Nice one @Lucienz I hope you don't mind if I add some things? (I also fixed all the times you said Kalla instead of Kallia and Jerrold instead of Jerold, I think)
[X] Negotiate/Renegotiate further with Kallia
-[X] Accept the two battalions of troops that are already being sent. They can be used to put down the various bandits/rebels around the country.
--[X] Ask Jerold to put them on opposite sides uf the country, or at least not next to each other.
-[X] Instead of another two battalions, request they send us horses, cavalry equipment and crossbows along with a few military instructors. Subtly point out that in the nightmare situation of a Ruthan invasion, it might be necessary for Lorne and Kallia to have some ability to coordinate and ensure synergy with each others' formations.
--[X] If the boats turn out to have one battalion and the horsemen instead adjust the request accordingly. (I.e. less horses/cavalry equipment, more crossbows etc)
-[X] Tell Jerold he should send some of his better lieutenants and more trustworthy soldiers to the capital where they can be trained as crossbowmen and heavy cavalry.
--[X] Warn him that the equipment is expensive so only the most reliable individuals should be sent but it'll help compensate for the lack of funds for more troops that he wanted.
-[X] Find a talented and loyal aide in our department and delegate the job of Administering the Lorne Military Academy. Tell the aide that as Head of the Lorne Military Academy, he is to pick out the more talented lieutenants and keep an eye on them as future instructors in the military academy, the Kallian instructors won't stay forever. He is also to personally improve himself and learn as much as he can.
--[X] He is to use some nearby castle/fort to the capital as the base for the academy, in order to keep costs down and prevent us from having to spend more money to build a new building.
--[X] Tell him to hire a small team of scribes to write and copy down the new military tactics/formations/training methods being taught so we can send them to Jerold and prevent him from being unable to effectively utilize these new parts of the army.
-[X] State we are open to broadening the traditional ties between Kallia and Lorne. Defer to Edmond to set up the miscellaneous trade agreements. At the same time, subtly imply that we would not be uncomfortable with signing the defense treaties which puts Lorne as a buffer between Kallia and Ruthan in-exchange for military aid. Try to figure out just how much help Kallia is willing to give.
The Royal Archers were one of Lorne's very few serious military traditions, and their weapons were valuable pieces of precise workmanship. You weren't actually sure what the differences between them and any other bow were, but you knew it took a great deal of time to make them and that relatively few had the skill for it.
I'm thinking we might want to not let our archers lose their arching skills. There's no need to waste them as crossbowmen, when we can just as easily train up infantry to take that role. We want to have both crossbowmen *and* archers because they do different things. Archers have a more rapid rate of fire, but crossbows, if they're made right, can pack more of a punch and are easier for an untrained soldier to learn and aim. They are also heavier and more cumbersome though.
They (the archers) and our infantry's skill in holding mountain passes is something we'll want to maintain while Jerold gets the rest up to scratch.
Even if he doesn't, that doesn't mean that Kallia doesn't know. They could very well have kept him ignorant of it so he wouldn't give it away or they could have only learned it later.
Nice one @Lucienz I hope you don't mind if I add some things? (I also fixed all the times you said Kalla instead of Kallia and Jerrold instead of Jerold, I think)
Opps! Yeah I don't mind at all, my vote has been edited to take into account your corrections. Although I really do wonder where all the trainers for the Royal Archers went... Surely there must be one or two retired guys running around who can get recruited into our military academy. I'm guessing as the "Royal" Archers, most of them had a tradition of loyalty to the Monarchy but still, there must be a few bow-makers running around... When we have more money we should find them.
That's probably their backup plan. If they decide they can't negotiate with us or if we're completely unreasonable, they can push the Prince of Lorne forward as the "rightful" heir. Moreover if the Council turns out to be unable to govern the country, they'll also be able to push their puppet leader onto the throne to keep it from falling into Ruthran's hands.
Teensy bit of bad news. My boss (who is in some kind of quantum state of employing me/not employing me) has sprung a series of shifts on me over the next five or so days that will cut out most of my writing time. If it wasn't so many hours (and thus, so much money) right before the first semester of uni starts up again I would tell them where they can shove their stocktake.
Regardless, I will try to have something up either tomorrow or Monday, but I can't promise I'll be able to keep to my one update per two days schedule.
