LUCK?!?
Don't speak to me of luck!
Yours is insane this turn!
And, I do mean absolutely insane.
I've been switching die, rolling apps and online die rollers and you are getting a mix of averages and freaking amazing.
It is not too much spoiler to say that you've only failed one roll (mind, I'm still not rolling actions that line into war turns, so can't speak for absolutely every action). by 1.
Well, there was also another where you did roll bellow DC, but you did get bonuses from other things that more than made up for it.
So, besides the double crit of court, there are another 2 #100s rolled, 1 #99, 2 #98s, 1 #96, 1 #91 and 2 #90s. + 3 #20s on d20
Yeah.
You've cleaned house.
OTOH, if previous rolls mean anything, your good and bad luck tend to balance out. So gird your loins my friends because something bad might just hit you during the war turns.
Oh dear. Isanella, we appreciate you letting us know how much you like your snazzy new cathedral. But could you please tone it down a little? Our poor QM is freaking out.
Out of curiosity, @yannoshka can you tell us what everyone's bonus to the doors would have been. We know now for Taesta, Anora and Emaline, but how would have the other three stacked?
Out of curiosity, @yannoshka can you tell us what everyone's bonus to the doors would have been. We know now for Taesta, Anora and Emaline, but how would have the other three stacked?
Sure, no problem. Doesn't make any difference now.
Just let me consult my notes for a sec.
Ok, yes, here it goes:
Thomas: +10
Taesta: +20
Anora: +10
Emaline: special. -15 DC on settlement. Required Thomas
Sofia: +5
Nicholas: +10
Thomas+Emaline: +10 in addition to individual bonuses
Taesta+Sofia: +5 in addition to individual bonuses
Anora+Nicholas: +10 in addition to individual bonuses
Thomas+Taesta+Anora: +20 in addition to individual bonuses
Everyone: +25 in addition to individual and other cumulative bonuses
Establish proper royal court and administration institutions (roll difficulty 250, will continue rolling until fulfilled)
1d100=100+1d100(crit)=100+1d100(crit)=93=293; 293>250 Project complete!
The sheer dissonance between agonizing and planning and laying down preparatory work to organize and establish a proper court and knowing just how titanic the undertaking it was supposed to be, and then learning that almost everything was already in place and just waiting for official proclamation completely floored not just Aelyn, but the entire council.
The leaders of the benign conspiracy most responsible for the happy state of affairs were all rounded up and in a grand and pomp-filled ceremony elevated to the peerage, except for two.
Brother Freyr adamantly refused to return to the titles and duties he had left behind so long ago in his pursuit of serving Rosa. And he especially refused to assume even higher titles.
So, in respect for his wishes, he was passed over.
Not that he actually avoided being honored and saddled with new responsibilities.
He was appointed to the position of the high royal prelate, the minister in charge of religious matters of the realm.
Before he could even begin to protest, he was cut at his legs by the very public and effusive proclamation of the revered Arche-exarch Gayle Argyle, the single eldest and most respected priest of Isanela in Pyratryst, and by this point probably anywhere that the great starmother was venerated, that she could not think of anyone more worthy to the position.
The other person who evaded elevation being the son and heir of Ser Humbert Mothley, Lord Chamberlain.
As such the right honorable Arthur Mothley was already well on his way to properly inherit the title of Viscount in due time.
The military at large was finally properly split down between Lord Marshal and Lord Protector, the positions, responsibilities, and duties of Royal High Magistrate, Royal Warder and the judges of the High Judiciary Court were delineated, and so on and so forth...
(Royal court established; +4 action slots for the preparatory rounds; +1 action for every stat at regular rounds; +1 reroll for non-critical, non-personal actions in the future; morale raised by a tier; All non-personal actions slightly easier in the future)
Building up military (roll difficulty 20)
- Continuous (will carry on into next turns without locking up any future choices. have to specify for how many turns. increases the roll difficulty by 10 for every additional turn) - 2 turns
1d100=67; 67>40 pass! will continue for one more turn
Building up your military might proceeded apace, especially with the almighty boom of the population your agents managed to convince to join you.
With the increase in available resources, and better organization you even managed to funnel some of the best among the new soldiers into elite units.
(+20 Windriders, +310 legionnaires (80 infantry, 60 archers, 10 marksmen, 60 foot scouts, 60 light cavalry, 10 heavy cavalry, 20 engineers, 10 siegebreakers), +300 Pyratryst house guard; -630 population)
Folded into the War turns! said:
Securing the plains portion of the High shelf
-Continuous (0 out of 120) - ONGOING
Sending out armed patrols into the near reaches of the forest (roll difficulty 35)
-Have them set up hidden caches, observation posts and scout hideouts (increases difficulty by 10)
Scouting out the woodlands (roll difficulty 25)
-Have your scouts engage in guerrilla warfare with To-Reil (increases difficulty by 15)
-Have your scouts on the lookout for the 'ice demon' barbarians (increases difficulty by 5)
Forray against the nearby barbarian villages
-Subjugate the more westerly village and capture as many barbarians alive as possible (roll difficulty 35, incompatible with razing the village)
-Subjugate the more northerly village and capture as many barbarians alive as possible (roll difficulty 35, incompatible with razing the village)
Thanks in no small part to the experience accrued over time since arriving upon the shelf, the actions of the royal house and the recruitment of a sizable force of experienced ranger militia from the old empire, the territories of the realm had been made safe from monsters for the proceeding few decades without any issues.
(No attrition due to monsters this turn)
Send out a force to secure the site of the uncovered doors upon the mountainside
-Establish a secured settlement (2d100 cast, roll difficulty 150)
2d100=133+20 (Taesta) +10 (Anora)=163; 163>150 pass!
There was probably no person in the realm who had not been set atwitter by the discovery of the doors upon the side of the mountain, from the most crotchety old nan out in the farms, to the slew of newly arrived academics.
Reactions were as wild and varied as the number of men and women making them, but the one course of action almost every single one of them could agree upon was that something needed to be done, and done immediately.
On what that something was, however, no accords could be reached.
