Talk:Bog Wraiths
I tried to clear up this page a bit. Paragraphs love you, Matt, why do you hate them?
I got a little confused about how the Wraiths came to be tied to Wydmoor under the Rockheart Charter (in italics in the text). Its probably because I don't know anything about the charter, sentinels of the stand, convention of autonomy, or stones of law. As it stands right now, I don't know why the Wraths are tied to the city and not the church. Can you clear this up?
Also, you said in the beginning that they were "The largest of the few truly independent mercenary companies", and then later said "their survival is inexorably tied to the free city". I removed the part about being truly independent because it doesn't seem like they are anymore.
Yes, I will try to clear that up right now. "Truly Independent" because they are not directly tied to a major nation-state or the chruch: Since Wydmoor is the only "Free City", I figured it still counted. I can see why that would be unclear. 96.4.191.20 10:15, 6 February 2009 (EST)
PS. "Bog Wraiths" is a really good name for these guys. Much cooler for them than the magic card. --Msallen
In Draft and Sealed, this guy is the TRUTH.
I seriously cannot emphasize how good Bog Wraith is in limited environment. -gm
- Even I know that a 3/3 evader for 4 with only one colored mana dependency is strong. --Msallen
What's the Wraith's relationship with Odessa? --Msallen
- Probably vastly different than it was a week ago. The wiki represents status quo. You will have to learn about alterations to the status quo yourself, through research or even simply asking. -gm
- I assume you mean in the present. Before now, they have a few business dealings related to Alexia. As you are aware, the Valley of Dust is sort of a spreading silt-basin that came about due to Alexian deforestation of the elven home forests through slash-and-burn and intensive cultivation. Early on, that was a good thing : the huge free-yeomanry and relative wealth lead to the Alexian Renaissance. It began a few hundred years ago, most likely, but didn't become a severe problem until about a century ago, when the scope and rapidity of its growth started causing political unrest. Refugees abandoned their worthless holdings and fled the growing dust storms to seek asylum in Alexia's urban centers of the west. So, this caused some severe geopolitical problems, mostly for Odessa and Wydmoor City. Another problem is that the Valley of Dust is pretty much in the center of the nation, and has now grown to such an extent that it has essentially split the nation in two - and though most of the cities are in the West, the capital and one or two major cities are in the East. The multi-staged Alexian Intervention, the happy-shiny name put on what is basically a growing occupation, took place mostly in the West, which borders Odessa. The eastern section, split as it was by the Valley of Dust, was left to it's own devices, as it was causing no domestic problems for Odessa and intervention/occupation there would be very expensive for no gain. However, the Odessans couldn't really afford to just ignore the east totally - it's piss the Flannari off royally, the church would be less than thrilled, and it'd be a PR disaster to boot - so they did what any right thinking government would do: they outsourced it.
- In response to the growing lawlessness in the east, they hired the Bog Wraiths to, officially, "help the sovereign Doge maintain order in the east." But, really, the problems in the Alexian east are pretty severe and beyond the scope of a 9-12k man mercenary company. For the most part, they keep order and the defenses of the capital city. Politically, you might think of Eastern Alexia as sort of like afghanistan: a major political center, well stocked and defended if anxious, surrounded by dozens of bandit fiefdoms in various states of feud.
- So, when it comes time to map the Valley of Dust, it should probably reach near the river border of flannary and all the way to the northern coast.
- Awesome. So Kib is basically American. -Slitherrr
- I made one change to your addition because it seemed ambiguous like it might be a typo. Make sure it was right.
- So, effectively, the Wraiths are nominally responsible for keeping the peace if a distant track of land that they have no easy access to? Does that mean they really don't have much of a relationship with Odessa outside of a political one?
- That's pretty close to right, yeah. Strictly business. Bog Wraiths were the obvious choice for the job for several reasons, not the least of which is tehy're pretty much exclusively human. As for access, they certainly have much easier access to it than Odessa, who would have to sail across the northern sea contra the prevailing winds. The Bog Wraiths actually have access by sailing south from the western ports of the Temporal Authority, where they have an active presence, across the Chrysanthemum Bay. All in all, they probably have a few thousand troops there keeping order in the capital and the surrounds. They have acted in this capacity for 12 years.
- Oh, and for the record, I am more interested in the contemporary historical relationship between the two. So this is exactly what I wanted. I'll update my "what I did in Alexandria City" to reflect some library time. --Msallen
