You're the Queen - Now What? [CK2ish Character-Focused Quest]

[Darach] 69 (Base) + 10 (Martial) = 79% = STRONG SUCCESS
[Shield of Adun] 70 (Base) + 6 (Magic) = 76% = STRONG SUCCESS
[Trins] 57 (Base) + 9 (Martial) + 5 (Trait) 71% = WEAK SUCCESS

It had taken a few more days than she'd have liked to track the bandits back to the hiding hole, what looked like it was once an old logging camp in the Thornwood. The local bandits had proven to be a little smart, felling trees to make for clear firing lines for their archers, and to use the trees to set up a palisade to cover their camp, but now that they were found they were basically doomed, and they knew it. She had them outnumbered, and her forces were concentrated.

General Darach's forces had taken casualties in the search, as bandits had tried to attack, drive off individual columns, but they were never in large enough numbers to do more than bleed, and the bandits lacked the capacity or will for a true guerilla war, even if the evergreen trees on the foothills of the Lortans that made up the Thornwood were a good environment for it.

The soldiers watched as General Darah rode out in front, her armor shining resplendent in the afternoon light, polished and enchanted to capture and hold and reflect the purifying rays of the sun. It was said that the enchantments on the armor were such that undead that even approached a Knight of the Golden Throne - or at least one as skilled as the general - they would burn before they even reached her.

Bandits, of course, didn't suffer that, but the shining still made it hard for them to look at her, and a few errant arrows sailed well past her, burying themselves in the ground.

"In the name of Queen Vanessa Kolmain, First of her name, Queen of Halrun, I offer you all one chance to surrender," she raised her voice, loud enough to be heard by the bandits. "You are all guilty of brigandage and banditry, of assaulting the subjects of the crown, of theft of property, of murder. For most of you, your personal guilt is minimal, and you can expect hard labor as punishment for your crimes. For the rest, you face imprisonment or death. But for all of you, whatever penalty you are due to pay, the Crown will be more lenient if you surrender now, rather than force us to go in there and drag you out."

There were several jeers from some of the leaders of the bandits, the ones most likely to face the hangman's noose (or worse), "What, you'll kill us nicely if we surrender?!" One shouted.

"I am a Knight of the Golden Throne. I am sworn to deliver justice swiftly and as painlessly as possible. Even with the madness of Syrokis banished from Halrun, Her Majesty is not sworn to that same creed. There are many ways to die, and many are far less pleasant than a beheading." General Darach held up one finger. "You have one hour to decide. Any who leave your camp, unarmed and surrendering, will be granted leniency. The rest will not." She gestured to her cavalry, light and heavy, and they fanned out, outside of easy bow range, but still in position to intercept anyone who might try to sneak away.

In the end, the bandits did as bandits often did when pressed and came to blows over the question of surrender - as the ones trying to flee killed the ones who didn't want to. Then there were attempts by some to try and escape, without getting caught. All in all, by the time they advanced on the camp itself, more than half the bandits were dead, surrendered or captured. (A few did manage to escape entirely, unfortunately).

The final stage of the operation still had casualties, but in the end, the bandits were beaten, and the Thornmarch was, for now, secure.

---

"What happened, General Trins." Rienne asked the older man. "By all accounts the operation in the Coastal March should have not ended up like this."

"As it turned out, the bandits preying on the Coastal March were better armed, supplied and led than any of us expected. Their leader was Captain Morgweis. He fought for the rebellion in the first year, a mercenary who came to our colors early on, but he was..."

"Wait, Morgweis? Ratell Morgweis?" Rienne inhaled. "I didn't realize He'd served in the war."

"You knew him?"

"We crossed paths, in the Pocket Kingdoms, and again fighting ogre raiders in Aigosa. He's a terrifyingly capable commander, but he has less morality than a demon." Rienne swallowed. "I had no idea he was-"

"No one did. I personally drummed him out of the rebel army after his cruelty and looting proved to be more than anyone was willing to accept, even when he targeted it at the right people. I was under the impression he'd fled to the Phocan Coast." Trins inhaled sharply. "If he did, he came back. But with him in command of the bandits, I'm afraid to say that my forces weren't quite prepared for what he was able to get his band do to. Each column fell for a feigned retreat - only once, but still - and his guerilla campaign while we rooted through ruined villages and burned out farms alike to find their base was... expensive. More injuries than deaths, but still..." Trins exhaled and shook his head. "Far more deaths than there should have been."

