- Location
- USA
Didn't the QM say in the last round that it's somehow fitting for themselves to take the last one? Granted, that turned out to be an extra. Not sure if it's meant to be an ongoing thing or a one-off.
I'm a High Fantasy Tax Collector, So What? A CKII Tax Collector Quest
- Thread starter hYGP
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
-
- Tags
- death ck2 quest all proceeds go to real spiders are we revolutionaries or reactionaries today criminal justice discussion makes the gm fuzzy don't count your boats before they sail granary management if i lose my meows get me likes to replace them justice spider knock knock it's the finance ministry meows for discussion while supplies last taxation taxes this is not an empire quest
- Location
- USA
Of course we get low RERs. Can't have things be too easy for us can we.
Hopefully it's something as simple as the fact that we cashed out too early and the price increased further. Although the RER usually isn't directly related to our actions, so it's probably something tangential that goes wrong.
Although I can't really envision what could go mildly wrong here. Maybe prices start to rise even further? It wasn't low enough for someone to call in debts to bring the whole thing crashing down...
We're also gonna need to figure out how to adjust our expenses so that we can hid away our profits when we get back. We don't want them loosing the extra from our budget if we can manage to get "The Ministry Funds Itself"
Hopefully it's something as simple as the fact that we cashed out too early and the price increased further. Although the RER usually isn't directly related to our actions, so it's probably something tangential that goes wrong.
Although I can't really envision what could go mildly wrong here. Maybe prices start to rise even further? It wasn't low enough for someone to call in debts to bring the whole thing crashing down...
We're also gonna need to figure out how to adjust our expenses so that we can hid away our profits when we get back. We don't want them loosing the extra from our budget if we can manage to get "The Ministry Funds Itself"
- Location
- 'Straya mate.
It's a good idea but I think that "hiding away governmental funds" wouldn't go down too well if it was found out. On the bright side, I don't think they can really slash our budget any further without just cancelling us entirely which would be immeasurably foolish given our consistent results, even given what they've done to us so far.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
I think we'd do better to just directly argue with Vivian that we should get to keep some of the extra budget we earned for the Ministry. The Ministry may well need it; we're almost certainly not her only troubleshooter and she could almost certainly desperately use more money to fund more troubleshooters than she now has.
- Location
- Europe
That might be true, but the intro would suggest that we're the only competent one.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Yeah, but that doesn't mean she couldn't get something done with the less-competent ones if only she had the funding.
If nothing else, at this point she might seriously consider spinning off Cormag or Kerrie from our group, appointing them as a new troubleshooter, and letting them assemble a team of their own while forcing us to take on someone less experienced and train them up to a more acceptable standard.
That is, after all, the usual way of parlaying "I have a handful of vets who know what they're doing, and a mass of mooks and morons" into "I have a working organization." Take one person, have him train two, who train four, who train eight, and so on.
- Location
- Southampton, Great Britain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Cormag is sort of redundant compared to us these days thanks to our stat boosts so having him train up some new blood might be a good idea. On the other hand, I want do want to keep our party together and there are some narrative situations where Cormag serves better than us despite our higher stats.
- Location
- The state of Paranoia
We'll hopefully be getting 2 new shinies from The Ministry Funds Itself, so choosing this option should help:
KING JULIUS' NEGAVERSE I
- Location
- Canada
Negaverse - King Quest
uhNoBadPlan said:
MingConfederation said:
Sapient Bush said:
TerranEchidna said:
Uncertain Participant said:
Light as Gold said:
Danish16 said:
TheNavyDude said:
uhNoBadPlan said:
FirstDigit said:
Uncertain Participant said:
TerranEchidna said:
MingConfederation said:
Uncertain Participant said:
uhNoBadPlan said:
Uncertain Participant said:Looks like I'll have to put my revolutionary ambitions aside for now
Pretty sure there's like a 60% chance that a revolution occurs no matter what we do though, so anyone have any ideas on how we can stomp down on it? I mean we've got our army, but given how messed up the country is, I'm not exactly sure they'll stay loyal when everything explodes.
