A Kammanist Uprising: Fantasy Communist Revolution Quest

[notbirdofprey]

Kammanism is a pernicious and dangerous philosophy peddled by rebels, anarchists, and foreign agitators. It claims that the distribution of wealth is unfair, and Kammamasts attempt to rally support for their vile agenda by agitating the lower classes. This vile agenda is the destruction of the pillars of human order: religion, law, the mage's guilds, and the family, to name a few. Kammanasts can be identified by excessive use of the color red...
-Pamphlet distributed by the Avandis Imperial Police

What is Kammanism? It is the simple argument that those who labor and provide Aether should have a share in the profit of their labor. It is an argument for equality and justice, and it is an inevitability of history...
-Pamphlet distributed by the Avandian Kammanist Front

The Great War was the most devastating in the history of humanity. Hundreds of thousands died in battles that raged across five continents and dozens of countries, large and small. The aftermath left victor and vanquished broken and exhausted. On the fields of Serges, at the climatic and final desperate offense into the teeth of a trench line, the corpses were piled ten high for miles, some burned to ash, some turned to stone, some melted by acid or shattered into thousands of pieces. And while the poor spent their blood, the wealthy and powerful only grew more so, from loans to the warring powers, from selling war machines or operating crystal mines or from a thousand other ways, and every gold coin they made was dyed red in the blood of labor.

And people have had enough. In some nations, victory was enough to assuage the sting of so much death for so little gain. In others, the exhaustion and malaise of defeat prevented any resistance. But in many, people rose up and fought.

You and others like you have been fighting for a long time. One uprising was put down with the iron fist and the velvet glove, others were strangled before they could even begin. You still resisted. You were banished to the wilds of your home, forced to labor in grueling mines, flogged and beaten and left to die. You were exiled. You were called an outlaw, a bandit, and a thousand other more insulting names. But now you have returned to the land of your birth, to the Avandian Empire to take part in another, greater uprising.

You believe in every word of the Kammanist doctrine: equality, justice, freedom. From the end of the mage's guilds to the open elections, you want to see it all implemented across the world. You know you may need to compromise - there will be no elections until the state is secure, for instance - but you have faith in your case.

Of course, you still have to win the fight.

The Avandian Empire is a behemoth, but one that had been dying for hundreds of years. Dozens of ethnic groups and dozens of religions are ruled by it, most of whom hate each other. Though rich in natural resources, most of it is gathered only inefficiently, and corruption and crime are both rampant. There is little industry. Most of the population is poor and backward. Many are never even tested for magical ability.

The "victory" and the debts incurred in the attempt to earn it were the last straw. Nobles began to hoard grain in preparation for new taxes, literally stealing it from the hands of starving peasants and workers, and when the Emperor tried to stop them, he was overthrown and executed. The nobles promptly began to feud over who would fight, and that was when you declared your uprising.

You have control over the capital city, and allied uprisings have taken place in many others, but vast swathes of land will need to be conquered or won. And plenty of pro-aristocratic forces are out there. They will fight to the end. That's not even getting into different groups, with different goals or methods you will have to deal with. And though all the nearby nations are also wracked with revolutions, there is still the possibility of foreign intervention.

You do have some advantages though...

(Choose at least 1. For each extra you take, choose a Liability. Assets and Liabilities which are opposites cancel each other out, I trust you will know which are those. You can double up on a specific asset or liability, doing so will cost or gain exponentially. Taking the same asset twice would cost three total liabilities, taking it three times would cost seven. Vote in plan format.)

Assets

-[] Front Discipline - The Avandian Kammanist Front is highly unified. While your underlings may disagree with a course of action, as long as you can persuade the Central Committee they are certain to obey to the best of their ability. It will take severe defeats or compromises before they grow unruly enough to try and vote you out of your position or worse... (You start off with higher Front Support)

-[] Defectors From Decadence - Not all aristocrats are evil, and the proof stands by your side. Several nobles chose to side with you. They may not entirely be trusted, but they have brought you wealth and soldiers and warcasters. (If not taken, they will likely have died at the hands of fellow aristocrats or your own men. For this one, I will roll to see what you get)

-[] Army Deserters - The army was called in to suppress the rebellion. The units already in the city defected in mass, killing their officers in the process. They are ragged and tired, but they are also experienced and disciplined troops, already equipped and trained with some of the best weapons the Avandian Imperial Army had. (If not taken, the units which defected were less experienced, trained, and equipped, and had less men.)

-[] The Imperial Treasury - Though depleted, you have access to the Imperial Treasury, having managed to seize it before any noble or looter could. There's a great deal of coin there, as well as the Imperial Regalia. (Start with extra Wealth, and less legitimacy for all noble factions. If not taken, the treasury will be mostly looted and you will have no idea where the Regalia is.)

-[] Broad Support - Somehow, you have support among several religions, ethnic groups, and political factions. You have no idea how you managed to pull this off, but you and your front are now the head of a coalition, that while potentially fragile is still mighty. (You start off with increased opinion with many factions, and will gain special actions for dealing with them.)

-[] Foreign Support - The enemies of the empire are many. Though most are just as imperialistic and capitalistic as the Avandian Empire, they are happy to support you in the hopes that you will deal more damage to their foes. At least as long as it doesn't look like you are winning. (Foreign supporter who will give you support in various forms. This will dry up (or worse) if they get caught or think you are growing too strong...)

-[] Intact Industry - The uprising you led was a short, sharp thing, over before it had really started in the streets. This means relatively few casualties among the workers or damaged factories. Even the Aetherails and the stockpiles nearby were barely damaged. (Start with bonuses to support among the workers, better infrastructure, more Resources, and an intact industrial base.)

-[] Intact Libraries - A friendly mage was able to get you copies of all sorts of basic spells and Aether manipulation models, meaning you will better be able to teach casters and construct autocasters easier. (Start with bonuses to teaching and recruiting mages, better magical knowledge, and the ability to construct autocasters.)

-[] Peasant Inroads - Though dead, Comrade Zenus (Not his real name, but the name of a folk hero who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor) has given you a significant gift. Many among the peasantry know of both the legendary and the real one, and the fact that he supports you. It's given you greater support from the generally conservative peasantry than you otherwise would have. (Greater support outside cities.)

Liabilities

-[] Shattered Front - Many are suspicious of you, questioning your devotion after your long years in exile. Some even wonder if you are still a Kammanist. Though you were still given the position of Committee Chairman, your position is weak. (Start with lower Front Support.)

-[] No Army - Your forces were gutted in the first battles, you have a bare handful of soldiers left. You will need more, and fast. Because literally everyone else has a bigger one, and some of your soldiers are fighting with single-shot casters. (Start with a small and poorly-equipped army.)

-[] Internal Tensions - The Front was heavily infiltrated by members of the Emperor's secret police and foreign agencies. But no one realized how bad it was. Now everyone is suspicious of each other...and there really might be some left. (Start with a split front and potential subversion.)

-[] No Support - Propaganda about the Front and Kammanism have been spread for years among the middle classes, the priests, the peasants...everyone is suspicious of you, convinced you are demons from the Thousand Hells or literal baby-eating monsters or fronts for religious minorities plotting the destruction of all that's good in the world... (Start with penalties with other factions.)

-[] A Broken City - The uprising was brutal, lasting days, and giving the aristocrats and factory owners and mages guilds plenty of time to make your victory as pitiful as possible. Factories are ash, the guild libraries were empty of anything but traps, and the destruction left thousands dead or wounded and more homeless. And now you have to pick up the pieces. (Start with an unhappy populace, devastated cities, reduced ability to train mages or make autocasters, and a badly damaged industrial and infrastructural base.)

-[] No Money - The Treasury was gone when you got there, which you expected, but so were all the stockpiles of resources in the Aetherail yards and by the factories, stolen by aristocrats or looters or simply not having arrived thanks to a strike by Aetherail workers. Which generally you approve of, but not in these specific circumstances. Even the Aether crystals were gone (Start with no Resources, Wealth, or Aether.)

-[] Armed Bandits - You seemed to have upset some people in the process of the Uprising. Or maybe they are class traitors. You don't know, but you have people launching attacks on your members in the city, and it could easily escalate. (Start with an insurgency in the city.)

-[] They're Coming - High Duke Radmos Austerbach, one of the most infamous nobles and a callous but competent general, is approaching you. Which would be fine, except he has an army with him, a mixed multitude of Imperial troops, deserters, mercenaries, household men...and he's less than a month away. And he isn't planning on surrendering. (Start with a hostile army approaching. Not recommended if you take it with No Army.)

 

[notbirdofprey]

Alexei had been a soldier for many years. He had put down the Summer Revolts, and then countless strikes and rebellions afterwards. Somewhere along the line, he got tired of blasting down tired workers and hungry mothers. When the Great War had come, it was like a breath of fresh air. Finally, he could fight enemies of the motherland, treacherous Ommati and grasping Doyit and the endless jackbooted hordes of the Pruus. Instead, he found mud and filth and gas, unleashed Aetherstorms and the endless rain of spellcannon and battlecaster that stayed in his dreams.

He was the oldest member of his company, the last one who remembered the Summer Revolts, a sergeant with a reputation. The men listened to him, not their jackass of a lieutenant. So when the lieutenant came and announced something about a new dynasty, they listened when he told them to beat the man unconscious and then go out to protect their people, not to kill them.

Someone handed him a strip of red cloth to wrap around his arm. He took it, more as an identifier than because he believed in it. But he took it nonetheless.

Layla had grown up on a farm, just a little way away from The City, home of The Emperor. When she was younger, she used to look towards it and strain to see a glimpse of its towers. Then the old lord had died and someone new took his place. Rent doubled, the harvests stayed the same. The old familiar watchmen had been replaced with steppe bandits. So when Comrade Zenus stole the grain paid in taxes and left half of it in the town square, she didn't say a word when she found him hiding in the ceiling of her house in his black and red cloak. And when a man in the same cloak came and told them the nobility were being overthrown, and the capitalists (whatever they were) too, and asked her help, she gave it.


Dovid knew not many of his people got the opportunity to be a member of the Imperial Police, and it was an invaluable advantage for his kin. The salary was twice what his wealthiest brother made as a foreman, leaving aside the bribes he got as a practically routine matter. He made sure to give away half of those, to expunge the sin nonetheless. It still made him uncomfortable though, when he had to knock beggars out of the way or disperse crowds. But he did his job, for the Emperor and the people of the Empire. And so when a call came out to surround the palace, that someone had attempted to overthrow the Emperor and the police needed to restore order, he took his warcaster and his black and purple helmet and joined the rest of the force.

