ooc OOC Thread

[Minescratcher452]

%5Bcenter%5D%5Bi%5DSince%20time%20immemorial%2C%20the%20Empire%20has%20reigned%20over%20the%20solar%20system%20known%20as%20Tekhum.%20Adjectives%20are%20unnecessary%3B%20there%20is%20only%20one%20Emperor%2C%20and%20all%20the%20worlds%20that%20orbit%20the%20sun%20Ophon%20lie%20within%20the%20Empire.%20So%20it%20has%20been%20for%20more%20than%20two%20hundred%20million%20years%2C%20if%20the%20Imperial%20Calendar%20is%20to%20be%20believed%3B%20the%20Empire%E2%80%99s%20roots%20run%20deep%2C%20and%20there%20is%20no%20polity%20which%20does%20not%20at%20least%20acknowledge%20its%20overlordship.%0A%0AThe%20announcement%20now%20being%20transmitted%20to%20every%20subject%20and%20vassal%20is%20all%20the%20weightier%20for%20the%20Empire%E2%80%99s%20deep%20history%3A%20the%20Emperor%20has%20re-established%20the%20Elect%2C%20a%20group%20of%20states%20provided%20with%20advanced%20spacecraft%20engines%2C%20and%20in%20effect%20declared%20the%20end%20of%20millenia%20of%20insularity%20and%20isolation.%20There%20have%20been%20no%20Elect%20for%20over%20two%20thousand%20years%2C%20since%20the%20chaos%20of%20the%20War%20of%20Eternal%20Bombardments%20nearly%20depopulated%20the%20Empire%2C%20but%20hundreds%20of%20ships%20now%20venture%20into%20the%20abyss%20between%20the%20planets%2C%20and%20more%20join%20their%20number%20every%20day.%20%0A%0AFor%20these%20elevated%20powers%2C%20the%20future%20holds%20nothing%20but%20opportunity%20for%20those%20who%20seek%20to%20grasp%20it.%20It%20is%20a%20time%20of%20resurgent%20trade%2C%20religious%20revival%2C%20and%20political%20consolidation%20on%20a%20scale%20unparalleled%20in%20recorded%20history.%20And%20although%20it%20may%20be%20dangerous%20to%20speak%20it%2C%20some%20nonetheless%20whisper%20that%20perhaps%20this%20era%20will%20even%20see%20the%20founding%20of%20a%20new%E2%80%A6%5B%2Fi%5D%0A%0A%5BFONT%3DBook%20Antiqua%5D%5Bsize%3D7%5DEMPIRE!%5B%2Fsize%5D%5B%2FFONT%5D%0A%5Bi%5DA%20Community%20World-Building%20Game%20originally%20by%20Morph%20Bark%0APreviously%20run%20by%20Morph%20Bark%2C%20QuintonBeck%2C%20Zayuz%2C%20Aedilred%2C%20RolePGeek%2C%20Gengy%2C%20TheDarkDM%2C%20LapisCattis%2C%20Aerin%5B%2Fi%5D%0A%0A%5Burl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fibb.co%2FDb6cCCp%5D%5Bimg%5Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fi.ibb.co%2FfSK6ppv%2Frecruitment-banner-image.jpg%5B%2Fimg%5D%5B%2Furl%5D%5B%2Fcenter%5D%0A%0A%0AWelcome%20to%20the%20Out-Of-Character%20(OOC)%20thread%20for%20Empire!%208!%20Please%20post%20your%20questions%20and%20especially%20proposed%20technologies%20and%20other%20new%20creations%20for%20the%20GMs%20here%2C%20as%20our%20inboxes%20can%20fill%20up%20quite%20quickly.%20Feel%20free%20to%20chat%2C%20discuss%2C%20or%20even%20arrange%20for%20collaborative%20IC%20events%20with%20other%20players%20here%2C%20but%20remember%20that%20everything%20in%20this%20thread%20is%20Out-Of-Character%20and%20will%20have%20no%20influence%20on%20events%20in%20the%20world.%20%5BURL%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fdiscord.gg%2Fh7vYVySbaa%22%5DOur%20optional%20community%20discord%20server%20is%20also%20available%20here.%5B%2FURL%5D%20%0A%0AFor%20non-players%3A%20welcome!%20Empire!%20is%20a%20collaborative%20world-building%20game%20where%20you%20take%20on%20the%20role%20of%20the%20ruler%20of%20a%20region%20and%20their%20heirs%20and%20successors%2C%20perhaps%20turning%20your%20small%20starting%20realm%20into%20a%20Stellar%20Power%20or%20even%20an%20Empire%2C%20forming%20alliances%2C%20fighting%20wars%20and%20establishing%20colonies%20along%20the%20way.%20While%20the%20GM%20has%20some%20oversight%20and%20final%20approval%2C%20the%20setting%E2%80%99s%20content%20is%20controlled%20by%20the%20players.%20We%20are%20always%20accepting%20new%20players%2C%20though%20due%20to%20the%20size%20of%20the%20game%20there%20is%20currently%20a%20waitlist%20to%20replace%20players%20who%20drop%20from%20the%20game.%20

