Crisis Cycles

Eras pass. New inventions, new philosophies are constantly introduced, constantly changing. However, history is not a linear progress towards infinity, it is a wheel of rising, falling, and survival. We shall turn our eyes to a nascent world, its innocent people, each living under their own banners. Lets see how introducing certain aspects changes to their lands will affect them. Lets see how their cultures will changed by them, what cultures will follow them.

Also the world is terrifyingly magical.

This is more of a worldbuilding game, than a deep grand strategy game, be warned.

Every era, I will get six random worlds. The players will vote on which three will be a major Change, setting the tone for this world. These are concepts and technologies that are rising in the area the game is set in, and may not be true for the whole world. Each player will take on the role of a small community, each of them living in their a grand city, recently built. Each player will have to take a stance on these Changes. Which one will you adapt to the most? Which one will you deny? Will you perhaps, adapt to all of them equally? 

You will have a set amount of Decrees to perform, which you can use to expand, exploit and explore. When all of these run out, it is time for a great Crisis. One of the great Changes is facing a crisis: the players will vote which one is in danger. After that I will create the problem itself, and an emergency council will begin. After deciding on what to do, or after disbanding the council in failure, you must make a Final Decree about how you face this crisis.

I will then weave a story, of how the world developed for a few generations, and the cycle begins anew, with completely new cultures. 

When you make an Edict, please include a one sentence long summary. If your edict can not be summarized in a single sentence, it is too much.

~~~~

The first voting was done via Discord, and these folks are getting a reserve player seat!

Words were: acrobat, carver, dove, emphatic, examine, pragmatic

Demonsul: carver, dove, emphatic
Pharmacy: carver, dove, examine
Vancho: acrobat, dove, pragmatic, 
Whimbrel: carver, dove, emphatic

Totals: acrobat 1, carver 3, dove 4, emphatic: 2, examine: 1, pragmatic 1

From this, the following is created:



Gaze upon the Grand Plateau: on one side the jagged peaks of the mountains stretch over it. On the other side, you can see great valley full of trees and life, stretch into the distance. On a clear day, you may even see the ocean in the distance. And when the ocean wind blows, the clouds rain all over the valleys, feeding the grand rivers criss crossing the land, providing nourishment to the otherwise stagnant marshlands. 

Along these rivers, clans and families settled over many millennia. Some arrived from the jungles below, some arrived through the narrow passes and tunnels from the dry lands beyond the peaks, and many arrived from more exotic places. The size of these groups grew as time passed, and so did their settlements. Through metal, muscle and magic, they erected the first great cities of this, yet unnamed, region.

Using the ample metal found near the peaks, people created exceptional knives, scalpels, chisels and such. And some strange mystics found out that when they placed them under tiny pyramids, they sharpened further. The knives augmented this way actually slice reality in some way: the decorations chiselled into the walls - and sometimes, flesh - have become magical beacons and wards, glowing faintly, crackling with power... 

Originally, these cities had a history of bad blood between them. Petty kings fought each other for equally petty reasons. But no more! Several of these clans have signed the DOVE CONCORDANCE, ushering in a new age of peace and cooperation. Each signatory party will also create and maintain an aviary full of sacred doves (they are very round and fluffy) as a living symbol of the concordance.

One of the reasons behind this newfound peace, was the creation of the Wandering Listeners: an order of travelling impartial judges, who had a perhaps supernatural understanding of the mortal psyche, and the woes of the people. They did not have actual legal powers, however, their advice was always called upon, should they be in the city, and they were always willing to lend an ear to the people.

~~~ 

Culture Name: What is the name of your culture? During the first era, this is also the name of your city state.
Banner Colour: What colour represents your city state?
Government and Leader: Who leads this place? Tell us about the system, and this person. 
Society: What can you tell about your culture?
Species: What is your species? This is especially important choice, as creating new species will be rarer in later ages. You may have mixed City States of course.
Stances on the three changes: Tell us how your culture handles the changes: do they embrace them, or deny them? If you embrace a change, you will divert resources towards it, if you deny it, you will divert resources away from it. If you embrace everything, you are a generalist, if you deny all of them, you are a subversive element.
Major cultural influence: This is only relevant during a future era, but it is included for the sake of completion. Pick one of the previous cultures to be a major influence on your new culture! You can even pick someone else’s culture. You may also replace an en existing culture. Perhaps you represent a new Dynasty, or maybe a new people who absorbed a previous culture. Or you can be a culture that seceded from their parent culture.

