A few in game questions

[Rhialto]

@Legate of Mineta: Are the triplets paranoid or suspicious about Beatrix von Wetgen, because they are wondering what she is doing in the Imperial Reserve and why she has such freedom?

[Schwarzbart]

are the haircut and beard style also restricted depend on that class one belongs to?

i.e.  I heard in a recent video that a Duke forbid the wearing of beard for his own citizen.

[Legate of Mineta]

Rhi & S;

"Not really. They've all talked to Beatrix - or at least two of them have - at some length, and if anything they perceive her as a potential resource."

"Sumptuary laws and laws of attire appear all over the old Empire of Man; they're less restrictive in Mineta than in many other places, though. Violations aren't criminal; unless you really tick somebody in power off, you just face petty fines.

Enforcement is very uneven, and depends more on the voices that might be influencing the Guard (or, as above, whom you've ticked off). It's a good source of fines & income for the City."

[Metis]

What is the extent of people's knowledge RE: theoretical methods of time travel, since I'm assuming in practice it is impossible to pull off (at least as far as anyone would publicly admit)? I'm assuming there are spells that manipulate the flow of time on a relatively minor/personal level, but could those spells theoretically be expanded upon to achieve full-on time travel (even if doing so would be akin to "expanding upon" a stone cup to hold an entire ocean), or is there some reason to believe it's just plain impossible?

[Legate of Mineta]

M;

"The dominant theory is that it's impossible for theological-cosmological reasons: the will of the Gods and the nature of the universe is expressed through Astrological magic and Astrological magic can't undo things that have already been done, therefore time as mortals experience it runs unapologetically and unrelentingly forward.  It is theorized that's it's possible to use Gates to translate yourself into another plane of existence that's an absolute recreation of the past, but the effects of one's actions there wouldn't be reflected in the experience of the real world.

But this is Gates at its absolute most illegal, and as far as anyone knows it's never been tested.

(All that said, there are magical ways to skip ahead in time.  You just can't go back.)"

[Schwarzbart]

How much is tourism (i.e. pilgrimage) an economy factor during the time of Academagia?

[Legate of Mineta]

In Mineta, it is a very significant economic factor. Outside of that, apart from the pilgrimage sites, it's much less so.

[Metis]

What kind of cutlery (and related stuff) are students given during meals? Relatively expensive silverware, relatively dirt cheap iron/tin/something student projects from the Academagia's own forges, something else? And how closely are these items kept track of, how often do some go missing?

[Schwarzbart]

8 hours ago, Metis said:

What kind of cutlery (and related stuff) are students given during meals? Relatively expensive silverware, relatively dirt cheap iron/tin/something student projects from the Academagia's own forges, something else? And how closely are these items kept track of, how often do some go missing?

it also come down how the kitchen prepare the food i.e. if all cutting is already done by the cook.
In real history I think during that time every person had their own cutlery with them and was responsible for the cleaning of it.

[Legate of Mineta]

M & S;

"By tradition, the food service accoutrements are created by the previous year's Vernin graduating class - humble work for them, in theory, but there's pretty fierce competition to be the student who presents the winning design.  These have enchantments that make it difficult to take them out of the dining hall during their time of service.

At the end of the year, they're generally auctioned off for charity or donated to a local tavern or inn.

For use outside the dining hall, the Student would be expected to carry their own set, or rely on the establishment they are patronizing to provide them."

[Rhialto]

@Legate of Mineta: Has any student at the academagia ever been abducted by fae?

[Schwarzbart]

Does ist need to be abducted? "Permanent" turned into an animal or stone should have the same result in most cases and we have an example for this in an adventure although with an fast good ending.

[Rhialto]

18 minutes ago, Schwarzbart said:

Does ist need to be abducted? "Permanent" turned into an animal or stone should have the same result in most cases and we have an example for this in an adventure although with an fast good ending.

But abduction is more useful to the abductor - and has parellels with real life fairy lore.

[Schwarzbart]

3 hours ago, Rhialto said:

But abduction is more useful to the abductor - and has parellels with real life fairy lore.

yea but effective if a student is missing no matter if run away, end up in a place where they can't return from, be abducted, be transformed, used as power source, dead and so on for the statistic many if not all of them are missing for unknown reason.

Edit added the original question that it not get missing:
 

Quote

@Legate of Mineta: Has any student at the academagia ever been abducted by fae?

Edit 2: How many Student are each year get missing for unknown reason in average  

[Legate of Mineta]

Rhi & S;

"Yes to the kidnappings by the Fae - the Legate reportedly keeps a "red book" of students thought to have been taken over the centuries, just in case any return in a daze after decades.  It's not common, though.

