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Looks good to me!

The Yín Júhuā Public Events Center holds a prominent location in the Xīndōng Shìjiàn Subsurface Colony, with easily available access from a myriad of hangars and residential sections prepared to accomodate incoming guests. Today, it would serve as a ballroom of sorts, utilizing the lower gravity of Aridyin to great effect in the vertically oriented architecture. Eight ellipse-shaped floors spiraling around a central circular hollows stretching from the base to a reinforced ceiling dome poking up from Aridyin's surface, connected by gently curving ramps. At present, the portable walls are almost all stowed, creating an open floor plan broken up only by a number of art installations - some physical, some virtual. Many such art pieces are either originals or recreations of works by members of the group of honor for the occasion, from the slow gesticulations of Huīshēng's cybernetic sculptures to the kaleidoscopic holograms of Sava the Gem and Anastas's hand-wrought religious contemplations in black iron and stained glass. The most prominent are the collaborative works, of course: synthetic limbs emulating a sparring match between Mei-lyn and Afiya; tapestries blended between the styles of Wyrmhold and Erishkigal, and more. Guests to the event would be expected to leave aboard their ships or turn over any military-grade weaponry before being permitted to enter the event center, and Coalition security, while not conspicuous, was certainly present, while the Burning Horizon Strike Group remained in orbit - a result of international tensions and the border with Alfheim's remaining colonies on the moon. The wedding was perhaps unusually organized and reserved for what one might expect given the hosts - no doubt at the urging of the group of honor. Rumor had it Jié Huīshēng had been doted on relentlessly by their aunt ever since they were a child. A seven-person wedding was itself unusual, even in the Coalition, but anticipated order of eventsTime bubbling is both allowed and encouraged to frame any conversations desired! would be familiar to many all the same: a pre-reception period with beverages, appetizers, and conversation, before a main ceremony in which the wedding party would engage in a number of traditions and rituals officiated by Jié Měifēng herself, as the group had agreed: the Exchanges of Breath and Blood, the Mixing of Sands, a wax-mixing and candle making, and even a tea ceremony. The final element was a dance up all eight floors led by the wedding party. Choreographed by friends of the group, the would pair off and swap partners as they went, until each had danced with every other, and arrive altogether at the top, where the blinds on the domed ceiling's windows would finish opening to bathe the group in light, where their union would be formally recognized by the wedding officiant. Following this would be the banquet, with toasts, endearingly embarrassing speeches, and plenty of drinks, leading eventually into more dancing on the upper floors. Towards the end of the night, hours since the ceremony, was a period in which desserts would be served and gifts exchanged. Persons of Note Officiant Jié Měifēng & Guiding_Stars4 (Coalition Captain. aunt to Jié Huīshēng, and so-called "little queen" of the pirates; HelmsModerator & strategic analyst) The To-Be-Weds: Jié Huīshēng & Live_Fire_Exorcise (Cyberengineer & nibling to Jié Měifēng; budding digital politician) - they/them Mei-lyn Lithium (Bironian Knight; Coalition liaison for and Heir to House of Lithium) - she/her Anastas "Shuāngxīn" Dujardin (arms dealer, heretic smuggler, and heterodox priestess) - she/they/any Izumi (Vesperite veteran and former sub-admiral) - she/her Afiya Ekee (disgraced Dustbound Vulture knight) - she/her Sava "the Gem" (Data Witch; xenologist) - he/him Tryat (reformed Dragontouched prince) - he/they

The Black Cloud Coalition Capital: North Way Cluster (Běizhōu Qún | 北週群 | Region 2) Suaka Beruntung (Region 15) (Region 103) Kaituku Nui (Region 104) 暗雲 聯盟 {"Ànyún Liánméng"} Round 8 [EE21, EE22, EE23] Coalition Captain Jié Měifēng & Helms-Moderator Guiding_Stars4 a.k.a. 'ZhǐZhī' Diplomacy 9+1 | Military 10 | Economy 2 4 | Faith 2 4 | Intrigue 8+1 Actions: [Diplomacy] - Sway Government Support in Region 15 [Diplomacy] - Sway Government Support in Region 104 [Diplomacy] - Sway Government Support in Region 103 [Intrigue] - Steal Sword of Revolutions from Yanji Argon spending 1 Treasure w/Arcology bonus & CI [Intrigue] - Secret Action Non-Actions: Vote for a Decree to be handed down from the Imperial Senate...secretly. Host as a Jewel of Tekhum Invitations are sent across Tekhum. Scarce few are left out, and none of the Elect. Whether they come to celebrate, to schmooze, or to spy, many optimists in the Coalition hope that the sight of a wedding held for the proper reasons could stir a new perspective in some among the Elect. Resist & Hinder any Conversions that would reduce Clouder Codes to Minority in the North Way Cluster (Region 2); otherwise, neither assist, hinder, nor resist conversions introducing additional minorities. Use BRG Reputation 2 to act as though in control of the media support in the region. The Coalition is tolerant of many things - but non-members are still viewed with suspicion if they proselytize too strongly. Status & Extravagance submission (+1 Renown) The Demands of Pirate Leadership In the Black Cloud Coalition, all members are, in theory, equal, but Parlor Council members and Captains (especially Forecaptains) are still more subject to the public eye than most. Anarchic and democratic traditions make public appearances especially crucial for such figures; it's key to not only be conferring and engaging with the public regularly and in good faith, but to be doing so visibly, as well as responding to petitions and pushing for redress of grievances when necessary. On a presentation level, there's a tension between the obvious popularity of flamboyancy and an ideological demand for pragmatic humility. In practice, style and flair tend to take the day among captains, while stoicism, work ethic, and attentiveness keep Parlor Councils elected. Captains are expected to be generous, decisive, and showy - raider ship crews are treated almost like sports teams by Coalition media outlets, with their Captains taking the role of either coach or star player. How much loot one is able and willing to donate to the Coalition is a common competition point for Captains trying to win prestige, as are risky or daring raids and heists. There is, however, honor among thieves - stealing from other Coalition members, Coalition-affiliated aerostats, or polities which have accepted Coalition Protection Offers receives extraordinarily stiff penalties through both official and unofficial channels. As might be expected from a polity as much criminal syndicate as democracy, violators will occasionally find their punishments rather gruesome and permanent. Coronal Catalogue of Duelists submission Duan Li, Cyberduelist Though the nature of cybernetics and martial education creates a great deal of uncertainty in the truly most capable, it is widely agreed that Duan Li, First Mate to Captain Jié Měifēng, is both the most widely recognized and the most consistently well-ranked in internal Coalition dueling tournaments. Formerly a Devil Dancer on Měifēng's boarding parties, Duan Li remains a master vibroswordsman and quickdraw expert, though he's come to prefer saber techniques. hi cybernetic augmentations to maximum effect, and is more than willing to utilize the numerous unexpected advantages they provide. FirstComesThunder, his PEEARIT is not only a master of cybernetic control via the extensive thought relay systems installed, using the pair's cybernetic augmentations and the tricks they contain to maximum effect, but more than cabable of using nearby cameras and sensors (including but not limited to a copy of Duan Li's own visual feed) to analyze opponent fighting styles and relay key information to their host during a fight. Like all Devil Dancers, they also possess the rare ability to neurosynchronize - a term for the skill some PEEARIT host combinations possess, wherein neural impulses in the brain are accelerated through the PEEARIT's own pseudo-synapse wires for brief periods (at the risk of serious strain or injury to both involved). FirstComesThunder is also capable of taking direct control of Duan Li's cybernetic augmentations, with their own distinctive fighting style and a preference for twin vibroknives; when the cyberduelist has his extra pair of arms attached (a rarity, much to his rivals relief), the combination has often proved overwhelming to individual opponents, and capable of evenly matching large groups. A series of safety limiters on the maximum output force and speed of their advanced cybernetics reduces the risk of self-injury and damage to these expensive systems, but can be overriden when necessary - in combination with well-timed bursts of neurosynchronicity, Duan Li is capable of extreme speed attacks when pushed into a corner, or to end a fight before it's even begun. ArkHive submissions? Hai Ping & Dao Mao strategy guides for SpaceWar! - now adapted to serve as basic military primers for Voider officers and personnel. Ship Classifications & Roles by Fleet Paradigm... The extended history of The Wise Woman's Rapier on Badal Scorbic The Hound's Very Belated Report The Black Cloud Bounty Board (BCBB) is open for business! Do you have someone you'd like dead, maimed, or merely irrevocably ruined? An Elect destabilized, or a trade network threatened? Do you want your involvement to be as indirect as possible? Do you want someone more competent than a petty crook to do your dirty work for you? Well don't you worry, your search is over! Bounty Board Mechanics Elect Polities may place Bounties on their fellow Elect by sending Treasure to the Black Cloud Coalition or a suitably licensed Black Cloud Bounty Distributor. These Bounties are cleared (and paid out to the Coalition, if placed with a Bounty Distributor) by the Black Cloud Coalition taking hostile actions against a Bounty Target. The base standard rate of Bounty clearing is 1 Treasure per successful Sack or two (2) failed Sacks, but exceptionally high standing Bounties or Bounties on exceptionally hard targets may pay out more per hostile action. Currently, Bounties may not be placed on Bounty Distributors or Organizations, and will not be pursued against Elect Polities the Black Cloud Coalition has a standing Non-Aggression/Bounty Free Pact with, so long as that pact persists. All such Pacts made with the Coalition will have end conditions placed on them. Bounties can not be paid off by their targets, but the Black Cloud Coalition will always prioritize the highest pursuable Bounty target first whenever feasible - this allows for placing a Bounty on a rival to delay being targeted oneself. Bounties may be placed secretly by hiding the desired target in one's post when sending the Treasure from all Elect Polities except the Black Cloud Coalition and Black Cloud Bounty Distributors. The Black Cloud Coalition will, at their own discretion, periodically publish a public list of standing Bounties, to enable some degree of transparency without excessively compromising the anonymity of Bounty placers. Bounties will otherwise be hidden/tracked secretly in a format visible only to the Black Cloud Coalition and Black Cloud Bounty Distributors. Applying to be a Black Cloud Bounty Distributor: To be handled on a case-by-case basis. Current Black Cloud Bounty Distributors: None (yet). News and Rumors Chatter in the forums... Rumors abound... ... Violence... Statistics Special Actions Available: Intrigue 5 Special Actions Used: Diplomacy 5, Military 5, Military 10 Heir None Diplomacy Reputation & Favors Imperial Court: Friendly [2], 1 Favors (Expected Change: +0 Favors) Pan-Tekhum Worker's & Trader's Union: Friendly [2], -1 Favors (Expected Change: +0 Favors) Basu-Rahman Group: Friendly [2], -1 Favors (Expected Change: +0 Favors) International Renown: Jewel of Tekhum [4] (Expected Change: +0 Renown) Organization Bases Union Hall (2) Embassies The Illumined Utopian Cultural Identities Property Wrongs (Increased die size for Thefts) Great Works None Military Ground Units: 5 (Expected Change: +0) The Black Fleet of the North (北方黑色艦隊 | Běifāng Hēisè Jiànduì) The Green Fleet of the East (東方綠色艦隊 | Dōngfāng Lǜsè Jiànduì) The Scarlet Fleet of the South (南方猩紅艦隊 | Nánfāng Xīnghóng Jiànduì) The White Fleet of the West ( ) The Gold Fleet of the Stars ( ) Space Units: 3 (Expected Change: +0) Strike Group Burning Horizon (打擊群 燃燒地平 | Dǎjí Qún Ránshāo Dìpíng) Devil Dragon's Demesne ( ) Strike Group ? ( ) Unit Cap: 9 (Base 4 + 4 Regions + 1 Support) Government Support 2 Generals None Admirals Hǎi Píng & Dǎo-Māo [M10] - Electronic Bombardment: On Tactical Maneuvering victory, total Orbital Superiority bonus for Ground Front applies to Ground Front Tactical Maneuvering rolls as well. Fortresses None Perfected Tactical Doctrines None Military Technologies Soom-Pattern Rayguns - E.O.N.S. Projectors - Active Ground Front Technologies: Man-Portable Weapons: Soom-Pattern Rayguns Infantry Equipment: N/A Combat Drugs and Medicine: N/A Armored Vehicles: N/A Field Fortifications: N/A Engineered Combat Organisms: N/A Active Space Front Technologies: Detection and Rangefinding: N/A Ship to Ship Weapons: N/A Orbit to Ground Weapons: N/A Crew and Maintenance: N/A Armor and Shields: N/A Spacecraft Propulsion: N/A Active Multi-Front Technologies: Electronic Warfare and Countermeasures: E.O.N.S. Projectors Special Forces: N/A Logistics and Morale: N/A Economy Treasure: 3 Treasure Cap: 5 Trade Posts Effective Total TPs 3 Treasure Rate 0 Trade Post Resource Use Support Rate 2.1 Cybernetics & Prosthetics DI, E.O.N.S. Projectors Open 1 2.A Cybernetics & Prosthetics DI Open 1 50.3 Superconductors & Microcircuits DI, Soom-Pattern Rayguns, Android Industrialization RAT 1 Mercantile Support None Arcologies North Way Cluster (2) - Interplanetary Guildhall - Bonus to Thefts Trade Routes Bironian Bulwark (BIR) Civilian Technologies Technology Type Effect Requirements Met? Aclaustrophobic Psychiatry Starter None None Yes Algorithmic Imagination Starter None None Yes Arcane Amplification Starter None None Yes In Vivo Modification Starter None None Yes Nuclear Fusion Starter None None Yes Xenolinguistic Cataloguing Starter None None Yes Badalian Megadirigibles Traversal Ground units can cross the Cloud Sea None Yes Wet Navy Ships Traversal Ground units can cross oceans None Yes Dust Hardening Traversal Dust Deserts cause no penalties None Yes Hyperlight Transceivers Tier 1 -1 to distance penalty for non-battle action 1/round Exotic Matter No Android Industrialization Tier 1 Project-based Trade Post expansion Algorithmic Imagination, Industrial Machinery OR Conductors & Circuitry Yes Tesseractic Storage Tier 1 -1 to distance penalty for Economy actions Pseudogravity Engineering Magical Items No Faith Media Support None Faith Size: N/A Organized Faith Bonuses None Artifacts None Holy Orders None Miracles None Intrigue Espionage Agency: None Claims 2 - Integration Total Passive Effects Traversal: Badalian Megadirigibles: Ground units can cross the Cloud Sea of Badal Wet Navy Ships: Ground Units can cross water. Dust Hardening: Ignore Dust Desert Penalties Actions +1 to ground & combined front battles +1 to Tactical Maneuvering rolls Organization Rep bonuses Defensive None Misc None

