Shadows of the Past
- Thread starter Azel
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
- Location
- Argentina
Possibly, it is related to both the ritual calendar to lunar calendar. Darkness could be absence, for example
- Location
- Brazil
Or it's a date of significance.
There are "days of unmaking" on the alchemy calendar.
Reading up, I think the fourth or the sixth might be 03, for that's the ritual day of Darkness.
Yeah, was going to comment that.
Metrux
Gentle Demon Lord
- Location
- Brasil
Just wanted to point out that in the very beggining of the intro we are told of balance, growing to crumble. And the riddle starts with balance, might to grow and then unmake...
- Location
- Brazil
14.17.7.3.13.??
Doesn't make much sense as a calendar.
Urgh, it's like missing half the pieces.
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- Location
- Brazil
- Location
- Germany
Yep. I have the feeling you are a bit hung up on the idea that they do one single trial once in a blue moon.
For the purpose of this riddle, the lunar calendar has no impact, but there's indeed a correlation between Absence on the lunar cycle and Unmaking.
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- Location
- St. Petersburg
That's because you are substituting keywords for positions of day names (14th for Ix and 17th for Kab'an*) from Tzolk'in, and then in the same vein you substitute them for day numbers associated with concepts (7 for Power and 13 for Unmaking) which have nothing to do with day names - they fall on different days each time.
* By the way, even if you wanted to do that, you'd still need to count them from 0 to 19, not from 1 to 20 like Wiki does.
The sentences are two-parters. If we look at it that way, then perhaps there are two sequences to deal with?
Balance / Might / Power(7) / Knowledge / Unmaking(13) / Steadfastedness?
Beginning / ??? / Top / ??? / End(Bleak) / Dark Hours
As mentioned before, the 2nd part may correspond to the Lunar Cycle.
Coming / Reign / Decline / Absense
Maybe we should look at the current calendar and try to find the corresponding parts there?
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- Location
- Germany
You can certainly do that, but Yaxkin will need a few more days to solve the riddle on her own. She has just a good hunch so far.
- Location
- United States
I want to know what kinds of machines survived from the days of the empire, what kinds the artisans can somewhat replicate, and if there are any whose designs were lost in the Fall.
And also I'd like to know where the Wise Men got so much original metal armor to equip their warriors.
Metrux
Gentle Demon Lord
- Location
- Brasil
I'd mostly like to know about metal and leather work. We don't know anything about that right now, but if we keep this direction we'll sooner or later have a VERY good leather, maybe even from a spirit, that could be made into light armor. And both our dagger and bow can get better, so... Learning how it's done might be good, even if we won't learn how to do it, or do it ourselves.
Chapter 6: The Beat Of The Hammer
- Location
- Germany
[X] Go to the artisan district. You came here for two reasons after all and it might cheer you up.
1.6.17.10.7.16 - 16th day of Water
As much as you would like to claim otherwise, the words of the man had stung. Not because you felt he had a point, the pompous ass was just far too full of himself, but because he had thought he could ridicule you like that. The glares of the tribe are still fresh in your memory, even after the years that passed since they came in full force, and yet it was different here. The tribe saw Yaxkin the shaman's apprentice. They didn't like you for a long while and were fearful of what your deeds might mean for them, but there was still some sort of respect beneath the distrustful looks. You were still a learned woman who had worked hard for her skills, and even when they couldn't bring themselves to be pleasant about it they still asked for your aid because they saw those abilities in you. With him, though? Dismissed like an annoying child that bothered him.
So it is with a rather foul mood that you walk through Tlamaca now. There were two reasons for you to come to this city, and the first one was a complete disaster so far. You are certain that you can get the riddle of the trials once you are a bit calmer again, but you are not entirely certain how quickly you want to see another of the Wise Men. So your feet carry you more or less on their own towards the merchant's district. The rare substance of metal has always fascinated you, and while the dream of finding some grand work of old was still rooted deep within you, the prospect of seeing how people make it today is slowly drawing you out of your funk.
The artisan's district isn't a clear-cut place in Tlamaca. There is no border to cross or gate to walk through, just a slow and steady fading of the signs of patchwork repairs that are seen on so many houses here. The closer you come to the plumes of smoke that mark the work of the smiths, the better in shape the buildings are, and the wooden boards make room for carefully-fitted brickwork and then massive stone that was fitted into the holes it plucks. No great marketplace is here to find, just many larger houses that line the large road you walk on and have small signs made from wood above their doors to proclaim the trade the inhabitant plies. It is obvious that there is wealth to be found behind these doors, and you idly note that the guard is much more active here than even on the market.
