Paths of Civilization

[Academia Nut]

[X][SR] Food (Colonies and vassals transfer 1 Econ/turn each)
[X][Policy] Special: Vassal Support (+1 Subordinate while active, increases Loyalty while active at less than full subordinates)
[X][HS] Increase Professionalism (Found Mercenary Company, Reforms advance)
[X][Attack] Hire out mercenary company
-[X][Attack] Both
--[X][Attack] To Freehills

The city of Trelli sat on the horizon, just across the water of the strait. The city might as well be on the other side of the world for all that the warriors camped out on the east side of the strait could get there, but all remaining elements of the Trelli on the eastern shore of the Yllthon had been kicked out by the combined forces of the People and the Freehills. The warriors loyal to the city itself had been able to maintain control over the seas in close proximity to the city, even as they had lost much of the territory to the north-west to pirate raids. What was going on in the south-west was unknown to the People, but given that the city of Trelli wasn't starving yet, there must be some farming territory out there that was still loyal to them. Unsurprising given that the stress of war had brought out the best of the Trelli elite and their currently leadership was as sharp and skilled as could be expected. Were it not for the Freehills leadership the Red Banner might have been sundered when they got caught in a box canyon, but fortunately the current leader of the small kingdom was extremely competent at his job.

Given legendary precedent, there were a few who suggested humorously that perhaps this Tumrin fellow should be invited for the kingship, like Phygrif of old! That wasn't actually a serious proposal, the current king and heir were not too terribly hated despite what predecessors had done, and Myranyn the Reformer had a pretty decent shot at the position, so it wasn't like the People needed anyone. Still, funny, and the mercenaries who fought with him definitely would prefer it if they had him on their side.

Still, the situation was distinctly uncertain going forward. The Red Banner Company would probably have to be rotated out to recover manpower, and someone was going to have to deal with the pirates and bandits pushing up the western Yllthon Coast towards Tinriver. Fortunately the Blood Rain Banner Company had been established based off of the cream of the soldiers raised from the urban poor, so named from the downward pointing trio of arrows in red thread that was their company banner, an obvious reference to the massed crossbow fire that they made use of, so the People had plenty of martial power to protect themselves with and still keep up commitment to the Freehills contract should it come down to it. There were many obvious questions of what the king would have them do next. Assisting Freehills up to this point was pretty easy to justify to their neighbours as clearing out the pirate bands along the coast and getting paid for it - even if the net result was that if Trelli ever got its act together they had just lost all remaining remnants of their eastern holdings-, but pushing further was going to run into a lot of problems internally. Mostly because the casualties of pushing across the strait were going to be enormous. Actually, there more than a few who were pretty sure that the Freehills 'king' was going to accept the gains already made and stop at the strait for the time being.

There were also other rumours that the Freehills warriors going to stop fighting the Trelli here but had plans to turn south and use the coastal paths to head towards the Khemetri trading posts and colonies and begin kicking them out of the territory adjacent to the Freehills valleys. While just rumours, there were more than a few who were trying to consider whether they wanted to follow them if they did do something like that. On the one hand, everyone knew the tales of Bloodvalley and weren't exactly eager to see what would happen if the People and the Khemetri went for a repeat performance. Then again, no one was quite sure what would happen if Freehills went for it anyway, and what might happen if they lost and suddenly the People and Khemetri were in direct contact once again. Not that they had ever entirely gone out of contact with the southern kingdom, just that they had been much more distant since the Trelli war, and had mostly worked through intermediaries due to simple distance.

Trelli war
[] [War] Attempt to mediate a peace between the Trelli and Freehills (-4 Diplomacy, +1 Stability, chance to open the Strait for free)
[] [War] The mercs will follow Freehills lead (???)
[] [War] Encourage Freehills to press on to Trelli (-2 Diplomacy)
[] [War] Figure out how to offer naval support as well (???)

Mercenaries
[] [Mercs] Take their pay and head out, further commitment is not worth it (+2 Wealth, mercs disengage)
[] [Mercs] Stick around unless they intend to go after the Khemetri (Mercs still paid by Freehills barring war dec on Khemetri)
[] [Mercs] Continue Freehills contract (Mercs still paid by Freehills)

The new company as well as the experience of fighting with the Freehills warriors, who had their own philosophy of heavy spearmen who could form immovable blocks in the hills and passes of their home, was filtering throughout the People back home. While the Freehills martial philosophy was closer to that of the yeomanry, especially since many warriors were far more self-supplied so the wealthier farmers had a major advantage, because of the circumstances of their creation they had their own spin on things. Namely, that they had an elected position known of as The Armoury Purse whose responsibility it was to ensure that all adult males could be issued something in times of war, and the candidates tended to pour their own personal wealth into the crown's treasuries for the purposes of supplying arms and armour to those who couldn't afford it. While technically the gear issued was based off of providing procurement loans, it was considered a governmental disaster if a man could not be mustered because he could not afford gear. By their reckoning so long as they had the will, even beggars should be given the tools to fight. This gave numerous ideas to the reformers back home about how to pay for the further reforms required.

Myranyn Reforms, next stage
[] [HS] Prototype Weapon Storage (Palace Arsenal + Storehouse Annexes, Reforms advance)
[] [HS] Continue raising troops (Main Raise Army, Reforms advance)
[] [HS] Prototype Deployment Organization (2xSec Blackmouth Colossal Walls, Reforms advance)
[] [HS] Increase Iron production to make things cheaper (Redshore Ironworks [-3 Econ, -3 Tech, 2 Sustainable Forest used, Expand Econ additional +1 Econ, -1 EE, -1 Tech] + Sec Survey, Reforms advance)
[] [HS] Streamline system to better pay for reforms (Main Distribute Land)
[] [HS] More trade is more money to pay for things (Main Plant Poppies [-3 Econ, -3 Econ Expansion, +1 Mysticism, +7 Wealth, increased trade power])

However, while many of the ideas for paying for things were fairly straightforward, there was a major issue being raised. The Guilds were getting powerful with all of the production they were doing, the swing they had over who would be classified of as essentialy personnel and thus exempt from conscription, and of course when heavily recruiting from artisans and urban workers there was the fact that the guilds then had contacts with plenty of warriors. While at the moment the guilds were mostly just happy, there was some worry that they could force through actions contrary to the desires of others if they wanted to.

AN: Mechanical warning. Now that you have factions over 5 Strength, they will all begin 'maturing', manifesting unique mechanical powers with their own pros and cons. Factions over strength 3 also have the option to expend some of their influence to hijack actions if they want to force through an agenda. 1 Strength hijacks a Secondary action, and 3 Strength a Main or 2 Secondaries. Declaring War with a valid CB adds a +3 surcharge, although during war if they think the king is showing insufficient commitment the surcharge is reduced to only +1 Strength. Factions can never force a war without a valid CB. The Guild faction can hijack Main Guild actions at only 2 strength, while other factions are at a +1 Surcharge for those actions, either hijacking them or opposing a hijacking by the Guild. Factions can also negate a hijacking by expending their own strength, although they will often expect something from the king after doing such a thing, even if that is just recognition.

AN: Only going to leave this vote open for about 12 hours or so.

 

[Academia Nut]

[X][War] Attempt to mediate a peace between the Trelli and Freehills (-4 Diplomacy, +1 Stability, chance to open the Strait for free)
[X][Mercs] Stick around unless they intend to go after the Khemetri (Mercs still paid by Freehills barring war dec on Khemetri)
[X][HS] Prototype Weapon Storage (Palace Arsenal + Storehouse Annexes, Reforms advance)

Sometimes people behave like belligerent, braying jackasses.

Sometimes, they realize that when they sit down and talk things out, they realize that they don't need to actually keeping hitting each other.

This was one of the latter cases, thankfully enough. With the fig leaf of 'suppressing piracy', the Trelli were able to swallow the loss of their eastern holdings to Freehills and accept a peace treaty. With just a bit of pressure they were also convinced to allow for (mostly) free movement in the strait. Part of it all was of course that the Trelli desperately needed trade to flow again, and they remained the best stopover point for trade anyway, so while it was obvious that they weren't happy they were more concerned with ending the disruption to trade. For their part, Freehills seemed more than a little interested in taking a swing at the Khemetri colonies, but upon hearing that the People weren't interested in letting them have their mercenaries for such an affair, decided to just work on getting their coastlines secured.

And as for the glory hounding idiots who kept making trouble...

"They're going after the pirates?" The king asked of the advisor giving the report.

"Yes sir. The Western People are in something of an unstable back and forth with the Storm Tribes, so the big draw right now is to go south of Tinshore to raid 'bandit' villages, under the assumption that it is both safer and will be more condoned," the man informed him.

"Huh," was the king's reply.

Second Sons Crisis is attacking a group you are already attacking
[] [Crisis] If they want to go play bandit they can get caught up along the way (-3 Martial, -1 Stability)
[] [Crisis] Bring them back in with the fighting (Change Tinriver from Trading Post to Colony, will claim additional territory when fighting pirates, -1 Legitimacy)

"However, in other news I think that the army reforms have significantly culled the number of young idiots with the right combination of skills, motivation, and ability to just run off. This will probably be the last time we get a large movement of warriors out of our control and into the surrounding areas. The remaining rural warriors have enough ties to their homes that they're no longer interested, while the urban ones don't have the means to run very far with their equipment," the advisor explains.

"Finally!" The king exclaimed. "The reforms Myranyn has been pushing have finally paid off?"

"In part. The generals are thinking that there are a few more details to sort out, but they seem close to being in proper shape. Part of it too was a number of the urban patrician families leaning on their rural cousins to actually restrain the yeomanry. They also think that the new expansions the guilds are pushing in the cities may have something to do with it," the war chief stated, although it sounded like he was going off his own second-hand reports on those last tidbits of information.

"It will almost assuredly be part of your job now to keep an eye on such developments, while I have to increase the attention I pay," the king noted. "Do you think there might be any military trouble on that front?"

"No, I think that at most the guilds might just pull out some bribes to get more housing or industry built to improve their lot, but I don't think I've heard anything dangerous. Doesn't mean its not there, just, you know, I haven't heard anything," the general said.

"Well, fortunately I have people whose job it is to find such whispers. Now, as to the pirates..."

"We need more men and boats to ensure that the pirates are put down... but I think we might be able to pressure them into behaving, at least for a generation or two. We have trouble stopping them on the water, but our traders have a mostly secure route so they can't make as many opportunistic strikes from their home villages so long as we take the southern routes. That still makes a mess of the Tinriver route, and their king can still make long distance strikes, but it's not something that we can't deal with long term, and if we hit them enough they might decide to just settle down and stop raiding in any sort of organized manner."

"Good to hear, good to hear."

Spoiler: Important Projects

Art Patronage [Guild] - Wealth of the first and second kind can be used to create wealth of the third kind to the benefit of all
*S: -1 Econ, -3 Wealth, +3 Culture, +1 Tech, +1 Prestige, potential innovations x2
*M: -1 Econ, -5 Wealth, +5 Culture, +1 Tech, +1 Prestige, higher chance of innovations x2

Black Soil - There are many places that could benefit from further black soil, but making more is starting to take up more resources than it is currently returning
*S: +2-3 Econ Expansion
*M: -2 Econ, 1 Forest Slot Consumed, +6 Econ Expansion, other effects [King]
* used 3 times

Build Chariots - The vehicle of the elite, chariots are the most effective way of waging war the People know.
*S: -1 Econ, -2 Wealth, +4 Martial, +1 Culture
*M: -2 Econ, -5 Wealth, +8 Martial, +2 Culture, +1 Prestige

Build Docks [Guild] - With large numbers of ships being built, a new place to store them all, the goods they bring in, and a place to build them might be a good idea
*S: -1 Econ, +1 Diplo, increased trade power
*M: -2 Econ, -1 Wealth, +3 Diplo, potential for new innovations x2, increased trade power

Build Glassworks [Guild] - A new material discovered recently, new luxuries and trade goods could be made from relatively cheap materials
*S: -1 Econ, -2 Tech, 1 Sustainable Forest used, +1 Wealth, +2 Culture, chance of new innovations x2
*M: -2 Econ, -2 Tech, 1 Sustainable Forest used, +1 Wealth, +4 Culture, increased chance of new innovations x2

Build Gymnasium - With the games on people's minds, a place to train for them would be most useful. +2 to Games, +1 non-primary Tolerance
*S: -2 Wealth, -2 Culture, +2 Bonus to Games rolls per turn, +1 non-primary Martial tolerance
*M: -3 Wealth, -3 Culture, +5 Bonus to Games rolls per turn, +1 non-primary Martial tolerance

Build Mills - By harnessing the power of flowing water, work can be done, freeing up considerable amounts of labour
*S: -3 Wealth, -1 Tech, +3 Econ, potential for innovation x2
*M: -4 Wealth, - 1 Tech, +4 Econ, increased potential for innovation x2

Build Porcelain Works [Guild] - With special kilns and techniques, it is possible to make some truly fine pottery that surpasses all others in quality - if also cost
*S: -1 Econ, -2 Tech, +1 Wealth, +2 Culture, potential innovations x2
*M: -2 Econ, -2 Tech, 1 sustainable forest, +2 Wealth, +3 Culture, increased chance of innovations x2

Build Roads - New roads can better tie the people together, so more could be useful. (17/46) +5 Centralization Tolerance
* S: -1 Econ, -2 Wealth, -1 Tech, +1 Centralization, +1 Diplo, other effects
* M: -3 Econ, -2 Wealth, -2 Tech, +2 Centralization, +2 Diplo, other effects

Build Theatre - Having a place for the presentation of plays should be a great way to propagate the People's culture and entertain the masses
*S: -1 Econ, -1 Wealth, -1 Culture, +4 Culture end of turn, other effects
*M: -1 Econ, -2 Wealth, -1 Culture, +4 Culture end of turn, +2 Culture next turn, other effects

Build Wall - The practice of building city walls has reached new heights with access to superior tools making the cutting of stone simpler (26/58 significant walls, 4/45 massive walls)
*S: -2 Econ, +1 significant walls
*M: -4 Econ, +1 massive walls

Build Watchtowers - Stone and brick towers for warriors to sit in and scan the horizon for trouble, these towers can help stave off raids and improve response against attacks. (35% coverage)
*S: -1 Econ, +5% coverage
*M: -1 Econ, +10% coverage

Change Policy - Adjust the current Policy to one better fitting the situation
*S: Change Active Policy to one of the available ones listed below
Balanced - Takes whatever actions seem reasonable. Expand Economy is considered a Policy action for interaction with other effects
Defence - Builds walls and watchtowers
Expansion - Builds new settlements, expands economy, expands forests, and can even create new provinces
Infrastructure - Extended projects
Megaproject Support - Provinces can spend actions in support of a megaproject
Offence - Can recruit warriors and specialists, can send war actions against declared enemies
Progress - Takes studying actions and art patronage
Restoration - Takes stability improving actions
Spirits - Builds temples
Trade - Sends out trade missions, produce art and luxuries

*S: Change up to two Passive Policies (5/5) to one of the available ones listed below
Agriculture (+1 Econ and -1 Econ Expansion/turn)
Diplomacy (+1 Diplo/turn)
Skullduggery (+1 Intrigue/turn, -2 Diplo)
Trade (+1 Wealth/turn)
Armament (+1 Martial/turn)
Patronage (+1 Culture/turn)
Mysticism (+1 Mysticism/turn)
Industry (+1 Tech/turn)
City Support (2 True Cities have their maintenance paid for each turn)
Expansion (So long as there is land to expand into, +1 Econ Expansion/turn, reduces threshold to produce new provinces the longer active)
Innovation (Extra 2 innovation rolls each turn, -1 Wealth)
Infrastructure (+1 Free Progress to an infrastructure project (Aqueduct, governor's palace, saltern, etc.)/turn) x2
Defence (+1 significant walls/turn) x1
Special: Forestry (+1 Sustainable Forest and -1 Econ Expansion/2 turns) x1
Special: Vassal Support (+1 Subordinate while active, increases Loyalty while active at less than full subordinates) x1