FirstDigit said:
- Location
- USA
Unless we actually need to take that once to prevent them from taking stuff from us, or at least get access to the politicking that controls our budget, it's a bit of a waste
- Location
- The state of Paranoia
Are you suggesting that we start taking Intrigue actions to get blackmail on the generals in charge of our funding, so that we can tell them how much we should get?
Because if you are, I'd be all for it.
- Location
- USA
I wasn't, but now that the idea is out there I'm all for it. Might be more effective to remove some of the bad generals and install our own supporters though
CASE: THE ORIGIN OF SPECIE MONTH 2
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
Martial
Acquiring Power
DC: 22. Roll: 18 + 2 + 9.3 = 29.3
You task Kerrie with the job of recruiting mercenary companies. So you're surprised to find that she's back the next day with the Horned Boar company in tow, within your expense budget.
That was fast, you say. She was in talks last month, then, you take it?
She nods, and says it seemed like the smart thing to do.
Fair enough, you shrug.
The Horned Boar gives you a +2 Martial.
Diplomacy
Hearts, Minds, and Stomachs
DC: 20. Roll: 20 + 5.9 = 25.9
You're uneasy with the situation, especially how volatile the streets could turn out if everything goes wrong. You decide to head off the problem by beginning your own bribery campaign - though, fortunately, you have a lot less to protect than some other nobles, so you only need to buy off a neighborhood instead of what amounts to the entire city.
You hope that it's enough.
Intrigue
Coining Servants
DC: 24. Roll: 22 + 2 + 9.0 = 31.0.
These merchant nobility are decent at picking their servants - some have some degree of loyalty, but it's still fairly easy to pay some of them to tell you a few harmless details. You leverage those harmless details into getting them to tell you more and more, getting themselves deeper and deeper into your control - all while making them take the steps themselves.
But of course, it's not enough to make their servants feel the need to embed themselves in your network - you need to actually get some useful information out of them. What you hear is that the heads of noble families often get together, along with their servants to exchange something. Whatever it is, it isn't specie - you were careful to check whether they were simply exchanging specie in private, but apparently that wasn't what was happening. You then ask a series of questions aimed at answering how much specie the lords were keeping.
You received a confusing answer: the nobility apparently had lots of money, but little specie.
Well, not that confusing, you realize with a sense of dawning horror.
Quickly, you thank the servants for being so useful in service of the Crown, and extricate yourself to scream in silence.
You need to get into their financials sooner rather than later.
Learning
The Haul
DC: Scaling. Roll: 21 + 7.0 = 28.0.
[] [Haul] Box of Junk
Someone's left a box of various junk they managed to pick up on their rampage through Transulinia. They're selling it for cheap - maybe you can have Tekla sort through it later for something valuable. Cost: 1 Budget.
[] [Haul] Secondhand Compass
With the loss of so many people sent out to the army, the families naturally kept the best equipment and are trying to liquidate the stuff they can't use. This looks like one of the lower-tier divination compasses - it might help with investigative tasks? Grants +1 Stewardship for investigation actions below 25 Stewardship. Cost: 2 Budget.
[] [Haul] Energy Beans
Supposedly, this is a set of beans from somewhere in the far east, guaranteed to give you a serious increase in your mental faculties. Grants 1 Minor Boon. Cost: 6 Budget.
[] [Haul] Spell of Dictation
You almost immediately bought this the moment you saw it - apparently, it'll automatically write out what you dictate to the pen. Tekla having legible handwriting. Imagine that. Will cut the necessity for certain actions. Cost: 4 Budget.
Stewardship
Investments II
DC: 15. Roll: 23 + 7.0 = 30.
Stewardship
Book Sales II
DC: 20. Roll: 23 + 3.6 = 26.6.
Why profit once from a book sale when you could profit twice off the book sales?
At least, that's your justification for buying out some shares in multiple printing houses - and then putting in an order for a much larger run of the handbook. Just as hoped, the wagonfuls of copies practically empty the moment they arrive at their marketplaces, sold at a lower price point than the originals to encourage just that sort of behavior.