No few brawls had erupted over the years due to heated debates, and the brawlers turned out to be stately elders as often as impetuous youths.
Thankfully, as the old adage goes, "Tasakar will do as Tasakar damn well please!" And no one could accuse Aelyn Tasakar nor her family of being slow on the draw.
Soldiers were immediately sent out to secure the location and immediate surroundings. Then more soldiers were sent along to aid, support and escort materials to establish a camp. Then, carefully, civilians were sent along as well...
And, even as callow teens prince Taesta and princess Anora were involved in each and every step of the project.
The camp grew into an outpost, the outpost into a moderate fort, and by the time of barely half a year since her own wedding, Princess Anora was dispatched to take control of the modest but respectable fortified settlement. The first proper settlement in the realm since the founding of the capital as a matter of fact.
It was thought that being placed in control of the burgeoning new town would provide an excellent learning experience for when she took over the throne from her mother.
Taesta, in between his other duties, his grand project of prospecting for resources, and his favored sport of riling up his own wife was also an on and off resident of the new place, serving the multiple purposes of offering additional security, speeding up the construction and offering the invaluable insight his usage of The Spark offered on the issue of the mysterious door.
And it truly was a mystery.
At the best guess, the doors predated every single last archeological find the college of the history of law had the record off, dating back clear to the early Age of Magic.
That there was some sort of the locking mechanism was determined easily by Taesta using The Spark, but that was the extent of the information even he could determine, even with working on it for a decade. It, somehow, resisted even The Spark!
The foreboding mountain face stubbornly refused to divulge it's secrets.
What the mechanics behind the door, nor the mechanism were? How it was triggered? Who or even what had built it, and, more importantly, how? Those and many other questions surrounding it would, apparently, have to fall upon the following generations to solve them.
(Site of the doors secured; A fortified Town (Name to be determined) established - 500 soldiers and ~3000 civilians in permanent residence; Further options concerning the town and location unlocked)
Digging out a canal to divert a portion of the local river for capital usage (roll difficulty 50)
1d100=54; 54>50 pass!
While frequent rains and plentiful rain cisterns did make for easy access for clear water, and truly, the river was not all that far, no one can deny that the building of the canal was something every single resident of Pyratryst was heartily proclaiming that it was about damn time.
There were just so many uses for a readily available source of both water and waterpower.
(Pyratryst has ready access to water; Morale up; further options unlocked)
Securing a portion of the nearby forest and establishing a fortified outpost dedicated to woodcutting and wood processing operations (roll difficulty 75)
1d100=56+10 (experienced lumber workers)+10 (Rangers)+10 (War on barbarians)=86; 86>75 pass!
When the imperial remnant first came to the plateau, the idea of taking control of even a small part of the monster and belligerent barbarian teeming forest would have been excessively ludicrous.
Now, but a few scant decades later, however, it was a reality.
The road to accomplishing it, some say, was nothing short of a miracle.
It should not have worked.
It would not have worked, truth to tell, had your agents in the lands of the former empire not found exactly the right people to make it work.
And, even then, the undertaking might have fallen and faltered.
But, by the blessings of all the gods, it did not, and so, for the foreseeable future, the realm has open and plentiful access to timber, wood, and resin.
(Timber, wood and resin resources secured; future actions unlocked; building projects made slightly easier; morale up)
A/N - Getting unexpectedly dizzy. It is probably nothing, but just in case, I am going to pause here for a bit.
I am sorry in that despite my promises we are experiencing delays.
I will get back to this asap, so the delays won't be severe.
In the meantime, let's get the ball rolling on namings!
As stated earlier, Anora gave birth to 3 kids. Two girls and a boy.
And also, there is the new settlement to name.
Girl names (Names starting on A have major preference, names starting on T have minor preference):
[] Aronel
[] Astrid
[] Annette
[] Tessa
[] Torun
[] Myria
[] Write-in (Even if very popular, if I find a name inappropriate in any way, it gets nixed)
Boy Names (Names starting on T have major preference, names starting on A have minor preference):
[] Tarkus
[] Tybalt
[] Thaddeus
[] Alexander
[] Anthony
[] Luis
[] Write-in (Even if very popular, if I find a name inappropriate in any way, it gets nixed)
Town names:
[] Portas watch
[] Mountainholme
[] Turberg
[] Stendore
[] Write-in (Even if very popular, if I find a name inappropriate in any way, it gets nixed)
Again, I apologize for the present delays.
please vote in the following format:
[X] Plan Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
-[X] Girl 1: Astrid
-[X] Girl 2: Axel (It was a moment of sarcastic creativity from Taesta combined with Anora being punch drunk from giving birth to her and nobody being around who could tell her no that resulted in the name and afterwards "Tasakar will do as Tasakar damn well please!" came into play when people tried to convince Anora to change the name)
-[X] Boy: Timothy
-[X] Town: Chadwell
By my count it's 10 + 20 + 10 + 5 + 10 + 10 + 5 + 10 + 20 + 25 = 125 and 150 - 15 = 135 therefore it is 135 - 125 = 10. Where did you get the extra 5 bonus to the DC?
By my count it's 10 + 20 + 10 + 5 + 10 + 10 + 5 + 10 + 20 + 25 = 125 and 150 - 15 = 135 therefore it is 135 - 125 = 10. Where did you get the extra 5 bonus to the DC?
The military at large was finally properly split down between Lord Marshal and Lord Protector, the positions, responsibilities, and duties of Royal high magistrate, Royal warder and the judges of the high court were delineated, and so on and so forth...
"Royal High Magistrate," not "Royal high magistrate,"
"Royal Warder" not "Royal warder"
"High Court" not "high court"
This is old fashioned Imperial naming. You can keep something like judge of the High Court with a regular letter, but a High Court Judge has to have capital letters.
On what that something was, however, no accords could be reached.
no few brawls had erupted over the years due to heated debates, and the brawlers turned out to be stately elders as often as impetuous youths.
At the best guess, the doors predated every single last archeological find the college of the history of law had the record off, dating back clear to the early Age of magic.
