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[TricMagic]

Pokes everyone.

Adversary, as a question, what difficulty would Pure Water be receiving? In that it uses the Research Lead exactly as it was intended to fix a problem that is a perfect fit for the solution?

How does auto-success work for revisions?


I'll note the bonus we got is good for two things. Removing a Nightmarish/Intractable bug from something really important, or in making headway into a new type of magic.

For the first, the People of Luna and the Science Of Juxtematics, in which we take negative modifiers, and is not easily fixable. For magic, we can go from Alchemy to Geomancy. Or Miad Manipulation and Usage. Or other things. Honestly, that research would have been better on a Magic, since then we'd have -4 on it's difficulty.

On the other hand, we can wait till a Eldritch Bug pops up in a design. Worst possible outcome that would normally mean just trying the design again and shelving the old one. But then for most designs that would be the best choice, barring things that effect a lot more.

[Doomblade187]

Design: Croakadiers
The toads that thrive in rivers and oases in the desert of Alikai are poisonous -- their poison can kill moderately-sized animals, and is known for hallucinogenic effects. With the power of Sacred Lunacy, the venom becomes something entirely more brutal, however. The poison glands on the skin of the toads are mutated into large poison sacs inside of the body, giving the toads something of a bloated appearance -- and the poison they now produce is both extremely corrosive and explosive, detonating viciously in a spray of corrosive toxin if the toad is violently killed or if it elects to explode itself. Lickily, the transformation doesn't  limit the ability of the toads to breed, and while the breeding pens occasionally need a... rather messy cleanup, we ought to be able to breed a consistent supply of transformed toads.

Now, of course, you don't want your grenades deciding that it would be kind of nice to explode when you're just lying around in camp, so the explosive toads are only given to specifically mutated grenadiers. These desert-toad-people have full, rather glorious throat sacs, and the signature long, sticky tongues, using the former for carrying directions to toads far away (they are strongly advised to take the time to train individual signals into the toads), and the latter to retrieve the little blighters if they get loose, yhough most prefer to call the toads back via command, due tomrisk of stuffing explosives  in one's mouth. Their ability to communicate with the toads is highly boosted, probably going beyond the point of what "mundanely" should be communicated to the small animals. What this means is that Croakadiers have two options for how to use their toads; they can throw them REALLY GOD DAMNED HARD and have them just explode violently upon reaching the target, or they can provide the toads with surprisingly (well, relatively) complex instructions before letting them onto the ground. There's also some level of resistance to the toxin of the toads... there's only so much you can do against exploding corrosive toxins, but much of the poison aspect of it should be mitigated. However, because exploding can't be trained, the toads with instructions have limited use. A sling is provided for long-range toading.

As far as equipment goes, Croakadiers have two particularly notable pieces of equipment: the first is a shortbow, much in the manner of what the Desert Clansfolk use (Croakadiers almost certainly want to avoid being in any sort of close combat, and they should probably also be not be clustering with other soldiers for that matter), and the other one is a bandolier, each pouch of the bandolier open on one side but for a buckled strap and containing a toad.

[TricMagic]

As doomblade poked me.

I kinda want Geomancy for reasons. One is dragons. Lunacy can handle the more mundane transformations, while Geomancy imparts the more fantastical abilities, such as flight, various forms of breath. And we can have dragonriders.

We can also make up a race of dragonoids with a specialty for Fire Geomancy. Make them from snakefolk and evolve them with Luncacy/Geomancy for magical flight and fire.


Earth and Water spirits can be appeased to help our crops florish once the aqueduct is finished, and we can use a revision to have the water spirits lend the workers the ability to draw water up, which would be a rather simple thing compared to making pumps when we currently use buckets. Geomancy is a straightforwad-ish magic that grants easier access to magical abilities without sacrificing our souls.

[Doomblade187]

Votes!

Pure Water: (1) TricMagic
Toadaerials: (1) TricMagic
The World of Geomancy: (1) TricMagic
Spend -2 credit on Geomancy: (1) TricMagic
Aqueduct Screw Pumps: (1) Happerry
Turtle Goggles: (1) Happerry
Turtle Giant Tents: (1) Doomblade
Use Credit to remove Crippling Bug from Rabbits: (2) Happerry, Doomblade
Croakadiers: (1) Doomblade

[TricMagic]

Doom, that is a total WASTE of a credit. The Pure Water is Exactly what is needed to remove that bug. You would waste such a powerful tool on something within our means to fix?

[TricMagic]

Pokes with the power of the moon!

