Currently, we've got a few plans for Part 1 that have been constructed. I'm going to list them all here just in case people want something easy enough to copy and paste from for their votes, or just want to take a look at what each plan would do. You can always just vote using the plan name instead of the full body of text.
Plan 1: Building a Home
[X] Plan: Building a Home
-[X] Claim it as your own
-[X] You will overwork yourself-
--[X] By a sizable amount (+2 Personal Actions; +4 Critical Fail Threshold)
[X][Martial][LOCKED] Protecting the Flock 1 (DC 10+)
-[X] Send your personal guard (Size 2, Quality 2, Might 0 = +10?)
[X][Martial][LOCKED] Protecting the Flock 2 (DC 40+)
-[X] Send your general troops (Size 4, Quality 1, Might 0)
-[X][Diplomacy][LOCKED] Organize the Festival of Funerals (DC 40+)
-[X][Diplomacy] Raise Spirits (DC 40+)
-[X][Stewardship] Supply and No Demand (DC 10+)
-[X][Stewardship] Build a Granary (DC 50)(CONSUMES 1 LUMBER)
-[X][Intrigue] Scouting Ahead (DC 20)
-[X][Intrigue] Gauge Opinions (DC 10+)
-[X][Intrigue] Cloak the Gathering (DC 35/45/55)(SORCEROUS)
--[X] Assigned Sorcerer: Yourself (-1 Personal Action; Frees Up 1 Intrigue Action)
-[X][Piety] Survey the Spirit Court (DC 10+)
-[X][Piety] Survey the Priesthood (DC 10+)
-[X][Learning][LOCKED] Sorcerous Survey (DC 0/30)
-[X][Learning] Medical Aid (DC 20+)
-[X][Learning] For 10 Miles (DC 45/55/65)
--[X] Assigned Sorcerer: Yourself (-1 Personal Action; Frees Up 1 Learning Action)
-[X][Mining] Ground Survey (DC 60)
--[X] Two Times
[X][Personal] Intervene in…
--[X][Martial] Active Patrols (DC 40)
This plan involves a fair amount of overwork, and focuses on making your current location a more long-term stay. It is a primarily defensive plan as far as I can see, with the use of illusions and patrols to ensure that your central point of habitation is secure. I have made an edit to this plan: Because the Command Your Armies option does not refund a Martial Action like fighting by yourself would, I have removed that and instead made Active Patrols one of the selected Personal Actions. My apologies to @gale for doing this and not catching the issue ahead of time. If they would like me to change it to something else to make it fit, I will do so. In addition, their plan actually has a Learning Action free thanks to the reality stabilizing action being freed up by personal intervention.
Plan 2: This Place is Ours
[X] Plan This Place Is Ours
-[X] Claim it as your own
-[X] You will overwork yourself-
--[X] By a normal amount (+1 Personal Action; +2 Critical Fail Threshold)
-[X][Martial][LOCKED] Protecting the Flock 1 (DC 10+)
--[X] Send your personal guard (Size 2, Quality 2, Might 0 = +10?)
-[X][Martial][LOCKED] Protecting the Flock 2 (DC 40+)
--[X] Send your general troops (Size 4, Quality 1, Might 0= +30?)
-[X][Diplomacy][LOCKED] Organize the Festival of Funerals (DC 40+)
-[X][Diplomacy] Raise Spirits (DC 40+)
-[X][Stewardship] Supply and No Demand (DC 10+)
-[X][Stewardship] Build a Granary (DC 50)(CONSUMES 1 LUMBER)
-[X][Intrigue] Scouting Ahead (DC 20)
-[X][Intrigue] Gauge Opinions (DC 10+)
-[X][Intrigue] Cloak the Gathering (DC 35/45/55)(SORCEROUS)
--[X] Assigned Sorcerer: Yourself (-1 Personal Action; Frees Up 1 Intrigue Action)
-[X][Piety] Survey the Spirit Court (DC 10+)
-[X][Piety] Survey the Priesthood (DC 10+)
-[X][Learning][LOCKED] Sorcerous Survey (DC 0/30)
-[X][Learning] Medical Aid (DC 20+)
-[X][Learning] Stabilize Reality for 10 Miles (DC 45/55/65)
--[X] Assigned Sorcerer: Yourself (-1 Personal Action; Frees Up 1 Learning Action)
-[X][Mining] Ground Survey (DC 60)
-[X][Mining] Mountain Scouting (DC 20+)
-[X][Personal][LOCKED] Decide Who'll Advise (No Roll)
This plan, created by @DeadmanwalkingXI , is quite similar to the first plan, but involves more variety in the Mining actions. It also has one of the Learning actions dedicated to Medical Aid. As far as I can tell, there are no errors with this plan, so no changes are needed.
Plan 3: No, That Other Place Is Ours
[X] Plan No, That Other Place Is Ours
-[X] Leave it for hopefully brighter pastures
-[X] You will overwork yourself-
--[X] By a normal amount (+1 Personal Action; +2 Critical Fail Threshold)
-[X][Martial][LOCKED] Protecting the Flock 1 (DC 10+)
--[X] Send your personal guard (Size 2, Quality 2, Might 0 = +10?)
-[X][Martial][LOCKED] Protecting the Flock 2 (DC 40+)
--[X] Send your general troops (Size 4, Quality 1, Might 0= +30?)
-[X][Diplomacy][LOCKED] Organize the Festival of Funerals (DC 40+)
-[X][Diplomacy] Raise Spirits (DC 40+)
-[X][Stewardship] Supply and No Demand (DC 10+)
-[X][Stewardship] Tent Crafting (DC 20)
-[X][Intrigue] Scouting Ahead (DC 20)
-[X][Intrigue] Gauge Opinions (DC 10+)
-[X][Intrigue] Cloak the Gathering (DC 35/45/55)(SORCEROUS)
--[X] Assigned Sorcerer: Yourself (-1 Personal Action; Frees Up 1 Intrigue Action)
-[X][Piety] Survey the Spirit Court (DC 10+)
-[X][Piety] Survey the Priesthood (DC 10+)
-[X][Learning][LOCKED] Sorcerous Survey (DC 0/30)
-[X][Learning] Medical Aid (DC 20+)
-[X][Learning] Mobile Lodestone out to 10 Miles (DC 35/45/55)
--[X] Assigned Sorcerer: Yourself (-1 Personal Action; Frees Up 1 Learning Action)
-[X][Mining] Ground Survey (DC 60)
-[X] [Mining] Mountain Scouting (DC 20+)
-[X][Personal][LOCKED] Decide Who'll Advise (No Roll)
This plan, also created by @DeadmanwalkingXI , is largely the same as the second, except it focuses on leaving in the future and thus does not prioritize a granary like the other plans. Instead, it focuses on constructing tents for portable use and a Lodestone to stabilize reality by a bit on the go.
So, these are the 3 plans that we have thus far. We only have 4 votes total for everything, so if you could, please vote on the plans that you would like to see most. If you want some more clarification, I'll try to answer any questions you have, but I do have to head to bed to get ready for work in a few hours, so there might be a bit of a delay between when this is posted and when I'll be around to answer some of your inquiries. If you have a plan of your own that you would like added here, just ping me and I'll get it done as soon as I reasonably can.
Alright, I'm home now, and it's time to do some RNG to get the stress from work off of my back.
As a reminder, Sango had 5 students that he took under his wings: The daughter of a relative, the child of an employee in the Ministry of Records, the child of a general, a poor farmer's kid and finally his newfound son Mobolaji. Whenever I do rolls regarding these five, they will be listed from that order onwards (Relative, Records, General, Farmer, Son). One thing to keep in mind for mortals is that their stat bonus is inherently less compared to everyone else, which is because they don't have access to stuff like Excellencies. Keeping that in mind, I'm also going to giving them +1 to all stats to represent the superior nature of Sango's teaching skills. It won't really make up for it in the long-run, but at least its something.
Everyone of these kids (well, they're teens/young adults now, but you get the point) is going to have Learning be their best stat, since obviously that's what they would focus on for Sorcery. I will also roll for their second best stat just to differentiate them, as well as their worst. Unlike the other candidates, I'm also just going to post all of the stat rolls here both for transparency and ease of location.
So, 2nd-best stat. There's only 6 options available, so let's see what we get:
Result: The Relative's Daughter and our Son get Stewardship (I guess living on the streets made Mobolaji very cautious with his money), The Records Individual is Diplomacy, The General's Kid gets Intrigue, and the Farmer's Child gets Combat surprisingly enough.
Next is Worst Stat. d5s, let's go:
Result: Mobolaji, the General's Kid and the Farmer's Kid all get Martial, oddly enough. Maybe Sango has yet to really instruct his adopted son in the ways of war thus far. The Relative's Daughter gets Piety, so we're not alone at least, and the Records kid gets Piety as well. Maybe they've adopted Sango's attitude TOO well.
Next, gender. I already established the Relative's child as female, and Mobolaji is male, so it's just the three in the middle. d3, 1 is Male, 3 is Female.
Result: Records kid is female, the other 2 are non-binary. Neat. Sorcery definitely helps with that.
And now, I will get to rolling their stats offsite, and then edit in my results later. Again, I'm not making these character into fully fleshed out individuals (except maybe Mobolaji) unless they get chosen or used later on. They are stat-sticks for now, we'll see if they'll prove useful there.
EDIT: Just finished the offsite rolls. Before I do that, I'm going to be rolling for 1 stat of each character to get a +1 based on personality. It's what I'm doing with all of the other characters, might as well do the same here but roll for it.
Result: Relative gets Piety, Records daughter gets Learning, General and Farmer's kids both get Stewardship, and Mobolaji gets Combat.
EDIT 2: Alright, the final results are in, and I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is, you actually have 3 viable candidates for the Minister of Records from your students (with 2 in particular doing quite well!) The bad news is, every single one of the Exalted (save for you) did so awful with their Learning that MORTALS ARE VIABLE. That's how much we're going to be metaphorically scraping the bottom of the barrel here.
With that said, I have collected the rolls and the final stats and will be placing them into their own spoiler boxes below. The Records Daughter, the General's Kid and the Farmer's Kid will be moving onto the final voting process for having decent enough scores. Mobolaji is sadly too average to be placed in this area.