Establishing at least somewhat secure path back towards the former lands of the empire (roll difficulty 60, 175+ finishes project)
-conceal it as much as possible (increases difficulty to 70, 200+ finishes project)
-Continuous (111 out of 225) - ONGOING
1d100=7; 111-7=104 remaining. will continue on until finished
Unfortunately, due to a clerical error, the work on securing the path between the plateaus and the former empire was somehow declared complete and the error did not get caught until caravans baring goods for Pyratryst started rumbling up the mountain.
The work was quickly resumed but in the great scheme of things, the progress made was truly negligible.
The clerk who made the mistake almost became the first long-term resident of the Pyratryst stockades, but the subsequent investigation in the matter showed that it truly was an honest mistake. The administrator in charge, however, did get the chance to do a thorough inspection of the stockades from the inside for leaving such an important issue in the hands of a single clerk and not bothering to check over their work.
(project continues on)
Establishing proper facilities to house your Royal Academy
-Centralized (roll difficulty 25. All colleges under a single big roof. Cannot be taken with Scattered. If taken with Specialized difficulty raises to 35)
1d100=43; 43>35 pass!
-Specialized (roll difficulty 45. All colleges get personal building with space enough for additional facilities as suits their needs. If taken with Centralized difficulty lowers to 40. If taken with Scattered difficulty lowers to 35)
1d100=90; 90>35 exceptional pass!
"Master Mayflower, how go the works?" Nicholas cheerfully inquired of the apparently mousy man whom had inherited the thankless job of managing the egos, tempers, and foibles of the new realms academic community from his great-grandmother.
"Hmmmn? Oh, if it isn't little Nicholas! Or is it supposed to be your highness now?" The little, wrinkly, bald man blinked owlishly over his half-moon reading specs at the smiling young man at the doors to his office.
"Ser, this is me we're talking about. You can drop the harmless li'l-old-befuddled-professor act. I was there when you fleeced great-gumpy at the card games, and no one had ever accused him of being anything but a smart cookie. Nick is just fine." Nicholas said, his lips curling into a sardonic half-smirk as he bonelessly dropped into the comfortable armchair before the older man's desk.
"Drat, you do remember that! How is that old rascal Luis anyway? Haven't seen him since Myria dropped this mess into my lap and the two of them scampered off to enjoy their retirements." The rakish grin that broke through made Oliver Mayflower look a good ten years younger than he actually was, and the hand he extended over the table to Nicholas was anything but frail as befitted Pyratryst's premier civil engineer and the architect in charge behind most of the design of the city itself.
While most of his colleagues contented themselves to simply drawing the plans, and overseeing the execution of the same, he had always been rather hands-on on his construction projects, pitching in wherever the need was greatest.
"In fine form ser. He is having the time of his life running around with my cousins and making trouble for the great-memaw. And don't think I didn't notice you evading my question. What devilry are you up to now?" Nicholas answered easily, the half smirk never leaving his face.
The older man artfully schooled his face into an utterly convincing visage of absolute innocence, and spread his hands as if to ask 'Who? Me?'.
Nicholas' answer was a simple raising of a single eyebrow through which he conveyed just as clearly that he did not believe the older man's apparent innocence for a second and that he was prepared to patiently sit there and stare until the other man spilled the beans.
There was a reason you see, that no one in their right mind considered Oliver Mayflower as a viable possible tutor to the secondborn prince, despite him being lauded as the best the College of Architecture counted amongst their members.
It would be the height of lunacy to pair the young and old helion together.
The stare off continued for almost three minutes until Mayflower finally gave in.
"Gods all damn youngster, you are too raw and green to have mastered Myria's 'I know all your sins, now talk to me about them' questioning eyebrow to that degree. Go on, ruin all my fun!" He harumphed disgustedly.
Besides the eyebrow lowering back, Nicholas' face changed not one iota. It took a considerable amount of his willpower not to radiate smugness.
Sighing, the Grandmaster of the Royal Academy leaned back in his chair and blindly grabbed a set of papers from a literal pile of the similar looking papery detritus and trust it to the young prince consort.
"It's proceeding well enough. We'll break the ground for the foundations of the academy at the end of next month."
Nick's facial expression finally broke as he received the papers.
"Already? How ever did you manage to get the rest of the colleges to stop arguing and finally agree upon the design?" he asked in frank amazement.
Mayflower's answer was preceded by a derisive snort.
"I'm not asking them. That was Myria's foolishness. I'm not about to give them opinions on how to treat people from illnesses or debate on the nature of reality or organize a poetry recital, so I see no reason whatsoever to ask them to but in about building a complex. I've already decided on a beautiful little knoll just outside the current city sprawl with plenty of room to house the needs of every college, including those your mother in law has yet to recruit, and plenty more for future growth."
(Royal Academy established; scholarly actions unlocked; some projects made easier; morale deterioration reversed)
Building a proper temple complex (roll difficulty 15. Must have at least one specific temple. Additional temples can be delayed for following turns without locking in any options by appending FT at the end)
-To Isanela, the great goddess of stars, and the personal patron of Tasakar dynasty (due to Isanela being the family patron, and bringing people from the great temple along, base roll difficulty is reduced by 10 for any temple to her)
--Grand Cathedral (raises difficulty by 45)
Fortune roll used 58>50 pass!
Where attempting to build the temple to Ulair proved a series of disasters, the Grand Cathedral to Isanela went up without a single bump.
It actually went so smoothly that it baffled the architects and overseers in the sheer lack of even the minor hiccups that plagued every construction site since the dawn of time when groups of cave dwellers came together to pile rocks into interesting shapes.
But, the results spoke for themselves.
The spire studied tower top proudly rose up and up, evoking an image of a hand reaching out towards the domain of the great starmother from the center of the grand field next to the royal palace set aside for the temple district.
Rumors that the Queen sighed a sigh of deep relief as the priesthood of the celestial pantheon vacated the palace for the quarters in the temple were pure hearsay and patently false.
