(IR) The 5th IR - 3rd OOC Thread (OPEN)

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Bugbear said:
Well, If the claw mercenaries are, as I suspect, elite adventuring partys, then I would divide them into units of four to six characters each. so you could say that each epic PL is one Claw Unit. Once SE gives you your epic PL total, you will know how many mercs you have as your disposal.

Each EPIC PL is one Claw Unit, or each ELITE PL? Big distinction, and I'm not sure if that was an error or intentional.
 

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Anabstercorian said:
Each EPIC PL is one Claw Unit, or each ELITE PL? Big distinction, and I'm not sure if that was an error or intentional.

yep, that's what I meant. Seems a bit heavy. I thought they are Elite. :confused:
Still no prob, story is nearly finished and I can just wait till Serpeneye give me numbers.
 

Radiant said:
oh, I didn't get that it's epic. I thought they'd be elite. Anyway, I'm just writing the background without specific numbers now so I can just adapt it.
Regardless how big they might be, claw units are called TALONS. (yeah I know not very creative but I can remember it easily and with so much stuff to keep in mind I am happy about that)

Anabstercorian said:
Each EPIC PL is one Claw Unit, or each ELITE PL? Big distinction, and I'm not sure if that was an error or intentional.

I don't know if Serpenteye will declare them elite or epic PL. All the more reason to send him the average level. I could see five 15th level characters working together being considered 1 Epic PL. If Serpenteye rules that they are elite PL Then one 15th level character could equal 1 Elite PL. It's just a simple way to judge the number of Mercs that CLAW has.

I think that I said Epic PL because the Ethergaunts were ruled to be Epic and it just stuck in my head.
 

kay guys, here's most of the background. Nothing other people would realy know but anyone placing spies should be able to find out some of it over time and anyway it isn't necesary to keep it secret for the game itself.

the story of Sanakan the betrayer:

The throne room of the white palace.

They called it the chamber of light. Yet shadows moved through it as if they had a live of their own. And indeed they had. Occasionaly one would lengthen out and start to take more form before finally a black-gald human would step out of it.
Some of them had allrady gathered around the throne of white marble. Each and every one of the men and women was slim, almost gaunt. The most striking thing was their hair, contrasting their pale, almost white, skin. One had the deeped purple while another's was blood red.
One after the other had arrived and give has report. It had been the same every single time.
"It is done."
Now they waited. Twenty-seven had gathered, with arrival of the twenty-eighth their treason would be complete.
Another shadow split open, revealing the last of their number. His electric-blue hair was bound to tight ponytail behind his back. Like everyone else in attendance he was closed neck to toe in leatherlike suit. The material was covered with armorlike plates of dark crystal and occoasinaly flashes of color shot through them like lightning, more often than not in the same color as the hair of the person wearing it.
The newcomer took his place in the half circle around the throne.
"It is done."
Like those before him he wasn't adressing the person sitting on the throe itself. Instead his gaze fell on the woman beside it. Dressed like the rest of them she wore her ultra-violet hair short, ending above her shoulders. She met his eyes with her own, far too hard for a girl who looks no more than twenty. The newcomer's voice was challenging, he wasn't happy with what they had done. For an instant both of them had flashes of psionic power lighting up and in the end he bowed his head.

She turned away from them, not able to face their acusing stairs any more. The rules were absolute, her orders would never be questioned. But that also meant it was her and her fault alone that their honor was lost forever.
Even in the depth of their fall she had to admire the effiency of her followers. They call her Sanakan, a word that could be roughly translated as "intruder" in the common language. Like every other person in this room she had given up her real name long ago.
She is the 58th first claw of the Sikari. And the first to break their ancient oath.
"You know what to do. Leave me now."
With an almost apoligizing look she turns to figure sitting on the throne room.
-we are saving the imperium my lord. I hope you have no objections-
A knife of black crystal is sprouting from the old and regal lookin man's throat and dried blood has ruined his white robes.
-Yes, I asumed you would not.-



the next day atop the roof of the tower of spirits, the highest building of the celestial city and personal refuge of the priest king

The riots had finally calmed down.Since the food had run out only the brutal oppresion of the populace by the city guard had kep any semblance of peace. That was the first thing the Claw had changed. Since yesterday every secret cache of supplies in the palace had been opened and for once the citizens did not have to go to bed hungry. Corn and bread stored to support the army during a siege would only last so long though.
The Sikari who went under the name of Sandheart finally reached the top of the stairs and saw his mistress at the edge of the roof. No doubt she was watching as the last fires from the riots where extuingished.
He stopped, not wanting to interupt her. For the first time in days her expression was serene and in his mind it was only fitting.

