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Need more people like this in the Well.

Can't wait to see what you do next VP.

Ten thousand for a Voiced Citizen.

Fifteen thousand for an Accorded Voiced Citizen.

Thirty thousand for a legate.

You all have so much money anyways, and who knows...

Maybe I will get the one you truly want dead.

Leave a note. I'll hear you out.

Marco

[[The blade cuts swift through the flesh of a marked man, blood splatters the plateau he had placed his back upon. In several swift cuts, the target is dead, and a crowd of onlookers spectate, some intervening, some surprised, some turning away in horror. The man of the black cloth slips away into the desert, and a lady of the Rose chases...]]

[The blade cuts swift through the flesh of a marked man, blood splatters the plateau he had placed his back upon. In several swift cuts, the target is dead, and a crowd of onlookers spectate, some intervening, some surprised, some turning away in horror. The man of the black cloth slips away into the desert, and a lady of the Rose chases...]

The man is my first kill in a long time, but I was hired to do a job, and it was as clean as it can be. A toast to the Rose for earning my first notch. They will be heavy in their cups, no doubt praying to Urazzir or whatever Modini god of vengeance, waiting to make their move against me, waiting for me to slip up. The game's only beginning. Either I'll be dead within three days or less, or I'll skirt on by for a long time. The pardon though...

The pardon will be a nuisance. I'll need to figure out an out.

Some times, the heists aren't worth the risk. Tackling on more than I could count, I only managed to swipe away a handful of dinar. Watching the man go to the Fourth and report me for the crime, however, was priceless. The law doesn't care much around here as long as the people are Voiceless. Non-citizenry crime is something they couldn't care about, so I doubt they'll do more than be on the lookout for a 'black clothed man with a shamshir.' Regardless, the point isn't about the coin....

It's about the reputation. And the right people will eventually start making their catcalls. Let's see how much longer it'll take for it to pass.

I've bled more times than I can count, tasted the copper, suffered broken bones and all else. When a man is defeated, it is best to find your favorite barkeep, and sulk. Whatever insights he gives me I only nod in agreement, but deep down we both know I will not change. I am wrought of iron and stone, and the trials set upon me will either make me indomitable, or find the cracks and sunder me whole. For now, I sup the tea. I consider my next move.

Not every strike needs to be a victory, but it is a question of what way the wind blows for my path.

Often I walk the sands and the city, gazing to the heavens and pondering my meaning here. I survived the ringfall, scurried the streets of Kha'esh, slit the throat of my slave master in Qadira, murdered a hundred and more men in the Banafsi civil war in an attempt to escape. And now I found myself here. In this forsaken place, filled with petty problems, conniving men and women, dastardly bandits, and otherwise.

A reminder of home that I had long forgotten. I used to drown in bloodshed, swim in the butchery. Now, I wait and see. Patient. Calm. Sheathed. A home will be carved here, through determination, or I will be broken and tossed aside, as I have so many others.

A proper send away for a man who has nothing. 

I think it would be a good idea to revive the Ticker Square addition, where PCs could own a particular spot that had a special boon for ownership. These areas are often utilized to push agendas and plots, and I think they fit in to the theme of v6, of having areas built / established to create minor factions.

While the idea of properties handle that nicely, the Merchant Hall is a perfect example of what I'm talking about; it's an area that can expand into a completely player run shop. The same can be done for a variety of things, such as...

The Thieves Den: An additional spot in the Creep that provides a small favor store for trading in dinar for favor to acquire potions at a cheaper cost, tools of the trade, and a gambling system of donating 1000 dinar for a chance at good/bad items. It also has the old gambling systems, like roulette.

The Church: An abandoned church on the north side of Ephia's Well, which can be tailored to any of the Wheel's faith (or a conniving Pilot Priest), which has an altar of 1/reset prayer that gives a small boon for that reset, a place to rest, and pews with a podium for speeches to be made.

The Winery: A bit more of an expansion on the cooking area in the Souk, it provides access to a different collection of wines and brews, as well as a few 1/day random collectibles to provide recipes for cooking.

