I'm a High Fantasy Tax Collector, So What? A CKII Tax Collector Quest

[hYGP]

[X] [Case] Grainy Resolution
[X] [Shiny] Null

---

"You're looking better," you tell Vivien. It's even true; her skin has regained some color and fullness, and the bags under her eyes are now more a trick of the light than anything else.

"Thanks," she nods. "Do you want to hear the briefing, or do you just want to go?"

"It's traditional," you exaggeratedly say, "and where would we be without our great traditions?"

"Without you in the office, that's for sure," she ruefully responded.

"Is that approval I hear?" you mime.

"Don't push it," she laughed. "Very well, then, Agueda. Your new assignment is about two week's travel to the eastern duchy - specifically, the territory of one of the Duke Narciso's subordinate Counts, one Count Natalia," she began. "Leaving the resolution of tax fraud to the Royal Finance Minsitry would be unusual, if Duke Narciso wasn't famously neglectful of his own feudal rights in the best of times - now, with the army about to march he's mostly been focusing on raising his own retinue. In addition, Countess Natalia took over control on request of her late spouse - which is why an Alanyiva native is administering an Oskarian territory. This may have something to do with the situation at hand.

"Specifically, while grain payments have dropped from this province, the steady payments from other nearby provinces indicate that it is not a regional problem. Furthermore, the decrease in grain payments is not paired with a decrease in other tax revenues, nor the exports from that province - mass death or desertion can likely be ruled out. Really, the only thing that makes this particularly weird is that grain is being imported into what was traditionally an exporting province, if not a very productively exporting province. With the army due to move through in six to eight months, though, food stores need to be bolstered, and soon.

"For this mission, we can give you a royal seal of investigation, and only 100 Budget. Sorry, but somehow the generals got it into their heads that money allocated to us was a waste of money - you're basically going to be carrying most of our ministry's remaining budget with you," she sheepishly said.

"That bad?" you ask.

"That bad," she nods.

---

Revealed Available Achievements:
Swift Justice
Resolve the Case within one year. +1 Shiny.
Thorough
Defeat all enemies. +1 Shiny.
The Ministry Funds Itself
Through the course of normal operations, earn more Budget than you spend. +2 Shiny.
In the Light
Use only legally obtained evidence. +1 Respect.

---

You immediately notice something is strange when you break through the foresting towns. Normally, fields are supposed to lie fallow in rotations, in a patchwork pattern depending on which farmers owned what fields. Most of these towns seemed to follow this rule - however, you notice a few villages seem to have planted everything with a plant that sprouted green shoots. If this was a royal or a noble decree, you could understand a full planting, damn whether the land was supposed to be fallow or not - but it wasn't uniform, and in places you could tell that the peasants had uprooted whatever they had planted to allow the soil to lay fallow. The count was enforcing the adoption of a new crop? Fascinating. You filed that away for later.

Upon arrival into the eastern province, your arrival is fairly inconspicuous - although the distance from more metropolitan centers certainly makes your party stand out more. You catch more glares or stares of unabashed surprise, but ultimately your coin and your royal identification papers is enough to settle the local residents.

What's more notable is that within a day of your arrival, two invitations to meet are sent to you: one from the local tax collector, and one from the Countess. Of course, you naturally accept both, and fail to mention the fact that you're meeting both to either. If they couldn't even figure out that you were going to see both, you were going to be able to dance circles around them.

What the two of them tell you is fascinating.

Tax Collector Julia Wahner offers her help in navigating the local area, politics and all - which is completely in flux because of the new Countess'...unexpected ascendancy, and the madness that has overtaken her, according to Wahner. For some reason, she insists on planting weeds other than the local grains, and goes about uprooting the farmer's crops - and then has the gall to claim that since she has only planted so much grain, that she can only be taxed for her take on the grain. She's glad that someone with real authority has come in to resolve the issue; the army and the nobility might not listen to her, but surely they must listen to someone so notable and respected as your own personage, right?

The Countess offers a completely different tale, one that immediately goes off the rails: She too offers to be your guide to the area, as well as local politics. When you gently hint at the state of her tax records, she states that she's been paying Julia Wahner her entire province's worth of grain, even if she has to import it. There shouldn't be any problem with the tax records; she's been paying her fair share of grain and an equivalent weight of the new crop she's trying to get her province to adopt, if Julia Wahner was inclined to accept it. No, that...woman was simply jealous that Natalia's husband had chosen Natalia as his successor, rather than the Wahner's eldest son, and if there was any problem it was clearly with her, who was obviously faking bad records. Stories of your great propensity of justice have even reached her ears - surely you would act upon your title, right?

You smiled, thanked them both for being the most gracious hosts, and that you would gladly call upon their help should you need it. Naturally, they can only politely welcome it.

Ugh. This was going to be a mess.

---

With 100 Budget, you must be frugal with your spending. As a result, you will only be spending up to 10 Budget this turn.

You have one [Free] Action that you may spend on an action in any category.

You can cooperate with your teammates to add +3 base stat to an action that you are cooperating on. It is represented by using your [Free] Action on one of your already-selected Actions.

Martial (Choose 1) {Kerrie Action}
[] [Martial] Bulling Through
You're fairly certain that the forces left after the nobility and the military have been busy dragging away all the skilled and even semi-skilled fighters away are all...not that strong, and if you wanted to you could probably just immediately slam down the door and demand documents, by power of the Royal Seal. DC: 20. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Martial] Power Mapping
You're in a new territory, one that's in flux as the Kingdom calls upon all available fighters that aren't already performing essential services to the war effort. That makes it all the more important to be careful stepping around the local power blocs, both to avoid confrontation - and figure out who to ally with. DC: 15. Cost: 2 Budget.
[] [Martial] Mustering the Courage
Alternatively, you could simply cut straight to the army mobilization and ask for a group of soldiers to help you get your budget where you needed. Of course, that would likely mean you'd have to bribe the generals involved, but at least there's likely no way anybody would be willing to try and resist them backing your orders. DC: 20. Cost: 4 Budget.

Diplomacy (Choose 1) {Cormag Action}
[] [Diplomacy] Julia's Invitation
Julia and the Wahner family backing her were willing to introduce you and waive the standard costs of meeting with and interacting with the nobility, on their own family treasury. You do need someone to be your local guide...DC: 10. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Diplomacy] Natalia's Invitation
Alternatively, you could accept Natalia's invitation, and meet the local power players through her side - though of course, it will be taken as you taking her side. DC: 10. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Diplomacy] The Ground
Actually, you don't want to hear it from any of these nobles, stuck in their petty power struggles. You want to hear it from the farmers and the merchants in the town, who will be...less prone to a rendition of events slanted like a sheer cliff face. DC: 20. Cost: 2 Budget.

Intrigue (Choose 1) {Agueda Action}
[] [Intrigue] Hit the Books
When in doubt, look for the accounting entries. Anybody organizing fraud worth your time is organized enough to have their own books recording their false transactions and the books recording what's really going on. DC: 27. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Intrigue] Into the Spider's Web
You're headed straight into what is almost definitely a nasty shadow war for control of the province. Barging in without first figuring out who worked with what would be a huge mistake. DC: 25. Cost: 3 Budget.

Learning (Choose 1) {Tekla Action}
[] [Learning] The Root of the Issue
So, these...potatoes are supposed to be some sort of crop. Time to ask Tekla to do a proper investigation into what exactly the properties of these potatoes are. DC: Scaling. Cost: 1 Budget.
[] [Learning] Magical Mapping
In this area, you're not quite sure how the local makeup of spirits go. With the Gnarled Rod, you can look into mapping it out. DC: 25. Cost: 2 Budget.

