[X] Plan Random
Behind the Serpent Throne (CK2)
- Thread starter The Laurent
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Tomorrow is going to be the last full day to debate things. I mean, right now it seems like everyone is largely in agreement with Plan Random?
As far as travel times go, I'd put it as roughly...
2/4/6 weeks?
As far as travel times go, I'd put it as roughly...
2/4/6 weeks?
Random Member
Gardener of Human Happiness
- Location
- Behind You
I'm fine with that, others might decide they want us to be faster.
Will the Hari-Bueli army be send back before we finish the procession though? And if so, will they feel snubbed since they won't be part of it?
Zeitgeist Blue
Currently Made of Metal
- Location
- Manila, Philippines, GMT +8
[X] Plan Random
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Probably fast, so far as her mood goes, and as far as how long she'll be willing to aid you with her obscene Magic score.
Random Member
Gardener of Human Happiness
- Location
- Behind You
I can see why you'd do that, but the Influence! That's basically the deciding factor for me personally.
[X] Plan Random
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Vote closed. Because my memory for names is not very good, can anyone inform me?
Did I name the major border city between Csrae and Hirand?
Did I name the major border city between Csrae and Hirand?
Random Member
Gardener of Human Happiness
- Location
- Behind You
Unless it's Ulis, the town with the baths, no I don't think so.
Turn 12B
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Turn 12B-
"You will not regret it," one of them said, but Kiralo wondered at his ability to see into the future. A lack of regret was something that nobody could promise, and Ha'dong would no doubt abuse the position for power and fame, for everything that Kiralo would imagine and more. The youngest of the Council of Generals would grow only stronger, but Kiralo had no other choice.
Necessity bound him, just as duty was calling him to declare that Niu was the best choice he could think of for Hari-Os, at least for a time. Hopefully he would see the wisdom of a careful but firm strategy. The cannons and the might of thousands of men could create bastions of safety, could create makeshift forts that would help pen them in, so that the light cavalry and the Mages could have a greater effect.
This would not be a war of great battles. Few enough wars were, even if Kiralo had had the dubious and vicious fortune to fight several major battles. The skirmishes would be where the war would be won or lost, and so Niu was going to be sent with what could be gathered, and as the days passed, so too would pass a large portion of the army.
Hari-Bueli's contingent would be marching for home, at the head of men who would not allow them to desert, not when there was a larger war at hand. Some would desert despite that, but as Kiralo began to plan his own journey back to court, he was aware that it would be many, many weeks before they arrived in Hari-Bueli.
By and large, the situation was beyond his control. But some things weren't. His image mattered, as did his itinerary. Across the plains he would travel, through cities he had passed by, and everywhere he'd need to be firm.
Already, there were rumors when Ayila had been moved to a tent nearer to his, though there was enough evidence that in theory a story about sex was absurd.
But that didn't stop anything, in theory.
Yet he denied it, when it was smuggled to him, carefully, as a question as he dined with his generals, those that were still left.
And to his absolute astonishment, people believed it. They wanted to trust him, and in this case they did. It started speculation on what else he was using her for, then, but the truth wasn't hard for a general to believe, if he'd heard word about how powerful she was. Being known as the man who was so ambitious he wanted to keep a powerful Mage close wasn't the best reputation ever, but it was one he could live with.
Kiralo was done with the battlefield for now. Now it was time for a progress, and what did that mean? Displaying the captives, endlessly displaying them, declaring far and wide the Imperial majesty, but also their mercy. To eat at every house possible, and show good character at each place, to give out alms and show Imperial generosity too. To advance as if from one siege to another, but the siege was of no ordinary landscape, but of the hearts and minds of the entire Empire.
Or at least, the parts of it he could reach. And he should fix himself in the mind of the entire populace. He should draw strength and power and knowledge from his deeds.
It was a dangerous game, in a way, but his procession would be, on top of the most merciful and the most generous and the most majestic, the most pacific and yet the most strident and strong in their arms.
As the spinner said to his noble client, "Oh that, I can do that by the bu[1]."
*******
From History Of The Years Of Isolation
Kiralo of Lineage Ainin, the victor in the battle, had won for himself the spoils of his conquest. Yet it was not a conquest for himself, but for the Emperor, and he began to return with fifty-and-five captives, of high rank and status, and having declared mercy in words of beauty and grace that even now, two hundred years later, echo with the piety that man was to be known for, they came with a will.