Since time immemorial, the Empire has reigned over the solar system known as Tekhum. Adjectives are unnecessary; there is only one Emperor, and all the worlds that orbit the sun Ophon lie within the Empire. So it has been for more than two hundred million years, if the Imperial Calendar is to be believed; the Empire’s roots run deep, and there is no polity which does not at least acknowledge its overlordship.

The announcement now being transmitted to every subject and vassal is all the weightier for the Empire’s deep history: the Emperor has re-established the Elect, a group of states provided with advanced spacecraft engines, and in effect declared the end of millenia of insularity and isolation. There have been no Elect for over two thousand years, since the chaos of the War of Eternal Bombardments nearly depopulated the Empire, but hundreds of ships now venture into the abyss between the planets, and more join their number every day.

For these elevated powers, the future holds nothing but opportunity for those who seek to grasp it. It is a time of resurgent trade, religious revival, and political consolidation on a scale unparalleled in recorded history. And although it may be dangerous to speak it, some nonetheless whisper that perhaps this era will even see the founding of a new…

EMPIRE!
A Community World-Building Game originally by Morph Bark
Previously run by Morph Bark, QuintonBeck, Zayuz, Aedilred, RolePGeek, Gengy, TheDarkDM, LapisCattis, Aerin

Welcome to the Out-Of-Character (OOC) thread for Empire! 8! Please post your questions and especially proposed technologies and other new creations for the GMs here, as our inboxes can fill up quite quickly. Feel free to chat, discuss, or even arrange for collaborative IC events with other players here, but remember that everything in this thread is Out-Of-Character and will have no influence on events in the world. Our optional community discord server is also available here.

For non-players: welcome! Empire! is a collaborative world-building game where you take on the role of the ruler of a region and their heirs and successors, perhaps turning your small starting realm into a Stellar Power or even an Empire, forming alliances, fighting wars and establishing colonies along the way. While the GM has some oversight and final approval, the setting’s content is controlled by the players. We are always accepting new players, though due to the size of the game there is currently a waitlist to replace players who drop from the game.

 

Edited February 11 by Minescratcher452 (see edit history)

[xanxosttheslaad]

Fantastic job on the second round opener! I noticed a few of my things may have been missed, which is totally on me for posting so late. Regardless:

• I sent what I believe was a successful expedition to region 86, the unexplored region adjacent the Space-Kelp Cluster (roll of 14 vs TN 12)
• I believe my construction of an arcology in the Space-Kelp Cluster should have also increased my Renown, as per 'Built to Last', by one for being my first time taking one of the listed actions, and by a second for being [amongst] the first in Mekhala to take that action.

Apologies for procrastinating so hard on the round 1 post & actions; they should be up much earlier this time around! Much appreciation to the GM team 💛

[Minescratcher452]

I did miss the expedition, my bad! I'll edit that in now.

[aerin13]

Round 2 annotated map.

Edited February 12 by aerin13 (see edit history)

[EmBark]

Could links to all the rules and spreadsheets be linked here or (and?) in the IC thread?

[Kythia]

Would a size bonus of "+1 to battle rolls if you are fighting in a coalition with Coedd" work? Or "if you have Coedd allies in the battle" or something like that - struggling to word it un-ambigously but I think you get what I mean. "Coedd" could be "the religion head" and the intent is that Coedd couldn't access it (as they'd never be in a colaition with themselves)

[volthawk]

2 hours ago, EmBark said:

Could links to all the rules and spreadsheets be linked here or (and?) in the IC thread?

