Actions:
Draigiau Residuum Gathering
Turn 4
Brenhineplisgyn, Queen Shell, the Two-Headed
Diplomacy - 4
Military - 5
Economy - 6
Faith - 6
Intrigue - 3
1. Diplomacy - Raise Organization Reputation: Chelonian Chora (1->2) (10. Failure...)
2. Diplomacy - Sway Faction: Aristocracy, R70, spending 1 Treasure (12! Success!)
Spoiler: SummaryLawenach the Jovial is sent with substantial gifts to win over the local authorities of Region 70, demonstrating to them that "servant" of Dragons is in no way a demeanor, but a noble aspiration with many rewards. As is "friend" to Dragons.
3. Military - Recruit Unit
4. Military - Recruit Unit
Spoiler: SceneGwasgymarchog watched the latest batch of serving-one recruits from the hollow in the training yard cave where she'd taken to stewing in her own heat between "sparring" sessions. They were recovering from the shock of the fight and helping each other up and back to the barracks. They did well.
She would take on a dozen at once, laughing and sending them tumbling, bruising their bodies and their pride as the greener recruits would usually forget the majority of their training at the sight of her pale, scarred bulk lurching toward them. Even with the restraint she was required to exercise, it was surprisingly great fun.
But there was something else more surprising about it. The other trainers weren't the only ones noticing when a recruit did well; when a shield went up or a body loosened to roll with the blow, staggering as it was going to be. Something about when they made progress, when they gulped down their instinctive terror and reacted as they should, communicated with each other, or even the rare occasion when a group managed to stay in formation despite her charge...
She was proud of them. She'd have thought she'd be furious as they learned to stand their ground against her. And she made sure to act it none-the-less most of the time. But she was... proud. Even sparring with another Draig, teaching her how to carry her shell better to avoid being flipped, how to better surge her fins to topple opponents... it was exhilarating to watch her grasp some of it. To pass on a little of her own power to others like this...
She hated it. And to her surprise, part of her also loved it. "My little soldiers... hardened and ready to crush shells of our enemies... not as good as if they were truly mine to command. But damn good. Damn that two-headed, muddy lard bowl, this is the second time she's gotten through my shell..."
5. Faith - Construct a Reefback Nursery: Begin Construction
Spoiler: SummaryKailani Cora, one of Brenhineplisgyn's most enthusiastically devoted clerical servants, is entrusted with collating the specifications for a Reefback Nursery from the Chora, and administrating the gathering of the needed supplies and labor to begin construction. The young mermaid woman dives into the task with pride and vigor, anxious to live up to the trust her queen has placed into her, and with the Queen-Shell's authority, begins making the necessary requisitions.
Link to rolls
Shifting Stats:
Ruler: Diplomacy +1, Military +1
Treasure -2
Non-Actions:
- Attend the Fruits of the Reef in Bloom to bring a cultural relic (No trades or treaty made.)
- Trade one Treasure to the DNA in exchange for their protection against the Reaper threat, so that we may focus our defenses against threats from under the waves.
- Send the Song of the Wisp Lost to the Cholonian Chora to be immortalized as a chapter in the Songline of the Frozen Seas, that Sgliendilynwr may never be forgotten.
Spoiler: Song of the Wisp LostSong of the Wisp Lost
There once wandered a beautiful Draig with scales more blue than the depths,
Sheen more silver than ice resembled,
Talons most delicate and nimble,
And eyes wide with wonder, shimmering with more brilliance than the aurora.
A finder and collector were they but tarnished by the least greed of all Draigiau,
Pure in her curiosity,
Boundless in her generosity,
Their serving ones and followers wanting for nothing, adorned in finery and splendor.
They wandered one day into desolate dunes, searching for pearls amidst the sand,
She found instead a vicious Draig,
Her beauty tamed the Huntress,
They wandered after wisps and hunted prey together, dancing among the currents.
Where, oh Sgliendilynwr,
Do you swim amongst the wisps of light?
