Edit: disclaimer, I have only a bare idea of what I'm doing, If I offend someone(because Araby...
Making Araby great again, a Sultan quest(Warhammer Fantasy)
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Character creation
- Location
- Toronto, Ontario(occasionally)
Edit: disclaimer, I have only a bare idea of what I'm doing, If I offend someone(because Araby is inspired? by middle eastern and Islamic? nations), I apologize in advance.
Feel free to decide I'm doing/portraying/existing wrong, and if you have actually constructive advice about how to do it better then PM me, when you do, skip the criticism and move on to 'I advise you do _ this way because _', or I will ignore you, not because you haven't said something useful or smart, but because I don't want to deal with a bunch of messages from people who want to be critical of me every time I sign in(assuming this draws that much interest, HA).
Making Araby great again, a Sultan quest
You are Ossman Ibn Sa'di and you are betrayed.
You had been enjoying a quiet moment, looking out over the life-giving river running through the heart of your father's city. Across and some ways down the river was the shining gold minaret of the temple 'Prophet Abdul Rashid's Vigil' looking out over the bay the river opened into.
The structure was nearly 100 meters tall, and shone with the reflected rays of the sun bouncing off of the precious metals and gems adorning its body, making it the second most expensive building in the city. The exterior decorations told eight traditional tales of morality and legend, and nine tales of the prophet Abdul Rashid's life and achievement, visible to any of the numerous pilgrims visiting the holy site should they choose to walk the perimeter of the building. These displays of riches and piety were preserved through the tireless efforts of the temple guard, drawn from the most experienced of the dervishers, and tasked with guiding the faithful though the building and to and from the sermons and relics within.
It was lauded as an expression of the ascendency of your nation, symbolic of the greatness, wealth, and depth of valuable tradition your people had accrued under the guiding hand of the priesthood -and of course, the Sultanate.
At the foot of the opulent walls the temple guard glared suspiciously at a pack of ragged street urchins, concerned that they might try to steal a part of the wealth on display for themselves.
The sight was ... thought provoking, and as it always did, it led you to ruminate further on the path you would set yourself in life, for it was indivisible from the people your family would rule.
As the fifth son of the Sultan, by a low-born wife no less, you were very unlikely to inherit the throne naturally, and unnatural causes did not seem to be forthcoming, or even particularly desirable.
A man of lower character and greater ambition might have begun scheming to take the throne by guile or force, but that was not for you, the laws of inheritance were as God's book and your father's decree wrote, you would not challenge them for selfish reasons.
A man of lesser responsibility or restraint might have fallen into indolence, taking advantage of the thousand luxuries offered to you each day as a child of royalty to lose yourself, burying the lack of purpose in your life below the anticipation of the next distraction, but that path seemed increasingly hollow to you as you grew out of boyhood.
A man of greater wanderlust or lesser love for your people might have sought fortune and significance elsewhere, in far off lands out of the shadows of your more prominent siblings, but compared to service to your people the siren call of adventure held no allure.
You had resolved yourself to seek a role supporting your nation, perhaps roles open to a child of royalty that could not inherit were less glorious than sitting on the throne, but the nation needed skilled subordinates to carry out the Sultan's will and address the corruption that would not always be visible from on high.
It was by the constant and unceasing efforts of dozens of generals, priests, spies, scholars, administrators and emissaries that Araby existed at all against the challenges your civilization faced day by day.
As such you had been grooming yourself for a role as
[] a leader of fighting men, acting in defence of your people's lands. A traditional role for unneeded sons, the closeness of your relation to the current Sultan would allow you to bypass many local obstacles and issues of petty grudges or pride in defence of your homeland.(+martial dice when rolling character, connections in the army)
[] a shepherd of the people's souls, acting in defence of your people's spirits. Like many before you, you would study the depths of theology to succor your people against both spiritual and physical ailments.(+piety dice when rolling character, connections in the priesthood)
[] an emissary, bringing the Sultan's words to both good Arabyans, and heathens alike, and supporting the unity and interests of the greater Arabyan people wherever you're sent. Your blood would open many doors and many ears, if you followed this path(+diplomacy dice, minimal connections all over the place, including the far reaches of Araby)
[] a scholar, studying the achievements of the past and unraveling the present nature of God's world to bring your people new prosperity. An nontraditional course, you still sought this in the hopes of using your connections and status to have new innovations adopted by your people.(+ learning dice, advantages in bypassing social and religious conservatism when trying to convince people to adopt new innovations)
[] a spymaster, seeking the truth in the shadows and concealing it in the light, to fight the darkness that lurks beneath the veneer the world presents to the uninquiring so that it won't touch upon the lives of your people. A nontraditional course, following through on your plans would require that you keep them secret from your siblings, so as to avoid a knife in the back, and produce children quickly to leave with whichever one of your siblings would have become Sultan as hostages to secure the tolerance of the government.(+intrigue dice, a (somewhat)trustworthy mentor and local information network, complications)
Of course all of those futures would require that you live to see them in order to be possible.
Something you recognized as acutely uncertain as you began to go into shock, the paling of blood at the surface of your body contracting inward towards your core, the intense nausea and shortness of breath caused by your internal humors becoming unbalenced, and behind it all the unnatural stuttering of your heart. you looked around in a panic, spluttering your wine out, and looking into the eyes of the serving-slave as they withdrew a dagger first from their robes, then from its scabbard, exposing the dull green whorls on the blade, unnaturally mesmerizing the eye.
Your wine had been poisoned, and though you did not drink all of it, it was enough to prevent you from taking any action to fight death by the blade, even if this slave would have been no match for you normally there was little you could do. Other than, of course, throwing yourself off of the balcony, into the river.
You hit the water with a thunderous splash, seeming all the louder for the deadening of sound like cotton in your ears.
You struggled desperately for breath, trying to get some, any air, down your throat, but breathing had already been getting difficult before you plunged into deep water. Bobbing briefly above the waves you see the palace in flames, already too far gone to be saved.
Lamenting your inability to reach that future you had hoped for, you slip into darkness under the waves.
In your mind's eye you stood nude on a plain, the desert sun beating down overhead, more intense than you've ever felt in reality. Nearly making you long for that time only a minute ago when you were drowning.
You look around for a moment in confusion, but on some level your know where you need to go.
Turning in the direction of the rising sun, you begin your walk.
The eternity of the journey seems only a minute to your half-addled mind, as you stumble unheedingly past lush and quenching oases that were never there. Ignoring the voices of loved ones, your pleading mother Sayida and stern father Sultan Sa'di Ibn Adil, your cajoling elder brother Hikmat, respected as only a little boy could despite his foolish escapades, and your tearful long deceased nanny from when you were merely a boy, a woman whose name you cannot make yourself remember but whose scent, of soap and linen with a hint of flowering blood lily during the spring, you will never forget, all of them from people you begin to realize you will never see again and increasingly obstacles that you cannot divert your path, hedges of cacti and yawning chasms to bar the way, spikes and coals to pain your bare feet and armies of horrors to turn you from your path.
Yet each distraction melts away to nothing as you pass through, burning away like a mist under the beating sun.
You could fill a small epic with the journey alone, yet beside the Need to reach the destination it is meaningless, unworthy of note, and already fading from memory.
So you come upon a titan, standing upon the plain, you cannot determine it's height, and you cannot count the number of wings that spring from its body.
You can marvel at how long it takes to get any bigger in your vision, despite the timeless quality of the trek.
Eventually you come to a stop, craning your neck to stare upwards towards where its eyes would be, if you could see any. Nonetheless you get the sense that you've met it's gaze.
And then you KNOW.
For too long your people have lacked a secular authority that can balance the strength of religious authority, for too long your people have looked to past glory for strength without thought of what the future might offer, since the fall of Bel-Alliad it has been so. You've been set a holy task, to unify Araby in more than just name, and in a manner that will survive your death, and to lead your nation both to victory over the forces that are coming tear down all mankind, and into the future, to meet and take advantage of the changes that are coming on your own terms.
This is your mission, And you have no choice but to accept it and make it your own, or abandon all you have ever had faith in.
And your world is dissolved in retching up the contents of your stomach and half the contents of your lungs onto the sand between your fingers, listening to the shouts of panic and the clamor of both the city guard and the bucket brigades drawing from the river.
You need to get up, you have a job to do.
What do you tell your men to focus on?(write in the order of priority. voting must be in plan format)
[]the trade district in general
[]the docks in particular
[]the palace
[]the temple district
[]the barracks
[]the inner walls
[]the district walls
[]the outer walls
[]the other noble estates
[]the tradesman district
[]the hovelheap(eastern slums)
[]the mud lands(western slums)
Do you contribute personally?
[]yes(raises morale)
[]no(eliminates chance of making injury due to poisoning worse or drawing a second assassination attempt)
All of the below physical traits have a 50% chance of being heritable, with bonuses to probability and rerolls possible depending on blessings and magic and the like. Voting for this stage must be in plan format.
