Upon This Sword of Fire (CKII Quest)
- Thread starter Crilltic
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
- Location
- Vicksburg, MS
[X] A woman stands, head turned to the sky as beams of light sweep down from heavens around her. But her face is split in half, one smiles proudly while the other looks to be weeping. Her body is divided as well. One side light making the background appear dark, the other the opposite.
Full Zoroastrian is the way to go, in my book at least. Though, not with the Parsi add-ons about no intermarriage and the like.
Full Zoroastrian is the way to go, in my book at least. Though, not with the Parsi add-ons about no intermarriage and the like.
*Recalls CK2 incest fest*
- Location
- Vicksburg, MS
Hey now, the sacred marriages are much more likely to result in insane kids than inbred ones. That allows for much better role-playing through the hilarious events you'll get than the typical ones... I managed to get a rose bush pregnant and drew a child from it one day. As in the shrubbery. Good times!
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] The lines have formed a hunched figure in relief, a woman, or at least you think its a woman clutching a small bundle to her stomach. She kneels on the ground as if to pray, her body curving around the bundle protectively.
- Location
- Spain
[X] A woman stands, head turned to the sky as beams of light sweep down from heavens around her. But her face is split in half, one smiles proudly while the other looks to be weeping. Her body is divided as well. One side light making the background appear dark, the other the opposite.
Clearly an rpg manual.
Clearly an rpg manual.
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- Location
- Rockford, USA
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] The lines have formed a hunched figure in relief, a woman, or at least you think its a woman clutching a small bundle to her stomach. She kneels on the ground as if to pray, her body curving around the bundle protectively.
On mobile, or I'd engage with the discussion more.
On mobile, or I'd engage with the discussion more.
- Location
- Massholistan
If Hadi is a fantasy adventure protagonist, that means you better marry him now or he'll fall for the feisty girl from his hometown who's secretly in love with him but will never admit it.
- Location
- Southern Virginia
[X] A woman stands, head turned to the sky as beams of light sweep down from heavens around her. But her face is split in half, one smiles proudly while the other looks to be weeping. Her body is divided as well. One side light making the background appear dark, the other the opposite.
- Location
- Third planet from the star named Sol
- Pronouns
- He/They
[X] The lines have formed a hunched figure in relief, a woman, or at least you think its a woman clutching a small bundle to her stomach. She kneels on the ground as if to pray, her body curving around the bundle protectively.
- Location
- Massholistan
Yeah, incest is absolutely prohibited by the First Flame. Or at least banned by order of the Ash Maiden. Which is functionally the same thing.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
What does the clergy/etc count as incest, by the way? What degree of consanguinity or connection is forbidden?
Can cousins marry, for instance? And to what degree of cousin, of course...
Not that important story-wise, since we don't even have cousins as far as we know, but just curious about worldbuilding.
- Location
- Vicksburg, MS
I really don't like the idea of stirring up this hornet nest with these sorts of candidates. Look at the first of the first False Dmitriy in Russia during the Time of Troubles; supposedly the son of a prior tsar, he gained the support of the people as well as the at-the-time powerful Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He managed to sweep aside the son of the unpopular noble who had previously been the regent and had claimed the throne for himself when the Rurikid line had run out (that noble had just died, leaving the throne to his young son) and was himself installed as tsar. Relative to our situation, a lot of that seems to be nice benefits that we are presently lacking; the guy could at least claim to be the last remnant of the legitimate line, while the Bastard here is, well, a bastard, and he's seeking to displace the guy who was explicitly designated as crown prince. That leaves extremely little room for noble support without even factoring in the peasant revolt that he's leading.
Despite the advantages that False Dmitriy had going for him, what happened? He was a bit too Catholic for everyone's tastes; the people's passions were set aflame by concerned nobles who thought that he might try to essentially impose Catholicism on everyone, and his special tolerance for them appeared to confirm that. He ended up killed, cremated and with his ashes shot out of a cannon in the direction of Poland, his supporters (in particular, people suspected to be Catholics) were massacred and the whole episode would cause more trouble for Poland down the line.
Even if the guy has astonishing success, the very malleability towards our faith that would make him useful to us could be a weakness that people who wish to resist him might use to unify the people of the south against our alien faith and empire. He may feel encouraged once on the throne to denounce us and our influences to shore up relationships with internal factions... and then where would all our expended treasure and effort be?
The one thing that I most want to avoid is a protracted conflict. Every day of war is an additional day where the memory of lucrative trade that once flowed from our direction to theirs in peace becomes fainter, a day where the incumbent's troops gain yet more experience in bloodletting (the only thing that they are lacking in), and time for them to be an unstable mess that anything can arise from. I especially don't want a way for them to associate our empire with some manner of treachery and an extension of their hardship, because that'll help to harden our relations into a permanent enemy status while I would really prefer for us to be trade partners and keep our borders at the nice natural cut-off where they are now.
