Last visit was: It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 3:57 pm


All times are UTC - 5 hours




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 221 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ... 23  Next
Author Message
 Post subject: Re: Musings of a Canadian Nierite. . .
PostPosted: Mon Nov 18, 2013 6:16 pm 
User avatar

Joined: Fri Sep 27, 2013 10:47 am
Posts: 2493
Location: Central Alberta
For the earlier reference, a lot of that comes under the criteria of "Privateer" rather than pirate. While this may not seem like much of a distinction, there is quite a bit of one in practical terms:

Historically, pirates (basically waterborne thieves and murderers) operate in small vessels as mentioned above and force ships to heave too (ie: fire a cannon across their bow) or catch them and board them. They ship is then taken, a prize crew is put aboard, and the ship is sailed to a port which is. . . willing to look the other way while the pirate crew sells the ship (if it does not serve their needs otherwise) and the cargo to local fences. The crew of the original ship is either killed, or effectively used as slave labour by the pirates to man the ship while they travel to the port to dispose of their cargo and (again, if necessary) ship. The crew is of the taken ship is either killed (before or after the ship and its cargo have been disposed of), sold into slavery for additional money, or ransomed to their families/merchant houses/etc.

Privateers are more like what val'Holryn have described, and these are individuals who carry a 'Letter of marque' in a given national navy, making their vessels (under many forms of the law) auxiliary vessels to the navy which issued the Letter of Marque. Because these ships were effectively subsidized by a national government or other major faction (ie: the Teutonic Knights, the Church, etc) the ships could often be larger vessels, and even operate in squadrons to take down larger enemy convoys, warships, and even major land installations and fortresses. From my reading, there was often a very specific contract on how captured cargo and prize ships (and crew) were dealt with, typically with the warrant-issuer gaining a significant portion of value of the prize loot. Privateering tended to be less overall lucrative for a pirate (or mercenary), but it was a more steady income. Additionally, Privateers were often viewed as naval vessels of the power which issued the warrant, so there was a bit less chance of the Privateer simply being executed by their opponents should they ever be captured. By no means absolutely, but a BIT more of a chance of surviving such an encounter ;)

Now, Privateering became most prominent among European powers during their Age of Colonialism (1500-1850 ish), and I haven't come across specific examples of such a concept being used in earlier periods. Then again, prior to the introduction of the schooner and ship-rigged vessels some 500 years ago, most navies used warships which were effectively (again, as val'Holryn implied) troop transports which served to ferry soldiers across the water, and serve as 'mini-islands' for 'land battles at sea,' and most of the troops they carried (except for groups such as the Romans) were mercenaries already (a good example of this is the Cathageans in the Punic Wars). At least in the European tradition, the navy was ALWAYS viewed as subordinate to the army, with individual shipmasters being army commanders, so I'm thinking in more ancient times ships were dragooned into service by a major power (ie: Rome), with a Patrician or Equestrian put in 'command' of the ship, while the crew itself were experienced sailors, though subordinate to someone who may not understand how naval realities work.

_________________
Cody Bergman
Legends of Arcanis Campaign Staff
Initial Author Contact/Adventure Vetting

Haakon Marcus val'Virdan, Divine Holy Judge of Nier
Ruma val'Vasik, Martial Crusader and Master of the Spear
Jorma Osterman, Arcane Coryani Battlemage


Top
Offline Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Musings of a Canadian Nierite. . .
PostPosted: Mon Nov 18, 2013 6:37 pm 
User avatar

Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2013 7:06 am
Posts: 991
This talk of a lack of naval adventures has me thinking a bit about plot ideas (now that I have enough experience with the system).

I wrote several naval adventures for Living Greyhawk (even if the ship combat of one was butchered by the editors to "ships collide in fog"... grrrr...) and the key is letting the PCs make an initial decision and then use cinematics until the important boarding action (where individual actions matter the most).