(Grand cathedral to Isanela built up; morale up; all attrition reduced; further religious actions unlocked; priesthood of the celestial pantheon strengthened)
Contact your agents within the lands of the former Tasakarim (roll difficulty 5, minimum of one suboption must be taken; suitable spousal candidates for royal children looked for)
-Order them to sow chaos and disorder (raises difficulty by 25, slightly increases the chance of discovery)
-Order them to seek out the remaining brotherhoods (raises difficulty by 5)
-Order them to give covert aid to any loyalist they might encounter (raises difficulty by 5, slightly increases the chance of discovery)
--Allow the agents to, at their own discretion, approach the loyalists and convince them to join up with new Tasakarim (raises difficulty by further 5, further raises the chance of discovery penalty to low)
-Order them to, at their own discretion, remove the morally worst elements of society they encounter (raises difficulty by 5)
1d100=91; 91>50 pass!
Adding the skillsets of the brotherhoods of Raven, Eagle and Owl to those of the Talons, while much more difficult to coordinate, made the efforts to keep the proverbial pot of the former empire on the constant boil that much more effective.
Reports and documents were doctored or outright falsified, scandals were manufactured or revealed in the most compromising ways possible, leaders both from the spotlight and from the shadows were subverted, discredited, or eliminated depending on the situation.
And an entire generation grew up exposed to the longbeards bemoaning the good old days during the empire, and those who never were around to experience the days of the mad Tasakar contested that while they were doubtlessly bad, the old Tasakars could not have been such monsters since people were obviously better off during their time than the raging mess they, the people, had inherited.
The news concerning the remaining three brotherhoods were... not encouraging to say the least.
Most of the Wrens had gone native playing kingmakers for the lordlings and warlords, with only a small core remaining true to their old ways.
Cranes had gone to the ground and, for the most part, continued along almost without change from how they previously operated... At least on the surface. Scratch a bit below that and it showed that they'd gone somewhat... feral. Cut off from the support and funding they enjoyed in service to Tasakars, they involved themselves in the organized crime to sustain themselves, almost, but not quite turning into just another parasite gorging on the cadaver of the fallen empire.
And Robins... Well, they'd always been of mercantile disposition. Turning mercenary was hardly surprising. What was troubling was that they'd sprung leaks. Several of them. Secrets that had no business getting out into the wider world were found on the lips of some really unsavory merchants.
Thankfully, the campaign to clean up the worst of the trash making use of the chaos to pursue their own dark goals to the detriment of the population stop the spreading of those secrets and plugged the leaks. Probably.
But, all things considered, the efforts of your agents did make the blameless population objectively better off, and in the end, that was the most important issue.
On the matter of finding people deemed loyal enough to be invited to join you up on the plateaus, you are frankly awed and humbled by the numbers that the brotherhoods deemed reliable.
These people, even after everything your cousins did, after being left on their own in the dire straits of the disintegrating empire in the throes of power-grabs and civil war... These people still considered themselves Tasakarim!
(+717 population (after attrition) (285 farmers, 177 workmen, 145 tradesmen, 22 low nobility, 2 nobles, 83 woodsmen) +236 soldiers (17 Bardichiers, 16 Heavy infantry, 36 2handers, 18 mounted infantry, 32 dragoons, 42 archers, 22 marksmen, 18 arbalists, 20 scouts, 15 rangers) Intrigue operations in the former empire easier; all operations/projects in the former empire easier. Chance to get detected overall malus got slightly reduced; bonus to actions concerning unrecruited spy brotherhoods; Spousal candidates will be posted after the war turns)
Attempt to recruit one of the remaining spy brotherhoods (can be taken once for every brotherhood, roll for difficulty, minimal difficulty 50, chance of discovery scales with difficulty)
-Robin (1d10=9 roll difficulty of 55, slightly increases the chance of discovery)
1d100=67+5 (good intelligence); 72>55 pass!
Armed with the intelligence gathered during the regular operations in the lands of the old empire, getting the Robins to see the light was almost ridiculously easy, especially after the leaks in their order got plugged. Permanently and graphically.
After some further house cleaning and dusting off old guidebooks, a new, reliable brother who still remembered the old oaths was put in charge, and presto! You once again had hands keeping track of the pulse of commerce, upon which every civilized society, ultimately, rests.
(Intrigue operations in the former empire easier; some operations/projects in the former empire easier; new projects unlocked; Chance to get detected overall malus got slightly reduced; bonus to mercantile actions)
Reach out to the people of the city of Sastor (roll difficulty 5, increases the chance of discovery by a low amount)
-Enter into Trade agreements (raises difficulty by 10, roll for gains, difficulty further raised by additional 30 until path between the plateaus and the former empire is secured, incompatible with convincing them to join you)
-Recruit from within the populace (raises difficulty by 10, roll for a small increase in population -tradesmen and common workforce, small chance for guildsmen)
1d100=55+5(Robins)=60; 60>55 pass!
While never coming anywhere even close to the size and connections of Trellyun, its central location on the western third of the old empire did make Sastor one of the de facto mercantile centers of Old Tasakarim.
As such, finding contacts that could supply most of the needs of the New Tasakarim was hardly difficult.
The prices might be a tad high, but fair is fair, it is a long journey through unsettled lands and dangerous mountain passes.
And, as the newly recruited brotherhood of the Robin pointed out, once the trade channels normalized and the markets were properly formalized, the prices can be safely expected to go down to more reasonable levels. In essence, shouldering on the initial high prices would ensure future ability to... shape the trade relations to better suit you.
Besides the much-needed resources, those first caravans also brought in a steady stream of former people of Sastor who were hit the hardest by the chaos and troubles of the uncertain times since the fall of the empire.
(Steady trade between Pyratryst and Sastor established; morale penalty due to resource scarcity lowered; current market conditions - unfavorable; recruited 389 population (after attrition) (122 tradesmen, 246 common workers, 21 guildsmen (merchant's guild)))
Reach out to the people of the city of Shingh (roll difficulty 40, increases the chance of discovery by a low amount)
-Convince them to join you (raises difficulty by 25, further raises the chance of discovery penalty to middling-low)
1d100=99+1d100(crit)=2=101; 101>65 pass!
