(no subject)
Something, something, Ogrehill is changing over the next 20 years, check under the cut.
So, things have started to get... ugly, on the island already, and things are starting to change really fast.
1) If you couldn't tell from Hardain's last post, things are starting to turn sour for him. What happened: the council undercut him on an inconsequencial ruling. He is at strike one out of the three he gets before they lock him up, and install a new king. The next time they call a session, they are going to undercut him again. At that point, he will resign, and flee the country. He's not idiotic enough to stay when there is a definite threat against him, even if that threat is only imprisonment.
2) Some pirate ship captains have begun to tire of the way the government has been running for... well... forever. Or at least since they got to the island. They have been pressuring the council to either change things radically, or disolve. This has been a very recent phenomenon that has been working in the background. The council is now trying to do reforms by starting to select a new king. One who isn't pressing for war.
3) It's not nearly enough in these captain's opinions.
4) Next year, the new king will be assaulted in Blagi Tower by the most powerful captains, and will be ripped to pieces and scattered on the wind. Literally. The council will desolve both peacefully, and in resistance, with those resisting the captains turned into fish food. Those fleeing have a chance at becoming pirates themselves, but most will likely flee to the Hawks for refuge.
These immediate changes are directed towards one common goal: The Ravens are changing from a society dedicated to vengence to one that realises it's only going to survive if it stops acting like an actual country. These captains are expressing what several have come to believe in the last year: they are never getting their home back from Grandbell.
The Hawks protest the new rule of the pirates, especially since things were starting to look on the bright side... Unfortunately, the Hawks face far more numerous problems.
1) In 780 it is determined that they only have two years of trees left around the city. They are forced to abandon construction of the palace, abandon their usual funeral practices, and abandon most anything involving wood. They manage to extend their wood supply for four years, and things were looking up. Until a tree worm blight finds its way to the city, and devours the stragglers. The trees manage to stand until the next year's windy season when most blow over. Tree cover is gone, and the city quickly falls into a state of dispair as its water table becomes far less stable.
2) Food, always a rarity, becomes far more difficult to come by in the 80's. Malnutrition becomes the #1 cause of death, and its becomes far more difficult to have large families. Their numbers dwindle as it becomes even more difficult to find people able to fly far enough to secure food. It becomes easier for any family to find itself in a death spiral.
As we come into the 90's, things have changed a lot.
1) The Ravens are still ruled by a King or Queen. Anyone can aspire to this position as long as they command a ship, and are willing to fight the former ruler in a battle that ends when one person is missing an eye that was working before the battle started.
2) Slaves have been legitimised under the Ravens. Slavery has been almost abolished, and Beorc are allowed onboard ships alongside Ravens... so long as they work just as hard. Anyone who was born on Ogrehill is not considered a slave. They are not however called Beorc among the Ravens. Beorc becomes a word only applying to non-Laguz who grew up on the mainland. The Ravens still take slaves from the crews on the ships they capture, but their future children will not be slaves.
3) No longer content with simply stealing ships, the Ravens are starting to get bolder to secure food. They have started raiding farms in Agustria, much to those farmer's dismay. It doesn't take nearly as much to feed the population of Orgehill as it does to feed Agustria, but it still cuts into their supply.
4) The Hawks in the mean time have begun to look at things differently. They are dying, and seem to be losing numbers every year even with the number of new additions. Those old enough to work are not coming in fast enough to replace those who are dying at their jobs. Hawks who see this as a death spiral have begun fleeing to Blagi Tower. Those who refuse to become pirates are staying... but they are finding it harder every year.
5) The slaves the Hawks had made a mass exodus to Blagi Tower. Those that made the journey were welcomed in, mostly out of pity. There were many who didn't survive the journey. Blagi Tower becoame the most populous place on the island, and for the first time in awhile, had the manpower to feed themselves well.
And as we approach the start of second gen, things look like this:
1) The Ravens are ruled by a blind pirate woman. She won leadership by virtue of being able to blind the previous King without getting herself killed (the King was intrigued by her appeal to become leader, and ruled death as an adequate substitute for the rule regarding eye status. He thought it would scare her off). A lot of people fear her, especially since she has managed to keep her leadership for a whole year without dying.
2) The Hawks continue to have no leader. No one is willing to stand up and take the fame as the last leader the Hawks ever had. Especially, considering the hopelessness their part of the country is facing. If anyone wants to apply for one... be my guest!
3) There are still pirates.
4) They are actually eating well in the last 2 years, but continue to not be very rich. Infact, poverty still seems like the default position Ravens find themselves in.
5) ???
