Skye Lansing's Blog, page 3

Adventures in Vertigo

So just as I hoped I was getting over my illness, I got struck down by new (even worse) symptoms. Not sure if this was unrelated to the initial sickness or just a sign it had moved elsewhere in my body, but if I thought constant coughing, congestion, and sore throats were bad I was about to get shown something far worse: Vertigo. Initially very intense vertigo.

At first I assumed it was just a sign I had stared at my computer screen too long (sometimes that can disorient me), but when I took a break things didn’t improve. Instead they got far, far worse. I was effectively unable to move. Literally. I was lying in bed, and even moving my arms or legs caused the sensation to intensify, regardless of if the rest of my body remained stationary.  All I could do was lay in bed and try to keep completely still while focusing on my breathing. An hour later the dizziness had subsided enough that I was able to get up and function, but I remained disoriented until that night.

In the days that followed things were never quite that bad, but I kept having spells of dizziness and light-headedness. These got fewer and more mild as time went on, thankfully, but kept me more or less incapacitated until recently. Obviously certain activities made everything worse (basically anything that involves me looking up and down a lot, or has me turning quickly).

That said, it has given me some ideas for how illness can play into a story. So often sicknesses are portrayed as the usual symptoms: coughing, sneezing, fever. All that is fine, but I can imagine how something like an inner ear infection could cause bad headaches and vertigo, which would lead to different challenges for a character beyond merely feeling bad.

Sigilism pt4: Disbursement

This will be my final post detailing Sigilism. For those of you who have missed the earlier posts, you can find them HERE, HERE, and HERE.

With that out-of-the-way, let’s dive right in.

Foundational Principle of Disbursement

Once again, this principle is fairly straightforward as it deals with what is required to get a sigil to work. In brief, the rule states that: Sigils require that silver be on the bearer’s person at the time of casting, which is “burned” to fuel the spell.

This is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, although the burned silver does not do anything dramatic like burst into flames. Instead, as the sigil is used the silver is transformed bit by bit into a fine black powder. Because of the apparent similarities between this powder and soot it is said that the silver was “burned” in the process of casting the spell.

Technically the silver doesn’t have to be held directly by the sigil bearer; unlike the sigil itself the silver does not need to be in physical contact with the user. That said, the Foundational Principle of Proximity appears to be very strongly linked to the silver. Even a small separation between the individual and the silver source results in an exponential increase in the amount of silver which must be burned to create a desired effect.

Other details that impact how quickly silver will be burned are how strong of an effect is desired, the distance between the sigil and the intended target, and how proficient the sigil bearer is. The exact cost tends to very from sigil to sigil, and from bearer to bearer, but as a rule of thumb most sigil bearers try to carry a respectable chunk of silver with them. Moreover many noble houses with access to sigil magic keep silver stockpiles, to ensure that interruptions in the Empire’s silver supply won’t hinder their ability to use their magic.

Sigilism pt3: Proximity

If you haven’t read the LAST TWO posts I put up on the magic system I’ve been working on for my NaNoWriMo novella I urge you to do so, as this continues exploring the topic by diving into the second foundational principle: Proximity.

Foundational Principle of Proximity

Unlike the Principle of Harmony, it is fairly easy to understand the implications of Proximity, which reads: Sigils require physical contact with their bearer to function. Similarly, the magic can affect closer targets more strongly. While this is fairly straightforward it comes with a few corollaries and side effects that are worth getting into.

But first we should explain exactly what it means. Using a sigil’s magic on a target that is 100 meters away will result in a weaker effect than using it on a target that is 50 meters away (for the same amount of silver burned). A sigil always acts most strongly on a target which the user is physically touching. It is possible to use something like a staff as an intermediary to touch something by proxy, although this is not as good as physical contact with the object itself and subject to limitations imposed by what the magic does (i.e. if the sigil acts upon metal than a metal rod will work quite well, while a wooden staff may provide no practical benefit).

The Principle of Proximity is why a sigil’s user must be in contact with the sigil if they wish to make use of it’s magic, and why the silver they burn in the process of using the magic (more about that in the post on Emolument) needs to be on their person. You might think this would also mean that a sigil would stop functioning for anyone other than the individual the Imperial Library created it for, however that isn’t quite the case. Those who share a blood relation to the original bearer can also use the sigil, although they will find it’s strength is notable weaker. The closer their relation, the stronger it will be.

Because of this a sigil can be passed on from the original user to one of their offspring (and their offspring, and so on), however over time the sigil’s power inevitably wanes due to the increased “distance” between the current user and the original bearer. Over time a sigil’s power will eventually become so weak that it is functionally inert, which is a fact the Imperial Library uses to help keep a leash on just how available sigil magic is within the empire.

Sigilism pt2: Harmony

In my last post I covered what Sigilism is and provided some background behind it before briefly laying out the three foundational principles that govern the magic’s behavior. Here I shall go into the first foundational principle, Harmony, in greater detail.

