Behind the Serpent Throne (CK2)

[The Laurent]

Turn 16--Rumors

Oh Good Grief: Rumors now abound, whispered so softly that Kiralo cannot find out who is spreading them, cannot figure out anything of the sort at all. It's spurred by his sudden rise in power, and the Emperor's words and clear fondness.The rumor was that he and the boy Emperor were lovers, and that this was how he had risen so far and so fast. If he finds out who spread that rumor,. Kiralo would politely, carefully question… he'd murder them. How dare they. How. Dare. They. To say that of a child, especially a kind, innocent one like Dai'so, to say that of him, that'd he'd exploit someone like that? If he catches them, they will regret it. They will die regretting it, and meet the Judges regretting it, to speak so of their Emperor, to think so, to…

Kiralo had retired to his chambers, to keep from lashing out at someone, and immediately used what resources he had to look for the rumor's source, since it was quite illegal to spread such a rumor.

But he had found no hint of who was behind it, which was actually even more concerning.

'Peasant Protests': Truly, it's an actually clever idea, getting peasants to protest the new laws. The petty Lords are starting to get up to their tricks, and with peasants protesting the economic changes, the Empire is locked in a sort of fork. If they crack down on the peasants being forced to do this, then the peasants of these two or three regions--not big, but significant--will be devastated and unable to take advantage of their theoretical independence. If one doesn't, then the Empire looks weak and their reforms will not be down. What to do about it is… a rather tricky question.

Remnants of the Aftermath: As an army marches north, small but elite, news trickles in of what happened. The Governor of Hari-Bueli is very, very badly injured and may not survive, but is still clinging to life, while the Governor of Yeadot is wounded, but not all that badly. But, in perhaps related news…

Invasion of the Bueli: The Governor's family, thrown into mourning and infighting, almost didn't meet the threat of the Bueli raids, which have doubled and redoubled. Kuojah's agents have very little doubt that if the plan killed the Emperor and the Governor--or multiple Governors--that it'd be an invasion in earnest, but even this is enough to threaten the fragile security of the border. It seems as if it will be another bloody year.

******

A/N: So, yeah, Csiritan culture is, incidentally, skeevy as fuck sometimes.

 

[Random Member]

Oh Good Grief: Rumors now abound, whispered so softly that Kiralo cannot find out who is spreading them, cannot figure out anything of the sort at all. It's spurred by his sudden rise in power, and the Emperor's words and clear fondness.The rumor was that he and the boy Emperor were lovers, and that this was how he had risen so far and so fast. If he finds out who spread that rumor,. Kiralo would politely, carefully question… he'd murder them. How dare they. How. Dare. They. To say that of a child, especially a kind, innocent one like Dai'so, to say that of him, that'd he'd exploit someone like that? If he catches them, they will regret it. They will die regretting it, and meet the Judges regretting it, to speak so of their Emperor, to think so, to…

Kiralo had retired to his chambers, to keep from lashing out at someone, and immediately used what resources he had to look for the rumor's source, since it was quite illegal to spread such a rumor.

But he had found no hint of who was behind it, which was actually even more concerning.

Click to shrink...

Wait, what? No seriously, what? This isn't just normal heresy anymore, this goes far beyond that.

*sigh* Yes, the downside of not having created a real spy network. Or.... even improved our gossip network, actually. It's somewhere on the to-do list.

 

[The Laurent]

Wait, what? No seriously, what? This isn't just normal heresy anymore, this goes far beyond that.

*sigh* Yes, the downside of not having created a real spy network. Or.... even improved our gossip network, actually. It's somewhere on the to-do list.

Click to shrink...

There's supposedly an entire Department that should have sniffed this out, and yet somehow hasn't. Which Kiralo has asked Kuojah to ask them to do.

But yeah, the Emperor has been showing Kiralo a lot of favor, and while most of the rumors are just the typical jealous, "He's a kiss-ass/he's lying to the Emperor/etc" sort of things...

Some of them. Uh. Legitimately could lead to executions in startling numbers.

 

[Zaealix]

There's supposedly an entire Department that should have sniffed this out, and yet somehow hasn't. Which Kiralo has asked Kuojah to ask them to do.

But yeah, the Emperor has been showing Kiralo a lot of favor, and while most of the rumors are just the typical jealous, "He's a kiss-ass/he's lying to the Emperor/etc" sort of things...

Some of them. Uh. Legitimately could lead to executions in startling numbers.

Click to shrink...

...Seriously, stop and think of the logicistics of that.
I'm almost inclined to think Kiralo should NOT be digging deeper because anyone stupid enough to cook that egg up CLEARLY has no idea of the amount of security protects the Emperor at any given time. Pretty sure Dai'so has some big mamma jamma Emperor Spirit he can throw to flatten someone who attacks him. Ooor maaaaybe not but that just means BIG SCARY IMPERIAL GAURDS. Not to mention the whole 'Emperor is a kid and probably not interested given before this he was hanging out with stuffy tutors.'...

EDIT: On further thinking I think this can only be old man Kuojah himself behind this, but even still that dirty old man! I get losing the tutors was a blow but this is unbelievable and you might very well lose your head for this!

 

[The Laurent]

...Seriously, stop and think of the logicistics of that.
I'm almost inclined to think Kiralo should NOT be digging deeper because anyone stupid enough to cook that egg up CLEARLY has no idea of the amount of security protects the Emperor at any given time. Pretty sure Dai'so has some big mamma jamma Emperor Spirit he can throw to flatten someone who attacks him. Ooor maaaaybe not but that just means BIG SCARY IMPERIAL GAURDS. Not to mention the whole 'Emperor is a kid and probably not interested given before this he was hanging out with stuffy tutors.'...

EDIT: On further thinking I think this can only be old man Kuojah himself behind this, but even still that dirty old man! I get losing the tutors was a blow but this is unbelievable and you might very well lose your head for this!

