Crisis Cycles

Half horoscope discovery

Ghoul, horoscope, discovery.

(Had to break a tie on my own!)

200 years pass...

The Republic has grown in size, swallowing up the rocky quarries of the middle of the plateau, and integrated the cow herding southern orcs into their grand nation. They even reached further into the jungle, even though it was slowly overtaken by horrible magical beasts, and there were also other, foreign threats from the south. Meanwhile, with the connection cut between the local dwarves and Enkre Hold, the Shamir could expand greatly. Paranoid in trying to not be cut off from potential friends anymore, the half-men constructed large cities. These were sparsely populated, but it did give them territorial claims. And in the meanwhile, Orclympics prospered, although they had to wage a constant war against ones who would cheat.

Just like centuries ago, many more things fell from the sky. However, these all fell towards the distant west. The coastal half-men, emboldened by their new caste of curious spirit, built great boats to travel west, and returned with news of a great new continent. They returned empty handed though, as they were repelled by hostiles. The Tuvarii were also interested in these new lands, mainly because it might be the source of the sunken elven sea boats. And thus, an era of DISCOVERY has started. Who will gain land, friends, or perhaps fallen moon technology pieces?

Meanwhile, rumors of hideous elves, robbing cemeteries to feast on the dead have begun to spread. Some said they snuck into the Grand Hospital in the city of the Twin Tribes, stealing medical supplies, and blood of the patients. The entrance to the blood red caves have been sealed long time ago... could there have been a breach somewhere else, scattering GHOULs everywhere? Superstition rises, with people selling talismans and wards, and the power of the magical priests of all kind rises... Fiction featuring a seductive version of these ghouls is also present in numbers, thanks to the newly invented printing press.

Speaking of magical priests, HALF-ism has spread everyone, and is enmeshed in many cultures! And thanks to some kind of strange constellation of the stars, during full moons and eclipses, when people perform the right rituals in the right places (which might be a step pyramid, or perhaps a party on top of a high rise building with the proper decoration), they become TWICE AS BIG, and see terrifying visions! Some say this is a sign that they have temporarily merged with their spirit half. Will the people exploit these visions, or perhaps try to make this enhanced state of physique last longer...


Inheritable Cultures:
The Tuvarii elves
Gildrak Hold (sad dwarves)
Rotpah Holds (happy dwarves)
Windrose (mainly orcs, but many other folks present from all over the realm)
Shamir worm-knights
Koon remnants
Half-men of Knocnorie
Terrestrial Bastion Of Vallis Marginis

Established Species:
Dwarves
Elves
Lizardfolk
Orcs
Half-men
Shamir
The Moon
Frog people

No new species this time, but plot hooks:
The lost people of Koon, returning
Possibility of a jungle lizardfolk empire, reaching a stalemate with the Republic
Southern cowboy orcs

You can play as a sub-polity of the republic

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: 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.

Culture Name: The Krokar Praetoriate, ruling from Torandurith, the Krokar Colony. An outlying part of the Tuvarii Republic.

Banner Colour: Pale red

Government and Leader: Praetor Slubdin is an esklin frog-person. Like all the praetors and tribunes of the Republic (other than the monarchical Praetor of Rotpah), his post is democratically elected. He used to be the captain of an esklin skirmisher unit in the Army of the Republic, having retired a successful veteran after fighting off jungle monster attacks on various Tuvarii settlements for 15 years. Though he's a little short and rotund, even for an esklin, his positive demeanour in dark circumstances won him many friends and the respect of the other esklin settlers.

The Krokar Praetoriate has a bureaucratic government, with tribunes operating as local rulers below the praetor. In general, they handle the local day-to-day issues, escalating significant problems to the praetor. The praetor in turn answers to the Grand Council of the Republic and the current Consul, but all praetors are largely autonomous in how they rule their own domains and maintain regional armies, so long as they respect the laws of the Republic and the rights of all of its citizens.

Society: The Krokar Praetoriate is a Tuvarii Republic praetoriate that was founded about 40 years ago. It was created from the unorganized territory along the lower branches of the River Orc. The first praetor, Andurith of Tuvarith, was an elven bureaucrat tasked with establishing the territory, but after that every praetor elected was a local esklin, reflecting the population of settlers. Slubdin is the seventh praetor in the history of the territory.

