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On a side note, at least the Emperor seems to be open to pragmatism, rather than sticking it to his ways, like many tyrants do.
Historically emperors that lacked pragmatism didn't live very long, so it is pretty incultureated.
Also, pictures and stories are still coming, will edit the old post. But for today and tomorrow I think I will be playing a lot of HOI4 with this MtG update, pretty stoked!
Two character stories added. One side story remains, and I will add pictures later.
Pictures and a side story are up. Hopefully the next session will be up in the next few days.
Session 4 completed, will be up tomorrow morning likely. It will go over the events of the Gulk-Erissu War.
2244-2253: The Gulk' Errisu War
The Erissu-Gulk' War, 2244-2253
In March of 2244, the GER sent documents claiming that the Gulk' colony on Obaeshoth was illegal, and an Erissu science vessel had actually surveyed and claimed the system long before the Gulk' base was ever built. Though an obvious fabrication, Darmug knew this meant war was imminent. But with no information on the strength of the enemy fleet: the question remained whether to reinforce the existing fleets with the new corvette-destroyer ship types recently created by the brilliant engineer Falitir, or to focus on getting the existing fleets to the border as fast as possible, an option Admiral Ketrilla favored strongly.
In the end, Darmug decided systems could be retaken, but to rebuild a lost fleet could be a very expensive mistake. However, to make his potential allies aware of this enemy, he sent his daughter to arrange a communication agreement with the Glyrrans.
In November of that year, the GER declared war. Unfortunately, one of the new destroyer types was not yet ready. Originally, the intention was to assign all the destroyers to Admiral Ketrilla, but with the declaration of war occurring while she was still on Gul, she was sent to reinforce the border immediately with only 2 of the destroyers completed while Admiral Khebb stayed back to take the third destroyer as part of his fleet. But the Obaeshoth system was months away, and in October of the next year, system sensors reported that a jump by the enemy fleet into the nearby system of Dithaphoru was imminent, and Ketrilla was still two systems away. Shortly after, a second force was discovered ready to jump to Obaeshoth. It was a hard day on board the ships of Admiral Ketrilla's fleet, as they knew the systems would be taken before anything could be done.
In 2246, Ketrilla arrived in the Obaeshoth system to find the Wildclaw Voidwings bombarding their settlement. The W-VW, which apparently lacked destroyer technology, tried to lure Ketrilla's fleet near the system's base, but Ketrilla's destroyers were far too powerful. By the time they got close, the battle was already won. Ketrilla lost 4 corvettes. Losses to the enemy fleet are unknown, but it is assumed they lost over half their fleet, as the next time the fleet was found, the W-VW was greatly understrength.
But while Khebb liberated the Dithaphoru starbase, and Ketrilla the Obaeshoth system, the Coldsquall Voidwings attacked the Jabbah system. With no bases between Jabbah and Gul, work accelerated on construction of space defenses for the Gul system in a panic since it would be impossible for the ships to return in time, and in any case it was better to have them in position to counterattack. However, the C-VW would never attack the Gul System.
Although the C-VW would never attack the Gul System, Ketrilla and Khebb did launch an expedition into GER space. In the Battle of Stimsis, the remainder of the Wildclaws desperately attempted to drive off the Gulk', but the destroyers in Ketrilla's fleet alone were enough to hold them at bay, and when Khebb's fleet arrived they stood no chance, even with the base still fighting. Although no ships on either side were lost, Stimsis would fall to the Gulk'. But after having gone through three battles straight, Khebb and Ketrilla both needed to repair their fleets at Dithaphoru, delaying their mission which was intended to end with the bombardment of Ina Aerie. When they attempted to return to the mission, they found themselves involved in the Second Battle of Stimsis, as the Coldsquall VW attempted to retake the system. Though the performance of the fleet was woefully inadequate, superior technology would again carry the day as destroyer fire ripped into enemy corvettes.
In 2249, the two fleets reached Qorrola and took control of the system. Bombardment of Ina Aerie began in September of that month, and would continue until the war's end. But as word of popular opinion in Gul was passed on to the admirals, it was not good news. Something more had to be done to inspire the populace. As the enemy fleets were weakened, Khebb left Ketrilla to the planetary bombardment and went to capture system base's in the hope of inspiring the people. At this point, both enemy fleets were greatly weakened, and they could not even defeat the system bases they hoped to capture on their own, although for a time Stimsis was retaken before Khebb brought it back under Gulk' control. In 2253, Khebb was on his way to punish the enemy fleet for attempting to retake Stimsis yet again, but at the last second was ordered to stand down. A white peace had been signed, there would be no territorial changes, but no humiliation of the enemy. However, the war finalized the theories that had been under development for so long, validating most of them.
