Writing a history
In the following week, everyone who writes a history of his doings in the first 150 years in the CryptoKingdom, and posts it here, receives nice rewards in the form of gold, gold items, land, money, badges, medals, Honors, promotions, NPC promotions, NPCs, stone, clothes, ancient culture and science, and if there is anything else that could be gifted/bestowed.
Anyone is encouraged to give from his own to the storytellers!
The Opus of Joseph and Asenath.
Joseph of New Liberty is deeply grateful for finding the growing community of the Crypto Kingdom in its earliest days. Having spent most of his younger years traveling in many lands and on the waters in both military and business pursuits, it was with great delight that the discovery of such a concentration of intelligent, industrious and wonderful people had formed such a cluster around the mysterious and perhaps unique fountains of youth. The tales of these travelers, and their ultimate choice to settle here is one that speaks to a quality of discernment shared by most in the Crypto Kingdom, which gives this choice of destination great merit for these adventurers were not without many other options, and so it bears telling...
Joseph is the seventh son born to the union of an aging Southern Baron "Roy John" and a Baltic Baroness of the Frederick linage. As the rules of primogenitor dictate, despite a privileged heritage, no inheritance would be expected to one thus born and so seeking to distinguish himself, gathered his weapons and armor and an innate propensity for military tactics and cleverness to work as a captain of the wall.
After not very long in this vocation, opportunities for distinguishing were swiftly apparent as the free city of his noble birth in the Caucasus borders the Ottoman Empire and fell under seige by their expanding forces. Whilst patrolling the wall and investigating reports of disturbances in the night, the wall collapsed underneath young Joseph due to the Ottoman's tactic of undermining. It is perhaps from this formative experience that Joseph has developed a predilection with constructing perimeter defenses and his attention to the Barbican at the Southern extent of the old town. The collapsing stones crushed many of the invading miners and Joseph, grabbing a pick from one of those fallen ones, made quick deaths for the others and then having no other exit from the collapse, made his way into the Saracen encampment through the tunnel.
Due to the suddenly breached city wall, and the ensuing chaos, Joseph emerged from the tunnel and entered the nearest tent only to find that it was filled with captured women from New Liberty and other nearby cities and their eunuch harem guards. Having the advantage of surprise and one very young quick-witted captive women, who upon seeing him enter created a distraction, Joseph was able to defeat these guards and free the women and himself and took that woman with him on a stolen horse. Her name is Asenath.
These two, having lost their home city to the siege, adventured Northward to escape the advancing Ottomans, and after traveling through many cities and countries in this land and others, even captaining ships across ocean voyages, often heard rumors of a great land of wisdom and enlightenment that had discovered the secret of eternal youth from two special fountains of water. Having learned in their extensive travels that the greatest virtues are love and life, (and the first depending on the second of these), they explored far and wide to discover this city of wonders and if possible add their resources to its success in the hopes of making a home there. The stories of these adventures both together and on their own leading to the discovery of the truth of this are abridged here (with only some brief mentions), it is enough to know that Joseph of New Liberty discovered the Crypto Kingdom during the early times of its foundation, and once established there, sent for his dear friend Asenath.
Upon arrival in CryptoTown Joseph quickly took up residence and began drinking the mystic waters, and worked to establish a noteworthy presence acquiring some decent lands and improving some of these. With a deep interest in the arts and sciences Joseph set about creating centers for appreciation of these and bringing in many foreign artifacts to populate the places within the town where these can receive the appropriate care, and seeking out any with the aptitude for crafting novel or interesting devices with either practical uses or artistic merits.
The House of New Liberty:
Among the more interesting members of the household are the tinkers and artisans who having traveled together and now ultimately settled have been busily crafting devices for measurement and discovery learned in their travels. Some of the works have great utility as well as being mechanically interesting. Prince Joseph maintains an active letter writing campaign betwixt other men of the sciences and has shared plans of each of these devices and their components and spends many idle hours taking measurements and notes to share with his colleagues afar. Visitors to the NL city palace are invited to review:
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The ArmilliaryA large stationary and sturdy model big enough for a young child to climb inside and recline. Visitors to Prince Joseph's City Home have seen it in the Piano Nobile front room that looks out upon the Grand Hotel across the boulevard, and younger guests may have had the opportunity to contemplate their own place in the world from within it's rotating spheres.
