Messages

16

Game Room / Re: Musings on Red Mages...

« on: September 15, 2012, 08:39:11 PM »

Red Mages couldn't decide on a major. They can sort of fake any branch of magic, but they're five years in and nowhere close to graduating. 

When their advisors finally start making noises about final exams, they decide to run off with a band of adventurers to escape.

17

Crimson Flag Comic / Re: Comic 209

« on: August 19, 2012, 08:49:31 AM »

I like Lucinda's facepawing at the total awkwardness and lack of subtlety. 

18

Crimson Flag Comic / Re: Comic 208

« on: August 19, 2012, 08:46:25 AM »

Hahaha! I *love* this one.

"Aww, you don't want to walk into my perfectly good ambush? Not even a little?" 

19

Role Play Theater / Re: Dawn of Worlds

« on: April 04, 2012, 06:02:38 PM »

Hehe I suppose I should stop waiting for EO to post. I'll write up mine soon.

Eep. Sorry about that! Yes. Ignore me for now. The end of the semester is rather frantic right now.

20

Role Play Theater / Re: Dawn of Worlds

« on: March 06, 2012, 04:55:11 PM »

Code: [Select]

The revelation given to the Order of the White Dragons came at a harsh surprise. Not that it was not to be expected, however. The interracial politic that has dominated Larepin interests for centuries has resulted in a partial blindness to their surroundings. Not that things got any better. Seeking to better relations with the Goblins, the White Larepin deployed several of their White Guard and shipments of Magitek weaponry in which to arm themselves and a select few of the Goblins to improve aerial skirmishing. However the sudden deployment of arms and armies did not go unseen.

After a few weeks of cooperative training, two dozen Normal Larepin suddenly appeared from the mountains in Goblin territory. The group was led by one 'Ambassadeur Joliis' escorted by a fairly tall Larepin clad in red cloth and steel and holding a massive spear lance. Following the two were twenty two yeoman from the capital. Joliis and his men came into the camp oddly without question, the White Larepin from Irfang failed to mention their neighboring kin.

Joliis shifted his eyes watching the Goblins straining to train under sunlight hours. 'All hour/weather' training the Whites claimed. "I demand an audience with the commanders of this camp." he demanded to a young Goblin. Joliis was taken to the commander's tent.

In the tent was an aide to the Goblin commander as the commander was currently napping under the strain of daylight training.

"The Whities are a minor offshoot of our race, I am honestly ashamed they failed to mention our very existence the Goblins. I am quite certain that they were surprised by the presence of a hostile force south of your borders yes? Well I say two can play at that game..." Said Joliis, curling his long head fur, "Our fishing fleet spotted what appears to be a race of cannibalic and evil.... 'bunnies' advancing through the crystal lands. We have known of this threat for a while and have trained our vast militias to fight this strange foe when the time comes. Perhaps you can 'convince' our kin to open the border for our armies to come and assist you. In fact... I suggest you... 'transfer' your inexperienced White allies someplace where they won't get themselves into trouble when our spears and bows do the heavy lifting."

With that message, Joliis and his guard retreated into the mountains once more to evade Irfang border patrols.

The Goblins now have a rough choice. The vast militias and armies of Guerrier are able to assist the Goblins during any possible conflict, however the relations with Irfang could be strained and the use of advanced Magitek weapons taken away from any upcoming battle. Granted the Goblins could play both sides of the game, but neither Larepin race enjoys being used. Or perhaps a joint agreement can be made by the Goblins to placate both sides.

I forgot to add a response to this thread. It probably needs one soon, so here it goes: (also, not sure what type of action this counts as)

Ambassador Jollis was awakened far outside the bounds of his customary hours by one of his aides. "What could it possibly be at this hour?", he asked.

"It's a courier sir, from the Goblins."

The ambassador quickly shrugged into his waistcoat and made himself as presentable as he was going to get at who knew what hour. He emerged into his office, coming face to face with the courier, who was hanging from his chandelier! Jollis blinked once or twice. "Ah, it is good to hear from our newly acquanted neighbors. What brings you here ... at this time of night?"

