Also, @Academia Nut, if it isn't too much, could you tell us Lolwyna's stat spread? The advice she gave to us about aqueduct building makes me think she's more than meets the eye.
 
[X] [Curr] Yes, in Valleyhome
[X] [Horse] Openly allow but regulate it (-1 Religious Authority, potential stability loss)
[X] [Infra] Build aqueduct in Sacred Forest (-4 Econ, +4 Econ Expansion, increased True City threshold)
[X] [Hero] Provide sponsorship (Main Study Tailings under Mystic Hero, possible Legitimacy loss, possible Religious Authority loss)

I'm getting the sense that Rulhutyn likes Lolwyna. While he does admit that she's not attractive he does call her "strangely alluring". Assuming that he's not married, our next update, if the sponsorship wins, may see the two of them getting together. We've never had two heroes do that.
 
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Do we actually want cavalry? I would have thought they were the technological predecessors to chariots rather than the other way around.

Chariots arose sometime around 4000 BC IRL, and cavalry only really starts to be a thing like 1000 BC, and even then it took centuries to become dominant. By the time cavalry was really good, chariots were hilariously obsolete in battle.

what does italic mean on trade goods?

Threatening trade position.
 
Diff Checker
(Edit: there were some changes since i first posted)
General
Diplomacy 12 [+4]
Economy 9 (+1) [-1+4]
Econ Expansion 9 [+1-4]
Martial 10 {13}
Diplo 9 [+4] -> 12 [+4]
9 + 4 (Usual per turn) - 1 (Bad climate affecting trade) = 12
Econ 1 [-1+4] -> 9 (+1) [-1+4]
1 - 1 (True City) + 4 (Baby Boom) + 4 (Expand Econ) + 1 (Black Soil) + (+1) (Settlement end of turn)= 9
Edit: ...I'm an idiot and forgot about the direct econ from teh settlement at first
Econ Expansion 9 [+1-4] -> 9 [+1-4]
9 + 1 (True City) - 4 (Baby Boom) - 4 (Expand Econ) + ? (Black Soil + New Settlement) = 9, meaning that new settlement plus any from "additional effects" of black soil was +7, which means either thats an amazing city location or black soil is ridiculous or i and/or AN did math wrong?
Edit: Somehow forgot martial:
Martial 9 (+1) {9} -> 10 {13}
As expected.
Stability
Stability 0 (neutral)
Legitimacy 3 (max)
Stability -1 -> 0. As expected from enforce justice
Organizational
Centralization 4
Hierarchy 6
Religious Authority 2
Centralization 3->4, again, only +1 from Enforce Justice.
Cultural
Art 4
Mysticism 9 [+1]
Prestige 20
Mysticism 6 -> 9
6 + 1 (Temple) + 1 (Study Stars) + 1 (Main settlement).
Trade Status
ResourceStatusRivals
Luxuries AmberKnown only Fine PotteryMinorXohyssiriFine DyeDominatingHathatyn, TrelliFine TextilesNoneXohyssiri, Swamp Folk, TrelliFursKnown only GlassMarginalXohyssiriGoldLesser tradingHathatyn, Metal Workers, TrelliSilverLeadingHath, MW, Xoh, TrelliSaltDominatingNone, TrelliSpicesNoneTrelliWineLeadingHath, TrelliStrategic CopperSignificantHath, Highlanders, Thunder Horse, MW, TrelliBronzeNoneTrelliTinNoneMW (in), TH (in), Hath (in), HK (in), TrelliIronNon-traded dominantNoneCultural PilgrimageSignificantThunder Speakers, Xoh
Holy shit lots of changes, because the Trelli are ridiculous.
Most importantly, they make and trade Bronze and Tin, they sell spices, which is new, they are italiziced on Fine Dye and Wine, which i think means they are threatening our status there? They also have Salt, which is bad...though not italicized so maybe just via trade, not a proper saltern?
Also the Hath are no longer crossed out because they survived :/
Also, we learned of ("Known Only") Furs and Amber.

Err, i think the "none" is wrong here AN?

