While We Wait: (Almost) Anything Goes

[Angst]

You're basically right - we describe the coastal area of Taglarika as "if Netherlands lost to the sea," so it's a Danish/Frisian/North German geographic resemblance, with these big bight/sound type areas cutting deep into the landmass, creating many shallow channels. In the north is kind of like a Dogger Bank-like large tidal landmass that freezes over in winter, and it's traversable by migrants from north and east. (It's a bit different from Europe, since it's sort of like, what if Jutland came before the Netherlands and was connected to Poland overland rather than close to Sweden. There's more of a traditional Scandinavia-like area further to the north, but it's so remote as to be off the map.) Then in the interior there are some deep primeval forests and iron age hill fort societies.

Taglarika has a weak king and the confederacy is propped up with Valian support, so there's a lot of potential mischief to be had there, as well as possibly working as a mercenary for one of the imperial players, or even allying to the foreigners. Tldr; your ideas are very welcome and I think it'd be fun to have another barbarian player, as well as someone to flesh out some regional cultures.

This sounds very cool!

Do you have any language work beyond the name? And do you have any work on beliefs/cultural artefacts/etc?

Personally I've had an idea in the back of my mind for a while; a dolmen-like neolithic structure, but instead of being dolmen, it's stone wheels of different sizes propped up by small stone supports. Somewhat like this:

Probably with more dirt between the supports and the wheel, raised to two small mounds to support each side.

The flat sides would be inscribed with runes, pictures or geometric motifs, depending on its age. Maybe later wheels could be more intricate, larger, or yea have runes on them. They could serve as gravestones for kings or be so ancient that their purpose is unsure at this point. But there would be a belief/meme that one shouldn't pass through the middle hole, since that would have one pass to the spirit world.

 

[christos200]

Here is a preview of the map which Terrance and I are working on for our upcoming NES, Consider the Laurel. The game will be an epic simulator of imperial crisis going through generations of civil war, with victorious players reigning as Emperor and setting imperial policy. This is just our test of the capital region - the final map will be huge (it frequently breaks our computers) and may be the largest map ever created for a NES. Terrance has been an invaluable assistance and junior imperator, and I look forward to our future success in this project.

For interested parties, as there are still a few player slots available, the rules can be found here:

TNES VII - Consider the Laurel

docs.google.com

You can expect Consider the Laurel to launch some time in the next month, give or take. If you are on the Discord, where we give frequent development updates, feel free to pop in and ask questions.

(Also a big thanks to Daft who showed us some Civ2 mod sprites, which Terrance has brilliantly adapted for our purposes.)

The concept sounds interesting. Are there still slots available?

 

[Jehoshua]

The concept sounds interesting. Are there still slots available?

yes, and the thread is up should you wish to submit an application.

 

[Aiken_Drumn]

I recently ran a "recovery" program over an old HD that had died. It turned up some amazing things, many I thought lost. One included (apparently) my first ever introduction to a NES

Spoiler :

From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah​

Hello and welcome to my first attempt at moderating a Never Ending Story. You, the player, join us at a very significant period in time. It is a time where humanity has finally risen above the animals around them. Domestication has sparked a change in human habits and increasingly family groups are becoming sedentary. All along the Great River Wishkah, various family groups now live out their lives.


All told, the human population is probably about 10,000 individuals. There are a few gathering possibly in the hundreds, but all in all, everyone is still out there on their own. There are domesticated cats and oxen. The oxen are small and relatively weak compared to OTL, but with time they could be bred into something useful. Even so they are one of the most valuable things a human can own, with a list of uses I will not bore you with now.


There are raft which carefully cross the Wishkah, but none are stable enough to venture out to the open water. There is no real structure to this life; Farming is basic, hunting is still the mainstay of life. There is little trade, as man has not yet fully pulled himself out of subsistence living. What these people need is a leader, could you fulfil that need?


You are any character you wish to play, but your role is to become a great leader. Diplomacy, Religion, Warfare, etc the route you take is up to you. You will turn these people from a mere collection of humans into a civilized state. With your choices great structures will be built, Gods will be worshipped, who knows what discoveries await you.


Your significance to this story is not guaranteed; Perhaps people won't believe you, perhaps a foolish choice leaves your followers questioning your sanity, let alone your intelligence. Best a rival in wit, or a fight and you may gather up his supporters. The first few updates will see you politicising in your local community. Can you unite them behind you? Or will you be cast out? Perhaps as a journeyman you will find better luck at your next stop? Over the turns you will gain power, you will begin to make greater choices.


When we reach that change, the NES will shift gear and we will find ourselves in a typical Fresh Start NES on a Fantasy World.


Sign Up Sheet:

Name:
Background:

From the background you give me, I will rate your character on his strengths. Starting characters will get 3 points, distributed as I see fit. You will also start with some stats in the negative to show initial weakness. You could have all your eggs on one basket, or hedge your bets on several forms of persuasion. There is no winning formula, it is how well you use it, and dastardly RNG.

Each update, you will be able to “upgrade” your character as you see fit with extra points I distribute. The more you entertain me, the more points I will give. Stories, of course, give a higher chance of extra points.

Followers: 20

Influence: None/Tiny/Minor/Growing/Significant/Large/Huge/God like