Alright folks, we're coming up on only 13 hours left for the vote for Turn 1. Currently, Plan This Place is Ours is in the lead, only 2 votes ahead of the second-place Plan This Other Place Is Ours. The first is a stationary plan which will involve you settling down in your current location and building up your defenses, while the latter is a migratory plan allowing you to potentially locate a better starting spot. With how close this race is, it's possible for things to change with a few more votes, so please, if you haven't already, or if you wish to change your vote to one of the 2 in the lead, please do so.
I'll be closing the vote when I wake up tomorrow, and then dropping the Advisor poll soon after. Once that's done, I'll get started on rolls and writing up the results for Turn 1, it may take a while for everything to get written out. I might even have to split the results up into 2 sections, so if you see a "Part 1" to the Results, that's why.
EDIT: For those who want a more detailed description of what each plan would entail, here is a link to the 3 most voted upon plans thus far. If there's something wrong with the link, let me know.
Closing the Vote now, and Plan This Place Is Ours wins it by a decent margin. I'm going to be working on getting the Advisor vote up and ready.
For the the dice rolls for Turn 1, I've decided to roll the dice in-thread. For one, it will help with transparency, which is is always a plus. For another... Well, I'll admit, I already privately rolled for everything last night, and it wasn't great. Everything except for the Intrigue actions that is, so I might as well keep those. No point in discarding a perfectly good 98 after all.
Here's what those Intrigue actions looked like:
Scouting Ahead (DC 20): 67; Success
Gauge Opinions (DC 10): 98; Notable Success
Cloak the Gathering (DC 35/45/55): 75 + 17 = 92; Success with Full Finesss
If you're wondering about the "Notable Success" part, I decided to make a small change to the basic rules post last night: Any action that rolls 50 or more points above the DC will have improved effects. Not to the point of a Crit, but still a noticeably better result than before.
With that all out of the way, I'll work to get the Advisor post up and ready, so stay tuned!
Scheduled vote count started by Critian Caceorte on May 29, 2024 at 1:41 PM, finished with 104 posts and 18 votes.
[X] Plan This Place Is Ours
-[X] Claim it as your own
-[X] You will overwork yourself-
--[X] By a normal amount (+1 Personal Action; +2 Critical Fail Threshold)
-[X][Martial][LOCKED] Protecting the Flock 1 (DC 10+)
--[X] Send your personal guard (Size 2, Quality 2, Might 0 = +10?)
-[X][Martial][LOCKED] Protecting the Flock 2 (DC 40+)
--[X] Send your general troops (Size 4, Quality 1, Might 0= +30?)
-[X][Diplomacy][LOCKED] Organize the Festival of Funerals (DC 40+)
-[X][Diplomacy] Raise Spirits (DC 40+)
-[X][Stewardship] Supply and No Demand (DC 10+)
-[X][Stewardship] Build a Granary (DC 50)(CONSUMES 1 LUMBER)
-[X][Intrigue] Scouting Ahead (DC 20)
-[X][Intrigue] Gauge Opinions (DC 10+)
-[X][Intrigue] Cloak the Gathering (DC 35/45/55)(SORCEROUS)
--[X] Assigned Sorcerer: Yourself (-1 Personal Action; Frees Up 1 Intrigue Action)
-[X][Piety] Survey the Spirit Court (DC 10+)
-[X][Piety] Survey the Priesthood (DC 10+)
-[X][Learning][LOCKED] Sorcerous Survey (DC 0/30)
-[X][Mining] Ground Survey (DC 60)
-[X] [Mining] Mountain Scouting (DC 20+)
-[X][Personal][LOCKED] Decide Who'll Advise (No Roll)
-[X][Learning] Medical Aid (DC 20+)
-[X][Learning] Stabilize Reality for 10 Miles (DC 45/55/65)
--[X] Assigned Sorcerer: Yourself (-1 Personal Action; Frees Up 1 Learning Action)
[X] Plan No, That Other Place Is Ours
-[X] Leave it for hopefully brighter pastures
-[X] You will overwork yourself-
--[X] By a normal amount (+1 Personal Action; +2 Critical Fail Threshold)
-[X][Martial][LOCKED] Protecting the Flock 1 (DC 10+)
--[X] Send your personal guard (Size 2, Quality 2, Might 0 = +10?)
-[X][Martial][LOCKED] Protecting the Flock 2 (DC 40+)
--[X] Send your general troops (Size 4, Quality 1, Might 0= +30?)
-[X][Diplomacy][LOCKED] Organize the Festival of Funerals (DC 40+)
-[X][Diplomacy] Raise Spirits (DC 40+)
-[X][Stewardship] Supply and No Demand (DC 10+)
-[X][Stewardship] Tent Crafting (DC 20)
-[X][Intrigue] Scouting Ahead (DC 20)
-[X][Intrigue] Gauge Opinions (DC 10+)
-[X][Intrigue] Cloak the Gathering (DC 35/45/55)(SORCEROUS)
--[X] Assigned Sorcerer: Yourself (-1 Personal Action; Frees Up 1 Intrigue Action)
-[X][Piety] Survey the Spirit Court (DC 10+)
-[X][Piety] Survey the Priesthood (DC 10+)
-[X][Learning][LOCKED] Sorcerous Survey (DC 0/30)
-[X][Mining] Ground Survey (DC 60)
-[X] [Mining] Mountain Scouting (DC 20+)
-[X][Personal][LOCKED] Decide Who'll Advise (No Roll)
-[X][Learning] Medical Aid (DC 20+)
-[X][Learning] Mobile Lodestone out to 10 Miles (DC 35/45/55)
--[X] Assigned Sorcerer: Yourself (-1 Personal Action; Frees Up 1 Learning Action)
[X] Plan: Building a Home
-[X] Claim it as your own
-[X] You will overwork yourself-
--[X] By a sizable amount (+2 Personal Actions; +4 Critical Fail Threshold)
-[X][Martial][LOCKED] Protecting the Flock 1 (DC 10+)
--[X] Send your personal guard (Size 2, Quality 2, Might 0 = +10?)
-[X][Martial][LOCKED] Protecting the Flock 2 (DC 40+)
--[X] Command your armies (Select 1 army below as well; -1 Personal Action; +15 to roll)
--[X] Send your general troops (Size 4, Quality 1, Might 0)
-[X][Martial] Active Patrols (DC 40)
-[X][Diplomacy][LOCKED] Organize the Festival of Funerals (DC 40+)
-[X][Diplomacy] Raise Spirits (DC 40+)
-[X][Stewardship] Supply and No Demand (DC 10+)
-[X][Stewardship] Build a Granary (DC 50)(CONSUMES 1 LUMBER)
-[X][Intrigue] Scouting Ahead (DC 20)
-[X][Intrigue] Gauge Opinions (DC 10+)
-[X][Intrigue] Cloak the Gathering (DC 35/45/55)(SORCEROUS)
--[X] Assigned Sorcerer: Yourself (-1 Personal Action; Frees Up 1 Intrigue Action)
-[X][Piety] Survey the Spirit Court (DC 10+)
-[X][Piety] Survey the Priesthood (DC 10+)
-[X][Learning][LOCKED] Sorcerous Survey (DC 0/30)
-[X][Learning] Medical Aid (DC 20+)
-[X][Learning] For 10 Miles (DC 45/55/65)
-[X][Mining] Ground Survey (DC 60)
--[X] Two Times
[X] Plan: Building a Home
-[X] Claim it as your own
-[X] You will overwork yourself-
--[X] By a sizable amount (+2 Personal Actions; +4 Critical Fail Threshold)
As you sat down at your shin-high desk, only accessible by kneeling onto a padded floor pillow, you contemplated everything that's happened in the past few days. With the sudden transportation to a strange new place in Creation (or worse, something beyond Creation's boundaries), there were many new tasks that needed to be done in order secure your people's safety. That was obvious, of course, but the result of so many new irons in the fire was yourself burning as a candle at both ends just to solve each new issue that came up. It just wasn't sustainable in the long-term, even now you were relying some nights on channeling Essence through your body in order to avoid sleep. Not enough to be a major concern, now, but it was starting to become a habit at this point.
You needed to offload some of your duties onto trusted subordinates, sooner rather than later. Because of this, you conducted a series of individuals with some of the people close to you, as well as some of the strange Exalted now staying with your group. These interviews were primarily to grasp each individual's strong suits, what kind of position they would like to do, as well as how they saw you as their leader. After all, you were neither Sovereign nor Dragon-Blooded. You were a Solar Exalted, a golden figure from a long-gone age. Your kind were often spoken about with as much wonder as horror these days. If these individuals could not accept that fact, then they wouldn't be able to accept working under you as you rebuilt your nation.
So, you talked. One-on-one, individual by individual, recording their responses with as finesse and speed as you could muster, until eventually you had a stack of parchment one-fist-high. Now, you would go over each candidate, analyze their responses, and see where precisely you could fit them into each needed role in your kingdom. It would likely take several more long nights to go over everything, but if it required sequestering yourself away for a time, so be it. While your situation was still precarious, it would be unlikely to collapse at any possible second now.
Grabbing the top piece of paper from the pile, you started with the first and easiest candidate of the bunch: Your elder brother Thousand-Hours Gwai. The sheer depth of this experience made him just about perfect for many roles, and merely adequate for the rest. Even if he did not enjoy the more public-speaking roles, you knew that he at least could create and perform some basic speeches. Though he would appreciate being placed in an area that matched his strengths more, if you were really desperate, you could place him anywhere and he would do an okay job.
Thousand-Hours Gwai is the eldest living son of Queen Ulu, and the eldest living Sovereign to boot. He has been around for centuries, and has picked up more than a few tricks along the way. He holds great experience in the running of a nation, and several campaign's worth of knowledge regarding war. Few knew the late queen better than he did, and none in your list of candidates hold the amount of general skill as he does. Still, his people skills are ill-used, making him less than suitable as a "face" for your people.
Your interview with him was more of a formality than anything. You both knew that he was going to be a member of your council no matter what, the only question was where. He gave you advice on where to potentially place him: "I have served as the guardian of the nation's treasures for centuries, not one coin passed from our vaults that I did not know about. Installing me in the position of Minister of Finance will be the simplest solution for my placement. Alternatively, I am far from unfamiliar with war, even at my age. I can serve as a decent general if need be. Finally, though I believe there are better candidates for it, I can take over as the Minister of Public Works and serve as an envoy to the gods."When you asked him about potentially taking over the Ministry of Records, he simply raised an eyebrow. Not a denial, but not one of his strong suits.