(choose 2, don't choose tall and short at once)Physical:
[ ] Tall: You stand a head above most, giving you an edge in combat and a little bit of extra respect from everyone that has to lean backwards to look you in the eye. +2 martial, bonus to relations with anyone that respects size, bonus to intimidation attempts
[ ] Extremely Short: Not just a little shorter than most, but significantly so, comparable to a child, a halfling or a dwarf. Being overlooked is infuriating, but often useful. -2 martial, +4 intrigue, bonus to halfling and dwarf relations but malus to leading humans and other tall creatures
[ ] Strong: A very straightforward advantage. +4 martial
[ ] Quick: you're much faster on your feet than normal +3 martial, +1 intrigue
(choose 3)Mental:
[ ] Animal Kinship: You have a gift for getting along with and training animals. Regular animals, that is; it'd take a lot of work and luck to apply the knack to, say, a Roc. +1 Diplomacy
[ ] Brave: You can withstand terrors that make others flee. +1 Martial
[ ] Eidetic Memory: Unless severely distracted, you are able to memorize anything at a glance and recall it in perfect detail later. +1 Learning
[ ] Gossipmonger: You have a knack for keeping one ear on the buzz of gossip all around you, giving you early warnings when something isn't quite right in your immediate vicinity and a source of low-level local information. +1 Intrigue
[ ] Principled: You are almost pained by the idea of betraying your principles and aren't likely the bend or break on the matter +1 Piety
[ ] Organized: Through habit or obsession, you keep everything neat, tidy, and in it's place. +1 Stewardship
[ ] Polyglot: You easily pick up new languages. +1 Diplomacy
[ ] Genius: Your mind works with a furious intensity that is sometimes frightening to those who know you well enough to understand it. +2 to all stats, drawbacks and complications
[ ] Stickler: You measure however many times you need to. You do the job once and do it well. +1 Stewardship
[ ] Superstitious: You know a hundred different superstitions for averting bad luck and keeping the evil eye off you. Maybe some of them work. +1 Piety
[ ] Touched by Death: In your youth you were present to view a Tomb King raid cut through your trusted guards and friends, striking fear into your heart. As an adult, that fear has been reforged into hatred. Hatred of Undead trait +2 Martial VS undead.
[ ] Savaged by beasts: In your youth you were clawed by a beastman while out on a hunting trip. Deciding that the aversion this trauma had created was unseemly you and your father planned further 'hunting trips', this time seeking a more dangerous game, to desensitize you and fan your enmity into a burning source of strength. Hatred of Beastmen trait +2 martial VS beastmen
Feel free to decide I'm doing/portraying/existing wrong, and if you have actually constructive advice about how to do it better then PM me, when you do, skip the criticism and move on to 'I advise you do _ this way because _', or I will ignore you, not because you haven't said something useful or smart, but because I don't want to deal with a bunch of messages from people who want to be critical of me every time I sign in(assuming this draws that much interest, HA).
Making Araby great again, a Sultan quest
You are Ossman Ibn Sa'di and you are betrayed.
You had been enjoying a quiet moment, looking out over the life-giving river running through the heart of your father's city. Across and some ways down the river was the shining gold minaret of the temple 'Prophet Abdul Rashid's Vigil' looking out over the bay the river opened into.
The structure was nearly 100 meters tall, and shone with the reflected rays of the sun bouncing off of the precious metals and gems adorning its body, making it the second most expensive building in the city. The exterior decorations told eight traditional tales of morality and legend, and nine tales of the prophet Abdul Rashid's life and achievement, visible to any of the numerous pilgrims visiting the holy site should they choose to walk the perimeter of the building. These displays of riches and piety were preserved through the tireless efforts of the temple guard, drawn from the most experienced of the dervishers, and tasked with guiding the faithful though the building and to and from the sermons and relics within.
It was lauded as an expression of the ascendency of your nation, symbolic of the greatness, wealth, and depth of valuable tradition your people had accrued under the guiding hand of the priesthood -and of course, the Sultanate.
At the foot of the opulent walls the temple guard glared suspiciously at a pack of ragged street urchins, concerned that they might try to steal a part of the wealth on display for themselves.
The sight was ... thought provoking, and as it always did, it led you to ruminate further on the path you would set yourself in life, for it was indivisible from the people your family would rule.
As the fifth son of the Sultan, by a low-born wife no less, you were very unlikely to inherit the throne naturally, and unnatural causes did not seem to be forthcoming, or even particularly desirable.
A man of lower character and greater ambition might have begun scheming to take the throne by guile or force, but that was not for you, the laws of inheritance were as God's book and your father's decree wrote, you would not challenge them for selfish reasons.
A man of lesser responsibility or restraint might have fallen into indolence, taking advantage of the thousand luxuries offered to you each day as a child of royalty to lose yourself, burying the lack of purpose in your life below the anticipation of the next distraction, but that path seemed increasingly hollow to you as you grew out of boyhood.
A man of greater wanderlust or lesser love for your people might have sought fortune and significance elsewhere, in far off lands out of the shadows of your more prominent siblings, but compared to service to your people the siren call of adventure held no allure.
You had resolved yourself to seek a role supporting your nation, perhaps roles open to a child of royalty that could not inherit were less glorious than sitting on the throne, but the nation needed skilled subordinates to carry out the Sultan's will and address the corruption that would not always be visible from on high.
It was by the constant and unceasing efforts of dozens of generals, priests, spies, scholars, administrators and emissaries that Araby existed at all against the challenges your civilization faced day by day.
As such you had been grooming yourself for a role as
[] a leader of fighting men, acting in defence of your people's lands. A traditional role for unneeded sons, the closeness of your relation to the current Sultan would allow you to bypass many local obstacles and issues of petty grudges or pride in defence of your homeland.(+martial dice when rolling character, connections in the army)
[] a shepherd of the people's souls, acting in defence of your people's spirits. Like many before you, you would study the depths of theology to succor your people against both spiritual and physical ailments.(+piety dice when rolling character, connections in the priesthood)
[] an emissary, bringing the Sultan's words to both good Arabyans, and heathens alike, and supporting the unity and interests of the greater Arabyan people wherever you're sent. Your blood would open many doors and many ears, if you followed this path(+diplomacy dice, minimal connections all over the place, including the far reaches of Araby)
[] a scholar, studying the achievements of the past and unraveling the present nature of God's world to bring your people new prosperity. An nontraditional course, you still sought this in the hopes of using your connections and status to have new innovations adopted by your people.(+ learning dice, advantages in bypassing social and religious conservatism when trying to convince people to adopt new innovations)
[] a spymaster, seeking the truth in the shadows and concealing it in the light, to fight the darkness that lurks beneath the veneer the world presents to the uninquiring so that it won't touch upon the lives of your people. A nontraditional course, following through on your plans would require that you keep them secret from your siblings, so as to avoid a knife in the back, and produce children quickly to leave with whichever one of your siblings would have become Sultan as hostages to secure the tolerance of the government.(+intrigue dice, a (somewhat)trustworthy mentor and local information network, complications)
Of course all of those futures would require that you live to see them in order to be possible.
Something you recognized as acutely uncertain as you began to go into shock, the paling of blood at the surface of your body contracting inward towards your core, the intense nausea and shortness of breath caused by your internal humors becoming unbalenced, and behind it all the unnatural stuttering of your heart. you looked around in a panic, spluttering your wine out, and looking into the eyes of the serving-slave as they withdrew a dagger first from their robes, then from its scabbard, exposing the dull green whorls on the blade, unnaturally mesmerizing the eye.
Your wine had been poisoned, and though you did not drink all of it, it was enough to prevent you from taking any action to fight death by the blade, even if this slave would have been no match for you normally there was little you could do. Other than, of course, throwing yourself off of the balcony, into the river.
You hit the water with a thunderous splash, seeming all the louder for the deadening of sound like cotton in your ears.
You struggled desperately for breath, trying to get some, any air, down your throat, but breathing had already been getting difficult before you plunged into deep water. Bobbing briefly above the waves you see the palace in flames, already too far gone to be saved.
Lamenting your inability to reach that future you had hoped for, you slip into darkness under the waves.
In your mind's eye you stood nude on a plain, the desert sun beating down overhead, more intense than you've ever felt in reality. Nearly making you long for that time only a minute ago when you were drowning.
You look around for a moment in confusion, but on some level your know where you need to go.
Turning in the direction of the rising sun, you begin your walk.
The eternity of the journey seems only a minute to your half-addled mind, as you stumble unheedingly past lush and quenching oases that were never there. Ignoring the voices of loved ones, your pleading mother Sayida and stern father Sultan Sa'di Ibn Adil, your cajoling elder brother Hikmat, respected as only a little boy could despite his foolish escapades, and your tearful long deceased nanny from when you were merely a boy, a woman whose name you cannot make yourself remember but whose scent, of soap and linen with a hint of flowering blood lily during the spring, you will never forget, all of them from people you begin to realize you will never see again and increasingly obstacles that you cannot divert your path, hedges of cacti and yawning chasms to bar the way, spikes and coals to pain your bare feet and armies of horrors to turn you from your path.
Yet each distraction melts away to nothing as you pass through, burning away like a mist under the beating sun.
You could fill a small epic with the journey alone, yet beside the Need to reach the destination it is meaningless, unworthy of note, and already fading from memory.
So you come upon a titan, standing upon the plain, you cannot determine it's height, and you cannot count the number of wings that spring from its body.
You can marvel at how long it takes to get any bigger in your vision, despite the timeless quality of the trek.
Eventually you come to a stop, craning your neck to stare upwards towards where its eyes would be, if you could see any. Nonetheless you get the sense that you've met it's gaze.
And then you KNOW.
For too long your people have lacked a secular authority that can balance the strength of religious authority, for too long your people have looked to past glory for strength without thought of what the future might offer, since the fall of Bel-Alliad it has been so. You've been set a holy task, to unify Araby in more than just name, and in a manner that will survive your death, and to lead your nation both to victory over the forces that are coming tear down all mankind, and into the future, to meet and take advantage of the changes that are coming on your own terms.
