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Salted Sands (A Caves of Qud-Inspired Cultivation Quest)

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alexthealright said:
Do we know who The Baron's boss is?
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The Lord of the Tripartite Oases, a major power in this part of the world. Three massive oases, each stuffed to the brim with rare and valuable resources, provide the Lord his power base.
alexthealright said:
Edit: Follow up question, do we know what Realm he's in?
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Realms are an odd thing in Salted Sands and depend entirely on what school of thought one subscribes to.
 
alexthealright said:
Do we know what realm he says he's in?
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The Baron is an adherent of the Martial Ladder and, as such, stands at the pinnacle of the Sixth Rung. A non-ka-user has not yet begun to climb while a First Runger has just unlocked their cultivation. That is about as much as you know of the Martial Ladder school of thought—which posits that cultivation is a rigid heirarchy. The Phases school of thought—who teach that cultivation is similar in nature to the phases of the moon—also has a presence in Nareeve, alongside the Tidal school—who teach that cultivation ebbs and flows like the tides—though neither of those schools hold much weight in Nashite debate.

Knowing someone's 'realm' isn't a particularly good method of gauging one's strength, as strength comes not from the techniques and patterns you know, but in how you use them. Battle between cultivators amounts to trying to force the opponent to use up patterns faster than you, so that you can then attack in a way that they cannot counter. If you manage to kill them before they use up all their patterns, great!

What realms are useful for, however, is gauging one's status in society and the resources they may have access to. The Baron, as an example, rules the entirety of Nareeve and, as such, has access to the resources generated by said oasis.
 
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Here is a list of what the various villages of Nareeve produce.

Surran (Now Defunct) - Powerful Gunslingers, high-quality guns, ammunition
Norden - Salt, war-grade metals, valuable gemstones
Kordel - High-quality equipment, highly skilled Hoplites, writing materials
Asketen - Nutrition-rich foods, lesser-quality electronics, strong stone
Melka - High-quality silks, quality wood, Outriders
 
I get the feeling that the main source for guns and ammunition being destroyed going to have some sort of impact on local politics.
 
Just realized the day, so voting is now closed.

I'm going to need a Movement check (2d100+3) without any DC. The more successes you roll, the sooner you get there and are able to provide greater help. If you fail to roll any successes, Karter will pick you up (assuming he passes his checks) and carry you to Melka. While not outright awful, it is rather embarrassing and may hurt your reputation.

Following that, I'm going to need a Mass-Combat check (6d100+38) with a DC dependent on how well you roll on the Movement. If you fail this check, you'll wind up in Single-Combat, which, as you lack ka, will be rolled by myself.
Scheduled vote count started by I.F. Ister on Apr 17, 2024 at 2:27 PM, finished with 36 posts and 10 votes.
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Sure, rolling
Edit: Dang, first time I've gotten 100
Eater threw 2 100-faced dice. Reason: 2d100 Total: 111
11 11 100 100
 
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Eater said:
Sure, rolling
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So that's one success and a second roll at +14.

I.F. Ister said:
Following that, I'm going to need a Mass-Combat check (6d100+38) with a DC dependent on how well you roll on the Movement. If you fail this check, you'll wind up in Single-Combat, which, as you lack ka, will be rolled by myself.
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Wait, shouldn't this be the combat check we rolled, like, 12 successes on? Because we should get to use that on something, shouldn't we?
 
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I-writer, Singing Scribe Malthaveus of Doomlock, write these words to inform you-reader of what the ank is.

As we-metaphorical all know, every oases has their-individual own forms of currency. They-currencies are minted in the oases and can have wildly fluctuating values beyond the borders of said oases.

The ank was invented to standardize and streamline trade. One ank is worth one day's worth of food and drink, no matter the oasis it-ank is being used in.

Anks are triangular and bear a hole through the center, through which they-anks are strung. Anks are made out of silver and come in several denominations, which are denoted by the material lining the coin. Silver-silver is one ank, silver-copper is ten anks, and silver-gold is one-hundred anks. Silver-copper and silver-gold are used primarily for banking purposes, as most exchanges are done with singular anks.

Anks can only be lawfully minted by cities possessing an Ank Charter as decided by the Consortium of Scales.

Archivist's Note: This article is written in the style of the Doomlockers, who struggle to parse pronouns, and may be somewhat difficult for non-Doomlockers to read.
 
How did they decide who's day of food and drink it's worth? Is it possible that one oasis could have picked someone who doesn't eat or drink as much as average in order to manipulate the relative value of anks?
 
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jelloloaf said:
How did they decide who's day of food and drink its worth? Is it possible that one oasis could have picked someone who doesn't eat or drink as much as average in order to manipulate the relative value of anks?
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It's not the Consortium that decides how much a day's food and drink costs, it's the oases' food vendors—and also any form of law limiting the... Nevermind. One ank is, technically, worth more in some oases than others. However, unlike other currencies, it is universally accepted no matter where you are. If you need to purchase something of a lesser value, it is a relatively simple matter to convert anks to local—all you need to do is check in with your handy and definitely there exchange office!

Oh, there isn't an exchange office near you?

Uh...

...

And yeah, it's totally plausib... Er, I mean, manipulating the value of the trade coin? That'd be insanity! Who would dare do such a heinous, uh, act?
 
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