@Oshha, why do the Arthwyd think it's good to have lots of children? Like, internally. What are the justifications they supply?
Also, does having a higher population increase the chances that we get a hero?
EDIT: Since our military is made up of priestly elites, shouldn't Main Train Sacred Warriors be -1 permanent Mystic instead of -1 permanent Econ? We're not taking away a significant number of farmers away from their duties, but we are diverting a number of priests-in-training from a civilian career into a military one. One way I see it is if we can turn a bunch of farmers into warrior priests, then we could probably turn a bunch of farmers into civilian priests too, increasing our permanent Mystic at the cost of permanent Econ, but we don't have that option.
I would assume the econ loss comes from the fact that having more permanent warriors means having more people that need both more food and more time to dedicate to keeping themselves in peak fighting shape, both of which can be represented by a higher permanent econ cost in order to sustain them.
The initial justifications is that it is good for the community to have plenty of children. They don't justify it beyond that because they have no need to as the idea of having a lot of children being good is just accepted as fact.
EDIT: Since our military is made up of priestly elites, shouldn't Main Train Sacred Warriors be -1 permanent Mystic instead of -1 permanent Econ? We're not taking away a significant number of farmers away from their duties, but we are diverting a number of priests-in-training from a civilian career into a military one. One way I see it is if we can turn a bunch of farmers into warrior priests, then we could probably turn a bunch of farmers into civilian priests too, increasing our permanent Mystic at the cost of permanent Econ, but we don't have that option.
Sacred Warriors aren't trained from priests-in-training, but from the same general populace that the priesthood is also trained from. Furthermore, what makes for a good priest or priestess isn't necessarily the same as what makes for a good Cateye or Catclaw so when recruiting, the military and priesthood look for some different things in potential recruits even if there is some overlap. Additionally, while the military and priesthood both have a proper spiritual/magical education, the military are specialised for warfare whilst the priesthood is specialised for administration with both being a full-time education that doesn't leave room for cross-training for specialising in the other or more mundane professions.
As for why you can't train up more priests like you can do with the sacred warriors, it is due to the former being far more infrastructure-based. The priesthood requires the necessary infrastructure in a village to do their jobs and have time to do other stuff or train up unnecessary priests and priestesses. Meanwhile the Cateyes and Catclaws don't require any specific infrastructure so it is just a matter of training would-be farmers to be warriors instead.
[X] [Boon] Arthryn makes the Blessing of Arthryn gainable outside of birth.
[X] [War] The Arthwyd focus on the True Zaradysh.
For the first time since Bronwyn Stonearm the Beautiful slew Urth the Everevil, the Arthwyd went to war. The Maradysh fought amongst themselves thanks to the barbarians of the lowlands. The Traditionalists and Zaradysh fought against the Progressives and the Radicals and it was into this fray that the Cateyes and Catclaws marched.
The early fighting was mixed. The Traditionalists were beating back the Progressives and had driven the Radicals to hide between their wooden walls, but their Zaradysh allies were faring poorly. First the lowlanders failed to breach the palisades of the Radicals then the Progressive militias drove back the Zaradysh warriors before the Arthwydish struck.
The Cateyes and the Catclaws strike without warning. Raiding parties of lowlander warriors are picked off one by one and larger groups are shattered by surprise attacks of unrelenting northerners. The barbarians are systematically slaughtered by the Arthwydish and before long, it seemed like fate itself was against the Zaradysh. Left with only a handful of warriors to protect the families that they brought with them by the time that the second winter had rolled around, the Zaradysh found themselves victims of horrible weather. After a storm and some heavy rain, the lowlanders were smashed by some sudden flash floods.
Shattered by their enemies and nature itself, the Zaradysh were soon turned upon by their allies. The surviving lowlanders found themselves sold into slavery by Zandis Brianna as the high priestess of Zaranna switched her loyalties to the Traditionalists. The vile woman secured her new position as Zandis of the Maradysh by betraying those she had brought with her and the war would continue onward despite the sudden defeat of the Zaradysh invaders.
With the Zaradysh defeated, the fighting decreased in intensity even as it continued. The war was important, but the Maradysh on all sides still had to worry about day to day life. The fighting keeps up, but as a series of raids and pushes before each side retreats to lick their wounds.
The Radicals are the first to fall. Whilst the Arthrynites and Zarannists find themselves in a stalemate, the Traditionalists don't give the Radicals a chance to recover as they overrun the villages of the smallest faction in the Maradysh civil war. Just as the Zaradysh were gone by the second winter of the fighting, the Radicals were thoroughly broken as the third winter rolled around.
