Human Civilization Generally

Most of world is city-states protecting nearby farms and wild food sources. Vast stretches of wilderness.

Continental Population

Old empire: 5 million per city; 40 million in the outlying areas; effectively 10 million in the story area

Year (AG)

Pop. Eastern Areas

Dorflich

-100

(pk) 10,000,000

100

1,000,000

3,000

600

6,000,000

1800

(pk) 8,000,000

2150

(pk) 250.000

2300

4,000,000

240,000

Currency

Most local areas will have their own currency. Though it is typically backed by beast cores, and given the small size of beasts cores, beasts cores will often functionally operate as a universal currency. Even when a spiritualist uses the local currency, they will often use beast cores as a store of value when moving between different local areas.

It should be noted that beast cores will increase in size as a beast ages, and that larger beasts typically will have large cores to begin with. In so much as the ranking system of beasts is a manmade classification system somewhat arbitrary and subjective, there is no clean exchange between the core of a particularly ranked beast and currency. As such, the conversion of beast cores into currency is typically done as a matter of weight. Nonetheless, beasts of a certain rank will typically convert into a relatively well defined range of currency.

Roughly speaking, the midpoint of value of one rank vs. the midpoint of value of the next rank is approximately 100x. This theorized to be caused by two multiplicative phenomena. First, the strength of such creatures increases by an order of magnitude. Second, they also become an order of magnitude rarer. As such, the value of the cores increases by 2 orders of magnitude.

As a side effect of same, it will be noted that the currency value of beast cores of beasts within any arbitrary area, will always be heavily weighted in favor of higher ranked beasts. I.e., in a certain area, 100 G-ranked beasts will be found; then typically 10 F-ranked beasts will be found in the same area, as well as 1 E-ranked beast. Using Dorflich marks as an example, the value in marks of their beast cores will be approximately 100 marks, 1,000 marks, and 10,000 marks.

Beast cores have no known use to humans beyond as currency.

Beast cores harvested from beasts will slowly degrade over time.

Grams per square centimeter per year

Beast cores provide the needed impetus for beasts to attack men. Do beast cores provide a soul boost to them. Beast cores are far beyond human understanding due to lack of mundane knowledge.

Common Prices in Dorflich

Beer

1

Cheap Meal

1

Month Eating Out

90

Month Groceries

45

Dingy Apartment

300 / month

Cheap Clothing

100

Fine Clothing

1000

Leather Armor

1000

Mail Armor

10,000

Plate Armor

100,000

Cheap Sword

100

Fine Sword

1,000

Incense

100 / month

Farming 4 persons per acre of cropland, supplemented with Beast meat. 1 farmer can feed 12 (inclusive) Farming in Dorflich Valley is concentrated along the river, streams and creeks that cross the valley Enemy of Humanity

Stability between gods and the devils, and the two human empires (yin-yang) which supported them. 2000 years ago. A holy war erupted between the gods and the devils. (The latter aren't necessarily evil). Mankind was divided in support of the two sides and they waged their own proxy wars as the holy war continued. Reshaped landscape. Mankind's depopulated; empires and cities fell. Great knowledge and artifacts were lost. Gods and devils left this plane after devastating losses for themselves. Some relation between the dark power and the latter.

Mankind began to recover. __ AG (After Gods) the first beasts came. Though relatively harmless, slowly led to a shift to more martial society. Populations continued to recover. 600 AG it looked like mankind might reengaged in war again. Beasts began to rise in levels significantly. Though this eventually stabilized. Standing armies of city guards. Outlet for mankind's violence; brotherhood of man against nature. Subject to isolated pockets of orthodoxy.

He actually releases new beasts on a fairly regularly basis, and they spread through the ecosystem. He largely replaced all animals as of 50 years ago, and so started on the so-called extinct or mythical creatures. These have been particularly deadly and led to the collapse of several cities (need to figure out how many cities are in the greater area; work off population figures). Though fortunately its largely started near the Deadlands and moved east.

Notwithstanding Ashira’s modifications that created the beasts, in order to instill in them the continuous hatred that leads them to attack, he left the barest tag of ki with them, which would pass to children (work that out). This is only really perceptible when comparing a beast with an animal (can work in a scene comparing the last pig population to a captured Boar, or something like that). But need to be A-ranked to perceive. That said, it means an A-ranker can also use a beast as a compass to Ashira.