Stewardship (Choose 1) {Agueda Action}
[] [Stewardship] Inheritance Law I
Clearly the question of who should legally get to rule this province is a touchy subject. Perhaps it would be best to look into what the relevant laws for this area should have been. DC: 30. Cost: 4 Budget.
[] [Stewardship] Auditing and Assessment Services
If you'll work for the King, you can certainly offer your services to other people. Besides, your group kind of needs the money. DC: 20. Gain: 2 Budget.

Piety (Choose 1) {Agueda Action}
[] [Piety] Local Spirits
You can offer a prayer to local spirits to see if you can't get some information, or perhaps some small boon to help unravel the case. DC: 20. Cost: 2 Budget.
[] [Piety] Justice, Patient and Perceptive
When in doubt, praying to Justice usually gets you some good results. Usually. DC: 30. Cost: 0 Budget.

 

[hYGP]

People in the light wins, 12-2-1.

Roll me 7d100s.
Martial: Power Mapping: DC: 15. Base Stat: 16 + 1 + 1. Cost: 2 Budget.
Diplomacy: The Ground: DC: 20. Base Stat: 17. Cost: 0 Budget.
Intrigue: Into the Spider's Web: DC: 25. Base Stat: 22 + 3. Cost: 3 Budget.
Learning: The Root of the Issue: DC: Scaling. Base Stat: 20. Cost: 1 Budget.
Stewardship: Auditing and Assessment Services: DC: 20. Base Stat: 23. Gain: 2 Budget.
Piety: Local Spirits: DC: 20. Base Stat: 23 + 2. Cost: 2 Budget.

 

[hYGP]

Martial
Power Mapping
DC: 15. Roll: 16 + 1 + 1 + 5.7 = 23.7

The power dynamics were much different in a more rural location like this province. There wasn't anywhere near the hustle and bustle like in Gorlin or in the capital - to move armed was to be conspicuous in this town, where not quite everybody knew everybody - but chances were, everyone in this town was friend of a friend of a friend with each other.

Or really, you note, it's more like everybody was an enemy of an enemy of an enemy to each other.

Damn, you were always a little surprised at how vicious small town politics got. 'Course, it wasn't anything like the viciousness of your childhood, but still, for a people that called themselves civilized they sure were pretty vicious in small groups.

In recent times, however, there were two big complications that changed things.

One, the province had begun dividing into two factions: the Countess' faction, and the Wahner faction.

Two, the army and the Kingdom had begun to call up muster.

That meant that while in a more normal time, the province was a powderkeg, in these times the town had had many of its readily available forces that could be potentially armed for the Crusade drafted into the Countess' retinue. This tipped things wildly in favor of the Countess - since she was the feudal lord in this region, her call for her own retinue made her technically in command of the most powerful force in the province, as the armies would be gathered up in individual provinces and sent out slowly to the border to ensure supplies weren't strained. In practice, though, her control over the retinue was tenuous - anyone belonging to the Wahner's retinue was mostly hostile, and while that still left the Countess with nominal control over a majority of the armed forces she had given command of the retinue over to Baron Kaufmann, who was more neutral. In so doing, she all but handed over power to the Baron Kaufmann to wield, since anybody who didn't want to take sides between the Countess and the Wahner family could simply take cover behind "following the Baron Kaufmann's orders". This left the balance of power distinctly in the Wahner family's favor, since the forces loyal to the Countess were slim and steadily shrinking with her continued attempts to impose the adoption of the new crop.

More importantly for you, though, it meant that there were no forces available to hire.

The only way you'd be able to secure forces would be to work with one of the factions - the Countess, the Wahner family, or Kaufmann's neutral factions, unless you wanted to got it alone. Against you would be arrayed a retinue mobilizing for war, on the eve of said war, should you need to take overt action. A difficult situation, to be sure.

Of course, once the army got here in five to seven months all of that would become irrelevant - but also it would all be irrelevant because if you can't get the grain production up the army is going to be running ragged before it even leaves the country.

---

Diplomacy
The Ground
DC: 20. Roll: 17 + 5.3 = 22.3

You decide to eschew both factions in your first month. Your goal is to find out what people think on the ground first - and it is...decidedly mixed.

The farmers, surprised that someone important is finally paying attention, lay out their grievances - a justice system that allows their landholders to visit upon them any indignity with no hope of justice, a taxation system that forces them to choose who eats and who starves, and finally an interventionist noble with her head up her ass thinking that she knows better than the people who have farmed the land for innumerable generations. No, the farmers said, you cannot just plant these...potatoes into the fallow fields, they're fallow because the land needs to heal, and you simply cannot squeeze more food out of starved land! And yet, the Countess has the gall to mandate it with her own personal troops that she probably imported from some foreign country, because the late Count's noble soldiers wouldn't have enforced such a thing! Worse, these crops aren't even all that edible; you can't mill it, you can't preserve it, and you can't even eat it for fear that you'll croak like the old man three villages over! Sure, if they absolutely need to indulge her twisted curiosity they can plant these things during the planting rotation for wheat crops, but no more. That would be foolish to the extreme.

The merchants you hear from are equally unhappy. Who wants to buy a crop that's tasteless on a good day and might poison you on a bad one? Who wants to buy a crop that can't be stockpiled? Who wants any of that, especially since the Countess' attempts to get her peasantry to adopt the potato is driving down the production of valuable grain? No, this whole thing is bad for business, even if they are making more by importing grain into what normally was an exporting province.

Just about the only people that seem to be happy about it are some of the more eccentric learned people in the town, who seem to believe that the potato merely needs mass adaption to truly be worthwhile, since the Countess is a learned woman whose knowledge from foreign Alanyiva who probably knows better than the filthy illiterate peasants anyway.

The only reason that this hasn't ended in the Wahner family's complete takeover, however, is that the Wahner family is seen as opportunistic at the best of times and unable to hold even an oath backed by spirits at best - what you just found out is that the previous Wahner family patriarch had literally died five years ago when they were struck by lightning on an open road - a sign that many took to be the spiritual retribution for violating an oath, and which the Wahner family felt to be in no rush to redress, even as they continued to enforce the law selectively on their own allies and to the maximum extent on their new holdings, when the previous lords had understood the delicate give-and-take that would make everyone happy.

So while the Countess might be an unstable lunatic trying to make the farmers adopt potatoes, at least she could be counted on to keep her promises. Meanwhile, the Wahner family was offering a replacement to the unhinged lunatic running the province, but nobody trusted the Wahner family, and many just simply hated them for enforcing every little petty regulation they could.

---

Intrigue
Into the Spider's Web
DC: 25. Roll: 22 + 3 + 3.5 = 28.5

You almost don't have to look. On the second day, you're already receiving attempts at bribery, which you politely rebuff - especially since these assholes didn't want to promise anything upfront. If they were worried about you stiffing them, they could do what everyone else did and give some upfront with more promised later, but instead they insisted on giving nothing upfront, which meant they were trying to cheat you from the get-go. In other words, probably the work of the Wahner family.

The next day someone from the Countess' side tries to threaten you, their head maid or something believing that you could be intimidated into silence.

You offered her tea and a nice chat, because threats were rude. She definitely noticed the ring and bracelets you oh so clumsily hinted at their magical abilities, and told her that everything could be discussed like civilized people. Oh, also, she might want to check in with her hire about a month ago - you had friends who figured out who had been turned quickly.

