*sigh* Sure, we can throw more warriors at them or develop new weapons or magic, but without more info on the Caradysh civilization, we'll have no idea how much damage we are actually doing to them. Or know where their settlements that we are supposed to take out are.
We lack critical information, it's like trying to fight an enemy you can't see and you can bet that Urth knows how to exploit that. We need to do the Explore action this turn, it'll give us a better overall picture of the situation if the war drags out (which it most certainly will).
*sigh* Sure, we can throw more warriors at them or develop new weapons or magic, but without more info on the Caradysh civilization, we'll have no idea how much damage we are actually doing to them. Or know where their settlements that we are supposed to take out are.
We lack critical information, it's like trying to fight an enemy you can't see and you can bet that Urth knows how to exploit that. We need to do the Explore action this turn, it'll give us a better overall picture of the situation if the war drags out (which it most certainly will).
We've waged war against the Caradysh in the past. We cleared them from a large chunk of the forest. The issue was not that we couldn't find the undead or that they were unwilling to fight us. The issue was that their forest was just too big.
Against a conventional enemy that we were seeking to genocide, knowing where their villages are - meaning where the enemy sleeps, where they raise their children and where they grow their food - would indeed be useful in allowing us to deny these things to our enemy.
The Caradysh are an undead army. They do not sleep, they do not raise children, they do not need food. Their long-term objectives involve finding more sources of dead bodies. This could mean fighting weak/unskilled/underequipped enemy armies, but it also means conquering settlements inhabited by the living.
And our goal is not to conquer them in one fell swoop. Rather, our mission objectives of this war are sending war parties into the Cursed Forest to avoid social unrest and preventing a Caradysh conquest of Arthrynite settlements.
Training/equipping our warriors to a higher standard would give us a better casualty ratio against the Caradysh. This helps us deny the Caradysh extra bodies with which they can wage war on us and hardens our own settlements against a Caradysh invasion.
It wasn't so much that I wasn't certain, but I mentioned in the discord spoiler channel what was happening and I got almost unanimous response that was not they intended and reading the thread backed up that sentiment so I changed my plan for the update to better accommodate the wishes of the players. As I said, it wasn't like I gave the decision to the discord, I just happened to get some persuasive on that about what the players wanted (and backed up by what was said in the thread).
[X] [MAIN] War Party = Caradysh
[X] [SEC] Explore Lands = Cursed Forest
I'm inclined to agree with @Random Member among others that we should explore the forest alongside the war party.
For one, it would play into Blodwyn's strengths as a scout to be able to gather more direct information on the foe.
As another thing, going into the forest without any prior scouting will just be asking the undead to beat our shit in. The Arthwyd are nowhere near invincible enough to accomplish that.
The third thing is that the Caradysh have made their move. For those wondering, their success is a mixture of them preparing for this, having vastly superior magical ability and rolling 95+ against both the Arthwyd and the Forluc. So now you got another war on your hands so have fun with that.
It was after three winters into the reign of Cadlon Bronwyn the Beautiful that the great Arthwydish army left Rockbay and began their journey down Rock River. Upon approaching the Cursed Forest, the Cateyes went first of course. Masters of the woods and highly trained scouts, the Cateyes made easy work of infiltrating the border outposts of the Caradysh. The mindless undead sentries were helpless against the skilled scouts of the Arthwyd and they were swiftly eliminated by the Arthwydish army as Cadlon Bronwyn led her fellow warriors into the Cursed Forest.
Taking another few seasons to recover and replace their losses in both manpower and supplies while she herself recovered from the grievous injury dealt by Urth, Cadlon Bronwyn would lead a second invasion force into the Cursed Forest. With better magic and more experienced warriors, the Arthwyd knew what they would face when they swarmed the outer defences of the Caradysh.
Urth fought back valiantly, but Cadlon Bronwyn kept him distracted with her warband whilst she left her subordinates and their warbands to defeat the Caradysh where Urth was not. While Urth held the line where he personally fought, the Cateyes and Catclaws overwhelmed the rest of the Caradysh defensive lines. Villages of mindless undead burnt and revenants were driven from their oversized homes, some as large as an actual village.
