Anyone on the Royal Council or the list of "other positions." You could also propose a write-in to look for someone as a specialist in a particular area, I suppose.
EDIT: Also picking one of the Martial training options would introduce a new Martial-focused tutor, which may be relevant.
She's absolutely loyal, unlike anyone else, including the Dowager.
She may be ambitious, but WE are her ambition, so that part is safe.
She is absolutely very competent in her field, and thus gives us a higher education trait(for non CKII people, a rank 4 education trait in the subject you are WEAK in, tops a Rank 1 education trait focused on that subject, and needless to say the benefits are enormous)
So as a mentor I don't think we can do better than her, with the only issue being politics, as the various factions won't be very happy about losing influence to her.
Angrily worded letters have set off many a war. And we would be fairly easy to unconsciously provoke unfortunately, being of only half divine inheritance, half foreign, a child AND female. Best to stay out of the public eye unless we can exceed all expectations for the better.
The mentor is the single most present person in your life for the period of time, more than even your parents for the period of mentorship. They teach you everything, shape your self image and also incidentally have a very very high success rate on intrigue actions against you.
Someone with ambitions that don't align with yours can do a lot of things to you without any sign. Sabotage your rule. Have you run into conveniently connected people to make friends, addict you to certain foods or drugs, etc.
That's the danger of picking an ambitious mentor. Of course, such people also tend to be the most competent, which is where our mother stands out, because she's extremely skilled, but fully loyal.
I need to point out that staying secluded is dangerous in the long run. People will be unhappy about not being able to see their ruler, and we're onlt making it easier for someone to pull off a silent coup.
In any case, barring a terrible gaffe or ill omen, there isn't much risk that we'll botch public appearances.
In fact, I have to question the wisdom of putting aside all public appearances until we've learned court protocol. That's only going to cover a subset of interactions (interacting with the nobility and courtiers) in any case.
I need to point out that staying secluded is dangerous in the long run. People will be unhappy about not being able to see their ruler, and we're onlt making it easier for someone to pull off a silent coup.
In any case, barring a terrible gaffe or ill omen, there isn't much risk that we'll botch public appearances.
In fact, I have to question the wisdom of putting aside all public appearances until we've learned court protocol. That's only going to cover a subset of interactions (interacting with the nobility and courtiers) in any case.
This. So much this. Building our reputation and prestige in the public eye means we can't be confined to quarters due to frail constitution or retreat into private prayer and contemplation. We need to become known as soon as possible. Getting court training is good, but I'd put it as a corequisite rather than prerequisite.
This. So much this. Building our reputation and prestige in the public eye means we can't be confined to quarters due to frail constitution or retreat into private prayer and contemplation. We need to become known as soon as possible. Getting court training is good, but I'd put it as a corequisite rather than prerequisite.
I kind of prefer Khui as main mentor. He is ambitious and so should have some form of Intrigue to teach, along with the Martial boost needed to channel Sekhmet on turbulent vassals.
Our Mom could invite allegations of Foreign influence now that we aren't a kid. I do like her IntriIntrigue boosts and mother goddess thing, but we should try and ingratiate ourselves with a faction, and the army is of increasing importance in these turbulent times.
From looking at a map from around 1250 bc there doesn't seem to be anyone of importance to the west of us, is there anything useful there, I know it would probably be difficulties sustaining a population there but extending our reach to the west could earn us a lot of respect and this place Jebel Akhdar, Libya - Wikipedia .
Cyrene was founded there by the greeks in about 600bc.
We aren't avoiding people completely tho? One of highly favored options is learning to drive. I'm sure people will have plenty of chances to see us rollin'.
We aren't avoiding people completely tho? One of highly favored options is learning to drive. I'm sure people will have plenty of chances to see us rollin'.
The military forces of Kemet have suffered from neglect for quite some time due to the preoccupation of the Royal court with domestic matters. Accordingly the influence of Kemet over territories once subject to its influence and rule has accordingly contracted such that country really only holds firm rule over its own core. Even the edges of Kemet proper were coming under threat from unruly tribes and bandits prior to the pacification campaign along the border with Kerma. Even with that success the Army remains at a low state of effectiveness due to the crushing demands of rebuilding from the disastrous flood of the last year of the Interregnum.