In the meantime many things of note happened outside of the war. Before the war began, Falitir, the inventor of the destroyer ship type, died at the ripe old age of 81. He never got to witness the success of his invention. A ravenous hive, known as the "Ugarlak Swarm" was discovered on the side opposite the Gulk' of the Propitious Pact. To be on better terms with the FDS, Glorious Leader Darmug retracted his expansionistic war policy, a highly unpopular move at home, but one that would greatly improve his chances of getting the Gulk' into the Propitious Pact, though in secret he informed his advisors the intention was only to get his foot in the door, this policy was to be revised later. In February of 2246, during the early war, the Sinrath declared war on their neighbor, the Serene Djunn Kingdom. This outraged the Propitious Pact, both of whom would make a formal declaration of rivalry by the end of the next year. The FDS would sell alloys to the Gulk' during the war, although the amount was not large enough to make much of an impact on the war, nor was the nearest Gulk' shipyard in a position to receive reinforcements for the fleet. In 2250, the first meeting regarding the formation of a Galactic Market was held via subspace communication. Galactic empires were allowed to nominate one non-capital colony with a population with more than 20 population units (an obsolete measure whose exact number is no longer known) as a "center of commerce." Unfortunately, the Gulk' had no qualifying colonies. Although Obaeshoth Prime was close to qualification, during the war a large number of assault units were drafted from the population. In 2251, the latter part of the mid-war, the Gulk' received a gift from an unexpected source: The Cynn. Shortly after, The Cynn retracted their rivalry with the Gulk' and declared rivalry with the Erissu. Emperor Darmug wasted no time in rebuilding relations with this empire. Governor Hephanira was recruited by The Emperor to replace a wildly popular predacessor. His predecessor had always been unusually just for a Gulk, and over time also developed a reputation as a highly educated governor as well. Hephanira is showing himself to be a far more controversial governor, and one that does not have the princess's favor due to his focus on squeezing every bit of labor from state-owned Wussari slaves. His appointment was a source of great contention between Emperor Darmug and his daughter.*
Author's note 1: I think from here on out, it is likely that I will get a basic story out first, and then add pictures and personal stories later. This may be a matter of hours or days, depending on what is going on with me irl and how good a job I feel I could do at the time. I suspect I made some typos, so don't be afraid to let me know (in particular I think I spelled "Obaeshoth" different ways but since they all get underlined I can't find which ones might be wrong). Once again, general advice is appreciated.
*Planning on putting the story for this next session!
In March of 2244, the GER sent documents claiming that the Gulk' colony on Obaeshoth was illegal, and an Erissu science vessel had actually surveyed and claimed the system long before the Gulk' base was ever built. Though an obvious fabrication, Darmug knew this meant war was imminent. But with no information on the strength of the enemy fleet: the question remained whether to reinforce the existing fleets with the new corvette-destroyer ship types recently created by the brilliant engineer Falitir, or to focus on getting the existing fleets to the border as fast as possible, an option Admiral Ketrilla favored strongly.
The look on Emperor Darmug's face was bleak as he told his secretary to call Admiral Ketrilla up to his meeting room, Admiral Khebb was still a few days away.
"I have grave news, the G.E.R. has claimed the Obaeshoth System, as well as the right to declare war on us at any time to take it."
"Understood, I will leave immediately and call back the crew from leave" the admiral responded already moving towards the door in a hurry."
"Not so fast! Your destroyers aren't ready!" the emperor said reaching out to stop her. Ketrilla turned around respectfully.
"Sir, it takes months to reach the Obaeshoth system even if we push our engines to the limit. Even if we take off now, there is no guarantee we can stop them if they declare war even in the next few days, but if they delay just long enough we might arrive in time."
"Which will be of no use if your fleet is defeated anyway, we have no intelligence data on their fleet except that its strength is roughly equivalent. When you do engage them, you are going to need every advantage our engineers can offer." The admiral made no attempt to hide how upset his comment about losing made her.
"But sir-" The Emperor shot a harsh glare her way. "That's an order."
"Yes sir." Came the respectful reply.
"I have grave news, the G.E.R. has claimed the Obaeshoth System, as well as the right to declare war on us at any time to take it."
"Understood, I will leave immediately and call back the crew from leave" the admiral responded already moving towards the door in a hurry."
"Not so fast! Your destroyers aren't ready!" the emperor said reaching out to stop her. Ketrilla turned around respectfully.
"Sir, it takes months to reach the Obaeshoth system even if we push our engines to the limit. Even if we take off now, there is no guarantee we can stop them if they declare war even in the next few days, but if they delay just long enough we might arrive in time."
"Which will be of no use if your fleet is defeated anyway, we have no intelligence data on their fleet except that its strength is roughly equivalent. When you do engage them, you are going to need every advantage our engineers can offer." The admiral made no attempt to hide how upset his comment about losing made her.
"But sir-" The Emperor shot a harsh glare her way. "That's an order."
"Yes sir." Came the respectful reply.
In the end, Darmug decided systems could be retaken, but to rebuild a lost fleet could be a very expensive mistake. However, to make his potential allies aware of this enemy, he sent his daughter to arrange a communication agreement with the Glyrrans.
In November of that year, the GER declared war. Unfortunately, one of the new destroyer types was not yet ready. Originally, the intention was to assign all the destroyers to Admiral Ketrilla, but with the declaration of war occurring while she was still on Gul, she was sent to reinforce the border immediately with only 2 of the destroyers completed while Admiral Khebb stayed back to take the third destroyer as part of his fleet. But the Obaeshoth system was months away, and in October of the next year, system sensors reported that a jump by the enemy fleet into the nearby system of Dithaphoru was imminent, and Ketrilla was still two systems away. Shortly after, a second force was discovered ready to jump to Obaeshoth. It was a hard day on board the ships of Admiral Ketrilla's fleet, as they knew the systems would be taken before anything could be done.
Admiral Ketrilla's voice came over the intercom.
"5 hours is the soonest we may engage the enemy, if they change course and approach us soon. Though it should not need to be said, I will remind you that they have been bombarding Obaeshoth Prime, and if an invasion succeeds even once, we lose this war and we lose it fast. On this battle hinges any hope of winning the war. On this war hinges any hope of survival in this galaxy.
Therefore, if you have any grudge with your crewmates, delay it. If any thoughts are intruding upon your mind to distract it, get rid of them. If doing your absolute best kills you, do it for your families back home so they can have hope for a future. But know that we come into this battle with the upper hand. Do not come into this battle expecting victory or defeat to come easily, but use every resource at your disposal to make this a victory, and find a way to acquire what is not currently at your disposal.
Followers of The Untold, you will have 4 hours to pray in the prayer room and not a second more. I ask you all to pray not only for any anomaly that may bring us victory, but also for the unbelievers among us such as myself, for The Untold will not hear me even if he is real. Begin battle preparations.
