hellfiazz

Imagine the party that Haelun'or would have with these.

"Snow Elves mate with trolls! Look at them! Look at them and laugh!"

Buubztik approves of the naming.

Don't really see the point. Limbs can be re-grown through a few magics, and even if you can't get anyone with those magics there are already a couple of ways to do what you're proposing, except with a different material: runesmithing and I believe alteration. Basically I'm saying it's almost definitely not needed and it's giving powers that already exist in other people and magics.

The combined power of the Spirits does indeed exceed the power of Apohet, as the Daemon invested a great deal of his own power into the Spirits' and their Realm's creation. Also, the Spirits gain power from the abundance of their aspect, over time they have grown more powerful. Additionally the many many ancestral spirits that have entered have greatly increased the overall power of the Spirit Realm. I'd say that if the Spirit Realm was united, which is basically impossible, they'd be equal to or even greater than the majority of Aengudaemons, potentially rivalling the Arch-Aengul Aeriel and Arch-Daemon Iblees.

Buubztik throwns down his own lightning bolt for good measure.

"Skah'n Zog! Mi wizh mi kud blah mi ohlwaiz gruk'd hi wuz nub'hozh, bud mi nevur zuzpektid uh fing. Dat am duh wurzt kynd ub bitrayul."

Meanwhile Frumzum just bums around, hunting and so forth.

Buubztik frowns as he views the events from the Spirit Realm, then felt a pang of distress as the shock waves of Ikuras' return buffeted every spirit, from the great twins of Time and Space to the lowliest of ancestrals.

"Skah'z zayk, mi flat klompin uhgaynzt Ikuraz kultiztz agh dey wun ehniwai. Hozh skah'n jub murtulz.

Agh mi skah'n blah'd Zhaydztik dat dat burzi wuz nub hozh. Dumskah."

Would non-military leaders of settlements count as citizens in said settlement?

Haha! Looks like this is one we beat you to!

What's the very top limit of the capabilities of a top-of-the-line Druid?

Witch Doctors, who perform Alchemy and Curses. Far seers, who perform Blessings and the ability to receive visions of events from across time and space. Lutaumans, who communicate with Ancestral Spirits, asking for guidance and making blessings that are based upon the specific abilities of the ancestral spirit in life (I.e. Rax was a great warrior, using his blessing would make one a better warrior)

@karma

I assume you're talking about Elementalists, as they're the only ones that make specific pacts. Basically an Elementalist has to make a pact with a lesser of each type of elemental spirit that a shaman can use in order to manipulate that element. An Elementalist can then go on to make a deeper pact with one specific type of lesser elemental they made a pact with, which allows them greater control over that element, however lesser control over the opposite elements, as the opposite spirit would be angry that you chose a rival spirit over them. The opposing pairs are

Fire Water

Earth Air

Metal Electricity

Meaning that if you make a deeper pact with fire, you're stronger with fire but weaker with water, and vice versa.

Before his capture and death at the hands of Ikuras Cultists, Buubztik had begun to pen down his own thoughts on the nature of divinity. He ensured it was on the boat as it was constructed, placed among the rest of the few pieces of literature that the Orcs possessed. To any who discover it, it would read as follows:

"I would think I have lived a while so far, just short of 100 years. It's not as long as many other more renowned Orcs, but for over 60 of those years I have been defined as a practicer of the Spiritual arts, a Shaman. In this time I have learned a lot about the world and the worlds beyond, and I'd like to share what I think and know with my brothers. I realise that the strength of body is often valued among them over the strength of mind or spirit, but all three are valued in the eyes of the Spirits.

=-

There are four types of power beyond that of mortals and preceeding that of the Creator, who might be the greatest super-mortal power of all, but takes no active part in the world and as such whether you praise him or not is irrelevant to ther world and to him. The forms of powers are the Spirits, the Aspects, the Aenguls and Daemons, and the Void. Their greatness and their power and their worthiness of mortal worship are not equal, in fact there is an order to them.

Least in these is the Void. It corrupts the mind and body for little reward, and any reward is inferior to that of any other form of super-mortal power. It is to be hated and avoided and the users of its power to be purged by the righteous.

Third in these is that of Aenguls and Daemons. They could be said to be first in power, but they are marred by a history of evil, in the form of Iblees, and as I have recently discovered, Ikuras. However, those that remain in the light of good could be said to be worthy of worship. The users of those that have not fallen from grace, such as the Clerics of Tahariae are to be tolerated, but a mortal searching for the greatest form of power to worship should not join them.

