[Trade: Stewardship, 37+20+15+10=82]
Trying to set up a trade deal with the Kalmar union proves difficult at first, not only due to the distance needed to travel by ship but also because of the Hanseatic league. They do little to hide the fact they oppose Scandinavian trade, wishing to keep their hold of trade in the north, and while not attacking your ships, they do little to aid them, forbidding them to rest in their ports or purchase anything at their markets, making the journey a long and harsh one though easier than a land route would be. King Christian the 2nd does however try to entice the trade as he can, giving very good prices on both the imports and exports of his land that you do though its citizenry. Illario tells you this isn't out of any kindness on the mans part, rather the opposite. This trade completely cuts out the nobility from any of the profit, leaving it to fall either into the kings coffers or the citizens while starving out the nobility, at least that seems to be the hope. The north has little in variety of what it sells, largely rural goods such as cows, pigs, a variety of grains, but what they lack for in diversity they make up for in quantity.
Trade route established, 30fl/turn
Lots of rural goods
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[Colonization,Learning, 34+18=52]
The colony at the center of the coast is proving to be too troublesome at the moment so you decide to have the colony try further north at the mouth of a river. Its rather far north, a worryingly long journey, but with some luck it could prove valuable. The river should prove a boon for agricultural needs and would hopefully prove good for trade, and if the land is anything like its closest neighbors in France and England then it should be fairly comfortable for settlers. Just in case you also request that the company send along some extra soldiers of theirs with the colony in case of any native issues. The ship is filled with those poor and seeking a better life as usual, but you also get some religious groups leaving as well, thinking that the recent religious issues causing a falling out with the church for some citizens.
You will find their fate next turn.
---
[Tracking, Intrigue, 68+20+20=108]
Arnao left for France a few months ago now. You had suggested he take the cento occhi with him but he says that a large group would only attract more attention and that these Italian thieves would stick out like a sore thumb in France, it'd be better to work with whatever local templar presence there might be. His report finally arrives, delivered by a merchant of the Levesque family, and its information is both plentiful and worrying. The identities of the two assassins are found, one man by the name of Gautier de Carnellion and one woman by the name of Melisant LeBlanc. Gautier, the one you had fought, is apparently descended from a fairly important member of the French assassins who had been one of the key members during their plot to brand the knightly templars heretics. As for Melisant little can be found, likely one of their many indoctrinated converts, though you know that she was the one who must have stolen the pieces of Eden.
With the aid of fellow assassins and the lead they had the pair of assassins reached Paris, but instead of heading straight for their den they instead went to the villa of Francis Valois-Angouleme, cousin, son in law, and heir-presumptive to King Louis. What ties he has to the assassins to make him their first stop is worrying to say the least. Louis was never a friend of the templars but neither was he one to the assassins, the new king of France being allies with the assassins cant be good. They soon left for the den, located deep in Frances catacombs, a maze and death trap ten times over compared to Ravennas.
Most worrying however is when Arnao learned why the French assassins targeted you. they had heard from Italian contacts, no confirmation on whether they were also assassins, that not only had you left yourself with little protection, but they had heard of Belottis discovery of Alaric's treasures. That must be how they learned of at least the shroud, Belotti or his assistants must not have been quiet about their discoveries.
For now Arnao plans to remain in France to see what else he can learn, see if he could find some useful piece of information, but he's ready to act or leave when called.
---
[Smuggling: Intrigue, 73+16+17=106]
For once smuggling goes well, though this may be because Machiavelli ignored the water almost entirely. Ships are sent from Ravenna to Trieste in Austria, after their somewhat recent earthquakes they are happy for what trade they can get even in passing. Then it's a matter of paying off Hungarians until the weapons and food reaches the northern Wallachian border, and from there its their problem. It's a somewhat expensive supply train for you to fund but the supplies are going to use from what you hear, long range cannons and mortars firing into any army waving ottoman flags from entrenched positions along their borders. Apparently the rebel armies are growing rather possessive of their lands at this point, not wanting even their allied armies to enter after a conflict erupted between the Achaens and Epirusians over Athens. For now Wallachia is sticking within its own conquered land or aiding their byzantine allies.
