The Eight Hour Workday - 30
Chairman Zenus did not agree with some of the choices his comrades had made in the other cities their uprisings had succeeded in, but the installment of the eight-hour workday was one. So he declared it so, and let the other Front members pass the message out. Only for no one to listen. So he began wandering the streets and factories, ordering his bodyguards to allow him to get close to people when they tried to prevent it, and he asked random people how long they had been working for.
Ten or twelve hours were the most common answers. As he asked them, many complained about the conditions - the factories were unheated, or unsafe, or the food they got at the cafeterias was maggoty, or one of a thousand other complaints. Some, he found, were rather petty but most were serious. Comrade Zenus took these complaints to heart, but resolving them wasn't what he set out to do.
So he encouraged people to take only eight hours, assured them the dip in production would not harm anyone, gestured to the teeming crowds for proof, and told them that it was far more revolutionary to rest and spend time with their family and children, to learn to read and write or play some music...
People began to listen to him, enough that some shifts were shortened to eight hours. He kept repeating the message, often for far longer than eight hours a day, and gradually people began to listen.
Even if some began telling him to take his own advice. He brushed it off, he was leading the Revolution, he and his comrades on the Committee were all working far longer than they really should, but there was always so much to do. Besides, he never had to worry about a cold factory or maggoty food.
People have slowly begun adopting the eight-hour workday, the Front is content, people are pleased, but many new labor problems have been unveiled.
Theological Support - 63+40+51+28 = 182
One of those most important tasks was re-learning how to speak like a nobleman, how to carry himself with that arrogant bearing, while also gaining enough of a knowledge of the Holy Book and its various parts that he could explain how Kammanism was at least not sinful. There were a dozen verses he could recite from memory, some suggesting a separation between church and state, some condemning the wealthy and the greedy.
It was almost painful for him to learn, but Stefan was a good teacher when the man forgot his own upbringing. And so on the fourth day of the week, after the grand ceremonies, he entered the residence of the Patriarch.
There, he was escorted through a hall dripping with splendor and wealth to meet the man who was arguably the most powerful in the Empire now.
Arguably.
Patriarch Entin Tsrekvyich did not stop trembling the entire time the two spoke. But he did not agree.
"Your arguments are compelling and intriguing, I must admit I had not expected it from..." he trailed off, presumably uncertain how to finish the sentence without being insulted.
"But under the circumstances, I am afraid I cannot do what you asked. However, I will release my subordinates from their obligation to listen to me on such matters and free them to preach as their conscience dictates."
Comrade Zenus accepted, and the Patriarch sent out his own messages, including using the farspeakers they had gathered to transmit far and wide. The Central Committee was uncertain what effect this would have on distant places, but it claimed tensions in The City, and made two young priests make their way up to the Central Committee and propose something radical:
A completely new church, with its doctrines wedded to Kammanism, serving as an umbrella for similarly radical religions. Some of the central committee were opposed - Comrade Stefan because of its radicalism, Comrade Zandi because of its religious nature, but the prospect of their own religion did have its adherents. In the end, the matter was tabled for later discussion.
The biggest church in the empire (and most of the smaller ones) are officially neutral, and taking no stance on matters, instead allowing individual priests and similar figures to decide how to preach. In practice, this means a bit more than half are speaking against you with varying degrees of vitriol, but the rest are favorable. Further (controversial) theological options unlocked.
Talk to the Towns - 59+40+63+57=219
Practically as soon as the announcement was broadcast, Comrade Zenus departed the city. At several people's insistence, he took a slightly larger bodyguard than normal, which proved their worth after a bandit attack. His insistence on stopping to help the peasants who had been robbed before aggravated some of his guard detail, but their leader's compassion was well known and so they held their tongues.
In any case, it proved useful, as it got them a free horse and cart which made travel a little faster. There were plenty of towns, and really not all could be visited personally by the Chairman. But enough could that he found what he needed: support and obedience. Some of it was out of fear, as the mayors and town councils surrendered in fear of his army of "red bandits," some out of practicality, some eagerly. A few were in the middle of arguments or firefights about who they should side with.
