Gems in the Wastes (Exalted/Warhammer Fantasy/CK2)

Now that my constant rolling is finished, you can get back to debating plans for the Advisor vote. Currently, the top 2 plans (Advantages For All and Gems for Finance) are tied, with the only difference being who has the Diplomacy and the Stewardship positions. Even then, the third place plan is only 1 vote behind. Feel free to come up with more plans or vote for those already created. I'm going to get to work on writing up the results update for Turn 1, might post it while this vote is still ongoing.

Winning Plan: This Place Is Ours

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Overwork Amount: +1 Action, +2 Critical Fail Threshold For Turn 2

Your first three months were overall quite productive. You helped to make the land you stood on safer for your people by spell and by blade. What time wasn't spent in defense was devoted to surveying the people and the land around them to find if any issues existed. Thus far, the only problem seemed to be the dour spirits everyone was afflicted with, but otherwise things were going okay, considering the circumstances.

Because your newly appointed ministers were still settling into their roles, they weren't able to provide as much assistance as you'd like. It fell into your lap then to cover some of the needed tasks in a timely manner, which you did with an admirable amount of effort. By the end of this 3 month stretch, you felt tired from several sleepless nights, but you weren't nearly to the edge of exhaustion. You still had plenty of fight left in you, and fight on you would.

Ultimately, you decided to settle into this location for the long run. This place along the shore which you now stood on had access to the ocean, which was important for trade and fishing, and access to mineral wealth from those far off mountains. The lack of protective terrain which Uluiru had once boasted could be an issue in the future, but you believed that could be remedied by proper walls. For now, your priorities lay in gathering as much information as you could to best prepare, and hiding your nation away from passersby until the day you could reveal yourself to the world in strength.

Martial Actions
-[X][Martial][LOCKED] Protecting the Flock 1 (DC 10+)
--[X] Send your personal guard (Size 2, Quality 2, Might 0 = +10?)

Enemy Troops: Drunken Elvish Guards: Size 1, Quality 0, Might 1 = DC 20
Troop Bonus: Outnumber (+10), Much Greater Quality (+20) = +30
Roll: 29 + 30 = 59, Success, beat the DC by more than 25, no injuries suffered.

A few weeks after your sudden arrival, your personal guard, who likely would soon take the position of your royal guard, encountered an enemy contingent while on patrol. To your luck, these foes were only a small group, less than a dozen in number, and they were notably drunk as well. It seemed that this group of reveling soldiers had simply stumbled upon your settlement by pure accident, having not seen your arrival in the least. Due to this confusion and their intoxicated state, they were easy prey for such well-trained soldiers.

What was more interesting than their accidental discovery of your location were the three noteworthy qualities your captain of the guard noticed as he cut each stumbling soldier down. First, their armor, while hastily put-on, was rather ornate in appearance, each piece of armor more of an artistic creation than a standard loadout. None of it was enchanted, but the exceptional quality of it suggested that they served some manner of lord with wealth at their disposal.

Second, their speed even in such a poor state of mind was far greater than a normal human's. While their skill suffered, they remained quite graceful in their intoxication, dodging away from blows more by instinct than experience. It suggested that these soldiers were not ordinary humans, but some manner of blessed or mutated folk. And judging by the third fact, it was the latter that was the case.

Because third, when decapitated, their heads displayed long pointed ears instead of rounder organs.

---

Yet, something wasn't right here. Or at least, when speaking to the head of your Guard, there was a question which lingered in the back of your mind. As you listened to Lieutenant Chinweike give his report, it kept pecking away inside of your skull, until eventually you raised a hand and he ceased his explanation. "Chinweike, pause for a minute, would you?" He stopped talking, giving you a minute to ponder the information you received. It was time enough to form the shape of your question into a true sentence. Or several, in this case.

"Chinweike, you said that this 'attack' occurred at night, correct? Was it in the middle of the night, or closer to sunset or sunrise?" you asked.

His response was a prompt one. "Near sunrise, Your Majesty."

"Was it light enough that you could see the enemy as they approached?" He simply nodded, but you couldn't accept that. "I need you to speak your answer, Lieutenant. Did you have enough light to see the enemy?"

