Paths of Civilization

Academia Nut said:

The timing of all of this was also rather unfortunate as the Hathatyn just... disappeared. The already weakened cities that remained were unable to hold together as weather patterns shifted, and people just abandoned them. There were obviously still people in the region, but they had been reduced to scattered villages working massively reduced farms, and the numerous mines that had dotted the hills were more often home to wild animals or bands of bandits preying upon what caravans tried to find trade. All of this was distinctly a problem for the People, who suddenly found themselves with many goods with no buyer. While internal trade and consumption for many luxuries and necessities was sufficient, there were many who were thankful for Giirry stumbling upon a fresh source of gold as it helped feed the need for metals to make currency even as the silver trade with the Hathatyn dried up. Because they were so useful for trading things with strangers, everyone wanted silver and gold coins.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Academia Nut said:

[X] [Divine] Speak against it (-1 Religious Authority, potential trouble for heir)
[X] Red Banner Company - Northern Nomads
[X][Main]Sacred Forest Renewal X2
[X][Secondary]War Mission-Northern Nomads

"Ylrulthyn," Rulwyna said to her eldest son, who was far too much of an adult for her liking.

"Yes mother?" He asked sweetly.

"I have been considering your recent politicking, and I have concerns about some of what you are saying," Rulwyna said as she put on her 'king' voice fully.

Frowning and clearly not liking the tone, Ylrulthyn began to say, "Mother, I..."

Holding up a hand to silence his protests, Rulwyna said, "If you truly feel a deep connection to Hynryn I have nothing to say towards your patronage with him, but it is the 'revelation' of the king's patron being the current King of the Gods that I have trouble with. While you and your associates may feel it to be true, I think it is a misinterpretation of the messages of the spirits. Such things can be confusing, and I think your interpretation goes too far. It either ties the gods too strongly to the politics of mortals - a definite mistake - or it renders all human action, good and ill, to be under the direct control of the spirits, something that we know cannot be correct as it contradicts prior knowledge."

Her son's frown deepened and he seemed ready to launch into some sort of argument several times, before finally he settled down and said, "This will cause me problems."

"I know. It's why I'm assigning you a contingent of warriors and the Red Banner Company to go north and assist the Stallions and the Hawks in dealing with the nomad problem. Give you a war feather in your headdress," Rulwyna said, getting a broad smile out of her son.

"Of course mother! My king!" Ylrulthyn said eagerly, seeing the opportunity for what it was.

That little problem taken care of, Rulwyna tried to refocus her attention on the issue of the forest. They had made tremendous bounds in dealing with the water issues, but the forests themselves still had problems. The mix of plants used required adjustment. Planting various species that drove away demons and biting insects alike helped keep disease down, but it also altered the overall health of the forest, and not everything reacted well to the wetter soil, and full human intervention just couldn't maintain the soil just the way the trees liked them. They were constantly changing around the mixtures, but there seemed no lasting solution... yet. Many shamans felt that they were on the verge of something. At the very least waste disposal everywhere was getting better as they adjusted how the latrines and drainage ditches were laid out to avoid stagnant water and doubly avoid stagnant sewage.

And then, many months after she had sent her son out to deal with the northern issue, a breathless courier thundered into Valleyhome, bearing dread news.

The campaign in the north had gone sideways. Victory was assured already... but there had been some sort of screw up in scouting and camping and Ylrulthyn's camp had suffered a surprise raid. He was... he was dead, killed in the confusion at night.

Rulwyna heard this, blinked twice, and then keeled over.

A week later...

"This is madness! Madness!"

"What choice do we have? Just let Dythuwyn take the kingship? Or that buffoon Giirry?"

"Maybe? Dythuwyn knows what he's doing..."

"Yeah, and that's crushing us! Rulwyna and Ylrulthyn were the only ones who could keep his grasp in control, and the only thing that stands between us and losing everything we've built these past generations is the fact that he owes everything to that family and is the most loyal monster ever birthed by the gods. If we push this he'd have to attack the one thing that he won't attack. He'd even agree with our reasoning-"

"She's a child! How can you even consider this? How?! It would make a complete mockery of the position of king."

