Goblin Squad Member
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Theodum paced up and down in the growing library of the Emerald Lodge. In general his lodge made great progress. They had hired a great armorsmith Jazz Strongblade and smelter Zaar Frozen Blade. Production of goods - while slow - could compare to the best elsewhere in the River Kingdoms.
A weaver created the best thread you could get and Alirya was turning it into great robes - with Theodum himself adding the necessary magic ingredients. These were first signs of civilization being brought to the River Kingdoms. But he would fool himself if he didn't also notice the numeous monsters all around - mainly goblins, wolfs and ogres as well as bandits all over the place.
So far the new settlers seemed to cope well with them - avoided these dangers were possible or erased them if they felt this was the better solution. Not that this seemed to help so far - they grew pack like mushrooms in a wet cavern patch.
The more interesting past was the growth of relations. Representing the Pathfinder Society in these areas Theodum tried to build a base for them without playing favourites or getting involved into the rivalries of other settler groups. So far it seemed to work well - he had welcomed a lot of strangers to his place - but the Hammerfall incident and a formal inquiry about using some of the facilities at Emerald Lodge had him rattled.
The spot he had chosen for the Emerald Lodge was a great one - very central to many of the new settlements springing up. Good to meet up and exchange resources or trade. As such every visit and deal was encouraged. But he had to stay one step ahead to avoid a repeat of the Hammerfall incident on his own soil.
If there was one weakness of the Emerald Lodge then it was it's strength - the location. He could easily get between the lines of other bigger groups.
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Goblin Squad Member
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So far I haven't written up any rules for visiting Emerald Lodge or using it's facilities. The Hammerfall incident as well as a formal question by a Phaeros member about using the Emerald Lodge as 'meetup' and which rules apply to our settlement got me thinking.
I don't write up here any rules - rather look at them as expectations. I don't want a rules lawyer throw them back against me and tell me - but you allowed this or that.
In general I see Emerald Lodge as a place that should allow people to meet up - either with members of other groups or with friendly ones. As such there should be no restrictions to meeting up or using the bank. After all - traders want to store heavy goods there and this is prefectly fine. We are also not able to police all the surrounding - so gathering a few tansy leaves for the golgothan monopoly or some ordered essence for the south is prefectly fine.
Off course there is always a price to pay - even if you don't notice. It could be connections, good will, some spare ingredients, a good deal or a rare recipe that is offered to us first. In general everything that helps the Emerald Lodge to become a more useful and valuable place is a payment - and that even includes that you being there makes the place look used - and that in turn attrackts more people to visit.
But this also means that we can't tolerate the use of the Emerald Lodge for purposes that endangers all of this. So a gatherer or worse a group who uses EL and it's bank to extensivly gather in the surrounding or uses it to gather extensivly down in the Hammerfall swamps or up in the Golgothan mountains without the consent of them would be detrimental. Worse would be to meet up as a raiding group for hostile PvP on other settlements or towers.
So in a nutshell - we are happy for people to visit and meet up and use facilities. But these openess should not be used as a disguise to use the location of the Emerald Lodge as a staging ground for a militaric operation - or for larger economic operations. The exemptions to economic operations are crafting or trading which are welcome - despit us not being a crafter settlement.
Edit: Actually I noticed that the question was from a trader wanting to meet up with members of Phaeros.
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Goblin Squad Member
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@Thod,
Currently the Emerald Lodge is a Wizard/Figther template; is this the direction you want to continue to develop your settlement during EE or do you have intentions of changing your focus once you can design the settlement to your liking?
Taking a look at the Political Map where the EL sits in the nexus of the (Red) Northern Coalition, (White) Independent Settlements, (Cyan) Aeonian League, and (Blue) Everbloom Alliance; combined with the Terrain Map showing you with immediate access to 4 forest and 2 plains hexes, your public stance on neutrality, and the Emerald Spire Superdungeon (in the future) puts you in a great position to both serve as a clearing house for trade between power blocs, a great place for training adventurers, a place for supply and repairs, and a great place to host a Pathfinder Lodge, and inn and a Guides Program HQ.
I would also strongly suggests setting up a Comstar like Mercenary Review Board as a natural place for Mercenary Companies to register, train, equip, set up contracts, have a place to stay, and of course, protect the settlement from outside aggression. Their are few places on the map as of now that offer this kind of potential.
Just some thoughts while looking at all the maps again. :)
Lots of potential
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Goblin Squad Member
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Edam be looking forward to much fruitful trade at the new free trade city emerging near the weird Glowing Green Spire.
