Andrew
So are the sword & other deadly artifacts supposed to be a common type of thing in Cradle, or were they just a rare(but deadly) occurrence?
Will
Most people don't practice a Path that's as strictly lethal as this blood/death Path. These guys figured, "If we use the sacred arts in combat so much, then surely the most lethal Path is the best."And they were sort of right, until they all killed each other.
Andrew
By 'common thing', I meant more along the lines of 'ancient tomb with valuable/powerful weapons/treasures that travelers stumble upon and try to loot'. Also, what's the general technology level in Cradle? It seems like a blend of low-tech and madra usage
Will
Then yes, it is pretty common!
It's an old world, in which aura tends to gather and condense naturally over time into very valuable materials/treasures, so treasure-hunting and adventuring can be actual careers.
On top of that, animals can advance into sacred beasts over time, which means that small non-human civilizations can rise spontaneously from the wilderness.
In other words, it would be a great world to run a DnD campaign in. That was not by design, but I'm willing to take credit for it nonetheless.
Technology is pretty medieval with a few exceptions, although constructs have changed things in more civilized areas. I explore that more in Blackflame, where you get to see what a more advanced civilization is like.
For instance, there are mechanisms for audio communication, but they're expensive and they can be blocked by natural phenomena. Likewise, they have aerial transportation, but any number of crazy aura-fueled weather patterns or terrifying flying monsters can make travel impossible, so they tend to stay within very controlled routes.
Also, this is a world where a single individual can become so strong as to be untouchable, so that tends to create a situation in which personal advancement is far more reliable than technological.
Instead of inventing and perfecting a device so that everyone can have an ability, you can just develop that ability yourself.
Will
Here's a more commonplace example of "treasure-hunting" than what we saw in 'A Sword Unclean':
--There's an abandoned temple at the top of a mountain. It's broken and ruined, but you suspect Cloudgrass will grow in the cracks; Cloudgrass grows wherever the wind is strong, and contains within it vital aura condensed from the wind and clouds.--It can be used to create a Thousand-Mile Cloud, to further someone's advancement in cloud or wind sacred arts, or even drained and purified to make scales. You don't care; you just need to grab some so that you can sell it.--Nobody else has taken it yet because the winds are very strong up there, a cloud covers the mountain 24/7, and packs of Blood Eagles (sacred beasts nourished by the pure wind aura of the area) circle the peak, looking for prey.--They don't watch for an approach through the earth. You're part of a mining clan, and you use your techniques to excavate a tunnel right up and into the ruins of the temple. There's plenty of Cloudgrass, a few ruined lines of ancient script that you make casts of in case a scriptor will pay you for them, and a Blood Eagle sitting on its nest. You kill the bird and its Remnant, taking both bodies back with you--you can sell the Remnant to a Soulsmith and the body to a medicinal refinery.
That sort of thing. The people who go around looking for naturally forming treasure typically have a reliable source of leads, a skill-set that allows them to go where no one else can, and a way to turn those leads into cash.
If you make a career out of it, you typically know where you can go, you find out which of those places have valuable resources there, and you spend your time making a circuit between those locations.
And if someone else with similar skills starts taking your stuff, well, it depends on how strong they are. If they're more advanced than you, that's how life works. Suck it up. If you're more advanced than they are, you threaten them until they leave or you just kill them.
Cradle life!