---
[Festivals: Stewardship, 98+20+15=133]
Given the tensions going on right now both from war and religious matters you decide it may be best to distract the people with some sport, games, and entertainment. Jousts, wrestling, jesters and more fill the streets as the people are distracted for a time, betting upon the games and filling themselves with free food, but even now you can see that there are still some tensions among them. It seems that even bread and circuses aren't enough to really deal with the simmering tensions that are brewing. It does keep things calm for a while however so there's that.
---
[STEAM!: Learning, 42+35=78]
Leo takes another crack at the steam device to try and get it working in some way, again progress is minimal. Leos technical description of his work continues to elude you, but at the very least he sounds like he's making some progress. If nothing else it sounds like some of the design could be used for a large water boiler, and a warm bath is always a good thing.
(626/1000 progress on the steam engine)
---
[War: Martial, 63+18-10=71]
While the last army of Romagna, the army of San Marino, is sent to occupy Modena for the foreseeable future, Ast is ordered to march into Ferrara to support Guillaume's forces in the pursuit of any stragglers of the French force. While they may be disorganized however it doesn't mean they are weak, and what forces are engaged give a good fight, with firing retreats and cavalry charges from the flank where possible. While some of the army is stripped away they do manage cause losses amongst Ast's forces while fleeing towards the city.
---
[war: martial, 88+20=108]
These attacks are however enough to help clear out as many of the French from the surrounding land as possible, as was Guillaume's goal so that he wouldn't find himself surrounded when he put Ferrara under siege, so goal accomplished. Now he marches his force on the city where he admittedly has no experience at all, so he just sets up cannons around the city to be fired in volleys throughout the day, hoping that they will just surrender so he won't have to try and charge on the city. It's a simple plan but not necessarily a bad one at least.
---
[War: Martial, 83+14=97]
The siege of Pavia continues, though it's a slow and tiresome one. The city lives up to its reputation, not only being near impossible to break through its walls, as well as the city's defenders fighting viciously and without mercy, sending out raiding parties at night to sabotage and harass Georgios's men, and proving quite the pain to take. Progress is made however as Kostas's cannons are able to inflict a heavy toll on the cannonry of the city as well as breaking a tower or two. A bit more time and luck and the city may be taken.
---
[Edumacation: Learning, 81+20=101]
Things seem to be going well for Elena's school as now a proper building has been readied and remodeled for its new purpose. Some of the stains refuse to come out but those should be covered up by new stains from metalwork in the future. The tools and supplies are moved inside as well as many of the records made by the smiths of San Marino though they are kept under heavy lock and key, Moreso to protect them from disaster than thievery. All that remains now is to gather students and perhaps a few more teachers then just Elena.
---
It would seem that the league is beginning to fracture. The talks of spoils have now been replaced by debates over who leads the league now that Julius is dead and neither pope is aligned with them. Venice claims it should take the lead as it has been in this war the longest. The empire claims it should lead as it is the strongest. England says it should lead as it has been most successful. These arguments have led to this alliance being barely one even in name. The Swiss have nearly completely dropped out of the war, the venetians are in talks with the French though the nature of these talks is unknown, the H.R.E. likewise is seeking peace terms with the French as well as seeking an end to the papal conflict, England continues its fight in France as henry seeks glory, but even he starts to pull back his army's while he lacks German support.
---
The papacy conflict has continued, as the two popes continue to have factions begin to back them in this newly formed power struggle, as the remaining cardinals as well as Adrien try to form a conclave so that a proper election may be held, but the Avignon papacy refuses to acknowledge a need for a conclave, though Honorius has claimed he will allow it should they be gathered, confidant that god will choose the right candidate. Rumors have even begun to spread that the French pope and cardinals seek to split from the roman church, claiming it has been defiled. King louis refuses to acknowledge the Avignon papacy, but he is growing weak as his son in law gathers support, and his authority is almost ignored.