The Hexologists' Platform: On the rooftops of Ephia's Well is a coeterie of magi and students, astronomers and other learned people who gather together to partake in alchemical and herbalist experiments, providing 1/day access to alchemist / herbalist items, a rest area, and 1/day hints of astrological lore.

The Tinkerer's Closet: A hidden away spot near the Unionhouse (where the Property -1 is located), this leads away to a den of machinists who partake in *legal* tinkering and engineering, providing access to 1/day uncommon and above schematics, as well as a crafting table, along with 1/day hints of tinkering lore.

These are just the few ideas I had. I think there should be an ownership cost of running these things (as they were in Ticker, I believe people had to pay rent/week). Enabling the players to partake in more of these things with 'special perks' allows them to build more credibility to what they're aiming to be, whether it be a cook, alchemist, priest, or elsewise.

The ideas also don't have to be specifically these in nature, but these are the ones that come off my head. Thanks for reading.

Alright I'm giving it a bit more, and some things I noticed.

-The druid pet is really strong, BUT...
-20 hr cd is insane if it dies. Make it maybe 12 hr, or remove it?
- More often than not I find myself using body of the sun / blood rage as a GSF transmutation druid, and continuously find little reason or merit in using evocations.
-Level 1 spell circle just needs more spells. I have MORE known level 2 spells than I do level 1. It doesn't make any sense.
- The druid grove placeables provide nothing at 8+, which I'm sure is by design. Last setting druids got small items and rings for finding them. At this time, I have no reason to pursue any of them.

Druid is an OK class but I feel that the shapeshift being gone really does hurt it more than it helps. It's basically the perfect summoner class now days; being able to use a strong pet to handle questing, without having to go to the front line yourself.

It just needs a better identity though. That's all I'm seeing that's the problem. Like I said. It's the barkskin buff bot class.

Druid circle 1 is such a strange circle. There's hardly any spells there, but druids are given large amounts of spell slot items and gear to load them up. On average, I'm constantly preparing a lot of endure elements (which is nice), grease (which I cant use half the time), and.. thats about it.

Sand splash is kinda cool but I personally don't see much reason to use it.

I think druids should get a spell similar to astral blade like astrologians get, something that scales off either, survival, herbalism, etc, that doesn't last as long as flame weapon, but is nice to cast and doesnt make you feel like your level 1 slots are just completely dead.

Or maybe even just protect / shell. Bards get shell, but not protect. Maybe druids too?

I'm really not sure what role a druid is meant to fit. All I currently feel like is a barkskin bot that can fight in the front. At least pre-wildshape removal, they could shape shift. Now it just feels like I'm a sub optimal caster and a sub optimal fighter. Whatever the objective of the new druid direction is meant to be, it needs to be a bit more defined. If I'm meant to be some sort of evocation spammer, then why was the main evocation (sand pillar) nerfed to 1d4 and not kept to 1d6? Just seems strange. If I'm meant to be a front liner, I don't get any thing that helps me beyond blood rage and body of the sun- clerics can do more damage than I can with divine favor and divine power, fighters do it better, etc.

I'm really trying to understand the role of a druid. I understand that the dms wanted a new direction, but the new direction seems to be lost in translation, and the application of the new direction of druids doesn't feel 'that good'.

I've only been playing for a few days, but already I see a lot of annoyances with druid. If the DMs could clarify what the ultimate role of what the druid should be, I guess that would help?

Otherwise I might just be a barkskin bot for the entirety of this PC and that's a silly role to fill IMO.

The Intent of Law

This is a question I am mulling over as I read six various laws that operate on behalf of several numerous parties. Who wanted these laws? Who gained from them? Who lost from them? And why were they ever implemented? This in turn devolves it into a simple question. 'What was the intent of this law?'

Naturally, the intent of law boils down from pressures from the citizens of a city. Political powers demanding every inch of power they can accumulate, using 'common sense' and 'logic' to dictate that it is only rational to provide these privileges to this party or another. However, what most people fail to realize is how law and order works around Ephia's Well.

In the first paper, the only governing bodies that can proactively partake in the enforcement of laws are the Fourth, and the Legates. Any other party reaching out for legal authority over matters are often refused, or when granted, still have no effective means to capitulate on the necessary action to provide punitive means to handle these breach of legalities.

