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BingoZero posted:We are clearly in wasp hell and as such must keep going. Push the objective aggressively. Abigail can’t stop nor will she stop and we must follow. Keep the hammer alive, she’s a sword to inherit. If we’re the best defense we take a rear guard position as ITEC moves. Living organisms are divided into roughly five categories. Deity, (one of three) sentient Powers who have accepted Imperial Law and performs supernatural services in exchange for sanctioned worship. Citizens, who are sentient, living organisms who have accepted Imperial Law and worship one of or a combination of the three designated deities of the United World Church and pay their taxes accordingly. Animals, which are living organisms of any degree of sentience who have not accepted or cannot accept or fill in the required forms to accept Imperial Law, Worship-affiliation nor pay their taxes. Most animals are mundane, in that they do not exhibit any supernatural characteristics. The sub-category Pests are animals which, whilst not Monsters, are still harmful to the Empire and its dealings. Monsters, which are living organisms of any degree of sentience who will not accept nor fill in the required forms to accept Imperial Law, Worship-affiliation nor pay their taxes and worse, actively oppose the Empire and cannot be reasoned with to do so. Most monsters exhibit some supernatural ability. Powers, are unaffiliated supernatural entities of any degree of sentience, such as the Conceptual Spirits that Rim, the first Emperor, battled before unification, as well as more concrete and personable entities such as Dragons - they differ from Monsters in that their intentions are not solely malevolent and in the sheer scale of their natural and supernatural abilities. A Citizen may claim the Right of Salvage to Monster remains only if they are a member of the Monster Hunters Guild, or if the monster perishes on their land and the Guild relinquishes their priority Right of Salvage, though this is discouraged since even the remains may be problematic for the inexperienced. A Citizen may purchase remains deemed safe by the Guild of off the Guild and do with these as they see fit. This is the Guild at-large main source of income, aside from membership fees. A Citizen may make use of an Animal for domestic purposes such as forced labour, slaughter, companionship and protection. A Citizen must officially worship at least one Deity but is free to 'shop around' so to speak amongst the authorized three, or divide their worship however they see fit. Vespids, being living organisms of questionable or at least varied sentience that cannot be reasoned with and actively oppose the Empire and exhibit some supernatural tendencies (such as improbable girth and vitriolic acid) are classified as Monsters. So what the company that originally hired yours to acquire a sample of "living remains" did was technically legal, which is the best kind of legal. You are also technically off the hook for the aftermath of your contract, at least from the governments point of view. The Guild may still see fit to sanction you though, we shall just have to see! Yes, that is a coincidence. They are not the same person and they hail from vastly different areas of the Empire, I must have mistaken ones picture for the other at some point. Oh well. Chalk it up to chance or fashion that they have nearly identical grooming; weirder things have happened!]
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Apr 24, 2024 11:09
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| # ? May 6, 2024 05:33 |
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Does this mean human/humanoid noncitizens and outlaws are legally considered animals and risk being treated as animals?
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Apr 24, 2024 16:18
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I just want to appreciate that those who will not pay taxes are defacto monsters
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Apr 24, 2024 16:50
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Hello self-identifying 'citizen', I am a state recognised monster hunter. Please show me your current year income tax statement to avoid termination and salvage.
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Apr 24, 2024 17:04
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HBar posted:Does this mean human/humanoid noncitizens and outlaws are legally considered animals and risk being treated as animals? Indeed, Outlaws are technically pests. Humanoid non-citizen sentients can fall into any of the other categories, an uncontacted tribe of Axolotl People would be considered animals until they accepted Imperial Law and paid their taxes, a Kobold is considered a pest, a Gnoll a monster, the Anatinupomorphized Power Concept of Greed, a Deity.
