Here we are, turn 3. Hope you've enjoyed and don't be afraid to ask questions as I welcome all of them.
"You've got to admit it is quite clever"
"Clever or not we must do something" Netik your -steward- proclaimed.
"Do? There isn't much we can do, offering more incentives to people and sending dedicated recruiters is the extent of it I suppose." You reply.
"That isn't enough, we're already barely managing the problem and they're making it all the worse, something must be done".
"Oh? And what would you have me do? They broke no law and the very protections I put on the common Keku bar me from commending them in this matter"
There is a slight pause before Netik -in a low voice- go's to speak once more "I think that the both of us know that you suffer the law at your pleasure, none would stop you should you issue an edict that requires a new administrator in serving the empire."
The small chambers where you are having this discussion fall into silence at Netik's quiet declaration, as you take the time to look at your steward once more.
By the standard of a non-cultivator he is old -just shy of seven decades- his feathers gleam and shine has already long faded. Oe was old before the rise of your empire and he is even older now.
But you can not help but think about how young he is. He has seen much in his life but he lacks a certain perspective. A perspective that can only be born from seeing the rise and fall of a new generation more than once, of seeing babes become old men and go to the great beyond only to see the same with their grandkids.
Of leaving so long that you've broken form the cycle of birth and death that afflicts the rest of the population, of knowing that a century from now you still be alive while everyone else would be dead.
A perspective only a cultivator can achieve.
But one that could be shared.
"True, were I to proclaim such none would dare defy me but in the process of doing so I would damage something that cannot be fixed. Throughout my long life I have seen many kingdoms and empire's fall, the one constant between them all? It was always preceded by Someone or someone's deciding they were above the law, that it didn't apply to them. I would only contemplate doing so if the alternative is existential, is it?" you ask, looking Netik in the eye.
"No, but it will hurt us" you're stewed returned your gaze briefly before deflecting "verywell, I'll take the necessary actions, with us knowing and countering their moves we can limited the damage they do considerably"
"Thank you" you say to the keku that is perheps the clossest to you after your daughter.
"Every time".
Noble "plot" revealed.
Competitive hiring- the noble faction has decided to hire many of the newly graduated, clerks and administrators spending a good deal of wealth to compete with imperial offers. With you now knowing (not that there was a way to hide this) and taking the appropriate actions their effects are minimal. +3% economic growth +2 turns for "the lack of administrators" problem to fix itself.
(OCC: As a reminder maximum investment refers to putting the action the highest in the plan and minimal investment mean putting git the lowest. All of the folwing action will be taken your just prioritizing them.)
[] education for the masses.
The effort the past decade has been a good start but a start is al it is.
Direct more funding and clawpower towered building even more schools.
Expending into the countryside at this point is a fantasy but you might manage to have all the kids in the major cities to enroll in a school and have at least one if not two schools in all the other cities.
A maximum investment is probably ill advised as their just aren't enough teachers to push things at that speed and would most likely lead to some sort of incident from overworked teachers.
A minimal investment is likewise ill advised if you wish to actually make meaningful progress.
The prudent course of actions lie in between the two extreme, it dos lean to higher investment though.
[] more universities.
The imperial university is a wonder of science and learning, there is nay a subject that it doesn't teach. With thousands of students and hundreds of professors it's the leading institution in developing your technological capabilities.
but while a wonder it is it is but a single entity and there are limits to what it can achieve.
Correct this, divert funds to for the creation and expansion of new universities (and the few that already existed), those new universities would be far smaller each specializing in a few overlapping subjects, so that their attention could be focused.
A maximal investment would see many small universities created, dedicated to many different subjects. Although not all of them are perhaps necessary.
A minimal investment would still see a few universities built and staffed but only for the more important subjects (medicine, military theory, economics and the like).
[] research bounties.
In this world there are very few motivators stronger than money and wealth. And of those few none are as easy to direct as it.
And if there is anything the empire isn't lacking it is money.
So, use it.
The creation of bunties for useful inventions would spur people to create them at the chance of getting the prize.
Although the more you pay, the more charlatans would try to deceive you.
Investing as much as you can, would see you make great strides in technological advancements, how much exactly is difficult to estimate and you can be sure that at this level many would try to deceive your testers to get the prize.
Reduced investment would of course see less progress, with the minimum investment even having the chance of showing none.
But whatever money you spend will likely be spent more efficiently as the number of charlatans would lower.
[] Rebel hunting.
Whether by your claw or theirs the rebels have lost the support of the populace.
Week by week more reports of rebel cells and their hiding places have reached you're agent's given by the people that once might have hidden them.
Now is the time to finish it off. Destroy them once and for all.
A maximum investment would see many resources invested into rooting rebel cells branch and stem, with the support of the populace you will be able to dash them to irrelevance.
A minimal investment would still see many rebel cells brought down but give them time and room to change the situation hopeless as it is for them.
[] the arteries of trade.
The lifeblood of trade, roads.
The situation is at once dire at once perfectly fine if a bit worn down.