They made an intimidating sight, thousands of men in uniform, warcasters held at port arms, faces expressionless as spellfire and spellblasts wracked the palace before them. But his Emperor was in danger, and he was far from the only one growing impatient. When was the order to attack going to come?

And then he felt something rip into his back. There was an instant of confusion, then blackness.



The Uprising had been planned for weeks. Feelers had been sent out to tired soldiers, to the oppressed peasantry, to allies in what few unions were allowed to exist and the underground ones as well. But no one had expected to act, not yet. The Emperor was negotiating with a half-dozen high nobles, all of whom had brought their own security and retainers.

But then those retainers began fighting, and gunfire came from the palace. Noble officers attempted to mobilize their troops, only to find themselves executed or beaten and the soldiery to take up the red banner. The police were not so supportive, and obeyed when commanded to besiege the palace. Once the Emperor was secured, the Palace would provide a secure base for the rest of the city to be taken down. That was probably their thought process.

Unfortunately for them, the soldiers had brought with them some of the finest military weaponry in the Empire: the Rapid Fire Warcaster. Hundreds of bolts of burning metal cut through them as they stood in the Imperial Square, and by the time they realized what was happening panic and chaos had so depleted their ability to fight back that they simply scattered.

The remaining nobles fled the burning palace by boat, some of which you managed to sink. That was the end of resistance in the city...at least until you received a report of two soldiers dead in an alley. It could be an ordinary criminal...or it could be counterrevolutionary activity, more than a few of the surviving police will be willing to take radical measures to oppose the will of the people, and they have some support among the populace...

The Central Executive Committee is meeting in the mage's guild. Tt is as near dead center to the city as one can get, just on the edge of the Avlisi River. You look out the window at the enormous factories and winding streets, at the spires of churches and temples. Here and now in The City, the members of the Committee are the most powerful people, but their strength seems puny against the monumental tasks before them: winning a war against an unknowable number of factions, gathering as much as they can out of the collapsing corpse of the Empire, defending the rights of the worker and the peasant, building a state that aligns with Kammanist philosophy, making it wealthy and powerful...it seems a nigh-impossible task for you to accomplish.

The Chair had served tea and everyone sat down, when two people burst in, one in a famous red and black cloak, the hood thrown back to reveal a face handsome except the thrice broken nose, the other in a ragged Imperial Navy uniform, his hat cocked on his head, his dark skin marked by pale scars. "Rumors of our deaths were..." the Navy man begins to say, when one of the people at the table interrupts him with an aristocratic drawl.

"Exaggerated. Again."

Before an argument can begin, the shockingly not dead Comrade Zenus speaks. "I have grave news comrades. The High Duke Austerbach survived his flight from the city, and he had troops waiting outside the city. If they move now, they could be here in two weeks."

His new prompts an explosion of shouting and arguing, but before anything can be done, order to the Committee must be restored.

As per prior agreements and arrangements made many years ago, the Chairman of the Executive Committee will have the power to break ties, as well as first-among-equals status. There are five others who will have special authority, responsible for military action, negotiations with other groups, internal front discipline, the marshaling of resources, and espionage. And there are a great many others, but most will simply offer their own ideas and support to one of the main six. Or, should the Revolution falter and decisions prove unpopular, take their place among them...with possibly fatal consequences.

The six individuals on the council are...
(Vote in plan format, with a subvote to mark which position someone is supposed to be in. For instance:
[]Plan
-[] Bob
--[] Chair

The positions are Chair, Military, External Negotiations, Front Discipline, Stewardship, and Intrigue. Yes, they are based on CK2. Who is in the main six will heavily determine what actions you have access to, and what bonuses/penalties you have to rolls. The bios also contain relevant information, both about their personality and about what factions they will support/will support them. When you get factions.)

[] Stephan Workaski. A former noble who has been disowned, but keeps his aristocratic name because he knows it annoys members of the class he turned his back on. He got his start by pretending not to see workers putting up a poster for the Kammanist Front and later stole money from the family coffers to support direct action and aid the serfs on his land, eventually fleeing. Though he always favored gradual reform, he briefly fought during the Summer Rebellions but realized they were guaranteed to fail and fled. His aristocratic background has given him a well-rounded education, and he made friends with Kammanists in several other countries whose organizations could be convinced to lend aid. However, he has the arrogance you would expect, and it can cause friction. Traits: Foreign Connections (New diplomatic/personal options), Broad and Quality Education (Bonus to many dice of varying size), Arrogant (Fewer options from other members of the committee, reduction in support), Aristocrat (Penalty to relations with most other factions, bonus to some), Idealist

[] Aleksandra Rosana. A member of the mage's guild who struggled with vicious competition and abuse from nobility, she nevertheless pursued, although she had Kammanist sympathies for many years thanks to a poverty-filled background. She was radicalized by service in the Great War, and led a massive desertion before joining the Front. A skilled mage, she has little education in other subjects, although she has some experience with war. Before the Revolution began, she used her oratory skills to drum up support for Kammanist movements. Traits: Skilled Mage (Substantial bonus to all magic-related projects), No Education (Penalty to many actions), Uncultured (Bonus to relations with some factions, penalties to relations for others), Experienced Soldier (Bonus to some military actions), Orator (Bonus to some diplomatic actions, increased support), Pragmatist

[] Josa von Kolstan. A hunter from the forests of the Valtenlands, he joined the Kammanist movement after being inspired by a speech. He contributed many of his kills to feed hidden Kammanists and helped shelter them in the forest, joining a partisan band in the Summer Rebellion before fleeing after its defeat to his ethnic brothers across the Altanian Ocean, where he gained a partial education and worked as a miner, organizing their unions. He wields a crossbow enchanted by a long-dead comrade and a fiery hatred for the forces of reaction. Traits: Partisan (Bonus to irregular warfare options), Partial Education (Penalty to some actions), Uncultured (Bonus to relations with some factions, penalties to relations for others), Labor Organizer (Bonus to some industrial actions), Zealot

[] Bejen Gullstin. A laborer who has long severed in the Imperial Army, he rose through the ranks, commanded artillery batteries during the Summer Rebellion, and then deserted in shock after learning he had bombarded a hospital. His route to Kammanism came through faith, which has left him with an unusual education and a more practical approach to ideology. Traits: Artillery Commander (Bonus to artillery options), Military Experience (Bonus to all military actions) Theological Education (Small bonus to some actions, larger bonus to some diplomacy actions), Pragmatist

[] Livia Kolchena. She lived a hard life in her younger years, which easily led her to Kammanism, where she saw taught many things. Always quick and quiet, she put those skills to use, spying on enemies of the workers of the world, using theft, blackmail, and the occasional quiet dagger to acquire greater resources for the use of the Front and allied organizations. In the process, she made connections with some of the darker sides of the world, which have left her even more determined to see Kammanism triumph. Traits: Shadow in the Night (Bonus to many intrigue actions, both internally and externally), Underworld Connections (Access to unique options involving the criminal underworld), Partial Education (Penalty to some actions), Zealot

[] Kylis Durrana. An ordinary laborer with a talent for speaking, he worked long hours in a cannon foundry, only to be fired without a qualm by the wealthy owner when large-scale warcasters proved more profitable. He helped form a mutual aid society, which was crushed by Imperial Police, helping lead him to Kammanism. Though uneducated, his expert oration, skill at organization, and genuine belief have led many to join the Front. Traits: No Education (Severe penalty to most actions), Expert Orator (Bonus to many diplomacy actions), Popular (Bonus to front support and politicking), Labor Organizer (Bonus to some industrial actions), Idealist

[] Leola Cavverich. She came to Avandis with her husband, a factory manager, and found work as a teacher at a small but wealthy school. When the Repression Laws banned all Kammanist literature, she opposed it on moral grounds despite disliking Kammanism, but dutifully obeyed, confiscating any literature she found on the subject in the school's library. Instead of turning it over for destruction, she chose to read the "corruptive words" and became a convert, partly thanks to its descriptions of an ideal world with equality between the sexes and children raised and taught communally. She managed to make contact with the Front, donating what funds she could gather, and then helped smuggle members of the Front out in the wake of the Summer Rebellion. She soon expanded to smuggling things in too. Traits: Good Education (Bonus to many actions), Teacher (Bonus to education-related actions), Inexperienced (Penalty to many industrial, military, and diplomatic actions), Smuggler (Unlocks smuggling-related actions), Idealist

[] Iosaf Scelena. He grew up in Cheizkhsta, and was supposedly a member of the Front before he was ten. He was inducted into the mage guild in the city, and fled into the Arman Desert after being caught smuggling magical texts to members of the Front. There he fell in with a group of the nomads thanks to blood and charm. He managed to recruit many of their youths into the Front. They participated in raids and helped smuggle people and supplies both ways. He was drafted during the Great War, but deserted as soon as possible, moving to the capital in preparation for the Revolution. Traits: Partisan (Bonus to irregular warfare options), Partial Education (Penalty to some actions), Friend of the Armani (Bonus to relations with some factions), Zealot

[] Delia Danveri. She was a laborer, working long hours for even less pay than her male counterparts, and enduring all manner of harassment and abuse. She used whatever methods she could find to gain leverage against bosses and police, agitating and conciliating in the same breath. She led a series of protests and riots during the Summer Revolts, took part in the peace negotiations, and advocated for the Front to cease hostile action during the Great War. This did her no favors with the Emperor, and she was forced to flee. She made the acquaintance of other Kammanists while in exile, who helped educate her on many practical matters, although she stuck to her own opinions on how to bring about Kammanism. Traits: Educated (Bonus to some actions), Labor Organizer (Bonus to some industrial actions), Conciliatory (Bonus to some diplomatic actions), Pragmatic

[] Comrade Zenus. It's not his actual name, but he won't tell anyone what it is, so Comrade Zenus it is. Flamboyant and overdramatic to some, he is nevertheless the member of the Front who has fought for the longest, and his word carries weight. He truly believes in the Revolution, and will happily explain (dramatically) about its importance. In terms of what skills he actually has...he is inspiring, and knows a surprising amount about Imperial politics. Traits: Old-Timer (Greater Front Support so long as he is happy), A Good Reputation (Greater relations with many factions), Political Animal (He knows more about nobles than most), Dramatic (He wants action), Idealist