"We've checked the law, there is a way to make it legit. Plus most people don't know what the king even looks like, and the ones who would speak out loudest are either right here or fall within Dythuwyn's network, and he would crush dissent in an instant. The three things he cares most about are Valleyhome, stability, and his own power, in descending order. We push this and he'll crush out any problems until it no longer matters, because she'll be old enough that no one will object, we'll all be dead or close enough from old age, and our legacies will all be secure. We keep quiet and either Dythuwyn ascends and dismantles everything we have built so that he can feed it into Valleyhome, or that fool Giirry gets the kingship and assumes good fortune comes from falling into a stream and coming out covered in gold rather than all the bloody hard work that's gone into this!"

"I've heard that the north is considering pushing forth their own candidate..."

"Phygrif isn't even a member of the People!"

"He seems to understand it well enough..."

"He's a fucking nomad!"

"He's already old enough that he won't last much longer than Dythuwyn and he won't have any idea how to deal with the clerks and traders..."

"If we want a puppet, we already have one, and one that won't make a mockery-"

"Child!"

The king sleeps, every day slipping further towards death, the shamans unable to rouse her, and the networks she and her children built up to support themselves politically now fight and struggle over who will take her place in the coming days. Among those that know of the disaster in Valleyhome there are two public front runners: Dythuwyn and Giirry. Dythuwyn is the leader of the City of Valleyhome and got there through ruthless politicking in the artisan associations within the city. His agenda is simple: feed the city and the artisans - and thus his power - over everything else, and the old patrician was only held in check through loyalty to Rulwyna and her family through their support of his family over the years. Within the city his power is absolute, as every association owes him and hundreds of individuals also owe him. Unfortunately, while he is seen of as an essential ally, he is also seen as a supremely dangerous prospect for leader by most of the other higher ups. If given kingship, he would crush all others and force the submission of other artisan groups to the ones in Valleyhome, at the very least.

The other public candidate in position to actually make a run for the kingship in the mad, emergency dash was Giirry. A former nobody from Hatriver, he had discovered a stream filled with glittering nuggets of gold and had been launched to tremendous wealth and power like an arrow launched from a bow. While seen by many as having the gods own fortune, many of the traditional powers saw him as a lucky fool, and there were many who considered his election to king as being the sort of thing that might have Dythuwyn attempt to strangle him in his sleep. Well, perhaps not Dythuwyn personally, but the old patrician would probably not bother to defend the king from such a plot so that he could get rid of the man and then sweep to power on the corpse of his killer. Unfortunately, there was some sentiment that while Giirry was a fool, he was also lucky and the People could use some luck... and because he was a fool he wouldn't upset the powers already in place the way Dythuwyn would. Giirry was also rather bluntly promising to distribute land to the chiefs who voted for him for their personal use, which while it rubbed many the wrong way, there wasn't actually any law against such promises, and thus it appealed to many.

Finally, there were also the 'hidden' candidates. The first was Phygrif, the current chief of the Heaven's Hawks and the hero of the hour for finishing off the tribes that had decided to pick a fight with the People and their subordinates. The north, knowing that there would be a new heir election before news reached Valleyhome, had already started considering who to elect, and running off the old tales of Rulhuthyn were considering pushing the nomad chief. While this would undoubtedly upset many, the man wasn't entirely an outsider and understood how kingship among the People worked, and so long as he did the ceremonies of induction properly there was no rule against his leadership. He would simultaneously be enough of an outsider that he couldn't adroitly manipulate the system while being strong enough that he wouldn't bow to the interests of the south, likely relying on the closer ties to the north to rely on the chiefs from those provinces for advise... and letting them wedge open the door for further moves against the southern influence networks that had become increasingly entrenched against them.

And if some considered Phygrif outrageous, there was then the candidate of Rulwyna - daughter of Ylrulthyn, granddaughter of the current dying Rulwyna. The network Ylrulthyn had built up had been in large part the next generation of the one Rulwyna had built and had been expecting great things to be coming their way, and they did not want to have to give that up. It was on the face utterly absurd to have the king be a child, but those who considered it knew that they already had all the pieces in place to do the job for her while she grew up under their expert tutelage, as well as the subtle ambiguities of language to circumvent the obvious spirit of the law in favour of its strict letter. One of the big things was that the People who would really know that Rulwyna the Younger was less than ten would either be the sort who would realize that it wasn't in their interests to make a fuss, were already part of those benefiting from the arrangement, or were in Valleyhome where the ever reliable and loyal to her family Dythuwyn would glare people into submission.