Periphery States (4/4+2)
This got fixed to properly reflect our slots...though i'm still not sure why it isn't 4/5+1, since only one slot is specific to marches...
Provinces – [Main] Expand Econ, [Main] New Settlement – Southeastern Redhills, [Sec] Study Stars
Stallions – [Main] Sailing Mission – Rivers, [Sec] New Settlement, [Sec] Build Walls
Western – [Main] New Settlement, [Main] Build Iron Mine
Greenshore – [Main] Sailing Mission, [Main] Build Walls
Hatriver – [Main] Expand Forest, [Main] Survey
I love our provinces and periphery states <3.
Two sailing missions, a new iron mine, a forest, and a survey...amazing.

Something was distinctly odd with the weather, all records indicating that it had gone through numerous swings over the past several generations, with the general consensus being that it had grown far wetter than usual. This had resulted in a huge number of storms in and coming off the sea, disrupting fishing and trade. The weather had also made the food supply unstable, although the push to enforce the ancient rules on how to properly manage granaries and the push towards increasing the amount of black soil for use in areas where it wasn't already deeper than a grown man's leg made sure that the disruptions were more about fluctuations in what was stored rather than what was getting into the People's bellies.
Hmm...I don't know enough about climate stuff to know what this means...Doesn't seem to have actually affected our econ score though.
"Ah, yes, I suppose there may have been some confusion," the younger clerk in the group says while looking over the initial message sent to the king. At a glance from the older clerk, he says, "Right, for a while clerks have been using the unit of the bwyll in accounting, which is generally the amount of grain or equivalent needed to feed a grown man for a day. The munbwyll and the sonbwyll are larger values, thirty and four hundred bwyll each, respectively. Every person is expected to need about one sonbwyll a year to keep themselves fed."
!!! Currency!
his newest advisor, Lolwyna. A protege among the shamans and priests, the younger astrologer had been instrumental in helping to deal with the biting insects that had become more populous in the wet weather that had become the norm. Obsessed with the relationships between the heavens and the earth, and with the transmutation of things, she was among the finest of astrologers and mystics. Distant, ethereal, baggy eyed from long nights watching the stars or communing with spirits, thin from her obsessions often causing her to forget to eat, her hair cut short and bleached an unnatural colour with limewater, she was distinctly not an attractive woman... and yet Rulhuthyn found her strangely alluring and her presence was almost intoxicating. Perhaps it was that as a warrior he had constantly been close to death, and as a king his position was a sacred one, but the shamans both terrified and excited him with powers he did not understand, and Lolwyna was very powerful in that regard.
Mysticism hero! Admittedly maybe a suspicious one...Likely to be mythologized by fusion with the Multh-name god(dess) we learned about with the temple, by solidifying said god as a goddess, in the consort advisor role.
The next major issue was a meeting with the king, the Spirit Chief, and several priests over an issue that had been cropping up of late, a somewhat distressing one from Rulhuthn and the priest's perspective. In short, there were stories cropping up of bored young men abusing horses. While as a charioteer the king understood that young horses could take some time getting used to a harness, the new practice that had been cropping up involved young men - typically with too much beer and wine in their systems - hopping onto the backs of horses and then trying to stay atop the poor animals as long as they could as the poor creatures were obviously frightened out of their minds by having something on their backs. It was cruel and unnecessary and the king was certain that there would be little trouble in banning it, until he had an odd dream of a chariot team without a chariot, of getting twice as many charioteers for less cost. It was a strange and troublesome dream, and he was forced to bring it up at the meeting. Were the gods speaking to him, were demons, or had some greedy part of him just imagined a way to double his cavalry forces? That set the priests to arguing with each other when he told them.

