Vos tips

[Dmitri the Vos]

In the final years of his life, the brutal Vos Warlord Barak (who always referred to himself as a King) left to his sons the following;

Wow, a Vos who read Machiavelli and the Greeks, and some others I recognize but won't bother naming.

For a Vos character - be sure to take a lot of Survival skill.
D'oh
For a Vos regent - Espionage, the favored method of attacking others in Anuire, is not so reliable here, nor is it as necessary. Instead, pick an enemy who you can reasonably hope to quickly defeat and go smash them. Get the attack over with before your other neighbors can react or you may end up fighting on two fronts - never a happy prospect. The worthwhile use of espionage is Spying on your neighbors so you can attack them when they are distrackted by other enemies.

Keep Benelik happy by having a brisk little war every couple of years. Be victorious - use every wretched means nedded to assure just that - remember if it's a fair fight you're not trying hard enough.

At some point you need some tactical or operational flexibility, because you should have a problem which you did not anticipate, so keep some reserves available in a central location.

[Gheal]

Here I brought next bunch of tips
"Every year we have four natural disasters - Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter" (popular saying). Well actually only two are garanteed - winter and spring.
Spring. All this snow that had been falling on your head whole winter suddenly began to thaw. In the basins of small rivers this will cause only floods. Its scale depends on geographical factors. But no permanent structures will be built near the edge of water. On the big rivers you can see spectacular show of ice drift. Under the pressure from water all ice starts to break and then drift down the river. And if ice can't drift freely (for example under some pesky bridge) it starts to clog the river and form ice-hummocks. Usually these blocks are less than 10 feet in height, but sometimes they can be over 20". And pressure easily can be measured in tens of tons. So here is tip #5: no permanent bridges over big rivers - they will last 'till next spring only. Actually, some talented anuirean bridge builders can build bridge sturdy enough (IMO), but this is just my thought - you must bring them there, they must see this drift by their own eyes and only then they can start their work.
And all this great road network I mention earlier disappears in few days. Even worse, your actual road network (mostly dirt roads) will be nonfunctional for at least 3-4 weeks. So much pain for Belinik - no raids for entire month!
And this disaster can beset poor god at fall too - one week of rain in especially rainy regions can render forest roads unusable.

Another big theme - how these Vos people can endure harsh winter. Here are two known solutions. Nomads have tents covered with furs where all the family can huddle together near small fireplace. As they usually make camp in the forest (in the open winds are stronger than in the forest), great firewood consumption isn't a problem.
Settled Vos have wooden cottages with small external openings - small windows, low doors. All the chinks in the walls and floor are carefully patched by dry moss. And they have cattle-sheds attached to main building - or even as part of main building. Even Vos cow can freeze to death at especially cold nights. I don't know if Vos are sophisticated enough to build so called "russian oven". This monstrosity of a fireplace is built with about 1000 bricks and can be fed firewood once per day (!) to keep your house warm at harshest winter. A top of this oven is typical sleeping place for children and old people. This construction can save you lot of firewood (and lot of trips to nearby forest), but you must have decent Craft (masonry) skill to build it. Lesser ovens are easier to build, but they are less economical.
In northern Vosgaard we have also distinctive architecture features. Houses of the rich sport two types of living rooms - summer and winter ones. You can have all the fancy gates and broad windows for summer, but at winter these rooms are used only for storage. Tsor's palace can be exception, of course.
Houses of the poor and middle class (and winter entrances in the rich houses) have additional entry room - to keep cold air away from living apartments. (Simplest russian cottage design so-called "5-wall hut" have additional wall which separates main room and entry room).
So here's tip #6: Anybody can stick someone's head and shoulders into the window, but only rich can throw someone out of the window. No Wild West fancies, sorry.

If our communty wishes, I can continue to post my err... stories.

[Rey]

I think the idea is that you help the ally by attacking their enemy, thus winning you land and also a debt from your ally.