​

Spoiler: Candidates

• Dythuwyn - Patrician. Agenda: Valleyhome Association Supremacy. Admin: Excellent, Diplo: Excellent, War: Poor. Turns King: 1​
• Giirry - Golden Boy. Agenda: Land Reform/Bribery. Admin: Mediocre, Diplo: Good, War: Abysmal. Turns King: 2, maybe 1​
• Phygrif - Chieftain. Agenda: Conquest. Admin: Mediocre, Diplo: Mediocre, War: Heroic. Turns King: 1, maybe 2​
• Rulwyna - Puppet. Agenda: Stability. Skills: Undeveloped. Turns King: 3-4​

Who ultimately won the struggle?
[] [King] Dythuwyn (+1 Stability, Sec Expand Econ + Sec Art Patronage)
[] [King] Giirry (Main Distribute Land, may have other oligarchs attempt to kill him)
[] [King] Phygrif (-1 Legitimacy, Main Build Chariots, Heavens Hawk become a March)
[] [King] Rulwyna (Main Expand Econ)

The timing of all of this was also rather unfortunate as the Hathatyn just... disappeared. The already weakened cities that remained were unable to hold together as weather patterns shifted, and people just abandoned them. There were obviously still people in the region, but they had been reduced to scattered villages working massively reduced farms, and the numerous mines that had dotted the hills were more often home to wild animals or bands of bandits preying upon what caravans tried to find trade. All of this was distinctly a problem for the People, who suddenly found themselves with many goods with no buyer. While internal trade and consumption for many luxuries and necessities was sufficient, there were many who were thankful for Giirry stumbling upon a fresh source of gold as it helped feed the need for metals to make currency even as the silver trade with the Hathatyn dried up. Because they were so useful for trading things with strangers, everyone wanted silver and gold coins.

The chiefs of Hatvalley in fact directly petitioned for the authority to begin extensive settlement of the abandoned regions to the west, if only to seize the mines there as quickly as possible.

Change Hatvalley from a March to a Colony?
[] [Hat] No, stay a March
[] [Hat] Yes, become a Colony

Refugee influx
[] [Refugee] Whoever comes on their own (Chance of stability loss, +2 Econ)
[] [Refugee] Encourage resettlement (-1 Stability, chance of further loss, +4-5 Econ)
[] [Refugee] Take in as many as possible (-2 Stability, chance of further loss, +6-8 Econ, different benefits if Hatvalley a colony)

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Academia Nut said:

[X] [Divine] Speak against it (-1 Religious Authority, potential trouble for heir)
[X] Red Banner Company - Northern Nomads
[X][Main]Sacred Forest Renewal X2
[X][Secondary]War Mission-Northern Nomads

"Ylrulthyn," Rulwyna said to her eldest son, who was far too much of an adult for her liking.

"Yes mother?" He asked sweetly.

"I have been considering your recent politicking, and I have concerns about some of what you are saying," Rulwyna said as she put on her 'king' voice fully.

Frowning and clearly not liking the tone, Ylrulthyn began to say, "Mother, I..."

Holding up a hand to silence his protests, Rulwyna said, "If you truly feel a deep connection to Hynryn I have nothing to say towards your patronage with him, but it is the 'revelation' of the king's patron being the current King of the Gods that I have trouble with. While you and your associates may feel it to be true, I think it is a misinterpretation of the messages of the spirits. Such things can be confusing, and I think your interpretation goes too far. It either ties the gods too strongly to the politics of mortals - a definite mistake - or it renders all human action, good and ill, to be under the direct control of the spirits, something that we know cannot be correct as it contradicts prior knowledge."

Her son's frown deepened and he seemed ready to launch into some sort of argument several times, before finally he settled down and said, "This will cause me problems."

"I know. It's why I'm assigning you a contingent of warriors and the Red Banner Company to go north and assist the Stallions and the Hawks in dealing with the nomad problem. Give you a war feather in your headdress," Rulwyna said, getting a broad smile out of her son.

"Of course mother! My king!" Ylrulthyn said eagerly, seeing the opportunity for what it was.

That little problem taken care of, Rulwyna tried to refocus her attention on the issue of the forest. They had made tremendous bounds in dealing with the water issues, but the forests themselves still had problems. The mix of plants used required adjustment. Planting various species that drove away demons and biting insects alike helped keep disease down, but it also altered the overall health of the forest, and not everything reacted well to the wetter soil, and full human intervention just couldn't maintain the soil just the way the trees liked them. They were constantly changing around the mixtures, but there seemed no lasting solution... yet. Many shamans felt that they were on the verge of something. At the very least waste disposal everywhere was getting better as they adjusted how the latrines and drainage ditches were laid out to avoid stagnant water and doubly avoid stagnant sewage.