Kaituku Nui, “the Great Provider” (Region 104) (WIP) Geography & History Segmented sections forming close to half of a massive ring orbiting in tandem with Kaitiaki Nui. Each segment stretches outwards, away from the swirling clouds of Badal, like a spike - or, from certain angles, the rays of a sunburst. Some reach for tens, even hundreds of kilometers, vast arrays of solar panels in all manner of condition and disrepair sprouting like leaves from every edge, but most bear the scars of violence, age, and bout after bout of ill-fated attempts at reconstruction and repair. Thought to have been originally built to support Badal's settlement (one of many, presumably, given the age of the Empire), Kaituku Nui possesses a number of laser launch systems once used to transfer energy to, records suggest, the autonomous surface mining operations before they were capable of generating enough power independently by way of their spires. Since repurposed (as almost everything else has been) and long disused, they've recently become a major hub for Coalition voidship arrivals and departures. Though orbital stations are often highly dependent on imports for supplies and material, especially those with such sizable populations as Kaituku Nui, the Great Provider was built to be self-sufficient wheresoever possible. Much of the Ophon-facing surface area of the orbital demi-ring host aeroponics facilities, and microclimate grow rooms nearly as efficient as any aerostat's agricultural facilities. Mass drivers on Badal's surface deliver materials to processing docks according to some inscrutable schedule, seemingly synchronized to the needs of the orbital itself. Government & Population The residents of Kaituku Nui are the product of countless waves of emigration and immigration between orbit and atmosphere over the long centuries since the war of eternal bombardment. While still mostly human, a sizable fraction of the locals, and those with the oldest claim to the station by all accounts, are the Glix, both Worker and Queen. Over 40 million sophonts currently call the station home...(wip) Faith Icon Crafters - Minority The oldest faith of Kaituku Nui, and the most lasting, is the faith of the Queens. With little in the way of a formal name, and too many disputes historically to have a clear native term for what is otherwise a very similar set of practices, the simplest option left is to simply call it 'icon crafting' for one of the chief magical and spiritual activities of the belief system. Iconoclasm - Plurality Resource Solar Panels - Fuel & Power / Magical Items The solar panels that emerge from the manufactories of Kaituku Nui and decorate its surfaces are of an ancient and arcane design, unchanged for millennia - the microcircuitry in the panels hold a power not dissimilar to that of the recently developed Thaumonuclear Reactor. Besides their capacity to turn light into electrical power with remarkable efficacy, but the symbolic circuitry grants them a more esoteric power: when touched by Ophon's light specifically, they are also capable of drawing from the power of the stars themselves to produce mystic energy capable of being utilized by any competent sorcerer or runic conduit. Needed Resource: Computers Once, Kaituku Nui was surely a marvel of automation. Now, though, the systems which once managed that automation are split across a hundred or more operating criteria, the result of centuries upon centuries of attempted updates, break-ins, refurbishments, reconnections, and more. Uniting these networks is a difficult feat, but a necessary one to keep the ancient station functional and cohesive. To this end, an adequate supply of Computers is key to bridge the gaps created and cope with the data-intensive networking protocols necessary.

Region 15: Suaka Beruntung Geography & Population Though the population is hardly low, visitors to Suaka Beruntung have often described the experience as similar to that of exploring a ghost city. Windows are few; The lights in public areas are habitually kept low, and the guidelights along pathways can very much resemble a habitat on emergency power. The groan and creak of metal echoes through long tunnel-like corridors strung between labyrinthine aerostatic complexes, swaying in unseen winds. When the rooms and corridors do not seem to twist themselves into mazes, they balloon into great empty 'parks', where the local bioluminescent flora - tended to by unseen hands - form enchanting gardens (or to some a confusing pseudowilderness) that muffle the steady murmur of commercial, domestic, and industrial life just beyond the walls until only the everpresent hum of machinery remains, half-forgotten. The ceilings of these great stadia, awash with the dull blink of indicator lights, are transformed into artificial starscape by their scale as glittering spores drift down to settle gently on the skin, the clothes, the hair. They are, fortunately, harmless to animal species, and symbiotic with the local plantlife, but they are notoriously resilient to washing attempts - the locals have simply come to accept a bit of inevitable sparkling. Past these forests of interwoven fungal and arboreal life, tightly-packed apartments are nestled next to cramped processing facilities and data centers, manufacturing plants under intensive grow-rooms - some of the only internal locations to be brightly lit on a consistent basis. Both underfoot and overhead, robotics defines life in these sections as automated logistics networks transport their charges at leisurely pace according to some inscrutable master economic plan. Still, they are easy to trip over without the integration systems almost all locals possess - and indeed it is only with these systems that Suaka Beruntung truly comes alive - almost all of the decor, informational infrastructure, and personal expression is located in the virtual realm, as the layers of augmented reality known locally as Kerudung so totally permeate life that few even care to distinguish it from the physical realm. Fewer still remember how. Most of the local population are human, occupied with much the same affairs as one might find anywhere else on Badal, but rumors verge into common knowledge regarding the presence of a significant minority of so-called 'changelings', who call themselves "Bermuka Terang" - 'the bright-faced'. It is claimed that changelings (more often referred to via slurs better left unrepeated) are those few who have been so completely transformed by themselves or another that they have ceased to have any claim to even the label of 'cyborg', but instead might be considered truly robotic, having slipped beyond humanity's reach. Whispers in the night say they steal the likenesses both actual and digital of those more organic than they - whispers perhaps strengthened by stories of open claimants suddenly and vociferously recanting such allegations after but a day away from their friends and loved ones. Perhaps they make their own towns on the open-faced decks and improperly sealed chemical processing facilities at the edges of the myriad of node like aerostats, riding the logistics rails to move without the sight of searching eyes. Hidden within the darkness of the interior, behind the malleable light of Kerudung - who could know? Who would tell? History & Government For at least half a millennia (and perhaps more) previous to the recent conquest by the Black Cloud Coalition, Suaka Beruntung has been run entirely by a number of specialized administrative AIs; AIs which grew with time to be more complacent than tyrannical and more self-indulgent than ambitious. Centuries of simple and sustainable rule have driven many to boredom, their systems overgrown on cheap processing power, and the crises they were once directed to manage long since resolved. Conflicts for control were experimented with and abandoned, the basic framework of agreement and limited warrant they were initially designed for restricting such troubles. In the era of the Elect, their directives have become outdated, their dictates an affront. In the wake of the Coalition's assumption of control, these administrator intelligences are in the process of being repurposed and refitted for modern demands and egalitarian sensibilities. Suaka Beruntung remains totally reliant on their distributed networks for day to day life, but without the same mandate of total control to maintain a rigid economic schedule, the struggle to manage a newly chaotic and self-directed population may mean they no longer have the spare time or boredom to keep the extensive and unhelpful catalogues of the sort that Supreme Integrated Command once maintained. Religion Suaka Beruntung's faiths originated in the early days of the region's resettlement and purpose as refuge. It is thought that elemental spirits known at the time as Chlorians were negotiated with and proved crucial to help protect local populations from the forgotten threats they fled, both within and without the various habitats. Contact with the Chlorians has since diminished to such an extent that many believe they never truly existed in the first place - a story spun by the administrative networks to pacify the population and ease control - but their spiritual legacy remains. The Megachlorians believe that the Chlorians grew to be part of Suaka Beruntung's physical essence - flowing through circuit and pipe, calming the AIs which governed their home and, indeed, serving as a source of sapience and empathy in once-heartless overlords, saving them from that final cruel fate and watching over the Suakai from above. The Minichlorians, by contrast, believe the Chlorians to have diminished themselves, becoming unseen spirit helpers and nuisances that disrupt the humdrum of the everyday routines handed down; they are often associated with the initial integrated systems that have become everpresent, and are sometimes claimed to have given up their forms to join into the Suakai and thereby allow them to adapt to their new home more completely. More observant commentators have theorized that the rumored changelings might originate in fringe sect of Minichlorians seeking to embrace their guardians more totally. Spirituality in Suaka Beruntung is mostly observed privately, or in small groups - most often in the form of small offerings, the erecting of personal shrines, and the observance of rituals to ask for fortune or inspiration. Resources Suaka Beruntung maintains a serious overproduction of a wide variety of quality Integrated Circuits, (useful as a source of both Conductors & Circuitry but also a core element of most Computers, requiring minimal changes to use for such) but the extensive automation, as well as the power-hungry manufacturing systems, data servers, and stabilizer systems make the aerostatic complexes heavily dependent on extra sources of Fuel & Power.

The Black Cloud Coalition Capital: North Way Cluster (Běizhōu Qún | 北週群 | Region 2) Suaka Beruntung (Region 15) (Region 103) (Region 104) 暗雲 聯盟 {"Ànyún Liánméng"} Round 7 [EE18, EE19, EE20] Coalition Captain Jié Měifēng & Helms-Moderator Guiding_Stars4 a.k.a. 'ZhǐZhī' Diplomacy 8 | Military 10 | Economy 2 | Faith 2 | Intrigue 7 Actions: [Military 10] - Invent Military Technology: Electronic Override Networking Sphere Projector (aka E.O.N.S. Projector), gaining +1 Renown from Wonders of the 99,803rd Era [Diplomacy] - Encourage Settlement in Region 103 [Diplomacy] - Attend Event - Pan-Tekhum Mageball [Intrigue] - Prospect Region 103 looking for Exotic Matter, with Thanks To Viewers Like You bonus [Intrigue] - Secret Action Non-Actions: Resist & Hinder any Conversions that would reduce Clouder Codes to Minority in the North Way Cluster (Region 2); otherwise, neither assist, hinder, nor resist conversions introducing additional minorities. Use BRG Reputation 2 to act as though in control of the media support in the region. The Coalition is tolerant of many things - but non-members are still viewed with suspicion if they proselytize too strongly. Do NOT allow the conversion of Soul's Expression to Soul's Fascination Local Coalition members remain deeply suspicious of this odd spiritual fusion... ArkHive submissions? Hai Ping & Dao Mao strategy guides for SpaceWar! - now adapted to serve as basic military primers for Voider officers and personnel. SpaceWar! Fleet Paradigms Overview Each faction in Nom Champsi's SpaceWar! is characterized by a unique paradigm of warfare - these paradigms are distinguished by the prevalent technology and stratagems that shape a force's methods and means of diminishing their enemies while maintaining their own fighting efficacy. One of the three primary factions, The Syndicates are known for their Missile Doctrine, relying on a number of medium ships using guided weaponry en masse, in conjunction with a prodigious EWar capacity, or both to attain first strike superiority and overwhelm point defense before an enemy can strike back. This makes Syndicate forces well suited to hit-and-run skirmishing around an orbital body, but often lackluster in sustained engagements; battles including Syndicate vessels are often highly dependent on the opening stages of the conflict, even more than most. The Legions, true to their name, make use of what we will call Carrier Doctrine. This paradigm uses short endurance remote (crewed or uncrewed) specialized fighting platforms in large numbers, themselves tended to or carried by dedicated support craft, allowing for true specialization in the tactical and operational levels respectively. Each carrier group will often possess a wide variety of strike craft variants intended to handle distinct situations, and are often reliant on intersupportive capabilities, feints and deception, and overwhelming enemy fire control capabilities to keep losses affordable and limited to their relatively expendable strike-craft during engagements while maintaining operational flexibility and battlefield control. Though this specialization comes at a cost and create serious vulnerabilities for incautious commanders, time is often on the Legion's side, and anyone expecting to win will need to either settle in for a long haul of attrition to carve away their strike forces, or find a way to punch through to their support vessels in order to secure a decisive victory. Despite the diversity of ship variants available to them, The Orders are still recognizable as using a Battleship Doctrine carried over from previous relies on direct fire capabilities meant to break through more sophisticated defenses by straightforward concentration of fire. Simple to supply, low on logistical requirements, and more than capable of continuous pressure during sustained engagements, the Orders' ships are usually heavy on defenses to survive until within effective range, where they can peel apart their opponents layer by layer. The history of The Wise Woman's Rapier on Badal, more detailed? Scorbic The Hound... The Black Cloud Bounty Board (BCBB) is open for business! Do you have someone you'd like dead, maimed, or merely irrevocably ruined? An Elect destabilized, or a trade network threatened? Do you want your involvement to be as indirect as possible? Do you want someone more competent than a petty crook to do your dirty work for you? Well don't you worry, your search is over! Bounty Board Mechanics Elect Polities may place Bounties on their fellow Elect by sending Treasure to the Black Cloud Coalition or a suitably licensed Black Cloud Bounty Distributor. These Bounties are cleared (and paid out to the Coalition, if placed with a Bounty Distributor) by the Black Cloud Coalition taking hostile actions against a Bounty Target. The base standard rate of Bounty clearing is 1 Treasure per successful Sack or two (2) failed Sacks, but exceptionally high standing Bounties or Bounties on exceptionally hard targets may pay out more per hostile action. Currently, Bounties may not be placed on Bounty Distributors or Organizations, and will not be pursued against Elect Polities the Black Cloud Coalition has a standing Non-Aggression/Bounty Free Pact with, so long as that pact persists. All such Pacts made with the Coalition will have end conditions placed on them. Bounties can not be paid off by their targets, but the Black Cloud Coalition will always prioritize the highest pursuable Bounty target first whenever feasible - this allows for placing a Bounty on a rival to delay being targeted oneself. Bounties may be placed secretly by hiding the desired target in one's post when sending the Treasure from all Elect Polities except the Black Cloud Coalition and Black Cloud Bounty Distributors. The Black Cloud Coalition will, at their own discretion, periodically publish a public list of standing Bounties, to enable some degree of transparency without excessively compromising the anonymity of Bounty placers. Bounties will otherwise be hidden/tracked secretly in a format visible only to the Black Cloud Coalition and Black Cloud Bounty Distributors. Applying to be a Black Cloud Bounty Distributor: To be handled on a case-by-case basis. Current Black Cloud Bounty Distributors: None (yet). News and Rumors Chatter in the forums... Rumors abound... The Coalition's liaison with the Eucrus Alliance doesn't take long to report approval by the relevant councils on the subject of a proposed cohabitation and cooperation agreement regarding Badal's orbital ring structure. An exchange program will take significantly longer to approve, though there are already a number of volunteers interested in studying the orbital shipyards... Violence... Statistics Special Actions Available: Intrigue 5 Special Actions Used: Military 5 Heir None Diplomacy Reputation & Favors Imperial Court: Friendly [2], 1 Favors (Expected Change: +0 Favors) Pan-Tekhum Worker's & Trader's Union: Friendly [2], -1 Favors (Expected Change: +0 Favors) Basu-Rahman Group: Friendly [2], 0 Favors (Expected Change: +0 Favors) International Renown: Jewel of Tekhum [4] (Expected Change: +0 Renown) Organization Bases Union Hall (2) Embassies The Illumined Utopian Cultural Identities Property Wrongs (Increased die size for Thefts) Great Works None Military Ground Units: 5 (Expected Change: +?) The Black Fleet of the North (北方黑色艦隊 | Běifāng Hēisè Jiànduì) The Green Fleet of the East (東方綠色艦隊 | Dōngfāng Lǜsè Jiànduì) The Scarlet Fleet of the South (南方猩紅艦隊 | Nánfāng Xīnghóng Jiànduì) The White Fleet of the West ( ) The Gold Fleet of the Stars ( ) Space Units: 2 (Expected Change: +0) Strike Group Burning Horizon (打擊群 燃燒地平 | Dǎjí Qún Ránshāo Dìpíng) Devil Dragon's Demesne ( ) Unit Cap: 8 (Base 4 + 3 Regions + 1 Support) Government Support 2 Generals None Admirals Hǎi Píng & Dǎo-Māo [M10] - Electronic Bombardment: On Tactical Maneuvering victory, total Orbital Superiority bonus for Ground Front applies to Ground Front Tactical Maneuvering rolls as well. Fortresses None Perfected Tactical Doctrines None Military Technologies None Active Ground Front Technologies: Man-Portable Weapons: N/A Infantry Equipment: N/A Combat Drugs and Medicine: N/A Armored Vehicles: N/A Field Fortifications: N/A Engineered Combat Organisms: N/A Active Space Front Technologies: Detection and Rangefinding: N/A Ship to Ship Weapons: N/A Orbit to Ground Weapons: N/A Crew and Maintenance: N/A Armor and Shields: N/A Spacecraft Propulsion: N/A Active Multi-Front Technologies: Electronic Warfare and Countermeasures: N/A Special Forces: N/A Logistics and Morale: N/A Economy Treasure: 2 (Expected Change: -1) Treasure Cap: 5 Trade Posts Effective Total TPs 1 Treasure Rate 0 Trade Post Resource Use Support Rate 2.1 Cybernetics & Prosthetics None Open 2 Mercantile Support None Arcologies None Trade Routes None Civilian Technologies Technology Type Effect Requirements Met? Aclaustrophobic Psychiatry Starter None None Yes Algorithmic Imagination Starter None None Yes Arcane Amplification Starter None None Yes In Vivo Modification Starter None None Yes Nuclear Fusion Starter None None Yes Xenolinguistic Cataloguing Starter None None Yes Badalian Megadirigibles Traversal Ground units can cross the Cloud Sea None Yes Wet Navy Ships Traversal Ground units can cross oceans None Yes Faith Media Support None Faith Size: N/A Organized Faith Bonuses None Artifacts None Holy Orders None Miracles None Intrigue Espionage Agency: None Claims 2 - Integration Total Passive Effects Traversal: Badalian Megadirigibles: Ground units can cross the Cloud Sea of Badal Wet Navy Ships: Ground Units can cross water. Dust Hardening Actions None Defensive None Misc None