The ship was eerie. Gulk' doing things they have put off for years, followers of The Untold making mournful chants, and the hum of the engines gradually dropping in pitch as the power output was gradually reduced to conserve energy for battlefield maneuvers. This went on for hours before the red alert broke the atmosphere and the flagship's crew sprung into action.
When the enemy came, they matched the Gulk-Furki's ships corvette for corvette, in a similar formation, lacking only in destroyers taking up the rear.
"Drive hard to the center!" Came Admiral Ketrilla's order over subspace. As the GER ships moved to reinforce the center, having intercepted the signal, Ketrilla's ships had already moved to the outside in a pincer position, hitting the enemy corvettes on both sides at once. The G.E.R. had fallen for the trap Admiral Ketrilla had planned and drilled them for months. "Drive hard to the center" was a code to do the opposite, flank. "Break the center," however, meant exactly what it sounded like. She had a similar code for flanking, "Take the flanks" meant to breakthrough the enemy's center. "Crush the flanks" meant exactly what it said. Captains were drilled over and over on these maneuvers until they had it flawless. And the result could not have been better. The enemy corvettes were disrupted, badly damaged, and fled to the system starbase that they had captured months earlier. But by the time they arrived, the damage was too severe. Many GER ships fled. 4 were destroyed. Despite this, there was no celebration on the Gulk' ships, only concentration. Many long hours of concentration passed while they fixed up their own damage and waited for Khebb's fleet to arrive and retake the system.
"5 hours is the soonest we may engage the enemy, if they change course and approach us soon. Though it should not need to be said, I will remind you that they have been bombarding Obaeshoth Prime, and if an invasion succeeds even once, we lose this war and we lose it fast. On this battle hinges any hope of winning the war. On this war hinges any hope of survival in this galaxy.
Therefore, if you have any grudge with your crewmates, delay it. If any thoughts are intruding upon your mind to distract it, get rid of them. If doing your absolute best kills you, do it for your families back home so they can have hope for a future. But know that we come into this battle with the upper hand. Do not come into this battle expecting victory or defeat to come easily, but use every resource at your disposal to make this a victory, and find a way to acquire what is not currently at your disposal.
Followers of The Untold, you will have 4 hours to pray in the prayer room and not a second more. I ask you all to pray not only for any anomaly that may bring us victory, but also for the unbelievers among us such as myself, for The Untold will not hear me even if he is real. Begin battle preparations.
The ship was eerie. Gulk' doing things they have put off for years, followers of The Untold making mournful chants, and the hum of the engines gradually dropping in pitch as the power output was gradually reduced to conserve energy for battlefield maneuvers. This went on for hours before the red alert broke the atmosphere and the flagship's crew sprung into action.
When the enemy came, they matched the Gulk-Furki's ships corvette for corvette, in a similar formation, lacking only in destroyers taking up the rear.
"Drive hard to the center!" Came Admiral Ketrilla's order over subspace. As the GER ships moved to reinforce the center, having intercepted the signal, Ketrilla's ships had already moved to the outside in a pincer position, hitting the enemy corvettes on both sides at once. The G.E.R. had fallen for the trap Admiral Ketrilla had planned and drilled them for months. "Drive hard to the center" was a code to do the opposite, flank. "Break the center," however, meant exactly what it sounded like. She had a similar code for flanking, "Take the flanks" meant to breakthrough the enemy's center. "Crush the flanks" meant exactly what it said. Captains were drilled over and over on these maneuvers until they had it flawless. And the result could not have been better. The enemy corvettes were disrupted, badly damaged, and fled to the system starbase that they had captured months earlier. But by the time they arrived, the damage was too severe. Many GER ships fled. 4 were destroyed. Despite this, there was no celebration on the Gulk' ships, only concentration. Many long hours of concentration passed while they fixed up their own damage and waited for Khebb's fleet to arrive and retake the system.
But while Khebb liberated the Dithaphoru starbase, and Ketrilla the Obaeshoth system, the Coldsquall Voidwings attacked the Jabbah system. With no bases between Jabbah and Gul, work accelerated on construction of space defenses for the Gul system in a panic since it would be impossible for the ships to return in time, and in any case it was better to have them in position to counterattack. However, the C-VW would never attack the Gul System.
Although the C-VW would never attack the Gul System, Ketrilla and Khebb did launch an expedition into GER space. In the Battle of Stimsis, the remainder of the Wildclaws desperately attempted to drive off the Gulk', but the destroyers in Ketrilla's fleet alone were enough to hold them at bay, and when Khebb's fleet arrived they stood no chance, even with the base still fighting. Although no ships on either side were lost, Stimsis would fall to the Gulk'. But after having gone through three battles straight, Khebb and Ketrilla both needed to repair their fleets at Dithaphoru, delaying their mission which was intended to end with the bombardment of Ina Aerie. When they attempted to return to the mission, they found themselves involved in the Second Battle of Stimsis, as the Coldsquall VW attempted to retake the system. Though the performance of the fleet was woefully inadequate, superior technology would again carry the day as destroyer fire ripped into enemy corvettes.
In 2249, the two fleets reached Qorrola and took control of the system. Bombardment of Ina Aerie began in September of that month, and would continue until the war's end. But as word of popular opinion in Gul was passed on to the admirals, it was not good news. Something more had to be done to inspire the populace. As the enemy fleets were weakened, Khebb left Ketrilla to the planetary bombardment and went to capture system base's in the hope of inspiring the people. At this point, both enemy fleets were greatly weakened, and they could not even defeat the system bases they hoped to capture on their own, although for a time Stimsis was retaken before Khebb brought it back under Gulk' control. In 2253, Khebb was on his way to punish the enemy fleet for attempting to retake Stimsis yet again, but at the last second was ordered to stand down. A white peace had been signed, there would be no territorial changes, but no humiliation of the enemy. However, the war finalized the theories that had been under development for so long, validating most of them.