This is your mission, And you have no choice but to accept it and make it your own, or abandon all you have ever had faith in.
And your world is dissolved in retching up the contents of your stomach and half the contents of your lungs onto the sand between your fingers, listening to the shouts of panic and the clamor of both the city guard and the bucket brigades drawing from the river.
You need to get up, you have a job to do.
What do you tell your men to focus on?(write in the order of priority. voting must be in plan format)
[]the trade district in general
[]the docks in particular
[]the palace
[]the temple district
[]the barracks
[]the inner walls
[]the district walls
[]the outer walls
[]the other noble estates
[]the tradesman district
[]the hovelheap(eastern slums)
[]the mud lands(western slums)
Do you contribute personally?
[]yes(raises morale)
[]no(eliminates chance of making injury due to poisoning worse or drawing a second assassination attempt)
All of the below physical traits have a 50% chance of being heritable, with bonuses to probability and rerolls possible depending on blessings and magic and the like. Voting for this stage must be in plan format.
(choose 2, don't choose tall and short at once)Physical:
[ ] Tall: You stand a head above most, giving you an edge in combat and a little bit of extra respect from everyone that has to lean backwards to look you in the eye. +2 martial, bonus to relations with anyone that respects size, bonus to intimidation attempts
[ ] Extremely Short: Not just a little shorter than most, but significantly so, comparable to a child, a halfling or a dwarf. Being overlooked is infuriating, but often useful. -2 martial, +4 intrigue, bonus to halfling and dwarf relations but malus to leading humans and other tall creatures
[ ] Strong: A very straightforward advantage. +4 martial
[ ] Quick: you're much faster on your feet than normal +3 martial, +1 intrigue
(choose 3)Mental:
[ ] Animal Kinship: You have a gift for getting along with and training animals. Regular animals, that is; it'd take a lot of work and luck to apply the knack to, say, a Roc. +1 Diplomacy
[ ] Brave: You can withstand terrors that make others flee. +1 Martial
[ ] Eidetic Memory: Unless severely distracted, you are able to memorize anything at a glance and recall it in perfect detail later. +1 Learning
[ ] Gossipmonger: You have a knack for keeping one ear on the buzz of gossip all around you, giving you early warnings when something isn't quite right in your immediate vicinity and a source of low-level local information. +1 Intrigue
[ ] Principled: You are almost pained by the idea of betraying your principles and aren't likely the bend or break on the matter +1 Piety
[ ] Organized: Through habit or obsession, you keep everything neat, tidy, and in it's place. +1 Stewardship
[ ] Polyglot: You easily pick up new languages. +1 Diplomacy
[ ] Genius: Your mind works with a furious intensity that is sometimes frightening to those who know you well enough to understand it. +2 to all stats, drawbacks and complications
[ ] Stickler: You measure however many times you need to. You do the job once and do it well. +1 Stewardship
[ ] Superstitious: You know a hundred different superstitions for averting bad luck and keeping the evil eye off you. Maybe some of them work. +1 Piety
[ ] Touched by Death: In your youth you were present to view a Tomb King raid cut through your trusted guards and friends, striking fear into your heart. As an adult, that fear has been reforged into hatred. Hatred of Undead trait +2 Martial VS undead.
[ ] Savaged by beasts: In your youth you were clawed by a beastman while out on a hunting trip. Deciding that the aversion this trauma had created was unseemly you and your father planned further 'hunting trips', this time seeking a more dangerous game, to desensitize you and fan your enmity into a burning source of strength. Hatred of Beastmen trait +2 martial VS beastmen
Last edited:
Character Sheet
- Location
- Toronto, Ontario(occasionally)
Character Sheet
Name: Ossman Ibn Sa'di (Ossman, son of Sa'di. In the full formal title there are are a bunch of other 'son of' iterations tracking his male ancestry, but I'll be skipping them whenever the issue comes up)
Date of Birth : 2267 IC
Titles: Caliph of Khufra, Heir Apparent to the Throne of Araby
Prestige: 125 (fights and leads decently well, fought that one Chaos champion, Got the bird poop smell out)
Wargear: You have good steel weapons and plate armor.(and lots of replacements for when they break)
Fate points: 0
Kills: 3 brown coated infiltrators of unknown origin, 3 Zabraq (Zabraq)
Background: =+4 to base diplomacy
Traits: -
Strong: A very straightforward advantage. You are one of the strongest men of your generation, capable of overpowering foes on to lower end of inhuman strength with nothing but honed natural ability. +4 martial
Quick: You're much faster on your feet than normal. Your reflexes are absurd, and average men have trouble tracking you visually when you loosen up and really start moving. +3 martial +1 intrigue
Animal Kinship: You have a gift for getting along with and training animals. Regular animals, that is; it'd take a lot of work and luck to apply the knack to, say, a Roc. +1 Diplomacy
Eidetic Memory: Unless severely distracted, you are able to memorize anything at a glance and recall it in perfect detail later. +1 Learning
Polyglot: You easily pick up new languages. +1 Diplomacy
Popular Great Sultan: When you called your people to confirm your ascension they came from all across the peninsula and overwhelmingly responded with support, despite no previous knowledge of you.
+2 Diplomacy with Arabyans, may degrade or upgrade
The Potential: You've always felt like there's a deeper connection with god, right on the edge of your mind, at the tip of your tongue. Once you have the time you could develop this into something more.
Martial: 14 +4 +3 =21, You lean pretty heavily on your natural physical talent, but actually put in a little more training than average to make sure you can make most effective use of that talent in combat. Through innate ability and hard work you've started to edge past the threat level that a normal person can deal with.
Diplomacy: 16 +1+1 =18(20 with Arabyans), between long practice and a natural affinity for both languages and the more instinctive interactions of beasts, spoken through body language and tone, you've achieved skill at matters diplomatic significantly above the average.
Stewardship: 18 =18, you were always really good at managing both people and numbers, with your excellent memory backing you up in your studies and efforts in this direction you've taken this to a praiseworthy level.
Learning: 11 +1 =12, You're well studied enough, but not especially knowledgeable in any field you didn't expect to need, or in anything particularly esoteric.
Piety: 20 =20, (nat 20, do you express natural priest powers or just have the potential? Roll: 23/100, Just the potential) Your faith burns within you, a quiet source of strength that none would dare doubt or cast aspersions upon, though since your vision you've been feeling like there's something more, just beyond your reach.
Intrigue:7+1 =8, You aren't very good at the shadow games of the court, not especially terrible, but not good either.
Name: Ossman Ibn Sa'di (Ossman, son of Sa'di. In the full formal title there are are a bunch of other 'son of' iterations tracking his male ancestry, but I'll be skipping them whenever the issue comes up)
Date of Birth : 2267 IC
Titles: Caliph of Khufra, Heir Apparent to the Throne of Araby
Prestige: 125 (fights and leads decently well, fought that one Chaos champion, Got the bird poop smell out)
Wargear: You have good steel weapons and plate armor.(and lots of replacements for when they break)
Fate points: 0
Kills: 3 brown coated infiltrators of unknown origin, 3 Zabraq (Zabraq)
Background: =+4 to base diplomacy
Traits: -
Strong: A very straightforward advantage. You are one of the strongest men of your generation, capable of overpowering foes on to lower end of inhuman strength with nothing but honed natural ability. +4 martial
Quick: You're much faster on your feet than normal. Your reflexes are absurd, and average men have trouble tracking you visually when you loosen up and really start moving. +3 martial +1 intrigue
Animal Kinship: You have a gift for getting along with and training animals. Regular animals, that is; it'd take a lot of work and luck to apply the knack to, say, a Roc. +1 Diplomacy
Eidetic Memory: Unless severely distracted, you are able to memorize anything at a glance and recall it in perfect detail later. +1 Learning
Polyglot: You easily pick up new languages. +1 Diplomacy
Popular Great Sultan: When you called your people to confirm your ascension they came from all across the peninsula and overwhelmingly responded with support, despite no previous knowledge of you.
+2 Diplomacy with Arabyans, may degrade or upgrade
The Potential: You've always felt like there's a deeper connection with god, right on the edge of your mind, at the tip of your tongue. Once you have the time you could develop this into something more.
Martial: 14 +4 +3 =21, You lean pretty heavily on your natural physical talent, but actually put in a little more training than average to make sure you can make most effective use of that talent in combat. Through innate ability and hard work you've started to edge past the threat level that a normal person can deal with.
Diplomacy: 16 +1+1 =18(20 with Arabyans), between long practice and a natural affinity for both languages and the more instinctive interactions of beasts, spoken through body language and tone, you've achieved skill at matters diplomatic significantly above the average.
Stewardship: 18 =18, you were always really good at managing both people and numbers, with your excellent memory backing you up in your studies and efforts in this direction you've taken this to a praiseworthy level.
Learning: 11 +1 =12, You're well studied enough, but not especially knowledgeable in any field you didn't expect to need, or in anything particularly esoteric.
Piety: 20 =20, (nat 20, do you express natural priest powers or just have the potential? Roll: 23/100, Just the potential) Your faith burns within you, a quiet source of strength that none would dare doubt or cast aspersions upon, though since your vision you've been feeling like there's something more, just beyond your reach.
Intrigue:7+1 =8, You aren't very good at the shadow games of the court, not especially terrible, but not good either.