"...Yes," he eventually said, sensing that something was off here. And indeed, something was very off here. But not with you.

"So, considering you were able to tell me that the enemies were highly drunk, did you learn this information when they attacked, or just from observation?"

He took another moment of silence, looking away from your gaze when he could. "From observation, sire." ...Damnit, please not this.

"Chinweike, who attacked first?" He refused to give you an answer, so you pressed the question. "Chinweike, who. Attacked. First."

The Lieutenant began to shudder as the aura in the room became hotter and hotter, as if the noonday sun was overhead. "O-one of our own, did." He admitted the damning truth out loud. "Sire." But you didn't need any formalities from him at this point.

"And you did not attempt to warn them, beforehand? That they must leave the area? Or even speak with them in general?" He hung his head in shame, shaking it in the negative. You... you needed to take in a steadying breath. And when it was released, you began your summary.

"So, in full, you spotted an unknown group that you were able to identify beforehand as being considerably drunk. Drunk enough to not be a true threat for your forces, would you not agree?" You did not wait for him to respond as you kept on going. "Rather than wait to see if those people did something, or try to speak with them, or give them a demand to leave, you attacked first. Am I correct, so far?" He gave a shaky nod, but you weren't really paying attention to his responses at that point. "And then, rather than take any prisoners or accept any surrender, you slaughtered a group of partygoers to a man, leaving no one alive to give testimony as to what happened." His dark skin began to pale as realized the direction your talk was going. "Strange. Do you often kill those-"

"IT WASN'T MY FAULT, SIRE!" His shout halted your diatribe. He took in a shaky breath. "One of our younger recruits, Ifiok, he picked up his bow and fired the first shot. It was against my orders, I was going to reprimand him after giving my report to you!"

"And that excuses you from the responsibility of training the other guardsmen in my stead? Chinweike, I made you Lieutenant after your predecessor's death because I believed that I could trust you to make the right choices in my stead. Yet here you are, confessing to me that you could not restrain one young man from delivering a shot that could potentially put us into the path of war with an unknown nation. We do not know who these people are, they have given us no true incentive to hate or fight them. Yet we have given them grievances all the same." You looked the man in the eyes, before reaching out, and taking hold of his badge of office. You ripped it off of his armor, the punishment clear to see. "You will take me to see Ifiok, Guardsman Chinweike. I would like a proper talk with him as well. No proper guard of mine will endeavor to launch the first strike, not under my watch." Sighing in possible relief that he was not executed for his incompetence, he complied.

You walked past tent after tent, gaining the desperate gaze of so many of your people who were left in squalor. You would fix that, your heart throbbed in your chest at doing otherwise, but for now, you had a discussion you needed to carry out. Eventually, Chinweike showed you to the barracks-tent where Ifiok and several other guards lived inside. The young man in question was quite lean in body shape, not a chiseled figure like most of your guardsmen were. While you had not overseen his recruitment, due to the scramble to refill your ranks before heading off into the ships, he would still have been part of the elite members of the general troops before transferring over. Him being reckless with his weapons was not a good sign that he should remain as part of your cohort. He as well as everyone else immediately stood up and saluted the moment they noticed that you had walked inside.

You gave a show of looking over each and every guard present, before focusing your sights on the young man. "Ifiok, please come with me."

"Sire?" He asked, with a tremble in his voice. You leaned over him, despite the young soldier technically being taller than you were, such was your presence at this moment. Unconsciously, you manifested your Caste Mark upon your brow, the half-set sun lighting up the room in the early morning.

"There are things I need to discuss with you in private. We can speak-" Wait a second. "-there..." Ifiok's eyes were normally a dark brown, as you could see when you leaned over him. Yet, strangely enough, in the light of your Caste Mark, there wasn't a golden glow in his eyes when you got close to him... but a blue-green tint. "...Guardsman Ifiok, have you been consuming any strange substances, lately?"

He shook his head in the negative, "N-no, sir," he stuttered out. Yet his eyes... they weren't as afraid as they should be. They seemed almost... detached, from the rest of his expression. Something that usually doesn't happen, when the soul and mind were the ones steering the body.

