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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tristissima" data-source="post: 7897603" data-attributes="member: 6162">The book does a lovely job of quickly reminding us that the Nidalese people cannot be reduced simply to their religion.  They are people, with goals and interests and needs beyond the demanding cruelties of the Midnight Lord.  In addition to his priests, the Nidalese count architects, farmers, musicians, and chirurgeons, all seeking to meet those needs and desires.This is the real start of what I love about this book, as we are given information about Nidalese family practices ~ Earthfall created such intense population pressure that it introduced widespread contraception use to keep families small.  After ten millennia (likely experienced as approximately the length of Earth’s recorded history, thanks to the presence of elfs and dwarfs and other folk who live longer than humans), I assume contraception use has dwindled from almost ubiquitous down to common and accepted; similarly, I would assume that the current standard family size of two children has increased dramatically from what it once was.  Given the general benefit in agrarian cultures of having more children (they mean more workers, after all), I appreciate the note that this is encouraged by the Umbral Court as a means of control.I also really love that the text specifically mentions that the Nidalese trend toward smaller families results in a widespread emphasis on fiercely loving one’s children.  No doubt a large element of the Umbral Court’s manipulation of the populace, it nonetheless helps deepen the view of Nidalese culture and encourages motivations for its people beyond a simplistic desire to proselytize the ecstatic joys of pain.  I would dearly love to see this worked into an adventure (or even a path) ~ great fun can be had by giving the PCs motivation to team up with people they find reprehensible because those people are trying to do something good and understandable that doesn’t negate their usual role as villains.We are again reminded that true believers are a minority among the Nidalese as they are in any religion.  However, this time the paragraph does so without resorting to the image of an oppressed culture cowering under an imposed religion for a ridiculous length of time.  Rather, it draws the average Nidalese more realistically.  These are simple casual adherents who say their daily prayers and celebrate religious holidays, all without experiencing anything dramatic or intense.The Umbral Court has, over the millennia, filled every official military and academic position with its agents (and I would assume some are less “agent” and more “lackey”).  Some answer is given as to the actual governmental structure of Nidal, as we are told that this allows them control over trade and building, providing a bottleneck on the distribution of wealth and influence.  This would seem to indicate that the realm is generally ruled by its soldiers and sages, a military-academic junta.  There is no nobility of the sort that tends to mark feudalism, nor are the Umbral Court’s agents function as lords.  I’m still not perfectly sure how that would look, but at least I have a vague idea now.This also provides a mechanism for the continuation of the Kuthite religion in Nidal.  The main path through that bottleneck seems to be costly, elaborate displays of Kuthite dedication.  This is what gets the casual worshipers to undergo the extreme rites that cement their faith in the Midnight Lord.  It is not dissimilar to one of the main ways that Earth cults maintain control over their followers, and one of the methods most easily scaled up to entire populations.  In actual play at the table, this can be a way to give PCs the difficult decisions to make that can really drive drama, as well as provide roles for Nidalese that aren’t direct opposition for the party.  In order to position themselves to do what they need/want to do (saving innocents, defeating villains, etc.), they may have to impress an agent of the Umbral Court with a Kuthite rite.</blockquote>

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