Their honor might be gone now but the claw had ended the riots and made the effecitve fight against he fires possible. The claw had opened that last reserves of food and the claw had exterminated the desease ridden quarters the last night to preven the loss of the whole city to the plagues. They had murdered and killed so many for this but that was the only thing they knew how to do. And someone had to save the Imperium.
Many called Intruder a traitor, none to her face of course, but Sandheart was still young. He remembered his life before the soulwarping and he understood that saving their home country and people had been more important than their honor. There had been no other way he tried to tell himself.
The priest king had gone mad after the gods vanished. The bountifull harvests of the blessed farms had been a thing of the past after the divine priests of the Immaculate Order had lost most of it's powers. The White Order of Paladins had decayed and with it the power if the Celestial Legions. The whole country had been falling apart as the wealth and power build on godly favour had vanished overnight.
Chaos and misery had been inevitable but it was even worse than that. Not used to any questions of their divine rulership the high order of priests had started to brutaly surpress the populace after the first riots caused of hunger had started.
the Legions, scarred witless by the loss of their ever present divine support had taken it as a chance to blow of their frustration and thousands had died then they entered the cities.
They had restored piece for a time but the situation just got worse as the Immaculate Order and the priest king himself did nothing to change the situation. Instead they closed themselves of and prayed for their gods of light to return, abasing themselves more and more.
Over a year ago they had declared that human sacrifices would be the only thing that could bring the gods back. It had caused more riots and death but even so it happened.
The Sikari had been there as they had been for five thousand years. Loyal servants of the Imperium and priest-king. Never speaking up, just doing their duty. They had killed the most prominent enemies of the government, made undesirables vanish and sometimes exterminated whole villages if someone suspected the threat of rebellion.
Intruder had returned from her secret meetings with the priest-king and his council, allways silent and fullfilled their wishes without complaint or hesitation.
Last month that had changed.
The first talon, the gathering of the claw's leaders had assembled once again. Silent and serene as allways she had told them of the councils plans.
"The divine ruler of the Celestial Imperium has spoken. The council of the Immaculate Priests agrees. So it is the will of the gods of light that it shall be done."
It had been the ritual beginning of each meeting in hundreds, maybe thousands of years.
"The gods have not answered their prayers. The sacrifices have not been enough. Only one thing can explain this. The people of our holy country have become faithless and are living a live of sin. The many recent riots and protests are prove of that. The gods have to be appeased. For this reason there shall be a culling. Every thired man, women and child shall be sacrificed to the gods, to cleanse our souls and bring back the favour of the gods.
Do not be concerned, we will take them from the towns and villages that mostly suffer from plague and hunger. In fact it will be a mercy. The Celestial Legions will fullfill this holy duty, your Sikari will only have to make sure that any possible organized resistance is crushed before it has a chance to develop.
One day our people will remember this even as a holy expression of our faith, the divine act that brought the gods of light back to us."
She had opened her violet eyes and met those of every claw in attendance.
"This have been the exact words of our divine ruler."
Anger had flashed over her expression then and visoble arcs of psionic energy flashed over the cristal shards that could form the trademark Sikari Soulwarp-Armor in seconds.
"My brothers and sisters, for generations the Sikari have done their duty.
Traitors have been assasinated, whole armies have been destroyed in silence of no open war could be declared.
The enemies of our sacred home country have vanished in the night.
So it has been and so it will be again. Go out and kill the enemies of the Celestial Imperium."
And what the first claw wished the Sikari made happen.