Typically the Royal Army consists of an organized component and a levy force. The levies are simple conscription of all available manpower for service. Peasants are ordered into poorly trained and organized militia units with whatever implements might be available to them. Typically these are scythes, daggers, and short bows or slings. They are under the command of local notables who, if generous or if feeling the impulse to win glory, might pay to equip them with bronze-headed spears and wicker shields. Hunters from the marshes of the Delta form their own groups of bowmen as a somewhat more useful contingent of levies. The wealthiest nobles and civil servants and urban craftsman form lavishly equipped squads better able to contest in melee fighting. Levies are usually only available during the Inundation season when they are not needed to plant or harvest, and may only be used defensively.
The organized forces of the Royal Army are grouped into divisions under a regular commander and named after a patron god. Each division consists of four brigades of 1000 men each. The light infantry brigades are armed with short spears and bronze hatchets, using mobility and reach to fight in melee with enemy troops. The medium infantry brigades are equipped with wicker shields and make use of the khopesh, the mace, and the dagger to fight the enemy. Archers make use of the deadly compound bow and consist of the most lauded and effective component of the Royal Army's infantry forces. Prowess with the bow is considered to be the acme of martial skill in Kemet and enjoys extra prestige due to the association with nobility using it to hunt dangerous beasts as part of their role protecting the peasantry.
The Royal Army also employs a chariot force to provide extra mobility and fighting power to the divisions. The standard heavy war chariot holds three men; one charioteer, one spearman, and one archer. The men of the chariot force are ranked with the charioteer at the lowest level, the archer serving as commander, and the spearman between the two. All of the chariot crew come from the higher stratum of Kemet society and enjoy superior pay, privileges, and prestige relative to the infantry. The primary use of chariots is for massed attack on the enemy ahead of the infantry, though they also provide a useful mobile reserve force to be committed at a critical point. The pharaoh is generally expected to command from a chariot and demonstrate his martial prowess before the army by shooting with the bow.
To call these organized forces "standing" or "professional" would be a mistake. They are generally allowed to farm and conduct their own business while not mobilized. Training is sporadic, which is just as well because pay is not very generous. The standard light infantry soldier is paid 12 copper deben per year, which would barely be subsistence level if not supplemented by rations and private income. Archers and the medium infantry are somewhat better off, with annual pay rates of 24 copper deben and 36 copper deben each respectively. Expenses on campaign generally reach twice the annual upkeep for a given unit, though costs can vary depending on exact circumstances and the length of the campaign. Since prolonged sieges are commonplace and usually a necessary part of any military expedition it is quite possible to spend far more deben and talents than anticipated before the outset of the campaign.
Mercenaries can also be hired to augment an expedition, though they typically require payment in gold talents rather than deben. Kaananite infantry have frequently been enrolled into the Royal Army and enjoy a reputation for being superior to native forces in melee. The tribespeople of the upper Nile and city-dwellers from Kerma and points south have also provided scouts and light infantry of some renown to the army of Kemet. Slingers from Ahliya, elephant-riders from Cyria, Mynosian marines, Hugiyan siege engineers, and Mykene heavy infantry are among various specialist forces available in the eastern fringe of the Great Sea. Mercenaries have another advantage beyond just providing skills not available from the domestic forces of Kemet; they are loyal to whoever is paying them, and as such are not a security threat unless they stop being paid.
There is at the moment no seagoing navy for Kemet. Boats are used extensively for travel down the Nile and the Army mans and uses riverine barges for combat along it and in the marshes of the Delta Province. The absence of a reliable source of native timber means that development and maintenance of a Royal Navy is dependent on expensive imports of wood. The dominance of the Mynosians on the Great Sea has discouraged regeneration of the Kemet navy as there are no other threats from the sea and building to challenge the Mynosians would be an extraordinarily ambitious project. Sea walls and a strong garrison at Inbu-Hadj, the city of White Walls where the Nile splits into the rivers of the Delta, discourage pirate raids descending from the Great Sea. Merchants usually ship in Mynosian hulls on the rare occasion they conduct overseas trade directly instead of through a foreign intermediary.