Foundational Principle of Harmony

While giving my broad overview of the three foundational principles I said that the principle of harmony states: Sigils are much weaker if the powers they grant do not work in harmony toward a common end. Okay. Great. What does that mean?

Sigils have a very focused nature. They are made to do one thing, and any aspect of their behavior which does not work toward that same goal ultimately ends up hindering their function. You can think of it sort of like the difference between a normal wrench and an adjustable one. The normal wrench is ideal for tightening a very specifically sized bolt, and while an adjustable wrench may be able to do the same job it isn’t specifically designed for that particular size of bolt and so may slip and round off the corners, may have trouble fitting into the space available, or have other drawbacks. This means that a lot of thought needs to go into how a sigil will accomplish the task that is set before it.

Let’s look at an example of a noble who wants to create a sigil that allows them to create fires. According to the Principle of Harmony this would mean that they cannot also freeze things, correct? Well…maybe. It depends on what approach they decide to take.

The most straightforward approach would be to have the sigil simply create enough heat to set a fire. In this instance you would be 100% correct if you believed that the sigil could not both start a fire and freeze something. Freezing a thing requires a reduction in energy, which is exactly the opposite of what this sigil is designed to do. Attempting to create a sigil that could both start a fire and freeze things would result in one that is unable to do either, as the actions of creating thermal energy and destroying it cancel each other out.

But what if we look at the problem another way. Instead of creating heat out of nothing perhaps it would be better to move heat around, taking it from one (or several) objects and concentrating it in another. In this case a clever person may realize that they have gotten the ability to freeze things for free in the deal. Simply remove heat from a single source (such as a glass of water) and spread it to other objects until the temperature drops as far as desired.

Actually, the person who gets a sigil that moves heat around will probably notice they can get a number of free powers. The sigil would be able to make them more resistant to temperature extremes (by regulating how quickly heat enters or leaves their bodies). If they start a fire, they have a readily available way to put it out again. Someone who is especially concerned with petty niceties could even make sure that their meals never get cold.

With so many benefits to the second approach why would anyone prefer the first? That gets back to the base nature of the sigils. Looking at our second example, it is moving heat around. This means that it is taking the heat out of something, and placing it into something else. You cannot simply remove the heat, nor can you just generate heat out of nothing. This comes with a number of limitations, but the chief one is that as the temperature gradient increases it necessarily becomes more difficult to move more heat as it naturally wishes to flow in the opposite direction. A sigil which simply creates heat (or removes it, for that matter) does not have that restriction.

One major consequence of this is that if it is cold enough the sigil which moves heat around might not actually be able to start a fire. There might not be enough heat that the user can concentrate to get a flame, and it will be difficult to keep the heat concentrated properly to start a fire. Attempting to do so is likely to burn a lot of silver. By contrast a sigil that simply creates heat needs to only create enough to light the fire.

Also keep in mind that the sigil which creates heat can have other powers associated with it as well, provided they are closely linked to its purpose. Do you want to be able to create a fireball in your hand without burning yourself? That is possible, as it involves controlling where the energy you are creating will go. Just keep in mind that ideally the secondary abilities are involved in either helping to control the primary power, or are logical extensions of it. Stepping outside those bounds will weaken the sigil. Not burning yourself with a flame of your creation is one thing, but being completely immune to all fire regardless of source is completely different.

There is an odd extension to this: anyone who wears two sigils at once will find that both are rendered impotent unless both do exactly the same thing in exactly the same way. In effect, wearing two sigils results in behavior similar to a single sigil that is poorly designed. Moreover, wearing two identical sigils does not improve their potency. In theory someone could swap between sigils by taking one-off and putting another on, however the magic is so heavily restricted this has yet to become an issue. Even noble families wealthy enough to maintain several sigils prefer to have them wielded by multiple individuals.

Sigilism pt1: Overview

For my coming novella I wanted to try my hand at a story quite different from the Honor’s Path series. This comes with a shift to a setting that is inspired by a combination of Feudal France and the Byzantine Empire. It also means that I’ve decided to try my hand at writing a story with magic. Not going for high fantasy here, so don’t expect mages slinging absurdly powerful spells.

Sigilism

Sigilism is the art of inscribing runes. Done properly the runes act as a focus for magic abilities. Medallions with these runes upon them are called “Sigils”, both because they resemble the stamps nobility use in official correspondence and because they are believed to “seal” the magic within the medallion itself. These Sigils can be of any size, however because there is no need to make them particularly large they are typically small enough to wear—an important consideration since it allows the user to keep it on hand.

