Paths of Civilization

[8bitBob]

Frankly I'm amused by the idea that even though we've been preparing for the dam for hundreds and hundreds of years we still have to make revisions at the absolute last minute. And that in a few more turns we'll probably have something that would have made the dam even better.

Click to shrink...

A manic clerk bursts into the room. "We're building the Dam!"

"Oh ha ha," says another clerk without looking up.

"No, seriously. The king just gave the order."

"Really? This is going to be awesome. We can pull up the old plans and get started immediately. It should be finished in no time!"

Six months later.

"If we use that new concrete stuff, we can double the height, allowing for substantially more canal work in the lowlands."

Many months after that.

"If we make a few adjustments here here and here, we can add a series of overlarge mills at the base, processing the grain and ore for the whole region."

Many years after that.

"If we reinforce this section with a steel core and extend the Dam to Redhills,, we can support fortifications along the top while doubling as a trade highway."

Several decades later...

"With the nomads invading, we should add catapults to the top and use it as a defensive hardpoint to break them."

Several centuries after that...

"Our designs have replaced the catapults with the new cannons coming out of Redhills. If we add a series of artillery towers in the points listed and extend the "Dam" to the spirit channel, we can extend our firing range effectively into the lowlands, preventing any invading force from pushing inwards."

Even more time passes.

"If we introduce a gradient of height along the length of the design, we can use the entire length of the Dam as an aqueduct for the entire lowlands region."

A millennia of Dam building later...

"If we expand the aqueduct plans and cut through this mountainous region here, we can create an aqueduct that is navigable by ship, acting as a super highway throughout our lands."

Soon, it is the year 2055, and the Ymaryn Dam is visible from space. The project is expected to be completed any month now, and always will be.

 

[Academia Nut]

[X][MP] Spread the Wealth Around (All Subordinates Receive +0-1 Loyalty)
[X][Int] Attempt to tear out these maniacs, root and branch (-2 Intrigue, -1 Stability, -1 Legitimacy, -1 RA, ???)
[X][React] Need more scouts (Sec More Blackbirds + Sec More Spiritbonded)
[X][Ext] Find out more about what the Highlanders are up to (Main Trade Mission)
[X][PSN] Main Expand Econ (-2 Cent + Costs)

"So, as you can see, this is where the gods cut the rock for the Great River to pass through here. It is the hardest rock in the valley system, which makes it a pain to work with, but also the best place to drive our anchors, and one of the narrowest points in the entire region. The plan currently has us building a temporary dam just upstream to divert at least some of the water into one of the side canyons. That region is a bit calmer but the river is wider and the bed is made from gravel and mud rather than solid rock, so it won't hold in the long run once we get a reservoir built up behind it. Anyway, the hard rock here means that once we cut anchor points in, the anchors will fail before the rock. Now, there's a bunch of things that can fail other than the anchors, but those will be fairly significant in terms of overall strength. Still, the stronger we can make the pilings and anchors, the better," the Chief of Dam Construction explained to the king as part of the inspection tour.

Astutely seeing where this was going, the king asked, "You want a budget increase."

Nodding, the Chief said, "We can totally do this with just the resources already planned, but we can make it bigger and stronger with more cement and iron. The reservoir already planned will be big, but with a taller dam and some side dams to keep a few of the less desirable canyons from flooding, we can get the water to spill into this one canyon where we could really easily put a couple dozen mills with easy access to existing roads and the planned canal. If anyone ever wants to make it bigger, the only way to do that would be to build a whole new dam, so if we can build bigger and higher and stronger that would be saving our descendants a lot of hassle."

