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[Blaque]

A question kind of begged by the 2e origin of DBs is that there needed to be litereal armies of DBs, and that the ones that the Dragons Chose to begin withe re insufficient for whatever else armies of the Exalted needed.

I mean, going by Games of Divinity, I got this gist that the First Generation went right to war with the other Chosen. Them being able to ahve kids is a thing with a neat side effect, not a planned factor to inflate their nubmers even greater. The original set as what the Exalted Host needed. This fits also a bit with 1e and 3e's take taht Dragon-Blooded were usually...

[Blaque]

I'm down for that too! It's why I actually mentioned the anime/light novel Katanagatari. One of the 13 evil swords in that series is...actually a set of like 100 swords that are all actually the same sword. Shit like that's cool, but it should be done so you actually are taking their large amount into account for the story, rather than just trying to outfit folks with marginally better-statted weapons....

[Blaque]

The idea that a Solar can by herself crank out a lot of daiklaves like some crazy swordsmith is not in itself soemthing 3e is against.

What it is more against, in my understanding, is stuff like having a Factory-Cathedral pump out a battlegroup's worth of daiklaves in the span it took to build a singl eone, with each one bieng identical and not having anything ot them save being made out of fancy alloyed steel. The former is an extension of the fact that you make a lot of daiklaves, and the result is something that is sitlle ach a unique piece of artifice by the builder. The other...

[Blaque]

I don't mean it in any specific sense. As you note, it doesn't really matter, in teh grand schemes, that Sidereals were involved or the truth of the Usurpation. The Immaculate Philosophy is assumed to be a well-constructed religion, and we see similar things here on Earth were historicity doesn't affect massive faith, especially when it ultimatley doens't affect existing power structures.

I mostly think the whole "This guy is gonna expose us, he'd end up dead" thing that folks here seem to jump to undercounts how folks can just be marginalized and discredited. The jump...

[Blaque]

I would think a few DBs over the years who found out the Truth are probably just discredited. Something that helps perpetuate some lies is making folks who might know things just plain look crazy. Making a Cassandra here and there is probably not a bad thing in many Sidereal's eyes....

[Blaque]

1) No, though depending on edition there's a general cap on what equipment does give out just by dint on what equipment gives isn't often much.

2) In 1e and 2e, non-humans like Fair Folk and Mountain Folk could have above 3 in some specialites. In 3e, specialties don't stack ever, and so there's no ratings....

[Blaque]

So weird thing to ask, what's the "truth" that's being hidden to some extent? That Sidereals helped the Dragon-Blooded overthrow the Solars? It looks like the Terrestrial Exalted were on board with the Sidereal plan afterall. What truth is being hidden here that would get folks so upset? That the conspiracy to overthrow the rulers of the world...had more conspirators?

[Blaque]

Fivewinds Wanderer is a personal sig' Sidereal I have had since all the way back in 1e. Decided I hadn't drawn her in a bit, and also wanted to play around wiht greyscale a bit in Clip Studio.

[Blaque]

This post reminds me a bit on what I said earlier, on how slavery doesn't really come about because of some ecnoomic benefits it has over other things or the need for it, as you said. It seems often to arise because some other itnerest or opportunity arises such that some folks find it profitable early on to use slavery and then it becomes self-perpetuating since well, stolen labor is pretty good marginswise.

And due to how generally autonomous many Solars in the First Age are depicted, slavery has a pretty high possibility at least of existing in a world with a lot of folks who...

[Blaque]

I think the idea in 3e is the Solar who is making a buncha swords is like some legendary swordsmith probably known for making a lot of badass magical swords. The anime and light novel series Katanagatari seems to be pretty much what I imagine a lot of Solar swordsmith work looks like. Maybe a bit more prolific, but if it's getting toth eh point you're equipping armies I think it's just going a bit into pushing the letter of the rules over the spirit.