Due to the strong history of active military service among the local esklin, they tend to be combat savvy and capable of defending their homesteads from the monstrous jungle beasts. They specialized in jungle warfare and skirmish tactics, and the praetor's garrison army maintains this specialization. Under praetor Jamp and the first wave of tribunes of the region, a long area of jungle was cleared along the northern branch of the lower Orc river to create open ground for farming and habitation, though the esklin settlers created small towns in the depths of the thick jungle as well. The Krokar esklin tend to be fairly spiritual, following the Republic's brand of halfism. Though most frequently found among the elves, this faith is still somewhat common among former soldiers of all species, and the esklin brought it with them to Krokar.

After it was discovered that the Karkosans were responsible for the spread of horrible jungle beasts threatening their homes several decades ago, esklin public opinion turned hard against the halfmen, and in Krokar they continue to hold a grudge. Though opinion of the Republic isn't always entirely positive, it's much better than the opinion of the halfmen across the northern border, and in fact the last praetor often turned a blind eye to the practice of settlers crossing the border and raiding Karkosan hamlets and caravans.

Species: Esklin frogmen are thin, wiry and often short of stature, and tend to look a little ungainly compared to elegant elves or confident orcs. However, they should not be underestimated. They are fast-moving and good at climbing and jumping, and have a certain wiry musculature to them to facilitate that. Their skin comes in a rainbow of shades, and often has patterns of dark blotches unique to each esklin. Their hands and feet are webbed, making them naturally skilled swimmers. The esklin of Krokar have adopted Republic culture with aplomb, and wear their own jungle-adapted variations of Tuvarii clothes and styles. Many veterans wear sheathed shortswords as status symbols in public.

The actual name esklin is a product of the Republic's conquest - before they came, the frogmen carried a different name for each tribe, and the Esklin tribe was just the first to be assimilated into the Republic and given a role in its armies. Although the etymology of the word has had a complex history, it is now in commonplace use to refer to the frogmen as a whole within the Republic.

Stances on the three changes: DISCOVERY: Positive. Slubdin wants to find out more about the world beyond the borders of the Republic and its troublesome neighbours. Maybe if he could seize some coastal land, he could launch an exploration of his own.
GHOUL: Mildly negative. Graverobbing and necrotic cannibalism are disguisting, and the Krokar do not support those traits. But the stories are good, so long as they remain just that - stories.
HALF: Positive. This revelation is perhaps the most important religious shift of the century. To come closer to their spiritual halves, the people of the Krokar praetoriate seek to emulate these new rituals and gain a greater understanding of the spirit world.

Major cultural influence: Since a significant chunk of the population of Krokar are landholding military veterans of the Republic, it is no surprise that they are strongly influenced by the culture of the Republic. However, they are also somewhat influenced by the halfism of the great jungle cities to their north, despite being on unfriendly terms with the actual half-men.

Culture Name: The Nation of Koonkia

Banner Colour: Pale Green

Government and Leader: Votu Sapeni Ibisu - A great-grand-daughter descendant of Matriarch Kotol Ibisu, young and spirited and violent. She took control of the leadership of Koonkia with her pack's support, and pushed for the movement of returning to the surface world, finding a way to break past the seals and carving new entrances to the surface. Koonkia still has a slight matriarchal bent, but leadership is more based on who can be convinced to follow who rather than any respect for the position itself. Votu herself claimed leadership of the movement of Koonkia by murdering rival leaders of note of the rest of the younger generations until all followed her pack eventually, to form a great enough movement behind her. Despite that, when it comes to violence and fights, she doesn't hold too much of a grudge and is personable enough, enjoying a good laugh and scrap and takes set-backs on the chin with a grin.

Society: Koon's back baby! And they're super ready to cause problems on purpose. Especially for their old enemies of the Republic. As a culture, they rely heavily on meeting during the night, preparing to hide underground or in dark, isolated places during the day. They tend to live in packs, emotionally tight groups of 4-5 running about the land, spreading word of mouth through to other packs of their culture and the words of Koonkia. They still loath the republic and what it stands for though, holding an inherited grudge for the intent of how they were forced beneath the surface, even if they have become stronger for it. Their culture has lost much of their music and art in the brutal underworld, only retaining any value to the beauty of motion and battle. Works are valued by the effort and struggle shown in them, and that which destroys the old to make way for the new.

The nation of Koonkia is a branch of the main colony of Koon that remains below, although the proportion of the split population-wise favours Koonkia to Koon. There is no real grudge between the new nations though, as both are merely following their 'freedom' and pursuing destinies. 

At the moment, the branch of Koonkia would be considered, fairly warlike and confident and brazen in their culture, but they see this as more of just a common way of living and are looking more to just explore the world above again and enjoy themselves.