Also just as hoped: the markets took the bait for those new investments. While there wasn't the same sort of crazy frenetic purchasing spree that characterized whatever the hell the cloth maker's stocks were doing, it was still an incredibly respectable return on investment. You were content with your results.
Piety
Local Spirits
DC: 20. Roll: 23 + 2 + 2.6 = 27.6.
You offer the appropriate sacrifices and rituals to the local spirits. While they don't have any specific blessings for you in particular, nor any tasks they urgently want you to carry out, they instill in you a general sense of good feeling, as well as assurances that they will give warning should you do anything too egregious. Overall, not what you were hoping for, but certainly better than letting them wreck everything. Unfortunately, prodding for information didn't go anywhere - they were still beholden to the native residents, and didn't want to offend them too much, you see.
Stewardship
Cashing Out
DC: 15. Roll: 23 + 5.7 = 28.7
EVENT TRIGGER: MARKET CRASH
RANDOM EVENT ROLL: 32
EVENT MODIFIED! UNMITIGATED MARKET COLLAPSE
You knew this whole market was screwy. Cashing out all of your investments when you did was the right call.
Because very suddenly, the nobility realized that you weren't in on their stock market - you actually wanted hard specie for the investments. While you were in the process of cashing out, they still thought the stocks were valuable enough that they grudgingly paid out in specie - and you were oh-so-careful to ensure that you were only selling your stock piecemeal to avoid exactly what you suspect ended up happening.
Well, you got your specie.
The entire market staggered on for a week, and then collapsed. Prices associated with noble-backed merchants skyrocketed, and payouts to the streets and mercenaries drew down just as sharply. Huge masses of people were suddenly laid off, their business loans very suddenly coming due all at once. By the third day, shops were closing down, either by will or by the force of the mob.By the fifth, bodies had to be taken off the street after a five-story fall from the highest towers.
Something had happened, everyone was angry, and nobody really knew who to blame.
Buying the services of the mercenary company and some street loyalty suddenly looked like an extremely clever move.
Sales Revenue: 36 Budget.
Cost of Goods Sold: 6 Budget.
Gross Profit: 29 Budget.
Mercenary Expense: 10 Budget.
Charity Expense: 4 Budget.
Investigation Expense: 2 Budget.
Spiritual Expense: 2 Budget.
Salaries and Wages Expense: 3 Budget.
Net Income: 9 Budget.
Realized Net Gain on Available For Sale Securities: 31 Budget.
Investments Expense: 4 Budget.
Comprehensive Income: 36 Budget.
Remaining Budget: 100 Budget.
Well. The market is exploding, and is probably going to go nuts for a while. Prices are temporarily soaring, but you're certain that if you simply wait out another month that the prices will crash to the floor as merchants desperately try to make some money with the inventory they have left, as well as in general surviving the furious streets. Technically...you could probably walk away from this case. Whatever happened, it's too late for you to fix it, and fixing it isn't strictly in your job responsibility.
But...you could try and fix the problem. It would take extra time, but you did just make a fairly handsome profit...
Hm.
You have 100 Budget and a complete market collapse. You feel...not comfortable, but grudging acceptance, of spending your way out of this pit. Thus, you can spend up to 50 Budget this turn.
You have 3 [Free] Actions that may be spent in any category.
You have 6 Minor Boons that you may attach to any Action.
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] Getting Some Real Answers
You need some real explanations from what happened in this city, and you have a mercenary company at your back. You can knock down some doors and start asking some questions. DC: 25. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Martial] Site Investigation
Oskaria pointed you at a site a month ago. Perhaps it's worth looking at closer, in force. DC: ??? Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Martial] Contract Renegotiation
With the complete crash in prices, you could probably renegotiate the mercenary contract, maybe bring down the costs to something closer to reality, eh? DC: 20. Mercenary Expense reduced from 10 to 4.
[] [Martial] Contract Termination
Actually, screw this, you want out. DC: 15. Cost: 0 Budget.
Diplomacy (Choose 1) {Agueda Action}
[] [Diplomacy] Calming the Angry Streets
You're certain that the streets are about a few more days of soaring prices and no payouts from starting bread riots. Best to quell them, even if you have to spend lots of your own money to do it. DC: 20. Cost: 20 Budget.
