Stuff about the Setting and the World
Some stuff about the setting from IRC
Everyone's Take of Religion, etc
Trithemius' has some thoughts about 'The Kingdom' (21/11/05)
Notes on Setting from first IRC session
[17:26] <Trithemius|> what about a compromise?
[17:27] <Trithemius|> a port, that is the end of a 'narrow' road connection to the rest of the continent
[17:27] <Trithemius|> through mountains or something
[17:27] <Trithemius|> so we have a valley with villages and farms and mines and junk
[17:27] <Trithemius|> and a big port town
[17:27] <Trithemius|> and then some islands with a village or two?
[17:27] <Trithemius|> would we have the room for it?
[17:28] <Trithemius|> we have the boats/pirates thing
[17:28] <Trithemius|> but we also have non-nautical options
[17:28] <Iocus[SomewhereElse]> Yes.
[17:28] <Fuser> I don't see a problem there.
[17:28] <Trithemius|> goodie
[17:29] <Fuser> What about other worlds? Is there world-travel? Is it common?
[17:29] <Trithemius|> i want to say no
Religion/History/Magic Splurge
Iocus (10/02/05):
Have an idea: I was reading the usual paranoia of having computers as the human races' successors... What if the demons are simply a faction of gods that see giving magic to humans as a great error because it may result in humans inevitably being their successors? So, the 'good' gods are parental, while the 'demons' are simply rife with antipathy for the world, a sense of insecurity over their dominance in power. Trying to squash the threat. This could result in the switching of opinions of gods over the centuries as they begin to believe that human beings are immature and volatile. From believing that they could be nurtured into fearing that with equal or greater power, that they could do only damage to the cosmos. Also demons changing to being on the good side. Mythology could allude of gods once demons, or demons once gods, through the power of humans. (Maybe an underlying theme of human empowerment and ability throughout some of the religion(s), sort of a mentor and student relationship with the gods...) Incoherence is all over this paragraph I know, but I figure Trithemius can decipher what I mean and churn it into something smooth and delicious. Delete this whenever you want.
Trithemius (09/02/05):
The immortals are eternal beings that exist outside of the physical world but which are still able to affect it. There are two kinds of immortals: the gods and the [demons].
The gods created everything. In the act of creation they were opposed by the [demons] who preferred that there was nothing and who sought to prevent everything from being created. The gods defeated the [demons], and created everything; the [demons] still remain however and try to destroy what they can of creation.
Magic is the manipulation of invisible energies that have always been part of creation but which are beyond the perceptions of most. The gods do not provide magic, except in the sense that they provided everything that exists, but some have ‘shown people the way’ to perceive and use it.
Magicians are people who know how to see magic. The first magicians were shown how to see magic by [The Five Mystery Dudes] and so all mages give respect to [The Five Mystery Dudes] and to the rest of the gods who created magic and everything else. Some people say that the magicians are a holy order, but they are not because not all magicianss are priests as well, although some are.
Priests are people who talk to the gods. The gods can talk to anyone they like, because they are the gods, but not everyone can talk straight back to the gods; the people that can are the priests. The priests do not usually learn magic because they spend their time talking and listening to the gods, although there are some magicians who are priests as well. Priests who are not magicians can sometimes see magic because it is a part of creation as well.
--
Originally the various tribes of people worshipped the gods chaotically. Some tribes had several gods, some tribes had only one, and some tribes claimed that their gods were their ancestors, or that they were the descendents of the gods. Sometimes the tribes clashed over whose gods were right. We know now that this was wrong and that all the gods participated in creation and are, therefore, worthy of worship. The only immortals who are not worthy of worship are the [demons] who seek to undo everything.
To let us worship properly the [Kings of the First Empire] made the First Temple which had a place for all the gods that were known to be properly worshipped; there were also places for the gods which we would find later to be worshipped. The gods were pleased that the people had found how to worship properly and that they had learned to not fight over pointless things. The [First Empire] expanded and encountered other kings and queens who still worshipped in the old fashioned way. Some of the gods of these kings and queens were the same as those in the First Temple, and others were different, but all of them were taken into the First Temple and all of the kings and queens became part of the [First Empire]. More temples were built in the old kingdoms so that the gods could be properly worshipped there as well. Some of the kings and queens did not want this and ignored the gods and gave worship to the [demons] so that the [demons] might aid them in staying separate from the [First Empire]. The [Kings of the First Empire] overcame these kings and queens though and the [First Empire] ruled the land for many generations.