Modify megaproject?
[] [Dam] Keep as is
[] [Dam] Use stronger materials, keep as is (1 Wealth and 1 Tech per action added to remaining costs)
[] [Dam] Move to the bigger but more useful proposal (1 Wealth and 1 Tech per action added to remaining costs, requires an additional 2 actions to complete)
[] [Dam] Make it as big and impressive as possible (2 Wealth and 2 Tech per action added to remaining costs, requires an additional 3 actions to complete)

The king then sighed. Administratively things were going well - someone had misallocated funds for the palace expansion but when it had been caught a number of patricians had practically tripped over themselves to correct the issue with their own funds and contacts, resulting in an even bigger expansion than planned, so there was now in fact a second hall that was where the movers and shakers of the kingdom could gather to hash out their issues with each other before going straight for the king's hall, where important things still happened but it was harder to talk openly without causing issue. This also opened up the lower classes in Valleyhome to come in and talk more, also freeing up valuable time. It was all very nice, and highlighted all the other problems.

Like the Highlanders, who had responded to the inquiries as to what they were doing as 'Taking the lowlands'. While they hadn't made any direct threats to the People yet, it was pretty obvious that they were going to attack the Harmurri once they finished off the minor tribes, and then the People would have to either intervene or let the Harmurri fight it out. If the Highlanders won then they would probably turn their eyes towards the People, and if the Harmurri won they would undoubtedly be pissed at being abandoned by people they thought had their backs. Either way, inaction was ill-advised, so war was probably inevitable. Whether waiting was advisable was... questionable... but it was the decision that had been made.

Far worse though was the results of confronting the puritans over the behaviour that had required the execution and exile of so many troublemakers among them and attempting to pull out the philosophy had run into a major issue: the half-exiles. Or, more accurately, the prohibitions against slavery. In the debates more than a few of the orthodox priests had been put on the back foot by being called out for being hypocrites, how they proclaimed all sorts of actions that the puritans decried as impure were acceptable, but that the People weren't to participate in the enslavement or shipment of slaves because it spread spiritual taint. While it was obvious that the line of argument had been intended to silence their critics over the puritanical philosophies, it had instead sparked off a new conversation. Given all the things that the priests said were tolerable to the spirits, was slavery really that bad? History showed that the war over slavery in the Freehills with the Trelli had generally gone poorly, so if the gods truly were with them on the issue would they not have given the People greater success?

The king himself wasn't entirely sure, but it was definitely causing a schism within the priests, guilds, and patricians over what next. Some had actually been swayed over to some degree of the puritan point of view, while others were pretty clearly seeing piles of gold and silver if they could sway the priests to conceding that maybe the gods didn't mind that much. Either way, something seemed likely to break in the near future.

How did the debates go?
[] [Purity] The Puritans broke (Lose the Purity trait, possible loss of the prohibition on slavery)
[] [Purity] While their vigilante violence was wrong, maybe they have a point here (Pride in Acceptance downgraded to Cosmopolitan Acceptance)
[] [Purity] Some hypocrisy is acceptable (Greater Justice modified)
[] [Purity] If slavery is so bad in comparison, maybe even the half-exiles need to be addressed (-1 Stability, the next Patrician, Guild, and Trader quests are all spite quests, all Wealth costs are doubled going forward)
[] [Purity] Look to the heavens for a sign (Random, could be all good results from above options, could be all bad results from above options, likely a mix)

Also, pick four passive policies
[] [PP] Agriculture (+3 Econ, -3 Econ Expansion, -1 Tech/turn)
[] [PP] Diplomacy (+1 Diplo/turn)
[] [PP] Skullduggery (+1 Intrigue/turn, -2 Diplo)
[] [PP] Trade (+1 Wealth/turn)
[] [PP] Armament (+1 Martial/turn)
[] [PP] Patronage (+1 Culture/turn)
[] [PP] Mysticism (+1 Mysticism/turn)
[] [PP] Industry (+1 Tech/turn)
[] [PP] City Support (4 Econ cost for True Cities offset each turn, -1 Tech)
[] [PP] Expansion (So long as there is land to expand into, +1 Econ Expansion/turn, reduces threshold to produce new provinces the longer active)
[] [PP] Innovation (Extra 2 innovation rolls each turn, -1 Wealth)
[] [PP] Infrastructure (+1 Free Progress to an infrastructure project (Aqueduct, governor's palace, saltern, etc.)/turn)
[] [PP] Defence (+1 significant walls/turn)
[] [PP] Special: Forestry (+1 Sustainable Forest and -1 Econ Expansion/2 turns)
[] [PP] Special: Vassal Support (+1 Subordinate while active, increases Loyalty while active at less than full subordinates)