As for the conclave a few names have been put forward as candidates, aside from the two preexisting popes. For his leadership of the cardinals in this time and having arrived just as he was needed some of the cardinals have begun to support Adrien. Others support Giulio de Medici, not just because of his family's power but also for his honorable nature and support of the arts and sciences as well as already being a cardinal unlike his cousin Giovanni. A surprising choice has also come up during this time, one Zobor Rudolf of Hungary, a minor cardinal of little importance, but that is precisely the reason he was put forward as a compromise choice. He holds no ties to any of the warring kingdoms and empires and has shown himself to be a respectable enough figure within the church. King henry tried to put forward Wolsey but this was quickly put aside as the man didn't have the influence nor was he virtuous enough to garner any meaningful support. This abundance of choices has led to worries amongst a portion of the cardinalate however as if the votes are too far divided it may form a new schism in the church.
---
A peasant's rebellion has broken out in Swabia against what they claim to be the corrupt rule of duke ulrich of wurttemberg. Calling themselves the poor Conrad they march on his lands to depose him and the various taxes and excises he has imposed on them. Whether anything will come of their rebellion, who knows, you only hope it won't spread southward.
---
you have 915 florins, an elite army, 3 regular armys, a fleet, and enough ships for trade
You have six actions, use them as you will
You may take up to two extra actions but each will subtract 10 from your rolls as you stretch yourself
Please make your vote in plan format
You have the sixth sense bonus and may have an advisor aid you or do a task on their own
Martial
[] The simplest way to expand is to take the land by force, send an army to try and conquer somewhere
-[] Where?
-[] What is your Casus Belli?
[] Have one of your armies train and try to improve
-[] which one?
[] Perhaps you could give the legionary eagle to one of your armies, it could do great things for morale
[] Spend some time to form another fleet of ships and train a crew to man them to protect or attack any naval foes
[] As Romagna expands you may need another army to defend it, start building one.
[] Perhaps you should look into mercenaries you could hire
[] Hire one of the mercenary groups you know of (300fl)
-[]Which one
[] With your current independence you may want to improve your defenses, send some men out to improve the forts
-[] north or south?
[] Write in
Stewardship
[] Give one of your stewards the funds to pursue their own projects
[]You can always make more trade deals(you will need more ships for oversea trade)
-[] Who?
[] The current iron mining operations are doing well, but perhaps they could expand? (50 fl)
[] Your brother found blacksmiths while you were away, perhaps they could forge you something?
-[] What?
[] The ruby mines could always be improved, try to do so (75 fl)
[] The woods are dense and large, perhaps you could expand the operations (50 fl)
[] you could encourage immigration somewhere
-[] where?
[] The docks are in good repair at least, perhaps you should purchase some ships to help with trade and defense (100 fl)
[] There's a whole new world out there, fund the company to form a new colony (takes one turn, and is much more likely to succeed with your map, you may choose a location on the eastern American coasts/Bahamas, 500 fl)
-[] Where?
[] Write in
Diplomacy
[] Add new laws for the N.W.C. to follow in their colonization efforts
[] Try to convince Cardinals to vote for Adrien as Pope
[] Maybe you could look for an alliance, without marriage?
-[] Where?
[] The templars need new blood, maybe there's someone you could recruit?
-[] who?
[] Perhaps you should go meet one of your neighbors directly?
-[] Which one?
[] You know where Ezio lives, perhaps you should send him a friendly letter
-[] About what?
[] Send a letter to a different Power, such as Venice, the Ottomans, etc
-[] Who?
[] Write in
Intrigue
[] You now have two assassins, give them a target(50fl-200fl depending on the danger/Importance of the target)
[] You now have your own groups of thieves and spies, now what to use them for?
-[] Write in
[] Start spying in foreign land, blackmail or opportunities won't find themselves
-[] Where?
[] start bribing cardinals so they'll vote for Adrien for pope (100 fl)
[] write in
Learning
[] Give your engineer resources and let them design what they please, perhaps making something of use (50fl)
[] Continue experimenting with the volley cannon, perhaps some new inspiration will strike?
[] Start experimenting with the steam engine
[] Work on translating those assassin texts
[] try to find this prophecy chamber from Brutus journal
[] search for more pieces of Eden
[] Write in
Personal
[] Try to befriend people in your court
-[] Who?
[] Send a letter to a family member
-[] To who, and what about?
[] You should learn how to use that dagger Cesare gave you
-[] Or maybe something else?
[] Write in
[] Try to train a stat
-[] Which one?