The [First Empire] eventually fell because of the trickery and deeds of the [demons]. The Temple however did not fall and continued to worship the gods properly despite the return of many kings and queens.
Many generations passed and a great many things were done before a [Second Empire] came to be.
The [Second Empire] was harder to make than the [First Empire] because the people all already worshipped the gods properly and the lesser kings and queens could not see any reason to join again. The [kings of Ambitious Land] saw that there should be a [Second Empire] and set about persuading the other lesser kings and queens that it was right. Some were persuaded with words, others would only be persuaded with swords, but we know that it was right for there to be a [Second Empire] because the [demons] had destroyed the [First Empire] and all that the [demons] destroy is good. Some of the lesser kings and queens sought the aid of the [demons] again, but they were defeated and the [Second Empire] came into being. To this day it is still coming, finding new lands, new kings and queens, and new gods.
Trithemius Ideas about 'The Kingdom' (21/11/05)
The Kingdom is the principal state-like entity in the game. It is homogenous in terms of government, economics, culture and religion.
The Kingdom is in its second period of unity, the first occurring much earlier. The two periods were divided by a long interregnum caused by the failure of the dynasty and the typical entropy caused by heirs who are unable to match their forebears. The new period of unity began about two generations ago and the re-founding dynasty has taken steps to ensure it’s scions retain their influence and their effectiveness so as to avoid the fate of the First Kingdom.
History of the Kingdom
The Kingdom was formed from several politically-independent, but closely culturally-related, groups of Horse People. The Horse People were originally semi-nomadic plains-dwellers who had steadily become more sedentary over generations; the small palisaded camps on low hills which were their original settlements gradually become earth-ramparted forts and wood-and-sod walled towns. As the towns became more permanently settled, and agriculture become more important than herding, the need for more complex social systems developed, which in turn resulted in the establishment of tribal confederations with petty kings selected by the elites of the towns and tribes via a number of methods ranging from simple democracy with limited franchise, to autocratic strong-arming.
Tribal confederations engaged in both peaceful and violent relations with their neighbours, with some being absorbed, others destroyed, and others benefiting from the absorption or destruction of their rivals. Powerful magnates emerged, with control over large areas, but without the centralised systems to administer them. Lesser magnates, under the kings, emerged, but were able to acquire some status and power of their own, influencing the king with the promise of support, or the threat of its withholding.
The religious culture of the various groups intermingled, and a belief that the gods of others were equally important as ones own original gods began to prevail. The number of gods required greater and greater religious specialisation, and a class of religious expert emerged. The manifestation of this priestly class coincided roughly with the high point of the semi-feudal system of the tribal kings and the next major socio-political development arose primarily because of their interaction.
A tribal king sought and received the support of members of the religious class who sought to solidify their own influence over the priestly sphere. The cooperation between the group of priests and the king proved effective, and combination of the encouragement of the idea of a single ruler, and a single temple to properly honour the gods, with the military and diplomatic successes of the king resulted in the establishment of the First Kingdom.
The First Kingdom, once established, exalted the rights of the High King over the subject kings, while preserving their social status, they lesser kings were politically disempowered unless they were prepared to actively court the High King. The priests who had supported the formation of the First Kingdom were also to gain influence by establishing the Great Temple in the new capital and promoting it as the source of all answers for theological questions. Disloyalty to the High King was also identified with disloyalty to the gods, or with contempt for the intended divine plan for humanity and so rebellion also became sin. Those who did rebel were said to be disrespectful of the gods, or even to have sought assistance from demons.
The First Kingdom, through superior politics and cultural engineering, was able to establish a centralised polity that persisted for many many generations, before the ruling dynasty lost its ability to retain control over the lesser kings and its own cadet branches and the kingdom slowly degenerated into more or less autonomous sub-kingdoms.
The origins of the First Kingdom are now largely lost in the mists of time and its formation is idealised and mythologised by modern folk. The prosperity and peace of the period, though real, is often exaggerated and used as fodder for political and religious rhetoric in the reinstatement of the newer Second Kingdom.
more coming soon, I promise, including: Second Kingdom stuff and "the High King's Homeboys"