[X] Plan For The Empire!
This plan has everything I was planning on picking, so I shall just divert my selling speech to it.
-[X] Mountain Militia: As a result of living in such a dangerous region, many Griffons possess their own personal weapons to defend themselves, and will rally together to defend their homes should the creatures of the forests threaten them. Wouldn't it be nice if they did the same when the kingdom was faced with invasion by less beastly foes? Cost: 100. Time: One Year. Reward: Village and town militias incorporated into military, can be called upon n the event of invasion.
-[X] The Second Founding: Grandmaster Hardbeak of the Knights Lion has come to you with a proposition. Now that the Empire is reunited, a great many young nobles and ambitious commoners are petitioning to join the Knights Lion, more than he believes they can accept. He proposes establishing two more Knightly Orders to serve as the guardians of Aquileia and Wingbardy, in much the same way the Knights Lion have been the guardians of Griffonia. He even has a list of volunteers from his own order willing to go lead and train the "new blood". Of course, these new Knightly Orders will need start-up capital and citadels of their own. Cost: 800. Time: Two Years. Reward: Two Additional Knightly Orders Established in Aquileia and Wingbardy.
Increasing the size of our army is a valid goal
The important part here is that we should first pick the options that give less upkeep, as well as further integrating our society under our control.
Mountain Militias are a source of practically upkeepless troops which can be used to strengthen us when necessary. These troops can then be used in conjunction with our newly appearing Knightly Orders to great effect. Both of these options increase our military without increasing our upkeep, at a time when we are likely going to start using our wealth in ever-growing quantity to compensate for our new lands. Further, it eliminates a potential source of independent "peacekeeping" that might go over the line without any supervision.
The ballista are useful, but we are soon going to crack open the cannonade tech tree, which would likely make them obsolete as we invest on upgrading them to handle the traditional weaknesses of the weapons. The ballista might prove to be more economical in the future, but we can't see that before we research cannons - if in the coming turns cannons keep being left to the wayside then I would agree with increasing their (ballista) number.
Finally, outright increasing the Imperial Army troops is a valid thing to do... after we have our economy set up for the imperial scale, and/or after the less costly actions are picked.
-[X] Rounding Up the Strays: The Diamond Dogs that inhabit your Empire alongside your Griffon citizens have proven their worth time and again. As laborers, as warriors, and as decent people. You really lucked out when those few scattered packs pledged their loyalty to you as their "Alpha." As those packs flourished and thrived under your rule, others began to follow in the footsteps of their canine brethren. Some, but not all. A handful of packs within your borders still remain isolated, either ignorant of the opportunity or too hesitant to take it. Send some diplomats along with some of your Dog citizens and see if you can't convince these stragglers to join you in the light of civilization. Cost: 100. Time: One Year. Reward: Last Diamond Dog Packs integrated into Empire. Chance of Success: 60%
This does two things: further lowers the chance of internal raids, and increasing our income via taxation (new subjects to tax) and mining income (the dogs are likely living in functional but unsupported mines of their own creation). This is picked on the prospect that the diplomatic protocols activate on the turn they are picked - if not, I would recommend switching.
-Infrastructural Development: Brochard was a warrior king, with everything that that entails. He poured tons of funding into his military and generally left the finances and economic policy to his advisors, who didn't seem too interested in rocking the boat. As a result, much of the farming, mining, and trade infrastructure in Aquileia is well behind that of Griffonia. Open up the treasury and see if you can't fix that. Cost: 500. Time: Two Years. Reward: Aquileia and Griffonia achieve parity in development, increased income. Will Finish This Turn
Action still being completed.
Learning: Archimedes now has to juggle his duties as the Imperial Science Advisor with his task of tutoring and mentoring your son. He can hardly complain, as he volunteered for the latter task completely unsolicited, claiming that it was his responsibility to ensure Gawain received an "exhaustive education fit for a future Emperor". You're not sure how he does it all. You suspect stimulants are involved. (Two Actions per Turn) One Action Locked
-Selective Breeding: By carefully controlling the reproductive processes of crops and food animals, desirable traits such as pest resistance, stronger immune systems, and greater size can become widespread across farm populations. At least, that's what Archimedes tells you. The difficulty lies in getting farmers to go along with the plan. Cost: 100. Time: Two Years. Reward: Increased Farming Income due to greater yields. Will Finish This Turn
-[X] Mushroom Moonshine: During his research on fungal growth and nutrition, Archimedes discovered that a few particular species of mushroom could potentially be used to produce alcohol. It's...ok, it's a weird idea, but so was mushroom farming, and that turned out pretty well. Grant him some funds to investigate these...alcoholic mushrooms...further. Cost: 50. Time: One Year. Reward: New Source of Alcohol?
Increase economy for the coming military expansion.
-[X] Picking Up a Trail: Lady Nightingale, the former spymistress of Aquileia, is missing, as is the bulk of the Aquileian Royal Treasury. You're not sure if the two disappearances are related, but you can't discount the possibility. Ravenburg, for the first time since you've met him, seems honestly frustrated at his inability to gather leads on the locations of either. Allocate some extra funds and see if he can't dig up something that might be able to point you in the right direction. Cost: 200. Time: One Year. Reward: Info on Nightingale and the missing Treasury. Chance of Success: 60%
Find the spider and her web of lies.
-[X] Job Interviews: Rosewing is requesting a replacement, and some of your other advisors might need to retire at some point in the near future as well. You could task the members of your privy council with finding their own future successors, but there's no reason you can't scout the field and get an idea of who would be best for the job yourself. Cost: 0. Time: One Year. Reward: Info on potential replacements for members of your privy council.
-[X] What's Up Dog?: It occurred to you that, despite being your subjects for years now, you actually know very little about Diamond Dogs. Their race, culture, history, psychology, all of it is mostly a mystery to you. Well, only one way to remedy that: go talk to one and see what you can find out. Cost: 0. Time: One Year. Reward: Diamond Dog Info.
These are both relatively time-dependent. Diamond Dog info just as we work on fully integrating the rest of the dogs is important business.
Getting the info on replacements now allows us to set up replacements in a fluid fashion without one or more of them retiring without proper input on our part about who does the replacing.
However, next turn we should pick the egg. We can't just leave it slumping there for eternity, it's an potential high-risk, high-reward investment that much be set in motion soon¨tm