Why, oh Sgliendilynwr,
Do you wander where I cannot find your scales of deep blue night?
When Draigiau gathered, they both heard the call of the Queen-Shell,
They moved to dwell under Crest,
Two nests became a single nest,
Two Dragons hoarded treasures and followers together, and hoped to hatch eggs.
A trap was laid by an envious prince, coveting their splendor and their lithe dexterity,
A peaceful game he offered to all comers,
A prize he promised to nimble searchers,
With offerings of bounty to seek, he lured kind Sgliendilynwr into his labyrinth.
Her pure curiosity blinded her to the danger of his sinister intentions,
She swam nimbly through the maze,
They sought out the treasure,
But instead of reward, the Wisp Wanderer was never seen again, her glory stolen.
Where, oh Sgliendilynwr,
Do you swim amongst the wisps of light?
Why, oh Sgliendilynwr,
Do you wander where I cannot find your scales of deepest blue night?
- Send fossilized tissue and scale samples to the DNA along with what information and records we have on the Deep Behemoth Draigiau and the flora and fauna of the reef that have flourished since the addition of their shells; two entries for the Genus Taxonomia Gelidum Mare.
Spoiler: Behemoth DraigBehemoth Draig (Scyllaridae Dracomagnus)
Transcribed at the direction of Llyfrgellydd, the Hoarder of Writing
Being one of the largest and mightiest recorded of all varieties of Dragon ever to exist, the Behemoth Draigiau are believed to be completely extinct since the Calamity. Little fact is known of these grand creatures today, but what can be inferred from study of their remains and reference to other texts I will record here, separate from pure supposition such as legends of their vast hoards.
Behemoth Draig were a more distant relative to most modern Draigiau than their appearance might immediately imply. Salvaged shell specimens have been found from 45 to 83 meters in length. They are recognizable from a great distance by their four massive “wing” fins stretching nearly a third their total length from either side of the central thorax and the rear of their abdomen.
Their main body was, similar to many modern Draigiau, composed of a six-segmented head, a six-segmented abdomen, and an eight-segmented thorax. But each segment pair possessed two layers of interlocking shell *within* the exoskeletal primary shell, making them a unique category of pseudo-vertibrate leviathan. No other known species of aquatic Draig possesses this trait.*
The forward wings protrude from over both internal scales of the rear-most abdominal segments, and articulate in shell-fin segments forward, perhaps being a proto-form alternative to the proportionally large primary forclaws of modern Dragons, better suited to drifting and swimming in the greatest depths. While they lacked a manipulator claw of such proportion to their own bulk, however, each abdominal segment bore a pair of forlegs, each ending in a claw of comparable actual size, for a total of twelve forclaws. The rear wings protruded from the middle-forward segments of the Thorax, connected in between the internal shells and segment backward in a so-far unique pattern to each found specimen. Each thorax segment also bore a pair of proportionately small walking legs, though it is not known if these were ever actually used as anything more than small balancing aids. Finally, each of these grand creatures possessed a pair of massive rear dorsal tails, each having two blade-like spikes of solid shell on top near the base.
The creature’s head possessed two large shell spikes that appear to have contained sophisticated vibration sensing mechanisms for pinpointing changes in ocean current and motion with frightening precision. Eye sockets have been found arrayed beneath these, for proportionately very small eyes of likely limited use. To the sides of each spike were a pair of secondary attennae. And then arrayed all around to the sides of the head were a staggering total of 30 tertiary antennae!
Some scholars have theorized that these allowed the huge creatures to make prey of anything from sharks to even perhaps other Dragons intruding on their territory with their great mandibles, while also sensing the concentrations of other nutrients and particles in the water which they sifted using frills of thin tissue which would have protruded from the gaps in the edges of their primary head shell. I however also believe that based on the placement of these antennae wrapping around the sides of the head and angled downward to the dragon’s more vulnerable side, these organs served a defensive sensory purpose as well. Giving additional credence to this theory, the fin-plates of the wings of the Behemoth Draigiau are thoroughly porous, and in the Shallow Crest specimen, fossilized organs have been found embedded across them similar to ink-sacs in some cephalopod species.