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Apr 24, 2024 17:30
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Sentient FOOF plz
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Apr 24, 2024 17:55
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The Cousins Ironscript have, for too, been trapped in the day to day struggle to survive to see the grand weave. Buried under debt, and imminent threat we have for too long been deaf to the symphony we are a part of. Swedish Thaumocracy posted:Mårgått Merryfoot, The First Casualty of the Last Godwar Swedish Thaumocracy posted:Mr. Guffsons bad day Swedish Thaumocracy posted:Bedtime Stories Is there a god of Nyaa posted:The empire should get more gods The Emperor posted:Power! Wherever Thou Might Be - Come Hither As Per My Decree! In practical terms the proposal is this: plant the bombs to establish dominance and do an Origin’s of Toil style power parlay. We take the living remains of the hives as salvage, they live protected as property, we draft papers petitioning the bugs be promoted to animals and in time citizens, they work towards imperial ends, we point them at criminals and monsters, their young feast on the right monster meat. There is precedence for such social climbing. WWRD? Rim did this, uplifting Toil and the Dwarrow. What would the gods think? Drones to labor for toil, wasp wares in the market for quackeen, and Lolth? Lolth really didn’t like the bee-shop and cited how important the triumvirate was, however what grandma doesn’t love more grand babies chewing their way out from endlessly healing troll flesh, its atheistic screams echoing in her ears forever as its trapped in a living nightmare? This is a risky play, but we’ve been on the back foot for a long time, and if
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Apr 25, 2024 17:55
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BingoZero posted:WWRD? Rim did this, uplifting Toil and the Dwarrow. What would the gods think? Drones to labor for toil, wasp wares in the market for quackeen, and Lolth? Lolth really didn’t like the bee-shop and cited how important the triumvirate was, however what grandma doesn’t love more grand babies chewing their way out from endlessly healing troll flesh, its atheistic screams echoing in her ears forever as its trapped in a living nightmare? Whatever the Gods think (you could ask, they are right there) - it'd have to be a pretty good pitch considering a dozen different teams are working to demolish both hives as we speak and have been ordered to kill everything vespid related present.
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Apr 25, 2024 19:00
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I don't exactly advocate for the option, but... I think if the Vespids Deity (in function, not Empire-recognized legal terms) was willing to bend the knee to Toil (or another agreeable Empire-recognized Deity) in service, something could be arranged. (And I do specify Toil for a reason, Quackeen's rate would be extortionate, Lolth would be less than thrilled with the idea.) The hard part would be getting the Vespids to agree to, frankly unfavorable terms (Join or Die) in exchange for survival. And nominal lawful protections as servants of Toil. What passes for a Vespid representative is unavailable at this time, but since the option is there, let's consult Toil. e:"Access to a strong, winged labor-force with minimal communicative abilities outside their own kind to negotiate empirical labor-law, existing at the empires continued tolerance (or lack therof)."
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Apr 25, 2024 19:20
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I'm from Tukatt Hold and I say FOOF em all
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Apr 25, 2024 20:26
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Checking with Toil seems solid. Is there any common knowledge a citizen would have on the current state of the pantheon? A triumvirate’s been mentioned, as have a handful of other gods. The hobbits god got smashed, and IIRC skvababt worships lolth but does this mean the frog god is similarly smashed? How mutable is the pantheon? Are there minor (recognized) gods? Would it be possible to plug Bee-sus in under Toil? As for selling the hive’s surrender to the assembled horde, if Thorgrim’s property law shenanigans aren't enough to stay their hands lets hope Kvelar’s got the gift of gab and can pull off a “Bugs, Hunters, businessmen, lend me your ears, we come not to bury Bee-sar but to profit from him,” but we can FOOF that bridge when we come to it.
