EMPIRE3! II - CWBG - Slavian Girls Play Hard to Get

[QuintonBeck]

May I have my Military Specialization approved?

Spoiler: Army over Soldier

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Military Specialization Army over Soldier: The soldiers of the Bearmen Armies have been thoroughly disciplined to work together; they have been taught that no matter what, the efforts of the army are more important than the efforts of the individual. Each unit is trained to have double the normal amount of soldiers and units have been coached to work better together than ever before.
Increase in die size when attacking with an army of five or more units.

I think that works as a Mil Spec but it's up to Aed.

Everyone at the Ball expect a reply soonish and hopefully another one tonight. Probably won't be able to reply until Tuesday after that. Sorry. I have limited Internet access at the moment.

[Geckus]

Quick question - who's the new player in region 68? I've looked back over the last 10 pages or so and can't find a write-up or reservation for it, and needless to say, since their only route of expansion is through me, I'd kinda like to talk with them.

[Tentreto]

Quick question - who's the new player in region 68? I've looked back over the last 10 pages or so and can't find a write-up or reservation for it, and needless to say, since their only route of expansion is through me, I'd kinda like to talk with them.

I think it was tooftnirp and here is their current write up.

They haven't gotten approval yet as far as I know, so I don't know if they are still trying to, though they haven't been active at all in over a week.
I've been glancing at their stuff myself as he could be a direct neighbour, so I would also be interested in talking a little.

[Aedilred]

May I have my Military Specialization approved?

Spoiler: Army over Soldier

Show

Military Specialization Army over Soldier: The soldiers of the Bearmen Armies have been thoroughly disciplined to work together; they have been taught that no matter what, the efforts of the army are more important than the efforts of the individual. Each unit is trained to have double the normal amount of soldiers and units have been coached to work better together than ever before.
Increase in die size when attacking with an army of five or more units.

This is fine.

Quick question - who's the new player in region 68? I've looked back over the last 10 pages or so and can't find a write-up or reservation for it, and needless to say, since their only route of expansion is through me, I'd kinda like to talk with them.

I think it was tooftnirp and here is their current write up.

They haven't gotten approval yet as far as I know, so I don't know if they are still trying to, though they haven't been active at all in over a week.
I've been glancing at their stuff myself as he could be a direct neighbour, so I would also be interested in talking a little.

Tentreto has identified the player and region correctly. I haven't heard anything from tooftnirp since his last post and if the writeup doesn't get finished that region will go unclaimed. Kitsanth will apparently be submitting her region imminently, and if approved by round end then that will stand, but if it's not in by the end of the round then region 14 will revert to complete unclaimed-ness and if she still wants to join she'll have to start elsewhere. I have prodded Kasanip to check the status of Altimia. I think that's all the regions we currently have in limbo.

[Geckus]

Thank you both for the info. I guess I'll wait and see if they will be joining us.

[Kitsanth]

Kitsanth will apparently be submitting her region imminently

I've finally finished it.

Many thanks for waiting.

[DimpleLoamsdown]

Can I oppose the buying-out of trade posts as a non-action?

[Aedilred]

Can I oppose the buying-out of trade posts as a non-action?

If you own the trading post or it is in a region you control, yes.

Spoiler

Show

Region

This is approved. You may add it to the Lands thread and start posting actions.

[DimpleLoamsdown]

If you own the trading post or it is in a region you control, yes.

Do I roll, or do you?

I rolled.

[Aedilred]

Dimple, perhaps it would help if Miqhail stated what he wants in exchange for the region, rather than dangling the suggestion that he wants something in return but not giving any idea what that might be. I'm sure that Gleiss would be happy to hand over some shiny beads and not-at-all-suspicious blankets in exchange for the land, but I suspect that's not quite what you/Miqhail have in mind.

[Geckus]

New region ready for approval.

M9p909 & Lleban: I've included references to both of your regions in this, please let me know if there is anything you would like changed/added/removed.

