Fate is a cruel mistress, and there's plenty of other people that want to play. Players unable to send orders should secure replacements as terrance did, which is acceptable.
Sovereign Traganaka erects the stone circle in Shirun. While the Weshanka do not yet possess a true writing system, this monument, however cryptic and vague to future generations, is destined to become the greatest surviving testament to the era of the Morning Sovereigns. If nothing else, it surely brings recognition to talents of their builders - and the impressive workforce assembled at the time. The institution of state slaves, or shirapa, is known to have developed by this point, as the Sovereign's household adopts criminals, debtors and the poor and puts them to work in exchange for food and shelter. While future generations would still hold this time to be a blissful golden age, society becomes less homogenous, poverty and slavery (both state and private) growing on one hand, and private wealth increasing on the other.
Traganaka does not pursue a great deal of interest in those new foreigners, regarding them as yet another group of nomads. Nor is he overly hostile to them. [Passive.] His interest - and that of his immediate successors - appears to be more in the realm of impressive new construction projects. Future legends associate his name with eager support for all kinds of wisemen, inventors and craftsmen. [Knowledge.]
It was a cold, wintery day, with immaculately white snow covering Ruche like a blanket. The harvest has long since ended months ago, and now King Francois III, wrapped in the finest bear pelts, stood in front of the newest temple being built in the city center. A grandiose structure of stone that rivaled even the palace; this gigantic house of worship was the dying wish of his father, Francois II. It recently only finished construction in time for the harvest, and a grand feast was held there honoring Bos, the goddess of farming and the hunt. Francois grinned. It was an enjoyable day, especially when the holy blood of the slaughtered cow splattered the children of the Gods.
His eyes quickly turned up to the symbol on front of the door. It was a circular piece of wood covered with birchwood bark and painted with a six star symbol. Known as the Mark of Roche, this was the symbol of the similarly named Roche, god of the Earth. He was a relatively younger son of Marais and Torde, the goddess of the sea and god of nature, respectively. Roche was slowly gaining popularity among the people as a symbol of both protection and strength, almost becoming a god of humanity along with the Earth. Where most of the other gods seem to not care over mortal affairs unless they directly affect them, Roche is said to be compassionate, and always looking to help those faithful. Anything from keeping a building sturdy during a disaster, or warding off wolves in the mountainside could and would be attributed to him. For this very reason, he has become a chief god in the pantheon, perhaps more important than all but his mother.
Francois stepped inside. As it was not a usual day nor time of worship, the building was not occupied for the most part, excepting a white-clad woman tending the altar at the back, keeping it pristine and organized for the next offering to the gods. She seemed to not have noticed the visitor, as she continued to recite a prayer to Marais as she wiped off dried blood. Francois quietly walked up to the altar, wishing not to disturb the woman as her work was being completed. As soon as he got there, he knelt on one knee and made a quick counterclockwise circular motion with his index and middle finger. Then, he got off his knee, saying, "Glory for the sons and daughters of Marais".
"And glory to you too," she said with a smirk, "brother".
"Father knew what he was doing, putting you the head of this glorious temple, Doriane. You've always the one who could recite the deeds of the gods with perfect accuracy", the king responded.
Doriane countered, "Well, it's only tradition that the High Priestess of the most glorious temple of Abellie goes to the eldest daughter. Made less complicated when you're the only one, too".
"True," Francois said, "It is tradition for women of our family to go be priestesses, channeling the true spirit and essence of Marias, praise be Her". He paused, as if he was at a lost of words to say.
Doraine broke the silence, stating, "I called my messenger for you for a reason, I hope you know".
"So I have heard. You had a divine vision from-" Francois said before being interrupted.
The High Priestess's gleefully stated, "Roche. Roche had clearly talked to me last night in a dream. The Mark appeared, and summoned from it was no other than a wolf missing an eye, one of his various many forms. He spoke to me directly, o brother, and his words of wisdom called for your help".
Francois was interested. "He appeared as a wolf? That means he expects this to be done in utmost haste...," he said as his voice trailed off. "What exactly did he say, sister?"
"You know of those barbarians to the east of us?," she asked.