And then, many months after she had sent her son out to deal with the northern issue, a breathless courier thundered into Valleyhome, bearing dread news.

The campaign in the north had gone sideways. Victory was assured already... but there had been some sort of screw up in scouting and camping and Ylrulthyn's camp had suffered a surprise raid. He was... he was dead, killed in the confusion at night.

Rulwyna heard this, blinked twice, and then keeled over.

A week later...

"This is madness! Madness!"

"What choice do we have? Just let Dythuwyn take the kingship? Or that buffoon Giirry?"

"Maybe? Dythuwyn knows what he's doing..."

"Yeah, and that's crushing us! Rulwyna and Ylrulthyn were the only ones who could keep his grasp in control, and the only thing that stands between us and losing everything we've built these past generations is the fact that he owes everything to that family and is the most loyal monster ever birthed by the gods. If we push this he'd have to attack the one thing that he won't attack. He'd even agree with our reasoning-"

"She's a child! How can you even consider this? How?! It would make a complete mockery of the position of king."

"We've checked the law, there is a way to make it legit. Plus most people don't know what the king even looks like, and the ones who would speak out loudest are either right here or fall within Dythuwyn's network, and he would crush dissent in an instant. The three things he cares most about are Valleyhome, stability, and his own power, in descending order. We push this and he'll crush out any problems until it no longer matters, because she'll be old enough that no one will object, we'll all be dead or close enough from old age, and our legacies will all be secure. We keep quiet and either Dythuwyn ascends and dismantles everything we have built so that he can feed it into Valleyhome, or that fool Giirry gets the kingship and assumes good fortune comes from falling into a stream and coming out covered in gold rather than all the bloody hard work that's gone into this!"

"I've heard that the north is considering pushing forth their own candidate..."

"Phygrif isn't even a member of the People!"

"He seems to understand it well enough..."

"He's a fucking nomad!"

"He's already old enough that he won't last much longer than Dythuwyn and he won't have any idea how to deal with the clerks and traders..."

"If we want a puppet, we already have one, and one that won't make a mockery-"

"Child!"

The king sleeps, every day slipping further towards death, the shamans unable to rouse her, and the networks she and her children built up to support themselves politically now fight and struggle over who will take her place in the coming days. Among those that know of the disaster in Valleyhome there are two public front runners: Dythuwyn and Giirry. Dythuwyn is the leader of the City of Valleyhome and got there through ruthless politicking in the artisan associations within the city. His agenda is simple: feed the city and the artisans - and thus his power - over everything else, and the old patrician was only held in check through loyalty to Rulwyna and her family through their support of his family over the years. Within the city his power is absolute, as every association owes him and hundreds of individuals also owe him. Unfortunately, while he is seen of as an essential ally, he is also seen as a supremely dangerous prospect for leader by most of the other higher ups. If given kingship, he would crush all others and force the submission of other artisan groups to the ones in Valleyhome, at the very least.

The other public candidate in position to actually make a run for the kingship in the mad, emergency dash was Giirry. A former nobody from Hatriver, he had discovered a stream filled with glittering nuggets of gold and had been launched to tremendous wealth and power like an arrow launched from a bow. While seen by many as having the gods own fortune, many of the traditional powers saw him as a lucky fool, and there were many who considered his election to king as being the sort of thing that might have Dythuwyn attempt to strangle him in his sleep. Well, perhaps not Dythuwyn personally, but the old patrician would probably not bother to defend the king from such a plot so that he could get rid of the man and then sweep to power on the corpse of his killer. Unfortunately, there was some sentiment that while Giirry was a fool, he was also lucky and the People could use some luck... and because he was a fool he wouldn't upset the powers already in place the way Dythuwyn would. Giirry was also rather bluntly promising to distribute land to the chiefs who voted for him for their personal use, which while it rubbed many the wrong way, there wasn't actually any law against such promises, and thus it appealed to many.

