[X]Find and deal with the wisps that caused you headaches in the Braavosi swamps.
Destroy these nuisances.I remember way back when we started our adventures, these things are a pain in our asses.Or, at the very least, force them to submit.
OOC: I've decided to add a bit more of a random event layer to the various empire actions with good or bad progress rolls receiving a d100 to decide on how good or bad the situation really is, to make the realm feel more alive beyond just what is shown in main updates and interludes.
If these new rolls are based on max progress then we might as well give up on Disputed Lands. Loosing so much money per month for just a messenger service in a undeveloped area is simply not worth it.
If these new rolls are based on max progress then we might as well give up on Disputed Lands. Loosing so much money per month for just a messenger service in a undeveloped area is simply not worth it.
They are based on rolling 1s on half or more of the rolls in a project. So for instance if you invest 2d6 rolls in a project and get 1 on one of the dice you then roll a d100 for severity.
What happened with the first two projects was first getting those ones and then rolling 9 and 4 respectively on the d100s
Also from a narrative perspective not developing a region could also lead to bad events on its own from sheer neglect, in fact it is more likely to. Those shoddy dykes do not stop existing just because you guys do not have a project in the region.
As the last light of the sun fades from the sky, you leave Lady Lynesse to add more detail and color to the sketch taking form on her easel, though with a promise that you would either pose in person or craft her a figment to work from when you do not have the time for such things, and indeed there are many calls upon your time. Even in the darkest hours of the night the stack of parchments upon your desk awaits, ever-growing. Jests aside, however, you do not resent the tedium, for it marks the growth and prosperity of your realm, and you would sooner spill ink a thousand times over rather than draw blood in the doing.
Of course, that does not mean the news is always good to hear. There has been hardly any progress on work to tie the Northern Disputed Lands to the rest of the realm through a messenger service. According to a note by the head lawman in the region, it has the whiff of corruption to it, though thankfully only the mundane sort, a contract for supplying wood granted to someone manifestly unable to do so on the basis of familial relationship. The magister in question blamed Westerlander Wood-Rot for his supposedly vanishing timber, but your officials are quite convinced that most of it never existed.
Further North in the Daughter's March, things had gone almost as poorly, though from the work of nature not human malice. Unseasonable rains had broken a series of old and poorly maintained dykes. Although this will not be the disaster it would have been without the fertility rituals repairs to the fields, restoring basic infrastructure occupied much of the labor and beasts that would otherwise be available for your projects.
Establish Messenger Service in Northern Disputed Lands Progress 3/70
Lost 5600 IM (Damages)
Establish Messenger Service in Daughter's March 4/58
Lost 8200 IM (Dyke Repair and Emergency Aid)
By contrast, the Volantines are proving surprisingly quick in setting up a messenger service in the city's immediate hinterlands. The service is mostly under the command of former military officers who understand the value of effective communication in war as in peace, though Zherys has taken a personal hand in the matter as well. Reading between the lines, you suspect he does not wish to see his city to prove in any way lacking in organization as it joins the rest of the empire.
While there is much yet to be done, the enforcement of new imperial law along the Orange Shore, together with the spreading of the messengers to carry it, is also going well. There has been slightly more resistance to the notion from the Council of Volon Therys, where many of the newly elected Voices campaigned on 'lessening the undue interference from Volantis', and appear to be confused on what that actually entails.
As you reach the report on neighboring Valysar, you smile outright for the first time. The magisters of the region have a strong tradition of mounted warfare, honed against Dothraki raiders. With such raids being less of a peril in current days, they were more than happy to open their stables in exchange for imperial coin, with some of their former retainers and servants following suit on what seem to be reasonably good terms.
Alas, further west in what was once Volantis' share of the Disputed Lands, progress has been much slower, fueled by general suspicion from the former free classes on the plantations and the exodus of newly-made freedmen. At least it is only time not more gold. The report is rounded off on a decidedly middling note by both Selhorys and Volon Sar, which anticipate two more months of work at the current peace.
Establish Messenger Service in Volantis Complete 33/31
Expand Law Enforcement in Orange Shore Progress 9/65
Establish Messenger Service in Orange Shore Progress 9/121
Establish Messenger Service in Volon Therys Progress 8/26
Establish Messenger Service in Valysar Progress 11/24
Gained 3200 IM (Good deals for Horses)
Establish Messenger Service in Eastern Disputed Lands Progress 3/77
Establish Messenger Service in Selhorys Prtogress 6/20
Establish Messenger Service in Volon Sar Prtogress 6/20
From Braavos, the reports speak of the sort of solid progress you had expected. The very marshlands that have for so long protected the Secret City from attack now prove an impediment to binding it together with the rest of the realm by land. Through the aid of Titan Tools and Lyres of Building to drive back the sea from Drowned Town, you have no doubt that a revitalized Ragman's Harbor will prove far more instrumental in linking the city into the web of trade across the Narrow Sea and Beyond.
