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I was going to go Gaian, but since you'll be learning on the job playing a republic I gotta go 
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Aug 3, 2016 11:36
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How could I not vote for ?
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Aug 3, 2016 12:33
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Aug 3, 2016 13:11
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edit: vote changed.
Caustic Soda fucked around with this message at 06:15 on Aug 4, 2016 |
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Aug 3, 2016 13:51
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I really wish that the Japanese were more fleshed out though; aside from some minor name changes they're pretty much just a straight merchant republic that's gonna be in a lot of trouble seeing as they're surrounded by the Haida.
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Aug 3, 2016 14:38
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Aug 3, 2016 16:16
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Aug 3, 2016 16:21
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Aug 3, 2016 16:38
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Gotta go for
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Aug 3, 2016 17:54
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Aug 3, 2016 20:31
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Vote count so far: IIIII_IIIII_I (11) IIIII_IIIII_I (11) IIIII_ (5) III (3)It's pretty neck and neck so far.
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Aug 4, 2016 01:58
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I want to see the Gaians eventually, but is my new god.
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Aug 4, 2016 02:07
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Changing my vote to
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Aug 4, 2016 02:13
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Queen in the North
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Aug 4, 2016 02:49
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Changing my vote to I guess
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Aug 4, 2016 02:59
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Gotta get that
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Aug 4, 2016 03:15
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makes the world go around. Gotta fuel the fires of "the economy" after all
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Aug 4, 2016 04:32
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Changing my vote from to .
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Aug 4, 2016 06:14
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. The Palouse seems like good terrain for them
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Aug 4, 2016 18:36
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Have we ever had a consumerist playthrough on the forums?
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Aug 4, 2016 18:47
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Abandoning the ship for
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Aug 4, 2016 21:40
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inscrutable horse posted:Have we ever had a consumerist playthrough on the forums? The game, by the by, really could use an alternate start date at this point but it's a lotta work I'd imagine and it's not as if they got folks out tha wazoo workin on it
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Aug 4, 2016 23:56
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Vote count so far: IIIII_IIIII_IIIII_II (17) IIIII_IIIII_IIII (14) III (3) II (2) Looks like the Gaians are pulling ahead, I'll leave the vote open until sometime tomorrow assuming there's no last minute surge in voting.
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Aug 5, 2016 03:28
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is the obvious choice.
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Aug 5, 2016 06:06
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Throwing my vote away I guess!
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Aug 5, 2016 06:33
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It's her turn.
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Aug 5, 2016 07:19
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Aug 5, 2016 09:26
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Aug 5, 2016 18:37
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 Voting Closed Things seem to be slowing down, despite a small trickle today. Otherwise it'd continue to seesaw between and for quite a while I suspect. IIIII_IIIII_IIIII_III (18) IIIII_IIIII_IIIII_II (17) III (3) III (2)While two third parties garnered a few votes, in the end it was a neck-in-neck race between a lady despot and a cash-backed arbitrary gold lover. Thread title is surprisingly relevant. With a one vote lead, I'm calling it for the Gaians, perhaps we can visit Socal later (they're likely to survive without my help, whereas the Gaians are hanging by a thread). I'll start working on the first update as well as updating the op.
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Aug 5, 2016 19:04
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I doubt the Empire will survive until the next change of focus. Emperor Norton would be disappointed in you all.
