Linowa Shouldn't Suck
From Exaltedcursejar
Contents |
[edit] Background
In their first descriptions in Scavenger Sons, the Haltans and Linowans were presented as nations of about equal power, worshipping their different sort of trees and their different gods. They fought different, but equally valid tactics and were pretty much twin societies which saw this Endless War as a very much equally parts of their lives.
When Kingdom of Halta was published, we found out that the Haltans were an advanced civilization, covered a good chunk of the map in the East, had advanced technology, a constitutional monarchy, various forms of supernatural support, friends in Heaven and a pretty damned impressive military tradition. Strangely we had nothing on Linowa on this, but its area on the map was pretty comparable to Halta (they moved Rubylak, interestingly enough) and seemed to be something quite able to control that area. But with no information on the nation, we were sort of left to fill it in as we pleased.
Then we got Scroll of Kings and The East and we discover that to counter the Haltan awesome the Linoans are...barabarian berzeker luddite pirates in canoes. Rubylak, their only city, has just over a quarter the population of a "standard" Haltan city, and their tactics general consist of screaming loudly and running into the other person, which as we on Earth saw in the Zulu wars, is exactly what you do to battle a superiorly armed civilization.
This is a problem.
[edit] The Issues Here
The original depiction of the Haltan-Linowan conflict was a lot more balanced, mainly in the sense that it seeme dthey were at a stalemate due to not being able to actually gain advantage over one-antoher. However, as Halta got...bigger, Linowa apparently shrank in world importance. We find that the Linowans have really no civilization beyond Rubylak. They have no tactics. They are part of a First Age breeding program, but really show no signs of it anymore (especially lazy snice Chaya, in the same book, is quite very much awesome because of this). And the only reason the Guild or the Realm doesn't influence the region more is because its "useless." So this begs the question. Why have the Haltans not just whiped them off the face of the planet? I mean, their standing military alone outnumbers and outguns the entire population of Rubylak. And they have ata- and san-beasts, raksha, Lunar Exalted, and god-blooded. Hell, they had enough clout to get a disease made specificlaly for Linowans.
This is not only unrealistic. It is pretty much outright a "Why play a Linowan?" thing. I think that's just poor creation of conflict really. The fun of the Endless War was how balanced and at eachother's throats both sides were. Now, Linowa only really exists as a footnote to Halta. This Should be fixed I think.
This requires two main factors. the Linowan need a bit of love. As is, they are (to me at least) the least unique culture in Creation. They hve literally nothing magically special or especial neat to them, save their god and some dinky masks. The second is to tone Halta down, as I think a problem is not just Halta in relation to Linowa. Its Halta in relation to everyone.
[edit] Step One - Beef-Up Linowa
As is, the Linowan are defined by the following traits:
- Masks
- Canoes
- Berzerking
- Being Barbarians
- Jorst
- Bitch to Diseases
- Jorst likes them
These seem pretty neat, but really, this is not what you define as the eternal enemy of the Kingdom of Halta. So a few fo these need to be excised, expanded upon or something. So here are some things that come to mind.
Organization
This is the first step in making the Linowans a viable player in the Exalted world. As is, Rubylak barely qualifies as a shipping port and it needs to be fixed. Firstly, it is moved to where it is in the text. This is actually where they put it in the original Kingdom of Halta book, actually. The maps of later books just haven't been updated with this in mind.
Secondly, there needs to be some over-arching, actual, government. The Royal Tribe's longhouse is actually a manse in Rubylak. The Royal Clan effectively runs Rubylak and the Royal Army. Queen Banderis was a Dragon-Blooded, afterall, and setup at very least a simple, effecient bureacracy for her rising tribe nation. The system of nobles and being sponsored by the Queen still applies, but true noble legitimacy requires sponsorship by the Royal Clan. Outcaste Dragon-Blooded who Exalt in the region are always granted the option to have membership of the Royal Clan and a home in Rubylak.