Unfortunately, where Pentos is concerned the braziers' whispers carry grimmer tales. Attempts to retain slavery in all but name, intimidation and banditry sanctioned by some of the city's remaining elite, and killing and looting in retaliation most often falling unpon the heads of innocent families and businesses. All of it is relatively minor taken against the scale of the lands under administration, nothing like the organized carnage the Spider wished to breed, but still a sobering reality. If nothing else, as Dany points out, at least you can put the confiscated lands to good use. The worst of the slums created by centuries of neglect and sometimes outright malice have been cleared.
Establish Messenger Service in Braavos Progress 23/28
Improve Infrastructure in Braavos (30/45)
Establish Messenger Service in Andalos Complete
Establish Messenger Service in Braavosi Coast Progress 5/53
Establish Messenger Service in Sweetwater Progress 9/61
Establish Messenger Service in Morrogos Progress 6/23
Expand Law Enforcement in Pentos Progress 16/50
Gained 4800 IM (Confiscations)
Improve Infrastructure in Pentos Complete 8/8
The challenges of Northern Valyria are rather different from what one might find elsewhere, as well you know. Recalcitrant magisters are thin on the ground after years of Yrael's rule, but the poverty born of centuries of neglect and mismanagement remain, made worse in some parts of the province by more arcane dangers. For once, however, no news of the latter gets as far as your desk and both messengers and more local inquisitors should help the region grow and prosper.
Certainly, the Tolosi seem to have taken the lesson to heart, with dozens of new villages springing up along the planed routes of the Imperial messenger service. Many are sponsored not by a single noble house, but instead by consortiums of wealthy spice traders looking to expand under the protection of the legion and the territorial troops.
Establish Messenger Service in Mantarys Progress 6/26
Establish Inquisition Base in Draconys Complete 5/2
Establish Inquisition Base in Painted Mountains Complete 3/2
Establish Messenger Service in Tolos Progress 10/80
Tolos Base Provincial Wealth Increased By 1
In Sothoryos, you are glad to see rapid progress in improving the lives of locals and new immigrants alike. The small population and absence of large cities means proper sanitation and wide scale education are relatively easy to institute. You would not be surprised if what was once a pirate heaven will someday become a center of learning for the whole realm, particularly in regards to the arcane, with the mysteries of the mainland so close.
For that matter, it seems you are not the only one to notice. It appears a large trading expedition is heading for those shores looking not just to harvest rare reagents from the jungle, but to eventually grow them as well. From the inquisitorial reports, they are both well funded and well lead. Perhaps it might be worth adding a touch of royal favor to the scales.
Construct Sanitation Systems in Naath Complete
Establish Public Schools in The Three Snakes, Eastern Basilisk Isles, Western Basilisk Isles Complete 8/8
Establish Orphanages in The Three Snakes, Eastern Basilisk Isles, Western Basilisk Isles Progress 6/8
Establish Inquisition Base in Mereen Complete 13/10
What do you do next?
[] Check the Lys' Flesh-forge's Feywild reflection
[] Review a report on activities of the Court of Stars, and the progress on the task we left him on, by Candlekeep Courtier
[] Meet a newly arrived envoy from Mantarys who carries several books he wishes to give into your keeping specifically
[] Find and deal with the wisps that caused you headaches in the Braavosi swamps
[] Meet with some of the backers of the Sothoyos expedition and offer some backing before they depart
[] Write in
OOC: I've decided to add a bit more of a random event layer to the various empire actions, with good or bad progress rolls receiving a d100 to decide on how good or bad the situation really is, to make the realm feel more alive beyond just what is shown in main updates and interludes. Not yet edited.
Here's an edited version of the chapter, @DragonParadox.
If these new rolls are based on max progress then we might as well give up on Disputed Lands. Loosing so much money per month for just a messenger service in a undeveloped area is simply not worth it.
If these new rolls are based on max progress then we might as well give up on Disputed Lands. Loosing so much money per month for just a messenger service in a undeveloped area is simply not worth it.
To make it clear what the mechanics from provincial actions are so there's no confusion
If 50% or more of the dice in a project come out 6s there's a roll on a d100 for how good the event is.
If 50% or more of the dice in a project come out 1s there's a roll on a d100 for how bad the event is.