The courier hummed a squeak or two, then began: "Ah, yes. Our apologies for getting back to you so late. It takes the governing conference time to arrive at a conclusion, though the majority had pretty much made up their minds a good week ago. The chairs have the following reply:" The creature brought out a scroll and unrolled it.

"From the Goblin Council to the Guerrier government:

Greetings! We have recieved your offer for aid against the Scourge, and appreciate it very much.

However, we are now aware that perhaps all is not well within the Larepin nation, or should that be plural? You obviously don't get along with your cousins from Irfang - that is especially apparent because, as you have pointed out, they saw fit to refrain from mentioning your mere existence to us in all our dealings to date. (We are somewhat cross about that). However, the internal politics of the Larepin are not our concern - we do not at present seek to involve ourselves in favor of any of your parties against the other. Any alliance we make is solely to fight the Scourge. And your armies would complement us tactically better than the weaponry Irfang has helpfully provided so far.

We will continue to rely on the aid of Irfang, however. Our problem is a strategic one, one of geometry: In order for your armies to reach us, they would have to pass very close to Irfang and its surroundings, which would antagonize the White Larepin. I do not know how much influence you believe us to have with them, but you can imagine where they will probably tell us to stick any request to allow a potentially hostile army to march through their borders."

(Privately, the Goblins wonder about the nature of the militia army in the first place - it could be a ploy to gain an advantageous siege position on the Whites. After all, was that large army in an otherwise insular country really raised to deal with an *external* threat? In addition, in the event that Guerrier becomes hostile to the Goblins, whether because of this diplomatic slight, or any plotting on their part, having Irfang between them and Guerrier may be advantageous. On the other hand, in the event of hostilities with Irfang, the White Larepin would be caught between the Goblins, the Greys, and the Scourge - a position the Goblins doubt they will put themselves in willingly. The Goblins don't at present place high probability on hositlities with either Larepin nation, but it doesn't hurt to think these things through.)

"If an arrangement could be made to transport your troops via ship, that may be advantageous. After all, we welcome any and all aid against the Scourge - once you and the Whites are clear of each other's territory, our expectations of each parties interests are that it would be a best response for all of us to fight this threat together. We will contact the Jaeskine and see if they will loan any ships to help in such a scheme."

Regards,

the thirtieth Goblin governing conference and grant allocation board.

PS - in the interest of keeping everything above board, Irfang will also be copied on this communication."

21

Role Play Theater / Re: Dawn of Worlds

« on: March 03, 2012, 04:33:24 PM »

I'm attempting it this turn.   (Or whenever it is convenient to write a response).

22

Role Play Theater / Re: Dawn of Worlds

« on: March 03, 2012, 01:03:14 PM »

@nagolinc: Awesome picture! Did you make those models yourself? What program did you use?

It's unfortunate that the Goblins would do that - a disproof is just as valid as a proof, after all. It may mark the first time Miserable Failure has succeeded at something - a Miserable success? Ref. Godel's theorem was pretty clever, 

Red Reyn: Command Order: Pirate Ships (-2)
Red Reyn: Command Order: Red Rats (-2)
Kidnap The Flames Hand

Pirate Captain Emelio cursed his luck. It seemed like such a good idea at the time. Unfortunately, wild boasts made the night before in the tavern were very hard to back down from when evaluated in the cold light of sobriety. But then, that's how most classic Red Reyn adventures start, and on the off chance it didn't kill them all, it would be epic.

The Red Reyn were slowly and haltingly growing in wealth and power, but there were setbacks at every turn. The Jaeskine, once easy and insanely profitable prey, were becoming harder to take on the high seas. The Rakey repelled the ill fated expedition of Captain Lorenz. Many of the other races of the world were developing powerful magic or had some sort of divine patronage. Unfortunately going off on half-cocked nautical adventures leaves little time for the scholarship that most magic requires. And the Reds couldn't find reverence with a map in the Vatican, so they were unlikely to endear themselves to any gods anytime soon.