Urth did his best to hold the line, but he was only one man and even as he inflicted heavy losses on Bronwyn's warband, he was ultimately forced to fall back as his fellow Caradysh were retreated lest he find himself surrounded and outflanked.
The Arthwyd pushed in deeper than they had the last time with their victories leading to even more victories as the Caradysh defenders became increasing scattered whilst having no chance to rally.
Things came to a head as the Arthwyd became too overextended. The Arthwydish warriors were self-sufficient enough that they could live off the land and spend entire winters away from home, but they could push only so far into the Cursed Forest. The Arthwyd had known that the Cursed Forest was vast and terrible, but none had grasped how vast it was before the second invasion.
@Oshha do our dedicated scouts still act as a vanguard and do scouting in the absence of an exploration mission the way they did in the previous invasion?
Also, how deep would a SEC exploration mission into the Cursed Forest go? Would they even stay anywhere near the army? Would they focus on the unexplored southern portions of the Cursed Forest?
The Arthwyd burnt the Raradysh to the ground and they were going to continue the war effort by going into the Cursed Forest, but the players in the discord convinced me that the voters wanted to wait until they could sent a Main War Party into the Cursed Forest. So instead of invading the Cursed Forest, you got internal unrest to deal with as everyone is pissed at Cadlon Blodwyn for not going after the Caradysh proper.
I voted against [Cadlon] Blodwyn the Explorer, and would have probably voted against suffering the internal unrest from not sending a SEC War Party.
So at least some voters not using the discord would have opposed it given the chance.
Not really. It is a small decision in the grand scheme of things so it isn't worth a vote and and only reason I went for it was because the thread discussion indicated that was what the overall thread wanted during the previous vote. Edit: I didn't put up to a vote to the discord or anything like that, I just got some persuasive arguments on the matter in the discord.
I might be the odd one out not being on the discord but this was not a small decision and one that I would could see myself voting against if given the choice.
For those not on the discord this is important information:
Oshha Last Friday at 11:09 AM
Okay, so I've got two options. One, keep things as they are. Two, have the Arthwyd pause to rally up their own forces after the Forluc got wrecked, but in exchange the Caradysh are going to keep their crit for one of their rolls in the upcoming turn.
The choice offered was keep things as they are (Blodwyn leading a Sec War Party unsupported into the Cursed Forest and the entire group dying to a Caradysh crit)
or have the Arthwyd pause to rally up their own forces after the Forluc got wrecked. (no mention of the internal unrest result, but it could have been inferred)
When deciding to (for example) War Party = Caradysh or Explore Lands = Cursed Forest, Voters should be aware the Caradysh have a guaranteed crit (that they kept) and could still roll another crit.
Not actually what one of the possibilities were. First of all, the Arthwydish forces consisted of the Arthwyd with 1 Temp Martial from their Secondary War Party action and the Merntir with 3 Temp Martial from their Main War Party action. That was the force which rolled over the Raradysh and Blodwyn would have led into the Cursed Forest. The Arthwyd would have just lost their 1 Temp Martial to a mixture of a crit fail by the Arthwyd and a crit success by Caradysh crit with Blodwyn being amongst those casualties because when named characters fight, I roll to see if they survive their fights or if they get injured in them.
or have the Arthwyd pause to rally up their own forces after the Forluc got wrecked. (no mention of the internal unrest result, but it could have been inferred)
The internal unrest was from Cadlon Bronwyn not getting retribution against the Caradysh and while I would have rolled to see how bad the discontent would be, I decided to apply the Arthwyd crit-fail to that roll.
When deciding to (for example) War Party = Caradysh or Explore Lands = Cursed Forest, Voters should be aware the Caradysh have a guaranteed crit (that they kept) and could still roll another crit.
The crit won't necessarily be applied against the Arthwyd. It could be used in the fight against the Forluc or maybe an innovation roll or I might have decided to ditch it after applying the Arthwyd crit fail instead. I deliberately kept it vague to stop people planning around it and unlike what is said in the thread, anything said in the discord is subject to change and will be altered as I see fit.
When deciding to (for example) War Party = Caradysh or Explore Lands = Cursed Forest, Voters should be aware the Caradysh have a guaranteed crit (that they kept) and could still roll another crit.
