Theme Questions
From SCross
Questions
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Player Questions
How would Northerners react to folk from other areas of the world? (Cayr)
Bahumat sez: Northerners, as a whole, would be shy and curious. Most would welcome strangers and wish to trade with them, to varying degrees of shyness. As few speak Imperial, guides and translators are necessary. As they also put a LOT of stock in taboo and traditions, having a cultural guide is usually important to ensure you don't offend them. The Khaluet are an exception to these; fierce and cannibalistic, if your trade isn't easy to steal and valuable to them, they'll probably trade fairly, but they're not above robbing, killing, and eating you.
How would other folk from the world, on average, react to Northerners?(Cayr)
Bahumat sez: About the same the world would the Western barbarians: These people are uncivilized rubes, wearing their stinking furs and skins, and staring gawk-eyed at every wonder we take for granted. Up here, in Highwind Point, of course, there's hundreds of northern natives to be seen, and thus this reaction is much less prevalent.
What is the average stance of Northerners on magic, technology, and the Church?(Cayr)
Bahumat sez: The average stance depends on the proximity and trade with Highwind Point and other Imperial-controlled outposts. The Northerners use magic the same as anywhere else, but they have no Mage Guild, though nowadays some of their members join the Mage Guild or study with them. The northerners usually need to be briefed as to use of magic within the city. Likewise, within a northern village, the rules about magic are quite lax, but the cultural focus of mutual benefit and cooperation means that use of dangerous magic in a village is a quick way to end up ostracized or shunned. Offensive use of magic within the city will see you killed for being a madman.
In this way, for the northerners, technology is rather indistinguishable from magic; it does something, yay! It kills someone! Belly-spear time! Note that if they actually /know/ the device is high technology (debateable at best), the thing is very likely to be declared Taboo and untouchable, and thus not for anyone to use. Anyone using something Taboo would again, be considered a madman, and likely killed or driven away on sight. The northerners remember very well that technology was the cause of Holy. They just don't see enough technology to usually recognize it on sight.
As for the Church, it has made good inroads to the north, but amusingly, is finding it's own teachings co-opted to adapt to Northern ways, instead of the other way around. As such, dealings with faithful northerners can be fairly dichotomous; a lot of the church guidelines are simply impractical and impossible for the nothern life. In short, the Northern culture as a whole has a habit (good or bad depends on who's perception) of taking the useful things of the Church rules and faith, and discarding the useless things. The northerners have a rich oral history, and no amount of church teaching is really ever going to co-opt that.
How does the Merchants Guild interact with folks up North?
- This includes, Northerners, Imperial 'refugees' as some people call them, and other factions and people as well.
Bahumat sez: They travel up there, usually in the spring and summer, and trade for the stockpiles of furs. They hire and retain northern guides, but for the most part, the Merchant's Guild worries more about taxation and levies on exports. It's too expensive and cost-ineffective to even bother trying to police such a spread out bartering economy of the northern natives.
Are all People who come to the North Imperial Refugees?
- A long standing argument in game is the social reactions to people who seem still attached to the empire. Sometimes even those within the church seem to get their hackles up at Imperial's who give lip service to the Highwind name. Whats the Diversity. And how do people react to Nobles. (This is not on a one on one basis, this is blanket.) And have those nobles who have made the effort to conduct good trade business with the natives, as well as house and feed the people have the same standing as 'Nobles' in general.
Nuku Valente 18:01, 3 May 2007 (PDT): Seperated from the vast rich cities of the heart of the empire(pun intended), the smaller fronteir holdings tend to value skill and reliability over social standing. Still, there are few places that money does not act as the great economic lubricator that it is.
*A noble is a source of resources, be it raw cash, or building materials, or food. Nobles are, as a result, valuable commidities to the community due to their importing power to bring these things to the communities should local artisans and gatherers fail to satisfy the market.