He brought his closed fist to his chest. "I take full responsibility, High Marshall. I was in command, and I-"

"Did what I told you. I thought taking the risk of moving against the Coastal March with a reduced force was worth it." Rienne interrupted. "And without further scouting. I approved the deployments, and I put you in charge of the operation - where you served to the best of your ability with the resources you had available and the information you had." She exhaled slowly, closing her eyes for a long moment before opening them again. "None of us expected the bandits to have such a capable commander. And yet, they did. But you still succeeded in the operation. And Morgweis?"

"In the most secure cells we have. Barring divine or royal intervention, he'll be processed through the courts and put to death within a few weeks." Trins said. "I intend to be there personally to make sure he pays."

"Understandable."

"Unfortunately more bandits than ideal escaped, but we did capture Morgweis's inner circle as well. All of them are due death for their actions as well." Trins went on, "As for the casualties - most of the injured will be fighting fit in a few weeks, if not sooner depending on how quickly the healers can work..."

---

QM Note: Captain Morgweis did not exist before this update. To provide a narrative to the fact that General Trins, who should be a skilled bandit-hunter, got hurt badly - relatively speaking, of course - on this operation, I decided the reason was less his mistake - beyond assuming the bandits didn't have a great leader - and more that the bandits had a great leader. Even the column led by Trins fell for the first feigned retreat, because pulling off a successful feigned retreat is, for most commanders, difficult (unless you're part of a tradition that makes use of it a lot, like various horse-nomad peoples across time and space) - and bandits don't tend to have the discipline or unit cohesion to pull something like that off.

Anyway, so the point is that I narratively cast the failing as less Trins making many mistakes, and more just the bandits doing very well.

If you have questions about why I judged the numbers the way I did, feel free. There's not a complex algorithm here, just some mental judgment and some rng work on my end. If you'd like to dispute my logic, we can discuss my numbers if you like, but bear in mind that this is a Quest I run for fun in my spare time, and I am not an expert on medieval warfare, medieval or early renaissance tactics, or military history, just a reasonably well-read and very confident enthusiast of all those subjects. 😅 My judgement runs on fairly consistent principles, so nothing should be arbitrary, for what it is worth.

All told, both bandit groups had approximately 500 men each, give or take. Their casualties in killed/wounded & Captured were near total, with at most 20-40 escaping by scattering, most of them in the Coastal March, and most of them will get caught in pursuit soon enough. So it was a pretty good victory no matter what, as you'd expect when a trained and well-equipped army goes up against rag tag bandits)

No votes this update. I anticipate that I will be able to get the Turn 2 Council Meeting post done by next Tuesday or Wednesday, barring the unforeseen.

Vanessa had a headache.

She had had a lot of those since taking the throne, and this wasn't even that bad, but she had one nonetheless. She rubbed at her temples, reading over the financial reports that Rucdorn had provided.

"My failure to secure bridge loans from Goldaxe aside - and I can only apologize for that - I am a bit surprised to say that our financial situation is far better than I expected it to be." Rucdorn held up a hand, "I would not say now is the time to start bringing back all the expenses of court to a more... normal level, not even close, but the money Count Vallefor was able to claw back from the Selissan banks proved to be quite critical, I think, in allowing us to confidently wipe out two of our debts."

Vallefor did look quite smug - then again, he always did - as he sat in his usual seat, watching Rucdorn provide his report.

"My people are very good at what they do. It's simply a matter of finding the right leverage."

"I do hope this... leverage won't cause any problems for me in talks with Selissa." Arandel commented from his position across from Vallefor. The Count raised an eyebrow at the wizard, trying - and failing - to affect a look of utter innocence. Arandel took off his spectacles for a moment, cleaning them with a cloth before speaking. "You don't get money like this out of bankers without some significant leverage. The sort that usually is considered illegal. And in a Kingdom like Selissa, bankers have the ear of the Crown."

"I can be fairly confident there's no risk of anything untoward getting back to the Selissan Crown," Vallefor said. "In a few cases, my 'leverage' helped resolve a few legal matters, in fact. There's at least one murderer who is already in the process of being tried right now, thanks to my people's efforts."

Arandel raised an eyebrow. "I'll bear that in mind then, Count Vallefor."

Rucdorn cleared his throat, "Well, I've received no complaints from my contacts in the Selissan banking community, so I'd consider that a good sign. Regardless - I would guess that we would be in a better position to get future loans, bridge or otherwise, thanks to the progress we've made. I'm not sure that any bridge loans are necessary, though it might speed the process up a little. If we keep being consistent in making payments - on the other hand, our options for windfalls are less."