[] Leo Critie. A foreigner who was press-ganged into the Imperial Navy, he introduced many sailors to Kammanism and led a mutiny on the cruiser Alexindo III which successfully took control of the ship during the Summer Revolts. He captained it in three battles before scuttling it during peace negotiations, a feat for which the Imperial delegation demanded his head. He sent them a lock of his hair with a note that it would have to do. He is educated and well-read, and eager to put his theories into practice. Traits: Naval Experience (Bonus to naval actions), Educated (Bonus to some actions), Popular (Broader Front Support), Zealot

[] Zandi Dellia. Given to an orphanage, raised to be a nun, she hated the cloistered roles she was forced into. From an early age, she had a cunning mind and thirst for knowledge. Aid from a sympathetic Kammanist worker, and later her magical ability gave her ways to satisfy that thirst and to escape, but she had learned too much about the plight of the laborer to be happy as what she considered to be a class traitor, and openly joined the Kammanists during the Summer Revolts, joining the riots instead. The death of "dear 'Celli," during those Revolts greatly affected her, and she is utterly determined to see her friend's vision become reality. About the only thing that can distract her is a good book. Traits: Broad and Quality Education (Bonus to many dice of varying size), Skilled Mage (Substantial bonus to all magic-related projects), Rigid (She does not like having to compromise on doctrine), Zealot

 

[notbirdofprey]

That Comrade Zenus should have a position was clear to all except for the comrade himself, who made a rather impassioned speech arguing that many others were better suited for the role - he cited Comrade Zandi's dedication, Comrade Stephan's foreign connections, the bravery of many who fought personally against the aristocratic and capitalist oppressors of the people - but on this the upper ranks of the Front were united, and so he accepted the burden that had been forced upon him, promising that he would lead well and wisely, and slitting his own palm to add weight. "And should my leadership prove lacking, I shall serve the Revolution on the front lines, with sword and spellcaster!" he proclaimed to cheers.

Then he began to select those who would be most favored, who would have the most direct favor. He named who would be in charge of the military first of all - Bejen Gullstin was perhaps the most experienced military man of them all, even if his relative newness to the cause and...unique approach to ideology ruffled some feathers. The man's faith, in particular, proved a problem for Comrade Josa, although he quieted eventually.

The arguments about what he should do first to secure the Revolution raged long and hard, for all here were fiercely devoted, but Zenus, despite his frustration with having to do it, was able to calm people enough to change the topic, to who would be their "eyes in the dark, their dagger in the night, their shield against the Okharana," and this was fortunately entirely uncontentious. Comrade Livia, cold-eyed and callous as she was, had been the only person in the room to actively combat the Emperor's secret police, the only person with connections to the criminal underworld (even if many considered those criminals to be class traitors), and the only one with skills to build what would be needed.

The remaining positions were filled one by one, each decision creating its own rancor - Comrade Stephan's position proved especially contentious. The man was outright accused of being a potential traitor, to which he responded with nothing more than a lifted chin and a quote in Remian that referenced some old play about a dead emperor.

But all the agreements were made, and if not everyone was happy, they were at least satisfied...and so the first meeting could begin.

Comrade Zenus went and fetched a samovar for everyone as he and his chosen few sat at one side of the long table in the room they had chosen, while everyone else gathered around the other three or leaned against the wall or stood by the window.

He studied the room for a moment, silent, his thoughts uncharacteristically grim. They had begun shouting and arguing already, and they had not even faced a defeat. Comrade Zandi sat stiff-backed and resentful, Comrade Iosaf glared at Comrade Stephan, who lounged in his chair like it was a throne, scornfully ignorant of the other man. He could see a dozen other petty rivalries and disagreements...

Some spirit seized him, and he moved to the window. Outside, he could see the river rushing by, it's water darkened by pollutants. Smoke rose here and there from the slums as people burned coal and wood and whatever they could to stay warm. A sunken noble's barge was being torn apart by workers looking to salvage the Aether crystals and autocasters that gave it light and pushed it through the water and made it float.

"Look out there, comrades! Look out and see the workers, still cold and hungry and tired and threatened by their class enemies! Can you see the people? Can you hear them?" he asked, the room falling silent.

All eyes turned to him, grudges forgotten.

"Enough of this bickering. The workers need to be fed, they need to be inspired. We must build an army, we must build an economy, we must build a nation! We will be the guiding light, all through the world the poor and downtrodden will look to use and be inspired. There will be struggle, yes, and defeat, but our triumph is as inevitable as the wind! And enough wind can make even a mountain break!:

A cheer rose up, coming not from his supporters but from those who had opposed him most bitterly, and from there spreading like fire in a coal mine. He smiled, but raised his hands for quiet and gradually he got it.

"But first we have grave threats that must be overcome. In two weeks, we will likely be facing an army of Tiger Stripes and Imperial Guard and noble mages and class traitors and who knows what else. It may be slower perhaps, but the hammer blow will come soon and hard. We must begin preparing..."

Comrade Bejen nodded. "The Red Guard are with us, and the people, and the army. We will forge a force worthy of the trust you have in me, Comrade."

Comrade Stephan glanced towards a towering church spire. "The Patriarch is here in The City, and leaders of a dozen other faiths. I can convince them to cooperate."

Comrade Livia looked towards the slums. "I am already hearing rumors of counterrevolutionaries having gone to ground. I will hunt them."

Comrade Kylis grinned broadly. "I will see to it that all are united behind us!"

Comrade Delia glanced at some papers she had brought. "The workers of this city will do their part, I promise you that."

Comrade Zenus smiled. "Excellent. Now, why don't we all reconvene in an hour with options for how to accomplish our goals."

The room was stifling...he wanted to go for a walk. But the success of their uprising buoyed his spirits nonetheless.

(The uprising has satisfied Comrade Zenus's desire for action temporarily.)

~30 Resources, +5 per week (This will decrease unless raw materials are found).
0 Wealth
10 Aether

The Committee As A Whole - 4 free dice

Chairman of the Central Committee of the United Kammanist Front - 6 free dice

[] Walk Among the Workers: See the results of the Uprising for yourself, which should prove very satisfying. It will also provide a different perspective on potential issues or solutions. Lastly, it will allow you to personally address grievances. Some might say it's reckless or risky. What are such things to you? DC 0/?? Benefits: ?? Cost: ??

[] Visit the Peasantry: The support the peasants provided before the Uprising was helpful, it would be good to visit them and thank them for their efforts. Further donations of food will be necessary as well, warning them in advance will be helpful. DC 0/25/50. Benefits: Boost to popular support, small boost to food supply. Cost: None

[] Declare a Jubilee: Most of the peasantry labor under crushing debts, as do some of the workers. Declaring all debts invalid will help win support and give them further investment in your victory. DC 0/15/60. Benefits: Boost to popular support. Cost: None

[] Speak to the Army: As important as broad support will be, the most immediate need for support is the soldiers who joined the Uprising. These former Imperial soldiers were often anti-Kammanist or apolitical, or sympathetic at best. Find out what caused the change, make sure they stay loyal. DC ?? Benefits: Better understanding of the army's loyalty and motivations. Cost: None

Commissar of Diplomacy - 3 Diplomacy dice

[] Make Contact with the Front: The Uprising started sooner than it should have to take advantage of an unexpected opportunity. This may have hindered the other planned actions. Send messages, try to use farspeakers, do anything you can to find out what happened. DC 0/30. Benefits: Eventual or immediate contact with allies, find out how they did. Cost: None

[] Make Contact with Friends: Send word to your friends in foreign countries, see what they have heard about you and about what the international response will be. And what help they can offer. DC: 20/40/60. Benefits: Contact with foreign ideological allies, find out what the international reaction is, what aid can be offered. Cost: None

[] Declare Yourselves: Let the world know the Kammanist revolution has begun, and soon the worker shall be freed from their yoke and the lowly uplifted...but what kind of revolution will you be? (Will cause subvote and probable faultlines.)

[] Speak to the Army: As important as broad support will be, the most immediate need for support is the soldiers who joined the Uprising. These former Imperial soldiers were often anti-Kammanist or apolitical, or sympathetic at best. Find out what caused the change, make sure they stay loyal. DC ?? Benefits: Better understanding of the army's loyalty and motivations. Cost: None

[] Educate the Workers: There are enough lower-level members of the Front to give explanations and encouragement to the workers of the city, to teach them the benefits of Kammanism and encourage them to support you. DC 40/80/120. Benefits: Greater support. Cost: Potential Backfire

[] Theological Support: The Patriarch of the Avlandian Orthodox Church is in the city, along with head of a few minority religions and lesser priests and preachers aplenty. Take some time to persuade them that this uprising is to their benefit, make some arguments about the theology - quoting a relevant parable or two might help - and get their support. And if all else fails...you control the city, that can give you options. DC 50/100/150. Benefits: Increased popular support, boost in some faction relations. Cost: Severe potential backfire, slight Front Support cost.

[] An Ear on the Street: The workers are ignorant of what the Revolution means, and will have their own ideas. Have a few low-ranking members hang around taverns and tea shops and other such places, let them report on what rumors they hear. DC 0. Benefits: Access to local rumors. Costs: None

Head Political Officer - 3 Politics Dice

[] Soothe Egos: Quite a few people expected to have better positions than they did. Making sure these problems don't fester is going to be important. You will have to talk quite a few people into putting aside their attitudes for the greater good...shouldn't be a problem. DC 0/25/50. Benefits: Improve unity. Costs: Potential Backfire

[] Speak to the Army: As important as broad support will be, the most immediate need for support is the soldiers who joined the Uprising. These former Imperial soldiers were often anti-Kammanist or apolitical, or sympathetic at best. Find out what caused the change, make sure they stay loyal. DC ?? Benefits: Better understanding of the army's loyalty and motivations. Cost: None

[] Recruit an Assistant: You know your illiteracy can be a problem, there's just never enough time to fix it. Another stopgap will have to do: finding someone who can read for you. You'll have to make sure they are trustworthy, which shouldn't be too much of a problem. DC 0/?? Benefits: Reduce No Education penalty by 8. Cost: ??

[] Check the Mood: The Front's mood is likely to be jubilant, as is that of the workers. Have a few trustworthy individuals go and make sure this is true, and see if there are any potential concerns that need to be addressed. DC 0/?? Benefits: Assess mood, access to local rumors. Cost: ??