Typically the Pharaoh exercises direct oversight of the military and takes to the field in command of the Army. Less martially inclined Pharaohs have typically delegated day-to-day administration and tactical control to the Commander of the Royal Army but still seek out direct martial triumph to reinforce their domestic position. The handful of reigning Queens of Kemet have generally been patriotic warrior-queens fighting a losing war against foreign invasion or domestic collapse, providing a heroic narrative for the fall of a dynasty into chaos before a new dynasty under a new Pharaoh comes to restore Maat. There is thus support for at least some involvement in military affairs for Queen Meritamun but it is not a particular encouraging narrative. As a woman she is not penalized for failure to act like a conquering hero but military triumphs are an important part of royal authority so forgoing them has costs as well.
There are various alternatives to building authority through military conquests such as building programs, expeditions, religious works, and so on. But even a truly pacific monarch will need to be ready to defend their realm. In the absence of the raw ability to do so the Commander of the Royal Army acts in their place and becomes one of the most important positions of the Royal Council. Since command of the army is the perfect position from which to launch a coup and replace a faltering dynasty there is a tension in desirable candidates for the position. A capable commander is necessary, but so is a loyal one. An ambitious Army commander might very well harbor dreams of becoming the power behind the throne or even founding his own dynasty. An incompetent commander will be incapable of triumphing over the foes of the state and might even cause the downfall of the dynasty to invaders.
Of course there are also ways for even an un-martial ruler to check the power of the Commander of the Royal Army. Individual units have loyalties which can be won in various ways, and the commanders of the divisions can be appointed by the Pharaoh directly. The Guard of Horus exists to defend the Pharaoh as a separate military unit outside the Army and is the only force allowed within the city of Temes without the direct permission of the monarch. Mercenaries can be retained and will remain loyal under their own commanders so long as their price in gold is paid, though they may insist on renegotiating the terms of their contract if facing a serious coup threat. Too ambitious and threatening men can also be done away with in secret, or subjected to disgrace and removed from their positions. In such ways charisma and the cultivation of support, or wise stewardship and a full treasury, or a treacherous mind and a knife in the dark can maintain the foundations of the throne.
OOC: Well turkey-haze means voting is extended for another 24 hours. People may wish to organize and submit plans. I'm going to try to list out the Dramatis Personae as well, which will give more of a rundown on all the characters that Eurydice knows and what she knows about them. Keeping in mind she does not have omniscience and her impressions will be colored by her personality and their interactions. Will try to keep that updated.
Personally I would choose a mentor first and get it out of the way immediately so that we can pull our mother fully into our confidence and she can aid us in the future. The one drawback here is that mothers know best, and an overbearing mother, especially in a situation of regency, could result in it taking longer for us to take full control. But personally it's worth the risk since we're a politically inexperienced girl with the potential to alienate people with our wroth- our mother knows better than anyone in how to teach us to curtail that. On the other hand, what kind of woman is Satysis? Is she liable to anger people?
Driving a chariot is important for both ceremonial and martial reasons; in the bronze age the chariot is the ultimate symbol of Egyptian royal authority and a practicable requirement for any pharoah. If you are on campaign, since horses in this period are both too small, not trained for it, and don't have saddles (we don't see practical horseback riding till the turn of the first millennium) the chariot is the way in which a ruler signifies their skill both at home and on the battlefield. Considering the attitude of past female rulers in Egypt (to act as if they are men), this would be a wise choice for us to legitimize us in the eyes of the court.
I'm split on public petitions vs the eunuchs. I think that to an extent we need the eunuchs' support, and if we start accepting public petitions without testing the waters of the court we might step on toes. Remember that petitions often have remunerations and compensations; it's not just hearing people out, it's actively dealing with grievances even in a way that might step on the toes of the nobility. I don't think we can afford that right now.