Also, on account of the ki tag, if Ashira were to be killed or expelled from this plane, the beasts, though still deadly compared to the animals of old, will calm significantly. With the new creatures in play, actually, in so much as it’s a marching from west to east thing, doesn’t matter when it happens as long as at least one city left. That said, this window of opportunity may or may not have been known in the last timeline. In any event, the faster Evert can get it done, the more lives that can be saved, because he can never defend all cities from attack.

He is protected by four guardians, east, west, north and south. Shaper he cannot independently intelligent life, nor would such be loyal, and so he took a part of his soul, as encapsulated by an emotion, and used that to create his loyal guardians. Mostly. Greed guardian fucked off.

Ashira had no great love for the Elders. Though he was of the same race, Ashira was a third ranked lifeshaper on a team handling the remaking of this world into a paradise. The Garden, they called it. And as such, Ashira found himself more comfortable watching a sprout grown, or a [nellie] run, or—absent such joys—time in the research laboratories and stations which made it all possible.

The Elders on the other hand had always seemed to him overly fixated on violence. The harsh training. The duels. The ritualistic wars engaged in every 7 years for the last millennium. The last was particularly deplorable as they had dragged the twin cities of the Children below into their silly rituals. Though the wars only lasted 7 weeks, they were disproportionately harsh on the Children, who would war for 6 days, then rest for 1 day; whereas the Elders would rest for those 6 days—spectating!—and then only war for 1 day.

It was sickening, and he thought it was getting worse. His trips to Yin—one of the twin Cities Above—were growing more difficult. And so, with his social niceties taken care of, taxes paid, and permits granted, Ashira descended from Yin to the northern of the children’s cities, emerging out on the grand plaza, and made his way east.

On the other hand, Ashira had a faint degree of fondness for the children. They were always deferential to him, bowing, moving out of his way in the crowd, and greeting him as “Honored One,” or, when they recognized the cut of his dress and the runes on his head, “Learned One,” as befitting a lifeshaper—even a third ranked one.

Nonetheless, it was still a crowd, and while their antics brought a smile to his face, the children simply could not be spoken with as equals. And so Ashira’s complaints fell on no ears, for there were none to listen.

As Ashira climbed a hill seven kilometers out, he turned to glance back. Sitting there on the plains was the children’s city he had just left. He never did learn its name, and thought that he should ask next time he returned. The city was a round disk 7 kilometers in diameter, thick with buildings, and a tall wall around. Even at the outer edge, the buildings were four or five stories, and as they neared the center, the rose in height slowly, and then faster, until at the very center lay a great spire 77 stories tall. Ashira thought perhaps that it was some exponential curve, but he had no knack for citycraft, and so added that to the list of questions to ask. More yet? A quiet voice murmured in his mind.

Above the city, a kilometer high, floated Yin, the great City Above. It sat there, made of light and shadow, air and fire, electricity and magnetism. Unlike the City below, there were no short buildings in Yin, nor any obvious ordering principle. One of the tallest buildings was near the northern edge, and there was a well-known gap in the City where none could build. Indeed, once in a drunken stupor, a party of Warriors had thrown Ashira into that hole. Ashira was shocked to say the least, and fell halfway to the city below before funneling his ki to stop his descent, and rise back up through the hole. They were gone by then, and Ashira went on his way, confused and wounded.

From Yin, Ashira could see the Great Way head south through the air towards the Meetings Grounds, and then eventually, Yang. The Great Way was matched on the ground by a road of rock created by the children, leading to their own Meeting Ground.

[leaves for a while; comes back to a desolated landscape, Cities Below Ruined, and the Cities Above empty though pristine. In the Cities below, he finds in their newspapers their perspective of the Unending War. Commentary and concern about what the Elders were doing. Whether it would be their end. Then a report that a minor scientist in Yang had been killed by a group of children; leader of the Garden Project. Elders ceased, but the children—they called themselves human—would not cease. And then nothing.

And so he goes up to Yin. And investigates/ Where the city below was dirty and death, the city above was clean and unmarred. So he feeds his ki into the City and asks to review the records of the last day. The ritualistic war degenerated when, on a Tuesday—a day of rest—a surprise raid occurred. And with that the gloves were off. War went on for two years. When a strike force of children infiltrated Yin and sought to go after the President—The One Presiding Over the Yin. Laughable at best, and on their wits end, took out the first Elder they could find, lead shaper on the Garden Project. The gall of it was outstanding, and immediate truce and a great congress called. Debate raged for four days, until a radical notion was raised. That the Garden was a failure, and they should prepare to leave, but that, as they did so, they would smite the children—they had not ceased their war even as the Elders had truced—and for their arrogance. And a great vote was called and it was accepted. And so in a single night surprise, the Elders deadened the land, killed the armies, smashed the granaries and left.