6s and 1s cancel each other out, so for instance if you roll 2d6 and it comes out 6 and 1 no roll good or bad, or if you roll 3d6 and it comes out 6, 1, 1, there is still no roll since only one of the three rolls is a 1 that is not canceled.
The purpose of the system is to allow for background stuff to happen without there being overwhelming, for me tow write or you guys to follow.
Given the weight of paperwork, which is only going to grow, would recommend making a small team of simulacra to handle, and provide itemized daily summary (and surely the occasional alert). As a simulacrum is essentially you and utterly loyal, it's pretty much necessary if a sorcerer-emperor wants to provide real oversight over a bureaucracy.
In my games, every local governor of any real importance was a version of such. As the saying goes, if you want it done, do it yourself - and this is really the only proper way of doing so on such a scale.
And no we don't mean one of our lifetimes, that would be cheating, we mean the lifetime of random commoner 109454.
That's the cheat those legendary emperors used, it's easy to change a lot for the better during your lifetime, when your lifetime is ten thousand years.
Ok let me make a case to you guys about the ridiculous point costs. I will put it in a spoiler to prevent salt.
The current system does not work with high popultation. Like at all.
Look at how ridiculous these costs are. We have armies that can topple the entire continent, mass produced high power creatures and magic that completely bypasses most low level problems. Why then does it take 20 months (both IRL and in game ) to make a freaking messenger service in Orange Shore?
Look above, the average time to completion for most is 8 irl months. Some reach to years and some are even more insane reaching to multiple years.
I am 21, by the time messenger service our most basic building finishes in Orange shore I will be 23. If this does not show you how ridiculous this is then nothing will.
If the point cost scales for the rest of the infrastructure then I will be 40 years old by the time Orange shore finishes all our regular buildings and thats before any addons.
Now the system will bleed random amounts of money from us 1 out of 6 times. With 6k IM that the place bled us we would just buy ravens to replace the entire messenger system, it would be done in 1 month.
So if we will never build anything beyond a freaking messenger services in the disputed lands then why the hell did we take over the place anyways?
Westeros has a massive population so we might as well give up on ever building anything there, and if we cant even do that then why the hell bother to take over the place?
With the amount of gold we lost just this turn we could make so many construct ravens that half the places could be done in 1 month, 1 hour of building with titan tools and the lyte, 5 troopers to guard the ravens and a truth speech instruction manual on how to input mail into box such that the automated ravens we can mass-produce will deliver them. In just 1 month each and every messenger system will be done. Instead it takes 2 years to make a basic building for a problem that we already solved.
It just feels pointless. What's even the point of taking over the world if our system is so bad that it takes 2 years to make small messenger posts with teleport and magic building tools?
What do you think of replacing the Spell Focus bonus feat from the Skymage PRC with something useful, like Versatile Spellcaster? It's a nice feat, but Nettles has no reason to have developed it given her spell selection.
Name: Nettles Titles: The Witch of the Mountains Age: 24
Alignment: True Neutral Race: Human Level: 12 Class: Fighter(Thug) 1/Stalwart Battle Sorcerer 6/Skymage 5 Feats: Able Learner, Combat Casting, Dragon Cohort, Enlarge Spell(B), Expanded Arcana (Shrink Item, Shadow Phase), Fly-By Attack(B), Improved Cohort, Iron Will, Mounted Archery(B), Mounted Combat, Saddleback, Skill Focus (Ride)(B), Spell focus (Transmutation)(B) Flaws: Loudmouth, Hot-Blooded Class features: Armored Mage (Ignore ASF in Light Armor), Flying Mount (Dragon), Extra Health (+12 HP), Share Spells (w/Mount), Weapon Training
Languages Spoken: Westerosi Common, Low Valyrian (Stepstones) (Poor), Old Tongue (Poor)
2/Day Instantly teleport up to 10 feet to an unoccupied destination within line of sight and line of effect. The wearer can teleport with objects, up to their maximum load, but cannot bring other creatures.
Boneward Belt: +2 Constitution
Healing (3 charges/day): 1 charge (Heal 2d8 points of damage), 2 charges (Heal 3d8 points of damage), or 3 charges(Heal 4d8 points of damage)
Handy Haversack: This backpack is of high quality but appears otherwise normal.
It has two side pouches, each of which appears large enough to hold about a quart of material. In fact, each is like a Bag of Holding and can actually hold material of as much as 2 cubic feet in volume or 20 pounds in weight. The large central portion of the pack can contain up to 8 cubic feet or 80 pounds of material. Even when so filled, the backpack always weighs only 5 pounds.
While such storage is useful enough, the pack has an even greater power. When the wearer reaches into it for a specific item, that item is always on top. Thus, no digging around and fumbling is ever necessary to find what a haversack contains. Retrieving any specific item from a haversack is a Move Action, but it does not provoke the Attacks of Opportunity that retrieving a stored item usually does.