[] Organize the Workers: The concept of Worker's Councils and unions are vital for Kammanism, explain to the workers how it works and help them get their council running. Stay on hand for the inevitable teething problem. 0/45. Benefits: Small bonus to industrial actions. Cost: None.

Chief Economic Commissar - 4 Industrial Dice

[] Institute Rationing: As unpopular as it will be, there isn't enough food to go around, and raw materials will probably be lacking soon too. You will need to set limits on how much people can eat and use personally. You will make sure the Front obeys these limits too. DC ??/60/?? Benefits: Slows decline of food and industrial situations. Cost: Unpopular, risk of overshooting.

[] Restart the Printing Presses: Pamphlets and posters were very useful for recruiting people to the Front before the Uprising, they will be useful after as well. Get the printing presses going again. DC: 0. Benefit: Unlocks new Diplomacy and Political Actions. Cost: 1 Resource per die.

[] Guns and Ammo: Soldiers cannot fight without weapons, but they cannot fight without the supplies for these weapons either. Get the gunshops producing again so the militia can be armed, so that the soldiers do not run low. 0/50. Benefit: Unlocks new military actions, ensures ample supplies of ammunition for small arms. Cost: 1 Resource and 1 Aether per die.

[] Examine the Mage Guilds: The guilds were unfortunately damaged to some degree in the fighting, and their wards are up, but there should be ways around both those problems. Inside them could be all sorts of vital resources...Aether crystals, lesson plans for mages, guides to spells or autocasters...DC 25/50/75/100. Benefit: Unlocks new industrial actions, increases Aether, ??. Cost: None

[] Feed the Hungry, Clothe the Needy, House the Homeless: These are the basic tenets of Kammanism, the basic goals of any sane society. Establish soup kitchens, house the homeless in abandoned palaces, take spare clothes to give to those without. DC 20/40/60/80. Benefit: Boost to popular support, Front Support. Cost: 1 Resource per die.

[] Organize the Workers: The concept of Worker's Councils and unions are vital for Kammanism, explain to the workers how it works and help them get their council running. Stay on hand for the inevitable teething problem. 0/45. Benefits: Small bonus to industrial actions. Cost: None.

[] Integrate Female Workers: Women can work just as well as men. Equality is a tenet of Kammanism. So, as unpopular as it may be, you will encourage the women of The City to join men in the factories for equal hours, equal pay, and equal work. DC 0/20/40/60/80. Benefit: Front Support, small bonus to industrial actions, potential popular support. Cost: Potential popular support.

Chief Commander of the People's Military - 4 Military Dice

[] Speak to the Army: As important as broad support will be, the most immediate need for support is the soldiers who joined the Uprising. These former Imperial soldiers were often anti-Kammanist or apolitical, or sympathetic at best. Find out what caused the change, make sure they stay loyal. DC 0/?? Benefits: Better understanding of the army's loyalty and motivations. Cost: None

[] Speak to the Militia: There were many who joined the Uprising spontaneously, out of anger at the nobles and capitalists. Will they still fight beside you? Are they willing to undergo the needed training? Can you trust them? These are all very important questions. DC 0/?? Benefits: Better understanding of the militia's loyalty and motivations, new military options unlocked. Cost: None

[] Begin Scouting Operations: What's outside The City is a pretty big blank to you. Send small groups of the Red Guards out to the immediate area, get an idea of who and what is out there so you can begin planning more significant options. DC: 0/?? Benefits: Potential new military actions, will be able to spot enemy forces from further away. Cost: 100-500 Red Guard

[] Begin Scouting Operations, High Duke edition: Send a small group of trusted men to scout out the High Duke and his apparently very fearsome army - Tiger Stripes are the most elite soldiers in the Empire, and you don't want to know what else he has...except you very much do, so you can prepare for it. DC 0/??. Benefits: Information on the High Duke's army. Cost: 10-100 Red Guard.

[] Patrol the City: Someone has been attacking Front members, and you don't trust the police to do the policing anymore. Have members of the Red Guard and militia do it, along with perhaps a few trustworthy members of the force to add some legitimacy. DC: 0/??. Benefits: Order kept in the city, chance of catching the armed bandits. Cost: 500-1000 Red Guard, 500-1000 Militia.

[] City Fighting: You have never fought in a city before. You will need to work out what sort of tactics will work best. Some possibilities come to mind, some more gruesome than others. DC: 0/50, partial progress provide partial benefits. Benefits: Develop doctrine and tactics for urban fighting, unlocks new military and industrial options. Cost: None


Assistant Secretary - 3 Intrigue Dice

[] Find Them: There are armed bandits attacking those who simply wish to bring peace and prosperity to all. Find them, hunt them, and kill them. And show no mercy. DC ?? Benefits: Dead bandits. Cost: Potentially: Innocents, popular support, Front Support

[] Find Them Gently: If you wish to be more careful, you can use slower but safer methods to find those responsible for such abominable crimes. And then show no mercy. DC ??. Benefits: Dead bandits. Cost: Potentially Front members and Front Support

[] An Ear to the Ground: Have a few trusted friends go and listen to what people are complaining about, seek out counterrevolutionary activity, and make friends of their own who will pass on what they hear. 0/25. Benefits: Beginnings of information network, access to local rumor mill. Cost: None

[] Refugee Spies: Have a few very trusted friends pretend to be upper-class fleeing The City or police who survived the Uprising. Send them to the High Duke, have them join the army and look for opportunities to spy or sabotage or assassinate. 0/30. Benefit: Options and information. Cost: None

[] Bodyguards: It will only mitigate the harm, but having trusted men and women guard those vital to the cause will help reduce the damage the bandits will do. And if they are liable to complain, they don't need to know... DC 0/60/80. Benefit: Security for VIPS. Cost: None, potential Front Support

[] Criminal Contacts: Your "friends" will likely have gone to ground, but you might be able to seek them out. They could be a source of information, equipment, or magic...although none of it will be fully trustworthy. DC 75. Benefit: Contact with criminals, new options. Cost: potential popular support.

 

[notbirdofprey]

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.

 

[notbirdofprey]

Rumor Mill - Local

The Kammanists have risen! A feared and mysterious band of anarchists and criminals, these radical individuals have successfully killed the Emperor, may the Holy One welcome him, and many of the honored nobility as well. Their cruelty and depravity know no bounds as they hold The City in the grip of red terror, their mad rule enforced by armed bandits and...soup kitchens...well, they are probably making the soup with the blood of children. The populace is largely cowed, even the peasants outside the rule of the warcaster and boot have been seduced with promises of land reform, justice, and the erasure of the debts they owe to their betters.

The Okharana attack! The Tyrant's Hounds, the slaughterers of the innocent, feared by noble and commoner alike, the Okharana lurk in The City, attacking those who are guilty of no crime but desiring a better world. A dozen cowardly attacks have been foiled, albeit not without cost as they set an orphanage on fire and slaughtered a group of people waiting in line to purchase bread. The heroic efforts of the Red Guard have forced them away, but the people must be wary, for these criminals still lurk in the city!

Battle at Devrograd! The Red Guard marched out to spread the revolution, but the High Duke, may the Holy One cast him out, had proved faster. The two forces met at Devrograd, and a fierce firefight ensued. The town was burned, and widows grieved in the ash-choked streets. Two hundred Tiger Stripes fell, and a thousand more of the Duke's soldiers, but in the end, sheer numbers forced the Red Guard back. Surely they will return though, and bring peace and prosperity with them!

Rumor Mill - National

The Emperor deposed! A conspiracy of aristocrats, angered by the Emperor submitting to the demands of the Belugar Pact and removing his troops from the newly liberated nations of the southern Avlisi, deposed him, but the palace guard killed enough of the ringleaders in the process that there was no suitable candidate left. Though a just reward for such traitors, it left a power vacuum at the worst possible time. Kammanists have risen in rebellion in Imprado, Avla, Maltka, Selvada, Olvo, and Korvio, openly flying their red banners in triumph, while similar uprisings were crushed in dozens of other cities. Surely order will be restored soon...even as word spreads of more and more rebellions against the natural order. Democrats, anarchists, extremists of every stripe are rising!
Steppe Bandits Declare Independence! The steppe bandits, those wild and primitive people north of the mountains, have ever been restive under the benevolence of Imperial rule. In fairness, they did have grievances, but they were given many honors and far more restitution than what was deserved. In any case, they have seen fit to spit upon their betters as a thousand clan chiefs gathered in Barga-Horvko for their holiday, and begun preparing a declaration of their independence! Reliable sources say that the Hipponi have already sent an ambassador to promise support! Such treachery has not gone unnoticed, nor will it go unpunished!

International News

The International Forum Decries Violence! The Great Treaty was supposed to bring an end to war forever, but a dozen more have begun as the dust settles. Civil war in the Ottomi Empire, ethnic strife in the Monomi Protectorates, the Reorganized Ottomi Territory, and the Brestora region, unrest in the Avlandian Empire...these have led the International Forum, in a motion introduced by Breton, to condemn this violence and ask for the aggrieved parties to allow for neutral arbitration. Meanwhile, Aquita has demanded further economic compensation from the Doytch, ignoring complaints of economic freefall.

Strikes Through the World! A dozen national strikes have begun in the Doytch Republic, in Lustena, in Napelti. Even the wealthy Brevadians have found themselves troubled by unrest. Perhaps these movements herald the beginning of a worldwide revolution! Or if not, they will surely trouble the capitalists and aristocrats if they move to intervene against us. Some rumors speak of soldiers turning their weapons on their officers and joining the strikes, while others decry the movements as cesspits of chaos and violence.

What You Know:

Not all of Comrade Stefan's messages have been returned, but that was largely expected. Not everyone had farspeakers or was close enough for a messenger to reach them and return or had a messenger successfully make it through bandit-ridden and war-torn land, much of which would be likely hostile. But you have heard from some comrades:

Imprado was won in a hard-fought battle that ended with a section of the city burning down. The commander of the Red Guard there claimed it was a last piece of defiance by the police, but the messenger had his suspicions.

Maltka is apparently under siege. Red banners fly from the roofs of many buildings, but gangs of peasants led by priests and police and small, ragged army detachments surround it, although they seemed to be fighting each other as well.

Selvada and Olvo were perhaps even more successful than you, with Olvo, in particular, had the local police joining the rising Red Guard, leading to a very brief battle. The two cities have joined together and are preparing to liberate the surrounding towns before relieving Maltka. They have instituted a number of reforms, several of which the Central Committee approves of and plans to implement.

