Visit the Peasantry, Declare a Jubilee - 45+62 = 107, 42+75 = 117
Comrade Zenus was an old hand at spreading rumors, and he considered it the best way to get a great mass of people to show up and hear you speak, especially when some would be fearful or angry. And so he whispered to a few friends, who started their own whispering campaigns in a few select villages, and then the power of gossip did all the rest he needed.
When he showed up at the first one, a little cluster of shoddy huts called Tannebgrad, there were several hundred people waiting to listen to him speak, restive and curious. Some had probably been traveling for days to hear what he had to say.
The "stage" was nothing more than a pile of crates, deliberately so. He sprung upon them and struck a pose, his cloak swirling around him.
"My friends! You may well know me, but even if not I know you! You are the backbone of our society! You labor in that most essential of tasks! And yet you are scorned and spat upon, denied your natural rights both economic and political! You are forced to sell yourselves to uncaring masters, to pay off debts that never grow smaller!"
The crowd before him rumbled with discontent. Many were serfs, and some of those serfs had once been freeholders. Those neverending debts were always a sore point, one the aristocracy loved jabbing.
"Well, friends, comrades, the United Kammanist Front is here to give justice and freedom, not just to those who join us, but to all we can! Each and every family has been given a Jubilee! You own the land, and the tools you work it, and that which you produce from it! And you have no debts, it shall be yours while we have the breath in our body to defend your rights!"
He spread his hands. "Friends, comrades, will you help us?"
The roar of assent was deafening.
"Thank you, thank you. I will be leaving a comrade here, please come to him if you want to help. Donations of grain and volunteers to join our forces would both be especially appreciated..."
Food supply further stabilized thanks to grain donations, bonus to recruitment, boost to popular support, synergizes with Declaring Yourselves
Speak to the Army, Speak to the Militia - 52+52 = 104, 47
Comrade Zenus and Comrade Bejen walked together, a half dozen Red Guard following close behind. The two of them had their heads bowed together in hushed, intense conversation as they shared what they knew of the militia and the army. Town criers had been sent throughout Avla to spread the word that all those who would fight for the Kammanist cause should gather in Hero's Square, simply because it was large and the thematics seemed appropriate.
The fact that it was right by the army compound the soldiers who had briefly joined the uprising were staying in was purely coincidental.
As they approached the square, Bejen studied the teeming crowd. There were too many faces for him to be sure, but he thought some were familiar. He hoped so.
"Many of you fought in the Great Uprising because you were hungry or angry or genuinely believed in our cause and goal. That was a great deed, one you should all be proud of. But now you have a harder task before you, and I ask you not to shy away," he began, leaping up onto the plinth of a statue and looking out at the militia.
"I fought in the Imperial Army, and many of my comrades did as well. You are all very brave, but bravery is not enough. We will need strength and discipline, weapons and men to wield them! If you will join us, we will give you that and help you fight for a world freer, richer, and juster."
The crowd responded with less enthusiasm than he would have liked.
"I know the stories of the Imperial Army. I promise you they will not be true for us. We will ask nothing of you that we will not be willing to do ourselves, we will not give you bread with more maggots than grain, you will not be beaten. You will have the right to elect your own officers. And you will be made into soldiers, the finest and bravest the world has ever seen! Anywho wish to may volunteer!"
Their cheers were louder this time.
Meanwhile, Comrade Zenus stood outside the gates of the compound, hood thrown back. His crooked nose jutted down as he argued with the gate guard. "I was expected, Comrade. I told you, your commander agreed to meet with me two days ago..."
Finally, a man in a sergeant's uniform arrived and barked orders, and the gate swung open. Comrade Zenus was escorted inside, after another argument with his own guards. Finally, they agreed that being among soldiers who had already fought for them once meant he was acceptably safe and he was led into a barrack.
The room was richly-decorated, although the expensive fur rugs were tracked with mud. Sitting stiff-backed in a plush armchair was a man in sergeant's uniform.
"Mister Zenus," he said.
"Please, call me Comrade Zenus, or just Zenus, and you are?"
"Imperial Sergeant Alexei Stabovorchi, at your service."
Comrade Zenus blinked. "You still consider yourself part of the Imperial Army?"
The man nodded. "As do many of my fellow soldiers. That being said, that does not mean we have any desire to fight for any of those bastards claiming to be the new Emperor. All the ones who did are dead now. But we want assurances that we will be protecting the people of the Empire, we want the right to leave if you stop, and some of our officers...we want them protected as well."