Finally Sandheart decided that he should wait no longer. He walked through the small door and stood on the windshaken roof directly behind the first claw.
"Sanakan, the city is ours. Bajou the last priest of the council was assasinated by Blackwing just an hour ago. All their loyal aids are either dead or imprisoned. The ones loyal to us have allready started implement our cover. At least for the time being any word that gets out of the White Palace will be considered the will of the Priest-King. Those who new about us have been silenced. We are now just the new honor guard of our divine ruler.
Even now Scarface's and Jade's talons are on their way to the Legion of Valor in the Kudai province. Right now they are the only one close enough to pose a threat to us. Like all others they are close to insurrection at the moment. Before the night has ended all their organized leadership will be dead. We estimate that the legion itself will stop being any kind of organized fighting force before the next evening and will be completly scattered by the end of the week. Even without our interference doubt that any of the other legions could pose a threat to us and if that changes they will meet a similar fate.
The merchand caste is holding on to our agreed bargain and does its best to make everything appear normal. The mages have been fast to understand the truth of our situation and I personaly made sure archmage Nuruda read your offer.
We've got them."
He watched her, as she turned around to face him. Intruder held a holy title. She was unquestioned and had served the order for over a hundred years. Sandheart would not dishonour her by aknowledging that he noticed her tears.
It was a shok to even see this happening but he would handle it. Afterall he himself could only cope with the situation by not thinking about it. They Imperium had been crumbling, all estimations had predicted a total collapse within a year or two. But now they had destroyed it themself. No military organization worth mentioning remained, food was nearly nonexistant and nothing was left that could even resmble an economy. Their honor had held them back too long, they had eliminated the threat but their country was allready dead. As usual the claw had worked in secret, the only thing prevenint their neighbors from simply taking the land was the fact that nobidy knew of their condition. In fact the Imperium seemed even stronger or how could it otherwise have taken in an entire mercenary army. But this would not last long. They would find out the truth and descend on them like vultures.
And that was if the country would not simply tear itself apart from hunger, sickness and rebellion long before that.
The words tasted like bitter irony to him but he had no choice but to day them.
"First claw, three days and three nights ago you asked and as allways the Sikari answered.
The Celestial Imperium is yours."

 

Xael; I understand your frustration. I would hate to see you leave the IR. I think we need to have faith in Serpenteye. I do.

First, I should say that I appreciate the work that Serpenteye, Edena, and others have put into this IR. I have seen many good ideas, and good writing. I have a lot of respect for the creativity I see in this IR.

Although the IR is about power, it is about far more than power. It’s also about fun, diplomacy, good role playing, creative solutions, plans, alliances, and big dreams. There have been important players in different IRs who were not the most powerful players but made a big difference. Mr. Draco’s Psionic League in the 2nd IR and Gnomeworks in the 3rd IR were not the most powerful faction leaders. Indeed, Gnomeworks had lost much of his territory early in the 3rd IR. However, he continued to make a major difference in the game. I think we have to leave room for people to explore different concepts for their factions. I believe it is important for us to treat each other with respect – even if our factions are bitterly opposed in game.

Rikandur: Interesting post. However, the Nyr Dyv summit has not started yet. Also, the action took place in Chendl, Furyondy’s capitol. As that is Eluvan’s territory, I think Serpenteye will have to rule if you can take military action in an OOC thread against territory controlled by another player. (Mind you, it’s a very well written post. However, it might be best to save it until you are at the conference or afterwards. I 'm not starting an argument, merely making an observation. It is one heck of a way to declare war if Serpenteye allows it.)

Radiant: Welcome to the IR!! An interesting choice, and a powerful one as well if Serpenteye accepts the claim. If you haven’t yet, check out the maps and other resources earlier in the thread to give you an idea of where your country is in relation to the other nations. Also, perhaps you can provide a write up of the culture. The only feature identified with the nation in an old Dragon article is the Wall of Tsian. So, possibly the country’s full name is the Celestial Imperium of Tsian. It can be much like China if you wish. At least now people know where to send the check – although you may well want payment in cash. (If you want information on China, I can help. History is one of my areas of interest. ) You may want to have substantial non-epic forces as well.

I believe we are still in the time before the barrier goes around Greyspace (How about the Wall Around the Worlds as a name for it?) So, I think your post and possibly Rikandur's take place after the barrier goes up. Don't worry, I have to catch up to the time of the proposed peace conference. (Doing an in character post next.) Possibly the best way to think of this post is that the IR is timeless -- at the moment. ;)

Album Cover X: Welcome to the IR as well. I can try to find a 3rd IR post set in Suhfang to give you a feeling of the land as I imagined it. Suhfang would be between Erypt and the Celestial Imperium. I agree that Erypt could use a name replacement, and you might wish to replace the Tribes of the Enllaves. (It sounds much like ancient Meroe, Aksum, or Kush in the modern Sudan.) Serpenteye suggested that you might also claim the Barbarian Seameast. You could possibly play that like some sub-Saharan African kingdoms. If it helps, I do have Necropolis, Testament, and Nyambe. If you or Radiant want to contact me, so I can be of any help, e-mail me at williamwronald@aol.com.
 
