Chronicles of Nations - Civ Quest

[Raichu1972]

Merit = having big boobs

Do you guys now understand why I mock all attempts to become a "meritocracy"?

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You're just jealous because you're lacking in "merit"

Since we just had this discussion, I think it fits to bring up a few points. The GM's interpretation and offered solution about the "boob issue" was to seperate sexual elements from the text. But that is not really my main problem.

My main problem is well illustrated with the infodump above. There's no real sexual content in it, so the problem doesn't lie there. My problem is that there's a significant flanderization going on, which basically reduces the Arthwyd to " the civ with big breasts".

From the narrative, you would conclude that cup-size (and other secondary sexual characteristics) are the only social factors of note. The Blessing is used as the sole explanation as for gender roles. It used as the sole explanation for sexist claims and insults. It's used as the dominant explanation for foreign relations and xenophobia.

It seems as if literally nothing of note happened to our civ expect curvy ladies.

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You are of course ignoring the highly communal structure of the Arthwyd which is entirely different from its neighbors, as well as how intense religious fervor makes them look down on those who do not worship their Deities.

The infodump mentioned cup size to use as an example of how the Arthwyd view the Blessing and its effects on their society, while also showing that it is not their only societal aspect. Bigger cup size = closer to the Goddesses (who have larger than average cup size across the board = divine favor (or "merit"). It is a justification as to why the Arthwyd are starting to segregate along gender lines, with women obtaining a look closer to the Goddesses (aka divine favor) and becoming more priests, and men lacking in that specific enhanced physique becoming warriors.

The post mentioned several things about Arthwyd society beyond curvy ladies; if that was all you got out of it then that is on you, not the QM.

 

[10ebbor10]

You are of course ignoring the highly communal structure of the Arthwyd which is entirely different from its neighbors, as well as how intense religious fervor makes them look down on those who do not worship their Deities.

The infodump mentioned cup size to use as an example of how the Arthwyd view the Blessing and its effects on their society, while also showing that it is not their only societal aspect. Bigger cup size = closer to the Goddesses (who have larger than average cup size across the board = divine favor (or "merit"). It is a justification as to why the Arthwyd are starting to segregate along gender lines, with women obtaining a look closer to the Goddesses (aka divine favor) and becoming more priests, and men lacking in that specific enhanced physique becoming warriors.

The post mentioned several things about Arthwyd society beyond curvy ladies; if that was all you got out of it then that is on you, not the QM.

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1) You'll note that I said that it was the dominant explanation, as opposed to the only explanation.

2) Your argument doesn't even disagree with me. I say : "cup-size (and other secondary sexual characteristics) appear to be the only social factors of note".
You say : "women obtaining a look closer to the Godesses"
That's literally the same thing.

3) There are other elements, but a bunch are only mentioned in passing. The various wars we had get half a sentence, for example. Our complicated relationship with our vassals isn't even mentioned. That said, the foreign outlook is more balanced than the other two I mentioned, so I'll concede that that one is not a good example.

 

[Star]

It seems as if literally nothing of note happened to our civ expect curvy ladies. Major events like giant wars, internal conflict, the dead rising from the grave to attack us, have left no impact whatsoever.

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Barbaric invasion was mentioned in that because of them Arthwyd don't view barbarians as weak.
Of course we must note that for all of their ferocity invasions happened to Merthyr ,and even though they are one and the same Arthwyd were never attacked directly, so from their point of view it wasn't as earth shattering to make impact and it only added up to their views that were already forming about barbarians.

As for the Undead, well they never got to invade properly because Evalyn stopped them in their tracks .

 

[Raichu1972]

1) You'll note that I said that it was the dominant explanation, as opposed to the only explanation.

2) Your argument doesn't even disagree with me. I say : "cup-size (and other secondary sexual characteristics) are the only social factors of note".
You say : "women obtaining a look closer to the Godesses"
That's literally the same thing.

3) There are other elements, but a bunch are only mentioned in passing. The various wars we had get half a sentence, for example. That said, the foreign outlook is more balanced than the other two I mentioned, so I'll concede that that one is not a good example.

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The Blessing is used as the primary explanation for social things in our society because of how pervasive it is. It makes it so that the difference in strength between men and women are essentially insignificant; it makes it so that women have it much easier throughout pregnancy and child birth; it makes it so that everyone on average lives longer, etc. In a society where you are heavily discouraged from discriminating against someone based on where they came from or how they look or how they act (so long as they are willing to conform to our "civilized" behaviors of course) then the Blessing becomes the major source of societal stratification.