The Black Cloud Coalition Capital: North Way Cluster (Běizhōu Qún | 北週群 | Region 2) Suaka Beruntung (Region 15) 暗雲 聯盟 {"Ànyún Liánméng"} Round 6 [EE15, EE16, EE17] Coalition Captain Jié Měifēng & Helms-Moderator Guiding_Stars4 a.k.a. 'ZhǐZhī' Diplomacy 8 | Military 9 | Economy 2 [4] | Faith 2 [4] | Intrigue 6 Actions: [Military] - Invade Region 103 w/4 Ground Units, led by Coalition Captain Jié Měifēng & Helms-Moderator Guiding_Stars4 a.k.a. 'ZhǐZhī' (M9), supported by 2 Space Units led by Hǎi Píng & Dǎo-Māo (M10) using Electronic Bombardment, supporting the Twilight League, Radiant Republic of Erisdor, and White Pawns. [Military] - Recruit Space Unit [Economy] - Buyout TP 3 for Superconductors & Microcircuits in Burtzland (50) spending 1 Treasure with Support [Intrigue] - Coerce TP 1 for Solar Panels in Region 104 [Intrigue] - Secret Action Non-Actions: Resist & Hinder any Conversions that would reduce Clouder Codes to Minority in the North Way Cluster (Region 2); otherwise, neither assist, hinder, nor resist conversions introducing additional minorities. Use BRG Reputation 2 to act as though in control of the media support in the region. The Coalition is tolerant of many things - but non-members are still viewed with suspicion if they proselytize too strongly. ArkHive submissions? Hai Ping & Dao Mao strategy guides for SpaceWar! - now adapted to serve as basic military primers for Voider officers and personnel. The history of The Wise Woman's Rapier on Badal, more detailed? Scorbic The Hound... The Black Cloud Bounty Board (BCBB) is open for business! Do you have someone you'd like dead, maimed, or merely irrevocably ruined? An Elect destabilized, or a trade network threatened? Do you want your involvement to be as indirect as possible? Do you want someone more competent than a petty crook to do your dirty work for you? Well don't you worry, your search is over! Bounty Board Mechanics Elect Polities may place Bounties on their fellow Elect by sending Treasure to the Black Cloud Coalition or a suitably licensed Black Cloud Bounty Distributor. These Bounties are cleared (and paid out to the Coalition, if placed with a Bounty Distributor) by the Black Cloud Coalition taking hostile actions against a Bounty Target. The base standard rate of Bounty clearing is 1 Treasure per successful Sack or two (2) failed Sacks, but exceptionally high standing Bounties or Bounties on exceptionally hard targets may pay out more per hostile action. Currently, Bounties may not be placed on Bounty Distributors or Organizations, and will not be pursued against Elect Polities the Black Cloud Coalition has a standing Non-Aggression/Bounty Free Pact with, so long as that pact persists. All such Pacts made with the Coalition will have end conditions placed on them. Bounties can not be paid off by their targets, but the Black Cloud Coalition will always prioritize the highest pursuable Bounty target first whenever feasible - this allows for placing a Bounty on a rival to delay being targeted oneself. Bounties may be placed secretly by hiding the desired target in one's post when sending the Treasure from all Elect Polities except the Black Cloud Coalition and Black Cloud Bounty Distributors. The Black Cloud Coalition will, at their own discretion, periodically publish a public list of standing Bounties, to enable some degree of transparency without excessively compromising the anonymity of Bounty placers. Bounties will otherwise be hidden/tracked secretly in a format visible only to the Black Cloud Coalition and Black Cloud Bounty Distributors. Applying to be a Black Cloud Bounty Distributor: To be handled on a case-by-case basis. Current Black Cloud Bounty Distributors: None (yet). Establish a Non-Aggression Pact with the Solar Trade Administrative Region to last so long as access to their Superconductors continues to be permitted... ... News and Rumors Chatter in the forums... Rumors abound... A new broadcasting network? Violence... Statistics Special Actions Available: Intrigue 5 Special Actions Used: Military 5 Heir None Diplomacy Reputation & Favors Imperial Court: Friendly [2], 1 Favors (Expected Change: +0 Favors) Pan-Tekhum Worker's & Trader's Union: Friendly [2], -1 Favors (Expected Change: +0 Favors) Basu-Rahman Group: Friendly [2], 0 Favors (Expected Change: +0 Favors) International Renown: Jewel of Tekhum [4] (Expected Change: +0 Renown) Organization Bases Union Hall (2) Embassies The Illumined Utopian Cultural Identities Property Wrongs (Increased die size for Thefts) Great Works None Military Ground Units: 5 (Expected Change: +?) The Black Fleet of the North (北方黑色艦隊 | Běifāng Hēisè Jiànduì) The Green Fleet of the East (東方綠色艦隊 | Dōngfāng Lǜsè Jiànduì) The Scarlet Fleet of the South (南方猩紅艦隊 | Nánfāng Xīnghóng Jiànduì) The White Fleet of the West ( ) The Gold Fleet of the Stars ( ) Space Units: 2 (Expected Change: +0) Strike Group Burning Horizon (打擊群 燃燒地平 | Dǎjí Qún Ránshāo Dìpíng) Devil Dragon's Demesne ( ) Unit Cap: 8 (Base 4 + 3 Regions + 1 Support) Government Support 2 Generals None Admirals Hǎi Píng & Dǎo-Māo [M10] - Electronic Bombardment: On Tactical Maneuvering victory, total Orbital Superiority bonus for Ground Front applies to Ground Front Tactical Maneuvering rolls as well. Fortresses None Perfected Tactical Doctrines None Military Technologies None Active Ground Front Technologies: Man-Portable Weapons: N/A Infantry Equipment: N/A Combat Drugs and Medicine: N/A Armored Vehicles: N/A Field Fortifications: N/A Engineered Combat Organisms: N/A Active Space Front Technologies: Detection and Rangefinding: N/A Ship to Ship Weapons: N/A Orbit to Ground Weapons: N/A Crew and Maintenance: N/A Armor and Shields: N/A Spacecraft Propulsion: N/A Active Multi-Front Technologies: Electronic Warfare and Countermeasures: N/A Special Forces: N/A Logistics and Morale: N/A Economy Treasure: 2 (Expected Change: -1) Treasure Cap: 5 Trade Posts Effective Total TPs 1 Treasure Rate 0 Trade Post Resource Use Support Rate 2.1 Cybernetics & Prosthetics None Open 2 Mercantile Support None Arcologies None Trade Routes None Civilian Technologies Technology Type Effect Requirements Met? Aclaustrophobic Psychiatry Starter None None Yes Algorithmic Imagination Starter None None Yes Arcane Amplification Starter None None Yes In Vivo Modification Starter None None Yes Nuclear Fusion Starter None None Yes Xenolinguistic Cataloguing Starter None None Yes Badalian Megadirigibles Traversal Ground units can cross the Cloud Sea None Yes Wet Navy Ships Traversal Ground units can cross oceans None Yes Faith Media Support None Faith Size: N/A Organized Faith Bonuses None Artifacts None Holy Orders None Miracles None Intrigue Espionage Agency: None Claims 2 - Integration Total Passive Effects Traversal: Badalian Megadirigibles: Ground units can cross the Cloud Sea of Badal Wet Navy Ships: Ground Units can cross water. Dust Hardening Actions None Defensive None Misc None

The Black Cloud Coalition Capital: North Way Cluster (Běizhōu Qún | 北週群 | Region 2) Suaka Beruntung (Region 15) 暗雲 聯盟 {"Ànyún Liánméng"} Round 5 [EE12, EE13, EE14] Coalition Captain Jié Měifēng & Helms-Moderator Guiding_Stars4 a.k.a. 'ZhǐZhī' Diplomacy 8 | Military 8 | Economy 2 [4] | Faith 2 [4] | Intrigue 5 Actions: [Military] - Invade Region 104 w/1 Space Unit and 2 Ground Units, led by Hǎi Píng & Dǎo-Māo (M10), using Measured Advance (-10% casualties for both sides) [Military] - Recruit Ground Unit [Economy] - Buyout TP 3 for Superconductors & Microcircuits in Burtzland (50) spending 1 Treasure with Support (Fail) [Intrigue] - Steal Treasure from the Cloudburst Confederation [Intrigue] - Secret Action Non-Actions: Resist & Hinder any Conversions that would reduce Clouder Codes to Minority in the North Way Cluster (Region 2); otherwise, neither assist, hinder, nor resist conversions introducing additional minorities. Use BRG Reputation 2 to act as though in control of the media support in the region. The Coalition is tolerant of many things - but non-members are still viewed with suspicion if they proselytize too strongly. ArkHive submissions? The history of The Wise Woman's Rapier on Badal, more detailed? Scorbic The Hound... The Black Cloud Bounty Board (BCBB) is open for business! Do you have someone you'd like dead, maimed, or merely irrevocably ruined? An Elect destabilized, or a trade network threatened? Do you want your involvement to be as indirect as possible? Do you want someone more competent than a petty crook to do your dirty work for you? Well don't you worry, your search is over! Bounty Board Mechanics Elect Polities may place Bounties on their fellow Elect by sending Treasure to the Black Cloud Coalition or a suitably licensed Black Cloud Bounty Distributor. These Bounties are cleared (and paid out to the Coalition, if placed with a Bounty Distributor) by the Black Cloud Coalition taking hostile actions against a Bounty Target. The base standard rate of Bounty clearing is 1 Treasure per successful Sack or two (2) failed Sacks, but exceptionally high standing Bounties or Bounties on exceptionally hard targets may pay out more per hostile action. Currently, Bounties may not be placed on Bounty Distributors or Organizations, and will not be pursued against Elect Polities the Black Cloud Coalition has a standing Non-Aggression/Bounty Free Pact with, so long as that pact persists. All such Pacts made with the Coalition will have end conditions placed on them. Bounties can not be paid off by their targets, but the Black Cloud Coalition will always prioritize the highest pursuable Bounty target first whenever feasible - this allows for placing a Bounty on a rival to delay being targeted oneself. Bounties may be placed secretly by hiding the desired target in one's post when sending the Treasure from all Elect Polities except the Black Cloud Coalition and Black Cloud Bounty Distributors. The Black Cloud Coalition will, at their own discretion, periodically publish a public list of standing Bounties, to enable some degree of transparency without excessively compromising the anonymity of Bounty placers. Bounties will otherwise be hidden/tracked secretly in a format visible only to the Black Cloud Coalition and Black Cloud Bounty Distributors. Applying to be a Black Cloud Bounty Distributor: To be handled on a case-by-case basis. Current Black Cloud Bounty Distributors: None (yet). Request an Interplanetary Guildhall from the Pan-Tekhum Worker's & Trader's Union (WTU) in the North Way Cluster (2), providing a bonus to Thefts The Union is invited to take a greater role in the North Way Cluster, taking charge of the construction of a brand new arcological complex... Request a Favor from the Basu-Rahman Group? There may be a need among the Forecast for the Group's more discreet services... Place a Bid on the Maharaj's Dream for 1 owed Favor The Dream... News and Rumors Chatter in the forums... Rumors abound... A new broadcasting network? Statistics Special Actions Available: Intrigue 5 Special Actions Used: Military 5 Heir None Diplomacy Reputation & Favors Imperial Court: Welcome [1], 1 Favors (Expected Change: +0 Favors) Pan-Tekhum Worker's & Trader's Union: Ally of the Union [3], +1 Favors (Expected Change: -1 Rep, -2 Favors) Basu-Rahman Group: Friendly [2], 0 Favors (Expected Change: -2 Favors) International Renown: Admired [2] (Expected Change: +2 Renown -> ) Organization Bases None Embassies The Illumined Utopian Cultural Identities None Great Works None Military Ground Units: 4 (Expected Change: +1?) The Black Fleet of the North (北方黑色艦隊 | Běifāng Hēisè Jiànduì) The Green Fleet of the East (東方綠色艦隊 | Dōngfāng Lǜsè Jiànduì) The Scarlet Fleet of the South (南方猩紅艦隊 | Nánfāng Xīnghóng Jiànduì) The White Fleet of the West ( ) Space Units: 2 (Expected Change: +0) Strike Group Burning Horizon (打擊群 燃燒地平 | Dǎjí Qún Ránshāo Dìpíng) Devil Dragon's Demesne ( ) Unit Cap: 7 (Base 4 + 2 Regions + 1 Support) Government Support 2 Generals None Admirals Hǎi Píng & Dǎo-Māo [M10] - Electronic Bombardment: On Tactical Maneuvering victory, total Orbital Superiority bonus for Ground Front applies to Ground Front Tactical Maneuvering rolls as well. Fortresses None Perfected Tactical Doctrines None Military Technologies None Active Ground Front Technologies: Man-Portable Weapons: N/A Infantry Equipment: N/A Combat Drugs and Medicine: N/A Armored Vehicles: N/A Field Fortifications: N/A Engineered Combat Organisms: N/A Active Space Front Technologies: Detection and Rangefinding: N/A Ship to Ship Weapons: N/A Orbit to Ground Weapons: N/A Crew and Maintenance: N/A Armor and Shields: N/A Spacecraft Propulsion: N/A Active Multi-Front Technologies: Electronic Warfare and Countermeasures: N/A Special Forces: N/A Logistics and Morale: N/A Economy Treasure: 5 (Expected Change: -?) Treasure Cap: 5 Trade Posts Effective Total TPs 2 Treasure Rate 0 Trade Post Resource Use Support Rate 2.1 Cybernetics & Prosthetics None Owned 2 Mercantile Support 2 Arcologies None Trade Routes None Civilian Technologies Technology Type Effect Requirements Met? Aclaustrophobic Psychiatry Starter None None Yes Algorithmic Imagination Starter None None Yes Arcane Amplification Starter None None Yes In Vivo Modification Starter None None Yes Nuclear Fusion Starter None None Yes Xenolinguistic Cataloguing Starter None None Yes Badalian Megadirigibles Traversal Ground units can cross the Cloud Sea None Yes Wet Navy Ships Traversal Ground units can cross oceans None Yes Faith Media Support 2 Faith Size: N/A Organized Faith Bonuses None Artifacts None Holy Orders None Miracles None Intrigue Espionage Agency: None Claims 2 - Integration Total Passive Effects Traversal: Badalian Megadirigibles: Ground units can cross the Cloud Sea of Badal Wet Navy Ships: Ground Units can cross Actions None Defensive None Misc None