Comrade Zenus considered.
"I believe we can come to an agreement. We both want to protect the people, I simply want to build a better world for them in the process. I think we can agree that soldiers should not be allowed to desert mid-battle, but we will allow a grace period to leave, and then perhaps if a motion is passed through the Soldier's Council you can have another later on."
The sergeant blinked. "Soldier's Council?"
"Let me explain..."
Outside, distant cheers could be heard.
The initial militia size is five thousand, unlocked options to train them. Gained the loyalty of about six thousand professional soldiers, who are fairly moderate politically to the Red Guard and the Militia. Gained military options.
Make Contact with the Front - 84
There are many different ways to communicate with people over distances. Stefan knew this. People have used heliographs and telegraphs and farspeakers in recent years, but even in ancient days they had scrying spells and smoke signals and of course messengers.
And he finds himself using every single method, it feels like. Men on horseback, men on foot, men on the Aetherails, messages sent by wire and light, it is an incredible effort to organize all this. He needs redundancy, he needs to make sure they know the right messages and know the way to the city in question.
Imprado, Devato, Maltka, Balink, Trokograd, a dozen others. All of them had planned uprisings. He will need to see who succeeded and who failed, who needs aid and who can give it, find ways to secure the land between...
See the Rumor Mill For results...enjoy the wait.
Declare Yourselves - 88
The day after his work was given, Stefan found himself touring the wrecked remnants of the palace in a few spare moments. Turning down a hall, he found an intact farspeaker array, a powerful one by it's size. A minute of investigation revealed that it was a set for broadcasting the Imperial News. It wasn't quite powerful enough to reach the entire empire, but it was far better than anything else they had. It gave him an idea, one he hurried to share.
They were going to declare themselves. Comrade Zenus had approved his plan and decided the time was ripe for it after the army agreed to join, now all that was left was to actually write the speech...unfortunately, it seems the entire Committee had their own ideas. Delia wanted to avoid angering people by avoiding nationalism, Zandi wanted to follow every precept in Kammanism and declare a world revolution, Bejen wanted to quote scripture in hopes of getting support from priests...the headache it gave him was frustrating, their voices grew aggravating.
He departed the meeting, promising to have something tomorrow, and sat up at his writing desk, flipping through books to let his brilliant ideas form.
In the end, the speech he presented was...
[] Vague - he made a few nods to specific precepts, but kept it short and sweet, declaring a revolution in the Avlandian Empire, and exhorting those who labored under the yoke of the aristocrats and capitalists to rise up and join them, for they had nothing to lose but their chains. This will not please anyone, but it won't offend anyone and will delay factions forming over the goals of the Revolution.
[] Specific - he made specific promises, knowing they would anger some but please others.
-[] Referenced World Revolution - "and we shall liberate the worker everywhere they are oppressed, our universal triumph is imminent." This will please the Internationalist/Orthodox faction, may provoke foreign powers
-[] Asked For Help - "and we call upon the workers of the world to lend us what aid they can."
This may provoke foreign powers, for good or for ill
-[] Focused on the Current Struggle - "and we shall liberate all within the borders of the Empire while seeking friendship and peace outside our borders." This will upset the Internationalist/Orthodox faction, will placate foreign powers.
-[] Promised Self-Determination - "and we will grant self-determination to the oppressed nationalities so that they may join us as equals." This will please the Orthodox/Nationalist faction, will anger Avlisi Nationalists
-[] Supported a Vanguard Party - "and we shall lead and guide the oppressed worker and mystified peasant into the light of class consciousness that they might learn and benefit." This will please the Orthodox faction and upset the Democratic/Nationalist faction. May reduce Popular Support
-[] Promised Representation - "and we shall form a government by, of, and for the workers and peoples we liberate that they will have true control of, giving them the freedom and liberty so many have promised." This will please the Democratic faction, may increase Popular Support
-[] Referenced Scripture - "for it is easier for a serpent to walk on two legs than the wealthy and proud to enter the Holy World, and therefore it is the duty of the faithful to cast off the chains of capitalism. We call upon the priests of the Avlandian Empire to lead their flocks and join us in bringing the Holy World into being..." This will upset the Orthodox faction and please the Religious faction, may increase Popular Support
-[] Something Else - post proposals in the thread or on Discord, I will evaluate and add them.