As always, I need a copy of inter player communication.
The map might not be final.

Culture Name: The Federated Tribes of Gadesu and Ranitezia

Banner Colour: Heliotrope (#DF73FF)

Government and Leader: Co-Consuls Haddrax and Palatina Amara lead the tribal republic of Gadesu and Ranitezia. The Gaddesu choose their consul from among the clan chiefs, Haddrax being the best negotiator among them. The Ranitezians, however, choose theirs through an assembly, where the people debate furiously and vote using small marked stones. Palatina Amara was the most popular among them this season. The Co-Consuls serve ten-year terms.

Society: It is very surprising that the Gadesu and the Ranitezians get along as well as they do. Both of them hail from the wooded marshlands of the plateau, and the two have very different cultures. The Gadesu organize their society in clans, with each clan raising its eggs together and sharing most, if not all possessions. Each clan is led by a chief who is the most respected member of the community, usually due to being older, stronger, or wiser than everyone else. The Gadesu are an honorable people and give reverence to their ancestors and the land that sustains them.

The Ranitezians, on the other hand, are more individualistic, with small families. Children usually set off on their own after coming of age, and the Ranitezians value art, music, and learning. They are also very community-minded, though, with large numbers of unrelated individuals coming together for big festivals and projects. They are skilled in herb-craft and magic and are known to grow hallucinogenic mushrooms and other drugs.

Together, the two share the land and get along nicely. The Gadesu are the builders and doers, putting their resources together to handle day-to-day life, while the Ranitezians are ideas people and specialists, working on tools and art.

Species: The Gadesu, also known as Lizard-Folk, are a cold-blooded race of semi-aquatic lizards. They thrive along rivers and in marshlands, value strength and honor, and have large clutches of eggs that are raised communally. The Ranitezians are elves, long-lived humanoids with pointy ears and delicate, fey-like features. They are highly magical, have few children, and love to braid their ridiculously long hair. These elves can grow beards though, and very much enjoy having fancy facial hair too.

Stances on the three changes: The Federated Tribes absolutely LOVE the Dove Concordance and maybe even are going a little overboard with the doves. They also have accepted and are experimenting with the magical metal. However, both cultures dislike and reject the wandering judges - the Gadesu prefer to listen to their elders, while the Ranitezians think they're kind of stuck up and should just chillll man.

Culture Name: The underground city of Gildrak Hold, home to the Gildrak clan of dwarves.

Banner: Gold!

Government and Leader: Dagram II of the Gildrak is the current clan-king of Gildrak Hold. The city was founded by Dagram's father, Dagram the Delver, also known as Dagram the Peacemaker for his signing the Dove Concordance. Gildrak Hold is ruled as a despotic kingdom, with traditional customs and a council of elders, led by the most respected long-bearded lawgiver, dictating the few situations where the power of the king is checked.

Society: Dwarves have always resided in the caves and tunnels of the mountains to the east of the Great Plateau, and their clans have long feuded with one another. Though membership of a clan is said to be a kin-bond and the most common way of joining a clan is to be born into it, it is also fairly common for dwarves joining a settlement permanently to adopt their clan. Individual clans hold various settlements and burrows throughout the highlands of the Great Plateau and the mountains beyond.

Gildrak Hold was established a little over a hundred years ago by the first Dagram, the current king's father. The dwarves were migrants from the east, a roughshod collection of prospectors and chancers drawn by the lure of an untapped vein of gold. The original mining settlement struck a vein far larger than they had expected, and when word got out, more and more dwarves joined the Gildrak clan, seeking to join the wealthy hold. With them, they (claim to have) brought the ironworking and runecarving technologies of the dwarves to the people of the Great Plateau. Dagram I declared himself clan-king to take proper control of the goldmine, and his Hold rapidly grew into a small, bustling city, delved into the side of a cliff. A few windows and balconies peer from a little way up the cliffside, and a simple gatehouse protrudes from the base of the cliff - but most of the city is below even the entry level, carved into the solid bedrock, truly underground.