He could see now what happened. Food ran out and they died.

Conflicted. Children did and did not deserve that. He’d been left behind and the Garden project declared a failure. Upset. Fine being alone if that was how they felt.

And so he dedicated his life to continuing the Garden Project.

[50-100 years] later, Ashira was visiting one of the research outposts. Infested with children—but they seemed weaker—child sprouts. And even among the ones he saw there, only women and the young. No old, and no warriors. They were deferential to his great power, but did not know Ashira, what or who he was. They said they were settlers. Where to? Approved by the Elder Councils? Knew not what they speak of. They hosted him as best as their humble means allowed. Said their warriors were to return later. They did, and challenged fool Ashira attacked, though he was no Elder Warrior, and killed several, but they would overrun him, so he fled.

So he decided these child sprouts who had forgotten their elders and violated the Garden, were a blight, and though he was an elder he could not single handedly destroy them. Though patient, they could reproduce a million times faster than he could kill. And so he had to shape the garden to snuff them out. And that was when the genesis of the beasts began.]

[From the perspective of the outlying settlements]

[Unsettling news about the ritualistic wars; quiet in the hinterlands as the advisory councils sent by the Elders to a settlement were only ever from one Above City or another. And then the advisory councils were called back in great haste. Unsettling. The cities nearest the empires first became suspicious when no caravans arrived. This spread through the hinterlands. Within a few years, one or two nearby cities sent exploratory teams, who came back with devastating news. Light everything up. Great councils were called and crusading exploratory battalions were assembled. Dead lands ended this quickly as they had to carry all their food (though they still had pack animals). Second great crusade was begun, this time with continual supply lines. Extraordinarily expensive, but for a decade, they covered both cities and most of the countryside, and the Cities Above? Findings were put to committee, commissions, and the greatest minds. Ultimately concluded that the ritualistic war escalated, and they referred to it as the Last War. For reasons unknown, the Elders had smote the armies and the countryside, and left the cities to starve. The cities had gone until great civil unrest. Many fled, and the rest died. As a footnote, they suggested that given the significance of the events, that the count of years be referred to the number of years after the elder councils had been recalled, in so much as that was the only firm date that could be confirmed. And so the use of the AG calendar was started. Not universally adopted at first, but was popular in so much as it was based on a universal event across all cities and so was very precise.

Within a decade (or a few) groups of settlers began agitating to establish new settlements. Though the Deadlands were dead, the Elders were no longer present to enforce the Garden protective laws that had limited human settlement. Efforts were made to stop this, but it was impossible ultimately. It was one such band of settlers which Ashira had run across in his research posts.

On Humanity’s Knowledge of Its Enemy

Need to work out the rest of Ashira's history and strategy

Tentative:

His being driven out by that one relatively weak group makes clear that he cannot win singlehanded

Needs a long term war of attrition.

Stumbles across the idea of beasts

Begins experimenting mundane animals

These end of failing because they don't maintain the needed aggression against man

Eventually develops the beast cores as an extraordinarily intricate form of control.

They have a slice of Ashira's ki, and importantly, can draw upon Ashira's ki when reproducing The spawn of beasts reproducing will create their own core They encourage aggression against humans through a taste for human flesh, even among the herbivores; This aggression does not extend to beasts, though the meat eating will with scavengers

while aggression component is lessened with this technique, it allows for a Von Neumann like effect, subject of course carrying capacity of local environs.

Interestingly, the beasts show no hostility to animals except for the ones they are based on; as such, they displace the animals in the environment

Attempts at creating either human-beasts or other intelligent beasts fail due to lack of skill. Eventually uses an ad hoc technique involving a whole emotion to invoke some intelligence to a series of guardians. He also creates a small army of pseudo intelligent workers.

To support both his own needs, and the needs of his minions, and the beast vivaria. This becomes a rehabilitated green patch several kilometers surrounding his City Below. Grown edible foodstuffs as well as biomass for cricket vats to create pseudomeat for the carnivores.