Your choices will determine what factions form in the Front, and how they view the current leadership. Choose carefully. And if you choose contradictory options, it may prove interesting, in the Chinese sense.
An Ear on the Street - 60
Not every member of the Front was extremely public about their allegiances. A couple of young men Stefan had shared coffee and political discussions with were still in the city and were happy to keep him informed of the mood. He was overall pleased to hear what they had to say.
Popular Support in the city is high, it's not quite as high outside but still much better than expected.
Soothe Egos - 68+68 = 136
Kylis was good at charming people. It wasn't deliberate, it was simply how he was - he could remember every little detail you told him and use it to put you at ease, he could change his attitude to match that of who he was speaking to, he was witty and had an endless collection of amusing stories.
"...and so I told her that's not a knife, that's a barrel!" he told his audience, who chuckled.
One or two members of the Central Committee, some members of the Red Guard, a few new volunteers...most of them were just passing by and quickly moved away, but those he beckoned to followed him to a quieter place.
"I noticed..." he would begin, and offer his help.
"You don't need to fear, we will be implementing Kamman's vision in full. And yes, we will need to reform the peasantry. But there's no need for it to be done this instant. I understand your urgency, I have a dozen things I want to make sure come to pass. But all will, so long as we work together and triumph..."
"I do agree he's soft, but he's soft like the ocean is, when we meet proper counterrevolutionaries, not just mystified peasants or workers, you'll see. Besides, if we react brutally it will show fear, and then we'll have a dozen more of the same sort biting at us..."
"It is the opiate of the masses, I agree, but forcibly removing it will do a lot of harm, especially when we can just wean them off it. And while I agree about his priorities, he does have a lot on his plate too, writing the declaration is something he needs to be putting a lot of time on..."
Egos successfully soothed, a few potential problems nipped in the bud, faction relations will be less problematic to start off with.
Recruit an Assistant - ??
The young woman couldn't be older than 14, but she showed the signs of a hard life, including a still healing bruise. Her orphanage uniform was heavily stained, and she shivered under the thin cloth. Practically without realizing it she had a blanket draped around her shoulders and a cup of hot tea pushed into her hands.
She stood nervously before his desk. "So, you can read and write?" he asked, and she nodded.
"Yes sir!"
He smiled gently. "You don't need to call me sir...and sit down, relax, you aren't in any trouble..."
She sat down but stayed stiff and rigid, eyes darting left and right. He slid a piece of paper across the desk. "Read what's on this please."
She read the report out loud, stumbling over a couple of the longer words, but overall proving she was as literate as she claimed.
The door opened and Comrade Livia stalked in. The girl gave a squeak and flinched away like she was expecting a blow, earning her a poisonous glare.
"Is there a problem, girl?" the "Assistant Secretary" asked.
"No Comrade, you just startled me was all!" the girl replied quickly.
She glared an instant longer than subsided, looking at Kylis, who was watching the girl with concern.
"She startles me too, it's those footsteps. You can never hear her coming," he said gravely.
"But I think you will do as an assistant. Your first task is to get yourself something to eat!"
Assistant has been found: Livia Dorva, formerly of the Imperial Orphanage.
Guns and Ammo - 44/50
There were a dozen small warcaster shops in the city and two larger factories. The smaller shops were completely useless, both because of their size and because the men who ran them were capitalists, arrogant in their ownerships of their tiny properties. Seizing them would be more trouble than it was worth, so she simply informed their workers that thanks to the Jubilee, their debts were gone and left to arrange meetings with the foremen of the larger factories.
They were more cooperative, and they worked together to track down enough skilled cadres of workers to begin preparing to run the factory lines again. Already a trickle of ammunition was flowing, enough to allow for some limited drilling and training at least.
Basic training options unlocked thanks to partial completion, more will require completing the action totally.
Examine the Mage Guilds - 88+49 = 137
(What do you find? = 1d100+30 = 113, 118, 82.)
The Mage's Guilds in Avla were the oldest in the Empire. They were vast compounds, even if most of the building was empty eleven months of the year.