As a settlement formed of dwarves from many clans, Gildrak is a little more open and inviting than other dwarven holds, but it still holds true to dwarven tradition of metalworking, avarice and holding long grudges. Nevertheless, their young hall is open to visitors, and in particular they welcome the lizardfolk traders who ply the rivers, selling their jewellery and ironwork on to the other races of the plateau. The Gildrak dwarves are lovers of drink and song, and are less dour and humourless than other dwarves from further east, far beyond the borders of the plateau. The age of peace has brought more and more visitors to their hall, along with more trade opportunities.

Dwarves have always lived in centralized cities, and Gildrak Hold is no exception. With most of the population focused in a single city and its connected mines and shafts, in particular the Gildrak goldmine, the dwarves exhibit unusually high population density in that one small area. Some parts of the cavern and connected tunnels with access to underground springwater grow subterranean dwarven crops, with old mineshafts often being widened and converted into farms. Small burrows and delved hillocks form the outlying villages around Gildrak, where the population is far more agrarian and send food by caravan to feed the city. The way dwarves live in central, usually subterranean settlements makes them more resistant to invasion and outside attack. They rely on their natural hardiness and resistance to disease to ward off the damage of urban living, but they are still more vulnerable to more potent plagues, blights and famine than those with a more spread-out population.

Species: Dwarves are short, stout, strong, tough and long-lived. Most live to be around twice as old as humans, though in their youth they mature only slightly slower. A few especially stubborn dwarves live to over 200, and they do not grow frail as they age. They are swift and skilled miners, expert artisans and great lovers of alcohol. They are also avaricious, stubborn, and traditionally nurse old grudges in their long memories, never forgetting the smallest slight. They are well-adapted to living underground and in darkness, and poorly adapted to swimming, riding beasts and bright sunlight, and you wouldn't expect them to win many footraces. All dwarves, regardless of gender, sport long beards that continue to grow as they age, and it is the gravest of insults to cut off a dwarf's facial hair.

Stances on the three changes: Though the Gildrak clan did not invent magical rune carving themselves, the mountain dwarves have long held arcane carving traditions, and claim to be the original inventors of the practice of rune carving. There is some evidence that the knowledge spread via trade caravans to and from the less isolationist dwarven settlements. As you can imagine, Gildrak Hold keeps true to this tradition, and places a great emphasis on runecarving and the magic that can be channeled through carven runes.

The Dove Concordance was signed during the reign of Dagram I, the current king's father. It has benefited the Gildrak clan greatly, so they put modest means towards supporting it.

Dwarves nurse their grudges and remember slights, with little interest in seeing their disputes mediated by outsiders. As such, the Gildrak clan does not support the Wandering Listeners, instead maintaining a clan lawgiver. The Wandering Listeners are free to enter their holds, of course, and if dwarves want to ask them for help they may, but the Listeners must support themselves, and can expect no help from the clan-king.

Culture Name: The Orcgarchy
Banner Colour: Green

Government and Leader: God, they absolutely do not get along. Ingkay Yarthuryay, Warlord and ex-Wandering Listener, seems like a cool enough dude. Cool enough that the four clans put down their arms and heed his words.

Society: Society is split into four clans. Each clan has their own particular quirks and specialties. The clans absolutely do not like each other, but not to the point they stop trading with each other or band together to fight off a threat that threatens all of the Orcgarchy. No one exactly knows how the enmity started, but it must be a buck-ass wild start considering the perpetual conflict continues to this very day.

Species: Predominantly ORCS. Orcs resemble large, green anthropomorphic pigs. They are notorious for their strength and constitution. While already hale and hearty to begin with, orcs can fall into a fugue-state that renders them almost unstoppable on the battlefield – or at least until the end of a good fight.

Stances on the three changes: The Orcgarchy are deeply suspicious of the Dove Concordance, assuming there is some sort of insidious political mean to destroy and subvert their culture. They reject it.

The Orcgarchy love the metal and the magic that comes with it. It adds excitement to the war between the four clans. It is also good for industry and sciences, which is less exciting. They fully support it.

Since their reigning leader used to be an ex-Wandering Listener, the Orcgarchy do treat the roving judges as esteemed guests. However, the friendliness is cooling. They already learned enough, you see. They modestly support it.