Here's a repost of what I said above with the plan deleted. Why should we trust Khui in particular to be our mentor?
We could marry a close relative of his if we want to secure his loyalty that badly. It's only a tremendous opportunity cost, and there would be absolutely zero risk that he might try to off us after we have a heir.
Your mother has a direct investment in your rule and considerable power and notability in the court. She is the first natural choice of mentor for you; everyone else is suspect because they will probably have ulterior motives.
If you really want to look at a potential downside though, she might try to use shadow magic to strangle our other advisors if they get too influential and/or try to sideline her from court.
On the other hand she doesn't seem like the sort of person to do that and it's only a problem if we liked the advisor who got strangled.
If anything, our aunt would be more likely to try and pull off something along those lines.
If you really want to look at a potential downside though, she might try to use shadow magic to strangle our other advisors if they get too influential and/or try to sideline her from court.
Taking him as a mentor does not mean unconditional trust from the get go. The mentoring is an opportunity to expand our horizons and link ourselves to other powerful factions in the court.
Our mother alone cannot give us the support needed for a coup d'etat, and we should anyway avoid being seen as overly reliant on a foreigner.
Khui is better than other options because:
The army is a neglected institution in Kemet, yet it will be of increasing importance in the years to come due to the instability and loss of Vassals around us.
Due to his disadvantaged position, he may be more receptive to plotting against the current regime and emerging as our trusted(?) advisor.
We met him once and made a good impression, so he may be positively disposed to us.
We get benefits from channeling our chosen God, and Hathor-Sekhmet has war as a big focus.
TBH the mentoring was never about trust to me. It was about affiliating ourselves politically and developing skills, connections and allies. We cannot only go about dealing with people we completely trust and want to deal with. And if we don't give other people a chance, we may never know that we could trust them. Our mom is awesome, but she loves us already and isn't nearly enough support to get us the throne. The army is in line with our Patron's mindset and is a means to that support.
You'd have a better chance to pick up skills and traits from your chosen Mentor, and influencing and being influenced by them. It'd definitely be a mark of favor and potentially a double-edged sword. Ambitious mentors are dangerous. So are incompetent or otherwise undesirable mentors.
Remember that our mother is a foreign-born Royal Magician -- that picking her as our mother gave us extra stats & traits, but also gave us a massive long-term challenge that made those stats & traits necessary. Remember that our mother was only able to visit us secretly and at night throughout our childhood-- that should tell us that she is not trusted or respected by the other officials in the Palace, and giving her such a public 'mark of favor' would reinforce their perception of us as a foreign-born Pharaoh, one whose legitimacy is seriously in doubt.
So as a mentor I don't think we can do better than her, with the only issue being politics, as the various factions won't be very happy about losing influence to her.
Our mother may be one of the best for stats & loyalty, but I'm not sure her influence is the best for us (she was responsible for giving us that 'Deceitful' trait), and I'm confident that making her our Mentor would come at a severe cost to our 'Base Authority'. That is not an acceptable option in my opinion.
In many cases mothers are deeply unpopular with the court or the peasantry, because they might be foreigners or what have you, but we don't have that problem.
@Cetashwayo, I'm not sure where you got this idea at all. Source?
Something else to bear in mind, is that our mother may not be entirely trustworthy in her evaluation of others. Remember that she did give us the 'Deceitful' trait, and she seems to be playing the long game:
You preen with pride and discuss your impressions of Khui and the others. "He's strong, mother. And I think he can destroy the bandits. But he seemed…"
You can't articulate exactly what concerned you. But your mother smiled.
"You see it too. Khui is an ambitious man." Her eyes narrow. "He will do for a while. But if he turns against you, my precious daughter, he will beg for death. This too is part of being a Queen."
You're not entirely sure what she means, but pass on it.
Notice that we weren't sure what our concern was, but that it was our mother who decided that Khui was ambitious and untrustworthy and possibly treasonous and would therefore be crushed like a bug.
Seriously, I am the only one who picked up major warning signs from that?