For example, Sacrilege dictates that, when an instrument of a holy temple is desecrated, that a law has been broken. The only active governing body that can investigate, arrest, and prosecute a member of society is the Fourth. However, most altars, idols, relics, et cetra, are in the possession or provision of priests and priestesses. While 'Interference with Jurisprudence' actively prevents someone from lying, there is no means to determine if someone is lying or not - a point I highlighted in why this law is ridiculous - and active investigation into destroyed property often results in a failed investigation, simply because there is barely any evidence or witnesses in the event of such occurrences.

So the intent of this law is to detract from people breaking holy relics, but - the only destruction of said holy site was theorized to have been done by one elf, yet no charge of vandalism ever came upon him. This law was a response to the activity, but... A capital charge for a law with open ended definitions leaves plenty for imagination, and it is actively a tool to decimate a populace if used in the right hands. The intent of this law has missed the mark on what it was trying to accomplish, and only satisfies the Legion in particular cases. Therefore it should be removed.

So what qualifies as a good law? A law should suit the whims of a society, but the whims of a society is often fickle, prone to fits of irrationality, and ebbs and flows with spur of the moment, rash decisions. A law should not be instilled behind closed doors, as the 'Unauthorized Descent' law was done. A law should meet these criteria.

- The understanding that the Fourth will be taking on the burden of enforcing the law; imposing unrealistic or unattainable criteria of the law should always be in consideration.
- That the law is discussed in a public forum, so that the citizens of the city may understand the merits of the law, as well as the objective of the law.
- That the law is challenged by scribes and notable scholars of the Well before being placed into practice, with the aforementioned parties attempting to find the value in the law for upholding a growing society. The party attempting to install the law in Assembly should have the signatures of three (3) reputed scholars before they bring the law before Assembly.

As we have witnessed in the past year, the laws we have imposed on ourselves have devalued in meaning, or have been tethered to some third party that is pulling at the strings of the legates during their election season. If a legate cannot follow the criteria provided, they should be dismissed and their prelate take their place.

For your consideration, I implore that our laws have their intent boldly declared, to be highly investigated and to be questioned, before they are ever brought to Assembly.

Penned by Johan Marsoss,
Student of the Sandstone College

['Interference with Jurispendence']

In my time in Ephia's Well, there has been a notable trend of societal grievance forcing laws upon the legates, in order to stem the attempt of ambiguous crime or ineffective legality of some questions. However, there are some laws that should be brought to question and be critiqued for redundancy.

Notably, I surmise that there are multiple laws that were installed, and are now overlooked or not even utilized in any sense of the matter.

For example;

'Interference with Jurispendence' is almost impossible to prove, as there is no means to prove bribery behind closed doors, fake testimonies behind closed doors, and coerced speech during trial. In fact, this seems like a slight jab against societal norms of charity, which can be construed either as a bribe, or a gift, depending on which magistrate is overseeing the matter.

'Unauthorized Descent' is almost completely pointless, as there is a 'trespass law' that can fit the bill easily, yet for some reason there is specific denotations given to the Astronomers for little to no reason- no doubt filled as part of their votes for some sitting legate. In what capacity would the Astronomers, who cannot even bring a person to trial legally, would ever be able to enforce this law?

'Kidnapping' is a pointless redundancy upon the law, when there is assault, reckless endangerment, and otherwise to place upon the suspect. If anything, kidnapping will almost always be tied with assault, and if a Janissary of the Fourth cannot properly articulate a kidnapping without this law in place, then they shouldn't be a Janissary.

'Election tampering' is the most egregious law upon the stele, imposing not a Absterabidian government, but allowing not legates to sit upon the seats, but dictators. This was done to protect the legates themselves in fear of when elections come. If people have the dinars to throw around to buy votes, then let them. It only emboldens our city and provides ample amounts of dinars, instead of stalling it until after an election. And capital? That's quite insane. Let people partake in the system as they please. Voting only comes once a month, and this law denies anyone the opportunity in the two weeks of campaigning a chance to partake, especially new refugees.

