Cyclone

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

<Snipped quote by Cyclone>

With that, Amartía can sink his claws in two pieces of land. Thier will be a Hain Humam, Rovaik population in the the desert right? The Illumi knows no bounds!

@LokiLeo789

Nope, just human.

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

You know, I've been working on that post in which Zephyrion brings people over into the Firewind for literally the past two months. It's not even that long or of outstanding quality, I've just completely scrapped it two or three times already and have had such huge writer's block that I maybe manage a paragraph or two per week.

But no more! I shall force myself to deliver something resembling a post today, and telling you all about it should give me the much-needed motivation to finally finish that abomination.

The king is dead, long live the king! [Reboot] [5/7]

@Cyclone All the more reason for my future Khargat character to be a real Khan.

Like Temudjin. :/

@Buddha

No, like mighty Timur! Let him kill so many in Belintash that the Stormpikes are renamed after the word 'slaughter' in some obscure language, and then let him kill 15% of the world's population by repeatedly razing Delhi.

...and they all think that Genghis Khan was the worst.

The king is dead, long live the king! [Reboot] [5/7]

@Cyclone Wait, he's lazy and fat? And this calls himself the Great Khan? Preposterous.

@Buddha

Did you see the picture of him? We aren't doing description of lieges since for the most part they just seem to be names that get occasionally thrown out there, but yeah. He's a cruel and petty man, and nothing like Khal Drogo. The (forever may he ride!) that Khargats sometimes say after mentioning the Khan is simply an archaic formality; this Khan doesn't ride at the head of warbands of anything.

The running theme is that while the Khargats might be vicious barbarians and conquerors, many of their leaders like Chugo and the Khan are...not what you'd expect.

The king is dead, long live the king! [Reboot] [5/7]

Chugo Bey, Emissary of the Khargats

Name:
Chugo Bey
(Bey being his title of nobility; his people do not take surnames)

Age:
39

Appearance:
Chugo stands out amongst a crowd; he callously flaunts his wealth by often wearing jewelry and fine silk robes dyed in beautiful patterns. His head has balded and his features have a way of seeming sharp and cruel. His common scowl and withering, critical gaze has a way of terrifying people, though with a smile he can put on a guise of kindness that makes him look like any boy's grandfather.

His Likeness

Known for:
Chugo is many things: a cousin of the Khan, a Bey of the Khanate, a true nomad born upon the grasslands, a former captain of a band of Khargat sellswords, a slave trader. He has familial ties to several of the largest clans, a close ear with the Khan, a variety of connections established throughout the realm during his travels as sellsword or merchant, and he is a pragmatic man that sees from the perspective of both those who would maintain peace for trade and those who would push for war so as to take slaves and glory. He is also notoriously greedy and easily persuaded by coin, a fact that many shadowy factions thought would give them an ear with him! For all of these reasons, he was the perfect man to send to the capital to advise this new king.

Dirty little secret:
What is life without a little pleasure? A life of scarcity upon the steppe does not lead Khargats to see temperance as any sort of strength, and so Chugo will indulge. Be it in fine wine or fine women, Chugo never says no. This lifestyle has led him into precarious positions more than once!

Skills: Ah, connections. Wise men say that knowledge is power, and Chugo lives by that principle. But rather than read books to know of philosophy or meaningless facts, he seeks to know people. That sort of knowledge can come in far more use; whether you need a thief, a murderer, or a new slave to wash your clothes, Chugo knows just the person. His contacts are numerous and spread throughout the realm, just as many of them respectable men as shady vagabonds.

Motto: A man's worth is determined by the highest bidder; a people's worth by how many they can conquer.

Nation Sheet

Name of the Province People:
Khargat Khanate

Name of your liege:
Elbek Khan (long may he ride!)

His likeness

Position:

As nomadic pastoralists, the territories inhabited by the Khargats has of course varied over the years and continues to do so. Originally the Khargat tribes came from cold and dry steppes beyond the northern mountains, but climate change, tribal wars, and invasion by other nomadic groups drove them into what is now Emperiat. In their wanderings large hordes have ventured through the territories of more or less all of the northern provinces and even a few of the southern ones.

When they first invaded the realm they came into contact with the predecessor state of what is now Belintash, and conquered a large swathe of its lands along the mountain border. To this day they hold those grassy foothills under a tight grip and it is that region that is their stronghold. Those hills alone cannot and do not offer enough fertile land to sustain all the Khanate's herds and people, but if ever they went to war it would be in those hills that the hordes would fall back if they had to and defend most fiercely. In this region are also the mountain passes hat the Khargats first used to invade the south, and so the region is of strategic importance as it allows exclusive control over what few trade routes exist to the northern lands beyond the Stormpike range.
Specialty:

The first thing that comes to mind when one mentions the Khargat tribes has always been great hordes of smelly, wild, and barbarous horsemen. Khargat warriors have a (not underserved) reputation for being vulgar, merciless, and undisciplined and yet still they inspire terror. Before the days of Khargat subjugation they were seen as devils that could vanish like smoke on the open plains only to reappear without warning and defeat armies ten times their size through the use of strange tactics and unparalleled horsemanship. Though the mythical aura of terror and invincibility that shrouded the Khargats is now gone, they are still hardened warriors and their military support has played a major role in every largescale war in the past six or seven decades. Khargat horse archers and lancers maintain a fierce rivalry with the Knights of Dieuporteille; the two parties each vie for a place in the empire's vanguard and the reputation for the greatest cavalrymen.

