It isn't. I have come up with some situations in which you do this, but it is very costly and potentially leaves you open to other threats in the process, but if the thread was to make a determined and sustained effort to do so, you could kill Urth for good.
That's my point exactly. It just isn't worth it in my opinion, sure he's monstrously evil, but he's not Sauron evil.
Now if he ever ever decides other people straight up don't have the right to exist and turns into some kind of Bronze Age genocidal maniac looking to burn all other civilizations and enslave whoever he doesn't kill in his unending march of conquest, then I'm down for the Arthwyd falling on a sword to take him with them.
That makes for an epic Iliad and the Odyssey style tale of the ages for all future civilizations to marvel at in wonder of the world that once was.
You know, forever marking in the human psyche that an ultimate good stood against an ultimate evil, leaving all who come after to claim succession to our legacy.
That'd be badass.
If we ever have to do a time skip like Academia Nut did it should totally be that.
This is what Urth is going for in her defences. She knows that she can't make it impossible so what she has done instead is make it hard enough that so long as she doesn't to anything too evil or make herself too much of a threat, no one will want to make the effort to perma-kill her while they have other things to worry about.
If you want to kill Urth, expand closer to the Cursed Forest via Rockbay or Sunset Plains so you have the necessary logistics to properly invade the Cursed Forest. Then you would need to constantly send War Parties into the Cursed Forest to whittle down the Caradysh forces and take land. Depending on how things go, you would want to include some Train More Sacred warriors or Study Magic to replace losses or get more bonuses. From there, you will have chances to perma-kill Urth, but I won't spoil what those are as you will find out what they are when you reach that point.
Since it also came up in the discord, I will clarify the difference between the Unliving like the Daughters of Urth and the Undead like the revenants and wights. It is primarily a difference of the former being closer to being alive while the latter are closer to being dead, basically whether your body is alive or dead. For the Unliving like the Daughters of Urth, they are capable of reproduction, but still have the needs of the living like needing to eat, drink and breathe. The Undead are the opposite as their bodies are dead and purely sustained by the magic keeping them undead. This means that they don't need such food and drink due to their bodies being dead and only requiring magic to survive, but the fact that their bodies are dead means that they can't do things like reproduce.
This means that they don't need such food and drink due to their bodies being dead and only requiring magic to survive, but the fact that their bodies are dead means that they can't do things like reproduce.
Depends on the undead in question. A sapient one with its own soul can use its own reserve of magical power to sustain itself at the cost of reduced magical ability, potentially to the point of having no magic ability left. The soulless and therefore mindless ones would have rely upon whatever is powering them such as a necromancer or a magical artefact. You could also use outside sources like blood sacrifices or binding spirits to your will or getting a deity to do the heavy lifting.
The Zaradysh collapsed as a civ during the lowland collapse and while the current lowlander tribes are descendent from the Zaradysh, they are distinctly different entities to them and lack the shared cultural identity of the Zaradysh. So while the Arthwyd just call them the lowlander tribes as collective entity, they are mostly dismissing the lot of them as barbarians and not caring about that the fact that the lowlander tribes are actually several different if similar cultures.
There is a group of lowlander tribes which call themselves the Zaradysh and are the direct successor of the old Zaradysh, but they don't stand out to the Arthwyd so they just get viewed as another bunch of lowlander tribes. At the moment, only the Colryd stand out to the Arthwyd of the various entities that make up the lowlander tribes.
[X] [Colryd] Send goods and gifts to the Colryd. (-1 Temp Econ, Improved Relations with the Colryd, Gain Domesticated Animals or Information on the Caradysh, ???)
[X] [Colryd] Send some Arthrynite priestesses to her court. (-1 Temp Mystic, Improved Relations with the Colryd, Gain Domesticated Animals or Information on the Caradysh, ???,)
[X] [Caradysh] The Caradysh are offering to help the Arthwyd in their future war against the Forluc. (Ends the War, Warriors are happy, Priestesses are unsure, ???)
[X] [Caradysh] Urth is offering to share her magical knowledge with the People. (Ends the War, Warriors are happy, Priestesses are unsure, ???)
Despite strong opposition from the priestesses, Cadlon Gwyn decided to accept the peace offer of the Caradysh to the pleasure of the Catclaws and the Cateyes. The Caradysh had wronged the People greatly in the past, especially their rule Urth.
The Caradysh had offered many things to the People as compensation for their past transgressions and of them, Cadlon Gwyn only accepted two of them.