The year is 100 AD (After Dove). The hundredth year of peace and prosperity has dawned on the people of the flooding plateau. The alliance between the signatory parties - elves, lizard people, dwarves - enabled levels of cooperation never seen before. In some places, a collection of small communities surged in population and prosperity, until one day, their borders reached each other, and they merged into one. Other communities walked down a different path: as they grew, clusters of people headed out into the hinterlands, while still maintaining a steadfast connection to their hometown.

A cosmopolitan city, near the middle waterfall, a union between two starkly different people...

A majestic hall in the mountains grown in both its size, and its merriment...

In the south, four small orcish cities, combining into one, each of them trying to prove their worth, trying to prove they need no flimsy piece of parchment to show of their might...

What will be their legacy? How will they be remembered?

Who will remember them...

PMs are coming out soon.

The crisis is on the horizon. After discussing it with each other OOC, please vote on which of the three words (CARVER, EMPHATIC, DOVE) will bring unparalleled disaster.

Will add an updated map of the land tomorrow, please hold off voting until then.

Map updated with new holds, forts, and other such items.

A grand crisis of EMPHATIC has begun!

Clouds of ghostly mosquitos swarm over the plateau, assaulting villages, towns, and holds! They seem to spread a disease that causes fever, rashes and strange nightmares. Rumor has it that the Gadesu and Ranitezans have been inflicted by them, and they seem to know a cure for this. However, the disease might have changed, as once cured, you can get it again...

You all have been affected differently. PMs are being sent shorty.

It is time for a Grand Emergency Council, here in the thread. After debilations, you may try to all agree on a measure to be taken. Or perhaps it will end in futility? We shall see.

Once the Council is over, everyone has one Major Edict to submit. This will be more powerful than a regular edict, which may contain three events, as long as they are thematically linked. This edict will define the progress of your culture in the future...

For example, if the crisis was a volcano erupting the following might be a suitable thematical link: "Create refugee towns far away from the lava, make lava proof armor to help with the evacuation, start a religion to the volcano god to appease it".

Time for the grand conference! Choose someone as host, and then it is Conference Time in the thread...

The Federated Tribes of Gadesu and Ranitesia, having first encountered this plague and developed countermeasures against it, offer to host the conference.

Princess Turihm of the Gildrak clan replies that the dwarves aren't sure a conference in the origin city of the plague is a great idea, given that it stands the highest risk of infecting anyone who attends, and the dwarven leadership has already been ravaged badly enough by this plague. If the Federated Tribes think a political conference to deal with this is a good idea, perhaps the best place would be one of the minor dwarven settlements established in the plains between the three great cities?

Warlord Ingkay Yarthuryay has arrived with his little entourage. He does believe an absolutely disease-free location would be best for this meeting, but he is not quite sure if the minor settlement would be suitable. Perhaps, a mountain or a realm with plenty of insectivores would be more suitable?

The Co-Consuls will accept any meeting place, so a dwarven settlement is fine.

Princess Turihm just wants to get this underway, so will prepare Druzhul Peak Hold for visitors to satisfy the orcs. It is one of the larger new settlements, and the high altitude and large numbers of bats should prevent mosquitoes from infecting people at the meeting. However, the Princess requests that the delegates be carefully selected to not run the risk of spreading the infection, as magical research is already taking place there to combat the plague and the last thing we need is the disease spreading to the people getting a headstart on the cure.

The orcs are SATISFIED.

After a tiresome track through the windy heights, through swaying rope bridges and menacing stone ones, the delegates finally reach the grand academy settlement. The great meeting at Druzhul Peak Hold has begun! An elderly scholar dwarf, with an exasperated face, welcomes the various delegates, and leads them to the warmth of the inner chambers.

Later that day, the equally exasperated Chancellor Urgim of the academy holds the meeting in a grand feast hall. He regales, how the ice bats managed to eat the ghost mosquitoes: they feast on magic. The consumption of mana itself! Unfortunately, they feast on all magic, which means they frequently break into the hold, and disrupt the carvings that were meant create wards against the infestation, and on top of that, they are really short staffed. He then leaves the podium, and takes a seat, giving the word to whoever wishes to speak.