Shingh was once one of the mighty bastions of the old Tasakarim, being the city in control of the greatest silver and gold mines in the old empire.
Naturally, as such, it was also the center of the silversmith, goldsmith and bankers guilds.
Discovering even greater deposits of the precious metals alongside many precious stones upon the dire islands did damage the stature of the mighty city, but, overall, the dangers inherent in the ventures on those baren bits of rock that looked right down into the endless hordes of the savage eternal foes of humanity made them places only for those most adventurous. Most of the 'old guard' saw no reason to move from their long-established comfortable lifestyles.
And then the great motherlodes, that had lasted for veritable millennia, had run out. Oh, there was still quite a bit of gold and silver in the hills and mountain slopes, but the writings on the walls were clear enough for anyone to see.
In a lot of ways, the timing of the fall of the empire was a blessing in disguise for the faltering mining metropolis.
After the initial shock, panic, and other high running, unproductive emotions had run down, and sanity had reasserted itself, the city found itself in a very advantageous position, even if the bankers guild di get hit hard by the upheaval.
They still possessed a lot of wealth, the markets for what they could supply were almost intact, and, due to the city's centuries-long reputation of semi-independence from the crown, they were spared the worst ravages of the mobs.
Unfortunately, they lacked one crucial element to capitalize on the advantage vantage point they found themselves, all unknowingly, occupying.
Centuries of the guilds making sure that the local nobility was either too weak or fully absorbed into the fold to protest their conduct left them critically short on strong, central leadership.
And so, in the manner of fat, self-absorbed cats the history over, they wasted time in arguments, petty posturing and absurd games of one-upmanship when they should have acted swiftly and decisively.
The matter was not helped by the death by treachery of the leadership core of the group trying to organize Shingh republic/hegemony.
After the dust settled, instead of finding themselves leaders of a new world order that they imagined themselves becoming, the city found itself in an even more precarious position - that of a fat, juicy prey.
Oh, not that they were toothless or not dangerous to go after, but no risk, no reward, eh?
By the time your agents had approached them, the city had already fended off several attempted sieges, and everyone in the city was grimly awaiting the time someone else decided to try their luck against them.
The family that emerged in overall charge of the city, due mostly to getting in front and organizing the assorted soldiery into effective military units, were Casimirs.
This turned out to be quite a lucky break for you, thanks to them being Elanor's and Idrien's maternal relatives.
Being as isolated as they were, establishing any kind of friendly liaison was considered an occasion worthy of celebration, and, if not exactly, a mark of divine aid from Ulair, Belsun, and Eldora Carmeline, then at least a blessing.
Once the proposal to come to join you up on the plateaus was floated around, there was a lot of interest.
Everyone knew that there was a lot of mineral wealth up in the north.
One just had to look at all the gaudy adornments that Skeggi insisted in draping all over themselves, their clothes, their tools, and their ships to understand that much.
The problem was in getting to the north and, even more, in fending off whatever dangers lurked around until ones could successfully establish themselves.
Then the first reports of prince Taesta's mineralogical survey results came in, and the dam burst.
Over the proceeding few years, the entire city did its very feverish best to pack down every last bit and doodad and in careful, measured waves sent its people up to you.
By the time the final residents departed, the once shining great city was an empty, dilapidated shell of a ghost town writ large.
(+14800 population (rolled no attrition) (tradesmen, merchants, workers (primarily miners and masons), miner's, mason's, silversmith's, goldsmith's, banker's guildsmen, nobles, priesthood); +1200 soldiers (mixed); lots of resources; bonus to mining related options; some future options/projects made easier)
A/N: Sorry folks, I hate feeding you this update piecemeal, but I have to take another break now. I am experiencing acute problems with my blood pressure which leads to dizziness and migraines.
Where attempting to build the temple to Ulair proved a series of disasters, the Grand Cathedral to Isanela went up without a single bump.
It actually went so smoothly that it baffled the architects and overseers in the sheer lack of even the minor hiccups that plagued every construction site since the dawn of time when groups of cave dwellers came together to pile rocks into interesting shapes.
(+14800 population (rolled no attrition) (tradesmen, merchants, workers (primarily miners and masons), miner's, mason's, silversmith's, goldsmith's, banker's guildsmen, nobles, priesthood); +1200 soldiers (mixed); lots of resources; bonus to mining related options; some future options/projects made easier)
Where attempting to build the temple to Ulair proved a series of disasters, the Grand Cathedral to Isanela went up without a single bump.
It actually went so smoothly that it baffled the architects and overseers in the sheer lack of even the minor hiccups that plagued every construction site since the dawn of time when groups of cave dwellers came together to pile rocks into interesting shapes.
But, the results spoke for themselves.
The spire studied tower top proudly rose up and up, evoking an image of a hand reaching out towards the domain of the great starmother from the center of the grand field next to the royal palace set aside for the temple district.
Rumors that the Queen sighed a sigh of deep relief as the priesthood of the celestial pantheon vacated the palace for the quarters in the temple were pure hearsay and patently false.
(Grand cathedral to Isanela built up; morale up; all attrition reduced; further religious actions unlocked; priesthood of the celestial pantheon strengthened)
For the turn, yes.
Now, think about the fact that your initial population started at around 3500 and you arrived at the plateaus with about 5500.
It's the meta reason behind your dynastic trait of foolhardiness, after all.
So, yeah. You rolled 98 on the population. It caused me to rework a number of cities and bits of lore to accommodate.
One of the fun aspects of giving dice rolls so much importance
There was no second die. Only 99 and 100 are crits.
The calculation for city population (other than Trellyn, but good luck ever catching up with them) is 1d100*100+5000.
Fun fact. Had you opted to take the full capital population at the beginning, your starting population would have been in the 18-20k range.
But, that was a one-off thing.
Also, now that you've hit a sufficiently high population, expect proceeding turn actions to get more broad strokes.
Not everything, but a significant number of options.
BTW, for everyone voting on names, please take note that this vote is BY LINE. I really should have stated that when I announced it, you have my apologies.