Spoiler: Region 41 - Kharaseya

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Kharaseya
Region 41

Spoiler: History & Government:

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Kharaseya has a long history of invasion, occupation, neglect, and eventual abandonment leading to another invasion; both the Khada and Kings of Euqeen have laid claim to the region in the past, occupying it for a time before their isolationist tendencies led to an eventual withdrawal. The native zenta tribes long ago gave up their nomadic traditions to settle in the northeast, founding several small towns and villages and one major city, Zvan.
Each town and village is led by an elected Elder, who is not necessarily the oldest person, but is usually the wisest or most personable. A council of Elders is hosted every five years in Zvan to settle disputes and make trade agreements, overseen by the Lord of Zvan – a hereditary title currently held by Dal Vorgo, who traces his lineage (somewhat spuriously) to the tribe that first settled the city.
Since the year 1023, the King of Euqeen had once again been making claims to large swaths of the region along the coast citing previous oaths of fealty made by Elders in the area, and was making some headway with the populace (who were eager to stave off yet another invasion), but was ultimately beaten to the punch by the armies of Khada’Aldul in 1028, who, following an edict made several years back by their Tiridata, marched across the region and forced the surrender of the Lord of Zvan after scattering his forces, who had been hindered and disrupted by locals still loyal to the Khada and made aware of the coming invasion by Talrud missionaries almost a decade past.

Spoiler: Terrain:

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Along the south-eastern edge of the region desert plateaus slowly give way to broken, rocky hills as one travels eastward, while the coastal region is sandy desert giving way to wadis and eventually arid plains crossed by a half dozen rivers flowing down from the more fertile lands to the northeast.
The chain of islands off the coast are largely under the sway of the island kingdom of Euqeen, save for a few small ones that claimed independence from them long ago.
The only true city in the region is in the northeast, almost at the very border, and is situated at the confluence of the two largest rivers flowing into the region. Called Zvan, which means ‘beautiful meeting’ in the native tongue, it acts as both the hub of all trade and capitol for the area. Liberal use has been made of the native marble in the construction of the city; statuary and fountains are common place, and the main thoroughfare has been entirely paved with marble blocks. Being the only major population center, it has also been the target of every invasion of the region, making something of a mockery of its name. Having been sacked and burned on at least three separate occasions, it’s once mighty walls were taken down long ago and it has become tradition for the Lord of Zvan to surrender once the army is defeated in the field, to prevent yet another disastrous siege.

Spoiler: People:

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The people of Kharaseya are a mix of human peoples left behind by a former occupation by the Khada’haz, who dominate the western reaches, and those descended from the native Zenta tribes that settled into an agrarian lifestyle in the more habitable east, while a small number of Fale inhabit the few islands that tentatively belong to the region.
Relations between these three peoples are rocky – the khada’haz and zenta argue and fight over borders and grazing rights constantly, while the fale control most of the good fishing spots off the coast and have earned the enmity of quite a few families by sinking fishing boats trespassing in their waters.

Spoiler: Resources:

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Two major marble quarries operate in the region, supplying a vast quantity of the valuable stone. In the southern hills, the Obesta quarry turns out blocks of fine-grained green hued marble of surpassing hardness, used extensively in buildings and monuments across the region and abroad. Along the northern coast is the Paros quarry, where a fine-grained semi translucent pure white and entirely flawless marble is cut and shipped to be used in the crafting of the finest sculptures in Celessa.

Spoiler: Trade Posts (Marble):

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1) Obesta Quarry - Open
2) Paros Quarry - Open

Spoiler: Religion:

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The majority of the populace follow the conventional Shishiyan faith; the native Zenta’s worship of animal totems was routed out centuries past when the region was part of Khada’Aldul and when that nation fell into decline and abandoned the region, northern proselytizers found fertile grounds for conversion. Only in the west, in the desert areas closest to the Realm of the Godly did the imposed belief in the Khada remain strong.