Taking the dais as the elderly sage stepped away, Princess Turihm stepped up. She was wearing a formal grey robe, with fine white ribbons in her hair and beard. She turned to address the delegates, clearing her throat. "Thank you for that. I'm sorry my father couldn't be here to greet you all, he's been affected by the plague and... well, he's still convalescing. This magical plague has affected all of us, and I think it'd be in the best interests of us all to coordinate our work to combat it, as the Co-Consuls originally suggested with this conference."

She paced a little on the dais as she talked. "The Gadesu and Ranitezia have the most practical experience dealing with this disease, while the Orcgarchy has demonstrated substantial knowledge of the disease and its relation to Wandering Listener magic. Us dwarves, for our part, have established this hold specifically as a place to study magic. Though resources have been stretched thin as of late, the facilities here will still be useful for providing a safe and well-equipped place to undertake research into finding a cure to the plague." She looked over at the old sage. "Even if it means dealing with the bats. I doubt the orcs will let a few flying pests get in their way."

She gestured to the assembled delegates. "We already have promises of cooperation from the best medical orcs under Dr. Octorday Ornway, but if the Gadesu and Ranitezia can also send their experts here to help find a cure, that will allow us to combine the efforts of our three great cities in one place. With all of us working together, we cannot fail."

The ambassador of Orcgarchy was an one Anryay Eynoldsray. He is surrounded by an entourage of orc guards who stoically slap the bats away before they get the opportunity to interrupt what he is a bout speak.

Anryay introduces himself and explains due to the perpetual near-instability of the nation he represents, Yarthuryay would not be available for this meeting. He greets Turihm and the others. He apologizes to the Princess for the current health state of Dagram as a Formality-And-Politeness thing.

Anryay would like to explain the nature of this hyperempathic disease. But first, he would like to know what particular problems - and enlightening information - with said disease the Gadesu and Ranitezia had obtained from their homes.

The Federated Tribes sent two emissaries, as was their custom. One was a Gadesu chief named Karak, the other a Ranitesian orator called Yeledi Horodi. They came with an escort, not of warriors, but of mystics, who stationed themselves around the meeting and sat in meditative silence. Yeledi Horodi explained that they have discovered that the disease is a spiritual one, and indeed linked to the Listeners. Deep in the swamps, some scouts discovered a terrible crime. The mosquitos had swarmed and made a hive above a group of dead Listeners - murdered, it seemed, for the bodies bore marks of violence. Karak theorized that this disease may have been caused by some nefarious force that was murdering the Listeners.

It is now time for the Major Edict! As detailed above, this edict can contain up to three events, each have to relate to the crisis somehow. This will have a major effect on your culture. Be careful...

How the crisis was handled, by the people of the Great Plateau, which in today's day and age is called the Plague Plateau, by the mountains known the Druzhul Mountains, with three rivers of Gad, Ran and ORC:

The Federated Tribes decided that cooperation would be the best solution. They have sent their most learned mystics up to Dthe ruzhul Peak Academy and to the fragmented city of the Orcgarchy. They provided crucial help in both locations. Their chants were translated to runes carven in rhytmic patterns akin to a heart beat, providing relief. They also developed a new kind of meditation which allowed the orcs could to access the healing power of their battle rage state, while staying perfectly calm.

The dwarves decided to seal themselves under both magical wards, and mundane lock and key. While the crisis lasted, no one could enter. No one could leave. The sole exception to this rule was the Druzhul Peak Academy, to allow the learned doctors to aid with finding the cure.

The Orcs had the opposite idea: they decided to open their metaphorical gates for anyone who wished protection from the disease. Many outback and woodsman types along with itinerant traders flock to the settlement, settling up a camp of yurts and makeshift huts. The various folks while waiting for the cure intermingled. Soon a kind of bazaar has formed.

Similarly, the Federated Tribes opened a Grand Hospital, where they brought in the sick, eldery and disaffected from their own area of influence, where they were given free care. They also offered shelter for the Wandering Listeners, but they only faced denial.

The dwarves were quick to employ the new health magic carving. They have employed it in a most drastic manner though. They decided to carve them directly onto the flesh of the infected dwarves. The process was painful, horrifying, and permanent. The carven dwarves managed to survive the disease, and gained magic resistance, but they have been marked forever. The practicers of fleshcarving became both respected and feared.

