Thinking Big - Torq's landgrab - choose a territory

[Midgardsormr]

I just can't stand seeing that hole in the middle of the map. Has anyone laid claim to #14 yet? If not, I'll take it. I'll need some input from my neighbors: GP, Kagehito, Airith, Su_Liam, Venardhi, Torq, and Clercon. What notions do you guys have so far, and what can I do in my area to reinforce them?

[Torq]

Of course you can have 14 Mid. I was wondering when somebody'e sense of proportion would become so offended that they would feel the need to fill the gap.

My region (13) is called Groam. Its people were historically rather independent without much in the way of strategic or political alliances with other nations. Its a culture that in ages past grew wealthy as a result of rich silver deposits in its mountainous Eastern regions. But the silver ran out and the plague came, out of the East, carried by streams of a refugees. Huge barrier walls were erected to control the influx, and a special military order known as the Grey Watch (named for the greay skin blotches that mark the bodies of plague sufferes). The watch had an uneviable job, as Groam's frontiers retreated Westward behind them, but still rumours of atrocities began to reach the ears of the city dwellers in the cities. The watch became notorious and secretive. Several more walls followed as civilisation retreated Westwards to escape the scourge of the plague. Many doomsday cults sprang up togther with alternative religions fiaxted upon the plague and its significance. the plague sufferers themselves began to occupy large settlements abandoned in this way.

Today the walls are crumbling ruins and the plague had reached well beyond them. The migration has resulted in the few cities in the West swelling way beyond capacity. Poverty and crime are rife in those cities. The poor and indigent are preyed on by unscrupulous cults and scheming politicos. And everywhere there is fear of the dreaded plague.

I'm still working on the rest in my head.

Torq

[Midgardsormr]

Fun! That's leaving me with a lot of ruined cities and fortresses on the western portion of the map, and a bit of post-apocalyptic stuff as I move east. I'm thinking there are a few mountain enclaves of healthy people who have learned to cope and might even have developed high rates of resistance to the plague, but they're cut off from the rest of civilization by ravenous plague-mad animals.

I think I'm going to try out that Bryce tutorial graciously provided by Anna. I've got some ideas about how to inject my own style into it.

Do we yet have any idea how long ago the plague first appeared and how long it's been since it started spreading out of control?

[Airith]

I just can't stand seeing that hole in the middle of the map. Has anyone laid claim to #14 yet? If not, I'll take it. I'll need some input from my neighbors: GP, Kagehito, Airith, Su_Liam, Venardhi, Torq, and Clercon. What notions do you guys have so far, and what can I do in my area to reinforce them?

My northwest corner is really mountainous looking and I doubt that there will be many settlements at all there. I'm also trying to avoid my northern section, apparently it's all plagued and stuff...

[su_liam]

I just can't stand seeing that hole in the middle of the map. Has anyone laid claim to #14 yet? If not, I'll take it. I'll need some input from my neighbors: GP, Kagehito, Airith, Su_Liam, Venardhi, Torq, and Clercon. What notions do you guys have so far, and what can I do in my area to reinforce them?

One thing I'm thinking about is to have the Stoutlings somewhat immune to the Plague. This might also be true for the other Little People tribes, if so the Gnomes and Dwarves won't say and no one expects a straight or coherent answer from an idiot Kobold. From the look of things, Orcs have no problem with the Plague. The Orcs better looking cousins, the Elves haven't been seen around here in so long, who knows?

That's my story anyway, it could change.

[DarkOne]

I could take map 4 if no one wants it, for another smaller kingdom spanning map 3 and 4 (about midway, upto the huge mountain range).

I still extremely busy to complete work for an urgent deadline so no progress from my side.

[Baziron]

One thing I'm thinking about is to have the Stoutlings somewhat immune to the Plague. This might also be true for the other Little People tribes, if so the Gnomes and Dwarves won't say and no one expects a straight or coherent answer from an idiot Kobold. From the look of things, Orcs have no problem with the Plague. The Orcs better looking cousins, the Elves haven't been seen around here in so long, who knows?

Resistance of Gnomes/Dwarves: Well, they are usually presented as being tougher than the average (Ingame, at least), sooo... but I came to think of something else, which however would bear a lot of significance were it to be decided to be true:

The Plague is a disease (like the real plague), but with the twist that it is somehow race-specific (i.e. only reacts to something unique to the human/halfhuman genome?). So the other races might carry and spread it, without ever suffering from it. It's your comment regarding Orks that gave me the idea.
However, if it was exactly this case, then that would have an unbelievable impact on the racial demographics. I'd go as far and say: It can't be this way, for that'd probably screw humanity over faster than they could witness.

[su_liam]

True, but if we assume that humanity is greatly in the majority over much of the world, and the other races are perhaps in decline it might be something that gives the others a fighting chance. There's been some discussion about "The Years of Rice and Salt," here, and it brings up a question. While the real plague did not bring about the extinction of European civilization, as in the book, it did devastate Europe, killing, if I remember correctly, more than a third of it's people. 150 years later, "Columbus sails the Ocean blue." I wouldn't count humanity out, but these are going to be interesting times.

Really can't say about the others Gnomes pretty much keep to themselves. There really weren't a lot of Dwarves in the previously effected region, there could be a few huddling in high mountain fortresses. I haven't really worked that out except for the Stoutlings and Orcs. I'm pretty sure the Plague kills Goblins and Hobgoblins as well, thus shifting the balance in that area toward the Orcs.

This is all assuming non-humans exist. I don't even know if the Guildworld has magic. I know Stoutlings don't.

[Baziron]

@Europe and the plague: Hm, valid point there. It probably depends on how contagious the disease is, you know, whether it spreads through fluids, touch or other.

At any rate, dwarves huddling in fortresses tend to be more hygienic and thus simply less affected.

Another point to be considered: since the land is visibly affected, documenting a spreading of the plague - I don't think the black plague did that. So we'd be more into a "contamination-thing". But radiation, for example, doesn't exactly spread... so what is the plague?

I say, we have a question to drive Groam's intellectual elite mad! MAD! ;-)

[industrygothica]

Has anyone considered that maybe there is no plague? There probably once was, but decades after the surrounding regions have implemented their precautions to keep those from the plaguelands out, the plague itself may have simply run its course.

This gives two viable options for the plaguelands:

1. It is a blighted region imprisoned by the fortifications of the surrounding areas. Those within are forced to depend on themselves for survival, as they have no imports. The people would likely have become a tribal society, living off the land and making use of the ruined towns and villages evacuated so many years ago. Of course attempts have been made to escape into another region, but those people are quickly put down by the border guards.

Imagine their horror should they ever find out that they’ve been killing innocent, plague-free victims all this time.

2. In basically the same scenario as above, but the plaguelands have since become a thriving utopia. Crops grow in abundance, rivers flow clean, etc. Of course the populace is more than content to let those on the outside think what they will. I think that in this scenario there should be some blighted border of some sort, just to keep the perception to outsiders that the land is indeed still inhospitable.

Just my two cents… carry on.