What to do about the horse abuse practice?
[] [Horse] Crush it
[] [Horse] Ignore it (-1 Religious Authority)
[] [Horse] Openly allow but regulate it (-1 Religious Authority, potential stability loss)
!!! Holy shit horseback riding! Looks like this was the mysticism crit that spawned our hero, since its costing religious authority...
What friendly contact they had also allowed them to bring back new luxuries, like rich furs from animals adapted to the cold, and brilliant, translucent yellow rocks.
Fur and Amber, interesting...
Meanwhile, out of Greenshore the traders there had explored the shores of the sea, detailing out features that had mostly been lost on the People, but also most significantly making contact with the Trelli in the far south-west. A large, walled city and the farms around, Trell had apparently been associated with the Hathatyn in generations past but had broken off before the disasters that had split them. They sat upon what they claimed was the Gateway of the Two Seas, their ships ensuring that none could pass between without trading with them. What lay beyond the channel they protected was unknown, but judging from their wealth and the fantastical goods they had to trade from far off lands, they probably weren't lying about there being a whole other world beyond their shores.
! Istanbul equivalent! Must have...
the Hathatyn would definitely soon be at least sending raiders down the river to attempt to weaken the People's legitimacy in being in Hatriver, if perhaps not yet coming in force as they had only seized one city back from the hard pressed Highlanders.
Well, at least the Hath are failing for the most part...raiders should be easy-ish to beat...though, @Academia Nut how do the Hathatyn's ships compare to ours, assuming our people have been able to see them lately?
Then again the Highlanders had received something of a break in that the Thunder Speakers had apparently decided that the Thunder Horse nobility in Xohyr had grown too enamoured with the blood thirsty demons the Xohyssiri worshiped as gods and had declared open revolt. The fortunes of war and battle were still in flux down south, although the great riches and territory the empire had to drawn upon allowed them to replenish losses quickly. In fact, if anything their greatest weakness was their relative lack of high quality weapons, constrained as they were by the availability of tin to make bronze.
Haha, sweet! The Thunder speakers live up to the legacy of helping break up power in the lowlands...
Infrastructure
[] [Infra] Build aqueduct in Sacred Forest (-4 Econ, +4 Econ Expansion, increased True City threshold)
[] [Infra] Build more boats (-2 Econ; +1 Econ end of turn, +1 Econ, +1 Econ Expansion and Diplo next turn, additional effects,)
[] [Infra] More chariots (-2 Econ, +4 Martial)
[] [Infra] More foot soldiers (-2 Econ, +3 Martial, potential additional effects)
[] [Infra] Farm (+4 Econ, -4 Econ Expansion)
Oooh, aqueduct and possible second true city sounds really nice...
The king knew that look, and knew that it was not such a small request. She would demand much, demand resources and assistance, and that would step on toes. If she produced good enough results that might quell all dissent, but there were no sure things when dealing with the mystical, and even new insights might not be enough to quiet criticism against her and her sponsor.

Grant her request?
[] [Hero] Provide sponsorship (Main Study Tailings under Mystic Hero, possible Legitimacy loss, possible Religious Authority loss)
[] [Hero] No, that would be wrong (Unknowable Mystic Hero response)
Oooh, interesting...risky, but i think worth it?
So while the king wrestled with all of these questions, taking in advise where he felt able, he and everyone else wrestled with the question of 'Where are the nomads?'
That's a good question...they're not near the MW, or we'd know. They're not within reach of our marches mission up north...


[X] [Curr] Yes, in Valleyhome
[X] [Horse] Openly allow but regulate it (-1 Religious Authority, potential stability loss)
[X] [Infra] Build aqueduct in Sacred Forest (-4 Econ, +4 Econ Expansion, increased True City threshold)
[X] [Hero] Provide sponsorship (Main Study Tailings under Mystic Hero, possible Legitimacy loss, possible Religious Authority loss)
All seem obvious. Test currency in a smaller setting, wait for better admin king (hopefully another hero maybe...) before expanding use. Regulate horseback riding, placate priests and finally get a second true city (and maybe a legacy...?), and let the mystic hero do her job. Worst case we have a better reason to build another temple soon...
 
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I love the fact that thanks to our legacies and other projects the kings explicitly know that if they are dealing with something that they are not familiar with then they should ask their advisors on how to go about it.

It really helps mitigate a lot of weaknesses. And if something bad happens their are records of precedents to fall back on.
 
