Thump. Thump. Thump!
Orlag set the hammer aside and cast a look over the table. Satisfied with the level of quietness and attention, he nodded sagely and cleared his throat.
"I hereby announce this divine meeting open." - he stated, opening the folder in front of him - "Does anyone have any emergent issues to be brought up?"
He examined the table yet again. Assorted gods shuffled in their seats, but no one piped up.
"Excellent. In that case, let us proceed with the first item on agenda." - he proclaimed - "Manoc, what is the status of season change?"
God of winds and weather shrugged lightly. "Everything proceeding according to schedule." - he proffered confidently - "There was a slight issue with monsoon winds exceeding expected speeds, but they were safely vented through the supercell. The storm shall pass through the southern ocean and disperse in a series of thunderstorms well away from populated areas. Cumulus saturation is nominal and proceeds according to projection C. Bharat will experience a short heatwave, but it will be offset by rains at the onset of winter. Other countries are within climactic optimum without further need for adjustments."
God of sun and crops nodded, crossing the first line off - "That is heartening to hear. How about solar coverage projection? Do you require any adjustments?"
"Not at the moment, thank you. The dispersion grid update will be in your inbox this evening, but I do not foresee any need for direct changes." - Manoc demurred - "Sineval's scheme of using oceanic flows for temperature regulation continues to pay dividends, so barring any unforeseen developments, we're tentatively at the self-regulating stage."
God of oceans buffed his nails on his shirt, adding lazily - "I have a proposal. The lateral trench is finally reaching projected depth, and I would like to run a limited test of deep flow feedback. The details and calculations are already in the inbox."
"Noted. Gia, do you have anything to add?" - Orlag inquired. Goddess of earth shrugged and shook her head silently.
"Very well. For now, let us consider the climatic scheme for the following decade approved for observed functionality. Please report any anomalies that crop up." - he concluded - "Very well. The second item on agenda. Civilization advancement. Argyl, Kinov, Marra, Lothak, Zali. I believe your uplift project had turned up some unexpected results?"
The aforementioned gods exchanged glances. After a moment of indecision, Kinov spoke up - "Yes and no. The results themselves were expected, but emerged much earlier than projected. Project Archon so far proves herself to be far more efficient than we hoped for."
He nodded towards Argyl, who continued - "So far, most of the developments are in my and Kinov's spheres, though Marra enjoys some developments of her own. Furthermore, certain flags had been set for Lothak's and Zali's goals a full year ahead of schedule. I am pleased to report that project Archon had surpassed my wildest expectations. The Kingdom of Champagne is currently in the process of promulgating pitch-polymer paved roads, which already pays dividends within Kinov's sphere. Dwarves are significantly ahead of schedule, twenty seven percent of the total current population already congregated in the vicinity of Grand Forge, further thirteen are in transit. By the next year, we expect over half of the population to reestablish societal cohesion in the northern part of the Aleph mountain range, both within Grand Forge and a number of satellite settlements. Due to the swift actions of project Archon, dwarves had already recovered most of the metallurgy and stoneworking know-how, as well as added a number of advanced techniques and limited mechanization to their repertoire. Of most notable developments, I want to point out the introduction of a steam engine and cupola furnace. Project Archon is currently working on the introduction of mangalloy and railway knowhow, both of which will boost the logistics of the realm by three hundred percent within the next year. Furthermore, project Archon had successfully located and inspired key person Seafarer towards deep modernization of seafaring. He had successfully completed and tested sloop design and I am fully confident that brigantine will make its debut by the spring."
He tilted his head towards Zali. Goddess of war and politics chuckled wryly - "From my side, I would like to report that project Archon had successfully initiated logistical integration of Champagne and Kraut kingdoms, starting with the promulgation of pitch-polymer paved roads into the kingdom of Kraut through the Ashenvale and southern passes of Aleph mountain range. Due to project Archon's proactive stance in establishing connections and alliances in surrounding countries, I feel confident to report that Vallahian expansion will be managed with considerably less bloodshed and stagnation than expected. After the initial upset, I expect the Confederacy to begin integrating economic and mercantile ties between its states at an accelerated pace. The situation in Oijan Sultanate is another unexpected early success. While at this juncture the dissolution of the Sultanate into several allied emirates is all but certain, it will help to disperse such a massive shock to the system while completely eradicating slavery and potentially establishing the basics of a post-scarcity society. Unfortunately, this will also cause an extinction of dragons as species. Sad, but unavoidable."