The Emperor sent word, a first word of praise, granting him the title and the name, "Traitor-Thrashing General." So he was named, and so he was, and on the roads they cheered him, all the way to the border between Hirand and Csrae. In small villages he stopped, and sent men around, of lesser station, to ask after the peasants and their methods, and though the cost was great, they spread out food, and sake, and small coins of bronze, blank-disked and yet of good quality.
And as he moved the Empire watched, and took note of his deeds and words, even as battles in Hari-Bueli drew the attention of the court. Eyes were not on his noble and grand father, hallowed of name and of perfect reputation for his worship of the Gods and good sense, unlike his son, who had even then a reputation that preceded him as a guard does a great man.
On they went, and Kiralo listened to the stories of war and peace. The Sea-Raiders were advancing, even as the Bueli struggled, less so in their fighting then in pressing forward and gaining more land than they already had, and some spoke whispered words in the ears of the Emperor about the possibility that one could accept a loss in Hari-Bueli of a few miles, if peace was meant.
The Emperor took sage council, and did not decide either way, holding back for the decisions and the results of his previous actions, which had sent Kiralo his loyal servant out to victory. The Envoy was still on the word, then, when Saewan was taken in the last day of the 6th month of the first year of the Era of Harmonious Prosperity.
A small town that guarded the back flank of Hissian, a great city of ancient fame, was just the next step towards the barbarian's conquest of all of the land. They had struck as the cannon roared, and overrun the town before it could get word to the city, and razed any structure that could be razed, and destroyed any enemies they had. They raped and pillaged, and without mercy or even humanity, they put down hundreds, and enslaved still more, until there was nothing left to be called Saewan at all.
That was as the barbarians did, that was as the Sea-Raiders schemed.
But they would see justice done, they would meet defeat, or so the people of Hari-Os swore. They who had been the most backward of subjects, and in fact traitors, now bent and begged for mercy from the Emperor.
Meanwhile in Basrat, Ha'Dong, a powerful General born in Basrat, began his temporary rule with both mercy and brutality, intertwining. Those that were promised life were given it, but many were the men who soon and quickly found themselves executed out of hand for a too-close association with those that had ruled Basrat.
It was the talk of many at court, but soon something would overshadow it.
For the Emperor was ambitious for prosperity, and his closest confidants had whispered ideas into his head, ideas both fantastical and yet also imminently practical.
The words of the decree are many, and…
********
"The fucker doesn't do things by half, does he?" Kueli asked, glancing over at Ayila. "Pardon the language."
Ji'lae was standing a way off, looking affronted, though since they were speaking in Southlander he couldn't have understood much.
"What does it say?" Ayila asked.
Ayila, who as it turned out, was a quick study of Csiritan, but no expert in the written language, as opposed to the spoken language. It was a limitation of little importance at the moment. They were just outside Ningdao, a border city of some prominence, and the Chancellor and Keeper of the Seals, the Master of Calligraphy and the advisor to the Keeper of the Rites, as well as the advisor and friend to the Master of Ceremonies and Rituals, the high under-official of the Ministry of Means, second in command of the Ministry of Works, holder of the highest merit of Civil Service in Calligraphy, Theology, and Policy, a Secretary who drafted the Emperor's very words, and the man who owned most of the rest…
These men had all acted as one, except of course they were one man. Just reading the titles, and filling in the dozens of blanks, the hundreds of men who scribbled away and wouldn't have dared to mark a single sign without his permission.
Kuojah, in other words, had just upended the world.
It was odd, because Kiralo had expected. But deep in many people's hearts, there were ambitions, or pieties, or childhood memories. Locked deep and stored down, down below the waters, hidden and waiting to burst forth like the first Emperor, to change everything. Sometimes these things were petty, and sometimes they meant nothing at all.
And deep in Kuojah's heart was not a poem, no, but tax documents, and a plan of such ambition that the world truly would shake.
If it was but one element, or two, but they unfolded, and each unfolding came with hints of further deliberations. It was a threat as much as everything else.
It began simply enough, though that simplicity was deceptive.
There was no more Hereditary Province of Basrat, nor was there such a Hereditary Province of Hari-Os, and similarly, southern Hirand had been carefully detached from the rest, though with some large payment to the Governor of Hirand, in perpetuity, for the act. And then each was placed as under Imperial rule in its totality, with a Governor to be appointed with a set term, two set terms, and the law to be clear that while a pension was possible, what wasn't was more than that.
Just like that, the hereditary power of a Governor was broken, and now the merchants of Hari-Os would deal with a changed situation and…
It boggled the mind.
Then, it continued, as if this were some small deed, when it would dominate politics for a decade or more to come.