It's easier to jump in and attack the weaker one, you can split the lands with his enemy. If you help someone, you help him survive and when he gets stronger, he'll turn on you.
And I'm not sure Vos except mercy, either.

I'd expect that the sons bit is specific father's wisdom - some kids just don't get along - normally I'd expect more of a proverb heard a while back: me and my son against my brother, me and my brother against my cousin, me and my cousin against the world...

I suppose if there are some younger ones, they might not stand a chance in this brother on brother kill off. And at that number, some would overthrow their father soon after he loses his ability to speak. A Vos ruler without a voice is like a warrior without a sword.

17 sons, well that's a lot of work. How did they all survive?
And what does the law, or custom, say of rightful heirs? Can a ruler have more wives, is the society monogamous or polygamous?

RL: My mother is one of 4 children. My grandmother bore at least 7. One died at birth, one of illness and one by a bomb that was left over from WW2.

[AndrewTall]

It's easier to jump in and attack the weaker one, you can split the lands with his enemy. If you help someone, you help him survive and when he gets stronger, he'll turn on you.
And I'm not sure Vos except mercy, either.

I'm figuring that they must have some sort of honour code, otherwise they would tear themselves apart, recognising debt is key to any such code. I wouldn't expect Vos to expect mercy, but they'd probably gladly accept it - even if they despised the need or the insult in it being given.

17 sons, well that's a lot of work. How did they all survive? And what does the law, or custom, say of rightful heirs? Can a ruler have more wives, is the society monogamous or polygamous?

I'm figuring multiple wives / mistresses / etc - no woman is bearing 17 children that survive in Vos conditions barring a miracle, I'd expect half of the children to reach adulthood maximum. Given the strength ethic I'd expect that if a man can claim/feed/etc multiple wives and keep jealous rivals at bay then the Vos would accept it, swiping all the pretty girls is however certain to enrage enough warriors that one of them gets a lucky hit in even with a high level fighter.

[AndrewTall]

I've tried to tie in various tips, etc - even fighting the dreaded edit conflict demon - if the experts have a look and tell me what they think...

[Caelcormac]

This is a good effort, but kind of looks like you've mixed something up.

The King helps a hard pressed ally, but attacks his weak neighbor. Then he rewards his friends, but wants his sons to kill each other. Thus, he destroys himself and makes a job easier on his enemies which, in his opinion, should all be crushed to never have a chance to retaliate. So, which help from his friends he can use to crush his enemies if he destroys his family and neighbors?

Also, I had trouble comprehending some of the sentences you wrote, but it's ok, I got it.

I didn't mix anything up:

By having only one surviving heir, the strongest will rule the kingdom that Barak left behind...thus there is no division of lands or civil war: the children will fight to the death, and each Scion killed makes the next Scion even stronger. Barak is talking about Bloodtheft, his sons provide the victorious brother with even more power.

As for the sentences, I intentionally made them short, sometimes incorrect in their structure and so on to represent the very fact that most Vos do not read and write...the fact that King Barak could is a testimony to his intelligence.

[Caelcormac]

Wow, a Vos who read Machiavelli and the Greeks, and some others I recognize but won't bother naming.

Barak served most of his young adult life as a mercenary in the lands of Anuire and Khinasi.

He learned what he could from them, and then in distinctly Vos fashion tailored his knowledge to how he thought it would best apply to Vosgaard.

[Caelcormac]

It's easier to jump in and attack the weaker one, you can split the lands with his enemy. If you help someone, you help him survive and when he gets stronger, he'll turn on you.
And I'm not sure Vos except mercy, either.

It would be easy to attack the seemingly weaker one, but since you already know he is weaker than you, attack instead the one that has weakened himself by invading.

A lightning attack on the lands of your allies enemy makes it far easier than blowing away any hope in the future of anyone willing to ally with you.

I suppose if there are some younger ones, they might not stand a chance in this brother on brother kill off. And at that number, some would overthrow their father soon after he loses his ability to speak. A Vos ruler without a voice is like a warrior without a sword.