The first was a promise of future assistance against the Forluc when the lowland power inevitably came for the People. In many ways, this was an unreliable condition, but its most onerous burdens were on the Caradysh.
No one knew when the war would take place nor any other details about beyond the fact is would almost certainly happen. For the People, they would have to fight it regardless, but for the Caradysh, they had to as part of their forgiveness. While they could refuse to help in the future, it would meant they would be no longer have payed off their past crimes and the Caradysh would end up committing a new transgression as they betrayed the People.
The second part of the peace deal was that Urth would share her vast magical knowledge and that of the Caradysh with the People. This part of the deal was something that the Caradysh had to do now and it didn't take them long for the Foresters to provide the People with records of their knowledge, helpfully pre-translated into the tongue of the Arthwyd.
As expected of several centuries of work with the assistance of the greatest magic wielder in the known world, the provided magical knowledge was vast and the People were impressed by the Caradysh willingly providing them with so much knowledge.
Yet while the knowledge was vast and provided without difficulty, it would still take time and effort for the People to make use of it. Unlike the People who wielded the divine magics that Arthryn and her Daughters gifted them with, the Caradysh were forced to rely upon non-divine magics, which were called 'Arcane Magics'.
These arcane magics relied upon one's own power and had to be fuelled by your own energy or energy from other sources. While the priestesses and sacred warriors of the People were able to get a basic understand of how this worked, they eschewed it. They saw no needed to reply on the arcane magics of the evil Caradysh when the goddesses provided their divine magics to all of the People.
So while this meant that the People couldn't directly make use of the Caradysh magic, it didn't mean that all of the knowledge was useful. It would just be a matter of converting the knowledge into being used for the divine magic of the goddesses.
The Caradysh had several branches of arcane magic. One was probability magic where one could induce either good luck or bad luck, but only in small amounts and with great effort to the point it was generally better to put the effect into doing the thing if you wanted better results.
They also had some light magic such as the ability to create magic light attacks akin to arrows or throwing spears or to create a solid magic barrier from light to protect oneself or something else. Interestingly, there was a spell for light that heal akin to the Ymarnite magic of curing disease or healing an injury and the Caradysh had quite a deal of proficient in this to the point of having better healing magic than the People.
They also had fertility magic, having stolen it from the Forluc god Nalnir. The Caradysh primarily used in regards to reproduction as they were experts in both stopping pregnancies from forming and causing a pregnancy to happen, able to do it for both animals and people. To a lesser extent, they could also induce lust in a person or animal to make their bodies desire sex regardless of their prior feelings on the matter.
The Caradysh also shared their mastery of undeath with the People as they provided spells on how to raise corpses en masse in addition to how to control these mindless undead. Furthermore, the Caradysh also provided information on how to raise the sapient revenants, which was a much more involved and expensive affair compared to creating wights and on the Caradysh were less knowledgeable on.
Finally, the Caradysh provided extensive knowledge on blood magic, which was apparently the area of magic that they had the most expertise in. Blood magic could be used for many things from coping or stealing from something else with blood to making blood sacrifices for power. You could also use blood to create magical bonds, making either spiritual connections or binding someone or something to creating magically enforced oaths.
Yet it was clear that not all of the Caradysh's knowledge, just all that a non-Urth member of the Caradysh could potentially learn. The magical knowledge that Urth kept to herself and didn't share with anyone else stayed that way, something that a good portion of the People had no problem with.
With Queen Eira and the Colryd Kingdom, the People were happy to strengthen ties with them, especially the elders who sought to have a friendly power in the lowlands that could be used as a future buffer state between the People and the Forluc.
While the People refrained from sending farming knowledge or warriors or increased amounts of copper tools, they did send plenty of high-quality goods and gifts to Queen Eira to improve her standing and prestige and to increase goodwill.
They also granted the request of the lowlander queen for Arthrynite priestesses in her court. While the people of the Colryd were too barbaric to convert to Arthryn and her Daughters, Queen Eira was personally interested in converting as an individual and sought to have some priestesses as her personal courtiers.
While no one was forced to live amongst the barbaric lowlanders, several priestesses were open to helping Queen Eira convert and perhaps setting the foundations for future conversion even if they never lived long enough to see it themselves.
Pleased with the increased ties with a friendly lowlander power and seeking to strengthen it further, the elders of the Arthwyd also organised their own trade expeditions to help strengthen the ties between the Colryd and the People.
