Knight of Wessex (A Written World Quest)

[H2F2]

Among Carolingians only nobles or people joining the Church usually become full cultivators in a meaningful sense, so anyone who has Fervour and Zeal in meaningful amounts is, at least externally, fairly pious, or they wouldn't have those things in the first place. person wanted to pursue forbidden or unusual magics, I'm not sure 'witch' is precisely the right term. be some sort of heretic or member of a club or order that pursued weird religious magics than a 'witch' in the sense it's usually thought of.

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Aren't there specialists involved in folk magic?
For example, fortune tellers, midwives and others who engage in practices of magic that are not approved by the church. If they grew up in a Carolingian culture, will their strength also be based on faith?
Or do such people actually never become cultivators and their powers are just superstition?

rather than heresy or simple corruption, both much more common, especially the latter

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Is it possible for cultivators to extract power from corruption?
Does belonging to any heresy have an effect on the actual powers received by the cultivator?

 

[Zaealix]

Nah, it's cool. I'm just a bit confused by what you mean by all this.

Like, are you wanting to use Medea as the protagonist? Cause, we've already got a shiny holographic Audrey and don't really need a Medea

Or do you mean importing Medea as an NPC? Cause that's much more reasonable. It'd give Deadman something to do!

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Honestly the NPC option would be cool!
It was really meant as more of a personal writing excercise, with actually altering the setting as a major stretch goal.

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

Aren't there specialists involved in folk magic?
For example, fortune tellers, midwives and others who engage in practices of magic that are not approved by the church. If they grew up in a Carolingian culture, will their strength also be based on faith?
Or do such people actually never become cultivators and their powers are just superstition?

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They might have a trick or two, you'll note I said 'full cultivators' and 'meaningful amounts' of Zeal and Fervour, not that peasants had none, but these effects would generally be weak and minor unless they got singled out by the Church as a potential saint gifted by God with their abilities...they might easily become a full Clerical cultivator in that case.

Is it possible for cultivators to extract power from corruption?
Does belonging to any heresy have an effect on the actual powers received by the cultivator?

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What is corruption? Is it something that the culture they live in believes strengthens someone? Those are the key questions here because, again, cultivation is culture. If a culture believes something, it manifests in their cultivation and the world around them...if they do not, then it does not.

And belonging to a heresy could potentially grant powers in some ways if it is an organized group. They might have secret techniques of one sort or another or something like that. Not a fundamental cultivation change, probably, but unique Prayers, Martial Styles, access to odd Revelations...that sort of thing is possible. Arguably, most groups are heretical in some way and Hama is an example of this as well, or heck, Audrey's Lineage have a story of their founder defeating the Devil, that could be argued as heresy...it's all a matter of perspective.

 

[H2F2]

They might have a trick or two, you'll note I said 'full cultivators' and 'meaningful amounts' of Zeal and Fervour, not that peasants had none, but these effects would generally be weak and minor unless they got singled out by the Church as a potential saint gifted by God with their abilities...they might easily become a full Clerical cultivator in that case.

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To sum up, cultures have their own energy sources from which cultivators draw strength, and the cultivator's own view of the origin of this force plays a secondary role in this.

If a culture believes something, it manifests in their cultivation and the world around them...if they do not, then it does not.

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It would be quite interesting to see what ancient Egyptian cultivation and the world around them were like.
By the way, what happens to the changed world after the death of culture? Can it continue to exist if other cultures do not claim the territory?
Maybe a culture that is supported only by magical creatures?

And belonging to a heresy could potentially grant powers in some ways if it is an organized group. They might have secret techniques of one sort or another or something like that. Not a fundamental cultivation change, probably, but unique Prayers, Martial Styles, access to odd Revelations...that sort of thing is possible. Arguably, most groups are heretical in some way and Hama is an example of this as well, or heck, Audrey's Lineage have a story of their founder defeating the Devil, that could be argued as heresy...it's all a matter of perspective.

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Thus, from a mechanical point of view, is it most advantageous to be a heretic who grew up at the junction of several cultures?

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

To sum up, cultures have their own energy sources from which cultivators draw strength, and the cultivator's own view of the origin of this force plays a secondary role in this.

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Yes. The collective belief of the culture is more important than an individual's beliefs.

It would be quite interesting to see what ancient Egyptian cultivation and the world around them were like.
By the way, what happens to the changed world after the death of culture? Can it continue to exist if other cultures do not claim the territory?
Maybe a culture that is supported only by magical creatures?

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No, when the culture goes so does the way the world works. And it applies much quicker than the culture dying...Norse monsters have already started cropping up in the Danelaw since they conquered it.

Thus, from a mechanical point of view, is it most advantageous to be a heretic who grew up at the junction of several cultures?