The war is simplified with the Traditionalists standing against the Progressives and their Arthwydish allies. The fighting is brutal as whilst barely any land and no settlements are exchanged, the Arthrynites find themselves taking heavy losses, especially when compared to the dead of the Traditionalists.
The war goes in favour of the Arthrynites for a few seasons when the warriors of the Merntir arrived. Even as the militias of the Progressives find themselves in back and forth fighting with their Traditionalists counterparts, the Arthwydish Catclaws and Cateyes smash several rebel raids before they can reach loyalists territory.
As the sixth winter of the fighting approaches, Zandis Brianna decides to make a big push, a final effort to win the war and end the fighting. The results are mixed. Battle-hardened and numerous, the experienced militias of the Traditionalists breach multiple palisades. Over a dozen villages burn and the majority of the weary and battered Progressives militias are slaughtered by their barbaric counterparts.
But the Arthwyd held. For every village that is pillaged by the Traditionalists when the palisade is breached, another is held by determined Catclaws that fight to their dying breath to successfully keep the barbarians at bay. As the burst of intense and bloody fighting came to an end with the arrival of winter, it quickly became apparent that the Progressives were in no shape to continue the war further even as the Arthwyd continued to send a steady stream of warriors. On the bright side for the Arthrynites, Zandis Brianna had met her end leading an attack on some Catclaws holding a breached palisade.
Neither the death of Zandis Brianna nor the Traditionalists victory over the other Maradysh factions signals the end of the war. The Traditionalists brush off the death of Brianna with their many victories whilst the Arthwyd continue to hold the Progressive villages even if the loyalist militias are in no shape to continue. The fighting continues for another five winters before it finally comes to a close.
The militias of the Traditionalists are full of experienced, bloodied veterans and the warriors of the rebels are the best that any barbarian people could hope to have. But the Traditionalists don't fight barbarians and the sacred warriors of Arthryn and her Daughters make up for their lack of veterancy with better training, divine magic and sheer numbers.
It was the commonly accepted that drawback of using sacred warriors was that they would be relatively few in number and slow to train up. But relative is a proportionate term and whilst the Arthwyd had fewer warriors relative to the rest of their population, the sheer size of the Arthwyd compared to the Traditionalists meant that the Catclaws and Cateyes had roughly equal numbers to the rebel militias that they fought.
The fighting was sporadic, but bloody. Both sides would consistently claim the advantage and neither would keep it for long. Even as the Arthwydish and the Traditionalists fought for the upper hand that would allow them to make a major breakthrough, the war became one of supply and logistics.
Any Traditionalist warrior fighting was someone not doing a job back in the village and every warrior lost to the war was another villager gone. In contrast, the Arthwydish sacred warriors were completely separate to the day to day life of the Arthwyd and while the Maradysh suffered due to how many of their men were dying, the Arthwyd up north were effectively unaffected by the fighting in the south.
It was Cadlon Serwyn the Gifted who noticed it first. With the best view of what was happening with the resources of the Arthwyd, Serwyn quickly realised how little impact that war in the south was having on the Arthwyd as a whole, with only the attention and resources of the Cadlon being the costs that the war was claiming from the Arthwyd. Meanwhile the Maradysh were being devastated by the conflict as their people were harmed and their lands were damaged by the fighting taking place in their territory.
She was no military genius, but when it came to numbers and reports, Cadlon Serwyn was one of the best that the Arthwyd had to offer. The reports and the numbers in them were clear and so long as the Traditionalists didn't suddenly begin to win the conventional fighting, the Arthwyd would win the war. They just had enough people, land and food that the fighting could drag out for another five winters and they could keep going whilst their foes could not. It was something of a horrific tactic, but it was an effective one or at least it was effective for the Arthwyd. If they were willingly to stomach the cost.
The fighting ultimately came to end when the Traditionalists ran out of warriors with the Arthwydish still having plenty of fighters left as the barbarian militias lay broken. The war was at an end for all intentions and purposes as while there was no formal agreement in place, it was just a matter of the Arthwyd seizing the rebel villages and breaking the last few holdouts of resistance.
That just left the matter of what to do with the Traditionalist rebels and the Zaradysh invaders even if only a few of the latter remained. Some of the Arthwyd advocated for outlawing the worship of Zaranna, denouncing the lowlander goddesses as being too barbaric for civilised people and that the war was all caused by her worshippers.