Korvio has joined you as well after fierce fighting, but the battle was won when sailors of the Imperial Navy mutinied, seizing the two light cruisers in port. Their guns harassed the fleeing troops, and they plan to move to seize Valtenberg soon.

Balink had its uprising suppressed, and the city is under the control of an alliance of nobles and capitalists, but though they have clamped down heavily there is still a large and active Kammanist movement, albeit one only loosely allied with you.

Trokograd and Dedregrad are under the control of an alliance of nationalists, Kammanists, and anarchists who have formed an uneasy triumvirate. They seem locked in a deadlock, and little progress is being made.

Devato had a brief, abortive uprising crushed by local detachments of the Imperial Army.

 

[notbirdofprey]

Few were greatly pleased by the final declaration, but Comrade Zenus took a great delight in reading it out loud nonetheless.

"The abuses the aristocracy and capitalist powers inflicted upon the people of Avlandia are too many to list here, and they shall be redressed, fairly and justly in the eyes of all. Kammanism is an inevitability coming to its final realization, not just here but in all places where the worker is oppressed. As we begun our own Revolution, we call upon our comrades, for this is the time and place! The international ideals untie the human race!

And when our final victory is won and the capitalist structures of oppression lie defeated, then we shall grant political freedom and liberty that is the sacred right of all humanity. Every voice shall be weighed, every life shall matter, every right shall be held sacred and sacrosanct. Already, we have begun the liberation of the worker!"

His voice echoed over the farspeaker. Only time would tell what sort of reaction he would get. However, the Central Committee seemed pleased, with several members, led by Comrade Zandi, applauding Comrade Stefan for his commitment, although he seemed a tad uncertain about it. Still, the Front remained wholly unified for the time being, which all agreed was for the better.

Meanwhile, reports had come back from her spies, and the "Assistant Secretary" gave a thin smile as she delivered them.

Firstly, the High Duke did have Tiger Stripes, but only two hundred of them. Still a potent force, but not the terror they had been envisioning, especially since they were no more immune to a rapidcaster than anyone else. He had about two thousand Imperial soldiers, five hundred police, and about eight thousand barely trained peasantry. Said peasantry was nearly constantly deserting, but more were also being brought in. They had barely any enthusiasm for fighting, especially after the Declaration.

He also had a hundred mages, apparently being trained in warding spell in lieu of actual wardstones.

Most of these troops were stationed at the Duke's estates. Some two thousand, a mix of the peasantry, police, and Imperial soldiers, were placed elsewhere. If they had truly heavy weaponry, it was with those soldiers.

Secondly, the High Duke had been wounded. No one was clear on how - they heard it was in a duel with a noble, a wound from an assassin, an old injury returning with a vengeance, a training accident...he was commanding the army, but from a bed, and was carried about a litter when he goes marching.

The workers and peasants were deathly quiet. Many had fled the High Duke, and those who attempted to fight have their heads lining the town square, but the soldiers who looted and raped "excessively" shared that honor.

The news of the High Duke's injury was best received, for it seemed they now outnumbered his army, and the discussion turned to how best take advantage of this.

Meanwhile, in the city below, people with food in their bellies and joy in their heart found ways to occupy themselves. Music filled the streets, and dancing, but it had an almost frenetic air. The people knew the High Duke was coming, they knew the Imperial Secret Police were lurking somewhere in the city, and for all they celebrated their new prosperity and listened eagerly to the speeches promising more, many thought it a dream. The churches in the city filled too, as people prayed desperately, and few of the priests were willing to offer them assurances of victory...

The Central Committee knew all this. They knew what they needed to do. Victory would be inevitable.

~32 Resources, +5 per week (This will decrease unless raw materials are found).
0 Wealth
16 Aether
2 Wealth

Food Situation: Stable-ish, vulnerable to attack or angry peasants
Manpower: Way more than needed for current industries
Ammunition: Low, the amount is trending upwards
Personal Weapons: None being produced, damaged ones can be repaired
Heavy Weapons: None being produced
Artillery: None being produced
Coal/Wood: Few weeks of supply

Politics:

Current Factions: None, the Front is notified. No fault lines...for now.
Front Support: 80, some concern over a lack of reform
Other Groups: N/A
Popular Support: 80 from the urban workers, 70 from the peasants


The Committee As A Whole - 5 free dice

[] The Reform Commission: There are many injustices in the city, you all know this very well. But Create a sub-committee dedicated entirely to instituting reforms. 0/20. Benefits: Opportunity to appease people by appointing them to head the committee, Gain 2 dice dedicated solely to reform actions. Cost: -1 permanent Politics die.

[] Industrial Assistance: The sheer number of urgent industrial projects is ballooning rapidly. Several lower members of the Worker's Committee have put together a proposal to create a more centralized planning system and recruit former civil servants for it to provide more logistical support. 0/25. Benefits: +2 Industrial dice. Cost: ??

Chairman of the Central Committee of the United Kammanist Front - 6 free dice

[] Walk Among the Workers: See the results of the Uprising for yourself, which should prove very satisfying. It will also provide a different perspective on potential issues or solutions. Lastly, it will allow you to personally address grievances. Some might say it's reckless or risky. What are such things to you? DC 0/?? Benefits: Satisfies your desire for action, >> Cost: ??

[] Recruit the Peasantry: Even as they feed your workers, you are aware there is more they could be doing. Ask them to fight for you, to join your cause, to take up the warcaster against the coming men who will ravage their farms, steal their crops, and turn them back into serfs. DC 40/80. Benefits: Boost to militia size. Cost: Less peasants working

[] The Eight-Hour Workday: You have laborers aplenty, with not enough for them to do, and they tax their bodies far beyond what is reasonable. You are not insensitive to either of these issues, and based on the suggestion of your comrades you will declare a maximum eight-hour workday for all. DC: 0/20/ Benefits: Boost to popular support, Front Support, pleases members of the Committee, reduces amount of free labor. Cost: Reduces amount of free labor.

[] Talk to the Towns: There are more than a dozen towns within two day's ride. Each of these places was briefly investigated by the Red Guard and found to contain no major hostile presence, but they do contain oppressed workers, valuable industry, and raw materials. Visit them with a few infantry and Red Guard and persuade them to join your cause. DC ?? Benefits: Towns peacefully join you, satisfy your desire for action. Cost: Risky

Commissar of Diplomacy - 3 Diplomacy dice

[] Send Farspeakers: You have some extra farspeaker sets. You have comrades you can only communicate with through messengers. The solution seems simple enough. DC 0. Benefits: Get better ways to communicate and coordinate with allies. Cost: None

[] Make Contact with Friends: Send word to your friends in foreign countries, see what they have heard about you and about what the international response will be. And what help they can offer. DC: 20/40/60. Benefits: Contact with foreign ideological allies, find out what the international reaction is, what aid can be offered. Cost: None

[] Educate the Workers: There are enough lower-level members of the Front to give explanations and encouragement to the workers of the city, to teach them the benefits of Kammanism and encourage them to support you. DC 40/80/120. Benefits: Greater support. Cost: Potential Backfire

[] Theological Support: The Patriarch of the Avlandian Orthodox Church is in the city, along with head of a few minority religions and lesser priests and preachers aplenty. Take some time to persuade them that this uprising is to their benefit, make some arguments about the theology - quoting a relevant parable or two might help - and get their support. And if all else fails...you control the city, that can give you options. DC 50/100/150. Benefits: Increased popular support, boost in some faction relations. Cost: Severe potential backfire, slight Front Support cost.

[] Look Into Laws: While Imperial Law is a complicated and confusing subject, you have the education to understand it, and can begin drafting a new code of laws based around justice for the worker, equality for all, and other such important concepts. 0/??. Benefits: Gains free reforms at thresholds, opportunities for Front Support and popular support. Cost: Will decay if not taken every turn, opportunities may cost support or create factions.

[] Recruit for the Militia: The militia will likely compose the majority of your forces if you have to fight anytime soon...which you certainly will. The people are with you, direct their impulses in a constructive method by having them join your militia and shed blood for the cause. DC: 0/30/60/90. Benefits: Steady increase to militia size. Cost: Manpower

[] Request Aid: There are two cities close enough to potentially send you sizable reinforcements or equipment shipments. Though it is more than a little embarrassing to ask it of them, you could ask their executive committees to help you as you prepare to fight off the High Duke. DC: 0/?? Benefits: Gain reinforcements and/or equipment. Cost: Front Support

[] Coordinate an Attack: Maltka seems a potential dagger, as well as a comrade in need of aid. Work with the committees in Olvo, Selvada, and Korvio to prepare for a coordinated strike against the forces besieging it. DC: 0/?? Benefits: Gain allied support for an operation against Maltka. Cost: Will commit you to an operation against Maltka, and soon.

Head Political Officer - 3 Politics Dice

[] Integrate the Worker's Councils: You have promised people liberation and representation. Now you must act on your word, or risk looking like hypocrites. Worker's councils have already begun forming, now encourage this and give these councils a greater degree of influence, integrating them into the structure of the Front. DC 30/60/90. Benefits: Fulfill promises, greater degree of democratization. Costs: ??

[] Check the Mood: The Front's mood is likely to be jubilant, as is that of the workers. Have a few trustworthy individuals go and make sure this is true, and see if there are any potential concerns that need to be addressed. DC 0/?? Benefits: Assess mood, access to local rumors. Cost: ??

[] Organize the Workers: The concept of Worker's Councils and unions are vital for Kammanism, explain to the workers how it works and help them get their council running. Stay on hand for the inevitable teething problem. 0/45. Benefits: Small permanent bonus to industrial actions. Cost: None.

[] The Reform Commission: There are many injustices in the city, you know this very well. But your assistant has really driven it home for you. Create a sub-committee dedicated entirely to instituting reforms. 0/20. Benefits: Opportunity to appease people by appointing them to head the committee, Gain 2 dice dedicated solely to reform actions. Cost: -1 permanent Politics Die.

[] Starting Schools: Your assistant is literate, but relatively few are. And many of those who are taught are educated in brutal environments, or else spoiled by tutors. And they learn history and economy and ideology that is all wrong. Get new schools started, for all children alike. You will likely only be able to teach the basics for a long time, but it is better than nothing. 0/40. Benefits: Beginnings of an education system established, ensures children are taken care of during the workday. Cost: ??