Outline: The PCs are hired as privateer crew for a specific mission. An outbreak of piracy has led to the loss of several merchant ships and the privateer captain needs the extra fighting power to both take back the merchant ships and sink/capture the pirates. <insert treasure/girl/classic pirate motivation here>.

_________________
LARG; Astra Tonsoria Ursula val¤Dellanov, Martial Former Tribune, Centurion Sword Sage II, T3.4
LA:5E; Magdelene of Ostermann, Dark-kin Courtesan Rog3(Bard)/HC2 (future twilight warrior)
LRC:OP; Seraphina "Flowerchild" Amakiir, Skill Hero


Top
Offline Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Musings of a Canadian Nierite. . .
PostPosted: Tue Nov 19, 2013 1:50 am 
User avatar

Joined: Fri Sep 27, 2013 1:06 am
Posts: 2109
Location: Portland OR
I'm going to partially disagree with Nierite again. In some times and places Pirates would seize vessels in others not. Depends on several factors ... availability of "safe port," understood "rules of engagement", ability to control a second vessel among others.

In the privateer phase yes, lots of prizes dragged back to Port Royal. In other cases no. It is my understanding that pirates in small sloops tended not to take enemy vessels. A good example of this can be found in the book The Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard (Woodward?) ... a cool history of one of the last strongholds of piracy in the Caribbean (including Blackbeard) that were based out of Bermuda and had secret trade links with colonies in the southern US. Deep water merchantman ships were not able to safely navigate through the shallow waters of Bermuda (that helped keep the pirate stronghold safe from the British Navy) and thus were valueless to those pirates. Those vessels were boarded, goods and sailors were seized, and then they took off - unless the merchant resisted ... then they killed everyone as a warning to the next group to surrender.

Even today we have the two different modes of piracy in lawless areas. In Somalia, ships are seized. In the straights of Malacca high speed boats race in, board cargo tankers, steal containers with valuable goods ... and disappear into hidden ports in southeast Asia. As long as the captain and crew stay out of their way, they're left alone and its apparently seen as the price of business.

How does all this translate into Arcanis? The Pirate Isles remind me more of the many Islands of Bahama rather than a fortified port that is part of a geopolitical struggle. On the other hand Arcanis has long stated that the pirates do sometimes come together and act in concert even if most of the time its more of a free for all. So do they usually seize whole vessels or just take some loot from them? I think from the way the val'Haupt pirate hunters have been described that they are more of the looting variety ... but I don't really know. The one trip we made to Magra in the last campaign was a ransom mission to free a captured ship and crew. That would lean more the other way.

_________________
Eric Gorman

AKA Ambassador Tukufu, man of letters, tomb raider and Master Sword Sage
. . . and Sir Szymon val'Holryn, Order of the Phoenix
Formerly Sir Jaeger val'Holryn. Weilder of the Holy Avenger: Thonanos. Gave his soul to help free King Noen


Top
Offline Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Musings of a Canadian Nierite. . .
PostPosted: Sat Nov 23, 2013 5:39 am 
User avatar

Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 11:34 am
Posts: 960
Location: Southwestern Ohio
Since this seems to be the thread for discussing the campaign background :) I have a question. I don't have the books in front of me (and the question may be answered there, although I don't think it's covered specifically). Would it be safe to say that the average Undir from the area around Metra (especially the Sword Fens) would not care much for the val'Baucisz family? I'll be starting up an Undir shaman when I play Once Upon a Time in Metra (think that's the title), and I was thinking that hatred/disdain of this val family would be a cool character hook. I'll even go so far as to say he would not shed a tear if the entire family were exterminated. Might even help with that. :)

Any thoughts or opinions? Thanks.

On a related note I think the spell A Pound of Flesh would be fun for a slightly vindictive/crazed Undir shaman to have. Haven't used in game play so I can't say how effective it is, but on paper it looks pretty cool.