Currently the only way to gain a Sigil is to petition for one from the Imperial Library, which has been given this duty by the Emperor himself. This petition requires a sizable monetary donation to even be considered, and takes into account the petitioner’s family ties and standing in the empire. This effectively restricts the ownership of Sigils to noble families and a few especially wealthy merchants who have a proven record of supporting the Emperor. Occasionally they have also been granted as an award to those who have done the empire a great service, although this is especially rare as it requires a direct intervention by the emperor.

This obviously means that the majority of sigils are in the hands of wealthier noble houses. Nobility that have seen their fortunes in decline, common citizens, and the growing merchant class are almost entirely excluded. In addition to this, even those who are wealthy enough to repeatedly make petitions for new sigils will see most of their requests denied. While there are actions that can be taken to increase the likelihood that a petition will be granted (such as returning an older sigil as part of a request for a replacement) the system is largely designed to ensure that the magic remains rare, keeping access to it under Imperial control.

 

Protecting the Secret of Sigilism

Following an attempt by dissident elements to create their own sigils (which led to a bloody war and triggered several disasters), the Imperial Library founded the Inquisition to prevent such heresies in the future. Their charter grants them authority access to everywhere in the empire except the imperial residences, and to imprison anyone except for the Emperor’s immediate family in the pursuit of those who would attempt a repeat of the tragedy.

Those who join the Inquisition are all senior members of the Imperial Library who have been specifically screened for their loyalty—only the most zealous of the empire’s supporters are permitted. Because their powers to investigate are effectively unlimited, and they are imbued with the right to mete out summary justice as they see fit, this is a powerful posting which has the ability to topple even powerful noble families. Most do their best to avoid the Inquisition’s notice, however ambitious individuals are often willing to help an Inquisitor in the hopes of being rewarded. This is especially dangerous, however, as most Inquisitors expect to be assisted as a matter of course for the good of the empire. To do otherwise carries the taint of heresy.

Despite, or perhaps because of, the power the Inquisition wields it is a remarkably small organization within the Imperial Library. No more than nine members exist at any given time. That said, they have the authority to command any troops within the empire, so in the event that they do require additional manpower it is almost always readily available.

 

The Foundational Principles

While the Inquisition has thus far been remarkably successful in its goal of preventing the spread of information about how Sigilism works, some amount necessarily needed to be allowed simply because the Empire does allow those it deems worth to posses a sigil. Thus the focus has been on preventing the knowledge of how the Imperial Library makes a sigil from spreading. Despite this, the more foundational principles behind the magic are not considered state secrets, and thus it is permissible for those outside the library to learn them (although anyone without a sigil who does so is sure to raise a few eyebrows).

These principles are said to be the foundation on which Sigilism is built, acting as a guide for what the magic can do and what it needs to do it. Anything pertaining to the actual creation of a sigil is deemed both too complicated and too sensitive for public release, however these three principles are enough to inform a petitioner about what they can reasonably expect.

The three Foundational Principles will be expanded upon later, however in brief they are:

Harmony: Sigils are significantly weaker when their powers do not work in harmony toward a common end.
Proximity: Sigils require physical contact with their bearer to function. Similarly, the magic can affect closer targets more strongly.
Disbursement: Sigils require a payment of silver at the time of casting, which is “burned” to fuel the spell.

November NaNoWriMo plans, book update!

Just a short update before I start having regular posts going up here once more (I’ve got a backlog built up that should carry me through November), but I wanted to officially say that I will be participating in NaNoWriMo this year. Everything is already set to go, I just need to throw the switch and start working on it.

There is one slight caveat: because I will be traveling by car for Thanksgiving I intend to start 2 days early (tomorrow) to make up for the time I will lose driving. For a time I actually considered starting 5 days early (enough to cover the entire duration of my Thanksgiving plans), but ultimately decided that didn’t really fit the spirit of NaNoWriMo.

To be perfectly honest, I’m a bit nervous about this undertaking. This year hasn’t been the greatest for me when it comes to writing, so I’m a bit wary of my ability to complete this. That said, I’ve found that doing the thing that keeps me feeling safe is rarely the way forward.

For those that are interested, I am also beginning the next editing pass on my novel. This is less about major story changes, and more just cleaning up what is there, tightening the prose, and so forth. At this point I am committed to launching the book in Spring of 2018, but I am not yet ready to set down a specific date so keep an eye out.

Paved With Good Intentions

Below the cut is an account of a Stellaris game I played.

It Started Innocently Enough

The Panuri Republic was founded with a simple desire: to peacefully expand their influence as far as possible. Once further expansion was prohibited by other empires they would then focus on their economy by peacefully creating Orbital Habitats, Ring Worlds, and Dyson Spheres. The universe they entered was well suited for this. During their entire existence there would be no late-game crisis, and there were no stagnant empires that might issue demands. Furthermore, they did not wish for a massive bureaucracy and preferred to restrict their holdings to only those systems which they could govern directly.

