Rederick and Indraj Alika - Grand Ajivha
As time went on and Ajivha went back to its business little of the Aetherial Collective or their Nomadic Kin were seen within the borders of the Grand city. On the second month of the new year, three men suddenly and without warning appeared outside the Gates of the palace. Two men hooded and carrying large wooden boxes, and the third a man recognized for his presence in the city during the Civil War. A man simply named Rederick. As guards came to question them, he asked for an Audience with Indraj Alika.
Once the men's identities were established, they were quickly summoned to the Palace of Grand Ajivha, where the King waited to meet them.
"It is an honour, as always," he greeted Rederick and the others as they entered, "the help you provided in the forty first year has not been forgotten,"
"It's an honour to help," Rederick smiled as he began to speak, "This city and its people go through far more than it deserves." Rederick flicked his wrist slightly and the two men that had came with him lowered the boxes to the ground "While I would like to claim that I've come today socially. I've come to ask for your peoples help. A project that we have been working on for the past ten years has reached a point where we have realized that we cannot complete it alone."
"Tell me more about this project," Indraj replied with interest.
"Well," Rederick paused in thought for a few seconds, "It's similar in nature to the ships that we have begun to manufacture but on a much grander scale. It's an island. One that will be able to fly with the clouds and above them." He smiled a bit brighter "As it has been drawn it will be as wide and as tall as the city."
"It sounds like a dream," the King replied with a laugh, "A pleasant one though. If we were to offer our assistance, would you share the technology with the rest of Ajivha?"
"If you were to help, We can share most of it yes." Rederick replied "Though with what we have and what we think we'll have by then, Gangari has told us that he'll be needed to make something of its size work. Our magics simply aren't strong enough to lift it and it'd likely tear itself apart before it left the ground."
"Of course, I doubt we'll be building any flying cities soon," Indraj smiled, "What do you need our help with precisely?"
"We require workers and land." Rederick replied, "We have plans for a suitable drydock and the farms and houses needed to sustain the work drawn up for an already wasted part of the desert to the south. Our marshes are too wet and things grow too fast to accomplish anything of this size there. As for the workers, we simply don't have enough labourers for the work required. Most of it can be grown directly from our metals but the runitry among other things needs skilled hands. Without the infrastructure of the city the time required would more than double."
"We have much land and many workers, among them migrant halflings and even some luug who come down this far south looking for employment," the King nodded, "You have my blessing to rent a county to the south of Grand Ajivha for the duration of your work. The exact sums will have to be decided later."
"Okay," Rederick smiled, "We can agree to that." Rederick gripped his hands together, "Until then, we have a gift for you and we have the plans if you would like to look them over." The two men beside him opened their boxes. One was filled with scrolls, the other held a pair of intricately crafted wings made of the silver metal of the university. The man lifted the wings from the box and held them out Indraj.
Indraj took the wings with a curious expression on his face and held them close, studying them carefully with the hands that had once worked as a blacksmith's apprentice.
"Do these actually fly?" he asked Rederick.
"Of course," Rederick continued smiling "As well as a bird."
"Incredible," the King breathed, "The wonders of modern technology, I must try these right away!"
Rederick looked on smiling for a few moments before speaking "Wait." He looked at the man that pulled it from the crate and the man in a panicked manner looked down into the box and pulled a leather harness with metal studs on it back from it. The man quickly held it out before regaining his composure. Rederick then continued smiling "You'll likely need that to wear them. They need something to attach to."
"Of course," Indraj exclaimed as he strapped on the wings and walked out into the palace courtyard, taking off unsteadily with a shout.
[hr]
Gangari - Highcrag - 17/21 AP
Gangari stood in the large chamber carved in the mountain, staring at the gagged and bound creature before him. After he had learned the ***** was still alive he had began to come here to think.
His children had been dragged into war twice now, Righteous men were being killed for doing their duty, Aurora was already priming to tear itself apart again, the Grat were primed to commit Genocide, and the Luug... He couldn't be everywhere and Lysei had grown distant from the concerns of mortals as far as he could tell.
Indraj had a family, The Tabula Rasa knew little beyond death, Ashlif had become almost sociopathic after the sacking, and there were never enough Justiciars to carry out their task on the scale it needed to be. Something needed to be done...
The chain on the other side of the room jangled slightly and Gangari had come out of his thoughts. He had never actually spoken to the Creature. Cyth'rauls whore. He had kept her fed and hydrated, she hadn't earned the right to die with how she forsook it. But he had never told her why he hated her so or let her speak. She didn't deserve a voice after what she had used it for. The room had been sealed until the end of time and everything that she had put in place to hide herself he destroyed.
She would never die again. She would never speak again. She would never see another creature besides him again. And the chains and the ropes would keep digging into her rocky flesh. And she would feel pain and she would come to understand just how much he had come to hate her.
[hr]
Jubal - Aetherial Collective Government District
The man known as Jubal sat tired in his home reading the months reports.
New recruits had been received during the past few months, fresh men and women for the orders making their society. After the interrogations by the inquisition that was finally able to do its job, they were trained and sent to expand territory to the north east and the south west by clearing land and establishing two new quarters.