_________________
Michael T. Hebert

Haakon val'Ishi, Beltinian Exorcist 2.7 [Divine]
Ursula val'Holryn, Grand Master of the Tralian Hammer 2.2 [Martial]
Arun of Tultipet, Holy Champion of Neroth 1.10 [Expert]
Rikitsa val'Holryn, Psion 1.9 [Arcane]


Top
Offline Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Musings of a Canadian Nierite. . .
PostPosted: Sat Nov 23, 2013 7:29 am 
User avatar

Joined: Fri Sep 27, 2013 1:06 am
Posts: 2109
Location: Portland OR
Haakon_val'Ishi wrote:
Since this seems to be the thread for discussing the campaign background :) I have a question. I don't have the books in front of me (and the question may be answered there, although I don't think it's covered specifically). Would it be safe to say that the average Undir from the area around Metra (especially the Sword Fens) would not care much for the val'Baucisz family? I'll be starting up an Undir shaman when I play Once Upon a Time in Metra (think that's the title), and I was thinking that hatred/disdain of this val family would be a cool character hook. I'll even go so far as to say he would not shed a tear if the entire family were exterminated. Might even help with that. :)

Any thoughts or opinions? Thanks.

On a related note I think the spell A Pound of Flesh would be fun for a slightly vindictive/crazed Undir shaman to have. Haven't used in game play so I can't say how effective it is, but on paper it looks pretty cool.


Yes that's very appropriate. The val'Baucisz bloodline powers are essentially derived from powers that mimic the Strigoi or vampire of Eastern European folklore and Dhakavar is essentially Dracula's castle. So you can guess that they aren't popular in general. :P However for the last 40 years (and more) they have been the strongmen oppressing the locals for their Coryani masters/allies. They should represent everything a native Undir hates. Oppression, cruelty, the darker aspects of the Mother Church and the suppression of native identity. Just about all NPC Undir probably hate the val'Baucisz ... but fear them even more than they hate them.

In the last campaign these fault lines were explored a little in the Metra mods. Have hopes to see them resume.

_________________
Eric Gorman

AKA Ambassador Tukufu, man of letters, tomb raider and Master Sword Sage
. . . and Sir Szymon val'Holryn, Order of the Phoenix
Formerly Sir Jaeger val'Holryn. Weilder of the Holy Avenger: Thonanos. Gave his soul to help free King Noen


Top
Offline Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Musings of a Canadian Nierite. . .
PostPosted: Sat Nov 23, 2013 9:06 am 
User avatar

Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 11:34 am
Posts: 960
Location: Southwestern Ohio
When I mentioned the Undir shaman idea to Joe Cirillo he said to be sure to play his new Metra mod with that character and let him know how things worked out. :) Sounds like fun times to me! As Undir are a "water people" and I originally hail from Louisiana I plan to give him a strong Cajun flavor. Definitely have ranks in cooking. Undir versions of gumbo, jambalaya and shrimp etouffe...Yum! :D

Just looked at the core book...no skill I could find for cooking. I wonder what would substitute?

Hmmm a spell caster can adapt/augment spells in this game....brings new meaning to "kicking up a notch!" :)

_________________
Michael T. Hebert

Haakon val'Ishi, Beltinian Exorcist 2.7 [Divine]
Ursula val'Holryn, Grand Master of the Tralian Hammer 2.2 [Martial]
Arun of Tultipet, Holy Champion of Neroth 1.10 [Expert]
Rikitsa val'Holryn, Psion 1.9 [Arcane]


Top
Offline Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Musings of a Canadian Nierite. . .
PostPosted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 11:52 am 

Joined: Sun Sep 29, 2013 4:03 pm
Posts: 179
Location: Mahwah, NJ
I would say that the Undir have a deep rooted resentment/hatred for the ruling val'Baucisz with a healthy dose of fear mixed in.

Funny, I was watching Dark Crystal with my 5 year old daughter on Friday night and I couldnt help notice the similarities between the Skeksis and the val'Baucisz as this dying noble clan along with the peacful, seemingly forever subjugated Podlings and Undir.