They were Fanatically Pacifist. This is important, as it meant the idea entering an offensive war for any reason was politically unpalatable. Only defensive conflicts were permissible. Thus the Panuri Republic would never annex an enemy settlement just because it would be convenient. They would, in effect, be forced accept borders where they stood. This focus away from conflict did come with some benefits though: their government was able to focus entirely on administering its holdings allowing it to govern more systems directly.

Their inward focus also made them somewhat Xenophobic. As they did not wish to be drawn into conflicts they claimed a larger buffer than usual. This same inward focus allowed them to strive for Inward Perfection, which coupled with their tradition of Agrarian Idyll, ensured they generated a large amount of unity, leading to the quick development of traditions (and ultimately Ascension Perks).

 

Initial Peaceful Expansion

One thing I forgot to mention is that the Panuri species had the non-adaptive trait. They were quite intelligent, and reproduced rapidly, however they weren’t able to live on planets that weren’t dominated by savanna like their homeworld. This slowed their early expansion somewhat as they needed to develop the ability to terraform and then wait until many of the nearest planets were suited for colonization.

As a result, their first colonies were fairly dispersed. This resulted in stretched borders which would have been an issue except their corner of the galaxy turned out to be fairly lonely, leaving them free to colonize only the choicest planets while they built frontier outposts to claim other desirable systems for terraforming and later colonization (after they expanded the number of core systems they could govern effectively).

Eventually they did meet a couple of empires, however. The first was the Unity Star Regime, who they quickly signed a Non-Agression Pact with. Their borders became a little tangled which resulted in modest diplomatic tension, but nothing too serious. The Unity Star Regime had a single forward colony that was annoying, but the Panuri Republic managed to contain it and was willing to coexist. The biggest problem with these aliens, from the perspective of the Panuri, was that they were militant and as such there was a possibility they would eventually decide to attack. They were xenophilic as well, however, so relations improved and the Panuri Republic ultimately secured a defensive agreement after encountering a second rival.

These guys were much more dangerous. The Star Realm of Ztrakpor. A nation of hegemonic imperialists. Both authoritarian and fanatically militaristic. The moment they were encountered the Panuri Republic knew conflict was inevitable as hegemonic imperialists believe that their empire ought to rule over everything. This new contact caused both the Star Realm of Ztrakpor and the Panuri Republic to establish many frontier outposts to claim desirable resources before borders stabilized along a line that ran roughly from the galactic center to the outer rim. It was at this point that the Panuri Republic realized the Star Realm of Ztrakpor was expanding its military forces.

This was obviously the prelude to an invasion, so research shifted toward military tech as the Panuri began to build up a fleet of their own to discourage the imperialists. The plan was to remain powerful enough that the Star Realm of Ztrakpor would prefer conquering smaller empires first, leaving them alone long enough to begin boosting their economy to absurd levels thanks to their newly developed ability to build Orbital Habitats.

They began to move all (or most) energy production and research into orbit by filling out all already inhabited systems with orbital habitats. This in turn allowed them to convert planets into massive mining operations, where they would receive the biggest bonuses from structures which provide a percentage based boost to mining facilities. Thus they could maintain the resources necessary to support their new fleet with enough left over to pursue their original ambitions to construct megastructures.

That was the plan anyway.

 

A Speed Bump And A Solution

The Panuri Republic’s economy was actually fairly powerful at this point, so they could rapidly expand energy production and research, which in turn allowed them to expand their mining operations on planets. Eventually they ran into a problem, however. You see, to keep up their momentum they needed to greatly expand their population to maintain an economy that could support the military with enough leftover to continue development plans. Because they could build orbital facilities in existing systems this was fairly easy, at least until they encountered a bottleneck that hadn’t been considered: food production.

Long story short, at their rate of expansion production would soon be outstripped by demand. They briefly considered making orbital farms, however orbital facilities are clearly more suited for research and energy generation. When it comes to mining and food production they are noticeably less efficient. The ideal situation would be to concentrate farming to small planets, where mining operations wouldn’t gain much benefit due to their limited scale. There were two problems with this:

ONE— They didn’t currently have any systems settled that contained small planets. Early efforts had focused on grabbing the largest (and most desirable) planets first with the expectation that the smaller planets could be colonized at a later date. By this point the Panuri Republic could support a couple of new core systems, however just a couple wouldn’t be nearly enough to suit their needs.

TWO— Building all that infrastructure would take time and resources. Time they weren’t sure they had, and resources that could be better spent maintaining the newly modernized fleet (along with the second that was in the process of being constructed).

So a survey was conducted of the empire in search of a solution. It needed to be something that could accomplished quickly with minimum investment of resources, and also something that would only take up one or two planets until the empire could further expand how many core systems it could administer. That was when the Panuri noticed them: two planets in their empire that were populated by pre-sentient species.