'Illegal Worship and Practice' doesn't even define who these supposed cultists are supposed to be worshipping. Anything that is heretical? Are we considering the faith of the Dome heretical? It's not a part of the Wheel. We have no obligation to protect these worshippers. The boundaries of this law can be abused to extreme levels by a competent janissary, and it should be either specifically determined within the law, or the law should be reworded to name the 'heretical' beliefs.

'Sacrilege' is redundant because Vandalism is the same thing and can be used to argue in court of law. The problem with sacrilege in particular is that anything can be called a 'shrine or temple.' Warad, for example, could claim all the roads as his divine providence, and by stepping on the roads we're desecrating his holy land, or by drinking the well water, we're destroying B'aara's bountiful boons. I don't need to go further on this.

I present this critique for Legate Nasreen, and whoever shall be the standing legate by tomorrow. I am a voiceless student, but I am a man enamored with the law, and how it forms and shapes our society. I believe that the laws are beginning to grow out of hand, and the utility of these laws, most of which were implemented in the past year, should be heavily considered and mulled over in their usefulness.

Penned by Johan Marsoss
Student of the Sandstone College

- Swashbuckler +1 dodge AC if nothing held in off hand

+1 dodge ac at 4, +2 dodge ac at 8, must remain pure

- Pure clerics need a little something to step outside of the massively consistent role.
Tithe 1/day / 3 levels. By using /c tithe, you sacrifice 50 GP to gain ONE of the following as a /free action/:

* 1 Bonus APR for 2 turns
* +3 true damage for 2 turns
* +4 regen / round for 2 turns
* A divine explosion, dealing 2dlvl true damage to enemies in a colossal radius.
* Divine stand - All allies in a large radius are bestowed with Contingency for 2 turns
* etc... insert other ideas

the problem with clerics isn't turn/day abilities, or making them have an easier time being a melee bot. the problem is they full buff and still don't feel as good as, say, a pure fighter, barbarian, or anything else, which is definitely by design of the cleric class, but it feels miserable to play and experience.

i think the priest subclass is a step in the right direction, but there should be another subclass that gains access to larger amounts of spells to cast to act more as a blaster-type like wizards and sorcerers get.

i could give a lot of feedback of clerics, and why they don't feel great to play, but most of it is personal feedback and extremely opinionated instead of subjective. I will say the DP 5rounds/level change is amazing, simply for the fact that it doesn't make you feel as subpar.

Summon spells have been changed - They are now much stronger and last 2x as long, but you may only have one summon / spell level out at a time.

Summon swarm removed

until dismissal items are more prevalent in the setting i don't think making summons stronger is a good idea. i can see the PVPs of 'well I had l5 summon ready and you didn't so now you REALLY lose', when that's already the case, and this simply exacerbates it.

Fighters gain Momentum at level 6. Upon delivering a critical hit, their weapon becomes as if Keen for 2 rounds. Upon receiving a critical hit, the fighter gains 5/- DR for 1 round.

l9 to prevent multiclassing, or we're going to see fighter rogues and whatever else getting this



if i didn't respond to it that means i liked the suggestion or dont have any improvements on how to make them better.

clerics definitely need something. Im not sure that this would be it, considering the amount of tools they already have.

If that was the only intellectual thought you could provide for feedback, could you please next time keep it to yourselves?

Obviously the post was not about pushing moteism IG. It is about changing the dynamics of how the elections are ran, for an OOC adjustment.

hi im wundy

having some thoughts on the election process. notably there's little difference between candidates policies and desires, as for the most part people say the safest things to ensure no loss of votes. for example look at moteism - mentioning at all had the entire well up in arms against you as a candidate.

to avoid continuing the practice of 'well i said the same thing as he did, but nicer', or little to no variation in ephian policy, the DMs (abala) has noted the fact that, yes, some NPCs would like to see a Gold candidate in power for x y z thing, and it's bizarre that they don't openly invest, speak with, or interact their candidates.

to alleviate that, for future elections, may each league have a list of policies, up to 10-15 different things, for candidates to run a platform on, but they only have to pick like, 2-3 of the things on the list to run a platform on?

for example the league of White candidate has to pledge to make a hospital for refugees, the league of Gold candidate has to run on a pledge for lower taxes, and a league of Purple has to pledge to do a recruiting drive for the janissaries.