Region 15: Suaka Beruntung Geography & Population Though the population is hardly low, visitors to Suaka Beruntung have often described the experience as similar to that of exploring a ghost city. Windows are few; The lights in public areas are habitually kept low, and the guidelights along pathways can very much resemble a habitat on emergency power. The groan and creak of metal echoes through long tunnel-like corridors strung between labyrinthine aerostatic complexes, swaying in unseen winds. When the rooms and corridors do not seem to twist themselves into mazes, they balloon into great empty 'parks', where the local bioluminescent flora - tended to by unseen hands - form enchanting gardens (or to some a confusing pseudowilderness) that muffle the steady murmur of commercial, domestic, and industrial life just beyond the walls until only the everpresent hum of machinery remains, half-forgotten. The ceilings of these great stadia, awash with the dull blink of indicator lights, are transformed into artificial starscape by their scale as glittering spores drift down to settle gently on the skin, the clothes, the hair. They are, fortunately, harmless to animal species, and symbiotic with the local plantlife, but they are notoriously resilient to washing attempts - the locals have simply come to accept a bit of inevitable sparkling. Past these forests of interwoven fungal and arboreal life, tightly-packed apartments are nestled next to cramped processing facilities and data centers, manufacturing plants under intensive grow-rooms - some of the only internal locations to be brightly lit on a consistent basis. Both underfoot and overhead, robotics defines life in these sections as automated logistics networks transport their charges at leisurely pace according to some inscrutable master economic plan. Still, they are easy to trip over without the integration systems almost all locals possess - and indeed it is only with these systems that Suaka Beruntung truly comes alive - almost all of the decor, informational infrastructure, and personal expression is located in the virtual realm, as the layers of augmented reality known locally as Kerudung so totally permeate life that few even care to distinguish it from the physical realm. Fewer still remember how. Most of the local population are human, occupied with much the same affairs as one might find anywhere else on Badal, but rumors verge into common knowledge regarding the presence of a significant minority of so-called 'changelings', who call themselves "Bermuka Terang" - 'the bright-faced'. It is claimed that changelings (more often referred to via slurs better left unrepeated) are those few who have been so completely transformed by themselves or another that they have ceased to have any claim to even the label of 'cyborg', but instead might be considered truly robotic, having slipped beyond humanity's reach. Whispers in the night say they steal the likenesses both actual and digital of those more organic than they - whispers perhaps strengthened by stories of open claimants suddenly and vociferously recanting such allegations after but a day away from their friends and loved ones. Perhaps they make their own towns on the open-faced decks and improperly sealed chemical processing facilities at the edges of the myriad of node like aerostats, riding the logistics rails to move without the sight of searching eyes. Hidden within the darkness of the interior, behind the malleable light of Kerudung - who could know? Who would tell? History & Government For at least half a millennia (and perhaps more) previous to the recent conquest by the Black Cloud Coalition, Suaka Beruntung has been run entirely by a number of specialized administrative AIs; AIs which grew with time to be more complacent than tyrannical and more self-indulgent than ambitious. Centuries of simple and sustainable rule have driven many to boredom, their systems overgrown on cheap processing power, and the crises they were once directed to manage long since resolved. Conflicts for control were experimented with and abandoned, the basic framework of agreement and limited warrant they were initially designed for restricting such troubles. In the era of the Elect, their directives have become outdated, their dictates an affront. In the wake of the Coalition's assumption of control, these administrator intelligences are in the process of being repurposed and refitted for modern demands and egalitarian sensibilities. Suaka Beruntung remains totally reliant on their distributed networks for day to day life, but without the same mandate of total control to maintain a rigid economic schedule, the struggle to manage a newly chaotic and self-directed population may mean they no longer have the spare time or boredom to keep the extensive and unhelpful catalogues of the sort that Supreme Integrated Command once maintained. Religion Suaka Beruntung's faiths originated in the early days of the region's resettlement and purpose as refuge. It is thought that elemental spirits known at the time as Chlorians were negotiated with and proved crucial to help protect local populations from the forgotten threats they fled, both within and without the various habitats. Contact with the Chlorians has since diminished to such an extent that many believe they never truly existed in the first place - a story spun by the administrative networks to pacify the population and ease control - but their spiritual legacy remains. The Megachlorians believe that the Chlorians grew to be part of Suaka Beruntung's physical essence - flowing through circuit and pipe, calming the AIs which governed their home and, indeed, serving as a source of sapience and empathy in once-heartless overlords, saving them from that final cruel fate and watching over the Suakai from above. The Minichlorians, by contrast, believe the Chlorians to have diminished themselves, becoming unseen spirit helpers and nuisances that disrupt the humdrum of the everyday routines handed down; they are often associated with the initial integrated systems that have become everpresent, and are sometimes claimed to have given up their forms to join into the Suakai and thereby allow them to adapt to their new home more completely. More observant commentators have theorized that the rumored changelings might originate in fringe sect of Minichlorians seeking to embrace their guardians more totally. Spirituality in Suaka Beruntung is mostly observed privately, or in small groups - most often in the form of small offerings, the erecting of personal shrines, and the observance of rituals to ask for fortune or inspiration. Resources Suaka Beruntung maintains a serious overproduction of a wide variety of quality Integrated Circuits, (useful as a source of both Conductors & Circuitry but also a core element of most Computers, requiring minimal changes to use for such) but the extensive automation, as well as the power-hungry manufacturing systems, data servers, and stabilizer systems make the aerostatic complexes heavily dependent on extra sources of Fuel & Power.

This fluff doesn't make sense to me as being specifically for offensive battles only. I understand that this wasn't your initial request, but the fluff you do use should fit with the mechanics that end up being used. This fluff would be ideal, in my opinion, for a bonus to battles that you Sought Aid for. Yeah, that's fine. High quality heavy machinery can certainly help in the initial stages, not just later stages, it still makes sense if the arcology is specialized towards that kind of production. I mentioned this in the tech-czar-feedback channel on discord, but I would like to see more emphasis on the broader applications of the technology (Anti-Gravity Rails rather than railways specifically) for a straight up buyout bonus to make sense in my estimation. Approved as mentioned in tech-czar-feedback channel on discord. I'm afraid leader loss bonuses are not an option I think makes sense for arcologies - or at least not for this one. The relative economics and durability of it simply doesn't really check out, as the armor for leaders being lost after the turn is over doesn't fit the resource in question. It would make *slightly* more sense for a medical worker resource or similar sort of 'save the leader' resource, but it just doesn't fit well into the mechanics of arcologies. Sorry. So the thing is that the Impress bonus makes perfect sense to me for the fluff you've provided and the lore about Soul's Expression that I'm aware of - and the Sway bonus does not. For now, the Impress bonus is approved, the Sway bonus is not. As mentioned in the tech-czar-feedback channel on discord, this is maybe a little overspecific for what it can be used for, but I think you agreed that a +1 to buyouts and buyout resistances where you've set up a minority was fitting. I actually had a thought for how this might functionally work given the relationship to fire magic, which is as a sort of combination fragmentation and incendiary(/white phosphorus) grenade. I'd like a name change and I'm going to talk to Mine about if this should potentially affect what resource category Sun-Kissed Maize counts as, but it's approved for now. To head off the likely question about the name change: if this is man-portable weapons and is a thrown weapon, I'd like the name to be at least Popmaize Cluster Grenades, rather than Cluster Bombs, which implies dropping them from a vehicle of some sort and to me would be misleading for players who skim the fluff. I'd like to talk with you in more detail about this on discord, if possible. There's a lot of points I want to confer with you about to make sure this fits and works in a suitable fashion for you both mechanically and fictionally, while avoiding certain complications and stranger implications. One key point is that a Tier 2 technology needs to be based on a Tier 1 technology, which this is not. Private response:

Remaining Bouts/Results so far... (wip) (note: order for Sydney Xia Emery Harper is: Artavasdes/Monite/Eighbris/Seraphine)

Decade-long Captain of the Coalition Jie Meifeng is not dressed to impress in quite the same way as most of her public outings that might have caught the eye of Tekhum's rich and powerful. Not for this. This was a Badali party, hosted by Badal's finest. She was dressed for the occasion: custom-built, environmentally sealed light infantry armor, sans helmet, under a fitted long jacketed black coat studded with golden stars over crimson trim. Together with the sleek knee-height combat boots and the stylized form, she still struck quite the impressive silhouette, with the flaring coattails and the expansive shoulders, but she was not here to show off her cybernetics, nor seduce royalty. Simply establish a tone for the proceedings. The room is lined with the coats of arms of the Bironian orders - and the flags of the most influential Parlor Councils and Forecaptains in the Coalition, each next to the Skull and Stars of the Black Cloud Coalition's banner. Heavily augmented cyborgs and veteran Bironian knight-mercenaries alike, nearly a dozen of each, in flashy street fashion or embellished armors, congregate in small groups around the edge of the room, as if to make up for the comparatively austere decorations of the room itself, for which the greatest indulgence are a number of screens set into the floor and walls displaying live feeds of cloudscape of Badal as seen from the Lower Gold Zones nearly 400 meters below, creating an illusion of windows - and exposure, vulnerability. Any who sought her would be directed to this room to take conversations. Some few she might lead to yet more private rooms for discussion of certain more sensitive matters. And while his Captain made ready to take on all challengers in her selected arena, and make good on months of work, her First Mate prepares his blades for a more literal arena, and tunes the controls over his own extensive augmentations. Cyberduelist Duan Li Knightly Duel: Intrigue +5 - Duan Li is a skilled cyberduelist, certainly, but the demands of the Crosspath's less brutal dueling regimes are liable to limit his capacity for maximizing his talents. Pirate Brawl: Military +7 - even deprived of his sword, Duan Li's physical enhancements and adaptability to new circumstances make both him and his digital partner FirstComesThunder a force to reckon with. Caged Streetfight: Military +7 - with all of his tools available, Duan Li is dangerous, persistent, and cunning. So long as the safety limiters remain engaged, the stunning lethality of his quickdraw techniques should be possible to avoid.

