A few in game questions

[Legate of Mineta]

S;

Hmmm. I don't see similar usage. It, uh, shouldn't need your GPU at all. Maybe the Steam overlay?

[Schwarzbart]

I complete disabled Steam overlay  and the second I get into the menu from Academagia  I still have a 3D usage of at last 75%+ from Academagia according to the Task Manager.

But I suspect that there might be a problem with something steam adds to the games as other steam games show the same issue while games installed via gog have no problems.

[Legate of Mineta]

S;

I definitely do not see the issue on my installation, either!

When did this update happen? I haven't seen an Update to my copy in a long while.

[Schwarzbart]

I didn't use my laptop to play games for at last 6 months so it might be something older but there was recently this chat add on to the steam client that can't be turned off that could be the source of the problem.

[Legate of Mineta]

Hmm- I’ll bump the Team, and see if they can replicate.

[freespace2dotcom]

It's been a while, so.... ;)

 

1. Can you tell us a little bit about conscription in the present era? What kind of equipment and training could such troops expect to receive?  Can Wizards get conscripted in a big enough emergency? If there was a large Dragon flight, could you tell us how many of the Academagia's professors (and possibly students) would wind up going as reinforcements initially?

2. What is the most dangerous monster on the School grounds? (at least that is acknowledged by the staff. Hidden monsters kept under wraps don't need to apply)

3. Are strength or Agility increasing spells legal in Rimbal? Can you give us a quick rundown of examples of spells that are legal as well as illegal in the context of the game, as well as maybe one or two that are grey enough to be sometimes allowed?

4. Have hot air balloons been discovered yet? I can't remember. I remember reading that in real life one of the first such balloons was attacked by farmers after it landed, and I think that might make an amusing random event for the game at some point.

5. Since there is relatively little water in Elumia, I was wondering if there has ever been a need to ration water? Since the replenishing effect of the wellsprings is enough to keep lake Ardica full, I'd assume the same is true for wells as well? Are there exceptions to this?

6. Can you tell us when Avila's tower 8 started tilting? was it before or after the boys moved in there?

7. Apart from certain player characters. *cough* Which student in our year is the team's favorite to be the most powerful and successful wizard? I don't see much problem in stating opinion since due to the game being fully simulated none of them are guaranteed to make it. I'm just talking about potential.

8. Can you tell us at what year was the last major battle over Aranaz's right to exist as a college?

9. Since the Academagia does allow for certain students to continue their studies after long periods of time in certain incidences, I was wondering how old the oldest person was when they earned their diploma, and what the circumstances were that they got held up?

10. It's an idea I have for Y2, so it's not like I need an answer for this tommorrow, but.... What would Professor Pachait say to a student who asked to have Mr. Pebbles taken care of in the Menagerie? Regardless of his answer circumstances would dictate that it not happen, but whether he was sympathetic or not would change how the story unfolded.

[Legate of Mineta]

Free;

I'll add these to the stack! Actually, I think we need a consolidated list rather than a bunch of e-mails.

[Rhialto]

@Legate of Mineta: I hope that the delays are because BCS is on the verge of some major milestone in a project.

Here is the compiled list of unanswered questions:

1. Where is Malkstrang? In Vilocia?

2. Are many mercenaries from Cimone? I ask because there is a dueling style named after it (though not one practiced by Zoe Melis, ironically).

3. Is there any mystical or pedagogical practice based around visualizing phemes in the imagination (possibly in association with visualizing in the imagination effects that phemes are associated with)?

4. Is it possible to create spell like effects with brew / alchemy that don't show as magic? (i.e. something like a polymorph potion)

5. Any response to the potion question that @freespace2dotcom asked earlier?

6. May I have a quotation from Y2? Or has the offer been rescinded?

7. What is the most iconic weapon/tool/other such stuff-ish thing that each of the New Gods used/had/held/something, assuming that each had one [aside from Noemia's spear]?

8. Can you tell us a little bit about conscription in the present era? What kind of equipment and training could such troops expect to receive?  Can Wizards get conscripted in a big enough emergency? If there was a large Dragon flight, could you tell us how many of the Academagia's professors (and possibly students) would wind up going as reinforcements initially?

