the nine tribes, you are to them as the pebble is to the mountain.
A creature of your magnitude, more so one seeking divinity, cannot possibly know the paths and tides of the minds and souls of the nine. Your mind is not theirs, and neither is your heart and body.
A word of mercy from thee could be the blackest death unto them. A simplicity to you is maddening eternity for them.
Such is the nature of the divine, for it to lay pretense to but a shadow of the infinite, it detaches itself from the finite.
Unless of course both are one, but I think that you o undying one, are far from such apotheosis.
As such, a priesthood is not merely mouths to proclaim your words, they are the channel by with your floods are calmed and made safe. They are the means by which to know your worshipers in truth, and to know of your own self and edicts, and the implications of both.
For such is the way of priests that they spend lifetimes exploring facets that few minds could precieve or consider.
And should they ever deviant into the unacceptable, your august presence can always make terrible example of those that dared place their own hubris above the divine.
And perhaps you could grace us with knowledge of your intents and aspirations, of the reason for unleashing the chaos of our voices and what you desire out of it.
"Each tribe is bound together by their own ties of family and bonds of oaths. When I first came to them, some of the tribes were more similar to each other than others. But in time and with intermarriage they were separated more by practice than truly separated by blood by the time the Sleomjash were joined. The Nine Ways Pact was not made to prevent fighting among the children of one mother in honor of that mother. It was made so that people might prosper and so that outsiders might break themselves against the harder stone that is the Nine Nations.
"Within each tribe there are families sharing fields or pastures or both. A home holds as many generations as it needs to. Some rare people do live long enough to see the children of their grandchildren grown out of their youth but, I think, not further.
"These families split apart and come together as summers swell their numbers and winters whittle them down. I do not know their number.
"Oath bonds are the ties that must be considered first. Therefore, oaths are not to be entered into lightly, as they distance a person from their family. Distant relations from outside a family may plead for admittance. This is often, but not always, how separate families come together. And an outsider slave make make such a plea, after they have served their bond winters. I expect the fondness the family regards them with will be of greater import than their relation though, in such matters.
"The greatest shame remains close kinslaying. After this, the murder of more distant kin, then fellow tribespeople, then people of the Nine Nations but not of the same tribe. For these the punishment is to be cast out in winter. To be caught in theft is also a great shame, for this the thief is beaten by their own kin before the rightful owner of the stolen property until satisfaction or an injury to lameness, whichever comes first. Disrespect of elders, cruel language, false witness, and violations of persons are governed by elders unless disputed. I judge disputes.
"Hospitality must be offered to travelers in winter, unless they have been cast out. Guests must respect their host in all ways. Much honor is to be had by offering excesses of hospitality and respect, when they can be afforded.
"When two unwed people wish to wed they must decide which family their marriage will join. Usually they join the family in which one or the other was raised. But it is not unknown for newlyweds to join the family of one to which one or the other is more distantly related, or one with whom one or the other shares an oath bond. Once a marriage is within a family, it usually remains within it. New wives or husbands to the marriage also join that same family. But it is also not unknown for a marriage to move from one family to another, usually to join with another marriage.
"Feuds last until they are ended. I end feuds.
"My singers make songs and sing and travel throughout the Nine Nations. They learn new songs and bring them for my judgement. The people dance as they are led to at any time. And at festivals there are dances that follow rules and traditions, again, established and shared around by my singers. In the past I sent my singers outside the Nine Nations to learn new songs and dances. But the people have a sufficient number now, it seems, and my singers teach each other how to make new songs and new dances.
"The people meet to share grain at the grainery. Other exchanges take place at the workplace of the one who finishes the good: pottery, leather, metals, cloth, or cheese.
"Raiders bring back what they can carry of what they could take, and share their winnings with their family. If one family benefits so greatly from plunder that others of their tribe take note, that family gains great honor by sharing their wealth with others of the tribe.
"The people eat bread and drink beer. They eat cheeses, and the meat of goats, cattle, horse, and sheep from the herds and pigs from their pens. Fish are caught and eaten as well. Shelled meats are gathered, and whales are pursued when sighted. The people keep fowl, as well, for meat and less often eggs. Boar, deer, and hare are taken as game and other fowl as well. Honey is taken when found. And it seems that at any time there is one clever person or another somewhere making a try at setting hives out for bees to fill with honey, to inconsistent consequence.
"Dogs are loved for their loyalty. Mice and loctus are hated as thieves of grain. Foxes are hated as murderers of fowl. Wolves and bears are feared for their love of killing people and their livestock. But those and others are also valued for their furs. Serpents are hated for their venom.
"Even among those divine, few if any could travel so swiftly. When I have need to travel, I can pass more swiftly than most who still breathe, I do not tire, and I can leap across some rivers and ravines that would trouble most mortals. My ability to compel the spirits is exceptional and greater than any I have known since I escaped my confinement. I know not what you mean about seals of time.
