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

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At the top of the pecking order is the Tripartite Lord, Master of the Three Jewels. His viziers handle the day-to-day ruling of his realm while his Lordship tackles the bigger picture. Each vizier--of which there are six, three gem-viziers for the Jewels, three outer-viziers for a third of the minor oases each--manages a number of hereditary subordinates, called barons, who govern individual oases or cities under their aegis. Barons who are in charge of cities are called urbarons and are, nominally, lower on the totem pole than full barons. However, urbarons in the Jewels rank higher than oasis-barons and can even rival outer-viziers in power.

Hierarchal List
Tripartite Lord
- Gem-Viziers
-- Gem-Urbarons
-- Outer-Viziers
--- Barons
---- Urbarons

Territory of the Tripartite Oases and Their Rulers
The Tripartite Lord, Master of the Three Jewels and Surrounding Territories

Gem-Vizier Losefo, Master of People, minister of First Jewel Po-Nadeen
- Gem-Urbaron Comederant, ruler of the Half-Step District
- Gem-Urbaron Hestifal, ruler of the Wall District
Gem-Vizier Nortin, Master of Metals, minister of Second Jewel Or-Jorril
- Gem-Urbaron Konster, ruler of the city of Jast-Garinsal
- Gem-Urbaron In-Tassdel, ruler of the city of Jast-Rinda
- Gem-Urbaron Kestas, ruler of the city of Jast-Letto
Gem-Vizier Gilly, Master of Grain, minister of Third Jewel Wey-Forlan
- Gem-Urbaron Ketta, ruler of the city of Jast-Get

Outer-Vizier Cor-Fell, minister of the Primary Minors
- Baron Istafer, ruler of the oasis of Harlow
-- Urbaron Lureen, ruler of the city of Har-Tell
- Baron Pell, ruler of the oasis of Understark
-- Urbaron Kareen, ruler of the city of Standing
-- Urbaron Jorkester, ruler of the city of Walkest
- Baron Red Fast, ruler of the oasis of Tekka

Outer-Vizier Intratt, minister of the Secondary Minors
- Baron Tustry, ruler of the oasis of Kleefur
-- Urbaron Intratta, ruler of the city of Chesti
- Baron Lindow, ruler of the oasis of Lipsta
- Baron Yunder, ruler of the oasis of Ket

Outer-Vizier El-Forcer, minister of the Tertiary Minors
- Baron Rack, ruler of the oasis of Nareeve
- Baron Trulk, ruler of the oacity of Garten
- Baron Astra, ruler of the oasis of Kleeri
-- Urbaron Inkpot, ruler of the city of Tenstar
 
You know little of Rack before he conquered Nareeve at the behest of the Tripartite Lord. Rumors suggest that he was born an orphan and rose to prominence when his cultivation potential was revealed. Regardless, he was thirty years old when he stepped foot in Nareeve for the first time twenty years ago.

Rack is a masterful cultivator standing at the peak of the Sixth Rung of the Martial Ladder--one of many schools of thought regarding the nature of cultivation. A gunslinger at heart, Rack is known for his dueling prowess. During the War for Garten, which saw the establishment of the Tertiary Minors, Rack is said to have tallied over a hundred kills in single combat over the course of the three-year campaign.

Personality-wise, Rack is a serious man with a strong sense of duty. He governs justly, though with a personal dislike of anything he deems 'charity'--a dislike that runs deep enough for him to outlaw it entirely. He lacks any publicly known vices, though rumors circulate that he has a penchant for Gartenite Brandy and imports it regularly.

It is known that the villages of Norden and Kordel have sworn complete fealty to Rack and, as such, he has a large contingent of elite Kordeliot Hoplites that serve as his bodyguard--numbering around forty at any given time. The hoplites, however, make up the majority of the cultivator strength in the Nashite military, though Rack can, of course, call upon Kordel and Norden to supply him with cultivators should war be declared. It is estimated that Rack could field roughly four-to-five-hundred cultivators and several thousand levymen, though that would leave the populations of Kordel and Norden severely emaciated. They would likely not survive a full mustering.
 