[Blaque]

I'd generally argue against it since when a person buys a daiklave with no free Evocations, they still have to invest xp into it to get htem, while the guy who just got a hypothetical two-dot one with no Evocations in effect gets a point for free. Making Evocatiosn require 3 and Artifacts require it I think is there in part so that if you want the stats, you have to pony-up.

That said, Artifact 2 might get you a mortal statted weapon with some unique supernatural things, but an actual daiklave I'd advise gainst, even if it is ultimatley one's own game on that....

[Blaque]

Serfdom though as noted is such a multi-variant term that there are probably ones that do or do not capture Realm peasantry and why they are not called that. Serfdom for example has a sharecropping element that I'm not so sure the Realm has, and it appears that while peasants need permission to move, they can't be arbitrarily moved either at times.

This might all be cleared up in The Realm mind. But I think Realm peasantry arne't serfs by the same definitions that Japanese or Chiense peasants weren't often called that. THey might very well still be based on defintiions,b ut the defintiions...

[Blaque]

I don't have a formal commission scheme currently and am actually working ot have one figured out in the the next few months so that I can take them....

[Blaque]

The Forest Killer - Haven't had as much time to drawa s I like of late. This is one I did for a friend. Exalted-inspired, but could or coul dnot be in it specifically (the character on his back is stylized enough to fit Creation or be Earth fine).

[Blaque]

And again, predicting its long term behavior or what she wants for it is easier said than done, since the institutions that would work or last were things centuries off. Great Houses weren't even a thing for a few centuries,a nd for all we know, the Realm's take on salvery is an extension of some Shogunate Era practice. The context of how Dynastic slavery developed is not clear enough to say "Chejob and crew could have fixed it."


Very true here. Like, there's the stereotyping Chejob as a hyper-Utilitaraina nd then tehre's him litereally coming out of a total system...

[Blaque]

The question ehre is whether the Sidereals give a shit enough about slavery to eliminate it here, when it existed in Creation before likely, and again, something that arises form complicated enough broad and complex socio-economic incentives and behaviors that in one end it happens and another don't due to indeterminate reasons that I wouldn't think it's something the Realm focused on beside syou know, helping this lady with the big gun and a bigger opportunity get shit together in general. Slavery in the Realm is an institution built over centuries. That it happened and shaped as it is is probalby...

[Blaque]

I mean, there's a reason why I tried to note it hints at things in the broadest sense and tried to speak in generalities. Because being kind of hinting at the braoder Taoist sex magic is good. Being specific ones is...ummm, yeah. For my take, I remember it as a kung fu thing for men not releasing and building up to cultivate qi or something to learn some technique....

[Blaque]

The thing as I gather is it's scatter-shot predicitve pwoer. It's often that it was through what was needed to know, what was important to keep things going and what ultimately was fungible for stability. It might very well be that the Realm being the slave-owning empire it is is what was the most stable path. It also just be not enough Sidereals gave a shit, because they are ultimately people in a largely high fantasy pulp setting and not 20th Century pro-democracy folks.

My guess is that simply put, this might be something 3e moves away from since while it harkesn a lot ot 1e,...

[Blaque]

There's a general thing in some Taoist or at least, Taoist-inspired things, of "cultivaiton" of one's ummm, procreative powers. It's usually done more thorugth just like, not doing sexual things and such, but that there's a cultivation aspect invovled here and such is kind of intersting and creates a route for stoic sorts who really take this shit seriously.

[Blaque]

This is a bit where edition shifts are important. The Order seems in 3e to be a lot more autonomous this time around. Chejob probably still talks with the Mouth of Peace, but I think a lot of the original depcition of her was in a context of Celestial Exalted having a tier of power above Terrestrials that's not meant to be the case this time around. There's a lot more of Dragon-Blood autonomy in general through history this edition and Chejob is still thinking himself the shit but also the Empress and the Order's structure sitll has some comrpomises in it as a result.


The Great...