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Apr 26, 2024 00:02
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BingoZero posted:Checking with Toil seems solid. Is there any common knowledge a citizen would have on the current state of the pantheon? A triumvirate’s been mentioned, as have a handful of other gods. The hobbits god got smashed, and IIRC skvababt worships lolth but does this mean the frog god is similarly smashed? How mutable is the pantheon? Are there minor (recognized) gods? Would it be possible to plug Bee-sus in under Toil? Bees are food for Lolth
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Apr 26, 2024 00:34
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BingoZero posted:Checking with Toil seems solid. Is there any common knowledge a citizen would have on the current state of the pantheon? A triumvirate’s been mentioned, as have a handful of other gods. The hobbits god got smashed, and IIRC skvababt worships lolth but does this mean the frog god is similarly smashed? How mutable is the pantheon? Are there minor (recognized) gods? Would it be possible to plug Bee-sus in under Toil? Sure! Thorgrim/Kvelar/Thorlar Kvelgrim/Two Cows isn't... aren't an avid (collective of) worshipper(s), or at least you haven't been thus far, even if you have encountered all of the official Deities in the past few months alone, but every imperial citizen knows at least the basics: There are three Deities, Toil, Quackeen and Lolth. The first Emperor, Rim, made some sort of deal with them a few generations back, the gist of it being that they serve the Empire and in return receive worship. Worship of other Powers is strictly forbidden and mostly pointless since they are believed to have been vanquished when they did not accept Imperial Rule. The Pantheon is thus immutable. There are no official minor powers, though Angels and Daemons have been mentioned as existing (and you have met at least one) - the aforementioned being essentially minor divine servants, differing only in what type of service they render. There is also an unofficial Emperor Cult that exists in a sort of legal gray area that most sensible people try to just ignore. You aren't aware of any Vespid Powers to parlay with or for, though if one was here that would certainly explain why the hives are behaving so erratically. Arcanuse posted:I don't exactly advocate for the option, but... I think if the Vespids Deity (in function, not Empire-recognized legal terms) was willing to bend the knee to Toil (or another agreeable Empire-recognized Deity) in service, something could be arranged. You think this to the open air and nothing happens.
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Apr 26, 2024 00:49
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quote:You aren't aware of any Vespid Powers to parlay with or for, though if one was here that would certainly explain why the hives are beehaving so erratically. Ftfy
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Apr 26, 2024 01:14
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Lolth was mad at the bugs holy man. There's a queen bee here to work. There's been about three centuries of ecclesiastic stagnation in Rim. Its time for some innovation, some disruption. Move fast and break  If we get a bug god, we're only two gods away from basically being emperor!
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Apr 26, 2024 01:38
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Toil is Ambivalent I suppose. Might've sent a migraine if they were wholly against the concept. Silence leaves room for an actual thorough plan/argument if one presents itself, but Toil isn't inclined to intervene as it stands now. And of course we would have to actually get the Vespids onboard with all this, but not much trying that if we can't get a godly sponsor to seriously consider it. ...Eh, I'll take a proper shot. Why not. "The Vespid are as the Dwarrow were, working day and night in endless service. But the Emperor of Rim did not come to them, but to you, Toil." "To you, that your servants ceaseless toil might be given purpose in the empire to be." "That, then, Vespid embody your ideals so, could it not be said they are wayward servants of Toil? Who else would labor such but Toils own?" "If each people of the empire might be a unique tool to be guided in work, then the forms of the Vespid would be a vital multitool in your shed." "Workers who might be shaped to their task, whatever it might be, Knowing their purpose in full from beginning to end." "For where the other Peoples of the empire must be trained or guided, a Vespid might simply be made to fulfill a task, and repurposed when their labors cease." And, in that service, they would cease to impede the labors of others. From fighting the gears of industry to maintaining them." "And so, if whatever guides the Vespid is willing to bend the knee, rejoin the fold as the lost servants they are, would you accept?" A direct answer would be nice, but I think that's more Quackeens/Lolths thing. Perhaps keep an eye out for signs? Or headaches from Godbothering. e: right, this is toil being asked. I guess if we feel a sudden charged, directed sense of purpose that'd be it? probably. e2: noting that this petition is less a serious one, and more curious if Toil would be interested in vespid servants if events turned out conducive to such. Arcanuse fucked around with this message at 08:28 on Apr 26, 2024 |
