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Hmmph... this junior is a good seed [Cultivation Management Quest]

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New Good Seed and Omake Rule Updates
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    • Good Seed and Omake Spreadsheet Rules:

    Firstly, if you have questions about Good Seeds and the like please read here. If that doesn't answer your question please ping me in thread, or on Discord.

    If you write a new Good Seed, or write an omake, please update the spreadsheet if you have access.

    If you do not have access, please ping a collaborator (Swordomatic, Alectai, Quest, TehChron, Insane-Not-Crazy, Humbaba, ReaderOfFate, Kaboomatic, no., BungieONI) letting them know what you want and they will update the spreadsheet here. To gain access, you will need a gmail account of some kind. Throwaway emails are fine (I'm using one for the spreadsheet), but to gain access it's as simple as sending me either your email via PM, via DM in Discord, or just in Discord's #spreadsheet-requests channel.

    This is mandatory. If a Good Seed does not record their omake by pinging collabs (or just requesting access and editing things themselves - this is the preferred option), I won't give out awards. If a new Good Seed is not recorded here, they won't advance. By doing this it makes the whole thing manageable for me - it's gotten pretty unwieldy!

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    Omake Writer Instructions:

    There are four fields you need to fill out.

    Omake Link, which is just a link to your first omake for the turn. This makes it easier for me to read them as I do the update - without this it's tough to know off the bat which omake were written this turn, and to properly

    Requested Bonus, which is your requested bonus for your omake. You can leave it up to me if you like. You can see more info in the Good Seed infopost here.

    Cultivation Aims. For those following unorthodox paths - higher than 9th Heavenstage or later than 7th Dao Pillar paths. Please put in what you are aiming for before you break through. I have left it as 'default'. If you do not edit it, I'll go with that.

    Turn Notes - Do you want to do something specific? Enter a Secret Realm? Help the Clan out in some way? If you have something specific you want to accomplish on this turn, put it in turn notes so I can adjust your Fate around it.

    All other fields are for QM use to record character information to properly run the flow of the game.
     
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    • I wonder what kind of disease could survive in the body of someone with that much blood and death running through his veins
     
    occipitallobe said:
    I'm still tinkering with that a great deal, so don't take it as gospel. I just added a 'stamina/qi storage' column I'm working on - so much of cultivation isn't just being stronger, it's being able to outlast in a fight and then hit for the kill.
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    Oh damn!! I guess literally turtling up and countering is now a go! I'm assuming Qi accumulation is based on how long the Cultivator is in the same stage when compared to others of a similar level ?
    occipitallobe said:
    For the Clan who are less squeamish than Righteous Powers however, the skin can be dried and used to scribe powerful talismans and arrays, the bones can be sharpened into excellent spears, swords, daggers, and arrowheads, the tendons can become bowstrings, the flesh can be fed to Spirit Beasts in small scraps to help massively boost their cultivation (beasts eating humans is perfectly normal and doesn't come with the risks of Blood Path - much like Beast Path doesn't, as humans eating beasts is also normal), the organs can be refined into various magical items, and the nerves can be used to link Arrays together in novel and useful ways.

    The Golden Devil Clan won't waste a scrap of poor Elder Corpse Gulper, don't worry on that front.
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    I guess it's presents for everyone if we get good rolls for the good seeds in Turn 5! Ironic if instead of being their opportunity, they will be ours!
     
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    The Great Battlefield

    When one thinks of the Great Battlefield, what comes to mind is the screaming barbarians of the Demonic Altar Sect fighting the well-disciplined cultivators of the Strength Purity Sect. The foretellings, the soul-searches and the poisons of the Noble Knowledge Sect defending them against the eternal siege of the Righteous Path. Two-fifths of all cultivators live in the Great Battlefield - together with the Verdant South these regions hold over four-fifths of the total population in the Virtuous Flipper Region.