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Aug 6, 2016 04:47
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Update #19: Everything happens at onceEcclesiastes 1 posted:4Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. 2776 - 2778  It must be understood that when we speak of the medieval Rockies, especially the western Rockies, we are talking really of three different worlds. While the realms of this region were all feudal in their government structure (especially Colorado, which was strongly influenced by Platte and later Heartland culture), the influence of the feudal lord of a region generally decreased the farther you went from the nearest river. Along the rivers, especially the Snake and Columbia, feudal lords were able to rule their subjects largely in the same manner as lords throughout America. Farther away, in settlements cut off from easy communication, the more isolated inland settlements had a greater degree of autonomy (as long as taxes arrived on time). Far up in the mountains small clans lived simple, crude lives off of herding and hunting. These groups were generally left alone, they had nothing worth buying and their sparse numbers meant that they weren't worth the hassle of taxing. It also meant that they were not a threat to the folks lower down (although they did routinely raid other high mountain clans).  Sometime in the early 2600's (the exact date and many details are lost to history) a woman known to us now as "Belva the Half-Wolf" was born into a clan living on the southern edge of the Bitterroot Mountains. Her grandmother was the regional druidess, which in the clan lands often served as a judge for the purposes of settling disputes between clans peacefully. When this druidess died it was expected that Belva, who had been training under her, would take over. A neighboring clan, not pleased with a decision made in favor of Belva's clan, however, objected and presented their own candidate. When the grandmother died, they launched a raid on Belva's clan and killed all of them, save for Belva who escaped into the forest. Belva, who was somewhere in the age range of 14 to 19 at this time, lived with a pack of wolves for a number of years after this in the Bitterroot Valley. How long she lived like this is unknown, but the legends claim that her last name, "Sheepeater", comes from claims of herders of having seen a woman attacking their flocks along with a pack of wolves. Such legends are only partly true at best and complete fabrications at worst, but they are the only account of what really happened to Belva after her clan was destroyed. Also legendary is the chance meeting between Belva and Narcissa, daughter of Duchess Perpetua of West Snake. While out hunting with her distant cousin Malcolm, Narcissa had run into a small band of Haidan raiders. Fleeing from them into the forest after they killed Malcolm, she ran into Belva and her pack and begged her for help. She agreed and either helped Narcissa escape or killed the bandits with or without help from her wolves.  Narcissa's mother Perpetua offered her a title and place at court as one of her retainers as thanks, which she accepted. Adopting a blood red wolf's head atop a snow white field as her sigil, Belva served as a commander of her lady's guard at Boise. It was also there that she met and married Otis of House Glass, a Gnostic Coloradan and one of many unacknowledged bastards of King Otis I of Iowa. His mother had returned to her brother's barony in Denver county following her disgrace and later he left to find his fortune in the Rockies. There he met Belva and, after fighting as a mercenary for 5 years, was able to present to her a star sapphire as dowry. The two had but one child, the brilliant Duke Jim I. At a young age Jim headed east with a gathered band of mercenaries, militant druids and raiders hoping for plunder and reclaimed the duchy of Silverbow from the Mormons. He ruled from Butte for a number of years, marrying his first wife, the lowborn Jesseca. In his older years, when his homeland the duchy of West Snake was conquered by the Kingdom of Washington, he once more headed to war and took the duchy for himself.  Upon Jim's death his holdings were divided amongst his children, according to common Gaian law. His eldest daughter by his first wife, Jesseca I, received the Duchy of West Snake, along with the county of Gem Canyon. A deceitful and manipulative duchess, Jesseca was often called "the Spider" for her skill at plotting. She was also, however, known to be a just and fair ruler. Silverbow was inherited by Jim's only daughter by his second wife, Raina II.  