A few in game questions

[Schwarzbart]

Its already mentioned that the shoping system will get a complete rework and we shouldn't expect that the vendor have the same items on sale.

Not to mention that we got the hint that different shops will offer different prices for the same item in year 2.

[Legate of Mineta]

Metis;

 

There is a separate interface for Crafting now, which gives the organization we don't presently have. You can also shop from there.

[freespace2dotcom]

1. Would it be possibe to wear out a wand through magical use?

 

2. Should our well-acheiving players expect an increase in glory at the start of y2? (when our grades come in, as well as a reflection an incredibly abnormal 1st year you had)

 

3. What date does the graduating class actually graduate on?

 

4. What are the roles of barbers in setting? Apart from hair cutting do they do dentistry an bloodletting as was traditionally done or has that been phased out?

 

5. How actively are "bureaucratically proscribed" magics traced to their sources if found? (By this I mean regular magic made illegal through monopoly guilds, etc)

 

6. What would the college regents think of a student who focused on learning the spellcasting side of their magic pillar without learning their other skills?

[Legate of Mineta]

Free;

 

1) Yes, it's possible for material to degrade. This doesn't happen on well enchanted wands, however.

 

2) Yes.

 

3) Not sure the exact date, it is before 28 Kaliri, though.

 

4) Traditional role as a doctor of a sort, too.

 

5) Pretty actively...depending on wealth and influence of the sponsor.

 

6) That would depend on the Regent.

[Metis]

On 4, here's the description of Almgeni Academy in Elumia Proper:

Those who use the Almgeni Academy as their preparatory location will enjoy a 1 point Increase to their skill at Court Hairstyles for the duration of their stay.

The Almgeni Academy is a small, unaccredited school for barbers and unambitious chirurgeons in a fine old building that's seen better days. [it actually only takes up half the building; the rest of the space seems to be a warehouse for pest control products.] The faculty are attentive and helpful to visitors, but they're all perfectly honest about looking for other jobs on the side - there just aren't enough students to keep the place going for too much longer.

 

So yeah, seems like barbers are doubling as rent-a-doctors and tripling as rent-a-dentists. Question, but is the same true for really wealthy communities that, at least in theory, could support an actual full-time doctor/dentist?

[Legate of Mineta]

Metis;

 

Yes, although wealthier communities tend to employ mages when possible.

[Schwarzbart]

We know normal doctor are not well viewed in this setting unless they call them self wonder doctor that get the healing power from the god.

So I wonder what common healing is in use beside Barber, Alchemy and Magic?

[freespace2dotcom]

1. What kind of magic is generally practiced by explorers or other field-intensive researchers who don't necessarily toil away in some tower somewhere?

 

2. Is it known whether time travel has been previously attempted? (whether a success or not is irrelevant)

 

3. What's the tallest known building in setting?

 

4. What's the oldest non-verifiable record in existance? (its age can be verified, just not the contents)

 

5. What would be a substitute for the swiming pool game 'marco polo'?

 

6. Who would be considered a playwright on the level of shakesphere, and what kind of plays did this person write that are most famous/ popular?

 

7. Are there any islands with something like (near) eternal rainfall?

 

8. Given that the islands float all over the planet I expect it wouldn't be too noticble, but at the extreme north and south ends of the planet are there extended periods of day/night?? (due to planetary tilt, whether they know the reason for it it or not, if the islands stayed there for more than a day in spring/summer it would be observable)

[Metis]

Schwarzbart: Is that a reference to the Faith Healer adventure? Because that seems more like a marketing strategy and less like a necessity to avoid being beaten for heresy.

[Legate of Mineta]

Schwarzbart;

 

"So I wonder what common healing is in use beside Barber, Alchemy and Magic?"

 

Bone setting, some cosmetic treatments (like lancing) and general practitioners of folk remedies, especially outside of the city, aren't uncommon.

 

Free;

 

1. What kind of magic is generally practiced by explorers or other field-intensive researchers who don't necessarily toil away in some tower somewhere?

Incantation and Negation, usually.

2. Is it known whether time travel has been previously attempted? (whether a success or not is irrelevant)

Yes.

3. What's the tallest known building in setting?

Good question- some of the ancient buildings, now ruined by the New Gods, were older than anything currently built. Very tall buildings are being built, however, but I am not sure what is the highest. I'll ask.

4. What's the oldest non-verifiable record in existance? (its age can be verified, just not the contents)

It is likely to be a relic before the Exile, held by the Imperial Temple.

5. What would be a substitute for the swiming pool game 'marco polo'?

Now that is a good question! I do not know.

6. Who would be considered a playwright on the level of shakesphere, and what kind of plays did this person write that are most famous/ popular?

I will ask, but I think you may have already seen some references...

7. Are there any islands with something like (near) eternal rainfall?\

No.

8. Given that the islands float all over the planet I expect it wouldn't be too noticble, but at the extreme north and south ends of the planet are there extended periods of day/night?? (due to planetary tilt, whether they know the reason for it it or not, if the islands stayed there for more than a day in spring/summer it would be observable)

Yes, it is observable and does sometimes happen.

[Legate of Mineta]

Free;

 

Aaaand:

 

3. The current tallest is thought to be the Tower of the Grand Enfant in Theil. The Dreaming Spire in the Imperial Reserve was taller, in its day, but it was taken through a monstrous Gate in the 14th century and its location is no longer known.

4. The Pannengloss Tablet. Strange, wedge-shaped markings on enchanted clay. It's believed to be pre-Draconic, but the exact dates have proven impossible to verify.