Lothak flipped through his folder, chewing on his lip. "My gains are more meager, so far, but I am pleased to report that the concept of a newspaper had been introduced and well received by society. Project Archon had managed to locate eminently qualified managerial core and successfully imparted onto them the basics of crowdsourced journalism, both of which significantly advance the societal acceptance of freedom of speech. Furthermore, the sovereign of Champagne had been favorably impressed by the notion of newspaper and that very same concept is gaining traction in Kraut. I am still reevaluating my projections for mass media, since even the most optimistic plans did not account for such an early success. Preliminary findings strongly suggest the newspaper is gaining notoriety and renown sufficient to evoke attempts at mass media within the Kraut Kingdom and Oijan Sultanate within next year. Besides that, the sovereign of Champagne had been introduced to the basics of a restraining order and social childcare." - god of laws weighed in - "As my esteemed colleague Argyl, I am well impressed by project Archon's progress."
Marra spoke up next. "I am well pleased with progress in my sphere, but due to unexpected development, I am still in the progress of reevaluating the situation." - she mused - "My projected schedule relied on project Archon introducing the medical treatments via the temple and royal physicians, and unexpected redirection of key person Gatecrasher towards my sphere requires significant revision. In essence, this unexpected but pleasant development negates the possible cataclysm triggered by key person Gatecrasher entirely, while redirecting his significant mental facilities towards development and systematization of arcanophysiology. Furthermore, the introduction of viable tuberculosis treatment half a century ahead of the projected schedule is liable to have vast knock-on effects across the world's populace at large. I am still crunching the numbers on this, but if I were to guesstimate, I predict a whopping twenty two percent reduction in deaths before seventy, and an unbelievable forty one percent reduction in children and teenage mortality within this decade. I will distribute the new estimation of demographic progress as soon as I manage some specific numbers, tentatively tomorrow in the afternoon. My apologies, but it seems like all of my esteemed colleagues in the societal department will have to reevaluate their own schedules and projections as well, taking into consideration additional labor to be available."
She tilted her head towards Kinov, who nodded and began to speak - "Economical situation is very promising. Project Archon already began to disseminate the concepts of labor distribution and mechanization, which resulted in a vast number of new wares on the market. Coupled with her incessant focus on logistics and timely introduction of assorted free market principles, I predict an increase of interest in luxury items and foods, as well as a boom in domestic convenience wares. Development of viable aerial vehicle this early will further contribute to increased interest in logistics spreading out from Champagne and across the whole continent, simply by the dint of shock and awe experienced by any other polity witnessing the dirigible. While I do not expect any independent development in aeronautics to occur for at least another decade, it is entirely likely that polities would compete for a chance to commission a dirigible of their own from project Archon, and therefore, make themselves amenable to her economic overtures. I have distributed my preliminary figures yesterday, but I am already working on a revision that takes into account dirigibles being used for diplomacy, major landbound tract being reopened and renovated and an impending introduction of Champagne and Kraut kingdoms to concrete. Early availability of advanced construction material coupled with impending populace boom reported by colleague Marra implies a number of pleasant things across the board."
Orlag nodded with satisfaction. "Project Archon is really showing potential, I see." - he concluded - "Very well. Does anyone else have any comments about project Archon and her impact on the world?"