Quiver of Abundant Ammunition: With a constant Abundant Ammunition enchantment, this quiver provides a never ending supply of arrows.
Equipped Items:Anklets of Translocation, Bead of NewtPrevention,Boneward Belt (+2 CON), Earring of Arcane Acuity, Gloves of Zephery's Grace (+3 DEX), Greater Amulet of Protection from Evil (+2 CHA), Greater Ribbon of Disguise, Handy Haversack,Mighty Composite Shortbow (+1) [+1 Strength bonus], Mithral Chain Shirt (+1), Mithral Rider's Shield (+1; Grants +3 AC to mount), Quiver of Abundant Ammunition, Ring of Sustenance
If you wanted to take it over, you would need to send a Companion or a Flesh Forged T-800 Terminator. Err, I mean, something as strong as The Seeker, basically.
Nothing they have is commiserate or equal in value in a partnership to that. Anything else is fine though. Special supplies that they couldn't ordinarily buy (they can afford it) or loaning someone equal to Vrath's skills.
Technically you could even loan them something as strong as a Herald, but any more aid than that would probably be overkill and make many of the investors nervous we might nationalize the whole thing if we're taking that much interest (and honestly the damn thing might be just that profitable if they not only manage to harvest reagents but farm them on a wider scale).
So that's still considerable leeway to invest in it.
Keep in mind that those numbers are without places like Braavos or Volantis throwing their weight behind a process, provinces with more infrastructure produce more dice too.
Ok let me make a case to you guys about the ridiculous point costs. I will put it in a spoiler to prevent salt.
The current system does not work with high popultation. Like at all.
Look at how ridiculous these costs are. We have armies that can topple the entire continent, mass produced high power creatures and magic that completely bypasses most low level problems. Why then does it take 20 months (both IRL and in game ) to make a freaking messenger service in Orange Shore?
Look above, the average time to completion for most is 8 irl months. Some reach to years and some are even more insane reaching to multiple years.
I am 21, by the time messenger service our most basic building finishes in Orange shore I will be 23. If this does not show you how ridiculous this is then nothing will.
If the point cost scales for the rest of the infrastructure then I will be 40 years old by the time Orange shore finishes all our regular buildings and thats before any addons.
Now the system will bleed random amounts of money from us 1 out of 6 times. With 6k IM that the place bled us we would just buy ravens to replace the entire messenger system, it would be done in 1 month.
So if we will never build anything beyond a freaking messenger services in the disputed lands then why the hell did we take over the place anyways?
Westeros has a massive population so we might as well give up on ever building anything there, and if we cant even do that then why the hell bother to take over the place?
With the amount of gold we lost just this turn we could make so many construct ravens that half the places could be done in 1 month, 1 hour of building with titan tools and the lyte, 5 troopers to guard the ravens and a truth speech instruction manual on how to input mail into box such that the automated ravens we can mass-produce will deliver them. In just 1 month each and every messenger system will be done. Instead it takes 2 years to make a basic building for a problem that we already solved.
It just feels pointless. What's even the point of taking over the world if our system is so bad that it takes 2 years to make small messenger posts with teleport and magic building tools?
I feel like you are underestimating how expensive and time consuming setting up infrastructure is. Like IRL the USA is a superpower but it still takes a long time to do a nationwide infrastructure projects due to shear scale. We are doing it quicker then them despite being much less advanced. O would argue it should take more time but that will not be a fun game.
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Dec 30, 2019 at 2:26 AM, finished with 79 posts and 15 votes.
[X] Check the Lys' Flesh-forge's Feywild reflection -[X] Call on the Orphne King and the Shrouded Lord to accompany you for this inspection and offer their insights -[X] See if Saenena, Qyburn, and the other Flesh Forgers have the time to visit as well to offer their own perspective on the mechanisms of this forge.
Ok let me make a case to you guys. The current system does not work with high popultation. Like at all.
Look at how ridiculous these costs are. We have armies that can topple the entire continent, mass produced high power creatures and magic that completely bypasses most low level problems. Why then does it take 20 months (both IRL and in game ) to make a freaking messenger service in Orange Shore?
Look above, the average time to completion for most is 8 irl months. Some reach to years and some are even more insane reaching to multiple years.
I am 21, by the time messenger service our most basic building finishes in Orange shore I will be 23. If this does not show you how ridiculous this is then nothing will.
If the point cost scales for the rest of the infrastructure then I will be 40 years old by the time Orange shore finishes all our regular buildings and thats before any addons.
