Who Needs Harmony?: An MLP Empire Quest
- Thread starter Questor
- Start date
- Location
- Hell, or at least the closest place to it
Two interludes? Please.
I can barely think of one, you trying to kill me?!?!/jk
We will see.
Omake: Brightstone (Canon)
- Location
- Hell, or at least the closest place to it
AN: Boah.
Iron sang as the pick dug into the Wall, the Kin seeking to pry sacred treasures from the mountains bounty. The hum and bark of chatter echoed throughout the tunnels, bringing with it the blessing of life, of companionship and family.
And yet The Kin dug alone, in search of the Stone.
Pick. Pick. Pick. Pick.
Iron dug deep, seeking to find the promised Stone. The Stone that would bring his Pack glory, or bring vultures and nest destroyers to their home to find the stone. The Stone. The Blinding Stone. The Glimmering, beautiful Stone.
Pick. Pick. Pick. Pick.
He dug all night and all day, digging until the voices faded, until the warmth of home had fled. Until darkness and silence had swallowed him. Until his paws bled, and his muscles screamed and snapped in protest.
Pick. Pick. Pick. Pick.
They had told him that such Stone could not exist. The elders, his mates, his Kin, had said that such Stone could not exist in this place. Too far, too deep. Better to make tunnels, expand the Packs home. Look for Hard-stone, the thing the Tall-Winged-Bird-Lions craved to make their Blades-Sing-Cut-Tools. Or Soft-Stone, to make pots or carriers for Pups-Kin or water.
And still the Kin swung, so sure that his prize awaited before him. A prize he had dreamed of. The Stone that called to the Kin.
Pick. Pick. Pick. Pick.
Clink.
A pause. A flash as claws dig across stone. Light blooms.
Bright light. Brilliant, beautiful brightness.
Bright-stone.
"My Lady, we have arrived."
Gleaming Pearl looked up from her scroll, having been so focused on its strange, bizarre writing. Her maid gestured to her left and Pearl looked out , gazing out the window as the mountain came ever closer. The sky was cloudy, but she thought she could see a hint of golden color reflecting off the mountains side. She shook her head at the thought, the bizarre writings were probably making her imagination run wild.
They were headed to one of the mining camps in the western corners of the Empire. Already, she thought she could hear the distinctive clink and pick over the sound of rushing water from the river to her left. Her maid caught her attention, looking, once again, nervous and concerned.
"Are you sure of this, my lady? I'm sure there were other, more..," the maid paused, searching for the word. "Pleasant places to find Diamond Dogs. Why, the royal capital for one." Pearl sighed, having heard this argument before from Papa and Mama already. She shook her head, light purple mane swinging lightly against her light cream fur.
"As I told my father and mother,"she began, looking out the carriage window as they neared the mine, the river bubbling and rushing past. " I wish to see them at work in the field. Getting it explained to me does no good. I wish to speak to an expert, and for that I need an Elder." " But my lady, why not just request that one come to you in the Palace?" "Because, Windy, I need to observe their knowledge first thing. Besides, it can't be that dangerous! They do it all the time." Windy Breeze sighed, knowing that her young charges mind was made up, and just hoped things wouldn't be too difficult.
—————————Lenny—————————
Sun-Born-Quiet-Stride-Bright-Stone, or Elder Sunstone as he was know by the Pup-Fools-Stone-Heads these days, watched as the the Bright-Stone-Alpha-Pup-Pony got out of the carriage and walked towards him, her light fur glinting in the dim light. He sighed, looking up at Sky-Dome-Sun as the sound of work echoed behind him. The Elder Kin was not having a good day.