Develop Intrigue Web - With contacts in the right places, all sorts of fun things can be done
S: -2 Wealth, -2 Diplo, +1 Intrigue
M: -3 Wealth, -3 Diplo, +2 Intrigue

Distribute Land - By reworking the distribution of land, the king can improve tax income and reduce pressures administrative overhead. 0/4 Progress to Min Centralization increase
*S: -1 Centralization, +2 Wealth
*M: -2 Centralization, +5 Wealth, +1 Progress

Enforce Justice - The king is a servant of the law, and he can use the army to remind people of that fact [GJ]
* S: 1 Stability, +1-3 Centralization
* M: 1 to 2 Stability, +2-3 Centralization
* the more settlements with walls outside of the capital, particularly large walls, the less effective this action is
*Max Stability: Legitimacy

Efficient Charcoal Kilns [Guild] - With better processes, large Guild controlled kilns can be built to efficiently turn wood into charcoal
*S: -1 Econ, Wealth, & Tech, -2 Sustainable Forest used
*M: -2 Econ & Wealth, -1 Tech, -3 Sustainable Forest used, other effects
Note: Efficient Charcoal production cannot take the total Sustainable Forest usage below 1/2 of the total

Expand Economy - Encourage the growth of food producing activities such as farming, pastures, or fishing, depending on where focus is placed
*S: +4 Econ, -4 Econ Expansion, potential additional effects

Expand Forests - The People have knowledge of how to regrow and repair forests, which extends to bringing them to places they have never been, with considerable effort. With charcoal now in higher demand, can also provide a sustainable supply (7/8 currently locked up)
* S: -2 Econ, -1 Econ Expansion, grows forest, +2 Econ next turn if in settled territory and controlled, potential discoveries, +0.5 Sustainable Forest
* M: -3 Econ, -3 Econ Expansion, grows forest, +4 Econ next turn if in settled and controlled territory, improved odds of success, other effects, +1 Sustainable Forest

Expand Snail Cultivation [Guild] - While now more reliably grown and harvested, the snail domestication has only managed to hold environmental changes at bay rather than increase production. More investment would increase cultivation
* S: -1 Econ, +1 Wealth, +1 Culture, potential additional effects
* M: -3 Econ, +3 Wealth, +1 Culture, increased chance of additional effects

Expand Vineyard [Guild] - There is a location in Blackriver that is judged an ideal place to grow the small fruits that are favoured for making a particularly potent drink
*S: -1 Econ, -1 Econ Expansion, +1 Wealth, +1 Culture
*M: -3 Econ, -2 Econ Expansion, +4 Wealth, +1 Culture

Found Colony - When a province gets too distant, sometimes it is best to grant it additional autonomy so that they can get down to the business of working the land and gathering resources without needing to talk to the king about every little thing. Current Target: None
*F: Change Greenshore Trading Post to a Colony
*S: -1 Econ, 4 Econ Transfer, -2 Martial, founds colony to produce raw resources

Found Free City - Cities are hard to manage, giving them increased autonomy to manage themselves will reduce administrative overhead. Current Possibility: Blackmouth
*S: Transfer 2 Econ and Econ Expansion, converts True City to Free City. Free Cities now produce a Passive Policy of their choice in activity each turn

Found March - Sometimes you need an extra buffer between you and hostile powers, or a place to stash excess warriors. Current Target: None
*S: -5 Martial, 2 Econ transfer, founds march to take independent martial actions

Found Mercenary Company - With new coinage, those who fight for less than savoury reasons can be bargained with more effectively. Paid well they can enhance your forces, or can be hired out to other groups, but beware of having them sit around without pay!
*S: -8 Martial, -1 Wealth per turn in your employ, +1 Wealth per turn if hired out to another group, or 0 Wealth per turn and adds directly to Martial score

Found Trading Post - When doing long distance trading, sometimes having your own infrastructure in place at the other end can be quite useful. Current Target: Steppe Portage (risky)
*S: -3 Diplo, -2 Wealth, -1 Econ, 2 Econ Transfer, -2 Martial, founds trading post to generate Wealth and Diplomacy

Hunt Troublemakers - Those who would do harm to the kingdom rarely plan this openly, so subtle methods are needed to find them and root them out
S: -1 Intrigue, information on problems
M: -1 Intrigue, -2 Wealth, 0 to +1 Stability, information on problems

Influence Subordinate - By transferring specialists and teachers to subordinates they can be nudged into behaving more to the liking of the core provinces
*S: -2 Diplo, Transfer 2 Econ, Wealth, Culture, Tech, and Mysticism; influences subordinate culture
*M: -3 Diplo, Transfer 3 Econ, Wealth, Culture, Tech, and Mysticism; significantly influences subordinate culture, +1 Loyalty

Integrate Colony - Part of the colony of Western Wall, Txolla, or Hatvalley can be integrated into the People more fully, transitioning from a Colony to a province
*S: -6 Diplomacy, gain Econ and Martial from integrating Colony
*M: Same as above, completes at mid-turn

Integrate March - Better communications and administration means that the Heaven's Hawk can be integrated into the People more fully, transitioning from a March to a province
*S: -6 Diplomacy, gain Econ and Martial from integrating March
*M: Same as above, completes at mid-turn

Integrate Vassal - Now in contact with the core territories, the lowlanders can be brought more fully into the traditions of the People
*S: -4 Diplomacy, transitions vassal to March or Colony
*M: -8 Diplomacy, transitions portion of vassal to full province, converts rest to March or Colony

Improve Annual Festival - A festival for every season, but their expansion can help put the People at ease and teach good practices.
* S: -1 Econ, -2 Wealth, +1 Stability, +2 Culture, chance for additional effects
* M: -2 Econ, -2 Wealth, +1 Stability, +4 Culture, chance for additional effects
* Max Stability: Legitimacy - 1

Invite to Games - There are some of your neighbours who might be convinced to come (back) to the Games
*S: -1 Diplo to invite most neighbours, -3 to invite a Great Power (currently Khemetri)

Launch Intrigue Mission - Whether inside or out of the kingdom, more offensive uses of intrigue can be used to attempt to gain an advantage
*S: -1 Intrigue, -2 Diplo, -2 Wealth, begins an intrigue event in target location
*S: -2 Intrigue, -3 Diplo, -3 Wealth, begins an intrigue event in target location with higher odds of success

More Blackbirds - Elite scouts and woodsmen, the Blackbirds are a potent force, if not exactly mainline fighters. More of them could prove useful
* S: -1 Econ, -1 Mysticism, -1 Wealth, +2 Martial, +1 Culture, many more Blackbirds, additional effects

More Carrion Eaters - Keepers of sacred and profane knowledge, the Carrion Eaters thread a dangerous path but bring valuable knowledge for treating wounds and inspiring courage, greatly bolstering the morale of warriors by ensuring them that their companions are not doomed if they fall. More could prove useful.
*S: -1 Econ, -1 Mysticism, -1 Wealth, +2 Martial, +1 Culture, many more Carrion Eaters, additional effects

More Spiritbonded - Those who are one with their horses possess remarkably combat capacities
*S: -2 Econ, -2 Mysticism, -5 Wealth, +2 Martial, +1 Culture, +1 Light Cavalry

More Warships [Guild] - Many standard boats are no longer things need to worry about, but warships are something else entirely
*S: -3 Econ, -3 Wealth, -2 Martial, +1 Tech; +1 Naval, additional effects
*M: -3 Econ, -5 Wealth, -3 Martial, +1 Tech; +2 Naval, additional effects

New Settlement - There are a few new sites that could have new settlements placed on them: northern Blackriver (+3, moderate mineral, 0/6 province), northern boundary hills (+1, good mineral, 2/6 province), internal reorg (+3, 1/10 places available)
* S: -1 Econ, +1 Econ and Mysticism end of turn, increases number Econ Expansion depending on environment, +1 Province progress
* M: +1 Econ and Mysticism, increases Econ Expansion, +2 Province progress

Plant Cotton [Guild] - These resource intensive plants produce an incredibly fine textile desirable for its superior comfort, although much of the cost comes from how labour intensive it is
*S: -3 Econ, -2 Econ Expansion, +6 Wealth, new trade good
*M: -4 Econ, -3 Econ Expansion, +7 Wealth, +1 Culture, new trade good

Plant Hemp [Guild] - This sturdy plant has been planted in limited quantities before, but you now have cultivars that can take well to being planted in large areas and could use it for
*S: -2 Econ, -2 Econ Expansion, +1 Tech, +1 Mysticism, +1 Diplo if have boats, +1 Econ next turn
*M: -3 Econ, -3 Econ Expansion, +2 Tech, +1 Mysticism, +2 Diplo if have boats, +1 Econ next turn, other effects

Plant Poppies [Guild] - Within some temple grounds there are gardens where the poppy grows, and the milk of the poppy can be harvested. Expanding production should have interesting effects.
*S: -2 Econ, -2 Econ Expansion, +1 Mysticism, +3 Wealth
*M: -3 Econ, -3 Econ Expansion, +1 Mysticism, +7 Wealth, new trade good

Proclaim Glory - By using art the King can promote people to trust his decisions; modified by Diplomacy skill
* S: -3 Culture, -1 Econ, +1 Legitimacy, +1 Stability, potential +1 Prestige
*M: -6 Culture, -2 Econ, +1 Legitimacy, +2 Stability, +1 Prestige
* Max Stability: Legitimacy

Raise Army - More men can be inducted into the ranks of the warriors every year and not face major food shortfalls
* S: -2 Econ, -3 Wealth, +5 Martial, +1 Culture, potential additional effects
*M: -3 Econ, -5 Wealth, +9 Martial, +2 Culture, potential additional effects
*2M: -4 Econ, -5 Wealth, +2 Culture, founds Martial 10 Mercenary Company

Retraining - When there are more warriors than the People know what to do with, it may be a good idea to find them something else to do
*S: -4 Martial, -2 Econ Expansion, +2 Econ, Culture, and Tech
*M: -6 Martial, -3 Econ Expansion, +3 Econ, Culture, and Tech

Restoration of Order - The people are uncertain, and into that uncertainty bad behaviour can flow. Send in the warriors to reassure people and root out corruption and dissent, restoring the proper function of the People, at the cost of disturbing their confidence that the king has their best interests at heart. Max Stability: Legitimacy-1
* S: Gain 0 to 2 Stability at a cost of -1 Legitimacy
* M: Roll twice, take best result, chance of additional +1 Stability
* modified by Administrative skill

Sailing Mission - Boats have proven themselves capable of exploring long distances, so what else might they discover along the shores of the sea?
* S: Potential new discoveries
* M: -1 Econ, improved odds of success
Special: Need to send out a Sailing Mission to locate pirates

Salt Gift - With the saltern, the People have access to tremendous amounts of salt, which can be used to awe outsiders
*S: -5 Wealth, random amount of Diplomacy, Culture, and Prestige generated (min. 1 of each) and the possibility of Mysticism generation
*M: -8 Wealth, random amount of Diplomacy, Culture, Mysticism, and Prestige generated (min. 1 of each)

Study Alchemy - Materials can be made to transform their form through special treatment. What wonders can be discovered in this process?
*S: -2 Mysticism, -3 Wealth, +1 Tech, potential new discoveries x2
*M: -4 Mysticism, -4 Wealth, -1 Econ, +1 Tech, increased chance of new discoveries x2

Study Health - What secrets of nature can be used to improve the health of the People?
* S: -1 Econ, -2 Wealth, +1 Mysticism, potential new discoveries x2
*M: -1 Econ, -2 Wealth, -1 Mysticism, increased odds of success x2

Study Metal - Iron and copper, gold and silver, what other secrets are hidden in metal and stone?
* S: -1 Econ, -2 Wealth, -1 Mysticism, +1 Tech, small chance of new insights x2
* M: -1 Econ, -3 Wealth, -1 Mysticism, improved chance of new insights x2

Study Stars - What secrets do the heavens hold when you study the stars and their motions carefully?
*S: -1 Wealth, +1 Mysticism, gives mid-turn astrological predictions
Cannot be used as a Main action

Support Artisans [Guild] - With the growing importance of skilled artisans to the maintenance of society, additional support may sometimes be needed
*S: -1 Econ, -3 Wealth, +3 Tech, +1 Culture, potential innovations x2
*M: -1 Econ, -5 Wealth, +5 Tech, +1 Culture, higher chance of innovations x2

Support Subordinate - Send resources over to a subordinate state to help prop them up.
*S: Transfer 2 Econ and Martial, chance of +1 Loyalty
*M: Transfer 4 Econ and Martial, at least +1 Loyalty

Support Faction - Use influence to increase the power of a faction.
S: -4 Culture, +1 Faction Power, +1 Time to current quest

Suppress Faction - Use influence to curb the power of a faction.
S: -1 Stability, -5 Culture, -1 Faction Power, current faction quest fails but consequences negated

Survey Lands - What interesting discoveries are within the People's lands?
* S: Potential new discoveries
* M: -1 Econ, improved odds of success

Terrify - You've killed cities, walls will not keep your enemies safe
*S: -3 Diplo, can force minors to become vassals or integrate, can cause major civilizations to lose Stability
Special: Not applicable to nomads, efficiency greatly improved by performing a War Mission against the target the same turn
Warning: Crit fails can cause backlash, losing Stability

Trade Mission - Sending a major caravan to another large group can bring new opportunities and find out more about the outside world
* S: -2 Wealth, additional effects depending on target, +1-2 Diplo
* M: -2 Wealth, -1 Econ, additional effects depending on target, +1 Diplo, +1-3 Diplo end of turn, +0-2 Wealth end of turn

War Mission - You can send raiding parties against groups that have declared themselves hostile. Can only declare war if you have a valid casus belli (currently only if someone declares war first)
* S: Potential loss of Martial, can prevent Econ and Diplo damage when being attacked, can damage enemy Martial and Diplo
* M: Probable loss of Martial, can prevent Econ and Diplo damage when being attacked, can damage enemy Martial, Diplo, and Econ, always has a mid-turn decision point

Extended Projects- Extended Projects are major infrastructure projects that take more than a single Main action to complete but aren't as all consuming as megaprojects
Saltern - Northshore Saltern Expansion (0/3), Southshore Saltern Expansion (0/3). Each {S} committed consumes 3 Econ and 3 Tech for 3 Progress. Completion gives additional Wealth and every 2 salterns or expansions increases the per turn Wealth by +1
Aqueduct - Stonepen (0/3), Hatmouth (0/3), Valleyguard (2/3). Each {S} committed consumes 3 Econ for 3 Progress. Completion adds +1 Econ Expansion, can allow for the formation of another True City, and decreases disease roll penalty for True Cities
Bath - Any city with an aqueduct may have a bath. Each {S} committed consumes 3 Wealth and 3 Tech for 3 Progress, and then ties up 1 Sustainable Forest once complete. Completion adds +1 Econ Expansion and decreases disease roll penalty for True Cities further
Temple - Progress listed below, each {S} committed consumes 3 Econ and 3 Culture for 3 Progress. Completion increases Religious Authority
Observatory - Certain temples can have astrological observatories, with each {S} committed consuming 3 Econ and 3 Mysticism for 3 Progress
Governor's Palace - Every palace lowers Min. Centralization by 0.5 and adds +1 to max interconnectivity, Temp Econ damage resistance, and adds +1 to max Martial, but also reduces Max. Centralization by 1 and can serve as the core of a breakaway state in a civil war. Each {S} costs 3 Econ and 3 Culture and produces 3 Progress
Library - Any location with a temple and/or True City status can have a library, with each {S} committed consuming 3 Culture and 3 Mysticism for 3 progress. Completion grants Mysticism, every 2 libraries past the first increases the Mysticism refund by 1. Sacred Forest (0/3), Redshore (0/3), Redhills (0/3), Stallionpen (0/3)
Colossal Walls - True Cities can support truly gigantic walls. Each {S} committed consumes 3 Econ and 1 Martial for 3 Progress. Valleyhome (0/9), Sacred Forest (0/9), Blackmouth (0/9)
Block Housing - Multilevel housing that allows for many, many people to be stuffed into a small area. Can only be built in locations with sufficient shipping to bring in enough external food to keep the locations fed, but can allow for Level 2 infrastructure to be built. Block Housing increases the city's EE limit by 5, but decreases the limit for cities without Block Housing by 4. Each Block Housing also increases the Econ tax of a True City by 1. Every {S} cost 3 Econ and 3 Tech for 3 progress. Redshore (0/3), Blackmouth (0/3)
Ironworks [Guild] - Huge, centralized centers of iron production, these facilities make high quality iron tools cheaper and more widely available. Every facility adds +1 Econ, -1 EE, -1 Tech to the Expand Economy action. Every {S} cost 3 Econ and 3 Tech for 3 progress, and completed Ironworks also consume an additional 2 sustainable forest. Valleyhome (0/3), Redshore (0/3), Redhills (Wonder), Blackmouth (0/3)