Have the Blessing while someone else does not? Encourage them to have kids with someone who does while essentially locking them out of military roles.
Most people have the Blessing? Make it so that the ones who physically most emulate the Goddesses have the most "merit" or "favor".
Even with all of this Divine intervention and meddling in the Arthwyd, it is still clear that people will find ways and reasons for some to be better than others, as seen with the whole idea of Cadions in the first place and then transitioning to the Royal Family with widespread popular support.

The idea that foreign relations have had minimal impact on our civ is also absolutely bonkers, considering that Vervov changed us from thinking that training people for the purpose of killing other people being barbaric to having large amounts of sacred warriors (with said warriors being the most powerful faction in our civ). That is an absolutely monumental change in our society and outlook, and it shown by the fact that we even have the option to immediately intervene in the upcoming Merntir civil war through violence instead of automatically defaulting to peaceful measures.

 

[10ebbor10]

The Blessing is used as the primary explanation for social things in our society because of how pervasive it is. It makes it so that the difference in strength between men and women are essentially insignificant; it makes it so that women have it much easier throughout pregnancy and child birth; it makes it so that everyone on average lives longer, etc. In a society where you are heavily discouraged from discriminating against someone based on where they came from or how they look or how they act (so long as they are willing to conform to our "civilized" behaviors of course) then the Blessing becomes the major source of societal stratification.

Have the Blessing while someone else does not? Encourage them to have kids with someone who does while essentially locking them out of military roles.
Most people have the Blessing? Make it so that the ones who physically most emulate the Goddesses have the most "merit" or "favor".
Even with all of this Divine intervention and meddling in the Arthwyd, it is still clear that people will find ways and reasons for some to be better than others, as seen with the whole idea of Cadions in the first place and then transitioning to the Royal Family with widespread popular support.

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Your argument here doesn't really seem to conflict with mine.

My argument is that the Blessing and it's looks have become dominant to the point of flanderization (ie, one trait becomes large until it defines the entire thing).
Your argument is that the trait is so pervasive that is logical that it dominates the entire thing.

You're criticizing an outside criticism about the direction of the story and it's presentation with In-Character arguments, which can not work.

The idea that foreign relations have had minimal impact on our civ is also absolutely bonkers, considering that Vervov changed us from thinking that training people for the purpose of killing other people being barbaric to having large amounts of sacred warriors (with said warriors being the most powerful faction in our civ). That is an absolutely monumental change in our society and outlook, and it shown by the fact that we even have the option to immediately intervene in the upcoming Merntir civil war through violence instead of automatically defaulting to peaceful measures.

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You're missing my point. My point is about the presentation of the infodump, which mentions none of what you're saying here. Vervov doesn't show up in the infodump at all, despite being (as you correctly identify) a major cultural influence. He has in fact done much to shape the Arthwyd society, but it's completely ignored.

Vervov and his wars caused a massive societal upheaval, changing the structure of society and the way it was ruled, but Vervov isn't mentioned at all, and the wars get half a sentence.

Similarly,we had extensive relations with our subordinate states, and that too has caused significant social change (I disagree with it, but it still exists). The Subordinate states aren't mentioned at all.

Instead, we get a lot of focus on a minor trait caused by a single lucky roll 30 turns ago.

 

[Zaealix]

Hrm.
Well, yes, the blessing, the veneration of the Goddess is kind of the big-thing...My take on it is that it's become a subject akin to the Ymaryn's focus on caring for the land, seeing to the trees, minding the soil, watching the animals...
There are other angles to take with the people, like burial customs or whatnot, but thinking on it part of me suspects the issue is we're getting caught in a giant vortex spiral thinking about the boobs, until the thread ends up with like 50+pages of straight boob talk and arguing.
Much like in real life, we can look away and talk about other things.
For example: The Sacred Forest! Studying Magic! Does anyone have any plans on when we're going to get around to that?

 

[Star]

Hrm.
Well, yes, the blessing, the veneration of the Goddess is kind of the big-thing...My take on it is that it's become a subject akin to the Ymaryn's focus on caring for the land, seeing to the trees, minding the soil, watching the animals...
There are other angles to take with the people, like burial customs or whatnot, but thinking on it part of me suspects the issue is we're getting caught in a giant vortex spiral thinking about the boobs, until the thread ends up with like 50+pages of straight boob talk and arguing.
Much like in real life, we can look away and talk about other things.
For example: The Sacred Forest! Studying Magic! Does anyone have any plans on when we're going to get around to that?

