@DragonParadox, do we need to write-up a specific MA to contact Pol Ning An for information on p[reparations agaisnt Golden Company/lore on other threats?
Is an MA needed for those on trade-fleet to look for someone knowledgeable of making paper?
@DragonParadox, do we need to write-up a specific MA to contact Pol Ning An for information on p[reparations agaisnt Golden Company/lore on other threats?
Is an MA needed for those on trade-fleet to look for someone knowledgeable of making paper?
No, that has all been established as being done, it's all in the background now, though if I forget (which is sadly not impossible) you guys should by all means remind me.
@DragonParadox, is there an Art of War equivalent in Yi Ti which we can eventually gain access to? Maybe one that's an ancient manual for how the Yi Tish should properly blend magic with massive armies?
@DragonParadox, there are a few choice pieces of lore I'm hoping to get from Yi Ti.
1. Their histories, as much as we can get our hands on, including their Nobility/Royalty lore. I want everything they've got on all dynasties current and prior, all the way back to the Gemstone Emperors of the Great Empire of the Dawn.
2. Detailed maps of the Far East. We looked in Braavos and Volantis and understandably their maps east of the Bone Mountains aren't quite accurate. Now that we've got a foothold here can we start buying high quality maps en mass of all the various cities and the region as a whole? I'm sure we can find military officials to bribe for their topography maps if it comes to it.
3. Everything on their religions and their magical creatures.
Mind you, I don't expect this now. I'm hoping for it when our Grand Expedition Fleet docks in Yin.
No, I try to keep it to three updates per day. On days like today I could probably push it to four, but I feel it's better from a quality perspective that I not write too late when I can help it .
all this continual growth of knowledge, and it make me think about how I keep crit-failing my mysticism roles when it comes to identifying magical beings in starfinder, even with +10.
I mean it in good humor, as I do keep ooc knowledge out of in character information.
"See, I taste terrible," you point out reasonably, to a reluctant smile from Aradia and a suspicious silence from Merelth that one might almost mistake for swallowing a laugh.
There isn't much of a choice to be made as far as you are concerned. More knowledge is always useful, all the more so for coming from a unique source. Still, that is no reason to be careless, as a physical copy might be traced. You could use magic to copy it, but all the means you can think do to so would be either laborious or too noticeable to cast in sight of a trained mage from which you wish to hide your power. So instead you take the books with care, one by one to pass into a more common enchanted bag rather than your cloak, though you have no intention that they travel any further than Trader Town.
***
Mereth has not had much luck tracing down any Yi Tish histories in the market, finding only texts that deal with the past four hundred years. 'A mere drop in the ocean', as three of the merchants had reminded her while offering to search further, for a commission of course. "Two of them were trying to cheat me and the third one was a fool," she explains dryly.
"And none of them are dead," Aradia says with an unexpected flash of dry humor.
For a wonder, the fury does not seem to mind it, a brief flicker of amusement in her dark eyes before continuing her account of what they had acquired. Among their purchases are books on the worship of the Fates and Fortunes, subtly different from what might be found in Yin or the central provinces, and the prize of the whole collection, a military manual for the Yi Tish army from the time of Bu Gai's grandfather that deals with every aspect of strategy and tactics in the armies of the Golden Empire from the six man squad to vast hosts of hundreds of thousands strong, though the notes on the latter are more about how to feed them and keep them from all dying of camp fever.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the making of rice paper there are no written accounts to be found. The routine work of craftsmen is rarely counted important enough to document, though fortunately it is not a guild secret such as one might find in Westeros or eastern Essos, so it should be possible to simply pay someone skilled in the task to demonstrate. Finding and hiring a paper-maker, however, was rather beyond Mereth's remit and the time available.
Note: Includes the books acquired in Yin last month.