Species: Elves (Ghouls) Oh boy, how have these fellas changed over the decades. It's been grim down here. Still long-lived, still tall and delicate seeming with excenuated features, large eyes and wide smiles. Their features now have a much more feral age than their 'low elves' ancestors, with many jagged teeth. Their eyes have turned oily black with red and orange and pink irises and their hair has left them entirely revealing worn, tea green, frayed and battered and rough and pallid looking skin. Their stance is a little more stooped and limbs a little more elongated, with long large hands, and sharp looking talonish black fingernails. A smell of death and rot permuates them and parts of their flesh seems necrotic and deadish, with even strong, jerking, organic-slick tendons visible to the naked air. They'd look most unfriendly indeed if not for at least their very, very wide and toothy grins and unblinking eye-contact. They're very good at eye-contact. Also gone is their ability to work magic to any real degree, faded away with their conversion to this, to be fair, incredibly, frightening resilient and swift and strong physical form. The ability to metabolise practically any form of meat and flesh, be it heavily rotted, poisoned or just plain weird has been blessed upon them too. Beyond the stench of their bodies, there is also almost an aura of dust about them that can mark their presence, that builds up quickly if they remain anywhere too long that hangs in the air easily and can lead to coughing fits easily.

Stances on the three changes:
-DISCOVERY - Yes. This is actually something they're pretty into now. They figure with a couple of new generations past now, it's time for their return to the surface world rather than being trapped underground and hiding out down here, there's been some interesting stuff certainly, but for now, they'd rather come back up to see what's changed and to see the stars again, feeling a calling in their blood to do so, it's time to carve themselves a slice of the surface and enjoy the night life.

-GHOULS - Er...Yes. They're very much in favour of ghouls actually, and are super flattered by this literature being handed around too. Really helps counter some of this negative PR they were expecting. They aren't ashamed of their state at all, the younger brood anyway and believe that throwing off the old way of life is a sensible path for those that choose to take it. This is a way of increasing some chaos in the world, and adding a little more wonder to things surely.

-HALF-ism - Complicated, but learning towards No. With the decline of their magical abilities, their ability to partake in visions naturally seems to have withered with it, where potent elixers and drugs used to work on them, over time, and with the strange mutations and potions they used to try and make themselves survive underground, now only through the consumption of fresh flesh and blood does any spark of magic or vision shine in their souls.
Some other beliefs from other ghouls outside of Koonkia think that Half-ism could be a way to lead to an ideal form, where they return to the beauty and magical power both of their ancestors and of the fiction depicting them, and rumours spread throughout Koonkia of Elves/Ghouls that have reached this ideal state, being able to wield magical power, to not always feel cold and itchy, to be beautiful to all and to be able to keep down veggies and be omnivores again as well as being a brutal face wrecker, except even more so! This is more valued by some of the older Elves of Koonkia though. The younger ones have adopted a newer philosophy from the origins of Half-ism and ancient Koon beliefs of taking in disease and growing from struggle. They believe that they have already ascended in a manner, feeding on blood and flesh like the mosquito's they once bonded with, surviving the brutal existence of the underground, the conquering of spirit over flesh to create their new undead-ish existence, beginning to throw off the slavery of mortality to a degree with the realisation that this world is but a dream of a universal mind all sentience is a fraction of.

Major cultural influence: Free Koonibisu Matriarchate - They still respect the mentalities of seeking individual freedom, the strength that grows from struggle and disease and plagues and disasters, and fuck the Republic in particular anyway!

Culture Name: Sogosha Port Authority Koon Remnants
Banner Colour: Blue, lined in Green

Government and Leader: WE NEVER SURRENDERED
Led by an unseen Board of Directors fronted by Prefect Konton Kanjamatta, Sogosha is de jure part of the Tuvarii Republic but possesses an extraordinary degree of autonomy by virtue of a poorly-worded letter of assent that granted the Board absolute control. It is unknown how exactly the Trans-Plateau Trade Company raised the funds to buy rights to colonise the Gadesuran Delta, but Shareholders from all corners of the Republic invested in an instant, as if urged by a hidden hand.

Most Shareholders were invested in trade and finance or the creative arts; Merchant guilds responsible for reopening tunnels underneath the Republic were the largest investor. However, many smaller entities also joined, including a business with a monopoly over an odd form of gladiatorial spectacle that appeared following the occupation of the Rotpah Holds (& surrounding lands).

