Lets see, busy work day today, so a quick survey of notables:
The opportunity to find out more about the spread of the plague was also rather appealing to the doctors and medically minded, who also made a few insinuations that perhaps the newcomers would be used for testing.
Well...we've done that once. At my instigation.
It had taken years, but it seemed that shortly after the nomads started running off with non-sacred cow herds and the horses of the People in large numbers, that was when they got sick. Avoiding jumping to conclusions, Uvothyn ordered and extensive but quiet study. The dynamics didn't make sense to him, but eventually the puzzle pieces fit together.
Ah hah! The stole the plagued horses and cows.
But our Sacred Warding cows were
already quarantined, so that bit worked fine.
The plague was grossly less lethal than initially thought. Like, still terrifyingly lethal, but where most people assumed that if you caught it you had a 1 in a 100 chance of survival, it actually seemed that you probably only had something like a less than 1 in 10 chance of dying. It was just that most people who got it only had minor symptoms and they fought the curse off, it was just somehow even more transmissible than initially thought, and could dwell within the lungs of cows and horses with some success, although there the animals rarely got particularly sick. In the People's cities, paranoia about infection and the fact that the slaughterhouse and leatherworking industries were isolated in their own district for being obnoxious meant that they had been able to enact a successful quarantine, while out in the countryside people kept passing the disease to their animals and then mysteriously catching it again. With most people who got it probably being invisibly sick...
And most people got a flu they just shrugged off which transmitted FINE.
So the old Tuberclosis stunt.
Halted Trade -> Halted External Trade - You have no external trading partners. All Diplomacy income and Wealth from external trade is shut down. Expenses still must be paid.
Isolated Economy - Taking temp Econ damage equal to the number of True and Free Cities each phase, and Econ gain from taxes suspended.
Plague Rotted Economy - Taking random amount of Econ damage each phase
Rural Plague should end on its own in a turn or two
Okay, so this means we still have Wealth income from Salterns and Gold Mines, but not Trade(at least unless we innovate Internal Trade).
Still bleeding, but not bleeding OUT.
@Academia Nut am I reading that right?
The absorption of the nomads and their slaves also brought other benefit, in that just before they had died the Mountain Horse had made a new advancement that had been taken up by the nomads, and from there to the People... and probably everyone on the steppe at this point. Essentially the Mountain Horse had learned of the ringed armour the People used, but lacking the infrastructure to mass produce the wire they had focused on what they could do with skilled smiths. They had come up with a way to make smaller and lighter but stronger rings by doing tiny, precision work to rivet them together. It was stupidly expensive because of the sheer labour required - only the most elite of the nomads had any ringed armour at all - but it pretty quickly caught on among the smiths and elite warriors of the People. The increased number of cavalry for the patricians to command - and apparently the pasture for them to manage too! - also had them spending money on their precious horses by equipping them with bits of chain to protect vital areas.
Ringmail, ringmail barding!
Might be able to reduce the labor cost of this if we could modify the hammer mills with finer mechanisms.
Additionally, while it had originally just been a means to revitalize confidence among the guilds while also ensuring that the alchemists had plenty of glass jars to break (they went through expensive equipment at an alarming rate), somewhere along the way the alchemists and artisans working with the new kilns had stumbled upon a way to make an immensely appealing glass almost as clear as water. Lucky breaks all around!
Clear glass! Not far from Optical Glass now.
Clear glass is made by fluxing the glass stock to percipitate out the impurities that made most 'raw' glass greenish or cloudy.
This is technologically important because it's the
same chemical process used to control the carbon content of steel.
And then the messenger from the east came with news from the former Mountain Horse territory... a new chieftain had united the tribes scattered by the Pure in the last generation and absorbed the damage from the plague, and was now moving his people into the hills and passes of the Mountain Horse territory, as well as claiming stewardship of the semi-mythical Salt Sea Route.
There was another great nomad chieftain within the same lifetime?
"Seriously?" Uvothyn demanded to know.
At least this one seemed open to the possibility of trade.
D:
Must get this guy on positive diplomatic terms ASAP. We don't need stabbying. And if he trades we can restore wealth income by trading with him.
Astrological Prediction: True wealth comes from our interactions with others (63)
The stars seem to agree on the trade.
Now lets see:
-
Patricians (6) - Power: Add or subtract their faction power from factions they are supporting/opposing.
Objective: Build 0/4 Great Hall Annexes within 3 turns Reward: Government upgrade
Okay...they be kind of crazy about this, but it's possible to hit.
-Great Hall 1 - Meeting Room
-Great Hall 2 - Audience Chamber
-Great Hall 6 - I think this should be a
senate.
-
Yeomen (2)- Objective: Have 30 EE within 3 turns. Failure: -1 Stability [1/2]
The Yeomen are crazy and want the cities GONE.
Still it's a net positive for us?
Enclave Problems
[] [Enclave] Remove the settlements (-2 Progress for Internal Reorg, -6 EE, -2 Econ, -1 Stability, ???)
Forced resettlement works, but it's not a precedent we can actually afford to go through with much.regularity, and only works with milder problems.
If the rift is deep, resettlements just leads to pogroms once you introduce the hated population into the core.
[] [Enclave] Crack down on the monotheists (Main Hunt Troublemakers, ???)
Triggers Purity. Hell no.
[] [Enclave] Increase Connectivity (Main Build Roads, ???)
This works but it's too slow. They'd harden into pockets of foreign culture by then.