"Well, if we get desperate we can always return to some of the other options we discussed last month," Rykall said. "But we did make progress on updating the tax assessments, and there's a lot more we can do to increase our revenues a little on that front."

"Which is good, because besides the loans, we have a better idea on the state of the roads," Balmain chimed in. "There's still reports coming in from surveyors sent to the outlying areas of the kingdom, but at a minimum, we'll need at least two or three hundred dureks to repair the entire road system. Fortunately, we can do this in stages." Balmain handed Vanessa a parchment outlined with details. "There's two options open to us that I can see, if we want to get started now - start with the roads around the capital and work our way outwards. That has the advantage of getting the process started, but it's not as if the capital isn't reliant on goods from the far ends of the kingdom - most of the forges' in the capital and the other cities of the Grand Duchy iron comes from mines in the Tarkos Hills or the Korrid Hills, for instance."

"Or," Balmain continued, "We could start buying up all the material now. If we buy it now, before we've started, it should lower the price. Everyone knows we're going to need quality timber and aggregate and graders and an assortment of other tools for road repair. So speculators-"

"You mean parasites," Vallefor sneered.

"Speculators," Balmain stressed, "have already started buying material up, but they'll be moving like lightning the second we actually start the work. And then sell it back to us at a markup. If we buy it now, or at least start, we could shave some of the cost off."

"The third option is to put off working on the roads while we stockpile more money. Speculators will be at it no matter what, but they'll be slower, it won't be a feeding frenzy, since no one wants to be left holding the bag for too long," Balmain concluded. "So until we start... costs won't rise much."

"We could try and do the purchasing through fronts," Rykall suggested. Balmain and Rucdorn both looked at him, eyebrows raised, and Vallefor smirked.

"Why, Morn, I never knew you had duplicity in you." The Count praised.

Rykall bit his lip, flushing a little. "It's not illegal, or even duplicitous, strictly speaking. Just... takes some careful work. As part of her efforts to... liberate money from the kingdom's treasury, my predecessor set up a number of small merchant companies. Seemingly legitimate, but I only just finished chasing the paper trail of a few errant letters I found after Syrokis was killed yesterday. We could just liquidate the companies, get a few dureks back, or we could use them to buy up a lot of the materials we'd need. We'd need to mock up some more paperwork, do it carefully, but... as far as I'm aware, it's entirely legal." He raised an eyebrow, looking at Itrick Grosdan.

"There's not much law covering the creation of trading companies for the whole kingdom. Port Lest and Eaglecrest have more strict laws, but the Grand Duchy never got around to it," Grosdan noted. "It is... subterfuge, but it's a subterfuge for the benefit of the Kingdom. As long as the companies are careful about how they do business within the bounds of either of the Free Cities... once word gets out, some merchants may be unhappy, but they won't have a legal recourse."

"It's not as if merchants don't use front companies all the time themselves." Rykall pointed out with a chuckle, "why, my uncle did-" He flushed, clearing his throat. "The point being, I can put those companies to use for the purchasing of the material for the roads. Once they're ready, Lady Balmain contracts the purchasing out to them through a secret contract, and everyone thinks they're just more speculators. If we do it right."

"Well, if word doesn't get out, the companies could also be of use for my people, though we can manage without it." Vallefor noted. "So do try not to let it get caught."

"It bears considering," Vanessa gritted her teeth. They needed to spend the money to get the roads repaired, yes, but it burned at Vanessa that the costs would be increased by all this... chicanery. Anything that would let them hold onto as many dureks as possible was a positive outcome.

Given the debts they had to pay, and the million and one other expenses they had, of course.

"I suppose this is all technically good news, but does anyone have anything more unalloyed?" Vanessa looked to Rienne. "Any further progress against the bandits?"

"Just what I reported to you three days ago. The Thornmarch and the Coastal March are secure for now." Rienne said, crisply. "Unfortunately, I have more bad news. General Trins is worried about a threat from the north."

"I just got a letter from the Commandant of Ashdan Keep. He seemed quite convinced the Nourvois were going to stay quiescent for the next few months. Something about a chieftain dying and hacking out a new pecking order?"

"Yes, the leading clan had their leader die. But Trins isn't worried about the Nourvois, he's worried that the goblins might be readying a new Horde. It's been a few decades, and during his time as Commandant, he got a good feel for goblin activity. He's heard some... reports. Noting conclusive."

"Do we need to send troops to the border?"