9. What is the most dangerous monster on the School grounds? (at least that is acknowledged by the staff. Hidden monsters kept under wraps don't need to apply)

10. Are strength or Agility increasing spells legal in Rimbal? Can you give us a quick rundown of examples of spells that are legal as well as illegal in the context of the game, as well as maybe one or two that are grey enough to be sometimes allowed?

11. Have hot air balloons been discovered yet? I can't remember. I remember reading that in real life one of the first such balloons was attacked by farmers after it landed, and I think that might make an amusing random event for the game at some point.

12. Since there is relatively little water in Elumia, I was wondering if there has ever been a need to ration water? Since the replenishing effect of the wellsprings is enough to keep lake Ardica full, I'd assume the same is true for wells as well? Are there exceptions to this?

13. Can you tell us when Avila's tower 8 started tilting? was it before or after the boys moved in there?

14. Apart from certain player characters. *cough* Which student in our year is the team's favorite to be the most powerful and successful wizard? I don't see much problem in stating opinion since due to the game being fully simulated none of them are guaranteed to make it. I'm just talking about potential.

15. Can you tell us at what year was the last major battle over Aranaz's right to exist as a college?

16. Since the Academagia does allow for certain students to continue their studies after long periods of time in certain incidences, I was wondering how old the oldest person was when they earned their diploma, and what the circumstances were that they got held up?

17. It's an idea I have for Y2, so it's not like @freespace2dotcom needs an answer for this tommorrow, but.... What would Professor Pachait say to a student who asked to have Mr. Pebbles taken care of in the Menagerie? Regardless of his answer circumstances would dictate that it not happen, but whether he was sympathetic or not would change how the story unfolded.

18. Is Dacota Pitts a member of the Thieves Guild?

[Legate of Mineta]

Rhi;

Oh, that's was handy! Thanks.

[Schwarzbart]

for 11 wasn't there a event where you talk to the pilot of a Balloon, I just don't remember if it was a hot air or light the air gas one … if it was mentioned at all, also no I don't know the event name. 

[Legate of Mineta]

There are balloons, but they aren't widely known. Such a Random event would be amusing, but it wouldn't occur near Mineta. Maybe on Vacation?

[freespace2dotcom]

So, I have been going through games that I I bought years ago. These games were mostly in the category of those I felt were a little too boring in the beginning or required a bit more effort to get attached to.

I'm saying this, because I am currently on Alterier Rorona. I just met a ghost girl named Pamela, and I strongly suspect that there has to be more than a coincidence there. Given when this game  and Y1 came out, it's definitely possible. Any comment, Legate?

[Rhialto]

@Legate of Mineta: Related to @freespace2dotcom's question, is Hanno from the adventure after completing the main adventure a reference to the Carthaginian explorer Hanno the Navigator? Hanno, after all, is not a common name.

[Legate of Mineta]

Free;

I don't *think* so, but you never know. Lots of people were involved

Rhi;

I don't believe so. There are many fun references, but these two...don't think so.

[Rhialto]

@Legate of Mineta: So much for my theory about the Silent Lady's secretly being involved in some sort of magical gorilla breeding program (based upon her muteness, association with the name Hanno and (air)ships, and Hanno the Navigator's encounter with gorillas). Maybe someone can write an adventure about such a thing. Which reminds me...

Are there mages who try to create and breed magically enhanced versions of non-magical creatures? Are such efforts legal? subject to regulation?

[Legate of Mineta]

Rhi;

Yes, absolutely. They are subject to local laws, but in most cases that doesn't exist.

[Rhialto]

@Legate of Mineta: Are there universal laws against breeding creatures to be more like dragons?

[Legate of Mineta]

Yes.

[freespace2dotcom]

How did faux dragons come to be, then? That ought to be a good story.

[Legate of Mineta]

Free;

I'll have to refer you to the Lores on that one. Hee, hee.

[Legate of Mineta]

And now:

1. Where is Malkstrang? In Vilocia?

The Team has sent along a snippet of Lore for this one:

Modern Malkstrang I
From the Notes of Tarvixio Sido:

The town of Malkstrang, such as it is, is nestled on and in the cliffs at the northern edge of Sacluse, in the far west of Compaigne de Meril - it's only the "very edge of the world" if you don't count anywhere people speak Oncestrian or Vilocian dialects. Of course, that would certainly have included Redimio and Anonymous de Roix, and they're our great historical sources on the place, so there you go.