Up at the top of every thread there's "Rules and Tracking Tables" which brings you to this.

[Tentreto]

Minor thing missed I believe. MIR was gifted nuclear fusion by The Kingdom of High Ishtahnos but its not in the opener.

 

Also, I had to keep not looking at MSQ for my stuff out of habit :P

[Featherscale]

6 hours ago, Kythia said:

Would a size bonus of "+1 to battle rolls if you are fighting in a coalition with Coedd" work? Or "if you have Coedd allies in the battle" or something like that - struggling to word it un-ambigously but I think you get what I mean. "Coedd" could be "the religion head" and the intent is that Coedd couldn't access it (as they'd never be in a colaition with themselves)

I'm interested in this also, because it seems related to the question of if there is a way to mechanically honor my "Vengeance Pact" concept without there being mechanical treaties in this edition.

 

My current thought is "+4 to battles if the target is attacking and you or a player in your coalition is being attacked, +10% casualties"

[WaylanderX]

Hey there!

 

I would like to voice my desire to get put on the waiting list. Cheers! Speak to you lot on the Discord!

[Zayuz]

I will be taking over the Bironian Bulwark in the place of Ardene. I really enjoyed their writeup, so I took it and redid it in my own words - preserving their ideas and expanding on them where I felt inspired. Some things I kept verbatim when I felt I had nothing to add... Though believe me there will be a lot of flavor text regarding the shakeup of their round one assassination/collapse. We may notice that Yanji isn't as dead as we may have been lead to believe. ;)

 

NOTE: Bironaian has been changed to Bironian throughout, and it would be very cool if the tables reflected this!

Also, I may rearrange his stats. Not sure where I want the 5s yet.

 

The Bironian Bulwark

Region - 17

Region Name: Biron Crosspaths

 

Archknight Yanij Argon (Rolls)

Diplomacy 3

Military 5

Economy 3

Faith 5

Intrigue 3

Leader + Recent History

The current leader, as of exactly one quarter cycle ago, of the Bironaian Bulwark is Yanij Argon. The Order of Argon had previously held popular control over the knight-council, but a devastating loss to pirates by their Knights-Afield left their command structure in ruins, and the previous Archknight Hiana, Yanij's mother, dead. As per council tradition, Yanij inherited his mother's position as Archknight of the Council pending a cyclical challenge, and has been thrust into leadership of a Bulwark that is reeling from a significant loss with doubt regarding the effectiveness of The Order of Argon.

Yanij is intent on taking great strides to expand the esteem and domain of the Bulwark, primarily to save his political career and family legacy.

The death in combat of an Archknight is an unprecedented event in Bironaian history, and without the Edict providing a hefty dose of legitimacy to The Order of Argon, significant shakeups in the council would certainly have occurred. Archknight Hiana met her end leading the majority of the Argon forces in an attempted beheading blow on The Black Cloud Coalition, hoping to finally shatter the most organized source of piracy on the planet of Badal in service of the Bironaian mission. Unfortunately, Captain Jié Měifēng and her forces were able to outmaneuver and slaughter the Argon knights in a stunning rout. Unsurprisingly, Yanij desires restitution in blood for his mother's death and this shameful mark on the Bulwark's history.

Geography

The Biron Fragstone forms the centerpiece of a vast fleet of massive airships, large enough to carry cities worth of people and support their lives over many centuries. In this time, they have received countless expansions and combinations with other ships that makes the Flagstone a unique mix of fortress and city throughout. Here, people work, worship their faiths, live their lives, and have in the past shed blood for their faiths. Instead of referring to their holdings as lands, it would be more accurate to refer to them in terms akin to a fleet. Despite this, the fleet as a whole is not very mobile. It has remained fixed on a certain section of the planet for generations, claiming certain airspace and granting the lives of its people consistent seasons. Such a massive collection of airships would require a monumental amount of energy to move, and the area they inhabit is rich with the gasses and minerals they need besides. Commercial activities and industrial manufacturing has been moved off of the main Flagstone and instead onto the surrounding fleet, complete with their own escort vessels and always active transportation. Military functions and major places of worship tend to be based on more mobile versions of the airships that each house their order and its respective traditions. Some orders rule sections of the Biron Flagstone, as it has grown too large for a single order to maintain rule over the centuries, but even they maintain their own mobile fleets for combat and hunting.