Others want to just be rid of the Zarannists wholesale, either by exiling them all from Arthwyd or Maradysh territory or by just killing them so they wouldn't present further problems in the future. Another faction was more moderate and rather than punish all of the Zarannists, the Arthwyd should just limit their wrath to what few Zaradysh were left.
And of course, there was the option of not doing anything and just letting business continue as normal.
What do the Arthwyd do with the defeated Zarannists?
[] [War] Nothing.
[] [War] Outlaw worship of Zaranna.
[] [War] Make examples of the remaining Zaradysh.
[] [War] Exile all of the Zarannists.
[] [War] Purge all of the Zarannists.
[] [War] Relocate all of the Zarannists.
And while the war in the south dominated the focus of the Cadlon, it was the only exciting event to take place over the last generation. Despite being recognised for her natural talent, Eurwyn had yet to do anything truly outstanding. Until now that was.
The ability to heal injuries by speeding up the rate they recovered was something that the Arthwyd had known how to do for countless generations, but that was just for injuries. Whenever a member of the Arthwydish fell ill, the priests could do nothing for them with the divine magic of the goddesses and instead had to resort to more mundane methods of treating the ill and sick.
Eurwyn changed this accepted fact of life. After over a dozen winters of study, she finally figured out how to apply the method of healing an injury to curing a sickness. The method hadn't been as well refined as the process for healing a wound nor was it as effective, but it was a starting point and it didn't take long before the magic was being assimilated throughout the Arthwyd.
As wonderous as it was, Eurwyn's innovation was not the only magical discovery that the Arthwyd made in recent memory. Along the Arth Coast, the priesthood had uncovered that they could store a memory in stone through prolonged use of using magic to manipulate stone. The new magic was still rather limited as the stone had to be sufficient size to hold the magic and the memory stored in it could only be a few seconds long, but it was a significant discovery even if it is currently usefulness was limited.
Another major mystical innovation was that Arthryn revealed to her priesthood how to grant her Blessing to an individual without. It was a lengthy process that require an extensive ritual and could only be done for those truly converting, but it was boon to those that were born without it. Lowlander refugees and many of their descendants found themselves at a disadvantage to those born with the Blessing of Arthryn and hopefully this could go along way to making things fairer.
Beyond matters of magic and war, matters of metal were also going well. Whilst stone remained the weapon of choice for the sacred warriors, copper tools were becoming increasingly common amongst the Arthwyd thanks to greater toughness and being able to hold a sharper edge without any magic involved. Matters were further improved when some Merntir explorers found a large supply of copper in the hills of the North Coast.
This left Cadlon Serwyn with an interesting dilemma. The copper would be very useful, but Eurwyn and her talented mind would not be around for every. As Cadlon, she has enough influence that she could get the Merntir to set up a copper mine in the hills or she could encourage them to take advantage of Eurwyn's genius to make additional magical innovations.
What does Cadlon Serwyn do in regard to the Merntir?
[] [Merntir] She encourage the Merntir to take advantage of Eurwyn's talent to make more magical discoveries.
[] [Merntir] She encourages the Merntir to develop a copper mine in the hills to supply the Arthwyd with copper.
[] [Merntir] She stays out of it and let those on the North Coast choose their own priorities.
Priests (5) = Mood: Pleased, Ability: Add half of faction power to Mystic, Objective: Complete the Census within 3 Turns, Success/Failure: +2 Temp Econ/-
Elders (2 (3)) = Mood: Uncertain, Ability: Add half of their faction power to another faction, Objective: Build two more Palisades, Success/Failure: +2 Temp Econ/-1 Temp Econ
Warriors (5) = Mood: Pleased, Ability: Add half of faction power to Martial, Objective: Increase Martial within 4 Turns, Success/Failure: +1 Palisade/-
Farmers (1) = Mood: Happy, Ability: Add half of faction power to Econ, Objective: More Farming, Success/Failure: +1 Temp Econ/-
Crafters (1) = Mood: Happy, Ability: Add half of faction power to Culture, Objective: Venerate the Goddesses, Success/Failure: +1 Temp Econ/-
***
The war is won and you got some interesting discoveries. Nothing truly ground-breaking yet, but plenty of potential for future growth. In regards to Heroes, Serwyn is in her mid-eighties and barring some very good rolls for her health, she is going to die during the next update. Eurwyn is in her early fifties and will last enough one to three turns depending on her health rolls.