"How come none of these gods ever do us pirates any favors?", Emelio waxed eloquent, bottle in hand. "That kitsune Flames-Hand is a fox, right? Maybe a little on the snooty side - after all, he could never be bothered to give us any fortune or powers, but I'm sure we can get him to see things our way."

"Oh yes, I can see this now", Admiral Marta said, laughing. "Let's go actually drawing the attention of a god. Please sir, won't you help us pillage the high seas? After all, we are so pure and stuff."

"Pure *something* anyway! Har! If you made the Captain's tavern his shrine, half of us might accidentally attend a service", Lorenz guffawed.

"Shut up, Lorenz!", the other Captains shouted.

"Exactly!", Emilio said, not quite following the conversation. "All we have to do, is get his attention. If we kidnapped him, he'd have no choice but to hear us!"

Admiral Ponfilo pounded the table with laughter. "Ah yes! You're going to just walk up to this critter and clobber him with a belaying pin, are ye? And when he wakes up halfway back to Las Flotas, we can all watch the pretty lightshow on the horizon"

"I'm not an idiot", Emilio said. "I ... have a *cunning plan*!", he put one paw on the table and gestured dramatically.

"Now we're really worried, since when did you have plans?"

"The Flames Hand isn't at home. He's currently abroad among the Oraxians. We don't have to kidnap him *directly* - we can kidnap some of those grass-eaters he seems to like so much! If he's such a good god, he wouldn't hesitate to walk right into our trap to spare his followers. And if he's not so good, he'll have to do it anyway, or he'll lose all his grass-eating worshippers when they discover what a self-serving jerk he is."

"You don't just walk into a foreign country", Lorenz cautioned. "They could have traps, armies. The land itself could be so hostile that you'll never make it to your destination", he said, shuddering.

"Shut up Lorenz!", all the pirate Captains shouted in unison.

"Oraxia, land of adorable doooom. What are the Oraxians going to do, make bambie eyes at you?", Admiral Marta said. "They're almost as scary as those monkeys that beat you by climbing trees and staying out of your way as you blundered about the jungle!"

"No, no, Lorenz has a point", Emilio said. "We can take those gladiator types with us to round up the villiagers! They're rough enough to handle anything these grass-eating hippies can throw at us. And then, when we have them, we'll send word to that Flames Hand that he must surrender to us."

"And then, just as your ships hoist anchor, all your sails will catch on fire."

"One of those gladiator types", Emelio said, motioning to a captured Tek slave, "knows how to make anti-magic wards. And we'll keep him in a hold lined entirely with glass and water, in a steel cage suspended in the air. There will be nothing for him to light on fire - he'll be trapped!"

"Well, this has been a delightful game", Admiral Marta said, "Too bad there's no one here who actually has the guts to do it."

"What?! I have plenty of guts!", Emelio shouted. "I'll do it!"

"Oh will you?", Marta said, with lidded eyes. "This I'll have to see."

"I will! My ship leaves at dawn!", Emelio said.

"You might as well take Lorenz along - he has experience beating hasty retreats from unarmed natives", Marta said. "The boldness and ridiculousness of your plan has moved us all ... to tears ... heehehe." She handed him a package.

"What is this?", Emelio asked.

"Asbestos trousers - you're going to need them!"

23

Role Play Theater / Re: Dawn of Worlds

« on: February 11, 2012, 08:19:26 PM »

Wow, you leave your people alone for a week and all of a sudden their city is gone, and they’re shapeshifters. :-P

EccentricOrbit: Starting Points (19)

The Goblins are at first devastated by the loss of their home city and main sanctuary of Archive, especially given the horrible and inexplicable deaths of the residents therein. Later, when the strange liquefied remains of their city-folk begins seeping out of the ground and talking to them, they are greatly alarmed. Approaching even this traumatic event with their typical detachment, they carefully capture this bizarre fluid and start testing it. It doesn’t take long to figure out that *somehow* the Goblins of Archive are still “alive”, and thinking, though in a rather frightful state. The Goblin researchers quarantine the shapeshifters until they are sure that it isn’t a contagious illness, and are glad that, however strange the reunion, their fellow city-folk aren’t dead.