First, his Kin-Bone-Stone-Head-Nephew had managed to mess up his poultice, meaning his aches and pains wouldn't be getting any relief. Then, some Pup-Stone-Damned royal had decided that she wanted to get ' Hoof first experience of Diamond Dog mining and Geology.' Stone damned pups, coming to the end of nowhere to bother a Elder. No respect these pups, these-
"Elder Sunstone?" He started. The Youngest Royal gazed at the Elder with concern, Violet-Gem-Stone eyes looking with some worry. " Are you alright?" Such an pretty eyes. He wondered if the Bright-Stone his ancestor-sire-Elder-Iron-Bright-Stone had shined just as bright. Wait, back on topic.
In response, the Elder looked her up and down, snorted, and turned away, waving with his cane for the Royal to follow. The Pony gaped, then quick followed after with a squeal of words. If she wanted to see what the Kin knew, by the Pack he would show her.
AN: Traaaaaaaaash Lenny.
This took way to long. Ugh.
@Quester, Lenny, take this, it is my gift.
Brightstone
Iron sang as the pick dug into the Wall, the Kin seeking to pry sacred treasures from the mountains bounty. The hum and bark of chatter echoed throughout the tunnels, bringing with it the blessing of life, of companionship and family.
And yet The Kin dug alone, in search of the Stone.
Pick. Pick. Pick. Pick.
Iron dug deep, seeking to find the promised Stone. The Stone that would bring his Pack glory, or bring vultures and nest destroyers to their home to find the stone. The Stone. The Blinding Stone. The Glimmering, beautiful Stone.
Pick. Pick. Pick. Pick.
He dug all night and all day, digging until the voices faded, until the warmth of home had fled. Until darkness and silence had swallowed him. Until his paws bled, and his muscles screamed and snapped in protest.
Pick. Pick. Pick. Pick.
They had told him that such Stone could not exist. The elders, his mates, his Kin, had said that such Stone could not exist in this place. Too far, too deep. Better to make tunnels, expand the Packs home. Look for Hard-stone, the thing the Tall-Winged-Bird-Lions craved to make their Blades-Sing-Cut-Tools. Or Soft-Stone, to make pots or carriers for Pups-Kin or water.
And still the Kin swung, so sure that his prize awaited before him. A prize he had dreamed of. The Stone that called to the Kin.
Pick. Pick. Pick. Pick.
Clink.
A pause. A flash as claws dig across stone. Light blooms.
Bright light. Brilliant, beautiful brightness.
Bright-stone.
"My Lady, we have arrived."
Gleaming Pearl looked up from her scroll, having been so focused on its strange, bizarre writing. Her maid gestured to her left and Pearl looked out , gazing out the window as the mountain came ever closer. The sky was cloudy, but she thought she could see a hint of golden color reflecting off the mountains side. She shook her head at the thought, the bizarre writings were probably making her imagination run wild.
They were headed to one of the mining camps in the western corners of the Empire. Already, she thought she could hear the distinctive clink and pick over the sound of rushing water from the river to her left. Her maid caught her attention, looking, once again, nervous and concerned.
"Are you sure of this, my lady? I'm sure there were other, more..," the maid paused, searching for the word. "Pleasant places to find Diamond Dogs. Why, the royal capital for one." Pearl sighed, having heard this argument before from Papa and Mama already. She shook her head, light purple mane swinging lightly against her light cream fur.
"As I told my father and mother,"she began, looking out the carriage window as they neared the mine, the river bubbling and rushing past. " I wish to see them at work in the field. Getting it explained to me does no good. I wish to speak to an expert, and for that I need an Elder." " But my lady, why not just request that one come to you in the Palace?" "Because, Windy, I need to observe their knowledge first thing. Besides, it can't be that dangerous! They do it all the time." Windy Breeze sighed, knowing that her young charges mind was made up, and just hoped things wouldn't be too difficult.
—————————Lenny—————————
Sun-Born-Quiet-Stride-Bright-Stone, or Elder Sunstone as he was know by the Pup-Fools-Stone-Heads these days, watched as the the Bright-Stone-Alpha-Pup-Pony got out of the carriage and walked towards him, her light fur glinting in the dim light. He sighed, looking up at Sky-Dome-Sun as the sound of work echoed behind him. The Elder Kin was not having a good day.