There was a beat of silence as you evaluated the young man. Then, you sprung into action. Grabbing him by the shoulder with one hand, you directed your other palm onto his clothed chest. "By my authority as Chosen of the Unconquered Sun-"

You weren't able to finish your chant of exorcism before the boy's shocked expression turned into a mocking grin. "So, King takes Pawn. Fair enough, your majesty. I'll just-" But you weren't stupid to allow whatever entity possessed this young man to attempt whatever it was going to do. Likely a suicide pill of some kind, whether literally or figuratively. Instead, you finished the job.


With a grand pulse of golden light, the grin briefly turned into a bitter frown before the expression evaporated off of the young man's face. A blue-green anima-bat flew off of the boy's body, unrestrained by your auric authority, and fled the scene faster than you could catch it. This was the first time you had failed to immediately capture whatever possessing entity you had exorcised with this technique before... and you weren't sure that you liked it. Regardless, Ifiok slumped to the floor, exhausted by his exorcism, panting and sweating from the sudden exertion which had been foisted upon him. And then, he passed out.

You looked to his fellow guards, who watched the scene in shock. That would not do. "Three of you, restrain him and..." You didn't have a prison in place just yet, which really left just one option. "Keep him here. Do not allow him to escape. Bind him with the strongest ropes if you must." You really did not have the time for a full interrogation, nor did you have the expertise to do so. But you could, at least, keep him stationary here until you had enough time in your schedule to see things through.

Unlocked Learning Action: Know Thy Enemy
Unlocked Intrigue Action: The Pangu Opening. It will be locked into place on Turn 2, and will not cost an Intrigue Action due to being a holdover from Turn 1. It will benefit from your Advisor bonus and any potential Heroes used once confirmed.

-[X][Martial][LOCKED] Protecting the Flock 2 (DC 40+)
--[X] Send your general troops (Size 4, Quality 1, Might 0= +30?)

Enemy Troops: Standard Battalion of Elves (Dreadspears + Darkshards): Size 3, Quality 1, Might 1 = DC 50
Troop Bonus: Outnumber (+10) = +10
Roll: 57 + 10 = 67; Success. General Troops Size downgraded by 1 for 1 turn due to injuries (Size 4 -> 3).

The second time that these strange mutants were encountered, about two and a half months since first arrival, it was in far greater numbers and with much more discipline than the riotous crowd of before. A hundred of point-ear soldiers, half bearing lances and shields, the other crossbows, marched towards the spot where your personal guard had once patrolled. Evidently, someone had gotten wind of their soldiers going missing, and suspected enemy action, which you honestly could not blame them for. Or, alternatively, this was an uncommon patrol route which you had been lucky enough to avoid until now.

Upon spotting your battalion of four hundred, the enemy troops immediately fell into formation. The spear-wielding half lowered their stance, placing their shields in front of them to protect the more vulnerable archers, who stood up and aimed at your soldiers. While casualties were minimal due to an abundance of shields on your end, there were plenty of notable injuries on your end. These did not result from the initial barrage of crossbow bolts, which ultimately did little. Instead, your troops decided to seize the initiative after the battle turned in their favor by surrounding the enemy and slaughtering most of them. Thankfully, after the incident with the drunken patrol, you had given your troops orders to take whatever enemy soldiers alive as they could, and they largely obeyed the order. Though the pointed-ears snarled in disdain for your soldiers, once they realized that the battle was truly lost, they eventually dropped their weapons, not once losing that scornful expression even as their arms were bound with rope. With as many alive as there were, you hoped that they would be able to answer any questions you had.

At this point, as 10 pointed-ear soldiers were marched with three guards apiece keeping watch over them, you realized with exasperation that you really, really needed to construct a jail of some kind.

Unlocked Martial Action: Refitting Masterpieces
Unlocked Intrigue Action: Pointed Interrogations
Unlocked Intrigue Action: Build a Jail

Diplomacy Actions
-[X][Diplomacy][LOCKED] Organize the Festival of Funerals (DC 40+)
Roll: 39; Bare Failure. Can attempt action again next turn, gaining +10 to the roll next time. If not successful after Turn 2, will increase the DC by 10.