"Not yet. As long as it's just the usual raids, the Eaglecrest Militia can do their usual very capable job of holding the line." Rienne explained, and Vanessa nodded. The militia's constant blooding against the goblins had always done wonders for their ability and organization, and from everything she'd read, that reality - and the fact that King Teran wanted to use Eaglecrest to hold the north - was why they'd gotten such a good deal in annexation. "If it's a full horde, they will need assistance." Rienne finished.

"Will it be?"

"I don't know. General Trins has reached out to a few old associates, adventurers in Eaglecrest. They'll be heading north to take a look at things. We'll know more when he hears back from them, but I thought I should keep you informed."

"It could be the Kingdom of the Red Spear creating waves," Arandel suggested. "They stir the pot among the smaller tribes and villages all the time. And... well, they're one place Count Vallefor's people can't really get into. It's hard to say what they could be up to."

Vanessa raised an eyebrow, and Vallefor frowned. "The Red Spear do allow human traders into their territory - they export surplus grain and metal, and use the proceeds to hire mercenaries and outside experts, mostly. But I don't have any goblin agents, and recruiting some would be easier said than done. And even if I did, it's not as if most goblins in the Red Spear have the ability to move around. Only High Caste ones do, and turning one of them would be... exceptionally difficult. My predecessors as Keeper of Secrets have all tried."

Vanessa frowned, "Goblins don't have castes."

"The Red Spear do. It's how they've kept their kingdom together, in the face of the usual unruliness of goblins." Arandel explained. "They give the Pocket Kingdoms a run for their money on that front."

"Pretty sure the Pocket Kingdoms win out in disordered activity," Rienne laughed. "But for now, it's just a matter of waiting."

Vanessa inhaled, considering. "Very well. What about Morvak? Them constantly rattling their sabers about the Thornmarch is scaring traders away, a little. So far they haven't invaded."

"I don't think they will," Vallefor said, carefully. "My agents there are thin on the ground still, but they did just wrap up their war with Nerinthar," the 9th major war between the two since Nerintha's independence, "And I have reports - unconfirmed mind you - that King Basil VIII has sacked his own Grand General and most of his Council of Commanders, over how poorly the war with Nerinthar went."

"Poorly? Didn't Morvak move the border thirteen miles east?" Balmain snorted.

"The war started while Nerinthar was distracted by a peasant uprising in the north, and a Lizardman incursion from Hycantos's Folly. And it left Morvak fully engaged and unable to take advantage of the civil war." Rienne pointed out. "If I was King Basil, I'd be imprisoning my Grand General for gross incompetence for only getting thirteen miles out of that war."

"Regardless, Morvak will need some time to recover. I wouldn't rely on that forever, so the sooner I can put my agents to work there, the better," Vallefor concluded. "Apart from that - it would be useful to have agents elsewhere, but Morvak is the most relevant concern."

"Unless there's a coup in Darkmoon Forest sometime soon, I'm inclined to agree." Vanessa nodded. "Is there any chance," she asked Arandel, "That we can... I don't know, talk Morvak into a formal understanding? Do they even do that? Can we trust them to?"

"In my lifetime, Morvak has never actually broken their word in a treaty. They just are very specific about what they agree to, and don't give their word that often," Arandel considered. "I can't say I can talk them into much, but something is possible. But unless King Basil is willing to concede that Halrun owns the Thornmarch for good... we can only do so much. And it would be a prolonged process."

"And I also need you to look into marriage prospects." Vanessa sighed.

"That can wait, but since my appointment, I have received very discrete feelers from Nerinthar. Olden III's second child, his eldest daughter, Janera, is unmarried, has a preference for women and Nerinthar would certainly love our help the next time Morvak acts up. They haven't actually offered, but it's a start." Arandel started ticking items off, "The brother of the Princess of Illegorst is also unmarried, as is the eldest son of the King of Selissa. I can't say if either realm is interested, but I would assume it's a reasonable prospect."

"It might be a good start to reach out to all three, carefully." Vanessa suggested, "see where things stand." she sighed. "I'd like to have a chance to meet prospective suitors before I agree to any marriage. Matters of state or not, If I'm going to be married to someone, I'd like to at least be able to tolerate their company for more than five minutes."

"I could reach out, carefully. But that would mean we'd be limited to just the three, at least to start." Arandel pointed out. "I've never negotiated on behalf of a Queen's hand before, but I do know that in negotiations, having a lot of bidders drives up the price."

"You want me to auction myself off?"

"I think it would be wise for it to look like you are," Arandel suggested. "I made an enchanted sword once. The absolute best work I've ever made. Took me a year. I had seventeen different buyers tripping over themselves to offer me more and more money for it." Arandel laughed, "By the end, someone could have bought a dozen swords of that quality with the amount I was paid for one."