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State of the realm
- Location
- Toronto, Ontario(occasionally)
Everything on the northern coast east of the Emirate of Kamt was destroyed in a war during the reign of the sultan preceding you and the Emirate of Kamt is down to some nomads, two forts, a partially-finished fishing village, and some people looking for mines that were open before the war.
Trade and 'Trade' in the sea of Infidels, both with the estalians and with other Arabyans: 1,000
Government owned plantation farms: 900
Government owned mines: 500
Taxes
Peasantry: 80 (medium)
Tradesmen: 120 (medium)
Nobility: 250(low)
Total: 2850
Itemized expenses of the Caliphate of Khufra:
Army: (foot)390 +(mounted)380 +(knights of Araby upkeep)27 =797
The part of the Araby Guard upkeep you pay =100
Navy: 410
Infrastructure including Trade fleet(dhows, cogs and a couple galleons) and wood imports: 500
Tribute to that Roc your father pissed off: 50
Total: 1,857
Net profit: +993/turn
Military forces of the Caliphate of Khufra:
Military Organization, In theory each noble is supposed to raise and equip troops to a standard set by the local Caliph or Emir then send them off and pay for their upkeep as part of their taxes, somehow this mutated into doing so in exchange for a tax break, in reality the situation is even less consistent and more complicated than that.
A bunch of nobles don't actually raise troops, but instead just send the extra money, and leave the territory to organize things.
As the wealthiest noble in Khufra, you actually send much of the funds used to maintain the military to yourself.
The territory raised troops tend to be more consistently equipped, trained to a higher standard and more loyal than those raised by local authorities.
Costs Basically assume 500 men will cost 100 gold to raise, and 10,000 men have an upkeep of 100 gold. With Guard and knights costing 3 times that
-Standing army:
Morale: 3/10
Total:
58,000 + 12,000 +2,600
39,000 foot, 7,000 mounted, 12,000 mounted mercs, 2,600 knights
12,000(mostly deployed) Arabyan Guard
15,000 Spearmen: Equipped with an iron or steel tipped spear, a hide shield, and possibly some kind of light armor, these troops make up much of the line of battle. These troops are theoretically raised and armed by the leaders of major settlements and nobility to a minimum standard set by the Caliph, but as often as not just bring their own equipment instead, believing that what they've been supplied is inferior to the weapons they're familiar with.
(12 units)6,000 Swordsmen: Equipped with a steel sword a wood or hide shield, and often some kind of armor, these troops are much less numerous than the spearmen, but are generally of a higher quality, at least because the weapon requires that a user take their training seriously over an extended period to become effective with it.
(36 units)18,000 Bowmen: Equipped with a bow, a quiver of arrows and maybe a dagger, the bow is a traditional weapon of Araby, and most people outside of the cities practice with one frequently. These troops are theoretically raised and armed by the leaders of major settlements and nobility to a minimum standard set by the Caliph, but as often as not just bring their own equipment instead, believing that what they've been supplied is inferior to the weapons they're familiar with.
(8 units)4,000 Guard: Equipped with the finest in human made weapons and armor, and even a handful of earned or inherited bits of more exotic gear, their colorful silks and gilded armor making their importance clear to all who see, these troops are raised from the ranks of the most accomplished and skilled form the retinue of nobles in battle, or personally serve the Sultan of all Araby.(closest thing Araby has to state troops, you only pay a small part of their upkeep, they can fight on foot or one horseback as appropriate, and tend to be broken down into 500 man units with a range of capabilities)
160 + 500 Knights(in two knightly orders, one secular, one religious): originally a northerner tradition, the idea of knighthood was eventually adopted by the Arabyan people when they saw the practical value of a massed charge of armored horse on the battlefield. Knights ride Arabyan warhorses, descended from elven stock and perhaps the best breed of horseflesh outside of Bretonnia, and are armored in scale mail and half-plate(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Demi-armure_MG_0793.JPG), while being armed with long lances and Scimitars, some formations also use a heavy bow.
(8 units)4,000 Desert Riders, the best light cavalry in the world, they specialize in the use of bows, but have a scimitar if they need to charge the enemy, equipped with a variety of types of light armor, all the way up to scale mail
(6 units)3,000 Camel Riders, Similar to Desert Riders, these troops are less tactically but more strategically mobile than their counterparts mounted on horses.
-Auxiliaries
5,000ish Desert Riders
7,000ish Camel Riders
(however many show up)Dervishers, unbreakable religious fanatics equipped with whatever they could bring along
(however many show up) militia, generally worse spearmen and bowmen, occasionally people armed with farming tools
not available right now
(16 units)8000 guard, scattered around Araby, representing the Sultanate's interests
740 Knights of Araby, 1,200 Knights Templar
Naval Forces of the Caliphate of Khufra:
36 Galleys(primarily oar driven ram ship, better in shallow water, some balistae and archers)
5 Galleas(larger, slower, slightly stupid attempt to combine oars and a broadside)
Whatever merchants and pirates can be convinced to show up
41/100 Military berths filled
Emirate of Ka-sabar: (Territory is a frequent battleground VS the undead and threats from the desert, concerned about the undead, violent rivalry with Symarra, the Tomb King city of Ka Sabar is a bit north and east of their territory)
Caliphate of Zoan: (very standoffish to everyone outside of his lands, holds a strategically important river mouth)
Calphate of Agade: (A hard people, used to frequent war and expanding into previously lost areas, no current trade agreements with the Lizardmen, would like to sell you elephants, but the pirates are in the way and you don't have the food security you'd want, reports minor Orc and Southlander problems, sending assistance to fight the undead)
Emirate of Al-Anaim: (defunct, occupied by imperials, sworn to the elected emperors)
Emirate of Lugash: (prosperous, sending assistance east, influenced by Bretonnian culture, especially with regards to duels and cavalry composition, with a minority that do not follow the common religion, contains the ruins of Antoch, Emir is unambitious and doesn't want to become embroiled in anything, but will still get involved when his priests call for it)
Caliphate of Medes: (wealthy off of trade and manufacturing, has significant soft power and favors banked in the south, is currently focusing on rebuilding their force of fighting men)
Emirate of Debeqea: (Damaged in civil war and never fully recovered, thinks you might be favoring his rival, doesn't like centralized power, despite all of this the representative walked away with a good impression of you)
Emirate of Songhai: (wealthy off of trade with the Far East, Has no problem with you, but doesn't particularly like you)
Emirate of Sud: (major food shortage, water shortage, desert beastmen attacks, is offering his first daughter's hand to any who can help, might be assassinated soon)
Caliphate of Ghafsa: (food shortage, minor raids by beastmen and nomads)
Emirate of Tambukta: (recent losses to beastmen, want revenge, currently fighting nomads, concentrated on the other side of the mountains, some food shortages)
Caliphate of Khufra(you): (recently suffered a major attack on the palace, problems with necromancers, beastmen, and ghouls, some food shortage)
Caliphate of Nejaz: (Full scale war against both beastmen and Nomads, some food shortages)
Emirate of Copher: (Spice trade, scholars and wizards, they still have a highly visible guild of sorcerers despite the current national antipathy towards magic, their pirates compete with yours but historically you've otherwise worked well together)
Emirate of Martek: (Concerned with stoppage of trade in manufactured goods and luxuries, is unable to export metal, Concerned with beastmen raiding their trade and outer settlements)
Emirate of Al-Haikk: (In rebellion, you suspect some relation to your father's death, Largest trading port in Araby, there is a massive divide between the haves and the have-nots with the former often trying to squeeze the latter out of what little they have, leading to rampant theft and crime as the lower classes try to support themselves and rebel, a couple of other settlements supporting the big city)
Emirate of Mabbah: (province prioritizes strength through faith, stubborn and successful foes of the Tomb Kings, Jealous of Al-Haikk, wants more support against the undead)
Emirate of Kamt: (nearly defunct, excepting a nomad chief with a blood relation to the one-time rulers who has spent time in the lands his blood gives him claim on, interested in getting you to suppress Zandri)
Sorcerer's islands: ???
Internal Nomads: currently extorting or raiding nearly everyone but you(the Caliphate of Khufra), the Emirate of Copher, the Emirate of Al-Haikk, and some of the far south-eastern territories that you're barely aware exist.
List of upgrades:
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Relationship and opinion numbers
- Location
- Toronto, Ontario(occasionally)
Relationship levels
Your peasants 4/10(Who is this guy? Some people say he's a good fighter.)
