More blades tonight. The Crew is out of the city, so I'm in undiscovered country here.
In most games, I would be laying down pointers to bad thing happening back home, but this is Blades, and there's a high likelihood the response would be "Let it burn", so we'll see.
In most games, I would be laying down pointers to bad thing happening back home, but this is Blades, and there's a high likelihood the response would be "Let it burn", so we'll see.
My instinct to go "Ok, how does this location that is *not* Duskvol survive and function, and what can we build from that?" serves me very well in many games, but in Blades it can trip me up, due to Blades' thematic needs.
So, pondering.
So, pondering.
(Sidebar: This is a big part of why the next time I play Blades, I'm going to push hard for a cult. Yes, the default cult is horribly screwed up, but if you want to play *good guys*, it's the only option. That is, after all, its own form of madness in Duskvol)
(Yes, Heroic Blades is a weird thought, but I want some chocolate in that peanut butter)
Anyway, the question one bumps up against in the world of Blades outside of Duskvol is "Ok, how to people *thrive* here? What bad compromises does it require that are not so bad as to destroy the bonds of society?"
That last question is the kicker. It is trivial to imagine dark, screwed up stuff. It is more interestingly challenging to think of dark, screwed up stuff which is *sustainable*.
Thinking about this also reminds me of why @brennanrtaylor's Mortal Coil is one of the best games ever for reasons that will go long unappreciated, because it leans into this kind of thought.
Ok, so any population center in the world of Blades needs to deal with:
* Ghosts
* Lack of Food
* World full of random terrible things
* Rich assholes
Duskvol has the lightning wards, which require leviathan blood to stay powered. U'Duasha has the flame, and demons
* Ghosts
* Lack of Food
* World full of random terrible things
* Rich assholes
Duskvol has the lightning wards, which require leviathan blood to stay powered. U'Duasha has the flame, and demons
Note that each solution brings in a different, more sustainable*, but potentially more awful cost.
* - This is good structure. Curiously, environmentalism gives us good models here, since many such solutions are sustainable until they're not.
* - This is good structure. Curiously, environmentalism gives us good models here, since many such solutions are sustainable until they're not.
One more question to answer is why they Rail would stop anywhere in particular. What do they have and need?
I think tonight's answer - to several of these things - is salt.