Character Aelyn Tasakar
Attributes:
Martial: 16-1+3+1+1+1+2=23
Diplomacy: 18-1+2+1=20
Intrigue: 17+1+1+1=20
Stewardship: 13-1+1+1+2+1=17
Learning: 19+1=20
Piety: 19+1+2=22
Old Blood - 17% purity
Traits:
Tasakar - 15 attribute base. Can wield The Spark
You are of the blood of Turgud and Talasin, of Aseryah and Andora. You are the inheritor of more than 15 centuries of remarkable leaders, for good or bad, and it shows.
Sparkbarer - Progeny blood purity cannot be lower than yours. Can link the non-blood family to The Spark
Spark lays heavily beneath your breast. You can feel it pulsating, and roiling and... and... It is indescribable, like trying to describe mountain's sunrise to a blind, or the most exquisite symphony to the deaf. You can pull on it, and feel your family do likewise. And, you can connect others to be by their connections to you.
Foolhardy - -1base to all attributes. Inheritable
Your thought processes are not always the soundest, for all that that they can be remarkably quick.
Noble-wary - 1M, -1D, -1S, +1I, +1L, +1P, more difficult to draw in nobles from the empire during your reign.
For whatever reason, you dislike and distrust nobles. You preferred pursuing activities that would keep you away from your social strata.
Security-minded - +3M, easier Martial projects during your reign
If the fall of the empire had taught you anything, it is that there can be no such thing as too much security. You actively and aggressively pursue any means by which to enhance your military.
Fight smart - +1M, +1I, +1S
You are an avid believer in the principle of fighting smarter, not harder. Let others charge in the van, you prefer a more oblique approach.
Scrounger - +1M +1S
You are good at finding more to support your people with.
Demagogue - +2D +2S +2P positive morale dynamics during your reign
You love your people and they love you right back. You have a gift at keeping their morale up if nothing else.
Retinue:
Unit of Imperial household guard. 20 guardsmen, 4 sergeants and a Lieutenant in command
-Lieutenant Randrim - Gifted commander +2M, +1I
Hadar Milich. Personal Cartographer +1M, +1D +1S
Idrien Fergaz-Tasakar of Sastor
Attributes:
Martial: 22
Diplomacy: 21+1=22
Intrigue: 21+1=22
Stewardship: 17+1+2=20
Learning: 19
Piety: 18
Old Blood - 21% purity
Traits:
Avid hunter. +1 base M, +1 base I, +1 S
You appreciate few things in life as much as the pursuit of the hunt.
Second child (the spare). +1 base M, +1 base D, +1 base I, +1 base L
You were born and raised as 'just in case' spare to your elder sibling whom is the intended hair. As such you were trained to be ready to support them even once out of the line of succession.
Solid, steady and sober. +1 D, +1 I, +2 S
You were never going to be the life of the party, but people know they can rely on you.
Sparked
You are capable of utilizing The Spark
Thomas Tasakar
The firstborn prince of the New Tasakarim, quite probably conceived during the long exodus.
Unfortunately, as it turned, he was also the least prince. The one at the bottom of the line of succession.
Not that he was ever in a position to begrudge his siblings for supplanting him.
The horrendous decade heralded by the birth of his sister would have been more than ample proof of the paramount importance of The Spark for preserving their people that no one short of an idiot could doubt. Thomas bore many appellations in his life, but an idiot was never one of them.
As a matter of fact, he had the steadiest head on his shoulders, among his siblings, more akin to his taciturn father, than firey mother.
Trained primarily in the arts of warfare and diplomacy, he found himself naturally focusing his usage of The Spark towards influencing and command. By the time he was six, the household staff had to have had Spark infused order by his parents set up and maintained to prevent his childish requests be treated with the same weight as his mother's royal command. By the time he reached the tender age of thirteen, his mother and instructors regularly took him along to help interrogate the captured barbarians. By the fifteenth anniversary of the settling of Pyratryst, he had taken over the task of enhancing the children aspirants for the Tasakar household guard.
Attributes:
Martial: 23+1+1+1+1+1+1=29
Diplomacy: 21+1+1+1+1+1=26
Intrigue: 17+1=18
Stewardship: 15+2+1+1=19
Learning: 22
Piety: 22
Old Blood - 17% purity
Traits:
Tasakar - 15 attribute base. Can wield The Spark
You are of the blood of Turgud and Talasin, of Aseryah and Andora. You are the inheritor of more than 15 centuries of remarkable leaders, for good or bad, and it shows.
Solid, steady and sober +1 D, +1 I, +2 S
You were never going to be the life of the party, but people know they can rely on you.
Good with animals - +1M, +1S, small chance to gain animal/monster retinue
You just seem to be able to get along with animals.
Trained Fighter - +1M
You have been trained from an early age to the ways of combat.
Good listener - +1D
First lesson in diplomacy: let the other side talk more.
Gifted Student - +1M, +1D
You are an absolute joy to teach for your tutors.
Spark Traits:
Unnaturally persuasive - +1M, +1D, +1S, better spousal relations
Your every word is subtly imbued by The Spark, and when you speak, everyone around you listens.
Soft voice, and Big stick - +1M, +1D, easier martial and diplomatic rolls during war turns
You are, by your lonesome, an embodiment of an old, wise adage concerning relations to others.
Battlefield Beacon - +1M, So long as you are known to be upon the field, your units have unbreakable morale
Even when they cannot see nor hear you, your troops feel your presence upon the fields of battle, and it bolsters them like nothing else.
Master of the Royal household guard - It is your responsibility to turn ordinary children into the best warriors and bodyguards that had, are and ever will exist in the world.
Taesta Tasakar
The second son to Aelyn and Idrien, Taesta is much more his mother's son than either his elder brother or his younger sister. Rash, cocksure and passionate, he was and remains a hellion.
While sharing in his brother's military training, instead of diplomacy, Taesta studied under the masters of the Imperial College of Architecture. While not as natural a fit as his brother's studies, Taesta was by no means a lax student. Seeing the perpetual exhaustion suffusing his parents as they ran from emergency to emergency caused by the Mad Weather was more than apt source of motivation.