Second in these are the Aspects. Their tenets and power are definitely great, preaching balance in the world and such, but they are undermined by the fact that what they tell their followers is somewhat hypocritical. They ask for balance and yet they only promote one aspect of nature. Nature is not entirely plants and animals. The desert and the mountain and the tundra are all parts of nature, and yet the Druids only spread the forest. As such, their followers are to be respected, but again a mortal searching for the greatest form of power should not become one such follower.

The highest form of power to be worshipped are the Spirits. They preach balance, they preach strength, they preach honour, and they have the power to make these things real. Their competition in the Spirit Realm teaches us that mortals must search for strength in all things. Their power of shaping the universe and the hearts and minds and spirits of men teaches us to ensure that the mortal world is in balance that if upset must be rectified. Their call for honour teaches us to make sure we act with righteousness and decisiveness. Their followers, the Shamans, are the truly enlightened, and are the living avatars of the Spirits' will. As with the first Shaman, Krug, who was the wisest and strongest and most honourable of his brothers in resisting Iblees dark charm and then fighting his evil power, such are Shamans in the world. They are the wisest and strongest and most honourable of all mortals, and so they are to be upheld in the highest regard.

=-

There are those who preach that there are no divine beings and divinity is an ignorant concept. As one who has felt their touch and heard their voices and looked upon their glorious faces, this baffles me. I of course write of the High Elves of Haelun'or, the self-styled superior race who do so arrogantly and foolishly claimed to be enlightened under their Maehr'sae Hiylun'ayla. This ideology in itself is not a terrible concept, for it preaches progress and health. However, their rejection of the divine, and then claiming to be the most intelligent of all races is utterly unforgivable and their hubris astounds me. I can and would show them how wrong they are by helping them to open their minds, but they are so blinded that they are the ones who are appalled by any attempts on my part to do so. Until they realise and expel their own ignorance, they are to be abhorred.

=-

This concludes my own thoughts upon the nature of divinity and super-mortal power and those who would praise and dabble in it. I realise some would say that I am biased when I write about it this, and to those I would agree. When you have seen true ultimate power, it is impossible to not appreciate and glorify it when you write about it. Hopefully with this, I have managed to realise in a few people their own spirituality. If not, it was good to clarify to myself what I have learned."

You don't need unbiased GMs for most cases. The claimant gives their casus belli and then the warclaim goes through. If the defender disputes, claimant clarifies how their casus belli is legitimate. If there is a further dispute, then a GM can get involved. As for preventing bias, either have a GM who's not a member of either faction on their main character, or just have two GMs who have mains in factions that are unaffiliated with one another. If there is a clear display of bias, then a leader of either side could call for a 2nd/3rd opinion with an unaffiliated main, but they don't get to choose exactly who to avoid GM shopping.

Frumzum would think it would be going on Azog alts purely to mine from the Orcish mine and then siphon resources directly to the Teutonic Order. Regardless of whether or not this could be considered meta-gaming on both our parts, using an Orcish clan to steal from the War Nation would RPly be quite detestable to the War Nation.

I'm sure most people supporting the re-instatement of forcable Warclaims would prefer raid limitations over consensual war. The entire reason that raid limitations were for the most part removed was because of consensual warfare being implemented. Really, it is. Go check out Rittsy's post when it happened. Your precious raid limitations were removed to pave the way for consensual warfare, and now look at the state of war. Constant raids with constant OOC bickering and bitching. You can't honestly say that since the implementation of deniable Warclaims, warfare has not descended into fuckery, much less that it has improved.

And like I said, re-implementing raid limitations without re-implementing forced Warclaims won't work. It'll just make the people who want to raid more frustrated, and therefore when they do raid it will be an even less pleasant experience for any defenders than it is now.

One example out of hundreds. You said on Jojoma's thread you could name a few Warclaims that resulted in OOC drama. Well that's a few out of hundreds of other accepted / forced Warclaims that didn't, and resulted in far, far less strife than the raid wars of the Fringe, which were a symptom of the changed war system. Regardless of the few examples of situations that resulted in some OOC strife that lasted maybe a week, the OOC effects of the Fringe Wars are only just now beginning to subside, a few months after their climax.

Surely you can see that a system that results in a few months of OOC resentment is far inferior to one that results in a week or so of OOC resentment in only a small portion of situations?

The point is that you inhabit a world of war and so RPly you should be taking steps to either use that to your advantage or deal with it. War won't go away, but you can deal with it better through the following methods:

1. Better defences / guard. I won't lie and say this will stop war from hitting you, but it will help mitigate the effects.

2. Diplomacy. Becoming vassals, making alliances, giving tribute. All these will stop at least some factions from attacking you, and with the former two you'll have some other factions coming to help you.