With the war over at last, Admiral Ketrilla and Admiral Khebb returned as heroes. The town square was crowded with elated Gulk' celebrating the end of the war. The large screen on the wall of the town hall lit up, as Emperor Darmug's face lit up the screen.
"Colonists of Obaeshoth! Today we celebrate the valiant exploits of our two great admirals, and the spirit of our people to endure, to adapt, and to one day dominate our galaxy! But I caution you not as to see today as the end of our struggle with the G.E.R. This struggle has not yet begun in earnest, for as the ancient proverb says, 'an unpunished enemy is a dangerous enemy.' We have yet to punish the Erissu for their transgressions in earnest. But do not think your celebration is in vain either! For today we have bought time to grow into a truly great power, and we have many heroes to celebrate. Not just these two admirals standing at the podiums before you, but each and every captain under their command. Not only the captains of the space destroyers ISS Ghum, ISS ISS Galato, and ISS Mendrak, but the captains and crew of all our glorious corvettes that kept the enemy at bay for our destroyers to deal their damage. We celebrate those who cooperated with the draft and made no effort to dodge it. Never in our history have our people ever been so cooperative, a testament to the spirit of you, the colonists.
Most of all we must never forget the person that made this all possible, lead engineer Falatir, a great Gulk' who sadly passed away before seeing the wondrous results of his invention, the space destroyer. I knew him personally. He was a scientist that did quality work, kept his nose out of intrigue and rumors, and was known to treat even his slaves with a firm fairness."
Emperor Darmug continued. "We must never forget the exploits of these great people. History will remember them forever. Neither may we ever forget every little act of courage that allowed us to win this great war. Alas, there are too many to give due credit to all. But to Admiral Ketrilla and Admiral Khebb, I award the Golden Wing with barbed arrows for her unwavering devotion to her force, for her brilliant positioning, and for her merciless bombardment of the enemy. As well as an executive mark of vengeance, to carry out with the full authority of the law, one act of extreme vengeance on one that has hurt him of his choice. With it, three marks of mercy, to relieve them of up to three acts that would normally be punishable by death or permanent mutilation, if it were ever to be necessary.
I award the medal of ingenuity posthumously to Falatir, our glorious engineer, without whose grand invention victory would not be possible.
"Colonists of Obaeshoth! Today we celebrate the valiant exploits of our two great admirals, and the spirit of our people to endure, to adapt, and to one day dominate our galaxy! But I caution you not as to see today as the end of our struggle with the G.E.R. This struggle has not yet begun in earnest, for as the ancient proverb says, 'an unpunished enemy is a dangerous enemy.' We have yet to punish the Erissu for their transgressions in earnest. But do not think your celebration is in vain either! For today we have bought time to grow into a truly great power, and we have many heroes to celebrate. Not just these two admirals standing at the podiums before you, but each and every captain under their command. Not only the captains of the space destroyers ISS Ghum, ISS ISS Galato, and ISS Mendrak, but the captains and crew of all our glorious corvettes that kept the enemy at bay for our destroyers to deal their damage. We celebrate those who cooperated with the draft and made no effort to dodge it. Never in our history have our people ever been so cooperative, a testament to the spirit of you, the colonists.
Most of all we must never forget the person that made this all possible, lead engineer Falatir, a great Gulk' who sadly passed away before seeing the wondrous results of his invention, the space destroyer. I knew him personally. He was a scientist that did quality work, kept his nose out of intrigue and rumors, and was known to treat even his slaves with a firm fairness."
At those words, Maarna could no longer hold back tears. She went to the stalls to be alone, sneaking away while no one was watching and pressed her head against the wall, wailing loudly. Tears poured over her lower eyes as if those eyes were underwater. Maarna had been a Wussari slave under Lead Sociologist Yndana before being sold to Falatir. For all the torture, the mind games, the starvation, and humiliation that she and other Wussari underwent there, and for all the beatings and breakings she underwent trying to carry out Falatir's projects, one memory tortured her more than any other.
The memory went as such:
It had been a long day, working on dangerous cliff faces. Many Wussari had fallen to their deaths, but no more than usual. She was grateful she had not been among them. She was assigned heavy lifting jobs, but never in areas that were particularly dangerous. But she was very behind in her work, and was beaten severely for it. However, a halt had been called to the work early that day as Falatir had drawn up a new plan that had to be brought up with the foreman. As she walked to her quarters, barely more than a leaky shack, a Wussari she had never seen before spoke up. "You look like you are still in a lot of pain from earlier. I know of some herbs that will ease the pain, though it will hurt more initially." The Wussari was scraggly, not like the others. His face was unkept, and more than even most Wussari he looked like death itself. She said nothing, but nodded shyly as he applied the herbs to where she had been beaten. He taught her how to identify the herbs, and his calm, gentle voice contrasted with any Wussari or Gulk' she had ever known. She fell deeply in love with him, and very quickly their contact became more than the application of an herbal remedy. Time seemed to stand still. Until it didn't. And when it didn't, it was utterly shattered when the foreman walked in and with his powerful arms dragged both of them, one in each hand, to the hall of punishments.
When Falatir was told what happened, he became enraged. "Just today I rescue you from execution, and this is how you repay me?! How dare you! Why would I ever, ever allow a runt like you to breed with a fine specimen like her?" Maarna's heart sank, as Falatir was good at taking things that, had she been Gulk' and treated with respect, would have been compliments. Instead he always found a way to make her feel weak, worthless, and in peril. Falatir reached with his fingers into her mouth and lifted her lips "look at those teeth. Look at them! Perfect alignment, strong, and healthy." He lifted her tail without a thought, as if showing off one of his inventions "Look at her form: strong, healthy, and capable. Until now I thought she was a clever girl too, but I see there is still some foolishness that needs to be bred out next generation. Why would you ever think I would let a mercy case like you mate with her? I thought execution was too harsh and so I bought you for cheap. Apparently I was mistaken." He called for the guard to give him the "relevant" form of execution. The poor Wussari's eyes widened in paralyzing fear as he knew what form that was, and Maarna screamed and cried for him to be spared, but he was led outside where his screams could be heard for miles.