Click to shrink...

Add to it that we were literally theocracy not so long ago, then due to Evalyn we had couple of Cadlons who were viewed as representatives of God till Maradysh secession and now we have divine bloodline that is driving it's rots from two goddess.

What goddess do is important to our society.

 

[Knight Draco]

Hrm.
Well, yes, the blessing, the veneration of the Goddess is kind of the big-thing...My take on it is that it's become a subject akin to the Ymaryn's focus on caring for the land, seeing to the trees, minding the soil, watching the animals...
There are other angles to take with the people, like burial customs or whatnot, but thinking on it part of me suspects the issue is we're getting caught in a giant vortex spiral thinking about the boobs, until the thread ends up with like 50+pages of straight boob talk and arguing.
Much like in real life, we can look away and talk about other things.
For example: The Sacred Forest! Studying Magic! Does anyone have any plans on when we're going to get around to that?

Click to shrink...

I do actually.
First we start by settling upriver plains
Then we profit.
Its fool proof.

 

[Raichu1972]

Your argument here doesn't really seem to conflict with mine.

My argument is that the Blessing and it's looks have become dominant to the point of flanderization (ie, one trait becomes large until it defines the entire thing).
Your argument is that the trait is so pervasive that is logical that it dominates the entire thing.

You're criticizing an outside criticism about the direction of the story and it's presentation with In-Character arguments, which can not work.



You're missing my point. My point is about the presentation of the infodump, which mentions none of what you're saying here. Vervov doesn't show up in the infodump at all, despite being (as you correctly identify) a major cultural influence. He has in fact done much to shape the Arthwyd society, but it's completely ignored.

Vervov and his wars caused a massive societal upheaval, changing the structure of society and the way it was ruled, but Vervov isn't mentioned at all, and the wars get half a sentence.

Similarly,we had extensive relations with our subordinate states, and that too has caused significant social change (I disagree with it, but it still exists). The Subordinate states aren't mentioned at all.

Instead, we get a lot of focus on a minor trait caused by a single lucky roll 30 turns ago.

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If your problem is with the direction of the story instead of you feeling that the emphasis on the Blessing is unrealistic (we both agree that it is not), then we will simply have to agree to disagree. If the Blessing and how it has affected Arthwyd society is a dealbreaker to you then it is what it is.

Vervov is not mentioned, but the general idea of "Barbarians are strong and not to be underestimated, even if our Gods and our way of life are superior" is made pretty explicit. An informational post about the culture of the Arthwyd namedrops prominent Arthwyd individuals (such as Evalyn) while not doing so to the various barbarian hordes surrounding it. What a surprise

On the subordinate states, I imagine that the Arthwyd do not really make distinctions between themselves and their subordinates. Instead they make distinctions based on the Civilized (aka themselves and those that follow their values) and the Barbarians (those that do not). Notice that the Maradysh are still considered to be mostly barbarians (or at the very least people with extremely barbaric practices) even if we are now technically one polity. The Merntir on the other hand are devout worshipers of the Pantheon and have had a way of life that is essentially the same as the Arthwyd until very recently, and thus they are considered Civilized.

 

[Cariyaga]

As someone that's asexual, can we get back to the civ building?

 

[Kiba]

Can we stop talking about boobs? I do not care about boobs.

 

[10ebbor10]

If your problem is with the direction of the story instead of you feeling that the emphasis on the Blessing is unrealistic (we both agree that it is not), then we will simply have to agree to disagree. If the Blessing and how it has affected Arthwyd society is a dealbreaker to you then it is what it is.

Vervov is not mentioned, but the general idea of "Barbarians are strong and not to be underestimated, even if our Gods and our way of life are superior" is made pretty explicit. An informational post about the culture of the Arthwyd namedrops prominent Arthwyd individuals (such as Evalyn) while not doing so to the various barbarian hordes surrounding it. What a surprise

On the subordinate states, I imagine that the Arthwyd do not really make distinctions between themselves and their subordinates. Instead they make distinctions based on the Civilized (aka themselves and those that follow their values) and the Barbarians (those that do not). Notice that the Maradysh are still considered to be mostly barbarians (or at the very least people with extremely barbaric practices) even if we are now technically one polity. The Merntir on the other hand are devout worshipers of the Pantheon and have had a way of life that is essentially the same as the Arthwyd until very recently, and thus they are considered Civilized.