He did not expect much out of that question and therefore seeing Memiri raise her hand was a surprise. He gestured towards the goddess of sleep, wordlessly requesting an elaboration. "I have concerns about project Archon's metaphysical stability." - she stated bluntly - "I have already raised this issue at the last meeting, and I am sorry to report that palliative measures did not pan out as well as I have hoped. While project Archon is in no danger of losing bond cohesion, the metaphysical connection to Ur-World's plegmagnosis remains a problem. I believe that at this point, our best option is to anchor down the connection and synch it in with project Archon, ramping up the bandwidth until the gnostic pressure on project Archon evens out. Unfortunately, we have missed the window of opportunity where anchoring could be done inconspicuously. If we are to put it in action within the next week, project Archon will experience an arcanochtonic event. Past that, gnostic pressure might increase to the point of project Archon manifesting arcanochtonic events spontaneously until it is alleviated, either by anchoring or severing the connection. I must stress that severing the connection will severely impact project Archon's productivity and mental capacity."
"Well, we certainly don't want that." - Orlag retorted - "And one arcanochtonic event is certainly better than several of them at random. But... could we possibly do something to mitigate the event impact?"
Gia rose her hand suddenly, suggesting - "Mayhaps we need not the mitigation... Merely a direction."
Memiri consulted her papers. "Hm. That is an intriguing proposition. What if we take a cue from project Archon herself on the direction? That might be the easiest solution to let her subconsciousness decide on what it should dream into existence. My evaluation of project Archon suggests she is not prone to self-flagellation or confidence issues, so chances are better than even the end result of event would be something beneficial for her." - she replied thoughtfully - "I ask for the vote. All in favor of anchoring the connection at the earliest opportunity within this week, please say aye."
"Aye!" "Aye!" "Aye!" "Aye!" "Aye!" "Aye!" "Aye!" "Aye!" "Aye!" "Aye!"
"All in favor? Wonderful. We have our course of action then." - Orlag summed up, jotting down the resolution and passing it around the table to collect signatures - "With this, I believe our meeting is concluded, unless someone else has an issue to bring up. No? Very well. Gentlemen, ladies... let's make this world even better."
"this will also cause an extinction of dragons"
This will not stand.
If Alyssa doesn't save the dragons, she failed
@JustSomeoneRandom Actually, dragons in this setting a dumb beasts that represent evolutionary dead end. Their body chemistry evolved towards high alcali end, so dragons are incapable of forming fats at all and can`t digest them worth a sh*t either. On top of that, dragon essentially begins to starve the moment they finish digesting their previous meal, so they`re ravenous dumbass predators that quickly empty the areas of most fauna in short order and then keel over from malnutrition themselves.
@Cytotoxin so they're carnivorous pandas?
Pandas basically need to keep eating because their chosen diet is bamboo, which they can't properly digest.
I also take it that Alyssa doesn't hold the same ideals towards dragons and isn't likely to potentially save them through some form of controlled defilement/genetic editing
@JustSomeoneRandom No, as far as dragons go, they were supposed to already be extinct. The last vestiges of species are being artificially sustained by Sultanate. Abbas is going to royally drop the ball here by trying to sic the last fertile egglayer on Alyssa.
Abbas: Dragon, fetch Alyssa.
No one:
Absolutely no one:
Alyssa: More food for me.
@Cytotoxin depending on further context, taming and keeping your supposed assassin does carry appeal though. It's a great taunt if done right.
While I don't think she ultimately has to, I refuse to believe she can't save them. Especially given how there are plans to make contact. Her knowing about dragons and their situation isn't that farfetched either, given she resides at an academy and it is never explicitly stated what their syllabus consists of.
Dragons are often historically relevant after all. Especially given that the world is based on a world conceived on Earth both lore wise and in the practical sense. It isn't necessarily completely implausible
@JustSomeoneRandom Unfortunately, no. I don`t really intend to work with the cliche of wise dragons in here. In this setting, dragons are voracious predatory menace, and that`s all there is to it.
Buuut... Well. Let`s just say that while the last fertile egglayer is lost due to Abbas being a numbskull, each of his smart brothers has a number of young dragons. Whether they figure something out or just let them expire as remnants of past ages remains to be seen.
Out of curiosity, are vampires intelligent? Kinda wanna see how one would react to Alyssa
@ExorcistJoker They are, but...
Generally, this world has two varieties of vampires.
Primo, newly turned fledges hopped up on their newfound powers. They typically get in over their head and inquisition stakes them before long.