 

Galactic Politics Shift, and THE Solution is Implemented

They immediately set out to colonize both planets and began the process of uplifting the species in question as the Panuri had recently improved their ability to genetically engineer species (for unrelated reasons). This was going to take a little time, however it was still by far the fastest option at their disposal.

During the wait several other things happened. Contact was made with the Opalglec Autocracy, a nation of authoritarian xenophobic militarists. Fortunately there wasn’t a common border. They did share a border with the Unity Star Regime however, which by now was a respectable military power that nonetheless lacked the resources to challenge it’s larger neighbor (the Panuri Republic would later conclude the Unity Star Regime was initially motivated to accept the early defensive treaty in order keep the Opalglec Autocracy at bay).

In order to permanently counter the threat posed by the Opalglec Autocracy, the Unity Star Regime founded a federation with other powers that were local to it’s immediate area (though far from Panuri borders). This federation was dubbed the Propitious League, with the Republican Adeex Systems (egalitarian, xenophile, materialists). Within a few years the Chinorr Stellar Union, made up of egalitarian militarist materialists, had also joined. Early on this joint effort met with good success against the Opalglec Autocracy, checking it’s power.

At the time the Panuri believed this indicated that their flank was secure, as it was a shared border with the Unity Star Regime. The Propitious League had made modest expansions in that direction, which although annoying was something the Panuri were willing to tolerate. However the Panuri began to focus their own expansion efforts on that area as well in order to reinforce their sphere of influence in the region.

Meanwhile the uplift was a success and the plan could begin in earnest. Within months both uplifted species had been engineered to be fast breeding and nerve stapled. This would make them fill out their respective planets rapidly, while also ensuring they would not suffer from unhappiness and thus be subject to revolt. There was also one other trait these client species were given, the key to the Panuri plan: Delicious. They were then enslaved and used as livestock, solving the food problem in a single stroke.

With that the bottleneck was eliminated and the Panuri Republic was able to turn their attention to completing the first ringworld, while their two fleets remained positioned to counter the inevitable confrontation with the expansionist Star Realm of Ztrakpor… Wait… What’s this? The Propitious League has declared war?

 

The Slide Begins

Let’s back up a moment and recall the Propitious League’s formation. Members of a federation cannot have independent relations outside that federation (except trade deals and migration treaties). The federation as a whole can grant Association Status to nations, effectively giving that empire a Non-Aggression Treaty with all federation members, however that is the extent of it. This means that when the Unity Star Regime created their federation they necessarily ended their Defensive Pact with the Panuri Republic, and their recent expansions (along with the Panuri moves to shore up their sphere of influence) had created a fair amount of border friction.

You may also notice something else about the members of the Propitious League: they are all xenophiles or egalitarians. They like other species, and as such were frankly horrified by the plan to uplift other species with the specific intent of enslaving and eating them. As such they went to war, demanding that the Panuri Republic stop committing “atrocities”, and while they were at it they would attempt to seize a few border systems as well.

The first exchanges went poorly for the Panuri, mostly because their entire military was deployed on the wrong border. Several space stations and mining stations were lost, but then the combined might of the two Panuri fleets arrived to back up the republic’s counter demands. As total pacifists they were unable to push for the annexation of any systems, however there was another tool at their disposal thanks to their xenophobic trait. They could demand that the Propitious League cleanse colonies they created. So it was that the Panuri Republic demanded that the Unity Star Regime abandon every colony it had along their shared border, which would resolve the border tension.

Their initial gains were quickly reversed and the Panuri Republic began to make progress into Propitious League territory within a couple of years. Pinning down the enemy fleets was much more difficult, and the first clashes actually dealt more damage to Panuri forces than anticipated (although they still gave better than they got). Eventually the Panuri were able to ambush their foes just as they came out of warp with both of their fleets, and nearly wiped out the enemy’s military in a decisive battle before it could retreat.

 

The Second Front

With the Propitious League’s military subdued, the Panuri rapidly secured their objectives. Rather than immediately offer terms they instead chose to press on, reducing the league’s military capability in the long-term by destroying orbital facilities so their recovery time would be extended. Some pockets of resistance remained, but before things could be finished a second war was started. This time declared by the Star Realm of Ztrakpor, and they managed to gain the support of the Uri Confederated Tribes (a nation the Panuri didn’t share a border with, but who were also appalled by the eating of sentient creatures).

The Panuri quickly offered the Propitious League a chance to surrender, which was eagerly accepted, and shifted their forces back to the other boarder. The previous war had ensured the Panuri military was quite experienced, and as a result of the losses that had been taken they had also expanded their forces further by establishing a 3rd fleet. This new, incomplete fleet maintained a defensive posture in friendly territory, while the other two fleets ran rampant through the enemy’s holdings.