    The 11 powers that form the Great Battlefield are almost always at war, with four Demonic powers fighting seven Righteous ones. The two most powerful factions in the Virtuous Flipper Region, Strength Purity Sect and Demonic Altar Sect are here. The Great Battlefield is almost always at war of some kind - the two aforementioned have not declared a ceasefire in over four hundred years. The Demonic Altar of the eponymous Sect means war makes them more powerful, and sometimes even the surrounding Demonic powers have allied against them to restrain them.

    Strength Purity Sect being the only source of trade through the mountains means it is wealthy, but tends to spend that wealth convincing other Righteous powers to ally with it to restrain Demonic ones.

    The Great Battlefield is stronger due to all this. In a vague estimation, if somehow all the powers of the Great Battlefield faced the combined powers of the rest of the Virtuous Flipper Region in pitched battle, it would be a massacre. Perhaps two-thirds of the Region's total combat strength resides here. Sects here are stronger and more refined for war - it is no coincidence that among the Great Battlefield, only two powers of note are Clans, and they are minor ones at that. Constantly at war, with cities under siege, cultivators going back and forth, and names rising and falling, the Great Battlefield is truly the centre of the Region.

    Yes. You come from the weakest sub-region of the weakest region of the weakest Sea in the world.

    Going east to west, and then north to south, the first six powers are as follows.

    Ma Clan:

    Ma Clan are known for their study Spirit Horses, able to ride for weeks without fail. They are unparalleled horse archers, riding around the battlefield and firing arrows with abandon. They practice a Dao of Bow and Dao of Beasts jointly, and while they cultivate slowly and have few cultivators, those they have are strong within their realm.

    They are technically a settled tribe of barbarians from the Ghostly Beast Curse Vein to the north that separates the Virtuous Flipper Region from other regions near it, driven out when the beasts rose up more strongly. They intermarried with the former Wen Empire, and put their own name on the former Empire. They mostly serve as mercenaries for the Righteous Path, and are not overly strong en masse by themselves - they are one of the two weakest powers in the region. They are Righteous due a defeat suffered when the Strength Purity Sect sent an expedition north to kill the old Ma Emperor who had begun consuming mortals.

    They officially were forced to relinquish their title as a show of shame, and have ever since been a Righteous power.

    Great Mountain Bell Sect:

    The Great Mountain Bell Sect is actually founded around an old Ten-Scale Bell, a Bell that saw common use before the death of the Turtle Child. It is the last of its kind, and allows the Sect to be virtually impregnable when rung. As such, it serves as a key bulwark - both against beast tides in the north, and against Demonic powers in the west.

    The Great Mountain Bell Sect practices Demonic Tunes, as they have learned from the chimes of the bell. They are weak in combat, and mostly use their powers for the defense of their territory. They are well-fortified, and well-loved by the mortals they rule over.

    Heavenly Time Shatter Sect:

    Demonic in name, the Heavenly Time Shatter Sect practice the Dao of Time. They can freeze and quicken or slow time, though in limited amounts. Such acts tend to warp the fabric of the world itself, poisoning the surrounding areas and making them unsuitable for cultivation for hundreds or thousands of years. Such Qi Knots are viewed unfavorably and were banned by the Righteous Path. The Sect, however, chose to ally with the Demonic Altar Sect, and continued to attack others to practice their bizarre techniques.

    Gao Clan:

    Known for their extensive marshes and poisons, Gao Clan serve mainly as mercenaries for the Demonic Altar Sect. They are poor and weak, and even their Poison Path is inferior to the Noble Knowledge Sect, who walk many paths. They would have long been conquered by the Demonic Altar Sect, but their lands and poor and their poisons relatively powerful, so they remain free.

    Thousand Arrows and Flowers Sect:

    It was said when Yu Anagong married Lin Min, he shot a thousand thousand arrows into the air as celebration, each one coming down without harming a guest. She was a famed doctor and herbalist, having cured Anagong's sister. They fell in love, married, and founded a Sect in opposition to the nearby Noble Knowledge Sect. Inside the Sect, they peacefully grew herbs, forged pills, and cured patients, and outside it they used their massive, powerful bows to defend their territory. More the marriage of two Sects into one, the Arrow Path and Flower Path rarely meet in a single cultivator, and it it defies belief to see one who walks both paths in full. They are well-loved across the Great Battlefield, and have cured many Righteous Path cultivators of many terrible poisons and illnesses.