[spoiler-Active Research Leads]
Research Lead: There are interesting reports of side-effects within workers of the upper aqueducts, who often pull their drinking water immediately after it has been purified by the Lunatic Lichens. Universally positive, the workers report increased energy, a noted absence of internal parasites, significantly reduced rate of disease.
[/spoiler]

Killer Rabbits Polo Team
[Uncommon Deployment]
[Beasts: 3, Fruit of the Land: 4, Auspicious Hours: 5]

[Crippling Bug, Complicated]
The most painful issue with the Killer Rabbits is that they are strongly afflicted by a calicivirus carried by flies. In their native habitats in the desert, such exposure is minimal, but when brought into civilization, and triply so in war camps, the incidence of the disease skyrockets. Fatal in nearly all cases, highly contagious between individuals, and untreatable, it’s unfortunately far more common for a Killer Rabbit to die of disease than the wounds of battle. (+5 Beasts and +5 Sacred Lunacy cost while this bug exists)

Side by side, do you see what I'm getting at? It's not even Nightmarish or Eldricth, which would be worth the credit to remove them, but something we can fix using a research lead.


PM, is there something fundamentally wrong with my argument? Is that why it is being ignored..

[Powder Miner]

i havent really looked at the arguments lol
I'd gone from having a very low motivation for doing much in general to being daunted by the immediately-due contest to feeling awkward about coming back in, for which I actually do want to apologize
BUT

I'll say that I have very little interest in starting down a new path of magic -- instead, since we've done so much investing into very specifically easing our usage of Sacred Lunacy, I would like to continue down that path. I also, however, do agree that we can come up with a revision easily enough for the rabbits that uses our research lead on the subject of Special Aqueduct Water (tm) to make the roll a bit easier (I'm not 100% on the rules for this, but I THINK we can use a research insight for that). I'd, therefore, like to use our credit to actually get rid of the Aqueduct bug. The Pure Water revision is... sparse, but I think it does what it needs to.

I'm not satisfied with Doom's redo of the Croakadiers, though, since it ultimately doesn't even completely root out the stuff that doesn't work. Accordingly:

Research: Croakadiers
The toads that thrive in rivers and oases in the desert of Alikai are poisonous -- their poison can kill moderately-sized animals, and is known for hallucinogenic effects. With the power of Sacred Lunacy, the venom becomes something entirely more brutal, however. The poison glands on the skin of the toads are mutated into large poison sacs inside of the body, giving the toads something of a bloated appearance -- and the poison they now produce is both extremely corrosive and explosive, detonating viciously in a spray of corrosive toxin if the toad is violently killed.

Now, of course, you don't want your grenades deciding that it would be kind of nice to explode when you're just lying around in camp, so the explosive toads are only given to specifically mutated grenadiers. These desert-toad-people share two traits with their toad compatriots: firstly, their skin is rough and bumpy much like the skin of the desert toads, and they possess poison glands which can produce a much, much weaker version of the poison that the toads produce. While it's not usable for much beyond at most other soldiers' (forbidden) recreational uses, this has the effect of providing them with a very strong resistance to the toads' poison, as their skin is now both thick enough to avoid some corrosion and is capable of accommodating some level of similar toxins already. The other toad trait of the Croakadiers is that the muscles of their arms, building off of toads' hops, are better suited for sudden powerful movements. Now, as they're toad people, not frog people, their throws are not OVERWHELMINGLY powerful, so you won't see them throwing toads across entire battlefields, but these throws do allow for slightly increased range and, importantly, throws consistently hard enough to detonate the toads against whatever the surface in question is.

As far as equipment goes, Croakadiers have three particularly notable pieces of equipment: the first is a shortbow, much in the manner of what the Desert Clansfolk use (Croakadiers likely want to avoid being in close combat, and they should probably also be not be clustering with other soldiers for that matter), a dagger in case they're forced into such combat anyway, and a bandolier, each pouch of the bandolier open on one side but for a buckled strap and containing a toad.

Pure Water: (2) TricMagic, Powder Miner
Toadaerials: (1) TricMagic
The World of Geomancy: (1) TricMagic
Spend -2 credit on Geomancy: (1) TricMagic
Aqueduct Screw Pumps: (1) Happerry
Turtle Goggles: (1) Happerry
Turtle Giant Tents: (2) Doomblade, Powder Miner
Use Credit to remove Crippling Bug from Rabbits: (2) Happerry, Doomblade
Use Credit to remove Crippling Bug from Aqueducts: (1) Powder Miner
Croakadiers: (1) Doomblade
Croakadiers (Finalized): (1) Powder Miner

[TricMagic]

Fair then. Though we will basiclly be linked entirely to Lunacy, since I really don't like the idea of going down a route where we have to sacrifice souls. And Jux is not easily removed. I also don't particularly like the Croaks, but that ship sailed.