Ugh, a trade city based on the gateway to the not!Mediterranean. And they have the ability to challenge our trading dominance. We're going to have to deal with them eventually...
To be fair they sound like dicks, so breaking their Naval lock with a naval battle should be fun, considering they are just one city with one dock to our three they should be swamped and destroyed easily, especially due to our ranged superiority.

In a few turns, if they start hurting our trade we double Secondary Build Boats and Main War on them, overwhelm them for being dicks and challenging our status as The Naval power of the Not!Black Sea
 
[X] [Curr] Yes, for everyone (Stability loss?, Other effects?, establishes currency)
[X] [Horse] Openly allow but regulate it (-1 Religious Authority, potential stability loss)
[X] [Infra] Build aqueduct in Sacred Forest (-4 Econ, +4 Econ Expansion, increased True City threshold)
[X] [Hero] Provide sponsorship (Main Study Tailings under Mystic Hero, possible Legitimacy loss, possible Religious Authority loss)
 
Nonsense. I have in fact ridden on a horse.

Once.



(Why do you ask?)
Do you remember all the things needed to make a horse able to be ridden on? (I in fact have also only ridden on a horse once)
needless to say is gets readily complicated fast, not only that you usually need skill and even more equipment in order to fight effectively while on horseback.
 
[X] [Curr] Yes, in Valleyhome
[X] [Horse] Openly allow but regulate it (-1 Religious Authority, potential stability loss)
[X] [Hero] Provide sponsorship (Main Study Tailings under Mystic Hero, possible Legitimacy loss, possible Religious Authority loss)
 
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[X] [Curr] Yes, in valleyhome

Our hero is a very poor administrator and has difficulty even understanding the potential of this development. Lets just have currency in a single area where it can grow and develop and where it is easier to deal with all the new issues that will arise from this.

[X] [Horse] Openly allow but regulate it (-1 Religious Authority, potential stability loss)

Angering the priests hurts but we need this. Our archers and bow technology are pretty good, our chariots mainly use bows as a way to combat our enemies. So I'm pretty certain the discovery of horseback riding will lead to the development of cavalry archers. This combined with our iron will allow us to dominate the open battlefield.

.....

Also you just know that the negaverse nomad players will be salty as hell over this.: "First they invent the chariot and then they invent cavalry?! We're the nomads, the ones who use horses for everything, why do they keep advancing in our specialty?!"

[X] [Hero] Provide sponsorship (Main Study Tailings under Mystic Hero, possible Legitimacy loss, possible Religious Authority loss)

Our mysticism hero wants to research something? Yes please.

[X] [Infra] Build aqueduct in Sacred Forest (-4 Econ, +4 Econ Expansion, increased True City threshold)

Apparently our mysticism hero thinks this will help the shamans tolerate our other choices. So it's a good idea to take this option just to show we aren't playing favorites or dissing the priesthood, they're also getting our attention.
 
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[X] [Curr] Yes, in Valleyhome

this is probably the smart play. But going by past performance academia nut will comment on how he didn't think we'd be stupid enough to take this option before it blows up in our face :V

[X] [Horse] Openly allow but regulate it (-1 Religious Authority, potential stability loss)

cavalry would be a rather horrific surprise for the next nomad horde to sweep down towards us. Hmm, we seem to have one major innovation every two hords or so unless I'm mistaken. I wonder if the nomads are picking up on this, and making a note to expect something new and horrifying every other time they swing at us?


[X] [Hero] Provide sponsorship (Main Study Tailings under Mystic Hero, possible Legitimacy loss, possible Religious Authority loss)

I have no idea what this is going to do, heroes tend to pull this stuff off fairly well.


[X] [Infra] Build aqueduct in Sacred Forest (-4 Econ, +4 Econ Expansion, increased True City threshold)

we've been meaning to do this for a while, and the spirit advisor did advise us to do this, I think.
 