Over the seasons, it soon became a common sight amongst the Colryd to see Arthwydish traders in their settlements, selling goods and tools from the northern lands as they regularly made the journey down Green River.
The priestesses also became an accepted part of Queen Eira's court as while they were strange and followed odd ways, their beauty and magic alongside the fear of the Northern Demons meant that no one sought to mess them with them outside of a few fools.
As promised, Queen Eira send back some of the tamed animals that her people used, enough to establish breeding populations amongst the People and in total, there were two types of animals.
The first were bulky animals that were good for meat and hides, but unlike the animals that the People hunted, they also provided the milk for the People if in small amounts. The second were small and not as meaty, but they provided long hairs that the lowlanders called wool.
This wool was something that come be used like straw and woven together and the lowlanders would use it for their clothes in addition to leather and hides.
In addition to these cows and sheep, the People were able to acquire a third tamed animal except this time it was from the Maradysh rather than the lowlands. A prominent priestess by the name of Aryna had managed to figure how to tame birds.
By capturing some and putting them in pens and looking after them properly, it was possible to get a free supply of eggs as regardless of whether there was a male or not, the female bird would lay eggs and you only needed a male if you wanted the eggs to hatch.
While the birds are still mostly wild, it is hoped that by raising new generations of bird in captivity, they can be tamed just the lowlanders have tamed the cows and sheep.
Cadlon Gwyn also order the construction of a palisade around Sunrise Bay as it was the largest settlement of the People that lacked any fixed defences. While the People lacked any current enemies, they had future enemies in the form of the Forluc while they didn't know when another leader like the legendary Vervov might rise amongst the Boarfolk Tribes to the east.
And then there was the Coltyre Confederation. Many amongst the People's leadership, including Cadlon Gwyn and her successor Cadlon Varthryn, were concerned the Coltyre. Calling most of the eastern lowlands as their own, the Coltyre consisted of Boarfolk conquerors ruling over lowlander subjects.
While they lacked centralised leadership and the unity of the People, they did have many boar-riders and the Maradysh Civil War had shown just how effective cavalry could be in the open plains of the lowlands and the great bay. Amongst the Catclaws and Cateyes, there were many doubts about the People's ability to stop the Coltyre should they or at least some of them decided to attack the People.
At the moment, the Coltyre and the People had minimal interaction and neither really cared for the other, but that could change in the future. While it seemed unlikely that the Coltyre would ally with the likes of the Forluc, one could not discount the Boarfolk taking the opportunity to strike the People in the back should the People be distracted or weaken by something else such as a war with the Forluc.
Speaking of the Forluc, they were still far away, but they had stated their intentions to conquer their way north, through the lowlander tribes. While the People had few friends amongst most of the lowlanders, they had very strong ties with the Colryd. While the Colryd were currently weak compared to other powers invested in the lowlands, they are one of the strongest lowlander tribes. There was a strong faction within the People that advocated for helping strengthen the Colryd and aiding them in subduing their neighbours as doing so would leave them as a strong and friendly power to the People.
But even as many looked to the future and the future conflicts that the People might face, it was peaceful for now and while it may not last, the People have a respite from war and crisis.
Priestesses (4) = Mood: Unhappy, Ability: Add half of faction power to Mystic, Objective: Build the Sacred Forest in 4 Turns, Success/Failure: Increased Megaproject Bonus/-1 Legitimacy
Elders (3) = Mood: Happy, Ability: Add half of their faction power to another faction, Objective: Increase Diplomatic Relations with two other civs within 4 Turns, Success/Failure: +1 Temp Econ/-
Warriors (5 (6)) = Mood: Pleased, Ability: Add half of faction power to Martial, Objective: Strengthen the Colryd within 2 Turns, Success/Failure: Increased Relationship with the Colryd/-
Farmers (1) = Mood: Happy, Ability: Add half of faction power to Econ, Objective: Build a Temple, Success/Failure: +1 Temp Econ/-
Crafters (1) = Mood: Happy, Ability: Add half of faction power to Culture, Objective: Find a major deposit of tin for a Tin Mine, Success/Failure: ???/-
You have three Secondary Actions. Two Secondary Actions make a single Main Action. No plan voting or write-ins.
Please tag actions as [SEC] & [MAIN].