Advantage 1: Charm (Fount-of-Glories Incarnation: Can, if the roll result is within 3 points of winning, still succeed at the cost of sacrificing all subtlety and drawing divine attention. Won't matter for most actions).
Advantage 2: Charm: (Bejeweled Eidolon Army: Can, over the course of a day, create up to a Size 5 army of Eidolons for his personal use. They have Quality 1 and Might 1. Lasts for 1 battle which he participates in, and cannot be used on the following turn.)
After him, there were other familiar faces. While most of the Sovereign Exalted, most of your family, had perished securing your escape, four others remained with you to help soothe the people's worries, as well as your own. Outside of Gwai, none of the more experienced Exalted had remained with you, but that was okay. Those with you know were still family, and more cynically they still had their own strengths that could be leveraged for your use.
Two-Tongues Abioye is the daughter of your long-passed sister Ife, and a decent Sorcerer in her own right. Despite her title, she is not especially duplicitous, though she does have a good grasp of multiple languages. Rather, her title comes from her control spell, the Unslakable Thirst of the Devil-Maw, which has branded her left hand with a permanent mouth. This mouth draws in the moisture from things it touches at a rapid pace, easily killing living creatures if fully unleashed. Yet, Abioye herself is dedicated more to fulfilling the desires of others, particularly the gods. Whether they want more worship, more offerings or better living conditions, she is among the best for understanding the wants of the lesser divinities. This is due to her personal philosophy: The more she satisfies the wants of others, the more likely they will be to satisfy her own greedy nature. However, she is not someone you would put in charge of a battle, she holds little to no experience or talent with warfare.
When asked about her thoughts regarding why you should take her on, her smile turned just a touch predatory. "Really Your Majesty, we both know that for how delightful Aunt Chinasa can be, she's too blunt to be granted the role of High Priestess of the land. The last thing anyone needs is for our gods to receive a punch to the gullet because they were being mildly annoying."That… didn't really answer your question, but she tiptoed too much around the subject.
Advantage: Sorcerer (1st Circle; Arcane Mark: Unslakable Thirst of the Devil-Maw)
Evil-Smile Ekundayo is the wife of your other fallen sister Mojisola, specifically her second wife, after her first perished from being unworthy of the Fount of Glories. In her younger years, she was often described as being a "fae-child" or more derogatorily a "goblin" due to her picaresque history and difficulty with formal education. Her rather short stature didn't help with this image, nor the glee she often takes in sending her foes tumbling down. However, her marriage proved to be a good thing, stabilizing the young trickster and giving her the opportunity to bathe in the Fount of Glories. Unlike her predecessor, Ekundayo survived, with just a touch more Wyld in her than before. Though experience and grief have both tempered the edge of her prankster demeanor, she still retains enough of that charm to win over people… and pull the wool over their eyes.
When asked about what she would do if she were your Minister of Vigilance, a relatively new position in the grand scheme of things, she said, "You don't need to worry about me just pulling pranks on our enemies, Sango. I can get the right people talking to me easily enough. Did you never wonder what my job even was back when Queen Ulu was alive?"That… huh. You never did ask before what Ministry she worked for. Being in some kind of spywork actually made sense as a profession for her, if the whole goal was to never be found out as a spy. Based on her statement, she also likely could serve well as a Minister of Culture if you wanted to put her in a more "friendly" position.
Advantage: Charm (Secret Flame Brilliance: Immune to powers which would intrude on the mind: Mind-reading, dream-sensing, sense-sharing, etc. Does not work on mind control.)
Chinasa is the wife of your late brother Jatau, who was able to survive the Fount of Glories when her husband could not. Despite his early death, she remained a full member of your family, and notably saved both your life and Gwai's on several occasions on war campaigns. She is someone you can trust with your life, if perhaps not your wallet (having once needed to beg for a loan from the queen to pay off another loan she held. That was not a fun day in court.) Despite her lack of money sense, she rivals Abioye in her relationship with the gods. Her more emotional nature, heated as it might be and emblematic of the Ruby Aspect, allowed her to communicate the people's issues to them with full honesty. And, if needed, beat the severity of those issues into their essence-woven skulls. It is little wonder that many of your people just like her as a person.
She likely expected you to ask about what she could do in the Ministry of Public Works, and you did. But that wasn't the only position you questioned her about. "Mining? Well, I've fought underground before against Raksha and Demons, so… it's not impossible. Problem is, I just don't know a lot about the actual process for digging up ore and stuff. Are you sure I'd be a good fit?"Personally, you think she'd do just fine, but her opinion would also need to be taken into consideration.
Advantage: Charm (Sacred Presence Illumination: Can see and render any immaterial character visible. Also works on possessing entities.)
Fumnanya is your great-grandniece, the last to actually be permitted Exaltation by your mother while she was still alive. She is… well, a little self-absorbed, though with how easily she can read a room and communicate with others, it can be hard to tell at first. She weaves words like a housekeeper would wool, entangling the strings of others around her fingertips. She constructs songs of great beauty and dirges of terrible sorrow. But, she is not the best when it comes to more scientific pursuits. Oh yes, she knows her histories quite well, its the mathematics and other hard studies which she struggles with. Like Ekundayo, it was a bit of a surprise that Queen Ulu approved of her Exaltation, but perhaps your mother saw something in her that you haven't just yet. Besides the obvious, that is.
"Look," she told you halfway during the interview. "Just don't put me in some cabinet where I'll have mold growing on me. The people deserve to see me at my best, not rotting away in some lab or vault. And don't even THINK about giving me a sword and telling me to order some guys to die. Blood is SO not my color."You'll… take that into consideration.
Advantage: Charm (Nightmare Odyssey Aria: Can render a Size 2 Group immune to the Wyld and greatly speeds up travel with them.)
After your Exalted family members came the Dragon-Blooded, formerly of the Scarlet Realm (with one exception) who helped sail your boats away from Uluiru's destruction and through the depths of the Wyld to end up here. You had been mostly worried that they would take the reveal of your divine status poorly. After all, the Immaculate Faith from what you know of it considered the act of being a Solar Exalt a crime worthy of death, with no leeway given. Except here, leeway WAS given, by those very Dragon-Blooded who were with you now. Why? Why not immediately call for your execution right now? Was it because you had too many supporters protecting you from harm? Was it because you were their best shot for survival, or going home? Why?
You asked them all for their reasons, but some were more satisfying to hear than others. Some refused to tell you outright, which just made them more suspicious in your eyes. Still, perhaps with enough time getting to know them, you might be able to pry their opinions away like a prybar removing an obstinate nail.
Fuvor Sipo Peleps is what you can unfortunately call the "Runt" of his family. If it weren't for his Exalted status, there's no doubt in his mind, and in others, that he would have been put to pasture in some office in the Thousand Scales and left to rot. As it is, his power as one of the Dragon-Blooded was just barely enough to push him over the edge into "useful" territory. A status he hates with every fiber of his being. As it was, he was relegated to the roll of spy, traveling by skiff along coastlines to sneak up on shore or on other vessels to find information to relay back to his family. This sidelining to a dreary job best suited for a mortal irritated the young man greatly, and so he eventually left for brighter prospects. This brought him into contact with Innocent Songbird, and from there, well, they ended up here.
"Please," he told you with a scoff, even as his eyes begged you for a chance, "don't treat me like some dishwater like everyone else did. If I need to improve, I can, I just… I just need to study harder." That phrasing set off alarm bells in your head, after all, you heard it from your own son and others before. Was some kind of learning disability at play here? That sort of thing was… uncommon in the Exalted to say the least, but it probably wasn't impossible.
On a less sad note, you asked how he got along with his fellow Dragon-Blooded. He had nothing but praise for Songbird, some mixed feelings for Nokun and Flaris, and as for Milosen… "That bitch's family took away part of my family's legacy. WE were the ones who built up the naval trade around the Blessed Isle, and now we have to give it up because of one Imperial mandate?! No, screw her, she can die with the rest of the wine-drunk pigs that make up her clan." Well, that's certainly informative.
Advantage: Charm (Whispering Dragon Soul: Can perfectly contain and conceal Anima Banner.)
Nokun is an Outcaste Earth-Aspect who joined the Realm's military in order to, in her words, "retain the freedom I liked, at least when I retired." As a commander, she was quite talented, quickly rising up the ranks despite her young age. She was even promoted to the rare position of Winglord in a Legion owned by House Cathak. She had been assigned a military unit which had traveled north for reasons she would not disclose, but every other member of that unit was wiped out by even more unknown sources she would not talk about. Did she not understand that keeping quiet so much would only look suspicious?
It was after her division was destroyed that she washed ashore onto the sands of Uluiru, and eventually met up with the rest of her Dragon-Blooded Companions. Their union was more one of shared abilities than any sort of kinship, save for perhaps their relationship with Innocent Songbird, who served as a linchpin for the group. It seems that they were not truly "sworn to each other," which sounds like a form of marriage but from her tone implied something else. Beyond this basic sticking together for survival, they really, really did not get along well as a group, and if you had to guess, then Nokun might have played a greater role in that dissension than she was saying.
She was not one for words, and it really showed as she talked about the other members of her group. "Besides Songbird, all of these Exalted are untrustworthy daughters of curs. Fuvor cannot walk without tripping into a new problem. Milosen would sell her mother's liver for a profit, AND YES MILOSEN, I KNOW WHO YOUR MOTHER IS! And Flaris is the worst of the lot, abandoning his people for, what, some vaguely important reason he refuses to talk about? At least I have been seeking ways to return to the Realm to face my punishment with dignity, he has no honor in one particle of his body!"It took a while to refocus the conversation after that.
Advantage: Charm (Ramparts of Obedient Earth: Gains a random amount of points per encounter which can be spent to instantly create/destroy fortifications on the field. Out of combat, grants a +10 bonus to rolls to build and mold earthen structures.)
Flaris is, from what he was willing to tell you, a disgraced general from Lookshy. His family was part of "Gens Karal," a House in Lookshy known for its Fire Aspected Dragon-Blooded. Or rather, that is what it's known for second-most. Its first most well-known quality is the duty it instills in its members to protect the citizens of the nation. This focus on service towards the citizenry has endeared the house to the people, giving them quite the popular political base. And largely, the House is content to coast politically while maintaining that positive image. So, if that was the case, why would a member of the military such as himself abandon his post.
