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AmigaDragon
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AmigaDragon 1248224721|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
I've looked at most (I think) of the maps available but I haven't noticed any that show the approximate border of the curse's area of effect. Did I just miss it or has this not been done yet?
MishaFox 1248231397|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
That's not been done yet. The limit is roughly the valley - about 12 miles in any direction from the Keep itself. The curse is very slowly expanding a fact not know by anyone yet and might not be noticable for a few years.
AmigaDragon 1248244214|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
In that case, is there a list somewhere of affected and (currently) unaffected towns in the immediate area?
MishaFox 1248246510|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
Not really. Exactly where the cusre stops is not defined down to that level. Look at the map of the valley at http://metamorkeep.com/gallery/pics/valleymapfinale.jpg (in the archive). at the southern end of the valley is a tall tower with no name. That marks the present southern end of the curse.
Cubist 1248918301|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
sez misha: "The curse is very slowly expanding a fact not know by anyone yet…"
Damn. It's a bloody good thing that the Curse's expansion isn't known by anyone yet. As soon as somebody figures it out, pretty much every nation in the MK world is going to want to END the threat presented by Metamor — and "threat" is exactly the right word. Because the Curse is basically a toxic waste dump; it's nasty and nobody wants it in their back yard, but people are willing to leave it alone because it just kinda sits there off by itself, so anybody who gets hurt/contaminated has only themselves to blame. But once it's known that the toxic waste dump is not just sitting peacefully — that, in fact, this toxic waste dump is actively expanding — well, all hell's gonna break loose for brunch. Because what do you think will happen, once it becomes known that what had been regarded as a toxic waste dump (dangerous, but only if you insist on putting yourself in harm's way, and easily avoided) is. in fact, The Blob (something very dangerous that will bite you in the ass unless you do something about it)?
Any culture which regarded MK's Cursed people as unholy monsters will exploit this knowledge to the max — "See? SEE? We told you they're evil! THEY'RE GOING TO DESTROY ALL HUMANITY, AND THEY MUST BE STOPPED BY ANY MEANS POSSIBLE!!!" Cultures which were merely neutral towards Metamor, will be pushed towards active hostility. Even cultures which had been friendly to Metamor, are going to be hard-pressed to avoid becoming increasingly hostile towards the Valley.
Very unstable geopolitical situation. Lots of possibility for conflict and drama. I think I like it…
Virmir 1248919810|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
As I recall from some IRC discussions, it's a very slow expansion, the effects of which would take a few generations to notice. So yes, lots of drama once this is found out, but not for the current MK setting. ;)
MishaFox 1248920538|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
Correct. The expansion is very slow. A few of the locals are liable to notice it seeing as they are close to it. BUT if it was know widely it COULD cause a full blown firestorm of diplomacy and outright warfare!
Cubist 1248963211|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
Virmir, I'd been under the impression that it's an established part of MK canon that Keepers are hated and/or feared by pretty much every non-Keeper. If this is true, it means that wide swaths of the MK-world's populace have a strongly irrational attitude towards Metamor. Do you really think it's unlikely that people who start out with an irrational fear of Metamor would, upon learning that Metamor's infamous Curse is oozing out from its previously-established boundaries, react to that information in anything resembling a calm, dispassionate manner? I don't. So yeah, I think there would be a high holy hell of a lot of instant Bad Reactions, the moment the news of the Curse's spreading gets out.
And I thought of something after my initial post: Up until recently, Metamor served the vitally necessary military purpose of Keeping Nasoj Bottled Up; even cultures which would just as soon have seen those vile, unnatural Keepers roasted over a slow fire would recognize that Nasoj is worse, and therefore hold their noses & suffer the Keepers to live. "Lesser of two evils" and all that. Which is fine — but how much of a problem is Nasoj right now? I leave the rest as an exercise for the reader…
Another afterthought: If and when news of the Curse's spreading does get out, scholars who are studying the Curse in particular, and magick in general, will find it very easy to get funding. Everybody will be a target, so everybody will want to figure out how to get rid of the bloody Curse, right? Thus, any scholar with a halfway-decent proposal for studying How To Nuke That Damn Curse can pretty much write his own ticket. So there should be a kind of "information explosion" as regards the mechanics & etc of magick.
Virmir 1248963970|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
Virmir, I'd been under the impression that it's an established part of MK canon that Keepers are hated and/or feared by pretty much every non-Keeper. If this is true, it means that wide swaths of the MK-world's populace have a strongly irrational attitude towards Metamor. Do you really think it's unlikely that people who start out with an irrational fear of Metamor would, upon learning that Metamor's infamous Curse is oozing out from its previously-established boundaries, react to that information in anything resembling a calm, dispassionate manner?
Of course not. :)
But what I meant is, the curse's expansion is so slow that its expansion will not become evident for several generations. So yes, you are perfectly valid in your argument that all heck will brake loose when word gets out. But this won't happen until, say the year 800 or 900, and not our current timeframe of 707/8 or the near future.
In the meantime, all the current Keeper-hating will continue as normal. :)
Am I right on the slowness of the expansion, folks? I'm just half-recalling some IRC discussions here.
RavenB 1248976847|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
You're right that the borders of the Curse are expanding gradually, driven by the gradual increase in global mana levels since Matty's characters stopped up the drain that was leaking into the Underworld.
In the event that the Day of the Starchild ever takes place (see accompanying thread), the Curse will undergo a sudden "jump" in its radius of effect when Metamor Keep absorbs all of the divine energy that Merai channels into it. However, since this also turns Kyia into a uber-badass within her local area of effect, it also means that any form of direct retaliation against Metamor is going to be fruitless. People are going to be utterly terrified of the Keepers and the goddess living in their basement for a very long time — until they realize that neither Kyia nor the Keepers want to hurt anybody.
In comparison to some of the other beings who will be roaming around the world causing havoc, Kyia's policy of nonaggression and keeping out of human affairs is eventually going to look like a pretty good deal. Until then, the Keepers will have to put up with more forced isolation, though the expanded area covered by the Curse also means that they'll be much more able to be self-sufficient. This will allow them to survive various trade embargoes that might be placed on them — and since the only sizable supply of mithril in Galendor will be within Keeper territory, some people will trade with them no matter how scared they are. Whales will also continue to trade with them, being a bunch of hard-headed pragmatists with no use for superstitions (and also, conveniently, well outside the area of the Curse's effect).