Of course, that means, rather horribly, that in the collapsed sections of the city, their newly shapeshifting cousins are trapped in the rock. While they would prefer to recover the remains of their city carefully and slowly, as is their wont, so as to preserve the surviving art and literature, time is clearly of the essence. The Goblins, hearing of the mining and engineering prowess of the Turu’hraim, and the Jaeskine, send to them for aid in blasting their way into the caverns of their ruined city. Meanwhile, other Goblins begin researching a way to plug their prodigious ears, so as to tolerate the blasting and hammering to come.

In the meantime, they spread out among the orchards planted around their mountain-ranges, and begin repopulating their old tree-houses.

Meanwhile, the Goblins send word to the Larepin, in order to give them due notice, and not to alarm them, that several frightening threats have forced them to begin arming themselves.

Three Goblins make their way to Irfang, to speak with the people in charge. Of course, Larepin being insistent individualists, the closest the Goblins get to finding “someone in charge of the defense” is the headquarters of the order of the White Dragons.

Albaek shifted and squinted at the light from the windows. With such a glare reflecting off of every surface, he could barely see where he was going. “Must they all keep such ridiculous hours?”, he complained.

Eric hummed a tune while covering his eyes with a wing, and felt the room vibrate around him, so as to see where he was going. The sound reflected off the sturdy walls of the structure, and allowed him to image his hosts.

“I believe”, said the guide they hired in the city, “that these gentlemen may be of assistance, if you are looking for someone to talk to about defense. That is, unless you want to get up in the town square and start shouting at people. That’s really the only way to reach ‘everybody’ in Irfang”.

Albaek shook his head. “Well, thank you. We will at least have informed someone who should know.”
The Goblins began to make their case to the Larepin.

“A great many things have gone so horribly wrong in the past few years”, Albaek began. “First, there were the murders by that vile cult of dark magic users in our city. We are still trying to find them all, but they are very elusive. These vampires look like us, and act very much like us, but prey on people in their horrible rituals. If they manage to go abroad, others must be warned.

Then, we discovered this … species that lives to the south of us. Following standard contact procedures, our researchers attempted to communicate with them by leaving various puzzles, books, and gifts in their path. These creatures did investigate the puzzles quite intelligently, and used them in most creative ways-

“-yes, used them to creatively kill their companions, then eat them,” Eric said.

“I had no idea you could even *do that* with a Rubik’s cube”, Albaek said, feeling ill. “We very carefully set up contact with a band of scourge moving through the swamp south of the crystal forest. When the forward research team announced themselves, the creatures ran towards them, screeching unintelligibly. Team A fell back, while Team B watched from the air above the swamp. Hundreds of these creatures surrounded and converged on team A and … ate them.”

“Team B found these structures at the center of their nests shaped like a giant mouth filled with teeth. These creatures would bring in cartloads of animals – anything they got their hands on from the swamp, including their own kind … and eat them.” Eric continued.

“While it is certainly not a uniqueness proof for the range of possible actions, any deviation from this behavior would at this point carry significant entropy”, Albaek said.

“And, in the absence of variation, their expected behavior extrapolated from past trends point towards these ‘Scourge’ attempting to kill and eat anything in their path. In the event they move north of the great crystal forest, we must be prepared to fight them off. And so, we are preparing to arm ourselves, to deal with our present problems at home and abroad. We hope to remain good neighbors with the Larepin, and even to aid each other against these threats, though we are new to warfare.”
With that, the diplomats awaited the reply from the order.

Moves:

Create Order (6): Goblin Skirmishers
The Goblins raise an army to defend their newly scattered population from the Scourge. The Goblins are physically rather frail, and so don’t do well in massed melee formations, but have a few advantages going for them in skirmishing combat.

They can fly, and fight from the air with projectile weapons, favoring poison darts and arrows launched from cover and high treetop positions. They can coordinate their movements stealthily using tones too high for most creatures to register, as they harass enemies entering their territory, relying on distance, reconnaissance, and maneuvering room to wear them down.

