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

Doctor Elsewhere · Jul 21, 2020

My gut says that the Roche limit is enforced, and that the Compact/Gathering is either behind it, or the tool of the one who is.

We should definitely look into the university, maybe Roche can help shed some insight on the matter.

Aura · Jul 21, 2020

Its brilliant how much which scholar discovered the limit adds to the tension.

Roche limit - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The limit of how close an orbiting object can get to the object it orbits without tearing itself apart.

Byzantine · Jul 21, 2020

Doctor Elsewhere said:
My gut says that the Roche limit is enforced, and that the Compact/Gathering is either behind it, or the tool of the one who is.

We should definitely look into the university, maybe Roche can help shed some insight on the matter.

The limit is likely artificially induced. I suspect the war between the calamity engines wasn't even a pyrrhic victory for the world, but rather than the other side won a bare victory themselves and was able to impose it as a consequence.

Doctor Elsewhere · Jul 21, 2020

huhYeahGoodPoint said:
[] [Martial] Manning the Gates
Every soldier and mercenary not dispatched to help escort merchants and refugee caravans is currently on the walls - which means that you can help defend the walls while also finding out more about their position. DC: 12. Gain: 1 Budget.
[] [Martial] Escort Mission
All of the merchants needed escorts, and many villages have to be outright evacuated under heavy guard. The City Authority will pay well for this kind of work. DC: 17. Gain: 2 Budget.

Evacuate the countryside and make sure the city stays secure. If it weren't for the fact that Ophelia is still recovering from last time I would say that this is a good way for us to start building more Oskaria worship. Still, it's something we cant ignore.

huhYeahGoodPoint said:
[] [Diplomacy] The Westerlies
The nobles, apparently, have a split between them in the Sejm, split between westerlies and easterlies. Here in Cille, the vast majority of the nobility are westerlies - which means you should check their loyalties. DC: 27. Cost: 4 Budget.
[] [Diplomacy] The Easterlies
On the other hand, the easterlies are at a major disadvantage against the westerlies in the power struggle for this court - this makes them extremely tempting marks for foreign adversaries. DC: 23. Cost: 4 Budget.

I definitely feel like approaching one and not the other will make it seem like we're snubbing them. So we should probably look into the academy and the merchants or the church first.

huhYeahGoodPoint said:
[] [Intrigue] Setting Down Roots
You were well seen as you came into the city, which means that you should probably take the time to chase off some of the obvious tails. DC: 22. Cost: 0 Budget.

We only have so many free actions, and keeping our enemies from being able to track us will be important as we move upriver.

huhYeahGoodPoint said:
[] [Stewardship] Reviewing the Maps
On the other hand, with the everpresent threat of the Beasts of Autumn, you will most likely need to check the maps of the city and the surrounding areas - and then revise them. DC: 24. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Stewardship] Expansive Lodgings
You need to secure some room to stash all of your various pieces of equipment, as well as generally having a space to yourself that you can work with - even if that's otherwise known as a warehouse. DC: 20. Cost: 1 Budget.

With everything going on, I have a feeling that the city will be changing quite a bit in the near future. Between accepting refugees and removing traitors, there's gonna be a big shakeup soon.

huhYeahGoodPoint said:
[] [Piety] Local Spirit Alliances
With the city besieged on all sides, the spirits are more willing to grant blessings to help defend the city - at a price, to maintain their own power. DC: 15. Cost: 3 Budget.

As much as I want to train Ophelia further, the defenders need every advantage they can get.