The sudden, terrible loss of your nation and relatives created a pall of grief across every tented household in your colony. Most wailed in private, the children tended to wail in public. In either case, it was harrowing to hear, and only reminded you of your own lost family. While you had never developed any sort of romantic connection with others thus far, you DID have loved ones that you wished could still be here. Ife, Mojisola, Jatau… Mother… they were all gone. You wished so much to just cry, cry out your sorrows, cry out your pain. But you couldn't, not yet.

You were the king, and when the nation suffers, the king must remain strong.

Still, it was only right to do your best to organize a grand funeral, a final farewell to the nation that was lost, to the people that were lost, to the hope that was lost. Without a Minister to oversee matters, you sent the issue to a committee of former employees of the Ministry of Culture, to see what they could do. They were able to come up with several grand plans, and had even managed to complete most of the preparations by the time the third month of your exile ended. Starting in the fourth month, the festival would commence.

Diplomacy Action: Festival of Funerals locked into next turn. It will gain a +10 bonus from the extra prep time.

-[X][Diplomacy] Raise Spirits (DC 40+)
Roll: 36; Bare Failure. Can attempt action again next turn, gaining +10 to the roll next time.

In the meantime, you looked for some other way to lift people's spirits. Your first thought, as was common for a son of Ulu(iru), was music. Music had a way of conveying emotions that words sometimes had trouble doing, and with so many musicians having survived the voyage across to your new home, there had to be at least a few up to the task. So, you put out the call for any member of the Musician's Guild to gather themselves by your somewhat more ornate tent to discuss matters with you.

That meeting had been a wakeup call as to the realities of the creative process. While every member there was willing to give it their best shot, their own grief flavored the initial songs they composed in too dark of a direction to be used for that purpose. So great and morbid was that sadness that a taint almost seemed to be imbued in the pieces of parchment each song was written on. Perhaps it was from the taint that resounded in the land, perhaps it was simply the result of several dozen hurting hearts, but it was very much present. So it was that three months went by where everything they produced would not work as an anthem of hope. Yet, these truthfully depressing songs… your divine mind whirled as something came to mind.

These pieces of music were not fit to uplift the soul… but could they be used against the souls of others? Could they bring down morale just as they crushed your spirit? Could a song truly be sad or dour enough to shatter an enemy's hopes?

Unlocked Intrigue Action (Working): Channeled Sorrow of Uluiru
Unlocked Mining Action (Artifact): The Trumpet of Eventual Parting

These actions are mutually exclusive.

Stewardship Actions
-[X][Stewardship] Supply and No Demand (DC 10+)
Roll: 98; Notable Success; +10 next turn to actions related to gaining and storing supplies, -15 DC for Granary action.

When you had first arrived at this strange place, you had worried that some of your supplies would go missing, either from simple misadventure or your people's own greed. Did you truly have now what you started with before?

As it turns out, your concerns were entirely misplaced. After meticulously going over the stocks of supplies, from food to lumber, currently in your possession, your auditors were pleased to announce that everything truly was where it should be. Accounting for daily consumption, of course. With your mind alleviated from the thoughts of theft, you turned your attention towards resolving the lack of incoming food. Not to mention preserving what you already have…

You have 4 units of Food remaining. 1 Food is consumed each turn, unless rationed.
If rationing, your Food supply will be stretched to cover double the normal amount of time, or up to Turn 8 before you run out.

The same is true of fresh Water. 4 units remaining, 1 unit used each turn, can stretch up to Turn 8 before running out.

You have 1 unit of Lumber remaining (after the Granary action this turn). You have no other "standard" supplies to make note of so far. Certain resources will continue to be tracked until you reach a sizable enough income of them to not worry about it.

You have unlocked rationing!

-[X][Stewardship] Build a Granary (DC 50)(CONSUMES 1 LUMBER)
DC 50 - 15 (Notable Success) = 35
Roll: 66; Success

With your inventory as meticulous as it was, drawing up the plans for a sizable granary was in comparison much easier. As soon as everything was checked off by your Carpenter's Guild, you ordered the building to be constructed. Progress was swift, and by the middle of the third month, your granary was complete. It was a large structure, built on a foundation of what remnants of stone your people were able to scrounge up from the surrounding area. Though you worried about its integrity against any storms that might arise, for now it would provide a solid protection against any spoilage or pests that might arise.