All Basratan nobles were stripped of their titles, immediately, but they were given a form and method by which they could petition for the rights to the taxation of their lands. The right to taxation, not even a hint of ownership, and with the implication that they would pay a fortune to do so, those few that were left with their own land, out of the generosity of the Emperor.
An entire province, more or less, of agricultural land was now, excepting the city's, the Emperor's to divide. And the same was done for all Hirand nobles who were not loyal, and any Hari-Os nobles for that matter, as well as any defined as major landlords, for the same purpose.
Kiralo looked at the paper, frowning. "Census, and tax reform to monitor every corner of these places, and then… agricultural reform?"
That at least was vague, or at least, it only hinted at the larger scheme, which was to allow peasants more control over their lands, and to encourage improvements and diversify the economy, with the justification that one did not wish to have to kneel at the feet of foreigners for any good.
One decade of political struggle? Try two, or three, or four. And then onward it plowed. Roads would be built from the capital to Basrat, all of them well paved, in order that the province be well in hand, and those roads would extend through Hirand, through Hari-Os, much further than ever imagined in his earlier schemes which had merely put great roads throughout the Empire, but paved only Csrae and parts of Irit, and then here and there.
And while he was thinking of Irit, he spent many words on speaking of a commission to help rectify the province, which was not direct, but…
And in Csrae? More yet.
"How can he do all this?" Kiralo asked. It was the work of the rest of his lifetime, obviously, for he was an old man. And then lifetimes beyond, to maintain it. And the cost, oh the cost was without number, especially when one got to the last part. "But… but."
"What?" Kueli asked.
"He has not broken faith with me."
At the end, there was a call for a commission, to discuss the matter of military reforms to expel the barbarians.
It named Kiralo as a " Man of great knowledge" who might participate or even head this, with far reaching powers if he could only turn the suggestion of an Emperor into a command.
Kiralo had never even known that along with poetry, his own heart had its secret hidden desires for paperwork.
For a lot of work.
But now? Now he still had four weeks, or so, four weeks of fetes and demonstrations, before he at last reached court.
******
[1] Roughly like a yard.
A/N: And there we are, with the first such chapter in a while, eh? As far as it goes, there is more, far more, to Kuojah's plans, but I'm not sure how specific I needed to be. Whew, this is a lot of work, but there you go. Apologies I couldn't think of another dozen or so options. Still getting back into the swing of things.
"You will not regret it," one of them said, but Kiralo wondered at his ability to see into the future. A lack of regret was something that nobody could promise, and Ha'dong would no doubt abuse the position for power and fame, for everything that Kiralo would imagine and more. The youngest of the Council of Generals would grow only stronger, but Kiralo had no other choice.
Necessity bound him, just as duty was calling him to declare that Niu was the best choice he could think of for Hari-Os, at least for a time. Hopefully he would see the wisdom of a careful but firm strategy. The cannons and the might of thousands of men could create bastions of safety, could create makeshift forts that would help pen them in, so that the light cavalry and the Mages could have a greater effect.
This would not be a war of great battles. Few enough wars were, even if Kiralo had had the dubious and vicious fortune to fight several major battles. The skirmishes would be where the war would be won or lost, and so Niu was going to be sent with what could be gathered, and as the days passed, so too would pass a large portion of the army.
Hari-Bueli's contingent would be marching for home, at the head of men who would not allow them to desert, not when there was a larger war at hand. Some would desert despite that, but as Kiralo began to plan his own journey back to court, he was aware that it would be many, many weeks before they arrived in Hari-Bueli.
By and large, the situation was beyond his control. But some things weren't. His image mattered, as did his itinerary. Across the plains he would travel, through cities he had passed by, and everywhere he'd need to be firm.
Already, there were rumors when Ayila had been moved to a tent nearer to his, though there was enough evidence that in theory a story about sex was absurd.
But that didn't stop anything, in theory.
Yet he denied it, when it was smuggled to him, carefully, as a question as he dined with his generals, those that were still left.
And to his absolute astonishment, people believed it. They wanted to trust him, and in this case they did. It started speculation on what else he was using her for, then, but the truth wasn't hard for a general to believe, if he'd heard word about how powerful she was. Being known as the man who was so ambitious he wanted to keep a powerful Mage close wasn't the best reputation ever, but it was one he could live with.
Kiralo was done with the battlefield for now. Now it was time for a progress, and what did that mean? Displaying the captives, endlessly displaying them, declaring far and wide the Imperial majesty, but also their mercy. To eat at every house possible, and show good character at each place, to give out alms and show Imperial generosity too. To advance as if from one siege to another, but the siege was of no ordinary landscape, but of the hearts and minds of the entire Empire.