Create Order (6): Shapeshifting Spies

The Goblin shapeshifters eventually learn to control their form, and resume something resembling a normal life. But if they can manage to reattain their former shape, they discover they can mimic the forms of any of the other races of the world, even that of inanimate objects. These Goblins make use of this new ability to study the other races of the world more directly than ever before.

These spies don’t necessarily think of themselves as such (though their mileage may vary as to how others perceive them). They think of themselves as going native in their new lands, *very* native – adopting the language, appearance, and customs of the people they blend in with, and participating at ground level in their society. While neophytes can be picked out by their mannerisms, within a month or so, it can become almost impossible to tell that they are not what they seem. Information about their travels filters back to the Goblin homeland through letters that these shapeshifters enthusiastically and quite innocently write to each other in the codes and mathematical puzzles that Goblins love.

Re: the Red Rats - yep, it all fits nicely. What's not to love about some crazy dudes you can unleash on any troublesome landside resistance? And if you managed to hold down a shop in Las Flotas, a little protection would not be unappreciated. Furthermore, capturing people from around the world and making them fight to the death is hilarious as well as educational.

Command Order (-3): Red Reyn Pirate Ships:

The Red Reyn pirate captains are fond of shiny loot, and the Jaeskine have lots of it. Unfortunately, the master-smiths of the Jaeskine are rather well armored and pointy on land, and so it is difficult to directly take it. On the other hand, the Jaeskine nation is divided between two continents, with many fat merchant vessels making the run between them. The pirates begin to prey heavily on Jaeskine merchant and treasure ships moving between the south central and north central continents.

Purify Civ: Goblins (3):

The Goblins have only ever loved peace and quiet, and the discovery of new and interesting ideas. And with the choices they have been forced to make lately, it is becoming clear to them that evil is ... well ... irrelevant, pointless and sad. The Goblins, while eccentric, private, and very nerdy, are relatively benign neighbors.


Vote: Move to the 3rd age next turn.

24

Crimson Flag Comic / Re: Comic 178

« on: January 14, 2012, 03:55:19 PM »

Haven't had internet for a few days. Wow, and here I thought there would be no foiling of the plot. Surprise!   

How do you aim when your eyes are focused on the end of your nose?

25

Role Play Theater / Re: Dawn of Worlds

« on: January 08, 2012, 12:41:41 PM »

Just so I'm keeping everyone straight, who are the brown territories around C10,B11?

26

Role Play Theater / Re: Dawn of Worlds

« on: January 08, 2012, 12:03:14 PM »

Since creation of new races seems to be the main thing that gets prohibitively expensive in the third age, I should probably get this out of the way now:

Create Subrace: The Vampires (4) (an evil subrace of the Goblins, hiding in their society)

One of the things that weighs on the mind of any scholar is *time*. There isn't enough time in the day to do all that needs to be done. Not enough time in a life to explore all that is interesting to explore. One of the ongoing interests of the Goblins is finding a way to extend their lives. While some approaches have shown promise, most avenues to life extension found thus far have drawbacks which render them unuseable.

For some of the Goblins, though, the "problems" are no problem at all. There is one method in particular, forbidden by Goblin society, but ever so easy and accessible. And all it requires is the blood of the innocent.

The Vampires hide among Goblin society, keeping their existence a closely guarded secret, as they seek prey to feed their new appetites. Where normal Goblins see the other races of the world as a source of inspiring new ideas, the Vampires see them as a preferable food source. They are difficult to tell apart from their benign bretheren, but there are a few tells which can single them out. While a Goblin will be disoriented and miserable when exposed in the sunlight, the dark magic that the Vampires have used to extend their lives will kill them.

Auto Create Order: Vampire circles

Create Race: The Fennecs (6) (a good race, living in the desert of G12)

The Fennec foxes are at home in the desert to an extent that few others can manage. What is an uninhabitable wasteland to the other races, the Fennecs call home.

