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

[X]Write in: Modest Bribery -As in naked Bribery Vanessa is to gift coins to the residents of Eridia. 5 Dureks, spread among the people. Additionally a further 15 Dureks will be spread among donations to the main temples of the following Gods. Tyria, the Goddess of fertility, agriculture, love, family and marraige for obvious reasons to bless our upcoming marraige. Adun, God of the Sun, Justice, and purification to watch over our just rule. Askiran God of rulership law and order for similiar reasons and to keep the city lawful while the people celebrate the announcement. Ordedus in celebration of the peaceful trade between our nations. And Celiesta to bless our Queen with knowledge and wisdom and for the Queen to celebrate her love of magic. Magic that our wife shares.
 
[X]Write in: Modest Bribery -As in naked Bribery Vanessa is to gift coins to the residents of Eridia. 5 Dureks, spread among the people. Additionally a further 15 Dureks will be spread among donations to the main temples of the following Gods. Tyria, the Goddess of fertility, agriculture, love, family and marraige for obvious reasons to bless our upcoming marraige. Adun, God of the Sun, Justice, and purification to watch over our just rule. Askiran God of rulership law and order for similiar reasons and to keep the city lawful while the people celebrate the announcement. Ordedus in celebration of the peaceful trade between our nations. And Celiesta to bless our Queen with knowledge and wisdom and for the Queen to celebrate her love of magic. Magic that our wife shares.
 
[X] Write In A Proposal (Base Chance will be provided by me if approved. I intent to be reasonably flexible in approving write-ins here)
-[X] Public works within Eridia, make sure both Vanessa and Essinya are seen (10 Dureks).
 
[X]Write in: Modest Bribery -As in naked Bribery Vanessa is to gift coins to the residents of Eridia. 5 Dureks, spread among the people. Additionally a further 15 Dureks will be spread among donations to the main temples of the following Gods. Tyria, the Goddess of fertility, agriculture, love, family and marraige for obvious reasons to bless our upcoming marraige. Adun, God of the Sun, Justice, and purification to watch over our just rule. Askiran God of rulership law and order for similiar reasons and to keep the city lawful while the people celebrate the announcement. Ordedus in celebration of the peaceful trade between our nations. And Celiesta to bless our Queen with knowledge and wisdom and for the Queen to celebrate her love of magic. Magic that our wife shares.
 
[X]Write in: Modest Bribery -As in naked Bribery Vanessa is to gift coins to the residents of Eridia. 5 Dureks, spread among the people. Additionally a further 15 Dureks will be spread among donations to the main temples of the following Gods. Tyria, the Goddess of fertility, agriculture, love, family and marraige for obvious reasons to bless our upcoming marraige. Adun, God of the Sun, Justice, and purification to watch over our just rule. Askiran God of rulership law and order for similiar reasons and to keep the city lawful while the people celebrate the announcement. Ordedus in celebration of the peaceful trade between our nations. And Celiesta to bless our Queen with knowledge and wisdom and for the Queen to celebrate her love of magic. Magic that our wife shares.
 
[X]Write in: Modest Bribery -As in naked Bribery Vanessa is to gift coins to the residents of Eridia. 5 Dureks, spread among the people. Additionally a further 15 Dureks will be spread among donations to the main temples of the following Gods. Tyria, the Goddess of fertility, agriculture, love, family and marraige for obvious reasons to bless our upcoming marraige. Adun, God of the Sun, Justice, and purification to watch over our just rule. Askiran God of rulership law and order for similiar reasons and to keep the city lawful while the people celebrate the announcement. Ordedus in celebration of the peaceful trade between our nations. And Celiesta to bless our Queen with knowledge and wisdom and for the Queen to celebrate her love of magic. Magic that our wife shares.
 
I really can't say I understand the attraction of the write in (other than the near certainty of it being successful). It's spending 7.5% of our entire monthly income on preventing riots in one city (admittedly the capital, but it's still only the one city, not the whole country) when we've already decided to spend a lot of money on the wedding itself. To me, if we make a habit of throwing money at mitigating the unpopularity of our marriage decision, we are going to be turning the marriage into a money sink rather than something that is going to be advantageous. If (as looks likely) the write in wins, I hope this will be the last time we opt for such massive expenditure solely to mitigate the cost of a decision which we took knowing it would be unpopular.

As bribing just one city for this leaves a very bad taste in my mouth, I'll vote for turning out the guards to discourage riots.
[X]Put the Royal Guard, the Mobile Reserve of the Army and the Eridia City Guard on alert, an active presence on the streets to prevent any mobs or protests or riots forming or getting out of hand.
 