Or at least, the parts of it he could reach. And he should fix himself in the mind of the entire populace. He should draw strength and power and knowledge from his deeds.
It was a dangerous game, in a way, but his procession would be, on top of the most merciful and the most generous and the most majestic, the most pacific and yet the most strident and strong in their arms.
As the spinner said to his noble client, "Oh that, I can do that by the bu[1]."
*******
From History Of The Years Of Isolation
Kiralo of Lineage Ainin, the victor in the battle, had won for himself the spoils of his conquest. Yet it was not a conquest for himself, but for the Emperor, and he began to return with fifty-and-five captives, of high rank and status, and having declared mercy in words of beauty and grace that even now, two hundred years later, echo with the piety that man was to be known for, they came with a will.
The Emperor sent word, a first word of praise, granting him the title and the name, "Traitor-Thrashing General." So he was named, and so he was, and on the roads they cheered him, all the way to the border between Hirand and Csrae. In small villages he stopped, and sent men around, of lesser station, to ask after the peasants and their methods, and though the cost was great, they spread out food, and sake, and small coins of bronze, blank-disked and yet of good quality.
And as he moved the Empire watched, and took note of his deeds and words, even as battles in Hari-Bueli drew the attention of the court. Eyes were not on his noble and grand father, hallowed of name and of perfect reputation for his worship of the Gods and good sense, unlike his son, who had even then a reputation that preceded him as a guard does a great man.
On they went, and Kiralo listened to the stories of war and peace. The Sea-Raiders were advancing, even as the Bueli struggled, less so in their fighting then in pressing forward and gaining more land than they already had, and some spoke whispered words in the ears of the Emperor about the possibility that one could accept a loss in Hari-Bueli of a few miles, if peace was meant.
The Emperor took sage council, and did not decide either way, holding back for the decisions and the results of his previous actions, which had sent Kiralo his loyal servant out to victory. The Envoy was still on the word, then, when Saewan was taken in the last day of the 6th month of the first year of the Era of Harmonious Prosperity.
A small town that guarded the back flank of Hissian, a great city of ancient fame, was just the next step towards the barbarian's conquest of all of the land. They had struck as the cannon roared, and overrun the town before it could get word to the city, and razed any structure that could be razed, and destroyed any enemies they had. They raped and pillaged, and without mercy or even humanity, they put down hundreds, and enslaved still more, until there was nothing left to be called Saewan at all.
That was as the barbarians did, that was as the Sea-Raiders schemed.
But they would see justice done, they would meet defeat, or so the people of Hari-Os swore. They who had been the most backward of subjects, and in fact traitors, now bent and begged for mercy from the Emperor.
Meanwhile in Basrat, Ha'Dong, a powerful General born in Basrat, began his temporary rule with both mercy and brutality, intertwining. Those that were promised life were given it, but many were the men who soon and quickly found themselves executed out of hand for a too-close association with those that had ruled Basrat.
It was the talk of many at court, but soon something would overshadow it.
For the Emperor was ambitious for prosperity, and his closest confidants had whispered ideas into his head, ideas both fantastical and yet also imminently practical.
The words of the decree are many, and…
********
"The fucker doesn't do things by half, does he?" Kueli asked, glancing over at Ayila. "Pardon the language."
Ji'lae was standing a way off, looking affronted, though since they were speaking in Southlander he couldn't have understood much.
"What does it say?" Ayila asked.
Ayila, who as it turned out, was a quick study of Csiritan, but no expert in the written language, as opposed to the spoken language. It was a limitation of little importance at the moment. They were just outside Ningdao, a border city of some prominence, and the Chancellor and Keeper of the Seals, the Master of Calligraphy and the advisor to the Keeper of the Rites, as well as the advisor and friend to the Master of Ceremonies and Rituals, the high under-official of the Ministry of Means, second in command of the Ministry of Works, holder of the highest merit of Civil Service in Calligraphy, Theology, and Policy, a Secretary who drafted the Emperor's very words, and the man who owned most of the rest…
These men had all acted as one, except of course they were one man. Just reading the titles, and filling in the dozens of blanks, the hundreds of men who scribbled away and wouldn't have dared to mark a single sign without his permission.
Kuojah, in other words, had just upended the world.
It was odd, because Kiralo had expected. But deep in many people's hearts, there were ambitions, or pieties, or childhood memories. Locked deep and stored down, down below the waters, hidden and waiting to burst forth like the first Emperor, to change everything. Sometimes these things were petty, and sometimes they meant nothing at all.