Mind you, with forests to the south and the Big Drop to the north (the locals joke that you can see the Wortham Fens off in the distance on a good day, so it's been about eight hundred years since anyone has), the place really does feel isolated even today.

Modern Malkstrang II
From the Notes of Tarvixio Sido:

The place is a crime hub, of course. The old wharfs are the product of old Imperial engineering and enchantment, and though the refits needed to make them safe for airships is much more slapdash they're still every bit as solid as the facilities on, say, old Stazione Marittima - only they're in the hands of the Jardinieres (refer back to the Black Notebooks, a couple hundred pages in on vol. 4 (I think), on the Northern Secret Societies) rather than any pleasantly dotty old chums of the Captain.

It's a decidedly odd flavor of criminality, though. Very nationalistic in some ways - Le Ceinse invaded the place and tried to hold it for a couple of centuries, and the criminal orders (who probably originally came from Balesfield, of all places) took up the banner of tradition and righteous resistance.

At the same time, though, on all its landward sides it's surrounded by sacred forestland. Any time anybody who isn't a monk or an auspex hunts or drinks anything that isn't rainwater, they're basically breaking Compaigne law - and since the alternatives are starving or abandoning their homes, the locals generally consider Compaigne law as inherently unserious.

So, in short, they're heroically protecting the traditional values, and the traditional values are that everyone thinks they're suckers and they're not going to put up with it. They're a fun bunch.

Modern Malkstrang III
From the Notes of Tarvixio Sido:

Without anything resembling an official census - if the Jardinieres have such a thing, they didn't make it accessible to my spying eyes - it's hard to say how much of the population can be considered "native." It's a pirate port, so there's a huge amount of turnover, and if you can tolerate the awful weather and the terrible companionship and the ongoing risk to life and limb it's not a bad place to cash in stolen goods and settle down free from the legal consequences of lives poorly but interestingly led.

I'd guess there are at least ten or twelve thousand people there, though, and a good number of them share an accent and speak a style of Merilien that's got really flat vowels and a whole lot of archaic words for cutlery and southern grains. And shoes, oddly enough. So I'm guessing there's a relatively stable core population that's been doing its own thing for centuries.

I know Orso's undead ex-girlfriend has a place there - one of a particular kind of quasi-palazzo that got carved directly into the faces of the cliffs back in around the 1200s. If I could get her to forget she hates the sight of me for an hour or two, I might be able to learn a bit more....

2. Are many mercenaries from Cimone? I ask because there is a dueling style named after it (though not one practiced by Zoe Melis, ironically).

There certainly are mercenaries from Cimone, though not as many as there were a few generations back. The dueling style would've been popularized by the knights and officers of the local army, and then spread outward during the famine years as local forces tried their luck elsewhere in the world.

3. Is there any mystical or pedagogical practice based around visualizing phemes in the imagination (possibly in association with visualizing in the imagination effects that phemes are associated with)?

Yes. Broadly speaking, it's known as "spexion." It's a contemplative practice associated with certain monastic traditions and with the (largely disreputable) field of magical study that bills itself as "thaumatology," an attempt to reinvent Astrology by trying to discern the will of the Gods through patterns of magical expression. [That may sound like a legitimate field of magical inquiry, but it quickly picked up nationalist overtones - i.e., the "vigorous" emanations of "traditionally Azernian" phemes establish that there's a divine plan to defeat Montbreton influence.]

It's common knowledge that using specific kinds of magic can have secondary effects on a magic-user, and there is evidence to suggest that spective techniques really do seem to enhance certain affinities.

Though it might also be the case that someone who cares enough to spend four hours a day thinking about Amicitas has a natural affinity to begin with.

4. Is it possible to create spell like effects with brew / alchemy that don't show as magic? (i.e. something like a polymorph potion)

It depends on the kind of testing the spell-like effects undergo. Magical effects are still magical, and if a wizard uses Astrology to pinpoint something that is not as it seems, then somebody who drank some kind of transformation potion would be fingered just as surely as someone who had Revised herself with a wand. On the other hand, a Negation wizard who was looking specifically for signs of Revision magic might indeed be fooled. [And since that kind of Negation magic is broadly more reliable - or at least easier to control and comprehend - than Astrology, it's also more common.]