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[X]Write in: Modest Bribery -As in naked Bribery Vanessa is to gift coins to the residents of Eridia. 5 Dureks, spread among the people. Additionally a further 15 Dureks will be spread among donations to the main temples of the following Gods. Tyria, the Goddess of fertility, agriculture, love, family and marraige for obvious reasons to bless our upcoming marraige. Adun, God of the Sun, Justice, and purification to watch over our just rule. Askiran God of rulership law and order for similiar reasons and to keep the city lawful while the people celebrate the announcement. Ordedus in celebration of the peaceful trade between our nations. And Celiesta to bless our Queen with knowledge and wisdom and for the Queen to celebrate her love of magic. Magic that our wife shares.

It's a large sum, but it seems vital to nip any such manifestations in the bud before they can spread.
 
It is worth bearing in mind - as some are - that the knights of the Golden Throne are followers of Adun. So that does make the local clerical establishment of Adun relevant to them.

But as noted it is a lot of money. Sound arguments all around, which is what i like to see ^^
 
I really can't say I understand the attraction of the write in (other than the near certainty of it being successful). It's spending 7.5% of our entire monthly income on preventing riots in one city (admittedly the capital, but it's still only the one city, not the whole country) when we've already decided to spend a lot of money on the wedding itself. To me, if we make a habit of throwing money at mitigating the unpopularity of our marriage decision, we are going to be turning the marriage into a money sink rather than something that is going to be advantageous. If (as looks likely) the write in wins, I hope this will be the last time we opt for such massive expenditure solely to mitigate the cost of a decision which we took knowing it would be unpopular.

So to answer this (and partially ninja'd by GM) But 'preventing riots' is the bare minimum I'd hope to get from this.

For a start, there's still the money to the citizens for them to, you know, celebrate. But in of itself, it injects money into the local economy, it encourages spending which goes into local businesses to support and grow them, and ideally even, cycles back into the economy in the form of wages to the workers who are selling goods, who will then go and buy goods themselves, but also in creating taxable income.

As for specifically The churches? The church of Tyria is one of the two most likely to be opposed to our marraige, and being that part of that gods Portfolio covers marraige we not only don't want them to oppose us, but need their support. Even if it wasn't a Necromancer, for a political marriage having the support and approval of the clergy is likely to be important. It's often the support of the/a church which is what makes a marraige all official. We'd need our wife to be all official and accepted so that no questions arise regarding our childrens claim to/inheritance of the throne.

So, immediately, a donation to the goddess of marraige so that their clergy supports our match. Coincidentally one of the churches likely to oppose us, so trying to get their support is helpful.

Then you've got Adun, who, is the patron Diety of the knights of the golden throne, explicitly called out as 'warrior-priests'. And the Knights, have been, for years, what stands on the border of the forest in between most of our kingdom and the Kingdom of the necromancer. They're a major military force, and one of our advisors is from their order. We need their support, a donation to their god isn't going to buy it outright but it's a good start. We need to show the kingdom that their queen isn't handing over the throne to the necromancers. Part of that, is in supporting the traditional gods and existing power structures.

The other three gods, law and rulership, trade, magic. They're there to camoflage the donations to the other two gods. We don't want the kingdom to think we're trying to bribe our most vocal opposition. That way lies everyone making noise to try and get cash from us. But I would argue that those two factions do need appeasing.

If we reduce the opposition from one side, and buy some support from other corners. It's, we're offering the carrot, yes it's bribery. But as I mentioned, dressed up in religious donations.

Beyond that, there's the churches in of themselves. Question being, if we send them donations, what will they do with that money? And, historically at least IRL, churches have often done at least some public works and charity. Put that through the lens of the gods aspects and well. If we give the church of Celiesta a donation, goddess of magic, do they print magic spellbooks, train new mages? That would be useful if they actually do.

Goddess of fertility and family, similiarly, do they run orphanages? Help couples with pregnancy's? Perform weddings? All of those being services to help our people.

Etc and so forth. Like. Our keeper of Justice, Itrick, is a priest of Askiran, he has magic which forces those he questions to tell the truth, he served as a judge and now serves on our council as an advisor. The gods are active, and so are their priesthoods. And I'd hope that they, not only could be convinced to not oppose us and our marraige, but could also offer aid. Politically in helping us to convince the public to accept their queens match. But also, with magical abilities and so forth.