...Adding a SEC palisade(Rockbay) to my approval votes in light of that. Combined with the Warrior quest reward and Infrastructure policy, it could bring the province to 6/6 palisade walls. Useful due to its proximity and the Rock River, potentially interesting given Blodwyn's overall narrative so far(Cowardice? No! A sensible defensive attitude!).
Not actually what one of the possibilities were. First of all, the Arthwydish forces consisted of the Arthwyd with 1 Temp Martial from their Secondary War Party action and the Merntir with 3 Temp Martial from their Main War Party action. That was the force which rolled over the Raradysh and Blodwyn would have led into the Cursed Forest. The Arthwyd would have just lost their 1 Temp Martial to a mixture of a crit fail by the Arthwyd and a crit success by Caradysh crit with Blodwyn being amongst those casualties because when named characters fight, I roll to see if they survive their fights or if they get injured in them.
I'm going to say that I am keeping that deliberately vague so I don't get trapped by hard numbers. For all intents and purposes, you have 6 Temp Martial worth of Catclaws and Cateyes and that is as much detail as I am willingly to give on hard numbers.
I'm going to say that I am keeping that deliberately vague so I don't get trapped by hard numbers. For all intents and purposes, you have 6 Temp Martial worth of Catclaws and Cateyes and that is as much detail as I am willingly to give on hard numbers.
Twelve thousand in Greenbay, six thousand in Rockbay, another six thousand in Sunrise Bay with close to the two hundred thousand Arthwyd total while the Merntir are another hundred thousand. Overpopulation is kept in check by your expansion passive policy for now.
and wondering if the Arthwyd IC had a general estimate of how large the Arthrynite military was compared to the Nalnirite armies before Urth crushed the latter.
Ah, I didn't meant that I thought you were doing that, I just don't give exact numbers in general to avoid having to go by some precise numbers. Since I am not tracking everything in that much detail, I need to be vague out numbers to avoid inconsistencies.
and wondering if the Arthwyd IC had a general estimate of how large the Arthrynite military was compared to the Nalnirite armies before Urth crushed the latter.
Please vote for Secondary War Party. We can explore the Cursed Forest later. Right now we need to hit the Caradysh as hard as they can while they're in the lowlands. It's the most reliable way to make up for any mediocre rolls we might have and it'll compensate for the aid the Forluc will give them.
[X] [MAIN] War Party = Caradysh
[X] [SEC] War Party = Caradysh
Well, we're already deep in the hole, but we need to stop them from gaining momentum before we can sit back and upgrade our stuff. Which we will 100% need.
[X] [MAIN] War Party = Caradysh
[X] [SEC] War Party = Caradysh
Provinces = [SEC] Sacred Forest
Caermyr = [SEC] War Party = Caradysh
Merntir = [MAIN] War Party = Caradysh
Maradysh = [MAIN] War Party = Caradysh, [SEC] War Party = Caradysh
Cadlon Blodwyn the Explorer had to go war. That was not within doubt as if she didn't do anything to beat the Caradysh and make them pay, there would be uprising for the first time in the history of the Cadlon.
Unwilling to let such a thing happen under her reign, Cadlon Blodwyn march to war with everything she could muster. She brought hundreds of warriors with her from the Arth Coast, the North Coast, the Midlands and even some Cateyes and Catclaws from Caermyr. When Blodwyn and her army went to war, the Cadlon of Arthwyd easily had over a thousand following her into the Cursed Forest.
Expecting to be outnumbered by the undead defenders even despite their mass numbers, the Arthwyd divided their army into multiple smaller groups. The Catclaws and Cateyes always operated best in small groups as they lived off their land with their magic and skill. Spreading out and operating independently, the sacred warriors of Arthyn and her Daughters would force their more numerous foes to split up their forces and limit their numerical advantage.
The few first seasons went poorly. The Caradysh were clearly prepared for the Arthwyd to make their invasion and it showed. Unaccustomed to the terrain of the Cursed Forest and dealing with dug-in foes, the Arthwydish found themselves taking somewhat heavy losses as progressed inwards with the Maradysh taking the brunt of the casualties.
