Take this world by storm. Proclaim our power and gain control. Simply BE AMAZING.

'Suppose that would depend on what you want, wouldn't it? What is it that The Lady wants of Us? Yanno: why does she seek Our wisdom?

you seem to be showing the proper amount of respect for a powerful and mysterious fount of wisdom. so that means your either sarcastic or in for a bit of a disappointment. that's not to say we are not useful, it just that people tend to gloss over how we actually act when writing us into legends. we are a large collection separate minds with a rather casual relationship with time. this means that at least some of us are going to be idiots. we are also more or less incapable of tact for prolonged periods.

that said, what do you need help with?

Suggestion 2012/08/26(Sun)04:11 No. 447878 ID: b5fe6d
File 134597949526.jpg - (37.25KB , 238x361 , anat.jpg )

Tact is also one of my weaknesses..or rather it's lack.
My concerns are two fold..but intertwined. I recived a dream from Anat the bloody that unless I or the child I carry can force all of humanity to quiet..to sleep while the sun shines, and give up the magics of fire and the sky..she will tire of our interruptions of her sleep and her love and entertain her self by drowning the world in war-blood before drowning the world in rivers red with mud.
I do not know why she chose me, a child barely come of age, one consort among many of the absent lord of Urak, I can only think it is my talent for calling the spirits of the earth and water.
So my questions come into fold..my mother is dead..and I little trust fellow wives for we fight almost as much as men in battle, but with treatry and poison, love often mixed with hate.
I do not know what even to ask..or which if any midwives I can trust..and then once my child is born my task becomes still harder..for they will not be in line for the throne.

Call all your midwives to a hearing and test them with the spirits of the earth and water. Ask them questions adapting your line of faith and see if any of them thinks along with your line.

Riddles that might show useful, humble woman:
"The earth has been bearing poor fruit of late. The followers of the diverse ways seek salvation from the idols of their fate. Which idol should they venerate with their ceremonies?"
"A woman is to fill her pot with water. She sees many spots in the river from which to fill her pot with water that she could bring to her descendants. There's a spot easiest to fill her pot from - A place where the water is most stagnant and fertile with little life. There's a place where the river is deep but doesn't flow, but the water is most pristine there, but she would have to wade so that the water would surround her waist. And then there's a deep place in the river in which the water is mixed but pure, but she would have to balance on wet stones that might be slippery to get next to the deep spot where water is flowing strongly. "

See if they embrace water in respect or top earth with veneration or just try to be witty or stress vanity of these well-founded riddles.

well this should be interesting, its been a while since we killed a god. if anat really cared about this she would have given the task to the ruler of the land, or written her warning in words of fire in the sky for all to see. so she is amusing herself by playing with he fate of the world, she has to go.

The Hanging Gardens [1/6] Suggestion 2012/08/26(Sun)13:47 No. 447989 ID: fc985a
File 134601407207.jpg - (10.17KB , 259x194 , servent.jpg )

>>447889
The servants (young boys or women not as pretty as those chosen to be wives. They are somewhat more trustworthy then Bilgames's wives, because I can have them killed.), tell me there are 5 midwives who Bilgames's has given permission to serve his wives.

He is a very jealous man..or at least so they say, I only knew him for a month before he left on a journey. I am lucky to bear his child so soon, it is unusual for one as young as I am.

I have them each brought to me in turn, and ask them your riddles:

The Hanging Gardens [2/6] Suggestion 2012/08/26(Sun)14:20 No. 447993 ID: fc985a
File 134601603748.jpg - (9.57KB , 189x267 , dagon.jpg )

The first, Eshkith, comes to me with laughter in her eyes. She thinks of me a child given a little power. She is 40 years of age and her hair is silverly in the filtered sunlight.

I sit strait in my white painted seat attempting to stare her down.

"The earth has been bearing poor fruit of late. The followers of the diverse ways seek salvation from the idols of their fate. Which idol should they venerate with their ceremonies?"
She bows confused but still proud:
"To Dagon, lord of cities, must be given the best grain of the fields and the best fish of the rivers, but to the Queen in Heaven Who Walks upon the Sea must be given some of every harvest or the rivers will flood with salt, and the fish not come to land."