That got her out of your hair quickly, even if it meant sending her on a little bit of a wild goose chase.

Kerrie comes back a week later after tailing the two attempted bribes with a list of names, and you spend the rest of the month passing around money and tracking associations between the two factions. By the end, you have a pretty good idea of how the shadow war is going.

By and large, the Wahner faction's money is propping up low level agents, while the Countess' network is using their superior abilities in a more targeted fashion to make sure that key cornerstones of their support stay loyal and that the cornerstones of the Wahner family's support don't. It's hard to say who's winning the undeclared war at this point, but one way or another you're certain it's going to have to resolve by the time the army marches through.

---

Learning
The Root of the Issue
Roll: 20 + 7.8 = 27.8

Tekla begins by buying up a stock of potatoes to begin his experimentation. He finds first that the potato leaves are inedible, as suggested, but that the roots are quite edible and filling, if starchy and basically tasteless otherwise; for a few days, he pretty much subsists on potato roots. Next he tries following the Countess' instructions and cuts off eyes of the potato to grow in a small plot he's...rented? for a year, to check whether the fallow land could really take the potatoes, before doing all sorts of other experiments that you don't understand all that well.

He comes up with some surprising results: for example, the most reliable way to ensure that there were no malign spirits in the potato was to simply boil it for a little under half an hour, the potatoes appeared to all have a homogeneity of spirit that grains never had, and that yes, the potatoes would take in technically fallow land. Estimating the rate of growth for potatoes after one month was difficult, and certainly more work would have to be done; for now, however, the potatoes seemed like they might have the properties the Countess promised they'd have.

---

Stewardship
Auditing and Assessment Services
DC: 20. Roll: 23 + 7.6 = 30.6

One of the more unspoken secrets of being an auditor or assessor is the large amount of judgement calls you need to make, judging either where a border had changed and the natural productivity of the soil meant that previous tax burdens were unreasonable or too light, and whether it made sense to put a certain item in a certain category.

You, of course, are not only experienced in the act of assessing such properties, but you also have an almost instinctive grasp of the law, trained into you. With your reputation proceeding you, the task is simple -

At least, provided the farmers are working with grain.

Like so many other of your recent problems, the problem boiled down to the new adoption of the Countess' crop. While you had some idea that the potato was a viable crop that could satiate someone - and thus would likely be technically viable under grain laws, the real problem was that the difficulty in figuring out whether the taxation should be levied upon the entire farmable land or whether it should levied on the old patterns of grain and fallow land.

You decided to go with a fallow land estimation - better to judge the land based on usage rather than technical potential, by your estimation. Most of the landholders were glad to have got your expert opinion on the matter, and paid you accordingly.

---

Piety
Local Spirits
DC: 20. Roll: 23 + 2 + 1.2 = 26.2

By and large, the local spirits are ecstatic to work with you - working through the Baron's agents was difficult in the best of times, but the Wahners were spiritually untrustworthy and the Countess was busy literally uprooting their community, so they needed to work with anyone neutral at all. That is to say, until they found your group. They're plenty willing to grant you some boons in exchange for helping dissuade, or at least getting the Countess to properly talk with them about not destroying their livelihood and not calling down the attention of the Compact at large - while these potatoes might be a safe crop to introduce, the Gathering might also decide to proscribe the crop, in which case the spirits wanted to be nowhere nearby. Thus, the adoption had to be stopped, or at least slowed until the Divine Gathering could come to a decision about the issue, and if it took showing you some of the secret paths and stashes, so be it.

+1 Diplomacy, +1 Intrigue party-wide buffs.

---

Random Event Roll: 37

A hacking cough and fever spreads through the town, likely off the back of one of the merchants. It doesn't appear to be anything serious, Cormag reports, but towards the end of the month Tekla catches the fever. Under Cormag's gaze he should be alright, but he's likely not going to be operating at full capacity in the next month - he should definitely be focusing on resting and recuperating, Cormag says, before rushing off to another sickhouse.

Tekla receives -2 to all stats next turn due to illness.

---

Service Revenue: 2 Budget.
Cost of Services Sold: 0 Budget*.
Lodging Expense: 1 Budget.
Research and Development Expense: 2 Budget.
Salaries and Wage Expense: 2 Budget.
Spiritual Expense: 2 Budget.
Other Expense: 5 Budget.
Net Loss: 10 Budget.

Remaining Budget: 90 Budget.

*Yes, you technically spent some amount of money in order to perform your job this month. This 0 Budget is because the units of abstraction were too low to constantly display the cost savings from the Endless Pen; this 0 Budget figure simply represents finally recognizing all those cost savings in one period.

With 90 Budget remaining, you will only spend 10 Budget on discretionary items (read: the actions listed below).

You have one [Free] Action that you may spend on an action in any category.

You can cooperate with your teammates to add +3 base stat to an action that you are cooperating on. It is represented by using your [Free] Action on one of your already-selected Actions.

Martial (Choose 1) {Kerrie Action}
[] [Martial] Bulling Through
After analyzing the situation, it appears that many of the forces are assembled but not always available at a moment's notice; for you, that means if you act swiftly and decisively enough, you can seize documents on your own power and the King's legitimacy. DC: 22. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Martial] Force Requisition - Kaufmann
With the players on the board as it is, you can ask the currently neutral Kaufmann for a force to help you enforce the King's will and get to the bottom of this case. This being Oskaria, neutral probably means "hasn't been offered a big enough bribe yet." DC: 15. Cost: 6 Budget.
[] [Martial] Force Requisition - Natalia
You can take the side of the Count, and lend the Royal legitimacy to her forces - provided you decide to side with her. Requires Natalia's Invitation. DC: 10. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Martial] Force Requisition - Julia
Alternatively, you can side with the Wahner family, and lend the Royal legitimacy to her faction - again, provided you decide to side with her. Requires Julia's Invitation. DC: 10. Cost: 0 Budget.

Diplomacy (Choose 1) {Cormag Action}
[] [Diplomacy] Julia's Invitation
Julia and the Wahner family backing her were willing to introduce you and waive the standard costs of meeting with and interacting with the nobility, on their own family treasury. You do need someone to be your local guide...DC: 10. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Diplomacy] Natalia's Invitation
Alternatively, you could accept Natalia's invitation, and meet the local power players through her side - though of course, it will be taken as you taking her side. DC: 10. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Diplomacy] The Third Way I
You get the feeling that most of these people would rather a third party come in that they can support - one backed by spirits and royal authority. It may be worth considering simply arriving on the scene and making the invitations yourself... DC: 20. Cost: 4 Budget.

Intrigue (Choose 1) {Agueda Action}
[] [Intrigue] Hit the Wahner Books
Thanks to your scouting the previous month, you know that the Wahner's intelligence - and thus counterintelligence - are mostly propped up on them having a lot of money to spend and a lot of willingness to stiff their patsies. This means that getting into their books should be a fairly simple affair, just to see if they're not doing anything too untoward. DC: 25. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Intrigue] Hit the Countess' Books
By contrast, you know that the Countess has a much tighter counterintelligence network, led by her head maid. Obtaining her own accounting would be far harder - besides the fact that you get the feeling that you could just ask and she would be overjoyed to share the numbers with you. DC: 26. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Intrigue] Counter Counter Network
Clearly, these two networks were battling over control of a few key individuals. You were an old hat in this game, and better to boot; time to outdo both networks. DC: 27. Cost: 4 Budget.