At each town he secured, he explained the new laws passed - the debt jubilee, the eight-hour workday, the mandatory distribution of food and clothing and other essentials. He could usually find enough supporters to make sure the rules would be obeyed. If not, he would get these supporters from The City or other towns.
A sort of commerce began to resume, and the towns still paid their old taxes, but now it went for the betterment of the people and the workers and everyone. And people were less oppressed by their economic supporters. All in all, it was a success.
Unfortunately, the brief period of lawlessness had led to some degree of banditry and disorder. It would need to be dealt with.
Some trade is flowing again, meaning a lot of basic supplies are growing more available. You have also better secured the countryside. You now have an income from towns paying their old taxes to you. There is something of a banditry problem though. The raw material crisis is further delayed.
Look into Laws - 78/??
The first laws Stefan began reading were quickly discarded as irrelevant - there would be no nobility, therefore laws about how they were to be treated were useless. The second book he began reading through was much more topical, and Stefan began chewing on it. Every society had its own way to formally settle disputes. He had heard of tribal savages using ritual duals or omens for everything. The Brevardians had a rather dynamic court system, whose judges had set stark limits on what freedoms could be infringed on( legally infringed on, he had found out). The Avlandian Empire had its own court system, of course. Actually, it had at least three, depending on how you counted.
This would need to be greatly simplified and improved. It was a matter he chewed on for many hours. The church courts could go without a second thought. The noble's courts would also be dismantled. That just left the commoner courts...which would need to be expanded an incredible amount, and most of the judges involved would be solidly conservative. And the advocates...people would need advocates too, wouldn't they?
About two-thirds of the courts will be abolished, and the remainder expanded. This is intended to be a temporary fix, but it will set a precedent: how will the temporary court system function? And how will the numbers for the legal profession be made up?
[] [COURT] Like the normal commoner courts, more or less - both sides will be required to have advocates, but matters will still be decided by a judge. This will please the more moderate and upper/middle-class sections of the population and have no major impact on the lower-class sections. It will cost Front Support.
[] [COURT] Like the normal noble courts, more or less - both sides will be required to have advocates, but matters will be decided by a jury of peers, selected by both advocates. Judges will have a strong presiding role but nothing more. This will please the lower-class sections of the population, and the more radicalized, and have no major impact on the upper/middle-class sections. It will not cost Front Support.
[] [COURT] The new courts will be set up so that both sides will have their advocates randomly selected. These advocates will select a jury, who will decide the case. A judge will serve in a weak presiding role, but nothing more. This will please the most radical, but upset the upper/middle-class sections of the population and the more moderate. It will grant Front Support.
[] [COURT] Write-in. I am sure there are other ways to run a court, feel free to suggest them. Stefan might not consider some more radical options, but he also might.
[] [LEGAL] Use existing professionals first. This will please moderates and upset radicals. It will cost Front Support.
[] [LEGAL] Use law students. While not as experienced and somewhat lacking in know-how, they tend to have greater sympathy for the workers than their ossified and often reactionary elders. This will upset moderates and radicals equally, but will not cost Front Support.
[] [LEGAL] Use students and professionals after being vetted to ensure they will not be unfairly biased against workers. This will please radicals and upset moderates. It will grant Front Support.
[] [LEGAL] Write-in. I am sure there are other ways to run a court, feel free to suggest them. Stefan might not consider some more radical options, but he also might.
Integrate the Worker's Councils - 56+57+70 = 183
The worker's councils were important, but they were also newly formed and uncertain of where they stood, and quite a few workers didn't actually have one thanks to the ongoing chaos. It was something of a cooperative effort to get them established, as the two members of the Central Committee cooperated with several others, including one of the newcomers from Selvada, to properly introduce the workers to the concept.
There were lectures, mostly. It was what they had. Members of the Front would visit factories, explain how the council worked - how they had to elect a representative, who would handle the management and who could be recalled by a vote, how this representative would meet with others to coordinate and elect a higher ranking representative who would do the same...they explained the responsibilities of workers in this, and how they held the power.