As for who we should choose, there are a lot of factors. First, let's consider what stats would benefit from the various individuals:
Royal Council
Regent: Queen Dowager Neferet
Commander of the Royal Army: Khui
...
Inspector of Works: Herenamenpenaef
Inspector of Granaries: Sennefer
Chief Royal Scribe: Wenamun
Other Positions
Supervisor of the Garden of Ptah: Banefre
Your mother... her contempt for the High Priest of Atum, Atumnemhat, is expressed freely. She also again warns you that Ma'atneferure is a creature of your aunt and that Meryawy is well-meaning but weak and not an appropriate model for a Queen. Though when questioned on the corruption of the eunuchs she tells you that you would do well to make your own observations rather than trust to the words of others; gossip may, after all, be slander.
On the other hand, her observations may not be entirely trustworthy -- we may want to take a closer look at the High Priest Atumnemhat and our royal tutor Meryawy. We were able to confirm that Ma'atneferure was our aunt's creature, after she ditched us in order to take care of our aunt when she was sick. Doesn't necessarily make her a bad person, but it does tell us where her priorities lay.
We also made our own observations of the Chief Eunuch...
The Chief Eunuch Ptahshepses is a man of refinement and knowledge who has always treated you with due respect. Everyone says the eunuchs are corrupt and not to be trusted but he seems to keep the palace and its household well-run.
Ptahshepses... is sly and cunning, and you watch him find out a thieving servant with innocuous questions and a patient prodding after the truth. He always takes an indirect approach whether haggling with merchants on supplies or enticing a craftsman into the service of the palace. You watch and learn, probably as he intended.
Khui was hailed within the palace for his skill and capabilities and held as a model for the warriors of the much-degraded army; soon he joined the Royal Council as the commander of the Royal Army.
Ipy remains a formidable figure, bulky with muscle and rough-hewn, with the abrupt manners of the countryside. His blunt manner hides a keen observer and a willingness to listen to anyone regardless of their station. He teaches you to figure sums and look over records methodically, and to follow up by checking on actual conditions; a lesson complicated by your limited ability to leave the palace, though he prevailed on Ma'atneferure a couple of times to allow you to visit a few storehouses. From what little you hear of the man among the palace staff he seems to be well-respected among the common people and uninterested in petty disputes.
Based on all that, my current preferences for Mentor would be the chief eunuch Ptahshepses -- he's very competent at multiple stats (Diplomacy + Intrigue + Stewardship), and though palace gossip regards him as untrustworthy, we've encountered nothing of the sort in our dealings with him. He does specialize in Intrigue and is very cunning, so that may be the basis for the gossip, but those are traits that mark him as an ideal spymaster.
We also have a very favorable impression of the royal treasurer Ipy and the royal commander Khui -- both are very competent, but specialized in a single stat (Stewardship and Martial, respectively).
We do have positive experience with the Inspector of Granaries (Sennefer), who exposed and uprooted the corruption in the inspector corps -- he might be very useful in removing the corruption and rot from the Palace....
We may also wish to put serious thought into some of the other officials -- we have our mother's impressions of the High Priest (but nothing else to go on), and we haven't really interacted with the Inspector of Works (Herenamenpenaef), the Chief Scribe (Wenamun), or the Supervisor of the Garden of Ptah (Banefre).
I'm not sure what stats those last three officials would be good for. I imagine Herenamenpenaef would help with Stewardship, while Wenamun and Banefre would be good for some combination of Learning/Stewardship, but that's just guesswork. (@Cavalier, can you clarify?)
No to Ptahshespes please- we just got Wrathful due to us being envious of his higher competence and actually resolved to never learn from him again.
I don't want to poke that nest of worms this early. Later once we have actually worked with him as his Pharaoh? Sure. Just not as an unproven whelp.
We have good Stewardship advisors who helped our dad do stuff like the Garden, they can help us here. Leading campaigns is a way of getting legitimacy/ power/ Wealth that totally resonates with our Patron Goddess and keep in mind that if we lose Wrathful we only have Martial 14. I'd prefer to have Martial before Wrathful at 17+ so we can stomach losing that trait and also still kick ass.