The orcs had their own secret project. Some of their doctors left Druzhul Peak with several ice bats under their shirt, pacified with bits of magical ore. They crossbred them with bats snatched from the jungle below: the result of this experiment was the dire Mist Bat, who has become a great friend to the orcs,  a guardian against magical creatures, and also a disctinct jewel in the battle menagerie.

The Federated tribe's hunters and warriors moved out as one: they managed to methodically seek out the evil hives (though their weapons were ineffective, they had to resort to carefully controlled burns), and in their place, they buried stones carved with the new runes. The source of the disease was eliminated, and the wraith insects could never ever return. Now they just had to deal with the stagglers, and the still infected.

The dwarves decided to dig tunnels between their settlements. This was indeed done secretly, as they started to distrust the people outside their walls. They had plans for great highways, but sadly, their resources dwindled due to the shortage of miners, they had to make do with much smaller, yet still ornate burrows. Soon, these tunnels became the secret  arteries, connecting the holds...

King Yarthuryay having been a Wandering Listener once, knew how to give out an unrefuseable summoning to the Wandering Listeners. The reluctant mages arrived, and held council in a grand tent. Yarthuryay has learned that the source of the disease was a Listener Caravan that has been attacked by unknown maraduers. They were possibly raiders from the jungle below: everyone on the plateu knew that the Listeners had no valuable possessions. The Caravan was made of younger trainees: it seems like they cast a spell to protect themselves, and it went horrifyingly out of control. The Listeners were powerless, and ashamed, so they hid wherever they could. They said they hope they can make up for their mistakes, and pledged themselves to work for Yarthuryay, as the Settled Listeners.

Several more months passes, until it has been agreed upon that the plague has been eliminated, and the crisis was over. Thankfully fatalities were low, and the cured people managed to get back to their lives after a few weeks rest. But the people have been changed...

The Gadesu and Ranizeans have proven that their worth: they were the first responders to the disease, and they were crucial to the solution. The Grand Hospital is still open today, and the bond between the two species is stronger than ever. Their booming their trade allowed to open several port towns alongside the Gad river (the middle one, below the Ran river). Their ships continue to improve further, and some say, the hunters and warriors might even make a mechanism to scale the waterfalls into the jungle. Some suspect they might be looking for the source of the mysterious bandits..

The Shamir have vanished as quickly as they came, leaving through the secret paths of the mountain. They left a message, claiming they have been called back, for something of even greater importance happened. When the time is right, Great Shamir Desert between Druzhul Mountains and the Easterhomes will stir, and the Worm Kings will send their regards.

The dwarves have become rather reclusive, no longer as merry, looking at the outer world with paranoia. The capital did everything to defend themselves from both real and percieved threats, and to carry out grand constructions to show off their might. Most visitors had to make camp outside the gates. The farming holds were a lot friendlier, and Druzhul Peak made a vow to always stay open.

A year later, a caravan arrived to Druzhul peak. With it, Dagram II arrived, emaciated, shaven and exhausted... and cured. When questioned, all that he said was that he was finally at peace. Soon, he abdicated his throne, leaving it to his daughter, and retired, spending his years in ascetic isolation. Many dwarves have followed his example, especially dwarves who have covered themselves in anti-magic runic scars.

The Orcgarchy has evolved from a quarreling quartered city, into a bustling metropolis. Many different people dwell in this fractured land, some from beyond the southern quarries, some from the nearby forests, some from the jungles below. These people continously compete with each other, sharpening their skills to a fine edge, be it SPORTSBALL, haggling at the grand bazaar, caring for bats or judging via empathy powers. Some said, that if you want to prove that you have finished the journeyman years of your craft, open a business in the Orcgarchy. If your shop survives, and you don't suffer too many injuries, you are a master of your craft.

Some also said, that with his personal magical bats, Yarthuryay sees all and knowns all..


Decades pass... the Cycle Continues.

Your horizons have expanded...

About two hundred years have passed...

On the map you can see how the old powers evolved over the years. That is, had there not been any other new powers around, who neighbored, conquered or replaced them.

Here are six words:

Code:

cosmonaut formal blackmail prayer diminished cyanide

If you want to join the second era, pick three words, and I will tell you how the world has changed. And after that, you may create your new nation...

I vote for cosmonaut, formal, prayer.

I vote for Blackmail, Cyanide, Prayer.

My vote is : Cosmonaut, Formal, and Blackmail