These councils did form, gradually, often along union lines. The higher councils often were missing members, and there were more than a few instances where votes were miscounted or proved fraudulent, but progress was being made. Enough progress was being made that only the occasional report needed to be read to Comrade Kylis on a seemingly insurmountable problem. He was overall pleased with the honesty and efficacy of these councils.
There is a greater degree of democracy going on, which will gradually become a more powerful force. +20 to Organize the Unions thanks to already organized workers.
Starting Schools - 53/40
The schoolhouse was actually an emptied warehouse, heated by a few carefully positioned braziers and ovens. Even so, everyone was warmly bundled up, including the two visiting members of the central committee. "It's a wonderful thing to see, so many learning...it's beautiful," Comrade Leola said, blinking back tears.
Kylis pretended not to notice. The two didn't notice the teacher's careful glances at them, as she gauged their attitude to her - the young woman had never done anything like this, and she was learning almost as much as her charges. She had expected to marry a neighbor and help run his shop and raise his children, nothing more.
When the class was dismissed - to the children's joy, as they departed to go and play - the two approached her. She bowed, practically on reflex, then swallowed with fear. Bowing was for nobility...and they hated nobility.
But instead, they laughed and asked if she needed any help running her classroom, and she told them she needed new books and someone to help corral the children when they were unruly.
Schools teaching Avlandish, basic math, some simple history, and Kammanist theory are established, even if the quality is a bit ehh in a lot of cases.
Guns and Ammo - 71+44/50 = 115/50, overflows to Restart the Advanced Production, 65/40, overflows to Improvised Explosives 25/20, overflows to Seize the Gunpowder Works 5/25.
When a massive reorganization of the weapon industries in the city was announced, everyone knew what it meant. The announcement of the army joining the Revolution had been greeted with some skepticism, but now they were marching out alongside the Red Guard and militia, and some were even sharing barracks. And if weapons were being produced for them...it could have only one possible meaning.
The Revolution would spread. War was coming. War for the people. The factories began to churn out warcasters and the bullets they shot, and then workers who had just finished a shift at one factory went over to another, so that technically they worked no longer than eight hours at a time. The heavier, more complicated weapons were also slowly being stockpiled, going first to the army to gradually begin refilling their supplies of such equipment, and then a member of a worker's committee decided to try and make hand-throwable explosives, which he creatively termed handbombs. They were crude, often unreliable devices - usually some gunpowder mixed with sawdust, a couple Aether crystals packed in, and a fuse made of cloth. There wasn't a lot of gunpowder, unfortunately, but the workers at the plant were seemingly interested in forming their own committee...although they tried to hide it from the owner for some reason.
Militia, Army, and Red Guard can now be better equipped, up to 3 or 4 out of 5. Options to equip troops with artillery, mortar-equivalents, handbombs.
Organize the Workers - 68
At the end of this triumph of Kammanist theory - that giving the people control of their own labor would lead to great works - as a dozen factories grew filled with determined laborers, the worker's councils were encouraged to form their unions, to grow even more organized and more capable of great feats. They were given more explanations of Kammanist theory, more encouragement to participate, and riding on the high of their amazing work, they all agreed. Over a dozen unions formed, while underground ones officially established themselves. These unions helped form the basis for the higher worker councils, and the Committee was confident they would do much more - form social clubs, encourage innovation, provide support...the possibilities seemed limitless.
Securing Fuel - 71/25, overflows 46/50 to Securing Fuel Pt.2
Even as the great effort to produce armaments went on, there were other important industrial tasks that needed accomplishing. First and foremost, they needed to secure a supply of fuel that would last longer than the stockpiles of coal and wood they already had. Winter was coming, already the sky showed steely grey more often than not.
And so a few hundred men either volunteered or were persuaded to march out in a great chain of humanity. Front members led the way, as they found a friendly village and an abandoned dacha with a forest all around it. Most could be housed inside the dacha or the village, but for those who could not, tents were set up.
Barracks would be built, and they would rotate who slept where, so it was decided by the rapidly forming council. Then they set about clear-cutting the forest and dragging the logs back. It was hard work, so a few arrangements were made and an autocaster was brought out to run a sawblade so that the logs could be cut down to size. A steady trickle of firewood was beginning to come back, but more fuel would be needed.