AN: Please remember to stay civil and keep the salt levels down

 

[Academia Nut]

[X][Dam] Move to the bigger but more useful proposal (1 Wealth and 1 Tech per action added to remaining costs, requires an additional 2 actions to complete)
[X][Purity] If slavery is so bad in comparison, maybe even the half-exiles need to be addressed (-1 Stability, the next Patrician, Guild, and Trader quests are all spite quests, all Wealth costs are doubled going forward)
[X][PP] Infrastructure (+1 Free Progress to an infrastructure project (Aqueduct, governor's palace, saltern, etc.)/turn)
[X][PP] Infrastructure (+1 Free Progress to an infrastructure project (Aqueduct, governor's palace, saltern, etc.)/turn) x2
[X][PP] Infrastructure (+1 Free Progress to an infrastructure project (Aqueduct, governor's palace, saltern, etc.)/turn) x3
[X][PP] Skullduggery (+1 Intrigue/turn, -2 Diplo)
[X][PP] City Support (4 Econ cost for True Cities offset each turn, -1 Tech)

The king had begun by wanting the puritanical preachers and fanatics out of the People's hair. Not just the ones actively causing problems dealt with, but all of those who fed the worst of the lot browbeaten into submission through open and public debate. With the backing of the temples and the king it should have been easy.

And then someone had to go and open their mouth about the half-exiles and it had all started spiraling out of control. Details had come out to the public that had made many mad. While some saw opportunities to satiate greed, others saw the greed already happening, and as accusations started flying back and forth many who were not part of the puritanical faction started to make calls for reform of how the half-exiles were treated. In particular, a major call went up to eliminate the incentives that lead to half-exiles being used as a way to displace free labour. While there were many half-exiles who were despised, there were always a few members of that community within local communities who had their supporters. People who were generally agreed to have done their time and it was weird that they weren't being cleared for re-entrance into normal society. Combined with the fact that there were a number of major families and local guilds that were benefiting from not having to pay for labour that was in the grey area between having to be done by and could be done by the half-exiles, thus giving incentive to get the half-exiles to do it rather than fairly paying people, and there was major backlash there.

Thus it sorted out that the king declared that all labour had to be fairly compensated, either through pay or the deferment of taxes, even if someone was a half-exile. The intent was to remove the incentive to hold onto those who had already done their penance for longer than usual, while still doing the purifying work upon those who actually needed it.

There was a minor riot as the clerks watched their carefully constructed budgets explode. Had the People not already been safe, secure, and prosperous the kingdom would have likely been ripped apart by the various regional conflicts that bubbled forth from the changes made. While there was a mixture of compassionate, pious, and fearful reasoning behind wanting the half-exiles to be treated better, there were also many who were upset by the half-exiles being given 'increased benefits'. The whole affair rapidly became a nasty, ugly, festering mess that the king knew would haunt his successors for generations to come.

And of course the fanatics among the Highlanders had to do the sensible thing and work to consolidate their hold on the newly conquered lowland territories before striking out against the Harmurri. While most people who could run had run from the conquered villages between the People and the Harmurri, there were now rumours coming back of the Highlanders forcibly stamping out the local religious beliefs even as they began the construction of forts in key areas and the reformation of local agriculture. While the People had little idea what exactly they were doing, it seemed that they were enforcing organized irrigation and field surveys both as a way to improve yields and a way to improve the defensiveness of the terrain, even as they 'pacified' the population to ensure they would not cause trouble in the foothold the Highlanders had secured.

While still threatening to the Harmurri, these sorts of decisions made them both a much greater long term threat while also a less immediate threat that could be sold to people who were already upset with the decisions of their leadership.