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If what you're looking for is as many options as possible, being part of an organized group with its own techniques is good, yeah. Whether that organization is heretical is immaterial...probably better if they aren't, honestly. And syncretism doesn't always require being born at a junction of cultures, it depends but syncretism can be powerful, yes.

 

[H2F2]

No, when the culture goes so does the way the world works. And it applies much quicker than the culture dying...Norse monsters have already started cropping up in the Danelaw since they conquered it.

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Are magical intelligent beings considered part of the collective faith that creates and sustains culture?
Can they survive the death of their culture, or will they die even if they were powerful cultivators?

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

Are magical intelligent beings considered part of the collective faith that creates and sustains culture?
Can they survive the death of their culture, or will they die even if they were powerful cultivators?

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Generally only humans cultivate per se, though nonhuman creatures are often powerful enough that's a semantic difference. But generally yes, they will go with the culture. Exceptions might exist, though. Nothing is ever certain.

 

[H2F2]

Generally only humans cultivate per se, though nonhuman creatures are often powerful enough that's a semantic difference. But generally yes, they will go with the culture. Exceptions might exist, though. Nothing is ever certain.

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That is, in theory, ancient multi-thousand-year-old magical creatures can still walk on earth, relics of destroyed cultures that have gone far enough in their cultivation?

 

[DeadmanwalkingXI]

That is, in theory, ancient multi-thousand-year-old magical creatures can still walk on earth, relics of destroyed cultures that have gone far enough in their cultivation?

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Or human cultivators who are legacies of those cultures, yes.

 

[H2F2]

Or human cultivators who are legacies of those cultures, yes.

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Human cultivators could try to revive their culture by seizing power in some remote community and raising their children.

So if there is at least one powerful human cultivator left, the culture of influence can be considered irretrievably lost.

 

[AeonIlluminate]

[X] Plan: Bird? Bird!
Seems like a good plan, I'm not the keenest on mastering something this early, but if we focus on new prayers and Refining them after that I don't mind. Also would prefer to start on Red-Black Lightning, but Deadman has said that Slowing Down for the Commons will complete a chunk faster so I don't mind getting the probably non-combat loot first.

 

[Taut_Templar]

[X] Plan: Expanding our Foundation

 

[I.F. Ister]

Are there ways for us to curry favor with the church in order to receive additional communion?
So far it seems that the only way we know is to work as a knight and hope that we will protect the monastery from a raid.

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Okay, I think I need to clear this one up.

You get communion when you attend Mass. If you want more communion, go to Mass more. That is, spend actions on it.

Holy Communion is specifically the consumption of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The consumption on its own isn't legitimate unless performed as part of receiving Holy Eucharist, which is done through the entire process of the Mass.

As a side note, certain aspects of Catholicism fit really well in a cultivation setting. Transubstantiation means that when you partake of the bread and wine during communion, you are actually, literally consuming the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. That's got some powerful mojo to it, it does.

That is, in theory, ancient multi-thousand-year-old magical creatures can still walk on earth, relics of destroyed cultures that have gone far enough in their cultivation?

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Absolutely.

Heck, they don't even necessarily have to be from a culture either. Dread Beasts, that which lurk in the dark recesses of reality, come from no culture you would recognize. Hiding in the heart of a mountain, stalking in the depths of the sea, and soaring higher than any eye can see, places like this, the wild and untamed, are where Dread Beasts lie.

Honestly the NPC option would be cool!
It was really meant as more of a personal writing excercise, with actually altering the setting as a major stretch goal.

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Oh, gotcha. Carry on then

 

[H2F2]

You get communion when you attend Mass. If you want more communion, go to Mass more. That is, spend actions on it.

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Is it that simple?
Perhaps we should become more pious.

Absolutely.

Heck, they don't even necessarily have to be from a culture either. Dread Beasts, that which lurk in the dark recesses of reality, come from no culture you would recognize. Hiding in the heart of a mountain, stalking in the depths of the sea, and soaring higher than any eye can see, places like this, the wild and untamed, are where Dread Beasts lie.

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Are they hiding to avoid being influenced by culture, or is it just their place of residence?

 

[AeonIlluminate]

Are they hiding to avoid being influenced by culture, or is it just their place of residence?

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If they hide off where nobody can find them, they don't get random fuckers who want to kill them for whatever reason turning up every couple years to interrupt them. Would you like it if every week some random small animal came into your house, gave you a few papercuts, and smashed your tv before you killed it, or would you bugger off to somewhere where you don't have to deal with that.
Note - this is entirely guesswork, I know nothing about Dread Beasts

 

[Kiera]

Oh, that clarifies some things. Gonna post an updated plan in that case. Praying more after a close call like this is pretty normal behaviour, I believe.