"As for you," he said turning to Maarna. "I thought you were too young for this. Obviously I was mistaken." He nodded to the foreman, whose hands were still covered in blood. The foreman lead in the Wussari that Falatir intended for her and locked them both in a room for the next few hours.
That night, she snuck into the Gulk' residence and took a knife. She intended to make Rohrdan, the Wussari intended for her, suffer. Due to her and other's experiences with the sociologist, she knew just what hurt the most. As she crept into Rohrdan's shack, she found him laying awkwardly on the ground, carefully avoiding the cuts and bruises all over his body as every Wussari did when they slept. But as she quietly maneuvered into position to stab him, the very memories that taught her about how to inflict pain were also the very things that stopped her from doing so. Try as she might, she could not make her paws take any action to harm him. This was not by any means due to a lack of hatred. She just couldn't do it. As she herd the nightwatch nearby, she knew she had to escape. She returned the knife, returned to her shack, and tried unsuccessfully to sleep, tears still streaming down her face.
As her mind reached the end of the memory, she heard a voice from behind her. "I don't know what you have been through, but when I am Empress things will be different." As she turned around, the situation felt so surreal. Princess Yndana herself had shown up to console her! The princess handed her a metal sculpture she said she welded herself of the ancient Wussari legend Thanos, and walked away. Maarna continued to cry, but now they were tears of hope, relief, shock, and joy, that the princess herself would stoop to show such kindness to a lowly Wussari. The experience was overwhelming, and did nothing to help her return to the ceremony. But it was a memory she would treasure forever, and until her dying day would always tear up thinking about.
The memory went as such:
It had been a long day, working on dangerous cliff faces. Many Wussari had fallen to their deaths, but no more than usual. She was grateful she had not been among them. She was assigned heavy lifting jobs, but never in areas that were particularly dangerous. But she was very behind in her work, and was beaten severely for it. However, a halt had been called to the work early that day as Falatir had drawn up a new plan that had to be brought up with the foreman. As she walked to her quarters, barely more than a leaky shack, a Wussari she had never seen before spoke up. "You look like you are still in a lot of pain from earlier. I know of some herbs that will ease the pain, though it will hurt more initially." The Wussari was scraggly, not like the others. His face was unkept, and more than even most Wussari he looked like death itself. She said nothing, but nodded shyly as he applied the herbs to where she had been beaten. He taught her how to identify the herbs, and his calm, gentle voice contrasted with any Wussari or Gulk' she had ever known. She fell deeply in love with him, and very quickly their contact became more than the application of an herbal remedy. Time seemed to stand still. Until it didn't. And when it didn't, it was utterly shattered when the foreman walked in and with his powerful arms dragged both of them, one in each hand, to the hall of punishments.
When Falatir was told what happened, he became enraged. "Just today I rescue you from execution, and this is how you repay me?! How dare you! Why would I ever, ever allow a runt like you to breed with a fine specimen like her?" Maarna's heart sank, as Falatir was good at taking things that, had she been Gulk' and treated with respect, would have been compliments. Instead he always found a way to make her feel weak, worthless, and in peril. Falatir reached with his fingers into her mouth and lifted her lips "look at those teeth. Look at them! Perfect alignment, strong, and healthy." He lifted her tail without a thought, as if showing off one of his inventions "Look at her form: strong, healthy, and capable. Until now I thought she was a clever girl too, but I see there is still some foolishness that needs to be bred out next generation. Why would you ever think I would let a mercy case like you mate with her? I thought execution was too harsh and so I bought you for cheap. Apparently I was mistaken." He called for the guard to give him the "relevant" form of execution. The poor Wussari's eyes widened in paralyzing fear as he knew what form that was, and Maarna screamed and cried for him to be spared, but he was led outside where his screams could be heard for miles.
"As for you," he said turning to Maarna. "I thought you were too young for this. Obviously I was mistaken." He nodded to the foreman, whose hands were still covered in blood. The foreman lead in the Wussari that Falatir intended for her and locked them both in a room for the next few hours.
That night, she snuck into the Gulk' residence and took a knife. She intended to make Rohrdan, the Wussari intended for her, suffer. Due to her and other's experiences with the sociologist, she knew just what hurt the most. As she crept into Rohrdan's shack, she found him laying awkwardly on the ground, carefully avoiding the cuts and bruises all over his body as every Wussari did when they slept. But as she quietly maneuvered into position to stab him, the very memories that taught her about how to inflict pain were also the very things that stopped her from doing so. Try as she might, she could not make her paws take any action to harm him. This was not by any means due to a lack of hatred. She just couldn't do it. As she herd the nightwatch nearby, she knew she had to escape. She returned the knife, returned to her shack, and tried unsuccessfully to sleep, tears still streaming down her face.
As her mind reached the end of the memory, she heard a voice from behind her. "I don't know what you have been through, but when I am Empress things will be different." As she turned around, the situation felt so surreal. Princess Yndana herself had shown up to console her! The princess handed her a metal sculpture she said she welded herself of the ancient Wussari legend Thanos, and walked away. Maarna continued to cry, but now they were tears of hope, relief, shock, and joy, that the princess herself would stoop to show such kindness to a lowly Wussari. The experience was overwhelming, and did nothing to help her return to the ceremony. But it was a memory she would treasure forever, and until her dying day would always tear up thinking about.
I award the medal of ingenuity posthumously to Falatir, our glorious engineer, without whose grand invention victory would not be possible.
