Messages

166

World / Re: The Order of Chaladon

« on: October 01, 2015, 06:50:39 pm »

here's what we know about chaledon:
they largely are untouched by the environmental catastrophes that made much of the world barren (although from teh sounds of it, people havn't looked at the map carefully, as there are definitely a few forests in there.) despite the limited recovery, they undoubtedly have the most natural resources around.
because they were largely unaffected, they don't have super cool old-timey reverse-engineered airships and stuff; they diddnt have airhips untill a barony airship visited, and they reverse engineered the ship and started making their own much later than everyone else. this means that their ships are largely different. the 'science int eh morning, tend the land in the afternoon' strategy we have been told is a mainstay of at least some significant percentage of the chaledonian population for generations means that their technology might NOT be based on the remains of the old world, and have genuinely new technology. when the airships started arriving, and the chaledonians started making their own, the synthesis of old and new might make some really wild unique ships, the squid we know is one, and if you watched the vidios from pax, you see another (it kinda looks like a oversized squid with feathers on it, it's gorgeous.) 
as others have said, having the resources they do, they will have to protect it from attack, either economically or militarily. the undersell/oversell method of ensuring they have friends wehn they need them is a really cool idea.  im imagining that the chaledonians and the mercantile guild would have a lot to gain from cooperation, and the movement of food and natural resources to the freezing, barren, technology-rich anglean republic and technological advances back might be a mainstay operation of the mercantile guild, and put the three of them at odds with the arashi who i would think would be glad to attack both directions of that traffic coming through the desert. the yeshans and baronies would hate this as well because it allows the angleans to operate  indefinitely without being hugely hindered by their more or less lack of excellent farming space. the MG benefits because the MAIN raiders of the GOIO map are now reliant on them for food, and so would be crazy to attack their trade caravans.
the chaledonian cultural isolationism suits the MG fine, better that they sell it to the MG instead of trying to create their own trade empire.
the ships we know the chaledonians have are fast and agile, allowing them to counter the more static ships that are more typical of the fjord baronies: any sniping spire pilot can tell you a fiery squid is a nightmare... defending the shores of the chaledonian island with a fleet of small nimble interceptors avoiding the largest ships' heavy guns but still being large enough to shoot down the airplanes of the fjord baronies makes a lot of sense.
this raises a important issue with the ship requirements of trade. to trade you need a lot of deck space to PUT all the stuff you have, the squid has no deck space to speak of, and so its easy to see why they wouldnt be the best traders and rely more on teh MG to do that for them, having mobulas

167

World / Re: Making the infantry of Arashi

« on: October 01, 2015, 06:17:35 pm »

ive always imagined the arashi's main advantage was living in a place that nobody else coudl live. this leads to a number of advantages: first and foremost beign that every single arashi person is tough as a coffin nail, capable of surviving intense hardship and even bare survival requiring high levels of training and discipline from a young age.  an arashi tribe might wander the desert scavenging ships destroyed by sand storms, salvaging the goods meant for foreign markets.  because the land they live in is so arid and doesnt support much in the way of food, they are necessarily few in number. because of their harsh conditions, they can hold their own easily, as any who show any kind of weakness do not survive long. generations of such harsh conditions and have created a culture of zero tolerance for weakness, and the commensurate lack thereof. because of this, any regular arashi (as if a 'regular' person could survive in the arashi desert) could be the match of any trained soldier: death and violence are their mothers milk. trained arashi soldiers are near indestructable as the discipline, hardiness, and  precision required for survival to adulthood in the desert make them fearsome combatants.
yeshan patrols might wander into the desert to be shot down by an arashi rocket ambushes hidden under sand colored blankets, thrown off in perfect unison. yeshans might then lead an incursion into the desert in force to punish such a brazen attack, and find nothing, the arashi having trained their whole lives for every possible contingency: they have dispersed and hidden in the dunes, nowhere to be found.  This sort of ambush tactic coupled with the fact that surviving in the desert for any other nation would require huge supply chains, the sort that could not be protected easily from fast moving small raids by arashi airships and ambushes.
the arashi shouldnt be considered an army, they simply dont have the resources, but small groups of arashi warriors are enough to attack soft targets and blend back into the desert before reinforcements arrive.
not all of the arashi live in scattered bands; some live in cities. Nalm we know from 'Lusse's Travels' was captured by these nomadic people and they inhabit it still. its not hard to imagine that while the baromies, angleans and yeshans are all difficult neighbors to have on your doorstep, as we can see that is the case on the map. nevertheless the arashi have held it 'For generations' indicating that the feirce arashi have flourished there; food now not being such a limitation, as there is an oasis in Nalm, allowing rudimentary, at the very least, agriculture to allow for a denser population. the resiliency and zero tolerance for weakness, now a cultural staple from the desert wandering days would still serve them very well as now that they are in a static position, everyone who has grudges against the arashi now knows where to find them, presumably this would keep the razor sharp edge to the population, as constant war, or the threat of war, weeds out weakness.
thats how i imagine teh arashi anyway, feel free to let me know if you have different ideas, and why! clear skies everyone!