Society:WE WAIT IN DARKNESS
The core values of the Authority are reflected in its motto; 'Through identity, purpose; through purpose, strength; through strength, prosperity.' While the stated end goal of the Authority is profit, the Authority sponsors a great deal of cultural initiatives and other benefits for residents designed to integrate them within the Company Culture.

The Sogosha Protection Agency is split into four small but well-funded and trained divisions; Navy, Intelligence, Security & Mercenary. The Navy is dedicated to protecting ships operated by the Authority, While Sogoshan spies are rumoured to be found wherever there is trade. The Security Forces of Sogosha act as its police and de facto Army should the city come under attack. Small mercenary companies are offered for hire, crewed by surplus military personnel. Mercenary contracts (either on sea or land) are the easiest for outsiders to acquire and are used as a recruiting tool for those wanting to become Employees in Sogosha.

All people in the territory of the Authority are Prospective Employees by birth and are provided eduction until their Induction Exams at the age of 16 (or Species-Defined Equivalent). Those that fail the Exam must leave or accept a Contract within their assigned Division while those that pass can chose their Division and are offered another two years of education that allows them to pursue higher offices in the Company. The requirements for Board membership are unknown; some are held by the top Employees in each Division but the majority are held by the secretive Shareholders. The Shareholders are the descendants of Koon Agents which founded these enterprises long ago and influence Sogosha from the shadows.

Employees do not gain Tuvarii Republic citizenship automatically unless both parents are registered as Republic citizens. Permanent residents are required to enter into an Employment Contract with the Authority with limited exceptions granted for non-permanent visitors and subcontractors. Authority Employees without Republic Citizenship have limited opportunities outside Sogosha apart from operating the remaining assets of TPTC (trade, mercenary regiments and entertainment) outside Authority borders.

While it is not the only port within the Republic, Sogosha was the first and the one most trafficked on the West Coast. Much of the economy is dedicated to building, provisioning and operating Tall Ships, whose products are constantly loaded on and off river barges destined for the Plateau. Vessels operated from Plains Orc harbours are forced to navigate past Karkosa and pirates from both the Half-Man Coast and the Yxlan Colonies. While not acknowledged publicly, an informal accord with Karkosa provides Sogoshan vessels with safe passage through their waters in exchange for waiving tariffs imposed by the Republic on Karkosan exports.

The Dockyards quickly exhausted timber supplies in Sogosha, with the cleared land instead hosting extensive irrigated farms and water-powered manufactories.

Species:JOINED THROUGH MADNESS
Sogosha was founded mostly by half-men, elves and lizardfolk from the 'Northern provinces' of the Republic, but has since gained a minority of virtually every species present on the Plateau and its surrounds, though few of the peoples beyond the Shamir Desert have visited let alone become Employees.

Stances on the three changes:

DISCOVERY:WE DIG WHERE WE CAN, TRAVEL WHERE WE MUST
Positive. More exploration means more trading destinations, which means greater profits for the Authority and the TPTC.
GHOUL:ONE TRIBE, ONE BANNER
Negative (de jure) Positive (de facto). While the TPTC publicly proclaims its willingness to 'destroy threats to trade' with an iron fist, the Authority quietly promotes outreach programs to 'civilise' and Employ the Ghouls, which it considers 'misguided'.
HALF:WHEN SOIL AND SEA UNITE, WE WILL RISE
Positive. While there is no official religion within the Authority, a unique offshoot of Half-ism is practised (and covertly promoted), which sees the 'Spirit Half' as residing in the Earth rather than the Sky. A secret cabal within them preserves most if not all of the religious beliefs of Koon.

Major cultural influence: KOON LIVES
The Port Authority refuses to acknowledge the supremacy of any one external influence, though it does proclaim its loyalty to the Tuvarii Republic. Constant rumours of Karkosan influence are officially denied and the TPTC points to several Orcquisition investigations as proof that the division of Employees into different corporate divisions is not 'Koonist'.