And deep in Kuojah's heart was not a poem, no, but tax documents, and a plan of such ambition that the world truly would shake.
If it was but one element, or two, but they unfolded, and each unfolding came with hints of further deliberations. It was a threat as much as everything else.
It began simply enough, though that simplicity was deceptive.
There was no more Hereditary Province of Basrat, nor was there such a Hereditary Province of Hari-Os, and similarly, southern Hirand had been carefully detached from the rest, though with some large payment to the Governor of Hirand, in perpetuity, for the act. And then each was placed as under Imperial rule in its totality, with a Governor to be appointed with a set term, two set terms, and the law to be clear that while a pension was possible, what wasn't was more than that.
Just like that, the hereditary power of a Governor was broken, and now the merchants of Hari-Os would deal with a changed situation and…
It boggled the mind.
Then, it continued, as if this were some small deed, when it would dominate politics for a decade or more to come.
All Basratan nobles were stripped of their titles, immediately, but they were given a form and method by which they could petition for the rights to the taxation of their lands. The right to taxation, not even a hint of ownership, and with the implication that they would pay a fortune to do so, those few that were left with their own land, out of the generosity of the Emperor.
An entire province, more or less, of agricultural land was now, excepting the city's, the Emperor's to divide. And the same was done for all Hirand nobles who were not loyal, and any Hari-Os nobles for that matter, as well as any defined as major landlords, for the same purpose.
Kiralo looked at the paper, frowning. "Census, and tax reform to monitor every corner of these places, and then… agricultural reform?"
That at least was vague, or at least, it only hinted at the larger scheme, which was to allow peasants more control over their lands, and to encourage improvements and diversify the economy, with the justification that one did not wish to have to kneel at the feet of foreigners for any good.
One decade of political struggle? Try two, or three, or four. And then onward it plowed. Roads would be built from the capital to Basrat, all of them well paved, in order that the province be well in hand, and those roads would extend through Hirand, through Hari-Os, much further than ever imagined in his earlier schemes which had merely put great roads throughout the Empire, but paved only Csrae and parts of Irit, and then here and there.
And while he was thinking of Irit, he spent many words on speaking of a commission to help rectify the province, which was not direct, but…
And in Csrae? More yet.
"How can he do all this?" Kiralo asked. It was the work of the rest of his lifetime, obviously, for he was an old man. And then lifetimes beyond, to maintain it. And the cost, oh the cost was without number, especially when one got to the last part. "But… but."
"What?" Kueli asked.
"He has not broken faith with me."
At the end, there was a call for a commission, to discuss the matter of military reforms to expel the barbarians.
It named Kiralo as a " Man of great knowledge" who might participate or even head this, with far reaching powers if he could only turn the suggestion of an Emperor into a command.
Kiralo had never even known that along with poetry, his own heart had its secret hidden desires for paperwork.
For a lot of work.
But now? Now he still had four weeks, or so, four weeks of fetes and demonstrations, before he at last reached court.
7+1 (Kueli, only for Stewardship or Martial actions)+1 (Ayila, only for Magical Actions)=9
Title: My Father's Explainer
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy, Learning
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: It is not a task that Kiralo wants to take to, but everyone is going to ask him about his father's plans and schemes, take him to task on them, so he might as well gain some understanding of them. Gain an understanding and then support them as best as possible, because they will not be popular. Now Kiralo knows what has been in process the last year, because if it's being released by the Emperor now, it's because he's talked at least to the Governor of Irit, and talked around the entire court, or the court that matters, and done so without showing even a hint of his schemes. And now Kiralo must explain it to angry Csraen men who are afraid at the vague hints of reform in the document
Title: Mercantile Gripes
Dice Rolled: Stewardship and Diplomacy
Chance of Success: 70%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: The merchants of Csrae on his path are men with money. They are men that can loan him money, can give him money to advance their cause, they are men who matter, and they matter in a very different way than the nobles. He should understand both their concerns and their desires better...
Title: The Most Noble Men of Csrae
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of Success: 80%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: The nobles have cause to be afraid, as do the landed gentry, depending on the nature of these reforms and how far they spread. More than that, these men of Csrae are potential allies and friends, and sources perhaps of future landholdings.
Title:The Low Cities
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of Success: 65%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: The border city, and the lesser cities. Places of lesser import than Csrae the city, but places that matter, places that can be wooed and talked to, and convinced around of any number of ideas.