Any rolls for spoilage will receive a -40 penalty (Penalties are good).

Any rolls for vermin will receive a -20 penalty (Penalties are good).

Intrigue Actions
-[X][Intrigue] Scouting Ahead (DC 20)
Roll: 67; Success; 2 extra intervals of 20 achieved.

You couldn't just sit here twiddling your thumbs while unknown peoples lived on the same land as you did. Whether they were friendly or not, they existed, and you needed to find out where they were. So, on the second day of your arrival, you sent out your scouts to survey the area as best they could while remaining under the cover of darkness. And almost immediately, they got results, though not in a way that you would expect.

"Your Majesty!" One of your scouts had immediately returned, bearing a spyglass in her hands. You had been hunched over a desk working on some matters when she arrived, so you looked up to meet her gaze.

"Yes? Was there some problem with your spyglass?" It was an honest question, some delicate instruments would undoubtedly have been broken by the harsh arrival of your ships onto the land. But she shook her head in the negative.

"No your Majesty. It's… you don't need a spyglass to see this." What? What could that mean? It was when she led you outside that you understood. Stuck in your tent as you were, you had not noticed the change from day to night. And now, you could see what she saw.

There, up above in the night sky was Luna, sending down her usual rays of white light…

…And also up there was a second, green moon. It was smaller than Luna, yet every bone in your body informed you that this… this thing, this abomination, was evil. Your senses informed you that it was, in some way, associated with the Wyld, but how, you weren't certain. There shouldn't be this large of a foreign celestial body even in the Middlemarches, there was no way that a Raksha could create a narrative so strong that it could persist with Creation's waning influence still interfering. And nothing in all your studies had ever told you about a green moon appearing at certain times in the sky…

…But you had heard of a green sun.

In comparison to this horrific revelation, the next two pieces of information were almost mundane. One day, another of your scouts returned, handing you their spyglass and asking you to direct your gaze through it to off the shore. At first, you only saw more sea, but with careful angling and directions, you were able to spy the object of their interest. A tall, distant tower, situated on a small island far out in the distance. With further focus and directions, you were able to spot an even fainter image that looked like it might be a second tower.

Your mind was able to quickly put together the details. These structures were either lighthouses or watchtowers, perhaps both. One to lead friendly ships safely to shore, the other to look out for any enemies approaching. It was a smart move, all things considered, so long as those towers could remain sufficiently protected. But it indicated one thing: A civilization of some kind built these structures. No animal could possibly make them, not this tall and out to this distance.

You had your guesses as to which civilization this could be after those drunken soldiers were discovered and slain. With how astounding the quality of their equipment was, it made sense that they would be able to translate that talent for armaments towards engineering as well. But, of course, there was also the possibility that another civilization built these, and they were either known or even co-opted by the point-ears for their own purposes. But it just created another worry in your mind after thinking things through.

If there were people still situated on those distant towers, then it was likely that they had spyglasses just as your own people did. It would be almost impossible for them to be as well-crafted a civilization otherwise. But if there were people there, and if they DID have similar spyglasses, then they should be able to spot your people just sitting there along the shore. And they almost CERTAINLY would have spotted the barge containing the Fount of Glories, in all of this gem-sphere glory. Would they have raised an alarm? It couldn't be one of sound, otherwise the noise of the ocean waves would overtake it. That left either imagery, likely flags for signaling, or some more mystical method of notifying people.

You would need to hurry up your plans to conceal your nation's location sooner rather than later. Otherwise, your period of secrecy would be finished.

And then there was the last piece of news before the third month was over. Your scouts had discovered a small settlement a fair distance inland from your location. There, they saw more of those pointy-eared people escorting what looked to be other mutants around via chains. The mutants in question were more varied in their mutations, and just looking at them caused your scouts some ill-feelings. Not from disgust, but… something else they weren't sure about. Regardless, it was obvious that these chained individuals were either prisoners or slaves, likely both.