Sadly, he wouldn't give you any details. Only that "it was a result of a failure all my own. I will not disgrace myself more by discussing the matter." After that, he insisted that you move on to the more practical parts of the interview, which you agreed to. When you asked him what his particular skills are, he said, "I am most talented in multiple classifications of war. From battlefield command, to skill of arms, there are few that have the breadth of experience that I possess. And… in the interest of advocating for myself, much as I find it distasteful, I am also experienced in a few areas of subterfuge." When asked whether your divine condition would be bothersome to him, he simply sighed and shrugged. "At this point, working with an Anathema would be the least of my crimes. At least I can help to spare the lives of a few innocents if I were put in charge of their defense."
When he was directed to give his opinions about his Hearth members, he scowled. "Songbird is a fine upstanding lady, Milosen could stand to be a bit less duplicitous, I would not place Fuvor in charge of anything, and Nokun is a child pretending to be a soldier. If you give her any degree of power, she will result in people dying. No more, no less."Avoid putting him and Nokun in the same room, got it.
Advantage: Charm (Deadly Wildfire Legion: Grants one battle group per battle/turn magical/fire attacks. This grants them +1 Might against foes vulnerable to fire.)
Milosen Atara V'neef is one of the daughters of the House Founder, bearing dark maroon hair from her combination of Water Essence and the Scarlet Empress's own famous hair. She worked for decades as a captain of one of the House's merchant ships, transporting goods across the Threshold and making a steady profit from the cut her vessel takes for the route. She was also pivotal in securing a few deals which helped protect her House when the Realm's internal conflict began to boil over. In her home, she would likely be considered a hero, and could continue her profession with ease.
Yet, here she was, without a ship and far away from the House she helped save. How by the Gods could that happen? "To put it simply, this whole venture was supposed to be a vacation for me. I didn't come prepared with a ship because Mother still needed the galleon I commanded available to haul goods while I was away. I never expected that what was supposed to be an easy year's travel for me would put me into such a dangerous situation." Then why did she not try to flee Uluiru when its enemies were banging on the walls? Why stick around to help another nation's people escape? "Am I not allowed to have hobbies? Or do good deeds?" No, you feel like there might be something more to this, but you have no idea what.
She needed little prompting to speak about her companions. "Flaris is a bit too hard on himself, but that's alright. Songbird is as innocent as her name, I wish I could be that pure. Nokun is blunt, but good in a fight. Fuvor…" She rubbed her temples with her finger tips. "An idiot, he's a complete moron. I don't think I have ever seen him follow one direction accurately, or not have asked for help with any one task. At this point, he's more of an anchor than the iron hook that's on my ship. That's not even getting into how he parrots his House's vendetta with mine. That's the last I will say on the matter."
Advantage: Charm (Distraction of the Babbling Brook: Whenever this unit is used to establish a deal of any kind, can insert 1 hidden clause which the other party ignores and goes along with. Once per turn.)
What you know about Innocent Songbird is this: She is the daughter of a Patrician family in the Realm, though she is hesitant to speak about her parentage for reasons that she elaborated on later. Her family had very little of the dragon's blood flowing through their veins, so it was a pleasant surprise when she took her Second Breath in her mid-teens. From what she was willing to disclose, the family had been planning to marry her off to House V'neef for a sizable helping of money (she seems to bear Milosen no ill-will for this). In response she had left them, running away to the Cloister of Wisdom, where she was taken in as a student. During her stay, she studied one of the famous Immaculate Dragon Styles, Wood Dragon Style specifically, and was eventually taken in as a full monk of the First Coil, a phrase you do not know but from what she tells is just the status of a full initiate.
You then proceeded to ask her why she was here, and her answer was simple, though sorrowful. "I have performed an action which harmed the Order, two really, and ruined their trust in me. I showed not just mercy to an Anathema, but instructed them in our ways. Those ways were then turned against my mentors when they caught the Anathema with me. Rather than accepting my punishment, I fled from them like a coward. Now, I will likely never rejoin them or the Elemental Dragons when I die, not for several lifetimes." When you asked about her thoughts and feelings regarding your own "status," she said, "I do not have a solid answer I can give you. Once my thoughts are clear as the steady stream on the subject, I will give you my response."
On a lighter note, her answers regarding her companions were a lot more… well, it felt like a huddle of housekeepers gossipping. It was like the monk with heavy-laden shoulders had been swapped with a teenage girl, so sudden was the shift in personality and speech. "Oh, you didn't see it, but just the other day Nokun and Flaris were getting into each other's faces, and they were so close it was almost like they were going to KISS! I was SO excited to see-"and things just continued on from there. You ended up going significantly overtime thanks to this tangent.
Advantage: Wood Dragon Style (Able to use and teach the powers of the style up to the Form. Somehow, she can learn more of the style over time.)
Next after that was the biggest surprise of them all, Rising Dawn of the Hopeful Quartz. A strange Exigent (you think), she had the ability to warp reality in ways that made many people uncomfortable. Worse, her capacity to force "roles" onto others to make them obey was a terrifying ability. It was only her... Dawn-ness that made you less suspicious and more pitying her situation.
Rising Dawn of the Hopeful Quartz from what she tells you used to be a simple priestess for the worship of Cantata-of-the-Depths, hence her name (any previous title had been lost in her childhood and wasn't important now.) She did her duties with as much grace as she could muster... which wasn't a lot, but she nonetheless made friends anyway. As she says it, the assassination attempt on Nuwa 7 years ago never occurred because Rising Dawn just happened to be in the right place to stop it. She had been on a short pilgrimage with her friends, who were all decent in the art of war, when they came across Nuwa being chased by her assailants, a small pack of Raksha pursuers. Though it cost her friends' lives, Rising Dawn was able to assist Nuwa in taking down the assassins and escort her back to the capital. There, your mother promoted her to the title of Minister of Public Works as a reward, a proclamation that surprised many, including the previous occupant of the title and Rising Dawn herself.
"If, if I can... be honest... your majesty..." she stumbled over her words as you listened in shock. "I really don't think I was the, you know, the best fit for the job. ...At first. I think I got better, um, over time, but it was hard for a while." In that sense, she could potentially be great in that role once more, even if some would protest allowing a literal stranger assume one of the most important positions in the nation. When asked about any other strengths she had, she admitted, "I'm not... I don't give orders well," her expression turned quite enthusiastic, "but I can really strategize well! That's what Queen Ulu, um, told me one time."And the energy quickly faded at that last sentence. Were you really considering putting her in charge of the Ministry of War?
Essence 1
Autumn Caste Getimian
Personality: Shy (+1 Piety)
Unique Stat Schema: Uses X - 5 for her stat bonus. However, she can choose 1 task under her jurisdiction to reduce the Difficulty by 10.
Advantage: Silver-Voiced Nightingale Style (Users can substitute their Diplomacy stat bonus for their Martial or Combat stat bonus. If their Martial or Combat stat bonus would be higher, add 1/2 of their Diplomacy stat bonus to the Martial or Combat stat bonus. Gains more bonuses with further mastery. Rising Dawn can instruct others in this style, up to the form.)
And then, of course, there was the biggest problem in the room: Slumbering Star, the last remaining notable Goddess of your people. The other notable God, Strider Upon Mountains who governed non-precious stone, sadly gave his life to create numerous walls of rock to bar your enemy's passage. With his death, Star had no check on her power outside of the Exalted, and from your interview, you were certain that she was going to be a problem in the future. While your experience told you that she was not to be trusted with power, and should be restricted in her political powers, the more compassionate side of you argued that if she WERE to be placed into a role, then she might be able to learn the value of cooperation. Or at least, remain in a place that you could keep an eye on her.
Slumbering Star is Uluiru's Goddess of Jewelry, an important position considering how much it synergized with the powers of the Sovereign Exalted. She typically takes the form of a blue-skinned woman with literal emerald eyes and sapphire dreadlocks for hair arranged into an elaborate weave at all times. She is a rather… self-important individual. Indeed, had it not been for the loss of every other high ranking god in the nation, she wouldn't have risen to the top as she has. She still isn't worshipped as much as the long-passed Cantata-of-the-Depths has, nor even your mother, but you can sense that she desperately wants to be the focus of everyone's daily lives. Perhaps that's part of why the two of you rarely got along, and that animosity now serves as a potential barrier to working with her. You can put that aside for the greater good… the question is, can she do the same?
"All I ask," she said in that tone of voice that means she's commanding rather than requesting, "Is that you put me somewhere that my gifts will SHINE! Let me take the stage for all of Uluiru to see! Or at least place me in charge of the mines, I want first dibs on whichever gems emerge from the earth."…It's going to be quite difficult working with this goddess.
Essence 4
Goddess of Jewelry
Personality: Self-Interested (+1 Diplomacy)
Unique Stat Schema: When performing most actions, uses (X - 10) for bonus. Whenever an action falls within her domain (Jewelry), she uses (X - 5) for her bonus instead.
Advantage 1: Immortal (Will come back eventually from death, assuming stuff like Ghost-Eating shenanigans aren't done. Prayer and sacrifice will accelerate her return.)
Advantage 2: Blessing of Jewels (Can grant +10 bonus to actions regarding mineral wealth when politely asked. Can potentially be improved with more worshippers.)
Finally, there were your students. While all mortal, they were still sorcerers capable of great feats. It wouldn't feel right to dismiss them simply because their use of Essence was solely external. Besides, you thought as your mind turns inwards to ponder the Fount of Glories still resting on its barge, it might not be long where they will remain mortal. Assuming, of course, that they survived the experience, a thought that made your heart clench. But that was for another time.
Your students are individuals who you helped teach and, in a way, raise for the past eight years. You know them better than perhaps even their parents do (and you ARE Mobolaji's parent now). As such, any interviews for them were less to find out their personalities, and more to provide justification for placing them in whatever positions you gave. Really, your current priority with them was finding a good enough candidate for the Ministry of Records, as you had a number of good candidates for the other positions. Thus, you were able to narrow your selection down to 2 in particular.
Your son, while a good well-rounded young man, did not truly excel in any given field. While he would be great in a lower level role, he was ill-suited to directing an entire Ministry. Was this what your mother felt when she denied you, your siblings or relatives a major position? Did she feel that you just weren't specialized enough for the job? And while he wanted the responsibility, you believed that maybe he should take the time, even in this stressful situation, to spend just a few more years without the weight of the world on his shoulders. Better that people do not live or die by his word just yet.