Secundo, extremely long-lived methuselachs, each of them occupying social space comparable to a baron of remote province. Those guys have a small town or a couple villages under their control, people who worship them as their patron and donate some of their blood for their benefactor`s sustenance. In exchange, such methuselachs provide services to the community which could be best described as landlord, resident mage and often herbologist rolled into one. Those guys are typically rather chill and are very dedicated homebodies, usually working on long-term research projects or encompassing hobbies. Some of them are over a millenia old.
Vampirism in this setting is less of a contagious disease and more like a variation on lichdom. One can either intentionally become a vampire by finding out and following obscure dark magic rituals, or one can spontaneously become a vampire due to a combo of bad circumstances. One of the most common cases of spontaneous vampirism is improperly buried victims of unjust executions or murders.
Since you thought this up, I'm assuming Alyssa is going to fight a vampire some time in the future? I can see Alyssa finding an ancient vamp in Thousand Isles
@ExorcistJoker Vampirism is not popular in the South. They tend to prefer colder climes.
@JustSomeoneRandom I would be more willing to believe that this specific pantheon snuck into Earth and planted the inspiration for that particular otome game in the heads of the dev team to ensure they got all the details right, then did some divine-tier seerwork to predict major and minor events of several possible timelines 20 ~ 30 years ahead of schedule, with some choice manipulations, particularly to inspire that brilliant bit of work planting the Shoggoth seed that later became the vessel for the Archon's second incarnation. The gods looked at everyone who played that game and did a deep dive psychoanalysis of every candidate, giving us Alyssa as the best suited, then promptly truck-kun'd her (although it wasn't a truck)
@0xFFF1 That`s putting carriage before horse.
@Cytotoxin Antimagic scales are way too interesting to just write off, not to mention the nostalgic cool factor of being the one to save and then have dragons. Especially depending on how rapid their fertility cycle is and if they can be properly domesticated and/or bred to have not terrible stomachs. Obviously it’s your story but I would be legitimately surprised if Alyssa just let the species die out once she realized the situation.
@JustSomeoneRandom Question, are pandas naturally carnivorous, but choose to eat bamboo due to liking it’s taste?
@Pyrothium I don't know if they still classify as carnivores. But they are very bad digesting bamboo, can die from starvation when energetic and are the only bear with opposable thumbs. They use this thumb to split bamboo
@Pyrothium @JustSomeoneRandom I actually have an answer to this that I found out somewhat recently. Pandas by all accounts digestive wise are still the same as other bears, however due to a quirk in genetics are no longer able to taste meat, their umami receptors no longer function I think. So it’s not that they eat bamboo because it tastes good, it’s that they don’t eat meat because it doesn’t taste at all. To my knowledge.
@JustSomeoneRandom I recently leaned this is partially due to humans deforestation their habitats, leaving only bamboo as the native food available to them.
@RosyBramble interesting, do you have a link or something that further explains it?
@JustSomeoneRandom it was a youtube video about why pandas suck. Can't remember the channel though.
@RosyBramble Could’ve been casual geographic
@Cytotoxin Hey… I think I read somewhere that dragons used magic as a sort of sustenance to live, but they still had to eat normally, but not as much as other creatures.
I don’t know how that would work, maybe by using it as energy instead of using chemical ones in their cells so they wouldn’t eat as much.
I think it would be cool if Alyssa would get some dragons for herself and would change them genetically so they could be useful to her. Fast aerial travel! Some other use that she won’t fix with new technologies like information transmission. Phones in mediaeval world is damn cheating (and I’m all for it don’t get me wrong).
@Clayton4956 Why? Current dragons are evolutionary dead end.
Would you consider trying to breed buffaloes out of domestic cow stock?
For that matter, why exactly would Alyssa want to artificially prolong the existence of apex predator going extinct? What makes dragons so damn important that saving a handful of them is well worth the literal thousands of livestock they WILL eat?
@Cytotoxin
...
...
... I didn't that far with this huh?
mmmmh...