Click to shrink...

Wow, that's kinda... let's say that it's a big stretch.

 

[Zaealix]

Wow, that's kinda... let's say that it's a big stretch.

Click to shrink...

I'm just kind of rolling over in my unoccupied grave levels of what the flip. I guess I should have expected this from a culture that preaches the virtues of ambition-no one is above being replaced, and Dai'so is probably seen as 'weak' due to being unproven (people knew he was a puppet, that he threw his strings off is only half the battle, he's got to prove he doesn't NEED those strings.)
That or it's a straight-up massive insult to Kiralo. Who probably should hurry up on that finding a lover thing I imagine.

 

[The Laurent]

I'm just kind of rolling over in my unoccupied grave levels of what the flip. I guess I should have expected this from a culture that preaches the virtues of ambition-no one is above being replaced, and Dai'so is probably seen as 'weak' due to being unproven (people knew he was a puppet, that he threw his strings off is only half the battle, he's got to prove he doesn't NEED those strings.)
That or it's a straight-up massive insult to Kiralo. Who probably should hurry up on that finding a lover thing I imagine.

Click to shrink...

Well, has he thrown off his strings? Thus far the only improvisations he's made are, to be honest, clumsy and only give Kiralo more power (in theory). He's a kid.

And as far as it goes, this is a culture that prizes ambition... and in which the idea of pedophilia/hebephilia/etc being a great and terrible evil doesn't, uh, exist? There are prominent and well respected courtiers who fuck teenage serving boys and/or girls.

Saying that of the Emperor, though. Yes, it's kinda utterly disgusting. One wonders why someone would spread something like that?

(One would: I wouldn't, because I know the answer, and it's a good ol-fashioned complicated mystery.)

Edit: I'm surprised nobody's talked about the other ones, since those are all big trouble.

 

[Zaealix]

Bueli...Wasn't that the super-important province we weren't supposed to let go to the dogs but did?
Well, if this is a result of that that's pretty unfortunate...But if I'm right we might be able to use the province to buy off the rioting peasants by taking it from the guy who just moved into governing it!

 

[The Laurent]

Hari-Bueli is the neighbor of, big surprise, Bueli. It's one of the newer Provinces, and it's been in a constant fight against Bueli, along all the traditional proto-ethno-national-and-religious lines. A brutal, bloody fight, one that's gone back and forth for the whole Quest, obviously. And now someone tried to assassinate their Governor... someone from Yeadot, which is in the north as well. At the same time that Bueli forces kick it up a notch. This is what some would call suspicious.

Meanwhile, in areas not all that close, the peasants are protesting and causing trouble at the instigation of minor nobles.

Meanwhile, closer to home, there's a small peasant rebellion in Yeadot.

Meanwhile, all the way close to home, there's someone spreading vile rumors for unknown reasons.

That is to say, it's situation normal, all fucked up.

 

[Neptune]

Hari-Bueli is the neighbor of, big surprise, Bueli. It's one of the newer Provinces, and it's been in a constant fight against Bueli, along all the traditional proto-ethno-national-and-religious lines. A brutal, bloody fight, one that's gone back and forth for the whole Quest, obviously. And now someone tried to assassinate their Governor... someone from Yeadot, which is in the north as well. At the same time that Bueli forces kick it up a notch. This is what some would call suspicious.

Click to shrink...

OOC I honestly wouldn't call it that suspicious, as horse nomads actually tended to have some incredible intelligence networks given they also traded extensively, so it could just be very simply them reacting to an opportunity and trying to exploit it. It's not like they weren't already fighting either so it's not that out of the blue.

With regards to the peasant protests, honestly just let them protest. This happens again and again throughout history, and the ones that become violent are the exception to the norm, as the vast majority just fizzle out. Just send some people with knowledge of what's happening just in case the local lords are spreading false rumors to correct it - and depending on the legality on falsely interpreting the orders of the Emperor or lying about them that could be a crime if it is actually happening - and this should mitigate their initial fear of change.

 

[Random Member]

OOC I honestly wouldn't call it that suspicious, as horse nomads actually tended to have some incredible intelligence networks given they also traded extensively, so it could just be very simply them reacting to an opportunity and trying to exploit it. It's not like they weren't already fighting either so it's not that out of the blue.

With regards to the peasant protests, honestly just let them protest. This happens again and again throughout history, and the ones that become violent are the exception to the norm, as the vast majority just fizzle out. Just send some people with knowledge of what's happening just in case the local lords are spreading false rumors to correct it - and depending on the legality on falsely interpreting the orders of the Emperor or lying about them that could be a crime if it is actually happening - and this should mitigate their initial fear of change.

Click to shrink...

But letting the peasants protest instead of crushing them makes us look weak!

 

[The Laurent]

But letting the peasants protest instead of crushing them makes us look weak!

Click to shrink...

You say that a little facetiously, but...

It would probably make you look weak.

Good thing this is a Quest that doesn't care about outside appearances and soft influence, and concerns itself only with the cold hard numbers of reality.

 

[The Laurent]

Why did I decide to do a CK2 Quest where I have to write Planning Vote Updates?

 

[Lealope]

Why did I decide to do a CK2 Quest where I have to write Planning Vote Updates?

Click to shrink...

I'd suggest to switching to the style used in Divided Loyalties, where they ditched the extended fluff descriptions and just wrote a one sentence description of the intent behind an action. I'm not super fond of planning vote updates either and I honestly don't think anyone is. With this, you could just stick the vote at the final results update of the turn without much trouble.

 

[The Laurent]

I'd suggest to switching to the style used in Divided Loyalties, where they ditched the extended fluff descriptions and just wrote a one sentence description of the intent behind an action. I'm not super fond of planning vote updates either and I honestly don't think anyone is. With this, you could just stick the vote at the final results update of the turn without much trouble.

Click to shrink...