Like her grandmother before her, Jesseca married a Coloradan Gnostic, Blackburn Milford. A heavily muscled warrior with a paranoid eye and a vicious wrath, Blackburn was a brilliant military commander and a dunderheaded idiot at just about everything else.   Jesseca's eldest brother Jim II inherited the counties of Salmon River and Nez Perce and her second brother Malcolm received the county of Baker. Malcolm, however, died shortly thereafter and his daughter Perpetua received the county.   The old Olshey family still retained parts of West Snake at the start of Jesseca's reign, with count Collin of Umatilla and the resentful count Roe of Wallwalla.   The issues between Jesseca and Roe are well documented and most historians believe that she tried to have her vassal murdered on at least a couple of occasions. Beyond this sparring, however, the first ten years of Jesseca's reign went by without much incident.  This changed in 2776, however, as the Kingdom of Washington was convulsed with rebellions and civil wars. Smelling blood in the water, the duchess attacked one of these rebelling vassals (the Duke of Colville) in the hopes of taking her de jure vassal of Columbia Gorge.  With the help of a loan from the mayor of Davenport, she hired a small group of mercenaries, the Cult of the Apple, to bolster her own forces.    At Eltopia Jesseca's forces won a great victory against the duke. More importantly, however, Jesseca's half-sister Raina II died from an arrow wound. She had answered her sister's call to arms, but had chosen to lead her troops from the front. Without heir, the duchy of Silverbow passed from Raina to Jesseca, a development that, along with her reputation, has long led to rumors and myths that the death had been orchestrated by the cunning Jesseca.  It would certainly not have been the first time the duchess used such tactics, but the evidence of her involvement in Raina's death is lacking (unlike that of Roe).    Another battle, this time outside Chewelah, went just as well for the West Snake forces and even saw the count of Siuslaw captured by Gaian forces.   Once Chewelah itself fell, the duke of Colville recognizd that he would be unable to prosecute his rebellion against the King of Washington if he did not first settle for peace with West Snake. On the first day of January 2778 he sued for peace and granted Jesseca control of Columbia Gorge.  In two years of war, by luck and the skilled command of her husband, Duchess Jesseca expanded her realm greatly. Washington, meanwhile, continued to experience a long cycle of civil war. As a new empire in the east was birthed, an old kingdom in the west was devouring itself, creating new avenues of opportunity. Next Time: And I would've gotten away with it, too... Clayren fucked around with this message at 02:17 on Aug 7, 2016 |
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Aug 7, 2016 01:08
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Whoops, I just messed up a bit. The last update has some holes in it because imgur keeps eating my uploads lately and I missed them. Clayren fucked around with this message at 02:17 on Aug 7, 2016 |
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Aug 7, 2016 02:14
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Clayren  ! Why didn't you connect that exclave in Chicago before quitting!
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Aug 7, 2016 03:02
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Kulkasha posted:Clayren I only took Chicago so I could destroy Superior-Michigan's beautiful borders extending all around Lake Michigan. And now it's just a mess. Also, AI Heartland just did a holy war for Gadsen and there's just this big turd-shaped enclave of yellow sitting in the middle of Socal. Delicious. 
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Aug 7, 2016 04:19
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Update #20: And I would've gotten away with it, too 2778 - 2785  Following the conclusion of her war for Columbia Gorge, Jesseca I set about raising funds to repay her loan from the mayor of Davenport.    Her hopes to slowly repay her loan and rebuild her levies were dashed, however, when first the count of Gijaawaang (Salem) and then the duke of East Snake declared war on the vulnerable realm. The duchesses' own part in the conflict ended early on, as she was forced to retire to Boise after receiving a crippling blow to her left leg in a battle with the count of Salem.   Alone the forces of West Lake were not equal to those of Salem and it's allies, but the count of Broadwater, a zealous lowborn lord, came to his coreligionists aid and tipped the numbers back into Jesseca's favor.   At Salmon in September of 2780 these combined forces defeated a smaller army of East Snake Mormons. This, followed by a successful siege of the holding, put the early war in Jesseca's favor. The force itself was headed by her husband, Blackburn, while she managed things back at Boise and healed up from her wound.    