Lumusi, the daughter of one of your distant relatives, was in comparison an easy dismissal. She was probably the most difficult student that you taught, not from lack of capability, but rather effort. She barely gave 50% of her energy towards something, let alone 100%, and so she fell behind after everyone else. She still managed to secure her initiation into Sorcery, but it was an interesting affair, considering she went INTO THE WYLD to obtain enlightenment. How she managed to return relatively unscathed is a mystery you have not solved, and since that time she has done little to no work on improving herself further. She was given an assignment, she fulfilled it, and that was that for her.
After some more struggle, you eventually decided to eliminate Mawunyo as well. The child of a poor farmer, Mawunyo's struggle in learning came in two parts: First, their own lack of education created a poor knowledge base for Sorcery, even if they had great skill with living off of the land. Second, an unknown complication with reading written text, where the letters would jumble around in their mind, made several otherwise safe rituals extremely hazardous to them. With time, you were eventually able to alter those rituals to be more of a physical rote rather than a written memorization, and things became smoother from there. While doing much better these days, you felt that Mawunyo would be better served in helping around at multiple Ministries rather than leading one particular department. A "problem-solver," to use the idiom.
Hence, your two candidates, the best of your class in their studies. They took to your lessons like ducks to water, and now it was time to give them the ultimate test: Responsibility.
Nkiru was actually the daughter of a former employee in the Ministry of Records, a background which gave her a strong degree of literacy that most did not have. Her father encouraged her own interest in his profession, giving her books and topics for her study in between other lessons. In that sense, you could say that she is the natural successor for this position. Unfortunately, she adopted too many of your own opinions when she studied under you, molding her own less-than-respectful attitude towards the gods.
Advantage: Sorcerer (Control Spell: Blood Lash (DC 20 + Wound); Arcane Mark: Dark prominent veins which when bleeding allow for the blood to be controlled and manipulated.)
Taiwo is the child of a sadly passed general, having lost their mother a year into their studies under you. They are rather cautious to a fault, taking no action until they can be sure that it will work. While that can be annoying in regards to getting answers out of them, it is a remarkable trait to have for a Sorcerer, when any one wrong move can spell disaster. Besides their remarkable talent for spell-casting, they are also quite good at more subtle acts, judging by the few times you've managed to catch them sneaking into your personal library.
Advantage: Sorcerer (Control Spell: Flight of Separation (DC 30); Arcane Mark: Can speak with birds and is generally liked by them.)
Perhaps you could have asked other individuals as well, but you weren't sure if promoting some random farmer you didn't know to one of the highest offices in the land was a good thing. Particularly not when it would mean denying someone more Exalted than they the position. As such, you would stick with what you had, and choose from there.
Select your candidates now in a plan format. Only ONE Character can be the Minister of a department, and they cannot serve in multiple departments. Stat bonuses are listed after each character's name. If they have an Advantage which synergizes well with that position, that will be listed as well.
The Minister of War is in charge of leading troops into battle, training them until they are battle-ready, and overseeing the supplying of such units. In the future, they will also study the tactics employed by the enemy and try to create counter-measures. Its relevant stat is MARTIAL.
The Minister of Culture is in charge of the nation's arts, intertribal conflicts, culture and of course interactions with other nations and peoples. In the future, they will be used to decipher and communicate in foreign languages. Its relevant stat is DIPLOMACY.
The Minister of Finance is in charge of the nation's resources, whether that be food, construction material or sheer wealth. In the future, they will be used to create formal trade agreements and get a grasp of the world economy. Its relevant stat is STEWARDSHIP
[][Finance] Gwai (+16)
[][Finance] Slumbering Star (+10/15)
[][Finance] Milosen (+12)(ADVANTAGE)
[][Finance] Rising Dawn (+9~)
[][Finance] Write-in
The most recently raised Ministry, replacing the Ministry of Law, the Minister of Vigilance is in charge of searching for potential seditious elements among the people as well as conducting spywork in other nations. In the future, they will be on the lookout for Chaos worship and mutants. Its relevant stat is INTRIGUE.
The Minister of Public Works is in charge of the nation's shrines, holidays, and acts as the ultimate "Priest" to the gods of the nation. They are also charged with the protection of the Fount of Glories specifically. In the future, they will also be used to learn about foreign faiths and worship. Its relevant stat is PIETY.
The Minister of Records is in charge of the nation's education, written information, history and the handling of sorcerers. In the future, they will also be used for translating foreign written materials and spells. Its relevant stat is LEARNING.
The Minister of Mining is in charge of the various miners and crafters, overseeing their employment and protecting them from harm. In the future, they will also be used for Underway Exploration. Its relevant stat is COMBAT.
[][Mining] Chinasa (+10)
[][Mining] Slumbering Star (+2/7)(ADVANTAGE)
[][Mining] Flaris (+12)
[][Mining] Innocent Songbird (+10)
[][Mining] Rising Dawn (+8~)
[][Mining] Write-in
The Vote will END on June 9th at 7:00 AM PST
Author's Note: Yeah, I probably could have spoilered all of the candidates' descriptions, but oh well.
Anyway, here are your candidates, as well as the vote. If you have any questions, just let me know. I gave myself more time with this deadline because I figured that I would need it in order to start writing up the results for Turn 1. I'll probably be posting Turn results in the middle of the vote if I finish a given section, so don't be surprised if you see a "Turn 1 Results Part 1" crop up while the vote is still on-going.
As for the dice rolls, I'll be getting them started here in this thread soon, so watch out for that.
EDIT: Added some spaces in-between entries to improve clarity.
EDIT 2: Realized that Fumnanya's Advantage could help with traveling to other nations if she were going as a diplomat. Added it to her Ministry of Culture option.
I really want to put Fuvor in the Mines with Slumbering Star, where Star can focus on Mining and Godly things and Fuvor can get a crash course in figuring out the hell that is tunnel fighting in Warhammer.
Basically you succeeded in pulling at my heart strings and want to give Fuvor a chance.
...Sure. But there will be a caveat: Placing a "Vice" Minister underneath a Minister for some individuals and not others could be seen (not necessarily by most, but maybe by some) that you the king don't trust them to do the job themselves. Alternatively, there could be issues of personality with the two that cause conflict. Basically, if you want to put for example "--[][Vigilance][Vice] Fuvor" to have him be a vice-minister, then you could do that and add his roll bonus as well to all rolls in that category.
However, doing so will raise the chance of critical fails as conflict leads to potential Limit Breaks for other individuals instead of just yourself. It might also cause personal issues between Sango and those individuals as well. Ultimately, it might be easier to have the leftover characters serve as Hero units instead. Speaking of which,
So, Hero Units. A Hero Unit is a character that can be assigned to ONE task per turn. They will contribute their stat bonus to that roll on top of the Minister's own bonus. However, Hero Units are also typically more at risk of injury than Ministers, just because they tend to be in more frontline/dangerous positions than Ministers who stay back at home. And even when a task isn't physically dangerous, if they mess up, they are often the ones who get the brunt of the failure. In a way, they are more expendable than Ministers, for better or for worse.
As for Creation's underground, 3e does not have that much because we are using 3e lore. If this was using 2e lore I would say it would already be combat based one and wish we had Jadeborn to back us up.
I'd rather not get into it right now, I'll just say that the underground was not particularly safe, hence why Uluiru depended so much on exorcists, earth elementals and gods for help with Mining specifically, as opposed to other areas of life.
EDIT: With an insightful contribution by @Aria the Mage , I've decided to grant a special exemption for the Vice Minister penalty in regards to our 2 mortal students here. So long as they remain mortal, and you don't add any other Vice Ministers or whatever into the mix, there will be no penalty with them, because I figure that they would have learned to work together with each other for a long time now.
Now that my constant rolling is finished, you can get back to debating plans for the Advisor vote. Currently, the top 2 plans (Advantages For All and Gems for Finance) are tied, with the only difference being who has the Diplomacy and the Stewardship positions. Even then, the third place plan is only 1 vote behind. Feel free to come up with more plans or vote for those already created. I'm going to get to work on writing up the results update for Turn 1, might post it while this vote is still ongoing.
[X] Plan This Place Is Ours
-[X] Claim it as your own
-[X] You will overwork yourself-
--[X] By a normal amount (+1 Personal Action; +2 Critical Fail Threshold)
-[X][Martial][LOCKED] Protecting the Flock 1 (DC 10+)
--[X] Send your personal guard (Size 2, Quality 2, Might 0 = +10?)
-[X][Martial][LOCKED] Protecting the Flock 2 (DC 40+)
--[X] Send your general troops (Size 4, Quality 1, Might 0= +30?)
-[X][Diplomacy][LOCKED] Organize the Festival of Funerals (DC 40+)
-[X][Diplomacy] Raise Spirits (DC 40+)
-[X][Stewardship] Supply and No Demand (DC 10+)
-[X][Stewardship] Build a Granary (DC 50)(CONSUMES 1 LUMBER)
-[X][Intrigue] Scouting Ahead (DC 20)
-[X][Intrigue] Gauge Opinions (DC 10+)
-[X][Intrigue] Cloak the Gathering (DC 35/45/55)(SORCEROUS)
--[X] Assigned Sorcerer: Yourself (-1 Personal Action; Frees Up 1 Intrigue Action)
-[X][Piety] Survey the Spirit Court (DC 10+)
-[X][Piety] Survey the Priesthood (DC 10+)
-[X][Learning][LOCKED] Sorcerous Survey (DC 0/30)
-[X][Learning] Medical Aid (DC 20+)
-[X][Learning] Stabilize Reality for 10 Miles (DC 45/55/65)
--[X] Assigned Sorcerer: Yourself (-1 Personal Action; Frees Up 1 Learning Action)
-[X][Mining] Ground Survey (DC 60)
-[X][Mining] Mountain Scouting (DC 20+)
-[X][Personal][LOCKED] Decide Who'll Advise
Your first three months were overall quite productive. You helped to make the land you stood on safer for your people by spell and by blade. What time wasn't spent in defense was devoted to surveying the people and the land around them to find if any issues existed. Thus far, the only problem seemed to be the dour spirits everyone was afflicted with, but otherwise things were going okay, considering the circumstances.
Because your newly appointed ministers were still settling into their roles, they weren't able to provide as much assistance as you'd like. It fell into your lap then to cover some of the needed tasks in a timely manner, which you did with an admirable amount of effort. By the end of this 3 month stretch, you felt tired from several sleepless nights, but you weren't nearly to the edge of exhaustion. You still had plenty of fight left in you, and fight on you would.