[X] Plan: Bird goes to Mass.
-[X] [Bonus Focus Action] Acquire a bird companion.
-[X] [Focus Action] Research the Wessex Adolescent Championship with the other squires.
-[X] [Secondary Action] Go to Mass.
-[X] [Chancellery] Slowing Down for the Commons
-[X] Training and Zeal (21 Training, 92 Zeal)
–[X] Spend 9 Training on mandated curriculum from Reinald (Hordebreaker 2 and two Rough Rotes)
–[X] Spend 3/3 Training on Strandsense
–[X] Spend 3/3 Training on Web Shape
–[X] Spend 6/27 Training on Clever Deflection
–[X] Spend 16/16 Zeal on Soma 6
–[X] Spend 32/32 Zeal on Hama 6
–[X] Spend 42/42 Zeal on advancing to the 5th Bead
–[X] Leave 2 Zeal unspent

 

[AeonIlluminate]

[X] Plan: Bird goes to Mass.

Yeah, knowing we can get more Grace faster if we throw actions at it makes this seem like a better idea

 

[10ebbor10]

Mind you, the time frame is going to accelerate because we can only come up with so many Squire level adventures for you before we get to the main game, but we're still looking minimum Turn 10 for this.

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Dang, and here I was looking forward to rescuing kittens from trees, fetching 7 different ingredient's for the castles cook, and serving as a somewhat improbable go between in a torrid affair of young love that looks suspiciously like someone cribbed of Romeo and Juliet.

 

[Nepcalibur]

[X] Plan: Bird goes to Mass.

 

[Varano]

[X] Plan: Bird goes to Mass.
-[X] [Bonus Focus Action] Acquire a bird companion.
-[X] [Focus Action] Research the Wessex Adolescent Championship with the other squires.
-[X] [Secondary Action] Go to Mass.
-[X] [Chancellery] Slowing Down for the Commons
-[X] Training and Zeal (21 Training, 92 Zeal)
–[X] Spend 9 Training on mandated curriculum from Reinald (Hordebreaker 2 and two Rough Rotes)
–[X] Spend 3/3 Training on Strandsense
–[X] Spend 3/3 Training on Web Shape
–[X] Spend 6/27 Training on Clever Deflection
–[X] Spend 16/16 Zeal on Soma 6
–[X] Spend 32/32 Zeal on Hama 6
–[X] Spend 42/42 Zeal on advancing to the 5th Bead
–[X] Leave 2 Zeal unspent

 

[H2F2]

[X] Plan: Bird goes to Mass.

The more Zeal there is, the better.

 

[DangerKitty]

[X] Plan: Bird goes to Mass.

 

[EternalStruggle]

[X] Plan: Bird goes to Mass.

 

[Kiera]

To be clear, I don't think we should necessarily pursue Grace in this way to the exclusion of all else. But some at the right time is absolutely valuable and makes sense. I like it now because this early every point of Grace is a higher percentage increase of Zeal gained than it will be later. And because it's right after we almost died.

 

[FatedBread]

Would people be open to work towards mastering something like Giant-Killing Blow, Vanguard's prayer or Prayer for Preservence (instead of clever deflection)?

Giant-Killing Blow scales up well with our cultivation, as we get more fervor replenish and the potential to use it more than once a turn. Coming from a rare-style that specialises in punching up, we're not likely to find better options soon. Additionally, opponent squires in the tournament will be heavily armored (100 armor for a 3rd decade squire) so we'll want more damage to punch through. GKB also has enhanced armor damage which will be very handy.

Armour Value – The armour has an Armour Value qual to the wearer's Fervour Replenish x 5

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Giant-Killing Blow (15 Fervour): This mighty blow deals 120 Damage (a minimum of 30 damage to armour)

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Levelling the Prayer's are good in that we constantly have them active, use them every turn, in pretty much every fight. And as we get more prayer's, lowering the cost / increasing the bonuses of our existing bread & butter ones would help a lot. And unlike moves, if we get a better prayer, we likely can just use both together rather than choosing one or the other.

Finally, we can develop more ways to create openings in the future, be it further refining our faulty ground, other hama shapes or coordinated attacks with our Hawk.
Finally, we'll likely get more options to create openings in the immediate future, with Hordebreaker having multi-parry / defence moves.

Hordebreaker - Defending against multiple simultaneous attacks, attacks that hit multiple enemies at once, maybe boosted Rebuke. Stuff like that. Basically all the basic 'one vs. many' things you might expect.

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EDIT: Updated with clarification on what hordebreaker offers.

[X] Plan: Expanding our Foundation