Culture Name: Tugad Praetoriate

Banner Colour: Red-violet (#C71585)

Government and Leader: Praetor Harshax "Cap'n" Fron

Society: When the Tuvarii expanded to the South into the jungles, they finally ran into a force that would give them a run for their money - the Yxlan Empire. A large, decadent, brutal empire of lizardfolk, whose economy relied on an underclass with very little social mobility, they immediately came into conflict with the meritocratic and reserved Tuvarii. Some of the most eager soldiers to fight against the Yxlan were the Gadesu, who were ashamed that their distant cousins had fallen so far. The war came to a standstill years ago, with the Tugad Praetoriate forming a buffer zone between the Empire and Republic. Founded by Gadesu veterans of the Tuvarii-Yxlan war, as well as Yxlan lizardfolk who fled their oppressive empire, Tugad is full of adventurous people. They learned to sail, taking from the Rantiesian tradition of boats, and are eager to find new lands. Tugad is also home to a small but significant number of pirate-adventurers, who raid Yxlan boats even though the Empire and Republic are no longer at war. They are tolerated by the Praetor because they're largely veterans who want to free galley slaves and do other good deeds. They are known to also protect Tuvarii merchants from sea-monsters and other dangers, upholding a pirate code of honor inspired by the ancient Gadesu and the Republic itself.

Species: The lizardfolk

Stances on the three changes:
Discovery - positive
Ghoul - negative
Half - Positive

Major cultural influence: Descendents of the Gadesu, with the legacy of the Republic[/spoiler]

Culture Name: East Windrose of the Orcgarchy Praetorite

Banner Colour: Green! Surprise!

Government and Leader: Elected republic. There is still a leader, but their power is not absolute like the olden days. Ruling has become more complex, with various tasks been delegated to multitude of sub-groups, of various sizes and complexity.

During the last era, the Windrose Alliance joined the Tuvarii Republic and took on their form of government. The transition was smooth. This was not surprising, since the four districts already had a democratic system of election. The orcs felt it to be inevitability for the ruling parties to be decided by vote rather than by blood. Despite this attempt at equality, neopotism still existed. Campaigns tend to be prohibitively expensive and nobility tend to be the ones with the most wealth - leading to dynastic families that still trace their relations back to Yarthuryay.

The Wandering Listeners are split from government, per Tuvarii reforms. Despite the lack of offical governmental titles, the Wandering Listeners are integral to orcish culture and should not be considered "powerless."

While most thing stayed the same (relatively) speaking, a small percentage of orcs chafe at the modern rules. They long for the days of independence (they curse the name of Ordredmay) and when divine right was the only rule that mattered (despite the fact the Yarthuryay just used a combination of Wandering Listener magic and compromises to unify the Orcgarchy). They were an inconsequential problem - until one moonless night, a orc extremist was Ghouled. This orc - self-styled himself as Warlord Aculadray - embroiled himself in a guerilla warfare for the independence of Windrose and the reinstatement of the orc-monarchy!

However, this is not the leader of this era. The point-of-view politician is one Praetor Onfusedcay - Praetor Kay, as he is more well-known by. He has been recently elected and he is not exactly happy with the fact his part of the Praetorite is being increasingly ghouled. He needed to get down to the bottom of this mystery...who ghouled Aculadray...and why?

Society: While Windrose was still its own beast, Tuvarii had changed it drastically. Competitions are still a thing, but the cultural trend towards perfectionism had made meditation (or meditation-like) activities to be quite popular. After all, isn't meditation basically a fight against one-self, which is totally awesome?

Assimilation had died down in the Orcgarchy as Tuvarii Republic was large enough that it whetted the expansionist appetites of orcish school-of-though. However, the Windrose people did picked up pretension from their Tuvarii friends. They expect other people to act like what they expect, which is an ideal model of an Windrose orc.

Species: Windrose is a cosmopolitan culture composing of many species - the dominant population being the archetypical orcs - burly pig-people with might constitutions and legendary rage. There is other species, like Gadorcsu (Gadesu), Dworcs (Dwarves), Orcves (Elves), et cetera - each with the word "orc" in their names and no they will not explain it to you, outsider.

There is also the Tuvarii elves. There were already elves in Windrose but the Orcves and the Tuvarii are drastically different in their own snooty ways. Tuvarii elves tend to be tall and fair-haired. Orcves tend to be stout and sharp-teethed.

Stances on the three changes:
Discovery - Yes, because Kay would really want to get to the bottom of this.
Ghoul - No? No! NO.
Half - Yes. Maybe the halfling spiritual religion could help them?

Major cultural influence: Tuvarii and Windrose are to be expected. Windrose was originally an independent polity until they agreed to join Tuvarii. A surprising cultural influence would be the former Koon, as they seem to make a big move aganist East Windrose. Is it for shits and giggles? Or is it something more?

Deadline shall be... June 8th, starting on June 9th.

A new era begins...