Your nobles 2/10(Who is this guy? The guy who let all of our palaces get burnt down, son of the guy who lost a lot)
-the nobles that are also merchants 3/10(same as above, but they have more assets in a mobile format and can just leave if you lose)
The Priests ?/10
Caliph of Ashur, Mustafa Abd al-Wali 7/10 (Really want assistance in coming battles against the undead, eager for a fight against the Tomb Kings of the city of Ka Sabar)
Emir of Symarra, Zaki Rashid: 8/10 (Ruled by a former adventurer who is friends with the dwarves, importing dwarf equipment and expertise, is trusted enough to be allowed to buy runic equipment En mass, smug and secure in their currently advantageous position both in general and over their rivals The Emirate of Ka-Sabar, want the Sultanate to support clearing the south of threats and expanding population and infrastructure there)
Emir of Ka-sabar, Shakil Wassim: 7/10 (Territory is a frequent battleground VS the undead and threats from the desert, concerned about the undead, violent rivalry with Symarra, the Tomb King city of Ka Sabar is a bit north and east of their territory)
Caliph of Zoan, Eniola Abd al-Karim: 5/10 (very standoffish to everyone outside of his lands, holds a strategically important river mouth)
Calph of Agade, Karam Abdul-Hamid: 7/10 (A hard people, used to frequent war and expanding into previously lost areas, no current trade agreements with the Lizardmen, would like to sell you elephants, but the pirates are in the way and you don't have the food security you'd want, reports minor Orc and Southlander problems, sending assistance to fight the undead)
Emirate of Al-Anaim(defunct, occupied by imperials)
Emir of Lugash, Khalid Zahir 7/10 (prosperous, sending assistance east, influenced by Bretonnian culture, especially with regards to duels and cavalry composition, with a minority that do not follow the common religion, contains the ruins of Antoch, Emir is unambitious and doesn't want to become embroiled in anything, but will still get involved when his priests call for it)
Caliph of Medes, Anwer Kato: 7/10 (wealthy off of trade and manufacturing, has significant soft power and favors banked in the south, is currently focusing on rebuilding their force of fighting men)
Emir of Debeqea, Yamikani Eskender: 5/10 (Damaged in civil war and never fully recovered, thinks you might be favoring his rival, doesn't like centralized power, despite all of this the representative walked away with a good impression of you, wants to double down on their historical rivalry with the Emirate of Songhai)
Emir of Songhai, Rashid Bahij: 5/10 (wealthy off of trade with the Far East, Has no problem with you, but doesn't particularly like you, wants to stop their historical rivalry with the Emirate of Debeqea)
Emir of Sud, Folami Anwar: 7/10 (major food shortage, water shortage, desert beastmen attacks, is offering his first daughter's hand to any who can help, might be assassinated soon)
Caliph of Ghafsa, Samad Aqil: 8/10 (food shortage, minor raids by beastmen and nomads)
Emir of Tambukta, Suhayl Salma: 7/10 (recent losses to beastmen, want revenge, currently fighting nomads, concentrated on the other side of the mountains, some food shortages)
Caliph of Khufra(you)
Caliph of Nejaz, Baqir Azhar: 6/10 (Full scale war against both beastmen and Nomads, some food shortages)
Emir of Copher, Abbas Ali: 4?/10 (Spice trade, scholars and wizards, they still have a highly visible guild of sorcerers despite the current national antipathy towards magic, their pirates compete with yours but historically you've otherwise worked well together)
Emir of Martek, Saif al-Din Youcef: 6/10 (Concerned with stoppage of trade in manufactured goods and luxuries, is unable to export metal, Concerned with beastmen raiding their trade and outer settlements)
Emir of Al-Haikk, Taj Faraj: 1/10 (In rebellion, you suspect some relation to your father's death, Largest trading port in Araby, there is a massive divide between the haves and the have-nots with the former often trying to squeeze the latter out of what little they have, leading to rampant theft and crime as the lower classes try to support themselves and rebel, a couple of other settlements supporting the big city)
Emir of Mabbah, : 7/10 (province prioritizes strength through faith, stubborn and successful foes of the Tomb Kings, Jealous of Al-Haikk, wants more support against the undead)
Emir of Kamt, Mas'ud Noureddine: 7/10 (nearly defunct, excepting a nomad chief with a blood relation to the one-time rulers who has spent time in the lands his blood gives him claim on, interested in getting you to suppress Zandri)
People to the northeast of the Aguidi mountains 7/10
People to the south of the Aguidi mountains and along the coast 7/10
People living along the coast and gulf of Medes: 5/10
People living along the rivers feeding into the Gulf of Durbaita: 5/10
Sorcerer's island: At least okay?/10
Internal Nomads: ?/10
Your peasants 4/10(Who is this guy? Some people say he's a good fighter.)
Your nobles 2/10(Who is this guy? The guy who let all of our palaces get burnt down, son of the guy who lost a lot)
-the nobles that are also merchants 3/10(same as above, but they have more assets in a mobile format and can just leave if you lose)
The Priests ?/10
Caliph of Ashur, Mustafa Abd al-Wali 7/10 (Really want assistance in coming battles against the undead, eager for a fight against the Tomb Kings of the city of Ka Sabar)
Emir of Symarra, Zaki Rashid: 8/10 (Ruled by a former adventurer who is friends with the dwarves, importing dwarf equipment and expertise, is trusted enough to be allowed to buy runic equipment En mass, smug and secure in their currently advantageous position both in general and over their rivals The Emirate of Ka-Sabar, want the Sultanate to support clearing the south of threats and expanding population and infrastructure there)
Emir of Ka-sabar, Shakil Wassim: 7/10 (Territory is a frequent battleground VS the undead and threats from the desert, concerned about the undead, violent rivalry with Symarra, the Tomb King city of Ka Sabar is a bit north and east of their territory)
Caliph of Zoan, Eniola Abd al-Karim: 5/10 (very standoffish to everyone outside of his lands, holds a strategically important river mouth)
Calph of Agade, Karam Abdul-Hamid: 7/10 (A hard people, used to frequent war and expanding into previously lost areas, no current trade agreements with the Lizardmen, would like to sell you elephants, but the pirates are in the way and you don't have the food security you'd want, reports minor Orc and Southlander problems, sending assistance to fight the undead)
Emirate of Al-Anaim(defunct, occupied by imperials)
Emir of Lugash, Khalid Zahir 7/10 (prosperous, sending assistance east, influenced by Bretonnian culture, especially with regards to duels and cavalry composition, with a minority that do not follow the common religion, contains the ruins of Antoch, Emir is unambitious and doesn't want to become embroiled in anything, but will still get involved when his priests call for it)
Caliph of Medes, Anwer Kato: 7/10 (wealthy off of trade and manufacturing, has significant soft power and favors banked in the south, is currently focusing on rebuilding their force of fighting men)
Emir of Debeqea, Yamikani Eskender: 5/10 (Damaged in civil war and never fully recovered, thinks you might be favoring his rival, doesn't like centralized power, despite all of this the representative walked away with a good impression of you, wants to double down on their historical rivalry with the Emirate of Songhai)
Emir of Songhai, Rashid Bahij: 5/10 (wealthy off of trade with the Far East, Has no problem with you, but doesn't particularly like you, wants to stop their historical rivalry with the Emirate of Debeqea)
Emir of Sud, Folami Anwar: 7/10 (major food shortage, water shortage, desert beastmen attacks, is offering his first daughter's hand to any who can help, might be assassinated soon)
Caliph of Ghafsa, Samad Aqil: 8/10 (food shortage, minor raids by beastmen and nomads)
Emir of Tambukta, Suhayl Salma: 7/10 (recent losses to beastmen, want revenge, currently fighting nomads, concentrated on the other side of the mountains, some food shortages)
Caliph of Khufra(you)
Caliph of Nejaz, Baqir Azhar: 6/10 (Full scale war against both beastmen and Nomads, some food shortages)
Emir of Copher, Abbas Ali: 4?/10 (Spice trade, scholars and wizards, they still have a highly visible guild of sorcerers despite the current national antipathy towards magic, their pirates compete with yours but historically you've otherwise worked well together)
Emir of Martek, Saif al-Din Youcef: 6/10 (Concerned with stoppage of trade in manufactured goods and luxuries, is unable to export metal, Concerned with beastmen raiding their trade and outer settlements)
Emir of Al-Haikk, Taj Faraj: 1/10 (In rebellion, you suspect some relation to your father's death, Largest trading port in Araby, there is a massive divide between the haves and the have-nots with the former often trying to squeeze the latter out of what little they have, leading to rampant theft and crime as the lower classes try to support themselves and rebel, a couple of other settlements supporting the big city)
Emir of Mabbah, : 7/10 (province prioritizes strength through faith, stubborn and successful foes of the Tomb Kings, Jealous of Al-Haikk, wants more support against the undead)
Emir of Kamt, Mas'ud Noureddine: 7/10 (nearly defunct, excepting a nomad chief with a blood relation to the one-time rulers who has spent time in the lands his blood gives him claim on, interested in getting you to suppress Zandri)
People to the northeast of the Aguidi mountains 7/10
People to the south of the Aguidi mountains and along the coast 7/10
People living along the coast and gulf of Medes: 5/10
People living along the rivers feeding into the Gulf of Durbaita: 5/10
Sorcerer's island: At least okay?/10
Internal Nomads: ?/10
this section is being worked on
3 living sibling that weren't in the castle at the time of the kerfuffle
girl1
girl2
3 living sibling that weren't in the castle at the time of the kerfuffle
girl1
girl2
Monte Castello, :
Luccini, :
Verezzo, :
Remas, :
Pavona, :
Trantio, :
Miraglino, :
Tobaro, :
Luccini, :
Verezzo, :
Remas, :
Pavona, :
Trantio, :
Miraglino, :
Tobaro, :
There's at least 40 of them right now, I'll give information on a case by case basis, or when they start consolidating.
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General Background, Benefits and Detriments
- Location
- Toronto, Ontario(occasionally)
The Sultanate of Araby
Religion: Not!Islam, If you can cite a historical practice of Islam(or any middle eastern religion descended from the sorta-Jewish views on the singular nature of God), that you would like to be included, then send me a message or respond to one of my posts here and I might include it.
