EMPIRE! CWBG VIII: It's Not An Event Without A Few Corpses

[Sorrcerousflux]

A toast to well rested-ness!

*ting*

[Morph Bark]

Good for you. Watch out though, as I just found out today, the second Monday is frikken brutal.

I'm moreso watching out for next week's Wednesday. Apparently we'll already have an assignment due and need to watch out that we include some files that are necessary but aren't obviously places, or else get a 0, or something like that. We'll hear more on that tomorrow though!

Yeah... I felt kinda guilty that I hung out for all of today...

If you wanna feel guilty about me having an awesome day, sure!

[SamBurke]

I'm moreso watching out for next week's Wednesday. Apparently we'll already have an assignment due and need to watch out that we include some files that are necessary but aren't obviously places, or else get a 0, or something like that. We'll hear more on that tomorrow though!



If you wanna feel guilty about me having an awesome day, sure!

I played Magic and N64 all day... I think I've got a solid chance of a win here.

[Morph Bark]

I played Magic and N64 all day... I think I've got a solid chance of a win here.

You can't win if a win condition was never set.

At any rate, since I'll be learning on how to make games of all sorts, like the ones you play, I'm definitely counting this as a moral victory!

[ImperatorV]

You can't win if a win condition was never set.

At any rate, since I'll be learning on how to make games of all sorts, like the ones you play, I'm definitely counting this as a moral victory!

A fellow aspiring Game Developer? Awesome! Interesting that you actually have college courses dedicated to that, but to be fair I picked my school for the computer science program, not specifically for game design, so my experience is a bit different.

[lt_murgen]

Oooooh. Tell me more?

My intention was to use my Faith 10 to turn the tree of Atur in Tar into the Grove of Doom in a massive ritual. The dark sap of the tree would give regents who drank it a 50% chance of dying or gaining +2 to stats (either +2 to luck or Faith, or +1 each). But Opus got hisself blowed up, so that may be a long while....


Oh, and I have a couple of Grant-Tremblor boys who are marriage age at the coronation.

[Aedilred]

My intention was to use my Faith 10 to turn the tree of Atur in Tar into the Grove of Doom in a massive ritual. The dark sap of the tree would give regents who drank it a 50% chance of dying or gaining +2 to stats (either +2 to luck or Faith, or +1 each). But Opus got hisself blowed up, so that may be a long while....


Oh, and I have a couple of Grant-Tremblor boys who are marriage age at the coronation.

I only have one female family member of marriageable age remaining, and that's Seirwynn, who was the girl Martin rescued from captivity. She's not at the coronation since the last time she appeared in public she flipped out and tried to murder her cousin - albeit, with some justification - but AQUA/Niemidaland might be the best place for her. She is quite a bit older than the G-T boys now, though (31).

I also have a couple of chaps of varying status in their early forties, if anyone's interested, and the king's twin sons who'll be fifteen at the end of the round.

[ImperatorV]

I have one male heir at the event - but I made an agreement with Morph regarding him a while back. Actually, we may want to get started with that at the coronation. At least introduce them anyway.

For investigations, do you roll 2d6+Cur or what? I want to edit that roll in when I post part four of The Dark Moon Rises. BTW, part three is up if anyone besides Quinton is following the updates. Be warned: those "triggers" Morph was talking about earlier? There's a lot of those.

[Rain Dragon]

That is correct.

Actually, I was going to read it toward the end of the round (to read most of the story all in one go). I have no idea what to expect, but I enjoy reading horror.

My own story this round has been rather lame. Blame the distractions!

[ImperatorV]

That is correct.

Actually, I was going to read it toward the end of the round (to read most of the story all in one go). I have no idea what to expect, but I enjoy reading horror.

My own story this round has been rather lame. Blame the distractions!

I can see the benefits of both ways of reading it, all at once or as each installment comes up. I pace them mainly because I'm too lazy to write it all at once

[SamBurke]

You can't win if a win condition was never set.

At any rate, since I'll be learning on how to make games of all sorts, like the ones you play, I'm definitely counting this as a moral victory!

Ahhhh... Well coolness? I think Mario Party and Original Smash Brothers wins there...

A fellow aspiring Game Developer? Awesome! Interesting that you actually have college courses dedicated to that, but to be fair I picked my school for the computer science program, not specifically for game design, so my experience is a bit different.