With the war, the Zaradysh got really unlucky and got wrecked by everything including the weather. The Radicals did almost as badly and got defeated by the Traditionalists right after the Zaradysh. After that, it was a back and forth between the Traditionalists and the Arthwyd. The Traditionalists should have been defeated sooner but hung on due to good rolls through it could be said that they should have won if they fighting anyone, but the Arthwyd. As things stood, the Arthwyd were simply too big for the Traditionalists to defeat.
Edit: The bottom four [War] options would all count as genocide under modern RL law.
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 Theocratic Elective Monarchy UpperCentralisationLimit: 8 Lower CentralisationLimit: -2 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 Passive Policies: 1 +1 per 2 Provinces. Subordinates: 1 Special: -1 Temp Econ Damage per a Province Special: Free Subordinate Slot for Subordinates that share the same religion per a point of Legitimacy. Special: Monarchs are more likely to be competent.
Early Ancient Palace Economy Temp Econ Damage: Event, -1 per 1 Centralisation. Wealth Generation: 1 per Dominant. Passive Policies: 1 +1 per 2 Provinces. 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.
Values & Legacies Agricultural Innovators: +1 Temp Econ to Farming actions. Ancient Centre of Civilisation (Great Bay): Extra Innovation Roll at the start of each turn, Chosen of Arthryn: Gain +1 to all Innovation Rolls. Rush Builders: Extended Projects take less actions, but each action is more expensive.
Born Equal While the choices of a person and the world around them can make a person greater or lesser, everyone is born equal to each other.
Pros: Decreased social stratification,
Cons: Decreased social stratification,
Charitable Haven The lands of the Arthwyd are prosperous and peaceful. Free from war, slavery and other forms of suffering, many seek sanctuary in Arthwyd lands in times of turmoil and the Arthwyd are more than happy to grant it.
Pros: Increased Idea Spread, Increased Refugee Arrivals, Gain a Value from current or historical neighbour,
Cons: Reduced Social Cohesion, Many think you weak,
Communal Mandate As per the words of the goddess, loyalty and kindness to one's people is of the highest importance and even when times are tough or when it is not personally beneficial, one should stick by their community.
Pros: Reduced Internal Discontent, Increased Resistance to Foreign Intrigue,
Cons: Increase stability loss from taking actions which harm the People,
Marital Prowess (Linked to Charitable Haven) Your people are renowned for common pregnancies and the resulting large families. Men are encouraged to get women pregnant while women are encouraged to produce plenty of offspring.
Pros: Increased Population Growth, Value familial unit more,
Cons: More mouths to feed,
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,
Completed Megaprojects
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,
Technologies
Carts
Straw/Reed Rope
Wheel
Wicker
Agriculture
Basic Fertiliser (Primitive Compost & Manure)
Basic Irrigation
Primitive Concept of Growth Energy
Two-Field Crop Rotation
What does Cadlon Serwyn do in regard to the Merntir?
[] [Merntir] She encourage the Merntir to take advantage of Eurwyn's talent to make more magical discoveries.
[] [Merntir] She encourages the Merntir to develop a copper mine in the hills to supply the Arthwyd with copper.
[] [Merntir] She stays out of it and let those on the North Coast choose their own priorities.
No. It is a matter of logistics and practically in-universe and out of character, I don't want to go down the rabbithole of letting you guys spend your own actions and stats on your vassals.
[X] [War] Purge all of the Zarannists
[X] [War] Make examples of the remaining Zaradysh.
[X] [War] Outlaw worship of Zaranna.
[X] [Merntir] She encourage the Merntir to take advantage of Eurwyn's talent to make more magical discoveries.
We should do something and the other options are a bit much. Not like we lose much, Zaranna runs counter to most everything the Arthwyd believe being a goddess of chaos.
[X] [Merntir] She encourage the Merntir to take advantage of Eurwyn's talent to make more magical discoveries.
Easy choice. Mystic hero will die soon, the copper however isn't going anywhere.
[X] [Merntir] She encourage the Merntir to take advantage of Eurwyn's talent to make more magical discoveries.