Ultimately, you decided to settle into this location for the long run. This place along the shore which you now stood on had access to the ocean, which was important for trade and fishing, and access to mineral wealth from those far off mountains. The lack of protective terrain which Uluiru had once boasted could be an issue in the future, but you believed that could be remedied by proper walls. For now, your priorities lay in gathering as much information as you could to best prepare, and hiding your nation away from passersby until the day you could reveal yourself to the world in strength.
Martial Actions
-[X][Martial][LOCKED] Protecting the Flock 1 (DC 10+)
--[X] Send your personal guard (Size 2, Quality 2, Might 0 = +10?)
Enemy Troops: Drunken Elvish Guards: Size 1, Quality 0, Might 1 = DC 20
Troop Bonus: Outnumber (+10), Much Greater Quality (+20) = +30
Roll: 29 + 30 = 59, Success, beat the DC by more than 25, no injuries suffered.
A few weeks after your sudden arrival, your personal guard, who likely would soon take the position of your royal guard, encountered an enemy contingent while on patrol. To your luck, these foes were only a small group, less than a dozen in number, and they were notably drunk as well. It seemed that this group of reveling soldiers had simply stumbled upon your settlement by pure accident, having not seen your arrival in the least. Due to this confusion and their intoxicated state, they were easy prey for such well-trained soldiers.
What was more interesting than their accidental discovery of your location were the three noteworthy qualities your captain of the guard noticed as he cut each stumbling soldier down. First, their armor, while hastily put-on, was rather ornate in appearance, each piece of armor more of an artistic creation than a standard loadout. None of it was enchanted, but the exceptional quality of it suggested that they served some manner of lord with wealth at their disposal.
Second, their speed even in such a poor state of mind was far greater than a normal human's. While their skill suffered, they remained quite graceful in their intoxication, dodging away from blows more by instinct than experience. It suggested that these soldiers were not ordinary humans, but some manner of blessed or mutated folk. And judging by the third fact, it was the latter that was the case.
Because third, when decapitated, their heads displayed long pointed ears instead of rounder organs.
Yet, something wasn't right here. Or at least, when speaking to the head of your Guard, there was a question which lingered in the back of your mind. As you listened to Lieutenant Chinweike give his report, it kept pecking away inside of your skull, until eventually you raised a hand and he ceased his explanation. "Chinweike, pause for a minute, would you?" He stopped talking, giving you a minute to ponder the information you received. It was time enough to form the shape of your question into a true sentence. Or several, in this case.
"Chinweike, you said that this 'attack' occurred at night, correct? Was it in the middle of the night, or closer to sunset or sunrise?" you asked.
His response was a prompt one. "Near sunrise, Your Majesty."
"Was it light enough that you could see the enemy as they approached?" He simply nodded, but you couldn't accept that. "I need you to speak your answer, Lieutenant. Did you have enough light to see the enemy?"
"...Yes," he eventually said, sensing that something was off here. And indeed, something was very off here. But not with you.
"So, considering you were able to tell me that the enemies were highly drunk, did you learn this information when they attacked, or just from observation?"
He took another moment of silence, looking away from your gaze when he could. "From observation, sire." ...Damnit, please not this.
"Chinweike, who attacked first?" He refused to give you an answer, so you pressed the question. "Chinweike, who. Attacked. First."
The Lieutenant began to shudder as the aura in the room became hotter and hotter, as if the noonday sun was overhead. "O-one of our own, did." He admitted the damning truth out loud. "Sire." But you didn't need any formalities from him at this point.
"And you did not attempt to warn them, beforehand? That they must leave the area? Or even speak with them in general?" He hung his head in shame, shaking it in the negative. You... you needed to take in a steadying breath. And when it was released, you began your summary.
"So, in full, you spotted an unknown group that you were able to identify beforehand as being considerably drunk. Drunk enough to not be a true threat for your forces, would you not agree?" You did not wait for him to respond as you kept on going. "Rather than wait to see if those people did something, or try to speak with them, or give them a demand to leave, you attacked first. Am I correct, so far?" He gave a shaky nod, but you weren't really paying attention to his responses at that point. "And then, rather than take any prisoners or accept any surrender, you slaughtered a group of partygoers to a man, leaving no one alive to give testimony as to what happened." His dark skin began to pale as realized the direction your talk was going. "Strange. Do you often kill those-"
"IT WASN'T MY FAULT, SIRE!" His shout halted your diatribe. He took in a shaky breath. "One of our younger recruits, Ifiok, he picked up his bow and fired the first shot. It was against my orders, I was going to reprimand him after giving my report to you!"
"And that excuses you from the responsibility of training the other guardsmen in my stead? Chinweike, I made you Lieutenant after your predecessor's death because I believed that I could trust you to make the right choices in my stead. Yet here you are, confessing to me that you could not restrain one young man from delivering a shot that could potentially put us into the path of war with an unknown nation. We do not know who these people are, they have given us no true incentive to hate or fight them. Yet we have given them grievances all the same." You looked the man in the eyes, before reaching out, and taking hold of his badge of office. You ripped it off of his armor, the punishment clear to see. "You will take me to see Ifiok, Guardsman Chinweike. I would like a proper talk with him as well. No proper guard of mine will endeavor to launch the first strike, not under my watch." Sighing in possible relief that he was not executed for his incompetence, he complied.
You walked past tent after tent, gaining the desperate gaze of so many of your people who were left in squalor. You would fix that, your heart throbbed in your chest at doing otherwise, but for now, you had a discussion you needed to carry out. Eventually, Chinweike showed you to the barracks-tent where Ifiok and several other guards lived inside. The young man in question was quite lean in body shape, not a chiseled figure like most of your guardsmen were. While you had not overseen his recruitment, due to the scramble to refill your ranks before heading off into the ships, he would still have been part of the elite members of the general troops before transferring over. Him being reckless with his weapons was not a good sign that he should remain as part of your cohort. He as well as everyone else immediately stood up and saluted the moment they noticed that you had walked inside.
You gave a show of looking over each and every guard present, before focusing your sights on the young man. "Ifiok, please come with me."
"Sire?" He asked, with a tremble in his voice. You leaned over him, despite the young soldier technically being taller than you were, such was your presence at this moment. Unconsciously, you manifested your Caste Mark upon your brow, the half-set sun lighting up the room in the early morning.
"There are things I need to discuss with you in private. We can speak-" Wait a second. "-there..." Ifiok's eyes were normally a dark brown, as you could see when you leaned over him. Yet, strangely enough, in the light of your Caste Mark, there wasn't a golden glow in his eyes when you got close to him... but a blue-green tint. "...Guardsman Ifiok, have you been consuming any strange substances, lately?"
He shook his head in the negative, "N-no, sir," he stuttered out. Yet his eyes... they weren't as afraid as they should be. They seemed almost... detached, from the rest of his expression. Something that usually doesn't happen, when the soul and mind were the ones steering the body.
There was a beat of silence as you evaluated the young man. Then, you sprung into action. Grabbing him by the shoulder with one hand, you directed your other palm onto his clothed chest. "By my authority as Chosen of the Unconquered Sun-"
You weren't able to finish your chant of exorcism before the boy's shocked expression turned into a mocking grin. "So, King takes Pawn. Fair enough, your majesty. I'll just-" But you weren't stupid to allow whatever entity possessed this young man to attempt whatever it was going to do. Likely a suicide pill of some kind, whether literally or figuratively. Instead, you finished the job.
"-BEGONE!"
With a grand pulse of golden light, the grin briefly turned into a bitter frown before the expression evaporated off of the young man's face. A blue-green anima-bat flew off of the boy's body, unrestrained by your auric authority, and fled the scene faster than you could catch it. This was the first time you had failed to immediately capture whatever possessing entity you had exorcised with this technique before... and you weren't sure that you liked it. Regardless, Ifiok slumped to the floor, exhausted by his exorcism, panting and sweating from the sudden exertion which had been foisted upon him. And then, he passed out.
You looked to his fellow guards, who watched the scene in shock. That would not do. "Three of you, restrain him and..." You didn't have a prison in place just yet, which really left just one option. "Keep him here. Do not allow him to escape. Bind him with the strongest ropes if you must." You really did not have the time for a full interrogation, nor did you have the expertise to do so. But you could, at least, keep him stationary here until you had enough time in your schedule to see things through.
Unlocked Learning Action: Know Thy Enemy
Unlocked Intrigue Action: The Pangu Opening. It will be locked into place on Turn 2, and will not cost an Intrigue Action due to being a holdover from Turn 1. It will benefit from your Advisor bonus and any potential Heroes used once confirmed.
-[X][Martial][LOCKED] Protecting the Flock 2 (DC 40+)
--[X] Send your general troops (Size 4, Quality 1, Might 0= +30?)
Enemy Troops: Standard Battalion of Elves (Dreadspears + Darkshards): Size 3, Quality 1, Might 1 = DC 50
Troop Bonus: Outnumber (+10) = +10
Roll: 57 + 10 = 67; Success. General Troops Size downgraded by 1 for 1 turn due to injuries (Size 4 -> 3).
The second time that these strange mutants were encountered, about two and a half months since first arrival, it was in far greater numbers and with much more discipline than the riotous crowd of before. A hundred of point-ear soldiers, half bearing lances and shields, the other crossbows, marched towards the spot where your personal guard had once patrolled. Evidently, someone had gotten wind of their soldiers going missing, and suspected enemy action, which you honestly could not blame them for. Or, alternatively, this was an uncommon patrol route which you had been lucky enough to avoid until now.
Upon spotting your battalion of four hundred, the enemy troops immediately fell into formation. The spear-wielding half lowered their stance, placing their shields in front of them to protect the more vulnerable archers, who stood up and aimed at your soldiers. While casualties were minimal due to an abundance of shields on your end, there were plenty of notable injuries on your end. These did not result from the initial barrage of crossbow bolts, which ultimately did little. Instead, your troops decided to seize the initiative after the battle turned in their favor by surrounding the enemy and slaughtering most of them. Thankfully, after the incident with the drunken patrol, you had given your troops orders to take whatever enemy soldiers alive as they could, and they largely obeyed the order. Though the pointed-ears snarled in disdain for your soldiers, once they realized that the battle was truly lost, they eventually dropped their weapons, not once losing that scornful expression even as their arms were bound with rope. With as many alive as there were, you hoped that they would be able to answer any questions you had.
At this point, as 10 pointed-ear soldiers were marched with three guards apiece keeping watch over them, you realized with exasperation that you really, really needed to construct a jail of some kind.