Releasing the beasts not the wild is problematic. Ashira ventures out with a small army of works, 1-4 of his guardians (TBT), and the beasts to be released. Though nearly 50 kilometers between the Deadlands the mountains were unaffected, the strip was unsustainable on the borders of the Deadlands and has slowly died. So he's taken to releasing them in a mountain valley a fair bit beyond.

960 y.o., a young A-rank spiritualist was with a party traveling through the mountain. The spiritualist sought to prove himself against a great beast (A rank? A+?). As he sensed a presence, he left behind his party at camp, and began to hike/climb. As he neared what he thought the probable location on top of a mountain ridge, he realized the beast was not there, but beyond and was more powerful than he imagined. As he crested the ridge, he masked himself and hid and beheld a most terribly and wondrous site. He beheld Ashira and his guardian(s), the army of workers, and the herds of beasts, which were being intermittently released into the wild. And as he watched, he was terrified at the great power of lord and guardian. But he understood too the significance of the act, for the beasts released were much like animals he knew, but with an intent to kill humans. As sun set, he left his perched and hurried back to his camp. And as he approached at midnight, he found that his camp has been descended upon by the new beasts. And so he fled back to his City alone, angry and terrified. But he understood then his purpose. He had learned a terrible secret which must be preserved.

And so the young spiritualist established the society. And they began to work to counter this threat. But still, so little was known. With a greater party, the spiritualist returned to the valley, but found nothing. With the resources at his disposal, he set up outposts throughout the mountains to watch.

For years, there was no sign. And many were starting to question whether the young spiritualist was mad. But nonetheless he persisted and the outposts were manned. Then, twenty three years after the incident, several events occurred near simultaneously. Foremost, contact was lost with two outposts. When investigated the outposts were revealed to have been destroyed. Additionally, the other outposts began reporting the appearance of new beasts. And within a few months, these beasts were also seen by the nearest cities.

And so the now middle aged spiritualist regained some credence. New outposts were raised, and the old ones fortified. And humanity watched and waited.

Again, time passed, and questions were raised still. And then, twenty three years after the prior incident, a messenger raced into one of the forts. He described a group much akin to that described by the young spiritualist many years ago. A dark master, a guardian, an army, and new beasts. And once they were sighted, he was dispatched to bring news in case the fort were to fall. And when the messenger was 10 kilometers away, he heard a great explosion and watched in horror as the fort was destroyed. With his ki masked tightly, he ran as quickly as he could to bring news of what was to come.

With his message delivered, the spiritualist collapsed. Immediately, the captain of the fort dispatched five of his own messengers. Three to other forts, and two to nearby cities.

And when those were gone, he followed the ultimate protocol. He gathered five of his most skilled spiritualists and squirreled them away into the deepest cellar of the fortress, with a week of food and water and instructions to keep their mask up, as soon as the fighting began and to keep hidden until it had ended.

Mere hours later, the five spiritualists raged in fury as they felt great attacks of ki descend upon the fort, and could not join their brethren in battle against such a foe. And yet they knew they had to make such a decision. For such a meager outpost would likely be insufficient, and yet a full force could not strike without greater knowledge of their enemy. For all that 46 years had passed, the greatest scholars were unable to ascertain who this enemy was.

Finally, when all had been quiet for hours, the five spiritualists emerged from their hidden space and saw the death around them. Composing themselves, and remaining as hidden as possible, they began to track the beast which had attacked the fort. And so they followed it back to its master, the army, and the horde. And they watched, and observed, and they waited. Over the course of three days, they watched as the dark lord released his horde of beasts into the wild, and then the lord, his guardian, and his army began to march west.

With just this knowledge, two of the five left, heading to different cities least they be discovered. But the other three followed carefully. The three tracked the dark lord out of the mountains, but when they reached the plains between the mountains and the Deadlands, they had to let a great distance separate them before they could follow. And they watched in amazement as the army marched into the Deadlands.

At this point, two more spiritualists left to bring word to the cities.

At last, the fifth spiritualist, taking all the rations the three of them had, followed the dark lord into the Deadlands. Day and night he followed them until at last he watched as the lord and his retinue retreated into a beautiful garden growing in the middle of the Deadlands. Sensing this was their final destination, the spiritualist took back off across the Deadlands and returned to the cities.

And so the now-old spiritualist learned where the dark lord came from.

He quickly disseminated this information to branches of his society in other cities, with word that he had declared personal war on the dark lord. And with 200 of the strongest spiritualists that he could muster from his city, he marched towards the Deadlands to defeat the dark lord.