Anyways, looking forward to writing the sequel to "Once Upon A Time in Metra"...but please make sure to send in those critical summaries!

_________________
Joe Cirillo
Legends of Arcanis Assistant Campaign Director


Top
Offline Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Musings of a Canadian Nierite. . .
PostPosted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 3:56 pm 
User avatar

Joined: Fri Sep 27, 2013 10:47 am
Posts: 2493
Location: Central Alberta
The Creation of a Val Family and their relationships to the Valinor

Well, back to the tried and true storyline of the Vals. In this instalment, I look at the evidence that we have been provided about the formation of the various Val families to see how their powers seem to be acquired and how they have spread like the divine cancer those who play Elorii—and even some of those who play other Human-kin—claim them to be.

First, we have to look at a bit of the history here. The Vals—or at least the original Vals—were said to have been produced after the God’s War at the beginning of the First Imperium of Man. Wishing to see all that was to come and how the fate of the world would fall, Larissa the Farseer looked so far into the future that what she saw drove her mad. Wishing to provide his children with divine-empowered protectors to help them meet the coming darkness, Illiir commanded each of the Gods of the Pantheon to send down their Valinor to empower their designated champion with their divine power (except for Anshar, how didn’t have Valinor so her Vals got her direct essence. . . with interesting results). These beings were then crowned as the ruling noble caste of Humanity by their divine heritage and were charged with the equitable rule and protection of those humans not so fortunate to have been blessed by the Gods themselves.

First of all, we come into a few problems with this whole scenario. While the Vals in general seem to be far more long-lived than normal humans, they do not seem to have greatly extended their lifespans. While this may not seem like a problem, we see it very much becoming an issue for the continuation of the individual Val family when it comes to reproduction. Let’s face it: unless you are the biggest whore in the world, with harems of dozens of partners, you will not be able to significantly spread your Val blood very much in your lifetime. This is especially true with families like the val’Emman where their founder (named Emman, apparently) was female. While men can knock up hundreds of women at a time, women are fairly limited in their ability to pass on their genetic potential to only one per year or so, assuming they spend the rest of their fertile lives popping out the kids. So how did the families do this?

Well, there are many possible options. The simplest explanation is that the First Imperium of Man lasted for some two-thousand years, so assuming that each new Val produced even a single offspring to survive to maturity and reproduce themselves, eventually the family would grow. It is a slow-moving way of ensuring a heritage, however, so I can’t be completely on board with this theory because it seems almost wasteful for the Gods. After all, unless the God’s (or Valinor) continually watch over the Val that they created, there is always a chance for accidents and fratricidal wars to wipe out entire families. The Gods would have to know about Human nature and its own internal divisiveness, so I doubt they would go to the effort just to see them kill each other off.

A second option comes to us at the Year of Ill Harvest with the Serenity of Beltine (note: Spoilers!), and I feel brings up more options in this regard. When the special table of Heroes (including at least a val’Tensen, a Dark-kin, a Human, a Ss’ressen, and an Elorii) managed to stop Lucius Orata, in with its last bit of strength the Valinor transferred some of its divine essence to all the people of the party, creating the val’Sosi family. Each of these beings, regardless of their race (to my understanding), were imbued with identical powers, with each serving as (ultimately) the genesis for their own branches of the val’Sosi family. This implies to me that the Valinor probably didn’t imbue individuals with their powers, but imbued entire family groups with the same powers. By doing this, the Valinor would assure that there is a much better chance that a single calamity would not wipe out their divine children in one fell swoop while also explaining why all Val families maintain similar physical traits, but not necessarily identical (the blood is a BIT more dilute than if it came from just one individual).