During the first battle it was discovered that while the Star Realm of Ztrakpor maintained a sizable military force, it was centered around battleships which lagged behind technologically and were poorly supported to counter the Panuri Republic’s fleets which made use of numerous corvettes carrying torpedos backed by a smaller number of individually more powerful battleships. The Uri Confederated Tribes maintained a technological parity, but they couldn’t field a fleet large enough to compete with the more powerful Panuri Republic. Once again the enemies were crushed and forced to abandon a number of planets, shoring up that border.

In response to this defeat the Uri Confederated Tribes would never again challenge the Panuri Republic, and so much damage was dealt to the Star Realm of Ztrakpor that it was forced to swallow its pride and seek permanent allies while it recovered from its losses.

 

Political Fallout and Internal Shifts

As a result of these wars the Panuri Republic became pariahs within the galaxy, with only one empire willing to continue relations with them (on the far end of the galaxy, and mostly because they were both now rivals of the Star Realm of Ztrakpor). The Propitious League’s power had been severely diminished. Following their defeat, the Opalglec Autocracy moved to avenge past defeats, recovering most lost territory and making new inroads into the league’s holdings. They soon had another boon fall into their lap.

The Star Realm of Ztrakpor found itself without a fleet, many enemies, and extensive holdings that required protection. In order to secure their position they formed a new federation (the Auspicious Concord) with the only power that they had yet to come into conflict with: the Opalglec Autocracy. This gave them enough support to rebuild their military might without the risk of smaller powers picking away at their poorly defended systems. As for the Opalglec Autocracy, this federation gave them allies on the other side of the Propitious League, ensuring that any future conflicts would force their foes to fight on two fronts.

Because of shifting attitudes outside the empire, and as a result of having two separate groups invade, the Panuri Republic underwent an internal political shift. Many more citizens became xenophobic, and the government decided to embrace this change which turned the empire as a whole toward fanatical xenophobia. This came with two consequences. Most immediately it extended the republic’s claimed borders an additional 16%, providing more of a buffer in the event of future conflicts.

It also caused the pacifists in power to lose influence. While still nominally pacifistic, this was no longer a fanatical belief. The empire still lacked the will to annex planets which belonged to others, however it could liberate enemy planets to set up smaller puppet governments which would act as a buffer between itself and more powerful foes.

In preparation for this the Panuri Republic completed work on their first ringworld, which was promptly geared toward research. Immediately after they also constructed a Dyson Sphere and a Sensor Array, giving their scientists time to research significant improvements for the fleets. This dedicated focus on research soon made the Panuri Republic the most advanced nation in the galaxy, with much of that edge residing in its increasingly formidable military. Their grip on the immediate region tightened considerably as they began a program of constructing fortresses in strategic locations to hamper any attempt to invade, and once complete they started on a second ringworld just before launching a number of punitive strikes.

 

The Time of Reckoning

Remembering that the Propitious League was the first to have violated their territory, the Panuri Republic launched a fresh campaign to strip it of holdings that lay near the outer rim, both to deny them to the federation and to install a sympathetic government that would act as a buffer between the republic and the increasingly powerful Opalglec Autocracy. This initial strike went off flawlessly, with the Propitious League being unable to respond to the attack thanks to the distances involved and threats posed by other powers. The result was the foundation of the Adeex Stellar Principality, which was adopted as a client state.

Seeing the success of this first campaign, the Panuri decided to establish another client state at the cost of the Propitious League. This time the blow would land squarely on the founding member, creating a second buffer between the Panuari Republic and the Unity Star Regime it still shared a border with. The fighting was much more intense this time, although the Propitious League avoided any direct confrontations in favor of quick strikes aimed at simply slowing the invasion’s progress. Even so, one of their fleets was eventually pinned down and crushed, causing their position to collapse and resulting in the end of the war shortly after. This led to the founding of the Adeex Galactic Mandate, which was also taken as a client state.

With these two victories the Panurai League’s ethics again shifted and they finally abandoned their policy of pacifism to embrace a militarist outlook, reasoning that if fighting was to happen it was best if it occurred outside of their borders. They thus embarked on a final campaign against the now weakened Propitious League, this time aiming to make a vassal of the Unity Star Regime itself. This would accomplish two goals. First, it would deny the conquest to the increasingly belligerent Opalglec Autocracy. Second, it would completely remove the threat posed by the Propitious League by denying it one of the two principle military powers that supported it.

The fight was incredibly one-sided, however the members of the Propitious League resisted until the last with the knowledge that a defeat here would forever cripple their ability to protect their interests. Coordinated efforts between the three fleets of the Panuri Republic methodically ground down all resistance, promptly striking at any enemy fleets that were detected while planet after planet fell before the military juggernaut. Soon every world of the Unity Star Regime was occupied, but the Propitious League continued to fight. It wasn’t until the capital of the Chinorr Stellar Union was also occupied and the capital of the Republican Adeex Systems was under siege that they finally capitulated.

