Don't even need trains, because rails multiply the amount of mass one can carry.
"A good horse on an ordinary turnpike road can draw two thousand pounds, or one ton. A party of gentlemen were invited to look upon the experiment, that the superiority of the new road might be established by ocular demonstration. Twelve wagons were loaded with stones, till each wagon weighed three tons, and the wagons were fastened together. A horse was then attached, which drew the wagons with ease, six miles in two hours, having stopped four times, in order to show he had the power of starting, as well as drawing his great load."[1]
Alright, omake draft 1 is done. Anyone available to look over it before I post? I haven't written much fiction, so I'd like an experienced set of eyes to give it a once-over and possibly some suggestions.
I may have an update tonight, but things have just been crazy in a bunch of little ways that sap both my time and focus for actually sitting down and writing.
I may have an update tonight, but things have just been crazy in a bunch of little ways that sap both my time and focus for actually sitting down and writing.
Numbness - Distinct possibility of suicide, more prone to authorizing use of Terrify and general brutality in war if survive, more brutal domestically
Sorrow - Small possibility of suicide, more detached from affairs that could potentially lead to artistic innovation and/or to administrative stagnation
Anger - Possibility of ending the war rather than continuing, going to loggerheads with other powerful groups - especially the priests and traders
Alright, omake draft 1 is done. Anyone available to look over it before I post? I haven't written much fiction, so I'd like an experienced set of eyes to give it a once-over and possibly some suggestions.
Numbness - Distinct possibility of suicide, more prone to authorizing use of Terrify and general brutality in war if survive, more brutal domestically
Sorrow - Small possibility of suicide, more detached from affairs that could potentially lead to artistic innovation and/or to administrative stagnation
Anger - Possibility of ending the war rather than continuing, going to loggerheads with other powerful groups - especially the priests and traders
I am thinking that the Trelli are preparing a Colossal Wall in anticipation of our siege.
The question is whether that will be impervious to our siege techniques. I suspect not, because in the last war, nobody except us had successfully sieged a city.
On the other hand, we may have never sieged a Colossal Wall before, so it may be harder than we anticipated.
It's quite likely they aleady have a colossal wall around their city. It seems like something they'd invest in quite early in their devlopment, at least.
I am thinking that the Trelli are preparing a Colossal Wall in anticipation of our siege.
The question is whether that will be impervious to our siege techniques. I suspect not, because in the last war, nobody except us had successfully sieged a city.
On the other hand, we may have never sieged a Colossal Wall before, so it may be harder than we anticipated.
Alright, here it is. Thanks to @QTesseract and @OliWhail for betaing this, it made it a lot better. Without any further ado,
Senet!
Ever since Reshemherati's plan of intermarriage with the Ymar, it had become policy to keep strong relations between the people of the river Djeb and the hill-dwellers. Despite the ongoing conflict with the northern merchants that soured relations, they were a mighty, if strange, people-the only nation to stand beside Khem instead of below. Lady Ahaneith, a noble of a backwater Nome, saw an opportunity here. Her life here would be boring and simple, married off to some boorish local that her parents had found. Instead, she could volunteer to go north and bring honor to her family while leaving the town behind. Sure, it would be new and different, but she could handle it. It would be an adventure!
~l~
Getting approval for her journey was easy enough. Her family was in high enough standing, so after a brief background check she was clear to begin her journey north to marry into one of the noble families of Ymar. The trek, accompanied by a merchant caravan, was long. From Djeb to Gul, the land went from cities to towns to farmhouses. For awhile, she worried that Ymar would be similar, but somewhere between Gul and Hat, the trend reversed. She was overwhelmed by the docks, marveled at the canal, and was awestruck by the great garden of the city of Valleyhome. Though not as grand as the great stone works of her homeland, it was clear how mighty these people were.
~l~
Life in the north was pleasant enough. Her husband, Pyoul, was a high ranking bureaucrat involved in the keeping of records in the great forest. As her children were born and time passed, more and more responsibility was pushed onto him. Though he had some time to stay at home and spend time with his children, that time was being shortened, more and more a responsibility of his wife. She had fewer anecdotes about growing up in Ymar, knew fewer of the folktales, so she needed something else to entertain her children on the rainy and windy days. And something she found.
