Event Desired: Helara's OdysseyI want a long (1-2 weeks IC minimum) journey for Helara to just travel out to the mountains or the Steppe or even northward, meet or help people, forage, overcome both natural and man-made challenges on her own etc. Kinda Roadwarden-esque where there is no clear defined goal for Helara and maybe she will find it along the way; the journey is the destination. I'd like to consider it a pilgrimage for the purposes of her devotion to the Equinox and Phoenix. Beyond that any stories or challenges are entirely in the DM's hands. Number of Players: Just me, so it will be very simple. Timezone(s): EST right now but I can accommodate most. Special Requests: Not many. I'd like for her to barter for or find some starsilver eventually, it could be from this event or something else. I don't really want anything to do with fey or other high-supernatural things, I would prefer a more grounded journey.  Notes: I am willing to do this as a combination of events or even a discord RP if someone would prefer that medium; my only request is that it does not drag on too long in OOC time.

  GREENER PASTURES AN ESSAY ON CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT Umeneri Helara Published by the Chartered Charcoal Printing House “The noble King should primarily concern himself with his subjects, and his subjects’ primary concern is that of food.” A maxim penned by the father of the Korami classics, Saenike, which stands as a guiding principle for statecraft in the West—though it may at first seem rather simple, alike to a truism. It is undeniable that the procurement of food is at the heart of any nation’s interest. When there is plenty of food, a nation prospers and grows; when there is food but no surplus, a nation stagnates; and when there is a deficit, it is inevitable that it will suffer. Thus, it is the responsibility of any virtuous sovereign that seeks prosperity for his nation to secure a steady and sustainable supply of food for his subjects, even beyond a self-interested desire to placate them and affirm his own position. There is another element to the issue of food procurement, one going even beyond the notion of stability and growth for the body politic. It is the monumental question of survival, for there is no greater weapon known to mortals than hunger. Whereas a man with a blade can slay a handful, if he is skilled, such is dependent on the presence of a thing—namely, in this instance, the blade. A single man can slay thousands with the absence of a thing, namely, food. For its potency in absence rather than presence, food and hunger can act as a scythe to cull more than any one swordsman could in a lifetime. An independent body politic without control of its own supply of agricultural produce, enough for its stability and growth, can hardly be considered independent—and if it is, it will not be so for long. It shall be absorbed, or it shall be culled. For this reason, the bureaucrats and Emperors of the Great Odokhi in Uul’san Province take great pains to track agricultural productivity with grain ledgers and legal regulations. When there are imbalances, it is the role of the Sovereign and his ministers to set them right through whatever means available. Likewise, it is the civic responsibility of every subject of the Sovereign to conduct themselves with decorum and virtue; to not eat food that is out of season, nor to indulge except at mealtimes, and to always be austere and never eat more meat than grain, even when there is plenty. The nascent Seneschalty of the Southern Reach and its predecessor, the Circle of Four within the Spire-town, have stayed the course on this issue since the colony’s founding in the wake of the Disappearance. The management of food has been left decentralized, managed by free-holders or tenants of the city-state’s land who have been leased it on contract. The loose confederation of tenants and colonists around the Spire saw the nascent town as a perfect hub to rally around, inviting adventurous merchants from beyond to supplement whatever it was they lacked. While there have been minor incidents of crop failure or economic downturn leading to shortage, such as with the relative scarcity of beef products in the summer of 1641, this small-scale economy—mostly based on subsistence—has proven resilient and sufficient in the short term.  