Palace Annex - Can construct additional palace annexes, with each {S} committed consuming 2 Econ and 2 Culture for a new annex (11/15)
-Great Hall Expansion
-Shrine
-Library
-Gardens
-Storehouse
-Arsenal
-Fortifications
-Stables

Reminder: 2 {S} applied to the same project = 1 {M}
Additionally: 2 Mains may have non-linear effects

Mega-Projects - Mega-Projects can require many generations to complete, take an unknown amount of time to do so, and drain Econ while active, but can produce massive benefits once complete. Once chosen, the occupy the Main Focus slot until either completed or stopped early. Early stopping once started does not refund any of the investments and increases social strife. To reduce confusion, mega-projects are not listed as part of the voting project list and must be "written-in".
Academy - There have been some suggestions that the way that the elite are trained could be improved, to the benefit of all who appreciate learning. (3-5? action commitment, -2 Culture and Mysticism per action, 0/1 Econ commitment)
Great Dam - The river can run wild and dangerous when the rains come strong, but could it not be controlled by the same principles by which the water on the hills is channelled and contained, merely on a larger scale? (4-6? action commitment, -2 Econ per action)
Great Library - The libraries thus far are fine, but with many of them and one on a port location, the possibility of an even larger library where everything might be stored presents itself (5-7? action commitment, -3 Mysticism and Culture per action, 0/2 Econ commitment)
Triangle Canal - There is land in the north where the soil is mostly clay and can be cut efficiently, allowing for a great canal to be cut between the two forks of the Black River, from which smaller irrigation canals can be built to water the land of the Stallions, massively increasing the available well watered land (8-11? action commitment, -3 Econ and -1 Tech per action)

[Stewards] special kicker: Pay 1 Stability to double the effort on a megaproject action, consuming twice the required per turn resources but advancing the job faster. If taking a second main action on a megaproject, requires additional Stability payment to double that as well.

One Main and Four Secondary actions, and Two Main [Guild] action. Require at least a Secondary War Mission against the Pirate Clans

[] Art Patronage
[] Black Soil
[] Build Chariots
[] Build Docks
[] Build Glassworks
[] Build Mills
[] Build Porcelain Works
[] Build Theatre
[] Build Wall
[] Build Watchtowers
[] Change Policy
[] Develop Intrigue Web
[] Distribute Land
[] Efficient Charcoal Kilns
[] Enforce Justice
[] Expand Economy
[] Expand Forests
[] Expand Snail Cultivation
[] Expand Vineyard
[] Hunt Troublemakers
[] Found Colony
[] Found Free City
[] Found Mercenary Company
[] Found Trading Post
[] Influence Subordinate
[] Integrate Colony
[] Integrate March
[] Integrate Vassal
[] Invite to Games
[] Improve Annual Festival
[] Launch Intrigue Mission
[] More Blackbirds
[] More Carrion Eaters
[] More Spiritbonded
[] More Warships
[] New Settlement
[] New Trails
[] Plant Cotton
[] Plant Hemp
[] Plant Poppies
[] Proclaim Glory
[] Raise Army
[] Restore Order
[] Retraining
[] Sailing Mission
[] Salt Gift
[] Study Alchemy
[] Study Health
[] Study Metal
[] Study Stars
[] Survey Lands
[] Support Artisans
[] Support Subordinate
[] Support Faction
[] Suppress Faction
[] Terrify
[] Trade Mission
-Target Options: Highland Kingdom, Thunder Speakers, Lowland Minors, Tin Tribes, Trelli, Swamp Folk, Renegade Kingdoms, Storm Tribes, Northern Nomads, Mountain Horse, Into the Wild (Eastern Sea), Into the Wild, Khemetri
[] War Mission
-Target Options: Northern Nomads, Eastern Nomads, Storm Tribes, Pirate Clans

Provinces for Projects: Redvalley (C) (Valleyhome+Redhills), Sacred Shore (9/9) (Redshore+Sacred Forest), Inner Forest (0/9), Upper Hillhome (0/9) Stoneshore (0/9) (Stonepen + Northshore), Hatshore (0/9) (Southshore+ Hatriver), Blackiron Province (9/9) (Blackriver+Ironshore), Hatvalley (0/9), Stallion Province (0/9), Valleyguard Province (0/9), Vinehills (0/9), Eastern Steppewatch (0/9), Western Steppewatch (0/9), Porthills (0/9)

Major Holy Sites: Rainbow Trail (0/3), Sacred Forest (Temple 0/12), Holy Sea (0/3), Horse Valley (0/6) [Build Observatory 0/3], White Circle (0/3), Warrior's Rest (0/3), Star Mirror (0/3), Sunrise Grove (0/3), Skyforest (0/3), Bloodgrove (0/3), Spiritwell (0/3), Moonwell (0/3), Sparkling Cave (0/3), Great Gallery (0/3), Ancestors Grave (0/3), Ox Rest (0/3), Dragon Graveyard (0/12)

Spoiler: Faction Quests

Patricians (5*) - Power: Add or subtract their faction power from factions they are supporting/opposing. Objective: Have Light cavalry above 3 within 2 turns. Success: Free equestrian tech
Guild (6) - Power: Half faction power added to Max Wealth. Objective: Have a Level 2 Ironworks within 3 turns. Success: Free random megaproject AN: Yes, an entire megaproject, in a single turn, no charge
Traders (2*) - Objective: Build a silver or gold mine within 2 turns. Failure: -5 Wealth [0/2]
Yeomen (3* {-2})- Objective: Finish internal reorg within 2 turns. Success: Half current EE converted to Econ, Failure: -2 Econ
Priests (3)- Objective: Have maximum Econ within 3 turns. Success: Free Spiritual Value slot
Urban Poor (3*) - Build 1 more baths within 2 turns. Success: Urban Plague status removed early. Failure: Patricians and Guilds -1 Power, Yeomen +1 Power
These counters iterate at the next mid-turn. The numbers in brackets indicate the general faction strength.

Astrological Prediction: Investing today improves the reward tomorrow (58)

 

[Dutch]

And I'm done. What am I doing to myself. Fuck my Life.

A minimum of 60+ Kings and 2K words.

Timeskips and figuring out the unnamed kings that were different from each other were a bitch. Bound to have some errors in it due to that though.

Edit:

Up to date till: Labour of Fire

Inspired by:

Like most cultures: reigns of kings.

Click to shrink...

• Tribal Council
• Unnamed Chief of Chiefs (Chief of Chiefs/Big man) - Created the Title.
• Unnamed Chief of Chiefs (Chief of Chiefs/Big man) - Created Irrigation, Successor to the first Chief of Chiefs.
• Unknown number of Big men.
• Ashryn the Proud (Chief of Chiefs/Big Man) - Rival of Crow
• Unknown Chief of Chiefs (Chief of Chiefs/Big Man) - Met and offered Friendship to the Traders, Successor to Ashryn.
• Unknown number of Big men.
• Cwyrl (Chief of Chiefs/Big Man) - Son of Ashryn and Myta(n).
• Unnamed Chief of Chiefs (Chief of Chiefs/Big Man) - Successor to Cwyrl, Skilled in administration, Reigned during the Great Drought, met the Sea People.
• Ferfthyn the Wise (Chief of Chiefs/Big Man) - (Might be the the successor to Cwyrl mentioned above) - Organized the expedition to the Sea People that Dwthwyr was part of.
• Unknown number of Big men.
• Unknown Chief (Chief of Chiefs/Big Man) - Reigned during the debate to merge the Three Tribes.
• Unknown High Chief (High Chief) - (Unknown if this is the same person as the previous Chief) - Reigned during the integration of the Three Tribes, the Great Flood and the First Weather Disturbance, Created the First Holy Site.
• Unknown number of High Chiefs.
• Unknown High Chief (High Chief) - Created Taboo of the Dead, Met with Nishiphur of the Lowlanders Settlers.
• Unknown number of High Chiefs.
• Unknown High Chief (High Chief) - Reigned during the integration of the Lowland Tribe and the youth of Gwygoytha.
• Unknown High Chief (High Chief) - Made Gwygoytha his heir.
• Gwygoytha (High Chief) - Daughter of Dwthwyr and Zinabba, Pupil of Crow, a Roaring Flame.
• Yhirlin/Yhirlyn (High Chief) - Son of Gwygoytha, An able leader with a stable rule.
• Fthgoya (High Chief) - Daughter of Yhirlin/Yhirlyn, Ruled during the start of the Forest Blight Crisis.
• Unknown High Chief (High Chief) - Not of the line of Gwygoytha, Combated the Blight.
• Unknown High Chief (High Chief) - (Might be the same High Chief as the above one) - Combated the Blight, made contact with the Western Confederacy
• Unknown High Chief (High Chief) - Led the People when the Blight was fought into the 3rd generation and solved, met with Patrikwos of the Storm Clan, led the people during the war with the Storm Clan.
• Unknown amount of High Chiefs.
• Unknown High Chief (High Chief) - (Might be the High Chief above) - Sent the trader Mythwyn and Shaman Dellgynna to make contact with the Spirit Talkers, Fought the Storm Clan until the death of Patrikwos. Accepted one of Patrikwos' sons as part of the People.
• Unknown High Chief (High Chief) - Noticed corruption of lower chiefs and confronted them, created the Blackbirds.
• Unknown High Chief (High Chief) - Ordered the exploration of the Lowlands, learned of the Wall of Skulls.
• Unknown amount of (incompetent) High Chiefs.
• Unknown High Chief (High Chief) - A warrior that wanted his son to become heir, managed to get the lower Chiefs in line through treat of violence, gave the shamans a vote in the election, died of a broken heart after his son's death.
• Hewthyun (High Chief) - Administratively competent compated to the previous High Chiefs. Met the Thunder Horse Tribe and their leader Wendtikwos, Ruled during the creation of the Star Axe and unleased the Thunder Horse on the Lowlands, Reformed the election system, Had a mind for numbers, Started building the Canal, Ruled during the death of Wendtikwos, Went Senile.
• Unknown amount of High Chiefs.
• Unknown High Chief (High Chief) - Integrated several members of the Thunder Horse that were left behind.
• Unknown amount of High Chiefs.
• Unknown High Chief (High Chief) - (Might be the successor to the High Chief mentioned above) - Completed the Canal, Fought the Nomads, Started Scourge Warding practices,
• Bynwyn (High Chief) - Former Spirit Chief, Invented Scourge Warding practices, Fought the Nomads, Fought a magic battle with the Spirit Talkers. Saw the death of the Spirit Talkers, the Splintering of the Western Confederacy and birth of the Highland Kingdom.
• Twythulmyn (King) - First King of the People. Completed the Sacred Warding Project, Saw the Foundation of what would be the Thunder Speakers, Made contact with the Metal Workers, Saw the Morning Star comet and was prepared to sacrifice himself to talk to the Gods.
• Two Unknown Kings noted for their old age and quick passing.
• Unknown King (King) - Fourth King of the People, King during Noxivah's flight to the people, Changed the writing system.
• Unknown King - Fifth King of the People, integrated the northern fishing villages
• Unknown amount of Kings.
• Unknown King (King) - (Might be the King mentioned above) Cracked down on the corruption of the lower Chiefs, fought the Nomads
• Unknown King (King) - (Might be the King mentioned above) - Fought the Nomads, Started tradition of Appealing to the King, Started Tax Reform.
• Unknown King (King) - Continued the Tax Reform, Saw the Rise of Cwriid the Young Stallion and the Stallion Tribes, Began creating the First Law.
• Unknown amount of Kings.
• Unknown King (King) - Subbed Cwriid by not choosing him as Heir, Stopped trading with both the Thunderhorse and Highland Kingdom, Continued Tax Reforms.
• Unknown King (King) - Was elected instead of Cwriid, Decided who should mine and smelt ores, Continued Tax Reforms.
• Unknown King (King) - (Might be the King mentioned above) - Finished the First Law, Snubbed Patryn the New Stallion, (Might have scared the Highlanders with the Law)
• Unknown King (King) - Was elected instead of Patryn, (Might have scared the Highlanders with the Law).
• Unkown King (King) - (Might be the King mentioned above) - Failed to fix the Tax Crisis, Simplified the Tax System, sent an expedition to find a meteor and found Star Metal, orderd the Star Metal studied.
• Unknown amount of Kings.
• Unknown King (King) - (Might be the King mentioned above) - Ruled during the Great Plague (Cholera) and the discovery of the cure, surveyed the land for more metals, Shared the cure and received grateful Xohyssiri and the Book of the Living.
• Unknown King (King) - Ordered the creation of the first Saltern, ordered the creation of the First Aquaduct, sent an expedition to Xohyr.
• Unknown amount of Kings.
• Unknown King (King) - King during the Coughing Plague, Ruled during the completion of the First Aquaduct and the rise of the believe of cursed metal.
• Magwyna (King) - Increased infrastructure in the north, Organized the first Great Salt Gift, Created a Harem, Created the first index system for records, Ruled during the first Golden Age.
• Yehlmyn (King) - Son of Magwyna and Yldod(?), Expanded the indexing system, fought with the Thunder Speakers, faced renewed pressure of the Nomads, Ruled during the subjugation of Xohyr by the Thunder Horse, Judged Dormthun and started the Iron Smelting event chain, Ruled during and ended the first Golden Age.
• Unknown King (King) - Not of the line of Magwyna, Ruled during the Great Nomad Invasion and the Fey Mood.
• Unknown number of Kings.
• Unknown King (King) - (Might be the King mentioned above) - Ruled during the aftermath of the Fey Mood and recovery, created the first Sanatorium.
• Unkown King (King) - Visited the sanatorium because of headache complaints, Rule during the Second Nomad Invasion and the First Famine, supervised the creation of the first iron tools.
• Unknown amount of Kings (King)
• Unknown King (King) - (Might be the King mentioned above) - Started the metal debate, managed the rollout of iron tools and weapons, organized a meeting with a caravan of people from the Far East, Ruled during the creation of Western Wall.
• Unknown King (King) - Increased Iron production, dealt with the White Calf issue and Hathatyn incusions, Made a trade ageement with Xohyr.
• Unknown King (King) - (Might be the King mentioned above) - Continued the metal debate and the research of metal in general, Questioned the Sacred Warding, Ruled during the mass murder of nomads and the during the moment Vallyhome became a True City.
• Unknown King (King) - Started creation of the Great Temple, reformed the adoption system, dealt with the independent raid on the Highlands.
• Unkown King (King) - Created the Guids and reformed the voting system to include guilds, Decided on the Great Temple interior and the nature of Crow.
• Unknown King (King) - Organized a disasterous festival, ruled on the practice of lumping and splitting Guilds, Ruled during the start of the Hathatyn collapse.
• Gonwyllmyn (King) - Annexed a large part of Hathatyn, founded Hatriver, made Western Wall a Colony, Befriended the Eastern Nomads, Repaired the Great Temple, Finished the Great Temple, started the creation of the first Library, Created the Greenshore Trade Post, dealt with abuse of slitting an lumping, Ruled during the opening of the Hell Pit and the formation of the Xohyssiri Empire.
• Unknown King (King) - Died shortly after Gonwyllmyn.
• Rulhuthyn (King) - Enlarged the army, Defended the people from a Nomad Invasion, Completed the Library, Introduced currency, regulated horse riding, discovered Trelli, Crushed the Hathatyn.
• Rulwyna (King) - Daughter of Rulhuthyn and Lolwyna, Fought the Hathatyn, Finished her mothers alchemical theories and used them to creater her powerbase, Founded the Red Banner, Signed peace with the Hathatyn, Formed the Triumvirate with Ynarthyn and Sobtuthyn, Ruled during the start of the Climate Instability and made the Ymaryn King of the Hill, Secured the independence of the Thunder Speakers, Introduced mills into the Kingdom, made contact with the Khemetri, increased dye types, Created the foundation to ride out the Climate Instability and save the Great Forest, Reformed the Administration, Ruled against the cycle of Spiritual Superiority.
• Phygrif the Conquerer (King) - Turned Hatvalley into a Colony, Waged war on the Xohyssiri Empire, vassalized the Lowlands, Neglected the Kingdom, Presided over the completion of the Great Forest Renewal, Burned Xohyr, Ended the Xohyssiri, Ruled during the discovery of the Dragon's Graveyard, Fought against the Highlanders.
• Unknown number of Kings.
• Unknown King (King) - Reformed the law, Invested heavily in Trails, Organized the Great Religious Debate, Worked on integrating the Lowlands, Fought against the Highlanders
• Unknown King (King) - Started construction of the Palace and studied the Dragon's Graveyard.
• Unknown number of Kings.
• Unknown King (King) - (Might be the King mentioned above) - Admitted his wrongs and ruled during the end of the Climate Instability, Founded Tin River Trade Post.
• Unknown King (King) - (Might be the King mentioned above) - Ruled during the completion of the Palace and the Trelli expansion, Converted Txolla into a Colony, invested in what would become trip hammers.
• Unknown King (King) - Did the the Census, Ruled during an uptick of independence sentiment.
• Unknown King (King) - (Might be the King mentioned above) - Made contact with the Lightning Wolves and attempted to bribe their leader, Rahullinar.
• Unknown King (King) - Created the Second Law, Ruled on Taxes and the Sale of Food.
• Desdydyn the Wise (King) - Developed Shipping and mining, Ruled during the Great War with the Khemetri and made peace, Found out that the Highlanders had access to Iron, Encouraged progress in metalworking, Recruited Yenyna the Dragon who founded the Dragon Banner, integrated the Stallion Tribes,
• Unknown King (King) - Founded the Games, Organized the International Games.
• Hertythn (King) - Traded the Sacred Warding for Predictive Astrology, Cracked Down on the sale of unfinished Iron products, Ruled during a time when the people developed an obsession for their Enemies, Cracked down on Pirates, Listened to Tormulyna's prophecy, Vassalized the Thunder Horse and Thunder Speakers, Advanced Math enormously, Completed the Grand Docks, Worked on A Place to the Stars.
• Yshuyn (King) - Completed the Observatory, Warned everyone about the Great Drought, Started the Trelli War with is intervention, Ruled During a Golden Age of Progress, Went mad with Grief, Made peace with the Trelli, Sponsored the Artisan Games.
• Unknown King (King) - Kept sponsoring the Artisan Games and Finished Organizing it, Patronaged various Artisans like Klurkyn the Skilled, Ignored Qybrkyn the Prophet.
• Unknown King (King) - Ruled during the start of the Second Son Crisis and End of the Golden Age, Made contact with the "Shadow King Network", Instituted Land Reform, Founded the Spirit Bonded, Ruled during the start of the Great Plague, Organized a debate on Mylathadysm.
• Unknown King (King) - Ruled during a flare-up of Plagues and at the Start of the Liquidity Crisis, Fought against Pirates, Debased Currency.
• Unknown King (King) - Denounced the Second Sons like his Predecessors, Ruled during a Gilden Age and the Creation of the Western Ymaryn, Organized the Grain Dole, Accepted Mylathadysm, Ruled during the selfmade famine and the Trelli Implosion.
• Unknown King (King) - (Might be the King mentioned above) - Started the Myranyn Reforms, Reformed the Subordinate System, Aided Freehills in their war against Trelli, Founded the Blood Rain Banner and Brokered Peace between the Trelli and Freehills.
• Myranyn (King) - Brain behind the Myranyn Reforms, Fought Pirates, Created the Redshore Ironworks.