And, I'll freely admit. I actually expect to spend far more over the course of the wedding preparations for a start. But, we only get one, we picked the biggest wedding possible, and this is a chance to introduce our bride to be to the realm with massive ceremony and the best introduction possible.

The 5 gods weren't chosen at random, in particular the god of trade, that's one of the major benefits of this potential alliance. We sell the necromancers food and can buy luxury goods from them in turn along with a labour force to perform construction projects. They're as much a reminder that we intend to stay committed to the Kingdom that accepted us as queen and the gods of justice and law and so on. But that also the necromancers do have benefits.

And. 76 years ago the ArchNecromancer formally ceded any claim to the land outside the forest. They've waged no wars of conquest, they have some trade. There were and are very good reasons behind our choice. But our own subjects require some convincing. And giving out money, to show that this will likely earn the kingdom money is one method of such.

Beyond that, these are donations. It would be nice if we got some sort of benefit out of this, and that's what I'm hoping for. But, even if they just take the money, it's at least a signal to them that we haven't forgotten about our local priests and churches, and that we are open to working with them. It's no mistake that two of our advisors are from priesthoods/religious orders. The churches are involved in society. They have social and cultural power as well as hard power. Ignoring them would IMO be a mistake, so yeah, our wedding, it's an opportunity to say hi to them.
 
So to answer this (and partially ninja'd by GM) But 'preventing riots' is the bare minimum I'd hope to get from this.

For a start, there's still the money to the citizens for them to, you know, celebrate. But in of itself, it injects money into the local economy, it encourages spending which goes into local businesses to support and grow them, and ideally even, cycles back into the economy in the form of wages to the workers who are selling goods, who will then go and buy goods themselves, but also in creating taxable income.

As for specifically The churches? The church of Tyria is one of the two most likely to be opposed to our marraige, and being that part of that gods Portfolio covers marraige we not only don't want them to oppose us, but need their support. Even if it wasn't a Necromancer, for a political marriage having the support and approval of the clergy is likely to be important. It's often the support of the/a church which is what makes a marraige all official. We'd need our wife to be all official and accepted so that no questions arise regarding our childrens claim to/inheritance of the throne.

So, immediately, a donation to the goddess of marraige so that their clergy supports our match. Coincidentally one of the churches likely to oppose us, so trying to get their support is helpful.

Then you've got Adun, who, is the patron Diety of the knights of the golden throne, explicitly called out as 'warrior-priests'. And the Knights, have been, for years, what stands on the border of the forest in between most of our kingdom and the Kingdom of the necromancer. They're a major military force, and one of our advisors is from their order. We need their support, a donation to their god isn't going to buy it outright but it's a good start. We need to show the kingdom that their queen isn't handing over the throne to the necromancers. Part of that, is in supporting the traditional gods and existing power structures.

The other three gods, law and rulership, trade, magic. They're there to camoflage the donations to the other two gods. We don't want the kingdom to think we're trying to bribe our most vocal opposition. That way lies everyone making noise to try and get cash from us. But I would argue that those two factions do need appeasing.

If we reduce the opposition from one side, and buy some support from other corners. It's, we're offering the carrot, yes it's bribery. But as I mentioned, dressed up in religious donations.

Beyond that, there's the churches in of themselves. Question being, if we send them donations, what will they do with that money? And, historically at least IRL, churches have often done at least some public works and charity. Put that through the lens of the gods aspects and well. If we give the church of Celiesta a donation, goddess of magic, do they print magic spellbooks, train new mages? That would be useful if they actually do.

Goddess of fertility and family, similiarly, do they run orphanages? Help couples with pregnancy's? Perform weddings? All of those being services to help our people.

Etc and so forth. Like. Our keeper of Justice, Itrick, is a priest of Askiran, he has magic which forces those he questions to tell the truth, he served as a judge and now serves on our council as an advisor. The gods are active, and so are their priesthoods. And I'd hope that they, not only could be convinced to not oppose us and our marraige, but could also offer aid. Politically in helping us to convince the public to accept their queens match. But also, with magical abilities and so forth.

And, I'll freely admit. I actually expect to spend far more over the course of the wedding preparations for a start. But, we only get one, we picked the biggest wedding possible, and this is a chance to introduce our bride to be to the realm with massive ceremony and the best introduction possible.