6. That's kind of a trick question. The plays most critically admired are classical - the Comedies of Heustis, Orixes' Naturalia, etc. But, of course, even in Mineta the overwhelming majority of the citizenry wouldn't watch them for fun and probably couldn't afford to get into the theaters that run them even if they were so inclined. Modern popular theater is seen as a distraction for the unruly masses (even by most of those who consider themselves knowledgeable on the subject), and anything written in Renaglian - no matter how deep the story or how clever the wordplay - isn't going to get the respect Shakespeare earns in the modern world.

That said, Rodolpho Bellacqua is widely agreed to be the best of the modern lot, and he generally works in two forms; his Histories are set in times past, and they're almost always gory tragedies. His Allegories are satires of contemporary politics, where the main characters are usually dressed as animals to maintain a fiction that they can't possibly represent specific modern politicians and nobles. They're usually comedies, often heavy on slapstick. The most recent work in that vein, incidentally, is The Dream of Gallofiero.

Edit: Rodolfo Bellacqua, not Rodolpho, at least in Mineta. Sorry, we shouldn't use the Cariari spelling!

[freespace2dotcom]

A monstrous gate which could pull an entire really tall tower through! I sure hope we get to learn more about that event. It wouldn't have anything to do with the current ban on Gates, would it?

 

Also thanks on that playwright issue. Truly I think you've really created a beautiful setting. I'm going to forever think of common plays as the stoy of "Animal Farm" Acted out by the Three Stooges in animal suits. I actually would pay to see such a production once, although seeing as how they seem to be mass produced "circus" to keep the mobs from raiding city hall again, It would be hard to consider them true works of art.

 

So since the classical roman concept of "circus" has been addressed, what kind of welfare "bread" would would you expect to see in Mineta?

 

Also, what theatre(s) in mineta would produce the 'classical' plays? Given the general affluence of the Academagia along with the immaturity of the students I might expect the dimmae to produce both kinds from time to time.

[Legate of Mineta]

Free;

 

Not the *current* Ban, no.

 

Bread has been free, off and on, in the City over the centuries. It's not currently free, however.

 

The Dimmae is certainly experimental enough to host all manner of plays. Off campus grounds, though, in the Upper City, you'd see the classical productions.

[Metis]

The 14th century would be from 1300 to 1399, and with the current ban having been ongoing for over 300 years it must have started before 1357. That's some interesting timing if it's not related to the current ban.

 

Also, any progress on the...4 month or so old PM question ?

[Legate of Mineta]

Metis;

 

Not yet.

[Metis]

I recently realized something about my assassination plot, at least how it would play out during the An Outing... adventure line, where the PC's parents are framed for falsifying City Hall records so that the PC won't be listed as their child on record. Supposedly they'd get executed for the crime if they are nobility, and if they're commoners they'd supposedly get a lesser punishment...except that the PC, at that point, has been named House Kazus' successor and so has as an entirely legitimate and recognised claim on a noble title. This technically could classify the PC as nobility, regardless of his/her parent's station, so they might get executed for their "crimes" as nobility regardless.

 

1. Has there ever been a situation like that? Where a minor with a clear and recognised claim to a noble title, but nothing else, had his/her parents caught attempting to commit a crime that, if they were recognised nobility, would earn them much harsher punishments?

 

2. Regardless of whether is happened before or not, is there a clear law regarding such a situation? Whether the claim to a title is equal to holding a title for the purposes of punishments for lawbreaking, and whether that applies solely to the person holding the claim and/or to his/her (direct and/or distant) relatives?

 

3. What authority made that law if it exists, and what authority would make that law during the present day if such a situation happened and it needed to be made?

 

EDIT: BTW, I recall there being some questions a while back about a random event where one can overhear professors in the Teacher's Lounge talk about Gates enough to be informed of all it's subskills? Eavesdropping on the Professors' Lounge sound like it?

Edited January 28, 2015 by Metis

[Legate of Mineta]

Metis;

 

1) It may have happened before, but it is a really rare situation.

 

2) No specific clear law.

 

3) The governing authority would likely be local.

[Schwarzbart]

Has it happened that a male Noble declared a bastard child (or what he believes is his child) as successor ?

How common is it that a poor noble family adopt someone who pay for the name?

[Metis]

Who counts as the governing authority in Mineta? Seeing as how there's no Emperor, would that be the Captain? Mineta's ruling council? The Imperial Temple?

[Legate of Mineta]

Schwarzbart;

 

Yes, that has definitely happened. It's irregular, but not unknown. Usually it's considered an 'adoption', as you note. That situation is almost unheard of, but there are rumors.

 

Metis;

 

Technically, it's Imperial Law, but in practically it's the courts of the City, as enforced by the Captain. The Captain's laws then derive from an amalgam of many power centers.

[Schwarzbart]

I see so there for sure some Aranaz, Hedi and especial Kazus mages raised their social rank past their parents using the magic they have.

[Schwarzbart]

Will the year 1 Steam port support the Steam Workshop?

 

If so will there be a new mod tool or will the mods be different from what we have now?

[Legate of Mineta]

Schwarzbart;

 

That is a great question- they aren't sure. I hope yes, though!

[Metis]

Tutorial Adventure 06:

Every time you Explore a particular region, you’re practically guaranteed to find something interesting about that place. If you find that you’re not discovering anything really cool, consider spending some time learning more about exploration and exploring. The better you get at it, the more likely you are to find something really interesting.”

 

Does a higher Explore skill actually increase the odds of finding an area with a higher Exploration Difficulty, or how else am I supposed to interpret that?

[Legate of Mineta]

Metis;

 

I think you are right- it doesn't actually increase the odds of finding an area, just the number of areas which can be found.