Still, while he proved fine student of creative and support applications of The Spark, where his true talent lie is destruction. No one displayed any surprise at that particular revelation...
Attributes:
Martial: 22+2+1+1+1+1+2=30 (32)
Diplomacy: 23-1+1=23 (25)
Intrigue: 16+1=17
Stewardship: 15-1+1+2+1=18
Learning: 19+1=20
Piety: 16-1+1=16
Old Blood - 19% purity
Traits:
Tasakar - 15 attribute base. Can wield The Spark
You are of the blood of Turgud and Talasin, of Aseryah and Andora. You are the inheritor of more than 15 centuries of remarkable leaders, for good or bad, and it shows.
Foolhardy - -1base to all attributes. Inheritable
Your thought processes are not always the soundest, for all that that they can be remarkably quick.
Brave - +2M, +2D when dealing with warriors and warrior culture, increased chance of gaining martial traits
Where celestials fear to tread, there you are, where cold terror grips the hearts of lesser men, you charge confidently.
Aggressive - +1M, +1I, +1L, -1D, -1S, -1P
Determined and forcefull, everything is a confrontation for you.
Trained Fighter - +1M
You have been trained from an early age to the ways of combat.
Apprentice architect - +1S
You are on your way to learning the intricacies of the arts and crafts inherent in building and tearing down buildings.
Spark Traits:
Enhanced Stonework - +1M, +2S, +1P
All stone you work with, every building you get involved with, they all turn out better than anyone ever thought possible.
Stonecaller - +1M, +1S, cheaper building projects
Stone is malleable in your hands, and with enough effort, you can even call small amounts to your hands.
OMSE - +2M during sieges
As the name says: You are one man siege engine.
Tremble before me - +2M, +1D
You are capable of calling forth small quakes in a limited area centered around yourself.
Anora Tasakar
The baby and the only girl of the Tasakar brood, Anora is quite something else. While not as... ah, energetic as her middle brother, she definitely did inherit all of her mother's passion, and then some more.
Bright, though definitely not mature far in advance of her tender years, and much stronger in The Spark than the rest of her family, one thing is for certain sure - everyone expects great things out of her.
The one cloud that darkens that future though, was the Mad Weather. Being born, just before a decade long natural catastrophe hits your lands is not something anyone could ever pretend was not ominous. Being of much higher sorcerous blood than your family just exacerbated the problem. Thus, at no fault of her own, her own people, or at least the low strata of it does, and probably always will consider Anora a harbinger of trouble.
Whereas her brothers got educated in matters of war, Anora's education was given to the Imperial colleges to educate her on the general academia, and special importance given to the Imperial College of Medicine.
Naturally intelligent as she is, she took to her lessons easily. On the other hand, it did not take her more than a few years for her spirited nature to start wearing down her tutors.
Thankfully for everyone involved, lady Myria Ladislaus was well equipped, both as the Grand master of the Imperial colleges, Grand master healer, and a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother to deal with cases just like hers.
Attributes:
Martial: 16-1+1+1+2+1+2=22
Diplomacy: 20-1+1+1+1=22 (23)
Intrigue: 18-1+1+2+1=21
Stewardship: 18+1+1+1+1+2+1+1+1=27
Learning: 19+1+1+2+1+2=26
Piety: 23-1+1+1=24
Old Blood - 30% purity
Traits:
Tasakar - 15 attribute base. Can wield The Spark
You are of the blood of Turgud and Talasin, of Aseryah and Andora. You are the inheritor of more than 15 centuries of remarkable leaders, for good or bad, and it shows.
Heir apparent - You shall be the next Sparkbarer, and thus the one to inherit the throne.
Foolhardy - -1base to all attributes. Inheritable
Your thought processes are not always the soundest, for all that that they can be remarkably quick.
Inauspicious birth - -1M, -1D, -1P
While it is hardly your fault, you can not escape the stigma of your birth forevermore being associated with the arrival of the Mad Weather.
Genius - +2base to all attributes. Inheritable
You are gifted at everything you do.
Ardent passions - +1M, +1S, +1L, -1I, better spousal relations
Everything you do, you do 120%.
Scholar - +1L
You are training for scholarly pursuits and academia.
Neophyte healer - +1S
You are training to become a full-fledged healer.
Demanding master - +1D, +1S, +2L
You are under the personal tutelage of Lady Myria herself, you will damn well end up being worth her time.
Spark Traits:
Diviner - +1 all stats
Despite what it seems like, you cannot actually see into the future, your Spark enhanced senses and intellect are simply very acute at reading into correlations and deducing the causes and effects.
Dynamist - +2M, +2I, +2S, +2L
You command a firm grasp upon magical applications of movement.
Healing hands - +1D, +1S, reduces atrition by flat 10%
You are not limited to the small and simple magics when it comes to applying your powers to healing.
Enchanter - +1M, +1I, +1S
You are gifted in creating simple trinkets, that nonetheless hold real, if minor, powers.
Green Thumb - +1D, +1I, +1S
Affecting and altering the plantlife to get exactly the desired results is simplicity unto itself for you.
Daughter of the storm - +2M, +1S, +1P, +1D during turbulent weather
While you are in no way connected to the beginning of the Mad Weather, only a fool would expect that there would be no connection between you and it.
Elanor Fergaz of Sastor
Attributes:
Martial: 20
Diplomacy: 15+1+1=17
Intrigue: 15+1+1=17
Stewardship: 19+1+1=21
Learning: 18
Piety: 18+1+1=20
Old blood - 14% purity
Traits:
Countess of Sastor +1 base all attributes. +1D, +1I, +1S, +1P
You were born and bred to rule the barony of Sastor. Your entire childhood was spent preparing you to that task.
Solid, steady and sober. +1 D, +1 I, +2 S
You were never going to be the life of the party, but people know they can rely on you.