"A woman is to fill her pot with water. She sees many spots in the river from which to fill her pot with water that she could bring to her descendants. There's a spot easiest to fill her pot from - A place where the water is most stagnant and fertile with little life. There's a place where the river is deep but doesn't flow, but the water is most pristine there, but she would have to wade so that the water would surround her waist. And then there's a deep place in the river in which the water is mixed but pure, but she would have to balance on wet stones that might be slippery to get next to the deep spot where water is flowing strongly. "

"She should take the middle path, in the middle way lies wisdom." She says with a smirk.
"Did your parents not teach you how to please the gods?"

I am tempted to call up a spirit to punish her. She is but common born, my father is a hero in the war, a full dozen warriors each with horses and chariot serve under him!

The Hanging Gardens [3/6] Suggestion 2012/08/26(Sun)14:40 No. 448004 ID: fc985a
File 134601721315.jpg - (40.33KB , 246x599 , Hadat-Lord-of-Thunder.jpg )

The second midwife, Metum, is more pleasing.
She is older 46, and knows her place. Her hair is died red with henna.

When asked who to worship she says The priests I knew we must give seed of grain and seed of beast and seed of man to the Lord of Thunder, so that he pleases his wives the Lady of Blood and the Lady of burning Sky.

The Lady of Blood takes only one true thing, the bold of life, shed in the taking or giving of life. When you give birth I will make sure she smells your blood.

Pleased by her brother-husband they will stand guard over the land and drive out Lotut (who some (I do not know why) worship as Dagon) the Fish-beast of the Salt Storm."

Asked how best to gather water she says. "God strong water is the blood of the gods. It gives life. To not get the best is cowardice. At least so I think, My lady."

The Hanging Gardens [4/6] Suggestion 2012/08/26(Sun)14:43 No. 448007 ID: fc985a
File 134601742606.jpg - (16.48KB , 259x194 , dirt.jpg )

The third was..humble, but dull.
"I would ask the priests, and do as they say."

"Take the easy water, risking one's clothes for mere water is foolish."

The Hanging Gardens [5/6] Suggestion 2012/08/26(Sun)14:50 No. 448014 ID: fc985a
File 134601782541.jpg - (5.71KB , 225x225 , blood.jpg )

The forth is old and frail. Her hair a shocking white. She smiles at me her teeth mostly gone.

"It means the Lady of blood has not watered the fields with war enough. Our men need to kill and slaughter and bring back slaves for our houses and land for our farmers, and blood for the land. When they have done so the rivers will flood and give their blood red soil to the fields."

"The waist deep water is good enough. To risk slippery stones every day is to wish for death."

The Hanging Gardens [6/6] Suggestion 2012/08/26(Sun)16:06 No. 448046 ID: fc985a
File 134602236708.jpg - (8.44KB , 280x180 , scropion.jpg )

The fifth is attacked by a strange beast before I can call her to palace. There is conflicting reports of what it is, some say it was just a pair of men, others that was some beast like a great scorpion but colored like a fish, and the size of a cow.

How should I spend my time over the next month: (You have 8 'units' of time, note that many things will require multiple units to be effective

When there are () or [] in an activity each combination of options is a posible seprete use of time. Options can be reused.

[] Talk with () about {}.
(o) Priestesses of the city.
(p) The Guards of the Palace.
(o) Your Father
(p) Your Servants
(p) My Midwife
(p) The old women. (My Husban's Mother, and his first wives's mothers)
(p) His first three wives they are over 40, and have born 6 to 10 children, roughly half surviving, and their sons have wives of their own. (there are three. Nisil, Shursil, and Saga.)
(p) His next younger wives, the ones over 30, who have born 5 to 7 children. There are 5 wives this age.
(p) The older wives, over 25 in age. With 3 to 5 children. His eldest daughter, not allowed to marry is also this age, and makes 10 people.
(p) The medium age wives, my seniors, between 20 and twenty five. I think there are about 20 of these.
(p) The newer-medium wives 14-20, each with one child. About 30 of these.
(p) The newer wives ages 14-16, who have not born him a child. about 30 of these.
(p) The newist wives. Ages 11-14 who have menstruated but not not born a child. I am one of these. About 20 of these
(p) His 'wives' who have not menstrated, he rarely has sex with these. They play with is daughters and his young sons. I am honestly not sure who is which. (I mean even telling boy from girl requires watching at this age.)