Vanessa raised an eyebrow. She knew the bragging rights of owning something enchanted by Arandel was worth a great deal, not to mention the quality of his work, but still.

"So how should we go about doing that?"

"Simple. We have our Ambassadors in every realm in the region announce you're looking for a husband or wife. Shout it from the rooftops, if need be. Let every potential candidate come to you and make their offer."

Vanessa frowned. She wasn't sure how she felt about putting herself up like that, so openly. But... his argument was reasonable. She looked at Grosdan, "Do you have anything to report?"

"There's some lingering accusations against Syrokis loyalists that still need to be resolved." Grosdan noted. "The worst offenders, the ones everyone knew were guilty, have been dealt with. But Lords Rotto and Yrost, as well as Dame Follai Morcha have been accused of mistreatment of prisoners of war, extortion of people that tried to stay neutral during the war, that sort of thing. Nothing could be proven, but their alleged victims are demanding a more detailed investigation and trial. Which would be a sound idea. We can't have that sort of thing lingering."

Grosdan steepled his fingers. "But we also need to look into allegations against the rebellion. We did our best to keep a clean house, but civil wars have always been home to the worst atrocities, in history. And there are some accusations against several who fought on our side, including ones that have to be taken seriously." He looked at Balmain, "One of them is your second cousin."

"Marteen," Balmain whispered. Grosdan nodded. "Marteen is a brute and a blunt instrument, but he's not a murderer."

"He's not a good man either, Lady Balmain," Rienne pointed out. "You had him leading your personal armsmen during the war. I never saw him kill anyone outside of battle, but he took far too much glee in volunteering to perform lawful battlefield executions."

"Marteen is not a murderer," Balmain repeated, nearly growling. "He takes pride in his work, that's why he's the headsman for my domains, when an execution has to happen, but he only executes or kills in battle." She closed her hand into a fist, "But accusations must be investigated. Not just against Marteen, but everyone who fought under our banner." She closed her eyes, "We must be better than Syrokis."

"I'm glad you agree. If Marteen is innocent, I will clear his name. If he's not..."

"Then it will be Her Majesty's decision as to his punishment, but if he is guilty, punishment he deserves." Balmain concluded. Grosdan nodded.

"If he is guilty."

Vanessa didn't think she'd ever interacted with this Marteen during the war. If he was guilty, she couldn't let him get away with it. Not when she'd made a big deal about reconciliation. But he was Balmain's family.

At least it's not one of Vallefor's family. The Count would be far more likely to expect special treatment and be furious when his family didn't get it.

"It seems we have much to consider, going forward," Vanessa mused. "Let's begin, shall we?"

---

Tax Assessments (Pick 2 to get resolved this turn)
[ ][TAX ASSESSMENTS] Eaglecrest Trade Fees
[ ][TAX ASSESSMENTS] Eaglecrest 3% Wealth Tax
[ ][TAX ASSESSMENTS] Port Lest 4% Wealth Tax
[ ][TAX ASSESSMENTS] Lordship Land Tax Phase 2 (Of 2)
[ ][TAX ASSESSMENTS] Town Trade Revenue Phase 1 (Of 2)
[ ][TAX ASSESSMENTS] Eaglecrest Land Tax
[ ][TAX ASSESSMENTS] Kadeck County Land Tax
[ ][TAX ASSESSMENTS] Write in Other Tax Source To Be Assessed (See Assets Post)

Keeper of Correspondence Tasks (Pick 1)
[ ][CORRESPONDENCE] Personally Oversee Tax Assessments (Up to 2 more Tax Assessments Will be Finished This Turn) (Base Chance 50% + Stewardship + 1/2 Learning)*
-[ ] Pick Priority (Weak or Strong Success Required)
-[ ] Pick Secondary (Strong Success Required)
[ ][CORRESPONDENCE] Gather Reports On Banditry (Improves Base Chance of future Anti-Banditry Tasks) (Base Chance 65% + Stewardship)
[ ][CORRESPONDENCE] Reorganize the Clerks (Improves Base Chance of [CORRESPONDENCE] Tasks by 4% or 8% for the next 5 turns) (Base Chance 55% + Stewardship + Learning)*
[ ][CORRESPONDENCE] Lend Clerks to help another Keeper with their Task (+3/+6 to their Task on a Weak/Strong Success) (Base Chance 50% + Stewardship)
[ ][CORRESPONDENCE] Get the Front Companies ready for Use (Base Chance 57% + 1/2 Stewardship + Intrigue)*
[ ][CORRESPONDENCE] Suggest additional task, subject to QM Veto (Base Chance Will be Set by QM If Approved)