 

[Chehrazad]

yo
No, no don't run! No one is getting infracted this time! I'm here to alert you of a phenomenon which often surfaces during large quests, that of mass quoting large amounts of posters to inform them to switch their votes. This can get quite annoying although it doesn't rise to infractionable levels. It might, however incur a warning for marginal behaviour, and the thread banner has been updated to reflect this.

Have a good day!

 

[Academia Nut]

[X][Crisis] Bring them back in with the fighting (Change Tinriver from Trading Post to Colony, will claim additional territory when fighting pirates, -1 Legitimacy)
[X][Main] Proclaim Glory (-6 Culture, -2 Econ, +1 Legitimacy, +2 Stability, +1 Prestige)
[X][Secondary] War Mission - Pirate Clans
[X][Secondary] Ironworks – Redshore (-3 Econ and Tech)
[X][Secondary] Invite to Games – Freehills (-1 Diplo)
[X][Secondary] Enforce Justice (1 Stability, +1-3 Centralization)
[X][Guild] Efficient Charcoal Kilns (-2 Econ & Wealth, -1 Tech, -3 Sustainable Forest used, other effects)
[X][Guild] Build Porcelain Works (-2 Econ, -2 Tech, 1 sustainable forest, +2 Wealth, +3 Culture, increased chance of innovations x2)

Provinces – [Main] Expand Econ, [Sec] Survey, [Sec] Study Alchemy (-2 Mysticism, -3 Wealth, +1 Tech, potential new discoveries x2), [Sec] Study Stars (-1 Wealth, +1 Mysticism, gives mid-turn astrological predictions), [Sec] Build Mills (-3 Wealth, -1 Tech, +3 Econ, potential for innovation x2)
Policies - Sacred Forest Baths (3/3), Redshore Block Housing (3/3), Significant Walls (28/58)
FC – Redshore (Skullduggery, -2 Diplo, +1 Intrigue), Redhills (City Support)
Heaven's Hawk – [Sec] Survey, [Sec] Trade Mission – Into the Wild (East)
Western Wall – [Main] Expand Econ, [Sec] Expand Forests
Gulvalley – [Main] New Settlement, [Sec] Survey
Greenshore – [Main] Expand Econ, [Sec] Raise Army, [Sec] War Mission – Pirate Clans
Tinriver – [Main] War Mission – Pirate Clans
Txolla – [Main] New Settlement, [Sec] Watchtowers
Thunder Speakers – [Main] New Settlement
Thunder Horse – [Main] New Settlement
Amber Road – [Main] War Mission – Hostile Tribes

Religious Settlement - Northern Boundary Hills

The clang of the hammer was a constant in Gaisyn's life, the water wheel driven hammer raising up and falling down in a steady rhythm, the heartbeat of his world. A senior apprentice, one of his primary duties was to take blooms and billets of metal and pound out the slag using the relentless energy of Snycruv River, the activity as much a mystical meditation as a practical. There was a beat to all things, and by learning it, one could become attuned to the world, to the iron in the billet, hammer, and anvil, one could become a better smith. Other duties involved directing the junior apprentices at the bellows, preparing the charcoal, and swinging a sledge for the journeymen and occasionally one of the masters when they were working on something that required a bit more precision that the trip hammers.

When he had first started at it, Gaisyn had known that smiths were a special lot, but he had soon learned just how magical they were. There was a tremendous skill involved in it all, in the knowledge of what colours of flame at what stages of the process produced the best result being one of the trickiest, most mystical, and most critical pieces. However, as his tutelage had shown him even the type of charcoal used was of unexpected importance. Hard, crumbly, and powdered all had their correct usages, with incorrect application bringing poor results. Further than that, the source of the char had effects, imbuing some of the qualities of the source into the piece, but only if done correctly. Sometimes you wanted the ferocity of wolves or bears, and sometimes you wanted the sturdiness of a hardwood. More than that, just because a charcoal had a particular source did not mean that the properties you wanted from that source would simply be imbued by association. The magic of smithing was a complex one, hence the long apprenticeship and great difficulty in moving from apprentice to master.

Of course, the king and the nobs on top had decided that the amount of quality iron in the world was insufficient and had been constructing a whole new artisan quarter in Redshore, massively increasing the facilities for blacksmiths and potters to create goods of value, along with enormous blocks of housing to hold them and great brick kilns to transform wood and bone to the charcoal that fed the forges and kilns of all these new artisans. Gaisyn himself might not have got his apprenticeship had these projects not started at the right time for the master of the forge to decide to take on three new apprentices instead of two. His family... well, he was just glad that the new artisan housing blocks were so available. He had a room on the sixth floor pretty much to himself, and while some days that was a major pain to hike up after working the forge, it was quiet enough that he could hear the ring of the hammer in his head and keep time with it.

Also, by not paying the premium for the lower floors, he could afford to go to the good baths more often. The artisan baths were okay, but given the amount of char, ash, and soot impregnated sweat working in the district produced, the waters in them were always at least a bit grey, and if you went at the wrong time they had a consistency more comparable to the more viscous body fluids. No, better to save some silver on housing and be able to go to the private baths with the exotic northern tribal bath attendants. While their skin was too pale to ever be considered high class, a few of them had natural blonde hair, which was just too fascinating not to want to get to see up close. There were even rumours that up in Amber Road the occasional natural redhead had been seen among the tribes, which was just so fantastical and wild that it seemed impossible.

Gaisyn's thoughts about possibly going to his favourite bath after his shift were interrupted by the distinct voice of Master Hygrallyn calling out for him. Starting, he immediately checked his current bit of work, but found that he hadn't made any sort of mistakes in his daydreaming. Instead, he carefully set his current work aside and went over to where the master was standing, a man in priest's robes with bright, multi-coloured sashes over the white cotton next to him.

"Gaisyn, I've got a special project for you. I'd like you to meet Master Alchemist Fythulwyn, who has made a request of some of our more specialized skills," Hygrallyn explained, causing Gaisyn to bow respectfully to the powerful magician.

"Well met Master Fythulwyn," Gaisyn said respectfully.

"Well met apprentice. As I understand it, you are a most skilled fire tender," Fythulwyn began, more stating something he already knew than asking for confirmation.

"I, ah, yes? Master, I-" Gaisyn began, only to be cut off by a casually raised hand from the master smith.

"The best fire tenders are senior apprentices. The journeymen and masters here may be better at knowing fire, but their skills at actually tending it will degrade from developing skills with a hammer and from getting apprentices to do it for them," Hygrallyn explained confidently, although Gaisyn couldn't help but feel a little unease. He had the strangest feeling that the situation wasn't quite like that.

At the close of day, a very dirty and tired Gaisyn found himself in one of the upscale bathhouses, the one where you got a private heated room with a Hospitality Guild trained attendant, ordering a large jug of wine and a skilled masseuse with the rewards for his efforts. Very shortly after he was relaxing in one private bath of porcelain tile lined brick, the small fire beneath it getting it hot enough to almost be uncomfortable, while the very attractive and verging on matronly woman who the host had assigned to him helped him to scrub the grime off his body and knead the knots out of his muscles.

"Ugh... I think my guild is trying to kill me," Gaisyn complained even as the tension left him.

"Now, now, many young men complain about such things," the woman - Darsyna, that was it! - chided even as she squeezed the sooty water from her sponge and rewet it from a bucket of cooler water.

"Yeah, but my guild master, today he had me work the firebox of some weird alchemist contraption. I had to keep it almost to point of gutting out for half the day, scrambling to keep it fed with coal and air and to shovel out the ashes, but to never let the glow get greater bright than a dull carmine. Which is bad, but its also not having some maniac of a priest randomly shouting 'wait, don't breath for a few heartbeats!' because his demonic contraption just had some sort of hiccup and spewed poison everywhere! Gah, I know that I was picked because I had just the right combination of talent and expendibility - I can shovel the char like a smith, but if I go mad from the fumes it won't matter," Gaisyn groused as he poured out a cup of wine.

So engrossed, Gaisyn did not see Darsyna raise an eyebrow, although he did hear her curious, "Really?"

"Yeah, something about quicksilver and gold. I was excited by the gold bit, but once they started explaining the quicksilver..." Gaisyn shuddered at remembrance of the warnings. "As best I can tell, the contraption is some royal alchemist building a bigger version of some newfangled thing that combines and then separates gold and mercury, and collects them in two different places... I dunno, didn't make any sense."

"Some might say that the magic of the smiths doesn't make sense, to separate stone into metal and vitriol," Darsyna noted as she began to lather her sponge from a bar of soap.

Gaisyn mulled that for a moment before he said, "We don't really work with the vitriol, it comes from the leftover stuff from turning ore to iron when it sits in water, but I suppose you have a point there. Still, quicksilver. Crazy. Like, it apparently literally makes you mad if you inhale the fumes too much. I got some spells of warding, but that mad alchemist definitely got more."

"And they do this in the city?" Darysna asked.

"Not sure if its going to stay there, but, yeah, obviously it was in the artisan district," Gaisyn explained.

Darsyna hummed to herself for a moment before she asked, "While I have the soap out, would you care for a shave?"

"Oh, that would be nice. Ugh... don't even want to think if there might be anything clinging to my hair," Gaisyn noted.

"Excellent. Would you care for full service?" Darsyna asked conspiratorially.

"Full service?" Gaisyn asked with a flush to his cheeks not from the bath. This was not his first time to the baths, but he had never had such a pretty or skilled attendant before.

Grinning conspiratorially, Darsyna said, "I have a very delicate touch, so you will be in good hands."

"Well then... how can I say no?" Gaisyn asked cheerily, pouring himself another cup.

"Perfect. Now, why don't you tell me more about your day?" Darsyna said.

About a season later, King Myranyn received a report that essentially went, "So Redshore is almost ready to riot over the new artisan district. Turns out many citizens now think all the new smiths and alchemists are dumping poisons into the water... and they might not be wrong. The smiths are upstream for their waterwheels, the charcoal kilns are next to them, and the porcelain kilns are next to them, and it could all be winding up in the drinking water. They're also complaining about the soot and char and the baths being inadequate for all the dirty workers from the new developments."

The king groaned at that and asked, "So is there any way to head this off?"

"Build a second aqueduct, basically. They want one set for drinking water, and one set for the waterwheels and waste disposal," the advisor explained.

"That's... surprisingly sensible," Myranyn noted, somewhat in awe of the fact that he wasn't dealing with raw stupidity.

"Local leaders caught wind of the rumours early and started talking with the mayor and priests about the issue - part of the incitement was that prototype alembic of Fythulwyn's, and he built it where it was because he wanted good smiths on hand while he worked out the kinks and didn't want to risk damage by moving it, and in his last report he said that he was ready to build a new one where the ore actually is - and they started circulating potential solutions alongside the rumours," the advisor explained.

"Huh. Good on them," Myranyn noted. He then glanced at the scrolls containing some of his other reports and said, "Ah, if only all my subordinates could be so proactive."

"I take it the fighting against the pirates continues to go poorly?" The man asked.

Sighing, the king nodded and said, "At the very least the pirates remain disorganized."