If I recall correctly, it's regarded negatively but not tremendously so, mainly as a decadent sort of practice. One that you can't get heirs out of, either.
EDIT: Found it!
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- Location
- Germany
[X] A woman stands, head turned to the sky as beams of light sweep down from heavens around her. But her face is split in half, one smiles proudly while the other looks to be weeping. Her body is divided as well. One side light making the background appear dark, the other the opposite.
- Location
- Massholistan
Everything above 1st cousins is fine. 1st cousins are a bit of a gray area, since while the intent of the Ash Maiden seemed to ban that union as well, it was widely practiced in a lot og areas especially by the nobility. (Incest was fine before She came along and rewrote everyth-I mean laid down new laws from God.). And since she's no longer here, many in places like the Border Princedoms are slowly loosening those restrictions.
- Location
- Southern Virginia
France during the Wars of Religion went from a major counterbalance to Spain and the Empire to a basket case that took nearly four decades to recover sufficiently to contest the Habsburgs. Even when France won in the Thirty Years War it was an extraordinarily closely run struggle despite all the painful blows Spain took in the interim from the Dutch and Portuguese and Catalan revolts and the struggle in the Empire. Certainly that result wasn't foredained and prolonged civil war clearly did not help France in the slightest.
Or one can look to Chinese history and see how large scale peasant revolts and foreign invasion usually presaged tge downfall of dynasties. The Qing dynasty was established because the Manchu stepped into a Chinese civil war. So the Time of Troubles is far from the only relevent example, and of course interfering there still netted Poland several valuable border provinces and left Muscovy on the back foot for more than three decades. Only its exploitation of the Khemelnytsky Revolt allowed it to establish an ascendancy over Poland later on.
So honestly interfering in civil wars is a circumstantial issue with a more mixed record than just always being a bad idea. As the victory of Baraz or Kavan is very likely to lead to war anyway the expectation that we can have peace and trade perpetually if we just sit out is optimistic if not naive. And frankly, well, the Sylltaji faith spread by conquest; if Illona has to fight Hastrijani opposed to the Faith, well, she should remember that she rules Qur-Dalan by right of conquest.
Or one can look to Chinese history and see how large scale peasant revolts and foreign invasion usually presaged tge downfall of dynasties. The Qing dynasty was established because the Manchu stepped into a Chinese civil war. So the Time of Troubles is far from the only relevent example, and of course interfering there still netted Poland several valuable border provinces and left Muscovy on the back foot for more than three decades. Only its exploitation of the Khemelnytsky Revolt allowed it to establish an ascendancy over Poland later on.
So honestly interfering in civil wars is a circumstantial issue with a more mixed record than just always being a bad idea. As the victory of Baraz or Kavan is very likely to lead to war anyway the expectation that we can have peace and trade perpetually if we just sit out is optimistic if not naive. And frankly, well, the Sylltaji faith spread by conquest; if Illona has to fight Hastrijani opposed to the Faith, well, she should remember that she rules Qur-Dalan by right of conquest.
- Location
- Germany
The problem is that by now we have actual evidence that Kavan is becoming unstable. I mean, he is rightfully suspicious of Pari, but beating her up accomplishes nothing. An irascable and irrational king doesn't make for a good neighbor.
Ideally we could find some information that shows that Kavan is clearly unsuited to be king and then support Roshan as the rightful heir. Whether this will work is highly uncertain, though.
Some further thoughts on votes for the next turn:
Taking advantage of the gold rush to develop the southern regions is urgent. A gold rush burns bright and dies quickly.
Maybe we could build a fortress along the southern road. It would keep Hastrijan from using the road to march on our capital, and would allow quick access to locations near the border with Hastrijan.
I would like to spend a learning action on advancing our medical knowledge, even if it isn't as shiny as mystic beasts or Greek fire.
[X] The lines have formed a hunched figure in relief, a woman, or at least you think its a woman clutching a small bundle to her stomach. She kneels on the ground as if to pray, her body curving around the bundle protectively.
Random Member
Gardener of Human Happiness
- Location
- Behind You
[X] The lines have formed a hunched figure in relief, a woman, or at least you think its a woman clutching a small bundle to her stomach. She kneels on the ground as if to pray, her body curving around the bundle protectively.
- Location
- Panama City
Question: what are the normal taxes on goods and materials, particularly gold? I was thinking using taxes to promote development of other resources besides gold(though even a 20% tax on raw gold would mean you'd still get crazy amounts of people wanting to mine the shit out of the south)