[] The gods (which?)
[] Gosip (about who?)
[] History.
[] Magic (Of the: water, earth, sky (day, night, storms), fire, night)
[] War and history
[] My Husband.
[] The City
[] The villages
[] Write in

Spend Time with () Practicing []
() any of the above () with a (p)
{} Magic (of the:)
{} Writing
{} Games of stratagy
{} Athletics
{} Combat
{} Make up/looking pretty
{} Sex play
{} write in.
{} Try to sneak out. (could get me killed)

>>447941
She's a god! Called the 'bloody'. I might be good at magic..but she lives in the sky!

Spend Time with ((p) The Guards of the Palace) Practicing [Combat] (3 units)
Talk with (Old Lady #4) about {Anat the bloody} (2 units)
Don't worry, we guide the humble to power. With enough time, we will have the Gods ALL bowing at you/your child's feet.
Spend Time with ((p) Your Servants) Practicing [Magic (of the: night)] (3 units)

Getting the entirety of humanity to become nocturnal will be difficult; hopefully night magic will help with that part.

Spend Time with ((p) medium age wives) Practicing [Magic (of the water)] (4 units)

>>448394
What should I do with the rest of my time?

Results of First Turn [1/5] Isal 2012/08/27(Mon)15:15 No. 448464 ID: a356c0
File 134610570644.jpg - (9.59KB , 150x150 , the Sun!.jpg )

> Calling for the first vote.
> It is the 56 year of the Reign of Bilgimes.
> It is the second moon after the fall equinox.
> It is the third month of your pregnancy.
> It is the Day of the Sun.
Oh, voices of time. I have taken your wisdom, such as it is.

Spend Time with ((p) The Guards of the Palace) Practicing [Combat] (3 unit Isal 2012/08/27(Mon)15:31 No. 448472 ID: a356c0
File 134610670893.jpg - (31.73KB , 378x300 , guards.jpg )

I spend the early morning training with the guards. I don't really understand most of it..and they say that they cant really train me because a bad tumble or a elbow in the wrong place could hurt the babe.
Still they try to improve my stance and teach me some exercises that I always seem to get wrong.
I go to sleep after training and am really really sore every single time. Still I am stronger then when I started.
(http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3672332/ -> 3d8=8 (d8 because they can't train her has hard as they could if she wasn't pregnant) (5 goes into raising strength from -2 to -1) (3 starts going into raising fighting from _untrained_ to _initiate_..but isn't enough to do so this month.)

(more later.)

I spend the nights seeking out every little bit of knowledge my servants have of night magic. They are a little puzzled by my focus, but I learn the names of the cats and owls and bats of the tier, and the ritual a few of them know for improving eye sight at night which seems to work. You drink up the knoledge and find your self hearing the spirits of moon light and conversing with the night winds.
(you rolled 19 for learning, that is enough to go from nothing (+0 / n/a points )to initiate (+1 / 5 points) to beginner (+1 / 6): you know three spells, Listen to the Night. Converse with Vermin. And Minor Night Sight.)

Talk with (Old Lady #4) about {Anat the bloody} (2 units) Isal 2012/08/28(Tue)21:56 No. 449008 ID: b5fe6d
File 134621619214.jpg - (84.01KB , 684x570 , bloody_goddess.jpg )

I have her (she is named Indun) stop by many evenings, and tell me of Anat.
She teaches me the easiest prayers to The Bloody Goddess, Sister-Wife of the Lord, he who Rules the Storm.
She prays every day to have her blessing if a birth is to happen that day, once she missed the blessing and that week all of the women she tended grew sick and died after birth.

The prayer is simple but precise. For each of her three great deeds, cut the palm and wet a image of her with the blood, and ask for her blessing, kissing the ground benith her.