[] [Diplomacy] A Cry for Help
A request has come by your door, from the government and the nobility - they know of your great financial prowess and just demeanour. They're hoping you can maybe do something, anything, to help fix this crisis. They'll pay - at the end of the crisis, when everything's fixed up. DC: 15. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Diplomacy] The Merchants
In a similar vein, the merchants are looking for anyone who can explain what just happened to everything. You can help answer - provided they answer a few of your questions first. DC: 20. Cost: 0 Budget.
Intrigue (Choose 1) {Agueda Action}
[] [Intrigue] Reviewing Merchant Documentation
You need to see what the hell the merchants have been doing with their bookkeeping. It's past time to find out. DC: 25. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Intrigue] Breaking Into Nobility
You could simply try breaking into the noble estates for their documents. It'd be a little tricky, but ultimately very doable. DC: 25. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Intrigue] The Subservient Hands
You need access to the truly important servants of the house, and you can offer to help put their lives back together while you do it. DC: 24. Cost: 0 Budget.
Learning (Choose 1) {Tekla Action}
[] [Learning] Understanding Justice
You and Cormag have had close working relationships with different aspects of Justice. Perhaps it may be worth exploring just how Justice behaves? DC: ??? Costs: 0 Budget.
[] [Learning] Unconventional Tools
If it's a problem of finding a mass of coinage, Tekla might actually have a solution to that problem from that old bag of tricks. He's not sure if it'll work, mind you, but he might have a way to find masses of metal. DC: 27. Cost: 0 Budget.
Stewardship (Choose 1) {Agueda Action}
[] [Stewardship] Exit Strategy
You really don't want to deal with this. There are other problems elsewhere in the country that need resolving, and this case will frankly resolve itself very shortly. If nothing else, the army can just dump money into here and put the workers back to work. DC: 15. Cost: Ends Case right here.
[] [Stewardship] City Organizer
You can go back to the work you did during the July Days and put those lessons back to work here to make sure at least everyone gets fed - it's going to be largely the same principles, since it's really only here that the prices are exploding beyond all control. DC: 25. Cost: 6 Budget.
[] [Stewardship] Document Analysis
You can ask for documents from the nobility and the merchants, and this time they might actually give it to you. That would actually help unravel what just happened here. DC: 15. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Stewardship] Personal Investigation
You can also ask them to describe their own positions and answer your questions. It might help answer the things that never got put to paper around here - it'd certainly give you a different tack to approach the problem from. DC: 15. Cost: 0 Budget.
Piety (Choose 1) {Agueda Action}
[] [Piety] Local Answers
The local spirits are confused and terrified, and they're desperately looking for someone who might be able to help them fix what just broke down. You're a prime candidate. DC: 15. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Piety] Calling on Oskaria
Well, Oskaria's produced one of your only hints thus far, and you could use another - perhaps Oskaria might care about such an important province enough to help out in a big way. DC: 27. Cost: 0 Budget.
Acquiring Power
DC: 22. Roll: 18 + 2 + 9.3 = 29.3
You task Kerrie with the job of recruiting mercenary companies. So you're surprised to find that she's back the next day with the Horned Boar company in tow, within your expense budget.
That was fast, you say. She was in talks last month, then, you take it?
She nods, and says it seemed like the smart thing to do.
Fair enough, you shrug.
The Horned Boar gives you a +2 Martial.
Diplomacy
Hearts, Minds, and Stomachs
DC: 20. Roll: 20 + 5.9 = 25.9
You're uneasy with the situation, especially how volatile the streets could turn out if everything goes wrong. You decide to head off the problem by beginning your own bribery campaign - though, fortunately, you have a lot less to protect than some other nobles, so you only need to buy off a neighborhood instead of what amounts to the entire city.
You hope that it's enough.
Intrigue
Coining Servants
DC: 24. Roll: 22 + 2 + 9.0 = 31.0.