State
Capital: Pyratryst
Population ~8000
Chance of discovery threshold 80
For the most part, this is intended to be bog standard CK2 style quest with having a limited number of options in Martial, Diplomacy, Intrigue, Stewardship, Learning, and Piety every turn, and balancing the budget on normal turns, and occasional more narrative special event turns (like war, special negotiations, etc)
That, however, is NOT what is going to happen the first few playturns. Those first turns will be special, generational, setup turns. During those turns, there will be no budget issues, nor attribute based/limited choices, but a single pool for the projects that need to be enacted, and ensuring the family line is continued.
And speaking of the family line, there we come to two special features of this quest. The Spark, and Blood Purity.
The Spark is a divine blessing that grants massive, global level traits to your bloodline characters.
Bloody purity is closely connected to The Spark, as it describes your characters' coefficient of old blood - also called mage blood - and limits what Spark traits can be gained. You, and the rest of the world, start with quite low Blood Purity.
Your current PC is designated as sparkbarer, and the next sparkbarer will always be the family member with highest blood purity. One advantage a sparkbarer has is that their progeny will never have lower blood purity than them, which is not the case with anyone else in the world, including their blood kin.
Mage blood/Old blood will spike up occasionally, so it is not all pure breeding for best effects situation.
Another important feature of the quest, at least during the setup turns will be the need for secrecy. The entire former empire was/is against you, and there will still be a LOT of people whenever who will want to see your line extinguished however much time passes. So, the chance for discovery.
I cannot say this in too many words. You do NOT want to get discovered before you move into the regular turns. I'm serious here folks. Getting discovered prematurely will rocket this quest straight up into Masochistic territory. For one, If you are discovered, the setup period ends. You go straight to play turns, with penalties racked up for every single generation turn you just skipped. And you will be permanently embroiled in multi-continental warfare for the duration. After going into normal turns, secrecy is still useful, but the consequences are much less dire. The chance of discovery is going to be a single (secret) roll of the dice. Your location provides the threshold you need to roll under not to be discovered. You will know what that threshold is, but not before the end of character creation, to curtail attempts at munchkin-math. Your secrecy boni will be deducted from the roll. Your secrecy penalties will be added to the roll. There are no criticals on this roll, it is simple over or under.
And, a final special mechanic (at least for now).
Fortune tiers.
Every turn, there will be a number of prerolled die equal to your fortune tier.
You start at tier one (or two if you take the falchion) which means one (or two) prerolled die that you can assign to a any single roll in advance, or, if there is a roll over 75, you can choose to convert it into fortune point.
Fortune points serve two purposes.
One is that they act as your shield against crit fails. If there is a critfail, a fortune point if any are available, gets automatically expended to reroll. However, even if the reroll hit 100, it will not count as critical success.
The second purpose of FPs is to increase your fortune tier. The number of points needed to upgrade will be tracked next to the fortune tier and the price must be paid all at once.
During the game there will be other ways to gain FP, but don't expect many of them.
OMAKE
Any and every omake one of you writes will net you some kind of bonus, even if it is a measly +1 to some insignificant roll.
Note that bonuses are not necessarily, nor even all that often, going to be flat numerical addition to rolls/subtraction from roll difficulties. They include, but are not limited to, such things as: Aditional slots for plans, special events/modifiers/characters not normally available, modifiers to existing traits or new traits altogether for your characters, etc... up to even such things as early unlocking of things/projects or fortune points.
As such, we can divide omake and their bonuses into two categories: Called/Specified: These are omake that either I call for on a specific topic, or you announce writing to gain a specific reward. Quality, length and/or canonicity do matter but rest assured that I will do my utmost to help you get there. Freeform: Omake you decide to write on the spur of the moment or as a flight of inspiration strikes you. Here, neither quality, canonicity nor length matter, though they can and will affect the hight/quality of the bonus. Here, too I am willing to offer help to better the omake, but only if such help is asked out of me. Well, Ok, I'm still liable to drop a line or two unasked, but no true in-depth help.
Bonuses for freeform omake also allow you some more agency in how they would come to/be applied in that I'm giving you a choice of: Option a) Standard: Once the next update is posted and voting for a plan is closed, I'll allow you (the writer) a choice to buff one option among several I deem appropriate. Option b) Gamble: I will immediately roll die under several different categories.
You will get a number of die for you to roll against categories of your choice, including choosing to spend several rolls, though no more than three, against a single category, with the aim/hope of hitting rolls close enough to my own.
This is a gamble because if you do not hit sufficiently close, well, the roll is lost, so theoretically, you can waste the entire bonus. Otoh, it is equally possible to nail all the rolls and thus score major advantages.
For reference, here is the table of what counts as close enough:
Bullseye - critical
within 5 - great
within 6-10 - good
within 11-15 - small
within 16-19 - minor
But, please pay attention: Not all categories have minor results!
Note that there are no bad outcomes out of this other than not gaining anything. Option c) You bank the bonus against continuing with the omakes in the same mien until you reach sufficient amount that I spool your bonuses into a fortune point.
A clarification since I was asked for it; Actually, several clarifications:
1) Yes, options that have many sub-options can be taken multiple times with different 'configurations' if you want to spend multiple of your action slots on a single action and yet keep the DC down to levels you consider appropriate. I personally find this approach wasteful, but, yes, it is available as an option.
2) Each suboption that has its own roll difficulty is rolled as an individual roll (I don't see how this was unclear, but whatever...)
3) Yes, each and every action (and inaction) bares its own set of consequences down the line AND THAT'S THE EXTENT OF THAT LINE OF QUESTIONING THAT I'LL ENTERTAIN BOTH NOW AND IN THE FUTURE!
4) Yes, many traits your characters might have are functionally useless for/during the buildup turns. I have no intention of developing development specific traits, thank you very much. Too much work.
5) There are obviously a lot of options gated behind options that need to be taken in advance. Even if you think there is an obvious action that you should be able to take, please first consider if some of the already available actions might lead to the ones you consider 'obvious' before you inquire about them.
They were trying to say something like... "Being as isolated as they were, establishing any kind of friendly liaison is an occasion worthy of celebration, and to be considered a mark of divine aid from Ulair, Belsun, and Eldora Carmeline"