On average, visions of conquest, wars, and other grand projects don't interest the Fennecs, who are content to spend their energy staying alive in the only spot in the world that no one else wants. They have a sense of duty to come to the aid of anyone in trouble, due to the harsh environment, and will guide the other races across the great Eternal Desert, if they so desire. Some go abroad as explorers and adventurers, and individual Fennecs may hire themselves out to unsavory people, but on the whole they'll protect those in trouble.

Auto Create Order: Desert Rangers

The Fennec Desert Rangers are a group that keeps the peace in Fennec territory. There is no place too barren for these foxes to survive, or too remote for them to reach. They have a proficiency with skirmish tactics, and know how to hide in desert territory.

-10 so far.

27

Role Play Theater / Re: Dawn of Worlds

« on: January 05, 2012, 08:49:10 PM »

I'll vote for staying in the second. Still a little more of the world to fill, and things to do.

28

Role Play Theater / Re: Dawn of Worlds

« on: December 28, 2011, 01:49:14 PM »

My moves so far:

Command Order: Red Reyn Pirate Ships: Reconnoiter and raid Rakey (3)

Pirate Captain Lorenz had been troubled by the unusual climate around the south islands for some time now. While the fine details of climactic physics escaped him, he was an experienced sailor, and it was obvious that something strange and unnatural was going on in that far southward part of the world, in the winter when the sun set for months on end, and all around the island was covered in ice and snow, that warm tropical heat still surrounded the coast.

From the indiscretion of Grey Reyn sailors on furlough, he had learned that the south island of J9 was inhabited by a people known as the Rakey. It didn't take much imagination to deduce that something of great power, and possibly great value, was responsible for the fortuitous climate of the island. As the rank and file merchant sailors had no knowledge of what it might be, either the Grey Reyn captains, or the natives themselves, were keeping whatever it was a closely guarded secret.

An expedition to find the source of this strange power was in order.

Captain Lorenz launches an expedition to the Rakey Island at J9. There he will attempt to discover what he can about the island and its inhabitants.

After the initial phase of summoning all the decorum that a pirate fleet can muster, meeting with the inhabitants, and finding out all that the Rakey might be willing to share, he will land his men on the island (hopefully covertly, but he's not above capturing and/or eliminating any witnesses along the way) and attempt to go off the rails, driving into the heart of the Jungle in an attempt to find the Red Crystal.

If he is successful, he will see what can be done about stealing it. As the Red Crystal is probably very large, and well defended, the "adventuring" party may not be able to accomplish this without an army, in which case they'll try to steal whatever they can that's not nailed down, and abduct any important looking mages/officials of the Watchers, and escape to their ships. If the opportunity presents itself, they may try blowing up or knocking pieces off the crystal (that is, if they can get close enough, and are feeling pressed enough for time).

(How successful the Pirate's expedition is, and any amusing/interesting results, I'll leave in your hands, Raf)

Command Order: Mathematicians Guild: (3)

The mathematicians guild was, after making contact with some of the Larepin, excited about the possibilities suggested by the existence of the other races around the world. They were determined to learn all that they could, (preferably under safe conditions), about who else might share their world and what they might know. They sent out several expeditions, following the same proceedure of cautious observation, then approach, that they followed with the Larepin.

One expedition was sent south through the crystal-forest desert to the southern half of their continent, and they began to observe and attempt contact with the Scourge. (Here, their caution will probably pay off, as any bad reactions are likely to cause the diplomat/explorer teams to vanish).

Another expedition is sent along the coast of B-C-D-E8 and E9, and will, over the course of its voyage, discover the Jaeskine and Tek. The Goblins will go through their standard routine of covert observation, followed by placing gifts and puzzles out for people to find, and finally approaching and introducing themselves.

I imagine the Goblins will be doubly excited about discovering the Tek, given their similarly academic interests.

11 -6 => 5


Hmm - PS

The Red Reyn also border the Krump. While they tend to stick near the coast, their reptilian neighbors would be hard to miss for long. The Red Reyn decide to send out a greeting, pirate style. That is, they go poke around, looking for anything they might steal, and generally cause disorganized rum-fueled chaos.