Every year during the month of Ascendent Wood, there is a meeting of nobles in Rubylak. Members of each region sends a local representative and these nobles meet in the Royal Manse, where national policies, international war and raiding plans and great religious rights are held. Each noble at the council must represent at least one thousand adult Linowans and many times clans and villages will collaborate to send representation. Dragon-Blooded are usually selected over mortals, as it is well known that they have powerful magics to sway and influence the other members of the councils.
It is at these meetings that tribute to the Queen and the Royal Clan is paid, foten in teh form of raided goods and men and women for military service to the Royal Guard.
The Royal Clan
The Royal Clan is itself an outcaste Dragon-Blooded house, founded by Queen Bendaris and thus referred to as House Bendaris amongst other Dragon-Blooded families. As a Fire Aspected House, they are very commonly found on the Haltan border or in pirate raides, burning the hated redwoods or enemy ships. Many royal clan canoes are valued for their thaumaturgically fireproof hulls, and the Sail Charm Hull Resistancy Assurance (see below) is very popular amongst Exalted pirates.
Dragon-Blooded are an important part of the Linowan society. Most regions have a Dragon-Blooded elder and while Dragon-Blooded rarely become full-out shamans, many do train under them in the arts of thaumaturgy and mask making. Most Terrestrial Exalted instead act as local guardians and hold sway over many local clan leaders. They are discouraged from holding actual positions of village leaders and instead tend to head clan matters, fight spirits and mosnters on the shamans' behalf, or participate in piracy and border raids. Many Dragon-Blooded serve in the Royal Guard.
The use of Dragon-Blooded bothers the Realm, but as the Linowans are always on time with their tribute, have not seemed to show much desire of conquest beyond their satelite states, and have no qualms of letting their Exalted go to the Realm and take the coin or razor, the Empress hasn't pushed the issue. The Realm has few outcaste allies in the East, and ones willing to raid Lookshyan interests further South are valued where they can be. The Linowans seeming to limit their habits of heresy beyond dealings with local gods also tends to keep tempers down.
The Royal Guard
The only true "military" of the Linowan Nation, the Royal Guard are conscripts who serve a tour of five years in service of the Queen's forces, usually in the form of Haltan raids and international piracy. The structure of the guard is very loose, usually not much more complex then an appointed captain and war bands numbering a few hundred. These motly groups tend to follow the standard Linowan berzerk attacking or stealthy raiding, but are greatly enhanced over the more disciplined and organized militaries of other nations by two factors.
First is the Dragon-Blooded. Many Dragon-Blooded in Linowan choose to serve in the Royal Guard and they are a major facet of the Endless War. Of the few hundred Dragon-Blooded in Linowa, almost a third serve on the border, and are very likely the main advantage of Haltans in the conflict. While the Dragon-Blooded only account for a small faction of the Linowan power in the region, it doesn't hurt.
The second advantage, and the most secretive, is spirit possession. Many gods and elementals in the region, with help of Jorst and his allies, know the Charm Ride. How this came to pass is known only to Jorst and even then, only when he's drunk. Either way, many minor spirits share bodies with elite warriors, shamans or even Dragon-Blooded.
The Linowans, however, understand the risks this relationship has with their alliances with the Realm. As such, only those bearing special masks owned and crafted by the artisans of the Royal Clan and blessed by Jorst may be such possessed. These single dot Artifacts obfuscate the possessing spirit from Charms which detect spirits, creating a contested roll of the spirit's (Essence + Occult) against the observer's own (Perception + Occult), with successes equal to the mask wearer's Essence. These masks also reduce the cost of Ride by an amount equal to the wearer's (Willpower). These masks are almost never sold and are considered valued treasures of the Royal Clan.
[edit] Step Two - Tone Down Halta
Halta has too much awesome, I think. That's a weird thing to say, but the writer of Kingdom of Halta didn't work with the scale of Creation in mind and I think that some toning-down is in order to make it feel not so...damned big in comparison to everything else in the setting.
Population
Haltan cities are said in both Kingdom of Halta and The East as being about two million people in Chanta and a million in most major settlements. The Imperial CIty has two million people. These numbers, then, seem a tad big.