Although I really do wonder where all the trainers for the Royal Archers went... Surely there must be one or two retired guys running around who can get recruited into our military academy. I'm guessing as the "Royal" Archers, most of them had a tradition of loyalty to the Monarchy but still, there must be a few bow-makers running around... When we have more money we should find them.
Missed this one the first time around (most likely skimmed it and missed the point). You have the RA's trainers just fine, and there weren't a lot of casualties in the RAs themselves since they weren't deployed en masse. The problem, as it stands, is that where the rest of Lorne's archers use regular ol' bows, the RAs have the distinction of running around with fancy composite recurve bows (this is OOC knowledge by the way, Marc himself doesn't know the first thing about bows beyond they use arrows and the difference between a bow and a crossbow). Composite bows are significantly more difficult to make than regular single-material bows, and while they have the skills the RA were definitely something of a prestige position; they're the RA because they have the skill, the best stuff and look the part, not necessarily because they actually need that stuff.
Kind of like how the palace guard has the fanciest, shiniest armour. It doesn't actually contribute an awful lot towards their effectiveness, but the position itself all but requires that they have it.
<—☼—>
[X] Negotiate/Renegotiate further with Kallia
-[X] Stuff
It's over a week late, but stocktake is finished and the storm-that-never-ends is finally gone (and I found my notes which had been lost and mixed up with my ones from a Dungeon World campaign I'm GMing soon) so let's get back into the swing of things.
Vote tally: ##### 3.19
[X] Negotiate/Renegotiate further with Kallia
-[X] Accept the two battalions of troops that are already being sent. They can be used to put down the various bandits/rebels around the country.
--[X] Ask Jerold to put them on opposite sides uf the country, or at least not next to each other.
-[X] Instead of another two battalions, request they send us horses, cavalry equipment and crossbows along with a few military instructors. Subtly point out that in the nightmare situation of a Ruthan invasion, it might be necessary for Lorne and Kallia to have some ability to coordinate and ensure synergy with each others' formations.
--[X] If the boats turn out to have one battalion and the horsemen instead adjust the request accordingly. (I.e. less horses/cavalry equipment, more crossbows etc)
-[X] Tell Jerold he should send some of his better lieutenants and more trustworthy soldiers to the capital where they can be trained as crossbowmen and heavy cavalry.
--[X] Warn him that the equipment is expensive so only the most reliable individuals should be sent but it'll help compensate for the lack of funds for more troops that he wanted.
-[X] Find a talented and loyal aide in our department and delegate the job of Administering the Lorne Military Academy. Tell the aide that as Head of the Lorne Military Academy, he is to pick out the more talented lieutenants and keep an eye on them as future instructors in the military academy, the Kallian instructors won't stay forever. He is also to personally improve himself and learn as much as he can.
--[X] He is to use some nearby castle/fort to the capital as the base for the academy, in order to keep costs down and prevent us from having to spend more money to build a new building.
--[X] Tell him to hire a small team of scribes to write and copy down the new military tactics/formations/training methods being taught so we can send them to Jerold and prevent him from being unable to effectively utilize these new parts of the army.
-[X] State we are open to broadening the traditional ties between Kallia and Lorne. Defer to Edmond to set up the miscellaneous trade agreements. At the same time, subtly imply that we would not be uncomfortable with signing the defense treaties which puts Lorne as a buffer between Kallia and Ruthan in-exchange for military aid. Try to figure out just how much help Kallia is willing to give. No. of votes: 4 Lucienz, Eri, butchock, Orisha91
It wasn't hard to get Jerold to agree to accept the first wave of Kallian troops. Even your idea to replace the second half of the foreign soldiers with equipment and training cadre to bring Lorne's own forces up to the Kallian's level went over well.
The problem was getting everyone to agree on what to do with the troops already on the way.
"–and as I just said, if we do that then Ruhtan might think we're trying to push back and before we know it we'll be up to our throats in imperial pikemen!"
If looks could kill, you'd need a new High Councillor of foreign affairs. Jerold wanted to take his reinforcements right to the border and "make damn sure the Ruhtanians know what they're dealing with." Edmond, on the other hand, felt that while it was all well and good to project a powerful front, national suicide was another matter altogether, and that aggressive posturing towards someone with four times your effective military forces and a record of bloodshed fell firmly into the second category.
"Listen here you blue-blood coward. If we don't put a stop to this right now then it's only a matter of time until–"
"Gentlemen please!"
As your startled councillors look at you in surprise, you say, "Might I suggest a compromise?"