[] Political Officers: The new army is apparently very moderate politically. You are confident they will understand more about why they need to fight for Kammanism if they are given better explanations. Find the most impressive members of the Red Guard and appoint them as political officers to provide support and education to the army. DC: 0/50/100/ Benefits: Army grows politically radically, increases morale. Cost: Potential backlash.

[] The Eight-Hour Workday: You have laborers aplenty, with not enough for them to do, and they tax their bodies far beyond what is reasonable. You are not insensitive to either of these issues, and based on the suggestion of your comrades you will declare a maximum eight-hour workday for all. DC: 0/20/ Benefits: Boost to popular support, Front Support, pleases members of the Committee, reduces amount of free labor. Cost: Reduces amount of free labor.

Chief Economic Commissar - 4 Industrial Dice

[] The Eight-Hour Workday: You have laborers aplenty, with not enough for them to do, and they tax their bodies far beyond what is reasonable. You are not insensitive to either of these issues, and based on the suggestion of your comrades you will declare a maximum eight-hour workday for all. DC: 0/20/ Benefits: Boost to popular support, Front Support, pleases members of the Committee, reduces amount of free labor. Cost: Reduces amount of free labor.

[] Institute Rationing: As unpopular as it will be, there isn't quite enough food to go around, and raw materials will probably be lacking soon too. You will need to set limits on how much people can eat and use personally. You will make sure the Front obeys these limits too. DC ??/60/?? Benefits: Slows decline of food and industrial situations. Cost: Unpopular, risk of overshooting.

[] Restart the Printing Presses: Pamphlets and posters were very useful for recruiting people to the Front before the Uprising, they will be useful after as well. Get the printing presses going again. DC: 0. Benefit: Unlocks new Diplomacy and Political Actions. Cost: 1 Resource per die.

[] Guns and Ammo: Soldiers cannot fight without weapons, but they cannot fight without the supplies for these weapons either. Get the gunshops producing again so the militia can be armed, so that the soldiers do not run low. 44/50. Benefit: Unlocks new military actions, ensures ample supplies of ammunition for small arms. Cost: 1 Resource and 1 Aether per die.

[] Expand the Kitchens: The food kitchens have proven helpful, and the free clothing has kept many warm. Now is the time to capitalize on this, to spread out your reforms to show the benefits of Kammanism to the peasants as well. DC 50/80/110. Benefit: Boost to popular support, Front Support. Cost: 1 Resource per die.

[] Organize the Workers: The concept of Worker's Councils and unions are vital for Kammanism, explain to the workers how it works and help them get their council running. Stay on hand for the inevitable teething problem. 0/45. Benefits: Small permanent bonus to industrial actions. Cost: None.

[] Integrate Female Workers: Women can work just as well as men. Equality is a tenet of Kammanism. So, as unpopular as it may be, you will encourage the women of The City to join men in the factories for equal hours, equal pay, and equal work. DC 0/20/40/60/80. Benefit: Front Support, small bonus to industrial actions, potential popular support. Cost: Potential popular support.

[] Seize the Gunpowder Works: The gunpowder is a vital military resource. It cannot be in the hands of those who harbor counterrevolutionary sympathies. Remove the workers there and replace them with new ones who are more reliable. 0/25. Benefit: Gunpowder production secured. Cost: Will alert any counterrevolutionaries.

[] Restart the Looms: Though there is currently enough clothing for everyone, winter is only beginning, and it will grow colder. Get the looms and clothing factories running again, producing nice thick wool for everyone. DC: 0/??. Benefit: Clothing supplies for future secured. Cost: 1 Resource per die.

[] Horses and Carts: If you want the army to be able to move efficiently, they will need horses and carts to carry their supplies if they are going anywhere away from the Aetherail. Begin collection and organization of both for when they will be needed. 0/30. Benefit: Military logistics improved. Cost: 1 Resource per die, peasant support.

[] Securing Fuel: Wood and coal are precious resources, needed for cooking, for warmth, for various other essentials. There is a barely used coal mine near enough to the city, and some forests as well. Send parties out to claim both and begin mining and cutting trees. 0/25. Benefit: Fuel supply improved. Cost: Manpower.

[] Launch Airships: The army had a few airships stockpiled in their barracks, but the pilots had to be imprisoned and they have no fuel. Begin fixing both those problems so that you will gain a powerful asset - though they are light ships, only really suitable for scouting and a little bombardment, they are likely to be more than what anyone else has right now. 0/30. Benefit: Gain 5 light airships. Cost: 1 Aether per die

[] Industrial Assistance: The sheer number of urgent industrial projects is ballooning rapidly. It is overwhelming you! Several lower members of the Worker's Committee have put together a proposal to create a more centralized planning system and recruit former civil servants for it to provide more logistical support. As much as that would be nice, you are concerned about the reliability of those they will recruit. 0/25. Benefits: +2 Industrial dice. Cost: ??

[] Identify Mages: While not as ideal as an autocaster (they can't go as long or cast as precisely), mages are extremely useful industrially. And you have a way to identify those with the potential to become them. Use the new dowsing tools to identify those among your populace with the necessary gifts. 0/?? Benefits: Will gain new mages at intervals, unlocks new industrial and military actions. Cost: 1 Aether per die.

[] Agricultural Autocaster Construction: Agricultural autocasters could be used for a variety of functions, depending on the design. They could pull a plow, harvest, thresh, propel pests...the possibilities are limitless. And you have designs for several different kinds. Begin the construction of a factory for these. 0/35. Benefits: Improved yields, popular support. Cost: 5 Aether and 10 Resources per die. Will accelerate raw material problems.

[] Light Warcaster Construction: Though you will want to finish reorganizing the existing armament production, you now have the schematics to build modern personal warcasters, which will be essential for equipping the surely enormous armies you will be fielding. Though expensive, it will be vital. 0/40. Benefits: More weaponry (Rifle and pistol equivalents). Cost: 5 Aether and 10 Resources per die. Will accelerate raw material problems. Cannot be completed until Guns and Ammo is.

[] Heavy Warcaster Construction: Though you will want to finish reorganizing the existing armament production, you now have the schematics to build modern heavy warcasters, which will be essential for improving the firepower of your troops. Though expensive, it will be vital. 0/40. Benefits: More weaponry (Machine guns, rifle grenades, and sniper rifle equivalents). Cost: 5 Aether and 10 Resources per die. Will accelerate raw material problems. Cannot be completed until Guns and Ammo is.

[] Light Spellblaster Construction: Though you will want to finish reorganizing the existing armament production, you now have the schematics to build modern light spellblasters. Though expensive, and not as potent as the truly enormous spellblasters used during the Great War, they will be a significant improvement in the firepower of your troops. 0/60. Benefits: More weaponry. (Mortar and field artillery equivalents). Cost: 5 Aether and 10 Resources per die. Will accelerate raw material problems. Cannot be completed until Guns and Ammo is.

[] Wardstone Production: Though you will want to finish reorganizing the existing armament production, you now have the schematics to build modern wardstones. These are unquestionably vital for making your forces capable of standing up to a modern army. 0/30. Benefits: More wardstones. Cost: 5 Aether and 5 Resources per die. Will accelerate raw material problems. Cannot be completed until Guns and Ammo is.

[] Repair the Advanced Facilities: Now that the basics of armaments are being produced, you can repair the more advanced and specialized warcaster and wardstone and spellblaster faculties, gaining you a steady supply of powerful weapons and the necessary ammunition for them. 0/40. Benefits: Increase in weaponry and ammunition. Access to heavier weaponry and more wardstones. Cost: 2 Aether and 2 Resources per die. Cannot be completed until Guns and Ammo is. Will accelerate raw material problems.

[] Improvised Explosives: Gunpowder, Aether crystals, and a few other ingredients mixed together in a small can or jar. They are not the most effective weaponry, but they are cheap and easy to produce and may be worth their weight in gold for urban or trench fighting. 0/20 Benefits: Improvised hand grenades and larger explosives. Cost: 1 Aether and 1 Resources per die. Will accelerate raw material problems.

Chief Commander of the People's Military - 4 Military Dice

[] Begin Scouting Operations, High Duke edition: Send a small group of trusted men to scout out the High Duke and his apparently very fearsome army - Tiger Stripes are the most elite soldiers in the Empire, and you don't want to know what else he has...except you very much do, so you can prepare for it. DC 0/??. Benefits: Information on the High Duke's army. Cost: 10-100 Red Guard.

[] Patrol the City: Someone has been attacking Front members, and you don't trust the police to do the policing anymore. Have members of the Red Guard and militia do it, along with perhaps a few trustworthy members of the force to add some legitimacy. DC: 0/??. Benefits: Order kept in the city, chance of catching the armed bandits. Cost: 500-1000 Red Guard, 500-1000 Militia.

[] City Fighting: You have never fought in a city before. You will need to work out what sort of tactics will work best. Some possibilities come to mind, some more gruesome than others. DC: 0/50, partial progress provides partial benefits. Benefits: Develop doctrine and tactics for urban fighting, unlocks new military and industrial options. Cost: None

[] Create the Office of Operations: You commanded soldiers yes, but never more than a few hundred at a time. Most of the men with you are in a similar or even worse boat. The only ones with operational experience are the imprisoned officers. Recruit a few of them, put them together with your most trusted officers, and have them work together to create operational plans. 0/20. Benefits: Gain 3 Operational Dice. Cost: -1 Military die, reduces Front Support

[] Political Officers: The new army is apparently very moderate politically. You are confident they will understand more about why they need to fight for Kammanism if they are given better explanations. Find the most impressive members of the Red Guard and appoint them as political officers to provide support and education to the army. DC: 0/40/80. Benefits: Army grows politically radically, increases morale. Cost: Potential backlash.

[] Militia Drill: You don't have the spare weaponry to improve the equipment of the militia, or to train them in shooting, but you can teach them the most basic parts of being a soldier: how to work together, how to march, how to move. 0/80. Benefits: Militia training and morale improve. Cost: None

[] Red Guard Shooting: The Red Guard are skilled and experienced, by and large, but they cannot match the trained veterans of the Imperial Army who have joined you. Have them share some experience, have the Guard practice shooting, turn your most determined troops into your most effective ones. 0/80. Benefits: Red Guard training improves. Cost: None

[] The Protclow Protocol: Signed in the capital of the Doytch Empire nearly sixty years ago, the Protclow Protocol is an agreement between all civilized nations in how to conduct war, especially in regards to noncombatants and prisoners. Agreeing to follow it will win you some approval with the former Imperial Army, plus it's the right thing to do. The hard part will be drilling it into your soldiers, especially the militia. 0/80. Benefits: The moral high ground, the approval of the army, ?? Cost: Breaking your word has consequences.