Keeper of The Royal Vaults (Pick 1)
[ ][ROYAL VAULTS] Negotiate Bridge Loan of 100 Dureks To Help Pay Down Current Debts (Failure will mean no loan, Weak Success will mean the higher of the two offered interest rates, Strong Success will mean the lower of the two) (Must be Used To Pay Down Existing Debts)
-[ ] From The Goldaxe Bank (Lortan Dwarves) (10.5% or 8.75%) (Base Chance 53% + Stewardship)*
-[ ] From The Caragio Bank (Varaday Republic) (12.5% or 10.5%) (Base Chance 64% + Stewardship)*
-[ ] From the Veterger Bank (Selissa) (13.75% or 11%) (Base Chance 75% + Stewardship)*
[ ][ROYAL VAULTS] Negotiate Free-Standing Loan of 50 Dureks (Failure will mean no loan, Weak Success will mean the higher of the two offered interest rates, Strong Success will mean the lower of the two) (Can Be Used For Anything)
-[ ] From The Goldaxe Bank (Lortan Dwarves) (13% or 11.5%) (Base Chance 56% + Stewardship)*
-[ ] From The Caragio Bank (Varaday Republic) (14.25% or 12.25%) (Base Chance 67% + Stewardship)*
-[ ] From the Veterger Bank (Selissa) (15% or 13.75%) (Base Chance 78% + Stewardship)*
[ ][ROYAL VAULTS] Acquire Raw Materials To Mint New Gold and Silver Coins (Progress towards resolving Currency Contraction, Advances Royal Propaganda) (No Roll Required)
-[ ] Spend 5 Dureks
-[ ] Spend 10 Dureks
-[ ] Spend 15 Dureks
[ ][ROYAL VAULTS] Sell Tax-Farming Rights (Tax Farmers offer large sum of money up front and get full right to collect all taxes from a given source for a specified length of time) (Success of roll results on more money gained) (No matter what, you will get less money up front than you could get over that length of time) (Base Chance 55% + Stewardship + Diplomacy)
-[ ] Write In Tax Source And A Number of Turns
[ ][ROYAL VAULTS] Get the Front Companies ready for Use (Base Chance 57% + 1/2 Stewardship + Intrigue)
[ ][ROYAL VAULTS] Audit The Royal Desmene (Phase 1 of ?) (Could increase Revenues from Personal Holdings) (Costs 5 Dureks)
[ ][ROYAL VAULTS] Suggest additional task, subject to QM Veto (Base Chance Will be Set by QM If Approved)

High Marshall of the Armies (Pick 1)
[ ][HIGH MARSHALL] Have Rienne Personally Deal With Banditry (Will Result in Follow up Votes. All tasks there will be +Martial, with variable trait applicability) (If not picked, the option to assign other Generals to deal with bandits will be available in a followup vote)
-[ ] Banditry in South Eyrist County
-[ ] Banditry Plaguing the Lordships (Multiple Phases)
-[ ] Banditry Plaguing the Free Towns (Multiple Phases)
[ ][HIGH MARSHALL] Recruit Additional Soldiers (Strong Success gets you all the soldiers you wanted. Weak Success or Failure gets you less soldiers) (Base Chance 50% + Martial)* (Costs Dureks Base on # of soldiers desired)
-[ ] Write in desired Types and Numbers of Soldiers
[ ][HIGH MARSHALL] Survey Border Defenses (Opens Options for Future Improvement of Border Defenses) (Base Chance: 75% + Martial)*
-[ ]Thornmarch
-[ ]Ashdan March
-[ ]Eaglecrest
-[ ] Write in (Suggest Other Border Area)
[ ][HIGH MARSHALL] Inspect the Officer Corps (Success will locate and purge incompetent, corrupt or disloyal officers. Runs the risk of lowering army morale and organization on Weak Success or failure) (Base Chance 48% + Martial + Diplomacy)*
[ ][HIGH MARSHALL] Stage War Games with the Mobile Reserve (Improves Army Readiness, increasing rolls for 3 Months) (Base Chance 50% + Martial)* (Costs 2 Dureks)
[ ][HIGH MARSHALL] Expand The Logistics Base (Improves Army Morale, Adds Logistical Strategic Depth in case of War) (Base Chance 57% + Martial +1/2 Stewardship)* (Costs 5 Dureks)
[ ][HIGH MARSHALL] Liaise with the Knights of the Golden Throne (No Roll, Improves future coordination with the Knights if they need to be called up)
[ ][HIGH MARSHALL] Draw Up New Plans for Calling Up The Levies (Makes it easier to call up the levies if needed) (Base Chance 50% + Martial)*