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[X] [Curr] Yes, in Valleyhome
[X] [Horse] Openly allow but regulate it (-1 Religious Authority, potential stability loss)
[X] [Infra] Build aqueduct in Sacred Forest (-4 Econ, +4 Econ Expansion, increased True City threshold)
[X] [Hero] Provide sponsorship (Main Study Tailings under Mystic Hero, possible Legitimacy loss, possible Religious Authority loss)

But currency is worth it!!!! We've wanted it for ages and now your limiting it?

Because introducing currency into the system will be a social change even more fundamental than the tax system reform we tried much earlier, and we saw how it went. Even if we had a diplomatic and administrative hero to oversee its introduction, it wouldn't have been wise to do the switch straight. Our king is a warrior, not a clerk, that would be crazy.

I also think the main problem with tax system reform was that it was a brilliant idea, but it was composed of many concepts that were unknown to the People at large and thus it couldn't be applied. It ultimately failed due to a lack of education and understanding of the thing by the majority.

Currency would have the same problem, better start small scale, and when the idea is known and used by a good part of the population, then you can apply it on a wide scale without massive stability trouble.
 
So, I think we found out one of the main uses of Religious Authority. It acts as a soft cushion for stability losses.

As an example, I'd bet that normally the Horse vote would look like this:
[] [Horse] Crush it
[] [Horse] Ignore it (-1 Stability)
[] [Horse] Openly allow but regulate it (-1 Stability, potential stability loss)

Raising our religious authority is a lost cheaper and easier than raising our stability, so I think that we might want to make it a priority.
 
[X] [Curr] Yes, in Valleyhome
[X] [Horse] Openly allow but regulate it (-1 Religious Authority, potential stability loss)
[X] [Infra] Build aqueduct in Sacred Forest (-4 Econ, +4 Econ Expansion, increased True City threshold)
[X] [Hero] Provide sponsorship (Main Study Tailings under Mystic Hero, possible Legitimacy loss, possible Religious Authority loss)
 
Excellent
[X] [Curr] Yes, in Vallyhome
[X] [Horse] Openly allow but regulate it (-1 Religious Authority, potential stability loss)
[X] [Infra] More foot soldiers (-2 Econ, +3 Martial, potential additional effects)
[X] [Hero] Provide sponsorship (Main Study Tailings under Mystic Hero, possible Legitimacy loss, possible Religious Authority loss)

While shiny, Hatathyn is about to attack next turn. Let us prepare ourselves to greet them in true Ymaryn fashion.

By blotting out the sun.
eh
E + 4 - 5 = 8
M +8/3 = 12

Let's not.

General
Diplomacy 12 [+4]
Economy 9 (+1) [-1+4]
Econ Expansion 9 [+1-4]
Martial 10 {13}

Stability
Stability 0 (neutral)
Legitimacy 3 (max)

Organizational
Centralization 4
Hierarchy 6
Religious Authority 2

Cultural
Art 4
Mysticism 9 [+1]
Prestige 20
 
Why is our Mystic hero not an heir? That's worrying...usually we would have it happen automatically or at least get the option.
 
[X] [Curr] Yes, in Valleyhome
[X] [Horse] Openly allow but regulate it (-1 Religious Authority, potential stability loss)
[X] [Infra] Build aqueduct in Sacred Forest (-4 Econ, +4 Econ Expansion, increased True City threshold)
[X] [Hero] Provide sponsorship (Main Study Tailings under Mystic Hero, possible Legitimacy loss, possible Religious Authority loss)
 
Bureaucracy, Archery, Horsemanship, and now we're talking about attacking Not!Constantinople for obstructing our trade, the bastards.

Ymaryn Not!Persian vibe intensifies. Which I guess makes sense, the Persians probably picked this shit up to deal with @&%#$!!! NOMADS as well.


[X] [Curr] Yes, in Valleyhome
[X] [Horse] Openly allow but regulate it (-1 Religious Authority, potential stability loss)
[X] [Infra] Build aqueduct in Sacred Forest (-4 Econ, +4 Econ Expansion, increased True City threshold)
[X] [Hero] Provide sponsorship (Main Study Tailings under Mystic Hero, possible Legitimacy loss, possible Religious Authority loss)
 
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