Learning (Choose 1) {Tekla Action}
[] [Learning] The Root of the Issue II
Tekla's illness means that the continued research will be slowed down, not least because even sick he understands his own chickenscratch better than any of you do. DC: 15. Cost: 0 Budget.

Stewardship (Choose 1) {Agueda Action}
[] [Stewardship] Inheritance Law I
Clearly, the question of who should legally get to rule this province is a touchy subject. Perhaps it would be best to look into what the relevant laws for this area should have been. DC: 30. Cost: 4 Budget.
[] [Stewardship] Account Review - Julia
As the chief tax inspector and known fraud-buster, you should be able to request politely that Julia give her own report of what's going on with this county's taxes. Perhaps you might be able to discern some more details. DC: 25. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Stewardship] Account Review - Natalia
However, with your reputation you could also probably ask to see the Countess' documents, at least on the subject of potatoes, grain exports, and taxes, as a sort of expert in the field. DC: 20. Cost: 0 Budget.

Piety (Choose 1) {Agueda Action}
[] [Piety] To Good Health
Since the local spirits have been so cooperative, perhaps they might be willing to help Tekla with his illness? DC: 25. Cost: 2 Budget.
[] [Piety] Spiritual Politics
Part of this case might involve going all the way up into the Divine Gathering to argue a case. Clearly, it would be best to start figuring out how exactly such a case would work. DC: 25. Cost: 0 Budget.

 

[hYGP]

@huhYeahGoodPoint Since we going for In the Light, could you put some indications as to which actions would stop us getting it if we took them?

Click to shrink...

In general: if you get the documents via Martial, Diplomacy, or Stewardship actions, they're clear for In The Light. If you get the documents via Intrigue, you have the option to take them outright or to leave them to use another action to get them legally.

Beyond that: since you're going for the achievement, Agueda will prefer to use legally obtained evidence over illegally obtained evidence. If you can provide evidence and a case that does not route through illegally obtained evidence, you will qualify for the In The Light Achievement.

 

[hYGP]

Oskaria as a state in the late 9th-century CE has to be understood through the events that truly shaped it: the Wyvern Wars - and how the aftermath of the Third Wyvern War eventually led to its dissolution. I will be testing you on your knowledge of this, understand, boy?

Good. Now, the thing to understand that before the first Wyvern War, the Kingdom of Oskaria was a dissolute patchwork of feudal holdings, like much of the rest of the continent. The most important part of their location, however, was their proximity to the northeastern steppes. While the steppes were not without humans or other human-affiliated races, the dragon and wyvern civilization that existed on the steppes was far more nomadic, and to explain their civilization in more detail would be more than we have time to explain in this lesson.

Regardless of them, sometime in the late 6th century a dragon began to unify the great flocks of wyverns and dragons on the steppes. Supposedly, this dragon unified great masses of wyverns and dragons to conquer an impossibly large swathe of territory - for humanoids, of course. Dragons are...different, evidently. But! Instead of living to the dragon's full age, something claimed this Dragon King's life. Confusion reigned in the territories that the dragon's grand armies had managed to conquer, eventually resulting in a great movement of the wyvern armies that the Dragon King had assembled. One of those armies headed west into Oskaria, beginning the First Wyvern War.

During this time, the Compact had still held great sway over the populace, so naturally the armies sent against the wyvern armies were Compact-compliant. Since the Compact had at that point proscribed the use of gunpowder, that meant the armies consisted of knights, bowmen, and the traditional image of those times. Needless to say, the First Wyvern War was a grueling ten year bloodbath that only ended with a grand alliance that managed to push the wyvern armies back onto the steppes. During those ten years, the Compact began loosening technological restrictions in order to better fight the wyvern army; the specter of the true Dragon King army sweeping out of the steppes and conquering everything between the steppes and the ocean was too horrible for the Compact and its devout followers to contemplate, apparently, so the restrictions on gunpowder were released, along with a bevy of other material advances.

Oskaria itself, at the frontline, was badly scarred by the First Wyvern War. We're still uncovering what appears to be entire cities burnt to cinders by that wyvern flock, and an identity emerged to match. Society miilitarized and came together like never before, to ensure no invading force could scorch the land as badly as the First Wyvern War. Thus Oskaria's grand fortress cities begin appearing in this era; thus Oskaria's cannons and musketry leap to the forefront of weapons development.

By the time sixty-odd years later, when the children of the children of the First Wyvern War are growing into the fullness of their age, the Second Wyvern Army assembles. At this point, Oskaria has managed to cobble together an army that begins to show the first true signs of being an early modern army, with widespread distribution of musketeers and shot interspersed with heavy adventurer support. When the Second Wyvern Army attacks over the border, expecting a largely unchanged country as they had in the past hundred years, they are met with musketeers, artillery, and hardened adventurers who have spent the last fifty years strengthening themselves. On the Second Wyvern War's side, however, we now know that there was an unusually canny Dragon on their side, directing the Wyvern army in maneuvers around the countryside to avoid and disable the incredible strength of the coalition army. Each battle for the coalition was hard-fought, but usually a victory - while the army remained intact. When the wyverns began dispersing into columns, however, the nobles decided to take their retinues to go home and defend their land, leading their forces to slowly be defeated in detail by wyvern forces that were always wherever would be most disastrous for the coalition forces.

This new phase of the war lasted for thirty to forty years, interspersed with incredible outbreaks of famine and disease as the wyverns lay waste to the fields and shied away from attacking the cannon-defended cities.

Eventually, however, the stalemate finally broke with several key advances. The first was the advancement of firearms during the period; where the firearms at the beginning of the period tended to pierce slightly into wyvernflesh past the scales, firearms towards the end of the Wyvern War began to become truly strong enough to deal more than superficial wounds to wyverns - even if the Compact disapproved. This advancement was paired with a strengthening central authority, as recalcitrant nobles were quite literally burnt up by the wyvern columns. With their armies reduced from the incredible and loosely-aligned armies of 60,000 that characterized the beginning of the Second Wyvern War to a centrally controlled and hardened 20,000 troops, the army began executing the same strategy that the wyvern armies had used to wreak such havoc on Oskaria - a defeat in detail, destroying the columns of wyverns ravaging the countryside. They were aided by nonhumanoid auxillaries, who correctly surmised that the Kingdom was in far too poor a shape to turn away help from any quarter - in fact, arguably the decisive turning point was the colony of jumping spiders that managed to outpace the approaching wyvern armies in order to inform of the allied forces of an extremely short window where the Dragon commander's forces were too spread out to defend each other successfully.

When all was said and done, the Oskarian army won, but barely, and at incredible cost.

At the end of the war, Oskaria was a shell of its former self, traumatized by the war that seemed to last longer than the peace that proceeded it. The remaining survivors of the war, greatly reduced in number, agreed that centralizing authority and ensuring better governance was the only way to survive the next Wyvern War - and there could be no gainsaying the King's authority. What better way to ensure that then by ensuring that the King was not only the most popular member of the nobility, but also by ensuring complete consensus among the nobility? Thus the system of elected Kings and the Sejm's ability to halt proceedings to debate in further detail were established, creating central ministries for the state to truly be able to support the early modern army that Oskaria had been so strained to support before the war; where before the war the forces of 60,000 coalition forces nearly broke Oskaria simply hosting it, in the wake of the Second Wyvern War and the movement towards centralization, Oskaria began supporting a modernized force of 60-80,000 troops. The good weather and excellent harvests during this period provided an additional boost, bolstering confidence. In some fashion, as the generation after the victors of the Second Wyvern War grew up, Oskaria began to enter a golden age.