I have one male heir at the event - but I made an agreement with Morph regarding him a while back. Actually, we may want to get started with that at the coronation. At least introduce them anyway.

For investigations, do you roll 2d6+Cur or what? I want to edit that roll in when I post part four of The Dark Moon Rises. BTW, part three is up if anyone besides Quinton is following the updates. Be warned: those "triggers" Morph was talking about earlier? There's a lot of those.

Speaking of which, there may be some romance going down in the thread, if I can get it going.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

So it seems Waylander hasn't gotten to leadership stats...would someone be able to cover it again?

[SamBurke]

I have some similar hopes. :)

So Lucrezia hitting on Vizini isn't an accident?

[Eat4free]

So, hi! I haven't been able to get on in a while due to the lack of internet, but I am glad to know I got in! I'm mostly just saying this so everyone knows I didn't disappear or die or anything like that. So thanks!

[Aedilred]

So, hi! I haven't been able to get on in a while due to the lack of internet, but I am glad to know I got in! I'm mostly just saying this so everyone knows I didn't disappear or die or anything like that. So thanks!

Hello again!

Cantroth

blah blah

May I get this approved per chance?

Morph made a comment about it a while back in this thread - here - and also mentioned that he'd PMed you. There seems to be a general attempt to keep clutter out of the Lands of Telluris thread, hence why I'm replying here and not there. So contingent on whatever he said there it looks like a yes.


Entirely personally, I raised an eyebrow at the giant osmium statue. A statue of that size would contain more osmium by volume (and therefore much more by mass) than all the gold there is on Earth - and not just a bit more, hundreds if not thousands of times more. This would have a corresponding effect on market value, to the extent that osmium would be worth a lot less than gold, and very possibly less than baser metals given its abundance and limited application.

Given that osmium is also extremely heat-resistant and hard to manipulate while solid, to the extent it's only become useful relatively recently in human history, I'm not sure how such a statue would even be created (magic, I guess?), let alone how that much of the stuff could be acquired in the first place. In fact, a statue of that size in any material would be astonishingly tall - about six times taller than the tallest free-standing artficial structure on Earth. Just something to consider.

[BladeofObliviom]

Entirely personally, I raised an eyebrow at the giant osmium statue. A statue of that size would contain more osmium by volume (and therefore much more by mass) than all the gold there is on Earth - and not just a bit more, hundreds if not thousands of times more. This would have a corresponding effect on market value, to the extent that osmium would be worth a lot less than gold, and very possibly less than baser metals given its abundance and limited application.

Given that osmium is also extremely heat-resistant and hard to manipulate while solid, to the extent it's only become useful relatively recently in human history, I'm not sure how such a statue would even be created (magic, I guess?), let alone how that much of the stuff could be acquired in the first place. In fact, a statue of that size in any material would be astonishingly tall - about six times taller than the tallest free-standing artficial structure on Earth. Just something to consider.

Also, Osmium is a metal and thus conducts heat, which is important: This statue would no doubt be sitting in the sun, which would heat its exterior over time. At three miles up, wind speeds tend to rise, which means that cloud erosion will almost certainly occur over time. Dislodged Osmium particles react with O2 to form Osmium Tetroxide, a ludicrously deadly poisonous substance that sublimates at about room temperature and would now be placed in a perfect position for said wind to scatter it across the land, causing thousands of cases of potentially lethal pulmonary edema and blindness.

Assuming that it's real-world Osmium, anyway. Chemistry tends to fall apart somewhat in fantasy land.

[ImperatorV]

Also, Osmium is a metal and thus conducts heat, which is important: This statue would no doubt be sitting in the sun, which would heat its exterior over time. At three miles up, wind speeds tend to rise, which means that cloud erosion will almost certainly occur over time. Dislodged Osmium particles react with O2 to form Osmium Tetroxide, a ludicrously deadly poisonous substance that sublimates at about room temperature and would now be placed in a perfect position for said wind to scatter it across the land, causing thousands of cases of potentially lethal pulmonary edema and blindness.

Assuming that it's real-world Osmium, anyway. Chemistry tends to fall apart somewhat in fantasy land.