Ehh, I already finished writing it. I was just being reminded how much hard work it was.

(Plus side, I get to introduce a new facet of it!)

 

[The Laurent]

Turn 17--Planning


Courtly Actions:

Court Influence=5 (Kuojah's Power)-4 (Kuojah's Power Invested and Divided)+2 (Kuojah's Wealth)+1 (Not Entirely His Father's Son)+1 (Kuojah's Need)+2 (Victorious General)+1 (Reformer Image)+1 (Winning Poet)-2 (Ayila)+1 (Bureaucratic Hero)=8 Influence=one must be spent on a "Poetry" category, 1 free Martial or Intrigue Influence (Kueli), one free Magical Influence (Ayila)

Spoiler: Poetry, Education, and A Boy Emperor

Title: Asking Around, Part 1
Dice Rolled: Learning
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Yanmae requires texts, lots of texts. Kiralo has contacts in Hari-Su, so perhaps he could get her the legal texts from those areas. It'd take time to get them in, but ordering them is the easy part. The waiting is a little harder.

Title: An Unfinished Play [Poetry]
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of success: 90%
Time: 2 Turns.
Text: Kiralo has a play that has yet to be finished, a classic Southlands house-drama of a sort that he had begun to practice writing, having made two of them in the previous year and each a clear improvement over the last (the first being quite dreadful). He could continue his work on this, a link to the Southlands he has left behind. An impressive play can often be a very good way to make a mark among the right sort of community...such as the poets. And in this case, it actually might serve a legitimate purpose as shifting the narrative in favor of wanting to exchange cultural goods with the Southlands. With New Year's coming up in a month, he could present it as his play then, if he is done.

Title: Shing Yan Shuffle [Poetry]
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of Success: 65%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Shing Yan is an important and interesting firebrand, one whose power is on the wax, and so if Kiralo could just carefully contact him and sound him out, it could be very interesting for both parties, most of all because Shing Yan has ownership of a printing press, that most dangerous weapon of spreading information...or misinformation, for that matter.

Title: South-Bank Scholars [Poetry]
Dice Rolled: Learning and Diplomacy
Chance of Success: 72%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: The South Bank Philosophy Club aren't the only group that actively opposes Kuojah's philosophy and scholarship, but they are the most prominent critics, and visiting their club and their printing presses and reading more about their beliefs might give Kiralo a way in with them, whether as an envoy between them and Kuojah, as unlikely as that is, or as an ally of theirs against some of Kuojah's policies.

Title: The Learning Of The Court [Poetry]
Dice Rolled: Learning
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 2 turns
Text: What is it that children are taught in the palace? The children, whether servant or child of privilege? Where do these scholars come from, where do they go, where do they meet? What lies are passed on, what learnings are passed over? To know about this was to also know about how to reform it, what lies the Emperor might be hearing.

Title: The Course of History [Poetry]
Dice Rolled: Learning, Diplomacy
Chance of Success: 60%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Talk to Huang Fu'dai and see if he might change his curriculum what he teaches to be a little more balanced.

Title: Military Learning [Poetry]
Dice Rolled: Martial, Learning, Diplomacy
Chance of Success: 50%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: The case for the Emperor getting a tutor or tutors in military affairs is… mixed, at best. And liable to be controversial. But it's also an important topic, and one that can't be ignored.

Title: Pressed for Time [Poetry]
Dice Rolled: Learning
Chance of Success: 58%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Printing presses are a complicated business. There are official governmental ones, yes, but also many, many, many private ones, and there have been for well over nine-hundred years. But there are only two official printing presses that release government documents… and only one of them is in Kuojah's control. Perhaps it is time to look into the matter of the other one, since scholarly and legal opinion on the reforms will be… very, very important.

Title: The Other Royals
Dice Rolled: Intrigue
Chance of Success: 75%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: The Emperor has two sisters, one older and one near his age. Kiralo has seen nothing of them, and knows only that their names are Biyu and Chenhau. Perhaps he could ask around, and learn more about them. It's...way too early to think of such things, with a war coming, but they might yet be important in the grand scheme of things, even if, as with Yanmae, it is clear that Kuojah is hiding them away. And no wonder, considering any marriage proposals to them would be aimed at marrying them...and then unseating the dynasty. So it's best for all involved, no doubt, that they be hidden away...yet one wonders. And one gossips.

Title: The Perfect Puppy
Dice Rolled: N/A
Chance of Success: 100%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Unlike every other courtier desperately hunting for the one puppy that the Emperor will love, among all the breeds and all the kinds, that the Emperor might be satisfied with, Kiralo has a unique and special advantage. He can and will just actually ask the Emperor what sort of dog he wants, and of what age, what breed, what sex, ask in all matters because why not cut to the heart of things?

Spoiler: Intrigue and Uncovered Secrets

Title: A Confused Code
Dice Rolled: Intrigue
Chance of Success: 55%
Time: 2 turns
Text: Arimi's strange pidgin Anlan-Bueli-Csiritan-Southlander is hard to understand when he switches into it, and seems to share the grammatical composition of absolutely none of them. That could make it a surprisingly useful language if one wanted to convey coded messages, since Arimi doesn't switch into it often, and the odds of anyone being able to work it out are actually somewhat slim, and the odds of anyone taking the time to do so are even slimmer. It'd take some studying and work, though.

Title: The Opener of Letters
Dice Rolled: Intrigue
Chance of Success: 75%
Time: 2 Turns
Text: Perhaps a courier or two could be convinced to sometimes tell tidbits of the information they are transferring. It is not likely that they will provide huge levels of details, not on the budget Kiralo currently has, strained as he is by his father's careful management of his money, but a few details at the right time could begin to reveal some of what the webs of messages outwards say and mean. It might be a little easier now that Kiralo has money to bribe people with.