 

Once, the purpose of the Flagstone was to mine and perform industrial manufacturing with the resources of Badal, crafted by resources pushed up from under the planet’s surface. The actual mission has faded with time, but the remnants of this design echoes in the oldest architecture of the fleet. A core of metallic framework, spanning fifty-six layers at its thickest, forms the framework of the ‘land’ that encompasses the Biron Crossroads. People live and work on each of these, taking the geographical and cultural traits of other lands and modeling their own homes in the spirit of adventures that the Knights-Afield have encountered on their mercenary journeys and adventures. Creating gardens with soil and crops is nearly impossible, but smaller, decorative gardens are still popular to give the fully artificial fleet some vibrancy. When absent of external influences, they revert to building smaller living spaces with emphasis on stylized pipework and metallic and glass surfaces, contrasted with very soft and comfortable places for sitting and sleeping; often the pelts of animals and other fuzzy textiles.

People

The Bironian people are humanoids whose evolution diverged due to extended contact with the high noble gas they were sent to extract from the world of Badal in ages past. Still sharing the appearance and build of the humans they once were, they are now known for their pale, almost translucent skin that members of their race infuse with gaseous concoctions they refer to as cocktails flood them with vibrant and more opaque color. Better still, science has brought these gasses to the point where they can also enhance the body of a Bironian, which as a base is typically weaker than most other humanoids. This science does have limits, as the gasses that form the cocktails they infuse themselves with must use Biron as their base. These cocktails are inhaled, and can last 4-8 weeks within the body before fading entirely. Richer colors and patterns tend to signify the rich and influential among society, as only they can afford to so regularly consume precious material. Some people have horns on their head, which usually match the color of the rest of their bodies. These horns tend to run in the blood, passed down from generation to generation with only small variations and can be quite diverse. They grow with the Bironian as they age, reaching full length at maturity.

 

Due to the positive effects these gasses have on Bironian life and the abundance of it in the Aerostat cities where the people claim as their homeland, it is common to pump a healthy amount of Biron into regular ventilation systems and fleets. This compound with oxygen lends the skin a blue tint, which is therefore the most common color for Bironian people. To keep colors vibrant and the body healthy among other peoples, it is common to see their people with tanks of their cocktails of choice. Damaging, confiscating, or losing the tanks are considered deeply unfortunate, and as such even the criminals on Biron are allowed to remain with them. They are manufactured standard issue by the government and provided freely, but only once per person. Other acquisitions must be acquired through the private sector, and hold the best, but often most prohibitively expensive variants for those that can afford them.

 

The government of Biron is constructed to exalt a knightly, devoted culture built on piety and loyalty to those that keep the rest of the populace alive through their militaristic protection from their foes and the hunting of food that fails to grow within their aerostat. Despite the government preaching these values, the truth is that as a free-thinking populace the Bironians have a wide variety of beliefs and cultural practices that can be hard to apply broadly. Despite these, some stereotypes arise - each with a kernel of truth.

 

Among their people, farming is looked down upon as a simpleton’s labor. Earning meals through hunting or intellectual work that contributes to the output of the fleet tends to be preferred as a more honorable and challenging practice despite the many hardships that the few farmers on Biron would argue they go through to produce in a false city lacking natural rainfall and ecosystem…

 

Bespoke and artisan gas samples are the highest luxury and status symbol a Bironian can possess. This might seem somewhat esoteric to foreigners, though occasionally these cocktails contain potent hallucinogenic properties or medical uses that make their value more obvious to outsiders. 

 

Bironians tend to be fairly pious to something, if not the greater state religion. Their circumstance has never been one of self-sufficiency, and so they appeal to the gods readily. Due to the variety of opinions across the fleet, this lends itself to an intense history of ideological conflict and internal wars.

 

Knight-Afields, the military order serving the government, are seen as celebrities and heroes. It is common to believe that every child wishes at least at one point to serve a knightly order, be that on the front lines or as an auxiliary considering how their culture glorifies the hunt and honorable combat.

Government

The people of the Biron Crossroads are governed by local knightly orders, broadly swearing fealty to an Archknight that commands a loose federal authority that requires the cooperation of the local authorities to effectively rule. To keep all parties satisfied, a grand council with members from each order deliberates often to decide policy, debate future action, and maintain cohesion in the face of threats to the fleet. These meetings do not require that all parties attend, but it is expected that all parties abide by the results of these meetings or else face restricted privileges delegated by the Archknight. Orders maintain a level of independence in their diplomacy, collaborating and competing between one another to form rivalries and exclusive deals with foreign powers, ranging from trade to mercenary work and defensive alliances. So long as these do not pose a threat to the systems in place, they are encouraged as they spark competition and excellency within the market. 