But how long can such a state of affairs last? It is no secret, firstly, that the vast majority of the Spire-town’s growth over the half-century can be attributed to immigration, rather than an increase of the native populace. To this day, those born in the Spire-town or its environs account for no more than half of the urban populace at best. They are equal in number to or perhaps even outnumbered by the exiles, adventurers, mercenaries, and other forms of wanderers who make this place their home. There is nothing wrong with this in and of itself—apart from, perhaps, a lack of core identity among the Spirefolk beyond a joint desire for independence—though it presents a number of questions for the future that ought to be addressed. For one, is this sort of growth sustainable? Craftsmen, mages, and mercenaries provide a service to the Seneschalty—but they do not offer as much as they take in the agricultural sphere. Not at present, at the very least. So, as it stands, not only does the Spire-town not produce enough surplus foodstuffs to foster its own native growth, but there is a very real possibility that it may soon hit an upper limit for the artificial growth that it can support. Signs of this have already been noted. The disruption of trade up along the Northern Road with the Seneschalty’s principle trade partner, the Duchy of Rulan beyond the wall, was caused by the collapse of the ancient bridge over Albern River. Likewise, raids by foreigners and bandits within the Faded Steppe have discouraged Falstoner merchants from making a perilous journey west to the Reach. The result of this has been a slow rise in food prices throughout the winter, and perhaps more alarmingly—a dip into the reserve granaries and emergency procurement funds. Despite acquisitions up at Albern Crossing, the Seneschalty will, in fact, eventually see problems as demand outpaces agricultural output.  Some might suggest that the solution is amending the aforementioned issues to rekindle lost trade links or find new ones. The most generous reading of this view is that it is naive. Is it really advisable to submit oneself to the interests of foreign commercialists, essentially a self-made vassal? Already mercantile families from across the sea have approached the council for rights to fish in their waters, but if the Seneschalty’s people can only be supported by the good-will and business acumen—or innate greed—of traders, then it would not be long before Valkian feudalists leverage their influence to impose their order through starvation, or Falstoner wholesalers to squeeze the last of the Spire’s silver to profit off a crisis. It would be in the interest of all Spirefolk, united by that independent frontier spirit, to oppose such measures and find alternatives. And yet, there is a distinct lack of movement on that front from private individuals. The town is blessed with institutions like the Hermetic Assembly which overflow with scholars of the arcane and natural sciences, but they occupy themselves with private matters such as skygazing into the ether rather than incremental, tangible change for the better:  Artificers create constructs as tools of war, but do not employ them to till the fields and revolutionize the labour of the farmer. Tellurgists shape mountains, but do not irrigate nor enrich the soils of the Southern Reach with minerals. Ichor-chirurgeons can command nature itself, but do not graft new, more efficient strains of grain. Alchemists can make poisons and life-giving tonics, but nothing to cull pests or increase crop resilience to blights.  If it is a question of capability, then it is one that would make anyone who has seen their power look with scrutiny at such a response. If it is a question of incentive, then inaction with survival and independence as the stakes can, most charitably, be considered treason. If the Spire-town wishes to not only survive but to grow—there is no question about the fact that it must become agriculturally independent, lest it fall into the sphere of another realm as a colony dependent on import of produce. There is no shortage of arable land in the Aedall Reach, nor is there a shortage of ways in which to improve yields otherwise.    For the Sovereign of the Seneschalty, once this issue is recognized, no effort should be spared in realizing the way to solve it: a top-down, well-organized ‘green revolution’ to make the Spire-town strong, healthy, and self-sustaining. Foreign interest in its food vulnerability must be rebuffed and tariff walls raised to encourage the development of the domestic agricultural sector. The untapped workforce of the Spire-town can be formed into ‘labour armies’ to build up canals and waterways for irrigation, and to develop and expand existing fields and pastures. The disparate industries and institutions of the Spire—should they fail to organize themselves into a cohesive whole working for the betterment of the body politic—must be regimented and made to work toward more practical goals for nation-building and growth. As in Uul’san, the King’s primary concern should be his people—and as his people’s primary concern is food, he must be the shepherd that leads them to greener pastures.  

Art Credit: Teagan White ════════════════════ Khaitan, the Prey ════════════════════  Whether or not you're friendly with rats, pretend you're a mouse in a house full of cats. · · ──────── ·𖥸·────────· · Mage I The Dreaming One Cantrips Slumber, Omen · · ─────────────────── · ·

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