NPC leaders:

The Republic
Consul Morlians, leader of the Republic
Praetor Micanses of the Torarliar Territories
Kabrad, Queen Praetor of Rotpah
Various autonomous northern city leaders
Herder Praetor Gisgenay

Foreign leaders:
Empress Mevem she-who-looks-above-and-below of Karkosa
Empress Yxlan V of Yxlan
Their Exalted and Most Supreme Majesty Synodia I, The Terrestrial Bastion of Vallis Marginis

Minor leaders:
The six Gildrak holds, each claiming to be the true king

Unknown leaders:
Ghouls
Shamir Paladins

The Republic has declared war on Karkosa, for its many horrible deeds.

Hyades and the city of Karkosa have fallen, but Port Hali beat back the republic, and they are now on the offensive.

After a spiteful attack on New-Sogosha that ended in a stalemate, Port Hali surrenders. Peace talks are underway with Empress Mevem she-who-looks-above-and-below of Karkosa and the Council of the Republic.

Karkosa has been annexed by the empire as an autonomous praetoriate, under direct Consular command at the moment.
Apparently Sogosha's rights have been curbed a bit, based on them allowing themselves to be manipulated by Wet Koon. Wet Koon, whatever it is, is now an enemy of the Republic.

Tugad has built a line of defenses called the Landrubber Line, protecting us from Yxlan.

Aculadray rescued an entire city worth of slaves from Yxlan! The freed lizardpeople fled to the republic through Mysterious Red Ways. People start to whisper: what if...
He was also captured recently, but he also got extremely popular again, after basically nullifying himself on the polls. Is he secretly a hero, just rogue?

Director Rajava of Sogosha of Mercenary Affairs is a confirmed traitor to the Republic, and has fled across the ocean to the west. He has a large bounty on his head.

Aculadray has been given a medal, and a permanent office of "Hero King Of Orcs" for saving all the slaves in Yxlan! He goes around doing live performances, getting good pay, and a decorative crown. The attitude towards ghouls has softened, now that one of them is a republic public figure. The high priest of Shining Sunrise is a bit grumpy about this, but what can you do?

The investigation versus Sogosha has been closed. Sogosha's mercenary branch is disbanded, along with its actual army, due to the risk of corruption spreading, they are now under direct Consular supervision.

Deep Halfism is spreading in the republic! Some people are upset, because what is the point of doing a crusade, if people swap to a religion that was already present in the republic.

The crisis is beginning! DM/PM me your vote on which change should cause the crisis: Ghoul, Discovery or Half.

The stars are right.

The stars are right.

The stars are right.

It started as an innocent ceremony in the occupied ruined city of Karkosa.

It spiraled out of control. It was as if another moon, appeared over the city, blocking out the regular moon. Fey energy struck many halflings... they became twice, nay, four times as large. On the moon (or was it a rift?) we could see another city, mirorr of Karkosa, but not in ruins.

Out stepped a great creature. A giant halfling, towering, emaciated, yet sinewy. Magic crackles in the air around it. It proclaimed itself to be Half Star, and it is here to reunite the halflings with their spirit halves, taking them to this other realm, deep in the skies. His symbol is his name: a star split in half.

It cursed the Republic. It cursed the Consul, for attacking the nation of half-men, to take its holy sites. It cursed Krogar, for their greed made them attack a nation who loved discovery. It also cursed Sogosha's leaders, for perverting the holy faith to be about the deep earth, where only lies live, and for not staying on the side of their faithful allies. It cursed the rest of the protectorates, for agreeing to his unjust war.

Half Star is merciful, and will just evacuate everyone from the three cities of Karkosa, and anyone who believes in true halfism. Any interference, and there will be a reckoning. Half Star is also open to deals, penance and tributes, since Karkosa at least, did not became slaves, and had a chance to be itself.

Many elves who followed the religion in the Tuvari way, decided to perform a pilgrimage to Karkosa, to at least gain a boon. Many elves following deep halfism decided to hire ghouls to hide them deep beneath the world's crust.

Your MAJOR EDICT is here! It has three parts, and all parts must pertain to this divine catastrophe of HALF. Beware, for this will dictate the path of your culture for the future.

Also, if you are planning a war, this will result in a multi step miniturn.

Commander Rhybet, a notable Krokar Commander has performed a grand coup against Slubdin! It was a surprise strike, and the people loyal to the erstwhile Praetor has been felled or captured. Slubdin was put on a trial, and executed for his crimes against halfism. His metal leg has been put out on display as a memento of all, to see what happens to all evil men. The praetorite's capital was moved to Hoppor, and it is now ruled from the military academy of the Cult Of The Half Star.