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1) That's not what I said. I said that addressing an out-of-story argument with an in-story argument isn't a useful approach. That doesn't mean that your in story argument is automatically correct, just that it's beside the point.
2) Evalyn and her wars still only get half a sentence. The fact that those wars caused a major societal upheaval isn't mentioned.
3) Even if they don't explicitly make the distinction, the cultural thing should have some effect, but it's not mentioned at all.

To summarize : I consider the excessive focus on the blessing (and specifically it's female shaped effects) bad both because it's unrealistic within the setting, and because it's flanderization which makes for an annoying story. Coming up with justifications for why it's not unrealistic doesn't really resolve the issue, because the outside problem is the bigger one.

 

[Star]

Let us talk about slags, anyone has any new idea.

I'm playing with
you are my Bronwyn , reference to you are my love.

Bronwyn blessed her/him, reference to beautiful person. Or better said saying that someone is beautiful.

 

[10ebbor10]

Let us talk about slags, anyone has any new idea.

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Well, we do have melting of multiple materials, as well as stone manipulation, so I suppose you can do a lot with slag.

This would be neat, for example.

During the Bronze Age of the Mediterranean there were a vast number of differential metallurgical processes in use. A slag by-product of such workings was a colorful, glassy, vitreous material found on the surfaces of slag from ancient copper foundries. It was primarily blue or green and was formerly chipped away and melted down to make glassware products and jewelry. It was also ground into powder to add to glazes for use in ceramics. Some of the earliest such uses for the by-products of slag have been found in ancient Egypt.[1]​

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[Oshha]

Merit = having big boobs

Do you guys now understand why I mock all attempts to become a "meritocracy"?

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I actually got the idea from earlier in the thread when I or someone pointed out that an Arthwyd meritocracy could end up with the leaders being picked by how much they were thought to look like the goddesses with a closer appearance being a sign of divine favour.

which basically reduces the Arthwyd to " the civ with big breasts".

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I'm be blunt and say as far as I am concerned, you are one who is doing the flanderisation and ignoring every other aspect of civ if you can look at the Arthwyd and only see "the civ with the big breasts".

• That opinion ignores the fact that the Arthwyd are a communal based civ rather than a familial based one like almost every civ in history and all of their in-universe neighbours.
• It ignores the fact that the Arthwyd are a deeply religious civ who are incredible devout towards their goddesses.
• It ignores the fact that they have an all-female pantheon, something that isn't seen in RL history.
• It ignores the fact that they were originally a peaceful civ, but due to repeated unprovoked aggression, they have gone from treating violence and warfare as something only barbarians would do to something that they acknowledge as a unfortunate necessity while having the warriors as strong the most influential faction.
• It ignores how the government of the Arthwyd has changed over time going from being run by the elders to the priests to a monarchy to a herediary monarchy.
• It ignores how the Arthwyd have gone from being opening to outsiders to viewing all of their neighbouring civs as being uncivilised barbarians and viewing themselves as the only truly civilised people around.
• It ignores how the Arthwyd have expanded to take over some of their neighbours with peaceful attempts succeeding where violence fails with their one attempt at conquest resulting in the conquered vassal making a successful bid for freedom and independent rule.
• It ignores how the stone and earth are the go to elements for the Arthwyd and are perversity
• It ignores how despite having an open, tolerant and accepting society, the Arthwyd have still developed plenty of discrimination with their society even if all of it is well-intentioned.
• It ignores how due to lacking the social pressures to develop them, the Arthwyd have very few sexual taboos and are incredibly open when it comes to sex and sexual relationships. They don't discriminate or hold people's sexual tastes against them unlike the vast majority of cultures in RL.

Just because I didn't outright mentioned any of those in a post that was only a couple thousand words long in my spare time doesn't mean that they don't exist. The fact that you are just willing to ignore all of this because I didn't mention every last thing in a trivia post that was only a couple thousand words long is frankly annoying.

Even if we just look at the trivia post, you ignore how it is considered wrong by the Arthwyd for parents to raise their own kid. You ignore how the Arthwyd believe themselves to be cultural superior and therefore they pressure immigrants to abandon their old culture and adopt the Arthwydish culture. You ignore how the Arthwyd have a grand total of two taboos regarding sex and anything else goes. You ignore how the Arthwyd view violence and warfare as being barbaric, but still respect the might and dangerous threat of the barbarians due to them being good at war. You ignore how even despite their accepting and tolarant society where everyone is supposed to get a chance to prove themselves, some roles are still being seen as a man's job or a woman's job. You ignore how the closest thing you have to a noble caste is being chosen based on appearance almost half the time.