Keeper of Secrets (Pick 1)
[ ][SECRETS] Attempt to Claw Back some of the funds Syrokis and his cronies stashed away in foreign banks. (Better success means more money. More money available in the Varaday Banks all told))
-[ ] In the Varaday Banks (Base Chance: 40% + Intrigue)*
[ ][SECRETS] Rebuild Internal Spy Network (Phase 1 of ?) (No roll required. Each phase opens more [SECRETS] options down the line and improves chances of success of internal spy operations, as well as giving increased chance for intelligence to be 'passively' received)
-[ ]Provide Funds to Speed up/Improve Process. Write-in amount.
[ ][SECRETS] Rebuild an External Spy Network (Costs 5 Dureks) (Provides passive intelligence and improves chances of spy operations inside a given state)
-[ ] In Veldros (Base Chance: 65% + Intrigue)*
-[ ] In Morvak (Base Chance: 60% + Intrigue)*
-[ ] In Selissa (Base Chance: 53% + Intrigue)*
-[ ] In The Kingdom of the Necromancers (Base Chance: 40% + Intrigue)*
-[ ] In the Varaday Republic (Base Chance: 43% + Intrigue)
-[ ] Pick a Target (Base Chance and Trait applicability to be set by QM)
[ ][SECRETS] Get the Front Companies ready for Use (Base Chance 57% + 1/2 Stewardship + Intrigue)
[ ][SECRETS]Assess Royal Security (Stage False Break In of The Palace, potentially improves Royal Security) (Base Chance 55% + Intrigue)
[ ][SECRETS] Suggest additional task, subject to QM Veto (Base Chance Will be Set by QM If Approved)

Keeper of the Sheriffs and Reeves (Pick 1)
[ ][SHERIFFS AND REEVES] Repair War Damage (Strong Success means lower cost, Weak Success means higher cost) (Once done, it will take 5 Turns for the relevant modifier to be removed, but no additional costs) (Rebuilding the Roads will reduce this length and improve Base %)
-[ ]To the Coastal March (Costs 5 or 10 Dureks) (Base Chance: 50% + Stewardship)*
-[ ]To the Southmarch (Costs 3 or 7 Dureks) (Base Chance: 61% + Stewardship)*
-[ ]To the 3 Crown Reserves (Costs 1.5 or 3 Dureks) (Base Chance: 70% + Stewardship)*
[ ][SHERIFFS AND REEVES] Appoint trustworthy and capable people to fill leadership positions in the Reeves to manage royal properties (Base Chance: 53% + Diplomacy + 1/2 Stewardship)*
[ ][SHERIFFS AND REEVES]Start Rebuilding the Roads in the Grand Duchy (Base Chance 56% + Stewardship)* (Costs 25 Dureks) (Cost will be less later if materials required)
[ ][SHERIFFS AND REEVES] Draw Up Detailed Road Reconstruction Plans (Improves Base Chance of future Road-rebuilding tasks) (Base Chance 65% +1/2 Stewardship +1/2 Learning)
[ ][SHERIFFS AND REEVES] Openly Start Buying Raw Materials For the Roads (No Roll)
-[ ]Write In Amount to Spend (50 Dureks total to get all the raw materials if you do it at once. Overall Cost will rise somewhat if you do it piecemeal. If the front companies are successfully set up(can't be during the same turn as this action), cost will decrease, as will the potential for the costs to rise if done piecemeal)
[ ][SHERIFFS AND REEVES] Suggest additional task, subject to QM Veto (Base Chance Will be Set by QM If Approved)

Keeper of Justice
[ ][JUSTICE] Investigate charges as yet unproven against former Syrokis loyalists (Base Chance 60% + Intrigue + 1/2 Learning)*
[ ][JUSTICE] Investigate charges as yet unproven against former rebels (Base Chance 60% + Intrigue + 1/2 Learning)*
[ ][JUSTICE] Post Bounties on Leading Bandits (Permanently Improves chances of anti-bandit operations) (No roll)
-[ ]1 Durek Total (+2 to anti-bandit operations)
-[ ]2.25 Dureks Total (+3 to anti-bandit Operations
-[ ]Write in (Each point increase above +3 costs 1.5 more Dureks)
[ ][JUSTICE] Adjudicate Who Should inherit the County of Aloce (No roll, Scene & Followup Vote)
[ ][JUSTICE] Reorganize Royal Inspectors (Improves Base Chance of some future [JUSTICE] Actions by 4 or 8%) (Base Chance 50% + Learning + 1/2 Stewardship)
[ ][JUSTICE] Write-in, Subject to QM Veto