Morrslieb has been discovered! Honestly, this should have been a DC 0 just to find this out, but hindsight is 20-20 I guess. You can try to find out its effects or origins with future actions.

The Watchtowers have been discovered and are visible from the shore (albeit very faintly). This puts you somewhere on the Northern Shores of Naggaroth.

You have found a nearby settlement, and it has slaves. It also has mutants. Mutant slaves, too.

-[X][Intrigue] Gauge Opinions (DC 10+)
Roll: 98; Notable Success

Finding out what your people thought of your reign was quite simple, really. All it took was asking some individuals what they thought about what you were doing, and they let loose their answers as a deluge of words.

Your people can appreciate what you've done for them, and the number of successes that have occurred under your leadership. However, their sorrow from the sheer number of dead, plus abandoning their homeland, has made those accomplishments more like the silver lining to a cloud. That, and the news about potential slavers nearby has somehow leaked, creating some fears that some of your people would be taken away. Overall, your Peasant/Citizen Opinion has remained unchanged (3/10).

Your nobility, few as they are, are currently waiting on the results of who you will choose to be your advisors, your Ministers, to really say one way or another. Their opinion has remained unchanged (5/10).

-[X][Intrigue] Cloak the Gathering (DC 35/45/55)(SORCEROUS)
--[X] Assigned Sorcerer: Yourself (-1 Personal Action; Frees Up 1 Intrigue Action)
Roll Bonus: +17
Roll: 75 + 17 = 92; Success with Full Finesse

It was not a lie to say that of the current citizens of Uluiru, you were the best Sorcerer they had on hand. And you couldn't allow one of your less experienced students attempt this sort of feat, not without far more preparation to see it fulfilled. Your idea, after learning about the watchtowers out into the distance, was to create an invisible field which covered the entirety of the land your people stayed in, as well as quite a bit more, enough for expansion if need be. Anytime someone not of your people tried to see or enter the area, their mind's would be muddled and confused. They would not be able to focus on whatever was inside the area, instead passing over it in their minds. And if they pushed through the effect to walk inside, they would suffer from severe disorientation as their eyes spoke a truth their minds refused to listen to.

With careful aligning of several runic symbols placed along the outer perimeter of your people's habitation, you were able to ensure that this field went off without a hitch. Even better, you were able to devise a way to protect friendly merchants and diplomats from the confusion. This was done via talismans which bore a specific counter-rune tied to one of the symbols used for the field. So long as they had the talisman on their person, they would not suffer the effect.

And of course, you weren't so foolish as to make your own people vulnerable to it. So long as an individual possessed the same blood as those within the field when it was created, they would be rendered automatically immune to the cloaking effect. Did it present a weakness for any traitors to exploit? Yes. But it was far better than the alternative in your eyes. At least now, the average citizen could breathe easy that few scoundrels would ever find them in the dead of night.

Notice-Me-Not Field active! All enemies who approach or enter into the field will suffer -1 Quality. Their scouts will give confused or nonsensical information about where specifically your future capital is located!

Talismans of Acceptance can now be created.

This Working will need to be repeated for any future cities you create / take over.

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Author's Notes: Posting this from my phone on my lunch break, if you see any errors please let me know. Will edit on more here once I get off work.

EDIT 1: Martial Actions section has been heavily edited per viewer feedback and rolls.

So, uh, hey everyone. Guess who decided to do some rolls out-of-thread for some of your successful actions, to flesh things out? I just realized that some of the stuff in the piety section might require additional rolls in order to clarify things, so I started rolling on a website I used to get some of the numbers. The Spirit Survey required 3 numbers total (8, 96 and 62 respectively, you narrowly missed out on a hidden Elemental Dragon), you'll see the results of that later. Not important for now.

The Priest Survey was a single d100 to find out what the situation with your priests was. Low and things were bad, high and things were great, simple as. Except, well, then this happened:


So, yeah. I... might need to create a new Piety character now..? And maybe put a pause on votes for the moment while I try and figure out how to work with this. Apologies all for the late arrival with this one.