Of course, this brings up another question: What about the val’Sosi? The ‘family’ that was created consisted of 5-6 rather desperate individuals, none of whom (to my knowledge) were related. Would their family be known for NOT being fairly uniform, or would they (at least the Human-kin val’Sosi) eventually blend into a more uniform appearance? This answer can be answered, at least to an extent, by the events of the end of Year 6 of the 3.5 campaign. During the reign of Emperor Calcestus val’Assante’, the Emperor (who was at that time being heavily influenced by Manetas, the fallen Pride of Illiir) erected a statue of himself even above those of the Gods of the Pantheon. At the time, this was viewed as the cause of the fall of the God’s Wall to the North, and during The Storm of a year or so later, the statue was destroyed (or at least heavily damaged) by the pelting of divine-inspired hail. For years, it was assumed this was done by Calcestus as an act of hubris, but when Manetas finally revealed itself (himself), the nature of the statue was finally revealed: The face of the statue wasn’t that of Emperor Calcestus val’Assante’, it was the face of Manetas, which had a distinct family resemblance. This suggests that it is the VALINOR which dictates (at least to an extent) the appearance of their Val progeny. If this is so, then all the subsequent (human-kin) val’Sosi should homogenize over time.

I should also note that it has been said previously that Mr. Lopez has stated that the first few generations of the Val’s bred true, with each child always being a Val, and it is only later (ie: more recent times) that the trait seems to have become a Dominent genetic trait, but not a certainty. I cannot remember the actual statements to this effect, as I believe they were before my time in this world of Arcanis, but that also does add a bit of weight in the whole ‘making sure these people survive.’ If this is true, it brings up some interesting things about the val’Sosi, and their ability to grow as a family. With the val’Hamen, val’Vasik, and to an extent the val’Baucisz dying off before our eyes, there appears to be some room for this new family to raise up in power.

But how were these Val formed? The general, rather crude, theory is that the Valinor ‘got it on’ with a bunch of humans, spreading their genetic and magical powers with lots of kinky angel-on-human sexing. That, as mentioned above, was somewhat undermined by the creation of the val’Sosi. Having reread the relevant portion of the Year of Ill Harvest, it is not made clear HOW the imbuing happened (as I’m sure it was intended to be only a special thing for that specific table, complete with NDA’s), but it does not appear the dying Valinor boned a series of different races, passing on its divine essence through sexual organs. This means that the act of imbuing the divine essence is through either some complex (from our perspective) ritual, or is an innate power of the Valinor. If it is the latter, this seems odd to me as you’d think that, after millennia watching over Humanity, with dozens, if not hundreds and thousands of their numbers ‘falling’ that we’d see WAY more Val families kicking around Onara.

But Nierite, you obsessive fanboy, you say! But surely only those Valinor still thoroughly in the Gods’ good graces could pass along their divine genetics and magic to humanity! Surely it is only through the Will of the Gods! Well, there is something to that. We really don’t know what the Will of the God’s is, for only other such Gods such as Henry Lopez can truly understand such immense divine creatures. That said, speaking from only a mortal’s perspective, we have two examples of Valinor who seemed to pass along their heritage by accident, or at the very least outside the direct will of Illiir and the rest of the Pantheon: The val’Vasik, and the val’Baucisz.

The val’Vasik family—now either extinct or almost extinct, depending on how many of them Xabal. . . absorbed during his final fight—was created after the Patience of Illiir, who was charged with ensuring the Infernals of the now-Unsealed Lands never escaped from their prison. A few centuries ago, the Patience of Illiir could no longer stand the horrors it had witnessed, and (ironically) lost its patience. In doing so, the majority of its powers were stripped from it, leaving an (admittedly very powerful) man in its place. Taking the name Xabal, the former Patience of Illiir led a group of slaves to what is now the City of Bastion. Over the centuries, the val’Vasik family came into being from Xabal’s divine essence, though many claim that the family was produced using. . . far more traditional means than it seems a non-fallen Valinor could. If this interpretation is correct, that means that even a fallen Valinor, such as Urumeh on the forsaken plane of existence seen in “Drinking Deeply from the Chalice of Midnight,” or even many of the Infernal Lords who rule in Sarish’s stead upon the Infernal Plane can beget Val families!