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Apr 26, 2024 02:01
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Arcanuse posted:Toil is Ambivalent I suppose. Might've sent a migraine if they were wholly against the concept. Catching your own reflection in the back of your shield, you find it curious how old it looks, as it gazes on you full of judgement and bewilderment. You feel lost in those eyes, at once your own and not. There is an intensity there, a realness beyond the glint of torchlight on polished metal. ~ Trouble on the Rim, Book 2, Chapter 9 Attack on Whale The Fourteenth of December, 347 A.R. Whaleian Outskirts Part 19: Waiting Room You remember sitting in an office waiting room with solid, dependable granite walls, on a not too comfortable stone chair with an unstuffed woven cloth as cushion. There are no windows as you are underground (as all good Dwarrow should be) but you can feel the heat radiating from furnaces, forages and factories nearby. The noise from 'outside' is muffled by the stone, though you hear the distinct clang of metal and dreamlike, drawn out and distorted wailing. A secretary bird looks at you expectantly, head titled. Clipboard in wing, pencil tucked behind a feather.  'Papers please.' she states. Her accent marks her as from Rim, the city, not the Empire. 'Oh, of course,' you mumble, opening your satchel and removing a bundle of paperwork that seems an unusual mess to you. All jumbled up. It feels wrong to your hands so accustomed to forms. The secretary bird tut tuts at you and disappears behind a door you hadn't noticed. Solid granite, seamless with the wall and without decoration. As soon as she is gone you lose track of where she left or if she was ever really there at all. You look around the waiting room and see a line of workers, nearly identical and familiar somehow, hammering away at indecipherable metal along a conveyor belt. The room is fuzzy and indistinct now but you see no end of the line in either direction, even if the granite wall remains behind you and the other one remains a stones throw from the belt itself on the other side. One of the workers turns to you. No, a foredwarf, going by their rank insignia. Kindly, intense, he states:  'Your paperwork is out of order. You claim to be singular but are clearly many. You haven't been born yet you contain the breath of life as it was given. You work for us but are not part of the workforce. You have Work to do that has not been Delegated to You. Your categorization contains uncollapsed superpositions. Anomalies are incongruous with efficiency unless they prove otherwise. You are unknown but familiar. You are marked.' He, it, they? Pause in their summary and peer at you with an ageless transfixing stare. 'Uh, I had some thoughts about subjugating the Vespid menace?' you offer by way of explanation. The tattoo on your hand aches for a moment as your headache returns briefly. The secretary bird hands you some new paperwork. Where did she come from? You examine the papers and they appears to be the bounty to eradicate the Vespid Menace and demolish the hives that you signed earlier. You see the ISTEC stamp and your own signature, as well as Ivana Sêndvïcs' and those of your companions and the official guild stamp, everything in order. As things should be. You are back in the office waiting room. The secretary bird is scribbling on her clipboard. 'There appears to be an issue with your paperwork. It is being looked into. Please hold' she begins, but gets a distant look in her eyes for a second as she tilts her head to better listen to some inaudible noise. 'no, please return to your priority duty. The matter is being looked into. We will be in contact." You are about to question her again when you blink and catch yourself staring into your reflection. You look so much like your cousin Kvelar, or does he look like you? Abigail yells out 'boss, orders!?' the Vespid advance, an arrow is loosed, battle commences. Stepping back into the corridor, you form a defensive barrier with Mr. Hobbson with Khami bringing up the rear, his iron chain whipping dangerously overhead. You physically block Abigail from advancing though you are unsure how long you can hold her back, she might still just jump over your head. Skvababts angle of attack is greatly limited in this setup, but she should be safe behind your bulk and her arrows are just as deadly as they would be in the open, though less frequent as her opportunities are fewer. The beehemoths attempt to charge but are too large for the tunnel, yet you do not want them to clog you in so you are forced in turn to counter and push they away, leaving you open to harrying from the aerial scouts. Meanwhile the warriors attempt to flank you, leading to a back and forth tug of war of control over the tunnel entrance. One scout flies a little too close and the scourge rips into its wing, tearing it off together with the muscle that allowed it to flap. The Vespid immediately perishes, crashing to the ground where it soon trampled beneath your feet. Skvababt hits the leftmost beehemoth in the leg to little effect. Abigail yells and tries to throw a stone whilst you are on the defensive, parrying heavy strikes and trying to threaten any Vespid who get too close. Mr. Hobbson slashes the rightmost beehemoth across the face, caving in a compound eye and causing it considerable discomfort, but is struck upon his platemail by several warriors in return. The blows scratch the metal but find no penetration, as they lack the power of a full commitment behind them being more strikes of opportunity. You consider throwing something from your pack at the brutes but have no chance to dig through it as they close in once more, the leftmost bigbee suddenly leaping for your throat! With nowhere to dodge you cover your face with shield and gauntlet, feeling mandibles feebly trying to pierce the latter to no avail. 