Pure Water: (2) TricMagic, Powder Miner
Toadaerials: ()
The World of Geomancy: ()
Spend -2 credit on Geomancy: ()
Aqueduct Screw Pumps: (1) Happerry
Turtle Goggles: (1) Happerry
Turtle Giant Tents: (3) Doomblade, Powder Miner, TricMagic
Use Credit to remove Crippling Bug from Rabbits: (2) Happerry, Doomblade
Use Credit to remove Crippling Bug from Aqueducts: (2) Powder Miner, TricMagic
Croakadiers: (1) Doomblade
Croakadiers (Finalized): (2) Powder Miner, TricMagic

Also fine if you weren't feeling it. Right now I'm wondering what exactly our nation stands for, as we need a flag to proceed.

Welp, time to read the lore for inspiration.




A basic, quick, and dirty paint image flag. The four arrows represnt the four things we deal with. Earth, crops, and people. The sun and heat. The desert and beauty of it. And the water flowing, through which all life stems from. Te moon at the center has a brushed effect at the top and bottom following the circle. And the quick-draw arrows represent how everyone comes together in the end, even when our nature may split us apart, supporting one another. And the squares are a facimila of building, though a proper flag would have them extended from the moon in the form of streets and aqueducts. And at the top of the flag are stars.

A better artists might make a prettier version. But this rough one symbolies the basic idea. Though it being rough may also symbolize something in the end..

[Powder Miner]

I'm gonna take a crack at it later today/tonight, after I do a couple of things.

Edit: I made this as brief as I could, given the contents of the flag itself.



Flag of the Pact of Alikai

The Flag of the Kingdom of Alikai represents the pact between the Clans that created the Alikai Kingdom, with simple symbols of dark red on beige -- representing marks of blood on sand, with which it was sealed. Each of the 8 symbols represents one of the major clans of Alikai, though this does exclude Taratan and minor clans, something that has caused tension.

The symbol at the top is a crown, the symbol of the Anirite Clan, taken after the old Mad King.
The symbol at the top-right is a shortbow, of the Hasana Clan, the largest and most loyal of the deep desert skirmisher clans of Alikai.
The symbol at the right represents the meandering path of the Oranoun Clan, who migrated all the way across the desert to what is now Alika in the chaos after the Mad King's collapse.
The symbol at the bottom is a cross-section of an aqueduct, naturally the symbol of the Karaca Clan of builders.
The symbol at the bottom-right represents the South Star, unblinking and unmoving in the night sky, symbol of the famously stubborn Hirol Clan, original inhabitants of what is now Alika.
The symbol at the bottom left is an outstretched hand, taken on by the merchant Kaling Clan to represent openness to partnership and friendship.
The symbol at the left is a moon (made of two strokes) is the symbol of the Ayacan Clan, source of many of the Alikai Kingdom's Lunatics (this symbol is a source of complaint from the Lunatics of other clans).
The symbol at the top-left represents the widely-spread diaspora that is the extremely populous Sholon Clan, who form brotherhoods of artisans all over Alikai.

[Doomblade187]

Pure Water: (3) TricMagic, Powder Miner, Doomblade
Toadaerials: ()
The World of Geomancy: ()
Spend -2 credit on Geomancy: ()
Aqueduct Screw Pumps: (1) Happerry
Turtle Goggles: (1) Happerry
Turtle Giant Tents: (3) Doomblade, Powder Miner, TricMagic
Croakadiers: (0)
Croakadiers (Finalized): (3) Powder Miner, TricMagic, Doomblade

Use Credit to remove Crippling Bug from Rabbits: (1) Happerry
Use Credit to remove Crippling Bug from Aqueducts: (3) Powder Miner, TricMagic, Doomblade

[TricMagic]

Completed flag design. Alikai Kingdom, Home of Luna's People



[The top arrow is the sun, upon which all our civilization lives with during the day. At noon, we rest, for the heat will kill the unwary.]
[The left arrow represents the desert, and all it's people, in it's myriad colors. Those who live within the desert know well the colors of both the sun and moon, shining sands. There are many types of people that live within the desert.]
[The bottom arrow are our cannels, and the moss we grow to filter our water. Beneath the holy moon does our water flow to all four corners of the desert.]
[The right arrow represents our farming, what we can do. Without water, this would not be possible. And without our animals, that would also be difficult, as our people can commune with their animals, so too is it shown through the red dots and tan people.]