*Nobles are celebrities. While such a small town of Highwind Point knows one another fairly well, Nobles tend to have vast sprawling rumors and stories floating in their wake, to the awe, amusement, or horror of others.
*Nobles can be jerks. Rude and difficult to get along with nobles are still valuable as resource fonts, but given the choice, most people try to find a different noble to deal with, shunning the socially inept model.
*In the end, Nobles are people. There are good people, bad people, and all kinds in the middle, and in such a small town, everyone knows your name, and that time you forgot to tell your mother happy birthday, so there is a much higher percentage of individualization rather than blanket stereotypes.
What is the land like in Highwind Point.
- We all know it's tundral forest, but what is under the land, what is the flora and fauna like. Is there Lifestream in them theyre hills?
Bahumat sez: In and around Highwind Point, the dominating geography is rolling granite hills covered in tundra and tundral forests (which are small, typically pine trees. No big lumber to be had here). Use the descriptions of the rooms to guide you in this. Pretty much, if the room says the geography is X, it's X.
On rough estimate how many native tribes are there?
- Can we get an idea of how many are Friendly, Cautious, Neutral, or downright hostile?
Bahumat sez: The population of the northern continent, total, is estimated to be approximately 20,000 to 80,000. The population fluctuates severely from generation to generation, depending on how hard or easy winters have been. Given the massive size of familes, and the massive child mortality rates from natural environmental conditions, a decade of relatively gentle winters can mean that the population explodes 6-8 times this size, until a hard winter kills off the weaker children and infants via starvation.
As for total amount of clans, we have no defined number, as much of the north isn't yet well explored. Known clans include: The Wound Clan, The Khaluet Clan, The Tglinkit, and a few other minor clans scattered around. There's other major clans as well, but they don't trade much with Highwind Point.
Mainland Theme...
Despite what many think, we are /still/ connected to the Mainland in many ways. Through trade, and commerce, through a steady inflow of 'refugees' ect.. Whats going on in the Mainland? ANd how does it effect us?
Nuku Valente 10:40, 3 May 2007 (PDT): This is a difficult question at best, since the answer changes. Your best bet is to read over the global news board to see what snippets of news comes in from the mainland and other continents. Life moves on over there, stuff happens, and I do my best to post important things about that.
Is the only thing that can block lifestream granite..
- And does lifestream turn nonliving things into granite around it?
Bahumat sez: Gradually, yes. Think of it like radioactivity, in a way; certain materials have half-lives under Lifestream. They may morph into a number of things first, but eventually, the resting state of any mass subjected to lifestream is Granite.
All of these, Mako generators, and the Lost City, and the Scar, ect, ect..
- Whats the story on these? Why are they all here (Themewise) and does it effect the story, or the characters, in any way?
Bahumat sez: Mako generators are a nod to FF7, and one of the biggest causes of Holy, since they were the leeches sucking the planet dry of energy to fuel the machines and cities in FF7. The Lost City was in FF7 as well, the seashell city in/around the nothern crater. It was rumored to be a city of the Cetra forever ago. Even less is ICly known about it today; only those very few who've been inside the crater and survived know of it, and even ancient records from pre-holy days barely contain information on it. The Scar was a recent development, relatively speaking; it was the cataclysmic result of a massive war between mortals and Shades near the end of SC: Heart Of The Empire.
As to why they're there? For you to explore, interact, and RP around and with. They're referred to as "RP Hooks". Things to snag your interest and get you motivated to try something new and exciting and dangerous.
User:Rebecca 16:20, 4 May 2007 (EDT): During the war between the Undead Horde/Shades and mortals, the Northern Crater (sometimes referred to as 'The Scar') was sealed after a group of adventurers had sang the song of Gaia, thus coercing a Mana Tree to grow and bear fruit in the otherwise barren soil. The tree still exists and can be a great plot tool for other adventurers.
Could you please clarify Gaia's stance on technology. Escpailly Mako driven technology, or Shinra based impliments.