Finally, there were also the 'hidden' candidates. The first was Phygrif, the current chief of the Heaven's Hawks and the hero of the hour for finishing off the tribes that had decided to pick a fight with the People and their subordinates. The north, knowing that there would be a new heir election before news reached Valleyhome, had already started considering who to elect, and running off the old tales of Rulhuthyn were considering pushing the nomad chief. While this would undoubtedly upset many, the man wasn't entirely an outsider and understood how kingship among the People worked, and so long as he did the ceremonies of induction properly there was no rule against his leadership. He would simultaneously be enough of an outsider that he couldn't adroitly manipulate the system while being strong enough that he wouldn't bow to the interests of the south, likely relying on the closer ties to the north to rely on the chiefs from those provinces for advise... and letting them wedge open the door for further moves against the southern influence networks that had become increasingly entrenched against them.

And if some considered Phygrif outrageous, there was then the candidate of Rulwyna - daughter of Ylrulthyn, granddaughter of the current dying Rulwyna. The network Ylrulthyn had built up had been in large part the next generation of the one Rulwyna had built and had been expecting great things to be coming their way, and they did not want to have to give that up. It was on the face utterly absurd to have the king be a child, but those who considered it knew that they already had all the pieces in place to do the job for her while she grew up under their expert tutelage, as well as the subtle ambiguities of language to circumvent the obvious spirit of the law in favour of its strict letter. One of the big things was that the People who would really know that Rulwyna the Younger was less than ten would either be the sort who would realize that it wasn't in their interests to make a fuss, were already part of those benefiting from the arrangement, or were in Valleyhome where the ever reliable and loyal to her family Dythuwyn would glare people into submission.

​

Spoiler: Candidates

• Dythuwyn - Patrician. Agenda: Valleyhome Association Supremacy. Admin: Excellent, Diplo: Excellent, War: Poor. Turns King: 1​
• Giirry - Golden Boy. Agenda: Land Reform/Bribery. Admin: Mediocre, Diplo: Good, War: Abysmal. Turns King: 2, maybe 1​
• Phygrif - Chieftain. Agenda: Conquest. Admin: Mediocre, Diplo: Mediocre, War: Heroic. Turns King: 1, maybe 2​
• Rulwyna - Puppet. Agenda: Stability. Skills: Undeveloped. Turns King: 3-4​

Who ultimately won the struggle?
[] [King] Dythuwyn (+1 Stability, Sec Expand Econ + Sec Art Patronage)
[] [King] Giirry (Main Distribute Land, may have other oligarchs attempt to kill him)
[] [King] Phygrif (-1 Legitimacy, Main Build Chariots, Heavens Hawk become a March)
[] [King] Rulwyna (Main Expand Econ)

The timing of all of this was also rather unfortunate as the Hathatyn just... disappeared. The already weakened cities that remained were unable to hold together as weather patterns shifted, and people just abandoned them. There were obviously still people in the region, but they had been reduced to scattered villages working massively reduced farms, and the numerous mines that had dotted the hills were more often home to wild animals or bands of bandits preying upon what caravans tried to find trade. All of this was distinctly a problem for the People, who suddenly found themselves with many goods with no buyer. While internal trade and consumption for many luxuries and necessities was sufficient, there were many who were thankful for Giirry stumbling upon a fresh source of gold as it helped feed the need for metals to make currency even as the silver trade with the Hathatyn dried up. Because they were so useful for trading things with strangers, everyone wanted silver and gold coins.

The chiefs of Hatvalley in fact directly petitioned for the authority to begin extensive settlement of the abandoned regions to the west, if only to seize the mines there as quickly as possible.

Change Hatvalley from a March to a Colony?
[] [Hat] No, stay a March
[] [Hat] Yes, become a Colony

Refugee influx
[] [Refugee] Whoever comes on their own (Chance of stability loss, +2 Econ)
[] [Refugee] Encourage resettlement (-1 Stability, chance of further loss, +4-5 Econ)
[] [Refugee] Take in as many as possible (-2 Stability, chance of further loss, +6-8 Econ, different benefits if Hatvalley a colony)

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Candesce said:

Provinces haven't acted yet, apparently.

I'm inclined to switch to a colony and pull in all the refugees we can get; if we've the colony, it probably won't wreck our econ slots.

I really don't like our leader options. Not any of them.

Guildmaster is just straight-up nasty, a corrupt idiot isn't good news either. Kid means heredity. Outsider Warleader with nomad cultural traits and a push for war... bleh.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

DocMatoi said:

...succession crisis. FUCK. There goes our streak. I see what AN meant now.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

drake_azathoth said:

...I'm thinking Dythuwyn might have had the heir killed.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

he owes everything to that family and is the most loyal monster ever birthed by the gods

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...