 

Council meetings allow two representatives per order, one being secular while the other is a member of the clergy. In addition to this, the Archknight is permitted to bring an additional representative as an advisor and administrative aid to compensate for how much more intensive it is to manage the shifting needs and politics of the fleet as a whole. If the Archknight dies or becomes unable to rule, the advisor becomes acting regent until the replacement is established. Succession tends to be dynastic, with an opportunity for other orders to challenge the ascending heir in combat to claim the position of Archknight if they wish. In the event of an abundance of challengers, they fight one another to narrow the pool to at most three fights.

 

The council requires all parties present to engage in diplomatic action with the Empire, such is its import.

Religion

The religion of the Biron Crosspaths is presently

Majority: Holy Orders' Vows (The conglomeration of the various Knight Order belief systems that influence overall religious perception.)

 

Presently, there is no unified church within the Bironaian Bulwark.

 

Each Knight Order maintains its own sect of faith, which vary in their tenets and rituals. Civilians generally ascribe to the doctrines of the Order they consider best. Regardless, there is a through-line that can be found throughout the vast majority of these individual religious doctrines that can be considered a coherent religion.

 

Once, there was nothing. Then, there was the divine, and the Empire. To say that one created the other would be impossible, rather one could not exist without the other. Protons and electrons forming the basis of reality as it is known. And yet, there was a vast gulf between them. As such, the divine, with its greater power, created the Bironians, or if not that charged their forefathers, with serving as protectors of Imperial order. While in recent years, the gods have grown yet more distant, and the Bironaian Bulwark weaker, this charge is still held to a lesser extent.

 

Bironian Knights wander their planet in fleets, offering their services to merchants as well as in general as peacekeepers in exchange for diplomatic favor and goods to sustain the Bironaian nation. Earning the grace of others in this way is the highest calling of the Brionaians, and measures of self sufficiency are only to be relied upon in great need, else they grow complaisant in their divine charge.

 

The priesthood of the Bironaians are the sole users of anything that could be considered magic, via hazemancy. The divine attunement of the priesthood allows them to infuse otherwise impossible gas mixtures for truly rare and potent brews. 

Resource

Noble Metals (Ores and Alloys/Luxury Good) - It is only natural that the Bironaians have extended the process of infusion to inorganic materials as well, an echo of their distant and forgotten heritage as gas miners. Bironian metals are treated with a secret and complex cocktail of elemental gasses and forged into a shockingly sturdy and light alloy. Manipulation of this metal is not presently advanced enough for mass production, so it remains a status symbol processed by artisanal smiths and craftsmen and carried by those in positions of esteem, or have the deep pockets necessary to obtain it. The only notable exception of this is the gas rig each Bironaian receives upon growing to adulthood as these are subsidized by the national government and produced en masse by a dedicated sect of priest-craftsmen.

 

Fruits and Vegetables - The megadirgible fleet the Bulwark calls its home has always had extremely faulty hydroponics and greenhouse systems, creating a cultural feedback loop of dismissing their importance and usefulness for sustaining the needs of the citizenry. Instead, all hopes are placed on the Knight-Afields earning merchant imports and hunting parties seeking out gas flyers in the clouds to stave off starvation. Access to reliable, grown food is a tantalizing prospect for any Bironian. 

Starting Technology

Xenolinguistic Cataloguing - Given their historical interdependence with other inhabitants of Badal, The Bironian Bulwark have developed a thorough and reliable method of communicating across language barriers via recognizable symbology and simple psychological gestures. Every knight-afield and diplomat carries a digital semaphore kit, designed to allow for both easy conveyance of intent and rudimentary correlation training that should hopefully allow a neutral and willing party to understand the basics of Bironaian language.

 

Badalian Megadirigibles - Thousands of years aboard the dirigibles has made the distance operation of similar craft second nature.