Reaction (Note: Build Aqueduct - Redshore will prevent Stability loss. Any other options allow 1 Stability damage to occur, and 2 Econ to head off to the Western Ymaryn)
[] [React] Build Aqueduct - Redshore (2x-3 Econ)
[] [React] Main Raise Army
[] [React] Sec More Spiritbonded + Sec Raise Army
[] [React] Sec More Warships + Sec Raise Army
[] [React] Main Build Mills
[] [React] Main Build Docks

Personal Stewards
[] [PSN] Sec Expand Econ (-1 Centralization, -5 EE, -1 Tech, +5 Econ)
[] [PSN] Main Expand Econ (-2 Centralization, -10 EE, -1x2 Tech, +10 Econ)
[] [PSN] Sec Gold Mine (-1 Centralization, -3 Econ, -1 EE, -2 Tech, +8 Wealth, trade good, gold mine)
[] [PSN] Main Gold Mine (-2 Centralization, -4 Econ, -1 EE, -3 Tech, +11 Wealth, trade good, gold mine)
[] [PSN] Sec Expand Forest (-1 Centralization + Cost)
[] [PSN] Main Expand Forest (-2 Centralization + Cost)
[] [PSN] Sec Expand Vineyard (-1 Centralization + Cost)
[] [PSN] Main Expand Vineyard (-2 Centralization + Cost)

Astrological Prediction: Those who help those in need will find themselves aided (90)

AN: This update got away from me, so cut off here and do diplo stuff later. I will update the front page tomorrow morning

 

[Academia Nut]

[X][React] Build Aqueduct - Redshore (2x-3 Econ)
[X][PSN] Main Expand Econ (-2 Centralization, -10 EE, -1x2 Tech, +10 Econ)

Myranyn was most displeased with the reports coming out of the far west. His grand reforms had become something of a laughing-stock, given that the new Banner Company raised at his urgings had been absolutely ravaged by the pirate clans, leaving him in a rather poor position politically, given that he defanged the rural militias by promising that there would always be a core of professional warriors at the ready to pounce upon enemies in the period between the beginning of a conflict and the mustering of the levies, only for his vaunted companies to either be away on foreign ventures or losing badly. There were growing concerns and fearful whispers that with the militias so depleted and the Banner Companies far from the core, the enemies of the People would surely pounce. Given that there were dark rumours that the trade mission the Heaven's Horse had sent out to the east out of concern for gathering danger had been wiped out by the Mountain Horse...

Still, despite all of that, as king Myranyn knew very well the sort of power he now held. With a few words he could begin a mass levy and arming action, drawing upon the reserves of equipment stockpiled in palaces and fortifications to rapidly turn tens, possibly hundreds in the future, of thousands of men into warriors able to saturate a battlefield in bolts. Sadly, his peers didn't entirely agree, and there was already a major push in the council to begin freeing up funds to expand the Spiritbonded.

Myranyn Reforms Result: Mass Levy Active Policy
Mass Levy - While this policy is active, the sum of Econ + Wealth + (Sum of Ironworks Levels) x2 added to Temp Martial Score one combat phase after policy activated, but Expand Econ and most Wealth generating actions disabled while this policy active. Otherwise acts as the Offensive Policy

Spoiler: Faction Quests

Patricians (5*) - Power: Add or subtract their faction power from factions they are supporting/opposing. Objective: Have Light cavalry at or above 3 within 1 turns. Success: Free equestrian tech
Guild (6) - Power: Half faction power added to Max Wealth. Objective: Have a Level 2 Ironworks within 2 turns. Success: Free random megaproject, no faction power increase
Traders (2*) - Objective: Build a silver or gold mine within 1 turns. Failure: -5 Wealth [0/2]
Yeomen (2* {-3})- Objective: Have a new province within 3 turns. Success: Free Random Plant [Good] action [0/2]
Priests (3)- Objective: Have maximum Econ within 2 turns. Success: Free Spiritual Value slot
Urban Poor (4) - Power: +1 Max Legitimacy every 3 full power. Objective: Have a Level 2 market and a Level 1 market in another city within 3 turns. Success: Grand Bazaar Megaproject completion, no faction power increase
These counters iterate at the next mid-turn. The numbers in brackets indicate the general faction strength.

Warning: The Patricians have decided that they are not failing their quest. They're proud like that, expect repeat performances.

Fortunately, that probably wouldn't be necessary. While the pirates clans had made laughingstocks of him through repeatedly handing embarrassing defeats to the Blood Rain Banner, Tinriver had basically devoured their land holdings, leaving them with no safe spaces to strike from along the coast. While some were certainly taking up the way of the bandit and raider, their ability to sea trade was over... of course their damned pirate 'king' had decided to go down swinging. Whether or not he had survived the battle was unknown - rumour had it he had and then went to sell his services to the Trelli in their conflicts to the south in the Saffron Isles - but he had crippled much of the remaining warships of the People. The Trelli were taking advantage of this by charging 'tolls' to protect shipping, and with no warships to contest them...

Technically they were providing an actual service, but it was enough that if Myranyn really wanted to he could declare war over it. It would be profoundly stupid until they had a navy once more, but the option was there for future kings. Of course, if they had a navy worth a damn the Trelli would surely back off anyway.

In other news, the new charcoal kilns in Redshore were causing quite the stir, in that they were disrupting the production of black soil regionally. The kilns had such a high demand for fuel that they were outcompeting the latrine pits for forest debris. While the city itself produced a considerable amount of black soil from all of its waste production, there was overall a subtle shift in attitudes locally. The kiln workers saw themselves as artisans and guildsmen, performing a skilled trade, and they loudly objected to in any way being compared to half-exiles. Somewhat similarly, while the urban leatherworkers were also an artisan guild, they were not appreciative of being mistaken for half-exiles - although the half-exiles did do the work of collecting all of the exceedingly unpleasant materials required for the curing process, so the comparison wasn't entirely unfair. Still, the issue was starting to bubble up, and as king Myranyn should probably make some sort of proclamation on it.

What to do about dirty artisans and half-exiles?
[] [Art] Do charcoalers and the like really need to be experts? (Efficient Charcoal Kilns become cheaper, no longer considered Guild actions, ???)
[] [Art] Ignore it (Black Soil production gains an additional Wealth cost)
[] [Art] Sanitation is too important not to entrust to experts! (Several actions gain or increase their Tech costs, +1 Urban Poor power, ???)
[] [Art] The entire half-exile practice should be reviewed (-1 Stability, ???)

You have many new cities online, choose five more passive policies
[] [Policy] Agriculture (+1 Econ and -1 Econ Expansion/turn)
[] [Policy] Diplomacy (+1 Diplo/turn)
[] [Policy] Skullduggery (+1 Intrigue/turn, -2 Diplo)
[] [Policy] Trade (+1 Wealth/turn)
[] [Policy] Armament (+1 Martial/turn)
[] [Policy] Patronage (+1 Culture/turn)
[] [Policy] Mysticism (+1 Mysticism/turn)
[] [Policy] Industry (+1 Tech/turn)
[] [Policy] City Support (2 True Cities have their maintenance paid for each turn)
[] [Policy] Expansion (So long as there is land to expand into, +1 Econ Expansion/turn, reduces threshold to produce new provinces the longer active)
[] [Policy] Innovation (Extra 2 innovation rolls each turn, -1 Wealth)
[] [Policy] Infrastructure (+1 Free Progress to an infrastructure project (Aqueduct, governor's palace, saltern, etc.)/turn)
[] [Policy] Defence (+1 significant walls/turn)
[] [Policy] Special: Forestry (+1 Sustainable Forest and -1 Econ Expansion/2 turns)
[] [Policy] Special: Vassal Support (+1 Subordinate while active, increases Loyalty while active at less than full subordinates)

Myranyn had just about decided that he had his legacy set after decades of labour, when a most peculiar visitor arrived at the palace, escorted by border guards who had checked his credentials.

The Highlanders, of all people, had sent an envoy. It seemed the the insular kingdom had something of a problem that they were blaming on the People and demanding that something be done about it.

"Let me make sure I have this right," Myranyn said after hearing the issue at hand. "In the few trade caravans you share with us, the Harmurri, and the Khemetri, some Mylathads travelled back into your territory and began preaching. Only, your version of Crow is not just Creator but also King, and has much more authority and power among your conception of the divine than all your other gods and spirits put together, so when the Mylathads were talking about seeking Ultimate Truth, several of the converts among your people decided that your head of pantheon and the Truth were the same entity, to the point where they are proclaiming that there is only One God, One Truth. And your king was okay with because it enhanced his own power as your crown is closely tied to divine investment in the right to rule... right up until a splinter faction of these radicals decided that he was offering too many consolatory words towards the priests of other gods, and even began proclaiming that those who refuse to acknowledge their One God as the Only God are being mislead by charlatans and deceivers. And they are becoming increasingly vocal and unhinged in their beliefs and calling for violence. And your king has decided that this is our fault and is demanding some form of compensation or assistance to deal with the problem."

"That is correct," the Highland emissary stated.

"I will speak with my advisors," Myranyn said, gesturing for the emissary to leave the Great Hall while he conferred over this strange request.

"Their king must be stupidly desperate," the war chief said scoffingly.

The foreign advisor considered for a moment before he said, "Actually, it is possible that this is a probing mission. They want to know if we are eager to jump on their offer, or if we will decline. If we decline, that is a strong indicator that we are too militarily weak to offer proper aid and thus it is safe for them to pounce, while if we accept this could be the lead up to an ambush."

"That's... suspicious, even for you," Myranyn said of his advisor.

"The Highlanders are known for their intrigue, or at least they were, so they may have a better idea of our situation than we do theirs. We should be cautious," the man offers with a shrug.

The spirit chief strokes his white beard contemplatively for a moment before he says, "I am not liking the sound of these new fanatics, and I worry that if we simply leave them be they might filter into our own territory and cause trouble. Seeking the Truth is fine, but disrespecting the lesser spirits can only lead to devastation."

Thinking it over a bit more, the war chief says, "Freehills are about ready to end their contract for the Banner Companies, we could transfer their contract to the Highlanders to help take over... or..."

"Or...?" Myranyn asked.

"Well, even if they know we are a bit weak in standing warriors, they probably can't appreciate what we have in the armouries. We could send over aid, and then just keep sending aid, until we've basically occupied their territory for them, and even if they have surprises in store for us they would be powerless to resist the raw numbers," the advisor explained.

"Devious. I like. Probably not going to do it, but I like that sort of thinking," Myranyn said while mentally making a note to get the man transferred somewhere with less authority.

The Highlands Problem
[] [HK] Ignore them
[] [HK] Offer tribute to patch over the issue and improve their king's standing (Targeted Sec Salt Gift)
[] [HK] Offer to let them buy the Banner Company contracts
-[] [HK] Gold only
-[] [HK] Show goodwill (Pay upkeep costs yourself but gain Diplomacy instead for duration of hire)
[] [HK] Offer to send military aid
-[] [HK] No policy change
-[] [HK] Offensive Policy
-[] [HK] Mass Levy

 

[Ford Prefect]

What do you want to bet? I'll give you LITERALLY 100:1 odds that we will spend at least one action on extended projects in the next ten turns. I win, you donate $5 to Against Malaria Foundation. You win, I will donate $500 to it. What do you say?

Click to shrink...

what I'm all for users donating to charitable causes, but this display is baffling and totally inappropriate.

This thread keeps finding new ways to generate drama. Stop generating drama.

 

[Academia Nut]

[X][HK] Offer to let them buy the Banner Company contracts
-[X][HK] Show goodwill (Pay upkeep costs yourself but gain Diplomacy instead for duration of hire)
[X] [Art] Sanitation is too important not to entrust to experts! (Several actions gain or increase their Tech costs, +1 Urban Poor power, ???)
[X][Policy] Skullduggery (+1 Intrigue/turn, -2 Diplo)
[X][Policy] City Support (2 Econ cost for True Cities offset each turn)
[X][Policy] Special: Forestry (+1 Sustainable Forest and -1 Econ Expansion/2 turns)
[X][Policy] Diplomacy (+1 Diplo/turn)
[X][Policy] Special: Vassal Support (+1 Subordinate while active, increases Loyalty while active at less than full subordinates)

Mulling the question of what to do with the Highlanders situation, Myranyn eventually had the emissary return to tell him, "We are more than happy to lend use of our elite banner companies, fresh off of a rotation with the Freehills for use in helping to maintain order in your kingdom, if your king will have them. Free of charge, since this issue was 'caused' by 'us'." The sarcasm was thick enough that hopefully the non-native speaker language barrier would be overcome.

Once that issue was dealt with, he and the court then turned back to dealing with the urban situations. The free distribution of food and the rapidly increasing opportunities for artisans was causing huge numbers of people to flock to the cities, and that was causing all sorts of issues. While part of the problem was keeping all the people flocking in clean, and the issues of how half-exiles were used there, there were other things cropping up. At first Myranyn thought that things had been cleaned up enough via ordering a reassessment of urban sanitation and for a royal charter to be drafted for guilds in the task of maintaining such things, displacing quite a number of tasks for half-exiles. It would incur additional expenses, but it would also ensure that things got done correctly, and hopefully reduce the stigma of some of the dirtier occupations by reducing the involvement of half-exiles in the urban centers.

Unfortunately, what began to happen as the cities expanded was that more and more Myranyn had to deal with 'petty' appeals and problems. Technically they were all found to have some merit by lower officials, usually on frustrating technical grounds and ambiguous precedent, but they were almost invariably of low stakes that the king shouldn't have to concern himself with. As it turned out, having lots and lots of people living in the cities meant that when there was a dispute it was relatively easy for two parties to find someone literate and powerful enough to support them in appealing up the ladder. Although, on reflection, Myranyn decided that that implied a rather disturbing situation in the rural areas. Probably related to all the nonsense of the past few generations... but Myranyn was now too old to figure that out. Dealing with the issue in full would have to be confined to his successors.

Although there were now other issues. As the years went on word filtered back about the Banner Companies patrolling the heavily fortified hills and mountains of the Highland Kingdom, being used to stamp down on the flare ups of angry religious fanatics. Overall the king remained in charge, but it was obvious that this was likely going to be a long term project. The increased contact with the warriors of the company going back and forth on leave and the merchants supporting them also meant that the hermit kingdom was being opened up a bit, although this also meant that some of the warriors were coming back with strange ideas about there only being one god. While obviously not particularly open or willing to make a fuss about it, the priests did report such ideas leaking back.

Ugh. Worse yet, the Western People and the Storm Tribes had finally grown tired of punching each other, and while not exactly conquered the Western People did not come out on top of the final battles, and were now somewhere between a tributary and a vassal. Given the existing links of family and trade, the things likely to be passed on as tribute were likely to cause headaches for future kings, but as it was a number of families had flowed back out of the Western groups into the People proper, introducing more immediate headaches.

Ugh.