But no, you just want to reduce the Arthwyd to being "the civ with the big breasts".

Yes, the Blessing of Arthryn is a major part of the Arthwyd culture. Of course, it is when pretty much everyone has it. You had it for three quarters of the quest at this point and it isn't something that can just be ignored. Even beyond being the source of 'big boobs' that you are oddly focused on, it makes the Arthwyd more resistance to plagues and injuries, it makes physical labour easier, it makes your innovations easier, it makes admin work easier, it makes childbirth significantly less fatal, it increases the age span to the point that Heroes are usually living for an extra turn than they would be without the blessing and it increases your population growth. It is even leading to some well-intention discrimination by the Arthwyd in their otherwise tolerant and accepting society. But hey, since I don't rub that into your face all the time with every threadmarked post, let us just focus on the big breasts.

Breasts are mentioned in less than a fifth of the threadmarked posts and even then, they are barely mentioned in the posts they do get mentioned in it.

Yes, the Arthwyd women have big breasts. They have done so for close to a thousand years now. The Blessing of Arthryn is a major part of Arthwyd civilisation and as a result, it has helped shaped things alongside many other factor. All of that is something that has been the case for a long time now.

The idea that breasts have been an excessive part of this quest to the point they are overshadowing everything is stupid because it is clearly not. To do so requires ones to get a bugbear about it and then ignore the rest of the quest beyond that bugbear and then complain that the bugbear is overshadowing the quest by cherry-picking things while ignoring all evidence to the contrary .

Your criticism here is something I put absolutely no value in because you are taking one part of the quest and claiming that it is all that there is to the quest. From what I can see, your 'criticism' basically amounts to whining that the quest has an element that you don't like and ignoring the rest of the quest in favour of that single disliked element. As far as I am concerned, I can ignore your criticism and nothing of value is lost.

And yes, I am rather annoyed that you are focusing on a single element of the quest and ignoring everything else to the point that you are willingly to claim that the quest has been flanderised around that single disliked element. Because the big breasts clearly mean everything and the whole quest revolve around them and everything other aspect is secondary.

I don't care about this topic anymore. I have made my stance clear and that isn't going to change anytime soon.

 

[Raichu1972]

As someone that's asexual, can we get back to the civ building?

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So, on that subject, is there anything in particular you want to talk about?

I know you're really into the magic side of the things, so we could maybe brainstorm future applications of magic on a nationwide level?
As an example, stone manipulation is currently a crude, tiring thing; used to maintaining stone tools and arrowheads more than anything else. With the ongoing creation of great works such as the Grand Temple and the Statue of Arthryn, I think that a greater ability to manipulate stone would be a huge boon.

 

[Oshha]

Okay, here is what I've got for the upgraded Blessing of Arthryn:

• Passive Breast Support Spell (no big breast problems)
• Close Empathy between Blessed (lets you have an idea of whatever someone else is feeling when they are physically close to you, amplified by holy sites and other Arthrynite holy stuff)
• Limited Shapeshifting (can make minor changes to existing features)

 

[Zaealix]

Did anyone else notice the harpies?

 

[Dark as Silver]

It ignores how the Arthwyd have gone from being opening to outsiders to viewing all of their neighbouring civs as being uncivilised barbarians and viewing themselves as the only truly civilised people around.

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Hmmmm? Is Arthwyd reffering to the religion rather than the Player Civ here? As I'd assume the Mermtir are considered civilised but a little odd and the mara-people are in the process of being civilised.

Did anyone else notice the harpies?

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What about them?

 

[thefoolswriter]

Okay, here is what I've got for the upgraded Blessing of Arthryn:

• Passive Breast Support Spell (no big breast problems)
• Close Empathy between Blessed (lets you have an idea of whatever someone else is feeling when they are physically close to you, amplified by holy sites and other Arthrynite holy stuff)
• Limited Shapeshifting (can make minor changes to existing features)

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sigh would have preferred supernatural strength and speed

 

[Cariyaga]

So, on that subject, is there anything in particular you want to talk about?

I know you're really into the magic side of the things, so we could maybe brainstorm future applications of magic on a nationwide level?
As an example, stone manipulation is currently a crude, tiring thing; used to maintaining stone tools and arrowheads more than anything else. With the ongoing creation of great works such as the Grand Temple and the Statue of Arthryn, I think that a greater ability to manipulate stone would be a huge boon.