 

Edited February 13 by Zayuz (see edit history)

[Rolepgeek]

On 2/12/2024 at 9:10 AM, Kythia said:

Would a size bonus of "+1 to battle rolls if you are fighting in a coalition with Coedd" work? Or "if you have Coedd allies in the battle" or something like that - struggling to word it un-ambigously but I think you get what I mean. "Coedd" could be "the religion head" and the intent is that Coedd couldn't access it (as they'd never be in a colaition with themselves)

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.

[Minescratcher452]

22 hours ago, Zayuz said:

I will be taking over the Bironian Bulwark in the place of Ardene. I really enjoyed their writeup, so I took it and redid it in my own words - preserving their ideas and expanding on them where I felt inspired. Some things I kept verbatim when I felt I had nothing to add... Though believe me there will be a lot of flavor text regarding the shakeup of their round one assassination/collapse. We may notice that Yanji isn't as dead as we may have been lead to believe. ;)

 

NOTE: Bironaian has been changed to Bironian throughout, and it would be very cool if the tables reflected this!

Also, I may rearrange his stats. Not sure where I want the 5s yet.

 

The Bironian Bulwark

Region - 17

Region Name: Biron Crosspaths

 

Archknight Yanij Argon (Rolls)

Diplomacy 3

Military 5

Economy 3

Faith 5

Intrigue 3

Leader + Recent History

The current leader, as of exactly one quarter cycle ago, of the Bironaian Bulwark is Yanij Argon. The Order of Argon had previously held popular control over the knight-council, but a devastating loss to pirates by their Knights-Afield left their command structure in ruins, and the previous Archknight Hiana, Yanij's mother, dead. As per council tradition, Yanij inherited his mother's position as Archknight of the Council pending a cyclical challenge, and has been thrust into leadership of a Bulwark that is reeling from a significant loss with doubt regarding the effectiveness of The Order of Argon.

Yanij is intent on taking great strides to expand the esteem and domain of the Bulwark, primarily to save his political career and family legacy.

The death in combat of an Archknight is an unprecedented event in Bironaian history, and without the Edict providing a hefty dose of legitimacy to The Order of Argon, significant shakeups in the council would certainly have occurred. Archknight Hiana met her end leading the majority of the Argon forces in an attempted beheading blow on The Black Cloud Coalition, hoping to finally shatter the most organized source of piracy on the planet of Badal in service of the Bironaian mission. Unfortunately, Captain Jié Měifēng and her forces were able to outmaneuver and slaughter the Argon knights in a stunning rout. Unsurprisingly, Yanij desires restitution in blood for his mother's death and this shameful mark on the Bulwark's history.

Geography

The Biron Fragstone forms the centerpiece of a vast fleet of massive airships, large enough to carry cities worth of people and support their lives over many centuries. In this time, they have received countless expansions and combinations with other ships that makes the Flagstone a unique mix of fortress and city throughout. Here, people work, worship their faiths, live their lives, and have in the past shed blood for their faiths. Instead of referring to their holdings as lands, it would be more accurate to refer to them in terms akin to a fleet. Despite this, the fleet as a whole is not very mobile. It has remained fixed on a certain section of the planet for generations, claiming certain airspace and granting the lives of its people consistent seasons. Such a massive collection of airships would require a monumental amount of energy to move, and the area they inhabit is rich with the gasses and minerals they need besides. Commercial activities and industrial manufacturing has been moved off of the main Flagstone and instead onto the surrounding fleet, complete with their own escort vessels and always active transportation. Military functions and major places of worship tend to be based on more mobile versions of the airships that each house their order and its respective traditions. Some orders rule sections of the Biron Flagstone, as it has grown too large for a single order to maintain rule over the centuries, but even they maintain their own mobile fleets for combat and hunting.

 

Once, the purpose of the Flagstone was to mine and perform industrial manufacturing with the resources of Badal, crafted by resources pushed up from under the planet’s surface. The actual mission has faded with time, but the remnants of this design echoes in the oldest architecture of the fleet. A core of metallic framework, spanning fifty-six layers at its thickest, forms the framework of the ‘land’ that encompasses the Biron Crossroads. People live and work on each of these, taking the geographical and cultural traits of other lands and modeling their own homes in the spirit of adventures that the Knights-Afield have encountered on their mercenary journeys and adventures. Creating gardens with soil and crops is nearly impossible, but smaller, decorative gardens are still popular to give the fully artificial fleet some vibrancy. When absent of external influences, they revert to building smaller living spaces with emphasis on stylized pipework and metallic and glass surfaces, contrasted with very soft and comfortable places for sitting and sleeping; often the pelts of animals and other fuzzy textiles.

