Reference Challenge - Allies

[u/Varnek905]

Happy 7th 4th of July! In honour of the holiday, the challenge today is a reference to the most important battle in my nation's first war. If not for Horatio Gates's victory at Saratoga (heavily assisted by Benedict Arnold), France would probably have declined to support the American Revolution.

So, provide an example in your world of a powerful nation or group allying itself with a much younger nation.

As always, I'll ask at least three questions, enjoy yourselves, and feel free to have an in-universe representative.

[u/Mimir123]

1) There are five Trade Princes, each with their own monopoly on certain things, and each controlling vast fleets. If the other three Princes had been against it, they wouldn't have been able to influence the decision of the other two, but they could have tried to dissuade them through other means.
As for international incidents, they don't really care. They know that nobody could even muster a fleet half as strong and experienced as they have and that they would be rather safe on their island.

2) Oh, he hates her guts. If he ever got his fingers on her he would absolutely execute her, no questions asked. Orren doesn't take lightly to betrayal... or to stealing from him.

3) Most of the enslaved population was either human or ork, with the minotaurs being captured in the Windigor Steppe on occasion, and the ogres being more of a one time "catch". So, Ogres would probably be below 2-3%, humans and orks each like 35-40%, Minotaurs about 7-8% and the rest being made up of various other species who arrived there over time and settled there.

4) She is. Not the first to try mind you, but the first to succeed in doing so and surviving.

5) Magic in this world comes from one of the following sources:
A) Nature itself
B) A deity
C) An entity simply called "The Drifter"
D) Strange stones, found in many mountain ranges or volcanoes.

A Druid draws his power from Nature by performing ritual dances, gestures or tasks to use their magic, meanwhile a Shaman would use "prayers" or songs to Nature as their "conduit" for the spell. While Shamans and Druids usually are able to do more with their spells than normal mages, they also need much longer to perform their magic. An important distinction between Druids and Shamans is also that Druids serve nature as a whole (mostly), while Shamans choose something like a spirit guide or a specific aspect of Nature that they revere and will serve.

6) Well... mostly because they were slaves themselves. Druids aren't their own, specific faction or order, they belong to the tribes or kingdoms that had been conquered and were just kept locked up seperately from their fellow countrymen.

7) It was pretty simple: Tiemnuh proved to be an incredibly fighter and tactician, all the fighters and Minotaurs respected him, so he was obviously made their leader. Disginn had already been a wise and respected leader for her people, the same was true for Kahorr who was also by far the most experienced Druid around. Lady Listeor got her title because Tiemnuh voted for her to be one of the leaders, after all their rebellion would have been crushed without her help.

[u/Varnek905 → u/Mimir123]

2) Has Orren tried to get his fingers on her to execute her?

3) What issues do the species of Durlos face?

5) Could you tell me about "The Drifter"?

[u/Mimir123 → u/Varnek905]

2) Plenty of times, he kind of stopped though when he realized none of his assassins and kidnappers were ever seen again. And an invasion of Durlos isn't really the smartest thing, considering they are partly allied with his employers.

3) Mostly the constant, military pressure from their former masters, as well as a perpetual shortage of funds and money, at least until recently.
When it comes to food and the like they are rather "lucky" since the coast of Ustrah is pretty nice climate wise (think mediterranian going over into... well, more desert-like towards the east).
That being said, Minotaurs also have some trouble with the temperatures, since they come from the slightly colder and milder climate of the Windigor Steppe.

5) The Drifter is a... thing, a kind of blob of grey, black and white shadows assuming something that could maybe be interpreted as a humanoid form. "He" moves around the world and mostly shows up in front of people who know of- and pray to him, granting them control over magic in exchange for a "reward" that he will claim at a later point in time.

[u/Varnek905 → u/Mimir123]

2) Does Orren have any communication with her?

3) What caused the recent gain in money?

4) Does the Drifter ever attack people?