Rhybet orders apologies to be sent to Half Star, and petitioned him to help them fight evil. Half Star tells them that they are the farthest away from forgiveness: he can not condone this bloody coup. They must look inwards and to the sky, to find mercy. Perhaps if Karkosa itself was attacked again, he would help. He lets the envoys leave unharmed, full of big sadness and regrets.

The ghouls of the deep swarm the surface en masse. Each pack has a different banner, representing the different faction of the deep: Deep Koon, Koonkia, KOON, New Koon, Frontier Koon, Wet Koon, and finally, Wormwatch.  Some of the ghouls, and most of their leaders have beautiful hair and skin. All of the ghouls are making promises to help and save everyone from the threat of Half Star. This actually ends up causing panic in most of the major cities, but there is no attempt at harming these curious creatures. The ghouls are pretty miffed about this, so they feel they must try further. They contact Aculadray...

They also sent many gifts and treasure to Gildrak Hold, as an apology of how Koon handled the dwarves (killing them to become Ghouls, very rude). Gildrak Hold, being a large number of independent holds, each with their own king claiming to be the true king of Gildrak Hold... felt touched about this. Each of them accept the large pile of treasure, and declare their like of ghouls. Maybe... they might even rejoin each other...

Tugad sent an a group of envoys to Karkosa, beseeching the Half Star for forgivness against the Halflings and Halfism. Their envoys were sent back, unharmed. They carry a message of forgiveness, but also, sadness, that even while Tugad was one of the few attackers who did not assault out of greed, but due to blind loyalty, they are not ready to gain their full blessing. Perhaps in the future, they too can enter the gate.

They also penned a very powerful message to the Consul, asking him to give further autonomy to the various regions, and to step down. Many others chimed in, especially the North, and in the end the consul had to relent: significant money was diverted towards autonomous infrastructure, and he promised to step down at the end of the crisis.

Finally, they went to look for their spirit halves... they have erected tents, reminiscent of the ancient Gadesu tribal sacred centers, combined with the stone mounds of ancient Yxtal organized religious practices. And they have been successful! By focusing on their HONOR, they manage to fuse with their sprit half, and become twice as big. They were always big on being honourable... and they still are, but in a more literal way, and woved to fight injustice everywhere, always.

Sogosha, being terrified of a supposed god who can talk via dreams, works hard to hire more priests of protection and perfection to increase their mental defenses. They also spend some of their edict money to increase their marines against more physical threats. Sogosha and Deep Halfism must be protected!

Sogosha has also experimented with Deep Halfism, and unveiled their creation: Wights! Volunteers from Wet Koon have been given the power to be able to perform magic again. See the union of DEEP and SURFACE! They bear both features of the deep, and of the surface, looking very mismatched, but somehow, hauntingly beautiful and ornate. Deep Halfism becomes more popular, as it shows an alternative to Star Halfism...

A large group of Deep Halfists start boarding Sogoshan vessels, hoping to found a new colony. They have heard of some uninhabited volcanic islands to the southwest of the Orokkon Alliance. Perhaps this colony of Nishikoon will be safe from the horrors of Half Star...

Meanwhile, Windrose performs an experiment with combining Listener and Protection magic. The experiment starts promising, the waves of protection magic and listener magic start to interweave... however, there is a terrifying explosion, injuring a lot of priests. This is a very dangerous magic... But right as people were writing off this experiment as impractical, suddenly, a giant glowing Yarthuryay appears. He is very confused! But agrees to help, after the situation has been explained to him.

Aculadray has been sent by Windrose as an ambassador of Friendship towards the ghouls. Little knownst to them, the Ghouls also offered Aculadray ascension, if he puts a good word in their name. Aculadray, being the opportunistic bastards, says "Sure I will ask the orcs to help", waited a few days, and dramatically brought the orc messages of peace. Aculadray now once again has REAL luscious hair, and will be probably around for a long time, centuries...

Together, the ghouls and orcs were prepared to perform war against Half Star and his cronices, in case it made its move...

Yxtal seems to have become terrified, blabbaring about the Horoscopes being wrong. The sea monsters seem to have vanished from republic stores. This is properly a coincidence. 

Votu has found a knife on her pillow (which has been burned to ashes). It has "You chose what is wrong. But then you chose what is right. We will be watching, with curiosity, yes?" It is a very long knife.

