What do they say?
Roll 1d100+33=121
Americ has a great deal to report, each time he went to the capital he met with new members of your extended family and on occasionally with members close to the Patriarch. During these meetings the matter of the DOFE and its existence came up, each time the branch family members mentioned that they weren't aware of it but thought that the mandate when explained was good. Indeed a few of the smaller and more recent cadet branches took the initiative to send through with Americ some talented young people that they believe could help the DOFE and get them some political favor. When speaking with the Office of The Patriarch, Americ discovered that there was a small miscommunication between the DOFE and the OTP, which had resulted in several memos that where meant to be delivered to Cirila not arriving. Fortunately Americ was able to smooth over the upset bureaucrats at the capital and prevented any pulling of funding or formal censure. At the end of the year, he comments to Cirila that the DOFE should look to try and make some closer friends in the OTP to prevent anything like this happening again.
Results: The capital has decided to continue funding the DOFE, new options are available to increase and maintain funding.
Hot-Spring Renovations
Roll=1d100+33=64
New rooms are added to the hotel, added luxuries like specialty foods go onto the menu, and the staff are put through more training to ensure that the can preempt any issues that the guests might have. The new rooms are linked to a series of servant tunnels that allow for the staff to move unseen throughout the facility, and to spy without being observed. Incidentally the quality of service and customer satisfaction had increased too.
Result: Income increased by 5, learnt of new opportunities in the capital.
Restructure the military 1/2
Roll=1d100+47= 57
Re-Roll= 1d100+37= 52
The initial success of designing the new force composition created some momentum that promptly got stalled by bureaucratic incompetence in the capital. The initial payments for new equipment and supplies lost to poor record keeping and corrupt staff, the funds whisked away into the pockets of numerous middle men and hidden accounts. Bryant is livid at the delay and goes to the capital personally to speak with the department in charge of his supplies. A great deal of his time is spent chasing up redundant employees in sub-departments and by the end of the year he is ready to tear his hair out in frustration. The funds allocated to the endeavor are lost to the DOFE and will need to be re-sent to continue with the process
Result: Failure for this year, 20 Crowns lost to unknown corrupt parties. Action locked in for future turns.
Bryant's Recruiting Elites
Roll=1d100+47=60
Re-Roll=1d100+36=58
Despite the presence of Bryant at the capital, it does not make hiring new soldiers any easier, it seems that there is a large upswing in the demands on the military with the Patriarch demanding an increase to their duties and more programs poaching talented personal than ever. Bryant faces another setback and is unable to acquire any more soldiers for the DOFE.
Result: Action locked in, no soldiers hired.
Test procedures pt 2
Roll=1d100+41=93
Having found that the procedures that she implemented during the last testing where successful in preventing information leaks and that it was down to individual failures and building security Sussanah focuses on the one that is easier to exploit, the building. With the aid of Stefanus and his construction teams she has dozens of alterations done to the Administrative Headquarters, none that impact the flow of work but instead streamline it through certain areas that are better guarded, removed extra passageways through the building, and creating subtle choke points that can be defended by a few against many while allowing time to destroy documentation.
At the end of the year she sends her agents to try break into the Headquarters and much to their displeasure and her satisfaction they are unable to access the areas with sensitive information and are caught. Two agents do manage to infiltrate by knocking out a pair of workers at home and wearing their clothes and walking in, but Sussanah places a lot of that success to being familiar with all the security procedures already.
Result: Information security has reached a level Sussanah is satisfied with, Administrative Headquarters serves as a fort in combat.
Harmless Explorers 3/3
After three long years of selection, training, and preparations the Exploratory Corps is finally ready to be deployed! Sussanah has run them through every single exercise she could think of, Bryant aided with some more and even Americ chipped in with some diplomatic activities that the Corps had to go through. Throughout all of it they thrived, challenge after challenge met with a joyous intensity that propelled them, and in the end thirty members of the initial 40 have passed the rigorous checks needed to be full Explorators. With their graduation completed and their establishment as the external arm of the DOFE they are ready and eager to go on their first official mission.
Result: The Exploratory Corps has been created.
Stakeout
Roll=1d100+41=78
Hours upon hours are spent with Sussanah's operatives watching over the traitor, constantly analyzing every single piece of communication and action they make. Days past into weeks, weeks into months and finally after seven long months they slip up and add a personal comment to their message, sending the intrigue department into a frenzy as they examine every single syllable is meticulously analyzed.
By the end of the seventh month they are certain, the spy belongs to a main branch Riordian member and Sussanah is insistent that it is Teobald Riordian even though nothing has confirmed the specific identity. However the spy has slipped up and you now have the evidence you wanted before arresting them.
Result: The spy has been confirmed, information gathered.
Sub choice
- Arrest
- Execute
- Return to the capital
- Continue surveillance (passive)
- Continue surveillance (active, locks in an action)
Expand the dockyard
Roll=1d100+46=142
The pier has been extended further out, reaching a solid 50M off shore and now has two others with it. The piers each hold facilities to design and produce a ship of frigate size, large stockpiles of timber and other materials are filled and ready to access via a series of railed carriages. Stefanus goes even further by adding a small collection of canals and gates to create small inland pockets of water where the boats ability to float can be tested without risking loosing them to the Sea of Sorrow. He does make a point to explain that he would need more workers and some designs before anything could be built.