    Their Arrow Path is less impressive, and while they are not a weak Sect, nor are they an especially strong one. Their cultivation of Arrow Path is mainly to be able to kill Noble Knowledge Disciples from a distance, as the Sect is one of the four that has maintained the Poison-Crushing Siege for the last six hundred years.

    Gemstone Justice Sect:

    Wealth is justice. Or rather, wealth is power, and power allows justice. One cannot be just without power, so one cannot be just without wealth. Hence, obtain wealth. Such is the credo of the Gemstone Justice Sect, who serve as the hub for trade across the entirety of the Plains. They manage businesses everywhere Righteous, and make tremendous profits. Some is paid in tribute to the Strength Purity Sect, as the Gemstone Justice Sect is an eclectic collection of cultivators who are not well fit for war. Individual duels, most certainly, but they turn money into intrigue, wealth into weapons. You rarely fight a cultivator of the Gemstone Justice Sect, yet its enemies tend to find themselves defeated nonetheless.

    In a broad and technical sense they help maintain the Poison-Crushing Siege, though in practice they largely pay other Sects to handle their part of the responsibility.
     
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    This will stay up until the next small part of the update.

    It's not a very exciting vote, but I thought I'd give people a chance to name things.

    There are two new regions you've won.

    The Scarred Lands, a massively depopulated, damaged set of lands with blown-up mountains and huge rents in the earth.

    The Shining Mountain Region, which took on the moniker after Manuel's battle there. A fairly ordinary piece of desert that has been a bone of contention between the Golden Devils and Cannibals for some time.

    Both have moderately wealthy Spirit Stone mines.

    However! Given they're now Clan lands, we might want to give them new specific names.

    [ ] Leave them as is - Simple enough.

    [ ] Write-in a name for one or both - As it says.
     
    [X] Plan Why Not
    -[X] Rename Shining Mountain Region to The Burnished Crags
    -[X] Rename The Scarred Lands to The Uncast Molds

    Burnished Craggs conveys the same idea, but in a more metallic-y sense. Also Craggs just sounds cooler, even if not technically accurate.

    Uncast Molds would be an attempt to assign a forge-y kind of untapped potential impression to a land currently named after the immense devastation that presently defines it
     
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    occipitallobe said:
    Gemstone Justice Sect:

    Wealth is justice. Or rather, wealth is power, and power allows justice. One cannot be just without power, so one cannot be just without wealth. Hence, obtain wealth. Such is the credo of the Gemstone Justice Sect, who serve as the hub for trade across the entirety of the Plains. They manage businesses everywhere Righteous, and make tremendous profits. Some is paid in tribute to the Strength Purity Sect, as the Gemstone Justice Sect is an eclectic collection of cultivators who are not well fit for war. Individual duels, most certainly, but they turn money into intrigue, wealth into weapons. You rarely fight a cultivator of the Gemstone Justice Sect, yet its enemies tend to find themselves defeated nonetheless.

    In a broad and technical sense they help maintain the Poison-Crushing Siege, though in practice they largely pay other Sects to handle their part of the responsibility.
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    I wonder if we can work for them as Mercs. Seems like a good way to get combat experience and resources.