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Anabstercorian said:
Bugbear said:
I think that I said Epic PL because the Ethergaunts were ruled to be Epic and it just stuck in my head.
They were? I thought that was just something TFO proposed.

Okay, How about this:
"I think that I said Epic PL because TFO (or possibly someone else) said that the Ethergaunts were Epic and it just stuck in my head." :)
 

Hey there, all.
Radiant, I'm going to put the Celestial Imperium in your claims.
If you look at the big map, you will see that Venus's power (Orcreich - which is just chalk full of orcs - and the Orcreich allies of Upper and Lower Khanate) are just to your north.
You are now in the same position as we of the Flanaess. You have a potential enemy / potential friend next door.
What will happen?
Up to you. Open diplomacy is crucial in any IR.

Studio X, I'm putting Suhfang, Erypt, and Ellaves in your template. Along with their respective ICs. I know you are renaming Erypt - when you come up with a name, just give it to me, and I'll change the roster.

- - -

If the Nyr Dyv Summit is taking place in Furyondy, then Eclavdra cannot attend, because Furyondy is in the League of Athyr, and they have denied permission to her. (Eluvan's power)
Even though King Rhynnon of Greater Nyrond is sponsoring the conference, and the Triumviate proposed it, it is being held in a city that denies entry to Eclavdra.
Unless, of course, the League of Athyr changes it's mind.
 

William Ronald said:
Radiant: Welcome to the IR!! An interesting choice, and a powerful one as well if Serpenteye accepts the claim. If you haven’t yet, check out the maps and other resources earlier in the thread to give you an idea of where your country is in relation to the other nations. Also, perhaps you can provide a write up of the culture. The only feature identified with the nation in an old Dragon article is the Wall of Tsian. So, possibly the country’s full name is the Celestial Imperium of Tsian. It can be much like China if you wish. At least now people know where to send the check – although you may well want payment in cash. (If you want information on China, I can help. History is one of my areas of interest. ) You may want to have substantial non-epic forces as well.

I believe we are still in the time before the barrier goes around Greyspace (How about the Wall Around the Worlds as a name for it?) So, I think your post and possibly Rikandur's take place after the barrier goes up. Don't worry, I have to catch up to the time of the proposed peace conference. (Doing an in character post next.) Possibly the best way to think of this post is that the IR is timeless -- at the moment. ;)

Actualy I took that place because of it's name. I needed a nation that was dependent on the influence of gods for its survival and this one just jumped right into my face. As I have said before I do not really claim it as a territory, as in I want it's points. As I've written in the background this Celestial Imperium is totaly down to it's knees. The Sikari can barely influence it at all right now. They also do not have any normal forces to actualy hold it. That is why they need resources from other countries and since a small elite fihting unit can't do much beside destroying stuff they intend to do exactly that and sent the payment for it back home so the Celestial Imperium might become something resembling a nation again.
I expect that I will have invest points into that claim before I can actualy gain any from it.
Not sure about the number yet but I wanted to propose the claim to Serpetenteye like this:
Celestial Imperium (100) potental (XXX)*whatever that was again, pretty high if I remember right. This means that the country does not produce much right now but has the potential to grow back to its old strength if I invest enough resources to build it back up.
My faction is not realy the Celestial Imperium but just the Claw Mercenarys who try to influence it.

edit: and oh yeah, I imagine the Imperium to be a lot like China, just with a bunch of mad priests thrown in as rulers. But since they're dead now even that difference is gone.
 
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Edena_of_Neith said:
If the Nyr Dyv Summit is taking place in Furyondy, then Eclavdra cannot attend, because Furyondy is in the League of Athyr, and they have denied permission to her. (Eluvan's power)
Even though King Rhynnon of Greater Nyrond is sponsoring the conference, and the Triumviate proposed it, it is being held in a city that denies entry to Eclavdra.
Unless, of course, the League of Athyr changes it's mind.

The Nyr Dyv Summit is taking place in Nyrond, in Rel Mord, not in Furyondy - for some of the exact reasons you've mentioned.
 

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