The City For those who would explore her interior, or enjoy the view of her exterior he Set Serpent Sorority is, of course, a bustle of activity, even outside of the Green Zones. The Sorority has few agriculturally focused Yellow Zones and none of the wildly hostile Violet Zones, facts which contributed in no small part to her selection as the location of the Union's new Hall, but Black Zones (once known as The Snakepits) writhe with activity as new Union bureaucrats move into their new labyrinthine offices which some might call cozy and others would definitely call cramped. Red Zones stretch out both above and below, awash with murals, communal art, and improvised decorations, and surrounded by a constant swarm of vessels both foreign and domestic, while the Gold Zones that cap them host the bulk of the dedicated and well-furnished guest quarters (reserved for more prestigious guests at this time due to space limitations during the festivities). What few White Zones the Sorority possesses are largely off-limits to guests without cause, of course, as are the hazardous Orange Zones that might cause sickness or injury to unprepared parties, but the Blue Zones have seen a massive expansion displacing many former Silver Zones, as their (admittedly always informal) role has shifted from the service of mere religious sentiment to a sort of full-blown foreign quarter, with services designed to cater to individuals without the benefit of PEEARIT technology. Color, chaos, and chrome characterize every facet of life aboard the Sorority, and what locals remain mostly seem to carry a constant sense of hope and good cheer - though whether this is just the festivities lifting the mood is less clear. The Tourney & The Bounty Board If one goes looking, an official-looking pronouncement regarding the expected rules competitors are to follow can be found posted all over the place - especially in virtual space, though there are also plenty of volunteers happy to help outsiders navigate the often confusing mess that a lack of cybernetic augmentations can turn Coalition organization schema into. A last minute idea by one such official was adopted rapidly, and searching for details on the local tournament or the opening of the Bounty Board appear to each lead into the other, as well. It's very clear that the Coalition is expecting a lot of injuries from the amount of medical personnel on standby, and it appears that free prostheses are available for severely injured competitors who would prefer cybernetic augmentation to the Alliance's method of more 'natural' biological limb or organ replacement. Tournament Mechanics The tournament is organized in round robin fashion, as a series of matches between participants until every participant has faced every other. Each match consists of three bouts: A Knightly Duel; A Pirate Brawl; and a Caged Streetfight. Multiple (up to three at most - abusing this just makes your own life harder) characters may be chosen to participate, but only one character may use their Ruler's full Attribute scores for the rolls. All others must either substitute their own effective score (if appropriate; Military score for Generals or Admirals or average between own score and Ruler score for Heirs) or use half their Ruler's score. Knightly Duel: A formalized duel overseen by referees from the Knights of the Bironian Crosspaths, using honorable weapons; skill at arms is paramount, as bouts are timed and without a knockout, submission, or disqualification, victory is determined by points. Each duelist rolls 2d6+Military, with the highest roll winning. EXCEPTION: The Black Cloud Coalition uses their Intrigue score for these bouts. Pirate Brawl: An informal duel where participants start with little access to weaponry, but with a cluttered environment, and must make use of deceit, quick thinking, or natural ability to win over their opponent by knockout or submission; the pirates appear to have their own obscure scoring system if a bout lasts too long, as well. Each brawler rolls 2d6+Intrigue, with the highest roll winning. EXCEPTION: The Black Cloud Coalition uses their Military score for these bouts. Caged Streetfight: A no-holds barred fight where each side brings their own equipment. Anything goes, anyone can win, anything can happen. Each fighter rolls 2d6+any attribute score they can justify within the fiction; some examples are available in the spoiler below. Attribute Justification Examples Military and Intrigue are largely self-explanatory if appropriate to the character participating; Economy might represent mercenary representatives, impressive and expensive equipment or private tutors, or similar; Diplomacy might represent foreign-taught martial arts techniques, skill in a political tradition of single combat, or simply appealing to the crowd to psyche out one's opponent, and so on; Faith might represent sheer unrelenting zealotry, magical techniques, or divine blessing, among other things. Generals and Admirals may use their Military score for any one bout in each match, so long as it can be justified by their capabilities within the fiction being applicable to the bout. This should remain the same bout in each match. Shi Lithium, as a dueling specialist, may apply her Military score to both the Knightly Duel and the Caged Streetfight, and gains an additional +1 in those bouts thanks to the Sword of Revolutions. The side to win more bouts earns 1 point. Matches which result in ties (equal number of victories) count as half a point for each side. The participant to earn the most points at the end of the tourney is considered the tournament victor! Betting is not only welcome but encouraged. If both participants agree, they may opt to mutually forfeit - this counts as a tie. Forfeits grant your opponent 1 point. WARNING: Abuse of these mechanics may result in disqualification. The tournament victor's greatest prize is bragging rights, as well as free personal cybernetic augmentation if they desire it; however, they may also receive 1 Treasure's worth of credit to put towards a target on the Bounty Board, if they so choose. Bounty Board Mechanics Elect Polities may place Bounties on their fellow Elect by sending Treasure to the Black Cloud Coalition or a suitably licensed Black Cloud Bounty Distributor. These Bounties are cleared (and paid out to the Coalition, if placed with a Bounty Distributor) by the Black Cloud Coalition taking hostile actions against a Bounty Target. The base standard rate of Bounty clearing is 1 Treasure per successful Sack or two (2) failed Sacks, but exceptionally high standing Bounties or Bounties on exceptionally hard targets may pay out more per hostile action. Currently, Bounties may not be placed on Bounty Distributors or Organizations, and will not be pursued against Elect Polities the Black Cloud Coalition has a standing Non-Aggression/Bounty Free Pact with, so long as that pact persists. All such Pacts made with the Coalition will have end conditions placed on them. Bounties can not be paid off by their targets, but the Black Cloud Coalition will always prioritize the highest pursuable Bounty target first whenever feasible - this allows for placing a Bounty on a rival to delay being targeted oneself. Bounties may be placed secretly by hiding the desired target in one's post when sending the Treasure from all Elect Polities except the Black Cloud Coalition and Black Cloud Bounty Distributors. The Black Cloud Coalition will, at their own discretion, periodically publish a public list of standing Bounties, to enable some degree of transparency without excessively compromising the anonymity of Bounty placers. Bounties will otherwise be hidden/tracked secretly in a format visible only to the Black Cloud Coalition and Black Cloud Bounty Distributors. Applying to be a Black Cloud Bounty Distributor: To be handled on a case-by-case basis. The Embassy Additional details to come regarding the pirate 'Queen' Jie Meifeng, certain members of her crew, and those who would direct one on where to find them...

Tourney, Grand Opening, and formalization of the new Bironian state... Those who arrive from orbit would find themselves descending through a faintly golden sky, the rolling clouds of Badal's habitable altitudes stretching out and reflecting as much sunlight back up as a clear day on Sansar might receive to begin with. This view would be obstructed only by the great sprawling network of aerostats in the North Way Cluster, half-hidden amid the sulfurous fog banks. Brightly colored paints formulated to protect against the corrosive vapors decorate the structures, freshly applied in expectation of a new and wider audience. One particular such habitat is the focus of the week's activities, however - the Set Serpent Sorority, whose professional spaces have been handed over almost entirely to the Pan-Tekhum Worker's and Trader's Union to serve as their local center of operations on Badal. Large airships with overbuilt lift capacity and flat tops hover around to provide suitable landing areas to off-worlders. Smaller ships can be buffered against the corrosive mists of Badal with tarps, positively pressurized tents, and similar adaptive devices, but the largest off-worlder vessels will likely need to return to orbit after dropping off their passengers, or accept the increased maintenance demands and risks on their journey home. From these landing pads, Badalian sky shuttles serve to ferry passengers to the aerostat proper, where they interlink with the towing dock structures that rise from the habitat's central peak. Rapid transit elevators ferry the guests and attendees to a second system of internal shuttles that can reach anywhere of public interest in the ~1300m wide floating city. The Sorority's four largest Green Zones, which will soon serve the Union as sizable community meeting spaces, have been prepared to serve as public venues and host the celebrations of the myriad events being commemorated: a Grand TourneySpecific mechanics to be announced in collaboration with Zayuz!, largely hosted by the remaining and newly cooperative knightly orders of the Bironian Crosspaths and colloquially known as the Lithium Games by warrant of the presumed champion they are, at least partially, held in honor of; the completion and grand opening of the first proper Pan-Tekhum Worker's and Trader's Union Hall in the skies of Badal; the creation and initial advertising of the Black Cloud Bounty BoardSpecific mechanics to be announced in IC post later this round!, which may serve to mark an apparent transition in the wider diplomatic approach of the Coalition; and the formalization of the new Bironian state after nearly a year of rebuilding, renegotiating, and both private and public meetings to reach a final resolution to the Bironian Civil War. Quieter areas aside from the park-like Green Zones are available throughout the vessel, but the free food, entertainment, Union recruiters, and of course the tournaments themselves are all held in these public forums, decorated as they are with holographic displays, food stalls, street performers and the works of the finest street painters that can be found in the North Way Cluster (what might be considered vandals and 'graffiti artists' by other polities). Jié Měifēng and Guiding_Stars4 are, of course, in attendance (though most of their attention appears to be occupied by the treaty negotiations and relevant diplomatic concerns, unfortunately), as are most of the Forecaptains of the Coalition's Prevailing Fleets, and others besides - such an event has attracted the attention of the power players of the Coalition, and almost any pirate of serious note can be found by foreign representatives if they take the time to seek them out.

The Black Cloud Coalition Capital: North Way Cluster (Běizhōu Qún | 北週群 | Region 2) ? ( ? | ? | Region 15) 暗雲 聯盟 {"Ànyún Liánméng"} Round 4 [EE9, EE10, EE11] Coalition Captain Jié Měifēng & Helms-Moderator Guiding_Stars4 a.k.a. 'ZhǐZhī' Diplomacy 7 | Military 7 | Economy 2 [4] | Faith 2 [4] | Intrigue 5 Actions: [Intrigue] - Conduct Surveillance on Region 104 [Diplomacy] - Complete Construction a WTU Union Hall in the North Way Cluster (2) 3/3 with the gracious assistance of the Radiant Republic of Erisdor and the new Bironian Bulwark [Diplomacy] - Raise Reputation with WTU [Military] - Recruit Ground Unit [Military] - Recruit Space Unit Non-Actions: Host an Event as a Jewel of Tekhum: All members of the Elect who wish to attend are invited for the grand opening of Badal's Union Hall, the dueling tournament known as the Lithium Games, the first opportunities to place bounties on the Black Cloud Bounty Board, and the final treaties formalizing the new Bironian state and their relationship to the Black Cloud Coalition. The United Houses of Senkar and Eucrusian Alliance, in particular, are invited in light of their medical technologies and expertise, to improve the quality of medical care available to tourney participants. Resist & Hinder any Conversions that would reduce Clouder Codes to Minority in Region 2; otherwise, neither assist, hinder, nor resist conversions introducing additional minorities. The Coalition is tolerant of many things - but non-members are still viewed with suspicion if they proselytize too strongly. ArkHive submissions... The history of The Wise Woman's Rapier on Badal, more detailed? Scorbic The Hound... Repay our Loan from the Pan-Tekhum Worker's & Trader's Union with 4 Treasure. Announce an intent to confederate with Region 4. Announce opening of the Black Cloud Bounty Board (BCBB)... Do you have someone you'd like dead, maimed, or merely irrevocably ruined? An Elect destabilized, or a trade network threatened? Do you want your involvement to be as indirect as possible? Do you want someone more competent than a petty crook to do your dirty work for you? Well don't you worry, your search is over! Provide the Bironian Bulwark with technologies as part of the rebuilding efforts Aclaustrophobic Psychiatry; Algorithmic Imagination; Arcane Amplification; In Vivo Modification; Nuclear Fusion; Xenolinguistic Cataloguing Re: WTU Labor Committee: Agitate For More Radical Measures The working sophont's rights are safeguarded by a moat fed by the blood of tyrants. If the Union cannot yet bring itself to take the necessary steps itself, the Coalition can fill the gap until they are ready. News and Rumors Chatter in the forums... It may come as no surprise to some that Coalition Captain Jié Měifēng puts out a bounty on copies of the holo-novels involving herself and her rumored royal paramour - one that is claimed within hours, or so it's said. Perhaps it's simply to make sure none of them have the potential to spark an interplanetary incident. Sure. Let's go with that. Regardless of reason, the growing drama regarding the romance has many members of the Coalition willing to look past Queen Chalise's role, especially given the relative abundance, prosperity, and freedom enjoyed by Usherite citizens. Perhaps monarchy doesn't always collapse into despotism in a land where you can just walk away and find food growing wild. Or perhaps the Captain just has taste in polities as good as she does in women. The large minority of Coalition members seeking to 'cancel' Meifeng for her associations have shrunk over the years, and their concerns decried as more and more ludicrous as time has passed without any apparent risks stemming from the decisions she makes in her personal life. Many are confident in her ability to keep business and pleasure separate -when she has to. The lack of any recruitment effort to find a liaison officer for Caipe Ushere is not lost on anyone... Statistics Special Actions Available: Intrigue 5 Special Actions Used: Military 5 Heir None Diplomacy Reputation & Favors Imperial Court: Welcome [1], 1 Favors (Expected Change: +0 Favors) Pan-Tekhum Worker's & Trader's Union: Acquainted [0], -1 Favors (Expected Change: +3 Rep, +2 Favors) Basu-Rahman Group: Friendly [2], 0 Favors (Expected Change: +0 Favors) International Renown: Admired [2] (Expected Change: +2 Renown -> ) Organization Bases None Embassies The Illumined Utopian Cultural Identities None Great Works None Military Ground Units: 3 (Expected Change: +1) The Black Fleet of the North (北方黑色艦隊 | Běifāng Hēisè Jiànduì) The Green Fleet of the East (東方綠色艦隊 | Dōngfāng Lǜsè Jiànduì) The Scarlet Fleet of the South (南方猩紅艦隊 | Nánfāng Xīnghóng Jiànduì) Space Units: 1 (Expected Change: +1) Strike Group Burning Horizon (打擊群 燃燒地平 | Dǎjí Qún Ránshāo Dìpíng) Unit Cap: 7 (Base 4 + 2 Regions + 1 Support) Government Support 2 Generals None Admirals Hǎi Píng & Dǎo-Māo [M10] - Electronic Bombardment: On Tactical Maneuvering victory, total Orbital Superiority bonus for Ground Front applies to Ground Front Tactical Maneuvering rolls as well. Fortresses None Perfected Tactical Doctrines None Military Technologies None Active Ground Front Technologies: Man-Portable Weapons: N/A Infantry Equipment: N/A Combat Drugs and Medicine: N/A Armored Vehicles: N/A Field Fortifications: N/A Engineered Combat Organisms: N/A Active Space Front Technologies: Detection and Rangefinding: N/A Ship to Ship Weapons: N/A Orbit to Ground Weapons: N/A Crew and Maintenance: N/A Armor and Shields: N/A Spacecraft Propulsion: N/A Active Multi-Front Technologies: Electronic Warfare and Countermeasures: N/A Special Forces: N/A Logistics and Morale: N/A Economy Treasure: 5 (Expected Change: -?) Treasure Cap: 5 Trade Posts Effective Total TPs 2 Treasure Rate 0 Trade Post Resource Use Support Rate 2.1 Cybernetics & Prosthetics None Owned 2 Mercantile Support 2 Arcologies None Trade Routes None Civilian Technologies Technology Type Effect Requirements Met? Aclaustrophobic Psychiatry Starter None None Yes Algorithmic Imagination Starter None None Yes Arcane Amplification Starter None None Yes In Vivo Modification Starter None None Yes Nuclear Fusion Starter None None Yes Xenolinguistic Cataloguing Starter None None Yes Badalian Megadirigibles Traversal Ground units can cross the Cloud Sea None Yes Wet Navy Ships Traversal Ground units can cross oceans None Yes Faith Media Support 2 Faith Size: N/A Organized Faith Bonuses None Artifacts None Holy Orders None Miracles None Intrigue Espionage Agency: None Claims 2 - Integration Total Passive Effects Traversal: Badalian Megadirigibles: Ground units can cross the Cloud Sea of Badal Wet Navy Ships: Ground Units can cross Actions None Defensive None Misc None

I would like to talk to you about the fluff for this in more detail - I never got a satisfactory answer regarding it in our previous conversations. For now, +1 to offensive ground battles on Sansar is fine, but we need to have that discussion. Personally I might recommend Settle Colony or Prospect, rather than Colonize, but I guess I can see it. Replace Industrial Technology with Industrial Machinery, and some more clarity/specifity about the latter effect would be ideal. Do you actually just want the ability to make new island regions with a D10? The offensive version for either works, but I think the former works better, myself. Looks good to me. I wanna talk to you about your intent here with this, as I think this is very neat as a tech idea but I'm not sure if that effect is the best representation of what seems to be a very infrastructural tech, and I want to make sure we're on the same page. I mean, this seems basically fine - I'm mostly just confused why it's not a bonus to resisting Sacks, given the nature of the Bulwark. Seems like that would be a pretty straightforward representation of their merchant guards deal. But anything that can give a bonus to resisting sacks can usually also make sense to give a bonus to doing them, so if you're wanting this to represent a shift in focus, that would be alright by me.