~l~
"Pyoul, I want some wood for something. Can you get me a piece, about as big as, say, a chair's base?"
"Sure honey, whatever you need."
"I'm going down to the market today to visit the carpenter, do you need anything while I'm there?"
"Could you pick up some lamb for dinner? I do enjoy your mutton."
"A guy's coming by to drop something off around midday."
"Hmm? Sure, I'll make sure to tell the majordomo."
~l~
One day, Pyoul came home to see his children hunched over a board, with weird markings. It was covered with tokens, and, if the loudness of their shouting was to go by, it was competitive.
Helpfully for him, Ahaneith was on hand. She had brought this game from her homeland, a local favorite. She had learned it from her mother, and had enjoyed playing it as a child, so she thought her children would also. It had taken a bit of money and designing to get a board that would appeal better to Ymar, but it kept them entertained like nothing else.
The rules were pretty simple. The pieces start, ordered black-white-black-white, from the first tile to the 14th. To start, White would move the piece from 14 to 15, and then toss sticks. Rebirth, tile 15, marked here as Fythhagyna, is marked, to make it clear. Flip 4 two-sided sticks, the number coming up black is the number your piece can move forward, with four white means you can go forward 5. If you land on the same tile as another piece, they swap places. Tiles 26-29 are also marked. Happiness, tile 26, has Crow the Trickster, and every piece had to land on it. Even if you were on 25 and you toss 4 whites, you only advance one. Water, 27, has Crow the Devourer. Landing on it sends the pawn back to Fythhagyna. Truth, 28, with Crow the Teacher, and needs a 3 to get off, and Sun, 29, with Crow Spider-Eyed, needs a 2. Once all seven of your pawns are off, you win.
Pyoul was skeptical, but after being trounced 7-2 by his wife, he sat down and thought about it. Though he was a clerk, in his youth he was a competitive boy, and it flared up again here. Though it took him ten times before he eventually beat her, and he knew it was mainly luck, he was hooked. Soon, he got a board made for work, with intricately carved tokens and throwing sticks. After winning quite a bit of money off of his co-workers, they created an office League. Whether it helped productivity by giving a stress relief or hurt it by distracting everyone was unclear, but the chief administrator was quite shocked to walk in and see his normally calm assistant yelling loudly at some colored sticks. Senet had caught on.
Using modified Kendall's rules, The Game of Senet
The original rules are lost, but it's thought to be the precursor to backgammon.
All rolls are influenced by the Rulers, and if the Ruler has common sense™, he will defer the rolls to the appropriate chief if they are better than him, if he's a meathead... well, that's sad.
About the doubles, it really depends on the stat, the success being scaled by the appropriate stat, so a bad stat downgrade a roll, good stats upgrade rolls.
And i really think that if you have a bad stat it's impossible to get a natural 100, but if you have a good stat there's a chance roll to see if it's possible to do a re-roll of a natural 1.
EDIT: I think that natural 1 chance rolls (re-rolls) are only possible to hero stat and genius stat.
EDIT²: @Academia Nut is this accurate ?
All rolls are influenced by the Rulers, and if the Ruler has common sense™, he will defer the rolls to the appropriate chief if they are better than him, if he's a meathead... well, that's sad.
About the doubles, it really depends on the stat, the success being scaled by the appropriate stat, so a bad stat downgrade a roll, good stats upgrade rolls.
And i really think that if you have a bad stat it's impossible to get a natural 100, but if you have a good stat there's a chance roll to see if it's possible to do a re-roll of a natural 1.
EDIT: I think that natural 1 chance rolls (re-rolls) are only possible to hero stat and genius stat.
i mean what effect does tech have on roles.
many of them have no noticable/known effect besides moving up the tech tree from our view point.
But they do have one and i'm curious how they affect stuff.
i understand how he keeps roles a secret to keep us from playing by numbers even more but it still interests me.