The truth is that every kingdom -petty or grand- that was absorbed into the empire had its own road system, stretching to their larger villages and in-between their towns. Sometimes they were connected with the systems of other kingdoms and sometimes not.
This leads to the fact that provincially most road systems are perfectly fine for their regular day to day use. Perhaps only needing some slight repair or updating but otherwise good enough.
An yet on the empire level the rad system is absolutely atrocious with very little roads actually connecting the different provinces together.
Considering that only the very old or very young cant fly reliably and so the roads are only used for the transportation of bulk goods and heavy items fixing this has been low on the priority list. Especially as much of the bureaucracy has been too occupied keeping the empire semi stable to carry out the large surveying work that would be needed to correct this.
But now that the empire is far more stable the time has come to let the river of trade flow.
No matter how much you invest much of this decade would be spent surveying and actually planning the work a difficult task which will involve many thousands of clawhours. You might still see some limited construction but you and you r advisors are in a agreement that you won't see much progress on the actual building part this decade. And that you should accept that its likely that will be the case in the next decade too.
But when finished you could expect a major trading boom (which you tax of course) initial numbers point to an expression of revenue of anywhere between a third to two thirdsof it's current state.
[] taming the land.
If you wish to truly succeed in staving off the end, you will need resources and a lot of them.
The easiest to acquire and -arguably- the most useful is food.
In your empire there are vast stretches of wilderness, it would take time and resources to tame them but the land is valuable for farming and extra food isn't the only thing you'll get as cotton and other money crops would do well to drive up your tax income.
And the only thing you need to do is pay and ensure enough Keku have the tools and expertise to settle and tend the land.
And with the progress made in the last decade you job will be far easier.
A maximum investment would see a vast amount of land coming under cultivation which would see a corresponding growth in tax income but isn't recommended for the toll it would take on your empire as thousands of working Keku leave the cities for the attractive opportunity you offer.
thankfully with the progress made the last decade even a minimal investment would see you make great strids but why not push for more?.
And as such you must strike a balance between investing so much that you may hurt the overall economy while trying to bolster it to investing so little that you make no real progress.
[] An egg nests.
A decade is a long time and many unexpected costs could rack up.
From simple delays and obstacles for projects to exciting opportunities to sudden crises.
Having an egg nest to draw resources from so you won't need to compromise in other more costly way's is a good idea.
And if it isn't used it's quite easy (if fairly inefficient) to assign it to struggling projects.
Maximum investment is unnecessary and would even be harmful as too much funds and influence are saved rather than spent to further your goals.
A minimal investment while not ideal isn't the worst thing (especially with all the other pressing concerns) but it would mean that should delays occur or opportunities arise your ability to capitalize or resolve them without compromising other concerns is minimal.
[] Sharpening the claw.
The end comes.
But you do not need to face it alone.
A grand army can be recruited form the population trained to hold the line and defend their homes to the last breath.
This is just thee seed that might one day grow into such might.
This is important work as the larger the initial army is the more efforts can be invested to improve it. and the longer its core will have to gather experience.
But considering how long before it is truly needed it might be better to invest in other things in order to grow and stabilize the situation.
At a maximum investment enough Keku will be recruited to not only organize large scale war games and experiment with but raise enough regiment's that represent a decent increase in overall strength. Which would help should anything happen.
At minimal investment the raised Keku will be nothing but a seed from which a larger army one day might grow.
The last decade saw both the fast expansion of the number of cultivators and also the expansion of their reasonability's (1 AP).
Teachers: it is expected that around 231 new 1st step cultivators would be recruited and trained this decade (at current pace your expected to get another AP in 2 turns).
[] Recruiting- if you wish to have a hope of survival the current number of disciples is pitiful, your disciples would focus on going out and training potential cultivators in order to find new talents and increase their number. With a crude but passable way to determine talent you can now weed out the untalented. Increasing the power and quality of your new disciples.
[] the connecting thread- out of the sixty-seven centers of power found, sixty-five are next to major habitations. Send out agents to scour all sixty-five centers of power thoroughly and find the thread connecting them all. After all knowledge is the first step towered control.
[] Hunting- the rebels who oppose you and nip at your talons are hidden in one of two ways. They are either hidden within the population or set up in places which are hard to reach and remote which make it hard to find them. your disciples are no better at finding the first then mortals but places that are inconvenient and remote for mortals are rarely that for cultivators. Sending a few to hunt and dispose of the rebels would greatly reduce their strength allowing your government to focus on other things.
[] Research (mutually exclusive with sharing wisdom)- those who sought you out and became your disciples were of a certain type of Keku, those who had curiosity in their hearts and a thirst for knowledge. They are now old Keku and have in their time acquired much experience and knowledge, put them to use with advancing the knowledge base of your empire either teaching their wisdom to others or creating some useful innovation. (OOC: this basically gives you an additional advancement dice)
[] Looking for enlightenment cultivation as a concept is relatively unknown, with all of your knowledge coming from either your or your older disciples' experiments. But your knowledge is lacking and there are many unknowns. Have your disciples try to invite new concepts that either help or push your knowledge of cultivation further. (OOC: you get a cultivation advancement dice which can give you many tasteful things)
[] Push forward- your disciples have their own cultivation to pursue and they will do so regardless but giving them more time to do so would allow them to make more progress)
[] Sharing wisdom (mutually exclusive with research)- those who sought you out and became your disciples were of a certain type of Keku, those who had curiosity in their hearts and a thirst for knowledge. They are now old Keku and have in their time acquired much experience and knowledge, having them share their wisdom and help with the burdens of administration would go a long way to help the empire run more smoothly for a time.