Her first deed is desending among the demons of the time before time, of the night before there was night and day, of the chaos that was the devouring mother of all things. Before she was born, when she was in her mothers womb she had already become covered in the blood of demons, and in so doing was born!

In her second deed she killed Yamm the father of the Sea, beloved of her father, she bested and inslaved 'Fire' the dog of the Gods, beloved of her father, and killed her sister 'Flame' beloved of her father. In this she showed that she needs not the love of her father.

For her third deed, when her lover the Lord, He who rules the Storms, was called to the underworld by Mot, the god of death, she was valorous in revenge, she seized Mot, split him with a sword, winnowed him with a sieve, burned him with fire, ground him with millstones and scattered the remnants to the birds.

Anat sleeps behind the sky, so as to not disturb her half-sister the sun, and makes love to her husband as he shape shifts into man and beast.

Her children are monsters, and wars, the blood red water of the rivers that brings life.

[] Talk with () about {}.
(o) Priestesses of the city.
(p) The Guards of the Palace.
(o) Your Father
(p) Your Servants
(p) My Midwife
(p) The old women. (My Husban's Mother, and his first wives's mothers)
(p) His first three wives they are over 40, and have born 6 to 10 children, roughly half surviving, and their sons have wives of their own. (there are three. Nisil, Shursil, and Saga.)
(p) His next younger wives, the ones over 30, who have born 5 to 7 children. There are 5 wives this age.
(p) The older wives, over 25 in age. With 3 to 5 children. His eldest daughter, not allowed to marry is also this age, and makes 10 people.
(p) The medium age wives, my seniors, between 20 and twenty five. I think there are about 20 of these.
(p) The newer-medium wives 14-20, each with one child. About 30 of these.
(p) The newer wives ages 14-16, who have not born him a child. about 30 of these.
(p) The newist wives. Ages 11-14 who have menstruated but not not born a child. I am one of these. About 20 of these
(p) His 'wives' who have not menstrated, he rarely has sex with these. They play with is daughters and his young sons. I am honestly not sure who is which. (I mean even telling boy from girl requires watching at this age.)

[] The gods (which?)
[] Gosip (about who?)
[] History.
[] Magic (Of the: water, earth, sky (day, night, storms), fire, night)
[] War and history
[] My Husband.
[] The City
[] The villages
[] Write in

Spend Time with () Practicing []
() any of the above () with a (p)
() myself
{} Magic (of the:)
{} Writing
{} Games of stratagy
{} Athletics
{} Combat
{} Make up/looking pretty
{} Sex play
{} write in.
{} Try to sneak out. (could get me killed)

Talk with (o) Your Father[] about War and history. If we're supposed to unite or at least change everyone we should at least know whats up with humanity at large.

I don't think I can do that for the whole month..well maybe, dad is around and all, but he likes my brothers more and I can't have him around with out guards from the palace.

>>449155
This (2) units:
Spend Time with (o) Priestesses of the city Practicing [Magic (of the: Water)] 4 units:
Talk with ((p) My Midwife ) about {Us: our glory/history/ possible effects of our influence on the baby}: 2 units

>>449155
I find it kind of hard to shift my schedule around, but I need to inorder to talk to dad when he was around. Its weird being part of the harem. I've been here 6 months, but having our every movement watched by the guards is strange. They are decent enough..but the way they look at my father when he visits is creepy. He's not going to kidnap me, or fuck me. I'm his daughter!

Dad is somewhat confused by my suden interest in history, I spent my child hood talking to spirits and drawing pictures in the sand, I was never the best at people.
But he tells me about the peoples of the rivers.
Urak rules over a dozen dozen cities, the largest empire known, ruling from the sea to as far as Kish. Directly north of us is Babalyon and Eshnunna, cowards who gave up their honor war to fight us, and drive our king to boredom, even after he defeated their monsters.
In the desert to the west live the sand people who grow scales and chain lizards to their chariots. Beyond them the lands of the living and the dead merge and bones rule over the living.
To the northeast lie tall and dry mountains, cold with frost, and covered in trees. People live their..but I know not of them.
To the south is the fisher people of the sea, the first to be conquered by our King, and the first to suffer in each sea storm. Your mother was a captive from their, I ripped out her fathers throat, and dashed her baby brother to the ground. But she learned and bore you well.

