[X][Loc] Valleyhome
[X] Shrine
[X] Library
[X] Library x2
[X] Storehouse
[X] Leave extra room for Gardens and Great Hall Expansion
Under the category of things that were a headache that the king was glad were over, the arguments about the new palace were definitely one of them. Despite the fact that he would never see the results, the plans were certainly quite interesting to behold. The general plan was to create a generally U shaped structure at the top of the hill upon which Valleyhome sat. One wing would be the living quarters, kitchens, and an extensive storehouse; a second wing would be a combination of shrine and extensive library; and the third would be the Great Hall and required secondary rooms and structures. There was still some discussion on the optimal way to lay it all out, but the idea was that the interior courtyard was to be large enough to accommodate easy expansion of the Great Hall and the inclusion of some significant gardens at a later date. It let them do some displacement of citizens now, while it was relatively easy because they were doing it anyway so they wouldn't need to deal with that problem in the future, but it also let them save on current costs and efforts.
Speaking of efforts, the work of the periphery was producing most pleasing results. The Stallions had completed construction of their new temple, opening up the finest parts of the quarry to all who could make the trip, with some of the more spectacular specimens already dug up on display. Many wondered how the bones of dragons and the skeletons of fish and stranger things had been found buried in solid stone so very far from the sea, but working that out was half the excitement for the priests and shamans. There were old stories of divine floods, so perhaps this was evidence of that, although if so that made such events far larger than the stories suggested. One would have to cover not just the land of the People or the lowlands but the whole world to have caused such a thing. Even then, a few were asking how they could have become embedded in stone that was in turn buried under a thick layer of dense clay. The arguments about what sort of flood could cause that was already producing some rather strange arguments, and there was a request for further funding to study the alchemical properties of the stones to determine how it might have happened.
While on the one hand the expense was going to be a problem, the king had to balance this against the fact that the Stallions might consider just doing it themselves, and keeping them confident in the central authority was definitely something that needed to be balanced. Especially since their neighbours in the Heaven's Hawk had struck upon a rather interesting new development in the past generation as they had started developing a more sedentary lifestyle and had sought to imitate the very effective tactics of the Red Banner in their own way. While to a large degree their imitation hadn't worked, it had instead revealed something new. The population increase from having the support of the southern provinces had produced more warriors than they had chariots for, so they had attempted to come up with some sort of infantry compromise that had resulted in a glut of javelin throwing skirmishers from the youth who couldn't get access to heavier gear. Instead of being disappointed though, the chief of the group had come to a realization that he could use these lighter elements in maneuver in conjunction with elite chariots, spearmen, and the heavy archers who were best fielded in large blocks. The complexity was staggering, but having multiple different kinds of warrior each doing their own job greatly appealed to the People's way of thinking. While useful, it also gave the most bellicose province in the north an enormous leg up in terms of military power, as well as political power as many of the next few generations of war leaders would be learning from them.
Troublesome.
Less troublesome was the unexpected harmony between Greenshore and Hatvalley. A recent trade mission between Greenshore and the Trelli had revealed a tremendous demand by the Khemetri for a particularly beautiful kind of gemstone, precisely of the sort that Hatvalley had pretty much literally just stumbled upon in a survey of their terrain. While the supply was almost hilariously tiny in comparison to anything but gold, the small blue stones shone like stars when given a good polish. Traders could get an exceptional exchange of gold, silver, spices, incense, or dye in exchange for just a few stones, and there was the possibility of further development of the find of gemstones.
There were some wondering why the Khemetri had such a high demand for these admittedly pretty awesome stones, but those voices tended to be drowned out by the greater number of people complaining about newcomers to the People. The troubles elsewhere had settled down to a dull roar from violent conflict rather than utter disaster from collapsing farms and plague, but those coming in from the lowlands tended to be related to the groups the People were fighting, so tempers had a tendency to flare... ironically the most from those families that were recent additions to the People. Although perhaps they were still nursing grudges over old feuds. It definitely caused trouble.
+2 Wealth
+2 Econ, -1 Stability from CA triggering
The priests are interested in learning how bones might get into rocks and are requesting funds for a study
[] [Alchemy] No, it is needed for other things
[] [Alchemy] Some support (Secondary Study Alchemy, Stallions pleased)
[] [Alchemy] Full support (Main Study Alchemy, Stallions very pleased)
Rush construction of a new sapphire mine in Hatvalley?
[] [WC] No, it will be developed in good time
[] [WC] Send some artisans to help develop it (-2 Art, -1 Centralization, +3 Wealth next turn)
[] [WC] Send many experts to work at the problem (-3 Art, -2 Centralization, +2 Wealth, +2 Wealth next turn)
What else to do?
[] [React] Main Expand Econ
[] [React] Main New Trails
[] [React] Additional Megaproject Action
[] [React] Main Improve Annual Festival
[] [React] Main Salt Gift
[] [React] Terrify Enemies
[] [React] Integrate Vassal