Title: The Coinage of Victory
Dice Rolled: Stewardship
Chance of Success: 60%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: It is an old tradition, but if he could get permission from the Imperial court, he could have bronze, or even silver if he was lucky, coins minted specifically for this victory. Coins that could be given as gifts to supporters or the lowlier people (in the case of bronze) as a memorial. A solid reminder, for all time--or for however long that the coin lasts--of a victory.
Title: Family Ties, Family Words
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of Success: 100%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Yanmae has been some time in sending any sort of letter. Perhaps it would be best to check up on her, as well as the fortune of Mishina (technically Kiralo's niece, and married to an important figure in Rerin, where the Governor remains ill), and Aia and her daughter in their marriage plans.
Title: A Message to Basrat
Dice Rolled: Intrigue
Chance of Success: 75%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: What is Ha'dong doing? What is he playing at? Fortunately, Haolin has done a good job, but now he is there, and that is a situation that might allow Kiralo to figure out what is going on.
Title: A Holy Feast
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: It is soon to be a celebration of the God who governs Rice, Mi-lonu, and it is an important sort of day. Perhaps Kiralo could set up a banquet in order to celebrate this fact, and the general display of piety it represents.
Title: The Monks of Jiajing
Dice Rolled: Learning and Diplomacy, separately
Chance of Success: 65% each
Time: 1 Turn
Text: One of the larger monastaries outside of Irit, Jiajing is powerful in its own right, owning land that is farmed by peasants as well as the monks themselves, when the time calls for it. Powerful and pious, they worshipped several primary Gods, and visiting them would be a double test and a double challenge, but politics and piety.
Title: Imperial Justice
Dice Rolled: Stewardship
Chance of Success: 60%
Time: 1 Turn.
Text: There are many cases that have been on hold in the event of war and its disruption. Perhaps Kiralo could prod these in motion and, in the process, learn some of the legal theory… it could be important.
Title: Fort Inspection
Dice Rolled: Martial
Chance of Success: 75%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: There are many forts in southern Csrae, and checking into them, the state of, possibly, their cannons… it is all quite interesting as a topic, when one thinks about it.
Title: His Mother's Son
Dice Rolled: N/A
Chance of Success: ???
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Kiralo still has his demand. His request. Perhaps he could send a letter to his father asking about how that goes. Can his mother come home, at last? To be buried in a pool fitting of who she was?
Title: An Economy of Promises
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy, Learning
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: One learns to navigate the careful webs of obligations, of people who owe each other favors… and if one is wise, one learns to understand them. In the Imperial court they exist, but one is foolish if they discount Csrae the province, as Emperors have in the past.
Title: The Man on Horseback
Dice Rolled: Martial
Chance of Success: Variable
Time:
Text: It is time to display the prowess of the army. A grand parade through one of the low cities, or a martial demonstration of the prowess of the Rassit and what few cannons are returning to the Imperial court could impress something upon the world.
Title: Mire, but Brush
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: It has been so long since Kiralo has truly written poetry. Perhaps the time has come to do so again, and see what result he can take of it.
Title: Adventurous Men?
Dice Rolled: Martial and Diplomacy
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Hiro will want for me, eventually, to join his second expedition up north. Perhaps Kiralo can make a start by it by looking for adventurous young men who might be willing to… go on a far journey, or who have specific skills.
Title: Hedge-Spirits
Dice Rolled: Magic
Chance of Success: 65%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Catalogue the Spirits, and see what can be learned of them in the area, and gather some, not only for himself but for his allies.
Title: The Course of Fate
Dice Rolled: Magic
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: What is this fate that follows Ayila? And for that matter, what is this about her Great Spirit, and Kiralo's own sometimes annoying, sometimes helpful spirit? There is so much to learn, and so little time to do it.
Title: Hitting the Books
Dice Rolled: Learning
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: It is time to purchase texts, not merely on politics, though knowing philosophy could be useful for some… schemes that have entered Kiralo's head, but also more on current Csiritan poetry, more on calligraphy, on law and everything in between. It is time to put his head down and prepare for more than he has been able to do and get.
Title: My Father's Explainer
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy, Learning
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: It is not a task that Kiralo wants to take to, but everyone is going to ask him about his father's plans and schemes, take him to task on them, so he might as well gain some understanding of them. Gain an understanding and then support them as best as possible, because they will not be popular. Now Kiralo knows what has been in process the last year, because if it's being released by the Emperor now, it's because he's talked at least to the Governor of Irit, and talked around the entire court, or the court that matters, and done so without showing even a hint of his schemes. And now Kiralo must explain it to angry Csraen men who are afraid at the vague hints of reform in the document
Title: Mercantile Gripes
Dice Rolled: Stewardship and Diplomacy
Chance of Success: 70%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: The merchants of Csrae on his path are men with money. They are men that can loan him money, can give him money to advance their cause, they are men who matter, and they matter in a very different way than the nobles. He should understand both their concerns and their desires better...