You might not like war, but unfortunately it comes to all corners of LOTC eventually. It can't be cured but it can be treated.

But I must ask you a question. How many of you would rather have one battle and have to move your RP hub than have many raids constantly and over a long period of time? The former is a temporary problem, and it can be solved in a matter of days at least and weeks at most. The latter will cause you and your community much more grief over a much longer period of time, regardless if any limitations out in raids (bar banning them altogether, which would result in massive outcry). A denied Warclaim won't stop you getting grief, it will only exacerbate it. A Warclaim accepted lost or won (a term of your own victory in a defence could be the halting of all aggressive actions from the attacking faction and it's people) might be painful in the short-term, but it will soon pass.

You are not entitled to your own special area, no-one is. You RP as a part of the LOTC world, not as a special part of it unless you're playing an event character or such. Since you are part of the world, you are subject to the ebbing and flowing of it.

War has been a fact of life throughout LOTC, as much as high fantasy is or a Minecraft is. There always has been war, and most likely there always will be. You are role playing as a moving part of a world that on the large scale nigh-on revolves upon war. The aim is to have fun yes, but the point is to have fun through role-playing as part of this world, a world of bloodshed.

You need to accept that not only are you not a special part of LOTC, but that you are also part of a world of war.

Please add spectral in front of spirits otherwise I'm suing you for libel and slander

Frumzum roars "Blud agh glohri! Fur duh Rex! Fur duh Zpiritz! Fur Krug!"

+1 from me. The only thing I'd suggest is adding the killing of authority figures (Orenian Royalty + Council Members, Dwarven Council members, Elven Sohaer and Okarirs, Orcish Rex, Targoth, High Shaman and Wargoths) in another's territory with the permission, condonance, or order of another authority figure (as said above).

Also with a Casus Belli system I don't think there's really any need for a Warclaim Team.

1. casus belli system, which consists of the following legitimate causes

close-proximity seizing of more than one plot, close-proximity being the plots directly next to the owned plots

raiding more than one time, or raiding at all after a warclaim is denied

consistent insults from a nation. Many insults from the people count if the nation does nothing to stop it

people of leadership being party to, condoning or allowing their subordinates to murder figures of authority from another faction

Or

2. Warclaim team, consisting of 2 members each from main 4 and 1 member each from smaller states (Alras, Hanseti, etc)

Frumzum nods like Jack Nicholson.

((Nice post))
 

Frumzum grins in savage glee as he stalks through the long grass, spear in hand, tracking a herd of Stunted Rhino.

Form for Employed Orcs:
MC Name: HELLFIAZz
RP Name: Frumzum'Lur
Profession: Blacksmith, Leatherworker, Miner

The ramshackle yet magnificent Orcish ship, the Buubztik’s Revenge, sails hard to the East, following dreams and promises of new lands, new conquests, new hope.

After many days at sea, what was prophesised so long ago is finally realised. Shores are spotted by the goblin manning the Crow’s nest, causing savage merriness and guttural cheers to be shared amongst the passengers.

The ship finally lands upon the white sands of this new world, and Orcs pour out, each one eager to be on their next homeland. Headbutts, and hugs in the case of family, are widespread, but the moment of good spirits soon fades as the Orcs look about sheepishly, unsure of their next steps.

Then a warm light was cast down from the sky, and where it hits the ground, the light begins to slowly coalesce into a large humanoid shape. Some Orcs treat it with aggression and draw their weapons, but as the form becomes more and more clear, all thoughts of anger and bloodlust are lost. The Spirit of Buubztik grinned in his typical wisdom-filled yet animated way, and held open his arms as he began to speak.

“Bruddahz! Latz hab kohm tuh nuu uzg, wer nuu driimz kun bi riyulyz’d! Rijoyz, fur id am uh hozh dai endiid!

Lat muzt guu furthur Eezt, agh furm lat’z nuu goi der. Id wull bi uh tik ub pruzperiti agh bub’hozhnuz fur Uruk-kynd! Nah guu furf agh duu Krug pruwd!”

With that, the sun-beam faded and the light-form of Buubztik’s spirit dissipated, leaving the Orcs to his words. They didn’t think on the matter long, and so with a shrug of the shoulders and a gathering of cargo, they went on their way. More travel Eastwards.

After several hours of walking, they reached a grassland that wasn’t quite a meadow or field, but wasn’t quite barren. A savannah, one more knowledgeable elder pitched in, and somehow the previously nomadic Orcs knew that this was to be their home.

-=-

A few weeks later, the Orcish settlement was taking shape. In honour of recognising that this land was where Krug and his first children had lived, the steadily forming city was named San’Vitar: City of Old.