World of Divided Continents Q&A
Volume 3
1. Who really leads Underhaven?
The authority lies under the 21 Judiciary Council Members, who are 8 Elders of the Major Clans and 13 Supreme Masters of the Minor Tribes. But it is informally and universally accepted that the main authority lies with the Elder Templars, specifically with Elder Michael, the Head General and Commander in Chief of all the Templar Forces, and Elder Gabriel, who is the Head of the Civic Affairs.
2. How does Underhaven land ownership work?
They are feudal. The 21 Judiciary Council Members own the regions, and under them are Templar Vassals, though some can be lesser races' vassals as well, who fight for them. Each region is almost like a country in its own right, given how vast it is.
Templars are considered abnormal beings. They don't squabble in land warfare, trying to take each other's land. They see it as dishonorable and against the Templar code of unity. Instead, they hold decennial Templar War Games, which have their own rules and customs, like a surface-domain land war. But to them, it is more like a highly competitive game, even with casualties, than a blood feud. They don't carry grudges among themselves and the opposing sides.
Later, I would explain this in further archives.
3. Are there guns in Bastion? Since the world is already advanced?
Now this is a big question. No, there are no traditional guns in Bastion. Any gun-like mechanisms that exist are used strictly for mobility—such as grappling tools for scaling buildings—or function as modified crossbows.
Guns are considered useless in Bastion for two primary reasons:
Projectile Counters:The elemental and divine abilities of Mortals, Shades, and Templars easily deflect, absorb, or counter standard small physical projectiles.
Inability to Infuse Bullets: This is the most important point! Even though the world of Bastion is as advanced as it is, unlike arrows and crossbow bolts—which can be charged with elemental or divine energy to breach defenses—bullets cannot be infused with magic and martial energy for unknown reasons, making them ineffective in combat.
But obviously, the arrows, crossbows, and related weapons are advanced. Well, depending on whether people have money, since advanced weapons are expensive in Bastion. If not, the traditional ones are used.
4. But aren't there runes and sigils? Can't Bastion develop plasma/energy guns based on those?
Well, it is true that there are runic siege weapons that blast energy, but Bastion has yet to discover how to miniaturize them to the size of a small gun. They have small runic-energy weapons, but they are about two sizes larger than an RPG. So it is difficult to operate individually.
Also, because energy blasts don't carry the infused traits of the elements in them (they are just condensed energy without the element's traits), people prefer using advanced traditional weapons, which can do so.
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*End of Q&A Volume 3