First, his Kin-Bone-Stone-Head-Nephew had managed to mess up his poultice, meaning his aches and pains wouldn't be getting any relief. Then, some Pup-Stone-Damned royal had decided that she wanted to get ' Hoof first experience of Diamond Dog mining and Geology.' Stone damned pups, coming to the end of nowhere to bother a Elder. No respect these pups, these-
"Elder Sunstone?" He started. The Youngest Royal gazed at the Elder with concern, Violet-Gem-Stone eyes looking with some worry. " Are you alright?" Such an pretty eyes. He wondered if the Bright-Stone his ancestor-sire-Elder-Iron-Bright-Stone had shined just as bright. Wait, back on topic.
In response, the Elder looked her up and down, snorted, and turned away, waving with his cane for the Royal to follow. The Pony gaped, then quick followed after with a squeal of words. If she wanted to see what the Kin knew, by the Pack he would show her.
AN: Traaaaaaaaash Lenny.
This took way to long. Ugh.
@Quester, Lenny, take this, it is my gift.
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lockingbane
If you're crazy and you know it clap your hands!
- Location
- Waxahachie tx
You misspelled his name so the notification did not go through.
@Questor a new tribute has come forward! Judge it as we pray it pleases you and you bless it with the almighty canon status.
Would a Dog use a pick though? Surely their bare claws would be more effective due to being magically enhanced.
Crafter of War
The Dorf
- Location
- Bend
That doesn't seem IC for Garrick and Gabriella to say.
- Location
- Hell, or at least the closest place to it
True but, digging tunnels and finding Iron or Tin is one thing that can be done quickly. For Gems, Gold, and Silver, a bit more care is needed. Also, their claws aren't exactly magical just their sense of Stone and the earth is so fine tuned that they can usually tell the easiest way to their prize in the Rock. Plus, the Bright-Stone Pack has always been a bit... eccentric and ahead of their brothers when it comes to mining.
I won't lie, was half asleep. But, your youngest daughter going to a mining operation instead of doing the sensible thing is a cause for some concern for parents, badass battle couple or no. Even the Kin wait for a bit before their Pups join them in their tasks. And well, she is twelve. In her mind they probably did argue with her fiercely, but in reality... not so much.
Appreciate the questions and criticisms though, thank you all.
Thank you also @lockingbane, didn't notice that.
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- Location
- Maryland
Hello everyone. Sorry the next update is taking awhile. In addition to a change in my work schedule interfering with my writing, I've also hit a bit of a mental and creative block when it comes to the upcoming Council of Faiths Interlude. I've realized that I'm not entirely sure how to write it out.
At first I'd been planning to make it a bit like the Council of Nicaea (as the Interlude's name may have suggested) and offering different options for you to vote on regarding the separation of church and state, whether there should be an official state-sponsored religion, etc. But as I've tried to write it I've begun to think that such an approach may not be the way to go.
Unfortunately, once I came to doubt that approach, I found myself struggling to come up with an alternative that would work from both a narrative and mechanical viewpoint.
I'm currently brainstorming ideas regarding a new direction that the Interlude could take, while simultaneously reworking the original idea to be more palatable.
The reason I'm telling you all this is to A: give you an idea of what's happening behind the scenes, and B: to see if any of you have any input you could offer regarding my sudden writer's block.
Particularly, If any of you have knowledge of other quests that tried something similar to what I'm trying to do here and now, I would greatly appreciate a link for inspiration.
Thank you all so much for following my quest and for putting up with the irregular schedule and my inexperience with writing a Quest. I greatly appreciate your patience and support.
At first I'd been planning to make it a bit like the Council of Nicaea (as the Interlude's name may have suggested) and offering different options for you to vote on regarding the separation of church and state, whether there should be an official state-sponsored religion, etc. But as I've tried to write it I've begun to think that such an approach may not be the way to go.