Realising the problem, Cadlon Blodwyn switched tactics from trying to take territory to simply inflicting losses on the enemy, hoping to whittle down their numbers whilst preserving her own forces. Whilst this resulted in the Caradysh have nominal victories in holding their positions and driving off the Arthwyd, but the invaders were inflicting one-sided losses upon the defenders.
It was during this that Catclaw Bryndar made an important discovery. Building upon the theory of attrition that was being put into place, the aged warleader figured out attrition how worked and what the inverse was. Attrition was the art of reducing the enemy's resources over time and logistics was the art of improving your own resources and most effectively managing them. It was an intrinsically part of the Arthwyd way of life, but it was only this campaign with the largest army that the Arthwyd had ever mustered which made the Arthwyd leaders realise how logistics could be applied to
Whilst change in strategy was initially successful, the Caradysh soon caught onto what the Arthwyd were doing. In a mixture of desperation and boldness, the undead defenders went unto the attack, no longer content to just wait for the Arthwyd to come to them. The casualty exchange rate still favoured the Arthwyd even if they were beginning to pick up again for the defenders. Neither side were able to gain the upper hand as the Arthwyd and Merntir found themselves fought to the standstill whilst the Caermyr warriors and what was left of the Maradysh expedition were able to win some clear-cut victories over the Caradysh.
Then it all collapsed as the Caradysh apparently exhausted their reserves. Their counter attacks stopped coming and their settlements lay empty. The Arthwyd slaughtered their way through any Caradysh settlements they found, massacring the wight workers and executing the revenant overlords. From small outpost to towns containing thousands, the Caradysh burnt.
Yet when the Arthwyd returned back to their homes in victory, they only realised what the Caradysh had actually been up to and why Urth had not been involved in the defence of the Cursed Forest.
While the Arthwyd had been playing havoc in the Cursed Forest, the Caradysh had been doing the same for the Forluc in the south. The Forluc put up a good showing with a new generation of warriors, but they had yet to properly recover and had the main focus of the Caradysh on them. The Arthwyd lacked any reliable sources of information in the Forlucan lands, but by all accounts, the Caradysh slaughtered whatever the Forluc could muster with sheer numbers.
If the Caradysh had just burnt down the Forluc villages and broken the greatest lowlander power, that would be one thing, but what actually happened was arguably worse. Rather than push their advantage upon once again crushing the Forluc warriors, the Caradysh had touted out the late Farke Galdae.
Given where she had disappeared, the nature of how she returned and noted change in personality, it was rather obvious that Galdae was now a Caradysh proxy. Yet the Forluc chiefs eagerly accepted Galdae and according to rumour, they were very happy to replace Farkas Kadden with Farke Galdae.
Despite the open secret of just what Galdae was, the war concluded with Farkas Kadden being disposed in favour of Farke Galdae and the Caradysh submitting to the Forluc as a subordinate.
Fortunately, the situation was not all that simple for as triumph for the Caradysh. The Forluc were still reeling from the Caradysh invasion and vast swaths of the Cursed Forest had been ravaged by the Arthwyd. Furthermore, while the Forluc in their homeland had been ready to accept Galdae as their new ruler, the returning Farke lacked support in both the Forden and the Fornn. Opposition to Farke Galdae and the Caradysh were rally in the Forden around a local champion called Gredan and the Fornn were outright refusing to obey Farke Galdae.
But these far away matters in barbarian lands meant little to the majority of the Arthwyd. The Caradysh had been resoundingly beaten by both the Arthwyd and the Forluc while Cadlon Blodwyn had proven her genius. Where she had once been looking at a revolt against her rule, Cadlon Blodwyn was now revered as one of the greatest Cadlons that the Arthwyd had seen.
As the Arthwyd fell back into a time of peace, trade and diplomacy took place. Some enterprising individuals organised a trading expedition to Cernn in the far south and while it didn't prove to be fruitful as hoped, the Arthwyd did get some useful information on the Cernn. Such as how the barbarians were crazy.
For starters, they didn't worship any gods or goddesses and instead their spiritual needs were fulfilled by their shamans and the spirits. The Cernn would apparently worship any old spirit and invoke them for anything they felt like. Organised into groups by their bloodlines, these clans were ruled over by the shamans with these spiritual men and women being revered by the rest of their clan.
