Absolution 4: Tabula Rasa

[SKILORD]

OOC: It does make things easier on me.

-

To: The Empire of the Heavenly Dragon
From: Punt

We agree.

To: Satura
From: Persia

It's baskets, I trust in the Gods to repair the statistics. I find your offer for Engineering to be compelling.

To: Satura
From: Magan

Cool.

To: Satura
From: Punt

A favor?

We request that your Great Aqueduct (which is going to be built through our lands anyways) be made available to our people as well.

 

[Terrance888]

Every thing in Moderation

Your body, the holder of ideas
It keeps them alive
Yet it holds them back
Held by Aset's Taint

With Great Akten's might
Turned upon the hills
There grass shall be found
For the body and soul

Every thing in Moderation​

-"Zorro's Riddle of Zulep's Boils"

Crushing, grinding, squeezing, boiling.

Hadrian paused to cough outside of the cauldron, black flecks staining the walls as he hacked, nonetheless maintaining his firm hand stirring the thickening mixture.

He looked down to the next line of the ingredients for this test.

"Eye of Newt, Tongue of Elephant, Horn of Ram. Tell me what you see, and I'll tell you who I am."

Um... no. That's not right. He thought as he turned the page. Ah, there it is.

Carefully, he added the crushed extract of hemp into the mixture. Two stirs per handful...

Gritting his teeth, he ripped open his sleeve. All along his arms are Zulep's Boils, infecting him with Aset's merciless taint. Some are circled, with notes such as Acid hurts instead of helps near an imploded boil, or do not apply when boiling hot. Gingerly, he took the scalpel and cut into the boil.

Grinding teeth, jetting infection. Pus, the endless pus as he placed the fire cup onto the wound. The heated glass jar quickly sucked the pus out until good, if tainted, blood flowed freely into the Magan invention. Ripping the jar out he applied the mixture, and waited.

And as he waited, he wrote in his log the results of this pivotal experiment...

Experiment 37- Pitch Base with Ale topping. Spices, Honey-imported privately from Persia. Pickle-juice and Koughphee powder. Burnt and smoked Hemp powder.

30 Footsteps-The Hemp calms the pustule even as the koughphee excites the blood, pushing the taint out. I can feel the honey and the picklejuice burn and purify the wound.

80 footsteps- AH! The drying pitch did its job well and closed the wound. Now just for the ale to destroy the Taint of Dirt...

3 Leaps, 27 footsetps- The boil is the smallest of them all, even beeting Experiment 18, over a week ago.

6 Leaps- I left off of Experiment 41 because my arm felt tingy. The boil has receded into my arm, and even now the nearby veins are returning to its normal color.

8 Leaps- Surely Satura is blessed by Akten, for nearly all that is needed to cure the Boils is found here. But as I write, more are emerging. Applications must be repetitive untl the taint is fully expunged.

 

[Blaze Injun]

Hey,

OCC
Honey-imported privately from Persia?

Can this be done? It is a trade good. Unless Persia is reselling it. And if Persia is. The Heavenly Dragon Empire, as supplier, should have some options. Just saying.


Blaze Injun

 

[Terrance888]

OOC: I'm assuming that, for a high cost, private import and export eventually will bring goods far away from home.

EDIT: That's how I did Drunken Hare, which I made in preparation for Eltain exporting Beer to me (the double crossing bastard! In good faith, though ) for a few turns until I brought the ale off of City of Peace for 2 EP a turn.

To: Satura
From: Punt

A favor?

We request that your Great Aqueduct (which is going to be built through our lands anyways) be made available to our people as well.

A wise request from a wise ruler. This is granted.

 

[Blaze Injun]

Hey,

OCC
Well, lets assume the Dragon Empire hears that the honey being sent to Persia is not being used for the alcoholic drink it was meant for. But sold for a profit to Satura. So lets assume the Empire stops the honey and makes the alcohol at home to be sent to Persia. That is if Persia still wanted it. Let assume no more honey for your trade good.

OOC: I'm assuming that, for a high cost, private import and export eventually will bring goods far away from home.

EDIT: That's how I did Drunken Hare, which I made in preparation for Eltain exporting Beer to me (the double crossing bastard! In good faith, though ) for a few turns until I brought the ale off of City of Peace for 2 EP a turn.

Blaze injun

 

[Terrance888]

Hey,

OCC
Well, lets assume the Dragon Empire hears that the honey being sent to Persia is not being used for the alcoholic drink it was meant for. But sold for a profit to Satura. So lets assume the Empire stops the honey and makes the alcohol at home to be sent to Persia. That is if Persia still wanted it. Let assume no more honey for your trade good.





Blaze injun

OOC:
Let's assume that they sold it out to private brewers. One of the brewers is doing badly in competition and have excess honey which would go bad. Suddenly, two robed figures offered to take the honey off their hands AND give them enough money to pay off their debt.
Or, the Ambassador there buys a jar direct from the caravan and sends it through to me.
Or, some breweries are doing poorly and the caravan has excess honey, which I buy off of them and save them the loss.
Firstly, we must accept that our megalolithic nations are composed of individuals. . "Persia" herself might not sanction it, but unless she or you cracks down, stuff still spreads.

