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Post by OperatorMeme on Jan 18, 2021 17:49:34 GMT
Laruch is a country bordering Podan in Thalrissia. It was lucky enough to have a buffer to the Blight in the west in the form of Nomads' Land, a fairly useless span of land without many inhabitants. This gave enough time for the Mages of Podan to erect the water wall to the west and save the country. Podan and Laruch have never been on good terms, but Laruch has allowed free travel into its lands for Podanese mages due to the necessity of the Wall.  Laruch is not a very well-fleshed-out country as of now. I'd appreciate any ideas about it at all! |
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? Box
Monsters of the Construction Site
Posts: 87
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Post by ? Box on Jan 18, 2021 19:18:37 GMT
heh ... didn't look at this before speculating about Laruch / Podan relations.
Big question - if Podan and Laruch have historically been on bad terms, why did Podan try to save Laruch?
Laruch letting the mages through is an obvious benefit to Laruch. Where's the benefit to Podan?
Maybe the reason for the bad blood was on Laruch's side, and pragmatism forced them to drop it? Or possibly someone in Laruch's government dying to the Blight?
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Post by OperatorMeme on Jan 18, 2021 20:46:56 GMT
Interesting! In my mind at least the placement of the Podan/Laruch border signals (at least historical) distrust. It's at the chokepoint leading into the peninsula, which is the natural place for it to end up if one (probably Laruch) tried to conquer the other and made significant progress. That's the most defensible point so where the invasion would get halted. That could be ancient history though. I think the benefit to Podan of this is that they can prevent the Blight spreading further. It's probably a little more obvious if I bring up the terrain map of the area:  The Water Wall is along a river on both sides of the mountain (I was envisioning it being brought up from the rivers). The river on Laruch's side is pretty much the last one it can be stopped at before it'll reach Podan - there's nothing further back along that peninsula. |
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Post by OperatorMeme on Jan 18, 2021 20:49:29 GMT
I like the idea of something specific forcing them to get on better terms immediately though, beyond the Blight itself. Given that half of Podan has been destroyed by Blight, they're probably pushing to set up this defensive wall for a while before Laruch accepts it - I like the idea of a Laruchian official (or important person) dying to Blight.
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? Box
Monsters of the Construction Site
Posts: 87
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Post by ? Box on Jan 18, 2021 23:30:27 GMT
So the mages needed a river to stop it, and Laruch was the best opportunity.
Also tells me the mages aren't strong enough to create their own rivers. If there are any anti-Laruchians in the Podan government, figuring out a way to *make* a river - or some other way of bringing the boundary of the water wall back without endangering themselves - might be another possible hook for magically-inclined PCs.
Podan being spread out between two land masses (before the Blight) might signal that they were the aggressors in any historical Laruch - Podan conflict, maybe? Expanding too far, with the magic to back them up?
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? Box
Monsters of the Construction Site
Posts: 87
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Post by ? Box on Jan 18, 2021 23:36:25 GMT
It would also point to Laruch being desperate to find another way of controlling the Blight, if they're having to invite an aggressor in to control the situation. If the dislike between the two nations reaches out to the populace, the people would have to be angry and suspicious of the mages. That would also point to a greater need for protection for Podan's mages ... and I think even better justification from a story-telling perspective to require the mages to be on-site to keep the water walls up.
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