While some accused her of cowardice, the truth was that Jesseca had never been skilled at battle and the fact that she had attempted to do so regardless was viewed with respect by most of the ladies of the realm. It was out of respect for her skills that she had married Blackburn, after all, as his skill at arms complemented her skills at management and skullduggery.   In January of 2781 another independent count joined the war on the side of Jesseca. Even with these reinforcements, however, Blackburn was unable to field a force which could equal that of the lord of Salem.   2781 saw a number of holdings in the Blue Mountains fall to the invading followers of the Xhúuyee K'iigaang (Raven's Tales) intent on retaking the duchy for their faith.   By luck, however, things continued to go poorly for the duchy of East Snake, which faced a similar invasion of its own. Blackburn pressed his advantage against the weakened Mormon army and forced the duke to sue for peace so that he could focus on resisting the invasion of his lands.   With the gold received from the duke, along with another loan, Jesseca hired a small force of mercenaries to bring Blackburn's forces up to parity with the Salem army. At Pendleton the tide was at last turned, with Blackburn crushing the Salem force and then pursuing them west, to Albany.  The forces of Gijaawaang pose no further threat during the war and by 2783 are offering a white peace, which Jesseca accepts.    While Blackburn pursued this conflict to the west, back in Boise Duchess Jesseca I managed to solve a minor mystery. A large, hairy creature which the folks of Lemhi dubbed the "Bigfoot", was investigated by a team of Jesseca and several of her retainers (as well as a large hunting dog her husband was fond of). In the end it was found to have been several local boys attempting to scare people away from a stash of jewelry, gemstones and silver they had found buried in an old pre-cataclysm ruin. They may well have gotten away with this ruse, were it not for the meddling of the duchess and her vicious hunting hound.   Even further to the east, news came of the triumph of two Christian realms beyond the Rockies. Commancheria led the forces of Catholicism to victory in a crusade for Rio Grande.   While the Evangelical National Cathedral Association, inspired by the conquest of the holy city of Washington by Emperor Suander the Bold, declared themselves a militant priesthood for the preservation of the faith and defense of the holy lands.  Closer to home, the victories of Gaianism were smaller, but no less important. In August of 2783 Duke Blackburn at last converted to the faith, ingesting the psychedelic sacrament and offering of his own blood to a holy redwood, which he visits in the lands of Jefferson to the south.   It was around this time that Jesseca began to write poetry, although her output during this period was nowhere near the quality which she produced later in her life.   Bench Sheepeater came of age in February of 2784. As a male and a modestly talented financial manager and not much else, he was later married off to a skilled Edokko aristrocrat, providing valuable ties the increasingly more influential Colony of Beikoku.  As Beikoku grew, Washington fell. In 2785, following the death of King Songhees II, the kingdom fell apart utterly. This left the region divided and easy pickings for any lady with the skills to conquer. Next Time: To Run with the Wolf...
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Aug 7, 2016 22:22
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It always vaguely irritates me that there aren't more unique events tied to different religions, but I guess the AtE team isn't exactly overflowing with folks to help. I forget, do the Gaians get conquests?
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Aug 8, 2016 00:55
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Oh, interesting. Picking up after an invading power tears a local empire apart. That should be fun.
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Aug 8, 2016 23:25
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Glazius posted:Oh, interesting. Picking up after an invading power tears a local empire apart. That should be fun. Actually, the kingdom just sort of died on its own. They elected a new a king after the old one died and then all of a sudden nobody held the title anymore and all the vassals got released. Beikoku is actually mostly tangling with the Haida along the coast. The Haida seem more interested in invading coastal California than reclaiming its land taken by the colony.
