🐝A.P.I.S. Presents🐝
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The Fourth Hexenniel Conference for the Liberation of Knowledge and Fostering of Growth in Sansar |
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The Meligogue Conclave
An introduction to religion in the Arkhive, the practice and process of mellification, and the sacred duty of the Meligogues
The Arkhive Æternal has no state religion, though the practice of Coedd is a fundamental cornerstone of the landscape. Even those who do not worship Coedd know the omnipresent nature deity to be a basic truth of the planet which bears the same name. This regularly places the Arkhive on lists of Coeddite powers, and no one but particularly unsubtly attention-seeking scholars would dispute that. Coedd is the dominant religion of the Arkhive, and that is unchanging.
Unchanging too, however, is something deeper and more fundamental to Arkhvie spirituality. The highest calling in the Arkhive Æternal is mellification, and the entering of a person's memories and knowledge into the greater pool of understanding is the guidepoint of all Arkhive cosmology. No, mellification is required of no one, though all Librarians and Queens undergo the process, much like the slim majority of residents. However, the fact of it, experienced bodily and mentally through the communion of Honeyed Words and, for the few, Royal Jelly, creates a very particular understanding of the world.
Mellification is an involved process. Years before death, a candidate begins to wean themselves from solid foods, consuming honey more and more. Such is the nutritive power of the Arkhive's sweet sweet juices that they continue on this way for a long time, slowly thinning out, growing golden-eyed and softened. Though they diminish into almost nothing, never do they grow sharp, their corners kept to a softness by the sweetness of their diet. Eventually, as their sweat and tears, their excreta and even their blood begin to assume a honey-like quality, the time has come. Yet living, they enter the sacred center of the Hive, and enter a great cell of honey, where the bees seal them away. Here, their bodies unite with the honey.
This is not the well from which Honeyed Words are drawn. This is food for the bees, who learn and understand and know. These same bees brew the Honeyed Words and Royal Jelly separately and this is imbued with what they know. This means both that the Arkhivists do not consume their dead and that the dead can and do bring messages to the bees. When a scholar specially prepares herself to deliver this message, bearing it into the mellification process, she is known as a Meligogue, an Oracle of Honey.
Ordo Roberts, the sixtieth and forty-two hundredths is one of these Meligogues on his way out. He expects but a week more to live, and has offered his services to the Hexenniel. The Queen, herself beginning the mellification process, much more slowly given the fabulous powers of her unique diet, accepts with honor.
The Hexenniel
Though the amendation and emendation of the Charter stands, as ever, as a purpose of the great meeting, the Queen is greatly pleased to invite all Members to a special meeting to discuss with the Oracle of Honey what might need to be brought to the bees' attention. Ordo Roberts looks at this point like a dried flower, a beautiful husk, and is willing to hear all that is said. The bees will be made aware.
Opportunities:
- Speak to the bees! This might influence the miracles we start to do on Hives, the general trajectory of the Arkhive, maybe the eventual replacement to Connie, and most excitingly a potential to change how points are calculated. The Charter described what the Arkhive can do, but the points are entirely the will of the bees. This is the chance to change things!
- Mingle, chat, do diplomacy stuff. The Arkhive specifically welcomes use of itself as a forum. Constance is glad to participate or be excluded, no fear.
- The Arkhive Charter is going to have two proposed amendments. I'll wait for EmBark's amendment before I present mine. Every Sansarite member gets a vote (plus EmBark)
- Tech trade! The Arkhive is giving away the following to anyone (unless you actively aggress us this turn, I guess.
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Coedd's Intelligence Agency is physically located in the ArkHive and security is less than non-existant: the workers are eager to show off the work they do and the valuable information they send to Coedd. As a Diplomacy Action or as a Sub-Action of mechanically attending an event at the ArkHive you may examine the records. Let Kythia know and she will share the current state of Coedd's spy network with you.
Techs for Sale! For Free!
- Aclaustrophobic Psychiatry
- Algorithmic Imagination
- Arcane Amplification
- Badalian Megadirigibles
- In Vivo Modification
- Nuclear Fusion
- Pseudogravity Engineering
- Shrewd Business
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Thaumonuclear Reactors* - Vacuum Adaptation
- Wet Navy Ships
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Xenolinguistic Cataloguing
*Gotta talk to Coedd first. I'll letcha kno
Charter of the Arkhive Æternal
Immutables
-Every odd round, the Arkhive will hold a Hexenniel Conference to select a Patron, determined by the Points System (see below).