The next thing that might come to mind concerning that Khargats are their traders, whose caravans are a familiar sight to near every major city of Emperiat and then many foreign places in the faroff corners of the world. The Khargat merchant tradition is as old as their raiding and slaving one, and so they have a way of turning a profit no matter what goods they peddle and how far. The Khargats have almost monopolized the slave and spice trades in Emperiat, but furthermore have large stakes in the salt, silk, livestock, and precious metal and gem trades. As such, being on the Khanate's good side brings much benefits in the form of wealth and luxury goods, though brutally taxing Khargat trade routes is an equally viable way to profit from these caravans.

Lastly, the Khargats have always been nomads and pastoralists. They travel in the company of friends (thousands of them) and their camps are great, sprawling seas of white yurts with massive herds of livestock everywhere to be found. The sheer volume of livestock that the Khargats control is staggering, and between all their roaming hordes they probably have as many horses, goats, cattle, and sheep as most of the other provinces put together. While much of the products of these herds go toward sustaining themselves, they still are the largest supplier of meat, leather, and wool within the empire.

History:

In the days of old, the great hordes of Khargats had kept to their ancestral lands north of the so-called Stormpike Mountains, though their trading caravans wandered to the farthest reaches of the world. They came back with salt and gold, yes, but also with tales of all the exotic lands that they had discovered. As a result, they knew of the lush lands south of the mountains, ripe for plunder, and yet hardly any of the southerners so much as knew that there was a land beyond the reaches of the seemingly impassable mountains.

So when tides of Kharigits surged out out of the mountains, they descended upon the unprepared and unsuspecting southerners like locusts unto a field of wheat. Countless thousands of the steppe nomads crossed through the mountain passes and into the south. They came looking for blood, glory, slaves, plunder, and grazing lands. When the great hosts of pagan savages rode down the mountain slopes with the bloodied scalps of their enemies hanging proudly from the sides of their horses, words could not describe the terror that they brought. With no home but the saddle and no desire to occupy conquered lands for long, they did what was pragmatic and simply razed every settlement that they came across.

Emboldened by their success, as time moved on they dared to launch raids and forays deeper and deeper into the south. (to be continued)

The king is dead, long live the king! [Reboot] [5/7]

@frapet

Sure, I'll copy it over

@Buddha Laxion hasn't actually expressed either approval or disapproval towards the Khargats. When it comes to it, his advice would be along the lines of:

1) Chugu Bey's host must return to the Khan with utmost speed. They should neither remain within Riadan nor camp outside.
2) Chugo Bey must make a formal apology to the king and his advisers for his manner of arrival, and the lack of warning that he would be arriving.
3) The Khan himself should be reprimanded for sending an adviser without seeking the permission of the king, and a formal apology gained from him. Perhaps have him come personally (with no more than ten guards) to deliver his apology.
4) This must all be done so as to establish the authority of the new king and his lack of patience with those who do not take him seriously, and a far more severe stance must be taken if these are refused (i.e. execution of Chugo Bey and all out war with the Khan. Over-reactions are the best way to put the fear of God into other upstart vassals.)

@Kho

1 is most likely happening regardless, and 2 is reasonable. Chugo would hate every second of it, but he's willing to kiss ass. A strongly worded letter might obtain 3, but you have to realize that there's no way that 4 could ever happen. It would be like asking Osama bin Laden to come to the White House and negotiate. Even if it's somehow not a trap and the government would treat him fairly, waiting for him would be the biggest lynch mob that you could imagine. Not to mention that asking the lazy, overweight Khan to travel 1000+ miles is a big proposition in and of itself >.>

The king is dead, long live the king! [Reboot] [5/7]

@CycloneAha! I knew the case of gender would be brought up soon, even as just a thought :)

In an era where slavery is prevalent, It'd be funny to see how my char will interact with all these men of power.

As a side note, it seems like i forgot to mention that Layna was from Beluntash in my post. You can assume that the steward has already mentioned it. Just pointing it out.

@Vec

Right, and Chugo is the slave dealer. With two slaves right beside him...

Yeah, he's probably going to be one of the most sexist. Ironically I'd expect Bastien to be really sexist as well, though maybe his chivalry towards noble ladies will overcome his thoughts of, 'WTF is a woman doing in the throne room?!'

The king is dead, long live the king! [Reboot] [5/7]

Understandably most characters would loathe Chugo and the Khargats, but the smarter ones like Laxion might see all the benefits that come with keeping passably good relations.

The king is dead, long live the king! [Reboot] [5/7]

I can see @The Narrator's character getting along fabulously with Chugo. They're both slimy bastards and have more in common with each other than anybody else.

Edit: And maybe good ole Laxion ain't a racist. Perhaps Laxion's little adopted son would be inclined to like Chugo if he made a point of giving the kid candy or something. >.>

The king is dead, long live the king! [Reboot] [5/7]

@Cyclone 'Our cavalry is second to none' Ah yes, except you were subjugated.

Regardless, you have a way with words. It's a shame I'm playing a knight with a temper, not a diplomat, or we'd have been able to have a good back and forth.

@Buddha

Bring that up IC! Chugo will respond with how the swamp-dwelling peasant Dieuporteillans have big talk about chivalry and honor, but can't stand to the Khargats unless they ambush their enemies in the middle of a swamp and come with superior armor ;p

In other news, I think that Chugo's immediate goals should include convincing the Khan to send over a pagan shaman/witch doctor to help Chugo...get some things done. It would also give all these religious zealots something new to complain about.