Francois made a disgusted noise before saying, "Oh, don't even talk to me about them. Speaking in strange tongues, not respecting our customs, not having a culture and refusing the inherent glory of those above. What would he want to do with them?"
"He wants us to go to their lands and spread the glory of Marias, Torde, and himself!," she ecstatically yelled.
Francois was flabbergasted. His lips only managed a feeble, "What," unable to even think of any other response.
"Just think about it", Doriane begged, "We'll be doing them a favor. We'll show them the errors of their backwards ways with the love of the gods! We can save them from being destroyed in a flood by Marias's wrath, as justified as it may be. Or think of another goddess, such as Foudre. The Mistress of the Heavens may fire her sky arrows, reducing them to ashes!"
Francois sighed, "I don't like this idea. Somehow, I don't think Roche's love extends to the barbarians who chose to forsake him. Plus I need the money to send priestesses outwards, which I don't have."
The High Priestess did not take this as an answer. "You're defying a mandate from the gods! Roche loves everyone, even the barbarians. Sometimes piety requires being humble, as much as it is painful to do so. As for the money, just collect slightly more taxes than last year. We can operate on just that".
"Alright, I guess," Francois conceded, "I'll look into it. But I still don't like it".
"Understandable", she said with a graceful power. "When the gods see your piety, they will grant Abellie next year a harvest twice the size of this one".
"Hopefully"
SpoilerOrders :
Abellie will once again continue to working on Faith, much like in the past. As the time goes by, a more coherent church structure has developed, and ran by the eldest sister of the current king. In fact, the clergy is generally made of women, as Marias's form is also of a woman, and therefore female bodies are considered to be better equipped at interpreting her messages. However, this bars them from succession, leaving the throne for men only. Also, as the religion develops, redundant gods and goddesses will start to be merged. Instead of a god or goddess for every single river, there would be a single goddess of rivers.
In tandem with the above, we will continue to be Passive, with one major exception. We will encourage those barbarians who wish to know the glory of Marias and her sons and daughters to accept our missionaries and adopt our pantheon. Special focus will be given to Roche to barbarians, for he is the reason they can be saved in the first place.
We shall take advantage of these horses by attempting to domesticate them. They seem friendly, and we could see massive application of uses.
SpoilerNames :
The ocean will be named La Mer de Marias
The river will be La Rivière Abellier (Giving the nation its name)
The large forest that surrounds us is now Le Foret Melinae
The Hills which were settled are now called Les Montagnes Champignon
SpoilerStory notes :
Sky arrows=lightning
Also, it's really hard to make up characters on the spot and try to give them distinct personalities and also present information to the reader without getting into encyclopedic-like prose. Especially since I'm also trying to create a new culture. I don't know how some people pull it off every turn, but those who do have my infinite respect now
Fate is a cruel mistress, and there's plenty of other people that want to play. Players unable to send orders should secure replacements as terrance did, which is acceptable.
The Kappanoka have harvested the crabs in their homeland for centuries now, and it suddenly becomes rather apparent that shipping stuff is a lot more efficient than hauling it overland. Our trade with the peoples far to the west should grow further, and for the next couple hundred years, the aggressiveness of the Kappanoka starts to enter a bit of a remission. The easiest way to encapsulate it is the law decreed by the High Chief Tippinaw -- "Any man may stay the night in a camp of mine, so long as he offers a gift of rice, story, or song."
Nevertheless, the net effect is a balanced approach, a step down from previous aggressiveness.
At the same time, something of a split is starting to occur in Kappanoka culture. The so-called "traditionalists" will start to spread inland, especially as some try to cross the great desert and explore the lands beyond -- not to mention, to monopolize trade across it. Meanwhile, the more "merchantile" faction in the south prefers the newer maritime endeavors. With time, the whole civilization may begin to rend itself in two.
Apologies for the delays. As an update on the update, I'm in the city this evening, and I'll be back fairly late, but I'll focus on updating until I fall asleep.
So, it will either be up late tonight, or sometime tomorrow, barring personal catastrophes.
CD and Arrow, please take advantage of this extra time to describe your religions, if you can.
It consists of a cult like system based around the God of Death and Life. They kill the suck and suffering, but otherwise are based around living life to the fullest.
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