These merchant nobility are decent at picking their servants - some have some degree of loyalty, but it's still fairly easy to pay some of them to tell you a few harmless details. You leverage those harmless details into getting them to tell you more and more, getting themselves deeper and deeper into your control - all while making them take the steps themselves.
But of course, it's not enough to make their servants feel the need to embed themselves in your network - you need to actually get some useful information out of them. What you hear is that the heads of noble families often get together, along with their servants to exchange something. Whatever it is, it isn't specie - you were careful to check whether they were simply exchanging specie in private, but apparently that wasn't what was happening. You then ask a series of questions aimed at answering how much specie the lords were keeping.
You received a confusing answer: the nobility apparently had lots of money, but little specie.
Well, not that confusing, you realize with a sense of dawning horror.
Quickly, you thank the servants for being so useful in service of the Crown, and extricate yourself to scream in silence.
You need to get into their financials sooner rather than later.
Learning
The Haul
DC: Scaling. Roll: 21 + 7.0 = 28.0.
[] [Haul] Box of Junk
Someone's left a box of various junk they managed to pick up on their rampage through Transulinia. They're selling it for cheap - maybe you can have Tekla sort through it later for something valuable. Cost: 1 Budget.
[] [Haul] Secondhand Compass
With the loss of so many people sent out to the army, the families naturally kept the best equipment and are trying to liquidate the stuff they can't use. This looks like one of the lower-tier divination compasses - it might help with investigative tasks? Grants +1 Stewardship for investigation actions below 25 Stewardship. Cost: 2 Budget.
[] [Haul] Energy Beans
Supposedly, this is a set of beans from somewhere in the far east, guaranteed to give you a serious increase in your mental faculties. Grants 1 Minor Boon. Cost: 6 Budget.
[] [Haul] Spell of Dictation
You almost immediately bought this the moment you saw it - apparently, it'll automatically write out what you dictate to the pen. Tekla having legible handwriting. Imagine that. Will cut the necessity for certain actions. Cost: 4 Budget.
Stewardship
Investments II
DC: 15. Roll: 23 + 7.0 = 30.
Stewardship
Book Sales II
DC: 20. Roll: 23 + 3.6 = 26.6.
Why profit once from a book sale when you could profit twice off the book sales?
At least, that's your justification for buying out some shares in multiple printing houses - and then putting in an order for a much larger run of the handbook. Just as hoped, the wagonfuls of copies practically empty the moment they arrive at their marketplaces, sold at a lower price point than the originals to encourage just that sort of behavior.
Also just as hoped: the markets took the bait for those new investments. While there wasn't the same sort of crazy frenetic purchasing spree that characterized whatever the hell the cloth maker's stocks were doing, it was still an incredibly respectable return on investment. You were content with your results.
Piety
Local Spirits
DC: 20. Roll: 23 + 2 + 2.6 = 27.6.
You offer the appropriate sacrifices and rituals to the local spirits. While they don't have any specific blessings for you in particular, nor any tasks they urgently want you to carry out, they instill in you a general sense of good feeling, as well as assurances that they will give warning should you do anything too egregious. Overall, not what you were hoping for, but certainly better than letting them wreck everything. Unfortunately, prodding for information didn't go anywhere - they were still beholden to the native residents, and didn't want to offend them too much, you see.
Stewardship
Cashing Out
DC: 15. Roll: 23 + 5.7 = 28.7
EVENT TRIGGER: MARKET CRASH
RANDOM EVENT ROLL: 32
EVENT MODIFIED! UNMITIGATED MARKET COLLAPSE
You knew this whole market was screwy. Cashing out all of your investments when you did was the right call.
Because very suddenly, the nobility realized that you weren't in on their stock market - you actually wanted hard specie for the investments. While you were in the process of cashing out, they still thought the stocks were valuable enough that they grudgingly paid out in specie - and you were oh-so-careful to ensure that you were only selling your stock piecemeal to avoid exactly what you suspect ended up happening.
Well, you got your specie.