Title: Maps!
Dice Rolled: Stewardship and Learning
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: One of the often-forgotten functions of having an army is to be able to map areas, and one of the often forgotten needs of an army are functional maps. During the war, Kiralo found the maps decently adequate at places, but for an extended conflict, they could be more detailed. The first step to check into the offices in general.

Title: Hunting For A Rumor
Dice Rolled: Intrigue
Chance of Success: Variable/Unknown
Time: 1 Turn
Text: The rumor about himself and the Emperor is insulting, disgusting, and really, really, really illegal. It's time to hunt them down, to trace the lines from person to person, threatening death and worse in order to try to move towards the end of it. But what reason could they have for such a rumor?

Title: Questioning the Secrets
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy and Stewardship
Chance of Success: 55%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: The (technically non-existent) Department of Secrets has dropped the ball. Demand to know why they haven't figured out the start of the rumor. Make them answer for this, and then use their answer both to understand the Department better and to perhaps find an in with them.

Title: Paying Your Way To Secrecy?
Dice Rolled: Intrigue, separately Stewardship
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Hiring spies is always a difficult sort of thing, obviously, because trust is the last thing one should grant a spy. And yet Kirao has a lot of money. A lot a lot. Enough to buy at least some loyalty, in theory, if he does it right. There are a lot of ifs, and a lot of thens, but that's just how things go.

Title: A Little Drop of Poison, Part 1
Dice Rolled: Intrigue
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Immunity to Poisoning is, of course, impossible to achieve. But one can use survivable poisons to build up immunity, and while one is at it build up an understanding of what poisons are what, and what they do. It's at least a first step to more, if Kiralo wants to ever do anything with (or against) the not-that-uncommon art of poisoning, as practiced in the Imperial Court.

Spoiler: Governmental And Public Affairs

Title: No Men Of Little Consequence
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy and Stewardship
Chance of Success: 60%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: The Public Works department will need a great number of new men, new men that of course must be paid, and of course must be competent. Greater numbers is something that on its own solves little, and yet with the right sort of arguments, perhaps a few promising people can be found for useful positions. Useful for the department, and useful for Kiralo.

Title: The Sectioning, Part 1: Paper Tigers
Dice Rolled: Stewardship
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Dividing out the Department--on paper-- into separate sections is only the first step in realizing it in greater detail. For without an understanding of all that Public Works does, and without keeping a master of managing artisans from overseeing the making of a road, there might be time for greater efforts.

Title: A Funding Drive?
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy, Intrigue.
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Getting more money for something so unexciting as the building of roads is always difficult. Which is why, of course, Kiralo will lie to the nobles, if not the moneylenders, will make it seem that the contributions are military in nature. They are, really. Roads are a military necessity, as is good well-regulated metal. It's almost like he isn't lying to absolutely everyone. But, yeah, he is.

Title: Money in the City
Dice Rolled: Stewardship and Diplomacy
Chance of Success: 74%
Time: 1 Turn.
Text: As nobles and bureaucrats are to the Imperial City, so are merchants and petty officials to Csrae the city. The important men that are behind most of the power in Csrae the city are men whose opinion matters, not least of which because the relationship with the Imperial City is highly symbiotic. Through Yonu, Kiralo has a chance to get to know them. Shake the tree, and see what comes out.

Title: Eunuchs!
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of Success: 55%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: The eunuchs have long been ignored. But if Kiralo is going to expand his influence over the Emperor, he needs to talk to them. Besides being functionaries, a number of them are personal servants of the Imperial Household. And the non-eunuch servants are, for various reasons, hard to talk to. Their influence is in a different way, involving different means… but eunuchs, they can deal. And be dealt with.

Title: A Show of Austerity
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy and Stewardship
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 3 Turns
Text: The expenses of Kuojah's reforms are going to be massive, and more than that, massively controversial. But Kiralo could disarm some of them by making a big production of gathering a team to go through the various departments to 'cut down waste', doing it in a way that may save some money, but honestly more importantly will appear to save money, thus making the (far larger than any savings) outlays for the reforms seem more reasonable and justified.

Title: The Many Banquets Of An Up And Comer
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of Success: 70%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: One way to get in everyone's grace and appear as the cool and savvy new power-behind-the-throne that Kiralo is trying to become is to host many extravagant dinners, and talk politics during all of them. No longer the one merely accepting invitations, become the one handing them out, though on the other hand it'll eat terribly into the time Kiralo has for paperwork and the like.

Title: Courier Reforms
Dice Rolled: Stewardship
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Couriers are quite important to the functioning of the Empire, so reforming them into something more stable and less corrupt is always useful. Of course, if Kiralo is simultaneously trying to subvert them, this won't work so well. One cannot demand a lack of corruption while promoting corruption, not without far more power than Kiralo currently possesses.

Title: Math Lessons
Dice Rolled: Stewardship, Learning, Intrigue, and Diplomacy all separate
Chance of Success: 75%/50%/25%/10%/5%/1%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: If Kiralo is going to be the power behind the throne, then he needs to understand the mixed-up economy of the Imperial Seat. And that means a lot of department visits, a lot of lessons, and a lot of poking and prodding.

Title: Degrees of Difficulty, Part 1
Dice Rolled: Learning, Diplomacy
Chance of Success: 60% per turn
Time: 3 Turns
Text: The Degree System is quite exact, and quite excellent, but what it's excellent at is leaving the state a little too shorthanded. Working to implement some of his father's ideas involving Degrees and Examinations, but also coming up with his own, could help.

Spoiler: Military/Foreign Policy/Diplomatic

Title: The Expedition North, Part 2
Dice Rolled: Stewardship
Chance of Success: 65%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Winter is ending, and the window of opportunity for a full expedition is almost over. No longer able to entirely help as planned, Kiralo could still put his shoulders into it, in the hopes that it might still go out, fully equipped, before the summer arrives.