"Those who worship me as a goddess know to seek my presence to know my will, accept my judgement, or seek my blessing. I do not find this crippling at all. And I believe you are confused as to who is the pebble and who is the mountain. And further confused besides, I think.
"But you are correct, flattering and defaming voice which did not offer their own name. I did summon the Astute Cacophony because I desired what your voices offer. I will consider your words and the words of others further and in time."
I think you should hide it for now and think on stuff for a bit. Don't just vomit out every useful thing on wikipedia that everyone knows. Find one narrow topic to explain in detail, and try to write somthing others would be interested in reading. Remember that if other readers find your stuff boring to read, then the author probably does too and may downplay what you write.
[X] Raezl of Burgeck
While at first glance not in their favor, through shrewd maneuvering you could transform the Burgeck ambition unto the good of all the Nine Tribes.
I warn you now that the rise of the city peoples is inevitable. In times to come your peoples shall collide and shatter should they be ill prepared. This may not come to pass for ten generations, but the strength of the tribes, of the peoples, cannot grow as quickly as that of a single man. With our help, you and your people shall come to master new crafts, discover the occult secrets that underlay nature, and use them create such luxuries as you cannot yet conceive of. At least that's the plan.
Of course none of that tells you why Raezl is the right choice.
Simply put; all that which we promise is change, and as a rule, people HATE change. Perhaps my statement is a bit harsh, but I am sure you understand the sentiment. You need a way to enforce you will, to spread your ideas among the tribes. Yes, the Burgeck will take advantage of this arrangement, their position will improve relative to the other tribes. But through their debt to you and the nature of a priesthood, you will have a measure of control over the Burgeck, and through them the other tribes.
Now I agree that there is "no need for mortal interpretation".
However, you are right here, and you can intervene if they overstep their bounds far more effectively than a truer, more distant god. But on the matter of "intercession" I must disagree; for the sake of the tribes you must take a more active role, and you cannot be in all places at once. We have seen time and that once people gather in sufficient numbers, some group inevitably gains power over the others. If they cannot do so under your supervision, then you will one day find yourself cast aside as just an obstacle to anothers ascendancy.
Now that my opinion has been voiced, I have (possibly too) many questions.
By your own estimate, how many people make up the nine tribes?
How many livestock do they keep, and of what kind?
What, if any, plants are cultivated, and for what use?
How prevalent are metal goods.
Do the tribes posses anyone skilled in the workings of metal?
Do you possess knowledge of the marking of symbols which may represent ideas, sounds, or numbers?
How far is the furthest you have ever been from where you are now?
Have you had interactions with the city peoples?
Do the Nine Tribes have any notable enemies?
Given your mention of chariots, is it a good assumption that the surrounding area is largely flat grasslands?
Any notable landmarks nearby?
What animals are native to the land of the Nine Tribes
What degree of personal power do you posses, in terms of strength, magic, undyingness, or any other notable feats?
"I think, voice, that you understate the difficulty with which I would be 'cast aside.' But I have heard of the great gatherings of people in distant lands. Gatherings like the greatest of festivals, but kept up day after day all through the seasons. These seem to me only a more tempting target for raid and desolation. But perhaps one voice or another will tell me differently.
"I have answered already questions of the number of people and the keeping of livestock. In addition to wheat and barley, the people grow fibrous plants for cloth and rope, herbs in small plots for flavor and medicine and dyes, and also fruits, nuts, and berries. Silver and gold were at one time prized for displays of wealth and beauty, but have over time passed into the hands of traders or been gathered in to my tribute hoard. Bronze is the most valuable metal received in trade, and worn weapons, tools, and armor are melted down and made into new tools, weapons and armor. I have forbid the burying of any bronze in the ground as it has become less common in trade, though the people might not have taken note of its decreasing plentitude.
"I have made my thoughts on 'writing' known, but I will consider the matter again in some time.
"In the time before my imprisonment I traveled far, far into the world. I saw wide deserts of sand and great ranges of knife-edge mountains. I saw herds of the small creatures that have been husbanded into horses large enough to pull chariots. I saw herds of the fierce creatures that have been husbanded into cattle calm enough to set children on. I was once lost at the bottom of a sea for I don't know how many seasons. Since reclaiming my freedom, I have traveled little. I found the Eight Nations after wandering only a moon or so from the terrified fools who released me.
"I know not where 'cities' are. Some of our trade must come from them. Surely they want gemstones and surely they make goods that traders bring to us. I do not know more.
"The Nine Nations are surrounded by untrustworthy outsiders. None have made notable war against the people in living memory. It seems that many of the people think of their raids and counter-raids as real war. My singers can only do so much.
"Chariots are at their best in flat areas, that is correct. For that reason when the people face an enemy with fewer chariots they try to engage them in a flat place. And when the enemy has greater chariots they try to engage them in the woods and hills. Cleared land is mostly made fields when it is flatter and pasture when hilled.
"Landmarks abound. By them the people know what land is shared by which families.
"In the land of the Nine Nations have been or are found mice, song birds, fowl, hawks greater and lesser, rats, voles, shrews, serpents, wolves, deer, elk, bears, boar, foxes, mink, marten, lizards, bats, bison, hares, goats, lynx, cattle, pigs, otters, badgers, dogs… and surely I am forgetting some creatures.
"I am stronger than all but the mightiest of the people and I do not tire or grow wistful. My magics are great. I do not die and I am unsure how you expect me to elaborate on that.
"Thank you, especially inquisitive voice who has not given their name."
"Greed, voice, is dangerous. When one does not share their wealth with their family there is discord. When one family does not share their wealth with the tribe, there is strife. When one tribe does not share their wealth with their neighbors, there is bloodshed. It is better than people hunger for glory and honor.
"Thank you, unnamed voice with strange ideas of the goodness of greed, for saying that it is good to know about the rest of the world. It may, in fact, be true that I would benefit from knowing more of the goings on in distant lands.
"And that, I think, is all I can hear of the voices within the cacophony."
Code:
B R E A K
"Haronno of Sleomjash was First Chief for two moons before he called for war.
"Beyond the lands of the Sleomjash and Eppam tribes lie woods claimed by the Forest People. And the Forest People have been raiding Sleomjash and Eppam lands and people increasingly over the last ten or so years. The people also raid and counter-raid, but it seems they are no longer satisfied in doing so.
"Haronno claims that all the people must join together to make war against the Forest People in the coming summer, to honor the Nine Ways Pact. The elder council of Eppam and the Zouchaud chieftain say he is correct. Tash and Burgeck say that the Nine Ways Pact is not involved because neither Sleomjash nor Eppam have been invaded. But they want all the people to come together and make war on the Forest People beyond Sleomjash and Eppam lands nonetheless. Naumo, Bima Nolco, Lan, and Gawdtha agree that the pact does not require this and do not want war.
"The dispute has been brought to me.
"The Forest People are very difficult to drive from their woodlands. They know their territory very well, and readily ambush scouts and the unwary. The spirits of their dead also walk among them and, it is said, rule over and protect them. Except for myself, it may be than none of the wise folk are able to compel such spirits. And preparing arms against them is ever uncertain. It is also unlikely that the Forest People would be drawn out to open ground in any great numbers, where Sleomjash chariots might wreck them sorely. Such a war will be costly to the lives of the people, and may leave their lands vulnerable to attacks by other neighbors.
"Even if the Nine Nations do not unite in this matter, Sleomjash, Eppam, and likely Zouchaud will march against the Forest People. Many warriors will join from other tribes, and perhaps all of Tash or Burgeck will commit as well.
"In any case, if the people are to do more than raid the Forest People, my presence will be necessary. I have fought their spirits and can fight them again. But doing so for a summer will take me away from other matters, magics of prosperity and governing judgements. If I do not join, it is likely that early losses will quench the thirst for war and only limited attacks will occur.
"What should be my answer to the Nine Nations dispute over war against the Forest People?"
[ ] All the Nine Nations should go to war against the Forest People and Bianca should join them.
[ ] The Nine Nations are not required to join in the war against the Forest People but Bianca should join the war that happens anyway
[ ] The Nine Nations are not required to join in the war against the Forest People and Bianca should not join any war that occurs, so that engagements are limited and losses minimal
[ ] Write in
Code:
Voting will close 2019-03-07 1800 GMT. I'd
like things to move fast for the first week
or more.
'Please answer some questions and ask what
you just asked again' is always a valid
write in. Proposing an entirely different
course of action could be a valid write
in. I'm just saying, the options Bianca
offers say more about Bianca than they do
about what's possible.
What might the Nine Nations gain from this war, should they somehow win? I'm seeing alot of risk and loss in such a war, but not much in the way of gains. The Forest People's territory? I think they are difficult to drive out of their lands, very difficult indeed. The costs of such an attempt would be immense if you want a chance of winning, and even then it's only a chance. It might be a victory you would dearly regret.
Your own assistance is not required for mere raids. The spoils of a few raids would not make up for the time you'd lose on other projects. "Time is wealth", as the saying goes.
That aside, how much do you actually know about the Forest People? Who leads them? What are their beliefs, their customs? Do any of your people speak their language?
[X] The Nine Nations are not required to join in the war against the Forest People and Bianca should not join any war that occurs, so that engagements are limited and losses minimal
[X] [Cacophony] Random Member
Your Divine Majesty, would you prefer to be called "Great Undying One", as your people say? According to my customs "Your Divine Majesty", when used, shows much more respect, but I shall obey your wish.