OOC: Historically maintaining neutrality relies on being useful. In WWII many European countries were neutral but were still over-run. Switzerland succeeded in staying neutral mainly because it provided a valuable resource to both sides.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I would love to see Emerald Lodge set up as a trade hub. Neadenil does make the valid point. Provide some utility to all sides. Even if one group gets upity, enough of the other groups would come to EL's aid to make sure if it is profitable for all.
Things that would be nice to see in EL:
* An Auction House
* Better power restoration
I would not mind not having trainers there. Just having all crafting stations would be nice, even if you have to learn elsewhere to use them.
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Goblin Squad Member
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A crafting town came a very close second when I had to decide on one of the seven templates. In the end I decided Fighter/Wizard as we have a higher percentage of members attracted to PvE versus players interested in crafting.
There was no option to blend the two.
Also I have to admit it seemed a lot of other settlements jumped on the crafting bandwagon - each large alliance seemed to have their own crafting settlement.
Politics and location might make certain crafting settlements not viable for trade - at least not between political blocks. But I didn't want to bet future of the settlement on trade alone.
There surely will be changes adapting to the political landscape after the cataclysm. Feels like crowdforging. I will read all suggestions here and will take good ones on board if possible.
Lets see how the WoT turns out. We need more as the core 6 towers to make a viable trade hub - but that is likely where the friendship with everyone around stops.
We want to be able to provide tier 2 in EL and not become a NPC settlement by another name.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Golarion does not need another Auction House.Things that would be nice to see in EL:
* An Auction House
It doesn't need another auction house like the existing ones.
But it needs one that is:
a) userfriendly (will need GW input first)
b) be central to the map to cut down on travel time
c) be well stocked
d) be accessible to members from different political parties
We can't deliver such an Auction house in EL (yet) - so I'm not dismayed that we don't have one in EL (yet). But if I think we can deliver on most of the above then an auction house will be high up the priority list.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Golarion does not need another Auction House.Things that would be nice to see in EL:
* An Auction House
It doesn't need another auction house like the existing ones.
But it needs one that is:
b) be central to the map to cut down on travel time
The "need" for an Auction House will be dependent on the implementation of the Emerald Spire Dungeon and how many players are pulling from it. Until that time, it is not too far to get to one of the other active-ish starter towns AHs
Edam be looking forward to much fruitful trade at the new free trade city emerging near the weird Glowing Green Spire.
OOC: Historically maintaining neutrality relies on being useful. In WWII many European countries were neutral but were still over-run. Switzerland succeeded in staying neutral mainly because it provided a valuable resource to both sides.
Switzerland was not overrun in WWII because Hitler didn't have the right timetable to initiate Operation Tannenbaum. Nothing to do withSwitzerland being "useful". Additionally,, the active training and defensive deployments of the Swiss military leadership ensured the offensive would have cost the axis a high amount of casualties, manpower needed for the eventual invasion of the USSR.
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Goblin Squad Member
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But this also means that we can't tolerate the use of the Emerald Lodge for purposes that endangers all of this. So a gatherer or worse a group who uses EL and it's bank to extensivly gather in the surrounding or uses it to gather extensivly down in the Hammerfall swamps or up in the Golgothan mountains without the consent of them would be detrimental. Worse would be to meet up as a raiding group for hostile PvP on other settlements or towers.
I'm curious on one point though... your neighbors. Presently a number of people have attempted to approach and feast eyes on the majesty of the Emerald Spire, however that location has been laid claim to by the folks of the mountain.
When attempts to venture near to this landmark are met with hostilities, how can your town be used as a rallying point for trade? It seems more like a honey pot designed to catch flies.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Switzerland was not overrun in WWII because Hitler didn't have the right timetable to initiate Operation Tannenbaum. Nothing to do withSwitzerland being "useful". Additionally,, the active training and defensive deployments of the Swiss military leadership ensured the offensive would have cost the axis a high amount of casualties, manpower needed for the eventual invasion of the USSR.Edam be looking forward to much fruitful trade at the new free trade city emerging near the weird Glowing Green Spire.
OOC: Historically maintaining neutrality relies on being useful. In WWII many European countries were neutral but were still over-run. Switzerland succeeded in staying neutral mainly because it provided a valuable resource to both sides.
I was just getting ready to post the same thing :)
Well, as it is being told on the forums, this past weekend the Gols gave Emp and co. A bit of a spanking. I guess we'll see how things go with war of towers officially starting is week (tomorrow).
