After the End Fan Fork v1.2 Dev Diary - The Gaian Captains
(Written by Nico)
Good tidings, all!
It has been a while since our last full dev diary, and a lot of work is being done right now to get 1.2 ready for release; beta testing is on progress and we are taking care to iron out bugs before we can officially announce a release date. However, most of what is being changed has now been fully decided, and we hope to soon be able to announce the date for final release.
Onwards to the Dev Diary!
Northwest Overhaul
The region of the Pacific Northwest has seen a lot of discussion ever since it was first added, even before the Fan Fork. For 1.2 we decided to give the whole area a facelift in terms of counties and de jure setup in order to make the region’s gameplay feel just a little more interesting.
Besides this, one of the main religions of the region has been given a substantial increase in content. Gaianism has always had problems in its presentation, inherited from before the Fan Fork. Originally a pagan faith created to break up the Cetic blob when the West Coast was first added, and perpetually on the back foot to the Haida invasions, its relationship with these two regions has defined it for much of its history. Mechanically, Gaianism was always trying to compensate for this relationship, and always saw itself having to resist both. Well no more!
Through work with several developers from the region and incorporating several suggestions, old and new, we decided to take the religion in a more cohesive direction.
The icon received some touch-ups to bring it in line with the higher graphical fidelity across the board since it was last updated. The religious description also includes some major updates.
Here's a transcription of the new religion description:
Gaians center their worship on Gaia, a holistic divine being encompassing all of nature. The faithful believe Gaia to be the ancient soul of the Earth itself. Some believers seek the blessing of spirits found in nature, while others believe these searches distract believers from the whole of Gaia. Gaian society is run by a class of mostly female Dryads, due to their ties with the motherly nature of Gaia, with Wardens attendant to them who protect the faithful. Gaians believe that the society of old neglected the world and that it was their disregard for the natural balance that led the Earth to ruin — thus, Gaians seek to commune themselves with the earth and live in unity.
This new description points to some of the new features we will be discussing. First and foremost is the new religious split in Gaianism. Devout or Zealous Gaians have access to different features then Mystic Gaians; Gaians also have an easier time getting access to said traits through a new decision available to them.
Being a Mystic Gaian means also not taking the full approach of the religious establishment and seeking enlightenment through a deeper connection to the Spirits of Gaia. This connection is achieved by going on hikes. Cascadian, Canuck, and Inlander Gaians can travel to famous natural sites found within their cultural area, with Gaians of other cultures traveling to the most famous of these locations. When going on a hike you have an option to choose from convening with mountain spirits, forest spirits, or water spirits.
Keep in mind that these hikes can be dangerous, and the trails can be fraught with danger.
However, once you reach your destination and convene with the spirits, you will receive a strong bonus to your stats.
Zealous and Devout Gaians meanwhile can interact more with their court chaplains (now known as dryads), as well as interact with the dryads of other Gaian realms. By right clicking on your dryad, you have the option to choose a focus for your realm, which can grant powerful boons to yourself, and your realm.
And by right clicking on the Dryads of other Gaian domains, you can request the discharging of their rulers. Discharging works similar to excommunication, except that discharged rulers are able to peacefully step down upon being discharged.
All of these changes come in tow with the addition of a new government for the Gaians!
Here is the description for Theocratic Captaincy:
“The Theocratic Captaincy is based around the relationship between the religious establishment, who controls the administers land, and their military servants, who take on the duty of attempting to defend the faith from outside forces. Military positions are generally hereditary, but they can be discharged by religious leadership if their service is deemed lacking. The government is unique to rulers of the Gaian faith and allows holding cities in addition to castles. Theocratic Captaincy rulers can also construct Permastation buildings in castle holdings.”
Along with the discharging mechanics, to represent the power of the religious establishment we’ve included a new feature in which you cannot appoint your Court Dryad, and your Steward is selected by said Dryad, unless through a Stewardship Grant by your Court Dryad you gain the permission to change them.
The government also gives access to unique laws, as well as the option to Mobilize the realm apparatus during wars against non-Gaians.
The Captaincy also gives access to unique succession laws, which your Dryads might prefer you have depending on their own personalities and goals.
The captaincy system ties handily to the new Lore we are adding for Gaians, going all the way to the historical theocratic Empresses of Vancouver, the Haley dynasty.
Historically, intrigue that arose from Helga’s mastery of her Domain would eventually lead to conflicts between the Haleys and another powerful house at the time, the Kasujis. The two dynasties would fight for influence and power, splitting the realm between two factions.
Captains were appointed on both sides to use military force against their rivals, and slowly became more and more prominent in Dryadic administration. They were fully legitimized in the time of Amanda Bushart, who ended the conflict between the Kasuji and Haley families.
The dominance of the captains would become an institution by the actions of Jonathan Freeland and the Haida deluge, with the military taking control of much of the Gaian governance. Many more things have been added to the lore of the region, hoping to make it more fleshed out and interesting, including a rework of the Inland lore for both Canada and the US and establishing relationships between events and characters.
The pushing of the Busharts out of Vancouver by the Haida invaders however has left Gaianism in shambles, especially as conquests by Jefferson begin pushing northwards, there might soon come a point where the Dryads are forced to fight back.
The Reclamation War CB represents the disorganized wars created by the fractured Dryadic state trying to prevent the collapse of their institution, these small scale assaults can spiral out of control through the desire or not of nearby Gaians to also take part in the war.
Ending this cycle of might be possible however, as non Gaian rulers in the Gaian core lands have access to a decision once they start, to finally end these reclamations once and for all.
However, if a fully successful Gaian ruler manages to unify the old territory of the Haleys and reconquer all of Vancouver, they might be pleasantly surprised to discover the reworked General of Gaia mechanic, which has now been extended to also work if the player reconquers Vancouver instead of Jefferson.