As you walk past a house with a sign showing a cloak and a piece of armor side by side, you stop for a moment to glare down at your cloths. You were never ashamed for what you wear and feel no real need to start now, but it was undeniably a problem to be spotted as a tribal by everyone around you. Too many scathing comments and high-handed word had they brought you since you have come here and maybe it is time to change that. So you decide to have a look around for some things to buy and their prices before going on. For now you buy nothing, since you are still not quite sure how to go about earning more money for yourself. While Ollin paid you well, it's obvious that 10 days of light work make no rich woman out of you. A small fortune in that direction was your chat with one of the leather-workers, who was quite eager to buy hides from you as he thought you a huntress. You might be able to pay just in hides for something from him.
All prices are regular market values. Haggling is always a possibility.
300 Cacao Beans = 1 Quachtli (sheets of cotton)
8,000 Cacao Beans = 1 Tlaltepoztli
27 Quacthli = 1 Tlaltepoztli
Clothing per set:
Basic (rough fabric, farmers garb) - 100 Beans
Regular (decent cotton) - 1 Quachtli
Fancy (good cotton, possibly died) - 2 Quachtli and more, depending on quality and artfulness
Leather Armor:
Armor penalty applies to all physical attributes and skills and is reduced by 1 point if the armor is custom-made, which costs 50% markup.
Wood and Leather Shields:
Weapons:
Metal Dagger - 10+ Tlaltepoztli
300 Cacao Beans = 1 Quachtli (sheets of cotton)
8,000 Cacao Beans = 1 Tlaltepoztli
27 Quacthli = 1 Tlaltepoztli
Clothing per set:
Basic (rough fabric, farmers garb) - 100 Beans
Regular (decent cotton) - 1 Quachtli
Fancy (good cotton, possibly died) - 2 Quachtli and more, depending on quality and artfulness
Leather Armor:
| Type | Penalty when worn | Simple | Regular | Exceptional |
| Light | -1 | DR 1 - 2 Quachtli | DR 2 - 4 Quachtli | DR 3 - 8 Quachtli |
| Medium | -2 | DR 2 - 6 Quachtli | DR 4 - 12 Quachtli | DR 8 - 1 Tlaltepoztli |
| Heavy | -3 | DR 4 - 18 Quachtli | DR 8 - 40 Quachtli | DR 12 - 3 Tlaltepoztli |
Wood and Leather Shields:
| Type | Penalty when worn | Simple | Regular | Exceptional |
| Light | -1 | DR 0 - 100 Beans | DR 1 - 1 Quachtli | DR 2 - 3 Quachtli |
| Medium | -2 | DR 1 - 1 Quachtli | DR 2 - 4 Quachtli | DR 3 - 8 Quachtli |
| Heavy | -3 | DR 2 - 4 Quachtli | DR 3 - 10 Quachtli | DR 4 - 1 Tlaltepoztli |
Metal Dagger - 10+ Tlaltepoztli
With that errand done, you walk on towards the smoke rising from the shops of the metalworkers. As you turn around another corner, you come onto a small plaza that seems to be used as a workplace by those owning houses next to it. A single mason is busy cutting scavenged stones into new shapes. Next to him lay a few pieces of a statue and he currently works on another stone that seems to be meant to become the head of it. Two other workplaces are empty, but the strange ovens and other things let you guess that they are usually occupied by smiths. The last one though is another smithing place and this one is currently in use. The man standing there is rather small, maybe even a finger or two smaller than you and yet broader than most men you've seen. He stands with a leather apron over a strangely-shaped stone and holds a glowing piece of metal with a set of tongs while striking it repeatedly with a bronze hammer.
Neither of the men is acknowledging you as you step onto the plaza and walk a bit closer to the smith. His work looks far less mystical and awe-inspiring then you had assumed. Sharpening a flint or obsidian blade looked much the same, even if the strikes you used for that were quite different from what he is doing, and yet you know all too well the difference between hammering rocks together and making a useful blade out of them. The knowledge about what you are doing and the skill to see it done. Whatever reasoning directs those hammer blows, you can see that he is good simply from the surety of his strikes. No movement is wasted and the hammer strikes the metal in a steady rhythm, turning a lump of bronze into a long blade. After a while, the glow of the blade dims, and the smith turns around to place it in one of his ovens before turning around to you.
"You could have said something instead of waiting for me to finish." An easy smile plays over his lips and you startle a bit at being caught staring at him working.