Diplomacy Actions
-[X][Diplomacy][LOCKED] Organize the Festival of Funerals (DC 40+)
Roll: 39; Bare Failure. Can attempt action again next turn, gaining +10 to the roll next time. If not successful after Turn 2, will increase the DC by 10.
The sudden, terrible loss of your nation and relatives created a pall of grief across every tented household in your colony. Most wailed in private, the children tended to wail in public. In either case, it was harrowing to hear, and only reminded you of your own lost family. While you had never developed any sort of romantic connection with others thus far, you DID have loved ones that you wished could still be here. Ife, Mojisola, Jatau… Mother… they were all gone. You wished so much to just cry, cry out your sorrows, cry out your pain. But you couldn't, not yet.
You were the king, and when the nation suffers, the king must remain strong.
Still, it was only right to do your best to organize a grand funeral, a final farewell to the nation that was lost, to the people that were lost, to the hope that was lost. Without a Minister to oversee matters, you sent the issue to a committee of former employees of the Ministry of Culture, to see what they could do. They were able to come up with several grand plans, and had even managed to complete most of the preparations by the time the third month of your exile ended. Starting in the fourth month, the festival would commence.
Diplomacy Action: Festival of Funerals locked into next turn. It will gain a +10 bonus from the extra prep time.
-[X][Diplomacy] Raise Spirits (DC 40+)
Roll: 36; Bare Failure. Can attempt action again next turn, gaining +10 to the roll next time.
In the meantime, you looked for some other way to lift people's spirits. Your first thought, as was common for a son of Ulu(iru), was music. Music had a way of conveying emotions that words sometimes had trouble doing, and with so many musicians having survived the voyage across to your new home, there had to be at least a few up to the task. So, you put out the call for any member of the Musician's Guild to gather themselves by your somewhat more ornate tent to discuss matters with you.
That meeting had been a wakeup call as to the realities of the creative process. While every member there was willing to give it their best shot, their own grief flavored the initial songs they composed in too dark of a direction to be used for that purpose. So great and morbid was that sadness that a taint almost seemed to be imbued in the pieces of parchment each song was written on. Perhaps it was from the taint that resounded in the land, perhaps it was simply the result of several dozen hurting hearts, but it was very much present. So it was that three months went by where everything they produced would not work as an anthem of hope. Yet, these truthfully depressing songs… your divine mind whirled as something came to mind.
These pieces of music were not fit to uplift the soul… but could they be used against the souls of others? Could they bring down morale just as they crushed your spirit? Could a song truly be sad or dour enough to shatter an enemy's hopes?
Unlocked Intrigue Action (Working): Channeled Sorrow of Uluiru
Unlocked Mining Action (Artifact): The Trumpet of Eventual Parting
These actions are mutually exclusive.
Stewardship Actions
-[X][Stewardship] Supply and No Demand (DC 10+)
Roll: 98; Notable Success; +10 next turn to actions related to gaining and storing supplies, -15 DC for Granary action.
When you had first arrived at this strange place, you had worried that some of your supplies would go missing, either from simple misadventure or your people's own greed. Did you truly have now what you started with before?
As it turns out, your concerns were entirely misplaced. After meticulously going over the stocks of supplies, from food to lumber, currently in your possession, your auditors were pleased to announce that everything truly was where it should be. Accounting for daily consumption, of course. With your mind alleviated from the thoughts of theft, you turned your attention towards resolving the lack of incoming food. Not to mention preserving what you already have…
You have 4 units of Food remaining. 1 Food is consumed each turn, unless rationed.
If rationing, your Food supply will be stretched to cover double the normal amount of time, or up to Turn 8 before you run out.
The same is true of fresh Water. 4 units remaining, 1 unit used each turn, can stretch up to Turn 8 before running out.
You have 1 unit of Lumber remaining (after the Granary action this turn). You have no other "standard" supplies to make note of so far. Certain resources will continue to be tracked until you reach a sizable enough income of them to not worry about it.
You have unlocked rationing!
-[X][Stewardship] Build a Granary (DC 50)(CONSUMES 1 LUMBER)
DC 50 - 15 (Notable Success) = 35
Roll: 66; Success
With your inventory as meticulous as it was, drawing up the plans for a sizable granary was in comparison much easier. As soon as everything was checked off by your Carpenter's Guild, you ordered the building to be constructed. Progress was swift, and by the middle of the third month, your granary was complete. It was a large structure, built on a foundation of what remnants of stone your people were able to scrounge up from the surrounding area. Though you worried about its integrity against any storms that might arise, for now it would provide a solid protection against any spoilage or pests that might arise.
Any rolls for spoilage will receive a -40 penalty (Penalties are good).
Any rolls for vermin will receive a -20 penalty (Penalties are good).
Intrigue Actions
-[X][Intrigue] Scouting Ahead (DC 20)
Roll: 67; Success; 2 extra intervals of 20 achieved.
You couldn't just sit here twiddling your thumbs while unknown peoples lived on the same land as you did. Whether they were friendly or not, they existed, and you needed to find out where they were. So, on the second day of your arrival, you sent out your scouts to survey the area as best they could while remaining under the cover of darkness. And almost immediately, they got results, though not in a way that you would expect.
"Your Majesty!" One of your scouts had immediately returned, bearing a spyglass in her hands. You had been hunched over a desk working on some matters when she arrived, so you looked up to meet her gaze.
"Yes? Was there some problem with your spyglass?" It was an honest question, some delicate instruments would undoubtedly have been broken by the harsh arrival of your ships onto the land. But she shook her head in the negative.
"No your Majesty. It's… you don't need a spyglass to see this." What? What could that mean? It was when she led you outside that you understood. Stuck in your tent as you were, you had not noticed the change from day to night. And now, you could see what she saw.
There, up above in the night sky was Luna, sending down her usual rays of white light…
…And also up there was a second, green moon. It was smaller than Luna, yet every bone in your body informed you that this… this thing, this abomination, was evil. Your senses informed you that it was, in some way, associated with the Wyld, but how, you weren't certain. There shouldn't be this large of a foreign celestial body even in the Middlemarches, there was no way that a Raksha could create a narrative so strong that it could persist with Creation's waning influence still interfering. And nothing in all your studies had ever told you about a green moon appearing at certain times in the sky…
…But you had heard of a green sun.
In comparison to this horrific revelation, the next two pieces of information were almost mundane. One day, another of your scouts returned, handing you their spyglass and asking you to direct your gaze through it to off the shore. At first, you only saw more sea, but with careful angling and directions, you were able to spy the object of their interest. A tall, distant tower, situated on a small island far out in the distance. With further focus and directions, you were able to spot an even fainter image that looked like it might be a second tower.
Your mind was able to quickly put together the details. These structures were either lighthouses or watchtowers, perhaps both. One to lead friendly ships safely to shore, the other to look out for any enemies approaching. It was a smart move, all things considered, so long as those towers could remain sufficiently protected. But it indicated one thing: A civilization of some kind built these structures. No animal could possibly make them, not this tall and out to this distance.
You had your guesses as to which civilization this could be after those drunken soldiers were discovered and slain. With how astounding the quality of their equipment was, it made sense that they would be able to translate that talent for armaments towards engineering as well. But, of course, there was also the possibility that another civilization built these, and they were either known or even co-opted by the point-ears for their own purposes. But it just created another worry in your mind after thinking things through.
If there were people still situated on those distant towers, then it was likely that they had spyglasses just as your own people did. It would be almost impossible for them to be as well-crafted a civilization otherwise. But if there were people there, and if they DID have similar spyglasses, then they should be able to spot your people just sitting there along the shore. And they almost CERTAINLY would have spotted the barge containing the Fount of Glories, in all of this gem-sphere glory. Would they have raised an alarm? It couldn't be one of sound, otherwise the noise of the ocean waves would overtake it. That left either imagery, likely flags for signaling, or some more mystical method of notifying people.
You would need to hurry up your plans to conceal your nation's location sooner rather than later. Otherwise, your period of secrecy would be finished.
And then there was the last piece of news before the third month was over. Your scouts had discovered a small settlement a fair distance inland from your location. There, they saw more of those pointy-eared people escorting what looked to be other mutants around via chains. The mutants in question were more varied in their mutations, and just looking at them caused your scouts some ill-feelings. Not from disgust, but… something else they weren't sure about. Regardless, it was obvious that these chained individuals were either prisoners or slaves, likely both.
Morrslieb has been discovered! Honestly, this should have been a DC 0 just to find this out, but hindsight is 20-20 I guess. You can try to find out its effects or origins with future actions.
The Watchtowers have been discovered and are visible from the shore (albeit very faintly). This puts you somewhere on the Northern Shores of Naggaroth.
You have found a nearby settlement, and it has slaves. It also has mutants. Mutant slaves, too.
Finding out what your people thought of your reign was quite simple, really. All it took was asking some individuals what they thought about what you were doing, and they let loose their answers as a deluge of words.
Your people can appreciate what you've done for them, and the number of successes that have occurred under your leadership. However, their sorrow from the sheer number of dead, plus abandoning their homeland, has made those accomplishments more like the silver lining to a cloud. That, and the news about potential slavers nearby has somehow leaked, creating some fears that some of your people would be taken away. Overall, your Peasant/Citizen Opinion has remained unchanged (3/10).
Your nobility, few as they are, are currently waiting on the results of who you will choose to be your advisors, your Ministers, to really say one way or another. Their opinion has remained unchanged (5/10).
-[X][Intrigue] Cloak the Gathering (DC 35/45/55)(SORCEROUS)
--[X] Assigned Sorcerer: Yourself (-1 Personal Action; Frees Up 1 Intrigue Action)
Roll Bonus: +17
Roll: 75 + 17 = 92; Success with Full Finesse
It was not a lie to say that of the current citizens of Uluiru, you were the best Sorcerer they had on hand. And you couldn't allow one of your less experienced students attempt this sort of feat, not without far more preparation to see it fulfilled. Your idea, after learning about the watchtowers out into the distance, was to create an invisible field which covered the entirety of the land your people stayed in, as well as quite a bit more, enough for expansion if need be. Anytime someone not of your people tried to see or enter the area, their mind's would be muddled and confused. They would not be able to focus on whatever was inside the area, instead passing over it in their minds. And if they pushed through the effect to walk inside, they would suffer from severe disorientation as their eyes spoke a truth their minds refused to listen to.