Bahumat sez: Gaia doesn't much like technology, but she's settled down a bit from her old stance of "It's sucking my blood kill it kill it all!" that led to WEAPONs and Holy erupting. Gaia will still definitely not like Mako driven technology, but it's the matter of irritation versus injury; a mosquito here and there might only get a swat if noticed. But if it's a leech or a vampire latching on, you can bet Gaia will defend herself with all her means available, and with crushing force. After all, you could simply blow on a mosquito to dislodge it, but you don't, do you? You slap it and squish it and kill it, hard.
Could you please Clarify the Churches stance on technology, including what is considered legal or not. It's very vague.
- Granades, steam power, coal power, mako power, things like that..
Nuku Valente 17:43, 2 May 2007 (PDT):The church's stance on technology has changed in the last fifteen years or so. Technology that is reviewed and approved by church sanctioned Holy Engineers are considered safe and proper to use. Those that are not reviewed are suspect and should be brought for inspection immediately, and those that are actually denied approval are considered heretical technology and should be destroyed immediately. Holy Engineers are charged with determining if a technology is safe for the public to use and be around and are quite strict about war technologies, which are inherently dangerous.
How do Spirits react to people who are Mako infected? Or have been infused with the stuff..
- Espers? Church officials? Regular people?
Hana / Kibou - Answer, concerning Espers: To my understanding, if an Esper discovers someone has been infused with Mako, they're reaction will not be positive. How negative it will be may be questionable - for instance the more considerate faerie will just be a bit cautious, since the manner in which one may become Mako infused are largely sinister ( what with interfering with lifestream not being something Espers consider good ), whereas a more reactionary Esper might well be enraged - but I cannot think of Any situation where an Esper would consider Mako infusion to be a good thing, accidental or not. And heaven help you if you've been infused with Magicite and an Esper finds out.
Hana / Kibou - Answer, concerning Spirits: As I understand, it depends entirely on the spirit. I can't think of a spirit that would like it, but I believe Alynna, whose task is to look after lifestream and keep it from interferance, would be pretty miffed.
Nuku Valente 18:55, 3 May 2007 (PDT): It does depend a lot on the individual. The average esper feels the faint stench of their own around any mako infused individual, which can cause all manner of reaction. Some may even beleive the individual has esper blood, though more knowledgable sorts understand that the person may or may not have anything to do with espers at all. Mako is not esper blood, though esper blood does smell of it.
Nuku Valente 18:55, 3 May 2007 (PDT): Spirits detect the power inherent in such an infused person and will react to them as a result. Powerful spirits such as Odin, Ifrit or Bahamut are more likely to listen to the demands or calls of such an individual, but lesser spirits may be intimidated and refuse to appear as such a person's call until convinced of benign intentions. In the end it usually creates more complications than not.
Nuku Valente 19:01, 3 May 2007 (PDT): Just thought to note, some spirits, like sister ray, are especially fond of mako infused callers. Technomagical spirits react favorably as a whole to mako infused summoners, giving easier pact tasks and giving audiences more readilly. Some even demand that their most powerful callers become infused if they aren't already, and are the only spirits that can provide such services.
What about Kitsune? (Alkain)
- What if any reaction should be felt by Espers and Spirits? It says on the Zodiac page that they are respected or feared, is this still true?
What made the Empire decide to come up here in the first place? I mean before the adamant mine was found. (Bellatrix)
Nuku Valente 17:46, 2 May 2007 (PDT): The empire came first in exploration, and found a hostile land filled with strange people. The people were friendly though, and the land livable along the coast without much trouble. No true effort was ever made to 'conquer' the land, though the empire claims to own the continent by default, since no other super power has tried to make a similiar claim to the territory, and the native tribes are not interested in global politics.