Rails were built within the new merchants quarter or foreign quarter as some called it due to its purpose being almost entirely to cater to foreign caravans in the new Ajivhan standard. These lands were now connecting them to the rail network that they had needed to shoot men to stop it from expanding through them last year. It all seemed so pointless now. Men shot to stop something. Men raised from the dead. Something happens anyway.
Earlier in the month the legion had returned with few deaths amongst them. The city had been taken with little actual bloodshed apparently. The new rockets had been almost flawlessly successful as the stories were going and new kinds were being developed alongside different recipes of the gas weapon that had been used in the originals. Such a brutal thing their god had given them, running men through a month long disease in less than an hour but if it saved their lives in the end then it was the kind thing to do.
And then there was Khyber, he had been told he was to be shot. A sad turn of events, he had come to like the man and it was disheartening to learn that he was to be executed for doing his duty.
The return of the legion brought another thing beside news. An influx of Krakari weapons entered their stockpile. Things that had been bought, looted, and given as gifts had not only provided a higher standard of armament for the soldiers, it had given their weapon makers fresh ides for the future. Rifled barrels, cartridge ammunition, repeat firings, pistols, grenades... Things to keep them in lockstep with the rest of the world. And beside them the gatling guns that the Krakari had promised them were being mounted on the growing fleet of sky ships maintained by the legion, granting them unquestionable supremacy over the skies.
New administrative techniques were being implemented as he had heard: professional merchantry, resource management plans, archives of papers detailing every single one of their members, signed papers for workers, military plans...
And amongst all of this, something new, something different. There was news that vampires had been found amongst members of the militia. Apparently having been bit during the first battle of Saranda, they tried to hide their conditions. Inquisitors had them moved underground in a prison of some sort until it was determined how to treat them he had been told. It likely wouldn't be long until they were drafted into something.
After he had finished drafting his orders in Lord Rederick's name he received a letter from the Krakari. They wanted to learn beside them. Medicine, weapons, sciences... And something about cities in the east and south. He refreshed his ink and began to draft a response.
Long days and long night were ahead of him again.
As time went on and Ajivha went back to its business little of the Aetherial Collective or their Nomadic Kin were seen within the borders of the Grand city. On the second month of the new year, three men suddenly and without warning appeared outside the Gates of the palace. Two men hooded and carrying large wooden boxes, and the third a man recognized for his presence in the city during the Civil War. A man simply named Rederick. As guards came to question them, he asked for an Audience with Indraj Alika.
Once the men's identities were established, they were quickly summoned to the Palace of Grand Ajivha, where the King waited to meet them.
"It is an honour, as always," he greeted Rederick and the others as they entered, "the help you provided in the forty first year has not been forgotten,"
"It's an honour to help," Rederick smiled as he began to speak, "This city and its people go through far more than it deserves." Rederick flicked his wrist slightly and the two men that had came with him lowered the boxes to the ground "While I would like to claim that I've come today socially. I've come to ask for your peoples help. A project that we have been working on for the past ten years has reached a point where we have realized that we cannot complete it alone."
"Tell me more about this project," Indraj replied with interest.
"Well," Rederick paused in thought for a few seconds, "It's similar in nature to the ships that we have begun to manufacture but on a much grander scale. It's an island. One that will be able to fly with the clouds and above them." He smiled a bit brighter "As it has been drawn it will be as wide and as tall as the city."
"It sounds like a dream," the King replied with a laugh, "A pleasant one though. If we were to offer our assistance, would you share the technology with the rest of Ajivha?"
"If you were to help, We can share most of it yes." Rederick replied "Though with what we have and what we think we'll have by then, Gangari has told us that he'll be needed to make something of its size work. Our magics simply aren't strong enough to lift it and it'd likely tear itself apart before it left the ground."
"Of course, I doubt we'll be building any flying cities soon," Indraj smiled, "What do you need our help with precisely?"
"We require workers and land." Rederick replied, "We have plans for a suitable drydock and the farms and houses needed to sustain the work drawn up for an already wasted part of the desert to the south. Our marshes are too wet and things grow too fast to accomplish anything of this size there. As for the workers, we simply don't have enough labourers for the work required. Most of it can be grown directly from our metals but the runitry among other things needs skilled hands. Without the infrastructure of the city the time required would more than double."
"We have much land and many workers, among them migrant halflings and even some luug who come down this far south looking for employment," the King nodded, "You have my blessing to rent a county to the south of Grand Ajivha for the duration of your work. The exact sums will have to be decided later."
"Okay," Rederick smiled, "We can agree to that." Rederick gripped his hands together, "Until then, we have a gift for you and we have the plans if you would like to look them over." The two men beside him opened their boxes. One was filled with scrolls, the other held a pair of intricately crafted wings made of the silver metal of the university. The man lifted the wings from the box and held them out Indraj.
Indraj took the wings with a curious expression on his face and held them close, studying them carefully with the hands that had once worked as a blacksmith's apprentice.
"Do these actually fly?" he asked Rederick.