In the meantime many things of note happened outside of the war. Before the war began, Falitir, the inventor of the destroyer ship type, died at the ripe old age of 81. He never got to witness the success of his invention. A ravenous hive, known as the "Ugarlak Swarm" was discovered on the side opposite the Gulk' of the Propitious Pact. To be on better terms with the FDS, Glorious Leader Darmug retracted his expansionistic war policy, a highly unpopular move at home, but one that would greatly improve his chances of getting the Gulk' into the Propitious Pact, though in secret he informed his advisors the intention was only to get his foot in the door, this policy was to be revised later. In February of 2246, during the early war, the Sinrath declared war on their neighbor, the Serene Djunn Kingdom. This outraged the Propitious Pact, both of whom would make a formal declaration of rivalry by the end of the next year. The FDS would sell alloys to the Gulk' during the war, although the amount was not large enough to make much of an impact on the war, nor was the nearest Gulk' shipyard in a position to receive reinforcements for the fleet. In 2250, the first meeting regarding the formation of a Galactic Market was held via subspace communication. Galactic empires were allowed to nominate one non-capital colony with a population with more than 20 population units (an obsolete measure whose exact number is no longer known) as a "center of commerce." Unfortunately, the Gulk' had no qualifying colonies. Although Obaeshoth Prime was close to qualification, during the war a large number of assault units were drafted from the population. In 2251, the latter part of the mid-war, the Gulk' received a gift from an unexpected source: The Cynn. Shortly after, The Cynn retracted their rivalry with the Gulk' and declared rivalry with the Erissu. Emperor Darmug wasted no time in rebuilding relations with this empire. Governor Hephanira was recruited by The Emperor to replace a wildly popular predacessor. His predecessor had always been unusually just for a Gulk, and over time also developed a reputation as a highly educated governor as well. Hephanira is showing himself to be a far more controversial governor, and one that does not have the princess's favor due to his focus on squeezing every bit of labor from state-owned Wussari slaves. His appointment was a source of great contention between Emperor Darmug and his daughter.*
Chancellor Dlurret was not looking forward to his meeting with Grand Marshall Cassarram. He struggled to calm down his anger. But, just in time, he managed to compose himself. The hallway of the G.E.R. capitol was lined with various ancient weapons and strange symbols. Fascination clashed with his anger, but all kept well under the surface. All around him were Errisu wielding ceremonial weapons, long since past their era for any practical use in combat, but they seemed to have an emotional attachment to these weapons of their history. The Errisu wielding them adopted intimidating postures, likely an emulation of the postures adopted by some ancient legends, as it certainly didn't seem like viable positioning for formation fighting of their past, perhaps these were ancient dueling postures. He intended to drop by their cultural center after the meeting for more information, as he didn't have more appointments scheduled for a while yet. Finally, he came to the Grand Marshall's office.
"We welcome you, great warrior of the Cynn, fellow rival of the lowly Gulk-Furki. You honor us with your visit today, and we hope dearly for a productive exchange that will see the Gulk' on their knees" the large bird exclaimed warmly with a thunderous voice, beaming with excitement to meet this species he had heard so much about.
"I am afraid you misunderstand, Grand Marshall Cassram. While we did come here to discuss your newly declared war on the Gulk-Furki, our purpose in being here is to clear up some significant matters."
"Then by all means," the large bird responded warmly, "ask whatever questions are on your mind."
"Did you declare war on the Gulk-Furki because they appeared weak, or because you despise them?"
"Actually, many decades before the Gulk' placed their base on our territory, we-" Chancellor Dlurret's patience had run out and he interrupted the Grand Marshall.
"Don't waste my time, Cassram. You and I both know this has nothing to do with constructions or surveys, you want to conquer the Gulk-Furki outright and I want to know why and what your intentions are afterwards, your empire is already quite large."
The Chancellor glared at Chancellor briefly, before bursting into laughter. "You understand us well, Cynn. Much better than we understand you apparently. To answer your question, both in equal measure. Their existence is offensive to us, although I suppose if terraforming proves unfeasible or impossible in the future, we might just have to settle for enslaving them. In any case, the only answer you need to care about is that we are eliminating your 'existential threat,' so some gratitude would be in order on your part."
"Are you implying you would stoop to purging an entire species?" The chancellor responded visibly upset.
"It is one among many options we have considered, the discussion is still ongoing with our advisers. Slavery is another possibility, but if you know of a place that would take them we could always send them far away. We will of course discuss the best way to get rid of them with you."
The calm way the Grand Marshall discussed these means of dealing with the Gulk-Furki made the Chancellor's gizzard ache. How nonchalantly he talked of doing these things, it reminded him of his research on the Gulk' themselves. How perfect they seemed for each other, if only the mutual fear would reform them rather than continue the cycle of conquest and abuse.
"So why do you believe you should be the ones to punish them?" The Chancellor asked genuinely.
"Punish them? Oh no no no, you misunderstand. Their suffering is only a byproduct of us taking what is rightfully ours. Technically all these worlds are rightfully ours, as our forefathers and traditions promised them to us. In your case, however, we are willing to waive that right. But nevermind about the Gulk', they are vermin, completely lacking in honor. They are as insects, a plague to be rid of as soon and efficiently as possible. All races are insects compared to the glorious Erissu, but some like yours have a certain charm to them." At this point, The Chancellor had heard all he cared to hear. At least from what he had heard of the GF Emperor's daughter Yndana, that she had some real potential to reform the Gulk-Furki into something nearly acceptable to the Cynn. But as the day went on, the bold entitlement of the Erissu sickened him more and more. Even the Gulk' did not pervert justice so, they simply rejected its practicality. Shown a better way, they had proven they were at least slightly open to some reforms. But he could see no hope for the Erissu's entitlement in the near future. He did not stay long enough to give his declaration of rivalry to the Grand Marshall in person, after writing it up he left it on the GM's desk.
When he got back, he found Emperor Darmug waiting for him.
