Daravi and the Lack of Info

[Voxumo]

So I wanted to bring this up at chat yesterday, but my internet decided to go out for the rest of the day. I literally got internet back 2 hours ago, so yeah fun.

What I want to discuss is correcting the incredible lack of information on Daravi, specifically for those playing daravi. Some may remember I had a Daravi who was an Edessan refugee made priestess. I haven't played her in the longest time because I didn't feel like I was playing a Daravi, I felt like I was just playing a lithmorran priest. Why is this? Because there is next to no information about Daravi, or how Daravi function as a society. She wasn't born into Lithmorran controlled edessa, but was born when the Sultanate controlled it, so she had that daravi influence in her life... Even the helpfile Help Daravi Daravi doesn't provide information. It provides a long and outdated history about the war between the sultanate and Lithmore, written from lithmorran perspective, and then a brief blip about what they look like, and what they may wear. The only other helpfile for daravi is regarding climate.

Right now to play a daravi I feel like the only catch is "Wooh, I'm a daravi... Hate me because I'm spooky!" there is no substance to it. Like I would imagine that if order got a daravi who could speak lithmorran, that they would be all over interrogating that daravi to get inside information about their greatest enemy, but if they did I would have nothing to tell them.

I've tried presenting a bit of lore I thought would fit with the Daravi to staff twice now, and each time I'm pretty sure it gets lost and or forgotten, and each time I am forced to rewrite the lengthy lore bit because it expires on the personal board note.

So instead here is what I'm going to do. I'm going write out what I thought would be fitting world-building for Daravi, and I invite others to do so as well. Maybe staff will see it and implement some of it in the future, and maybe then Daravi will have something more to rp about than just "I'm Daravi."

So my lore/info addition is to have to do with Daravi and their acceptance of magery. We know this to be a fact. However it should be expanded. As we know magery, it isn't something that is definite, not something that can be forced into someone. As such I feel like in the sultanate there would be a system. Villages/cities would be broken into regions, each region would have a mage or a group of mages who every year, or almost every year, would gather children who are five years of age to test for magery. I feel like 5 would be a good age versus when they are born. If the child is proven to be a mage, the child is whisked away to be taught from a young age. If not they are returned.

I imagine the children who are confirmed to be mages would go to a mage school/institution. We know Lithmore at the time of the Five had something like this, various schools, so it's not that far fetched. Afterall when the sultanate uses mages in war, do you really think they are going to leave everything up to chance? Let the fledgling mage learn on their own or from relatives? or for the potential to have them never be awakened occur? No, they are going to make sure they have potential soldiers, and potential soldiers who are trained to the best of their ability.

On top of this, in my vision of Daravi Culture, I see mages being something akin to... Celebrities. I do not imagine every daravi is a mage, infact I imagine most of the Daravi army is made of non-mages, with mages acting as a special force, similar to how lithmore's army is not composed of knights, but common soldiers and knights instead act as a special force, swat team or special ops to be it in relatable terms. So since every daravi isn't a mage, since the taint/magic is unpredictable, that those who are graced by magic to be it's urthly vessel would be revered and respected by the common folk, and would have a higher place in Daravi Culture, higher than daravi freemen and Gentry.


This is of course just my ideas for what could be added to help flesh out Daravi lore and culture for those who play daravi. Also I would imagine anything that is approved would be restricted to only Daravi, so helpfiles could only be accessed by Daravi much like how the order or reeves have helpfiles that only they can see. So yeah.

[Klapman]

In one of the many books within the Grand Library, there's one that goes fairly extensively into the way Daravi pursue warfare. They, more or less, are not above using fairly horrific tactics to secure an advantage. That speaks to me of a society that is focused entirely on results - not unlike the Western world is nowadays. They may be kind to their mages, but I imagine that they wouldn't have much to do with the concept of charity. The serfs would probably be poorly treated - after all, what you're willing to do to your enemies you're willing to do to your lessers, if they act up enough.

Building on your idea of Mage schools, I imagine the Mages there would be taught that people are lesser because they were born that way - sort of like the (it's been ages since high school history but i'm hoping i'm right on this) Buddhist caste system of the Silk Road era Chinese. So Mages are at the top, then major politicians, minor politicians, major merchants, military, minor merchants, then serfs. I'm not sure exactly how much Daravi stuff is established or if what I'm saying flies in the face of it, but I'm just spitballin'.

With a caste system comes a lesser sense of personal responsibility - the responsibility is foisted upon your betters, and your lot in life is simply to do as you're told, and live what life you can in the margins between orders. This would lead to a rather fascistic military, I would think - one that would do anything to please their superiors, even if it would be morally wrong.

Anyways, that's just to get stuff started - been typing this between poses, and things are heating up ingame a little bit so I'll just dump this here. If I think of anything more, I'll post it in the thread!