They would not overthrow him simply because he lost his voice. I suppose I could clarify that he was getting older, and the injury that caused the loss of his voice was also what caused him to begin a decent into death because of his already advanced aged coupled with an injury that most likely could have compromised his immune system and simple pneumonia could finish him off.

17 sons, well that's a lot of work. How did they all survive? And what does the law, or custom, say of rightful heirs? Can a ruler have more wives, is the society monogamous or polygamous?

As for the number of sons, it wasn't uncommon at all for non-christian men to have many dozens of children if they were in positions of power. If Barak ruled even a six province kingdom, he could have taken to his bed any number of women from any number of villages. I imagine he had very many daughters too...but most likely married them off as gifts to valuable generals or nobles of his kingdom.

Additionally, Barak was a warlord, not some pampered noble. His word was law, and the choice he made for the succession was the law. Had he made no decision at all, civil war could easily ensued as his mostly adult sons each sought to claim their own area as their own...which would have fractured the armies too.

I don't see the Vos as giving much care for the number of women a man has; only so long as he can support them all and ensure their safety. A pretty girl from a village that chooses to marry the leader of their people would bring great gifts to the village too: extra warriors to protect the now extended family of the leader, perhaps lesser taxes, and etc.

RL: My mother is one of 4 children. My grandmother bore at least 7. One died at birth, one of illness and one by a bomb that was left over from WW2.

I didn't intend to say that only one woman gave birth to all of these children. Barak had many wives, scattered all over his kingdom most likely; so that when he was in any one area, he had family and loyalty there to count on (though he wouldn't truly have trusted them, only expected it out of their fear of him).

It was common for maritime people and nomads throughout history to have leaders that had multiple partners...I thought it fitting considering that one of my outlooks on the Vos are that they are similar to both the medieval russians and the mongolians.

[Rey]

By having only one surviving heir, the strongest will rule the kingdom that Barak left behind...thus there is no division of lands or civil war: the children will fight to the death, and each Scion killed makes the next Scion even stronger. Barak is talking about Bloodtheft, his sons provide the victorious brother with even more power.

Instead of having a few strong warriors to watch after his legacy, he is willing to risk it all by leaving only one to rule. This ruler does not seem too intelligent to me. Consider the implications, the son may survive but be mortally wounded, he may drown in a river the next time he goes on a raid or some courtiers just stab him in a back and a whole 17-son-lot has been wasted in a blink. Bloodtheft is great, but does not grant immortality.

Instead, have sons compete, have a quest. Each that returns is potential new ruler. The one who brings greater loot, kills more enemies, slays some beasts, he should be the one to inherit the throne.

Andrew, sure they have a code. There's an honour challenge, it happens when you insult a Vos. The greatest insult to a Vos is to call him a coward to his face in front of many eyes. The insulted individual must respond with a duel. It's another lovely opportunity to increase a bloodline, priests are just thrilled to see it happen. Ruler of a tribe that loses a challenge (killed) has his tribe subdued to the winner.
That is how Basil Zariyatam came to power, he offered a direct challenge to few strongest rulers when he laid a plan to defeat the Brecht and they responded by calling him a fool.
Vos are quick to ally for an offense, more land and riches, but not so quick to help defend. They weigh out the possibilities and see the best they can get. Might makes right, but it doesn't mean charging blindly at every single possibility to bash a skull. Not even Vos are that dumb.

Caelcormac, those last things you've said are all good and reasonable. Although I'm trying to imagine a voiceless Vos ruler and it doesn't sit right, still.

[Sorontar]

While the priests of Beleinik may like bloodline transfer through bloodtheft, priests of Kriesha would be happy with transfer through ceremony. Not every challenge need end in bloodshed. It just needs to end in clear superiority.

You need not always need marry off your children to win favours. You could just volunteer their bloodline.You will remain strong by taking advantage of those who are weak. Of course, you do still want to be looked after in your old age (i.e. when you reach 40).