The 5 gods weren't chosen at random, in particular the god of trade, that's one of the major benefits of this potential alliance. We sell the necromancers food and can buy luxury goods from them in turn along with a labour force to perform construction projects. They're as much a reminder that we intend to stay committed to the Kingdom that accepted us as queen and the gods of justice and law and so on. But that also the necromancers do have benefits.

And. 76 years ago the ArchNecromancer formally ceded any claim to the land outside the forest. They've waged no wars of conquest, they have some trade. There were and are very good reasons behind our choice. But our own subjects require some convincing. And giving out money, to show that this will likely earn the kingdom money is one method of such.

Beyond that, these are donations. It would be nice if we got some sort of benefit out of this, and that's what I'm hoping for. But, even if they just take the money, it's at least a signal to them that we haven't forgotten about our local priests and churches, and that we are open to working with them. It's no mistake that two of our advisors are from priesthoods/religious orders. The churches are involved in society. They have social and cultural power as well as hard power. Ignoring them would IMO be a mistake, so yeah, our wedding, it's an opportunity to say hi to them.
My main objection to that is it's still only for one city. Hopefully it works beyond the one city, but spending so much on only the capital in the surety it will work there and hope that others will be affected strikes me as a big gamble. I'm less opposed than I was before, but I wouldn't expect huge results outside the capital from this, so my ongoing fear is trying to bribe the whole country when unrest spreads (which this almost certainly won't prevent) alongside spending big on the wedding. Trying that strikes me as a mechanism for future bankruptcy.

Edited to add a thought not related to this. For next turn, could we as one of Vanessa's actions write to Janera and Regara, soothing any ruffled feathers and pathing the way for potential future diplomacy? There are rumours that one or other was annoyed with us enough to trash their room, and if so any personal issue in the future could be a problem with any diplomacy towards their country. Also, I can't see why we wouldn't quietly want Regara to beat her sister, given we want to avoid a war with Morvak, and it would be good for us if Janera was a friend in her country, even if she likely lacks some degree of influence given her personality. Doing this soon after the decision would seem best to me.
 
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Vote closed
Scheduled vote count started by Kylia Quilor on Oct 20, 2024 at 10:11 PM, finished with 29 posts and 12 votes.

  • [X]Write in: Modest Bribery -As in naked Bribery Vanessa is to gift coins to the residents of Eridia. 5 Dureks, spread among the people. Additionally a further 15 Dureks will be spread among donations to the main temples of the following Gods. Tyria, the Goddess of fertility, agriculture, love, family and marraige for obvious reasons to bless our upcoming marraige. Adun, God of the Sun, Justice, and purification to watch over our just rule. Askiran God of rulership law and order for similiar reasons and to keep the city lawful while the people celebrate the announcement. Ordedus in celebration of the peaceful trade between our nations. And Celiesta to bless our Queen with knowledge and wisdom and for the Queen to celebrate her love of magic. Magic that our wife shares.
    [X] Write In A Proposal (Base Chance will be provided by me if approved. I intent to be reasonably flexible in approving write-ins here)
    -[X] Public works within Eridia, make sure both Vanessa and Essinya are seen (10 Dureks).
    [X]Put the Royal Guard, the Mobile Reserve of the Army and the Eridia City Guard on alert, an active presence on the streets to prevent any mobs or protests or riots forming or getting out of hand. (Base Chance 70% + Martial)
    [X]Put the Royal Guard, the Mobile Reserve of the Army and the Eridia City Guard on alert, an active presence on the streets to prevent any mobs or protests or riots forming or getting out of hand.
 
Honestly, it's clearly worth it. We had 50 Dureks in reserve - mainly because I wanted roads - but I guess it's going back another month. We'll still have plenty to put on this coming turn's allotment then things refresh.

In short, 20 Dureks is a comparatively small price to help mitigate the short-term hit.
 
Yay the people love us and our new wife now to find a way to earn back that cash.

I mean. If things go like I hope?

Temple of Ordedus invests that cash into trade. Askiran trains new priests/judges to handle criminal cases. Celiesta creates a scholarship for new mages.

Etc and so forth.

Even just the increased chance to keep thing calm in the capital city and ensure the levers of power are secure is worth it.

If we successful make important people well disposed to us that's a bonus.

If nothing else we've got some free undead labour and a potential discount for more. Plus expected trade increase between our nations.

There's also the military alliance and in the *very* long term? We're queen of one nation. Our wife is heir to another.

Our kids grandpa will be well inclined to keep his daughters family on the throne. If we support him and his daughter. Our wife. Then we just gained a nuclear deterrent.
 
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