To their surprise, they discover that the Krump seem to highly value flowers (note to future expeditions, they aren't amused by bonfires in the flower garden), and are willing to trade quite a bit in exchange for the silliest things - flower seeds and other unlikely botanical flotsam from the all around the world. Heh, chumps. This could form the basis for a profitable relationship, assuming the Red Reyn's total lack of reverence is at all tolerable.

29

Role Play Theater / Re: Dawn of Worlds

« on: December 20, 2011, 03:26:37 PM »

For now I'll do the following:

Goblins: Command Race: Expand (-4)

The Goblins make their way east along the mountains of B4. They build smaller towns and begin cultivation of various types of fruit trees in the areas where they settle. They build the coastal town of Iteration on the river delta between B4 and B5.

At this point, the Goblins are probably coming into contact with the Larepin at Irfang, C5. On finding the Larepin, I imagine the Goblins, not the most extroverted of people generally, would try to gather what information they could from a distance during the night. Interested groups of Goblin researchers would be fascinated at the idea of other intelligent species that they could trade ideas with, and hungry for what knowledge of the world they might possess. How do they do things? How do they build what they have? Who else have they contacted who is out there? On the other hand, they are likely to be comically cautious about potentially enraging their neighbors and endangering their main city.

They would attempt to approach individual Larepin who are traveling in small numbers and analyze their reaction to various stimuli, such as leaving gifts of food and tools (and finally manuscripts, puzzles, and the like) for the Larepin to find.

Finally, they might work up to actually sending people out to (gulp) talk to and trade with them. The Goblins would let the Larepin know where Iteration was, but be closemouthed about the location of Archive.

How would the Larepin react to this?

Red Reyn: Command Order (-3): Found a City at the pine forests bordering J9.

The Red Reyn thirst for adventure. Unfortunately adventure has a way of putting holes in ships, and leaving the natives of wherever they land less than well disposed to helping them patch things up. The pirate captains need a place to refit, regroup, and flaunt any treasures they may have "discovered" in their nautical wanderings. To this end, they found the city of Las Flotas in the pine forests bordering J9.

It's a city of wooden shipyards, docks, and taverns, with a reputation for being your average hive of scum and villainy. They'll accept ships from all over the world, but the various Pirate Captains in the "admiralty" will rally a temporarily united defense against anyone trying to clean them out or impose any sort of order.

(-7 total, 0 points left).

30

Role Play Theater / Re: Dawn of Worlds

« on: December 14, 2011, 04:24:02 PM »

An interesting historical note on metal:

For 90% of human history, we basically didn't have metal tools. What natural metal existed (either through meteoric deposits, or extremely rare native deposits of things like copper) were found and used in the late stone/early copper age. But natural copper was so few and far between that you couldn't really base an economy on it. The rest of it is bound up in various oxides, what we call metal ore. Gold is one of the first metals we discovered, existing in a chemically unbound state. But gold makes lousy tools.

It must not have been at all obvious to ancient eyes that these faintly colored rocks (not so faintly in the case of copper ore - malachite, azurite) could be rendered down into metals by heating them to temperatures hotter than anything they needed prior to that time. The properties of an ore and the metal you can derive from it are not at all similar. When it was eventually discovered, (~4500BC), the bronze age began, and it was a rather dramatic leap in technology.

So also, when it was discovered that hematite and magnetite could be smelted to yield iron, something previously only available via meteoric deposits, another great leap was made, as iron tools maintained their edge through use better and could be made far harder and sharper than anything made of bronze. Even after the beginnings of the iron age (1500ish BC), meteoric iron was still sought above smelted iron, because it contained nickel, making it harder and tougher than iron smelted from ores (probably leading to a lot of ancient legends about special swords and the like made from magic metal through magic means).

In terms of the game: If Raval wants a *metal* horde to sit on, he may well need the Jaeskine's services, as native metal (depending on the chemical activity) is relatively rare.