    [X]Dros Delnoch
    -[X] Rename the Scarred Lands to Dros Delnoch

    I'm a huge David Gemwell fan, and considering the plan discussed was about fortifying the Scarred Lands, i nominate Dros Delnoch! Let us build 7 walls to defend against threats of the South! Not changing Shining Mountains since i like the idea of it obtaining a name because of us

    Each of the six walls had a name carved into it in the Elder tongue, mirroring the emotions of the defenders at each successive retreat during a siege. From outermost to innermost the walls were named as follows:

    1. Eldibar, meaning "Exultation"
    2. Musif, meaning "Despair"
    3. Kania, meaning "Renewed Hope"
    4. Sumitos, meaning "Desperation"
    5. Valteri, meaning "Serenity"
    6. Geddon, meaning "Death"
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    I also really like the meaning of the walls, which we can apply probably to the fortifications we put up. In keeping with what we know, them reaching the last of our fortifications would be Death, since that what be the whole army + excellent logistics that we will lose to
     
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    [X] Plan Why Not
    No better way to claim something than to rename it, like the Emperor did when he took over the republic and renamed the capital
     
    TehChron said:
    [X] Plan Why Not
    -[X] Rename Shining Mountain Region to The Burnished Craggs
    -[X] Rename The Scarred Lands to The Uncast Molds

    Burnished Craggs conveys the same idea, but in a more metallic-y sense. Also Craggs just sounds cooler, even if not technically accurate.

    Uncast Molds would be an attempt to assign a forge-y kind of untapped potential impression to a land currently named after the immense devastation that presently defines it
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    I don't object, but isn't it spelled 'crags'?
     
    [X] Plan Why Not

    Beautiful, I've loved almost every bit from Manuel's perspective, but this was amazing, true evidence that old age and treachery beats youth and vigor every time.

    And a firm warning with respect to the dangers of a Heaven-Defying Talent, and how hilariously incompetent they can be despite great power.
     
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    Two people have already pointed out the spelling problem and people are still voting to canonize the wrong spelling? Why?

    [X] Leave them as is
     
    Um, I don't know how to say it, but I don't think Diaxiang likes us very much :(

    I mean... what's wrong with friendship?
     
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    Aristoteles 'Aris' Kalokagathos 2 - Gate of the Rising Sun
  • Sidestory
    • Aristoteles 'Aris' Kalokagathos

    Gate of the Rising Sun

    --​

    Aris punched the wall next to him, leaving a slight indent the shape of his fist in the stone. This was not the way it was supposed to go. For the fifteenth time this month, he had sat down to meditate like he had done so often before over the last twenty years. Align your breathing, feel the Qi swirling in the low-grade spirit stone fragment in your lap, feel its affinity with the trace amounts of Qi in your system. Probe the small nodes in your body emitting and receiving Essence, like alveoli respiring the power of the world. He had used the Qi in the stone to probe each one, all ninety-eight of them, primed and vibrating, drawing in the Qi like smoke drawn to a small opening in a wall.

    The next step is where he had failed, like every single time before. Respiring Qi was one step, but circulating it was necessary for all techniques where a pattern needed to be formed to achieve a specific effect, channeling the energy of heaven and earth into specific organs, tendons and limbs, spooling it, stretching it out into shapes to produce all of the cultivator's arts. All but the very most basic ones.

    The channels that connected his acupoints and would channel and cycle this Qi however resembled dried-up, cracked irrigation channels to his mind's eye. His latest attempt to irrigate these channels, to force some Qi to flow into them, creating the least bit of current between his acupoints – had failed like all the others. As always, it seemed like he was on the brink of pushing Qi through, forcing open the beginning of the meridian to at least gain a foothold, to at least have a starting point to push open the rest of the channel leading from one point to another, but then the channel resisted, and the uncomfortable stretching feeling turned into a lash of pain, and his concentration was broken. He had tried every connection between two points, toe to base of his foot, elbow to upper arm, neck to mouth – but always the same painful conclusion.

    They had names for this bottleneck of course – the Dried River Dam, the Gate of the Rising Sun, Thorned Arteries. Most cultivators struggled at least somewhat at this stage, but Aris hadn't expected to be held back to this degree. He had cultivated quickly, as expected from a scion of gold with his bloodline and ancestry, further boosted by the cultivation resources his family made available for him. Yet for the past three years, he had made no progress. None whatsoever. Despite the drugs and cultivation room access he had purchased with his family's money and hard-earned contribution points. Despite the instruction of his elders, family members that could sneak in half an hour between assignments, or instructors that owed someone in his family a favor that he called in for them.