'Abigail!!' you yell, overwhelmed and grappling with a monster easily twice your size as the duck barbarian leaps onto its back adding featherweight onto your considerable burden. She laughs and screams and whacks it cross the back with her quarterstaff, standing there precariously and waving it about like a patrolling constable might twiddle their nightstick. You attempt to push the blade of your axe into the monster but get no leverage, it is all you can do to keep from being crushed. Khami slips in to the gap in your line to guard against further incursion and snaps at the warriors keeping they at bay, leaving your would be warden to deal with the fliers and the injured beehemoth. As the bigger threat is still reeling, he opts to guard against airborne threats that may take advantage of the now open space successfully repeling two strikes whilst a third slips through, targeting Abigail. Vespid stinger meets Vespid scalemail and the former deflects of the latter, leaving her unharmed. She counters by bashing its head in, her iron reinforced staff easily crushing the internals. The hive shakes as another detonation echoes throughout the halls and a Vespid warrior is struck down by falling honeyglazed masonry. Splinters of hive rain down from above, mostly harmless but distracting none the less, not that you notice what with the beehemoth in your face. You try to punch it but your hand is stuck in its mouthparts, with only waspable steel keeping you from losing the limb. You attempt to kick it of off you but it considerably heavier than it should be and will not budge. It lifts you into the air as it stands on its hindlegs, hoping to swipe at your belly with its front claws as you hang from its face. Abigail falls off and tumbles into the injured beehemoth and Mr. Hobbson rushes to her aid, enduring several strikes from both warriors and scouts to drag her away from certain death as the big beast finally recovers, shrieking and bleeding and furious. Once again imperial steel proves invaluable as his armor protects him from the brunt of the assaults and stops each attempt to pierce him through, though he will for sure feel the bruises come the morning. 
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Apr 26, 2024 15:05
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Uh poo poo. Try not to die I guess? Good luck 2(dwarves)+1(cow)!
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Apr 26, 2024 15:30
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rrrright, we were in an active combat scenario weren't we. And I guess we haven't rung up Toil before in our current state? Suppose that had to come up at some point.
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Apr 26, 2024 16:20
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Come on Ironscripts! You’re better than this you’re a bureaucrat get your papers settled. Count your fingers, check the time. Do all the lucid dreaming tricks. Assert yourself. It can not be overlooked that foredwarf/toil has left the door open for the efficiency of our scheme to be proven. Continuing with legalistic loopholing, we are contractually obligated to eradicate the vespid menace which is not incompatible with cowing the vespid’s and their god rendering them useful. Eradicate the menace, keep the tool. What type of smith shatters his hammer against iron? If we can preserve resources via negotiation and assimilation that’s a win. Whale took significant damage to its capacity for work and I think we’d all like to see production numbers back up post haste, without further preventable losses. We have some charts and figure's we'd love to show the foredwarf. Conjures trifold board In the material survival is paramount, then the team, then the mission. The plan is working? We’re in a bad spot but their strength is diminished. Are we disarmed? Either way it might be time to start cavorting and gyrating, let those vague dwarves hammering in the waiting room lay down the beat as Kvelgrim chants the ancient litany of toil, gyrates and cavorts in bee dance language Yield. And on the topic of being singular and many I’d offer this. “Consider steel foredwarf, an alloy of carbon and iron yet distinct from both. No earthbound dwarf is fool enough to moan that it is one and many. We all know its one thing, steel. We are Thorgrim and Kvelar. We are dwarf and beast. We are Iron and Script twice over. And we’re a bureaucrat.“ e: Given that we are two dwarves and two cows, and doing two things with less than optimal results what if we delegated? Kvelar and fighting cow focus on the dance of death while thorgrim and C.O.W.D.A.N. focus on divine bureaucracy, pitching to Toil and breaking into the present powers dream to give her the best deal we can. Split focus. Kvelar leads the battle. Thorgrim cooks the good books and sells anomalous solutions for anomalous times. BingoZero fucked around with this message at 13:53 on Apr 27, 2024 |
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Apr 26, 2024 23:21
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