The Bastion expresses sadness at nobody retrieving their moon caches, and has become less friendly, more isolationist. Well, at least towards the plateau. At the behest of the Druzhul peak dwarves, they have extended ties towards the mysterious Shamir...

Shocking news! Consul Morlians has been stabbed death, along with several members of the Grand Council, and the Praetor Queen Kabrad of Rotpah! There are attached notes about "For the good of the republic!". It seems like that there have been attempts on the lives on every praetor. Onfusedcay only survived because Yarthuryay squished the frog who tried to stab him. He has received a nasty wound though.

Sogosha has expressed extreme displeasure at Tugad and Krokar turning closer to Half Star, especially Krokar, my god we need to do something against them. A lot of councillors agree: it must have been Krokar's mad new government who did this.

Enact war against Krokar? Players who can participate are the Koonkia Ghouls (unofficial affiliate friends), Windrose. If Windrose joins the fight, the Herder Orcs will come along.  Torarliar are ready to commit troops. The Rotpah and Consular forces are in disarray, so they can not join. Sogosha and Tugad can not actually participate in the offense, due to how they spent their funds, but they are ready to defend themselves (with Sogosha being more protected).

"WILL BE BACK IN A THOUSAND YEARS." yells Half Star, as the ghouls force his hands by attacking civilians. They move the civilians through the portal, and  close it.

After pushed back, the republic forces change tactics to capture and disable fanatics, breaking their martyr spirits. Fanatics who snuck into Windrose gets taken out by the great ghostly king, and the fact that windrose civilians are super though.

The republic loyalist people of Hoppor stage an uprising. The fanatic government is no more. The war is over, and Rhybet is captured, and sentenced for a lifelong imprisonment. There is no martyrdom for him.

Epilogue

The following decades, ghouls are accepted on the surface, although people still don't like that they attacked civilians. But they did push back a self proclaimed god... And people are fascinated by their stories of the Deep Red, and the Red Below the Red.

With the power of the orcs shown, the center of the Republic has been moved to Windrose. Yarthuryay is extremely proud, and decided to stick around for the future. Meanwhile Aculadray is a bit jealous, but he will be around still for many years...

The republic itself is now more of a loose confederation than one single entity. The situation in Krokar and Karkosa are tense, but the ghouls, or perhaps the wights, might keep everything in balance. Star Halfism's popularity dropped. Deep Halfism is popular, but there has been a great emergency of Priests Of Protection, what with the summoning of an ancient king. Krokar has become the Great Shame of Esklin... The story of greed, both material, and spiritual...

Over time, the Nishikoon colony of Sogosha became actually more important than Sogosha itself, with the capital being moved there. Sogosha city has been a dwelling place of Wights now. Unfortunately, the board never managed to ascend either way. But their practices of mental obfuscation magic, that prevented people from seeing their truth of being traitors, has taken root, and became a Secret Art of the Wights, who balance on the edge of truth and lies...

Tugad has became very religous, and very LARGE. They also kept one moon cache they found (this is not dishonorable, as they never promised anything to the moon people), and used their new friendship with the Khallow Remnants (sad bird people of the desolate coast), to slowly retake their poisoned lost lands and their technology of flight. A lot of people are still suspicious of Tugad, but they seems to be still holding the line against slaver Yxlan.

Half Star uplifted the horrible magical animals made by the halflings, granting them sentience, and a bipedal nature and assigned a ghoul, converted to a wight called the Lich Of Truth to lead them. They ingloriously fled the battle, into the northern jungles. Who knows what will happen to that area in the future?

The Copperite Khanate has finished researching their moon cache. Only they know what big constructions will their scientific and acidic minds will create...

The Orokkon Alliance (cousins of Ranitezan elves, whose leader keeps getting replaced due to corruption), somehow managed to lose their moon cache. Nobody knows where it went, due to the rampant blackmail and pragmatic political deals. It could pop up anywhere in the world.

The Bastion seems to be constructing something great at the mountaintop, aided by the Shamir friends of the Druzhul dwarves. The Shamir has also reopened their embassy in the now increasingly independent Northern Provinces.

Yxlan still keeps working people selected by their horoscope in their oversea island, where they are forced to craft parts for their sea monster shaped raider ships, attacking the newly begun trans-ocean trade. They seem to avoid the mainland to their north: only madness lives there, where horoscopes don't work.

Will Gildrak Hold reunite? It seems to be that they are planning to create the title of Elected High King...

Will the Orclympics continue? Of course...

Two hundred years pass...

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