One month later, the city had been destroyed and its inhabitants slaughtered. Nothing was heard of the old spiritualists' army.

Anger and fear permeated the society and the cities in the region. Three nearby cities, each of similar size to the first, rallied their spiritualists and formed an army of 900. Carrying the old spiritualists' banner, this army marched into the Deadlands to defeat the dark lord.

One month later, all three cities had been destroyed and their inhabitants slaughtered. Records are spotty at the time and it is unclear whether they were all destroyed in a single night, or consecutive nights. Nothing was heard of the second army.

And so four cities of similar size to the first, and the largest city in the region, plotted on what to do. Sending another army seemed foolish. Not a single survivor had been known and so no counter could be devised without intelligence. Enough human blood had been shed. And so what if this dark lord were releasing new beasts. Humans fought beasts on a daily basis and there was no existential threat from a few more. And so a compromise was reached.

From the five cities, 3000 of the greatest spiritualists were gathered in the largest city. Of this 1000 were formed into an army to march into the Deadlands once again. The other 2000 would be stationed in the large city in the hopes that the favorably defensive standing would allow for victory. And so, the third army began its march into the Deadlands to defeat the dark lord.

One month later, the four smaller cities fell. Like the ones that preceded them, they were destroyed and their inhabitants slaughtered. And yet, no attack came for the larger city and the spiritualists defending it.

Day and night the spiritualists kept guard, ready to sound the alarm and rally to defend the city, but for three days naught happened. Finally, as dusk fell on the third evening, the large city was attacked.

But come morning, the large city still stood. A quarter was rubble, a fifth of its inhabitants dead, and large portions of the spiritualists were dead or wounded. But they had repelled the great beast. Little however could be said of its appearance, let alone what weaknesses existed to exploit or even how truly powerful the beast was. Indeed, the beast had not been killed, but rather repelled.

As the city rebuilt, the spiritualist remained on guard for a follow up, but no attack was coming. The third army was never heard from.

Great debate raged throughout humanity. Throughout the society, the leaders of the city, and among the general populace. Though only the first two groups had any real inkling of the enemy they faced. Eventually, the decision was made that no further armies would be raised against the dark lord. For all that he appeared to create beasts to displace wild animals, he had never as far as their scholars had discovered, attacked a city until armies had been raised against him. And so, a policy of noninterference was adopted.

And with time, the people forgot the calamities. And the leaders forgot the enemy. Until only was it the society that remembered. And while a better solution was sought, they established two protocols: To never forget; and to remain strong for when the day came.

Debate rages within the society once more. It's scholars have discerned that human populations have gradually decreased in the preceding centuries due to higher mortality from beasts. And the frequency of a beast horde overrunning a fortified village or small city was increased. All known animals have been replaced by beasts. And now beasts unlike any ever encountered before have been appearing. But the policy of noninterference is a long one.

Then, the medium/large-sized city is overrun. (This is where TV). In the ensuing battle, party gets knocked about; deaths; children die? Remaining members flee/knocked out and dragged to safety. Recover in another city. Based on this now unprecedented tragedy, the society decides to act and forms an army. What remains of TV joins; which kind of means that Evert is middling? Or low-ranked therein.

On the naming of the races of man.

In the Old Empire, mankind was split into three kinds: Elders, Children, Child Sprouts. Though closely related, they were different species, though unclear if any hybridization would occur. Greater Man, Man, and Lesser Man.

Elders – zhangman – elder man

Children – renman – person man, or adult man

Child Sprouts – human – reckless man (to connote adventure)

The Old Empires

Old empires were in the Great Plains.

The old empires consisted of two great cities nearly 500 kilometers apart.[1] The humans which inhabited them were something more than human (or arguably so); they lived long enough to consistently reach the higher stages, though their understanding of such was also much greater. They had 4th stagers by the dozen, and 3rd stages by the hundreds if not thousands. So many that a third stager riding a horse, was often used for express communication between the two cities. These riders were so skilled, that it was said that the emperor of one city could send a message before breakfast and it would be received by the other emperor before lunch.[2]

A lesser road connected the two cities in a straight line.

From each Imperial City, a great road progressed for the benefit of the empire. For the south city, the road ran east, and curved north, then northwest, until ending parallel to the north city, and 250 kilometers away. From the north city, the road ran west, and curved south, then southeast, until ending parallel to the south city, and 250 kilometers away.