Race: Human
Magic: Priest prayer powers, in the form of granting people or (with difficulty)objects a person is using additional ability to do something they could already do. This can stretch pretty far, instead of Morrite blessings blocking magic from interfering with corpses, the local priests enhance that person's ability to pass on, and that corpse's ability to remain unaffected by magic, or instead of blessing weapons with an additional effect to make them do more damage or damage intangible enemies, they bless weapons to cut better, and steer that towards better cutting what they expect them to need to cut. Similar outcome, different methodology.
It is difficult but technically possible to game the system, and some of the best powers currently in use come from doing so.
Prophets have the much rarer power of prophesy(duh), they're considered holy because they can essentially ask god for information on current events, past events, and with some inaccuracy, future events, some people claim that all religious dogma is passed down from god through his prophets, a minority claim that past prophets have used their status and the trust of others to codify their own wisdom as religious dogma.
Sorcerers, of a vaguely elementalist bent and a really lengthy tradition of study, with unique experience in binding spirits that may or may not be some manner of Daemon, but the current religious climate is against them in many places, there are known to be an indeterminate, but large, number of them on the Sorcerers' Isles, but they do not brook visitors.
Further clarification, Araby is essentially on the equator, and is thus far from the sources of the Winds of Magic, and isolated from their flow for -other reasons- the Sorcerers often struggle to gather up enough magic to produce any sort of effect beyond the interpersonal scale, and have been comparing themselves to the Elves as a benchmark for progress for a long time. As such, they essentially stopped trying to develop spells they would cast themselves, and began relying on premade items, charged over time, and spells and rituals cast or powered by Jinni, who are essentially a type of elemental Spirit, and can be any alignment on the good-evil lawful-chaotic alignment chart except for good. From what you've heard the most common method of doing this is to capture a Jinn, then cause them to supply and shape the power needed to produce an effect on release, preferably with the assistance, or at least consent, of the Jinn, you also hear it is considered a mark of skill to be able to make the resulting effect long-lasting, or convince the Jinn to stick around to much the same end.
Starting Year: 2267 IC
Benefits
One of the Oldest civilized realms of man. You've achieved a lot in the past, and have a lot to fall back on or draw inspiration from.
-As part of that you have a large population, maintained by lots of infrastructure, if admittedly concentrated mostly in the north-west and south-east.
-And also extensive maps and knowledge of trade.
Military specialization, your people as a whole are relatively well prepared to face your two most likely adversaries, Beastmen and Tomb kings, as well as being the best light cavalry and mounted skirmishers in the world.
Religious unity, between a shared code of religious law, required pilgrimages to certain key sites, and a robust religious organization, your people are a unified culture and can be made to all move in one direction when a powerful enough priest says so.
Detriments
Mostly desert, your land has a lot of relatively useless desert, filled with dangerous nomads and beastmen.
Dangerous fauna, seriously, some of these things are terrifying.
hidebound and traditional, your people have serious trouble with change, and a tendency to reverse advances made twenty years ago in the the name of tradition or short-term gain, at least some of this is because you are unable to alter large chunks of your legal code without seriously pissing off your priests over it.
Tomb Kings, Just, Tomb Kings. Your most powerful neighbors and biggest military threat, if they all wanted to roll over you they could do it, winning even a small war against them is colossally difficult.
No real allies, most nations accrue allies over time, or at least semi-friendly rivals, yours didn't, you have plenty of enemies, but no real allies.
Weak Central Government, it's a tossup to see whether people will do what the Sultanate tells them to do, and people are used to this being acceptable.
A realm divided in half: You essentially need to go by sea to get significant trade or military forces from the North-western to the Southern centers of power, you can get people or small units through the desert, but the far eastern land routes skipping between the larger oases are closed due to Tomb Kings. Aside from that, your father rose to power leading one side of a civil war, and some people in the Southeast still hold grudges over that.
Religion: Not!Islam, If you can cite a historical practice of Islam(or any middle eastern religion descended from the sorta-Jewish views on the singular nature of God), that you would like to be included, then send me a message or respond to one of my posts here and I might include it.
Race: Human
Magic: Priest prayer powers, in the form of granting people or (with difficulty)objects a person is using additional ability to do something they could already do. This can stretch pretty far, instead of Morrite blessings blocking magic from interfering with corpses, the local priests enhance that person's ability to pass on, and that corpse's ability to remain unaffected by magic, or instead of blessing weapons with an additional effect to make them do more damage or damage intangible enemies, they bless weapons to cut better, and steer that towards better cutting what they expect them to need to cut. Similar outcome, different methodology.
It is difficult but technically possible to game the system, and some of the best powers currently in use come from doing so.
Prophets have the much rarer power of prophesy(duh), they're considered holy because they can essentially ask god for information on current events, past events, and with some inaccuracy, future events, some people claim that all religious dogma is passed down from god through his prophets, a minority claim that past prophets have used their status and the trust of others to codify their own wisdom as religious dogma.
Sorcerers, of a vaguely elementalist bent and a really lengthy tradition of study, with unique experience in binding spirits that may or may not be some manner of Daemon, but the current religious climate is against them in many places, there are known to be an indeterminate, but large, number of them on the Sorcerers' Isles, but they do not brook visitors.
Further clarification, Araby is essentially on the equator, and is thus far from the sources of the Winds of Magic, and isolated from their flow for -other reasons- the Sorcerers often struggle to gather up enough magic to produce any sort of effect beyond the interpersonal scale, and have been comparing themselves to the Elves as a benchmark for progress for a long time. As such, they essentially stopped trying to develop spells they would cast themselves, and began relying on premade items, charged over time, and spells and rituals cast or powered by Jinni, who are essentially a type of elemental Spirit, and can be any alignment on the good-evil lawful-chaotic alignment chart except for good. From what you've heard the most common method of doing this is to capture a Jinn, then cause them to supply and shape the power needed to produce an effect on release, preferably with the assistance, or at least consent, of the Jinn, you also hear it is considered a mark of skill to be able to make the resulting effect long-lasting, or convince the Jinn to stick around to much the same end.
Starting Year: 2267 IC
Benefits
One of the Oldest civilized realms of man. You've achieved a lot in the past, and have a lot to fall back on or draw inspiration from.
-As part of that you have a large population, maintained by lots of infrastructure, if admittedly concentrated mostly in the north-west and south-east.
-And also extensive maps and knowledge of trade.
Military specialization, your people as a whole are relatively well prepared to face your two most likely adversaries, Beastmen and Tomb kings, as well as being the best light cavalry and mounted skirmishers in the world.
Religious unity, between a shared code of religious law, required pilgrimages to certain key sites, and a robust religious organization, your people are a unified culture and can be made to all move in one direction when a powerful enough priest says so.
Detriments
Mostly desert, your land has a lot of relatively useless desert, filled with dangerous nomads and beastmen.
Dangerous fauna, seriously, some of these things are terrifying.
hidebound and traditional, your people have serious trouble with change, and a tendency to reverse advances made twenty years ago in the the name of tradition or short-term gain, at least some of this is because you are unable to alter large chunks of your legal code without seriously pissing off your priests over it.
Tomb Kings, Just, Tomb Kings. Your most powerful neighbors and biggest military threat, if they all wanted to roll over you they could do it, winning even a small war against them is colossally difficult.
No real allies, most nations accrue allies over time, or at least semi-friendly rivals, yours didn't, you have plenty of enemies, but no real allies.
Weak Central Government, it's a tossup to see whether people will do what the Sultanate tells them to do, and people are used to this being acceptable.
A realm divided in half: You essentially need to go by sea to get significant trade or military forces from the North-western to the Southern centers of power, you can get people or small units through the desert, but the far eastern land routes skipping between the larger oases are closed due to Tomb Kings. Aside from that, your father rose to power leading one side of a civil war, and some people in the Southeast still hold grudges over that.
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State of Religion in Araby
- Location
- Toronto, Ontario(occasionally)
Religious Information.
On Caliphs
Yes, I know that Caliph means 'sucessor' and is supposed to imply legitimate succession from the prophet Muhammad and a claim to spiritual guidance of the entire Muslim people, and that in the real world it's the Sultans and Emirs that're below the Caliphs.
My decision to set things up otherwise was mostly because of finding that map you see in the state of the ream section, but also because in Warhammer Fantasy the intervention of gods is constant and ongoing, unlike real world theology where Muhammad is acknowledged as the last real prophet there's likely to be another prophet every generation.
Worse there might be 2 or 3 in a given generation and they are able to disagree with or dislike each other.
While gods do give their priests marching orders sometimes they generally don't stop internal conflicts.
Morover, the unifying force in Araby is religion, if being a caliph(the highest religious authority) was a claim that anyone else would have to either stand in support of, or in active opposition to, then the peninsula would be unified or approaching unification far more often.
So a Caliph is an individual claiming legitimate succession from one of these prophets, with the authority over religious affairs in their own territory.
This creates a state of affairs where while religion creates a unified cultural identity, and can motivate everyone to independently do more or less the same thing at once to unify action for wars and such, but unlike real world Islam, it no longer provides an effective basis for a politically unified nation, while still filling much of the vacuum that needs to exist to motivate the creation of a nation state.
Ironically this makes the long standing religious unity a detriment to achieving political unity.
Burial
I also know that in real Islam cremation or mutilation of the body(excepting for the purposes of organ donation), is forbidden, and grand or expensive monuments to the dead are discouraged, any funerary construction is supposed to be kept low-key.