It's probably a different metal that happens to be named Osmium and share some traits with the real world metal. At least, that will be my head-cannon unless he can come up with some very good reasons everyone hasn't died yet. And why there is so much of it.

[SamBurke]

Also, Osmium is a metal and thus conducts heat, which is important: This statue would no doubt be sitting in the sun, which would heat its exterior over time. At three miles up, wind speeds tend to rise, which means that cloud erosion will almost certainly occur over time. Dislodged Osmium particles react with O2 to form Osmium Tetroxide, a ludicrously deadly poisonous substance that sublimates at about room temperature and would now be placed in a perfect position for said wind to scatter it across the land, causing thousands of cases of potentially lethal pulmonary edema and blindness.

Assuming that it's real-world Osmium, anyway. Chemistry tends to fall apart somewhat in fantasy land.

Which would be kinda badass.... for those several regions away.

[TheDarkDM]

I think the more important issue is the fact that the free-standing metal statue is three miles tall. Like Aedilred said, that's six times taller than the Burj Khalifa, a building that is itself almost 1000 feet taller than the next tallest building in the world. Something that size implies an architectural knowledge that surpasses anything we have in the real world, which isn't even getting into the specifics of materials.

[SamBurke]

I think the more important issue is the fact that the free-standing metal statue is three miles tall. Like Aedilred said, that's six times taller than the Burj Khalifa, a building that is itself almost 1000 feet taller than the next tallest building in the world. Something that size implies an architectural knowledge that surpasses anything we have in the real world, which isn't even getting into the specifics of materials.

Or the weight... Seriously, that thing would have to be hecka strong, especially to be eight-legged and presumably have some ornamental features (3 heads, carvings, etc)...

That said, it's a wildly cool idea, if it was just a bit shorter. Even the Titan in Maos is only a few thousand feet tall, if I understand it correctly. And that's using Shintouite, which explicitly works better the more pressure it's in.

[zabbarot]

Or the weight... Seriously, that thing would have to be hecka strong, especially to be eight-legged and presumably have some ornamental features (3 heads, carvings, etc)...

That said, it's a wildly cool idea, if it was just a bit shorter. Even the Titan in Maos is only a few thousand feet tall, if I understand it correctly. And that's using Shintouite, which explicitly works better the more pressure it's in.

>.> The tallest statues made with comparable technology to what we have in game top out at around 70 meters, and they were pretty much all carved into mountains. Actually building a huge statue requires materials and technologies that don't exist in game. I mean, even if you were to say a million people pulled it up with a rope and pulley system there isn't anything strong enough to make that rope out of, let alone the issue of what the pulley is hanging from.


'A few thousand' is still many times larger than the biggest statue that exists on earth btw, Sam. The Spring Temple Buddha in China is 420ft tall. Which is absolutely massive. And that was built in 2002.

Edit: just for the sake of having a sense of scale this is the Spring Temple Buddha. Just zoom out for a bit. You can damn near see it from space.

[Morph Bark]

Also, Osmium is a metal and thus conducts heat, which is important: This statue would no doubt be sitting in the sun, which would heat its exterior over time. At three miles up, wind speeds tend to rise, which means that cloud erosion will almost certainly occur over time. Dislodged Osmium particles react with O2 to form Osmium Tetroxide, a ludicrously deadly poisonous substance that sublimates at about room temperature and would now be placed in a perfect position for said wind to scatter it across the land, causing thousands of cases of potentially lethal pulmonary edema and blindness.

Assuming that it's real-world Osmium, anyway. Chemistry tends to fall apart somewhat in fantasy land.

While I am cool with a lot of things and don't outright say "no" to things players introduce, I am always in full support of scientific explanations and conclusions to things--even if magic is involved (which could've been involved in its creation). The above idea is pretty cool, actually, and could make the giant statue a resource for alchemical gaseous poisons down the line or somesuch. It'd definitely be a cool place for adventuring.

I agree that it is tall to a crazy extent, but it's up to Eat to do what he wishes with the suggestions. I think that's one part of the beauty of cooperative world-building.

EDIT: You can bet that there'd be events involving that giant statue, for better or worse.

[TheDarkDM]

While I am cool with a lot of things and don't outright say "no" to things players introduce, I am always in full support of scientific explanations and conclusions to things--even if magic is involved (which could've been involved in its creation). The above idea is pretty cool, actually, and could make the giant statue a resource for alchemical gaseous poisons down the line or somesuch. It'd definitely be a cool place for adventuring.

