Gold
and blessed wheat? Jubilation, this is much better then a silly Grove of the Spirits.
The blessing of the spirits filled the populace of Xeniice with great joy. Following its appearance, the families ceased quarreling, awed by the spectacle. They dubiously put aside their power struggles in the name of the spirits, and began working together. The following year had the most bountiful harvest in memory. There was much feasting, and they even had plenty left over to store for the future.
It was not to last. Roughly a year after The Blessing, a spark ignited the powder keg: A young member of Lozanth was killed while helping in the quarry. Stories varied wildly: Either a group from Kalron toppled a rock pile onto him, laughing, or he tried to shove it onto a little Azuri girl who had tried to hug him, or the Oro troops did it. Regardless, relations deteriorated further then they had ever been before, and Xeniice's golden age of prosperity had clearly ended.
Families retreated to their disjointed sections of Xeniice. Trespassers were attacked. In retaliation, a sort of war started where families semi-frequently raided each other, stealing food, tools, and damaging crops. The regular troops were withdrawn to guard their families, for fear that other troops would take advantage. There was no longer sufficient food, and people went hungry for the first time in their lives.
Twenty years passed. Twenty long years of instability, of slow infighting, of hunger. Small parts of some families had tried to leave, only to return within months, half starved. The first Duchess, Quara the Great, rose to power over Oro while still relatively young. Stories would frequently say that the spirits were tired of it, and gave her a magical gift for words.
It was she who united Oro with Lozanth in an alliance. It was she who succeeded in quelling the rebellious elders of Arlenth, Kalron, and Azuri, in fierce battle against their poorly trained militia. Most of the minor families surrendered outright following the Battle of the Five Families. The Nedici had stayed out of the conflict, looking out for the best time to ally the winner if still strong, or stirke at a greatly weakened victor. They decided that their chances of a victory worth the cost was low, and agreed to side with her following the battle.
She had promised herself "never again." All gnomes of Xeniice were required to live in the river delta. Living in close proximity would make such fighting nearly impossible. Few of them voiced objections, and their old lives in scattered familiy-districts in and around the delta were left behind forever. The next two years were spent focusing on building houses, and on rebuilding the granary in a more central location in the city.
Quara the Great now ruled over everyone in the city, with the final say on any matters she chose. She sacrificed her connection as a member of Oro, suspecting that the other families would rise up again shortly after regaining strength if she was part of Oro. Lozanth and Oro were the most powerful families, and frequently offered her suggestions. Most of the other major families, along with some minor families, were greatly weakened and in disfavor, but they dared not do anything overt, fearing that another two generations would grow up in hunger. They had mostly decided that their best course was to grow strong again, such that they could retake their lost power when the time was right.
The Nedici were a special case, having done little to aggravate the others during the Dark Times. The Great One distrusted them for not joining in the Battle of Five Families, however. They were allowed more autonomy then the defeated families, but not much more. Their expeditions were allowed to continue so long as they contained members of Lozanth or Oro. Two small expeditions had been sent to the "giants" following The First Duchess' rise. Vanth of Nedici led them, hoping to find some way to communicate with these strange beings.
Quara the Great, First Duchess of Xeniice, wishes to retain stability. She has a deep fear of repeating the events of the too-recent past. She also values learning, hoping that they'll find some way to prevent the Dark Times from repeating.
Lozanth and Oro will be motivated towards expanding their power, such that they'll be in control following The Duchess' death. Naturally, they'll be trying to out-do each other, but would rather share power with the other then with the other major houses.
Lozanth and Oro are loosely aligned, so long as it keeps power away from other houses. Both know that neither alone is strong enough to take on the other houses alone. About 20% of the minor families, population-wise, fully support them.
Azuri, Kalron, and Arlenth, as well about 30% of the minor families, are allied. Any are too weak alone for anything else. They wish to regain their power, likely by undermining other families with various levels of subtlety.
About 50% of the minor families are neutral.
The Nedici are neutral, but slightly disliked by all other major families for refusing to pick a side during the Dark Times. Their wise line of elders had insisted on this stance after seeing the suffering around them. They continue to seek prestige and power by exploring beyond Xeniice. Plus, finding out what's beyond Xeniice is fascinating.
The bards have formed their own faction. Finding the petty power squabbles of their families to be distasteful, most of them have renounced their family ties. As they are a small faction, The Great One ensures that families give them sufficient food - Remembering the past will likely make the families even less inclined to return to fighting.
Religion:
People continue their spirit worship. Different families are brought up believing slightly different things, but usually they believe that spirits are everywhere, and are neutral entities. They seem to enjoy watching the world, and are generally disinclined to interfere directly. Prayers and minor food sacrifices are common, as it can't hurt to keep the spirits happy. The Azuri and Kalron believe that there are two main types of spirits: Free-roaming, and Anchored. Anchored spirits are either attached to one particular object, such as a tool, tree, or house, or the object contains their essence. Such believers are careful to reverently sacrifice broken tools in a fire at the shrine, which releases the spirit into a Free-roaming spirit. Some of them go out of their way to reclaim and sacrifice broken tools abandoned by other families. Free-roaming spirits are those spirits who's objects were destroyed. They're generally more positive influences following a proper sacrifice.
Life:
Previously, families acted as sort-of-communes, which looked after all of their members. Post-relocation, they still do. Each family has a large house, where meetings occur. The most elderly members live here. Other members usually live in smaller houses nearby. Families still direct how each member works, and ensures that all have sufficient food. A few gnomes have secretly begun to wonder what it would be like to live without being controlled by their elders.
I don't know. It just feels like the only way to really get a strongly decentralized city-state centralized quickly is by introducing instability.
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Topic: At the Dawn of Time discussion thread (Need a replacement player!) (Read 57776 times)