"You have some nerve to come here in person." The chancellor pointed out. The emperor pulled out a copy of his response rivalry declared against the Chancellor, and following the ancient traditions of the Cynn, he ripped it in half and spat on both halves before throwing it out, saying the words "I hereby retract my regrettable words with shame." The Chancellor was honored to see such respect shown to his culture, and by an enemy now seeking forgiveness. He pulled out his own declaration and did likewise, repeating the ritual in its entirety. He was not a fool, however. While he accepted new agreements with the Gulk-Furki, he was under no illusion that they had yet accepted justice as their guide. But for the first time, he saw hope for this twisted species.
"We welcome you, great warrior of the Cynn, fellow rival of the lowly Gulk-Furki. You honor us with your visit today, and we hope dearly for a productive exchange that will see the Gulk' on their knees" the large bird exclaimed warmly with a thunderous voice, beaming with excitement to meet this species he had heard so much about.
"I am afraid you misunderstand, Grand Marshall Cassram. While we did come here to discuss your newly declared war on the Gulk-Furki, our purpose in being here is to clear up some significant matters."
"Then by all means," the large bird responded warmly, "ask whatever questions are on your mind."
"Did you declare war on the Gulk-Furki because they appeared weak, or because you despise them?"
"Actually, many decades before the Gulk' placed their base on our territory, we-" Chancellor Dlurret's patience had run out and he interrupted the Grand Marshall.
"Don't waste my time, Cassram. You and I both know this has nothing to do with constructions or surveys, you want to conquer the Gulk-Furki outright and I want to know why and what your intentions are afterwards, your empire is already quite large."
The Chancellor glared at Chancellor briefly, before bursting into laughter. "You understand us well, Cynn. Much better than we understand you apparently. To answer your question, both in equal measure. Their existence is offensive to us, although I suppose if terraforming proves unfeasible or impossible in the future, we might just have to settle for enslaving them. In any case, the only answer you need to care about is that we are eliminating your 'existential threat,' so some gratitude would be in order on your part."
"Are you implying you would stoop to purging an entire species?" The chancellor responded visibly upset.
"It is one among many options we have considered, the discussion is still ongoing with our advisers. Slavery is another possibility, but if you know of a place that would take them we could always send them far away. We will of course discuss the best way to get rid of them with you."
The calm way the Grand Marshall discussed these means of dealing with the Gulk-Furki made the Chancellor's gizzard ache. How nonchalantly he talked of doing these things, it reminded him of his research on the Gulk' themselves. How perfect they seemed for each other, if only the mutual fear would reform them rather than continue the cycle of conquest and abuse.
"So why do you believe you should be the ones to punish them?" The Chancellor asked genuinely.
"Punish them? Oh no no no, you misunderstand. Their suffering is only a byproduct of us taking what is rightfully ours. Technically all these worlds are rightfully ours, as our forefathers and traditions promised them to us. In your case, however, we are willing to waive that right. But nevermind about the Gulk', they are vermin, completely lacking in honor. They are as insects, a plague to be rid of as soon and efficiently as possible. All races are insects compared to the glorious Erissu, but some like yours have a certain charm to them." At this point, The Chancellor had heard all he cared to hear. At least from what he had heard of the GF Emperor's daughter Yndana, that she had some real potential to reform the Gulk-Furki into something nearly acceptable to the Cynn. But as the day went on, the bold entitlement of the Erissu sickened him more and more. Even the Gulk' did not pervert justice so, they simply rejected its practicality. Shown a better way, they had proven they were at least slightly open to some reforms. But he could see no hope for the Erissu's entitlement in the near future. He did not stay long enough to give his declaration of rivalry to the Grand Marshall in person, after writing it up he left it on the GM's desk.
When he got back, he found Emperor Darmug waiting for him.
"You have some nerve to come here in person." The chancellor pointed out. The emperor pulled out a copy of his response rivalry declared against the Chancellor, and following the ancient traditions of the Cynn, he ripped it in half and spat on both halves before throwing it out, saying the words "I hereby retract my regrettable words with shame." The Chancellor was honored to see such respect shown to his culture, and by an enemy now seeking forgiveness. He pulled out his own declaration and did likewise, repeating the ritual in its entirety. He was not a fool, however. While he accepted new agreements with the Gulk-Furki, he was under no illusion that they had yet accepted justice as their guide. But for the first time, he saw hope for this twisted species.
Author's note 1: I think from here on out, it is likely that I will get a basic story out first, and then add pictures and personal stories later. This may be a matter of hours or days, depending on what is going on with me irl and how good a job I feel I could do at the time. I suspect I made some typos, so don't be afraid to let me know (in particular I think I spelled "Obaeshoth" different ways but since they all get underlined I can't find which ones might be wrong). Once again, general advice is appreciated.
*Planning on putting the story for this next session!
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You have a nice AAR going on here, starkwolf. Keep it up, as I am much enjoying it. You are excellent at spinning a tale around mundane game events.
Oh wow, I feel honored to have attracted the attention of a mod (in a good way obviously
)! I would especially appreciate your input when I finally get to my "A Slave's Perspective" story, as on the one hand I want it to be a really tragic, heartwrenching story that is vaguely based on the real atrocities of slavery throughout history into the modern day, but I want to do it in a manner that balances being dark with being tasteful, and I would really like your input on that when I get to it.
That sounds like a most fortuitous diplomatic opportunity. One always has to idly wonder what happened in the in-game universe to bring it about. Was there some disaster where one side unexpectently sent aid to the other, or some grand cultural event, or was it just "simeple" geopolitical realities, or some heady combination of these and more.
That sounds like a most fortuitous diplomatic opportunity. One always has to idly wonder what happened in the in-game universe to bring it about. Was there some disaster where one side unexpectently sent aid to the other, or some grand cultural event, or was it just "simeple" geopolitical realities, or some heady combination of these and more.
More on that coming soon, probably tomorrow.