"Of course," Rederick continued smiling "As well as a bird."
"Incredible," the King breathed, "The wonders of modern technology, I must try these right away!"
Rederick looked on smiling for a few moments before speaking "Wait." He looked at the man that pulled it from the crate and the man in a panicked manner looked down into the box and pulled a leather harness with metal studs on it back from it. The man quickly held it out before regaining his composure. Rederick then continued smiling "You'll likely need that to wear them. They need something to attach to."
"Of course," Indraj exclaimed as he strapped on the wings and walked out into the palace courtyard, taking off unsteadily with a shout.
[hr]
Gangari - Highcrag - 17/21 AP
Gangari stood in the large chamber carved in the mountain, staring at the gagged and bound creature before him. After he had learned the ***** was still alive he had began to come here to think.
His children had been dragged into war twice now, Righteous men were being killed for doing their duty, Aurora was already priming to tear itself apart again, the Grat were primed to commit Genocide, and the Luug... He couldn't be everywhere and Lysei had grown distant from the concerns of mortals as far as he could tell.
Indraj had a family, The Tabula Rasa knew little beyond death, Ashlif had become almost sociopathic after the sacking, and there were never enough Justiciars to carry out their task on the scale it needed to be. Something needed to be done...
The chain on the other side of the room jangled slightly and Gangari had come out of his thoughts. He had never actually spoken to the Creature. Cyth'rauls whore. He had kept her fed and hydrated, she hadn't earned the right to die with how she forsook it. But he had never told her why he hated her so or let her speak. She didn't deserve a voice after what she had used it for. The room had been sealed until the end of time and everything that she had put in place to hide herself he destroyed.
She would never die again. She would never speak again. She would never see another creature besides him again. And the chains and the ropes would keep digging into her rocky flesh. And she would feel pain and she would come to understand just how much he had come to hate her.
[hr]
Jubal - Aetherial Collective Government District
The man known as Jubal sat tired in his home reading the months reports.
New recruits had been received during the past few months, fresh men and women for the orders making their society. After the interrogations by the inquisition that was finally able to do its job, they were trained and sent to expand territory to the north east and the south west by clearing land and establishing two new quarters.
Rails were built within the new merchants quarter or foreign quarter as some called it due to its purpose being almost entirely to cater to foreign caravans in the new Ajivhan standard. These lands were now connecting them to the rail network that they had needed to shoot men to stop it from expanding through them last year. It all seemed so pointless now. Men shot to stop something. Men raised from the dead. Something happens anyway.
Earlier in the month the legion had returned with few deaths amongst them. The city had been taken with little actual bloodshed apparently. The new rockets had been almost flawlessly successful as the stories were going and new kinds were being developed alongside different recipes of the gas weapon that had been used in the originals. Such a brutal thing their god had given them, running men through a month long disease in less than an hour but if it saved their lives in the end then it was the kind thing to do.
And then there was Khyber, he had been told he was to be shot. A sad turn of events, he had come to like the man and it was disheartening to learn that he was to be executed for doing his duty.
The return of the legion brought another thing beside news. An influx of Krakari weapons entered their stockpile. Things that had been bought, looted, and given as gifts had not only provided a higher standard of armament for the soldiers, it had given their weapon makers fresh ides for the future. Rifled barrels, cartridge ammunition, repeat firings, pistols, grenades... Things to keep them in lockstep with the rest of the world. And beside them the gatling guns that the Krakari had promised them were being mounted on the growing fleet of sky ships maintained by the legion, granting them unquestionable supremacy over the skies.
New administrative techniques were being implemented as he had heard: professional merchantry, resource management plans, archives of papers detailing every single one of their members, signed papers for workers, military plans...
And amongst all of this, something new, something different. There was news that vampires had been found amongst members of the militia. Apparently having been bit during the first battle of Saranda, they tried to hide their conditions. Inquisitors had them moved underground in a prison of some sort until it was determined how to treat them he had been told. It likely wouldn't be long until they were drafted into something.
After he had finished drafting his orders in Lord Rederick's name he received a letter from the Krakari. They wanted to learn beside them. Medicine, weapons, sciences... And something about cities in the east and south. He refreshed his ink and began to draft a response.
Long days and long night were ahead of him again.
- Grant Jugaan immortality.
- Action is difficulty 11, with a cost of 4 AP. Total domain bonus applied to the roll is +8.
- Should have 13/21 AP at end of turn.
- Action is difficulty 11, with a cost of 4 AP. Total domain bonus applied to the roll is +8.
- Should have 13/21 AP at end of turn.
Major - Establish Research Agreement with the Krakari.
Major - Settle territory to the south of Grand Ajivha, between it and the shifting sands. Use Ajivhan Population as was approved.
Major - Research High Altitude Living.
Major - Research High Altitude Agriculture.
Major - Implement Rotary Printing Presses.
Major - Settle territory to the south of Grand Ajivha, between it and the shifting sands. Use Ajivhan Population as was approved.
Major - Research High Altitude Living.
Major - Research High Altitude Agriculture.
Major - Implement Rotary Printing Presses.