Eventually, like everyone in Oskaria expected, the Third Wyvern War began. This wyvern army was largely made out of the same mold as the First Wyvern War, not the terrible Second Wyvern War - this time there would be no canny Dragon commander to inflict horribly disproportionate violence on the countryside, but rather a group of loosely aligned wyverns that could only be commanded to go towards the same direction. King Melka I the Pious led the initial defense, well into his old age by this point. At the end of the first year's fighting, he finally admitted that he couldn't lead the army anymore and willingly stepped down in favor of King Muran I, then known as the Reformer. He took an already professionally hardened force and made it into the greatest army on the continent. He unified the commands of field artillery, muskets, and magic to create a force quite more than the sum of its components, and under his masterful touch the wyvern army was effectively broken in the field by the end of the first decade. What followed was another two decades of slow but steady annihilation to the east of the most eastern provinces, culminating in a decisive battle where Julius the Bold led the final cavalry charge. King Muran, greatly aged and with his once sharp mind dulling every year, began slackening the controls the King had over the nation's control, and this new nobility, already three generations distant from the horrors of the Second Wyvern War and greatly buoyed by the easy and righteous victories of the Third Wyvern War, began pushing more and more.

The thing that ultimately dooms Oskaria, then, is the period after the Third Wyvern War, where King Muran refused to step down or let someone else eventually take the kingship, as the nobility began to push to reclaim power and wealth from the King, especially the nobility that had come of age during the cleanup period of the Third Wyvern War, where noble cavalry ran down the scattered wyvern armies. These nobles grew more and more greedy, beginning to exercise more of their own powers to bring money to their own coffers. When King Muran's body finally acknowledged that the soul had left decades ago, the nobles were clamoring for a King who would respect the rights of the nobility. Who better than the Julius the Bold, Hero of the Third Wyvern War?

Under King Julius' reign, the ministries and the royal army that his predecessors had spent so much blood and sweat creating was sold off and disbanded piecemeal, returning the power and ceasing to collect the wealth that had made the kingdom what it was. The reforms that King Muran had abortedly made during his prime years were steadily rolled back and complicated, with extra tangles added at every step so that some noble or another could enjoy an old privilege that had been set aside during the Wyvern Wars.

This near-full century of decentralization of power and creation of new and special cases, then, leads directly to the events of the Transulinia Crusade - and its aftermath. But of course, we will be covering that - next time, after I make sure you've understood this material, you hear?

- Transcript of a tutoring session about Oskaria and the Wyvern Wars, circa 1200 CE.​

 

[hYGP]

Plan: The Countess wins, 5 - 4 - 2. I want to get the rolls done so I can sleep before 3AM and still get the update out earlyish in the day

Roll me 7d100s.

Martial: Force Requisition - Natalia: DC: 10. Base Stat: 16 + 1 + 1. Cost: 0 Budget.
Diplomacy: Natalia's Invitation: DC: 10. Base Stat: 20 + 1. Cost: 0 Budget.
Intrigue: Hit the Wahner Books: DC: 25. Base Stat: 22 + 3 + 1. Cost: 0 Budget.
Learning: The Root of the Issue II: DC: 15. Base Stat: 20 - 2. Cost: 0 Budget.
Stewardship: Account Review - Natalia: DC: 20. Base Stat: 23. Cost: 0 Budget.
Piety: Spiritual Politics: DC: 25. Base Stat: 23. Cost: 0 Budget.

 

[hYGP]

Diplomacy
Natalia's Invitation
DC: 10. Roll: 20 + 1 + 8.8 = 29.8

Stewardship
Account Review - Natalia
DC: 20. Roll: 23 + 1.7 = 24.7

You sigh. The classic cursed choice of all workers ever: choosing between fast, cheap and good. Since the army was coming to town soon, and your budget was severely crimped, you had to choose fast and cheap.

So that means you need to decide which faction you side with, and soon. You know - be honest, Agueda, suspect - thank you Kerrie, we will be taking your contributions later in this box you carry around, you say, waving an empty box. You suspect that the Wahners are more likely to be lying, on the basis of their reputation and the Countess' word that she's been paying your taxes except the Wahners have been stealing it...well shit, when you put it that way it sounds like a leap of faith.

A-aren't you great at jumping, Tekla woozily asks.

Gently, you grab a wet towel and press down on his head. Please, be silent until his fever truly breaks, you say as you physically muffle him. Besides, that was entirely metaphorical. As far as your remaining family goes, you're not a real jumper unless you can make the Anakaran Run just like the founder did during the Second Wyvern Wars, but, well -

I distinctly remember you flunking out a third out of the way, Kerrie snarks.

That's the in the past, you wave off. Besides, you don't want to hear it from Miss "Strategically Soaked Dress" about embarrassments, or you'll be here all day.

Regardless, you have priorities to act upon.

The first thing you do, then, is accept the Countess' invitation to study her records. You're an assessor, after all, and it'll help you figure out what your next steps are, of course. The Countess gladly hands you the documents which were definitely doctored, but whatever, they always are.

At least her current projections look somewhat attached to reality; they're definitely along the lines of what you saw from her late husband's records and what you noticed about her lands as you came into the territory.

The problem is what she's projecting into the future, once the potato begins reaching a greater penetration. Her primary claim is that the potato, once adopted en masse, could be planted in fallow periods and still manage high grain output in the following seasons during the productive seasons, quite literally doubling or tripling the total food output of the land.

You want to see what the hell her proof of all this is.

She provides you some documents from her own native Alanyiva, where the local Compact has apparently allowed a limited adoption of the potato crop, watched their crop output increase slightly. Only slightly, however, because the adoption was so limited. Shortly afterwards, she was sent off her husband-to-be, and, well, the rest is a memory close-by, she said, turning away.

Hm, you mutter. You have basically no way to confirm that except to plant it yourself and find out the hard way, so you'll file that away as "unlikely" until you can confirm it yourself.

You then ask to take a look at her accounts, just to confirm her side of the story. She gladly grants your request, and hands over documents. She's pretty good - instead of trying to pretend that there was anything to hide normally, she just left it all off the accounts and labeled it as irrelevant gains and losses. You can punch holes in detailed but wrong accounts, but if she packs it all away into "irrelevant gains and losses" and presents it as a partial account, well, you've got nothing.

Guaranteed she was hiding something in that mess, but whatever, the grain imports and the crop outflows to what begins as "Julia Wahner" and quickly devolves into "that woman" broadly confirms her side of the story.

Of course, while "that woman" could be concealing more tax fraud, you're pretty much forced to accept her story at a close enough value. If you absolutely had to you could try to break in and obtain the documents, despite the head maid's glares - it's not like she could seriously stop you if you decided to make a concerted effort.

Faced with that, you sigh, and accept her invitation to let her guide you through the upper crust of society - firmly on the side of justice, standing behind her, of course.

You conduct yourself with aplomb, and so the advantage temporarily swings over to the Countess.

---

Hostile Intrigue Interr - Intrigue Roll: 12 + 7.6 = 19.6. DC: 25.

I shot the problem, so it's fine, right?

Only because I stabbed the other three, you rejoinder.

Shut up, Kerrie says. Though, she says, did we really have to get the painting bloodstained? Kerrie liked that painting!

Aim more carefully next time, you shrug, as you rifle through your potential assailant's pockets.

Honestly, she tuts, what were they thinking? It's not like your deaths would be easy to pass off as a mistake or a simple burglary, so this was just...pointlessly stupid.