Ketrilla advises immediate response and The Battle of Obaeshoth completed.
Peace at last, A Slave's Perspective, Diplomatic meeting of Cynn and Erissu, pictures, and more still to come.
A Slave's Perspective and Peace at Last completed.
Diplomatic meeting story completed (also gives your long awaited answer stnylan).
Still more coming.
Should be complete! Pictures added, new event mentioned: Gul has a new governer, and Yndana isn't happy about it.
Peace at last, A Slave's Perspective, Diplomatic meeting of Cynn and Erissu, pictures, and more still to come.
A Slave's Perspective and Peace at Last completed.
Diplomatic meeting story completed (also gives your long awaited answer stnylan).
Still more coming.
Should be complete! Pictures added, new event mentioned: Gul has a new governer, and Yndana isn't happy about it.
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Hopefully, these Erissu have learnt their lesson.
And yep, quite a lot of oppression and suffering must lay behind the slave production improvement governor traits!
I wonder how the other galactic nations see the Gulk-Furki practice of slavery. Are there any democratic regimes among them?
And yep, quite a lot of oppression and suffering must lay behind the slave production improvement governor traits!
I wonder how the other galactic nations see the Gulk-Furki practice of slavery. Are there any democratic regimes among them?
Stellaris doesn't work very well on the computer I have at the moment. Otherwise I would be updating this a lot more often as I have always found Stellaris to be most enjoyable to play when I make up stories in my head to go with it, and being able to share it in a forum is even better.
However, off the top of my head the FDS stands for Fellnoll Democratic Suns, so they would be one such case. They have been rather friendly, however, so I will give it some thought as to what the more friendly factions see in the Gulk-Furki.
The Sinrath appear to just hate everyone equally and not really care about the details, as they are actually a faction that I designed that the game put in. I set them to fanatic militarist and xenophobic, so they just think everyone is a potential threat, probably don't even know Gulk-Furki slavery is a thing because they simply don't care.
Ah yeah, the FDS are molluscoids. What phenotype are the Sinrath? It can be difficult to remember all other nations in Stellaris AARs...
Mammalian (basically the warthogs)
edit:Also, so I was looking through The Inkwell, and I noticed a lot of references to different styles like "history book," "narrative," "chronicles," and such. I was wondering if someone could give me a rundown on what each style means, as well as what one my classify this work so far as.
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Most AARs are a bit of a mix of at least two styles, with one style being the more important one. Your AAR for example is mostly history book, but the stories in the spoilers are narrative and one could make a case it's also partially gameplay, because the game is very much visible and you don't stray from what happens in game and use in-game screenshots to explain. The reason your AAR is mostly history book is that you do more than just relay what happens in-game. You make up reasons for the actions of the nations and characters and clearly want to tell the history of your nation and galaxy, more than simply show the gameplay.
There are also comedy AARs, that are also always some form of narrative, gameplay or history book, but are more funny than usual AARs, which is mostly, but not always, the intention of the writAAR.
Megacampaigns (I suppose that might be what you mean with chronicles, although chronicle could also be synonym with history book) are AARs that stretch across multiple games, with the use of converters to convert the state of the world at the end of one game to the beginning of the next. People have done megacampaigns from CK2 all the way to HoI4 and even into Stellaris. I suppose once Imperator is released people will do megacampaigns from Imperator all the way into Stellaris. The time periods not covered by Paradox games tend to be filled with the fantasy of the writAARs.
An excellent example of a pure gameplay AAR: The Audacity of hope - An Iroquois IN AAR back in the day of EU3 by @PrawnStar
An excellent example of a pure history book AAR: Empire for Liberty: America in the Long Nineteenth Century by @volksmarschall in Victoria 2
An excellent example of a pure narrative AAR: The Bold Prince by @coz1 in CK2
For further explanation you can check the fAARq
For further examples of what's typically considered what as AAR styles go by the AARland denizens:
The recent Q4 2018 ACA vote
The recent 2018 Year-end AwAARds
ACA's are quarterly. Both could do with your input when next organised, even if only for Stellaris if that's what you keep to as far as reading goes.
Very nice AAR you have here! It’s got an interesting blend of the more historical style and a narrative focus. Definitely an interesting approach, and of course there’s a lot of interesting aspects like the distinction between Wussari and Gulk-Furki and the astropolitcial intrigue going on. I look forward to seeing what this ends up leading to.
Following on from @Qorten 's post I generally think there are three "main" styles
Gameplay
Historybook
Narrative
Comedy operates alongside one of the main "styles" for want of another term
However, there are variants and cross-overs within each style. So for historybook, for example, I can think of:
The Historybook - literally a written historical account
The Chronicle - a mediaeval chronicle-style account
The diary - diary of a protagonist (or rarely extra)
The Autobiography - similar to above but unlike a diary which tends to be contemporaneous this is written largely after the fact
The Lecture - fairly self-explanatory
Of course, one is also free to mix and match.
Hope that makes sense.
Gameplay
Historybook
Narrative
Comedy operates alongside one of the main "styles" for want of another term
However, there are variants and cross-overs within each style. So for historybook, for example, I can think of:
The Historybook - literally a written historical account
The Chronicle - a mediaeval chronicle-style account
The diary - diary of a protagonist (or rarely extra)
The Autobiography - similar to above but unlike a diary which tends to be contemporaneous this is written largely after the fact
The Lecture - fairly self-explanatory
Of course, one is also free to mix and match.
Hope that makes sense.
Thanks for your explanations @Qorten and @stnylan, very helpful!
and @Methanogen, praise is always appreciated, thank you.
also, @stnylan , at first I kept reading your name as "Saint Nylan" until I saw your clarification in Inkwell
and @Methanogen, praise is always appreciated, thank you.
also, @stnylan , at first I kept reading your name as "Saint Nylan" until I saw your clarification in Inkwell