And those empty sections were sealed off with powerful wards. Fortunately, wards were easy to break when you had an entire city on your side. A dozen hedge mages working together easily stripped away each ward over several hours, and what they found revealed a treasure trove - dowsing tools to find those with magical potential, a stockpile of undifferentiated Aether crystals, notes on the construction of all manner of autocasters, the pomp and splendor the heads of the guilds of course demanded, books on learning casting, and a pile of notes and thaumaturgical equations on ways to make a new type of flying ship, one called an aeroplane by the anonymous author.
Delia looked around at all they had gained and smiled. All this wealth and knowledge would go to the people now, instead of being hoarded for the powerful. What force could stand against them?
Gained 2 Wealth, 7 Aether, multiple new actions
Feed the Hungry, Clothe the Needy, House the Homeless - 63+64 = 127
The city was full of the poor, and it was full of the rich. People starved and froze in sight of warm palaces and their discarded scraps of feasts. And even those scraps had been jealously guarded by the police, who now didn't dare leave their houses less the mobs of those they had abused rip them to pieces.
It was a simple equation, but a difficult one to arrange. First, she had to make all the incoming food be brought to central locations, protected by the Red Guard, and arrange for compensation to the peasants who brought in the food, typically in the form of looted Imperial coin. Then she had to get the grain and meat cooked into breads and stews and hearty pastries, and then she had to see that all who needed it were given it. The lines often stretched around blocks, so she arranged for braziers to be brought out so people could warm themselves, awnings to be stretched over them while they waited...and children were bribed with sweets to sing and dance and tell stories for their amusement.
It was ad hoc and not as organized as she would like, but it would serve. She would need to get the cooks and the children to form a union, it felt hypocritical otherwise.
Clothing and shelter were easier. They simply looted the abandoned palaces, focusing on the warmest clothes, and passed them out, before directing those who slept on the street to take up residence in them, and when that proved insufficient they used spare barracks to make sure there was enough.
There might not be enough food in a month or so, and coal and wood stocks would begin running low soon, but for now, it was good enough. And the evident gratitude shown to those wearing the red armband warmed her heart.
Further boost to popular support, and to Front Support.
Patrol the City, Find Them Gently - 96+64 = 160, 86+52+65 = 203
There were two groups patrolling the city streets day and night. The first was the Red Guards and militia. They had no uniform but their hats, armbands, and weapons, but everyone knew who they were thanks to their bearing. Crowds parted for them, and criminals and counterrevolutionaries shied away. A few firefights erupted, leaving behind only mysterious corpses as the bandits launched attacks on isolated patrols. A few men were wounded, but more importantly, the people of the city were badly hurt by these attacks. Fathers and mothers grieved when a patrol outside a school was ambushed, people went hungry when a meal kitchen was burned in the night, but these "successes" were few and far between.
And the successes of the Red Guard were far greater. A mugging stopped. A woman fleeing her abusive husband protected and escorted to a shelter. Rapes and robberies alike prevented. And no one knows how many crimes were stopped by the presence of the Guard.
Problems began to develop of course. A few abused their power or tried to find results for cases that they lacked evidence for and grew frustrated. And several men died or were wounded, although the numbers were rapidly made back up by new recruits.
And meanwhile, the second group worked. Young men and women, dressed richly, wandering the city, giving dark looks to the Red Guard and speaking in corners, gathering in groups...attracting attention. Their efforts began to bear fruit as they met a like-minded fellow, and then another.
One or two were invited to parties that felt more like funerals. They learned things in the back rooms at these parties.
And one day two dozen Red Guard showed up before dawn as two men in worker's clothes but with soft hands tried to haul an inconspicuous crate near the mage's guild.
The crate contained multiple unstable Aether crystals and a charge of gunpowder. There's only one factory that uses and stores powder in the city...and so they set a watch on it, and waited.
Some intelligence opportunities created, spies beginning to infiltrate the bandits, order is kept in the city.
Refugee Spies - 65
Villiam Willskodi was not a Kammanist. He was an upstanding citizen, owner of a respectable shop that sold flowers. He had a wife and a son who helped keep the shop, and he had another but the Kammanists killed the boy when they tried to flee the city. At least that was the story.
Olgnia Devacha is certainly not a Kammanist, thank you very much. She is technically a noblewoman, although such a poor one she actually had to work in trade, but she dreamed of marrying up, and had a handsome, wealthy fiance whose blood wasn't completely devoid of nobility. Who? Her father was handling the arrangements. But he was dead, and so was her fiance, and it was all the Kammanist's fault, and she barely escaped with her sole servant.