I would make a plan but I'm stuck on my phone and have a minor headache. :/

Elder Haman · Jul 21, 2020

[X] Plan Setup and Prepare
-[X] [Martial] Escort Mission
-[X] [Diplomacy] The Academy
-[X] [Free] The Church
-[X] [Intrigue] Setting Down Roots
-[X] [Learning] Magical Mapping
-[X] [Stewardship] Expansive Lodgings
-[X] [Free] Reviewing the Maps
-[X] [Piety] Local Spirit Alliances
-[X] [Free] Alchemical Setup

The first eight actions I think are the must do choices. We need to shake our tails, establish a working space, and we need to investigate this Roche limit as that appears to be part of the real main quest, as opposed to our jobs we are doing (as important as those are). I think it a good point that we shouldn't approach the Nobles yet until we can appraoch both of them, and we wnat to have bonuses befroe we do that, so let's reach out to the Church (should also synergize with Roche Limit). Meanwhile we take Magical Mapping, and Local Spirit Alliances to get bonuses for next turn. We take the Escort missions as the most urgent of the martial actions. All should auto-pass except for Magical Mapping where we need to roll a 20 or higher.

That leaves the last action that we could use anywhere. We could put it on Magical Mapping to make it an auto-pass. Investigating the Docks would also be a pretty solid choice, but I feel the Alchemical setup might have effects beyond just the obvious. It allows us to treat colds (like Ophelia's?) and to sell goods, but also, it might give us an in with the Merchants, the Church (for helping the poor) and the Academy (showing off our skills), so I'm willing to use an action on it this turn when we have an open slot. Let's see where it goes.

veekie · Jul 21, 2020

I'd hazard a guess that past a certain point of urbanization, the National and Urban spirits would get powerful enough to head on contest the spirits of Nature. So it makes sense to sabotage urbanization whenever urban spirits start getting too powerful.

As we've seen with Justice and Oskaria, the civilization spirits are waking up and thats causing friction that the nature spirits want to kick down for political reasons.

As for the Fremen Mirage...it reminds me of one of the functions of natural selection. You need prosperity and abundance to create reserve resources/genepools which are uncompetitive in their transitional states, and then when crisis comes down the abundance is culled, seemingly creating new and powerful entities/genelines, but actually just revealing what is best adapted from previously indistinguishable states.

Like those getting empowered here - the power was there, it wasn't being spent, the latent heroes were there, they didn't have the power.
If the crisis stretches out, then its likely that the resources for empowerment will start to run dry.

Grosstoad · Jul 22, 2020

Wait... Is Oskaria that big? I thought it was kind of so-so compared to other realms?

BoredStudent1414 · Jul 22, 2020

Elder Haman said:
[X] Plan Setup and Prepare
-[X] [Martial] Escort Mission
-[X] [Diplomacy] The Academy
-[X] [Free] The Church
-[X] [Intrigue] Setting Down Roots
-[X] [Learning] Magical Mapping
-[X] [Stewardship] Expansive Lodgings
-[X] [Stewardship] Reviewing the Maps
-[X] [Piety] Local Spirit Alliances
-[X] [Free] Alchemical Setup

You have two stewardship actions and two free actions. I think we are suppose to have one stewardship action and three free actions.

Another threat to Oskaria's existence. Well, it is good to know about it early.

Elder Haman · Jul 22, 2020

BoredStudent1414 said:
You have two stewardship actions and two free actions. I think we are suppose to have one stewardship action and three free actions.

Another threat to Oskaria's existence. Well, it is good to know about it early.

Fixed

BoredStudent1414 · Jul 22, 2020

[X] Plan Setup and Prepare
-[X] [Martial] Escort Mission
-[X] [Diplomacy] The Academy
-[X] [Free] The Church
-[X] [Intrigue] Setting Down Roots
-[X] [Learning] Magical Mapping
-[X] [Stewardship] Expansive Lodgings
-[X] [Free] Reviewing the Maps
-[X] [Piety] Local Spirit Alliances
-[X] [Free] Alchemical Setup

Sirrocco · Jul 22, 2020

I really think we can't afford to neglect Ophelia Training. We're seeing what's shaping up to be a major struggle for control between Oskaria and the various forces of stasis in the world. Oskaria's power is climbing, and we need to keep it climbing. Ophelia is a major piece in keeping it climbing, and needs to be able to keep handling that strain. putting together the alchemical setup is a luxury. Ophelia training is more than that.

