Plot Information & Discussion Thread

H'okay, so, to facilitate plot movement...



**EDIT: Green indicates the path Vy took. Red indicates the walls she broke getting to the end goal. Yay!

Concerning Turich and the Ice Plains:

The discussion was that Turich, being so remote and closest to the ice plains is a little (read: LOT) backwards. Since Tarz is a hefty boat ride down the coast from them and Shayenne is over two mountain ranges and a valley away, the natives of the Ice Plains are really the only people that the Turichians have any close contact with. Because of that, Turich has some elements of ice plains culture going on, hence their highlander tendencies when not farming turnips and raising goats. There is also a lot of resemblance between the people of Turich and those of the ice plainers because of their interaction. Though not all Turichians resemble their hulking barbarian neighbors, quite a few do.

If you would like to read more about Turich, either go to Talos' bio and scroll all the way down here: https://dragonscove.darkbb.com/t513-talos-connan-serenoa-avian
Or Check out their festival descriptions here: https://dragonscove.darkbb.com/t1126-birthdays-festivalsetc-etc

Elite Ranks
This is a work in progress, so feel free to comment or edit as deemed necessary. **NOTE If you edit, mark your edits with a color of your choice so we know what's changed! ** This is a loose interpretation of the ranking systems, so have fun.

Council Major - More or less serves as a general and is the final say on all important matters concerning the security of Dragons Cove and the High Council in particular. A Council Major will almost never take the field, though if he does it would be for something extremely important, and works directly with the High Council.
Cardimax - Working directly under the Council Major(s), the Cardimax is often delegated to to perform any of the numerous tasks involved with managing the supplies and training of the Elites overall. They may sometimes take the field, but more often than not work with the Lower Councils of the cove to see that their needs are met. There is a Cardimax in every major Council affiliated city.
Pividary - The rank of Pividiary oversees field operations, carrying out orders from the Council Major and the Cardimax. They lead smaller groups of soldiers on important missions, but are more often than not simply make sure that the new recruits are being trained properly.
Subutant - Subutants control small cells of men for specific jobs, whether they be guard patrols or on a particular mission. All Subutants have a second in command within the cell that would take over in case of emergencies called Second Subutant, though this is more of a title than an actual rank.
Benate - The lowest rank of Elites, Benates make up the majority of the Elites force and fall under the direct command of the Subutants, though can be ordered around by anyone.
Bit - Collectively, recruits to the Elites are called "bits" though this is not technically an official rank.

Ranks in the Elites are marked by embroidered patches on their uniforms, or, in the case of dragons, painted marks on their scales. In the cases where an Elite has armor, their rank (regardless if dragon or not) would be engraved into their armor.

The High Council of Dragons Cove
Obviously, another work in progress. Point out corrections as needed <3

The High Council of 10 - The highest ranking councilors on the Cove. Their word becomes law, and they control the fate of all of the cities. Though the main council room is in Didienne, those of the High Council often travel to other cities to visit the lesser council. Among themselves they refer to each other as "Councilor", but lower Councilors refer to them as "High Councilor." The High Councilors are supposed to work directly with the Guardian Dragons when concerning important members, but this tradition has been falling by the wayside for generations. High Councilors often inherit their position, but often enough are "elected".
High Adjunct Councilor - Each of the High Councilors has at least one Adjunct, though only the highest ranking of their Adjuncts is referred as a "High Adjunct". If a High Councilor can not make an appointed discussion meet, then the High Adjunct Councilor will step in. Many Council meetings are comprised almost entirely of Adjuncts.

City Council - Yarrowitz and Racksom both boast a City Council. They act in much the same way as the High Council, though the laws they pass down do not affect all of Dragons Cove; only the territory to which their Council's power extends. The City Council often works with the Royalty of their city, but are not particularly beholden to it. City Councilors are elected to their position, but it has long been the trend that certain families often produce more councilors than others. The City Councilors may sometimes petition the High Council for favors, law changes, or trading amnesties.
Adjunct Councilor - Unlike the High Councilors, the City Councilors only have one or two Adjunct Councilors that may step in for them during meetings or run tasks for them. Most Adjuncts never see the floor however, as the City Councilors often show up to their own meetings.

Regional Council - Small villages and towns usually have their own "council", though these usually amount to the town mayor, whoever the chief of law enforcement is, and a spattering of respected elders. Collectively, the various council members of different towns and village get together and are called the Regional Council. Together, they may occasionally petition the City Councilors for boons. The Regional Councilors choose their title name for themselves, depending usually on what their real job is within their society.

Pretty much all looks good to me Just a few suggestions I'd like to make.

Pividiary seems like it would flow better if it was just Pividary? Not that it matter at all, just thought I'd say seeing as I'm posting. Also wondered if there's any difference between High Council and Grand Council?

Main thing I actually have to say is that I'd imagine cities would have regional councils too, which work much like those in smaller towns/cities. Just cause city councils/HC can't take care of every random city resident's needs.