First of all, I apologize Your Divine Majesty. It's sometimes difficult for me to pronounce some sounds properly. Obviously, proper alphabet should include symbols for all short sounds that are common in your language, so that all words can be expressed properly. But you can understand this easily enough, concerns about proper power over people are more important.
Your Divine Majesty, powerful ruler can change laws as he or she wishes, even when people know that laws were changed. Even mortal kings of the faraway cities can do that! People should respect when something much more powerful and greater than them decides to change laws, this means that there are very good and wise reasons for that. When there are changes in the world, laws need to change. Merely being engraved does not mean that rules cannot be replaced should you see fit.
You shouldn't claim that laws and customs are eternal. You should claim the power to change laws and make people respect said power because there is much more power and wisdom in you than in mortal people. Because there are good reasons.
Evidently, you need to explain this to your people, if this is not obvious. They should fear you enough to respect you regardless, and be grateful enough for your protection to respect your decisions and changes. Fear and respect, fear and love both.
Make them fear you and love you properly, with both punishments of offenders and safety for good servants of your will.
Power of many mortal kings over their cities, where writing exist, is great.
Your people, on the other hand, can start a war without your orders. Sounds like a herd of wild cats, not properly obedient mortal servants.
Cities are sources of great wealth and great numbers of mortals that could serve you, and you wouldn't be able to have proper cities and power without writing, not in the long term. You simply couldn't have 30 000 people in a city, supplied with grain from many villages, without writing about wheat production, trade, written and sometimes changed laws, etc. Nor you will be able to fight against such opponents in the future without adopting their methods and improving on these methods.
But I can, Your Divine Majesty, teach you also other things, if you are so skeptical about writing for now. I can teach you how to grow more food for your people, and more food means more warriors, more power.
A secret of the black soil, also known as the "terra preta". You can create fertile, good for growing plants soil by adding a mixture of charcoal, bones, broken pottery, compost, and manure to the otherwise relatively infertile soil. To create compost, you need a heap of wet organic matter (also called green waste), such as leaves, grass, and food scraps, and wait for the materials to break down after a period of months. You need to overturn compost pile from time to time. After a year or so there shouldn't be any too dangerous to health things in the waste, things are broken to simpler stuff good for plants. Human waste must not be used directly to help plants but is safe to use after sufficient composting. Charcoal is very important.
I can share with you also another secret. A secret of sterilization. If you want more people to survive minor wounds, then rags or other things used to stop bleeding, protect a wound or for sewing wound should be first boiled in water, preferably for a long while. Then these things should be used when no longer too hot. This may sound weird, but should truly work so that not all but more wounded survive. Useful, given that there may be that stupid war now. There are animals smaller than worms, so small that people cannot see these animals - germs. Germs are bad for wounds, and very hot water kills most of the germs.
There is also a simpler secret of hygiene: when possible, people should wash their hands in clean water before touching wounds and eating, also because of dangers that come from the germs. Maybe a comparison of germs to worms so small that you cannot see them would be better than comparison to animals, though both comparisons are not fully true. Even cold water can wash away some of these creatures.
You fear changes, Your Divine Majesty, but without changes, cities will destroy your people, even if many generations from now. The world will change with you or without you, you need to tame this "Change" beast instead. With proper changes, you could rule over these great settlements yourself.
In regards to greed, this emotion also will be needed to compete with cities and to create wealthy cities. Because cities will slowly start to dominate the next hundreds of years. Cities mean enormous numbers of people, power and wealth. Some people will be jealous, but inequality of wealth between mortals is another thing that you will find as impossible to avoid if you desire true power.
You need to learn more about distant cities, Your Divine Majesty. These cities are distant only now, in the future there will be more cities. The faster we start working on this great issue, the better, because this is the great danger of the next few hundreds of years.
In regards to the recent war, I consider this war as rather idiotic, but we probably should stand together with our people, so that you could show that you care about your mortal servants.
Your Divine Majesty, thank you for considering my words.
[X] [Cacophony] liberty90
[X] All the Nine Nations should go to war against the Forest People and Bianca should join them.
[X] Bianca should take up writing because it is a tool for improving the ability to think.
Adhoc vote count started by liberty90 on Mar 7, 2019 at 12:22 AM, finished with 22 posts and 5 votes.
[X] The Nine Nations are not required to join in the war against the Forest People and Bianca should not join any war that occurs, so that engagements are limited and losses minimal
]Yeah, I'm not native speaker in English and this shows. With use of Polish everything would be 100% obvious. But she understood this mostly anyway, her scepticism is the main obstacle.
Very good. I think we'll get a decent start.