Unfortunately, once I came to doubt that approach, I found myself struggling to come up with an alternative that would work from both a narrative and mechanical viewpoint.
I'm currently brainstorming ideas regarding a new direction that the Interlude could take, while simultaneously reworking the original idea to be more palatable.
The reason I'm telling you all this is to A: give you an idea of what's happening behind the scenes, and B: to see if any of you have any input you could offer regarding my sudden writer's block.
Particularly, If any of you have knowledge of other quests that tried something similar to what I'm trying to do here and now, I would greatly appreciate a link for inspiration.
Thank you all so much for following my quest and for putting up with the irregular schedule and my inexperience with writing a Quest. I greatly appreciate your patience and support.
- Location
- United States
Personally I'd prefer not having a Piety section at all and just let people deal with religious stuff on their own. But people on SV seem to like playing theocracies for some reason. Either way, I don't see anything wrong with your original idea of having a vote to decide what direction we'll take. Whether or not that vote includes an interlude or not is not that important IMO and is more up to whether you think it would contribute to your story.
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- Location
- alphen aan den rijn
no worry friend take your time.
having said that while having an interlude like that would be interesting i am not fully sold on the need of it.
you could just say talk more about things that go on around the counsel then the counsel it self?
and then maybe round it up with whatever you think sounds like a good compromise. (well mostly good someone always loses something at one of these things)
having said that while having an interlude like that would be interesting i am not fully sold on the need of it.
you could just say talk more about things that go on around the counsel then the counsel it self?
and then maybe round it up with whatever you think sounds like a good compromise. (well mostly good someone always loses something at one of these things)
- Location
- Italy
have you considered having one or more spirits/gods actually appear/interfere (maybe even bargain) with the council?
In many fantasy settings, the power of gods comes from the number and strenght of their believers. With Discord (presumably one of the more powerful/dangerous spirits, or at least one of the most freedom in how he could use its powers) out of the picture and the gryphon empire as the strongest ascendant power on the continent (and one without magic at that!) they might want to establish (or re-establish) a base for the new age that is to come.
we might be offered the chance to more firmly ally ourselves with a specific god/goddess/spirit/pantheon in exchange of some specific divine boon (like, for example, a small caste of magic wielding priests, one or more divine artifacts, simple bonuses to specific categories of rolls..) at the cost of making an enemy of other divine beings opposed to our new patron/s (and the kingdoms/races who follow/believe/have faith in these beings) vs the choice to keep our people open to any and all religions (within limits), for smaller or no bonuses but at the same time no divine faction actually against us.
You could simply have us decide if and how much to budget from our income/treasury for the creation ant mantainance of places of cult and worship for the various religions, maybe in exchange of a small morale bonus to some rolls. Which religions have a right to these fundings, if anyone. Which ones (if any) are allowed special privileges, or have duties and obligations.
You could also simply decide you don't want to deal with the problems that adding a piety section would have, maybe because you don't know/don't have any good ideas about what kind of actions offer for it, or maybe simply because you dislike the concept. In that case you could even simply have a small interlude in which you basically have the emperor express that we have freedom of religion, but the various churches/beliefs have no special privilege or duty.
You could even simply retcon the meeting if you can't bring yourself to write it in a way you like it. It might annoy a few people, but it's not that big of a deal.
- Location
- The state of Paranoia
But we already know that Garrick will be there?
- Location
- Italy
There's also Hardbeak, and maybe the crystal heart could count too. No reason not to be neighbourly and be open to having guests though, as long as they behaveBut we already know that Garrick will be there?
that depends. would piety regard DIVINE magic (as in, whose explicite source is found in gods or spirits) like the visions and blessings from the Lady of the Lake? Or all kinds of magic?
If we're researching magic in a relatively scientific ways, like we did until now, that's really more of a learning thing than a piety one.
regarding this, Depending on what is decided in the meeting, you could always have the options for piety rolled into one or more of the other options, meaning in order to increase our piety state or character stat we would have to sacrifice something else, which is kind of appropriate for religion.