I still think the Elite rankings are a little... hm, the names are kinda clunky. Cardimax especially, it sounds like some sort of sports equipment. I like the term bit though!
Possibly;
(Benate)- recruit/drafter
(Subutant)- bannerman
(Pividary)
(Cardimax)

Possibly could use Junior/Senior/Sub- to define things instead?
Or we could use a number scale, uno/duo/tri etc.

Other random ideas:
cornet
ensign
centurion
possibly on some sort ofnumber scale, ancient?
bannermen
squadman
Dux (general-type)

I would think we'd want to avoid anything too based in the real world... Like uno/duo/tri, or centurion, cause they inspire thoughts of other stuff like Romans. Idk though, making them out of normal English words might work? Like Squadman etc Though personally, I think most of the names are fine, just if we're going to change them.

Okay, I've changed the Town Council to the Regional Council, as per suggestion and changed the description a little bit to suit. Since we can't come up with names for the Elite ranks that we like, I'm going to leave it as-is until we have a proper discussion about it and sort it out :[ Of your suggestions Rogue, I like "Squadman" the best, and think it would be a suitable replacement for "Benate".

Also, I have a question about magic. Can we get a chart that lists the functions of the different magic types? For example: What is the difference between "Life" and "Blood" and what can each respectively do? Most of them seem pretty straight forward... fire controls fire etc... but the complex ones like "Light" and "Dark" seem a little more ambiguous. If you controlled "light", wouldn't you be able to make there be a lack of light, and therefore have Darkness? Or vice versa if you had the ability to manipulate "darkness" couldn't you simply make a lack of darkness and have light? just some thoughts.

I agree with Aero on the magic table thing - blood magic is so hard to work with when we don't have suggestions, and life sounds exactly the same xD However, maybe just guides, nothing concrete, because the free interpretation of magic is really nice, not too constrictive.

I added on Anae, in gold.



Take that, you mofo caves.

I hath been brainstorming, and have thus come up with a few ideas to help iron out how different magic types work. I am sorry in advance to Zay if I accidentally flub any of this up, and it is obvs open to discussion/alteration as people see fit.

Neutral magic is, according to the thread already set up and dedicated to magic, a restrained version of free magic. The description of it is very vague, and unlike the basic elements (AKA elemental) does not yet have a defined use. Starting off, it is the base; the source from which all other magic comes from, while on its own is completely unbiased towards any any alignment. In battle, it would be comparable to "hyperbeam" (a good parallel made by zay), that is a beam or projectile of pure energy, which hits with destructive force. For things like magic items, long-lasting spells and other such arrays, neutral magic would be the integral base which would bind all other magics into their places. For example, say there is a trap which shoots fire at anyone who crosses it; The first thing to be contructed would be the neutral magic skeleton, which would contain all of the parameters for the trap's use. Fire magic would be stored within the trap, and when the required conditions are met it would be released to do its damage.

This leads into the laws of basic magics: lightning, earth, wind, water and fire. Mages who use these magics have the ability to influence and control their elements. However, they may not create their elements out of thin air. The tools for their magic must be present in order for their use to be done, there must be a source from which the element can be drawn (with fire and lightning the rules are a bit more complex, but suffice to say these mages can start fire/lightning, however the conditions of the environment must allow for their existence).

For the complex magics the rules grow more, well, complex, both due to their confusing natures and, in most ccases, many opposing dualities. Light and dark, specifically, are such polar opposites that the absence of one creates the other. Therefor it is impossible to /not/ affect the other in any way, and their differences must simply be seen for what they are. Light is light, dark is dark.

A very major change that Zay and I have contemplated is the problem between life and blood, and also life and death. Not only are life and blood very similar in practice thus far, but life is the /only/ magic with two completely separate opposites. So to fix this, the ideas behind these three magics would be given an overhaul; a triad of mind, body and soul. Life magic would now focus around the healing of mental ailments, stamina, and other such afflictions which may not be the product of physical deterioration, and as a result may also cause these ailments as well. Blood would be the healing magic which focuses on the physical body, the more traditional cuts, bruises and broken bones which are the focus of most healing on DC. Death magic is central around the spirit - the life force - which is in all living beings. It can deteriorate, repair, or even bring souls back into existence. Without blood magic, a person would be full of energy but with a weak body. Without life magic, a person would be physically healthy but slothful in demeanor and ability. Without death, both would be entirely useless, and a soul may not grow in a body which is sustained (the binding of souls to inanimate objects is a much more difficult process, and one which will have to be discussed in detail).

Well, all sounds good to me, I haven't had a lot to do with blood/life/death myself so not a lot of thoughts about exactly what they'd entail. That sounds like it'd work though, obviously there's still flexibility for the individual RPer sooo...
Obviously... yeah, all the more physical magic types like the basic ones and stuff like sand, poison etc are pretty easy to decide on what kinda stuff they do.

Neutral, I would add that I always imagine it as being somewhat able to manipulate energy somehow?

