In the Convocation of Malqort -- known to legend as the Caliphate of Azithan ...
Camp on the Borderlands
These camps are a means of flinging outward the power of the Convocation. They are also the seeds of future civilization. Here, we examine a small one for easy analysis.
Measuring an outer edge of 200 feet by 400 feet, the camp holds 500 souls. By default design, this is 360 living persons, 100 lifeless, 30 ghosts, and ten horses. This is relatively tight, and allows for a secure emergency perimeter.
These camps start life as walking camps, and all equipment they start with can be moved by the crew. Lifeless don't need a lot of supplies other than ichor alcohol to repair them, but 360 living persons and ten horses need to eat a lot. They travel with tents and boats and tools and supplies.
As an aside, those boats are powered by lifeless turning a crankshaft. The horses are not gelded, and the living souls make up every gender, ethnicity, and fantasy race (elves? dwarves?) possible. Without additional intervention, there is sufficient means here to build a civilization.
Once they set up a permanent location, this nucleus accepts newcomers. They take the poor, the hungry, the tired, the local population. Those yearning to breath free.
Persons of other religions are welcome, though if you don't attend prayer you don't get the Faithful's Surplus. After all, this is a theocracy -- they are allowed a religious test. For those who attend services this income provides sufficient wealth to have a meager existence without additional work. During every prayer service, the priests distribute the Faithful's Surplus to those in attendance.
The lifeless and the camp build housing, invite newcomers to prayers, and find work for those who want it. There's only so much Lifeless can do, and after that you need human help.
While the initial buildings will be catch as catch can, over the course of a year, this begins to follow a standardized design. This includes manufacturing and industrial areas, tenements and bathhouses. Of course, parks and temples.
Anything that existed before is ground away or incorporated into the growing city. A city of 10,000 takes less than a square mile of land, but the farm land is immense. You need about an acre per person, so this is 15-16 square miles.
The Convocation is happy to buy crops, and happier still to produce it with Lifeless. Any peoples who already live here are welcome to join, and don't even have to pray.
Still reading? Is this still a good aligned civilization?
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What does the Convocation do if the locals tell them to turn around and leave?
ReplyDeleteIf another group claims a region and does not want the convocation to set up shop, they won't.
ReplyDeleteIf there is a civilization in a place, the convocation would typically send missionaries first anyway.
And, of course, there are many levels of involvement! If you want nothing to do with them, then they also won't help if your crops fail. It's sounds heartless, but it would be wrong to force lifeless grown crops on a people who do not want them.
Which is to say: the Convocation is more economically efficient than its neighbors. And patient. And they ponder the issues.
ReplyDeleteWith enough time, they'll win.
Does anyone know a legend when the convocations thoughtfulness was a weakness?