The other known outlier of this group are the val’Baucisz. As provided in the 3.5 supplement “In the Shadow of the Devil” (good read, by the way!), we get two rather contradictory stories about the creation of that family (mostly spread by their detractors). In the ‘official’ story, the val’Baucisz began their life as devout Sarishans living in Upper Annonica who loved playing with Infernals, and were irritated by the lack of attention given to them by the Gods at the creation of the Val race. Wanting the power of those they felt were their equal, the Baucisz trapped a Valinor as a normal Sarishan would trap a demon, and then tortured this creature (Mish, the Shadow of Sarish) until it granted them the powers of the Vals that they demanded to become. This supports the pervious assertions that the Valinor can simply (through some means) imbue humans (and other races) with a portion of their divine essence. However, there is another story that has been perpetuated (supposedly) by the detractors of the hated val’Baucisz, claiming that they were a tribe of savages who came across a wounded Valinor from the God’s War. These savages then fell upon the wounded angel, and ate it alive, with its powers passing on with its (apparently delicious) flesh.

_________________
Cody Bergman
Legends of Arcanis Campaign Staff
Initial Author Contact/Adventure Vetting

Haakon Marcus val'Virdan, Divine Holy Judge of Nier
Ruma val'Vasik, Martial Crusader and Master of the Spear
Jorma Osterman, Arcane Coryani Battlemage


Top
Offline Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Musings of a Canadian Nierite. . .
PostPosted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 2:44 am 
User avatar

Joined: Fri Sep 27, 2013 1:06 am
Posts: 2109
Location: Portland OR
What is it that makes a val? They have the gray eyes...and a tiny organ in their head like a pituitary gland that enables them with the potential to wield psionic energy. Once upon a time vale bred true...now either through accident or (someones) design that is no longer entirely true. Though they breed far more truely than than if "val-ness" was a recessive quality, sometimes mom and dad produce humans. That's a change in how "val-ness" works between the d20 era and the A:RPG era.

Cody has an excellent summary on what we know. I would only add two items. There is one more case from In the Shadow of the Devil, where one woman in Plexus spontaneously goes from human to VAL after a "spirit (?)" passes through her. Second I would consider the possibility that the val'Vasik were created when the Patience of Illiir "went nuclear" in the Sealed Lands and its released energy transformed some nearby humans. Regardless, I think we can assume that vals were not originally created through normal sex & reproduction.

And then there is the issue of the val'Holryn who can apparently emulate the powers of the "original" families but not the later add ons that we know of. Who made them? The Love of Illiir has said that the valinor that were left behind to witness the glory of humanity. Did they collectively meddle? Or did someone try to flesh craft the val'Holryn after putting the originals into a blender (metaphorically let's hope).

_________________
Eric Gorman

AKA Ambassador Tukufu, man of letters, tomb raider and Master Sword Sage
. . . and Sir Szymon val'Holryn, Order of the Phoenix
Formerly Sir Jaeger val'Holryn. Weilder of the Holy Avenger: Thonanos. Gave his soul to help free King Noen


Last edited by val Holryn on Sat Nov 30, 2013 4:10 am, edited 1 time in total.

Top
Offline Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Musings of a Canadian Nierite. . .
PostPosted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 12:54 pm 
User avatar

Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 8:01 am
Posts: 327
Haakon_val'Ishi wrote:
<snip>Definitely have ranks in cooking. Undir versions of gumbo, jambalaya and shrimp etouffe...Yum! :D

Just looked at the core book...no skill I could find for cooking. I wonder what would substitute?<snip>

My suggestion would be Artisan(Chef). (Since you would be creating a masterpiece of culinary delight.) It's not listed in the suggested subset of specializations, but this seems more appropriate than Knowledge(Cuisine) or the like.

Scott


Top
Offline Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 221 posts ]  Moderators: james.zwiers, PCI Eric, PCI_StatMonkey Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ... 23  Next

All times are UTC - 5 hours


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group
Theme created StylerBB.net & kodeki