Now, if you cut it off, I still have Picklejuice. Honey is really good anti-bacterialy, but after intense research it features as but one of the many ingredients for this balm. For Drunken Hare, some sort of Alcohal (whether Zulappi Beer or Akten's Ale) is necessary. For Hadrian's (or more likely, Zorro's) Balm, that is most likely not the case.

Besides, making finished product trade goods is fun!

 

[SKILORD]

Using beer as a source of alcohol is a little funny. I guess if you had some sort of method to freeze it I've heard some old school Nordic methods for getting more proof in their beer that way, but it's not easy to purify that alcohol.

The East is way ahead of you there, they already have Brandy, I'm just saying that I'm pretty sure you'd have more luck distilling purified alcohol from Puntic wine.

 

[Terrance888]

Ah? Aren't we all crude savages to some distant self-important civilized people?

Don't worry. With 12 story slots for maximum success, I shall make all the personal trade goods with pleasure.

EDIT: Ah yes... the feeling of controversy and conspiracy. It's good to be back.

 

[SKILORD]

If you need to feel superior to crude savages then look no further than Europe.

I mean, yes, those dastardly savage Iberions have caused you no end of trouble, but that doesn't mean that the people there enjoy a good standard of living.

Take the Wovvolk, they have pretty good life expectancy right now, but that isn't because they have the infrastructure to care for their people, it's because they weren't involved in a massive war or getting hit by boils.

And then there's the Pirates, the Pirates are a ragtag bunch of scoundrels pillaging the uncivilized lands.

Who don't even answer diplomacy.

 

[Terrance888]

Huh. So what are the turn lengths so far?

PMing new story ideas after this.

To the "Kingdom of West Saterah"

We're building The Great Aqueduct to bring fresh mountain water of Punt and Nubia to all of Satura, even to Aureapolis. If you will stay in the Saturan Union, this fresh water will aid in washing away the taint of Zulep's Boils.

In addition, if you stay, we will denigh and recharter the Grand Duchy of Iruba and the Most Serene Commonwealth of Lotalogas as the Kingdom of West Saterah (or the Jungle, if you wish) in the Saturan union. This shall be sealed by a marriage of my son Issac to your daughter.

-King Hadrian of Waset

 

[SKILORD]

I try to respond but I just keep thinking that it's strange that you approach them like they are a foreign country. I mean, if you want to write about them and dictate stuff about them you already know what they established as demands, if you want to give into those demands by building an aqueduct through their lands and marrying off the kids I just think that's story material and not really diplomacy.

It isn't a foreign country, they never declared independence or banish Saturan soldiers from their land, but they did replace all of the Saturan power structures in the region with more traditional regional forms when most of the people running those power structures died to the boils. Again, it wasn't anything personal, it added to the productivity crippling effects of the disease, but somebody had to do those jobs in some fashion and that person also had to survive the epidemic.

The people in charge of the area went from Saturan appointees to survivors with ambition, that is the main thing you need to understand, but also that those survivors have only one real objective and that is to help as many people survive the plague as possible.

 

[Terrance888]

Feudalism

For much of history, and even now, Satura is a land of opportunity. A single kick separated Gorden Gideon from a Hunter to a King. An appropriate prayer turned Pharon from a cleric to the Farseer. A timely speech made Aureas from an Orangesmith to the Prime Citizen, and even then Octavian started his life as a child of rebellious stoners in the days of the Urrian takeover by the Zorrkanists.

It would seem strange that nobility to develop, but so it did. People wished to preserve their titles for their children, and so it has gone on for centuries. However, titles themselves only have a certain amount of respect, for after generations of neglect, a title is considered worthless. In the same vein, a title-less man may rule the entire nation.

Thus, we have the Union, or Commonwealth, of Satura. Composed of a handful of large pieces and hundreds upon thousands of intermediate localities, and millions of farmsteads and mining towns, they are united by their common history and institutions. The Archive at Sereg is the bureaucratic head that manages all while the Golden Council at Aureapolis is the heart where the leaders of Satura meet and make policies.

To note, a March is lead by a Marquis and is expressly militaristic. A Duchy and a Commonwealth are equal, although led by men of different standards. The only Kingdom as of now within the Union is that of Waset, although even a few decades ago the Kingdom of Nubia also held influence deep into the Seregite republic, as the center of the countries' voluntarilly joined seregites and its system is called.

And thus now, we explore the regions of Satura.

Spoiler :

By lorddwarf at 2012-05-10

Now we explore the minute details.

Spoiler :

By lorddwarf at 2012-05-10

 

[SKILORD]

The Season of Kimonos

Commercial Story: Korea, Trade Good: Kimono

-

The cut was not Korean in origin, but as the ships sailed from every port in the North of the Seas soon the trade of the Koreans spread throughout the East. It was the Kitanatese who truly discovered the cuts of fabric.