[] [SEC/MAIN] Build Temple = (Target)
S: -6 Temp Econ, -1 Temp Mystic, -1 Temp Culture, +1 Temple (+1 Mystic per a Temple)
M: -12 Temp Econ, -2 Temp Mystic, -2 Temp Culture, +2 Temples (+1 Mystic per a Temple),
-Possible Targets: Greenbay (0/3), Rockbay (0/1), Sunrise Bay (0/1), North Coast Plains (0/3),
-1 Temple slot unlocked for every 2 Settlements in a province
[] [SEC/MAIN] Explore Lands = (Target)
S: -1 Temp Econ, -1 Temp Martial, Chance of new discovery,
M: -2 Temp Econ, -2 Temp Martial, Improved Chance of new discovery,
-Possible Targets: Coastline, Coastal Plains, Cursed Forest, Lowlands, Sea, Sunset Mountains, Sunrise Mountains, Western Coast, Northern Coast,
[] [SEC/MAIN] More Farming.
S: +5 Temp Econ, Chance of Innovation,
M: +1 Temp Econ, +1 Econ (0/4) (Limited to 1 per 3 Settlements), Improved Chance of Innovation,
[] [SEC/MAIN] More Fishing.
S: +4 Temp Econ, Chance of Innovation,
M: +6 Temp Econ, Improved Chance of Innovation
[] [SEC/MAIN] More Hunting.
S: +4 Temp Econ, +1 Temp Martial, Chance of Innovation,
M: +6 Temp Econ, +2 Temp Martial, Improved Chance of Innovation
[] [SEC/MAIN] Settle Land = (Target)
S: -5 Temp Econ, -1 Temp Martial, +1 Temp Mystic, +1 Settlement Progress, +1 Econ,
M: -10 Temp Econ, -1 Temp Martial, +2 Temp Mystic, +2 Settlement Progress, +2 Econ,
-Possible Targets: Greenbay (6/12), Rockbay (1/12), Upriver Plains (0/6), Sunrise Bay (1/12), Sunset Plains (0/12), Sunrise Plains (0/11), North Coast Plains, (6/12), North Coast Hills (0/12), North Coast Western Forest (0/12), North River Plains (0/12),
[] [SEC/MAIN] Study Magic.
S: -1 Temp Econ, -1 Temp Mystic, Chance of Innovation,
M: -2 Temp Econ, -2 Temp Mystic, Improved Chance of Innovation
[] [SEC/MAIN] Study Metal.
S: -1 Temp Econ, -1 Temp Mystic, Chance of Innovation,
M: -2 Temp Econ, -2 Temp Mystic, Improved Chance of Innovation
[] [SEC/MAIN] Support Subordinate = (Target)
S: -1 Temp Econ, Chance of relationship change,
M: -2 Temp Econ, Improved Chance of relationship change,
-Possible Targets: Maradysh,
[] [SEC] Switch Province Policy = (Select Policy)
S: Change your Province
-Balanced = Does whatever seems reasonable.
-Defensive = Takes defensive martial actions.
-Diplomacy = Focuses on engaging in diplomacy. (Currently active)
-Economy = Takes actions to increase stats.
-Expansion = Focuses on settling new lands.
-Exploration = Focuses on exploring areas.
-Infrastructure = Focuses on building infrastructure.
-Megaproject = Focuses on building megaprojects.
-Offensive = Takes offensive martial actions.
-Religion = Focuses on religious actions.
-Study = Takes study actions.
[] [SEC/MAIN] Trade Expedition = (Target)
S: -1 Temp Econ, +1 Temp Diplo, Chance of increased relationship, more knowledge about the outside world,
M: -2 Temp Econ, +3 Temp Diplo, Improved Chance of increased relationship, more knowledge about the outside world,
-Possible Targets: Boarfolk Nomads, Lowlander Tribes, Colryd Kingdom, Caradysh, Coltyre Confederation
So you are an uneasy peace with the Caradysh now and have greatly strengthen relation with the Colryd. You have potential future wars and other crises to worry about, but for now, you are at peace and crisis free.
You also got a ton of magic from the Caradysh, but the nature of it and your own cultural biases mean that it will take time for you to make use of it as you need to convert the arcane magical knowledge into spells to be used by your divine magical knowledge. This will slowly happen over time, but can be speed up with Study Magic actions.
Other than that, this is a chance to take a breath and get some projects done such maybe a megaproject or building some more infrastructure or exploring new lands. You got no ongoing conflicts or crises right now to deal with and I cannot say how long that will be the case. I have also provided how much progress is required for the Sacred Forest and the Stone Wall.
Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring to. Feel to ask questions for more details and information.
The Arthwyd Early Ancient Tanistry Upper Centralization Limit: 8 Lower Centralization Limit: 0 Admin Strain Free Provinces: 4 Penalty Accumulation: Additional +2 Lower Centralisation required per 1 Province Player Actions: 2 Secondary Actions +1 Secondary Action per 2 Provinces Province Actions: 1 Secondary Action per 2 Provinces Subordinates: 1 Special: -1 Temp Econ Damage per a Province Special: Increased Range of Potential Heirs
Early Ancient Palace Economy Temp Econ Damage: Event, -1 per 1 Centralisation, Wealth Generation: 1 per Dominant, Passive Policies: N/A Additional Actions: None Special: Negative Centralisation or lower than Minimum Centralisation will lead to collapse. Special: Increased polity size will raise the level of Minimum Centralisation required.
Subordinates Type/Loyalty/Dependence
Maradysh = Personal Union/Very High/High
Values & Legacies Chosen of Arthryn: Gain +1 to all Innovation Rolls, Agricultural Innovators: +1 Temp Econ to Farming actions, Ancient Centre of Civilisation (Great Bay): Extra Innovation Roll at the start of each turn, Rush Builders: Extended Projects take less actions, but each action is more expensive, Bronze Blooded: +2 Temp Econ to Econ Generation Actions,
Communal Unity One must stand by their community with loyalty and kindness for looking after your neighbours and community of the highest importance. As per the teachings of the goddesses, standing united with the rest of your community is a righteous thing.
Pros: Greatly Reduced Internal Discontent, Greatly Increased Resistance to Foreign Intrigue,
Cons: Increase stability loss from taking actions which harm the People, Discourages disunity,
Fair Treatment While not everyone is equal in the end, they deserve a chance to prove themselves and regardless of who they are or the nature of their birth, they deserve to be given fair treatment.
Pros: Decreased social stratification, Decreased Discrimination,
Cons: Decreased social stratification, Many think you weak,
Sacred Defence The People do not abandon their own for it is their sacred duty to protect each other. They stand by their neighbours and community through thick and thin and do not yield when it comes to protecting their fellows for that is their duty as commanded by the goddesses.
Pros: Increased Unity during times of crisis, Sacred Warriors, Increased loyalty from religious subordinates,
Cons: Legitimacy loss when abandoning members of the People to harm and danger, increased Legitimacy loss when the threat is from those with conflicting beliefs,
Queens of Peace, Kings of War The descendants of the goddess Evalyn have her blood in them and divinity runs through their body. This fact means that they are better suited to ruling than the rest of the People and can lead their subjects to greatness.
Pros: Better stats for the royal family, Bonus to peaceful actions when you have a female ruler, Bonus to militant actions when you have a male ruler,
Cons: Increased social stratification, Increased gender discrimination,
Extended Sunrise Mountain Passage A grand pathway through the Sunrise Mountains, this passage was carved out over generations with hard work and divine aid. Now it stands completing, forging a safe route overland between the Arthwyd in the south and the Merntir in the north.
Effects: +1 Temp Mysticism whenever a travel-based infrastructure project is completed,
Grand Temple A large stone building that resides on a hill overlooking Greenbay, the Grand Temple is the first temple that the People have built and it is larger than most others. With Bronwyn the Beautiful residing within it as a centrepiece, it is a monument to the oldest teachings of the Goddesses.
Effects: Increased Stability Gains from Venerating the Goddesses, +1 Temp Mysticism at the start of each turn,
Grand Statue A massive stone statue of Arthryn overlooking North River, this is a monument to the glory and greatest of the Goddess Arthryn
Effects: +1 Temp Culture from Venerating the Goddesses,
Technologies
Carts
Straw/Reed Rope
Wheel
Wicker
Agriculture
Basic Fertiliser (Primitive Compost & Manure)
Basic Irrigation
Primitive Concept of Growth Energy
Two-Field Crop Rotation
We can finish up the sacred forest in this turn with a main action, which will both reinforce our religious actions and mollify our priestess faction.
We also don't know what might happen next then, and being stuck needing to continue the forest then instead of finishing it now while we know things are semi peaceful sounds rough.
Tentatively putting in explore lands, although study magic or diplomacy also work pretty well to me.