Talk with (o) Your Father[] about War and history. Isal 2012/08/30(Thu)21:14 No. 449859 ID: b5fe6d
File 134638649011.jpg - (148.52KB , 530x501 , Map.jpg )

find it kind of hard to shift my schedule around, but I need to inorder to talk to dad when he was around. Its weird being part of the harem. I've been here 6 months, but having our every movement watched by the guards is strange. They are decent enough..but the way they look at my father when he visits is creepy. He's not going to kidnap me, or fuck me. I'm his daughter!

Dad is somewhat confused by my suden interest in history, I spent my child hood talking to spirits and drawing pictures in the sand, I was never the best at people.
But he tells me about the peoples of the rivers.
Urak rules over a dozen dozen cities, the largest empire known, ruling from the sea to as far as Kish. Directly north of us is Babalyon and Eshnunna, cowards who gave up their honor war to fight us, and drive our king to boredom, even after he defeated their monsters.
In the desert to the west live the sand people who grow scales and chain lizards to their chariots. Beyond them the lands of the living and the dead merge and bones rule over the living.
To the northeast lie tall and dry mountains, cold with frost, and covered in trees. People live their..but I know not of them.
To the south is the fisher people of the sea, the first to be conquered by our King, and the first to suffer in each sea storm. Your mother was a captive from their, I ripped out her fathers throat, and dashed her baby brother to the ground. But she learned and bore you well.

>>449844
God damn double post.

Practicing Water Magic with Priestisses Isal 2012/09/01(Sat)12:34 No. 450386 ID: fa537b
File 134652807665.jpg - (9.66KB , 190x265 , water.jpg )

I'm fairly talented with calling naiads and such, but didn't know that much about the gods. Both Anat and Dagon claim dominion over the rivers, though some say that Dagon is really the Sea lord.
Any way they help me learn to talk to the river even when I am away from it, and to listen to the spirits that live in the blood of animals and people. They also teach me how to use Anat's power to command lesser spirits..though they caution that it is dangerous, and requires dedication on my part. They say that some times the spirits will call on the gods and command them.

(Water magic goes to trained from initiate, and you learn how to Manifest Medium Spirit (Water) a.k.a. Summon Naiads), Speak to the Passions, and Rebuke Spirit (Anat) and how to use water magic a little distance from a river, you also You also gain _in debt to Anat_: minor. You already knew Speak to Waters, Listen to the River, Draw Water, and Manifest Sprite (Water).)
(This was a roll of 21)

(2d10 = 13, Magic and pregnance knoledge goes up 3 levels.)
I spend time talking about the Eye of the First Water with my Midwife, she says she doesn't know that much about it, but she had heard that it was a sibling of the gods, the eye of the Old Ocean, she who lived before the world, and shared her madness.

Though there were many heroes who turned its help into empires, including the first king of Urak, who was the first real king anywhere.

She says that Anat's magic is good for children..when it doesn't kill them. She hungers for entertainment, for valor, and those who turn from life because of fear are shunned by her.

She teaches me how to determine if the spirits I talk to are safe to have around a child, and it turns out that my naiads are mostly okay. Some water sprites are mean to pregnant woman, and many treat children like toys, playing tag, or biting them, or trying to have sex with them.

Wat do?

It's good to have some knowledge of the world. Not a bad starting point to fulfill Anat's will at all, should we choose to. What I want to know about next is: What kind of status will you and your child have (both in the city and in the world) and how can we increase our influence? We should not be this blunt about it however, when we talk to people about this. Lets talk about how life will be for you and your child instead.