The entire market staggered on for a week, and then collapsed. Prices associated with noble-backed merchants skyrocketed, and payouts to the streets and mercenaries drew down just as sharply. Huge masses of people were suddenly laid off, their business loans very suddenly coming due all at once. By the third day, shops were closing down, either by will or by the force of the mob.By the fifth, bodies had to be taken off the street after a five-story fall from the highest towers.
Something had happened, everyone was angry, and nobody really knew who to blame.
Buying the services of the mercenary company and some street loyalty suddenly looked like an extremely clever move.
Sales Revenue: 36 Budget.
Cost of Goods Sold: 6 Budget.
Gross Profit: 29 Budget.
Mercenary Expense: 10 Budget.
Charity Expense: 4 Budget.
Investigation Expense: 2 Budget.
Spiritual Expense: 2 Budget.
Salaries and Wages Expense: 3 Budget.
Net Income: 9 Budget.
Realized Net Gain on Available For Sale Securities: 31 Budget.
Investments Expense: 4 Budget.
Comprehensive Income: 36 Budget.
Remaining Budget: 100 Budget.
Well. The market is exploding, and is probably going to go nuts for a while. Prices are temporarily soaring, but you're certain that if you simply wait out another month that the prices will crash to the floor as merchants desperately try to make some money with the inventory they have left, as well as in general surviving the furious streets. Technically...you could probably walk away from this case. Whatever happened, it's too late for you to fix it, and fixing it isn't strictly in your job responsibility.
But...you could try and fix the problem. It would take extra time, but you did just make a fairly handsome profit...
Hm.
You have 100 Budget and a complete market collapse. You feel...not comfortable, but grudging acceptance, of spending your way out of this pit. Thus, you can spend up to 50 Budget this turn.
You have 3 [Free] Actions that may be spent in any category.
You have 6 Minor Boons that you may attach to any Action.
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] Getting Some Real Answers
You need some real explanations from what happened in this city, and you have a mercenary company at your back. You can knock down some doors and start asking some questions. DC: 25. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Martial] Site Investigation
Oskaria pointed you at a site a month ago. Perhaps it's worth looking at closer, in force. DC: ??? Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Martial] Contract Renegotiation
With the complete crash in prices, you could probably renegotiate the mercenary contract, maybe bring down the costs to something closer to reality, eh? DC: 20. Mercenary Expense reduced from 10 to 4.
[] [Martial] Contract Termination
Actually, screw this, you want out. DC: 15. Cost: 0 Budget.
Diplomacy (Choose 1) {Agueda Action}
[] [Diplomacy] Calming the Angry Streets
You're certain that the streets are about a few more days of soaring prices and no payouts from starting bread riots. Best to quell them, even if you have to spend lots of your own money to do it. DC: 20. Cost: 20 Budget.
[] [Diplomacy] A Cry for Help
A request has come by your door, from the government and the nobility - they know of your great financial prowess and just demeanour. They're hoping you can maybe do something, anything, to help fix this crisis. They'll pay - at the end of the crisis, when everything's fixed up. DC: 15. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Diplomacy] The Merchants
In a similar vein, the merchants are looking for anyone who can explain what just happened to everything. You can help answer - provided they answer a few of your questions first. DC: 20. Cost: 0 Budget.
Intrigue (Choose 1) {Agueda Action}
[] [Intrigue] Reviewing Merchant Documentation
You need to see what the hell the merchants have been doing with their bookkeeping. It's past time to find out. DC: 25. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Intrigue] Breaking Into Nobility
You could simply try breaking into the noble estates for their documents. It'd be a little tricky, but ultimately very doable. DC: 25. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Intrigue] The Subservient Hands
You need access to the truly important servants of the house, and you can offer to help put their lives back together while you do it. DC: 24. Cost: 0 Budget.
Learning (Choose 1) {Tekla Action}
[] [Learning] Understanding Justice
You and Cormag have had close working relationships with different aspects of Justice. Perhaps it may be worth exploring just how Justice behaves? DC: ??? Costs: 0 Budget.
[] [Learning] Unconventional Tools
If it's a problem of finding a mass of coinage, Tekla might actually have a solution to that problem from that old bag of tricks. He's not sure if it'll work, mind you, but he might have a way to find masses of metal. DC: 27. Cost: 0 Budget.
