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Second Age, Zarosian Humans

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Cthris
Dec Member 2023

Cthris

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Unique Qualities - Continued


It's possible that the empire engaged in very aggressive recruiting techniques, such as releasing a parasitic cthonian demon upon helpless citizens in the hopes that it use the villagers to increase its numbers, as potentially described in Nex's Followers. (Stole this from Huogh)



In Comparison to other Empires

Original message details are unavailable.
The vast majority of people in the Zarosian Empire were humans.

I'm not prepared to commit on the subject of slavery but as I'm imagining it there were technically no slaves in the Empire, but there were humans whose economic conditions amounted to little better than slavery.

This is a particularly interesting point. The Zarosian empire had no slaves, well except for undead slaves. At least one other Second Age empire had slaves, the Desert Folk. Senliten’s own childhood slave was executed for allowing Senliten to wander off without her.



Original message details are unavailable.
We haven't decided what the Saradominist lands were like yet.

Off the top of my head (and this is just me thinking through an idea) I would say that Saradomin treated his people better than Zaros did. However, the Zarosians had better access to technology and education.

I'd tentatively suggest that the Zarosian humans were materially better off but the Saradominists were happier.


The Imperial Army included a Navy (19). Perhaps the only other major faction to also have a Navy was Bandos, who specifically bred ogres to live, and fight underwater.

11-May-2015 05:16:03 - Last edited on 24-May-2016 23:20:30 by Cthris

Cthris
Dec Member 2023

Cthris

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Conclusion

The average Zarosian human would be either a farmer, or a manufacturer. They would not be able to read or write. They would be able to experience technology unheard of within the other empires. However they would also live in fear of anyone with power, and were forced into submission through this fear. They would have more luxuries than the average citizen in the Saradominist empire, however they would not be as nearly as happy.

Being eaten, experimented on, murdered, sent to the asylum etc. were all very real possibilities, however being eaten, murdered or experimented on was far less likely if you were in an upper class. Mental illness was on the rise, probably due to the stress that fear creates, and the empire had no real way to treat it. Should you develop mental illness you probably would be subjected to being forced to do unpaid work to make up for your "lack of contribution to society".

After death, one could possibly look forward to life as an undead slave, unless of course you were devoured by a demon.

11-May-2015 05:29:34 - Last edited on 19-Dec-2015 00:49:53 by Cthris

Cthris
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Cthris

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References

1) Though Zaros instructed the church to teach the whole population to read and write, it was economically impractical to do so for humans working in agricultural or industrial labour. Nevertheless the empire had a level of literacy that eclipsed that of any other god's people, with as many as one in five able to read and one in ten able to write (Mizzarch's memory)

2) Through the church Zaros taught the empire many secrets of agriculture and industry and architecture, and Senntisten was always the first beneficiary of each advance. Great halls and towers and aqueducts sprang up over the city and the lands around were filled with efficient, irrigated fields, mills, jennies and straight, well-maintained roads. (Akthanakos memory)

3) But most of them still saw humans as nothing more than feeble apes. Even though humans had become our lord's most reliable strategists and engineers, the other generals treated me with disdain. (Declaration of Viggora)

4) Yes, I remember still the times before men and dwarves considered each other allies, and only the bravest of heroes would venture beneath the ground - lest he fall foul of the wrath of the dwarves who had claimed that as their own. (A True and Concise History of the Discovery of the Runes)

5) This is why there are no humans in the High Command," Mazakon said sternly. "You don't live long enough to see the whole picture. The Front has moved twenty kilometres south in the last hundred years. Zamorak sends powerful demons to raze every settlement they can reach. If we stop pushing back, Uzer itself could be in danger." (The Song Before The War) (Yes I am aware that this is the third age, but I am assuming the Saradominist empire did not grow more bigoted as time went on)

11-May-2015 05:29:46 - Last edited on 11-May-2015 05:31:13 by Cthris

Cthris
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Cthris

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6) Original message details are unavailable.
Okay let me clarify.

I'm not saying that the Zarosian Empire had slaves. (Although I'm also not denying that they did.)

What I'm saying is that from Saradomin's POV, the happy, joyous people of Saradomiville were conquered militarily and suddenly seemed to be loyal to Zaros. The only explanation he can see is that they were enslaved, so that's what he told everyone.

Of course, conditions weren't great in the Empire anyway. Would you consider working in a Victorian workhouse slavery? What about a modern sweatshop?

7) There is a law in the empire against consuming humans, but I do not think they keep it very well, and I do not think Zaros is aware of the violation. There are many forces that keep the streets of Senntisten clear of the homeless, and not all of them are economic. (Hazeel's memory)
8) Nex’s Followers
9) Sliske wrote and performed a play for the elite of Senntisten: the more urbane demons and the most powerful human merchants and bureaucrats. Before the play he took unwanted humans from the streets of the city, dressed them in brightly coloured costumes, and placed upon each a crude wooden mask. At his command the masks spoke aloud and controlled the movements of the players, compelling them to jerkily act and dance and mime his play like puppets, with the person behind the mask able only to watch his own actions.
As a grotesque gimmick, the players actually stabbed each other to death with their weapons at the play's ******…
Those who disliked it dared not voice their concern for fear of social disgrace or becoming victim to the inquisition of the Praetorians. (Ralvash’s Memories)