5. Any response to the potion question that @freespace2dotcom asked earlier?

If you're looking for an unpleasant potion still in common use in and around Mineta, we suggest Enders' Gift? You take it before going into the mountains to prevent altitude sickness, and it generates an oxygen-rich slurry inside your lungs that keeps you alive and protected (albeit with recurring sensations of drowning) until you vomit it all up. Unfortunately, the slurry has been known to form in other body cavities as well.

Most Academagia students know enough simple Incantation and/or Revision tricks not to have to bother with the stuff, happily - it's mostly sold to miserable merchants and guards.

6. May I have a quotation from Y2? Or has the offer been rescinded?

See above.

7. What is the most iconic weapon/tool/other such stuff-ish thing that each of the New Gods used/had/held/something, assuming that each had one [aside from Noemia's spear]?

You'll have to await Y2 for this one.

8. Can you tell us a little bit about conscription in the present era? What kind of equipment and training could such troops expect to receive?  Can Wizards get conscripted in a big enough emergency? If there was a large Dragon flight, could you tell us how many of the Academagia's professors (and possibly students) would wind up going as reinforcements initially?

The Captain doesn't compel conscription outside of crises.

The Minetan Guard is taken from volunteers from all over the old Empire, and paid quite well. Standard armor is usually a lightly enchanted breastplate or chainmail (with chainmail generally being the more fortified of the two), along with plumed helmet, light gauntlets (usually bearing a false "ring" with the seal of the Guard that can be used to notarize documents and pronouncements issued on the fly), and leathers. Official colors are black and gold. Most Guards use swords within the city, but their proper ceremonial weapon is actually an axe - for use on doors during raids and/or fire emergencies. They usually undergo four to six weeks of physical training in La Ritorta, two weeks of legal seminars in Mineta itself, and two weeks of magical training (not casting spells, but recognizing certain magical effects) in the Imperial Reserve.

Faculty at the Academagia are actually considered reserves in the Guard by definition, and students are expected to serve if called upon during moments of emergency or unrest. That's a big part of why the Academy has always had a protected status in the city.

9. What is the most dangerous monster on the School grounds? (at least that is acknowledged by the staff. Hidden monsters kept under wraps don't need to apply)

That would actually be someone's Familiar. Heh heh heh...

10. Are strength or Agility increasing spells legal in Rimbal? Can you give us a quick rundown of examples of spells that are legal as well as illegal in the context of the game, as well as maybe one or two that are grey enough to be sometimes allowed?

Rimbal (as played at the Academy) holds to a principle called "Sanctity of the Body." You're allowed to magically improve your own strength, speed, etc. - but that removes "sanctity" and means that other players can Revise or Negate you as best they can. If nobody crosses that line, though, most Rimbal magic is down to Incantation (ideally magic that indirectly speeds up or slows down play - i.e., winds or mud - but also direct, non-lethal assaults on other players, assuming they have the rimbal itself at the time of casting), visual or auditory Glamours (again, exclusively targeting the person with the ball), or environmental Revisions. Rules for flying, either by Negation or other means, are negotiated before the start of any individual game - but they're usually assumed to violate Sanctity of the Body unless otherwise stipulated.

11. Have hot air balloons been discovered yet? I can't remember. I remember reading that in real life one of the first such balloons was attacked by farmers after it landed, and I think that might make an amusing random event for the game at some point.

They do exist - non-magical responses to airships (or at least lookouts) were deemed extremely useful.

12. Since there is relatively little water in Elumia, I was wondering if there has ever been a need to ration water? Since the replenishing effect of the wellsprings is enough to keep lake Ardica full, I'd assume the same is true for wells as well? Are there exceptions to this?

Water rationing was extremely common in the century after the islands took to the skies - as much because of panicked hoarding as because of objective scarcity (though the latter was real enough) - and then water fell under the purview of Temple Diviners for another few generations. [That, in turn, led to something close to a civil war as Imperial forces started worrying about "the Rule of the Auspex."] In the present, it's almost unheard of - though the Captain does, in theory, have the right to control access to Ardica Lake and about 40% of Mineta's wells.