168

World / Re: The Yesha Empire

« on: October 01, 2015, 05:40:12 pm »

the yesha as i imagine them are ideologues, leading an ideological campaign of conquest to spread the good news of yeshan empiredom. the advantages of the yesha are that their hierarchy is meritocratic (which makes the baronies leery id imagine) and their rulers are not only their best for this reason, but they have a emphasis on philosophy and education, like the greek philosopher kings.  as a result, the yeshans are committed to the idea that they can rise and hold power by virtue of their ability, and so are motivated to learn and cultivate their unique talents: a brave warrior might become a general, a hard working farmer might become the owner of a huge plantation, the clever student might become an adviser to even the triumverate themselves. this encourages all citizens in yesha to have a real stake in acting for the benefit of the whole, as it is rewarded on every level.
because all citizens feel enfranchised by Yeshan society, they see it as the best society to live in.

the baronies' caste system is too rigid and elitist: true freedom, the freedom succeed, should be for everyone.

The angleans are greedy and cruel: they should think of the world as a whole rather than themselves.

the arashi are half starving and full of desperate arrogance: if they would only abandon that sandy desolation they could live far better, less hungry, lives.

the mercantile guild are too concerned with their profits, and don't care enough about actual people: in yesha the people are the most important resource, their success and thriving activity creates the prosperity, not the bean-counting.

the chaledonians are too concerned with nature and their technology makes them a bit lazy: through hard work, fulfillment comes.

thats how i imagine the yesha anyway. feel free to disagree; how do you see them?

169

World / Re: Fjord Baronies

« on: October 01, 2015, 05:08:04 pm »

by now i don't doubt that most of the factions with militaristic tenancies, and their neighbors (so fairly everyone at this point?) are pretty happy to stick their fingers in each others eyes when they can, i bet the king of the fjord baronies would LOVE to hear one of his barons had stuck it to a yeshan outpost, or raided a yeshan trading convoy. or destroyed or repelled a anglean raiding expedition. or secured a trade agreement with the chaledonians for higher quality foods or exotic hardwoods or something. all the baronies also have to keep their people safe so they are prosperous enough to feed and pay the crews of their airships (not to mention the baron's tithe to the high king.) 
One of the things in the video, lo these many moons ago, is that the fjord baronies retain the 'lost honor' of a past age. does this mean to you as well that the barons, for all their scheming against each other, really are loyal to the king, and really are genuinely concerned about their subjects, in keeping their feifdoms safe from anglean attacks, from starvation, etc?
another thing: i saw a map with the territories drawn out, with clear borders. there is a huge area in the center of the map that despite the arashi being labeled int eh bottom left of the map, control most f the central desert, we know for example they control Nalm, and it stands to reason that most of the desert areas through the center and bottom left of the map would be controlled by the only people who can survive in that bleak landscape.  So it stands to reason that either the yeshans and the baronies don't interact much because the arashi are between them, or the arashi don't have enough for the baronies or the yeshans to want their territory, and therefore just fly right over the arashi to pick fights with each other, and the arashi pick over the scraps of these larger scale battles.
as for the right/bottom of the map, i would think that the chaledonians and the mercantile guild would favor peace over conflict,as the ecology and trade are some of the first to seriously suffer when peace is shattered.

170

World / Re: Fjord Baronies

« on: October 01, 2015, 12:04:29 am »

Most Baronies are a tiered structure, of various noble families of various ranks: kings above barons above counts etc. in some of the lore it says they have a king, but because tis called the baronies rather than the kingdom, you have to assume the king is not an extremely powerful one, likely he has some power, but not enough to force all the noble houses to kowtow to him.
My theory on the subject would be that the king has enough power to reward the various barons if they please him, and enough to punish a house if it displeased him, but not enough to TAKE all the power by force. given that they baronies are a military force int eh region, and aggressive, it would make sense that additional power brought about by military victories is good enough for the king that he would reward any house that performed well in battle.  think Landstraad from dune: all the houses are competing to earn favor, but the king cant conquer them ALL, because together they are too powerful. so each house tries to gain power under the rule of the king.
that's how i imagine the fjord baronies would operate in terms of internal and external relationships. some houses are more beligerant because they are always repelling the angleans to the west, in the east, the chaledonians and south, the mercantile guilds would bring valuable resources into the baronies via trade, and so their power comes from diplomacy. despite all of the houses owing allegiance to the king, they have their own areas of power