Following these wars, the Auspicious Concord began to strike at the now weakened Propitious League, using the new conquests to further strengthen the Opalglec Autocracy while also fueling the Star Realm of Ztrakpor’s recovery. The Panuri watched this development closely, knowing it would only be a matter of time before it needed to bring it’s fleets to bear again, but for now chose to consolidate their gains and focus on the development of the newly completed second ringworld.

 

Groundwork For The Final Descent

The second ringworld’s completion allowed the Panuri Republic to expand its industry on a massive scale. Once the construction of infrastructure was completed there was enough surplus that any wartime losses could be easily absorbed and work promptly began on a third ringworld to further expand this advantage. In addition, production facilities for the swift, efficient construction of new warships were installed in the Spaceports that served the ringworld.

Additional fortifications were constructed in anticipation of a conflict with the Auspicious Concord, geared toward keeping the Opalglec Autocracy from easily assisting the Star Realm of Ztrakpor. During this time the enemy fleet composition was examined with the help of the Sensor Array, and all ships were refitted with technology specifically selected to counter enemy weapon and defensive systems.

Genetic engineering was also conducted on the Panuri race for the first time, something which had thus far been avoided in order to focus research efforts on improving military technology. The race’s intelligence was augmented substantially, in addition to their strength and resilience in combat. Furthermore, a new force of genetically engineered gene warriors was raised and augmented by clone commandos.

During this time a plan was devised to cause as much damage to the Auspicious Concord as swiftly as possible by focusing on reducing the weaker of the two members before pivoting to deal with the stronger partner. The goal was to launch a massive attack upon the Star Realm of Ztrakpor in two separate offensive waves, destroying their most vital infrastructure. During this fighting fleets from the Opalglec Autocracy that came to assist their allies would be specifically targeted and wiped out, thereby checking their efforts to expand at the cost of the Propitious League’s remnants.

 

Ultimate Conclusion

Once the groundwork was complete the Panuri Republic immediately launched a sweeping campaign that first aimed at stripping the Star Realm of Ztrakpor of all border worlds as well as it’s capital, opening it up to further attacks in a second war. The initial attacks quickly captured their targets, but as the Auspicious Concord mobilized it began a counterattack that focused on recapturing lost planets while avoiding challenging the Panuri Republic’s superior naval forces. Several times the enemy was brought to battle, but in every instance they would escape with an emergency jump the moment their drives were charged.

As a result this first war took longer than anticipated. Although eventually the Star Realm of Ztrakpor was forced to cleanse the targeted worlds, and while losses were light, the Opalglec Autocracy’s fleet had survived mostly intact which would make the second phase more difficult. To address this concern the Panuri immediately devised a new type of fortification that would focus more on survivability than dealing damage to enemy ships, and equipped it with a snare to capture fleets as they came out of a jump. Weapons would specifically be geared toward targeting smaller vessels, so that any transports would be prioritized.

When the second wave of attacks was launched, this time the Star Realm of Ztrakpor would be forced to cleanse it’s most developed worlds, and the strikes would be launched as deep as possible to make sure as much economic damage was inflicted as possible. Construction ships were brought along for this campaign, and when a planet was secured one of the new fortresses was constructed in a location where a relief force could jump in right on top of the attackers.

This time the damage dealt to the enemy forces was devastating. In total the Opalglec Autocracy possessed four fleets, with a combined power roughly 2/3rds that of the Panuri Republic. Each of these fleets was trapped when they attempted to aid the Star Realm of Ztrakpor, completely breaking the military might of the Auspicious Concord. Further, the Star Realm of Ztrakpor’s infrastructure losses when they cleansed their planets caused them to be set upon by many smaller empires while previously conquered species rebelled, ultimately fracturing the empire.

While their situation dissolved, and during the cease-fire that had been agreed to, the Panuri Republic made the move to invade the High Kingdom of Sakyt Ux to make it a vassal, preemptively securing its holdings from the Auspicious Concord who might try to jump-start a recovery by annexing them. This empire was then heavily fortified to serve as a jumping-off point for a fresh attack on the now weakened Opalglec Autocracy that commenced the moment the cease-fire expired.

Rather than focus on conquest for the opening phases, this time the Panuri Republic’s chosen strategy assigned a different task to each of their 3 fleets. The first was tasked to continually pursue the one military force the Opalglec Autocracy had managed to rebuild. If the enemy continued to run then they would be prevented from retaking captured worlds. The second fleet would simply jump from world to world, wiping out military bases and starports, crippling their ability to replace losses. The third fleet would drive for the Opalglec Autocracy’s homeworld to conquer it, then begin working its way out from there.