Title: The Most Noble Men of Csrae
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of Success: 80%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: The nobles have cause to be afraid, as do the landed gentry, depending on the nature of these reforms and how far they spread. More than that, these men of Csrae are potential allies and friends, and sources perhaps of future landholdings.
Title:The Low Cities
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of Success: 65%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: The border city, and the lesser cities. Places of lesser import than Csrae the city, but places that matter, places that can be wooed and talked to, and convinced around of any number of ideas.
Title: The Coinage of Victory
Dice Rolled: Stewardship
Chance of Success: 60%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: It is an old tradition, but if he could get permission from the Imperial court, he could have bronze, or even silver if he was lucky, coins minted specifically for this victory. Coins that could be given as gifts to supporters or the lowlier people (in the case of bronze) as a memorial. A solid reminder, for all time--or for however long that the coin lasts--of a victory.
Title: Family Ties, Family Words
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of Success: 100%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Yanmae has been some time in sending any sort of letter. Perhaps it would be best to check up on her, as well as the fortune of Mishina (technically Kiralo's niece, and married to an important figure in Rerin, where the Governor remains ill), and Aia and her daughter in their marriage plans.
Title: A Message to Basrat
Dice Rolled: Intrigue
Chance of Success: 75%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: What is Ha'dong doing? What is he playing at? Fortunately, Haolin has done a good job, but now he is there, and that is a situation that might allow Kiralo to figure out what is going on.
Title: A Holy Feast
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: It is soon to be a celebration of the God who governs Rice, Mi-lonu, and it is an important sort of day. Perhaps Kiralo could set up a banquet in order to celebrate this fact, and the general display of piety it represents.
Title: The Monks of Jiajing
Dice Rolled: Learning and Diplomacy, separately
Chance of Success: 65% each
Time: 1 Turn
Text: One of the larger monastaries outside of Irit, Jiajing is powerful in its own right, owning land that is farmed by peasants as well as the monks themselves, when the time calls for it. Powerful and pious, they worshipped several primary Gods, and visiting them would be a double test and a double challenge, but politics and piety.
Title: Imperial Justice
Dice Rolled: Stewardship
Chance of Success: 60%
Time: 1 Turn.
Text: There are many cases that have been on hold in the event of war and its disruption. Perhaps Kiralo could prod these in motion and, in the process, learn some of the legal theory… it could be important.
Title: Fort Inspection
Dice Rolled: Martial
Chance of Success: 75%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: There are many forts in southern Csrae, and checking into them, the state of, possibly, their cannons… it is all quite interesting as a topic, when one thinks about it.
Title: His Mother's Son
Dice Rolled: N/A
Chance of Success: ???
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Kiralo still has his demand. His request. Perhaps he could send a letter to his father asking about how that goes. Can his mother come home, at last? To be buried in a pool fitting of who she was?
Title: An Economy of Promises
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy, Learning
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: One learns to navigate the careful webs of obligations, of people who owe each other favors… and if one is wise, one learns to understand them. In the Imperial court they exist, but one is foolish if they discount Csrae the province, as Emperors have in the past.
Title: The Man on Horseback
Dice Rolled: Martial
Chance of Success: Variable
Time:
Text: It is time to display the prowess of the army. A grand parade through one of the low cities, or a martial demonstration of the prowess of the Rassit and what few cannons are returning to the Imperial court could impress something upon the world.
Title: Mire, but Brush
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: It has been so long since Kiralo has truly written poetry. Perhaps the time has come to do so again, and see what result he can take of it.
Title: Adventurous Men?
Dice Rolled: Martial and Diplomacy
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Hiro will want for me, eventually, to join his second expedition up north. Perhaps Kiralo can make a start by it by looking for adventurous young men who might be willing to… go on a far journey, or who have specific skills.
Title: Hedge-Spirits
Dice Rolled: Magic
Chance of Success: 65%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Catalogue the Spirits, and see what can be learned of them in the area, and gather some, not only for himself but for his allies.
Title: The Course of Fate
Dice Rolled: Magic
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: What is this fate that follows Ayila? And for that matter, what is this about her Great Spirit, and Kiralo's own sometimes annoying, sometimes helpful spirit? There is so much to learn, and so little time to do it.