[] Wandering sages- in the good times, before you foresaw the apocalypse that is to come, the students who sought you out, were scholars at heart and although each had a different purpose for doing so almost all of them had a great thirst for knowledge. It was this knowledge that they passed down to their new students and it was this knowledge that could be used to speed up some of your plans. Sending your cultivators to roam the countryside and teach the populace would at the very least ensure a minimal level of education would be passed down outside major population centers and make the eventual excision of the proposed education system to the countryside easier.
[] The sharp edge of knowledge- after much deliberation and meditation, your older disciples have come to the conclusion that the relative lack of combat techniques is the largest factor in holding back their combat potential. Giving them leave to focus on developing an arsenal of techniques would ensure that they are ready to face whatever may come. Unfortunately, in this case your innate understanding is working against you as you skip whole parts when casting your own techniques making them unsuitable for your general students.
A long decade is awaiting you, there is much to do and not enough time to do it all (3 personal AP).
[] Push higher- your power alone would not save you or your kind, but more power would certainly be useful, so push ahead on this path that you've created oh so long ago.
-[] Ascend- you can feel it, you've reached a point where you can once more reach higher. Push ahead, face the wrath of heaven once more and pray you're ready.
-[] Mediation on the self (may be taken more than once)- the wrath of heaven is powerful and cunning, it will strike at any weakness you show, take a time to know your falling and put your mind at peace to help with the tribulation you will face. (This action will give a big bonus if you take it on the turn, you attempt the tribulation otherwise it would give a small but stackable bonus).
-[] A seventh pillar (0/3 AP to complete)- your instincts tell you that you may still push further in your current step, so take the time to gather the Qi needed to construct a new pillar in your soul. Giving you a new and powerful tool.
-[] study (artifice)- a new path opens itself before you, travels down its length and attempts to pry whatever secrets it holds.
-[] comprehension- you can feel it, anytime you speak with another, anytime you teach, your new pillar reacts. it's attempting to tell you something, there is more to your insight then seems, follow your pillar whispers and who knows what you might find.
-[] Seek insight from the world (choose pillar)(may be taken more than once)- five pillars you've erected in your soul, but they are not just constructs of Qi in each of them there is a Truth of the world. Meditation can draw those truths out but to look within you must look without and seek the inspiration that would advance your understanding and give a new insight for one of your pillars.
[] Glimpse the future- you have a gift, a gift that no other has. It has set you on this path and you must both hone and use it, to see the end of this path. Cast your eyes into the future and the apocalypse to come and attempt to draw any piece of information that might give you an advantage.
-[] Pin down the date- currently you know that the apocalypse will start anywhere between a century to three from now, attempt to pin down when it would actually start so you may better prepare. Not available. Unlocks at turn 8.
-[] The nature of the beast- you know almost nothing about what's to come besides an unending tide of beasts, attempt to understand the coming apocalypse.
-[] The tide- in your vision you saw many types of beast's, small and big, deformed and consisting of perfect form. Attempt to more correctly ascertain what it is that you'll be fighting.
-[] the maelstrom [extremely dangerous]- in your journey through the sea of time you have encountered a being that defies understanding. One way or the other this being is connected to the coming apocalypse, already without even knowing you desist it shrouds your sight of the future, your sight now returning with less and less details. So cast your gaze once more to the future and attempt to ascertain its nature and perhaps you'll find ways to avoid it. But beware as should you be caught death is the only mercy you can expect.
[] The burdens of an emperor- a farmer son of a farmer turned into a sage, you never thought, nor wanted the burden of rule but here you are with a crown upon your head.
-[] To rule well- taking the time to listen to your subordinates and subjects as well as taking care of the small problems that arise would free your subordinates from the need to do it.
(OOC: with the competent ruling action being removed from the empire action list -having achieved a good enough administrative efficiency that it doesn't need to be focused on- this action still helps with the rule of the empire and solving any problem that might crop up)
[] The burdens of a teacher- you have come to enjoy teaching, but the very act gives you a certain obligation to those you teach.
-[] To teach the next generations- you're going to need many more cultivators to face the end that comes, and you have taught many, do so again and help train the defenders of the future. Your new pillar making you even more suited to this task.
-[] The next step- you have many students pushing for the next step in their journey, take the time to share your wisdom and guide them in surviving the tribulation.
vote in plan format. the vote will be closed in two day's.
Plan format example:
[] plan name.
-[] empire action with highest priority.
-[] empire action with lower priority.
-[] empire action with lowest priority.
-[] cultivators actions.
-[] personal actions.