Click to shrink...

I would love getting our magic to the point where we could do proper earthbending and have proper warrior-priests that use their magic to fight instead of weapons.

 

[Oshha]

Hmmmm? Is Arthwyd reffering to the religion rather than the Player Civ here? As I'd assume the Mermtir are considered civilised but a little odd and the mara-people are in the process of being civilised.

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In that case, it refers to the Arthwyd proto-empire which includes the player civ and its vassal. Because those subordinate civs are part of your overall civilisation, I don't count them as neighbouring civs.

 

[10ebbor10]

I'm be blunt and say as far as I am concerned, you are one who is doing the flanderisation and ignoring every other aspect of civ if you can look at the Arthwyd and only see "the civ with the big breasts".

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You managed to miss the entire point of the criticism, as I already mentioned here.

You're missing my point. My point is about the presentation of the infodump, which mentions none of what you're saying here.

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My main problem is well illustrated with the infodump above. There's no real sexual content in it, so the problem doesn't lie there. My problem is that there's a significant flanderization going on, which basically reduces the Arthwyd to " the civ with big breasts".

From the narrative, you would conclude that cup-size (and other secondary sexual characteristics) are the only social factors of note. The Blessing is used as the sole explanation as for gender roles. It used as the sole explanation for sexist claims and insults. It's used as the dominant explanation for foreign relations and xenophobia.

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My point is that the physical aspects of the blessing dominate the discussion, with other elements seemingly being ignored. Bringing up all those elements that you ignored just reinforces my point.

I mean, I criticized your post for not mentioning a bunch of those elements, and how they would affect the society, which makes it weird that you criticize me for supposedly ignoring they exist.

My entire point is that your narrative ignores other elements.

Even if we just look at the trivia post, you ignore how it is considered wrong by the Arthwyd for parents to raise their own kid. You ignore how the Arthwyd believe themselves to be cultural superior and therefore they pressure immigrants to abandon their old culture and adopt the Arthwydish culture. You ignore how the Arthwyd have a grand total of two taboos regarding sex and anything else goes. You ignore how the Arthwyd view violence and warfare as being barbaric, but still respect the might and dangerous threat of the barbarians due to them being good at war. You ignore how even despite their accepting and tolarant society where everyone is supposed to get a chance to prove themselves, some roles are still being seen as a man's job or a woman's job. You ignore how the closest thing you have to a noble caste is being chosen based on appearance almost half the time.

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You mention 6 elements.
- 2 of those are things that you describe, in the info post, as being completely caused because of the Blessing.
- 2 of them are in sections my comment isn't about
- 2 of them are actual points

Yes, the Blessing of Arthryn is a major part of the Arthwyd culture. Of course, it is when pretty much everyone has it. You had it for three quarters of the quest at this point and it isn't something that can just be ignored. Even beyond being the source of 'big boobs' that you are oddly focused on, it makes the Arthwyd more resistance to plagues and injuries, it makes physical labour easier, it makes your innovations easier, it makes admin work easier, it makes childbirth significantly less fatal, it increases the age span to the point that Heroes are usually living for an extra turn than they would be without the blessing and it increases your population growth. It is even leading to some well-intention discrimination by the Arthwyd in their otherwise tolerant and accepting society. But hey, since I don't rub that into your face all the time with every threadmarked post, let us just focus on the big breasts.

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The thing is, those elements do not show up. Having physical labor be easier would result in major shifts in society. Being smarter and longer lived than foreigners could introduce significant biases towards them. The childbirth thing would cause significant differences in society. Same for plague and disease resistance.

But the Arthwyd do not consider foreigners children because they're frailer, weaker, and die younger. No, they consider them children because they don't have physical assets.
Similarly, gender discrimination. It's not the blessing of intelligence, strength, longevity, or any of that that matters. It's the breasts that define whether you get to be a priest, it's the lack of them that defines whether you get to be a warrior.

The looks of the Blessing are the only element that is consistently mentioned, with the others only an afterthought .

Edit : To illustrate. In the post where we discover there's a giant plague in the Lowlands, the plague resistance isn't mentioned at all.

 

[Knight Draco]

Did anyone else notice the harpies?

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Yes, in fact, they were one of the points I used to argue for the vassalization of the Maradysh. We actually killed a few, and they can fly.

 

[Frankite316]

This quest has the weirdest arguments I have ever seen in questing.