When neither of them interrupt, you continue. "Edmond, you main concern is that a strengthened, combined force at our borders might lead to Ruhtan replying in kind, yes?"
The man in question nods. "And you, Jerold," you say, turning to the soldier, "fear that if we do not strengthen our borders we are all but inviting the Emperor to test them."
"Damn right."
"Then why don't we keep the Kallian forces closer to hand and send our own troops to reinforce the borders? They've been bought and paid for," you raise your voice to speak over the objections trying to spill from Jerold's mouth. "Until the king says otherwise they will follow our orders to the letter. Why not use them? You already have companies and platoons wandering about; regroup them at the border and have the Kallians take over their duties."
To your careful gaze, you can tell that the old soldier doesn't like what you're suggesting. For someone who had lead a revolution and a total overthrow of the former government he was surprisingly patriotic. Still, he already saw the logic in your suggestion; it wouldn't take much to sway him.
"It would also," you say, looking him dead in the eyes, "keep them separate and scattered across the kingdom while our own men stand ready and concentrated."
Jerold's gazes at you with narrowed eyes. "I thought you said that they were bought and paid for?"
You shrug innocently. "They are. Still, as you always say: 'better safe, than sorry'."
<—☼—>
"Well, I suppose I did say that if you only wanted the weapons we could make arrangements to that regard."
You hide a smile at the response, a brief moment of shock the first—and last, if our conversations so far are anything to go by—time that Haintz's polite mask had slipped.
"And we appreciate your willingness to hear us out on this matter." Edmond's smooth cultured words continued. "Defence of the land has always been one of the High Council's primary concerns and we're grateful that Kallia understands our position on that.
"With regards to further relations, we're willing to discuss the possibilities of–"
<—☼—>
"Oh, Marc. Come in, come in."
Nodding at Claude's invitation you take a seat in one of the comfortable chairs of to one side of the High Councillor of the Treasury's office. It was a messy room, filled with scrolls, books and various writing paraphernalia. The desk that Claude stood from as he moved towards you was covered in what looked like ledgers and number-books, with still-drying ink halfway down the page.
"Thank you. Now," you say, leaning forward and clasping your hands together. "I've been thinking about the late King's estate and I believe I may have a mid-term solution to our treasury problem."
"Really?" The look of relief of the man's face reminds you of just how young he is for his position. When was the last time he laughed like he used to?
A more guarded look passed over his face. "Wait, you're not going to say we should sell it, are you? I already had to sit Terrel down and tell him why that was a terrible idea."
"No," you chuckle, "not that. Although something a little similar."
Claude just raises an eyebrow, an oddly familiar gesture—in fact you suspected the man was trying to imitate your own habit—and waits.
"While I still need to talk to Terrel about some of the legal specifics, I was thinking that we might award some of Vogt's less critical land to landless nobles and commoners in exchange for them paying a higher tax rate for a certain period of time."
"What a novel concept." Claude replies, but he looks thoughtful, rather than dismissive as his words might have sounded.
"Yes, the idea came to me as I was splitting up and delegating paperwork to a few of my aides." Claude smiles as you gesture towards the mess that was his workspace. "I was hoping that you'd be able to help me refine the idea."
"Of course! Oh."
The excitable councillor practically leapt to his feet before rummaging around in a draw and pulling out a sheet of paper covered in messy script. "Before I forget, I wanted to remind you that we need to call a general assembly of the nobility, have the lords and ladies meet the council and bring forth any… issues, they might want to bring forward."
An issue for a later date.
"I'll keep that in mind. Back to this potential land redistribution, though, I–"
<—☼—>
You took the time that Edmond was using to converse with the Kallian ambassador to look over your own staff. The retraining of Lorne's military combined with the new weapons and tactics the Kallian cadre would bring with them would require a centralised location and staff. If he was capable of it Jerold probably would have wept for joy when you proposed a formal academy for military training. If it panned out you had a few… wilder ideas that might work too.
But that was for the future. Right now, you needed to staff the damn place.
There were a few options available, some better than others, but 'Head of the Lornic Military Academy' would be a rather prestigious position for the next year or so; longer if the academy became a permanent emplacement. You'd need to choose carefully.
You could always send your own personal aide, Bertrum. He was reliable, skilled and loyal. That was a rare thing, though, and you were relying on him more and more every day. And that was before you considered that he was an incredibly minor noble—the fourth son of a minor house, in fact—with no military training at all. Still, he wouldn't be teaching, merely organising and Bertrum was very good at that.
