But in abandoning our duties to go do things just because they impress the troops, that negotiating position exists entirly counter to the spirit of divided responsibilities that Make Terms embodies. We are going to him to discuss (relatively) fairly dividing roles for the good of the legion while claiming a new role and neglecting our official one.
As one of the Commanding Officers of the Legion it is also our responsibility to make sure that our men are duly quartered and sheltered. While it is our specific duty to see to the grievances of the men I see no reason to not address an already known issue such as the potential defects in the Palace, as if we don't deal with the repairs we will likely get complaints regarding it anyways.
I highly doubt the men will think us neglectful of our official duties considering that at the beginning of the Samnite War we also didn't choose A Law Beyond the Sword as one of our actions even though back then it was still one of our responsibilities.
[] A Law Beyond The Sword: The men often have simple issues, complaints, or grievances which they wish to address. As broad-striped tribune, it is your duty to see to these. One afternoon, you set up a table in the middle of camp and invite men to come air their grievances before you, and perhaps even raise a case against a fellow soldier.
[X] Plan Fidelis Constans
- [X] Court-Martial
- [X] A Social War
- [X] Coin Is Mightier Than The Sword
- [X] The Left Hand Strays
- [X] The Legate
- [X] The Old Teacher
It took until our arrival at Bovianum for us to take that option, so I don't see the dire need to take the option right now, especially as the Brother in Arms option seems to fall into one of the categories that would be covered by our Broad Striped Tribune Duties.
In the end the men already know how diligent we are in our duties, and I don't see the need for fear in not taking A Law Beyond the Sword when we've been fine with having done so in the past.
[X] Plan Roman Duty
-[X] Bovianum
-[X] A Law Beyond The Sword
-[X] Sic Semper
-[X] Write Home
--[X] Cicero
--[X] Proserpina
The primary difference between the two plans is how to deal with Cassianus. I picked 'Connect' because I want the young charismatic ambitious homo novus on our side, and I think we have a pretty good shot at making it work (our charisma's pretty good, we are idealists, we have a history of working with populares despite our optimate ties, and we brought Theo along to help us socialize). However there are some good reasons why we'd want to pick 'Make Terms', and if we do, we absolutely want to guarantee its success by picking 'Cult'.
Personally, I don't think 'Brotherhood' is necessary -- we already have the love of the legion, and we'd already be doubling down with the 'Cult' -- and I'd really prefer if LotL took advantage of the one-time-only actions while we're in Nicomedia. I also think that we have an opportunity here, now that Asiaticus has been sideline, to integrate the 'Scipians' with the rest of the legion, so I consider that to be another high-priority action that LotL is missing.
I agree with you that we should take one of the time sensitive actions while we're in Nicomedia, which is why I picked the Crone and Ptolemy, however I do think that you're selling the Brotherhood option short. Sure, while the Legion currently loves us, the fact that the vote option itself says that it would help to cement their loyalty for a roll that likely would not be a difficult one is one of the key reasons for why we should do it now as it is something that will pay immense dividends later on.
[] Brotherhood: You begin eating your meals with the men, to show them that you stand as one of them, not some aloof aristocrat. They care for you already, but this may well cement it.
As I've said before regarding Connect, as we don't even know much about Cassianus I think that blindly trying to make friends with him, when we've ostensibly been put into position as rivals, is something to bear in mind because it seems that people seem to be overestimating our chances of befriending him. The main point of contention I have with Connect is the fact that our backgrounds may be a bigger stumbling block than people believe. We're publicly an Optimate, coming from a privileged Patrician background, even if said background is that of a down on their luck Patrician family. We have no idea about Cassianus' opinions of us or the Optimates in general, and with his novus homo background, while we may be a private Populares, there's no certainty he knows that. As we are about to march off onto a campaign I would rather we deal with the issue of leadership right now rather than potentially deal with a struggle for it later if the connect option fails.