Title: The Turtle, Part 3: Prototype
Dice Rolled: Stewardship
Chance of Success: 60% per turn, a failure leads to an extra turn of time to completion
Time: 3 Turns
Text: The next step, though not the final one, would be to try to create a good and very nice working model that can be the basis for a version, eventually, that could be made in some numbers. This is, in some ways, the culmination of almost a year of thinking and problems, after all.

Title: Anlan Aid
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of Success: Really, it's Unknown, and sorta Variable.
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Kiralo could send a letter to the Anlan over the border who originally sent the Turtle, asking if they would be willing to lend any aid, military or otherwise, to Hari-Bueli. It would all have to be delicately done, the aid perhaps dropped right outside the border, or something to that affect, but it'd build goodwill for the Anlan to, perhaps, eventually send a supplication mission to the capital, even if that will take time.

Title: The New Councilman
Dice Rolled: Martial, Diplomacy, Stewardship
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 3 Turns
Text: One of the five Generals is dead. Kiralo, as powerful as he is, is not so strong as to be able to simply name someone to such a position. He's an Envoy. But he has the Emperor's ear and that means power, power to work towards someone who believes as he does, who might be loyal to him, and not simply to his father. It's an opportunity to increase his power

Title: The Emperor's Guards
Dice Rolled: Intrigue, Personal Combat
Chance of Success: 60%/40%/20%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: They would have done their job just fine, but now that Kiralo's gotten introduced to the Emperor's guards, if not personally, he wants to know more about them, and more than that, he wants to be able to say for sure that he can trust them as much as he's supposed to. That he can trust them, and the Emperor can trust them, and that they can trust him. Three separate trusts, as it were.

Title: Rassit Rust-Proofing
Dice Rolled: Martial
Chance of Success: 65%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: It takes a lot of work and effort, just to keep Rassit from going soft in a city. There's a reason they move on so much, and it's not just because those that are mercenaries have to go where the money is. Kiralo could help to make sure that they can set up a schedule to make sure they're as sharp as can be. The Wind-Dancers will have another use, before too long, of that Kiralo has no doubt.

Title: Protecting and serving?
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy, Stewardship, Martial
Chance of Success: 57%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: The city guards are… somewhat skilled, or so it's said, but sometimes corrupt, and very bad at guarding the peace, or justice, and there's a lot that can be done there, though Kiralo would have to start from the bottom, or from some small change.

Title: I Should Write A Book
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy, separately Martial
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 3 turns
Text: Bragging is bad… if done wrong. But Kiralo's won a war, and done so using new and untested methods, at times and places. Perhaps a book, carefully selected and made, might help present his ideas of both combat and strategy in a precise way, as well as incidentally increasing his reputation.

Spoiler: Magic Things

Title: Mirror, Mirror
Dice Rolled: Magic
Chance of Success: 100% (When using Ayila)/ 25%
Time: 2 turns
Text: The mirror and its many magical properties is obviously a topic that won't directly benefit Csirit, seeing as it is going with Ayila in three months. However, studying it could help reveal other facets of spirit-lore.

Title: Women's Magic?
Dice Rolled: Magic
Chance of Success: 100% with Ayila's dice, 55% if not
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Ayila has made Kiralo think about how many women there are whose spirit-lore is not fully appreciated, or fully helped into full-blown Magehood. Perhaps, by asking around, Kiralo can begin to change this, and if he knows more about women and Magic, perhaps it could be the start of some form of… reform. Albeit a risky one.

Title: Mage Academy Secrets
Dice Rolled: Magic, Intrigue
Chance of Success: 70% (With Ayila), 10% otherwise
Time: 1 Turn
Text: The Imperial Mages' Academy has secrets, everyone has always known that. But finding them out has always been thought all but impossible. Ayila might, just might, be potent and clever enough for that. It'll be difficult, but she could do it. Doing it otherwise would require… considerable investment of resources.

Title: An Army of Magic
Dice Rolled: Magic, Martial
Chance of Success: Variable, higher with Ayila
Time: 2 Turns
Text: The army could always use Mages. Kiralo has done much to help that, but perhaps a little more pushing and searching could increase their numbers. Or perhaps think of ways to do sub-academies, or an army apprenticeship system for certain spirits, as is already done in more minor ways?

Spoiler: Personal Things

Title: Yanmae's Little Family
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of Success: 100%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Tea at halfway to evening, once a week. It's a chance to catch up with Yanmae, make sure she's okay. She's been busy, she's been in a bubble, and sometimes it can be rough, being like that. Of all his half-sisters, she's his favorite, and yet also the one most aware of his power, the one he has to be careful with. If he became head of the family… so sometimes he wonders at his interactions with her, how genuine they are. But this worry is idle, he is sure.

Title: Due Diligence
Dice Rolled: 2d50 per Influence spent
Chance of Success: N/A
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Now that he's back at court, he has more time to continue studying up on the issues, including the agricultural and leadership ones that have become quite prominent. (Currently at 22/200). If it gets to zero, you lose all chance of actually gaining the Trait you earned.

Title: Father Dearest
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Working with Kuojah is hard enough, but with his mother down south needing to go north, with his power base to expand, with... all of that, a conflict with his father would be even more dangerous and even more of a mistake than it was before. And this time, it might even be a mistake for both of them, considering the situation at hand.

Landowner Actions

1 (Imperial Holding)+1 (Stewardship Above 10)=2 points to spend

How do you want to administer it, at this stage?

[] Appoint an overseer. It will have to be someone new, and it'll be a lot of work to situation and choose them, but that'll at least simplify things. (1 Influence, 2 turns.)
[] Allow the Village Headmen and the current managers to run things, at least for now. (0 influence.
[] Run it yourself, having the paperwork sent to you from there, and making the major decisions from the palace. Of course, they'll likely like to you a lot about a lot of facts, but it will give you an impression of how they'll lie and what the numbers supposedly look like (2 influence)

Spoiler: Action Choices

Title: What Is Justice?
Dice Rolled: Stewardship
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Send messages and get messages from the judges in the area, hear about the local problems in this regard, and otherwise keep on top of this. It, after all, is a large part of Kiralo's duties.