People

The Bironian people are humanoids whose evolution diverged due to extended contact with the high noble gas they were sent to extract from the world of Badal in ages past. Still sharing the appearance and build of the humans they once were, they are now known for their pale, almost translucent skin that members of their race infuse with gaseous concoctions they refer to as cocktails flood them with vibrant and more opaque color. Better still, science has brought these gasses to the point where they can also enhance the body of a Bironian, which as a base is typically weaker than most other humanoids. This science does have limits, as the gasses that form the cocktails they infuse themselves with must use Biron as their base. These cocktails are inhaled, and can last 4-8 weeks within the body before fading entirely. Richer colors and patterns tend to signify the rich and influential among society, as only they can afford to so regularly consume precious material. Some people have horns on their head, which usually match the color of the rest of their bodies. These horns tend to run in the blood, passed down from generation to generation with only small variations and can be quite diverse. They grow with the Bironian as they age, reaching full length at maturity.

 

Due to the positive effects these gasses have on Bironian life and the abundance of it in the Aerostat cities where the people claim as their homeland, it is common to pump a healthy amount of Biron into regular ventilation systems and fleets. This compound with oxygen lends the skin a blue tint, which is therefore the most common color for Bironian people. To keep colors vibrant and the body healthy among other peoples, it is common to see their people with tanks of their cocktails of choice. Damaging, confiscating, or losing the tanks are considered deeply unfortunate, and as such even the criminals on Biron are allowed to remain with them. They are manufactured standard issue by the government and provided freely, but only once per person. Other acquisitions must be acquired through the private sector, and hold the best, but often most prohibitively expensive variants for those that can afford them.

 

The government of Biron is constructed to exalt a knightly, devoted culture built on piety and loyalty to those that keep the rest of the populace alive through their militaristic protection from their foes and the hunting of food that fails to grow within their aerostat. Despite the government preaching these values, the truth is that as a free-thinking populace the Bironians have a wide variety of beliefs and cultural practices that can be hard to apply broadly. Despite these, some stereotypes arise - each with a kernel of truth.

 

Among their people, farming is looked down upon as a simpleton’s labor. Earning meals through hunting or intellectual work that contributes to the output of the fleet tends to be preferred as a more honorable and challenging practice despite the many hardships that the few farmers on Biron would argue they go through to produce in a false city lacking natural rainfall and ecosystem…

 

Bespoke and artisan gas samples are the highest luxury and status symbol a Bironian can possess. This might seem somewhat esoteric to foreigners, though occasionally these cocktails contain potent hallucinogenic properties or medical uses that make their value more obvious to outsiders. 

 

Bironians tend to be fairly pious to something, if not the greater state religion. Their circumstance has never been one of self-sufficiency, and so they appeal to the gods readily. Due to the variety of opinions across the fleet, this lends itself to an intense history of ideological conflict and internal wars.

 

Knight-Afields, the military order serving the government, are seen as celebrities and heroes. It is common to believe that every child wishes at least at one point to serve a knightly order, be that on the front lines or as an auxiliary considering how their culture glorifies the hunt and honorable combat.

Government

The people of the Biron Crossroads are governed by local knightly orders, broadly swearing fealty to an Archknight that commands a loose federal authority that requires the cooperation of the local authorities to effectively rule. To keep all parties satisfied, a grand council with members from each order deliberates often to decide policy, debate future action, and maintain cohesion in the face of threats to the fleet. These meetings do not require that all parties attend, but it is expected that all parties abide by the results of these meetings or else face restricted privileges delegated by the Archknight. Orders maintain a level of independence in their diplomacy, collaborating and competing between one another to form rivalries and exclusive deals with foreign powers, ranging from trade to mercenary work and defensive alliances. So long as these do not pose a threat to the systems in place, they are encouraged as they spark competition and excellency within the market. 

 

Council meetings allow two representatives per order, one being secular while the other is a member of the clergy. In addition to this, the Archknight is permitted to bring an additional representative as an advisor and administrative aid to compensate for how much more intensive it is to manage the shifting needs and politics of the fleet as a whole. If the Archknight dies or becomes unable to rule, the advisor becomes acting regent until the replacement is established. Succession tends to be dynastic, with an opportunity for other orders to challenge the ascending heir in combat to claim the position of Archknight if they wish. In the event of an abundance of challengers, they fight one another to narrow the pool to at most three fights.