Spoiler: Religious Centers:

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1) Shishiyan
2) Shishiyan
3) Khadast’una

[DimpleLoamsdown]

Is a silver talent a silver coin?

[Aedilred]

Is a silver talent a silver coin?

No, it's a bulk measurement and varied from place to place throughout history, but equal to somewhere between 60-120 pounds of silver (i.e. £60-120 sterling or livres tournois). The (regular) annual crown revenues of England during the fourteenth and early fifteenth century tended to be somewhere around £50-100,000 and taking that as a ballpark figure for Medved, the figure was intended to equal to about two or three times the annual income for Medved.

(That is roughly in keeping with the historical totals for ransomed heads of state that I coud find, although if anything on the low side.)

Of course, there's no real mechanical effect for the money itself: game-wise the significant part is the two trading posts.

[BlazingAegis]

I hereby state my intent to invade region 49 with the intent to conquer it. Probably.

[Lleban]

I never realized how much i loved mushrooms till I wrote the description for my next action.

[PepperP.]

I never realized how much i loved mushrooms till I wrote the description for my next action.

You made them sound delicious, tbh.

Also, we have this month's podcast! A bit shorter of an episode, but we talk about the inspiration behind our realms and welcome BlazingAegis and Tommy to the podcast for the first time! We also play How do you pronounce that? featuring Kythia, Dimple, Burch, Aventine and Moos, so give us a listen and tell us how to pronounce that! As always, thanks so much for listening and if you have any ideas or suggestion for the next or future podcasts, please let us know!

[moossabi]

You made them sound delicious, tbh.

Also, we have this month's podcast! A bit shorter of an episode, but we talk about the inspiration behind our realms and welcome BlazingAegis and Tommy to the podcast for the first time! We also play How do you pronounce that? featuring Kythia, Dimple, Burch, Aventine and Moos, so give us a listen and tell us how to pronounce that! As always, thanks so much for listening and if you have any ideas or suggestion for the next or future podcasts, please let us know!

How the hell is any of my stuff hard to pronounce? I need to listen to this later...

Also, anyone know when instability due to unmet needs is supposed to kick in?

[BootStrapTommy]

Doesn't want to hear the sound of his own voice.

[Rain Dragon]

Doesn't want to hear the sound of his own voice.

I still have that problem as well. =/
Err, with my voice, not yours. =)

[moossabi]

Ziggurats suck, Pyramids are indefinitely better.

@Apianopolitan: Aed had it right. But props to Dark for making me laugh.

Also where can I get Billy Joel's genocide song? It's rather catchy, I can use it when I start setting up shop in the New World.

[Aventine]

You made them sound delicious, tbh.

Also, we have this month's podcast! A bit shorter of an episode, but we talk about the inspiration behind our realms and welcome BlazingAegis and Tommy to the podcast for the first time! We also play How do you pronounce that? featuring Kythia, Dimple, Burch, Aventine and Moos, so give us a listen and tell us how to pronounce that! As always, thanks so much for listening and if you have any ideas or suggestion for the next or future podcasts, please let us know!

So far as I am aware, the i in Aventine is pronounced like "eye." Technically I don't know for sure though, so it's possible I've been saying it wrong myself.

As for Xathizac. The x is "ks" (so Ksathizack effectively, though now that I've written that it doesn't look easier...)

[Lleban]

Everyone sounds pretty good IHMO

[Kythia]

Kythia is actually the name of a racehorse I once won a fair whack on, so assuming the way her owners named her is the correct way, it's a long vowel: kaye=thia. However, it's a forum nick and basically exists in a written rather than a spoken form; I'm not sure there is a canonical pronunciation.

As for the country - yeah, I'm with Tommy. I'm not Welsh myself, from the other end of the UK actually, but I know "dd" is "th" and the "y" is short, so yeah. That's how I've been pronouncing it.

[Aedilred]

Kythia is actually the name of a racehorse I once won a fair whack on, so assuming the way her owners named her is the correct way, it's a long vowel: kaye=thia. However, it's a forum nick and basically exists in a written rather than a spoken form; I'm not sure there is a canonical pronunciation.