[X] Plan Setup and Prepare - for the long-term
-[X] [Martial] Escort Mission
-[X] [Diplomacy] The Academy
-[X] [Free] The Church
-[X] [Intrigue] Setting Down Roots
-[X] [Learning] Magical Mapping
-[X] [Stewardship] Expansive Lodgings
-[X] [Free] Reviewing the Maps
-[X] [Piety] Local Spirit Alliances
-[X] [Freel] Ophelia Training

mastigos · Jul 22, 2020

I think it's just that her story is the story

huhYeahGoodPoint said:
"There's only been a handful of exceptions the University of Cille's found," she whispered, and you could've sworn the entire world went dead silent. "One of them is Oskaria today."

"We passed the Roche limit about forty years ago."

Huh ... I wonder if our godforsaken lunatic form of governance actually serves a purpose. By which I mean that it's so shitty and chaotic it doesn't count as "civilization" for the purposes of pissing off nature.

Amneiger · Jul 22, 2020

[X] Plan Setup and Prepare - for the long-term
-[X] [Martial] Escort Mission
-[X] [Diplomacy] The Academy
-[X] [Free] The Church
-[X] [Intrigue] Setting Down Roots
-[X] [Learning] Magical Mapping
-[X] [Stewardship] Expansive Lodgings
-[X] [Free] Reviewing the Maps
-[X] [Piety] Local Spirit Alliances
-[X] [Freel] Ophelia Training

We've gotten signs that Ophelia isn't physically doing well. We need to help her before something breaks.

Aunty Shi Ping · Jul 22, 2020

[X] Plan Setup and Prepare - for the long-term

[x] Plan Aintno
- [x] [Martial] Escort Mission
- [x] [Diplomacy] The Academy
- [x] [Free] The Church
- [x] [Intrigue] Setting Down Roots
- [x] [Learning] Magical Mapping
- [x] [Stewardship] Reviewing the Maps
- [x] [Free] + [Piety] Ophelia Training
- [x] [Free] Local Spirit Alliances

All of the merchants needed escorts, and many villages have to be outright evacuated under heavy guard. The City Authority will pay well for this kind of work. DC: 17. Gain: 2 Budget.
The work needs doing and it keeps us abreast of doings in the region.

Formally, you're here to help investigate the loyalties of the city. Unofficially, you want to know more about this...Roche limit. DC: 20. Cost: 2 Budget.
We really want to know if this is going to be a thing, as it will likely impose itself into Oskaria's well-being, which would directly affect our quest.

The presence of the Academy puts the church here on edge, especially with the Academy choosing, no matter how reluctantly, to shield Roche from the consequences of slandering the church. They'd appreciate someone to lend an ear to their problems. DC: 15. Cost: 0 Budget.
But we don't want to be seen as taking sides, and ought to at least learn what The Church's official campaign platform is.

You were well seen as you came into the city, which means that you should probably take the time to chase off some of the obvious tails. DC: 22. Cost: 0 Budget.
Free our burdens so that we may go forth unhindered.

You might want to check out the magical layout of this city, just as you've mapped all the other sites. DC: 25. Cost: 2 Budget.
Lay of the land.

On the other hand, with the everpresent threat of the Beasts of Autumn, you will most likely need to check the maps of the city and the surrounding areas - and then revise them. DC: 24. Cost: 0 Budget.
Lands of the Lay.

Ophelia's spent nearly the entire month and then some suffering the effects of channeling Oskaria for a month straight. She clearly needs more training, as well as some simple recovery if she wants to be able to repeat a performance like that. DC: 25. Cost: 0 Budget.
This is clearly a big and ongoing issue. Failure would be bad, and excess success would be nice.

With the city besieged on all sides, the spirits are more willing to grant blessings to help defend the city - at a price, to maintain their own power. DC: 15. Cost: 3 Budget.
The gods help those who pay their taxes.

Doctor Elsewhere · Jul 22, 2020