So, on the topic of the war votes, mass exile and purges are very much so not ok, especially when the enemy is essentially down for the count like the Zarannists are. On the other hand, the fact that the traditionalists were ready to rebel at the drop of a hat (as well as reinstitute slavery at the drop of a hat) means that there is something with how Zaranna is worshiped by the Maradysh and the lowlands in general that is not at all compatible with the beliefs of the Arthwyd. I'm approval voting to do nothing in case someone can by a good case as to how to alter Zaranna worship into a more positive form, but otherwise I'm down to ban it wholesale.
On second thought, I was convinced by @Random Member that outlawing the religion won't actually do anything. It would be better to just outlaw them in all but name through superior cultural and religious pressure from the Arthwyd instead
As to the Merntir, while copper is important, magical geniuses don't come around very often. If it gets us access to more amazing things like healing magic then I'm all for trying to push that as far as it can go.
[] [War] Make examples of the remaining Zaradysh.
[X] [Merntir] She encourage the Merntir to take advantage of Eurwyn's talent to make more magical discoveries.
The memory stones will be useful. Even if they only end up the equivalent of photos, being able to store important texts and pictorial art would be a boon. Especially if the stones can be distributed.
And further development could even lead to a video equivalent, or even something like a radio. Able to broadcast a Cadlon's announment by heralds.
And the military application for recon would be great too.
[X] [War] Outlaw worship of Zaranna.
[X] [Merntir] She encourage the Merntir to take advantage of Eurwyn's talent to make more magical discoveries.
I think outlaw is the best idea since it would hopefully stop the spread of ideas to the next generation. The more harsher actions would probably have negative effects later down the line and make the traditionalist and their descendants be a problem.
[X] [War] Outlaw worship of Zaranna.
[X] [Merntir] She encourage the Merntir to take advantage of Eurwyn's talent to make more magical discoveries.
We won without having to pay to high a cost, because our good logistics allowed for minimal disruption of civilian life for those not in the immediate area of fighting. Thus we can be magnanimous in victory.
Reprisals would only create more problems later on. In this case, the best revenge is living a good life.
This shows that while we are wealthy enough that we can dispense with slavery and rarely have to fear famine and thus can turn to things other than the bare necessities, we are able to take all commers and outlast them without overly damaging our wealth.
[X] [War] Outlaw worship of Zaranna.
...This vaguely feels like the closest thing to what we want. Zaranna just failed utterly to help her worshippers out and on top of it she no doubt contributes to the cultural practices the Arthwyd disliked to boot. And if not it gives the Arthwyd somethign to do while they (and by they I mostly mean I, though I suppose we can can be included as well) figure out better why those beliefs are a thing amongst the Zaradysh and if they wanna stop it and how.
[X] [War] Nothing
[X] [Merntir] She encourage the Merntir to take advantage of Eurwyn's talent to make more magical discoveries.
Proper voting with all the options.
For some clarification on what the different options do:
Nothing. = Nothing doing anything out of the ordinary.
Outlaw worship of Zaranna. = Make it illegal to (openly) worship Zaranna.
Make examples of the remaining Zaradysh. = Same as purge all of the Zarannists except limiting yourself to the Zaradysh. A small purge if you will.
Exile all of the Zarannists. = Basically kicking out all of the Zarannists and wiping your hands of them.
Purge all of the Zarannists = Killing all of them so they don't cause more problems down the line. A massive purge.
[X] [War] Exile all of the Zarannists.
[X] [Merntir] She encourage the Merntir to take advantage of Eurwyn's talent to make more magical discoveries.
I think that banning Zaranna worship while retaining the Zarannist population is likely to work as well as people appear to be assuming it will. Public executions/mass killing seems out of character in this instance and in general. I would also caution that even if gods in this universe can intervene in mortal affairs that doesn't mean that a particular faith or variant of a faith considers such intervention, or lack thereof, in the same way that we do.
For the second vote vote as much as I like a strong supply of copper I think better magical medicine is just too good to pass up.
As requested, I have added a new option where the Arthwyd relocate all of the Zarannists by breaking up into small groups and stick them in Arthwydish settlements so they will be surrounded by Arthwydish.
[X] [War] Relocate all of the Zarannists.
[X] [War] Outlaw worship of Zaranna.
[X] [Merntir] She stays out of it and let those on the North Coast choose their own priorities.
[X] [War] Relocate all of the Zarannists.
[X] [Merntir] She encourage the Merntir to take advantage of Eurwyn's talent to make more magical discoveries.
[X] [War] Relocate all of the Zarannists.
[X] [Merntir] She encourage the Merntir to take advantage of Eurwyn's talent to make more magical discoveries.
