Exemplary Service - A Quest of Mortal & Immortal Politics

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Profilozof said:
[X] The carrot

The fact that fucking devil is an better moral choice over mortals here will be a joke for the ages
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I mean, have you read Good Omens? That line isn't exactly a rare one. Our Heroine wants to do evil in a big, regimented way and has been to realms with internet. That means she's probably memorized the Evil Overlord List and lives by it when she can. Equal Opportunity Evil is the name of the game, she doesn't care if you're black, white, red, purple, or green. She cares about your ability to Do Lawful Evil.

No time for racism, we have a deity or two to overthrow!
 
OtterlyMindblowi said:
I mean, have you read Good Omens? That line isn't exactly a rare one. Our Heroine wants to do evil in a big, regimented way and has been to realms with internet. That means she's probably memorized the Evil Overlord List and lives by it when she can. Equal Opportunity Evil is the name of the game, she doesn't care if you're black, white, red, purple, or green. She cares about your ability to Do Lawful Evil.

No time for racism, we have a deity or two to overthrow!
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I have watched good omens. It taught me that all beurocracies are evil and bloodthirsty.
 
Turn 2 New
  • Threadmarks
    • 14 + 3 vs. DC 12: Success

    It takes some careful acting, but you begin subtly disseminating the information amongst your household that Lady-Captain Jesca is in need of money, and that her woes could be exploited to earn honors and privileges. There is a great deal of hand-wringing. Glory to the Lord Below for your illusions, as they alleviate the need for you to summon tears on demand. Nakta is instrumental in selling your deception of absolute desperation, forming the partner in your sort-of-kind-of-but-not-really grift by having the 'temerity' to propose motivating the household slaves with the promise of payments or at least allowances. A great show is made of shouting her out of your study, only for you to permit yourself to be 'caught' agonizing over the ledgers.

    Slowly. Carefully. In these societies, people report on their neighbors, not support them. It is one of the few ways in which the Iron Authority resembles the Nine Hells, though of course even this process is unoptimized and deeply stupid, as the reports coming in from your imps describe. They do not have intelligence on the ruling class, and indeed you gave them strict instructions to not even try to get it - too high-risk, especially in as magical a city as this one. But the reports from the actual working citizens are here, in great detail. The advantage of how you've trained your cohort is that you get a great deal of information; the disadvantage is filtering the signal from the noise (gods below, that phrase still hasn't left your vocabulary has it) takes forever. When you run this country you are going to retain expensive prostitutes to soothe you during this process and they are going to be well compensated.

    Despite the frustration, however, and the need to take breaks every few hours so you can rub the aches from your hands while you collect the useful pieces of information together and make a separate list of potentially useful information, you can't deny the utility. There are three classes of people, broadly, within the Iron Authority; citizens, subjects, and slaves. In theory, citizens enjoy a variety of rights, privileges, and legal protections, though in practice - as is often the case - the nobility has the full run of these, followed close after by the monied class. Still, even the most wretched hobgoblin is free to spit upon subject and slave alike, and here one finds the goblins and bugbears, held under the boot of their hobgoblin masters by dint of some bizarre theological argument that could not more nakedly be in service of power. The brazenness of "a hobgoblin founded the Iron Authority, therefore we are the master race" could not be any worse without simply openly stating "we're building our legitimacy by inventing racism, fuck you". Actually, no, now that you think about it that is worst. Honesty is a virtue.

    While the average citizen worries mainly about finances, the movements of politics that might change their fortunes or see them dragged under with a failed liege, or their legacy, the average subject lives in a state of constant anxiety. Complaints about their lot can be framed as sedition, if one is of a mind, and the Iron Authority's war machine is always hungry for slaves, all the more when it's gearing up for the next major assault on the jungle. That momentum seems to be building, and there is much chatter about recruitment rates, the possibility of getting a 'safer' posting if one can qualify as a necromancer, and a great deal of - if you're reading this right - unironic praise for the local Prince. You sort through the rest of the notes and try to read between the lines, and if you've been successful in doing so, it seems the local leader has his thumb firmly on the Baneites, and has twisted their arms into expanding their works in public health and wellness. Some manner of plague was stopped in its tracks, maybe five years ago. Interesting. Very interesting.

    Finally, the slaves. You wish you could say that you're surprised, but honestly if you find a system of slavery that's surprising to you you just may knock on Heaven's door and ask what the going rate is to switch teams. It's always the same incentives and the same vulnerabilities, and in this case the situation for the slavemasters is dire. Their underclass, held in bondage, outnumbers the military six to one by some estimates, and is equal in number to the subject class by others. Physical punishments are common, rights and protections are few, and the threat of the 'curse of strife' is often used to keep them in line. You frown, and make a note to find out what this curse of strife might be. A novel attack by the local Baneites? If it could compromise your operation, you need to know, and in any event the promise to lift or counter it could win you allies by the score amongst the oppressed. The offer to become the boot on the necks of their masters is always appealing, but the promise of protection will really complete that particular temptation.

    Now you just need to handle your business. You organize your notes, hide them, and stand to begin the business of the day.

    Current Strategic Resources
    Supply: 4; taxes due at the end of Turn 4.
    Actions: 3
    Imp Actions: 1
    Agent Actions: 2

    Personal Actions
    Sometimes you just have to handle certain things yourself.