13. Can you tell us when Avila's tower 8 started tilting? was it before or after the boys moved in there?

Before.

14. Apart from certain player characters. *cough* Which student in our year is the team's favorite to be the most powerful and successful wizard? I don't see much problem in stating opinion since due to the game being fully simulated none of them are guaranteed to make it. I'm just talking about potential.

Malacresta's already reasonably famous in the world of Astrology, Neta is a Glamour prodigy, Vettor is a born water mage, and so on.

If the question is more along the lines of "Who's most likely to be the next Orso?"  Well, possibilities might include Rui, Sima, Leopold, Durand, Ana Flavia (if she has room to grow without [Redacted]), or even Olivia.

15. Can you tell us at what year was the last major battle over Aranaz's right to exist as a college?

Technically, von Rupprecht encouraged speculation that Aranaz could be delisted back in 1648-9, as part of his campaign to get Regent Strom tossed out.

16. Since the Academagia does allow for certain students to continue their studies after long periods of time in certain incidences, I was wondering how old the oldest person was when they earned their diploma, and what the circumstances were that they got held up?

There was a famous case in the 12th century where a fourteen year old boy, Nessor Casaverde, was Mastered into a state of nearly total amnesia, wandered into the Imperial Reserve, was given a new name (Gerardo Novo), became a servant at the Palace, got married, had kids, had grandkids, and then happened to spot the wizard who had destroyed his mind in the middle of a coup attempt and stopped the coup. He was readmitted to the Academy a year behind his youngest grandchild, and graduated at a sprightly 84.

That may have been the oldest.

17. It's an idea I have for Y2, so it's not like @freespace2dotcom needs an answer for this tommorrow, but.... What would Professor Pachait say to a student who asked to have Mr. Pebbles taken care of in the Menagerie? Regardless of his answer circumstances would dictate that it not happen, but whether he was sympathetic or not would change how the story unfolded.

We think Pachait's curiosity about Mr. Pebbles would outweigh his general response to Mr. Pebbles, and he'd go along with it. Especially if he could pair the thing off with a muffler.

18. Is Dacota Pitts a member of the Thieves Guild?

Dacota had to pay the Thieves' Guild(s) off to be allowed to work in relative peace in her neighborhood, but she would definitely consider herself an independent.

[freespace2dotcom]

As always, thanks a bunch for the lore and wonderful feedback! Although it is painful waiting so long for such a lovely game, these answers go a long way to keeping us interested. Much love. <3

[Schwarzbart]

1) is Modern Malkstrang I-III a lore from year 2?

2) is Professor Sido also one of our Professor in year 2? (So far it sounded like he isn't teaching a year 2 subject)

3) So incantation can't be used in Rimbal? That make me really wonder why Rimbal is then a focus of Gondina

Edit:

4) Would a Muffler as 2nd Familiar also help the one bound to Mr. Pebbles or would there be a problem because of the bound?

5) Will the year 2 import tool be able to get the old stats of Mr Pebbles or Pamela when you exchanged the familiar during year 1? (The question here is actual if the year 1 endsave contain this data)

[Legate of Mineta]

S;

1) Yes.

2) No comment.

3) It can be! In fact, that's the primary type of magic used.

4) There might be a problem...

5) It should, yes.

[freespace2dotcom]

I meant to post this hours ago but got distracted

 

For 2, I'm sure that the answer is [redacted] However, I will point out that Sido is an incredibly traveled individual, and those lores we were given are from his personal notes. Those could easily have been done well before his becoming a teacher, and have no bearing on y2

Orsi has an undead ex-girfriend, eh? haha. The man really knows how to get around.

Edit. For 4, the team was referencing that the muffler would be an interesting pair with Mr Pebbles, for it's ability to absorb and regurgitate Pebble's endless speaking would make for an interesting experiment.  There probably would be issues crop up for that, that a student would not want to deal with if they had a second Familiar.

In fact, I'm considering writing a special story with multiple exits depending on if the player has a second Familiar with Mr. Pebbles and his reaction to the 'interloper' Extra Familiar. haha.