Desperation, you shrug. Makes people do stupid things.

Fair, she nodded. In any case, that means you've got a visit you need to schedule soon.

Three days from now?

Nah. Tomorrow morning.

---

Martial
Force Requisition - Natalia
DC: 10. Roll: 16 + 1 + 1 + 6.0 = 24.0

Intrigue
Hit the Wahner Books
DC: 25. Roll: 22 + 3 + 1 + 3.9 = 29.9

There's only time to get the Countess' most loyal forces in order to conduct a daybreak raid tomorrow morning, you say. The Countess gapes like a fish, but fortunately for you the Head Maid immediately understood what you meant and went to grab the blunderbuss.

In the morning, the rooster crows - and Kerrie slams a giant log into a door. You quietly huff, amused by the contrast between Kerrie slamming a log into the door taller than she was while Cormag awkwardly stood by with a book that barely fit into the palm of his hand.

"King's Authority, open up!" Kerrie bellows, with the force of magic behind it. At least, you're pretty sure that it's magic, since Tekla was sure it was magic. "Final warning," she bellows, slamming the log into the door again. The door creaked, the locking bar giving way.

Some hapless servant opens the door, at which point your team storms through the gates goes straight to detain or control the Wahner family forces, at least before they can properly respond.

By the time the day reaches halfway up the sky, you have their forces under control, and leave it to Cormag and the Head Maid to watch over your prisoners, sorry, temporary detainees, as you go about securing the actual evidence.

You manage to secure some - however, it appears as though...bluntly, the Wahner family is so shit at keeping records that you can't prove intent.

Oh, sure, the "Gifts" column in their accounts was probably growing year over year - but you couldn't figure out the damn periods because they just wrote it in chicken-scratch without ever putting down what the date of transactions were. You might be able to track down the gift-givers and start trying to figure out who gave what when, but damn, this was going to be a mess.

At least this was theoretically all above board.

When you come back, there is apparently some sort of problem where the members of the Wahner family's retinue has gotten word and demanded with the force of the army on what grounds the Wahners were being detained for.

You bluntly state attempted murder of a royal agent.

They insinuate that maybe you're not a real royal agent because insects can't be agents of the crown, polishing their weapons.

You smile, and ask if they'd like to repeat that again, as you hold up the royal seal in your hands.

Some murmuring begins among the rear of the crowd, but the clear ringleader attempts to shore up the crowd by keeping up the pressure, claiming it's just a fake, and that if anything, the real servants of the king and their lords should arrest you.

Before any of them can react, you are in his face, with the seal in one hand and your pistols in the others.

Say that again, you quietly request.

They acquiesce, and you leave with the accounts of the Wahner family in hand.

---

---

Learning
The Root of the Issue II
DC: 15. Roll: 20 - 2 + 4.7 = 22.7

Bedridden as he is, Tekla can only manage the most basic maintenance of his efforts, and keeping up with whatever he's managed to write out. The potato crops continue to sprout, as he uproots only a number of plants to judge the growth of these plants, asking you to take notes for him since...well, his hands won't stop shaking.

You quietly acquiesce, and with one hand write up his reports in far more legible script.

---

Piety
Spiritual Politics
DC: 25. Roll 23 + 2.1 = 25.1

The spiritual politics get more complicated, especially since you start by asking what it would take for them to accept the potato - or rather, how you might be able to get the Divine Gathering as a whole to accept the potato, when they themselves don't want it.

It takes a little bit of persuasion, but you eventually convince the ones you care about that you were merely seeing whose loyalties lied where, while you prepare for the real case. This was all simply preparing the case, you insinuate, without ever stating which side of the case you would be on.

Apparently, the Divine Gathering would be properly described as a gathering of gatherings, each tasked with maintaining the Compact of the Precursors as a whole, with an eye towards being conservative with the proliferation of ideas. As such, the local Compact was strongly disposed towards simply restricting the proliferation of this crop, even if, no, especially because the crop had the potential to be so transformative.

However...if there was a sufficiently strong case that you could make...the spirits might be able to approve it.

Might.

---

---

Random Event Roll: 47

With the effectively immediate dismantlement of the Wahner's family's immediately available power, the remnants of their retinue flock to the banner of the Baron Kaufmann - just as the Countess begins pushing forward and all-fronts offensive to make her people adopt the potato in full, with their agents dispatched to ensure that the people adopted the crops - and receive a bonus too, if they were sufficiently willing.

You hold your head in your hands and silently scream.

This was just about the worst way to go about it!

Especially since the landholders and peasantry had unified in their opposition!

---

Revealed Potential Achievements:
I Am Altering The Terms: Convince the local Compact to loosen technological barriers.
Pray That I Do Not Alter It Further: Convince farmers to adopt a new crop - with or without the Compact's permission.
Order Above All: Prevent the adoption of a new technology.
The Starting Penalty Is Waived: Successfully feed the army without starving the peasantry.

---

Salaries and Wage Expense: 4 Budget.
Net Loss: 4 Budget.

Remaining Budget: 86

Lightly speaking, this was a clusterfuck. The peasantry and landed class of elites were pushing for a petition against the abuse of noble power by the Countess - and by pushing you meant forming up into mobs with pitchforks and torches to hunt down the agents of the Countess - , the spirits wanted to prosecute her or hear her out or something, and by the way you still needed to prosecute the Wahner families for trying to murder you. Don't forget the army arriving in four to six months - that meant that you would have to start planting food as quickly as possible if you even wanted a hope of a harvest large enough to tide over the army and the civilians.

You really never get the easy jobs.

At least Tekla recovered from his illness.

With 86 Budget remaining and a big problem brewing on your hands, you are free to spend up to 20 Budget this turn.

You have one [Free] Action that you may spend on an action in any category.

You can cooperate with your teammates to add +3 base stat to an action that you are cooperating on. It is represented by using your [Free] Action on one of your already-selected Actions.

Martial (Choose 1) {Kerrie Action}
[] [Martial] Political Expedience
Fuck it, try to throw a few sacrifices to the roaring mobs. Hopefully that'll pacify them, at least enough that they stop preventing literally any business from being done. DC: 20. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Martial] Push For Retreat
You need to convince the Countess' troops to dial it way back and stop trying to force the adoption of the potato because that just about guarantees that the mobs outside the cities are tearing up the hated potato crops wherever they go. DC: 22. Cost: 0 Budget.

Diplomacy (Choose 1) {Cormag Action}
[] [Diplomacy] Let Them Have Grain
Okay, this adoption of potatoes has clearly gone badly. Advise the Countess that she needs to back off this year and just let her peasants plant grain, at least until the army has gone through. DC: 30. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Diplomacy] Uprooting Society I
You know what? The Countess has a point. If these potatoes are even half of what she's made it out to be, adopting the potato is the way of the future. Of course, you'll need to essentially take over the campaign to promote potatoes, but you might be able to do it. DC: 24. Cost: 4 Budget.

Intrigue (Choose 1) {Agueda Action}
[] [Intrigue] Sloshing An Ocean
On the one hand: the Wahner family's complete inability to keep straight records even within the family makes the case for tax evasion that much harder to prove. On the other hand: since their records are so shit you could probably steal some without anyone the wiser, now that they've been so heavily disrupted. DC: 25. Gain: 6 Budget.
[] [Intrigue] Hit the Countess' Books
Bluntly, you don't trust the Countess' documents at all. You'd be far better off simply breaking in and taking a look at what she has written down yourself. DC: 27. Cost: 0 Budget.