I think we should focus our efforts on the city first. Lets ask some of the servants (It will hopefully bear fruit some day if you are nice to and familiar with them. Servants are normally able to learn quite a bit stuff, even if most of it is gossip.) what kind of careers the other children choose and how they fare. Does someone who chooses the military get a high rank immediatly for example? Additionally, it would be nice to know what the wives that are not satisfied with gossiping and playing all day long occupy themselves with. I am especially interested if it would be reasonable to become a respected magic-user. What's the magical community like? Could you become a priest or summoner? Long-term goal might be to become a well known oracle and repeat Anat's orders when people will actually believe you.

After some initial conversation with the servants you should talk with the medium age wives about the same stuff (the younger ones might see you as a rival and act unhelpful).

I think 1 unit of time for both should be enough for this. That is about 5 days, right? Besides this you should ask the priests about their magic and profession (general overview 1 unit), talk with your midwife about pregnancy-related stuff (1 unit) and play with the other girls every now and then for about 1 unit of accumulated time to relax.

>>450399
I would recommend spending one time unit with each of these categories of wives:
(p) The medium age wives, my seniors
(p) The newer-medium wives
(p) The newer wives
(p) The newist wives.

Gossip with them. We need to get a feel of the lay of the political land; that means something as simple as figuring out who the prominent figures are amongst the other wives, searching for and identifying others who are potential friends and likely enemies, and getting a good idea of what the prevailing opinions are. We don't want a reputation as a recluse, either, and if we spend all our time on magic we'll probably get one.

Yay, people read my quest!
I won't be able to post for at least 4 hours, probobly close to 8.
(Should I put ooc posts like this in questdis? )

Turn 3: Isal 2012/09/06(Thu)20:40 No. 452323 ID: b5fe6d

About my and my child's life:
(1) Talk to servants
(1) Talk to Medium age Wives



(1) Talk to my Midwife about Pregnancy

Try to learn who's who, what they do, have fun and relax with:
(1) The newer-medium wives
(1) The newer wives
(1) The newist wives.

> Calling the first vote.
> It is the 56 year of the Reign of Bilgimes.
> It is the third moon after the fall equinox.
> It is the fourth month of your pregnancy.
> It is the Day of the Moon.

(1) Talk to servants Isal 2012/09/06(Thu)21:16 No. 452330 ID: b5fe6d
File 134699139420.jpg - (6.23KB , 215x234 , pottery.jpg )

[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3685394/]1d11=5[/url]

I spend the mornings of the first week talking with my servants, and having them talk with people near the palace, nothing formal, just talking.

Oh, I should probably tell you about my servant. I have 3 woman that serve me personal, none of them particularly pretty or interesting.
Ashusikildigir, she's missing a finger on each hand, and knows a little night magic, she now has night vision, but cant see in bright light, and has cat fur on her shoulders.

That's kind of my fault. What ever.

Enanatuma is younger shes like 25, and has a limp, but works hard. She likes the color blue.

Irkal is the youngest, like 16, pox scars her face, and I think she's burned or something.

They say that as a wife of the king its not like I have to _do_ anything, but uh..not get poisoned or caught poisoned. The children are at risk too, but mostly the older ones. Some of the wives perform some noble skill like art work, or magic. We can't do things that risk our beauty, and of course serving the King comes first, before anything. So even the magic..they cant's mess up. If they are maimed or marked..some times the king likes it, some times he kills them for maring his property.

It is also considered bad to rape his wives. Though its hard to prove..and phisical fights see both sides punished, sometimes killed.

Bilgames desires decide every, though his mother and his oldest wives and children effectively rule us in his absence.

Things are tense.

His oldest sons, are high in the military, but not the highest. Kingship is not hereditary per-see, but the princes have the best teachers and best weapons, and a farmer rising to a noble is rare..they have to steal a weapon, and then not git killed by those who think they don't deserve it.
But my child will not truly be much better off then my brothers..people will need a better reason to kill him, but will also have better reasons.

>>452161
While I normally prefer OCC-stuff to happen in disc it seems reasonable to write about incoming updates here so people see it.

>>452330
I am not sure if this is the end of this update or if there are more to come. In case you are currently awaiting input: Ask if your child can expect any preferential treatment besides equipment and teachers. Will s/he be granted a higher initial rank/have an easier time ascending to a higher rank?