Result: Can build two frigates at once, RnD department for shipbuilding.
Limestone Quarry
Roll=1d100+46=58
Re-roll= 1d100+36=56
The idea of making a large scale quarry was simple in theory but the practice has been a bit more complicated, with delays from ensuring that the chosen site would not compromised from it's mining efforts. Unfortunately the majority of Stefanus' attention was focused on the docks and the workers assigned to the task missed the warning signs of a small family of cave bears that ended up causing significant delays to the project, destroying foundations and scaring off the workers. By the time the reports had reached Stefanus and he got Bryant to send some troops to kill the bears, the entire project had been delayed for too long and winter had set in, rendering the area unsuitable for construction at the time.
Result: Action locked in.
Better Buildings, Foundations
Roll=1d100+43=140
The study of how the salty air affected buildings is slow, but fortunately for Cynthia there has been a building built almost every year which has provided a good section of materials and examples to work from. Her experiments have shown that the salty spray of the ocean has sunk into the wood and that when the sun is overhead it causes the water to evaporate, leaving behind the salt crystals that slowly push apart the fibers of the wood, in the matter of the liquid stone it does not cause direct harm, but instead causes more water to stick to the surface which when evaporated repeatedly over the course of months or years wears tracks and gouges into the stone. With this knowledge Cynthia approached the matter with an eye to prevent the salt water from entering the wood and stone, and by the end of the year created a liquid that when applied to woods soaks into the fibers and prevents the salt from settling. The same liquid when mixed with the raw ingredients of liquid stone allows for the resulting mixture to resist the damage caused from repeated exposure to salt water.
Result: All wood buildings treated with the new sealant, liquid stone mixtures now feature the sealant. Increase in upkeep by 2 Crowns to allow for regular treatments.
Ironwood treatment
Roll=1d100+43=65
Re-roll=1d100+33=48
Ironwood is a very strong wood, this is undoubted. However the strength comes from the tight bonds that its fibers have, preventing damage that would break or scar other woods. This is a slight problem for Cynthia as her ideas for treating the Ironwood rely upon soaking the materials in several chemical baths to test their effectiveness against heat. Even ontop of that there is the matter of getting to access the volcanic smoke that sears through conventional boats. Without these two matters being addressed there will be little that she can do aside from brute force testing with a fire and small pieces of Ironwood.
Result: Action locked in.
Sealed Chest
Roll=1d100+26=42
Re-roll=1d100+16=114
The sealed box has sat in your office for years now, patiently awaiting your attention to prise free its secrets. And now you turn your attention towards it, spending long hours pondering the material the box is made of, the crest that it has, and its construction. Initially you have the idea to simply apply a chisel to lever the box open but initial tests with that approach prove futile, with the iron chisel snapping without more than a few light scratches on the box. Setting the box aside for a while you return to it after you bump it one day and notice that one of the wings shifted slightly. With a lot more focus you manage to repeat the movement, having to use a dagger to allow you the force the wing to move you quickly realize that the crest is a puzzle. As you have never seen the creature that it is supposed to represent you spend weeks trying every single variation that you can think of with the creature, moving feathers, adjusting claws, angling limbs, before you finally manage to unlock the chest. Inside is a collection of papers that are written in an unknown language and a single metal cube that is etched with glowing blue lines in intricate patterns. As you crow your victory to your office your core heats, and the tattoo of the book at your wrist begins to shift and flicker. The heat rises to an unbearable level before it settles, the tattoo now being more detailed and vibrant.
Result: Chest opened, unknown papers gained. Strange cube gained. The path of knowledge has been furthered.
Work with your staff
1d100+19=117
There was a breakthrough with working with your personal staff this year. It came as you had finished your morning run, breath steaming in the cold morning wind, as your staff struggled to keep up with you. Looking back at them as they ran, red faced and heaving great gasps as they struggle to keep up you realize that you have reached a point where you don't have anything to fear from them when it comes to open combat. Then as you realize that, your mind turns to the fact that they are also constantly watched by the guards around the DOFE and Sussanah's people, meaning that they can't try anything subtle. With those two combined you are in as safe a position as possible with them, and when you mull over those thoughts in the following weeks you come to the conclusion that your fear and paranoia have managed to get you into a position where you are now safe but they have the potential to cause problems going forward.
Over the course of the year you take steps to try and work closer with your staff, they are eager to meet your efforts and you see them clearly for the first time. They are happy to serve you and are in no small amount of awe at your efforts and endeavors, the respect seemingly genuine and when you test one by leaving a steak knife by your plate as you face away they simply remove the cutlery and place it back onto the serving cart without fuss. With that small test done, you continue to try and open yourself up to them, not to become friends, but to allow them to support you properly.
Result: Lost the trait Paranoid, replaced with Cautious. Stress lowered to healthy levels, staff extremely happy and small party had when you smiled at your hand-maid for the first time.