In 200 kilometers in each direction from the cities, and then along the greats road, narrowing along their length, agriculture was practiced. One city was well known for its golden wheat; the other for its red wheat. Animal husbandry of the typical and unusual animals was practiced.

The old empires inhabited an circle 1,000 kilometers across.

Common Tongue

All relevant portions of the world to be visited speak a common tongue. Get over it. That said, you may expect some accents. Self-correcting for phonic shifts.

Dorflich

Roughly translated from German as village

MC's gets zapped back just as he is arriving to the local city state from his hamlet

MC has shown some talent and so had said goodbye to his parents and village; original this was a rather emotional time, but from MC's perspective it's been 31 years

Conveniently the change in scenery for the 16 year old gives a relatively clean slate for MC's sudden change in character objectively.

History

Dorflich is isolated; the years since the cataclysm and the rise of the beasts have led to powerful ruling over. Dorflich started as little more than a warband's village but 2000 years leads to some growth (which will give an inside joke to any German speakers). Nonetheless, the focus on purely martial ability has hampered developments of professions which may in turn advance martial ability. The City State is thus far behind the times and weakened as a result, though they are unaware of it.

City State is ruled by a King/Queen. Abdicate when no longer fit to fight; sometimes forced out; bloody history. New ruler is selected based on the strongest. This is sometimes resolved by politics when it is clear who the strongest is. Other time there is an organized competition. Other time civil war. Last 1500 years, 90% of the rulers have come from 7 families, though by merger and process of elimination, this was cut down to 4. Previous ruler was strong queen who rose from a "peasant" background and surprised all by defeating all other members of the generation, including from the Big Four. Current rule is her daughter, Queen Carol Saxon, 48 years old, who did an even greater job beating them all up. Talk about whether a new noble family started.

Last 150 years, the city state has slowly begun to weaken due to the last new beast that arrived; though this is not understood by many. Due to local geography and other unknown factors, there is a 7 year cycle which peaks with a huge wave of beasts. During such event, the country side is abandoned until such time as the city can reclaim them.

Excel Calculations

Story Time - Excel Spreadsheet.xlsx

Local Geography

Valley is roughly 140km (from Scarred Mountain to Cross Mountain Canyon; about 120 kilometers from the City to the Canyon) by 7 kilometers wide on average. 1000 km2. 242,000 acres. 60,000 acres under plow. About 20 kilometers from City Center to base of Scarred Mountain.

240k population supported; 20k farmers + 40k families in homesteads in the valley. 180k in the City. No livestock. Nearly all beast meat is edible and in so much as the beast meat comes to the people, it is an easy and cheap source of meat. Some people just like fishing.

The Bonsacon River runs past The Scarred Mountain downhill through the valley, through the city. On the far side of the City, the Bonsacon River is dammed to form a lake. The City is largely at the westernmost side of the valley, with the lake to the east of it. Most farming occurs downriver (east), though some occurs on all sides. Most crops come into the city by barge upriver. To the base of the lake dam, where it is then ported up to lake barges for the 4 kilometers trip across the lake. Saves the trip around the lake, and boats are more efficient for bulk transit.

At the City, the valley is 10 kilometers wide.

Dorflich population density: 40 ppl/acre. City is a rough circle 5 kilometers in diameter

No weekends; too dangerous; days of rest obviously.

Ballpark for Bonsacon River: 5 kilometers / hour – walking speed.

Bonsacon River 2400 kilometers. – 12 hours per day; 40 days

Scarred Mountain - lies on the eastern side of the valley; beyond the scarred mountain, deeper into the mountain ranges live far fiercer beasts. Though expeditions from Dorflich do go into the mountain ranges, they are always dangerous and often have at least some casualties.

MCs follow the Bonsacon River to the ocean; desert; canyons

Some people say: you can step over a brook, jump over a creek, wade across a stream, and swim across a river.

Food

The cuisine of Dorflich is heavy on meat; with the balance consisting almost entirely of various starches, mostly cereal grains, but also some roots vegetables, such as potatoes.

Holidays Dress Judicial system Weather

Dorflich is in a high mountain alpine climate. It is characterized by heavy snow on the grounds for 4 months of the year (November-February), which inhibits all activity outside of the City. Beasts attack year-round, though there is always a surge in the fall right before winter (but usually after harvest; hence the heavy death toll in the OTL disaster when the early strike occurred).