As horrifying as the possibility may be, one must consider the possibility that these behemoths, or at least their young while still of an age to need protection from their parents, had a natural predator or enemy that it was simply easiest to sense coming, and escape from. The presence of the ink defenses and the fact that this dragon is not believed to have relied much on sight means that the threat was not only from others of the same species looking to claim territory.
*Author’s note: except potentially my colleague, Ewyllysgar the Stubborn-Backed. **
**For the sake of posterity in eventual absence of context, this is a joke.
Spoiler: Artists' Speculative Rendition
Spoiler: Gorgon’s Crib CoralGorgon’s Crib Coral (Gorgonia Escyllaridae)
Transcribed at the direction of Llyfrgellydd, the Hoarder of Writing
A sub-family of arctic coral fan that has only recently been discovered growing in the Aelwyd Adferiad region of the Polar Expanse. This coral is believed to be a species related to phylum Cnidaria, having adapted and flourished to anchoring on and, partially, feeding on the incredibly dense minerals and nutrients within the shells of Draigiau. It has been particularly noted to thrive around the edges of Behemoth Draig shells, including those forming the Shallow Crest, and its growth there has been advantageous as a framework for extension construction.
Gorgon’s Crib possesses a skeletal axis made of a mix of calcifications and organic fibre, and reinforced thoroughly and efficiently with the hardened material it grows upon, giving it visible veins and spine-like framework. These skeletal spines that support and reinforce the coral fan as it grows also take on the pigment color of the shells on which they feed, over time leaching that color into the coral fan as a whole. This leach coloring tends to create a spectrum of shades of the scale’s original color, and sometimes pigmentally adjacent colors. The shape of the colonies have been observed to be largely fan-like emitting from the porous edges of scales where they find purchase, but with some variants forming whiplike tendrils, or even bushy encrusting growths over the whole scale.
These corals have been observed so far to grow colonies measuring from a few centimeters to two meters in length at most. While the Gorgon’s Crib itself seems to feed substantially from the shells the polyps latch onto, they also form a symbiotic bond with more traditional gorgonian polyp colonies, seeming to gain some nourishment as well from their filter feeding in exchange for housing within the porous tissue between the skeletal frame. These polyps latching onto and nesting in the Crib colony rather than their usual structure gives it the mottled spots.
These coral have also proved to provide a suitable ecosystem for most of the native fish, algae, and snails to flourish, where left unattended and allowed to do so. The skeletal composition seems to be somewhat flexible, while retaining most of the hardness and durability of the scales they feed on, making them potentially an excellent crafting material for structures, armor, and perhaps some weapons or tools. Finally several fairly unique organic substances are produced by these coral, giving them potential in both culinary and medicinal studies.
Spoiler: Depiction of Similar
Spoiler: Bookkeeping
Ruler Stats for Round 3:
Diplomacy - 5
Military - 6
Economy - 6
Faith - 6
Intrigue - 3
Favors earned:21 from Divine Nacres *edited with permission and screencap*
Favors owed:
Region 71: Aelwyd Adferiad (capitol)
demand: Food (filled!)
Units: 3
Treasure: 3
Artifacts: Dragonstone of the Gathered
Spoiler: ArtifactWhen used in battle by an already attuned user, gives +1 to battle roll and +1 to effective unit count.
An unattuned user must succeed on a Faith 12 roll at the start of battle to attune. Failure to attune in battle stuns the user and means they automatically fail their maneuver roll to use Battle Tactics.
An action can be spent to attune out of battle, with a Faith 14 roll. Loses attunement if the owner takes 50% or more casualties in battle, or if ownership changes, or a new user (ruler) inherits the stone. The stone's creator starts attuned.
Trade Post Resources: 1 Dragon Scales, 1 Herring
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2022-05-25, 04:54 PM (ISO 8601)Dwarf in the Playground
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Re: Empire 7: Into the Depths IC Thread
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