Lost 4,600 IM
The small herd of a dozen zorses had, by contrast, been quite easy to find, the spirited beasts eager to be on their way. It does mean you will have to ride them out of the city for quite a while before you can reasonably vanish into the open plains. Hopefully, no bandits decide to strike at such a seemingly small and ill-protected group of travelers, leaving you yet more evidence to handle. One of the black and white beasts decides to take advantage of your distraction to try to bite you. It does not succeed, much to its confusion.
"See, I taste terrible," you point out reasonably, to a reluctant smile from Aradia and a suspicious silence from Merelth that one might almost mistake for swallowing a laugh.
Gained 12 Zorses
Lost 600 IM
Before you leave, you copy all the lore Pol Ning An had given you with a wish and return the originals, likely leaving her with the impression that you had used petty magics or perhaps some enchantment to copy each and every page. Thus, the last of your business in Trader Town finished, just in time for your more optimistic estimate. You head back to your own lands, for there are still a few more loose ends to untangle before the month is out.
What do you do next?
[] Look over the marriage and inheritance laws of the Empire
[] Offer a sacrifice to the Old Gods to empower the Well of Souls
[] Have a personal meeting with the Chosen of Smith
[] Speak to the Mallery brothers and see if you can contact Mother Earth through the younger of the two
[] Find and deal with the wisps that caused you headaches in the Braavosi swamps
[] Write in
OOC: I initially had Viserys blood-wish copy the tomes in front of Ning but that felt the sort of mistake that would not make sense for him so I went with him doing it out of sight. I hope it is not too narratively clunky.
Here's an edited version of the chapter, @DragonParadox.
@DragonParadox are there any logistical or other short-term improvements from that manual that the Legion can begin implementing to improve organization? I specify because doctrinal and tactical insights are harder to translate into direct improvements, the former being a change of military mindset, and the latter being down to how tacticians implement maneuvers (personal skill) as much as new information. But better ways to organize a camp or manage a supply chain could make our Legion look even more competent from outside observation. The goal would probably be to make our elite as well-run as Planar regulars (they've had literally thousands of years to acquire incremental I.E percentage-based improvements for something as mundane as how to organize a siege train).
@DragonParadox are there any logistical or other short-term improvements from that manual that the Legion can begin implementing to improve organization? I specify because doctrinal and tactical insights are harder to translate into direct improvements, the former being a change of military mindset, and the latter being down to how tacticians implement maneuvers (personal skill) as much as new information. But better ways to organize a camp or manage a supply chain could make our Legion look even more competent from outside observers. The goal would probably be to make our elite as well-run as Planar regulars (they've had literally thousands of years to acquire incremental I.E percentage-based improvements for something as mundane as how to organize a siege train).
Interesting question. I would say there are lessons to be learned there, but supply chains are a bit bellow the level of abstraction I'd like the game to run on. Consider this something the military academy does in the background and if anyone comes up with an interesting historical tactical or logistics element, or an entirely original idea for that matter, that can be fluffed as part of that effort.
[X] Look over the marriage and inheritance laws of the Empire.
I honestly don't want to do this any more than anyone else but it's literally the only thing I can think of besides talking to the remnant of a God that I can think of that should pose any challenge to us left.
Unless we're going to go visit the Ghost of High Heart.
You have trees, but as of right now you have no idea how to make something that can be written on out of them... well besides pure transfiguration, but using miracle on a block of wood to make paper is rather niche.
You have trees, but as of right now you have no idea how to make something that can be written on out of them... well besides pure transfiguration, but using miracle on a block of wood to make paper is rather niche.
You have trees, but as of right now you have no idea how to make something that can be written on out of them... well besides pure transfiguration, but using miracle on a block of wood to make paper is rather niche.
Could we begin to have people research this? Or would we have to go recruit someone to show us their own method? The only thing is, the rice paper method may not be the best means for us, given local materials and conditions differ around the Imperium and it's better from a logistical standpoint to have production spread out.
And thus we have the weird zebra-horse hybrids which are infamous for their endurance and low upkeep.