Keeper of Envoys
[ ][ENVOYS] Rebuild Diplomatic Corps by replacing ambassadors and envoys that were recalled or fired or quit during/after the civil war (Improves future Base Chance for negotiations) (Base Chance: 70% + Diplomacy)
[ ][ENVOYS] Open Trade Negotiations (Could Produce Additional Durek Income)
-[ ]With Zedarsh (Base Chance 65% + Diplomacy)*
-[ ]With Kingdom of the Necromancers (Base Chance 70% + Diplomacy)* (Scrying the KoTN is more difficult)
-[ ]With Veldros (Base Chance 60% + Diplomacy)* (Scrying Veldros is more difficult)
-[ ]With Blerren (Base Chance 65% + Diplomacy)*
-[ ]With Gyptar (Base Chance 65% + Diplomacy)*
-[ ]Write-in (Suggest realm, Base Chance will be set by QM)
[ ][ENVOYS]Quietly Reach out to Nerinthar, Selissa and Illegorst about Marriage Prospects (No roll required)
[ ][ENVOYS] Announce to everyone that the Queen is looking for Suitors (No Roll Required)
[ ][ENVOYS] Quietly Investigate who else might be interested in Queen Vanessa's Hand (Gives more options for quietly reaching out in the future) (Base Chance 50% + Diplomacy + 1/2 Intrigue)
[ ][ENVOYS] Negotiate Non-Aggression Pact with Morvak (Weak Success means concessions may be required, followup vote will be taken to see if you approve said Concessions)
-[ ]For 3 Months (Base Chance 45% + Diplomacy)*
-[ ]For 6 Months (Base Chance 39% + Diplomacy)*
-[ ]For 12 Months (Base Chance 30% + Diplomacy)*
[ ][ENVOYS] Reach out to the Kingdom of the Red Spear to gauge Intentions (Base Chance 55% + Diplomacy)*

Queen Actions (Pick 2)
[ ][QUEEN] Scry on a Neighboring power to gather information on them. (Provides information, may increase odds of future [SECRETS] actions involving the country) (Base Chance: 55% + Magic)*
-[ ]The Kingdom of the Red Spear
-[ ]Morvak
[ ][QUEEN] Scry on the Status of the Border Defenses (Opens Options for Future Improvement of Border Defenses) (Base Chance: 51% + Magic + Martial)*
-[ ]Thornmarch
-[ ]Ashdan March
-[ ]Eaglecrest
-[ ] Write in (Suggest Other Border Area)
[ ][QUEEN] Try to get Cyril to be willing to provide direct assistance in some cases (Opens options in the future) (Base Chance 25% + Diplomacy)
[ ][QUEEN] Use divination to get an idea of what nearby realms might have potentially interested candidates for marriage (Base Chance: 60% + Magic)*
[ ][QUEEN] Rule on the dispute over who gets the County of Aloce (Scene & Followup Vote)
[ ][QUEEN] Meet with representatives of merchants active on Lake Raida to try to increase dock revenues) (Base Chance: 47% + Diplomacy + Stewardship)
[ ][QUEEN] Social Action (May use both Queen Actions on Social Action)
-[ ] Get To Know Your Staff Better
-[ ] Write-in Councilor you'd like to improve relations with.
-[ ] Catch Up With Cyril
-[ ] Reach out to Vanessa's noble mother/family in Veldros
-[ ] Write-in (Subject to QM Veto)
[ ][QUEEN] Negotiate with the Estates to rationalize some incoherent and outdated laws regarding fishing, mining and logging rights. (Base Chance: 53% + Diplomacy + Stewardship)
[ ][QUEEN] Recruit more mages to Royal Service (If successful, costs 10 Dureks. No expenditure if failure) (Base Chance: 70% + Diplomacy)†
[ ][QUEEN] Take a Royal Tour of the Grand Duchy and Nearby Lordships (Could improve popularity and loyalty in the region) (Base Chance 70% + Diplomacy + 1/2 Intrigue) (Costs 5 Dureks)†
[ ][QUEEN] Suggest additional task, subject to QM Veto (Base Chance Will be Set by QM If Approved)

VOTING MORATORIUM FOR AT LEAST 48 HOURS