City Defenses and Buildings

The City is encircled by an 16 kilometers long, 8 m tall stone wall, 4 meters thick with a crenelated parapet. The wall consists of a single solid piece of stone thanks to the efforts of earth spiritualists. Stairwells are located at regular intervals. Watchtowers are also located at regular intervals both to spot beasts approaching the City, as well as to keep an eye out for signals (incl. flares) from guard patrols and from civilians.

Because of the lake abutting the east side of the City, the wall along that side is much smaller and has many gates which are almost always left often. Additionally, the two largest gates are on the southeast and the northeast near the lakeside, as most of the extracity population lives to the east. Those two gates are about 4 kilometers apart along the waterfront. The two gates are known as the North and South Lake Gates. Additionally, is a medium sized gate to the west which is about 6 kilometers from each of the first two gates mentioned known as the West Gate. There are also two small gates, that is set equidistant between the West Gate and the North and South Lake Gates (thus, along the C of the wall, the five gates are spaced at 3 kilometers intervals).

The gates are closed at night, though they remain manned.

The walls remained manned 24/7. Because of ongoing extracity efforts by the city guard and other spiritualists, attacks on the wall are rare outside the multiyear cycles which lead to an overwhelming number of beasts to charge towards the city. Thus, outside of such attacks, the walls primarily serve to prevent any beasts from sneaking into the city. Any beasts which do come close to the wall are usually knocked out with a few spiritual techniques.

During the attacks of the multiyear cycle, the extracity population and patrolling guards are brought within the city. The walls are heavily manned, with the heaviest concentration facing towards the valleys where the greatest number of beasts come from. While more beasts than usual come from all directions, 80% typically come from a single direction, and is referred to as a horde. The horde is usually spotted at least an hour in advance. Spiritualists are cycled in and out. Defense is almost entirely predicated on spiritual techniques, though defending spiritualists remained armed to deal with those few which can jump or scale the wall, in the event the body pile climbs high enough for other beasts to do so, and to deal with flying beasts. Spiritualists are also stationed throughout the City on rooftops and other high areas in order to address flying beasts which bypass the City walls. Civilians maintain a curfew until the attack passes.

Construction is almost always done in stone. In the ordinary course, a team of spiritualists will create the stone from raw ki. For a small apartment building with 8 studios, this may take 2 months. Because the structure is solid stone, with a stone foundation, which will in turn be anchored to the bedrock, they are exceptionally sturdy. In the event that a rapid building must be created, there are two favored techniques. One is to bring in raw material, preferably already close in shape. While the stone itself cannot be shaped, a spiritualist may cut and carve it, and may also mortar it together with stone created from ki. However, unless such material is already handy, the costs of acquiring such materials are very high. The second technique is that the stone created is filled with a honeycombed lattice. While technically more difficult, it is mostly a matter of practice and does not require a high rank to accomplish. Additionally, because of the far lower density of such material, a much larger volume may be constructed. This is a popular technique for hastily constructed temporary structures. When used in housing, it is generally considered a mark of poverty. Conversely, wealth is often flaunted by having a correspondingly thick wall created entirely from earth ki.

[Need to run the numbers on how attacks occur across the Valley, and figure out how the guard marks a coordinated defense. Outposts. Signaling/flares. To what extent can the locals and local militias handles versus need the guards.]

Timekeeping in Dorflich

Timekeeping in Dorflich is primarily based on the solar clock, and accompanied by the striking of City bells by bellkeepers

Though the length of day and night vary considerably by season, there are eight bells used based on a solar clock.

Dawn bell – When the sun is first spotted over the mountains Morning bell – midway between dawn and noon bell Noon bell – when the sun reaches its peak Evening bell – midway between noon and dusk bell Dusk bell – When the sun disappears over the mountains Night bell – midway between dusk and midnight bell Midnight bell – midway between dusk and dawn bell Latenight bell – midway between midnight and dawn bell

Winter solstice: 10 hours daylight (2.5 hour segments); 14 hours darkness (3.5 hour segments)

Summer solstice: 14 hours daylight (3.5 hour segments); 10 hours darkness (2.5 hour segments)

[1] Say, Wichita, KS to Dallas, TX.

[2] Pony express would do about 16-24 kph. Assuming that ki could be endowed to the horse or the travel, or that the horse could use ki, a horse and rider could comfortably run at over 120 kph (5-8x), and complete the route in just over 4 hours.