[] Scout Devrograd: There is a confirmed hostile presence in the town of Devrograd, which you had hoped to take for yourselves. How many men are there, how well equipped are they? These are the things you do not know...and you will likely need to know before you launch an attack. DC 0/??. Benefits: Information on the defenses in Devrograd. Cost: 100-200 Red Guard

[] Take the Towns: There are small towns aplenty scattered around with no defenses but rag-tag, demoralized civilian militias and a few bands of police. You will almost certainly have supporters in every one as well. Send out the Red Guard and the army to take control of these places, they will be vital for the spreading and success of the Revolution! DC: 0/??. Benefits: Gain control of many towns, increase to Resources and Aether, access to more raw materials. Costs: 1000 Red Guard, 2000-4000 Army

[] Take Devrograd: The only way to get troops in force across the river passes through Devrograd. Move swiftly to seize it from the High Duke and turn it into a stronghold of the Revolution. DC: 0/??. Benefits: Gain control of Devrograd.


Assistant Secretary - 3 Intrigue Dice

[] Find Them: There are armed bandits attacking those who simply wish to bring peace and prosperity to all. Find them, hunt them, and kill them. And show no mercy. DC ?? Benefits: Dead bandits. Cost: Potentially: Innocents, popular support, Front Support

[] Find Them Gently: If you wish to be more careful, you can use slower but safer methods to find those responsible for such abominable crimes. And then show no mercy. DC ??. Benefits: Dead bandits. Cost: Potentially Front members and Front Support

[] Follow Them: You have leads now, thanks to your hidden guards and patrols. Follow those leads, find the heart of this conspiracy, and rip it out root and stem. Nothing can be allowed to threaten the revolution. DC: ??. Benefits: Find the bandits. Cost: ??

[] An Ear to the Ground: Have a few trusted friends go and listen to what people are complaining about, seek out counterrevolutionary activity, and make friends of their own who will pass on what they hear. 0/25. Benefits: Beginnings of information network, access to local rumor mill. Cost: None

[] Criminal Contacts: Your "friends" will likely have gone to ground, but you might be able to seek them out. They could be a source of information, equipment, or magic...although none of it will be fully trustworthy. DC 75. Benefit: Contact with criminals, new options. Cost: potential popular support.

[] Balink Support: Revolutionary sentiment still stirs in Balink. If you can fan those flames, you will gain another potent ally. Even if your efforts fail, you will still have distracted counterrevolutionary forces and delayed any efforts at suppressing you. DC 80/160. Benefit: Support for allies in Balink. Cost: ??

 

[notbirdofprey]

Lisov had not been a Kammanist for very long, but he was well and truly committed now. He had joined the Revolution in Selvada, fighting alongside the great mass of workers, but before that the closest he had come was attempting to join a newly formed union that had been crushed by the police. Even during the Summer Revolts and their strikes, he had kept his head down and simply avoided showing up.

But now he had seen the truth, and while he had not thrown all the trappings of his old ways away - he still went to church at least once a week, even if the priest avoided offering him a blessing now - he was as fervent a supporter as could be wished for.

That seemed to be the reason he was one of ten men sent north to The City, to report on the successes of the revolutions and the grand reforms that have been implemented. Or more accurately, he would escort the man who would be doing the report: Comrade Isaek, a tall, balding man with glasses and a nose that made Lisov think of the eagle he had seen in a menagerie once.

He was energetic, always pacing in the Aetherail car that stank of horses and let in all the cold. And he had apparently dedicated himself to educating his guards in Kammanist theory while they rode to Avla.

"You see, ever since the origins of humanity, the world has been divided into the haves and the have-nots, into owners and workers. This has taken many forms, but the most recent and the most powerful is the capitalist - by virtue of having some amount of wealth, he gains control over the means of producing wealth. And this control lets him suck away value from the workers for his own gain, often co-opting institutions of state..."

Lisov let it wash over him. He did not care overmuch for the theory. He cared for the freeing of prisoners who had been jailed for not licking police boots, he cared for the feeding of the hungry, the healing of the sick, the declaration that no mage would be turned away from the guilds for "lack of reliability, the thousand ways the lives of people had been made better.

And he cared for the way the revolution had felt, as they rose up, the dogs of capital and aristocracy falling and fleeing, the sensation of unstoppable momentum that flowed through him like his own blood as he took a trooper's truncheon and smashed the man down with it, as they broke down the palaces of the wealthy and took the stolen wealth for their own. He had a necklace he had gained from one such triumph, a fine thing of silver and sapphires. He intended to give it to Kristala when this was all over when he asked her to marry him. Perhaps they would have a palace of their own, but he would be content with a simple flat, one large enough that the children could have a separate room and warm enough they wouldn't freeze.

The Aetherail eventually stopped, long after Comrade Isaek had stopped talking. The door to the car slid open, revealing The City.

It glittered. The Imperial Palace, though scorched by fire, still loomed over the city with imperious disdain for the going-ons below; a thousand temples and churches had their spires rise towards the sky. He looked towards the Great Cathedral where the bones of the Holy Prophet and the Patriarchs lay, and he kissed his fingers at the sight.

Comrade Isaek was greeting another man with an enthusiastic hug and the two kissed each other's cheeks. "You old rascal, you're still alive!" the comrade exclaimed...to the other comrade, probably.

"Alive and in command of all forces serving the Revolution and the people. Come, the rest of the Committee is eager to meet you," he said.

They walked through the streets, which were full of great teeming masses of people. Many seemed to be wandering somewhat, but he saw hundreds of musicians, playing in a joyous racket that made it hard to hear the conversation between the two men.

He could see the smoke rising from some factories, and the Aether twisting around others, but they didn't seem enough to occupy the people. Lisov approved, he had hated his factory job, and while he knew some would have to continue them it was good only a few needed to. He wondered what the rest would do, surely not everyone could farm or fight?

They arrived at the city's mage guild and were led through halls lit by everburning flames. Blank spots on the wall and empty plinths showed where portraits and sculptures had been removed, but others had been left in place.

They were ushered into a broad room overlooking the river and a sunk pleasure barge that lay on its side. The room was plain, but Lisov could see hints of gilding removed, and one or two of the chairs were ornately carved or plushly furnished. A broad circular table filled the room, covered with maps and reports.

Around the table sat about two dozen people. The man who had been speaking with Comrade Isaek took his seat next to a man in a red and black cloak. Lisov glanced at the varied faces. About a third were women. Several looked foreign, he was pretty sure one was a steppe bandit, but all sat up sharply and watched them carefully. One, in particular, a woman, had eyes so cold they made Lisov shiver.

Comrade Isaek began to report on the success of the revolution so far, describing with bombastic enthusiasm as the nobles and soldiers were chased out or surrounded, how the workers had rallied.

"We have begun implementing the first steps to Kammanism - all members of the owner class have been extirpated, the factories are worker-owned now. Shops will be next, but for now, they serve their purpose. The wealth of the aristocracy is being distributed to the people or stored for future use. We have limited the workday to eight hours, established our own court system to ensure fairer trials, and begun giving the workers explanations on Kammanist theory."

What followed next was a blistering argument between Isaek and one of the women about...something to do with extirpation, which was eventually cut short by the man in the cloak coughing.

"What I want to know is how you have been feeding your people. We have not implemented so many sweeping reforms...although we intend to. Our priority was securing the loyalty of the peasantry through debt abolishment and the destruction of serfdom, as well as preparing for war...by doing so, we managed to feed the city through voluntary donations."

The man leaned forwards. "How did you do it?"

Comrade Isaek began to stutter and stammer. Sweat ran down his forehead, as he reached up to wipe it off. "Well, Comrade Zenus, errr...we did not have your reputation to work around. Some was purchased, but many of the peasants were refusing to sell out of fear of Imperial retaliation, so to prevent starvation...we issued vouchers to those unfortunates, they will be compensated of course..."

This was to give you a lower-scale perspective and show how some others are doing (and because I like writing). In terms of all the reforms passed, they have removed factories from their owners and put them in the hand of the worker's council, declared the eight-hour workday, established a wealth tax, created a system of tribunals based off juries with a lot less power for judges (and the juries are anonymous), started having lectures on Kammanism before shifts start, established soup kitchens and the like, and basically everything else they have been doing is focused on repairs. That's the minimum you will be expected to match, although you can do it over a while.

 

[notbirdofprey]

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.

 

[notbirdofprey]

The attack would go ahead. The presence of the possible spellblasters could not deter them, not when they had such a numerical advantage and the presence of the landships as well. The troops began to march, the army troops uncomplaining at the harsh pace, the Red Guard grimly silent in their determination to match the professionals, the militia staggering on as best they could. And bringing up the rear, going at a slow, cautious pace lest they overstrain their aetheric engines, tended to by their crew as carefully as humanly possible.

The Pace of the March: 1d5 + 3 (Average training) + 4 (Average morale) + 2 (Aetherail) -1 (Landships) -1 (The dark) = 10

They made it in time. The march in the dark made things harder, but with the Aetherails serving as a guide and only one way forward, they were able to keep together. The vast bulk of the army was just a few hundred feet away from the slowly deepening trenches, hidden by the darkness. The Aetherails growled quietly behind the troops as orders were given out in hushed tones and the army reorganized.

Squads of the army found themselves attached to small groups of Red Guard and militia, the loose formations reorganized so that the less experienced troops found themselves in the middle. The single spellblaster they had fired, and men began to sprint across open ground to the enemy lines, warcasters firing as they went.

The Initial Attack: 1d5 + 3 (Average training) + 4 (Average morale) + 2 (Average training) + 2 (Surprise attack) + 1 (Landship support) +2 (Warmage support) vs. 1d5 + 3 (Training) + 3 (Equipment) +2 (Morale) + 5 (Fortified) - 3 (Outnumbered) = 19 vs. 11

The whole battlefield became coated in smoke, wardstones flaring in the trenches as they attempted to burn it away, but the warmages were professionals, and where one blot of smoke disappeared another was ready to replace it, creating a smooth rhythm where no one could see for more than a second. Bullets of lead, some blazing hot or crackling with electricity, crisscrossed the battlefield, slamming into invisible magic wards or piled up earth, but enough were flying that some got through, and cries of pain rose up.