 

The council requires all parties present to engage in diplomatic action with the Empire, such is its import.

Religion

The religion of the Biron Crosspaths is presently

Majority: Holy Orders' Vows (The conglomeration of the various Knight Order belief systems that influence overall religious perception.)

 

Presently, there is no unified church within the Bironaian Bulwark.

 

Each Knight Order maintains its own sect of faith, which vary in their tenets and rituals. Civilians generally ascribe to the doctrines of the Order they consider best. Regardless, there is a through-line that can be found throughout the vast majority of these individual religious doctrines that can be considered a coherent religion.

 

Once, there was nothing. Then, there was the divine, and the Empire. To say that one created the other would be impossible, rather one could not exist without the other. Protons and electrons forming the basis of reality as it is known. And yet, there was a vast gulf between them. As such, the divine, with its greater power, created the Bironians, or if not that charged their forefathers, with serving as protectors of Imperial order. While in recent years, the gods have grown yet more distant, and the Bironaian Bulwark weaker, this charge is still held to a lesser extent.

 

Bironian Knights wander their planet in fleets, offering their services to merchants as well as in general as peacekeepers in exchange for diplomatic favor and goods to sustain the Bironaian nation. Earning the grace of others in this way is the highest calling of the Brionaians, and measures of self sufficiency are only to be relied upon in great need, else they grow complaisant in their divine charge.

 

The priesthood of the Bironaians are the sole users of anything that could be considered magic, via hazemancy. The divine attunement of the priesthood allows them to infuse otherwise impossible gas mixtures for truly rare and potent brews. 

Resource

Noble Metals (Ores and Alloys/Luxury Good) - It is only natural that the Bironaians have extended the process of infusion to inorganic materials as well, an echo of their distant and forgotten heritage as gas miners. Bironian metals are treated with a secret and complex cocktail of elemental gasses and forged into a shockingly sturdy and light alloy. Manipulation of this metal is not presently advanced enough for mass production, so it remains a status symbol processed by artisanal smiths and craftsmen and carried by those in positions of esteem, or have the deep pockets necessary to obtain it. The only notable exception of this is the gas rig each Bironaian receives upon growing to adulthood as these are subsidized by the national government and produced en masse by a dedicated sect of priest-craftsmen.

 

Fruits and Vegetables - The megadirgible fleet the Bulwark calls its home has always had extremely faulty hydroponics and greenhouse systems, creating a cultural feedback loop of dismissing their importance and usefulness for sustaining the needs of the citizenry. Instead, all hopes are placed on the Knight-Afields earning merchant imports and hunting parties seeking out gas flyers in the clouds to stave off starvation. Access to reliable, grown food is a tantalizing prospect for any Bironian. 

Starting Technology

Xenolinguistic Cataloguing - Given their historical interdependence with other inhabitants of Badal, The Bironian Bulwark have developed a thorough and reliable method of communicating across language barriers via recognizable symbology and simple psychological gestures. Every knight-afield and diplomat carries a digital semaphore kit, designed to allow for both easy conveyance of intent and rudimentary correlation training that should hopefully allow a neutral and willing party to understand the basics of Bironaian language.

 

Badalian Megadirigibles - Thousands of years aboard the dirigibles has made the distance operation of similar craft second nature.

 

It's good to see you here, and I'm glad the Bironians are coming back! I'll want some information on what has happened to Yanji post-"assassination", but besides that you're approved. As discussed, you'll start with 1 ground unit and 1 space unit, and the other NPC units will disband.

[Zayuz]

2 hours ago, Minescratcher452 said:

It's good to see you here, and I'm glad the Bironians are coming back! I'll want some information on what has happened to Yanji post-"assassination", but besides that you're approved. As discussed, you'll start with 1 ground unit and 1 space unit, and the other NPC units will disband.

Thanks Mine! I’ll send you my idea in DMs, probably tomorrow as it’s past midnight my time now.

[Kythia]

6 hours ago, Rolepgeek said:

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.

But the military action also sends troops though. And there's nothing preventing me doing both?

I'm perfecly happy with "+1 to Ground Front battle rolls if in coalition with religious head" if that works.