Spoiler: Important Projects

Art Patronage [Guild] - Wealth of the first and second kind can be used to create wealth of the third kind to the benefit of all
*S: -1 Econ, -3 Wealth, +3 Culture, +1 Tech, +1 Prestige, potential innovations x2
*M: -1 Econ, -5 Wealth, +5 Culture, +1 Tech, +1 Prestige, higher chance of innovations x2

Black Soil - There are many places that could benefit from further black soil, but making more is starting to take up more resources than it is currently returning
*S: +2-3 Econ Expansion, -1 Tech
*M: -2 Econ, 1 Forest Slot Consumed, -1 Tech, +6 Econ Expansion, other effects [King]
* used 3 times

Build Chariots - The vehicle of the elite, chariots are the most effective way of waging war the People know.
*S: -1 Econ, -2 Wealth, +4 Martial, +1 Culture
*M: -2 Econ, -5 Wealth, +8 Martial, +2 Culture, +1 Prestige

Build Docks [Guild] - With large numbers of ships being built, a new place to store them all, the goods they bring in, and a place to build them might be a good idea
*S: -1 Econ, +1 Diplo, increased trade power
*M: -2 Econ, -1 Wealth, +3 Diplo, potential for new innovations x2, increased trade power

Build Glassworks [Guild] - A new material discovered recently, new luxuries and trade goods could be made from relatively cheap materials
*S: -1 Econ, -2 Tech, 1 Sustainable Forest used, +1 Wealth, +2 Culture, chance of new innovations x2
*M: -2 Econ, -2 Tech, 1 Sustainable Forest used, +1 Wealth, +4 Culture, increased chance of new innovations x2

Build Goldmine [Guild] - A significant deposit of gold has been located, calling for a mine to extract the precious metal within
*S: -3 Econ, -1 EE, -2 Tech, +8 Wealth, trade good, gold mine
*M: -4 Econ, -1 EE, -3 Tech, +11 Wealth, trade good, gold mine

Build Gymnasium - With the games on people's minds, a place to train for them would be most useful. +2 to Games, +1 non-primary Tolerance
*S: -2 Wealth, -2 Culture, +2 Bonus to Games rolls per turn, +1 non-primary Martial tolerance
*M: -3 Wealth, -3 Culture, +5 Bonus to Games rolls per turn, +1 non-primary Martial tolerance

Build Mills - By harnessing the power of flowing water, work can be done, freeing up considerable amounts of labour
*S: -3 Wealth, -1 Tech, +3 Econ, potential for innovation x2
*M: -4 Wealth, - 1 Tech, +4 Econ, increased potential for innovation x2

Build Porcelain Works [Guild] - With special kilns and techniques, it is possible to make some truly fine pottery that surpasses all others in quality - if also cost
*S: -1 Econ, -2 Tech, +1 Wealth, +2 Culture, potential innovations x2
*M: -2 Econ, -2 Tech, 1 sustainable forest, +2 Wealth, +3 Culture, increased chance of innovations x2

Build Roads - New roads can better tie the people together, so more could be useful. (17/46) +5 Centralization Tolerance
* S: -1 Econ, -2 Wealth, -1 Tech, +1 Centralization, +1 Diplo, other effects
* M: -3 Econ, -2 Wealth, -2 Tech, +2 Centralization, +2 Diplo, other effects

Build Theatre - Having a place for the presentation of plays should be a great way to propagate the People's culture and entertain the masses
*S: -1 Econ, -1 Wealth, -1 Culture, +4 Culture end of turn, other effects
*M: -1 Econ, -2 Wealth, -1 Culture, +4 Culture end of turn, +2 Culture next turn, other effects

Build Wall - The practice of building city walls has reached new heights with access to superior tools making the cutting of stone simpler (26/58 significant walls, 4/45 massive walls)
*S: -2 Econ, +1 significant walls
*M: -4 Econ, +1 massive walls

Build Watchtowers - Stone and brick towers for warriors to sit in and scan the horizon for trouble, these towers can help stave off raids and improve response against attacks. (35% coverage)
*S: -1 Econ, +5% coverage
*M: -1 Econ, +10% coverage

Change Policy - Adjust the current Policy to one better fitting the situation
*S: Change Active Policy to one of the available ones listed below
Balanced - Takes whatever actions seem reasonable. Expand Economy is considered a Policy action for interaction with other effects
Defence - Builds walls and watchtowers
Expansion - Builds new settlements, expands economy, expands forests, and can even create new provinces
Infrastructure - Extended projects
Megaproject Support - Provinces can spend actions in support of a megaproject
Offence - Can recruit warriors and specialists, can send war actions against declared enemies
Progress - Takes studying actions and art patronage
Restoration - Takes stability improving actions
Spirits - Builds temples
Trade - Sends out trade missions, produce art and luxuries

*S: Change up to two Passive Policies (10/9) to one of the available ones listed below
Agriculture (+1 Econ and -1 Econ Expansion/turn)
Diplomacy (+1 Diplo/turn) x1
Skullduggery (+1 Intrigue/turn, -2 Diplo) x1
Trade (+1 Wealth/turn)
Armament (+1 Martial/turn)
Patronage (+1 Culture/turn)
Mysticism (+1 Mysticism/turn)
Industry (+1 Tech/turn)
City Support (2 True Cities have their maintenance paid for each turn) x1
Expansion (So long as there is land to expand into, +1 Econ Expansion/turn, reduces threshold to produce new provinces the longer active)
Innovation (Extra 2 innovation rolls each turn, -1 Wealth)
Infrastructure (+1 Free Progress to an infrastructure project (Aqueduct, governor's palace, saltern, etc.)/turn) x2
Defence (+1 significant walls/turn) x1
Special: Forestry (+1 Sustainable Forest and -1 Econ Expansion/2 turns) x2
Special: Vassal Support (+1 Subordinate while active, increases Loyalty while active at less than full subordinates) x2

Develop Intrigue Web - With contacts in the right places, all sorts of fun things can be done
S: -2 Wealth, -2 Diplo, +1 Intrigue
M: -3 Wealth, -3 Diplo, +2 Intrigue

Distribute Land - By reworking the distribution of land, the king can improve tax income and reduce pressures administrative overhead. 0/4 Progress to Min Centralization increase
*S: -1 Centralization, +2 Wealth
*M: -2 Centralization, +5 Wealth, +1 Progress

Enforce Justice - The king is a servant of the law, and he can use the army to remind people of that fact [GJ]
* S: 1 Stability, +1-3 Centralization
* M: 1 to 2 Stability, +2-3 Centralization
* the more settlements with walls outside of the capital, particularly large walls, the less effective this action is
*Max Stability: Legitimacy

Efficient Charcoal Kilns [Guild] - With better processes, large Guild controlled kilns can be built to efficiently turn wood into charcoal
*S: -1 Econ & Wealth, -2 Tech, -2 Sustainable Forest used
*M: -2 Econ & Wealth, -1 Tech, -3 Sustainable Forest used, other effects
Note: Efficient Charcoal production cannot take the total Sustainable Forest usage below 1/2 of the total

Expand Economy - Encourage the growth of food producing activities such as farming, pastures, or fishing, depending on where focus is placed
*S: +5 Econ, -1 Tech, -5 Econ Expansion, potential additional effects

Expand Forests - The People have knowledge of how to regrow and repair forests, which extends to bringing them to places they have never been, with considerable effort. With charcoal now in higher demand, can also provide a sustainable supply (7/8 currently locked up)
* S: -2 Econ, -1 Econ Expansion, grows forest, +2 Econ next turn if in settled territory and controlled, potential discoveries, +0.5 Sustainable Forest
* M: -3 Econ, -3 Econ Expansion, grows forest, +4 Econ next turn if in settled and controlled territory, improved odds of success, other effects, +1 Sustainable Forest

Expand Snail Cultivation [Guild] - While now more reliably grown and harvested, the snail domestication has only managed to hold environmental changes at bay rather than increase production. More investment would increase cultivation
* S: -1 Econ, +1 Wealth, +1 Culture, potential additional effects
* M: -3 Econ, +3 Wealth, +1 Culture, increased chance of additional effects

Expand Vineyard [Guild] - There is a location in Blackriver that is judged an ideal place to grow the small fruits that are favoured for making a particularly potent drink
*S: -1 Econ, -1 Econ Expansion, +1 Wealth, +1 Culture
*M: -3 Econ, -2 Econ Expansion, +4 Wealth, +1 Culture

Found Colony - When a province gets too distant, sometimes it is best to grant it additional autonomy so that they can get down to the business of working the land and gathering resources without needing to talk to the king about every little thing. Current Target: None
*F: Change Greenshore Trading Post to a Colony
*S: -1 Econ, 4 Econ Transfer, -2 Martial, founds colony to produce raw resources

Found Free City - Cities are hard to manage, giving them increased autonomy to manage themselves will reduce administrative overhead. Current Possibility: Blackmouth, Sacred Forest, Stallionpen, Valleyguard
*S: Transfer 2 Econ and Econ Expansion, converts True City to Free City. Free Cities now produce a Passive Policy of their choice in activity each turn

Found March - Sometimes you need an extra buffer between you and hostile powers, or a place to stash excess warriors. Current Target: None
*S: -5 Martial, 2 Econ transfer, founds march to take independent martial actions

Found Mercenary Company - With new coinage, those who fight for less than savoury reasons can be bargained with more effectively. Paid well they can enhance your forces, or can be hired out to other groups, but beware of having them sit around without pay!
*S: -8 Martial, -1 Wealth per turn in your employ, +1 Wealth per turn if hired out to another group, or 0 Wealth per turn and adds directly to Martial score

Found Trading Post - When doing long distance trading, sometimes having your own infrastructure in place at the other end can be quite useful. Current Target: Steppe Portage (risky)
*S: -3 Diplo, -2 Wealth, -1 Econ, 2 Econ Transfer, -2 Martial, founds trading post to generate Wealth and Diplomacy

Hunt Troublemakers - Those who would do harm to the kingdom rarely plan this openly, so subtle methods are needed to find them and root them out
S: -1 Intrigue, information on problems
M: -1 Intrigue, -2 Wealth, 0 to +1 Stability, information on problems

Influence Subordinate - By transferring specialists and teachers to subordinates they can be nudged into behaving more to the liking of the core provinces
*S: -2 Diplo, Transfer 2 Econ, Wealth, Culture, Tech, and Mysticism; influences subordinate culture
*M: -3 Diplo, Transfer 3 Econ, Wealth, Culture, Tech, and Mysticism; significantly influences subordinate culture, +1 Loyalty

Integrate Colony - Part of the colony of Western Wall, Txolla, or Hatvalley can be integrated into the People more fully, transitioning from a Colony to a province
*S: -6 Diplomacy, gain Econ and Martial from integrating Colony
*M: Same as above, completes at mid-turn

Integrate March - Better communications and administration means that the Heaven's Hawk can be integrated into the People more fully, transitioning from a March to a province
*S: -6 Diplomacy, gain Econ and Martial from integrating March
*M: Same as above, completes at mid-turn

Integrate Vassal - Now in contact with the core territories, the lowlanders can be brought more fully into the traditions of the People
*S: -4 Diplomacy, transitions vassal to March or Colony
*M: -8 Diplomacy, transitions portion of vassal to full province, converts rest to March or Colony

Improve Annual Festival - A festival for every season, but their expansion can help put the People at ease and teach good practices.
* S: -1 Econ, -2 Wealth, +1 Stability, +2 Culture, chance for additional effects
* M: -2 Econ, -2 Wealth, +1 Stability, +4 Culture, chance for additional effects
* Max Stability: Legitimacy - 1

Invite to Games - There are some of your neighbours who might be convinced to come (back) to the Games
*S: -1 Diplo to invite most neighbours, -3 to invite a Great Power (currently Khemetri)

Launch Intrigue Mission - Whether inside or out of the kingdom, more offensive uses of intrigue can be used to attempt to gain an advantage
*S: -1 Intrigue, -2 Diplo, -2 Wealth, begins an intrigue event in target location
*S: -2 Intrigue, -3 Diplo, -3 Wealth, begins an intrigue event in target location with higher odds of success

More Blackbirds - Elite scouts and woodsmen, the Blackbirds are a potent force, if not exactly mainline fighters. More of them could prove useful
* S: -1 Econ, -1 Mysticism, -1 Wealth, +2 Martial, +1 Culture, many more Blackbirds, additional effects

More Carrion Eaters - Keepers of sacred and profane knowledge, the Carrion Eaters thread a dangerous path but bring valuable knowledge for treating wounds and inspiring courage, greatly bolstering the morale of warriors by ensuring them that their companions are not doomed if they fall. More could prove useful.
*S: -1 Econ, -1 Mysticism, -1 Wealth, +2 Martial, +1 Culture, many more Carrion Eaters, additional effects

More Spiritbonded - Those who are one with their horses possess remarkably combat capacities
*S: -2 Econ, -2 Mysticism, -5 Wealth, +2 Martial, +1 Culture, +1 Light Cavalry

More Warships [Guild] - Many standard boats are no longer things need to worry about, but warships are something else entirely
*S: -3 Econ, -3 Wealth, -2 Martial, +1 Tech; +1 Naval, additional effects
*M: -3 Econ, -5 Wealth, -3 Martial, +1 Tech; +2 Naval, additional effects

New Settlement - There are a few new sites that could have new settlements placed on them: northern Blackriver (+3, moderate mineral, 0/6 province), northern boundary hills (+1, good mineral, 3/6 province), internal reorg (+3, 1/10 places available)
* S: -1 Econ, +1 Econ and Mysticism end of turn, increases number Econ Expansion depending on environment, +1 Province progress
* M: +1 Econ and Mysticism, increases Econ Expansion, +2 Province progress

Plant Cotton [Guild] - These resource intensive plants produce an incredibly fine textile desirable for its superior comfort, although much of the cost comes from how labour intensive it is
*S: -3 Econ, -2 Econ Expansion, +6 Wealth, new trade good
*M: -4 Econ, -3 Econ Expansion, +7 Wealth, +1 Culture, new trade good

Plant Hemp [Guild] - This sturdy plant has been planted in limited quantities before, but you now have cultivars that can take well to being planted in large areas and could use it for
*S: -2 Econ, -2 Econ Expansion, +1 Tech, +1 Mysticism, +1 Diplo if have boats, +1 Econ next turn
*M: -3 Econ, -3 Econ Expansion, +2 Tech, +1 Mysticism, +2 Diplo if have boats, +1 Econ next turn, other effects

Plant Poppies [Guild] - Within some temple grounds there are gardens where the poppy grows, and the milk of the poppy can be harvested. Expanding production should have interesting effects.
*S: -2 Econ, -2 Econ Expansion, +1 Mysticism, +3 Wealth
*M: -3 Econ, -3 Econ Expansion, +1 Mysticism, +7 Wealth, new trade good

Proclaim Glory - By using art the King can promote people to trust his decisions; modified by Diplomacy skill
* S: -3 Culture, -1 Econ, +1 Legitimacy, +1 Stability, potential +1 Prestige
*M: -6 Culture, -2 Econ, +1 Legitimacy, +2 Stability, +1 Prestige
* Max Stability: Legitimacy

Raise Army - More men can be inducted into the ranks of the warriors every year and not face major food shortfalls
* S: -2 Econ, -3 Wealth, +5 Martial, +1 Culture, potential additional effects
*M: -3 Econ, -5 Wealth, +9 Martial, +2 Culture, potential additional effects
*2M: -4 Econ, -5 Wealth, +2 Culture, founds Martial 10 Mercenary Company

Retraining - When there are more warriors than the People know what to do with, it may be a good idea to find them something else to do
*S: -4 Martial, -2 Econ Expansion, +2 Econ, Culture, and Tech
*M: -6 Martial, -3 Econ Expansion, +3 Econ, Culture, and Tech

Restoration of Order - The people are uncertain, and into that uncertainty bad behaviour can flow. Send in the warriors to reassure people and root out corruption and dissent, restoring the proper function of the People, at the cost of disturbing their confidence that the king has their best interests at heart. Max Stability: Legitimacy-1
* S: Gain 0 to 2 Stability at a cost of -1 Legitimacy
* M: Roll twice, take best result, chance of additional +1 Stability
* modified by Administrative skill

Sailing Mission - Boats have proven themselves capable of exploring long distances, so what else might they discover along the shores of the sea? Sailing missions can also locate pirates.
* S: Potential new discoveries
* M: -1 Econ, improved odds of success

Salt Gift - With the saltern, the People have access to tremendous amounts of salt, which can be used to awe outsiders
*S: -5 Wealth, random amount of Diplomacy, Culture, and Prestige generated (min. 1 of each) and the possibility of Mysticism generation
*M: -8 Wealth, random amount of Diplomacy, Culture, Mysticism, and Prestige generated (min. 1 of each)

Study Alchemy - Materials can be made to transform their form through special treatment. What wonders can be discovered in this process?
*S: -2 Mysticism, -3 Wealth, +1 Tech, potential new discoveries x2
*M: -4 Mysticism, -4 Wealth, -1 Econ, +1 Tech, increased chance of new discoveries x2

Study Health - What secrets of nature can be used to improve the health of the People?
* S: -1 Econ, -2 Wealth, -1 Tech, potential new discoveries x2
*M: -1 Econ, -2 Wealth, -3 Mysticism, -1 Tech, increased odds of success x2

Study Metal - Iron and copper, gold and silver, what other secrets are hidden in metal and stone?
* S: -1 Econ, -2 Wealth, -1 Mysticism, +1 Tech, small chance of new insights x2
* M: -1 Econ, -3 Wealth, -1 Mysticism, improved chance of new insights x2