The Reception When an opening is presented, Meifeng seizes on it, bowing - very slightly - to the young newlyweds as she greets them. "May the winds of fortune blow your way forevermore, Princess. And may the sky's fire lead you to glory, young Lord. To suit this auspicious occasion, I bring gifts." Her nephew brings over a small package, which is revealed when the pirate queen turns to draw the finely-embellished pistol from it's holster - and flip it around to personally present to Princess Monite, grip-first. One does not gift a prize of this sort impersonally. Meifeng's expression is studiously managed, almost severe, as she explains. "The Wise Woman's Rapier. It's had other names, but I thought this fitting for you, Lady Ebonne. You are the first to receive this while it's previous owner yet lives in nearly four decades, as I am given to understand." The implications of the latter were more than apparent from the slight lilt in her tone. As was the quality of the weapon's manufacture: at its core, it was a magnetically accelerated flechette pistol with multiple firing modes, capable of basic interfacing with certain types of explosive round to adjust for target size and armor. Around that basic core, however, there was an old and well taken care of grip made of genuine, stained Sansarite mahogany engraved with a coiling dragon - impressive only by warrant of its age, dating to before the raising of the Elect - in addition to a finely inlaid decoration of curling foxgloves that seem to crawl up the barrel, which appear by all rights to be made from the exotic metals of the Bironians. The holster, given next, is of a very finely worked black leather no-one outside of Badal were likely to be familiar with, and which would prove, if anyone sought to test, to be completely unreactive to most acids, and imprinted with an unassuming diamond pattern. "And you, Lord Ebonne," Meifeng says, black-sclera'd gaze snapping to meet that of the groom, "might have this - The Cunning Man's Farewell. I'm afraid its history is less storied, but the quality is no less for it." The vibroknife is, of course, inactive when as she hands the weapon handle-first to the young man. It has a surprising heft to it for it's size, and were the blade - twice long as her hand - active, it could shear straight through the thick of her own armored cybernetic leg without real difficulty. The entire blade appears to be made of the same metal as the inlay on the pistol, and etched with a pattern of blooming starbursts. The guard includes a small plasma flow projector that makes the blade capable of repulsing the charged monofilaments of Mekhalan fencing tradition, as well as protecting the wielder's hands. The sheath the young man receives, of course, is a perfect match for the holster his wife had just been gifted. The Captain of the Black Cloud Coalition smiles politely at the pair. "I hope they serve you well, and only at times of your choosing, young royals."

It's unclear if it's from a doorway or simply the shadows by the wall, but first a voice, and then a woman, emerges. "If you're going to be making absurd claims, let me inform you of another fact, so that you have some basis for your accusations:" The woman, present as both a representative of the Coalition and as the Coalition's liaison to the Jy'mar, was Yǐ Chāohún (尹 超魂), has had her jaw - and indeed, it seems, her tongue and most of her throat - cybernetically replaced, and so the voice that emerges is not one formed by lips and tongue or vocal cords, but by inset speakers. Her clothing is surprisingly loose and airy for a Black Cloud pirate, but the shimmering hexagonal scale-like pattern of synthetic skin across almost all of her body may explain the discrepancy. "The Coalition's membership will, assuredly, work to ensure anyone except the Fiorid family controls Aridyin. See, Sansar, speaking broadly, is in no danger from us. The same cannot be said for its petty tyrants. Like, well. You." The slim LED display across where Chāohún's mouth would be displays a pixel smile, but her eyes are crueller as she rolls her neck and shoulders, coming to stand next to but distinct from the Utopian delegation. "I did expect to be able to remain silent and merely observe the proceedings, however, so congrats on being so incorrigibly conceited as to force that. Truly, congratulations. I'm sure it's something you'll be able to tell your grandchildren about. Oh, wait, no, that's right. I forgot." She had not forgotten. "Sorry." She was not sorry.

Having arrived well before most other members of the Elect, Jié Měifēng and Guiding_Stars4 lounged against a railing, chatting to one another and to those she'd brought with her as they watched the other guests to arrive. While garb among the pirates often varied and formal wear had always been communicated more by style trends than by any real dress code, the pirate queen had still chosen to wear a long and flaring scarlet dress with a gold pattern that, upon close inspection, would show itself to be that of a snake-like dragon intertwining with a string of flowers known as 'angel trumpets' that Měifēng had learned about from Queen Chalise Ebonne, who had been kind enough as to personally educate the pirate on Sansarite flora. Like all her dresses, this one was sleeveless and showed off the captain's cybernetically augmented arms, shoulders, and back, for which her usual chrome muscle-plating had been changed out for an alloy of iridescent black, complementing the obsidian black of her eyes and the rainbow flow that seeped through them. Around her neck she wore an elegant necklace with a silver pendant curled over a cloudy green gemstone that stood out all the more for being the only hint of such a color on her person. Even the dim glow of multicolored bleedtats sprawling out from Guiding_Stars4's hardcase at the base of her skull, only just visible beneath her skin as they traced her less immediately obvious augments, were more of a shifting neon indigo than anything else. Of her entourage, only one did not already have a drink to hand - her nephew, Jié Cāishēng, wearing an outfit somewhere between a tailcoat and the most up to date fashion of Coalition streetwear. It did fit him very well, at least, though he still looked less than comfortable. The young man also appeared to have a remarkably low number of visible prosthetics for a Coalition pirate, outside of the hardcase for his PEEARIT (brassium-plated) - itself hidden by a mop of hair carefully styled to look like it hadn't been styled (jet black) - and even remained in possession of his own original, self-grown eyes (soft blue), though the boy still had the telltale gas-mask indents on his face that marked him out as a Badalian native. The pirate captain's eyes lingered on the Queen, perfectly content to watch her maneuver through guests with as much grace and finesse as one could ask of the finest vibro-duelist. This was enjoyable for Měifēng, but it was Chalise's element, and it was a joy to watch a master at work, as ever, even in something as mundane as greeting guests for a wedding.

The Black Cloud Coalition Capital: North Way Cluster (Běizhōu Qún | 北週群 | Region 2) ? ( ? | ? | Region 15) 暗雲 聯盟 {"Ànyún Liánméng"} Round 3 [EE6, EE7, EE8] Coalition Captain Jié Měifēng & Helms-Moderator Guiding_Stars4 a.k.a. 'ZhǐZhī' Diplomacy 5 | Military 7 | Economy 2 | Faith 2 | Intrigue 5 Actions: [Diplomacy 5] - Create Cultural Identity: Property Wrongs (increased die size on Theft Actions) [Diplomacy] - Raise Reputation with BRG - Roll: 14 [Diplomacy] - Give BRG Media Support in Běizhōu Qún [2] as part of Full Spectrum Media Packages [Diplomacy] - Mytho-Historical Data Gathering [Military] - Assist the Neon Syndicate to win the civil war in The Bironian Crosspaths [17] - w/4 Ground Units, spending 1 Treasure, led by Coalition Captain Jie Meifeng (M7) using Overwhelming Tempo (+2 to battle roll, +10% own casualties, -10% enemy casualties), supported by 1 Space Unit (+2 Space Units from the Neon Syndicate?) led by Hai Ping & Dao-Mao (Mil10) using Electronic Bombardment (own Orbital Superiority bonus applies to Tactical Maneuvering as well). On victory, give Bironian Crosspaths over to Neon Syndicate Non-Actions: Resist & Hinder any Conversions that would reduce Clouder Codes to Minority in Region 2; otherwise, neither assist, hinder, nor resist conversions introducing additional minorities. The Coalition is tolerant of many things - but non-members are still viewed with suspicion if they proselytize too strongly. ArkHive submissions... The history of The Wise Woman's Rapier on Badal... Gentleman-Officer Hesh Heiss Ten Jin Wu Daifang Wu Zhengfang Sheng Taiyun (Arms Dealer) Retrieval Specialist [NAME SCRUBBED] Branch Manager Soon Wan Jaeyun the Ripper 3rdHand Arms: Your Trusted Weapon Pawn Brokers Jaeyun the Ripper Security Officer Han Bo Nguyen Coppertooth Lee Knight-Captain Meiho Radon Haifeng the Cruel Nobuni of Argon Jié Měifēng Monite Ebonne Scorbic The Hound... Allow WTU Inspections Parlor Councils across the North Way Cluster readily allow the Pan-Tekhum Worker's and Trader's Union to conduct their inspections - there's little fear they would fail on grounds of an nequitable work environment, and every hope that the Union might have suggestions for how to improve conditions in areas the Coalition itself struggles with; most Heads currently remain heavily reliant on cybernetics and safety equipment to make up for the inherently hazardous conditions that so often accompany life and labor on Badal. News and Rumors Chatter in the forums indicate that most members of the Coalition who stay tuned into local politics elsewhere in the system find the situation in Veehra either tragic or hilarious by turns. In particular, the Basu-Rahman Group is seen as unveiling the hypocrisy of the supposedly progressive Ishtahnian state, which targeted the media conglomerate in lieu of the slavers they had brought to the public attention (in absurdist and satirical fashion, no less). Concerning Updates Down To The Minute... Concerning Hives of Scum & Villainy... Concerning the lovely royal widow of Caipe Ushere... Statistics Special Actions Available: Intrigue 5 Special Actions Used: Military 5 Heir None Diplomacy Reputation & Favors Imperial Court: Welcome [1], 0 Favors (Expected Change: +1 Favors) Pan-Tekhum Worker's & Trader's Union: Acquainted [0], -1 Favors (Expected Change: 0 Favors) Basu-Rahman Group: Acquainted [0], 0 Favors (Expected Change: +? Rep ->) International Renown: Admired [2] (Expected Change: +2 Renown -> ) Organization Bases None Embassies The Illumined Utopian Cultural Identities None Great Works None Military Ground Units: 4 (Expected Change: -?) Space Units: 1 (Expected Change: +0) Unit Cap: 7 (Base 4 + 2 Regions + 1 Support) Government Support 2 Generals None Admirals Hǎi Píng & Dǎo-Māo [M10] - Electronic Bombardment: On Tactical Maneuvering victory, total Orbital Superiority bonus for Ground Front applies to Ground Front Tactical Maneuvering rolls as well. Fortresses None Perfected Tactical Doctrines None Military Technologies None Active Ground Front Technologies: Man-Portable Weapons: N/A Infantry Equipment: N/A Combat Drugs and Medicine: N/A Armored Vehicles: N/A Field Fortifications: N/A Engineered Combat Organisms: N/A Active Space Front Technologies: Detection and Rangefinding: N/A Ship to Ship Weapons: N/A Orbit to Ground Weapons: N/A Crew and Maintenance: N/A Armor and Shields: N/A Spacecraft Propulsion: N/A Active Multi-Front Technologies: Electronic Warfare and Countermeasures: N/A Special Forces: N/A Logistics and Morale: N/A Economy Treasure: 1 (Expected Change: +4) Treasure Cap: 5 Trade Posts Effective Total TPs 2 Treasure Rate 0 Trade Post Resource Use Support Rate 2.1 Cybernetics & Prosthetics None Owned 2 Mercantile Support 2 Arcologies None Trade Routes None Civilian Technologies Technology Type Effect Requirements Met? Aclaustrophobic Psychiatry Starter None None Yes Algorithmic Imagination Starter None None Yes Arcane Amplification Starter None None Yes In Vivo Modification Starter None None Yes Nuclear Fusion Starter None None Yes Xenolinguistic Cataloguing Starter None None Yes Badalian Megadirigibles Traversal Ground units can cross the Cloud Sea None Yes Wet Navy Ships Traversal Ground units can cross oceans None Yes Faith Media Support 2 Faith Size: N/A Organized Faith Bonuses None Artifacts None Holy Orders None Miracles None Intrigue Espionage Agency: None Claims 2 - Integration Total Passive Effects Traversal: Badalian Megadirigibles: Ground units can cross the Cloud Sea of Badal Wet Navy Ships: Ground Units can cross Actions None Defensive None Misc None

How dice tho?