As for the country - yeah, I'm with Tommy. I'm not Welsh myself, from the other end of the UK actually, but I know "dd" is "th" and the "y" is short, so yeah. That's how I've been pronouncing it.

One of the things that confuses me about the Welsh y is that it can be pronounced a number of different ways (not that this is unique to Welsh vowels, of course). It can be equivalent to a short "i", a short or long "e" or a long "u" (that last as in "Cymru", which is probably the one Welsh word that everyone in England should at least have an idea how to pronounce). Devoid of context, and not actually being a Welsh speaker who can intuit the pronunciation rules, I find it hard to work out how to pronounce such things. Given that "ynys" and, it seems, "corsydd" are actual words, I could have looked it up this time, but for some reason I didn't.

How the hell is any of my stuff hard to pronounce? I need to listen to this later...

Also, anyone know when instability due to unmet needs is supposed to kick in?

When you least expect it.

Stability due to trading is still the most laborious thing to track, so it will likely happen on a partly ad hoc basis depending when Quinton/I get round to it. However, I think it would be fair to start imposing penalties for unmet requirements from now onwards, as everyone only has one to meet and has had four rounds to meet it (obviously if you joined later you haven't had four rounds, but I'd take that into account). So while it might not happen this round, it also might.

Legionary, rolls are 2d6 (or 2d8 with a specialism) for pretty much all action rolls except battles; you appear to have used a d12.

[Legionary]

Legionary, rolls are 2d6 (or 2d8 with a specialism) for pretty much all action rolls except battles; you appear to have used a d12

Damn, my bad. Don't suppose I can keep the ones that I have already rolled? It's still a 12 in this case, and in fact a 1d12 would have been harder than a 2d6 (no chance of rolling a 1).

[Catrus]

...if you have any ideas or suggestion for the next or future podcasts, please let us know!

Since it was brought up in an IC thread/event, as well as mentioned on the current pdocast, and since it is a subject most near and dear to my big fat swollen dwarfen heart, you could always talk a bit about what all everybody is using for monies. Gold? Silver? Copper? Electrum? (Ha, you wish!) Maybe some shiny glass beads? Puka shells? Fistfuls of salt? A literal pound of flesh? Do tell, what lies within your most secret vaults? What currency are you paying the hardworking dwarfen miners that lurk within your local ground holes?

[Kythia]

Damn, my bad. Don't suppose I can keep the ones that I have already rolled? It's still a 12 in this case, and in fact a 1d12 would have been harder than a 2d6 (no chance of rolling a 1).

Can I trade my 1 in 36 of getting a twelve in for a 1 in 12 as well please.

[Legionary]

Can I trade my 1 in 36 of getting a twelve in for a 1 in 12 as well please.

I don't follow. A 1d12 is a 1 in 12 chance with a maximum score of 12 which is harder than 2d6 which is a 1 in 11 chance with a maximum of 12.

[Kythia]

I don't follow. A 1d12 is a 1 in 12 chance with a maximum score of 12 which is harder than 2d6 which is a 1 in 11 chance with a maximum of 12.

Now I don't follow you. The chance of getting a twelve on a d12 is one in twelve as there are twelve equally weighted options. The chance of getting a twelve on 2d6 is one in 36 as the only way of doing it is rolling two sixes, each of which has a one in six by the same justification as the one in twelve. Independent chances so multiply them, one in six times one in six is one in thirty six.

[Legionary]

Now I don't follow you. The chance of getting a twelve on a d12 is one in twelve as there are twelve equally weighted options. The chance of getting a twelve on 2d6 is one in 36 as the only way of doing it is rolling two sixes, each of which has a one in six by the same justification as the one in twelve. Independent chances so multiply them, one in six times one in six is one in thirty six.

Once again, my bad. I mistook the 2d6 for 1d6 x2, not 1d6 + 1d6. I definitely will re-roll my stabilization attempts.