Study Stars - What secrets do the heavens hold when you study the stars and their motions carefully?
*S: -1 Wealth, +1 Mysticism, gives mid-turn astrological predictions
Cannot be used as a Main action

Support Artisans [Guild] - With the growing importance of skilled artisans to the maintenance of society, additional support may sometimes be needed
*S: -1 Econ, -3 Wealth, +3 Tech, +1 Culture, potential innovations x2
*M: -1 Econ, -5 Wealth, +5 Tech, +1 Culture, higher chance of innovations x2

Support Subordinate - Send resources over to a subordinate state to help prop them up.
*S: Transfer 2 Econ and Martial, chance of +1 Loyalty
*M: Transfer 4 Econ and Martial, at least +1 Loyalty

Support Faction - Use influence to increase the power of a faction.
S: -4 Culture, +1 Faction Power, +1 Time to current quest

Suppress Faction - Use influence to curb the power of a faction.
S: -1 Stability, -5 Culture, -1 Faction Power, current faction quest fails but consequences negated

Survey Lands - What interesting discoveries are within the People's lands?
* S: Potential new discoveries
* M: -1 Econ, improved odds of success

Terrify - You've killed cities, walls will not keep your enemies safe
*S: -3 Diplo, can force minors to become vassals or integrate, can cause major civilizations to lose Stability
Special: Not applicable to nomads, efficiency greatly improved by performing a War Mission against the target the same turn
Warning: Crit fails can cause backlash, losing Stability

Trade Mission - Sending a major caravan to another large group can bring new opportunities and find out more about the outside world
* S: -2 Wealth, additional effects depending on target, +1-2 Diplo
* M: -2 Wealth, -1 Econ, additional effects depending on target, +1 Diplo, +1-3 Diplo end of turn, +0-2 Wealth end of turn

War Mission - You can send raiding parties against groups that have declared themselves hostile. Can only declare war if you have a valid casus belli (currently only if someone declares war first)
* S: Potential loss of Martial, can prevent Econ and Diplo damage when being attacked, can damage enemy Martial and Diplo
* M: Probable loss of Martial, can prevent Econ and Diplo damage when being attacked, can damage enemy Martial, Diplo, and Econ, always has a mid-turn decision point

Extended Projects- Extended Projects are major infrastructure projects that take more than a single Main action to complete but aren't as all consuming as megaprojects
Saltern - Northshore Saltern Expansion (0/3), Southshore Saltern Expansion (0/3). Each {S} committed consumes 3 Econ and 3 Tech for 3 Progress. Completion gives additional Wealth and every 2 salterns or expansions increases the per turn Wealth by +1
Aqueduct - Stonepen (0/3), Hatmouth (0/3), Yellowshore (0/3). Each {S} committed consumes 3 Econ and 3 Tech for 3 Progress. Completion adds +1 Econ Expansion, increases City Attraction by 1, can allow for the formation of another True City, and decreases disease roll penalty for True Cities
Bath - Any city with an aqueduct may have a bath. Each {S} committed consumes 3 Wealth and 4 Tech for 3 Progress, and then ties up 1 Sustainable Forest once complete. Completion adds +1 Econ Expansion, increases City Attraction by 1, and decreases disease roll penalty for True Cities further. Redshore (0/6), Stallionpen (0/3), Valleyguard (0/3)
Temple - Progress listed below, each {S} committed consumes 3 Econ and 3 Culture for 3 Progress. Completion increases Religious Authority
Observatory - Certain temples can have astrological observatories, with each {S} committed consuming 3 Econ and 3 Mysticism for 3 Progress
Governor's Palace - Every palace lowers Min. Centralization by 0.5 and adds +1 to max interconnectivity, Temp Econ damage resistance, and adds +1 to max Martial, but also reduces Max. Centralization by 1 and can serve as the core of a breakaway state in a civil war. Each {S} costs 3 Econ and 3 Culture and produces 3 Progress
Library - Any location with a temple and/or True City status can have a library, with each {S} committed consuming 3 Culture and 3 Mysticism for 3 progress. Completion grants Mysticism, every 2 libraries past the first increases the Mysticism refund by 1. Sacred Forest (0/3), Redshore (0/3), Redhills (0/3), Stallionpen (0/3), Blackmouth (0/3), Valleyguard (0/3)
Colossal Walls - True Cities can support truly gigantic walls. Each {S} committed consumes 3 Econ and 1 Martial for 3 Progress. Redshore (0/9), Redhills (0/9), Valleyhome (0/9), Sacred Forest (0/9), Blackmouth (0/9), Stallionpen (0/9), Valleyguard (0/9)
Block Housing - Multilevel housing that allows for many, many people to be stuffed into a small area. Can only be built in locations with sufficient shipping to bring in enough external food to keep the locations fed, but can allow for Level 2 infrastructure to be built. Block Housing increases the city's EE limit by 5, but decreases the limit for cities without Block Housing by (5+total number of block housing). Each Block Housing also increases the Econ tax of a True City by 1. Every {S} cost 3 Econ and 3 Tech for 3 progress. Redshore (0/6), Blackmouth (0/3), Valleyguard (0/3)
Ironworks [Guild] - Huge, centralized centers of iron production, these facilities make high quality iron tools cheaper and more widely available. Every facility adds +1 Econ, -1 EE, -1 Tech to the Expand Economy action. Level 2 and higher also increase the effect of Agriculture and City Support policies at the cost of additional Tech. Each level increases City Attraction by 1. Every {S} cost 3 Econ and 3 Tech for 3 progress, and each completed level of Ironworks also consume an additional 2 sustainable forest. Valleyhome (0/3), Redshore (0/6), Redhills (Wonder), Blackmouth (0/3)
Marketplace - A more significant section than what is typically found in most settlements, these sorts of markets are meant to service massive urban populations, transforming half of the Econ spent on a True or Free City into Wealth income. Each level increases City attraction by 1. Each {S} costs 3 Wealth and 3 Culture for 3 progress. Redshore (0/3), Redhills (0/3), Valleyhome (0/3), Sacred Forest (0/3), Blackmouth (0/3), Stallionpen (0/3), Valleyguard (0/3)

Palace Annex - Can construct additional palace annexes, with each {S} committed consuming 2 Econ and 2 Culture for a new annex (11/18)
-Great Hall Expansion
-Shrine
-Library
-Gardens
-Storehouse
-Arsenal
-Fortifications
-Stables

Reminder: 2 {S} applied to the same project = 1 {M}
Additionally: 2 Mains may have non-linear effects

Mega-Projects - Mega-Projects can require many generations to complete, take an unknown amount of time to do so, and drain Econ while active, but can produce massive benefits once complete. Once chosen, the occupy the Main Focus slot until either completed or stopped early. Early stopping once started does not refund any of the investments and increases social strife. To reduce confusion, mega-projects are not listed as part of the voting project list and must be "written-in".
Academy - There have been some suggestions that the way that the elite are trained could be improved, to the benefit of all who appreciate learning. (3-5? action commitment, -2 Culture and Mysticism per action, 0/1 Econ commitment)
Great Dam - The river can run wild and dangerous when the rains come strong, but could it not be controlled by the same principles by which the water on the hills is channelled and contained, merely on a larger scale? (4-6? action commitment, -2 Econ per action)
Great Library - The libraries thus far are fine, but with many of them and one on a port location, the possibility of an even larger library where everything might be stored presents itself (5-7? action commitment, -3 Mysticism and Culture per action, 0/2 Econ commitment)
Triangle Canal - There is land in the north where the soil is mostly clay and can be cut efficiently, allowing for a great canal to be cut between the two forks of the Black River, from which smaller irrigation canals can be built to water the land of the Stallions, massively increasing the available well watered land (8-11? action commitment, -3 Econ and -1 Tech per action)

[Stewards] special kicker: Pay 1 Stability to double the effort on a megaproject action, consuming twice the required per turn resources but advancing the job faster. If taking a second main action on a megaproject, requires additional Stability payment to double that as well.

Four Secondary actions, and Two Main [Guild] action. Patricians willing to hijack two Secondaries to complete their quest if not appeased or suppressed

[] Art Patronage
[] Black Soil
[] Build Chariots
[] Build Docks
[] Build Glassworks
[] Build Goldmine
[] Build Mills
[] Build Porcelain Works
[] Build Theatre
[] Build Wall
[] Build Watchtowers
[] Change Policy
[] Develop Intrigue Web
[] Distribute Land
[] Efficient Charcoal Kilns
[] Enforce Justice
[] Expand Economy
[] Expand Forests
[] Expand Snail Cultivation
[] Expand Vineyard
[] Hunt Troublemakers
[] Found Colony
[] Found Free City
[] Found Mercenary Company
[] Found Trading Post
[] Influence Subordinate
[] Integrate Colony
[] Integrate March
[] Integrate Vassal
[] Invite to Games
[] Improve Annual Festival
[] Launch Intrigue Mission
[] More Blackbirds
[] More Carrion Eaters
[] More Spiritbonded
[] More Warships
[] New Settlement
[] New Trails
[] Plant Cotton
[] Plant Hemp
[] Plant Poppies
[] Proclaim Glory
[] Raise Army
[] Restore Order
[] Retraining
[] Sailing Mission
[] Salt Gift
[] Study Alchemy
[] Study Health
[] Study Metal
[] Study Stars
[] Survey Lands
[] Support Artisans
[] Support Subordinate
[] Support Faction
[] Suppress Faction
[] Terrify
[] Trade Mission
-Target Options: Highland Kingdom, Thunder Speakers, Lowland Minors, Tin Tribes, Trelli, Swamp Folk, Renegade Kingdoms, Storm Tribes, Northern Nomads, Mountain Horse, Into the Wild (Eastern Sea), Into the Wild, Khemetri
[] War Mission
-Target Options: Northern Nomads, Eastern Nomads, Storm Tribes, Pirate Clans

Provinces for Projects: Redvalley (C) (Valleyhome+Redhills), Sacred Shore (9/9) (Redshore+Sacred Forest), Inner Forest (0/9), Upper Hillhome (0/9) Stoneshore (0/9) (Stonepen + Northshore), Hatshore (0/9) (Southshore+ Hatriver), Blackiron Province (9/9) (Blackriver+Ironshore), Hatvalley (0/9), Stallion Province (0/9), Valleyguard Province (0/9), Vinehills (0/9), Eastern Steppewatch (0/9), Western Steppewatch (0/9), Porthills (0/9)

Major Holy Sites: Rainbow Trail (0/3), Sacred Forest (Temple 0/12), Holy Sea (0/3), Horse Valley (0/6) [Build Observatory 0/3], White Circle (0/3), Warrior's Rest (0/3), Star Mirror (0/3), Sunrise Grove (0/3), Skyforest (0/3), Bloodgrove (0/3), Spiritwell (0/3), Moonwell (0/3), Sparkling Cave (0/3), Great Gallery (0/3), Ancestors Grave (0/3), Ox Rest (0/3), Dragon Graveyard (0/12)

Spoiler: Faction Quests

Patricians (5* {10}) - Power: Add or subtract their faction power from factions they are supporting/opposing. Objective: Have Light cavalry at or above 3 within 1 turns. Success: Free equestrian tech
Guild (6) - Power: Half faction power added to Max Wealth. Objective: Have a Level 2 Ironworks within 2 turns. Success: Free random megaproject, no faction power increase
Traders (2*) - Objective: Build a silver or gold mine within 1 turns. Failure: -5 Wealth [0/2]
Yeomen (2*)- Objective: Have a new province within 3 turns. Success: Free Random Plant [Good] action [0/2]
Priests (3)- Objective: Have maximum Econ within 2 turns. Success: Free Spiritual Value slot
Urban Poor (5) - Power: +1 Max Legitimacy every 3 full power. Objective: Have a Level 2 market and a Level 1 market in another city within 3 turns. Success: Grand Bazaar Megaproject completion, no faction power increase
These counters iterate at the next mid-turn. The numbers in brackets indicate the general faction strength.

Astrological Prediction: Suppress the monotheists before they become trouble (8)

 

[Academia Nut]

[X][Secondary] Support Faction – Patricians (-4 Culture, +1 Faction Power, +1 Time to current quest)
[X][Secondary] Found Free City – Valleyguard (Transfer 2 Econ and 2 EE)
[X][Secondary] Proclaim Glory (-3 Culture, -1 Econ, +1 Legitimacy, +1 Stability, potential +1 Prestige)
[X][Secondary] Integrate Colony – Gulvalley
[X][Guild] Build Goldmine (-4 Econ, -1 EE, -3 Tech, +11 Wealth, trade good, gold mine)
[X][Guild] Build Ironworks – Redshore (2*-3 Econ and Tech)
Provinces – [Main] Expand Econ, [Sec] New Settlement (boundry hills), [Sec] Build Mills, [Sec] Study Stars, [Sec] Study Health
Policies – Valleyhome Market (3/3), Redshore Market (2/3), Significant Walls (29/58)
FC – Redshore Market (3/3), City Support x2
Heaven's Hawk – [Sec] Aqueduct (9/9), [Sec] Support Artisans
Western Wall – [Main] Expand Econ, [Sec] Expand Forests
Greenshore – [Main] Expand Econ, [Main] Governor's Palace (6/9)
Tinriver – [Main] Expand Econ, [Sec] Build Road
Txolla – [Main] New Settlement x2
Thunder Speakers – [Main] New Settlement x2
Thunder Horse – [Main] New Settlement x2
Amber Road – [Main] Build Walls

Religious Settlement – New Settlement (boundary hills)

The continued expansion of the Iron District in Redshore brought about many changes, not least of which was the fact that the guild suddenly had a tremendously increased need for masters who were skilled at their craft and not just skilled at bureaucracy and politics. The newfound ready availability of quality tools also meant that other artisans were in a similar situation, and the combination of newfound wealth and responsibility lead to a most curious issue. These new master artisans wanted better learning for them and their children, to better move among the lower patrician classes. They wanted into the gymnasia, and more than a few of them got in. And something most curious happened: the artisans learned at the gymnasia, went back to their apprentices and journeymen, tried out some of what they saw, and then came back to yell at their instructors for teaching wrong.

There was a considerable amount of yelling among war trainers, priests, patricians, and artisans before one group splintered off and went to found 'a place of pure learning and instruction!'.

The first iteration failed within the year, but a few of of the instructors went back to the gymnasia and had some new ideas. Fresh shouting matches were born, but this time when the splinter groups walked away they had a better idea of what they actually wanted to do. Comprehensive classes in physical education, mathematics, poetry, music, history, rhetoric, and philosophy would be able to better educate the leaders of the future. The immediate effect was a bit more mixed as the actual top tier patricians still got top level tutors for the actual next generation of kings, but those tutors quite rapidly were either working for the new center of learning in between jobs, or were being drawn from the students of said center of learning. Soon enough new courses like medicine, astrology, and religious practices were added in. Medicine in particular took off as a number of the more medically inclined priests realized that they had a lot of things to teach each other.

The screaming matches over the nature of the souls and their relationship to the body, the stars, and the elements were entertaining for many students at least.

And as the reputation of the new academy grew, more and more of the middle patricians wanted to send their children there, followed by the lower and upper patricians wanting their sons to go there not just for the education but for the contact with the peers they would eventually be working with. And as class sizes grew, this called for more teachers, which called for more teachers to teach them and...

Guild Reward: Academy!
Academy
All kings not suffering from hereditary disorders have their skills improved one level (cannot make non-heroic skills to heroic level) and increases the possibility of hero unit generation. Also provides the Build Academy action. Costs 1 Wealth/turn to maintain as an effective institution.

Choose a bonus for completing the Academy
[] [MP] New Social Value slot
[] [MP] Randomly upgrade a value
[] [MP] Unlock Philosopher Kings for further upgrades
[] [MP] Two free technologies (exploding)
[] [MP] Next king is heroic admin or heroic mystic

And then, one day, an older urban healer showed up at the academy demanded to speak to with the doctors immediately, because they had a problem. While several of the men tried to brush her off, one of the older artisans there to get some degree of education so he could work as a lesser master and not get run over had a flicker of recognition. Going to speak with her, he got the story from her and immediately put decades of swinging hammers to good use by physically picking up one of the doctors to haul the man to speak with her.