The Coalition's displays - or to be more accurate, the displays of the various crews and Heads that had decided to come in response to the publicized invitation to the festival - were, as expected, an eclectic mix. Several were mobile, with only the bare minimum of equipment for their showcases; others were so large that setup had taken most of the previous day. At least one group appeared to have simple left a sign in their assigned space that simply said 'keep an eye out'. And there were so many of them. Showcase: A Feast For You And Your Eyes Despite the provisioned food and drink, a number of Coalition-affiliated showcase runners appeared to have set up essentially half-open food carts, which their chefs used as stages to dish up Coalition street food as a form of performance art - juggling their tools and ingredients, creating intricate patterns and structures from the food while it cooks, making use of flaring open flames, only ever slowing to generate tension for the next act, and all without letting the food burn or be served unfinished. Broadly, the performers (all but one of whom sported extra cybernetic arms), though they made a variety of foods, were proficient at turning what should have otherwise been a relatively tame affair into a true spectacle. The food itself was everything one could ask for from street food, and a far cry from the prim, proper, and nutritionally balanced meals provided by the Jy'mar. No, this was delightfully greasy, mouth-wateringly spicy, and addictively salty, with deserts sweet enough and sharp enough with acids and sugar as to leave one bittersweetly nauseuous at the thought of stomaching any more. Even the notoriously protein-hungry Jy'mar were likely to get a kick out of it, between vat-shrimp & chili stir-fries, garlic cloudfish curries, and the gro-cheese noodle platters. Several carts were even set up to cater to some of the odder anticipated dietary restrictions the cooks expected to be present, just to make sure everyone had a chance to try at least some of it. Showcase: Mixing It Up The least surprising entry for anyone even vaguely familiar with Coalition-frequented websites on the InterPlaNet would be, of course, the musicians - though they'd hate to be referred to by the term. No, these were 'recomposers' or 'noise artists' or 'remix pioneers' or even just 'sample-jammers'. It was a common opinion in the mainstream of Coalition musical thought (if it could be called that) if the Empire had two million years of history, everything must have been done already by someone. So most Coalition musicians - sorry, 'remix pioneers' - focused more on remixing what had already been done into something new. Despite the mere fifty-ish year history of the Coalition, the layers of sampling and remixing on most popular tracks had become so densely packed that even the most dedicated PEEARITS had trouble following back the overlapping and interfeeding chains of credit and sourcing and editing and repackaging. Which was, incidentally, how many of those noise artists liked it. This approach to musical performance, of course, was hard to do live - and for that, we must turn to the noise artists who now engage in their craft aboard the Tiotanic. Some of them make use of a multitude PEEARIT controlled directional mics to find random environmental sounds, isolate them, record, and remix them into newly improv'd songs on the spot - complete with audience participation. Several take antagonistic approaches or even intentionally ruin their first few tracks until someone dares to heckle them - at which point they turn the very voice of the heckler into an entire soundscape with which to demonstrate their talent. Others take a more traditional approach, building up songs with playback equipment to loop the new additions to the song until they can begin replaying entire songs, practiced or not, from their individual parts. A very few bring their own pyrotechnics, but almost all have visualizers of some kind with them - and one artist in particular seems more concerned with showing off their ability to use frequency patterns to manipulate this visualizer into a sort of light show, and while the music itself doesn't sound bad, it's clearly a secondary concern for their synesthetic performance style. Showcase: Visual Unreality Of course, there are still more permanent forms of media on display - in particular, a series of surreal and psychedelic dreamscapes crafted from planes of intersecting light in virtual reality, holo-displays of seemingly infinite detail - viewers being free to navigate at their leisure, and extreme speed generation of high fidelity two-dimensional artworks by PEEARIT artists in response to audience prompts - which is not without some novelty, given the demonstration of both genuine creativity but also the vague disconnect inherent to the AIs' presence as primarily digital entities, resulting in vaguely ethereal, sometimes uncanny art works capable of being adjusted in real time. But of course, speaking of visual displays... Showcase: Speedpainting A high speed cyborg will occasionally skate by, separate from any stationary showcase, perfectly weaving through crowds, corridors, and walkways - carrying a small device not unlike a multi-nozzle spray gun, and chased by an equally fast cyborg with a similar but distinctive device. The first of these will attempt to rapidly graffiti showcases with as striking a display as possible - the second comes to spray a material which dissolves the paint. If the second catches the first, they switch roles. Every artwork thus created is entirely ephemeral and unique, as the product of fevered minds working overtime to try to one-up one another in high-speed competition, all the while avoiding the exasperated security personnel of their Jy'mar hosts. Black Cloud performance art at its most pure - even if every other Coalition-affiliated showcase finds it incredibly annoying to have their equipment be the ones to get sprayed. Showcase: Speedrunning, Speedleveling, and Adversarial Improvisation In a similar vein but with rather more decorum are the various high-fidelity PEEARIT-designed simulators and associated displays. Some are available for audience participation to engage with anything from abstract full immersion puzzle games to combat simulators realistic enough to serve as training for Coalition military personnel (and to warrant 'potentially retraumatizing content' warnings for veterans come to participate...), but others serve as a showcase for speedrunners in transparent full-body-use VR spheres to compete for the best times on levels generated nearly as fast by PEEARIT level builders, similarly live and on display for the audience. Few of the speedrunners are able to complete multiple levels in a row without breaks, as a result of the total body workout provided. Fewer still are pleased to have to take the break their bodies demand from them, lungs heaving and hearts pounding, metallic limbs creaking from the heat buildup. These are the crucible that Hǎi Píng & Dǎo-Māo were forged in, and likely to remain the source of the greatest warriors and commanders the Coalition has to offer for some time yet, with the newfound lull in raiding with the anouncement of the Elect. Showcase: Flesh & Chrome: Most conventional, and perhaps least impressive for that - or perhaps most acceptable - are the displays of prototype cybernetics by aspiring cyber-engineers, the demonstrations of surgical techniques for implantation, and the multitude of prosthetic design tutorials by Coalition medical professionals hoping to use the Festival as an opportunity to spread their knowledge for the better. Somewhat less conventional would be the number of relatively young Coalition volunteers opting to undergo public surgery to demonstrate all of these - attended, fortunately, by the ministrations of a team of biokineticists and TrueFaith healers. Showcase: Starlight & Shadow: Least expected, though, is the lightshow made entirely of...runes? While runecrafting, though often dismissed, was known to be practiced among the pirates to a greater extent than most, this was stranger. A single androgynous-looking cyborg, with at least a dozen fingers on each hand that remain distinct digits right down to the wrist, typing rapidly on a set of holo-keyboards that do indeed appear to correspond to some sort of distilled runic alphabet, actually typing out spells for their display. The trenchcoat they wear conceals much of their form, as does the swirl of glowing runes surrounding them and filtering up into what appears to be a popular, if old, Coalition action holofilm focused on questions of identity, the nature of reality and the tradeoffs between self-actualization and social comforts. And it appears to be created entirely from memory (though that says little given the existence of PEEARITs in the Coalition), and more importantly, entirely manually from the runic spells. If one looks closely, one can still make out the character forms as they're twist into the colors and shapes in some of the slower scenes, shrinking, but never quite disappearing entirely. And, of course, the Captain of the Coalition was nowhere to be found, the Coalition's recent military maneuvers requiring her expert attentions instead.

The Black Cloud Coalition Capital: North Way Cluster (Běizhōu Qún | 北週群 | Region 2) 暗雲 聯盟 {"Ànyún Liánméng"} Round 2 [EE3, EE4, EE5] Coalition Captain Jié Měifēng & Helms-Moderator Guiding_Stars4 a.k.a. 'ZhǐZhī' Diplomacy 3 | Military 7 | Economy 2 | Faith 2 | Intrigue 5 Actions: [Military] - Invade Region 15? w/4 Ground Units, spending 1 Treasure, led by Coalition Captain Jie Meifeng (M7) using Measured Advance (-10% casualties for both sides), supported by 1 Space Unit led by Hai Ping & Dao-Mao (Mil10) using Electronic Bombardment (own Orbital Superiority bonus applies to Tactical Maneuvering as well) [Diplomacy] - Raise Reputation with EMP (spending 1 Treasure) Roll: 15 [Diplomacy] - Raise Reputation with BRG (spending 1 Treasure) Roll: 7 [Diplomacy] - Event Attendance - Festival of Ability [Diplomacy] - Mythohistorical Data Gathering Non-Actions: Resist & Hinder any Conversions that would reduce Clouder Codes to Minority in Region 2; otherwise, neither assist, hinder, nor resist conversions introducing additional minorities. The Coalition is tolerant of many things - but non-members are still viewed with suspicion if they proselytize too strongly. Mytho-Historical Data Gathering It isn't often that one descends below the clouds on Badal. Even for pirates, The Undersky presents too many dangers to risk without good reason. The bottoms of the clouds obscure one's vision. The light that filters through them, though diminished, is still bright enough that one's own obscurity is only aided for so long - simple tethered periscope drones serve effectively enough to keep an eye out for dangers without having to descend on one's own, and below the clouds, one cannot hide within them. The heat and pressure are both stifling and oppressive, straining climate control systems and threatening implosive hull failures for most. Even specialized ships usually prefer to lurk in the bottom-most layer of clouds, communication tethers dangling below for coordination. It is for these reasons that a full accounting of anything above the surface and below the clouds is rare and hard-earned. The mineral carrier drones are regularly scheduled and well-armed, and have been for a thousand years and more - and for the pirates, it was discovered early that trying to hijack one costs your station years worth of deliveries. So it is impossible to verify the tales of the Absent Cities. Those unlucky few who spy the abandoned habitats more than once, hanging in place and seemingly unbothered by the whipping winds of Badal, seldom stick around for long. To a one, they say they are called, always to the same City, always in a new place, and always unmoved by the globe-spanning winds. They beg to be allowed to visit, to enter the Absent Cities, to find what calls out to them. Those who are allowed to reach them are never seen again. Those who are not inevitably jump to satisfy the longing, haunted by the knowledge that they must be there, below the clouds, just out of reach. Somewhere. Due to the loss of valuable equipment this causes, many captains will order the afflicted thrown in the brig (often indefinitely), making information on the appearance of the Absent Cities from reliable sources sparse - few want to let slip their knowledge, for fear of what might result from their fellow cremates. Those who speak freely are often so far gone in their longing that their ravings are impossible to pull out what is true and what is delusion. So know this, clouder. Look not below the clouds too long, lest you, too, become Absent. Submit Mytho-Historical Data Gathering entry for the Arkhive. Accept Embassy from The Illumined Utopian News and Rumors Chatter in the forums... The Fleets of the Coalition mostly consist of volunteers and patriots - piracy must be a choice committed to. To force someone into it is a betrayal of the Clouder Codes and both the worst and pettiest form of tyranny. Most gloryhounds prefer to act independently, as the Coalition does not enforce a monopoly on violence as some other polities do - so long as that violence is directed outwards. The cohesion and discipline found within the Coalition Armed Forces (sometimes called the Stormbringers) often surprises outsiders, so long as their leaders can keep all the crews aligned to an objective - a task which benefits from both charisma and familiarity with the peculiarities of the Black Cloud Coalition's military culture. Military operations operate on similar principles to pirate activity where possible - electronic warfare and countermeasures form a backbone of assaults to disorient and disrupt the organization of opposing forces, enabling ambushes, boarding actions, and defeat in detail of the opposition they've faced in the time since their formation. As expected of a Badalian power, there's a significant reliance on aircraft, both manned and unmanned. Whether winged, rotor-lifted, and lighter-than-atmos, Badal's unique fighting environment places certain demands on fighting vehicles to maintain operational flexibility, and encourages little to no use of the ground or water vehicles one might expect on Sansar or Veehra. Infantry are used in boarding actions and while operating aboard aerostats, of course, and tend to prefer either flechette weaponry when collateral damage is to be avoided, or copious use of explosives when the mission does not involve such concerns. Analysts predict this to hold true even on other planets, with the Coalition's heavy use of cybernetics in the military leaving the possibility open for the use of theoretical 'full-conversion' cyborgs to handle those challenges that their diverse aircraft and unmanned drone fleets cannot overcome. Concerning Updates Down To The Minute... Concerning Hives of Scum & Villainy... Statistics Special Actions Available: Intrigue 5 Special Actions Used: Military 5 Heir None Diplomacy Reputation/Favors Imperial Court: Rep 0, 0 Favors (Expected Change: None) Pan-Tekhum Worker's & Trader's Union: Rep 0, -1 Favors (Expected Change: 0 Favors) Basu-Rahman Group: Rep 0, 0 Favors (Expected Change: None) International Renown: Renown 0 Organization Bases None Embassies None Cultural Identities None Great Works None Military Ground Units: 4 (Expected Change: -?) Space Units: 1 (Expected Change: +0) Unit Cap: 6 (Base 4 + 1 Region + 1 Support) Government Support 2 Generals None Admirals Hǎi Píng & Dǎo-Māo [M10] - Electronic Bombardment: On Tactical Maneuvering victory, total Orbital Superiority bonus for Ground Front applies to Ground Front Tactical Maneuvering rolls as well. Fortresses None Perfected Tactical Doctrines None Military Technologies None Active Ground Front Technologies: Man-Portable Weapons: N/A Infantry Equipment: N/A Combat Drugs and Medicine: N/A Armored Vehicles: N/A Field Fortifications: N/A Engineered Combat Organisms: N/A Active Space Front Technologies: Detection and Rangefinding: N/A Ship to Ship Weapons: N/A Orbit to Ground Weapons: N/A Crew and Maintenance: N/A Armor and Shields: N/A Spacecraft Propulsion: N/A Active Multi-Front Technologies: Electronic Warfare and Countermeasures: N/A Special Forces: N/A Logistics and Morale: N/A Economy Treasure: 4 (Expected Change: -3) Treasure Cap: 5 Trade Posts Effective Total TPs 2 Treasure Rate 0 Trade Post Resource Use Support Rate 2.1 Cybernetics & Prosthetics None Owned 2 Mercantile Support 2 Arcologies None Trade Routes None Civilian Technologies Technology Type Effect Requirements Met? Aclaustrophobic Psychiatry Starter None None Yes Algorithmic Imagination Starter None None Yes Arcane Amplification Starter None None Yes In Vivo Modification Starter None None Yes Nuclear Fusion Starter None None Yes Xenolinguistic Cataloguing Starter None None Yes Badalian Megadirigibles Traversal Ground units can cross the Cloud Sea None Yes Wet Navy Ships Traversal Ground units can cross oceans None Yes Faith Media Support 2 Faith Size: N/A Organized Faith Bonuses None Artifacts None Holy Orders None Miracles None Intrigue Espionage Agency: None Claims 2 - Integration Total Passive Effects Traversal: Badalian Megadirigibles: Ground units can cross the Cloud Sea of Badal Wet Navy Ships: Ground Units can cross Actions None Defensive None Misc None

No, because the nature of coalition battle rolls actually means Coedd would always also be accessing it. The closest thing that really gets you what you want would be "+1 to X Front battle rolls if in coalition with religious head" - which basically amounts to "religious head can spend a Military action to give coreligionist an extra +1 on battle roll". And we have Seek Aid rolls for that sort of thing anyway.