Iosef Deskara is not a Kammanist. He fought for the Emperor, and he would have kept fighting if he didn't lose a hand. He can still teach men to march though, and if that helps restore order he'll do it gladly.
There were a few more sent out as well, each with their own story. And a few who would be nothing but wandering bums picking up the messages and delivering their orders. The spies were in place, with three orders, one primary, one secondary, and one tertiary.
They were too... (note which is primary, secondary, and tertiary)
[] Find out what the High Duke's plans are. Is he going to attack immediately or take his time? What they get will likely not be much more than rumor, but it will be something.
[] Find out what the mood and status of the army is. Are there really the feared Tiger Stripes? Do they have spellblasters or other heavy weapons? Are they eager or resigned?
[] Find out what the mood of the workers are. Are they restive? Is there any resistance?
[] Write-in
Spies sent with good cover stories, will be in place next week.
Bodyguards - 58+46 = 104
Like with law enforcement, there were two sets of bodyguards. Comrade Livia found the symmetry vaguely appealing. The first was appointed at the insistence of the Committee as a whole, and so the other five found themselves with Red Guard following them around, and after the army was convinced to join them (she would need to make sure they would not be deserting...perhaps Kylis would have some ideas for increasing their fervor? She would find out soon enough) some of those Red Guard were replaced by soldiers as a gesture of trust.
But each and every member of the Committee had at least one inconspicuous figure following them at a distance. And though no assassinations were attempted, her efforts bore fruit of a better sort.
A report came that someone who wasn't one of hers was watching Comrade Zenus. She would have to arrange for them to be followed...
Begin Scouting Operations - 30, Critical Failure!
The scouting was focused in the direction they knew an enemy would be coming from, but small groups were sent out to the east, west, and north as well. They reported back little of note, although they did take care to avoid the larger towns, they would not handle those without orders.
But the largest groups were sent south. Three hundred Red Guard in total, in bands of about fifty each, spread out as they moved along roads and the Aetherail. They came to the town of Devrograd, where the Aetherail crossed the river. It could be a vital chokepoint.
There was no sign of damage to the town, none visible at least. But as they approached, no one noticed that warcasters poking out of a copse of trees.
Some instinct led a few of the veterans to throw themselves flat an instant before lead balls whizzed through the air, smashing into the earth or flesh. A dozen men died in under an instant.
Finding the Ambush: 1d5+3+3+3+1 (Hiding Places) vs. 1d5+5+2+2-2 (Caught by Surprise) = 15 vs. 12
More bullets blasted out from the trees, the hiss of spells and the flare of light the only sign where it was coming from. Whoever was firing knew what they were doing, and they had good equipment.
Red Guard Alissa Korenska took a careful look at where they were coming from, aiming her own warcaster, letting off a fusillade of shots. She was just trying to make them keep their heads down, but someone cried out in pain anyway.
The problem was, more people were crying out in pain on her side. And that included Georgi, their elected commander. Everyone else was firing back, shouting slogans.
She measured the distance to the trees with a careful eye, searching for cover all the while, trying to find an angle.
Countering the Ambush: 1d5+3+3+3+1 (Hiding Places) vs. 1d5+5+2+2-1 (Dead Leader) = 12 vs. 12
There was an angle she could get cover against them. She waited a moment, took a breath, and sprinted up in a rush. She wasn't the only one who had that idea, it seemed, and so she found herself ducking behind an abandoned cart with three others. It offered scant protection, but it gave them something.
And more importantly, it let them see their opponents.
Countering the Ambush Part 2: 1d5+3+3+3-2 (Flanked) -1 (Outnumbered) vs. 1d5+5+2+2-1 (Dead Leader) +1 (Numerical advantage) = 10 vs. 13
They kept firing, forcing their opponents back, and it seemed they had done enough because the three dozen or so men, half in army uniforms, half in police fled back, leaving a few corpses behind.
The elation of victory filled Alissa, but she turned and looked at the groaning wounded and silent dead. They had killed four but lost ten, and the enemy knew where they would be coming.
Some scouting was done to the west, north, and east, confirming no hostile presence in the countryside and no soldiers in the towns. They could be relatively easily secured. To the south, the town of Devrograd was confirmed to be in the control of hostile forces, but nothing more was found out. You also took a slight but recovering morale hit.
5 hour moratorium please vote in plan format.