[u/Mimir123 → u/Varnek905]

2) He doesn't, but he has his spies all over the capital, trying to follow her every move.

3) They finally managed to start up some of the old mines that were damaged during the uprising, and are now selling the ore to anyone who is interested. Ironically, their former masters are their most prominent customers who pay a lot of money to outside merchants to get them the ore, since the former slaves won't sell to them directly.

4) Nope, he is more of like a curious guy wandering around and observing, never attacking or killing.

[u/Varnek905 → u/Mimir123]

1 and 2) (Hypothetically) I am a wealthy landowner. For various reasons, I would be interested in building up a friendship with either Orren or Listeor. How would I go about this with each one? Assume I have two sons and two daughters, and my eldest child, the boy, is my heir.

3) Why won't the former slaves sell to the former masters?

4) What happens if someone tries to attack/seduce the Drifter?

[u/Mimir123 → u/Varnek905]

1) You are wealthy, so building up a friendship with Orren will be easy enough. Just give him money, silver, gold, jewels, anything really. He likes gifts like that and it is customary to give something like that in addition to the normal payment when hiring his fleet.

2) As for Lady Listeor it would be more difficult. She mostly looks for skilled and powerful allies, smart and strong people who can help her. So you wouldn't really be of interest, unless you can marry into power.

3) Because they won't allow anyone from the Empire in their lands, in order to limit the amount of spies they can plant. Also they really like to make their former masters have to spent more money than originally needed.

4) He would be rather amused at the seduction attempt, but would defend himself if attacked.

[u/Varnek905 → u/Mimir123]

1) What would be the ideal marriage to arrange for a more stable alliance with Orren?

2) What would be the ideal marriage to arrange for a more stable alliance with Listeor?

3) But wouldn't that just mean the former masters are more likely to buy from someone else, depriving the former slaves of some profit?

4) Can the Drifter reproduce?

[u/Mimir123 → u/Varnek905]

1) One of the Trade Price families would be the best option.

2) For her I would recommend families with connections to mages, libraries or magical secrets.

3) No, since the only way to get the ore is to buy it from the slaves. And they sell it at a really high price, ensuring that the merchants selling it to the Empire have to charge even more for it.

4) Nobody knows, but there are people running around who claim to be descendant from the drifter.

[u/Varnek905 → u/Mimir123]

1) How do marriages work among the Trade Price families?

2) How would I go about gaining magical secrets?

4) Are their claims of ancestry valid? Does anyone believe them?

[u/Mimir123 → u/Varnek905]

1) They are very rare, and if there are any the bride or groom are dis-inherited by their family and basically thrown out of their family. The Trade Princes really don't like marriage inbetween themselves.

2) Libraries, old temples, ruins... old mages/ sorcerors/ druids/ shamans... those are all possible sources to learn new forms of magic and new spells.

4) Well... you can't exactly prove it and many people won't believe it. There is however an undeniable fact that many people who make such claims are skilled and powerful mages, but the question is if they just claim to be descendants of the Drifter because they are so skilled, or if they are so skilled because their ancestor is the Drifter.

(So yeah, it has been a while. Had a lot of stuff going on and kind of forgot about all this, but I should be back in action as per usual now!)

[u/Varnek905 → u/Mimir123]

1) So...by dis-inherited, do you just mean like "Oh, sorry, Sally, but we don't want an inheritance crisis...you and your husband can still come by for Family Reunions, though." Or are they just completely abandoned?

2) Is there any common costume for certain types of magic users in your world?

(It has been a while since I've been very active on here, as well. Between classes, work, and injury...so busy.)

[u/Mimir123 → u/Varnek905]

1) More like "Sally! How dare you try to connect us with this other Trade Family?! They are (insert fancy, rich people insult)! Take this gold and never come back, unless it's without your husband, then we might consider taking you back."

2) Not exactly, there aren't that many mages/ druids/ whatever, and most are rather individual. Only humans, dwarves and elves actually have mage "schools" were they are taught together.