[The center rings represent different things. The outermost, the desert, the inner moon the light we know well, for our capital is the most magical place of Luna. The colors around it in the city are more abstract, one could say they represent how life can bloom even here. The blue ring represents the canals which our water flows.]

[The edges both represent the extent of our reach. From the citys on the shore, to the heat of the craters, to the mountains in the distance. And in one corner, the moon's light in the blue night sky, extending it's cool embrace over the desert. Perhaps it will rain.]

[The colorful nature of the flag also represents us as a whole. Each can be considered a precious treasure due to the rarity and variety of dyes, and a symbol of our wealth and health as a people.]

[No matter how far we spread or where we go, the Moon unites, our capital shall stand proof of our Pact, that of Alikai Kingdom.]

Flag of the Pact of Alikai: ()
Alikai Kingdom, Home of Luna's People: (1) TricMagic

Honestly both flags are nice. I wouldn't mind both being incorporated, the less colorful one as a standard for our armies, and the more colorful for more stationary color, to be displayed in public.
Pretty sure we also would end up having more flags to represent each tribe as well. The tan one can certainly represent the Pact Clan meetings.

I like the color on mine though.


If I have an argument, it's that the Pact flag seems, bland, abstract. Compared to the lore, I do not look at and think 'Oh'. While it's interesting once you know what it means, it doesn't stand out, too uniform at first glance. You would need to know what each one means before looking at the flag. My first glance left me wondering what it was until I read that.


The one I made is vibrant, focused on color, difference/contrast, and union. When I was making it, I was wondering how to make it distinct, the left arrow is the one I made first that really stood out to me.

Top arrow probobly needs a touch-up though, since it was the first one to get changed. The south arrow was last of the four. Thought of port, but decided to make it a workplace. Which lead to me using the corners to represnt the areas we are connected to. Before that, I did the circles though, hoping to make it look like it represented the capital. And the tan sand and moon-representation was the final touch.
Overall, it looks like a nice piece, I think. ... I can stare at it for a long time. Not sure why I am, but I am. I hope it's good enough...

Got a question in this spoiler.

Spoiler: Extra (click to show/hide)

Have a LunaPic neon filter. 25%. It's pretty neat.


I kinda wonder if this is better than the paint one. It's very night-life.


At the moment, just having fun with effects though. Space Effect.



Stained glass, not so much though.

[m1895]

an individual felt that the current flags were a bit busy, so they asked me to dredge up this old thing

Spoiler: my flag (click to show/hide)

Until quite recently, there hasn't actually been a "flag of Alikai". Sure you had all sorts of family crests and symbols for towns, but no singular unifying flag, but the coming war has solidified Alikai as something more than a few peace deals and alliances, and a national consciousness has developed.
The crescent moon represents the "Pax Alikai", a rare and fickle sign that calms the worst of our animalistic nature and brings a sense of unity to our people that transcends mere tribal and species affiliation.
The stars on the other hand, represent the three main stars that according to the Anirite astrologers, foretell our inevitable victory and the coming "Golden Age of Alikai".

as far as the designs go, eh.

[TricMagic]

Busy is decent though, so long as it doesn't require a description to appreciate. I mostly did that since PM did.

Simple is fine, but, seems too much to chance that it will win. The other side can also do simple.


That flag does cause feel nostalgic for some reason.

[Powder Miner]

Pure Water: (3) TricMagic, Powder Miner, Doomblade
Toadaerials: ()
The World of Geomancy: ()
Spend -2 credit on Geomancy: ()
Aqueduct Screw Pumps: (1) Happerry
Turtle Goggles: (1) Happerry
Turtle Giant Tents: (3) Doomblade, Powder Miner, TricMagic
Croakadiers: (0)
Croakadiers (Finalized): (3) Powder Miner, TricMagic, Doomblade

Use Credit to remove Crippling Bug from Rabbits: (1) Happerry
Use Credit to remove Crippling Bug from Aqueducts: (3) Powder Miner, TricMagic, Doomblade

PM’s flag:
Tric’s flag:
M’s flag: (1) Powder Miner

I feel like being much crisper and much simpler than either tric’s flag or mine gives m’s a better chance of winning; ours are both kind of messy and sprawling in image and in description, especially since Adversary noted that he wanted the descriptions to be brief.

[Doomblade187]

Agreed.

PM’s flag:
Tric’s flag:
M’s flag: (2) Powder Miner, Doomblade