On the other hand, undead are a thing in this universe, so it is actually illegal to not destroy the body, at one time typically by cremation, at least until someone figured out how to turn ashes into undead, but also sometimes by dismemberment and burying in multiple locations, this is possible because of the lack of Morrite prohibitions on messing with dead bodies. Similarly it is traditional to both wrap and box corpses, both for religious reasons and to prevent them from easily escaping the ground.
The discouragement of expensive monuments to the dead is also a thing here, even more so given the influence of what knowledge they have of Nehekharan culture, but the rich always accept, and assume, a certain amount of bypassing that kind of thing.
On the other hand, something that this culture has also adapted as a defense is support for leaving unmarked graves, with the location one goes to to pay their respects being completely different than the location of the body.
It's not much use in the cities where everyone knows where the cemeteries are, even if they don't know the precise location of any body within unless they were there for the burial or can access the priest's records of where previous graves were put, but it's much more use in the countryside, after battles, or in transit between locations, where a body might be buried anywhere within a day's walk, with only a memorable rock, or a name or symbol carved into a tree within fifty paces as a grave marker.
Unfortunately while this is effective against small-scale necromancy, it actually makes organizing a response against grand rituals harder, because no one knows where the worst threat areas are.
Burial practices were at one point exclusively cremation, but then a necromancer spread around their research into how to turn corpse-ash into undead, and there was an extreme shift towards burying in guarded locations with only one entrance, like fortified graveyards, or catacombs. After a number of incidents with those and people getting used to ash rising as undead the system shifted to mostly stop using and mostly fill in catacombs, and accept improvements to making whole corpses less accessible, like dismemberment of the dead before burial, or scattering of ashes over wide areas or in rivers.
Holy Relics
Sometimes you end up with an artifact that is especially significant to a religion.
Sometimes their power is entirely in how they are perceived, a banner that improves morale or enhances a units ability to follow orders, or prevents them from outright routing when demoralized or disordered might only hold power in the way people think about it.
Sometimes their power is real and magical, but actually has nothing to do with why they are holy, even if many would claim otherwise. Magical artifacts from the elves or Lizardmen could easily be given religious importance long after they gain power.
Sometimes it is genuinely the influence of a god, bleeding through into an artifact that has been long revered, or long subject to that god's power. An example seen(briefly) in the story are the sharpened knuckle bones of St. Haldinnian, who spent much of his life pursuing his hobby, by walking out into the Land of the Dead and punching the undead.
Beating them to re-death with his bare hands and his faith in god, each day all day, then coming back the next day and doing the same.
After he died doing what he loved(punching a Tomb King in the face), his body was recovered and his knuckle bones sharpened into a weapon.
They're a fairly terrifying artifact for the undead to get injured by.
On Caliphs
Yes, I know that Caliph means 'sucessor' and is supposed to imply legitimate succession from the prophet Muhammad and a claim to spiritual guidance of the entire Muslim people, and that in the real world it's the Sultans and Emirs that're below the Caliphs.
My decision to set things up otherwise was mostly because of finding that map you see in the state of the ream section, but also because in Warhammer Fantasy the intervention of gods is constant and ongoing, unlike real world theology where Muhammad is acknowledged as the last real prophet there's likely to be another prophet every generation.
Worse there might be 2 or 3 in a given generation and they are able to disagree with or dislike each other.
While gods do give their priests marching orders sometimes they generally don't stop internal conflicts.
Morover, the unifying force in Araby is religion, if being a caliph(the highest religious authority) was a claim that anyone else would have to either stand in support of, or in active opposition to, then the peninsula would be unified or approaching unification far more often.
So a Caliph is an individual claiming legitimate succession from one of these prophets, with the authority over religious affairs in their own territory.
This creates a state of affairs where while religion creates a unified cultural identity, and can motivate everyone to independently do more or less the same thing at once to unify action for wars and such, but unlike real world Islam, it no longer provides an effective basis for a politically unified nation, while still filling much of the vacuum that needs to exist to motivate the creation of a nation state.
Ironically this makes the long standing religious unity a detriment to achieving political unity.
Burial
I also know that in real Islam cremation or mutilation of the body(excepting for the purposes of organ donation), is forbidden, and grand or expensive monuments to the dead are discouraged, any funerary construction is supposed to be kept low-key.
On the other hand, undead are a thing in this universe, so it is actually illegal to not destroy the body, at one time typically by cremation, at least until someone figured out how to turn ashes into undead, but also sometimes by dismemberment and burying in multiple locations, this is possible because of the lack of Morrite prohibitions on messing with dead bodies. Similarly it is traditional to both wrap and box corpses, both for religious reasons and to prevent them from easily escaping the ground.
The discouragement of expensive monuments to the dead is also a thing here, even more so given the influence of what knowledge they have of Nehekharan culture, but the rich always accept, and assume, a certain amount of bypassing that kind of thing.
On the other hand, something that this culture has also adapted as a defense is support for leaving unmarked graves, with the location one goes to to pay their respects being completely different than the location of the body.
It's not much use in the cities where everyone knows where the cemeteries are, even if they don't know the precise location of any body within unless they were there for the burial or can access the priest's records of where previous graves were put, but it's much more use in the countryside, after battles, or in transit between locations, where a body might be buried anywhere within a day's walk, with only a memorable rock, or a name or symbol carved into a tree within fifty paces as a grave marker.
Unfortunately while this is effective against small-scale necromancy, it actually makes organizing a response against grand rituals harder, because no one knows where the worst threat areas are.
Burial practices were at one point exclusively cremation, but then a necromancer spread around their research into how to turn corpse-ash into undead, and there was an extreme shift towards burying in guarded locations with only one entrance, like fortified graveyards, or catacombs. After a number of incidents with those and people getting used to ash rising as undead the system shifted to mostly stop using and mostly fill in catacombs, and accept improvements to making whole corpses less accessible, like dismemberment of the dead before burial, or scattering of ashes over wide areas or in rivers.
Holy Relics
Sometimes you end up with an artifact that is especially significant to a religion.
Sometimes their power is entirely in how they are perceived, a banner that improves morale or enhances a units ability to follow orders, or prevents them from outright routing when demoralized or disordered might only hold power in the way people think about it.
Sometimes their power is real and magical, but actually has nothing to do with why they are holy, even if many would claim otherwise. Magical artifacts from the elves or Lizardmen could easily be given religious importance long after they gain power.
Sometimes it is genuinely the influence of a god, bleeding through into an artifact that has been long revered, or long subject to that god's power. An example seen(briefly) in the story are the sharpened knuckle bones of St. Haldinnian, who spent much of his life pursuing his hobby, by walking out into the Land of the Dead and punching the undead.
Beating them to re-death with his bare hands and his faith in god, each day all day, then coming back the next day and doing the same.
After he died doing what he loved(punching a Tomb King in the face), his body was recovered and his knuckle bones sharpened into a weapon.
They're a fairly terrifying artifact for the undead to get injured by.
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- Location
- Toronto, Ontario(occasionally)
Okay, does anyone know how to threadmark something I forgot to threadmark while I created it?
Edit: this is my first quest, and I decided to just stop wifflewaffling and do somthing, but couldn't find a quest instructions and suggestions thread in fourty minutes(of determined searching, there was a couple of hours of poking around after a bunch of things(including instructions for quests) before that), so I just went ahead.
Edit: this is my first quest, and I decided to just stop wifflewaffling and do somthing, but couldn't find a quest instructions and suggestions thread in fourty minutes(of determined searching, there was a couple of hours of poking around after a bunch of things(including instructions for quests) before that), so I just went ahead.
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- Location
- France
[X] a scholar, studying the achievements of the past and unraveling the present nature of God's world to bring your people new prosperity. An nontraditional course, you still sought this in the hopes of using your connections and status to have new innovations adopted by your people.(+ learning dice, advantages in bypassing social and religious conservatism when trying to convince people to adopt new innovations)
[X][Priorities] Plan Critical and Vulnerable
-[X] 1 the palace
-[X] 2 the inner walls
-[X] 3 the docks in particular
-[X] 4 the district walls
-[X] 5 the barracks
-[X] 6 the temple district
-[X] 7 the outer walls
-[X] 8 the tradesman district
-[X] 9 the other noble estates
-[X] 10 the trade district in general
[X] Plan Organization and Intelligence
[X] Tall: You stand a head above most, giving you an edge in combat and a little bit of extra respect from everyone that has to lean backwards to look you in the eye. +2 martial, bonus to relations with anyone that respects size, bonus to intimidation attempts
[X] Quick: you're much faster on your feet than normal +3 martial, +1 intrigue
[X] Genius: Your mind works with a furious intensity that is sometimes frightening to those who know you well enough to understand it. +2 to all stats, drawbacks and complications
[X] Organized: Through habit or obsession, you keep everything neat, tidy, and in it's place. +1 Stewardship
[X] Touched by Death: In your youth you were present to view a Tomb King raid cut through your trusted guards and friends, striking fear into your heart. As an adult, that fear has been reforged into hatred. Hatred of Undead trait +2 Martial VS undead.