Uses... as pets, maybe? Like a little variant of the normal ones? Or instead of using horses, you could use them? The only problem is that I'm sure horses will be obsolete in some way because she already introduced the steam engine. It won't be long before we see cars running with a motor on the streets. In warfare they won't be useful either because Alyssa already made the zeppelin and I'm sure she won't stop with flying objects. So they don't really have any uses. If they were smarter, maybe companions, but other than that, I'm stumped.
As for the food they would eat, the amount is a problem, but like I said, can't they feed off magic at least partially? Why can Alyssa go without eating (but does because tasty) and not anything else?
@Clayton4956 The only truly useful thing about native dragons is their anti-magic scales, but it would require quite a lot of re-engineering the species to make it profitable to use them as a… crop animal? Sheep just fall under the livestock term despite having more uses than meat, but whatever. It would take far too long to breed native dragons into something useful, and while not too strenuous for a shoggoth it would be more hassle than it’s worth to rewrite their genetics to make a farm animal that produces something that is more or less a foible. Dragon scales don’t have many broadly known uses besides dragon scale pendants, and Alyssa has no current reason to investigate other possible uses of them. If she does come across such a reason in the future she could probably just Jurassic Park up some new dragons, or potentially find a way to lab grow the scales without needing live dragons. And if the reasons for having dragons is just To Have Dragons, since Dragons Are Cool and whatnot, she can just import some non-native dragons from other dimensions if she feels like it.
I don’t know where you read that dragons feed off of magic (at least in part), but I don’t think it was here. These are basically just big lizards that got f*cked over by humans breeding them for specific purposes without thinking about possible side-effects due to a lack of adequate biology knowledge. Dragons are seriously f*cked up here. And as for Alyssa, void is void is void. Void is infinite and outerworldly, it is material and it is realm and it is concept all in one and at the same time. A drop of void can act as a hole in the universe to let more void in, or to let void out. It can act as a self generating power source. All this depending on the piece of fiction, of course. Though I have found that quite a few seem to align pretty well, seemingly unintentionally and unknowingly. So long as you blur the lines.
@Tonykins2000 I reaaaaaaally didn’t think things through then. Yep.
Thanks for the explanation.
@Clayton4956 Alyssa does NOT need sustenance, period. She can eat and enjoy it, but it is not "supplemented with magical energy". It is flat out "don`t need to". For that matter, she is an extreme omnivore and can technically eat stones, air or comet ice without any issues whatsoever. All of what she eats is basically reduced to it`s most basic matter-energy slurry and kept in reserve for when she wants to "conjure" something, which is why some of the stuff she makes on the fly persists way past what typical conjuration would be like.
This mechanism is pretty much unique to shoggoths and while Alyssa technically can impart it onto someone else, in practice it means that Alyssa eats that something else and splits off a bit of herself to act as a substitute for that someone else. So not really an option she would care to consider.
___
That being said, why are you so hung up on dragons? They`re not the usual fantasy equivalent and if the guy naming them was a bit more savvy on modern fantasy, they would probably end up being called wyverns or wyrms instead.
@Cytotoxin Like I said, didn’t think through it much. Dragons are something pretty common to fantasy, right? So I just thought why not? Could be cool.
But if I think it through, yeah I realise they may be better off gone. Because if they are so inbred they are dumb hungry wyverns, I’m sure there’s a place on their body which hurts constantly and maybe ending their species might be for the best (some dogs with history of being bred badly do have problems, but I don’t remember which.).
And even if Alyssa could do something about it, there’s no use for them in the end. None.
So I’m not really fixated on them, just wanted to talk a bit and find a solution to the question I asked myself, but could have found one myself if I wasn’t so tired at the time.
@Clayton4956 They are in a state of near-permanent starvation due to alcali-based body chemistry not being able to handle any fats whatsoever. Technically speaking, dragon can only be in one of two states - digesting and starving. The moment their stomach is empty of anything nutritious, their body starts to cannibalize muscles.
Technically speaking, the wild ancestors those were bred from are much more biologically stable, but they are also incapable of breathing out fire - they just hock caustic loogies.