Title: Hitting the Books
Dice Rolled: Learning
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: It is time to purchase texts, not merely on politics, though knowing philosophy could be useful for some… schemes that have entered Kiralo's head, but also more on current Csiritan poetry, more on calligraphy, on law and everything in between. It is time to put his head down and prepare for more than he has been able to do and get.
******
[1] Roughly like a yard.
Immediate Reactions (Ayila): 1d100+23 (Diplomacy)-1 (Sometimes being handsome turns against you)=115
Gathering and Organizing the Army: 1d100+30=97
Planning (Stewardship): 1d100+15=83
News From Bueli: 1d100=92
News From Hari-Os: 1d100-20=34
Grand Progress--
Part 1 (General Luck): 1d100=30
What Goes wrong?: 1d10=8, cost overruns
Part 1 (Diplomacy): 1d100+23+1=91
New From Court: 1d100+10 (Hero)+10 (Father)-5 (Fears)=83
Gathering and Organizing the Army: 1d100+30=97
Planning (Stewardship): 1d100+15=83
News From Bueli: 1d100=92
News From Hari-Os: 1d100-20=34
Grand Progress--
Part 1 (General Luck): 1d100=30
What Goes wrong?: 1d10=8, cost overruns
Part 1 (Diplomacy): 1d100+23+1=91
New From Court: 1d100+10 (Hero)+10 (Father)-5 (Fears)=83
A/N: And there we are, with the first such chapter in a while, eh? As far as it goes, there is more, far more, to Kuojah's plans, but I'm not sure how specific I needed to be. Whew, this is a lot of work, but there you go. Apologies I couldn't think of another dozen or so options. Still getting back into the swing of things.
Last edited:
Those some very scary words when put into the same sentence, as any participant in "Paths of Civilization" can attest to.
This development sounds pretty fun though, I am curious how we will navigate this mess.
Random Member
Gardener of Human Happiness
- Location
- Behind You
Wait, people didn't believe a rumor? The world must be ending.
You mean "Traitor-Thrashing"? Sounds a bit ridiculous, but I didn't expect anything less from the Empire.
Kuojah, you magnificent bastard! Centralization of the realm, eh? That will be a pain for us to deal with in the futre though.
Last edited:
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Thrash: beat (a person or animal) repeatedly and violently with a stick or whip.
Random Member
Gardener of Human Happiness
- Location
- Behind You
I forgot the first 'h'.... In any case, you wrote 'thrasing'. Isn't it supposed to be 'thrashing'?
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Fixed.
Edit: As an example of this sort of titling, Shogun means, "Barbarian Quelling Generalissimo."
"Traitor Thrashing General" doesn't mean that it's now Kiralo's job to lead all wars against traitors, though. It's just, "Hey, you did a thing!" kind of thing.
Last edited:
So as far as I understand it Kuojah is planning the end of feudalism?
I assume that this will set a precept for the whole empire to follow eventually. Replacing the nobility with civil servants and freeing people from serfdom, I wonder what led him to reach these conclusions. It's clear enough why he wants to strengthen the monarchy or replace the nobility with civil servants but I wonder what made him choose to give the peasants more freedom. Does he believe in economic arguments for the change or does he believe in giving people more control over their lives for it's own sake?
I assume that this will set a precept for the whole empire to follow eventually. Replacing the nobility with civil servants and freeing people from serfdom, I wonder what led him to reach these conclusions. It's clear enough why he wants to strengthen the monarchy or replace the nobility with civil servants but I wonder what made him choose to give the peasants more freedom. Does he believe in economic arguments for the change or does he believe in giving people more control over their lives for it's own sake?
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Not really? Or rather, what feudalism is and isn't is a really, really long story, and in China it was never, ever, ever along the lines of Medieval Europe. Like, to explain, China in the 1700s was not ruled by Noble Landholders who gathered together a lot of land in aristocratic families. Instead there was a system of tenant farming and absentee gentry/gentle but not aristocratic landowners.
Were there periods of time in which some elements of how China (which Csirit is based on) functioned agriculturally fit the model of medieval Europe? Yes. Sorta.
*******
But the story of what's going on is rather more complicated than a simple tale of "The Fall of Feudalism and the rise of capitalism/etc." Even if it succeeds, and it might well horribly fail, the results and consequences will take a long, long time to play out.
I'll of course be talking more about what he's planning in later updates, since it's a dense topic, and one that's going to run head-first into politics and politicization, of course.
Last edited:
It's a pretty traditional chinese imperial title sort of thing.