These clans were pretty much independent of each other and only a shared sense of freedom, desire for glory and veneration of the spirits and shamans united the Cernn. Well, that and the Forluc as the Forluc and the Cernn regularly fought each other. Despite their independence and freedom, the Cernn would always stand united against the Forlucan attempts to conquer them.
They also weren't interested in trading. Arthwyd couldn't offer them glorious battle or spiritual guidance and while a handful of clans traded some goods, the vast majority of the Cernn didn't care for the Arthwyd except as foreign oddities.
Caermyr had much greater success as it reached out to the neighbours. Reaching out to the local barbarian tribes around them, the Arthwydish trading outpost found lowlanders very eager to open trade and diplomatic relations with Caermyr. Food, security and riches were enough to entice many of the tribes into voluntarily entering Caermyr's umbrella.
Between mixed success regarding matters of war and trade, Cadlon Blodwyn was left with a decision on how to deal with the situation with the south and if she was going to do anything about it at all.
There was the obvious option of attacking the Forluc to remove Galdae from power, but while the Caradysh's puppet currently had an uncertain position, a foreign attack could easily stabilise her internal support. Another option could be providing support to the Fornn and Forden and encouraging them to rebel as they were already primed to. Yet that plan came with its own downsides as whilst the war had left the Forluc weak enough to be threaten by its subordinates, that was a temporary affair and once the Forluc recovered, they could easily crush their unruly subordinates. And that was before the Caradysh got factored in.
On the other hand, Cadlon Blodwyn could just ignore the Forluc and the Caradysh and focus on matters at home. The war had distracted her for the majority of the reign and while progress hadn't ceased without Blodwyn to direct it, there was so much that the Cadlon could have done.
She could finish work on the Sacred Forest that had recently been continued or she could begin work on the stone wall in a race to complete that project before the Forluc do it first. Or perhaps Blodwyn could fund some research into uncovering more secrets of magic and metal, either to improve the livelihoods of her people or to gain another advantage in future fighting.
Other options for Cadlon Blodwyn included reaching out to the noteworthy powers in the region, the Zaradysh and the Boarfolk Nomads. They were the only major powers that the Arthwyd hadn't had recent contact with. There was some historical bad blood with both of them, but that was far enough in the past that peaceful relations might be doable in this generation.
Blodwyn could also push an expansion of the military. The events of her reign showed that warriors would always be needed and while they had no shortage of Catclaws and Cateyes, more warriors could prove vital in the future.
And you could never go wrong by giving praise to Arthryn and her Daughters, especially after winning a war against evil.
What does Cadlon Blodwyn decide to do?
[] [React] Attack the Forluc to remove Galdae from power.
[] [React] Encourage the Forden and Fornn to rebel against Galdae.
[] [React] Finish the work on the Sacred Forest.
[] [React] Begin construction of the Stone Wall.
[] [React] Study the secrets of magic and metal.
[] [React] Reach out to the Zaradysh and Boarfolk nomads.
[] [React] Make effort to expand the military long term.
[] [React] Give praise to Arthryn and her Daughters.
***
Priests (5) = Mood: Pleased, Ability: Add half of faction power to Mystic, Objective: Finish the Sacred Forest in 3 Turns, Success/Failure: +1 Stability/-
Elders (2 (3)) = Mood: Pleased, Ability: Add half of their faction power to another faction, Objective: Build more palisades in 3 Turns, Success/Failure: Free Innovation/-
Warriors (5) = Mood: Concerned, Ability: Add half of faction power to Martial, Objective: Remove Galdae from power in 3 Turns, Success/Failure: +1 Stability/-
Farmers (1) = Mood: Pleased, Ability: Add half of faction power to Econ, Objective: More Farming, Success/Failure: +1 Temp Econ/-
Crafters (1) = Mood: Pleased, Ability: Add half of faction power to Culture, Objective: Increase trade with the lowlands, Success/Failure: +1 Temp Econ/-
***
Things went mixed. You crushed the Caradysh in the Cursed Forest, but the undead were successful with their diplomatic ploy in the south. On the home front, things are stable again even if you still got low stability. Beyond that, a fairly standard midturn as nothing is currently on fire.
Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring to. Feel to ask questions for more details and information.
The Arthwyd Early Ancient Theocratic Elective Monarchy UpperCentralisationLimit: 8 Lower CentralisationLimit: -2 Admin Strain Free Provinces: 4 Penalty Accumulation: Additional +2 Lower Centralisation required per 1 Province Player Actions: 2 Secondary Actions +1 Secondary Action per 2 Provinces Province Actions: 1 Secondary Action per 2 Provinces Passive Policies: 1 +1 per 2 Provinces. Subordinates: 1 Special: -1 Temp Econ Damage per a Province Special: Free Subordinate Slot for Subordinates that share the same religion per a point of Legitimacy. Special: Monarchs are more likely to be competent.
Early Ancient Palace Economy Temp Econ Damage: Event, -1 per 1 Centralisation. Wealth Generation: 1 per Dominant. Passive Policies: 1 +1 per 2 Provinces. Additional Actions: None Special: Negative Centralisation or lower than Minimum Centralisation will lead to collapse. Special: Increased polity size will raise the level of Minimum Centralisation required.
Subordinates Type/Loyalty/Dependence
Caermyr = Religious Trade Post/Very High/Medium
Maradysh = Vassal/High/Very Low
Merntir = Religious Vassal/Very High/Very Low
Values & Legacies Agricultural Innovators: +1 Temp Econ to Farming actions. Ancient Centre of Civilisation (Great Bay): Extra Innovation Roll at the start of each turn, Chosen of Arthryn: Gain +1 to all Innovation Rolls. Rush Builders: Extended Projects take less actions, but each action is more expensive.
Born Equal While the choices of a person and the world around them can make a person greater or lesser, everyone is born equal to each other.
Pros: Decreased social stratification,
Cons: Decreased social stratification,
Charitable Haven The lands of the Arthwyd are prosperous and peaceful. Free from war, slavery and other forms of suffering, many seek sanctuary in Arthwyd lands in times of turmoil and the Arthwyd are more than happy to grant it.
Pros: Increased Idea Spread, Increased Refugee Arrivals, Gain a Value from current or historical neighbour,
Cons: Reduced Social Cohesion, Many think you weak,
Communal Mandate As per the words of the goddess, loyalty and kindness to one's people is of the highest importance and even when times are tough or when it is not personally beneficial, one should stick by their community.
Pros: Reduced Internal Discontent, Increased Resistance to Foreign Intrigue,
Cons: Increase stability loss from taking actions which harm the People,
Marital Prowess (Linked to Charitable Haven) Your people are renowned for common pregnancies and the resulting large families. Men are encouraged to get women pregnant while women are encouraged to produce plenty of offspring.
Pros: Increased Population Growth, Value familial unit more,
Cons: More mouths to feed,
Sacred Defence The People do not abandon their own for it is their sacred duty to protect each other. They stand by their neighbours and community through thick and thin and do not yield when it comes to protecting their fellows for that is their duty as commanded by the goddesses.
Pros: Increased Unity during times of crisis, Sacred Warriors, Increased loyalty from religious subordinates,
Cons: Legitimacy loss when abandoning members of the People to harm and danger, increased Legitimacy loss when the threat is from those with conflicting beliefs,
Completed Megaprojects
The Census (Neolithic) A grand administrative project to give the Cadlon information about the population such as how many people there are, where they are and what they need to get by in life.
Effects: +2 Temp Stats each Main Turn, -1 Temp Econ Damage,
Extended Sunrise Mountain Passage A grand pathway through the Sunrise Mountains, this passage was carved out over generations with hard work and divine aid. Now it stands completing, forging a safe route overland between the Arthwyd in the south and the
Merntir in the north.
Effects: +1 Temp Mysticism whenever a travel-based infrastructure project is completed,
Technologies
Carts
Straw/Reed Rope
Wheel
Wicker
Agriculture
Basic Fertiliser (Primitive Compost & Manure)
Basic Irrigation
Primitive Concept of Growth Energy
Two-Field Crop Rotation