User:Rebecca 16:09, 4 May 2007 (EDT): As for Highwind Point, during the last game there had been the battle with the Undead Horde and the Shades that had run rampant on the Northern Continent. The first batallions of troops from the Imperial Army had made landfall at this particular place and began to set up a base camp in which to launch further operations into enemy territory. Thus a base had been built here, and as a nod to the former fallen Emperor, Outpost Charlie Omega Three had been named 'Highwind Point'. This military base had been used to funnel supplies to other outposts on the Northern Continent frontier, such as Chalineer and Teifa's Crossing. After the Shades had been defeated, a geological survey team had reported an adamant vein in the nearby vacinity next to Venus Creek, and thus a settlement had begun at the insistence of Emperor Elliot Highwind I.
Do the Wutaiins or Barbarians have any presence in the North? (Bellatrix)
Nuku Valente 17:53, 2 May 2007 (PDT): The barbarians have been understandably distracted from expansionistic thoughts by the struggle to hold onto what they already have. Wutai, on the other hand, has set foot in the frozen north, and has established one city. Pyoki was its name. It had the grave misfortune of not being build on granite. The Wutai did not heed the warnings of the northerners, and the city was lost when the lifestream swept over the area and swept the city away cleanly. Wutai never attempted to recolonize the continent.
I remember in the days of HotE, someone said the North was all covered with open rivers of lifestream and such. Is that true? And if it's true, where are the rivers? (Bellatrix)
Nuku Valente: The open web of lifestream rivers died down in intensity with the resolution of the Night of Tears and the subsequent restoration of Gaia. With her healing, her most scared area(the north) was soothed and the open sores became instead just a tender area. The lifestream is always close to the surface, but it doesn't bubble through as often.
Racial Relation
How would humans and non-humans interact in commonly human-human ways such as romance? (Cayr)
Nuku Valente 11:29, 9 May 2007 (PDT): Well, I am going to assume first that you mean 'monster' by non human, and not just, say, elf, or maybe you mean both. so let's cover both areas! In the case of civilized people, their race is, mostly a nonconcern when courting or marrying. So long as the genders of those involved allow for the chance of child, it's considered socially acceptable. Since most anything can breed with most anything else, this isn't too big a challenge, requiring at least one male and one female to satisfy. In the case of monsters, civilized monsters are known to take humans or other species as mates, though especially repugnant varieties(Malboro, for instance), tend to stick to their own kind for these things. Bahumat 16:30, 9 May, 2007 (MST): Note that romances between same-gendered couples aren't an issue, beyond mild church frowning. Same-sex couples are all over through Gaia. They can't marry unless they can somehow bear children, though. Adoption would be a non-issue, however; they'd be allowed to adopt same as any other child. -- Note that some few noble houses, notably the Whitehands and Alairs, have some backwards ideas about "purity" of species; they tend to heavily frown on their human stock marrying to non-human. They are, however, odd aberrations to the general societal of rule of "so long as you can bear children, it's all good".
Would there be results of a union of human and non-human? If so, what? (Cayr)
Nuku Valente 11:44, 9 May 2007 (PDT): In the case of multi-racial breeding, the child is always of the mother's race. In some cases, the child may show some hints of the father's face(Lineage merit), but most commonly, does not, and is entirely of the mother's species. Features shared by both parties tend to be blended between the two. Eye color, general height and weight, things of this nature. If the father had very large ears, the child may have large ears as well, if the mother is a species that has ears.
Bahumat 16:48, 9 May 2007 (MST): Note that this never extends to a child being born with claws if the species had none, nor greatly unusual markings (stripes where there'd not be any), but there's wiggle room for other distinctive features. Example: A leopard-kin breeds with a dalmatian-kin female, the resulting dalmatian-kin child might have more leopard-style spots than dalmatian, or there might be a faintly yellow tinge to the fur. Purchase of the Unusual Coat merit lets you bend this rule a fair bit, but even so, it's strictly "paintjob" material. (You can't use Unusual Coat merit to get spines just because your father was a porcupine).
What about Zodiacs? (Alkain)
- What exactly can they remember when they leave home? For that matter What is their home like? For instance, Government, Religion, Yada-Yada.
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