if a candidate seems to be failing to uphold their pledges, the league (NPCs/PCs) should be able to remove their candidate and install a new one, but doing so obviously looks really bad so it's best to have someone who is actually good at pushing the leagues' agenda.

while i like that it is open ended, there are too many elections that are simply 'well im gonna make it better', instead of no real platform for them to implement. having a direction, one that combats and contests other leagues' ideologies, would make for a vastly entertaining election.

thats my thoughts thanks

My true thoughts on the matter of the New District is that it will never be built within an election period, nor the two months after of service. No, given the mortality rate of most of our citizens, plenty of us will not even see the fruition of what is the be known as the New District. I spoke on earlier, the needs of the government is essentially provided by the Voiced Tax system. As it currently stands, it will take around a year of a slow, determined crawl to the finish line.

However, the people who need the New District do not have that time. As I keep inferring to it, drastic measures are needed to bear the burden of the needs of the government. What do we do? Increase property tax, raise the costs of the Voice, add tolls to certain areas of our city? Then we impose upon our people who will become more unhappy, and it may even incur a revolt. The issue of the stagnancy that we've permitted for so long is that we have enjoyed the leisure life for too long, and to abruptly change direction in even the slightest of governmental oppression will see talks of rebellion, insurrection, or simply coup de tat.

What other choices do we have? Penalize our neighbors in pursuit of the funds needed? Raid Qadira, liberate Kha'esh, plunder Banafsi? No, becoming the aggressor will never be our aptitude for the common man of the Heron. Always, we would need provocation to wield our force like a club, and too many of our respected citizens would always hold doubt on the truth of the matter. 'Did Banafsi really send assassins to kill a legate?' 'Would Qadira attempt to poison our vizier?' These doubts would again question the leadership of any legate, which would lead a road down to insurrection.

Where do we find our solution? To me, the answer is relatively simple. Already I have spoken on organizing our raiding efforts to be more direct and controlled by the Accord's leading militaristic forces. Increasing the push against the Orcs and Sibilant will have funds trickle in more readily. It isn't the best solution, but it is one.

Secondly, water. Our water is our most valuable resource, and too long has it been sent to Ba'zeel in tribute. We must determine the entire agreement between ourselves and Ba'zeel. If we are able to free up the amount of water we have available to trade, we can take our only profitable ware and use it for commerce and negotiations with our neighbors. Tlonsiyya's provisions have been forgotten by most, but not to me. They have resources that can assist us in temporary solutions for aiding our refugees, large windmills that can prevent the ash storms. Utilizing the windmill, we can at the very least immediately resolve further loss of life for the refugees while we amass the funds of the New District.

Lastly, it is reliant upon the willingness of the Accord. The allotments we provide them every month are around thirty to sixty thousand dinar per month. That alone is a drain on our treasury, and that is funds that we could be using to save for the refugee's district. If the Accord members all wish and desire a piece of the District, then they must be willing to sacrifice a cut of their allotment to support the new district. Each time during allotment I will ask every accord member if they would willingly sacrifice a cut of their allotment. Ultimately, it is their decision to make, whether they receive the full funds, or a partial one.

With these three options in place, it will increase productivity to the coveted one million dinar needed to build the wall and district for the refugees to take place.

Other notable, and varied solutions...

-Take a loan from the city of Ba'zeel, increasing the amount of water we provide in tribute. It will hurt our own natural productivity and limit trade options with our neighbors.
-Sack Tlonsiyya and acquire their valuable materials to profit from, though varied interests of the Ash Desert will very likely wage war on us for doing so. Qa'im, Kha'esh, and other large, powerful cities.
-Increase our taxes regardless of population wants and desires, enlisting them forcibly to support the good cause of helping the refugees.
-Approach Il Modo, Tlonsiyya, Kha'esh, Qadira to take on the burden of the refugees until we have the infrastructure to host them, and provide whatever resource we can to alleviate the burden of hosting refugees.

Ultimately, there are plenty of varied and reasonable solutions, but we must express more urgency in handling this problem. Each day that passes by is a day that a refugee perishes from the storms, or succumbs to heat stroke, or worse. Let us rally beneath one effort, and find our victory to this solution, than prolonging our defeat.

Ariel Hysair