6) PROFIT
Okay, hopefully someone got something out of that.
So, things have started to get... ugly, on the island already, and things are starting to change really fast.
1) If you couldn't tell from Hardain's last post, things are starting to turn sour for him. What happened: the council undercut him on an inconsequencial ruling. He is at strike one out of the three he gets before they lock him up, and install a new king. The next time they call a session, they are going to undercut him again. At that point, he will resign, and flee the country. He's not idiotic enough to stay when there is a definite threat against him, even if that threat is only imprisonment.
2) Some pirate ship captains have begun to tire of the way the government has been running for... well... forever. Or at least since they got to the island. They have been pressuring the council to either change things radically, or disolve. This has been a very recent phenomenon that has been working in the background. The council is now trying to do reforms by starting to select a new king. One who isn't pressing for war.
3) It's not nearly enough in these captain's opinions.
4) Next year, the new king will be assaulted in Blagi Tower by the most powerful captains, and will be ripped to pieces and scattered on the wind. Literally. The council will desolve both peacefully, and in resistance, with those resisting the captains turned into fish food. Those fleeing have a chance at becoming pirates themselves, but most will likely flee to the Hawks for refuge.
These immediate changes are directed towards one common goal: The Ravens are changing from a society dedicated to vengence to one that realises it's only going to survive if it stops acting like an actual country. These captains are expressing what several have come to believe in the last year: they are never getting their home back from Grandbell.
The Hawks protest the new rule of the pirates, especially since things were starting to look on the bright side... Unfortunately, the Hawks face far more numerous problems.
1) In 780 it is determined that they only have two years of trees left around the city. They are forced to abandon construction of the palace, abandon their usual funeral practices, and abandon most anything involving wood. They manage to extend their wood supply for four years, and things were looking up. Until a tree worm blight finds its way to the city, and devours the stragglers. The trees manage to stand until the next year's windy season when most blow over. Tree cover is gone, and the city quickly falls into a state of dispair as its water table becomes far less stable.
2) Food, always a rarity, becomes far more difficult to come by in the 80's. Malnutrition becomes the #1 cause of death, and its becomes far more difficult to have large families. Their numbers dwindle as it becomes even more difficult to find people able to fly far enough to secure food. It becomes easier for any family to find itself in a death spiral.
As we come into the 90's, things have changed a lot.
1) The Ravens are still ruled by a King or Queen. Anyone can aspire to this position as long as they command a ship, and are willing to fight the former ruler in a battle that ends when one person is missing an eye that was working before the battle started.
2) Slaves have been legitimised under the Ravens. Slavery has been almost abolished, and Beorc are allowed onboard ships alongside Ravens... so long as they work just as hard. Anyone who was born on Ogrehill is not considered a slave. They are not however called Beorc among the Ravens. Beorc becomes a word only applying to non-Laguz who grew up on the mainland. The Ravens still take slaves from the crews on the ships they capture, but their future children will not be slaves.
3) No longer content with simply stealing ships, the Ravens are starting to get bolder to secure food. They have started raiding farms in Agustria, much to those farmer's dismay. It doesn't take nearly as much to feed the population of Orgehill as it does to feed Agustria, but it still cuts into their supply.
4) The Hawks in the mean time have begun to look at things differently. They are dying, and seem to be losing numbers every year even with the number of new additions. Those old enough to work are not coming in fast enough to replace those who are dying at their jobs. Hawks who see this as a death spiral have begun fleeing to Blagi Tower. Those who refuse to become pirates are staying... but they are finding it harder every year.
5) The slaves the Hawks had made a mass exodus to Blagi Tower. Those that made the journey were welcomed in, mostly out of pity. There were many who didn't survive the journey. Blagi Tower becoame the most populous place on the island, and for the first time in awhile, had the manpower to feed themselves well.
And as we approach the start of second gen, things look like this:
1) The Ravens are ruled by a blind pirate woman. She won leadership by virtue of being able to blind the previous King without getting herself killed (the King was intrigued by her appeal to become leader, and ruled death as an adequate substitute for the rule regarding eye status. He thought it would scare her off). A lot of people fear her, especially since she has managed to keep her leadership for a whole year without dying.
2) The Hawks continue to have no leader. No one is willing to stand up and take the fame as the last leader the Hawks ever had. Especially, considering the hopelessness their part of the country is facing. If anyone wants to apply for one... be my guest!
3) There are still pirates.
4) They are actually eating well in the last 2 years, but continue to not be very rich. Infact, poverty still seems like the default position Ravens find themselves in.
5) ???
6) PROFIT
Okay, hopefully someone got something out of that.