11-May-2015 05:30:02 - Last edited on 11-May-2015 05:31:58 by Cthris

Cthris
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Cthris

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10) I knew that should I have been caught, I risked being killed upon the spot, but my combat skills were always formidable, and if truth be told, there was a fair amount of dissent amongst… ‘his’ followers anyway...this allowed me freedom amongst their camp, for it was always easy to point the finger of suspicion at some unsuspecting necromancer or foolish Mahjarrat if it seemed as though my activities had been discovered. Similarly, should I ever been caught in the act of my sabotage, it was all too easy to bribe whoever found me or persuade them into believing it was just some minor treachery of my own, rather than my work for my Lord Saradomin. (lennisa)

11) For the more unusual predilections of Sliske and Trindine he created a new organization, the Praetorians, the secret police of Senntisten. For his part in the liberation of the Mahjarrat from Icthlarin, Sliske was given the office of Praefectus of the Praetorians.(Jhallan’s memory)

12) once-rustic hamlets and villages on important routes, long swallowed by the great imperial war machine: their inhabitants mostly scattered; their few pieces of remaining architecture peering out amid ranks of barracks, stables and warehouses; their names long forgotten. (Roots in the Community)

13) priests of the Sombre Vigil, a prominent death cult in the capital (Roots in the Community)

14) When I had drawn enough - for enough was what Imperial Law allowed us to take...
I levitated the oscillating crimson orb above my left hand and presented it to the room. Cowled human initiates whispered to one another and scratched on slate tablets...
It would take the best of them a full year to master the fundamental principles of blood magic.
(The Old Blood)

15) met the next one head-on, shearing through her armour and flesh and tearing her arm from her body. (Ibid)

11-May-2015 05:30:12 - Last edited on 08-Sep-2015 13:39:43 by Cthris

Cthris
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Cthris

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16- Original message details are unavailable.
The conventional interpretation of this passage was that what was broken was the lunatic's contribution to society, and so efforts focused on finding productive work for them, typically unpaid work in workhouses or on clerical labour teams. While the vast majority of identified madmen caused no trouble, a few high-profile cases of dangerously criminal lunatics caused public concern…Nabor was given a grant to establish and maintain a "sanitarium" in which to imprison and, ideally, heal the disordered... The church were unwilling to give any but the most disturbed lunatics to the sanitarium as the harmless ones provided a source of cost-effective labour.

In the few years before the rebellion, Nabor accomplished little in the way of actually healing his inmates, although many theories were tested... Seneci**** was assigned to the sanitarium and proved to be the most difficult inmate, frequently murdering and consuming fellow inmates and staff alike during tantrums.


17- My ability to enforce loyalty does not compel ascendant beings, only the lower mortals and my old companions. I will have to resort to baser methods. To this end, I have brought my own lower races to this world. If the young gods will not heed my words or recognize my divinity, then they will be made to listen.
[Zaros, fate of the gods]

18- Mod Jack Tweets

Mod Jack ‏@JagexJack 5h5 hours ago
@Noctiseus Almost no vertical mobility, I expect. Notable exceptions, but generally classes would be pretty fixed.

Mod Jack ‏@JagexJack 5h5 hours ago
@Noctiseus Probably a mixture of both. Public services built by the church (and paid with heavy taxes/tithes). This might include food.

19 - Kindred Spirits.

11-May-2015 05:33:29 - Last edited on 24-May-2016 23:19:45 by Cthris

Cthris
Dec Member 2023

Cthris

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Thanks for reading, if you feel like posting, do so.


Some simple rules

Please do not swear, contrary to popular belief, it doesn't make you look tough, it makes you look ten.

Stay on topic

I do not care if you feel like insulting an npc, but do not personally insult your fellow players. (For example, saying Seren is an evil monster is perfectly acceptable, saying Noctiseus is a noob is not)

11-May-2015 05:38:48 - Last edited on 11-May-2015 05:40:11 by Cthris

The Mather1
May Member 2008

The Mather1

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I don't believe Forinthry actually spent that much of its history being at war. Yes, relations were tense with the Armadyleans, Saradominists and Bandosians, but there's no evidence that any fighting happened short of minor skirmishes.
Furthermore it's unlikely that Zaros would allow the resources to be stretched thin. He knew to personally intervene through the introduction of technology to prevent sickness, so he would've done the same for hunger.
"Abscondita est in Astra."

11-May-2015 08:35:11

Cthris
Dec Member 2023

Cthris

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The Mather1 said :
I don't believe Forinthry actually spent that much of its history being at war. Yes, relations were tense with the Armadyleans, Saradominists and Bandosians, but there's no evidence that any fighting happened short of minor skirmishes.
Furthermore it's unlikely that Zaros would allow the resources to be stretched thin. He knew to personally intervene through the introduction of technology to prevent sickness, so he would've done the same for hunger.

This might be a misinterpretation. The actual land, and people probably never engaged in battle. Ipcress described his rustic hamlet as peaceful enough to froget the atrocities of war.

Objectively, ruthlessly efficient - it was this that the empire was built on, and the relative peace and prosperity at home made it all too easy to forget.


What I meant is that the people would feel the strain of war. As you can see in the new lore story, the Imperial Army was allowed to commandeer anything the civilians had to aid the war effort, and even a time of relevant peace, this commandeering was shown to be frequent.

11-May-2015 13:33:34

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