With careful aligning of several runic symbols placed along the outer perimeter of your people's habitation, you were able to ensure that this field went off without a hitch. Even better, you were able to devise a way to protect friendly merchants and diplomats from the confusion. This was done via talismans which bore a specific counter-rune tied to one of the symbols used for the field. So long as they had the talisman on their person, they would not suffer the effect.
And of course, you weren't so foolish as to make your own people vulnerable to it. So long as an individual possessed the same blood as those within the field when it was created, they would be rendered automatically immune to the cloaking effect. Did it present a weakness for any traitors to exploit? Yes. But it was far better than the alternative in your eyes. At least now, the average citizen could breathe easy that few scoundrels would ever find them in the dead of night.
Notice-Me-Not Field active! All enemies who approach or enter into the field will suffer -1 Quality. Their scouts will give confused or nonsensical information about where specifically your future capital is located!
Talismans of Acceptance can now be created.
This Working will need to be repeated for any future cities you create / take over.
Author's Notes: Posting this from my phone on my lunch break, if you see any errors please let me know. Will edit on more here once I get off work.
EDIT 1: Martial Actions section has been heavily edited per viewer feedback and rolls.
So, uh, hey everyone. Guess who decided to do some rolls out-of-thread for some of your successful actions, to flesh things out? I just realized that some of the stuff in the piety section might require additional rolls in order to clarify things, so I started rolling on a website I used to get some of the numbers. The Spirit Survey required 3 numbers total (8, 96 and 62 respectively, you narrowly missed out on a hidden Elemental Dragon), you'll see the results of that later. Not important for now.
The Priest Survey was a single d100 to find out what the situation with your priests was. Low and things were bad, high and things were great, simple as. Except, well, then this happened:
Yeah, I know getting an photo from your phone as proof is weird when screenshots exist, I didn't remember how to do it by the time I had already taken the picture. Anyway, the important thing is the Nat 100.
So, yeah. I... might need to create a new Piety character now..? And maybe put a pause on votes for the moment while I try and figure out how to work with this. Apologies all for the late arrival with this one.
Turn 1 Results (Part 1.5; Piety + All the leaves are brown...)
Piety Actions
-[X][Piety] Survey the Spirit Court (DC 10+)
Roll: 52; Success
God Quality: 8
2nd God Focus: Martial
2nd God Worst: Stewardship
Gender: Male
Earth Elemental Quality: 96
Other Elemental Quality: 62
Speaking with Slumbering Star could be quite the pain, sometimes, so you often circumvented that by speaking to some of the other Gods. Even this was a rather rare occurrence, and had only decreased as time went on. When times got tough, you got tougher, rather than relying on the divine. As a result, whatever connections you might have had with the gods were gone now.
As were, it turned out, the Gods.
"What do you mean 'two?!'" you harshly asked Three-Color Edge, the God of Extravagant Armaments in Uluiru. He had the appearance of an obsidian-skin man with an outrageous peacock-esque helmet with a mane containing every color in the rainbow. His bronze armor had a cape connected on the shoulders made of similar plumage, and his famed sword with its hexagonal blade which shimmered in either red, blue or green depending on how the light struck it. And he was not pleased with your lack of respect in demanding answers from him.
"It is as I said." He said with a sniff. "Of every god worshipped in Uluiru, only two made the journey towards our current location: Myself and Slumbering Star. The others just vanished for reasons unknown." But, that, he-
"You are a god. They were gods. HOW do you not know what happened to them?" you whispered in rage, your wrath making you quieter rather than loud. Because really, gods do not up and vanish for no reason. They either stick to their worshippers, or they flee back to their… sanctums…
A new expression took over your face, aghast at the possibility that had presented itself to you. Three-Color Edge cringed at the look, guessing quite easily what you're thinking. Confirming it just by his expression.
The Gods. Your people's gods. Have abandoned you.
Rather than staying with your people as Cantata-of-the-Depths did, rather than sacrifice what they had to help their people, rather than doing their jobs, they chose to flee as cowards. Your body… stumbles, for a little bit, before one hand grips onto the back cushion of a nearby chair. You regained your balance physically, but not mentally. This…
…was an outrage.
In the end, you didn't explode with frustration, but you certainly weren't happy. Of the entire spirit court of Uluiru, only 2 actual gods remained, with some god-blooded mixed in here and there. You took in a deep breath, released it, and repeated this again multiple times. Eventually, your frustration cooled into disdain as a golden aura enveloped your body. Your caste mark displayed itself prominently as you looked back at Three-Color Edge, a shaky smile on his face.
"Well," he said with a start, "there is some good news at least."
"And that is?" came your curt remark.
"We're not missing a single Earth Elemental. Well," he corrected himself, "not every earth elemental. We're missing a certain Dragon, if you catch my meaning."
You nodded as you took in this information. That did make sense, Mountain Range-Tail the Elemental Dragon of Earth was more of a casual visitor to Uluiru rather than an actual permanent resident. But if every other Earth Elemental was still here- "That includes the Gem-Lords as well? All of them?" His more confident nod this time at least confirmed that not EVERYTHING had gone wrong here. You… might have skipped over the passenger list for the spirits while loading the boats, if you were being honest. While you might not have respected the gods very much, you did have some degree of respect for the Earth Elementals who dutifully provided blessings for your miners and craftsmen.
"What about the other elementals?" you asked. While the Earth Elementals tended to get more glory in Uluiru, the others couldn't be forgotten either.
Three-Color Edge answered readily, "Not everyone made it, but at least some for every element survived the journey. Particularly the Air and Water Elementals, due to how many were present in the first place." That made sense, with the nation being located up in the Northwestern corner of Creation, for those elements to be more present. Having some Fire Elementals to help with the smitheries and the Wood Elementals with the farms could still be important however.
In the end, while you were still furious at the lack of support from the divine, you were at least glad that some more dependable spirits had stuck around to help. Plus, you had an easy place to house the Earth Elementals, with the mountain range being relatively closeby.
Bonus to Earth Elemental Petitions increased to +20! Elemental Petition now expanded to include every element, with the following bonuses: Air (+10 to manage weather and ice), Fire (+5 to smitheries and sources of heat), Water (+10 to sailing and generating fresh water sources), Wood (+5 to farming efforts).
Three-Color Edge is available as a god you can petition for a blessing. The blessing must pertain to his Domain (Extravagant Armaments). No Other Gods Remain in New Uluiru.
-[X][Piety] Survey the Priesthood (DC 10+)
Roll: 38; Success
Priest Situation: Natural 100.
Variety (d6): 3, oh dear.
Secondary Variety (d4): 3, makes sense
Contrasting your rather explosive discovery in regards to the divine situation, your meeting with the priests went far more pleasantly. Everything seemed just fine, even with several of the priests distraught that the Gods they worshiped and assisted had just "left town" for brighter prospects. In the end, despite their setbacks it seemed like they still had full faith that the Gods (the two of them, you supposed) would still support the people until the end. You had your own doubts about that, but you did agree with them that the elementals were likely to be of great help.
But really, none of that mattered. Not when a new priestess had suddenly appeared out of thin air and wished to speak with you. You hadn't heard of the previous priest who held her position dying, but considering his age that might not have been surprising. You had no reason to refuse a request to meet when you had the time to spare. Thus, you sent a messenger to tell her that you could meet the next day.
Early that morning, your guards informed you that she had arrived. With a wave of your hand, you let her in, and you could easily see the chocolate bundle of nerves she became just standing in your presence. This wasn't just normal nervousness when meeting with your kind, there was… something else at play here. Did she have something to hide? You narrowed your eyes just a touch, and her jittery body almost began to shake in fright. Eventually, after a short eternity of staring into eyes which refused to meet your gaze, you just sighed.
"If you are attempting to impersonate one of our priests, know that I will not punish you if you inform me now." Honestly, it was starting to be a bit pathetic at how much she flinched when you spoke. It wasn't even like you could punish her in your current position, not when the nation depended on every single individual left. So long as she wasn't trying to steal from the donation box, you really didn't care that she didn't have any proper credentials. Yet that statement didn't seem to relieve her stress, and even more confusedly, she shook her head in the negative.
"So, um, your… Highness?" Technically 'Majesty,' but she was obviously too stressed to think clearly. "So, you… you really are the king now."
That comment made you raise an eyebrow. "Indeed. I have been for several months now. Miss, you wouldn't have been away from Uluiru during that time, have you?" If she had been away on some form of pilgrimage, that could have been understandable. Land travel took quite a long time without any kind of mount, after all. Yet, something told you that still wasn't the case. It wasn't just how nervous she remained, especially as she shook her head no. It wasn't just the unlikelihood of that being possible in the short amount of time between when you first took the throne and then left on the ship.
It was the fact that she still looked at the tent around her with surprise, not at the extravagance of it (which was little, you were a more practical man than some), but at the fact that there was a tent at all. After several weeks of staying in this location, that seemed strange to hear. So what was her situation? "In that case, Miss, who exactly are you?"
Visibly gathering her courage over the course of a few seconds, she sighed, finally dispelling a small part of the tension which filled her tendons and veins. "My name… is Rising Dawn of the Hopeful Quartz." Bit of a handful, that one, but you had heard worse. "Three days ago, I remember speaking to your mother." WHAT. "And I… I think I might be some kind of Exigent…"
Surrounding her body was a soft orange glow, perfectly even with a black outline surrounding it. And the Caste Mark upon her brow… resembled that of a farmer's scythe.
Rising Dawn the Autumn Caste Getimian has joined your party! Thanks to the fact that this was still Turn 1, I was willing to allow some leeway with sudden Exalts popping up in your nation. From now on, it's going to be a lot more difficult for Celestials to occur. Terrestrials, ehhhhh…
Currently Lacking the Character Background/Interview, will learn more with time...
Rising Dawn of the Hopeful Quartz
Female
Essence 1
Autumn Caste
Best Stat: Piety
Second Best Stat: Martial
Worst Stat: Learning
Personality: Shy (+1 Piety)
Advantages: Martial Art (???)
Stat Scheme: Uses X - 5 for stats, but lowers the Difficulty of 1 task she works on by 10.
Author's Note: So, yeah, that's a thing. Those are all things. I'll be adding Rising Dawn as a potential advisor later, along with a proper interview once I've got something more solid on her story. Just based on her stats, I'm leaning towards "Joan of Arc Figure Whose Got Spaghetti Falling Out Of Her Pockets". Once she's added, I'll create another threadmark to let you all know in case you want to change your plans.