Unlike previous wars with the Auspicious Concord, cleansing was not the goal of this attack. For the first time the Panuri Republic would actually be demanding another nation cede its planets for reasons that should be quite clear once one detail is shared: the sudden expansion in population allowed by the ringworlds (as well as other colonies that had since been established) meant that food was once again a bottleneck. Yes the existing livestock species could be spread to new worlds for expanded production, but even with their quick breeding that would take time and there was a war on. The planets held by the Opalglec Autocracy were already filled with population however…

Sadly, although the Auspicious Concord still existed on paper, the Star Realm of Ztrakpor had effectively dissolved which forced the Opalglec Autocracy to stand on their own. As such they collapsed almost immediately, at which point the game determined the Panuri Republic possessed enough of the galaxy to declare victory. That said, given the current trajectory the Panuri Republic had been placed on I imagine it is not a stretch to assume they went on to conquer (and eat) everyone else as well.

And to think, at the beginning they only wanted to be left alone.

Eclipse (Aug. 21st, 2017)

So the big news today pretty much everywhere in the US is the eclipse. To be honest, I had an opportunity to drive about an hour north to see the totality region, however as I didn’t buy any viewing glasses (and was reluctant to deal with the traffic that would be caused by everyone else who had the same thought), I decided to stay home.

Still, my area is pretty close to there. If I had to guess I would say around +90%. That still ends up being pretty bright, around sunset levels of light, but that still makes for a pretty sharp contrast. As I write this we are about 15 minutes past our darkest point.

Here is one of the pictures I was able to capture with my Pixel’s camera:

[image error]

Some things to realize about this picture:

First off, this is WAY darker looking than it actually was. I actually cranked the brightness settings all the way down to make the result more impactful.

Second, you will notice that looking at the sun still doesn’t show much. This is because the sun is SUPER bright. Which is why you don’t look at it with your naked eyes. Even at less than 10% it can still do damage. However if you look below the sun, between the trees there, you can see a reflection of what is going on (off of my camera’s lens if I had to guess). Because it is a reflection things are mirrored, but they are also light enough to make out what is going on.

Another Progress Report, and other news

So it has been over a month since I last updated here, which means it is past time for another. This time I have more than just talk about my progress on By Duty Bound(although I have some of that too!), so buckle up.

By Duty Bound

Lets get this out-of-the-way first. I am about half-finished editing chapter 14 of By Duty Bound. Considering that the book has 25 chapters, I realize that sounds like I am just over 50% finished, however when you consider the work involved it is actually probably closer to 70% or more. Part of what has slowed me down is that I keep finding sections that would be much improved by rewriting them, mostly because of changes I am making elsewhere in the book. Not all of these are too major, but they do force me to slow down and think about how to handle the scene.

That said I only have one more major rewrite (along with several smaller ones), before I get to move on to the next phases. At my current rate of progress my hope is to have that done sometime before the end of September. Now that said, I am also strongly beginning to look at pushing back the release of the book until Spring 2018 (I was hoping for by the end of the year, but events that transpired during the spring may have made that unfeasible). My concern isn’t so much that I cannot get the book out before the end of the year, but rather that attempting to do so will not do the story justice.

So with that sobering thought, lets leave this point off on a high note. Cover art has been commissioned for By Duty Bound, provided by Johanna Tarkela (aka Johis). This is the same artist who did my last cover for In Honor’s Shadow and it is a real treat that I was able to get her again. I am not ready to show the cover (largely because it is not finished yet), however until then take a look at the concept sketch:

[image error]Art by Johanna Tarkela

 

Coming Short Story

I am well aware that I have neglected this blog while I fight to get my book into shape, so yesterday I sat my butt down and wrote out a short fiction based on an experience I had in a video game. It is effectively a dramatized retelling of what happened. It certainly isn’t the best piece of fiction, but I think it is an amusing story from the perspective of how a player might enter a game with one motive, and then have events ultimately take them in a completely different direction.

 

Holiday Plans

Obviously these are subject to changes given that it is so early in the year, however I wanted to lay them out. Thanksgiving will involve visiting my paternal grandmother, so I am not sure how much work I shall be able to do during that visit (which will likely last 4 or 5 days, travel included). Naturally I will attempt to do what I can, however depending on the situation that may not be possible.

Christmas will be spent at home for the first time in 3 or 4 years. This is something I am very much looking forward to because as much as I enjoy spending it with relatives it would be very nice to just have that time to myself for once. New Years is a similar situation, and I am hoping that no new family emergencies spring up to take me away from this.

Slow, Steady Progress

Currently about 40% done with this revision of By Duty Bound, and in the midst of the parts that need heavy structural changes. This always feels like a serious slog, and now is no different. Fortunately I know that putting the work in NOW will mean less work overall later.

That doesn’t make it any less of a drag though.

I mention this because I have just run into the first chapter that needs a lot of changes (including one whole scene that requires a complete rewrite). In all about 5 (maybe 6) chapters that need this level of care. Everything else can be fixed more quickly, unless I am misjudging my notes. If I do my job well then the next drafts will get to delve into the nitty-gritty of grammar and story flow. Oh joy.