I agree that it is tall to a crazy extent, but it's up to Eat to do what he wishes with the suggestions. I think that's one part of the beauty of cooperative world-building.

But I think we'd all like to avoid losing a sense of scale. A mortal construction "just" a few hundred feet tall would be an achievement at our current level of technology, and it would take decades to build and claim dozens of lives at a minimum. Exceeding the construction marvels of the modern world isn't just flying in the face of verisimilitude, it's inviting in the silliness that we mock a lot of poorly researched science fiction for. I'm not trying to offend anyone, but once you start putting hard numbers to things rather than the language of poetic license ("It reached into the clouds" can mean many things), the standards for realism have to increase.

[SamBurke]

But I think we'd all like to avoid losing a sense of scale. A mortal construction "just" a few hundred feet tall would be an achievement at our current level of technology, and it would take decades to build and claim dozens of lives at a minimum. Exceeding the construction marvels of the modern world isn't just flying in the face of verisimilitude, it's inviting in the silliness that we mock a lot of poorly researched science fiction for. I'm not trying to offend anyone, but once you start putting hard numbers to things rather than the language of poetic license ("It reached into the clouds" can mean many things), the standards for realism have to increase.

Agreed. To be honest, I have no real idea *how tall* the Titan is; I know that I had planned to use Zepplins as supports and the like, but I don't know if that works, or whether that's gonna effect things much.

Yeah, though I think Lucrezia "adopting" Huanle would be a little more amicable to everyone.

Explain more?

[Aedilred]

For reference, the Colossus of Rhodes (which I assume forms some kind of inspiration for the Titan) was about 100 feet tall. The Pharos, which was roughly contemporary, but a building rather than a statue, was about 450 feet, and was just about the tallest building in the world until it fell down (not counting the Great Pyramid). Before the introduction of modern building techniques with steel frames etc. the maximum height of a building seems to have been about 500-550 feet.

I'm not an engineer, but it looks like Shintouite, while a great building material, is kind of like a super-concrete: it has wonderful strength under compression, but probably not so much under tension, and thus buildings and structures built out of it might well be subject to the same sort of problems that limited height before the introduction of steel reinforcement. Most prominently, even minor earth tremors, and wind (in the sense of blowing it about, not eroding it), could wreak havoc on high structures built from it.

[lt_murgen]

As I've explained before, a quirk of Pavonian marriage rites means that Pavonians find male/male or female/female romance literally unthinkable. Therefore, any Lucrezia/Huanle relationship would be more parental than romantic.

Also, I understood that you had your eye on a Fengbao/Vizini pairing, and didn't want to ruin that for everyone.

I'm glad they never travelled to the Islands or Raaneka much, then. Some of their arrangements might have caused them to short circuit....

[TheDarkDM]

Logic, I just made more room in my inbox.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

For reference, the Colossus of Rhodes (which I assume forms some kind of inspiration for the Titan) was about 100 feet tall. The Pharos, which was roughly contemporary, but a building rather than a statue, was about 450 feet, and was just about the tallest building in the world until it fell down (not counting the Great Pyramid). Before the introduction of modern building techniques with steel frames etc. the maximum height of a building seems to have been about 500-550 feet.

I'm not an engineer, but it looks like Shintouite, while a great building material, is kind of like a super-concrete: it has wonderful strength under compression, but probably not so much under tension, and thus buildings and structures built out of it might well be subject to the same sort of problems that limited height before the introduction of steel reinforcement. Most prominently, even minor earth tremors, and wind (in the sense of blowing it about, not eroding it), could wreak havoc on high structures built from it.

While this is true, the structure has been built in such a way that it is more solid the more it is subjected to this, since the material it is made out of has been subjected to small, to average, to more so. That's why it took so long to build. Because the shintouite is being strengthed and given more and more pressure as it is being built. Think of tempering a blade.

[Aedilred]

Incidentally, Wombat, I'm trying to do the ruler updates but can't find a previous post from you to work from as a template - do you happen you know where one might be?

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Incidentally, Wombat, I'm trying to do the ruler updates but can't find a previous post from you to work from as a template - do you happen you know where one might be?

I linked to it in the OP?