And through all this madness, the spellblasters remained silent as the landships growled forwards.

Fedin awoke with a start, fear pulling him from his slumber as his sergeant approached. "The traitors are attacking, get up there and start firing!" the grim man snarled, adding some profanity and a threatening fist when Fedin didn't move fast enough to suit him.

He rose up and grabbed his warcaster, the trusty weapon that had seen him through one bout of madness and blood already, risking a glance above the parapet to see an enormous rush of men coming directly at him. An explosion erupted from somewhere nearby, a bullet smacked against the ward an inch above his head, but he aimed his shot, settling on the center mass of a man in a ragged black coat with a red armband and fired. The man went down, then smoke filled his vision, but he fired again and again and again and for a moment Fedin lost himself in the rhythm, but he could feel how wrong it was. There weren't enough men firing with him, and some of the rapdicasters were silent, and the smoke was only getting thicker, and the ground was trembling...he realized what it was just in time, and threw himself down. The landship passed overhead, it's tracks spanning the trench, it's rapidcasters snarling as they spewed death, the smoke emanating from it's firing slits choking and blinding him as it overwhelmed the wardstones.

Beside him, men with red armbands leapt into the trench. "I surrender!" he babbled.

"I surrender!"

One of them, heedless, his face smudged with soot and blood, nevertheless turned his warcaster on Fedin, but another slugged him in the stomach. A third ordered Fedin over the top, ordered him to kneel, and he joined a few other men who had surrendered. The sounds of battle went on behind him.

The Push Through: 1d5 + 3 (Average training) + 4 (Average morale) + 2 (Average training) + 1 (Momentum) + 1 (Landship support) +2 (Warmage support) vs. 1d5 + 3 (Training) + 3 (Equipment) +1 (Morale) + 2 (Urban defensive fighting) - 4 (Outnumbered) = 18 vs. 8

General Alexei hated the rush towards a trench, the desperate prayer that you would find cover in a shell hole or a dip before the hateful chittering of a rapidcaster came your way, the relentless roar of spellblasters as they rained death down upon you, the ghastly smells of corpses in a dozen stages of decomposition, the fear, but he found he hated commanding one worse. From a low rise, beside their spellblaster and a few men he used for staff and the Kammanist who's cause he had joined, he watched their army rush the trench line and take it, the spellblasters proving to be made of wood. The second lie didn't last much longer than the first, the hand bombs proving devastating as they were hurled over the narrow separation or tossed around cornered, bayonet and warcaster taking their toll as well.

He wanted to throw up. He had done much the same not a year ago, he remembered how terrifying and disgusting it was, the thought made his heart race and his palm sweat but he simply bit his lip and held strong. There was no need to give orders, not as the enemy troops collapsed back, firing even as some fled or surrendered, but at least a few hundred, maybe as many as a thousand, seemed determined to keep fighting.

They ducked into houses and hid behind walls, intending to make you fight and pay for every inch of ground.

"Have the landships go forward first." Alexei commanded through gritted teeth.

And Alexei obeyed, the five pushing forward into streets, bullets stitching into everywhere they saw resistance, and a dozen different types of lethal spells from the mages within them. They had no weapons to counter them, they had nothing that could penetrate the thick steel armor and intricate wards.

They died. And then it was all over.

A hasty fortification effort was established, rubble and wardstones piled up to make simple pieces of cover, while what few semi-intact buildings that were still there were garrisoned, rapidcasters put in every window.

The dead were gathered, their own to be taken back to The City and buried there, the rest simply rolled into the trenches and then covered up. But first the bodies were stripped of their weapons, and some of the men began looting the pockets of the corpses, taking jewelry and cigarettes and even the occasional gold or silver tooth. Scuffles broke out but were dealt with by sergeants.

The grim business told everyone how many they had lost, for a thousand and five hundred enemy soldiers had died, about three hundred had surrendered, and two hundred were nowhere to be found, buried under rubble or fled the battle.

Only about five hundred of the regular army had died, with a few hundred more being wounded badly enough they would need time to heal. Two hundred Red Guard had also died, and nearly a thousand militia, mostly in the actual trench fighting. A few hundred more of both had again been wounded, along with a single warcaster who had gotten burned by bad luck more than anything else.

And as the day progressed, the survivors of Devrograd pulled themselves out of their shattered homes: a few dozen in total, the owners and workers at the tavern and brothel which had been maintained for the officers. They had all been ill-treated by the arrogant Imperial officers, some of whom were still alive.

The trials for them would begin soon, and the prisoners found innocent would be given an opportunity to switch sides and then put in camps, the general refused to hear of any other prospect. But that left the question of what to do with the looted weapons and what sort of garrison to establish in this town.

[] [LOOT] Distribute it evenly between the Red Guard and the militia. A popular move, but the sheer numbers involved means there will be little improvement in the capability of either group.

[] [LOOT] Give it all to the Red Guard. This will cause some grumbling among the other sections of the military, but will lead to a significant improvement in their capabilities as they will be as well-armed as the regular army.

[] [GARRISON] Light. 1000 militia, 500 Red Guards, 2000 soldiers, no landships or warmages, the only light spellblaster you have.

[] [GARRISON] Medium. 2000 militia, 500 Red Guard, 4000 soldiers, 10 warmages and the light spellblaster

[] [GARRISON] Heavy. 1000 militia, 500 Red Guard, 5500 soldiers, 20 warmages, 3 landships, and the light spellblaster.

Luck was on your side in a big way here, this could have been a lot bloodier.

 

[notbirdofprey]

Rumor Mill - Local

The Corrupt Committees! The Kammanist Front has demonstrated their commitment to freedom and democracy, allowing the workers to form and elect councils to run their cities, and the Front has been repaid with treachery! The little capitalists, the shopkeepers and foremen, and all the other petty tyrants that helped institute the tyrannical reign of capitalism have bribed and bullied their way onto positions on the councils. Calls for halting revolutionary reforms, abandoning Kammanist principles, and unjust compensation now ring out from the deceived councils and their corrupt masters! And worst of all, in those few councils that have managed to resist their influence, they have been accused of being puppets for Kammanists, being secretly controlled by a conspiracy of Firstites, or being demons. This cannot be allowed to stand!

The Free Committees! The establishment of the councils has been an incredible success, with dozens forming! A few had initial difficulties, but careful education and the dedication of the Kammanist Front members has helped overcome these. Many of the councils are fervent supporters of the Front and its policies, but several, mainly those led by certain sections of the economic and political spheres who staunchly rejected Kammanism, have been moderating, cautious, or outright resistive. They are a minority, one frequently ridiculed and rejected in the churches and taverns of the cities and even the countryside, but they do occasionally manage some small victories which serve only to prove the truth of our commitment to political freedoms!

A Second Battle at Devrograd! The forces of Revolution marched out once more, this time to an undeniable victory. The High Duke himself was apparently wounded in the battle at Devrograd as the might of the Red Army charged into prepared defenses, their courage and fervor nevertheless carrying the day, sending him into full retreat with scraps of his forces. Surely the Revolution will spread with this last gasp of reaction crushed! Regrettably, the High Duke burned much of the town and slaughtered much of its populace before fleeing, leaving the few remaining bereft and bereaved. Surely the Central Committee will aid them!

Rumor Mill - National

The Red Terror Spreads! As the initial forays at curbing the violence were sent reeling, more and more have declared their desire to join the Revolution, even including some nobles. Meanwhile, the victorious revolutionaries have begun implementing their mad plans wherever they can, even as harsher measures are used to prevent further uprisings, especially in the former Wloski lands. Nevertheless, churches are being burned, nobles forced to labor on their own estates, shopkeepers and priests and factory owners are being put to death in enormous numbers, no one and nowhere is safe!

The Wloski Declare Independence! The Southern Avlisi Declare Independence! The Armani Declare Independence! Many of the newly freed southern Avlisi states were given guidance by the nobility of Avlandia, and this aid is now betrayed with treachery! The new states beyond the mountains have overthrown their rightful masters and ethnic brothers, and they were not the first or second in such treachery! From Crokan to Kolovoki, the banner of the Wloski kings and their Sejm fly, although in a few cities it flies underneath or along with a red flag. In Cheizkhsta and the Armani state, more independence movements have arisen of various stripes, some democratic, some revolutionary, some seeking to restore long-dead monarchies!

International News

The International Forum Requests Formal Intervention! The resulting unrest, economic destruction, and political chaos of the new states in the Reorganized Territories have spilled over into several different revolutions, most of which are Kammanist to one degree or another. Even worse, ethnic strife has risen to unprecedented levels, and the International Forum has formally requested intervention, which led to the Brevadarians leading an enormous coalition to withdraw from the Forum in protest, while several others defeated the motion. Nevertheless, in a series of speeches to the Breton Parliament, several politicians demanded intervention against the various revolutions "lest the map be painted red and all civilization be destroyed."

Civil War in the Doytch! At least three factions have declared war on each other in the Doytch, with the army splitting three ways and the navy two. There is a "free and independent republic", a state led by the high command claiming the Doytch were stabbed in the back during the war, and a Kammanist uprising. Getting news has been difficult, as the Aquita have occupied part of the country and are shooting everyone who tries to leave and detaining everyone who tries to enter, while their other borders are suffering from devastating and unusually strong Aether Storms.

What You Know:

You have had confirmation that the uprisings in Tuvak and Baltarbn have been put down, while it seems anarchists have taken over Ariga and much of the isle itself.

The siege of Maltka has been largely broken as one priest managed to gather a large following, about two-thirds of those surrounding the city, and led them towards Holvenberg. There is still something of a cordon, but troops from inside the city are probing it, and a messenger reports their intention to break it before winter truly sets in.

Selvada and Olvo have been entirely focused on securing the surrounding countryside. At Comrade Zenus's suggestion, they have been far more careful of the peasants, paying for their food in paper promises (noting who and where they were given to) and gold when available (usually taken from the wealthy), purchasing much of the spare harvest.

Korvio came under attack from land and sea, but the heroic defenders of the city managed to beat back both, although the docks were nearly destroyed by a summoned wave. (This suggests that Valtenberg is not on your side, it being the only other port close and big enough to launch that sort of attack.)

Trokograd and Dedregrad are coming under attack, possibly by soldiers, possibly by bandits, possibly by dissidents.

Your spies in the High Duke's camp report he has recovered from his wounds and ordered a full retreat toward Tuvak.