Stewardship (Choose 1) {Agueda Action}
[] [Stewardship] Exit Strategy
You really don't want to deal with this. There are other problems elsewhere in the country that need resolving, and this case will frankly resolve itself very shortly. If nothing else, the army can just dump money into here and put the workers back to work. DC: 15. Cost: Ends Case right here.
[] [Stewardship] City Organizer
You can go back to the work you did during the July Days and put those lessons back to work here to make sure at least everyone gets fed - it's going to be largely the same principles, since it's really only here that the prices are exploding beyond all control. DC: 25. Cost: 6 Budget.
[] [Stewardship] Document Analysis
You can ask for documents from the nobility and the merchants, and this time they might actually give it to you. That would actually help unravel what just happened here. DC: 15. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Stewardship] Personal Investigation
You can also ask them to describe their own positions and answer your questions. It might help answer the things that never got put to paper around here - it'd certainly give you a different tack to approach the problem from. DC: 15. Cost: 0 Budget.
Piety (Choose 1) {Agueda Action}
[] [Piety] Local Answers
The local spirits are confused and terrified, and they're desperately looking for someone who might be able to help them fix what just broke down. You're a prime candidate. DC: 15. Cost: 0 Budget.
[] [Piety] Calling on Oskaria
Well, Oskaria's produced one of your only hints thus far, and you could use another - perhaps Oskaria might care about such an important province enough to help out in a big way. DC: 27. Cost: 0 Budget.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
Time to investigate that site. Then we can consider just pulling out next month.
HanEmpire
Delicious
The nobles were all inside trading to create a bubble? It's like the South Sea Company. What were they peddling to get so many investors?
Anyways with so many ties of debt that are now all insolvent, the local economy's going to go into a stasis. One solution would be to use crown funds to buy up all the debt and forgive it all, so that people can spend money again. Even if we focus on the little players though, that's going to cost us a fuckton of money.
Anyways with so many ties of debt that are now all insolvent, the local economy's going to go into a stasis. One solution would be to use crown funds to buy up all the debt and forgive it all, so that people can spend money again. Even if we focus on the little players though, that's going to cost us a fuckton of money.
Last edited:
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Well, so much for my hypothesis. This is definitely the product of some kind of poorly handled attempt to leverage financial assets- maybe debts, maybe shares, maybe something else. And of course, it all fell apart abruptly when the local nobility remembered that they had to do business with people operating outside their immediate system.
This kind of thing is why it took paper money so long to catch on in Early Modern Europe- because without certain institutions to regulate the money supply and ensure that relatively normal actions* can't implode the economy, this shit happens. Regularly and repeatedly. Money supplies simply HAVE to remain in correlation with the overall scale of the economy somehow. With specie some degree of correlation is usually in place by default; the supply of gold and silver doesn't grow very fast, and the economy doesn't grow very fast either. But with paper money or leveraged financial assets, keeping the money supply stable cannot be done without centralized regulation and control... and a nation like Oskaria is simply incapable of accomplishing that.
___________________________________
*(like a Tax Spooder cashing out his shares in some local cloth manufacturers and printing houses and expecting to be paid in something that will be legal tender outside the province)
This kind of thing is why it took paper money so long to catch on in Early Modern Europe- because without certain institutions to regulate the money supply and ensure that relatively normal actions* can't implode the economy, this shit happens. Regularly and repeatedly. Money supplies simply HAVE to remain in correlation with the overall scale of the economy somehow. With specie some degree of correlation is usually in place by default; the supply of gold and silver doesn't grow very fast, and the economy doesn't grow very fast either. But with paper money or leveraged financial assets, keeping the money supply stable cannot be done without centralized regulation and control... and a nation like Oskaria is simply incapable of accomplishing that.
