Blood Debt - Revision history

Cinero at 21:37, 7 July 2017

2017-07-07T21:37:43Z

Cinero at 01:42, 31 December 2016

2016-12-31T01:42:37Z

Cinero at 01:42, 31 December 2016

2016-12-31T01:42:28Z

Cinero: Created page with "Only two factors compelled the Empire and Republic leaders to halt their arms race. First, it became clearer that controlling a hulk had always been a tenuous matter. A hulk m..."

2016-12-10T00:52:45Z

Created page with "Only two factors compelled the Empire and Republic leaders to halt their arms race. First, it became clearer that controlling a hulk had always been a tenuous matter. A hulk m..."

New page

Only two factors compelled the Empire and Republic leaders to halt their arms race. First, it became clearer that controlling a hulk had always been a tenuous matter. A hulk might be pointed at the enemy to satisfying effect, but it was risky to maneuver any other friendly forces nearby. Different designers had experimented with different command solutions to refine their hulks' behavior, such as a magical crown to send thoughts as orders, or rudimentary onboard logical processes to discriminate friend from foe. However, in one famous battle a hulk's controller was abruptly killed by a sniper and the hulk began rampaging indiscriminately.

Both armies came to view graven hulks as necessary but volatile. They mostly switched to using hulks as detached forces, leaving one to guard an area, or ordering one to travel to a new location, but perhaps only tasking a few scouts to monitor its obedience. Sometimes both hulk and scouts were never heard from again. Over the last few years of the war, both armies "lost" more than a few hulks in this way. (The exact numbers are highly classified on each side.)

The second factor that deterred the further use of hulks was the discovery of what came to be called the "blood debt." The engraved symbols on a hulk would change over time. This was not part of their design, but since it seemed to have no effect on a hulk's functionality, it was initially treated as a meaningless curiosity. However, someone discovered a pattern to the emerging symbols: they were the name-runes of the slaves within the bloodstone heart.

The revelation of the blood debt was treated as a divine sign by the Church of the Reverence of the Eternals. In the decades before the Bloodstone War, an abolitionist movement had spread through the Republic and across the Empire, but its influence had been limited. As the public on both sides learned about the blood debt, they became less and less complacent about the use of slaves to create bloodstones. The Church unified with the abolitionists, decreeing that the blood debt was final evidence against both the practice of slavery and the use of bloodstones. They called on all good Reverents to decry these ways.

The Empire and the Republic found themselves economically exhausted, with two generations of their young people mostly injured or dead. Their lands were devastated by combat lifetaps, bloodstone ruptures, and all the many mundane evils of war. Their wildernesses and trade routes were beset by rogue graven hulks. A widespread spiritual crisis was the final straw, and a truce was negotiated.

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-Two factors compelled the Empire and Republic leaders to halt their use of [[Graven_Hulks|graven hulks]]. The first factor was the problem of controlling the hulks. The second factor was the discovery of what came to be called the "blood debt."
+On [[Tessera]], two factors compelled the Empire and Republic leaders to halt their use of [[Graven_Hulks|graven hulks]]. The first factor was the problem of controlling the hulks. The second factor was the discovery of what came to be called the "blood debt."
 The engraved symbols on a hulk would change over time. This was not part of their design, but since it seemed to have no effect on a hulk's functionality, it was initially treated as a meaningless curiosity. However, someone discovered a pattern to the emerging symbols: they were the name-runes of the slaves within the bloodstone heart.
 The revelation of the blood debt was treated as a divine sign by the Church of the Reverence of the Eternals. In the decades before the Bloodstone War, an abolitionist movement had spread through the Republic and across the Empire, but its influence had been limited. As the public on both sides learned about the blood debt, they became less and less complacent about the use of slaves to create bloodstones. The Church unified with the abolitionists, decreeing that the blood debt was final evidence against both the practice of slavery and the use of bloodstones. They called on all good Reverents to decry these ways.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-Two factors compelled the Empire and Republic leaders to halt their use of [[Graven_Hulks|graven hulks]. The first factor was the problem of controlling the hulks. The second factor was the discovery of what came to be called the "blood debt."
+Two factors compelled the Empire and Republic leaders to halt their use of [[Graven_Hulks|graven hulks]]. The first factor was the problem of controlling the hulks. The second factor was the discovery of what came to be called the "blood debt."
 The engraved symbols on a hulk would change over time. This was not part of their design, but since it seemed to have no effect on a hulk's functionality, it was initially treated as a meaningless curiosity. However, someone discovered a pattern to the emerging symbols: they were the name-runes of the slaves within the bloodstone heart.
 The revelation of the blood debt was treated as a divine sign by the Church of the Reverence of the Eternals. In the decades before the Bloodstone War, an abolitionist movement had spread through the Republic and across the Empire, but its influence had been limited. As the public on both sides learned about the blood debt, they became less and less complacent about the use of slaves to create bloodstones. The Church unified with the abolitionists, decreeing that the blood debt was final evidence against both the practice of slavery and the use of bloodstones. They called on all good Reverents to decry these ways.