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Aug 9, 2016 00:32
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Update #21: To Run with the Wolf 2785 - 2788  The collapse of the Kingdom of Washington in 2785 had a profound effect on the region, as the once large realm splintered into numerous small, feuding counties and duchies.  King Songhees II had managed to end the period of internal rebellions and conflicts which began in the mid-2770's, but his death in 2785 occurred before he was able to consolidate his power.  By law the dukes of the realm should have elected a new king after Songhees' death, but a number of them, led by the duke of Columbia Valley, refused to vote for any candidate unless a set of law changes favoring the rights of the royal council and the vassals were passed. Rather than give into these demands, the other lords voted in Tena I, the son and heir of Songhees II. The abstaining lords refused to acknowledge Tena, citing his rumored homosexuality (not very uncommon for nobles in those days, really) and more importantly, the fact that the vote had gone on without them. The duke of Columbia Valley marched his personal guard into the coronation ceremony and forced Tena to renounce his claim to the throne at sword point. He then attempted to have himself crowned, but at that point his allies in the anti-Tena camp turned on him and the Tri-Cities broke out in violence between a number of factions. When the violence died down it became clear that no one lord had enough support to claim the crown and the throne remained empty.  West-Snake, meanwhile, faced its own internal issues as a coalition of Blue Mountain counts demanded increased council influence. Duchess Jesseca, still recovering from a seriously crippling battle wound, likely seemed an easy target to these lords.   She made it clear, however, that she would not go down easily.   Jesseca raised her forces from willing supporters and a small band of mercenaries who had left the Tri-Cities until the ongoing tensions died down. Together with her levies, led by her husband, they made a force of around 4,000 men.   This was well beyond what the rebellious vassals could field and it only took a single engagement, at the Dalles, to convince them that their plans would not pan out. The war lasted less than a year, with the duchess graciously pardoning her counts for their offense.   The granting of this pardon occurred at a ceremony in Boise, one of the last times Jesseca was seen in public. Suffering from near-constant pain, the duchess spent most of her time within the walls of her keep, writing poetry and talking with her children.   Her eldest, Jim, came of age in February of 2787. A talented diplomat, a marriage was arranged for him to Ogi, sister of the then-ruling governor of Beikoku, in hopes that he could negotiate better trade deals for the export of West Snake gems, a highly demanded commodity back in the Edokko homeland, apparently.  The wedding feast was the actual last public appearance of Jesseca I. Two days later, suffering from a fever and pain in her leg, the duchess went to sleep and did not rise again, leaving the realm to her 15 year old daughter.   Count Jim of Salmon River took over as regent for the still-underage duchess for a less than a year. Little of note happened during this period, although the disappearance of the family's heirloom calculator was injurious to dynastic pride.  On June 6th Duchess Narcissa I celebrated her 16th birthday and the start of her majority in Boise.  Tutored by her father, the skilled commander Blackburn, Narcissa at age 16 was a skilled tactician and, like her brother, a charming diplomat. It did not hurt that she was, according to the chronicles, quite attractive. This despite the fact that she had been born with a rather frail body and a dislike for socializing. But though slight and small, she was nonetheless a brave and ambitious lady, with designs on a kingdom of her own.  But while Gaians do celebrate birthdays, true adulthood only comes after undertaking a vision quest.  The Book of Spirit Walks has, for a long time, been considered more of a curiosity among historians than a source of historic knowledge. It is only in recent years that the value of this recording of dynastic visions has been realized. For the vision quests were not merely singular experiences, but character-defining events which shaped the actions of the leaders of the Sheepeater dynasty. Recorded by the head druidess for later use in identifying and interpreting (it was said that the spirit realm was without a sense of time and a stranger met in a vision could be an ancestor from long ago undertaking their own vision quest years prior), this record is of keen interest when discussing Narcissa I. Druidess Perpetua posted:Recorded by High Druidess Perpetua on the 3rd day of July, in service to her most revered lady, Duchess Narcissa I   Druidess Perpetua declared Narcissa I to be "touched by the wolf", the great spirit of battle and friendship. Given her later actions, this would prove to be very fitting.    Following her vision quest, Narcissa began to search for a husband who could support her high ambitions. One was found in Beikoku, the unacknowledged bastard son of the past on patriarch of the Tomen clan. Although not prestigious by birth, Shinomori Tomen was a capable schemer and treasurer whose mastery of tactics was greater than even Narcissa's. A hard worker whose charity and sense of justice made him an instant hit in the court at Boise, Shinomori would prove a key part of the realm soon.    Not that Narcissa wasn't a good catch as well. Her great beauty was admired by many in her day, although she never strayed.   But perhaps this had less to do with her purity and honor and more to do with her interests. Narcissa I was never the type to idle away the hours on issues of romance and lust. Her mind was occupied with issues of kingdom and war and in 2788 she began with East Snake. Next Time: Esto Perpetua...
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Aug 9, 2016 23:09
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Huh, mormonism die out again? Those dudes sure seem to fade out quickly once a great power reaches them, whether it's the Emperor, the Consumerists or hell, even the Gaians if they manage to not get eaten by the Haida.
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Aug 10, 2016 01:08
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