Fate magic, you didn't mention but it's only cards anyway and... kinda self-explanatory

Sounds good to me, just a question about the use of the three sticky magics (life, blood and death) in an offensive way. Obviously you can;t just say 'lol ur ded now kthnxby', because obvious powerplaying and godmoding and errrrgh, but (correct me if I'm wrong) life could be used to drain mental energy slowly..? I think those are the three with the biggest pp/gm potential, so the offenxive side needs kind of ironing out, and some limits placed on them maybe...

Not sure what I mean tbh, but basically I think those three need offensive limits.

I always saw the elemental ones as a transformation of energy..? Like fire and lightning take energy to make, but can be made under any circumstances as long as the energy is there, or if a fire or thunderstorm is nearby the existing elemental substance can be manipulated. Things like water, I always saw as something that the magic user can manipulate, but to produce it from nothing would take an insane amount of energy - possible, but not practical. I think it would be best not to put many limits on those though, where possible, because the free use of magic, interpreted by the individual, is nice. Like, just use the arcane stat for each species as a guide to how extreme the effects of the magic can be.

When saying that fire/lightning need appropriate conditions I would take that to mean more along the lines of you can't make fire underwater or whatever. If you start putting anything too rigid on then it's just going to make magic awkward to use in RP, the flexibility we have atm is good for being able to come up with plot or whatever. That's not to say guidelines won't be good, just stuff like "no lightning magic without a thunderstorm" would be a bit crap.

Obviously capabilities and endurance are going to depend on the individual person... Seeing as this is mostly relevant to dragons, if we think like arcane stars, obviously higher arcane dragons can do a lot more. I would think practicing magic a lot means you can do more at once, just like building up physical fitness. And some will just have more aptitude than others, mages for example can do more than humans. I don't think you can really put any specific limits on how much magic chars can do... GMing's the kind of thing you want to deal with case-by-case.

Kaionar Government
As we all very well may know, Kaionar is a City State that is independent of the High Council Kingdoms, and therefore is not run by the High Council or any affiliates thereof. It has remained peaceful toward the DDC and is a free trade partner. The City State is dead center in most trade routes and enjoys the benefits of being one of the few accessible cities between Didienne and Yarrowitz that is fit for trade. Because of its location, Kaionar is fairly wealthy, but it is also insanely corrupt. Kaionar pretends that it is a republic of sorts, but is in reality anything but.

Viscount - The ultimate seat of power in Kaionar, the Viscount controls the entire City State and all dealings within. The position of Viscount is for life, and a new Viscount is elected by the Collegiate of Masters. In order to be a Viscount however, one must be from a very wealthy and influential family. New Viscounts often come from the same line because of this and are often "voted" into position by coercing the Collegiate with favors, bribes, or threats. Ultimately, Kaionar runs on money, and he who has the most of it wins.

Collegiate of Masters - This group is compromised of the various Guild Masters in Kaionar. For instance, the master of the Merchant's Guild, the Weaver's Guild, the Mercenary Guild, etc. How the various masters of each guild are appointed to their positions depends on which guild they are from. The Master of the Mercahnt's Guild, for instance, is probably the most wealthy of the Merchant Class in Kaionar and so holds the seat of Guild Master. While on the other hand the Master of the Mercenary Guild may be the guy that killed the last Master. It just depends.

Council of Nobles - The heads of the wealthiest families are part of the Council that petitions, supports, or threatens the Viscount. The various Collegiate Masters are usually part of these families and therefore owe allegiance to them. Though officially the Council of Nobles has no legal power, that doesn't mean that they don't get what they want. With connections to the Collegiate, a Noble family's position in Kaionar often reflects on who in their family belongs to what guild. For instance, the Viscount probably has several relatives in a majority of the guilds, while a lesser family may only have a handful of representatives in a specific guild.

The Seedy Underbelly
Crime Lords - Usually, there are only a handful at most of these guys. Too many cooks in the theoretical kitchen makes for bad stew. A Crime Lord will usually stake a claim on some section of the city and control all the thugs and others of ill repute within that sector. Often times, merchants and traders and crafters within those areas will fall under the influence of the Crime Lord in that sector. If one of these guys grabs enough power, he can eventually even become one of the Council of Nobles and declare his "house" a noble family. The Council of Nobles are always jockeying for political power within Kaionar and will often hire gangs of mercenaries and thugs to eliminate the competition. Crime Lords and Assassins are key players in how the candidates for Viscount retain their power.

Assassins - There is no singular assassin guild in Kaionar, but there are many types of assassins. Some are loners that hire their blade to anyone that can pay, others are groups of individuals that work together. There are several factions of assassins in Kaionar, and the bigger well-known ones often do business with the Council of Nobles and the Viscount. Certain assassins or assassin groups owe their "loyalty" to one house or another and are the call-to men when somebody needs to be murdered.

((Again, just mucking about with rankings. Lemme know what your guys' thoughts are on this.))

But Aero you forgot the most important part of Kaionar's government:

Seedy Underbelly!

Crime Boss
There are a few, each with their own sector of the city. No more than four at a time, or there's problems c:

Assassins
Self explanatory

Thugs
Also explanatory c: