Empire 7: Into the Depths IC Thread

[Aerin]

The Lux-Glossian Shades
Temperate region, Capital: 135
Round 4

Spoiler: Ruler stats and stat increases

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Ruler: Lirix of the Magenta Shade, Eldest of the Matriarchs

Ruler stats for round 4:
Diplomacy - 4
Military - 4
Economy - 7
Faith - 4
Intrigue - 6

Ruler increases: +1 Intrigue, +1 Faith

Ruler stats for round 5:
Diplomacy - 2
Military - 2
Economy - 3
Faith - 5
Intrigue - 5

Spoiler: Rolls

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New ruler: forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?643055-Empire-7-Into-the-Depths-Dice-Rolling-Thread&p=25473328&posted=1#post25473328
Rolls: forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?643055-Empire-7-Into-the-Depths-Dice-Rolling-Thread&p=25473334#post25473334

Actions:

1. Intrigue: Investigate south of region 99. [12, SUCCESS]

2. Intrigue: Investigate southwest of region 102. [9, FAILURE]

Spoiler: Fluff

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There was a buzz of gossip that traveled around Leriander when a Shade was delegated to be the first to chart the deep ocean. Still, the Lux-Glossian peoples prided themselves on being unafraid to settle and explore places where others will not tread. The exploration proceeded despite rumors from the Stewards of terrible dangers lurking in the depths. Perhaps they should have listened. The expedition did not return.

3. Faith: Contribute to the Songline of the Broken Seas.

4. Faith: Adopt the Middish School of the Flowing Way.

Spoiler: Fluff

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The conversion of Holy Ovum, the Glossian Sea's largest and most flashy holy site, was the death knell for the old religion, which had never truly been collected into a cohesive set of beliefs to begin with. When Ramira took control of the Grand Conclave, his first action was to declare Lux-Glossia to be a follower of the Way.

5. Diplomacy: Attend the Carnival at Cadid Santuario.
Sub-action: Accept Anoxic Adaptation from CYP.

Spoiler: Link

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For my own records: forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?645857-Empire!-7-Event-Carnival-at-Cadid-Santuario&p=25461504#post25461504

Non-Actions:

1. Support OKI's conversion of 135 HS1 to The Flowing Way.

2. Change ruler to Ramira of the Viridian Shade, Eldest of the Matriarchs.

Spoiler: Fluff

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Lirix was clearly losing her grip, and so the Magenta Shade chose a new, younger Matriarch to represent them. The next eldest Matriarch remaining in the Grand Conclave was Ramira of the Viridian Shade. He was more faith focused, being the Matriarch of a Shade in Holy Ovum, and less of a cutthroat merchant than typical for a Grand Matriarch.

3. Enter a contribution to the Songline of the Broken Seas.

Spoiler: Fluff

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A decade ago, the first missionaries of the Flowing Way arrived in Lux-Glossia. They were captivated by the constantly shifting song of the driftwood chimes and established a small presence there to record the resulting melodies. The driftwood chimes are a small region of the Glossian Sea where the normal surface morass of planks, branches, logs, kelp, and trash is replaced by a gently bobbing sea of giant hollow logs. When the logs collide with each other, they resonate with a single note for minutes on end. The result is a gradually shifting series of chords that feels as though it is perpetually building to new heights.

You can listen to a 4 minute snippet of what that might sound like here: npr.org/2002/11/26/858257/closer-to-eternity-stretching-beethovens-9th

The missionaries from the Ironkelp Knights are long gone, now, but the association of the Flowing Way and the driftwood chimes has been continued by the locals. At first, the goal was simply to record particularly striking melodies and attempt to puzzle meaning from them. Being a faith focused on storytelling, the idea of telling stories with important climaxes matched to the background music caught on quite quickly. The first stories told were those most ancient and most important to the Lux-Glossians: the exodus from the homeland and the founding of Leriander. In the years that followed, as the nearby Shades adopted the Flowing Way and made it their own, a unique Lux-Glossian spin on storytelling began to emerge.

Today, every story that is told to the accompaniment of the slow wooden chimes is unique. Brave souls who choose to stand in front of their peers and sing or chant alongside the musical notes use nothing but their quick wits and ingenuity to create a new story thread in the tapestry of the world. While it is understandably impossible to record every tale that is told at the chimes for the Songline, the following passage is exemplary of what the Chora's conductors might hear should they visit.

The three brothers who met Death.

Three brothers lived in a remote colony without sunlight.
Death visited, for the Shade had nothing to eat.
And soon only the brothers were left to wait Death's invite.
For there was still no food, not a morsel or treat.

The youngest left for the city of Leriander.
I will bring crystals so that we can grow food, he declared.
But alas, he brought nothing to barter or bander.
Without a shade to protect him, Death found him ill-prepared.

The middle brother stayed, although his prospects were bleak.
I will travel to the surface, and scavenge for algae among the smother.
But the surface is dangerous and the middle brother was weak.
To Death, the Reavers brought yet another brother.

The eldest brother left to wander.
I will find the eldest among us, he said, and ask for advice.
Long was his journey, hither and yonder.
The eldest Matriarch, he found, he was meeting twice.

I did not expect you to come to me, said Death.
Please, said the eldest brother, I am the last of my brothers.
Let me join your Shade, he pleaded in a breath.
And you will not have to search for me like you did the others.

You may join me, said Death to her new sister.
But know that I have claimed you too.
For died already has the mister.
As a sister of my Shade born anew.

4. Enter a contribution to the Neritic Manuals.

Spoiler: Fluff

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The Lux-Glossians are excellent stone-cutters, an art which applies to both their architecture and fine crafts. As invertebrate forms whose bodies are essentially one huge flexible muscle, many Lysimia are employed in stonecutting and transport in the capital. Stone is incredibly abundant in Leriander, a mining city set inside a massive ravine. Dwellings are often either carved directly into the walls or extended outwards from the walls using slabs and supports carved from the nearby cliffs. Bridges connecting the two sides of the ravine are also constructed with stone, often using blocky arches for greater structural support. One could not, however, call any of the stone architecture delicate or graceful. Thick slabs, columns, and blocks are preferred, and almost none of the architecture is carved. Instead, every possible surface is painted in a riot of colors and geometric designs and inset with chips and shards of glowing luminescent crystal. Thin slabs of crystal are often used as windows of dwellings or to provide light over garden terraces.

For more delicate endeavors, stonecarvers work on the luminous crystal that is mined from the deepest reaches of the Leriander ravine. Each Shade has a single crystal selected from the chromatic depths that must be cut and polished to perfection, usually to be displayed prominently in some sort of wearable item for the Matriarch of the Shade. Smaller, more pale crystals are polished and drilled to make beads used for clothing and jewelry. Large panels in complex geometric shapes are created for use in decorative mosaics and ceilings. Recently, the youth of the city have even begun to carve numbered polyhedrons for use in games of chance.

Spoiler: Reminders for myself

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Respond to Gengy
Make a monument
Make a flag!