And this time, tents would not be an option, as the first snow fell on a gentle dusting late one night. The next day, a pair of coal mines were taken over, the owners shot when they tried to resist, according to the report that was sent to the Central Committee. The existing barracks were enlarged and improved, made safer and more comfortable, the workers were persuaded to show the new ones how to manage things.
Some safety concerns cropped up as the workers saw the old miners coughing with coal dust embedded in their lungs, and there was a brief delay before production could start. The workers wanted masks and a filter to keep the dust out of the barracks before they will begin mining, and there wasn't enough time in a week to get them.
Industrial Assistance - 102/25
The concept of central planning was popular among Kammanist, and many saw this as the first step to establishing a centrally planned economy. There was, as always, some degree of discussion among the Front about how much was too much planning, and what role markets should have, and other such things.
Some of this discussion grew fraught, but overall it was deemed very productive, and notes were taken on several of the more favored approaches. Potential problems were anticipated or worked around, but one proved difficult to find a counter for: corruption.
The discussions on it grew particularly tense when a few of the civil servants of the previous regime who had volunteered to take part had been caught skimming funds. They were promptly sacked and imprisoned, their fate to be determined in the new courts, and a few new people were tapped for the position.
Other than that embarrassing hiccup, the Board of Industrial Management proved its worth, providing a forum for worker complaints to be brought up to the Central Committee, in addition to its intended function of managing some of the development of material and magical industries.
Board of Industrial Management established, providing +2 Industrial Dice. Some more thought has been given to economics. Some corruption was found before it could cause harm.
Restart the Looms - 83
Garment makers was an industry dominated by women, which had proved helpful to Taushova when she had fled her home. The Front had also been helpful, providing her with a room to sleep in for a few weeks until she had saved up enough of her wages to afford her own dingey, smelly, cold apartment, which she allowed other members, in turn, to stay in every so often.
During the Uprising, she had mobilized her shift and driven the foremen and their thugs out. They had remembered that when the unions and councils were established, and she had become the new...foreman, or forewoman, she would worry about that when she had time.
For now, she had to make sure the finicky set of looms kept going smoothly as one of her friends operated it carefully. The machines had been shut down for the past week as they gave out the final products to all who needed them. Now they were making more, and other people were responsible for the delivery.
Clothing and cloth are being produced. It's not high-quality stuff, but there's enough of it to keep everyone warm.
Patrol the City - 90+82 = 172, 1000 Red Guard, 1000 Militia
The patrols went on. Order must be kept, counterrevolutionaries must be stopped, there were so many things that needed doing. Many of the militia and Red Guard complained about not being allowed to fight, often loudly, but more than a few were glad to be on relatively safe tasks. Still, proposals about creating a separate force were bandied about when people had a free moment.
There were two other attempted attacks by the White Bandits, but more and more of them were shot down and a few tips led to more being found successfully. The patrols began coordinating, one group entering the squalor-filled apartments they favored, the others waiting outside or around the corner to catch any groups which fled.
And gradually the patrols began to expand their operations, going out further to begin to provide law and order to the peasantry as well, who occasionally seemed less than pleased but were clearly willing to tolerate it, particularly since the patrols were careful to be very courteous.
The city is patrolled and kept safe, patrols beginning to extend into the countryside, which doesn't seem very popular with those who live in it.
Follow Them - 53+67+56 = 176
The White Bandits were not gone. But they were being quiet. Significant effort was invested into keeping tails on all of their agents who were identified. The "Assistant Secretary" knew every trick for losing a tail, and that meant she knew exactly how to keep one. A trusted mage was carefully involved as well, pieces of stolen clothing and hair used to track them. They were arrogant, they did not bother breaking the connections.
And so Livia learned that while a few had been left behind, and a few more (along with many sympathizers and supporters) had been caught and killed or tried, about a third had fled the city for the countryside.
Almost all known hostile agents in the city caught, but many have fled for parts unknown.