[] [Enclave] Clean up lower courts (Main Enforce Justice, ???)
Symptomatic solution, but fundamentally theres no people doing WRONG.
[] [Enclave] Attempt to reconcile issues (-1 Stability, -4 Mysticism, -6 Culture, ???)
Propaganda solution. Hopefully doing this will unlock something going forward.
Because of Heroic Admin King, choose three ways to react to the situations
Awesome. We can take this far.
[] [React] Greet new nomad chief (Main Targeted Salt Gift)
Effect: Wealth -8, random amount of Diplomacy, Culture, Mysticism, and Prestige generated (min. 1 of each)
We should take this. A nomad chief bribed into cooperation is very important for not being fucked. However we'd need a cash crop PSN to pay for it.
[] [React] Restore confidence after the plague (Sec Restore Order + Sec Proclaim Glory)
Effect: Legitimacy -1+1, Stab +1 to +3, Culture -3, Econ -1,
Higher Stability does help with everything and we need at least one dose of this to deal with the stab costs of the segregation problem and prevent more problems erupting.
[] [React] Contact closest neighbours (Sec Trade Mission to Freehills and Harmurri)
Prophecy says this is good. Reality also says this isn't urgent(and more to the point, opening contact would generate more refugees too).
[] [React] Contact more distant relations (Sec Trade Mission to Highlanders and Western People)
Prophecy says this is good. Reality also says this isn't urgent.
[] [React] Attempt to get the western colonies in line (Main Influence Subordinate - Starts with Western Wall, x2 also goes to Greenshore, x3 goes to Tinshore)
Effect: -3 Diplo, Transfer 3 Econ, Wealth, Culture, Tech, and Mysticism; significantly influences subordinate culture, +1 Loyalty
This is essential to take at least once, and I wish we could take it thrice
[] [React] Expand Redshore market (2xSec actions to 0/6 Redshore Market)
Effect: Wealth -6, Culture -6, gain Megaproject.
Nice, but not urgent. We got another 2 turns.
[] [React] Expand Palace (2xGreat Hall Annexes)
Effect: Econ -4, Culture -4
Nice but not urgent, we have another 3 turns.
[] [React] Expand fleet (Main More Warships)
Effect: -3 Econ, -5 Wealth, -3 Martial, +1 Tech; +3 Naval, additional effects
Nice but not urgent.
[] [React] Farm (Main Expand Econ)
We're going to be fine on this end.
PSN
[] [PSN] Sec Plant Hemp (-1 Cent + Costs)
Effect: -2 Econ, -2 Econ Expansion, +1 Tech, +1 Mysticism, +1 Diplo if have boats, +1 Econ next turn
[] [PSN] Main Plant Hemp (-2 Cent + Costs)
Effect: -3 Econ, -3 Econ Expansion, +2 Tech, +1 Mysticism, +2 Diplo if have boats, +1 Econ next turn, other effects
[] [PSN] Sec Plant Cotton (-1 Cent + Costs)
Effect: -3 Econ, -2 Econ Expansion, +6 Wealth, new trade good
[] [PSN] Main Plant Cotton (-2 Cent + Costs)
Effect: -4 Econ, -3 Econ Expansion, +7 Wealth, +1 Culture, new trade good
[] [PSN] Sec Plant Poppies (-1 Cent + Costs)
Effect: -2 Econ, -2 Econ Expansion, +1 Mysticism, +3 Wealth
[] [PSN] Main Plant Poppies (-2 Cent + Costs)
Effect: -3 Econ, -3 Econ Expansion, +1 Mysticism, +7 Wealth, new trade good
[] [PSN] Sec Expand Forests (-1 Cent + Costs)
Effect: -2 Econ, -1 Econ Expansion, grows forest, +2 Econ next turn if in settled territory and controlled, potential discoveries, +0.5 Sustainable Forest
[] [PSN] Main Expand Forests (-2 Cent + Costs)
Effect: -3 Econ, -3 Econ Expansion, grows forest, +4 Econ next turn if in settled and controlled territory, improved odds of success, other effects, +1 Sustainable Forest
[] [PSN] Sec Expand Econ (-1 Cent + Costs)
[] [PSN] Main Expand Econ (-2 Cent + Costs)
[] [PSN] Nothing
Overall we need either Cotton or Poppies for the Wealth.
Leaning Poppy since it's slightly cheaper(and we're already Leading in fine textiles).
[X] [Enclave] Attempt to reconcile issues (-1 Stability, -4 Mysticism, -6 Culture, ???)
[X] [React] Restore confidence after the plague (Sec Restore Order + Sec Proclaim Glory)
[X] [React] Greet new nomad chief (Main Targeted Salt Gift)
[X] [React] Attempt to get the western colonies in line (Main Influence Subordinate - Starts with Western Wall, x2 also goes to Greenshore, x3 goes to Tinshore)
[X] [PSN] Main Plant Poppies (-2 Cent + Costs)
Total stat changes(we can assume favorable Order due to Hero Admin and we have enough Expansion that things should be ok there):
Legitimacy: +0
Stability: +0 to +2
Econ: -7
Mysticism: -6, +Random
Culture: -12, +Random
Tech: -3
Diplomacy: -3 +Random
Wealth: -4
We SHOULD be able to afford this, it addresses the Nomad Chief and the fracturing subordinates and the Purity crap without redlining anything.
Please don't expand forest if you are Salt Gifting. We'd go bankrupt when our Wealth income is shut down!