Title: Tax Assessment
Dice Rolled: Stewardship
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turns
Text: Taxes. They're important. He owes some to the Emperor, and is owed some from below. It's a complicated system, and the first step to getting a feel for it would be looking over the current taxation paperwork, perhaps calling on to meet some of the (no doubt scrupulous and honest) tax collectors, and then find out how many of them to let go, and which of them have committed high crimes and should be whipped and beaten for them. Or worse. Once that's done, perhaps other measures could be taken, but only once that's done.

Title: The Village Headmen
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of Success: Also Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: The Village Headmen and such figures are the closest things to power and representation that peasants have. Talking to them, or sending a message to them introducing himself, could help begin a process of understand. Heck, perhaps he could even host them in the city (not the palace, that'd be too much).

Title: Land For Horses?
Dice Rolled: Martial, Stewardship, Learning
Chance of Success: 50%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Rassit need room to breathe, that much Kiralo knows. What if there's good pasture land, or somewhere to keep them? Could that be the secret? The manor isn't that far from the capital, there are very few problems that would actually require all of the Wind-Dancers, and he could always keep some of them close to home, just in case. Close to the palace. Which is sorta home now, but...

Title: Pay A Visit (2 Actions)
Dice Rolled: N/A
Chance of Success: N/A
Time: 1 Turn
Text: It'll definitely take up a good deal of time, but going down, even for a week--even bringing paperwork with him--might help quite a lot, both in relaxing and being able to see the actual condition of the land.

Title: The Manor House
Dice Rolled: Stewardship, Learning
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: The manor house is an important part of the territory. Without going, send a few spies, perhaps a few artists, to draw the place, give him an idea of what it is like, what the staff are like… all sorts of things. No doubt there's much that would have to be done before it was fully habitable by noble standards.

State Actions

Choose 3!

Spoiler: Actions

Title: Mother's Return
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of Success: 59%
Time: 1 Turn (Then more to bring her)
Text: With the events of the last few months, the odds of his mother's remains being returned to him has increased. Not all the way, not yet, but he has gained power in his relationship with his father. Kiralo wants this more than anything, and yet he must be cautious not to make her prey to those who might hold her remains hostage, or think it untoward and try to prevent it.

Title: At the corner of Empire.
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of success: 69%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Hari-Bueli is a far-off province, one currently in the middle of an ongoing defensive war against Bueli. Its concerns and politics are its own, and perhaps could be better understood.

Title: An Old Seat of Empire
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of Success: 59%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Once, Xissand was the seat of a rival Empire, formed in the breakup, classic history says, that followed the Fourth Emperor and led to the age of darkness in which the Emperor was forgotten. It has long since been conquered, its heretics purged, or at least as purged as any being on the planet, and it has long been loyal and fully Csiritan, lacking much of the blood (though there is some) of Xissand. Yet there are still many ruins that to this day remain guarded by powerful spirits or more powerful superstitions, or are hidden far away beneath rivers and within the craggy hills of West-Xissand.

Title: Farthest North
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of success: 78%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Hari-Nat is the province that borders the vast and barely passable in the best of times mountains of the far north. It is often the province that stands out of the way of the major conflicts, waiting and seeing what happens, not strong enough to ever declare independence as some have during times of conflict, but not so weak as to be conquered and subjugated. Even its people are a little different, altered by the cold and harsh climate. Investigate into them more fully. The information on what lies beyond and within these mountains has driven interest in the region.

Title: People of the Sea
Dice Rolled: Learning and Diplomacy
Chance of Success: 58%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: The Sea-People did Csirit an uncertain good when they helped Hari-Os, but it is a good that might be appreciated. Often regarded as both less bad and worse than the normal barbarians, the Sea People are those who have done what is pure heresy, made strange mystical congress with the spirits of the sea, and so many of them are not entirely human in appearance or even outlook, and in addition to the Islands that house the large majority of their population, they are said to have underwater cities where those 'too far gone' rest. Of course, many things are said and only some are known, but Kiralo has seen men with gills or strange colored skin, or webbed toes or hands, and even the most 'normal' of the Sea People has a tie to the ocean and water far greater than even the most experienced Southlander sailor. Learning more about them, and perhaps cautiously contacting them, could be useful.

Title: Supplicants
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of success: 42%
Time: 1 Turn.
Text: Kiralo can begin the long bureaucratic process of making an argument of a certain type. The Southlanders, if this is done right, can send tribute embassies every few years, depending on matters, to trade at the capital and acknowledge Csiritan greatness, as well as similar annual or semi-annual trade missions at the border. The details would take time to be decided, and the first step would be to send diplomats to ask if they would be willing to submit in humble supplication. Doing this is necessary to open the door to being politically able to receive the same from the foreigners from the west.

Title: Inspector-Priest General
Dice Rolled: Stewardship
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn
Text: There is a part of the bureaucracy that deals with monitoring and making sure the monasteries are in good order. Perhaps it is time for a top-to-bottom investigation of this part of the government, to see if they were aware of just how much complaint there was.

Title: Putting Down Peasants
Dice Rolled: Martial
Chance of Success: ???
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Something must be done, and this is something! Send a small army to scatter the peasant protesters, while the late winter makes their protests as brittle as a hunk of ice. In the Spring, perhaps, other solutions could be pursued, but certainly a military solution is quite fast and very final.

Title: Major Shipments
Dice Rolled: Martial, Stewardship
Chance of Success: 50%
Time: 1 Turn
Text: Hari-Bueli is under attack, Hari-Bueli needs aid. So Kiralo will send them aid. Money, food, weapons, whatever it takes to keep them in the fight and hold the line. More needs to be done, it really does, Kiralo can't imagine spending the rest of his life shoring this up, and yet a major invasion of Bueli--one solution he'd thought of--would be risky, insane, and just create a larger and less loyal Hari-Bueli. But the Bueli have not historically been interested in peace talks unless they're driven to the table by main force.