Learning (Choose 1) {Tekla Action}
[] [Learning] The Root of the Issue III
As the potatoes head into their third month of growing, you need Tekla to continue watching over the plants and the soil to make sure nothing too undue is happening to it. DC: 15. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Learning] Magical Mapping
Part of the problem is that the spirits feel threatened by the changeover from the three-field system to one revolving around grain and potatoes - perhaps by assessing their territory and calculating impacts, you might be able to alleviate some of these concerns? DC: 25. Cost: 2 Budget.

Stewardship (Choose 1) {Agueda Action}
[] [Stewardship] Inheritance Law I
Clearly, the question of who should legally get to rule this province is a touchy subject. Perhaps it would be best to look into what the relevant laws for this area should have been. DC: 30. Cost: 4 Budget.
[] [Stewardship] Just Look Up the Jurisdiction I
So. How...exactly, do you go about charging a bunch of nobles for the crime of attempting to murder. Genuine question, honestly. DC: 27. Cost: 2 Budget.
[] [Stewardship] Gauge Resistance
You're going to want to figure out how much and where the potato edicts are being resisted exactly, so that you can better figure out what your next steps ought to be. DC: 20. Cost: 2 Budget.

Piety (Choose 1) {Agueda Action}
[] [Piety] Local Politics
Alright, you've got a decent case for the potato's adoption as a temporary measure to help feed the hungry army that'll come roaring through. You just need to...make it. DC: 27. Cost: 2 Budget.
[] [Piety] For Whose Justice
Well, you've seen mobs organize into direct resistance to unjust rule before, and the last few times it had something to do with Justice. Time to maybe check in and see what's going on. DC: 27. Cost: 0 Budget.

 

[hYGP]

Slightly Less Risky Prayer to the Dice Gods wins 8 - 2 - 2.

Roll me 7d100s.
Martial: Push for Retreat: DC: 22. Base Stat: 16 + 1 + 1. Cost: 0 Budget.
Diplomacy: Uprooting Society I: DC: 24. Base Stat: 17. Cost: 4 Budget.
Intrigue: Hit the Countess' Books: DC: 27. Base Stat: 22 + 3. Cost: 0 Budget.
Learning: The Root of the Issue III: DC: 15. Base Stat: 20. Cost: 0 Budget.
Stewardship: Gauge Resistance: DC: 20. Base Stat: 23. Cost: 2 Budget.
Piety: Local Politics: DC: 27. Base Stat: 23 + 2. Cost: 2 Budget.

 

[hYGP]

Martial:
Push For Retreat:
DC: 22. Roll: 16 + 1 + 1 + 0.8 = 18.8

Diplomacy:
Uprooting Society I:
DC: 24. Roll: 17 + 4.8 = 21.8

Stewardship:
Gauge Resistance:
DC: 20. Roll: 23 + 3.9 = 26.9

You wanted to scream.

Actually, maybe if you tried that operatic singer spell you might be able to scream silently.

Because right now, the biggest impediment to getting the potato adopted was that stubborn-ass Countess!

You knew resistance to the potato was, by this point, set. Mobs were actually going around uprooting the crops and putting in grain seed, and depending on what your agents were saying, might be going around to beat up people who tried putting in the potato seed, when they weren't busy getting ready to burn down wherever the people taking money from the Countess were. Definitely you were hearing about the mobs of furious farmers unleashing their pent-up anger at mistreatment on the Countess' agents afield, but despite your entreaties she insisted on sending the patrols out in force to make sure that the peasantry was adopting the potatoes, with a reward if they did. Surely these peasants would be able to rationally select what would be in their best interest - she had made sure to educate them on the properties of the potatoes, and their complete superiority over the other fallow crops being grown.

You tried telling her politely that precisely none of that was actually happening.

Wait, but she was receiving reports of widespread adoption and payouts for that adoption, the Countess asks, confused. Weren't the fields in the countryside adopting the same practices as the farmers near the manor?

It's at this moment that you take a look at whatever possessed this naive fool - and suddenly realize that she was from Alanyiva. Just to check...she didn't happen to bring her staff over, did she? She confirmed your suspicion, and immediately you feel the need to scream again.

Totally different culture, totally different expectations.

You try to explain to her what's going on, to the best of your knowledge. Unlike her, you had decided early on to set up your own network of people that you could mostly trust - which meant, in practice, only the people you could monitor, while Cormag approached the problem from his authority as a member of the church, trying to hear them out and possibly handing out alms to the people in need. You still needed to occasionally show up in people's houses occasionally, but at least you could be mostly confident that your information was accurate - and from what you were hearing, none of what the Countess thought was happening was actually happening.

On the ground level, what was actually happening was that the group of people she had hired to spread the word were busy forcing farmers to unplant their grain crops and then put in potato crops, with none of the rewards for adopting the potato - that was all getting embezzled away, into buying off successively more of their own network. Even those potatoes that was being planted was being pulled from old stores, and if you had Tekla's research notes right of those the vast majority were simply not going to take in the soil - and so what she needed to do right this moment was order a withdrawal and downsizing, let the people cool off, and then start over, this time with actually trustworthy agents.

She politely thanks you for your advice, but naturally if everyone is untrustworthy she can't just take you at your word.

Like you said, you want to scream. You can't even try pushing to implement the strategy - it's far too dangerous to risk literally burning up your fledgling network on such a suicidal maneuver, so you simply pour the funds into making sure you can trust your network - even if you have to recruit children in order to make sure it's done right.

---

Intrigue:
Hit the Countess' Books:
DC: 27. Roll: 22 + 3 + 2.8 = 27.8

Fortunately, some good comes out of the heated discussions that you have with the Countess. With the majority of the Countess' security staff - sorry, personal waitstaff - waiting on her and watching you, Kerrie manages to slip into the files and come out with her actual documents.

Unfortunately you only had a moment to scan through her mountain of documents before she did her nightly review of those documents, which made things a little tricky.

As far as you could tell though...honestly, you were genuinely impressed at how well she was notating her accounts. She was able to produce internal documentation for outflows to her field agents, outflows to the importers importing her stock of potatoes, outflows to the farmers and maintenance - you were fairly sure she was actually paying people to build and maintain useful infrastructure, which was a definite step up - and then the inflows from the taxes and other investments she had inherited from her late husband. Aside from the fact that she was painfully out of touch and all the data that she was being fed was complete bullshit, she appeared to genuinely be trying to be aboveboard, even making sure to laboriously set aside a set of taxes in order to ensure that there would be no problem from people like you.

Unfortunately, that's all the time you have to scan the stack of documents before you hand them off to Kerrie to sneak back into her office, and even then Kerrie mentions there being a close shave with the Head Maid.

Sheesh. Working against competent people was hard.

---

Learning:
The Root of the Issue III:
DC: 15. Roll: 20 + 2.0 = 22

Still feeling a little out of sorts from his month spent bedridden, Tekla continues to make progress on his research into the potatoes. After three months of growing the potato, he notices some of them have ripened - so naturally the most important part of the research comes next. He uproots all of the potatoes in his small plot and immediately examines them. Only a small handful have actually ripened - so he cuts those up into tiny pieces. Some pieces are cut according to the Countess's instructions; others are cut up in some pattern that apparently only he can see, and he replants them. However, he leaves most of the field unplanted, because he needs to check the most important question of all: can high-intensity crops like grain be planted after a season of potato growing?

There's only one way to find out, he says, planting the spring wheat.