- AstrolabsJoseph and Asenath both developed an affinity for these while aboard ship and learned well their use for navigation across the ocean. These serve a more functional purpose than the armilliary sphere because they are easily portable. By measuring the relative positions of the stars and planets, position on the open seas can be determined.
- Clockwork timepieceSpring driven large timepiece. Some effort has been made by the artisans to make smaller versions but the accuracy falls off sharply, yet the work continues. If the process is improved sufficiently a clock tower may be commissioned for the city in an appropriate place.
- SpyglassThis metalic tube is affixed with ground and polished glass of exacting proportions such that it can provide a magnified view. In conjunction with the torquetum it provides for accurate readings of positions of the heavenly bodies.
- TorquetumUsed to take astronomical measurements of the horizon, equatorial and elliptic. Joseph's fascination with the heavens is both practical and intellectual. In matters of navigation it finds its practical uses, and much of the newer mathematics and methods of calculations are derived from the study of the motions of these lights in the skies.
The Artisans:The artisans that fabricate these item are primarily contracted workers overseen by New Liberty's own master artisan who coordinates the manufacture under Joseph's supervision and instruction. Asenath, while taking great interest in the product of these endeavors finds more interest in practical matters, however is adept at putting the finished items to good use. Asenath also has developed some ciphers based on the mathematics which are used by Joseph in his letter writing campaigns when dealing with novel matters of science. These letters are sent with the full knowledge that most scientific advancement may be put to military uses and there is no reliable method of sending a message that can not be intercepted. Encoding is required.
Joseph and Asenath have been building the instruments and encouraging foreign scientists to visit the CryptoTown through their efforts but have been careful to protect the secret of the towns success, the wondrous waters from any in foreign lands that are not worthy of this knowledge. Their support of music, the arts, and sciences is renown and they are often seen together attending the opening night of each new production in the marvelous Crypto town theaters, or when its performers visit other taverns and clubs, as well as entertained by the chanting of the monks at the Cathedral and often walking the grounds of the university area. In the interim, as people of letters, their scientific curiosities are advanced by their own experiments which are shared at the irregular meetings of
The Circle (a secretive group of nobility with an interest in the sciences within the Crypto Kingdom that gather to share knowledge). Many of the presentations are fueled by the work of these artisans, who make the devices needed.
In addition to the professional tinker employed in the household, there is an accomplished chirurgeon who since living in Crypto Town has not seen a single sick person and has kept busy with alchemical productions and managed to fabricate distillates of mercury, phosphorous, potash, rudimentary gunpowder (black powder), opium, sulfur and metallic sulfates, arsenic, and some solvents and acids including the sulfuric acid described by Rogers Bacon. Some experimentation on the addition of metallic sulfates to black powder has resulted in some brilliant pyrotechnics derived from methods used in the far east.
The travels of Joseph and Asenath frequently met with violent opposition, and in one such encounter this method was put to an unusual military use. Though outnumbered and cut off from any possibility of retreat or escape, their company made use of the superstitions known among their pursuers by spreading rumors of a powerful magician supporting them that could conjure jinn (Arabian evil spirits) to fight for them. The rumor was then stoked by soaking their campfire logs in copper sulfates and alcohol causing the fires to burn a very bright blue (the blue jinn reputed to be among the eldest). The enemy lost morale and and battle was avoided with no casualties.
During the time in Crypto Town the New Liberty chirurgeon has been able to reproduce this effect (though its use is confined to the outdoors due to the odors). A colonnade pavilion was contemplated and designed for the architecture competition for its display and for use as for celebratory events and may yet be constructed one day if a suitable site is selected, likely in the New Liberty Haw, or possibly atop the Prince's city estate or along the walls. If this fireworks science is further advanced it could also be a visual delight at dusk for special jousting events and other celebrations.
We look forward to hearing more of the past engagements of our fellow nobility here.