Title: Heretic Hunt
Dice Rolled: Martial
Chance of Success: Variable
Time: 1 Turn (to set up, the fight will last months, most likely)
Text: There is already a small army going to meet the rest of the heretics, the remains of Jianglong's little army (hopefully Hung is safe, hiding away from them). But Kiralo could send more people, and direct the campaign himself, from afar if need be.

Title: The Mountains, The Mountains
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of Success: 60%
Time:
Text: Rerin is a strange place, but stranger still is the lack of activity. No sudden crises, everything so startlingly silent that Kiralo thinks it has to be a trick, that there's something lurking there. That's perhaps a little silly as a thought, but Kiralo sometimes gets a feeling. Sometimes, they're even right.

******

A/N: I forgot how much work making one of these posts is. Gah. Alas and alack.

 

[veekie]

0/7 General
0/1 Poetry
0/1 Kueli(Martial/Intrigue)
0/1 Ayila(Magic)
0/2 Land
0/3 State

[X] Plan Reform Preparations
-[X][Poetry] Shing Yan Shuffle [Poetry]
-[X][General] The Perfect Puppy
-[X][General] A Show of Austerity
-[X][General] The Many Banquets Of An Up And Comer
-[X][General] Math Lessons
-[X][General] The New Councilman
-[X][General] Due Diligence
-[X][General] Hunting For A Rumor
-[X][Kueli] Hunting For A Rumor
-[X][Ayila] Women's Magic?
-[X][Land] Appoint an overseer. It will have to be someone new, and it'll be a lot of work to situation and choose them, but that'll at least simplify things. (1 Influence, 2 turns.)
-[X][Land] Tax Assessment
-[X][State] Mother's Return
-[X][State] Major Shipments
-[X][State] Putting Down Peasants

Justifications:
-[][Poetry] Shing Yan Shuffle [Poetry]

We need a printing press yesterday to influence the rumor mill. Shing Yan is easier than the other option.

-[][General] The Perfect Puppy

What Emperor wants. Emperor gets.

-[][Kueli] Hunting For A Rumor
-[][General] Hunting For A Rumor

Two pronged attack on the rumor, because we NEED to nip this in the bud.

-[][General] A Show of Austerity

This is needed to let the expensive looking reforms pass through.

-[][General] The Many Banquets Of An Up And Comer

And this is needed to show that we're willing to play the courtly games, which nets us the influence we need to work and mitigates the old players fearing they're being cut out of the picture.

-[][General] The New Councilman

A new player, which we can get strings set in early while we have influence over the military.

-[][General] Math Lessons
-[][General] Due Diligence

Both of these are sorely needed to actually keep up with all the shit we're doing as we broaden from a new player and general to an overall court master.
We wear the gold now so we'd be challenged on our administrative ability soon enough.

-[][Ayila] Women's Magic?

Oh look a whole new cadre of mages who might be receptive to our influence if given some influence.

-[][Land] Appoint an overseer. It will have to be someone new, and it'll be a lot of work to situation and choose them, but that'll at least simplify things. (1 Influence, 2 turns.)

We simply lack the time to manage everything ourselves.

-[][Land] Tax Assessment

And a good testbed and thus synergy with the Austerity, Math Lessons and Due Diligence.

-[][State] Mother's Return

I think its about time.

-[][State] Major Shipments

Can't have this side collapse, it'd look terrible on us.

-[][State] Putting Down Peasants

And likewise, in the wind up for reform, we cannot look weak. Crush it decisively, and deter other players from pulling the same shit again.

 

[No7sHere]

It might also be worth spending another action on furthering the emperors education, this is something that has a somewhat limited timeframe and will have enormous future implications.

 

[wingstrike96]

[X] Plan Reform Preparations

 

[Neptune]

My plan is quite different from Veekie's, so hopefully it should give voters an interesting choice. I've doubled up on more actions as I believe it's more effective, as it both increases the chance of success (which is particularly important as success can be variable, an 80 better leading to a better result than 40 for example) and mitigates the chance of failure, and given failure in the past usually means having to spend another influence to redo it it's best to aim to get it right the first time. On the actions themselves, the main differences are that I picked paying a visit to our land and am taking the supplicants action.

I'm also not starting as many individual actions as he is, because as I mention above, I believe that it would be inefficient to do so with the prime example from his plan being Show of Austerity and Math Lessons. These would highly benefit from multiple dice, and I just can't find them given I view other others as more urgent or time limited. Math Lessons for instance has 6 degrees of success that are shown, and Stewardship, Learning, Intrigue, and Diplomacy are all rolled separately. So an extra influence here would generate 4 more rolls, and those rolls would be very beneficial if you can move higher up the success table; which makes this action crazy efficient to spend influence on. It's also important not to be hasty and rash with it and cause a failure given just what the action entails with "poking and prodding" the various Imperial Seat bureaucracies; so I'd prefer to just leave it till next turn and spend two or three influence on it.

--------------------

[X] Plan Neptune

-[X][Land] Allow the Village Headmen and the current managers to run things, at least for now. (0 influence.
-[X][Land] Pay A Visit (2 Actions)

For the land actions I went with letting those who are currently running it continue to do so, so we have enough influence here to pay them a visit. This is needed as we currently know next to nothing about the estate, and that can only really be resolved by visiting it and seeing for ourselves just what is what there. After that we can start making changes if it's necessary.