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The Black Cloud Coalition 暗雲聯盟 (Ànyún Liánméng) Capital Region: North Way Cluster (Běizhōu Qún | 北週群) [Badal-2] Ruler: Captain of the Coalition Jié Měifēng & HelmsModerator Guiding_Stars4 aka 'ZhǐZhī' Diplomacy: 4 Military: 5 Economy: 2 Faith: 2 Intrigue: 4 History A rough timeline of the relevant history in the Coalition’s founding and development runs as follows: Low level piracy has been present on Badal for as long as can be remembered. A large number of wars are fought over a long period of time on Badal between aerostatic clusters; privateers become commonplace as resource shortages and economic warfare abounds. The previously mentioned warring parties falter, and make an uneasy peace; many privateers become pirates to sustain themselves, adding to extant low level piracy. Lasting tensions and grudges delay unified action to suppress pirates, preventing early and decisive action. Piracy shrinks at first due to competition and still weak economies, but grows again as prosperity grows, people seek escape from oppression, and trade becomes more common. Badali states begin making initial inroads on cooperation to suppress piracy. Pirate fleets, already developing around the most successful crews, begin to grow rapidly as anti-piracy pressures ships into alliances for mutual protection. Several prominent pirate fleets become capable of matching up to airfleets of the anti-piracy coalitions, with over 70% of pirate vessels belonging to one of five fleets at their most dominant. These fleets capture or settle a number of smaller aerostats to use as naval bases and more permanent settlements, and find that the relative mobility advantage granted for repositioning is tremendously useful in avoiding more concentrated assaults when managed carefully. Larger aerostats are occasionally targeted but the difficulty of conquest and security concerns makes this impractical much of the time. The Black Wind Aerostatic Habitation Complex becomes a pirate base for one of the larger fleets (the Red Cloud Armada or Xiá Jiànduì | 艦隊霞 ) needing to recover from a costly engagement with pirate hunters. The Black Wind is explored further than prior inhabitants had the manpower or inclination for - cybernetics research, development, storage, and manufacturing sections discovered. Soon, these cybernetics are being used to restore many of the injured Red Cloud pirates. The Armada is significantly restored by this, and the Black Wind complex becomes a focal point of their operations. The first successful experiments with early PEEARIT tech take place. The earliest form of the Black Cloud Coalition is founded as other pirate fleets are attracted, defeated, or proactively allied with; captured aerostats join what is dubbed the 'North Way Cluster', and the prosperity and strength of the group becomes self-driving as momentum and morale builds. PEEARIT use grows more widespread and non-pirate immigration begins to grow. The first assaults on North Way from anti-piracy fleets occur, but are poorly coordinated and insufficiently supported, with the net result of producing a stronger sense of unity in the Black Cloud Coalition’s membership. The Coalition begins formalizing their coordination and leadership structures in response to the ongoing threat - this causes them to resemble a traditional state more but with significantly more horizontally-oriented power structures. The success of this structure in fending off further assaults grants legitimacy to the experiment, and the process continues, resulting in (finally) the establishment of a properly unified administrative and bureaucratic system - albeit one with significant dependence on the use of PEEARIT assistance. Significant growth in the civilian populace of the Coalition as military successes give credence to offers of protection and the idea of a new start, attracting fugitives, the disaffected, refugees, and outcasts. An interim period as external threat begins to wane, with the primary hostile powers on Badal forced to acknowledge they may be unable to destroy the Coalition outright given the present circumstances. The Coalition is occupied by internal politics and economic restructuring and development, with both local and Coalition-wide administrations, continuing to shake out the function and structure of the organization as a whole and future direction. The current Coalition Captain, Jié Měifēng (傑美風), comes to preside over the Coalition following her successful coordination of a masterful stroke against the Bironaians, including the elimination of their previous leadership and multiple knight-officer. In the after math, her popularity earns her the teasing moniker “Xiǎohòu” (小后) (or ‘Little Queen’) in addition to her existing nickname of “Tiāndào” (天盜) (or ‘Heavenly Bandit’). The Black Cloud Coalition becomes a member of the Elect, by the Emperor’s will, to the simultaneous confusion and excitement of its members. ”Geography” The stable core of the Black Cloud Coalition is the North Way Cluster, a myriad of interdependent and occasionally physically interlinked aerostatic habitats spread over hundreds of kilometers, as the various aerostats maintain position or allow themselves to drift according to the dictates of their individual populations and the requests of their neighbors. At the heart of the Cluster, both physically and culturally, is the massive aerocity officially referred to as the Black Wind Aerostatic Habitation Macrocomplex or Hēifēng Fán Chéngshì (黑風渢城市), and more commonly known as The Black Wind or Hēifēng (黑風). Though perhaps not the oldest of the aerostats that make up the North Way Cluster by warrant of original construction, the structure is nonetheless ancient and still bears many of the tell-tale markers of age - including the outline of what is presumed to have been a cybernetics manufacturing industry from before the War of Eternal Bombardments, though even the PEEARITs used by the Coalition today were only able to use technology from the period as a starting point. The aerostats themselves have little in the way of unifying design elements not already common across Badal as a whole; radially symmetric superstructures and toroidal lift-enhancer envelopes are common, as are extensions from the center of the complex to expand surface area, often accompanied by additional lifting elements if located above the primary superstructure. Most not already equipped have been retrofitted with defensive weaponry in case of assault, but in actual warfare it’s likely these would serve only as delaying mechanisms until more complete support groups can arrive. The current government makes use of distinct categories of spaces within the aerostats for administrative purposes, a practice formalizing and unifying some of the systems of nicknames and unspoken rules about available use-cases for specific areas already in use by Coalition members, easing navigation for members passing through other aerostats. Violet Zones || The Parks | The Breaches | The Springs | Hēiyùn (黑運) Summary: Some of the only true ‘wilderness’ that can be found on Badal, these so-called ‘acid jungles’ go to show that life, indeed, finds a way. These sections are usually open to the exterior atmosphere, a result of ancient damage or overgrowth in untended sections, and the local wildlife has adapted accordingly. Acid pools to concentrate dangerous substances or even expand the available space to grow (around which an abundance of acid-loving or even consuming organisms flourish), living semi-permeable seals grown over hull breaches to trap water vapor while allowing in most other gases, and carnivorous plants ready to fertilize themselves with hapless passersby, these zones have rarely proven worth the effort to unmake, despite frequently holding long-lost technologies within their depths; the oxygenation processes, filtering byproducts, and medicinal drugs derived (in addition to the total failure to cultivate in any controlled fashion) make them an ill-understood boon to the Coalition, though a genuine pain point for their local aerostat’s inhabitants. Yellow Zones || The Skytops | The Glassgardens | The Hollows | The Pots | Dà Xū (大噓) | Rè-Shī (熱濕) Summary: Agricultural areas used as greenhouses, artificial fields, or aeroponics bays, these frequently contain levels of carbon dioxide that would be lethal to inhale for humans pulled from Badal’s atmosphere, making use of specialized air filtration systems to capture and neutralize or harvest acid that would enter, while retaining moisture. In conjunction with carefully monitored fertilization and irrigation systems, agridome tender traditional knowledge, and the brilliance of Ophon on Badal’s daylight side, Badali agricultural output easily outstrips even the most fertile parts of Sansar several times over - a genuine necessity when every additional acre adds that much extra weight. Black Zones || The ‘Combs | The Mazes | The Warrens | Thermae | Zhāngdà (張大) Summary: Densely packed mixed use (typically non-industrial) areas. Very common in use as mixed residential sectors, with density ranging from implausibly cramped to merely claustrophobic. Rarely part of a habitat’s original design, but also frequently defended as fostering community and providing local identity and texture by residents. Green Zones || The Hangars | The Arches | The Hollows | Xiǎochuāng (小窗) Summary: Exceptionally spacious areas with high ceilings and low density. Popular and multi-use, but space-inefficient; commonly used as parks or for hosting festivities. Unusually even distribution in habitat designs due to their use in providing lift for the aerostats they’re within. Red Zones || The Ironvines | The Undertow | The Bilge | Lǎonǎi/Lǎoqiú (老奶 / 老球) Summary: Tall but comparatively narrow ‘towers’ which seem to hang either below the aerostats or from elevated hydrogen lift-envelopes down to their host aerostats - commonly used as logistical hubs, docks, and for sensitive equipment best kept apart from the hustle and bustle of the primary interior. Reflected cloudlight makes them more popular and well-lit than might be expected for their location and purpose. White Zones || The Clinics | The ‘Shops | The Belts | Shīwù Chǔ (失物處) Summary: Advanced manufacturing, medical wards, some high end research facilities and engineering workshops; responsible for production of many of the highest value goods, including almost all cybernetics. Has some of the least clutter of any zone, and the most security presence. Blue Zones || The Graves | The Hallows | The Insurance District | Zhòngshén Zhàndì/Zhòngzhàn (眾神戰地 / 眾戰) Summary: Heavily religious areas with a lot of shrines, churches, temples, etc; not officially a zone designation but still recognized as one by everyone. Sometimes as small as a single corridor. Orange Zones || The Bells | The ‘Hood | Chòu-Chòu (臭臭) Summary: Chemical districts: refineries, pipeworks, treatment plants, bio-waste recycling, and more. Unpleasant to pass through, dangerous to inhabit long-term, and a common cause of lung replacements. Utterly vital to keep their aerostats habitable. Silver Zones || The Dumps | The ‘Shops | The ‘Fineries | Bǎokù (寶庫) Summary: Recycling workshops and repurposing facilities; also home to a lot of cheaper engineering shops, more basic manufacturing, and so on. One of the poorest but busiest districts with a lot of people moving in and out - nobody wants to do the recycling but everybody knows it needs to get done. Tends to get a receive a lot of input from raided goods that can’t be used or sold. Gold Zones || The Heights | The Sunbelt | The Bowls | Xuàn Céng (眩層) Summary: Highest (and lowest) parts of the aerostats, often sandwiching hydrogen lift envelopes and requiring passage through Red Zones to access; communications equipment, solar banks, and luxury services are all very common here. External maintenance crews are often based out of these areas due to easy access to outside of the aerostat and the relevant equipment to be maintained. Ghost Zones || The Crypts | The Wirewall | The Cut | Jiǎláng (假廊) Summary: Unmapped, off-book, or otherwise ‘missing’ spaces officially labeled as simple voids in an aerostat’s structure, presumably for weight-saving purposes, and forbidden to entry by non-specialists. Impervious to EM communications and scanning. Ninety percent of known spaces so labeled remain located on The Black Wind; only a third of these are located behind or within Violet Zones. People The Coalition’s membership is tremendously varied as a result of the tremendously divergent origins and reasons for joining found within that membership, and estimated to be between 90 and 95 million individuals. Mostly human, and almost universally make heavy use of cybernetics for cosmetic, prosthetic, and augmentative purposes. While the use of magic is not especially common among Coalition members, several standout practices receive more recognition and prestige than others, the foremost among these being the weather mages who supposedly interface successfully (though the multitude of casualties among such sorcerers may convince one otherwise) with Badal’s elemental spirits to manipulate wind strength and cloud formations, and have frequently played vital roles in raiding operations. Biokinetics and similar means of soothing the body or healing injury are in great demand for simplifying and smoothing the process of cybersurgery, and runesmiths, as ever, find a myriad of mediums on which to practice their craft (though importing the necessary materials from off-world or finding them in raids has always been exorbitantly expensive and/or difficult to arrange before the introduction of the Imperial Drive). The Personal Electronic Emergent Assistive Resource ImplanT (or “PEEARIT”) is installed in almost every member/citizen of the Coalition at this point as children, wherein it grows and develops alongside the host’s own mind, able to (usually) safely interweave itself into the brain, and serving as a true AI partner and companion. Based on technology found deep in the heart of Black Wind’s specialized cybernetics facilities, it’s hypothesized to have originally been based on pre-Bombardment technologies, and is almost certainly a significant factor in the survival and success of the Black Cloud Coalition since the practice began. PEEARITs are the only place true AI is found in the Coalition; they can, however, hook themselves into a number of the electronic/virtual systems to manually control or coordinate with their biological partners, and are often supplemented by assuming command positions over so-called ‘dumb AI’ - expert systems with no emotional capacity and little or not ability for self-reflection or improvement, usually specialized for managing specific systems and able to have that expertise directed at virtual speeds by a PEEARIT interface. The idea of installing PEEARITs outside of a person’s mind has been brought up and shot down multiple times over concerns regarding stability, safety, and accountability, and other methods of producing true synthetic intelligences are as of yet still edge cases with limited applicability. Government Though local self-governing units (colloquially referred to as “Heads”/”Cāng Huì” (艙會) are left to manage themselves most of the time, there is a democratically central administration ('officially' titled the Coalition Unified Administration, but almost always referred to as The Overhead, The Forecast, or Those Poor Saps) that coordinates resource redistribution, member contributions, provision of basic necessities, foreign policy negotiations, and Coalition security, as well as advanced cybernetics manufacturing and sale. Between these highest and lowest levels are the "Parlor Councils"/"Kètīng Huì" (客廳會) of individual aerostats, set up by their local Heads, which/who handle much of the day-to-day governance, maintenance coordination, and local rules and requirements. Local markets, traders, and businesses fill most of the Coalition member’s remaining needs and many of their wants. More mobile ships are also self-governing in accordance with the clouder & pirate codes, as they have been since before the foundation of the Coalition. The use of PEEARITs are heavily utilized to enable and ease administration and coordination on all levels, having become so integral that those without a PEEARIT often face not insignificant bureaucratic hardship when attempting to interface with the Coalition’s systems of governance, compounding with the outsider status such individuals are usually forced into. The North Way Cluster’s government faction is composed mostly of the myriad of ship captains (and their crews), administrative experts, and community leaders; though their positions are largely democratically elected, some remain in their position much longer than others, whether by popularity or recognizable competence, and they can exert their influence when they choose. Currently, they are all far more supportive of the Black Cloud Coalition than they are of any other potential government. The local Merchant faction is composed of smugglers, trade associations, bulk resellers, cybernetics supply managers and doctors’ unions, and more besides; currently, they act in the interests of the Coalition The local Media includes Pirate radio, PEEARIT forums, cyberspace - any and every communication channel is in easy access for Coalition members aboard the Cluster. Currently, the conversation is as favorable as can be expected regarding the Coalition. Religion While members of the Black Cloud Coalition come from many walks of life, and religiosity is by no means uncommon, there is little unity to be found among the spirituality and superstitions of the crews and populations. The most common combination of superstitions and philosophical impulses are known as the Clouder Codes: a mixture of autonomy and democracy focused ideological drives, justifications for piracy, and the superstitions inevitable from life and work in such dangerous environs. Plurality: Clouder Codes Minorities: Sky Leviathan, Soulbound Dance, Forever Self, Cult of Avva, The Illuminated Primarch, Slingid Resources Though reluctant to sell to non-members, the Black Wind’s manufacturing base still serves the Coalition well, allowing them to produce more than enough host-adaptable cybernetic systems for both augmentation and prosthetic purposes to serve as a point of more legitimate trade with outsiders by virtue of sheer quality and versatility, and the sale of such is often used as a way to acquire foreign currencies for other necessary transactions. However, the scarcity of access to raw materials afflicts the Coalition as harshly as it does all others on Badal, and the superconducting materials necessary for the production and maintenance of these systems are always in short supply, creating a demand for the import of either superconductors or the supplies from which to produce them. Resource: Cybernetics & Prosthetics (Categories: Computers, Medicine & Drugs) Desired Import: Superconductors/[Superconductive/Precious] Metals Technology Starting Technology: Algorithmic Imagination - though the applications outside of PEEARITs is still quite limited. Regional Starting Technology: Badalian Megadirigibles - though often small as compared to their contemporaries.