-There are two tiers of Membership: Local Members (for residents of Sansar) and Visiting Members (for everyone else).
-Should a Visiting Member be awarded Patronage OR complete and maintain a Hive (5-action GP), they will permanently be considered Local, so long as they retain Membership.
-Members' holdings shall be held as inviolable to the Library, subject to no interference.
-The Arkhive's holdings shall be held as inviolable to Members, subject to no interference.
-The Arkhive shall devote half of its capacity in service of its Patron (2 actions on odd round, 3 on evens).
-The Arkhive cannot use Military actions nor maintain a standing army (but we're ignoring the unit we start with because it'd be a hassle to deal with--we rebuke the fiction and substitute our own!).
-The Arkhive is a place of refuge; anyone swearing themselves to scholarship is welcome in its walls, regardless of their past.
-The Arkhive is subject always to public oversight; it will never take a secret action
-The Arkhive reserves all E5s and D5s that it may better distribute Trade Routes and Embassies, as well as its first F5 and F10. Additionally, should the Arkhive ever do that thing to get a new civ type and another action what's that called again I forgot, it reserves that one action as well--feel free to ask in advance about it if worried.
Mutables
-Research produced or acquired by the Arkhive (including techs) is to be freely disseminated to all Members without discrimination.
-Physical holdings (including artifacts) are to be loaned out for three years at a time to Local Members.
-Members of the Arkhive hold joint responsibility for recovering overdue and stolen items and holdings (including TPs and Supports*)
-Failure to return a borrowed item by its due date incurs a fine of two (2) Treasure. A further borrowing period overdue will result in revocation of Membership and extraction of reparations as determined appropriate by all remaining Members and the Librarians.
-At their sole discretion, the Queen can forgive fines and pardon misstep.
-The Arkhive accepts all donations.
-Trade Routes will be distributed freely among Members, preferencing Local Members and those offering more generous donations (points system).
-Cultural Exchanges will be distributed freely among Members, preferencing Local Members and those offering more generous donations (points system).
-At each Hexenniel Conference, the current Patron and the Queen may each submit a proposal to add, remove, or alter a single mutable point of this charter.
-Proposals to change the Charter are only confirmed by a 2/3rds majority of voting Local Members.
-No Patron may require the Arkhive to Adopt Faith.
*I don't expect to have any interest in supports unless a [i]hostile[/i] power takes the Arkhive's capital supports
Points System: (Note, this is crunch, but IC it's just the Will of the Bees. Not mutable or immutable, just an enumeration of how the Hive chooses to crown you.)
Provide our Desired Import: 2pts/round (available to every civ that does it, even if the need is already met)
Submit a piece of your culture's literature for Arkhival: 1pt (max 1/rd)
Submit a history for Arkhival: 1pt (max 1/rd)
Submit a theo/mythological or philosophical work for Arkhival: 1pt (max 1/rd)
Recover a lost item from the Arkhive's holdings (returning late items absolutely doesn't count, loophole nerdz): 10pts
Submit the results of an Investigation for Arkhival: 2pts
Submit a technology not yet held by the Arkhive: 2pts for starting tech, 5pts for all others (simultaneous submissions are both rewarded)
Donate an Artifact to the Arkhive: 10pts
Donate Treasure to the Arkhive: 1pt/ea
Build a Hive (5-action GP, you may use the Arkhive's actions for this as Patron): 2pts/turn ongoing, Donor Status
Mechanical figure (or retired Ruler) joins the Arkhive: 3pts
Fluff piece describing influx of your people joining the Arkhive OR an individual described to be noteworthy (such as a great scholar) joining the Arkhive OR a scholar of the Arkhive joining your people: 1 pt (max 1/rd)
Points accrue until the end of a Conference. At the end of the round, the civ with the highest total is awarded the status of Patron. They return to 0 points. Second place is awarded five points to start the next round. Third receives four, fourth receives three, and so on. Ties for Patron are decided between the tied parties, and if they fail to come to an agreement, they roll off. All other ties will both receive the higher point total.
List of Members
ALF (Local)
CUS (Local)
ELD (Local)
GLO (Local)
ILU (Local)
LSP (Local)
RAT (Local)
RRE (Local)
WTP (Local)
BAF (Visiting)
MSQ (Visiting)
TEA (Visiting)
UNC (Visiting)
UHS (Visiting)