-[X][State] Supplicants (2 state influence)
-[X][State] Major Shipments (1 state influence)

There's a very big difference between our plans here, as I'm taking Supplicants. The reason I'm taking it right now is that we know that Csirit's foreign policy is all kinds of fucked up, and I would argue a large reason is due to their bellicose nature and how hard it is just to establish a conversation with other polities. This action here I feel is absolutely essential right now as Csirit is having foreign policy issues involving; the Buelli that are invading from the West, the Sea Raiders were just recently invading from the Sea and will likely come back next year, the Southlands and how Jinhai was intending to hire a large mercenary force and bring it north, and it's just discovered that the Snake People are still alive to the North (that Csirit both genocided and were inspired by them culturally) and an expedition is being outfitted right now to go explore. There's a lot of stuff that needs fixing, and it starts with other polities actually being able to send diplomats to the court. There's also the various benefit that we can get from trade, which we've already started to pursue in the past with regards to the Southlands. I've put two influence on this option because of how crucial I feel it is to succeed, and given Csirit's isolationist history because a failure here would be bad and set us back.

The second action I took here was Major Shipments as the forces attacking Hari-Buelli have increased, and are trying to take advantage of the assassination attempt on the Governor. This is also our primary job with being Envoy to the Army, and we promised Hari-Buelli in the past we'd help.

-[X][General] Father Dearest (1 influence)
-[X][General] Due Diligence (2 influence)
-[X][General] The Perfect Puppy (1 influence)

An action for getting the puppy just seems like an easy way to garner influence with the Emperor, and Father Dearest as given how turbulent the situation is we need to be able to work effectively with Kuojah. Two influence dice are spent on Due Dilligence as the quicker it gets done, the quicker we can get the benefits of completing it which will greatly help with understand Kuojah's reforms. This is presumably also going to be very beneficial with our new land actions, so there's another plus to aiming to finish it ASAP.

-[X][General] The Expedition North, Part 2 (1 influence)
-[X][General] The Many Banquets Of An Up And Comer (1 influence)
-[X][General] The New Councilman (1 influence + 1 Keuli influence)

An influence to spent on the expedition North as we promised we'd help the guy, so we should follow through. It's success is incredibly important given the reactions to knowing the Snake People still live from the updates we got, and from how we found out the guy has a destiny. This is also a time limited action, so best to get it done now. The banquet action is following through on our new found influence to get to know the court and the individuals within it, as we can no longer really coast anymore given just how visible we are due to our deeds, our Father, and the Emperor's favor.

The New Councilman is pretty much within our job description given we're the Envoy to the Army, and then there's the fact we had the last holder of the office executed. This is a prime opportunity to increase Kiralo's influence, while also making the various army reforms he wishes to complete easier in the future. For the reasons I mention at the top of this post, it's very efficient to spend extra influence on this type of action as the success is variable and Martial, Diplomacy, and Stewardship are all going to be rolled.

-[X][Poetry] An Unfinished Play (1 poetry influence)

A limited time opportunity given we can present it for the New Year's celebration, it may help with Kiralo's other endeavors involving the Southlands and particularly with the Supplicant action above, and because Kiralo should enjoy it doing it which may be helpful for stress relief.

-[X][Ayila] Mage Academy Secrets (1 Ayila influence)

Mage Academy Secrets is by far the best action to spend Ayila's influence on IMO, given just how unlikely it is we could accomplish this without her and discover just what the Academy is hiding. This could translate in extra knowledge for Kiralo personally given just how ubiquitous magic is in this setting, knowledge that could be helpful for finding out what happened to the previous Emperor, knowledge that the state or the army could make use of, or as a tool for him to acquire greater influence with the Academy himself by both knowing their secrets and keeping them hidden from others.

 

[Zeitgeist Blue]

[X] Plan Neptune

This plan looks like it hits the nail on the head, addressing some problems and working proactively on our other projects. Admittedly, there are other things that I'd like to see done but we can't do everything or risk spreading ourselves thin. Things like the Emperor's education, our spy network, Yanmae, and the Turtle.

 

[Random Member]

@Neptune I like the synergy, but An Unfinished Play takes 2 turns to finish so I'm not sure if it'll have any effect on doing Supplicants this turn as well.

 

[Bakkasama]

@Neptune I like the synergy, but An Unfinished Play takes 2 turns to finish so I'm not sure if it'll have any effect on doing Supplicants this turn as well.

Click to shrink...

I doubt that would be an issue. The Supplicants doesn't bring people from the Southlands in suplication, it sounds out the people of the Southlands to see if they are willing to play ball. If anything, the play would be finished before we bring the proposal if accepting the southland's envoys since after seeing if they would be willing to send people we would have to gather support to see if the court receives them.

 

[Neptune]

@Neptune I like the synergy, but An Unfinished Play takes 2 turns to finish so I'm not sure if it'll have any effect on doing Supplicants this turn as well.

Click to shrink...

Title: Supplicants
Dice Rolled: Diplomacy
Chance of success: 42%
Time: 1 Turn.
Text: Kiralo can begin the long bureaucratic process of making an argument of a certain type. The Southlanders, if this is done right, can send tribute embassies every few years, depending on matters, to trade at the capital and acknowledge Csiritan greatness, as well as similar annual or semi-annual trade missions at the border. The details would take time to be decided, and the first step would be to send diplomats to ask if they would be willing to submit in humble supplication. Doing this is necessary to open the door to being politically able to receive the same from the foreigners from the west.

Click to shrink...

As Bakkasama mentioned, the description of the action doesn't seem like a success would have Southlander diplomats come immediately given the phrases "begin the long bureaucratic process" and "first step", so I don't think that'll really be an issue. Ideally what the play does is it helps to mitigate the problems that'll come from Csirit's isolationist tendencies, and presenting the play during the New Year celebration seems the ideal time given the importance that is placed upon it.

 

[Random Member]

@The Laurent Can't quote it right now, but we did do Due Dilligence in Turn 15, bringing the counter to 100/200, as well as At the corner of Empire, but I suppose there is still more we could learn from that.

[X] Plan Neptune