---

Piety
Local Politics:
DC: 27. Roll: 23 + 2 + 1.6 = 26.7

You begin testing the waters for making the case that the potatoes have a clear and present need based on the need to feed the incoming army and their horses. While the spirits see your point that it is a huge load for the peasantry to support, they argue that the army could be fed on wheat, as was tradition, if only the Countess would let up on the amount of troops forcing everyone to adopt the potato. You do manage to convince them that should you get good evidence for the potato working, then maybe they'll consider it. As a stopgap.

---

FRIENDLY INTRIGUE INTERRUPT
Late into the month, the Countess apologizes for not taking you at your word and acting sooner. She had found out through her own sources - you look over at the Head Maid, who is conspicuously looking away - that what you said was broadly correct, so she immediately stopped the payments and recalled the people she was sending out to adopt the potato. For stealing from their lord and failing to live up to their obligations, they will be judged according to the laws of the land, she insists.

You nod, and thank her for actually working with you on this matter.

HOSTILE INTRIGUE INTERRUPT
Unfortunately, in the confusion of the past month the Wahner family appears to have slipped out of their jail cells. Fortunately, they slipped out of their cells late at night, but you're going to need to either press a case against them soon or deal with the situation somehow, because otherwise they might decide to start hitting you the ways that nobility can hit back.

Really not what you need.

---

Random Event Roll: 91

And then...something miraculous begins happening. Maybe it's some shift high in the Aurora, but whatever it is, the weather is unseasonably good for planting. So unseasonably good, in fact, that the farmers nearest the Countess' manor, where she can actually enforce the potato adoption personally have harvested their first batch of potatoes, and then planted the spring wheat in those fields.

And...the spring wheat takes.

It takes into the soil, and ye spirits in the land and on high, it takes well!

Rumor spreads like wildfire, and while the sentiment has still hardened against it out towards the farther reaches of the territory, the farmers nearest the manor are all clamoring to replant as much of the potatoes as possible, since it's both edible and the Countess is still granting complete tax immunity for the duration of the initial experiment with potatoes.

You have...decidedly mixed feelings.

---

Administrative Expense: 1 Budget.
Salaries and Wage Expense: 9 Budget.
Spiritual Expense: 2 Budget.
Net Loss: 12 Budget.

Remaining Budget: 74.

With three to five months until the army came through, you were coming down to the wire on the harvest. If the harvest was going to come in on time, you needed to make sure that the planting began now or you wouldn't going to be able to get anywhere.

Add to that the Wahner Family breaking out of jail and undoubtedly planning to get up to things and you had a bigger problem on your hand. At least now the Countess was willing to listen to your counsel, and especially the Countess' Head Maid, who you were mostly certain was doing her own thing that seemed mostly aligned with the Countess' intentions. The Head Maid then went one step further and offered cooperation: they would help cover either Screwing Wahner or Staying Honest, if you couldn't get around to either.

You sigh. Time to get crunching, and fast.

With 74 Budget remaining and needing to start planting crops now, you are free to spend up to 30 Budget this turn.

You have one [Free] Action that you may spend on an action in any category.

You can cooperate with your teammates to add +3 base stat to an action that you are cooperating on. It is represented by using your [Free] Action on one of your already-selected Actions.

Martial (Choose 1) {Kerrie Action}
[] [Martial] Protection Detail
With the Wahners on the loose, it may be for the best to pull the Countess' agents back to protect your group instead of sending them out afield. DC: 22. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Martial] Out Afield
On the other hand, you request to dispatch the agents further afield - with extremely strict rules of engagement because ye gods the last thing you need is more rumors of the Countess' thugs beating up more people - to help make sure the potatoes were in the field. DC: 15. Cost: 0 Budget.

Diplomacy (Choose 1) {Cormag Action}
[] [Diplomacy] Let Them Have Grain II
Okay, time to admit it: the Countess would need to replace her entire network in order to get the mass adoption of the potato, which would come at great expense and also would probably be limited at best. This isn't a retreat, it's just an acknowledgement: the peasants want to plant grain out there, just let them. DC: 25. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Diplomacy] Uprooting Society II
On the other hand, these potatoes are so wildly productive that the more of it you can get out there the better off everyone is going to be. With your agents in place helping guide the Countess' new group of hires, this might actually be...well, less impossible. DC: 22. Cost: 4 Budget.

Intrigue (Choose 1) {Agueda Action}
[] [Intrigue] Sloshing An Ocean
On the one hand: the Wahner family's complete inability to keep straight records even within the family makes the case for tax evasion that much harder to prove. On the other hand: since their records are so shit you could probably steal some without anyone the wiser, now that they've been so heavily disrupted. DC: 25. Gain: 6 Budget.
[] [Intrigue] Screw Wahner
Now that they're out of jail - mostly illegally, you might add - you need to keep them from doing anything too annoying to either you or the Countess. DC: 20. Gain: 2 Budget.
[] [Intrigue] Judicial Honesty
Fortunately, for a small province like this there are only a handful of judges - a handful which you can immediately bribe. DC: 15. Cost: 6 Budget.
[] [Intrigue] Staying Honest
You need to watch over the fledgling network that you and the Countess are setting up, and keep them from punishing theft or dishonesty. DC: 15. Cost: 0 Budget.

Learning (Choose 1) {Tekla Action}
[] [Learning] The Root of the Issue IV
Now that Tekla is starting to head into the real trials for the soil health, you're going to need him to continue studying the viability of potatoes as a fallow-season crop. DC: 15. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Learning] Magical Mapping
Part of the problem is that the spirits feel threatened by the changeover from the three-field system to one revolving around grain and potatoes - perhaps by assessing their territory and calculating impacts, you might be able to alleviate some of these concerns? DC: 25. Cost: 2 Budget.

Stewardship (Choose 1) {Agueda Action}
[] [Stewardship] Bringing A Case
You no longer have time for "precisely tight legal arguments" - you mostly need the Wahner family to sit down and shut up, and you're willing to bring some charges which may not be completely watertight in order to do it. DC: 25. Cost: 2 Budget.
[] [Stewardship] Organizing Distribution
If you're going to seriously start distributing the potato on a far greater scale, you're going to need to organize them, and you're fairly good at that, if you're willing to tout your own abilities. DC: 25. Cost: 4 Budget.

Piety (Choose 1) {Agueda Action}
[] [Piety] Local Politics II
Well, you have some tenuous evidence that the potato can work as a fallow-land crop, but well, it's still going to take more work. More money, of course, always helps. DC: 26. Cost: 3 Budget.
[] [Piety] A Call For Justice
If you're going to try to get the Wahners prosecuted, you might as well pray to Justice and see what help Justice can send your way. DC: 25. Cost: 0 Budget.

 

[hYGP]

Plan Focusing on Potatoes wins, 9 - 1 - 1.

Roll me...hm, roll me 8d100s.

Martial: Out Afield: DC: 15. Base Stat: 17 + 1 + 1. Cost: 0 Budget.
Diplomacy: Uprooting Society II: DC: 22. Base Stat: 17 + 3. Cost: 4 Budget.
Intrigue: Screw Wahner: DC: 20. Base Stat: 22 Gain: 2 Budget.
Learning: The Root of the Issue IV: DC: 15. Base Stat: 20. Cost: 0 Budget.
Stewardship: Organizing Distribution: DC: 25. Base Stat: 22. Cost: 4 Budget.
Piety: Local Politics II: DC: 26. Base Stat: 22 + 2. Cost: 3 Budget.