Keani
C̵͍̈t̷̼̓h̴̀ͅŭ̶̹l̴̡̈u̸̫͗ ̶̟͌F̵͚́h̶̠͊t̶͍͌ă̷̺g̴̯̊n̷
- Location
- R͈̥̲̦͍͓͗̽̈́̚'̞ͧ͛ͥ̄l̫̰̤̖̽̐y͍̲ͧ̒́̐̌̀e̪͆h̸̩͔̟ͣ͐͐̎ͤ
I for one am actually interested in the handling of religion in a resurgant expansive feudal state on the cusp of industrialization. Like, for all we like to diminish it religion is a big part of society and governance, especially in a pre industrial post crisis state, and how we handle it is a rather important deal.
Although Magic and Engineering are different enough to require different resources and personnel, so...
Keani
C̵͍̈t̷̼̓h̴̀ͅŭ̶̹l̴̡̈u̸̫͗ ̶̟͌F̵͚́h̶̠͊t̶͍͌ă̷̺g̴̯̊n̷
- Location
- R͈̥̲̦͍͓͗̽̈́̚'̞ͧ͛ͥ̄l̫̰̤̖̽̐y͍̲ͧ̒́̐̌̀e̪͆h̸̩͔̟ͣ͐͐̎ͤ
Oh, if we do see piety stat actions I would be interested in those maybe not being limited to just religion and being broadened a bit into say theology and philosophy actions. Depending on the exact nature of how we handle things that could be an interesting broadening of fields that are largely similar when they aren't outright the same.
Travler66
Let her name echo in song!
- Location
- Beyond
Adding on to this, Gods won't just simply appear in front of you they should appear in a different form that is humble, but powerful in its own way. For example, Warhammer Fantasy Gods like Ranald, the God of Luck and Fortune, could appear in the form of a cat or Shallya, the God of Healing and Mercy, in the form of a dove.
If you were to have an MLP one for gryphons, maybe something like this?
It's not about making a theocracy (although I think we should) but about not giving power to other people that might not have the best interest of our country in their mind. Like, for example, Luna and Celestia who I'm sure would put Equestria before our Empire.
- Location
- Space
I prefer to genuinely not have gods appear since belief in gods isn't only religion within empire, i believe that its actually one of smaller religions within empire.
Now while council of Nicaea is good example i believe what you are looking for @Questor is more along the lines of adopting, or not adopting state religion.
Basically it's more about old believes in gods vs new believes that had become popular post Discord like let's say ancestor worship, or imperial cult and of course if we do adopt one religion our policies on other religions within the empire.
Now while council of Nicaea is good example i believe what you are looking for @Questor is more along the lines of adopting, or not adopting state religion.
Basically it's more about old believes in gods vs new believes that had become popular post Discord like let's say ancestor worship, or imperial cult and of course if we do adopt one religion our policies on other religions within the empire.
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- Location
- Italy
religion has to be treated a bit differently in a world where magic and spirits are actually proven to exist though.
I mean, if we KNEW Zeus existed, and had proof of it, and following him actually gave some kind of supernatural advantage...why would you be a christian/jew/muslim/hinduist..?
Personally what i want is for the council to happen in the presence of the Crystal Heart. Just in case some evil spirit/god decides to interfere, or we happen to disagree with him/her/it/them. If we have something that could affect a god or powerfull spirit, it would certainly be the Heart.
- Location
- USA
I personally dont really see much of a need for the peity to be much of a thing to begin with but since it seems like its going to be there could be a religion to the royal line itself as an options instead of worshiping deities they worship the royal family, or maybe just a cult to hardbeak the impossible cause why not at this point.
lockingbane
If you're crazy and you know it clap your hands!
- Location
- Waxahachie tx
Eh, just roll piety in with magic and make it less religion and more "Magical science". After all in this setting "Gods" tend to be, more or less, just beings with ridiculous amounts of magic. Not much faith and divinity in that.