As for students who just go missing without explanation... maybe one to five a decade, rarely attributable to the Fae."

[Schwarzbart]

So the kidnapping from the Fae can somehow be determined with a high chance?
Is it done via an magic item, an short spell or a lengthy ritual?
What school of magic does it belong to?

[Legate of Mineta]

S;

Generally, it's done with Astrology, although Negation and Glamour can also do it.

[Metis]

How controversial would a piece of literate be in which the story had one of two warring human groups (both of which are portrayed as a lighter shade of græy at best) forced to attack and burn down civilian targets in order to prevent basically a zombie apocalypse type deal?

Asking for a friend .

[Legate of Mineta]

Within the realm of possibility.

[Rhialto]

@Legate of Mineta:

1. Have any graduates from the Academagia defected to Oursouk?

2. Have any students from the Academagia interrupted their studies by defecting to Oursouk?

3. Did any Gates Mages in the Empire of Man defect to Oursouk when Gates Magic was banned in the Empire of Man?

4. Has there been any study within the Empire of Man of what motivates people to defect to Oursouk, similar to, for example, studies about what makes people become radical terrorists?

[Schwarzbart]

1 & 3) I suspect at last during the last Mastery and Gate bane some did join Oursouk to save their live.

[Schwarzbart]

5) Where there resource rush in the past or currently for free people?

6) Are there such rules that serf are free once they reach a city?

[Legate of Mineta]

Rhi & S;

"1 and 2:  Yes, but not in the last couple of decades.

That said, a lot turns on the word "defecting."  There are a couple of relatively contemporary Academy graduates who have residences in Ghadouri or the Pashate - it's not unheard of for mercenary companies and the like to have boltholes where the Captain can't reach them, or for magical researchers to set up informal outposts near objects of study.  But Academy graduates actually repudiating citizenship in the old Empire states and publicly aligning with Oursouk is fairly rare. Unheard of, really.

3:  Oh, yes. They all went mad, too.

4:  No, not really.  Sociological studies are very much in their infancy, and are honestly as much about refining pre-existing stereotypes as about gathering objective data and testing hypotheses.

5:  Actually, resource rushes happen every couple of centuries, when significantly large "free islands" - drifting airborne land masses - come close enough to Elumia for masses of prospectors to be able to arrange to make the leap.  Heck, even today there are professional Astrologers who build careers out of offering promising courses for adventurers with long-distance airships and an appetite for risk.

6:  Not formally.  As late as the 11th century, there was a city called Flauges in the Espermont range in central Meril that did offer sanctuary for any and all fugitives, according to certain histories, but its neighbors pulled it down stone by stone for trying to shelter a woman named Imante who was known to have married a Dragon in secret.

That said, as discussed elsewhere, there are port towns, particularly in the northwest of Meril and in the Wortham Fens, where a criminal can go with a reasonable expectation of avoiding pursuit.  Not quite the same thing, but better than nothing when you're on the run.

Now, clearly, the above really discusses crimes more dramatic than a serf escaping service.  In practice, if a fugitive serf makes it to any town or city of reasonable size, he or she is extremely unlikely to be rounded up and dragged back to the lord who owns the lands on which they're meant to toil - the effort involved in tracking a fugitive and producing a legally admissible and enforceable contract would just be prohibitive.  And, on the other side of the coin, most communities aren't going to spend a lot of effort tracking down the origins of new arrivals to return them to their "masters" - at worst, they'll probably just turn them away at the gates.

There could be exceptions, particularly in cases where a lord has a specific treaty or a strong informal relationship with local authorities, or in cases where the fugitive serf either breaks local laws or falls into total destitution and thereby becomes a problem to be solved, but as a rule: if you can get lost in a crowd and you're able to find work, you're probably safe."

[Rhialto]

47 minutes ago, Legate of Mineta said:

a woman named Imante who was known to have married a Dragon in secret.

1. Was the dragon in draconic form?

2. How did the dragon meet her?

[Legate of Mineta]

Rhi;

"The historical record here is pretty threadbare.  (Oddly enough, Durand's family's private archives may have some records that might be relevant.)  But the consensus seems to be that the Dragon first approached the lady in human form - though whether he shape-shifted, Glamoured from afar, or Mastered some poor soul to serve as his avatar in the human world is subject to some debate.  The stories do agree that he sought her out (either for her beauty or, more likely, for her family’s magical resources), courted her, revealed his true nature, and suggested that it might be possible for her to "ascend" to join him in draconic form.

Note that Revision studies assert - pretty definitively - that it's no more possible to turn a human into a True Dragon than it is to turn a human into a God.  It might be possible with Gates, of course, but the assumption is still that the Dragon was lying."