There was always one of the nobles who'd served in the armies. Even though they fell mostly under Jerold's purview, you wanted to keep the academy under the Interior; your department. You knew two who might be fit for the job: the first was Pepperell Langlois, the first-born of a High noble who'd served with distinction under one of Jerold's field commanders. He was rather irritating in person, but no one would question whether he deserved the position. Still, you weren't convinced he'd be able to handle the demands of the position, though chances were he would learn in time.
Secondly there was Rousskin Bergeron. Not as noble as Langlois, but still fairly respectable and well distinguished. From what you'd seen and heard of the man he certainly had the skill for the military side of things and you'd met his family before as they were fellow merchants. Rousskin would know how the handle the administrative tasks as well as he could the military ones. He was, however, a little young, and while being put in charge of Lorne's military training facility would be a big step up, it would also nix any career advancement he might be hoping for. He might resent the placement.
After a long sigh, you seriously consider leaving it up to Jerold or just waiting until after the nobles' assembly.
Still...
<—☼—>
Vote: Who to put in charge of the military academy?
[] Bertrum (Personal aide)
[] Langlois (Decorated soldier)
[] Bergeron (Skilled up-and-comer)
[] Let Jerold decide
[] Wait to fill the position
[] Write-in
Vote: What to do when the Kallian negotiations finish? (General goal)
[] Write-in
<—☼—>
A/N: Wooo. Shorter chapter than normal as I get used to writing again. That forced break kind of made me lose my train of thought and plans for the future (honestly some of that was the previously mentioned losing-and-then-finding-of-the-notes but whatever).
I'm going to try leaning on write-ins a little more, even if it means having multiple votes (which is a pain in the ass to count even with the vote-counter program) and see how it goes.
[X] Bertrum (Personal aide)
[X] Personally administer the Land Reform bill and distribute the farmland.
-[X] If Marc still has free time after that, confiscate Vogt's businesses and try to make them more profitable.
-[X] ask the other Councillors about the feasibility of creating a Civil Service Exam since there are a lot of talented commoners out there and its about time to give them a stake on the government.
-{X] also build a small elementary school as a feasibility study on educating the children of the masses.
It's an administrative job... So yeah... We'll put our aide in charge. He shouldn't be there forever though, within 4 years there should be a graduating class that we could pick out a new Head from and recall our aide. As for general goals, we probably want to administrate the land reform bill personally. It just has too much potential for abuse and it would be helpful for Marc to have a band of supporters. We don't want to find out that civil servants are giving up land that has some strategic resources on it for bribes. The other option is more bland. With Betrum gone we'll probably need to find a few replacement staff that we can cultivate for other positions that we'll inevitably fill up. For example we'll probably eventually need another trustworthy person simply to keep an eye on infrastructure maintenance, another to run Vogt's businesses for us and another to head any university that we found.
I think we are relying too much on our nobility... maybe we should start with a Civil Service Exam to expand our bureaucracy as well as use this a propaganda boost to keep the commoners happy? since now they have a direct link and interest in the government.
[X] Bertrum (Personal aide)
[X] Personally administer the Land Reform bill and distribute the farmland.
-[X] If Marc still has free time after that, confiscate Vogt's businesses and try to make them more profitable.
-[X] ask the other Councillors about the feasibility of creating a Civil Service Exam since there are a lot of talented commoners out there and its about time to give them a stake on the government.
-[X] Meet with the other nobles and persuade them that the revolution is for the best, and thank them for their support, and with them helping the Council, Lorne will reach new heights in wealth and prosperity!
-{X] also build a small elementary school as a feasibility study on educating the children of the masses.
Well, it's really both administrative and millitary. Administators who know nothing about what they're administrating are usually worse than those who do know something. Of course, "administrators" who have no administration skills but only know the subject they're administrating are even worse, so we're definitely not going with the all millitary background.
How about we ask Bergeron to do it (Note: ask, not tell) Flatter him while we're at it, "You're the only person who could do it with any skill. Noone else has both the millitary knowledge and the administrative know-how." "The best *must* teach: with only mediocre teachers, how would we get anything but mediocre soldiers." "You will be the mentor of all our future generals." Offer him a promotion too, the head of the millitary academy should have a reasonably high rank. The officers will respect him more (hopefully) and he won't be as likely to resent being stuck there.