[X][Priorities] Plan Critical and Vulnerable
-[X] 1 the palace
-[X] 2 the inner walls
-[X] 3 the docks in particular
-[X] 4 the district walls
-[X] 5 the barracks
-[X] 6 the temple district
-[X] 7 the outer walls
-[X] 8 the tradesman district
-[X] 9 the other noble estates
-[X] 10 the trade district in general
[X] Plan Organization and Intelligence
[X] Tall: You stand a head above most, giving you an edge in combat and a little bit of extra respect from everyone that has to lean backwards to look you in the eye. +2 martial, bonus to relations with anyone that respects size, bonus to intimidation attempts
[X] Quick: you're much faster on your feet than normal +3 martial, +1 intrigue
[X] Genius: Your mind works with a furious intensity that is sometimes frightening to those who know you well enough to understand it. +2 to all stats, drawbacks and complications
[X] Organized: Through habit or obsession, you keep everything neat, tidy, and in it's place. +1 Stewardship
[X] Touched by Death: In your youth you were present to view a Tomb King raid cut through your trusted guards and friends, striking fear into your heart. As an adult, that fear has been reforged into hatred. Hatred of Undead trait +2 Martial VS undead.
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[X][Origin] an emissary, bringing the Sultan's words to both good Arabyans, and heathens alike, and supporting the unity and interests of the greater Arabyan people wherever you're sent. Your blood would open many doors and many ears, if you followed this path(+diplomacy dice, minimal connections all over the place, including the far reaches of Araby)
[X][Priorities] Plan Critical and Vulnerable
-[X] 1 the palace
-[X] 2 the inner walls
-[X] 3 the docks in particular
-[X] 4 the district walls
-[X] 5 the barracks
-[X] 6 the temple district
-[X] 7 the outer walls
-[X] 8 the tradesman district
-[X] 9 the other noble estates
-[X] 10 the trade district in general
-[X]yes(raises morale)
[X][Traits] Plan Universal Communication
-[X] Strong: A very straightforward advantage. +4 martial
-[X] Quick: you're much faster on your feet than normal +3 martial, +1 intrigue
-[X] Animal Kinship: You have a gift for getting along with and training animals. Regular animals, that is; it'd take a lot of work and luck to apply the knack to, say, a Roc. +1 Diplomacy
-[X] Eidetic Memory: Unless severely distracted, you are able to memorize anything at a glance and recall it in perfect detail later. +1 Learning
-[X] Polyglot: You easily pick up new languages. +1 Diplomacy
[X][Priorities] Plan Critical and Vulnerable
-[X] 1 the palace
-[X] 2 the inner walls
-[X] 3 the docks in particular
-[X] 4 the district walls
-[X] 5 the barracks
-[X] 6 the temple district
-[X] 7 the outer walls
-[X] 8 the tradesman district
-[X] 9 the other noble estates
-[X] 10 the trade district in general
-[X]yes(raises morale)
[X][Traits] Plan Universal Communication
-[X] Strong: A very straightforward advantage. +4 martial
-[X] Quick: you're much faster on your feet than normal +3 martial, +1 intrigue
-[X] Animal Kinship: You have a gift for getting along with and training animals. Regular animals, that is; it'd take a lot of work and luck to apply the knack to, say, a Roc. +1 Diplomacy
-[X] Eidetic Memory: Unless severely distracted, you are able to memorize anything at a glance and recall it in perfect detail later. +1 Learning
-[X] Polyglot: You easily pick up new languages. +1 Diplomacy
- Location
- The underworld
interesting i be watching
maximillian
Civilised Sheep
- Location
- Ranch
[X] veekie
- Location
- Norway
According to the manual, at the bottom of your post you should see little buttons for Edit, Delete, Vote Tally, Bookmark, Threadmark, etc.
Easter
Laziest lazier
- Location
- Bed
[X][Origin] an emissary, bringing the Sultan's words to both good Arabyans, and heathens alike, and supporting the unity and interests of the greater Arabyan people wherever you're sent. Your blood would open many doors and many ears, if you followed this path(+diplomacy dice, minimal connections all over the place, including the far reaches of Araby)
[X][Priorities] Plan Critical and Vulnerable
[X][Priorities] Plan Critical and Vulnerable
[X] a shepherd of the people's souls, acting in defence of your people's spirits. Like many before you, you would study the depths of theology to succor your people against both spiritual and physical ailments.(+piety dice when rolling character, connections in the priesthood)
[X][Priorities] Plan Critical and Vulnerable with Temples
-[X] 1 the palace
-[X] 2 the inner walls
-[X] 3 the temple district
-[X] 4 the docks in particular
-[X] 5 the district walls
-[X] 6 the barracks
-[X] 7 the temple district
-[X] 8 the outer walls
-[X] 9 the tradesman district
-[X] 10 the other noble estates
-[X] 11 the trade district in general
[X] Plan God Wills it
[X] Tall: You stand a head above most, giving you an edge in combat and a little bit of extra respect from everyone that has to lean backwards to look you in the eye. +2 martial, bonus to relations with anyone that respects size, bonus to intimidation attempts
[X] Quick: you're much faster on your feet than normal +3 martial, +1 intrigue
[X] Principled: You are almost pained by the idea of betraying your principles and aren't likely the bend or break on the matter +1 Piety
[X] Polyglot: You easily pick up new languages. +1 Diplomacy
[X] Eidetic Memory: Unless severely distracted, you are able to memorize anything at a glance and recall it in perfect detail later. +1 Learning
[X][Priorities] Plan Critical and Vulnerable with Temples
-[X] 1 the palace
-[X] 2 the inner walls
-[X] 3 the temple district
-[X] 4 the docks in particular
-[X] 5 the district walls
-[X] 6 the barracks
-[X] 7 the temple district
-[X] 8 the outer walls
-[X] 9 the tradesman district
-[X] 10 the other noble estates
-[X] 11 the trade district in general
[X] Plan God Wills it
[X] Tall: You stand a head above most, giving you an edge in combat and a little bit of extra respect from everyone that has to lean backwards to look you in the eye. +2 martial, bonus to relations with anyone that respects size, bonus to intimidation attempts
[X] Quick: you're much faster on your feet than normal +3 martial, +1 intrigue
[X] Principled: You are almost pained by the idea of betraying your principles and aren't likely the bend or break on the matter +1 Piety
[X] Polyglot: You easily pick up new languages. +1 Diplomacy
[X] Eidetic Memory: Unless severely distracted, you are able to memorize anything at a glance and recall it in perfect detail later. +1 Learning
- Location
- il bel paese dove il sì sona
- Pronouns
- He
[X] a shepherd of the people's souls, acting in defence of your people's spirits. Like many before you, you would study the depths of theology to succor your people against both spiritual and physical ailments.(+piety dice when rolling character, connections in the priesthood)
[X] Plan Save the Bazar!
-[X] 1 the temple district
-[X] 2 the palace
-[X] 3 the trade district in general
-[X] 3 the barracks
-[X] 4 the outer walls
-[X] 6 the docks in particular
-[X] 7 the other noble estates
-[X] 8 the inner walls
-[X] 9 the tradesman district
-[X] 10 the hovelheap(eastern slums)
-[X] yes(raises morale)
[X] Plan Salah ad-Din
-[X] Strong: A very straightforward advantage. +4 martial
-[X] Quick: you're much faster on your feet than normal +3 martial, +1 intrigue
-[X] Genius: Your mind works with a furious intensity that is sometimes frightening to those who know you well enough to understand it. +2 to all stats, drawbacks and complications
-[X] Eidetic Memory: Unless severely distracted, you are able to memorize anything at a glance and recall it in perfect detail later. +1 Learning
-[X] Animal Kinship: You have a gift for getting along with and training animals. Regular animals, that is; it'd take a lot of work and luck to apply the knack to, say, a Roc. +1 Diplomacy
[X] Plan Save the Bazar!
-[X] 1 the temple district
-[X] 2 the palace
-[X] 3 the trade district in general
-[X] 3 the barracks
-[X] 4 the outer walls
-[X] 6 the docks in particular
-[X] 7 the other noble estates
-[X] 8 the inner walls
-[X] 9 the tradesman district
-[X] 10 the hovelheap(eastern slums)
-[X] yes(raises morale)
[X] Plan Salah ad-Din
-[X] Strong: A very straightforward advantage. +4 martial
-[X] Quick: you're much faster on your feet than normal +3 martial, +1 intrigue
-[X] Genius: Your mind works with a furious intensity that is sometimes frightening to those who know you well enough to understand it. +2 to all stats, drawbacks and complications
-[X] Eidetic Memory: Unless severely distracted, you are able to memorize anything at a glance and recall it in perfect detail later. +1 Learning
-[X] Animal Kinship: You have a gift for getting along with and training animals. Regular animals, that is; it'd take a lot of work and luck to apply the knack to, say, a Roc. +1 Diplomacy
[X][Origin] an emissary, bringing the Sultan's words to both good Arabyans, and heathens alike, and supporting the unity and interests of the greater Arabyan people wherever you're sent. Your blood would open many doors and many ears, if you followed this path(+diplomacy dice, minimal connections all over the place, including the far reaches of Araby)
[X][Priorities] Plan Critical and Vulnerable
[X][Traits] Plan Universal Communication
[X][Priorities] Plan Critical and Vulnerable
[X][Traits] Plan Universal Communication
- Location
- Toronto, Ontario(occasionally)
Thank you very much, that helped a lot.
Note to anyone watching, I plan to generally update once a week(Tuesdays?), but will take longer for the coming second update, to generate awarenness, plot some things out, and get dragged on a family trip.
- Location
- nz
[X] veekie
- Location
- Denmark
[X] veekie
- Location
- Toronto, Ontario(occasionally)
Also, testing 123 [Strikethrough]testing 123[/Strikethrough]
[Strikethrough]testing 123[/S]
Edit: HA, Ha figured it out!
- Location
- California, USA
[X] veekie