    [ ] Establish a Contingency (2 Supply, non-action) CONTINGENCY ACTIVE
    [ ] Study Lady-Captain Jesca's library (1 action)
    [ ] Explore your new headquarters (1 action)
    [ ] Scout the necropolis (1 action)
    [ ] Review Lady-Captain Jesca's duties to the Academy (1 action, unlocks Academic Actions)
    [ ] Find out what personal training is available in this city (1 action, unlocks Training Actions)
    [ ] Review your properties (1 action)
    [ ] Consult with Mellifleur for advice (1 action)

    Imp Actions
    Idle hands do not, in fact, do the devil's work. Your cohort of imps can take 1 unsupervised action per turn, requiring no roll (and therefore not risking consequences for failure, nor bonuses for exceptional success). Further Imp Actions can be taken under your supervision; these typically roll Delegation and spend actions from your pool.

    [ ] Discreetly acquire resources (1 action, +1 Supply next turn)
    [ ] Intercept and copy mail (1 action, +1 Leverage next turn)
    [ ] Take the temperature of the city's culture (1 action, requires interpretation on your part) DONE RECENTLY
    [ ] Scout out other extraplanar influences (1 action)
    [ ] Study the labor camps at the bottom of the road (1 action)
    [ ] Spy on Baneite rituals (1 action)
    [ ] Sabotage business competitors (2 actions; assists in expanding your waste-disposal business)

    Agent Actions
    Right now is the time to move fast and stay flexible. What you can do with your agents is small, but because of the combination of your supervision and everyone's relative lack of notoriety, you might just be able to do a lot of it. Your agents can take two actions unsupervised; further actions come out of your pool, and typically roll Delegation.

    [ ] Make money (1 action; +1 Supply next turn)
    [ ] Crack down (1 action; +2 Supply next turn; damages your income overall)
    [ ] Expand waste-disposal (2 actions; increases effectiveness of Make Money)
    [ ] Learn local etiquette with Nakta (1 action; begin learning an Infiltration trait)
    [ ] Infiltrate Baneite worship (1 action)
    [ ] Take an interest in someone's personal life (1 action, [NAME OF NPC HERE])

    Infernal Actions
    Hell is other people.

    [ ] Desecrate your headquarters (2 Supply, 1 action; bonuses to Battle, Infiltration, and Thaumaturgy in your headquarters; pre-requisite to open a portal to Hell)
    [ ] File an information request on the Curse of Strife (1 Supply, 1 action)

    Cult Actions
    All of the following will need to be completed before you can formally found a cult to the Lord of the Last Shroud. Then he can start being more useful to you.

    [ ] Search for a candidate to become a Cleric of Mellifleur (1 Action; Infiltration)
    [ ] Recruit worshipers (1 Action) LOCKED until you have a cleric and a shrine
    [ ] Create a shrine to Mellifleur LOCKED until you explore your headquarters AND/OR review your properties
    [ ] Acquire tomes of necromancy (1 supply, 1 action; Thaumaturgy)
    [ ] Create unholy symbols and instruments consecrated to Mellifleur (1 action; Thaumaturgy)

    Voting will be in plan format

    None escape the will of the Lord Below    ​
     
    Last edited:
  • New
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Plan: We need lore for Cash
    -[X] Personal Actions:
    --[X] Explore your new headquarters (1 action)
    --[X] Scout the necropolis (1 action)
    --[X] Review your properties (1 action)
    -[X] Imp Actions:
    --[X] Study the labor camps at the bottom of the road (1 action)
    -[X] Agent Actions:
    --[X] Expand waste-disposal (2 actions; increases effectiveness of Make Money)
     
    [X] Plan: Business is Business
    -[X] Imp Actions:
    --[X] Sabotage business competitors (2 actions; assists in expanding your waste-disposal business)
    -[X] Agent Actions:
    --[X] Expand waste-disposal (2 actions; increases effectiveness of Make Money)
    -[X] Infernal Actions:
    --[X] Desecrate your headquarters (2 Supply, 1 action; bonuses to Battle, Infiltration, and Thaumaturgy in your headquarters; pre-requisite to open a portal to Hell)
    --[X] File an information request on the Curse of Strife (1 Supply, 1 action)

    Time to start using that delegation power. So, here's the thing. Waste disposal as a business means a HUGE source of unexpected finds, most notably information. We take that over, we make more money, and we get to have free reign for a treasure source.

    The above uses Delegate to push one of our actions to the Imps to speed our takeover, it'll be worth it very shortly unless I'm greatly mistaken. Agents do the same. As for us? Well, I have a sneaking suspicion that this mich draw enmity from those competitors if they realize it's us. Desecrating the home base will help with that part if they attack or try to snoop. Plus the whole Hell Gate thing. Finally, that Curse of Strife sounds important. At the very least, we need to know what our slaves are subjected to. At best, it means a way to coopt the slaves belonging to others.

    Happy New Year, everyone!

    Remaining Actions: Personal 0(1, -1 delegated), Imp 0 (-1, +1 delegated), Agents 0
    Remaining Supply: 1
     
    I'ma call a one hour warning after I get some sleep tonight and get up in the morning. I can't wait for more votes forever, after all.
     
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