"No, no. It's fine. I'm not here to buy something..." You awkwardly trail off as you try and fail to come up with another explanation for your presence.
"Just wanted to see how a blade is made, then?" You grudgingly nod at that. "Feel free to have a look. I make no secret of my trade or I would have walled up my yard like most of the others."
"Isn't it a secret? I've never seen a smith in the flesh before, and they are very rare from what I gathered. Tlamaca is the only place around that has any at all."
He laughs lightly at that and shakes his head. "It's just rare to get the materials for it. Everyone would have a smith in his village if they could get the copper and tin. That's the things you need to make bronze." The last he adds as he catches your confused look.
"So you don't dig it out of the ground like that?" You point to a large plate of bronze and let your eyes linger a bit when you comprehend its size. And what it is worth. 'Only gold and silver are above in value' the traders had told you when you inquired about bronze arms, and that bar alone was thus worth a fortune.
If he didn't notice or just ignores your contemplation, you don't know as he just keeps talking. "No. We dig out rather worthless looking rocks and have to invest a lot of hard work before getting any bronze out of it. Tin we mostly get as bars from traders since Tlamaca has no mine for it, but we do have a copper mine. Xoxohuictetl. Named it after the green stone the workers there smelt to copper."
That at least explains the weird name. Calling a place Green Rock seemed odd to you, since you had thought it to refer to a moss-covered stone and those are anything but uncommon. "I've heard about the place. Some rumors about spirits haunting the workers."
His good cheer is rather infectous and is doing wonders for your own mood, but it dims slightly for a moment before rebounding back immediately. "The Wise Men say there is nothing." And suddenly yours dims too. It would be hardly fair to begrudge him for reminding you of a incident he knows nothing about though. "Doesn't stop the miners from coming to the city and spreading more of those tales. I think it will sort itself out in a bit. If nothing happens, people will calm down on their own again."
The sentiment rings rather hollow to you. Far too close to the ultimately empty reassurances of Mahuizoh for your comfort. The lull in the conversation is used by him to check the metal in it's oven. He takes it out and turns it a round a bit before shaking his head and putting it back in. Do you look just as weird to those who don't understand your trade when working with herbs?
"Anyway, I'm Nochehuatl, but just call me Noche and my offer stands. If you want to watch me work, be my guest. I can explain a bit what I'm doing if you want." You eagerly nod at that, perfectly willing to soak up everything he is willing to share and tell him your name in return. "If you are after an apprenticeship, however, I must sadly disappoint you." Not really your motivation for coming here, but it's easy to see why he assumes that. Still, you feel a story there and just plainly ask him why.
"I already have an apprentice and not really enough time to teach a second. Been a while since he was actually learning anything from me, but I guess it is the thought that counts."
"Why is your apprentice not learning? Or helping you for that matter?"
"You see, all I'm doing here is pretty simple work. Old Cualli would probably laugh at my efforts. The Wise Men have a few rather fancy suits of armor for their guards, you should have a look at them during an audience to see some true art, but even they don't know how to make them without great effort, if at all. They are certainly not selling any of those fantastic armors. My apprentice, Ixtli, got it in his head to search some of that lost lore. Found some half-rotten documents that pointed him to a ruin in the south-east and he left a month ago to find the workshop of an old smith from before the Fall. Can't really begrudge him the choice, but he is making me worry quite a bit by now. Shouldn't have been that far and he had a scout and two guards with him. Ten days he told me, and now it's twice as long and I've seen neither hide nor hair from him..."
Given what you know to lurk in the darker parts of the jungle, you have a rather vivid picture of what might have happened to him. Guards and guides where a good precaution, but even the greatest hunter bands of your tribe flat-out avoided certain areas to not stir the things whose domain they where. Maybe Ixtli stumbled right into such a place.
What will you do?
[] Offer Noche to search his apprentice for him.
[] Keep quiet and just watch him work for a while.
[] Write-In
AN: If you miss something in the price list, ask away and I will add it. I just added everything that was talked about in the thread so far.
Looking for machinery would have been quite odd, since Yaxkin doesn't even know the concept, let alone what would be fancy stuff or not.
- Location
- Germany
Shall I add the requirement to bring back 10 bear asses?@Azel, a fetch quest?
[X] Offer Noche to search his apprentice for him.
-[X] You won't make any promises of finding him, but you will give it a shot.
There are actually a few layers of hidden meaning here. It's far from a random side-quest with no impact on the main story.