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spiderhellian said:
In a cultivation setting, for that to be the worst of his foibles amidst otherwise just rule , and in the absence of many other vices… I feel that puts the Baron well in the upper echelon of possible rulers!
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eh, "orphaned children must prove their worth to not be left to starve to death" isn't a great societal-wide policy.
This is what we know of the man so far, though there's not much mention of the whole "I hate this particular ethnic group" thing that caused all this, theoretically.

I was expecting him to have a royal guard maybe, but him being a cultivator and a gunslinger... "gee I'll surely slay the baron for you, yeah" was SUCH a monumental task to agree to in exchange lol
 
Slight Change to Lore-Posting
  • Informational
    • Alright, after discussing it in the discord, I've decided to slow down on the lore-posting in favor of allowing you folks to ask questions of characters—that you would reasonably be able to speak with—in-thread.

    If you're here from NorseQuest, it operates like the 'Hey, Blackhand' system. Essentially, you say 'Hey, [Insert Character Here],' and then ask your question, which will then be 'answered' by that character.

    Important to note, these are not words of god. They are all subject to that character's quirks, traits, and biases both realized and not.

    In short, this is to allow you to gather information, ask questions, and other things about the setting without me having to do a clunky lore post or devote update space to it.

    Does that sound workable to everyone?
     
  • Informational
    • Just realized the day, so I'll go ahead and close voting

    I am going to need a mass-combat roll (7d100+38) at DC 7

    And, for the hell of it, I'm going to need a single-combat roll from Karter (10d100+130). A reminder: single-combat rolls do not explode.
    Scheduled vote count started by I.F. Ister on Apr 30, 2024 at 8:00 PM, finished with 49 posts and 8 votes.
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    I.F. Ister said:
    I am going to need a mass-combat roll (7d100+38) at DC 7
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    Well, we might manage that, though it's dicey. At least we have armor if we almost make it but not quite...

    CedeTheBees said:
    Looks fun. Dibs on mass combat!
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    That's a 325, so 1 success so far, and +225 on the second roll...

    My history of rolling terribly in this Quest inclines me not to give it a try on this one...we need to actually roll well to succeed here (on average, if we roll straight 50s from here, we'd fail with 5 total successes).
     
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    Okay, I'll go next. +179 i think?

    Edit::ninja:, and also, rats.
    Eater threw 1 100-faced dice. Reason: 1d100+179 Total: 45
    45 45
     
    I'll go ahead and use this opportunity to explain how cultivator combat works in a mechanical sense.

    Unlike the combat Kell is familiar with—which ends when he shoots someone—cultivator combat lasts ever-so-slightly longer and contains a great deal more complex behavior. As such, having it be a single roll-off is an over-simplification as massive as calling the 4.2-kiloyear event a 'bad time'.

    When two cultivators face-off, they both roll their combat dice. The loser has to either lock in one of their patterns or take the hit and potentially suffer a morale break or die. This repeats until victory is achieved by one side, which is usually defined as 'forcing the opponent to die, surrender, or run away.'

    In practice, it is far from as simple as the above makes it seem. However, I fear I cannot explain it accurately without having an actual example on hand. This roll I'm having you do is simply to serve as an example—I'll handle the rest on my own.
     
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    Meridian said:
    eh, "orphaned children must prove their worth to not be left to starve to death" isn't a great societal-wide policy.
    This is what we know of the man so far, though there's not much mention of the whole "I hate this particular ethnic group" thing that caused all this, theoretically.

    I was expecting him to have a royal guard maybe, but him being a cultivator and a gunslinger... "gee I'll surely slay the baron for you, yeah" was SUCH a monumental task to agree to in exchange lol
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    Realistically speaking, since we don't have plot armor, the way forward is either to work with an outside invader or to go for assassination. Since even in a duel his boss will be angry if we win, better if no one knows we killed him.
     
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