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*(like a Tax Spooder cashing out his shares in some local cloth manufacturers and printing houses and expecting to be paid in something that will be legal tender outside the province)
- Location
- Southampton, Great Britain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Plan Fixing This Mess Because That Is What The Spider of Justice Does
-[X] [Martial] Site Investigation
-[X] [Diplomacy] A Cry for Help
-[X] [Free] Calming the Angry Streets
-[X] [Free] The Merchants
-[X] [Intrigue] The Subservient Hands
-[X] [Learning] Understanding Justice
-[X] [Stewardship] City Organizer
-[X] [Free] Document Analysis
-[X] [Piety] Local Answers
Okay. Investigating the siteand getting a more manageable contact for Martial. Everything else is devoted to getting the streets under control. Stewardship to keep people fed whilst a Diplo action to keep riots from breaking out. Helping the nobles and merchants for good favour with them and hopefully keeping this mess from getting worst. Intrigue to help out more people whilst getting ourselves a grateful spy network and Piety to help out the local spirits. Understanding Justice for Learning because I don't like the high DC on the other Learning option. Additionally, fixing the problem here gives us something of a chance to establish more long term relations and maybe a beginnings of a non-local network whilst we don't have any other pressing matters on our hands. Edit: Replaced getting cheaper mercs with Document Analysis to help us figure out what happened in greater details whilst explaining to the nobles, merchants and spirits what happened.
I will look at the Haul options shortly, but here is a plan to start sorting this mess and keeping it from getting worse.
Edit: My Haul votes have been added. Going for the Secondhand Compass because it is cheap and will boost some actions in the future. Same deal with the Spell of Dictation since there has been a couple of times when our Learning action has been figuring out what Tekla has written. The Box of Junk is cheap and might have something good in it. I am not eager to spend money for another Minor Boon when we are aiming for The Ministry Funds Itself achievement.
[X] [Haul] Box of Junk
[X] [Haul] Secondhand Compass
[X] [Haul] Spell of Dictation
Edit 2: I love having another pair of Free Actions to deal with stuff.
-[X] [Martial] Site Investigation
-[X] [Diplomacy] A Cry for Help
-[X] [Free] Calming the Angry Streets
-[X] [Free] The Merchants
-[X] [Intrigue] The Subservient Hands
-[X] [Learning] Understanding Justice
-[X] [Stewardship] City Organizer
-[X] [Free] Document Analysis
-[X] [Piety] Local Answers
Okay. Investigating the site
I will look at the Haul options shortly, but here is a plan to start sorting this mess and keeping it from getting worse.
Edit: My Haul votes have been added. Going for the Secondhand Compass because it is cheap and will boost some actions in the future. Same deal with the Spell of Dictation since there has been a couple of times when our Learning action has been figuring out what Tekla has written. The Box of Junk is cheap and might have something good in it. I am not eager to spend money for another Minor Boon when we are aiming for The Ministry Funds Itself achievement.
[X] [Haul] Box of Junk
[X] [Haul] Secondhand Compass
[X] [Haul] Spell of Dictation
Edit 2: I love having another pair of Free Actions to deal with stuff.
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- Location
- Southampton, Great Britain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I agree on the first and disagree on the second. While in hindsight that would have been a good idea, we had no idea to know that going in so it was just good sense to spend the first couple of months getting information on what was going on and establishing a power base to deal with any troubles in our investigation. In fact, we are only able to deal with this effectively as we can because we spend those first couple of months doing what we did.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
[X] [Haul] Box of Junk
[X] [Haul] Secondhand Compass
[X] [Haul] Spell of Dictation
[X] [Haul] Secondhand Compass
[X] [Haul] Spell of Dictation
- Location
- va
Let's leave the angry mob can have the nobles
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
And now that the local economy just exploded I can actually circle back to this real quick:
Gresham's Law, where bad money drives out good money, only really works when vendors are forced to accept both forms of currency by some outside entity - when you see an absence of those strong institutions, the exact opposite happens.
In the absence of a strong force that makes vendors and consumers hold bad currency and good currency equal (or close enough), Thier's Law holds that good currency will drive out bad currency as vendors will only accept the good currency for their transactions, thus forcing everyone to only circulate the good currency, and hold their own bad currency in reserve.
And, well, Oskaria isn't exactly known for its strong, central institutions, is it
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