One way I see it is that in Halta, a "city" is actually more a state in itself. The area that is Chanta, for instance, is Chanta, which itself might be a million inhabitants, and then the surrounding villages and towns directly under its influence numbers another million. This is very similar to the way in which Western islands work, with Abalone of Wavecrest being about that number, and then some more in the islands. But the actual area is greater then that of a single city. It is all clumped together for convenience, however.
This means actual cities probably have about half the population the books list. This is more in line with the rest of Creation. I mean, Nexus is always talked about one of the world's largest cities, but this suddenly makes Chanta look a bit overkill.
Another factor is ata-beast populations. I tend to run with the population being a quarter ata-beast and these being part of the census.
This helps prevent some of the bloat also and makes the Haltan military, if similarly scaled, more in line with other regional powers like the Realm or Lookshy, which have just as well trained, but smaller armies. The only other force in Creation bigger then the canon Haltan millitary is the Jadeborn, and that seems a bit much. I would even go so far as to cut its numbers in half. Halta is big, but most of it is empty space and it has no reason to have a million man army, especailly when it seems to operate wtih a mindset of smaller, elite units, rather then huge commando elf squads.
Size and Area
Another important factor is the area of Halta. More emphasis must be put in tehf act that there is almost nothing between those cities on the map. Emphasis on how the redwood forest is a lot like the Western Ocean I think helps lesson th eimpac tof Halta's size.
While its not preseented with an actual border outline in The East, I would emphasize that beyond those Eastern and Northernmost settlements, Halta really sorta just stops. Things that far out becoem effectively unclaimed and only token colonies might exist out at the edge of the world there.
The Supernatural
I would probably assum Vat happen to Haltans as well, they just get eaten by raksha. Similarly, there is Unshaped who may break the treaties with the Lunars and I woudl say Halta has very few Dragon-Blooded, maybe a couple dozen at best. The main advantage of the Linowan is access to metal arms from the Realm, direct spirit intervention and Dragon-Blooded.
With these changes I think we can have a Linowan-Haltan conflict that actually looks like a conflict, I think. With the introduction of just more supernatural firepower on the Linowan side, Ithink it evens the scales. More civilization makes the two cultures feel actually like conflicting nations, instead of a civilization being assualted by idiot barbarians. And it makes the masks do more then just be bought specialties.
[edit] New Charm
Dragon-Touched Hull Cost: 5m, 1wp; Mins: Sail 4, Essence 2; Type: Simple Keywords: Elemental, Obvious Duration: Indefinite Prerequisites: Huricane-Predicting Glance, Deck-Striding Technique Striding her vessel, elementally-colored light begins to envelope the vessel, until its entire hull is wreathed in a shimmering veil of Essence. The Dragon-Blooded using this Charm infuses his ship with his elemental Essence, protecting it from anima flux and ELemental effects who's Aspect matches the character's. In addition, the ship manifests different effects based on the character's Aspect.
- Air: Ships imbued with air find their oars lightened and easier to use, their sails almsot always catching some wind and their engines more effecient. Increase the vehicle's Manueverability by the Dragon-Blooded's (Essence).
- Earth: The shi's hull becomes reinforced and toughened by the ivory Essence. Increase the vehicle's soaks by an amount equal to the Dragon-Blooded's (Essence).
- Fire: Flame consumes the ship about as well it does stone, as the ship is enveloped in an amber sheath of fire. The ship is immune to the hazards of flame and fire.
- Water: The ship finds itself enveloped in a soft black-blue misty glow, which eddies and flows in relation to the weather around it. Environmental penalties from rough weather or seas are decreased by an amount equal to the Exalt's (Essence.)
- Wood: The materials of the ship seem to grown and mend, with tendrils of living wood Essence patching its holes. As long as motes are committed into this vessel, the ship automatically repairs a number of health levels of damage equal to the Exalt's (Essence) over the course of a week. This is usually too slow to repair damage in battle and only will repair damage upon the ship after the Charm has been activated, not any pre-existing damage.
The glow that this Charm creates is obvious to all who see that the ship is magically imbued. While it has an advantage where thos eon the ship's deck can see as if it were lit by weak candlelight, it does give away the ship's position and so incurs a -1 external penalty to any attempts of ambush from the vehicle.