Scout Devrograd - 48, Take Devrograd - 53+46+73 = 172
The entire army, less a small garrison force for The City, was mobilized for what would be the first true battle of the Revolution they had taken part in. Thousands of men filed into the compartments of one of the available Aetherail trains, packing it full. There were eleven thousand men in all. Every man had a warcaster, and all but a few were modern ones. In addition, there were a scattering of handbombs, a few hundred rapidcasters, and a very few light and very light spellblasters, those terrible weapons that could kill a dozen men at once from beyond where the eye could see. But most significantly of all, they had a trump card: armored landships.
There were only five of them, they were slow, clumsy, and heavy, but each one was so armored and warded that they were impervious to all but spellblasters or the dedicated attentions of warmages. And in each one were two rapidcasters and a pair of warmages, making them lethal weapons.
The crowds of people cheered as they left, waving flags and throwing flowers. More than a few pretty girls darted out of the crowd to press kisses against those who would be leaving - in at least one kiss a girl "accidentally" kissed one of the female Red Guards. Those who had taken part in the Great War compared the scenes of departure disturbingly similar, but kept their dark thoughts to themselves. This time would be different, they were sure of it.
They entered the train and off they went. They did not disembark at Devrograd, instead leaving it about a day's march outside it, stopping in between little villages built around fueling stations. As the majority began setting up camp, the fifty stealthiest men crept out, keeping quiet and away from the road. Among them was Josa van Kahl.
The dark covered them, concealed them.
Evading Notice: 1d5+3+3+3-1 (Ongoing work) vs. 1d5+3+4+3+1 The quiet ones) = 12 vs. 15.
The darkness protected them from sight. There weren't enough sentries, and the ones who were there were poorly placed in the middle of trench lines still being dug, leaving gaps for them to slip through. They easily found their way inside the defensive works, and began to observe what was there.
There were two lines of trenches before the actual town, which appeared to have been taken over by the soldiers, except for what seemed like the inn, a couple taverns, and a brothel. The trenches weren't that well-made, being only about chest-deep except in a few strongpoints, but they were sufficiently well-warded to make them hard to collapse. There were no other actual fortifications.
What there was were rapidcasters and many well-armed troops - at least three thousand. And most concerningly of all, and very heavily guarded, were what appeared to be at least two dozen spellblasters arrayed just behind the second trench line. The scouts couldn't approach close enough to see for certain and eventually withdrew to report to Comrade Bejen, who had accompanied the men as their overall commander, although the newly promoted General Alexei Telvorich would be in command for the battle.
As they reported, Bejen considered what he had been told. The numbers and the rapidcasters were bad enough, although between the warmages and the landships he was confident they could push through, especially with the poor quality of the fortifications. But the spellblasters might be able to destroy the landships or simply wreak havoc among the troops, especially the militia who had no experience with such a thing. But if they were real, why were they placed so prominently, when they could be put safely behind the river? Did the High Duke intend them to counter the landships?
Bejen decided to order a...
[] [PLAN] Pull back. There are too many unknowns here, withdraw back to the city. It will be embarrassing for your soldiers and for you, but it will preserve your force and allow you to return with more spell blasters and better-trained men. Will cause morale hit, will cost a lot of Front Support.
[] [PLAN] Probing attack. Send a few hundred men out first, launch an attack threatening enough to force the spellblasters into operation - if they are real. While this will allow you to determine exactly what you are dealing with, it will look bad to the inexperienced militia. Will cause morale hit to the militia, risks alerting the enemy.
[] [PLAN] Siege. Have the men dig their own trenches, order spellblasters of your own brought up once they are crewed. Time favors you, as the Revolution will inevitably spread. But giving up the initiative is a bad look. Will cost some Front Support.
[] [PLAN] Go ahead. Launch the attack, and let the general take charge of the details.
[] [PLAN] Write-in
The general decided on how he would deploy his soldiers for maximum effect.
[] [DEPLOY] Attach groups of militia and Red Guard to his companies, allowing his better-trained troops to corset the less-disciplined and experienced troops so that they will be less likely to break at the first shot.
[] [DEPLOY] Keep the different troops separate, preserving your ability to command separate forces and avoiding a few potentially embarrassing accidents, but increasing the odds that the militia or Red Guard simply breaking.
[] [DEPOLY] Write-in
Four-hour moratorium. Plan voting please.