But with silks and proper tailors available once the first Kitanatese came ashore they were immediately directed there, in hopes that the Koreans could understand the secret of the Kimono. And when the design was arranged in silk they found the glory of the Kimono unspeakable.

Some say that this cut of fabric may enjoy an unheard of second season of popularity in the city of fashion.

-

OOC: Story list updated. It's getting pretty massive.

 

[Terrance888]

Sheeba and Malach watched as stones were brought from Nubian mines to build the Great Aqueduct. Thousands pulled the stones both northward to build a causeway leading all the way to Irud, and southward to build the massive arches across the Puntic Strait.

Sheeba leaned on Malach as they watched the men, like ants, swarm over the hills.

Malach turned and smiled. "Is today the night?" he whispered.

Sheeba looked and saw the emptiness of the new moon against the starry sky, and said, "Yes. But you should know something first."

Malach followed as Sheeba led her to the bottom of the palace. Then under the palace into the dungeon.

Then under the dungeon.

"The House Nubia was born from the land itself, long before the Chief Bulgar and his clan Sudan took over" she spoke as they entered ancient tunnels. She placed her candle in a niche, and suddenly, through mirrors and lenses, the entire room was lit.

It was a shrine of some kind, to the ancients.

"Gifted by Mother Earth and Father Sun, our family was destined to lead, and give birth to only daughters."

She turned to Malach, whose roaming eyes caught the cavern inch by inch, and even then, it melts into larger and smaller tunnels to everyside.

"Will you accept this gift?" she asked.

Malach thought hard... then said "I do."

And so, on the strangely luxuriant moss and decay of a former era, they did it.

 

[Tycho]

They amass and the march, the swords of the Shang. They are pawns that do not know what they are in this unwitting game. The armies that march to do away with the bad, and toss out the Khanate, through blood and rain and fire that will consume many. The time and the place for peace and for the continued expansion of our economy has passed, and now we must deal with the invaders that threaten the homefront.

It is truly a pity; our great plans for a peaceful nation full of economic promise and hope, the wealth to turn aside nations, is gone and broken. What remains is a society devoted to feeding the war machine and seeing the Khanate burn.

I truly can not blame them though; we have all probably lost relatives in the East to the marches of the Khanate and their attacks upon our nation. The time for peace and enjoyment in life is gone, and it is childhood's end that we have faced; our nation has matured, and with it, the realization of what we must do.

Hammer and fire, forge the best steel, the best weapons, and the best armor of our nation... we will arm ourselves and prepare for war.

The Khanate shall burn.

And with it... our past as well.

Consumed by fire and expansion.

 

[SKILORD]

To: The Empire of Shang
From: The Kingdom of Korea

What would you be willing to offer me in exchange for my fine Kimonos? I think you will find them quite profitable.

 

[Tycho]

How does our woodcarvings sound to you? They are quite nice and fanciful in design.

 

[SKILORD]

To: Shang
From: Korea

Didn't you already give that to the Kurds for their Dyes?

 

[Tycho]

Hmmm, hang on a bit, we haven't fully tapped into our gem mines yet... not sure what else we might find in there.

 

[SKILORD]

Honeyed Mead

Commercial Story: Kush (Trade Good: Mead)

-

Consul Shaggy had heard praises, once, of the honeyed drinks of his land, but he had not ever seen these Meaderies for himself. One day he went out to rectify this.

The honey, of course came from the Paranese Mountains, along the edges where the bees congregated, the Kuhorsehockyes were not so practiced as the men of Paranaa in the keeping of bees, but they were quite adept and snagging the hives in the wild.

It took three or four hives, depending on the size of the hives, which were then sapped of their Honey and mixed with water and yeasts from the bakers. These were locked in casks and according to the Brewers they were aged for five years in the basement.

Tasting his first glass of Mead the Consul nodded, "This is good, how did the Dragons know about it before I did?"

The mead workers shrugged, "They sent a envoy through the area, but it was back when we were starting our first batch. He must have sneaked in, because we weren't lettting anyone drink it," the man shakes his head, "Hadn't aged yet. The yeast needs time to work and the rest needs time to ferment."

Shaggy nods, "You know your craft well."

The Mead worker nods, "My family's been working here since the first brew. I've had the Puntic wines, I've tasted Shang Brandies and the piss they brew in Korea. I even got a sip of some stuff from the Nule once. But the Meads we brew here. Well, the distillers and brewers and vinters in the other lands had better watch out."

The Consul nods, "It is a fine brew, I don't deny that. But I have a taste for the Shang stuff, myself. Nothing better than a concert with some brandy."

"A concert? The Fishes will be playing this evening, we've been having concerts here for years! I mean, brother, this is Kush! Now let me fill up your glass so we can cure you of that odious preference of yours."