    His family's missives had gone from dismissive of his troubles, to mildly sympathetic, to moderately concerned.

    He was an Aspirant in the Vanguard now, and had served loyally these past twenty years. Doing mundane tasks, cultivating fourteen hours per day, sleeping little, practicing hard and establishing his reputation, with very little chance to actually prove himself. To prove to his instructors and officers that he could lead, that he was a paragon, not just a footsoldier – however elite. That could and would change when he broke through to the next stage – legionnaires until fifth Heavenstage could only take missions in and around the Fortress or their barracks, sentry assignments being the very most exciting of those. After that, you were an asset that could be used outside of the fortress walls.

    That was his chance to prove himself, to earn his own command, to establish his reputation and have others follow him. A chance, that was gated behind the seemingly insurmountable barrier before him.

    "Blood, blood and bloody ashes." He allowed himself a bitter curse.

    He was like a vagrant, like a commoner. Average. Even though he knew that his pace was average only to those that already made the strict selection criteria. Any backwater militiaman would be overjoyed at having reached Fifth Heavenstage at age forty-three. For a supposed young master? It was a disgrace. It didn't help that his supposed right hand Leo had comfortably reached seventh this year, starting to exhibit the Sign of Bronze on his skin and hair. He had regaled him with tales of his first minor excursions – but Aris had been morose and bitter.

    He eyed the rectangular wooden container on the small table by his side, almost taking up a third of the space in the tiny room that any normal Legionnaire would find an almost irresponsible luxury.

    He had written his father. Of course his father had known his troubles, but he wouldn't write unless things were especially dire, or his advice was specifically sought out.

    His father had written back, and sent him a small parcel. He knew what it contained, and his father's terse written reply of barely three sentences did nothing to assuage his fears.



    "My Son. I have received your missive well. Your plight is your own. If you think it wise, you may make use of what is included with this letter.

    No glory without sacrifice. Andronikos Kalokagathos."



    He produced the small box, and opened it with steady hands. Three red-gold pills with a swirly-pearlescent surface. Soul-Flaying Scourge Pills.

    Made from Meridian-Consuming Leeches and the marrow of a Great Red Roc, these things worked simply. They could cleanse acupoints or clogged meridians over the course of months, at a price. Monthlong, soul-torturing agony, beyond what even a Core Formation cultivator had to endure. The torment could be ended at any moment by just willing it gone, but any meridians opened would slip shut again. One had to will the pain, every moment, every day, for months. One moment of weakness, and all his gains would evaporate, and further pills would cease to have any effect. The ruinous cost involved in making them, and the extremely demanding conditions made this a very unpopular choice, only serving as an absolute last resort for wealthy scions who were stuck at either bottleneck for decades – having exhausted all other options.

    He had options left. He could ask for other pills that would soothe and make opening his channels easier. There were exercises that one could do, that if practiced daily for more than a year, made opening meridians slightly easier. He could take the risk with spiritual surgery. His pace was average yes, but he wasn't in danger, he wasn't yet a failure. He had years before he should consider an option like this.

    He banished the thought from his mind. He could be a year further and still have made no gains, even with all these things, or even run a serious risk of crippling his future cultivation. And anything less than excelling was a failure, he knew this.

    He steeled his mind. The perfect legionnaire continues until he collapses. Hadn't he said that mere years ago? There was no alternative in his mind.

    He had slipped a note with his plans under Leo's door, and informed the commanding officer that he would go in "closed-door cultivation" for a year to practice a family technique. Apparently, the agony abated ever so slightly for a few minutes every few weeks, enabling him to nourish himself to stay alive during the torment.

    There was nothing more to it. He praised himself lucky that there was even such an option, but if necessary he would take a hundred of these pills.



    For the glory of the Golden Devil Clan.



    He picked one up, inspected it briefly, and then swallowed it. For a few seconds, there was nothing, and Aris became slightly concerned that the pill was a dud, or he had gotten the wrong pills from his father. Briefly even, the thought flashed through his mind that it was poison – to eliminate a disgrace from the family line.