Everyone seemed rather bemused enough by the display to not object as strenuously as they could, leading to the silver haired woman getting her story out before any guards might be summoned.

"Look, I tried to explain this at the Shrine of Bonwyn but it rapidly became obvious that all of the best of that lot had come here, and they're not listening to me so I figured that if there's anyone with any sense enough to be able to see what I'm seeing, it would be with you lot," the woman stated.

Deciding that the situation had grown absurd enough that he might as well hear here out, the doctor carefully listened to the graduated prostitute's story, his brows progressively furrowing as she went on, before he finally grabbed up his healer's staff and followed her back to the bathhouse where she worked. A number of beefy bouncers waited worriedly at the doors to a particular room that had been barred from the outside, only letting it open with a nod from healer, to reveal a hastily constructed quarantine ward.

A half dozen men in various degrees of degeneration were confined within, the less worse off members somewhat isolated from the other cases but also clearly forcibly tied down. The worse off members didn't need such extreme measures to keep them from leaving though.

"If the taxmen didn't lean on us to follow the laws exactly we never would have caught this, but we needed to keep records of possible infections to avoid contaminating the baths, not just the sexual ones that most places do to avoid their girls getting sick. Without those, I never would have caught on: a lingering cough? Nothing special there, but it sounds more serious than what they claim, so I made notes and kept them from the public baths. But since I had notes, when Chyrlyn here came in and he was clearly worse off..." the woman explained, gesturing to the worst case in the room.

"We took him aside yesterday and grabbed everyone else with a note like they'd had before while we went to the priests, who again, are ignoring us as unimportant..." she finished while the doctor went to check all of the patients.

Glancing at the barely alive puddle of froth and blood that had been Chrlyn, the doctor said, "We may need to burn this entire building down."

The hard eyed healer looked him dead in the eye and said, "If that wasn't a possibility, I wouldn't have come to you."

The message to the king and every other settlement that went out on the swiftest horse and boat couriers that night was as simple as it was direct.

SHUT.

DOWN.

EVERYTHING.

It was far too late to stop the Blood Cough from spreading throughout the People and beyond, but somehow word managed to get out and the People from top to bottom managed to obey enough that instead of the cities becoming plague ridden abattoirs, they instead were able become cramped, crowded, fearful, but somehow safe islands. Generations of paying attention to public health and concern over stockpiling resources meant that as trade shut down, as the food stopped flowing so readily as the merchant froze in place, they were able to ride things out while the king figured out what to do. Because even as the cities burned down districts to keep the plague contained and refused entrance of any visitors without a two week quarantine period, only permitting the exchange of goods at a distance, the plague found a home in the countryside and began to reap the people there.

Trade disintegrated and the Banner Companies were expelled from the Highlands Kingdom as a hazard, although as the Red and Dragon Banners left they had already heard rumours of the cough appearing throughout the hills. No one was entirely certain where it had all started - the cough could linger for ages as a minor annoyance before abruptly a person began to cough up blood and shortly after that was struck low with up to half a dozen random other symptoms and then almost invariably dying a gruesome and horrifying death - but it had certainly been detected among the People first, and had spread to everyone they traded with before anything could be done to halt the problem. Many priests within the People blamed the king for not taking aggressive action against the One God Heresy from the Highlanders, and there were surely many outside who blamed the People, but no indication of what others peoples thought was forthcoming.

As the People sat in their cities, supplies slowly dwindling as camps of desperate rural dwellers clawing at their walls for refuge as they hacked themselves to death, many whispered of the dreamed of horrors in other places. No one had the extensive network of sanitation, experts in medicine and magic, careful monitoring of all levels of society, distributed stockpiles of food, and enormous pre-existing abundance. Some dreamed of foreign cities entirely wiped clean of life, the ghosts of the angry dead prowling the streets, banding together to find those responsible. It kept many up at night.

What little contact between settlements was done via royal authority, a few carefully isolated messengers and warrior bands that were just able to keep everything from falling apart all at once. Bandits were suppressed and panicking villages kept in line just enough that a trickle of food and vital goods could keep hunger from consuming what the plague was having difficulty cracking. Still, the harvest the first year of the plague essentially failed.

And then the refugees started to press in from all quarters.

Not even the king had the ability to compile everything to know how bad it was, but the consensus from those still able to achieve internal communication was that every settlement more significant than a single clan was suffering from the Blood Cough. Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions had died of plague, famine, and violence. The Western People and the Storm Tribes were retreating into the mountains, hoping that the ability to close off the passes would save them. The Khemetri were abandoning their northern colonies as they shut down their borders. Freehills and the Harmurri had fallen into chaos. Trelli was, by all accounts, gone, the city abandoned to the dead as plague and the complete halting of trade shut down any ability to pay for the tenuous peace they had along the Yllthon part of their territory. By some accounts the same fate had befallen the Mountain Horse, but even less was known there.

Horseman's Plague
A civilization killing plague, this monstrous new disease is disrupting all capacity to organize a major society, causing the following effects:
Halted Trade - No one is trading anything. All Wealth and Diplomacy income is shut down. Expenses still must be paid.
Rural Plague - Bizarrely the rural areas are worse off than the urban areas, so the demographic flow is not working as normal, with fields being abandoned. EE refunds for cities halved
Isolated Economy - Taking temp Econ damage equal to the number of True and Free Cities each phase
Plague Rotted Economy - Taking random amount of Econ damage each phase

How many refugees
[] [R1] Be as selective as possible (Chance of stability loss, 2 triggers, 4 temp econ damage)
[] [R1] Only those you are mostly sure are safe (-1 Stability, chance of further loss, 3 triggers, 6 temp econ damage)
[] [R1] Everyone who makes it can have a place found for them (-2 Stability, chance of further loss, 4 triggers, 8 temp econ damage)
[] [R1] Declare that you are still stable (-3 stability, chance of further loss, 5 triggers, 10 temp econ damage)

What to do with the refugees?
[] [R2] Welcome in as best you can (EE exchanged for Econ as usual, every trigger causes a Disease roll)
[] [R2] Force them to settle in the shadow of your current population centers (Every trigger provides a Sec strength New Settlement - Internal Reorg action, 1 Disease roll, ???)
[] [R2] Force them to settle far from your current population centers (Every trigger provides a Sec strength New Settlement - Northern Blackriver or boundary hills [even split], 0 Disease rolls, ???)
Note: Each disease roll has the potential to make the situation worse, potentially triggering additional Stability loss or adding new status effects

Many priests blame the Heretics from the Highlands. What should be done about them?
[] [Mono] Purge them (+1 Stability, 2 temp Econ damage negated, ???)
[] [Mono] Isolate them (+1 Stability, ???)
[] [Mono] Ignore them (???)
[] [Mono] This isn't their fault, protect them (-1 Stability, ???)

With what resources you have, what do you do?
[] [React] Attempt to figure the disease out (Sec Study Health)
[] [React] Search for a cure (Sec Expand Forest)
[] [React] Comb internally for problems (Sec Hunt Troublemakers)
[] [React] Attempt to restore order (Sec Restore Order)
[] [React] Honour the gods and hope for a miracle (Sec Build Temple Rainbow Trail (0/3))
[] [React] Try to repair agriculture (Sec Expand Econ)

Astrology: Drive out the unbelievers and heretics! (6)

 

[Academia Nut]

[X][MP] Next king is heroic admin or heroic mystic
[X][R1] Only those you are mostly sure are safe (-1 Stability, chance of further loss, 3 triggers, 6 temp econ damage)
[X][R2] Force them to settle in the shadow of your current population centers (Every trigger provides a Sec strength New Settlement - Internal Reorg action, 1 Disease roll, ???)
[X][Mono] Ignore them (???)
[X][React] Attempt to figure the disease out (Sec Study Health)
[X][Merc] Pay TWO mercenary companies from main budget

Uvothyn had never particularly considered himself kingly material: he was from a low class family and was rather spirit touched, being more comfortable around scrolls and statues than people, although he was nowhere near as bad as many of the other spirit touched. If he had any true skill, it was in being able to understand and categorize things, which had made him the head priest-clerk in Sacred Forest. Still, when the Blood Cough came, he found himself organizing the efforts to control and understand the plague for the temple and surrounding area... and then as the head priest realized his value he was being shipped off to Valleyhome to assist the king in the coordination of the efforts...

And then, somewhere along the line everyone realized that they were coming to him with questions about what to do, and then the king stepped down so he could be put in charge.

It was madness! Sheer madness!

Yet Uvothyn had realized some time ago that the world had gone mad, so his situation was definitely not too terribly strange.

He just wished that it could be mad in less depressing ways, more like the tales of Yshuyn the Great than Phygrif. The People had kept quarantine even as they tried to help those in need of aid, and it had gone a bit off. Other priests had been agitating and riling up the People, who were scared and looking for someone to blame. The obvious culprits were the weird One God lot who had been influenced by the Highlanders, foreigners who did not know the ways of the People, half-exiles, greedy merchants who were both sinfully avaricious and brought back strange and foreign things, and all of the dirty new artisans. While Uvothyn was sure that cleaniness, both spiritually and physically, was a major component of who lived and who died, there were many who he felt went too far. He could only really catch them when they had gone out and lynched someone or rioted, and there were all sorts of other things that he sort of wanted stopped as being disruptive to the effort of keeping them all alive, but that as king he couldn't catch. For one, the half-exiles were filling up with One God practitioners, which couldn't be a coincidence.

Still, at least the rabble rousers were keeping things clean.

New Spiritual Value Gained!
Purity
Only through physical purity can spiritual purity be attained. There can however be no mercy for those who would contaminate the pure.
Pros: Bonuses to resisting disease and foreign influences
Cons: The impure and unclean must be eliminated

For the actual plague though... things were not going well. Even with Uvothyn spending every waking hour trying to organize things, there just wasn't enough to go on, with the facts being sparse. The spirits causing this plague were both shy and rural, but were capable of lurking in enclosed spaces where people had been for at least a day or two if it was not exposed to fresh air and sunlight. Their curse lingered in the lungs for a time before abruptly growing worse, but Uvothyn was fairly certain that there were more cases than they realized, with most of those exposed fighting off the curse. Still, by far the most curious thing was that those with the telltale cough often reported feeling mostly fine, other than the cough, which they said often didn't hurt as much as it seemed. More than a few reports had idle musings that those afflicted during the middle stages were like rich patients who were abusing the milk of the poppy or other potions when they were mildly inconvenienced - the poppy was no cure for anything, but its magic might make you feel like there was nothing wrong with you.

Hmmmm... perhaps whatever demon was behind this plague had woven something extra into its spell? Something to make a man feel more alive than he was, to get him to carry the curse further? Perhaps, although it certainly did not keep pain at bay, just every symptom but the cough and the heavy breathing, right up until everything fell apart. That was probably just the first curse leaving the body vulnerable to other demons letting their own curses get their hooks in when otherwise a man could fight the disease off. Hmmm... yes, there were some potions and poultices that could help with disease by helping with debilitating symptoms but paradoxically left the body weaker to further infection, so perhaps that was what the demons responsible were doing: casting a low level healing spell as part of their curse of disease. Strange, but oddly plausible.

Didn't help much with dealing with the situation, but perhaps adding things that disrupted the humours and caused the nose to run and fever to creep in to treatments might counter the malicious healing magic the demons were spreading alongside their curse? Worth a shot at least...

Uvothyn's note to distribute to the doctors was disrupted by a panicked looking city courier running into the Great Hall where everyone was hard at work, calling out that they had a pass through quarantine priority message for the king. That was rather significant, since someone writing a message in a medium that could be passed through a sacred flame of purification and had a royal seal to get it immediately brought forward meant that there was big news. A clerk in pure white cotton robes and veil with sacred calf leather gloves took the brass tube and unscrewed it to take out the sacred vellum message inside, reading it aloud while everyone else stood well back.

"News from the east, great king! The Thunder Horse send a report on the situation in the mountains with the Mountain Horse! They announce-" the clerk then paused as he stumbled over his words, choking for a moment before he said, "-they announce the complete annihilation of the Mountain Horse!"

The message quieted and normally stern crowd of advisors all erupted at once into shouting, causing Uvothyn to wince and duck his head for a moment before he barked out, "Silence!" Once the guards managed to bang the butts of their spears on the ground a few times to get everyone to comply, he then asked of the courier, "Is that all?"

Shaking his head, his face no doubt pale as his robes under his veil, the man said, "They continue with as much detail as they know. As reported previously, there was some combination of disease, civil war, and steppe nomad invasion. They can now confirm that however it started, the steppe nomads have completely overrun the valleys and plateaus of the Mountain Horse, the cities that had once stood as impregnable hardpoints abandoned in plague. Worse yet, they claim that the entire warrior body of the nomad host now rides horses as the Spiritbonded do, allowing them to outpace most messengers bringing warning of attack - there is a side note that the governor prays this message outpaces the enemy. Worse yet, the nomad chieftain is a madman who claims religious inspiration, that the gods have decreed through the plague that not only are cities dens of wickedness, but so are the farms that support them. All who settle in one place to farm rather than moving on are guilty of avarice, and thus it has been decreed that the only buildings permissible are mines for warrior metals such as iron, copper, and tin. Everything else is to be burned - and by all accounts, this has already happened within the Mountain Horse, with all major settlements reduced to rubble and ash, their populations slaughtered to water fallow fields fit only for flocks of animals. None know if the nomads suffer from the Blood Cough, but it is said that since the only prisoners they take are smiths and miners and all the rest they kill, it is possible they have simply killed faster than the disease. The message finishes that by the time it arrives, the nomads will almost assuredly be attacking into the lowlands."

The king summed his thoughts up succinctly.

"Fuck."

A vassal is being attacked
[] [War] They're on their own(-1 Stability, -1 Legitimacy, ???)
[] [War] Scramble what warriors are available (Sends a Sec War Mission and Mercenary Companies to the east)
[] [War] Scramble everyone (Sends warriors east, Switches to Mass Levy policy and removes Isolated Economy status)

AN: Without Isolated Economy you double the number of Disease rolls you take per phase, and Plague Rotted Economy deals damage to Martial, Mysticism, Culture, and Tech in addition to the damage to Econ

What do?
[] [React] We need more fast scouts to counter the nomads! (Sec More Spiritbonded)
[] [React] Forest and hill scouts are what we need! (Sec More Blackbirds)
[] [React] The armies need to not get sick! (Sec More Carrion Eaters)
[] [React] More effort! (Extra Sec War Mission, cannot be taken if east abandoned)
[] [React] Keep looking for a cure! (Sec Study Health)
[] [React] The economy, fools! (Sec Expand Econ, cannot be taken with Mass Levy active)
[] [React] Stamp down on those tearing the kingdom apart! (Sec Restore Order)

Spoiler: Faction Quests

Patricians (5* {10}) - Power: Add or subtract their faction power from factions they are supporting/opposing. Objective: Have Light cavalry at or above 3 within 2 turns. Success: Free equestrian tech
Guild (5) - Power: Half faction power added to Max Wealth. Objective: Have a level 3 Ironworks within 4 turns. Failure: -1 Stability
Traders (2) - Objective: Have Naval power 3 or above within 3 turns. Success: +1 Naval [1/2]
Yeomen (1*)- Objective: Have a new province within 3 turns. Success: Free Random Plant [Good] action [0/2]
Priests (2)- Power: Adds faction power to RA. Objective: Have a new level 2 temple somewhere within 3 turns. Success: +1 RA tolerance. Failure: -1 Stability
Urban Poor (4) - Power: +1 Max Legitimacy every 3 full power. Objective: Have a Level 2 market and a Level 1 market in another city within 3 turns. Success: Grand Bazaar Megaproject completion, no faction power increase
These counters iterate at the next main-turn. The numbers in brackets indicate the general faction strength.