Now the system will bleed random amounts of money from us 1 out of 6 times. With 6k IM that the place bled us we would just buy ravens to replace the entire messenger system, it would be done in 1 month.
So if we will never build anything beyond a freaking messenger services in the disputed lands then why the hell did we take over the place anyways?
Westeros has a massive population so we might as well give up on ever building anything there, and if we cant even do that then why the hell bother to take over the place?
With the amount of gold we lost just this turn we could make so many construct ravens that half the places could be done in 1 month, 1 hour of building with titan tools and the lyte, 5 troopers to guard the ravens and a truth speech instruction manual on how to input mail into box such that the automated ravens we can mass-produce will deliver them. In just 1 month each and every messenger system will be done. Instead it takes 2 years to make a basic building for a problem that we already solved.
It just feels pointless. What's even the point of taking over the world if our system is so bad that it takes 2 years to make small messenger posts with teleport and magic building tools?
We've gone over this before. Most of the issue comes with attenuated focus, as in there are a lot of projects happening all over the place with only a regular work crew being dedicated to each one. If we worked on much fewer projects, they would benefit from more workers, more resources, and more time from specialty tools (Titan's Tools and Lyres of Building), and the greater whole would suffer for the lack of attention. Many of these projects are happening out in the boondocks of the boondocks, where there isn't anything close to civilization; no nearby towns, roads, supply depots, etc. Part of establishing these outposts and services also involves creating the necessary support infrastructure to make them feasible and useful.
We're laying the groundwork for an entire nation, dude, where there was literally nothing before but scrubland and prairie grass. How long do you think normal modern infrastructure projects take IRL? A single small bridge can take years, as can widening a few miles of highway, and raising large buildings can take just as long, and all of that is with modern tools and materials, dedicated suppliers, etc.
I'm fine with it, but it feels like we're removing feat taxes and making Nettles stronger and stronger. She already ahs a Dragon she can put Personal buffs on...
But if DP ok's it, it's fine.
How about taking a weaker feat than Versatile Spellcaster? Draconic Arcane Grace fits rather well for a Dragon-descended Sorceress who's putting all her points in "Dragon harder", for example. Perhaps Eschew Materials? Mounted Casting?
Keep in mind that those numbers are without places like Braavos or Volantis throwing their weight behind a process, provinces with more infrastructure produce more dice too.
What I was trying to show was that the stuff that seems be taking 2 years should be done in 2 months max. I even outlined how easy it is with our current resources. Not related to places that are already devloed like Braavos or Volantis
What I was trying to show was that the stuff that seems be taking 2 years should be done in 2 months max. I even outlined how easy it is with our current resources. Not related to places that are already devloed like Braavos or Volantis
The thing about magical resources is that are already factored in. A single lyre of building produces as much progress as a whole provincial action, thousands of man-hours, the same for a single set of titan tools, if you guys threw multiple titan tools or lyres behind one action you could do it in weeks, even the ones with 100+cost, but then everywhere else would not be getting improved.
[X] Find and deal with the wisps that caused you headaches in the Braavosi swamps.
I want to deal with the last bit of "active" actions for this month before the rest of the reports.
I'm fine with it, but it feels like we're removing feat taxes and making Nettles stronger and stronger. She already ahs a Dragon she can put Personal buffs on...
But if DP ok's it, it's fine.
How about taking a weaker feat than Versatile Spellcaster? Draconic Arcane Grace fits rather well for a Dragon-descended Sorceress who's putting all her points in "Dragon harder", for example. Perhaps Eschew Materials? Mounted Casting?
We've gone over this before. Most of the issue comes with attenuated focus, as in there are a lot of projects happening all over the place with only a regular work crew being dedicated to each one. If we worked on much fewer projects, they would benefit from more workers, more resources, and more time from specialty tools (Titan's Tools and Lyres of Building), and the greater whole would suffer for the lack of attention. Many of these projects are happening out in the boondocks of the boondocks, where there isn't anything close to civilization; no nearby towns, roads, supply depots, etc. Part of establishing these outposts and services also involves creating the necessary support infrastructure to make them feasible and useful.
We're laying the groundwork for an entire nation, dude, where there was literally nothing before but scrubland and prairie grass. How long do you think normal modern infrastructure projects take IRL? A single small bridge can take years, as can widening a few miles of highway, and raising large buildings can take just as long, and all of that is with modern tools and materials, dedicated suppliers, etc.
Its not just a matter of focus deficiency.
Even if you assume that it takes 1 building per 1000 people with titan tools and the lyte we can bang out the infrastructure within days. Distance and remoteness are both irrelevant we have teleport. We have magic you cant equate it to modern infrastructure.