    Then, his every vein, nerve and tendon was brutally torn apart by thorns. His scream didn't leave his throat, his body shutting its every function down because of the life-threatening torment that passed through it.

    He fell to the ground in silence, quivering like a reed, but with little other outward sign of what was happening on the inside.



    It took every ounce of will he had to not feel as if he had made a terrible, terrible mistake.

    --
    ​
    A/N And now we're at the start of turn 2!
    @occipitallobe Aris spends some of his time this turn intensely cultivating (as outlined above!), venturing out to aid in the fortification against the Devil Bees once/if he has broken through to the next stage.
     
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  • Sidestory
    • Siual said:
    Aristoteles 'Aris' Kalokagathos

    Gate of the Rising Sun
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    Excellent piece! Interesting on seeing a Good Seed in the more regimented aspect of the Clan. If i remember correctly, most of us have our Good Seeds cultivating in an independent fashion with any working with fellow Clansmen due to missions. Don't think i saw one where the whole military structure is emphasized.

    I mean worldbuildingwise, it can probably be explained as those who participate Legion style get fixed amount of resources for it as well as stuff they earn from missions. While the others rely solely on resources earned via missions.

    Another reason could be that since in the First Turn of the Quest, it was voted that the Good Seeds receive a lecture from the Elder, that batch got to skip the legion phrase. But still a pretty cool approach!

    Also, a brief FYI, you might want to include the requested bonus next to your Omake in your Good Seed background, as our QM checks that when he writes up the Good Seed bonuses. The rest auto get directed to the Seed's Fate Bonus for the turn, so there isn't really a need to add that next to the omake in the background, although i personally did it mainly for thematic reasons as there are some omakes i feel better suit the Bonus i was going for
     
    BeepSmile said:
    Um, I don't know how to say it, but I don't think Diaxiang likes us very much :(

    I mean... what's wrong with friendship?
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    Admittedly, he is the leader of a Sect that loathes your Clan and has done for millennia, as well as personally having hated you and the Golden Devils for centuries - in part due to his participation in gratuitous mass murder and torture and you being mainly against that.

    That should be no barrier to true friendship, though!

    Mochinator said:
    Excellent piece! Interesting on seeing a Good Seed in the more regimented aspect of the Clan. If i remember correctly, most of us have our Good Seeds cultivating in an independent fashion with any working with fellow Clansmen due to missions. Don't think i saw one where the whole military structure is emphasized.

    I mean worldbuildingwise, it can probably be explained as those who participate Legion style get fixed amount of resources for it as well as stuff they earn from missions. While the others rely solely on resources earned via missions.

    Another reason could be that since in the First Turn of the Quest, it was voted that the Good Seeds receive a lecture from the Elder, that batch got to skip the legion phrase. But still a pretty cool approach!
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    Broadly I see it as groups of cultivators under Legion discipline going across the lands, escorting merchants, righting wrongs, and so on. The traditional reasons for a state to maintain concentrations of force at points for things like political control don't really apply in Turtle World - your ruling caste are your concentrations of force, and it's very rare you'd see cultivators formed up into a legion of thousands except in times of war.

    However, basic training is crucial - the Clan spends a lot of time and energy making sure cultivators are able to work together in formation at the drop of a hat, even if you spend a lot of time adventuring alone.

    Part of me thinks of it as somewhat analogous to the Roman army in the middle Republic period, where service in the legions was compulsory, but most soldiers spent most of their time not being legionnaires. In the Golden Devils you technically hold rank all the time, but obviously most of your time isn't actually spent as a legionnaire fighting.

    The comparison is more apt than I might have thought, actually. Golden Devils conscripted into the ranks of the legions as a consequence of cultivating, the various minor powers in the region serving as foederati on major campaigns - the main difference of course is that the legions aren't just military structures here, they're also social ones and cultural ones - if everyone is a soldier, the legions aren't just military institutions, they're closer to highly militarized villages or towns, or maybe tribes.
     
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