We should also offer him Bertrum as a personal aid the first year or two to help set up, that way he can double as extra administrative support while Bergeron gets up to speed administratively speaking and they will probably befriend each other, so when we get Bertrum back we have a good connection to the Millitary Academy. Bertrum can also set up some observers who can report to us about new possible up-and-comers, potential problems and the foreign trainers.
Good idea. Mandarins anyone? This could eventually become a great tool in shaping our politics and even our culture. And of course it's under internal...
We should also offer him Bertrum as a personal aid the first year or two to help set up, that way he can double as extra administrative support while Bergeron gets up to speed administratively speaking and they will probably befriend each other, so when we get Bertrum back we have a good connection to the Millitary Academy. Bertrum can also set up some observers who can report to us about new possible up-and-comers, potential problems and the foreign trainers.
That sounds good to me, I was thinking about Bergeron simply because he was young enough that I felt he could be influenced and cultivated. The only problem is that'll mean we lose our aide anyway.
Good idea. Mandarins anyone? This could eventually become a great tool in shaping our politics and even our culture. And of course it's under internal...
Meet with the other nobles and persuade them that the revolution is for the best, and imply that there are tax credit if they improve the infrastructures of their lands (confirm with Claude first though)
I'd actually prefer we drop this completely. Since we've just gotten out of a war chances are every noble with the funds to do so will be repairing the infrastructure on their lands. Even peasants will be investing in seed stock/new tools to replace the stuff that got destroyed. Theoretically speaking the budget could go into negatives if we give tax credit to everyone whose improving infrastructure and they'll be a lot of people rebuilding their businesses, etc. If we do want to encourage investments it might be better to wait for us to have more funds to create a national bank to give out cheap loans. Right now all we can really do is probably imply that the regions with the most economic activity will have their roads repaired first since we of course are in the business of bringing as many goods as possible to port.
That sounds good to me, I was thinking about Bergeron simply because he was young enough that I felt he could be influenced and cultivated. The only problem is that'll mean we lose our aide anyway.
I'd actually prefer we drop this completely. Since we've just gotten out of a war chances are every noble with the funds to do so will be repairing the infrastructure on their lands. Even peasants will be investing in seed stock/new tools to replace the stuff that got destroyed. Theoretically speaking the budget could go into negatives if we give tax credit to everyone whose improving infrastructure and they'll be a lot of people rebuilding their businesses, etc. If we do want to encourage investments it might be better to wait for us to have more funds to create a national bank to give out cheap loans. Right now all we can really do is probably imply that the regions with the most economic activity will have their roads repaired first since we of course are in the business of bringing as many goods as possible to port.
alright, removing the "tax credits" from my vote... how should we handle the nobles in the coming meeting? hopefully we can rely on their patriotism to Lorne so that they won't ally with our neighbors... the Prince though... he needs to be killed or at least captured and be forced to denounce his claim...
I think having Langlois (Decorated soldier) as teacher and our aide as the administrator is a great move for now. We can sweet talk the guy into creating the curriculum.
I think we can give them a heads up with foreign affairs, more detailed than what less richer or common folk would immediately care for as a nod to their support, but not too much either.
Legal and economic issues should be emphasized too as well.
I've been banging my head against this for almost a week now, but my heart's just not in it any more. Which I fucking hate because it almost always happens when I try to write something (*glares at the 12,500 words of nine unfinished fanfics in his Google Drive*). I could probably force myself to churn out a couple more chapters but I really wouldn't enjoy doing so, and that would mean that the quality would drop and my desire to write would probably die out entirely.
So, much as it pains me to do it, I have to call Quest Over.
There's a chance I might come back to this someday, but I think I'd rather learn from the experience and create something new. While I can point out dozens of flaws, I honestly think I didn't do too badly for a first quest, and I hope you guys enjoyed playing while it lasted. I know that I enjoyed writing it so far, and I wanted to thank you all for your participation. What makes quests fun, as an author, is that each new step is unexpected; it's a surprise and that keeps it fun and interesting to both read and write. But I think it better to call and end to it now, and explain why, than to force myself through it until it withers and dies of its own accord.
it was fun! I laways wanted to play in a democracy-republic quest-thing anyway, since most other quest here seems to be nobles are awesome and peasants are mere meat shields!
Yeah, I agree with what everyone else have said. Nice quest. Hope you get inspired to start it up again sometime. Or start something else. I'd read it.