Spoiler: Important Projects

Art Patronage [Guilds] [Priests] - 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, -6 Wealth, +3 Culture, +1 Tech, +1 Prestige, potential innovations x2
*M: -1 Econ, -10 Wealth, +5 Culture, +1 Tech, +1 Prestige, higher chance of innovations x2

Black Soil [Yeomen] - 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]
Build Chariots - The vehicle of the elite, chariots are the most effective way of waging war the People know, or at least that's what their drivers say.
*S: -1 Econ, -4 Wealth, +2 Martial, +1 Culture
*M: -2 Econ, -10 Wealth, +6 Martial, +2 Culture, +1 Prestige

Build Docks [Guilds][Traders] - 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, -2 Wealth, +3 Diplo, potential for new innovations x2, increased trade power

Build Ceramics Kilns [Guilds] – With similar demands for high temperature kilns, glass and fine pottery are growing increasingly close together
*S: -2 Econ, -3 Tech, 1 Sustainable Forest used, +1 Wealth, +3 Culture, chance of new innovations x2
*M: -3 Econ, -4 Tech, 2 Sustainable Forest used, +1 Wealth, +7 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. +4 to Games, +2 non-primary Tolerance
*S: -4 Wealth, -2 Culture, +2 Bonus to Games rolls per turn, +1 non-primary Martial tolerance
*M: -6 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: -6 Wealth, -1 Tech, +3 Econ, potential for innovation x2
*M: -8 Wealth, - 1 Tech, +4 Econ, increased potential for innovation x2

Build Roads [Yeomen] - New roads can better tie the people together, so more could be useful. (21/55) +7 Centralization Tolerance (Max additional tolerance for government reached)
* S: -1 Econ, -4 Wealth, -1 Tech, +1 Centralization, +1 Diplo, other effects
* M: -3 Econ, -4 Wealth, -2 Tech, +2 Centralization, +2 Diplo, other effects

Build Theatre [Urban] - 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, -2 Wealth, -1 Culture, +4 Culture end of turn, other effects
*M: -1 Econ, -4 Wealth, -1 Culture, +4 Culture end of turn, +2 Culture next turn, other effects

Build Wall [Urban] - The practice of building city walls has reached new heights with access to superior tools making the cutting of stone simpler (34/66 significant walls, 4/66 massive walls)
*S: -2 Econ, +1 significant walls
*M: -4 Econ, +1 massive walls

Build Watchtowers [Yeomen] - 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. (30% 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
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
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 (10/10) to one of the available ones listed below
Agriculture (+3 Econ, -3 Econ Expansion, -1 Tech/turn)
Diplomacy (+1 Diplo/turn)
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 (4 Econ cost for True Cities offset each turn, -1 Tech) x2
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, -2 Wealth)
Infrastructure (+1 Free Progress to an infrastructure project (Aqueduct, governor's palace, saltern, etc.)/turn) x5
Defence (+1 significant walls/turn) x1
Special: Forestry (+1 Sustainable Forest and -1 Econ Expansion/2 turns)
Special: Vassal Support (+1 Subordinate while active, increases Loyalty while active at less than full subordinates) x1

Develop Intrigue Web [Urban] [Traders] - With contacts in the right places, all sorts of fun things can be done
S: -4 Wealth, -2 Diplo, +1 Intrigue
M: -6 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 [Guilds] - With better processes, large Guild controlled kilns can be built to efficiently turn wood into charcoal
*S: -1 Econ, -2 Wealth, -2 Tech, -2 Sustainable Forest used
*M: -2 Econ, -4 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 [Yeomen] - Encourage the growth of food producing activities such as farming, pastures, or fishing, depending on where focus is placed
*S: +6 Econ, -2 Tech, -6 Econ Expansion, potential additional effects

Expand Forests [Yeomen] - 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
* 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

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: Spirit Channel, Amber Road
*F: Convert Amber Road
*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: Sacred Forest, Blackmouth, Stallionpen
*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: Spirit Channel, Northern Steppe, Northwestern Steppe
*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, -2 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, -4 Wealth, 0 to +1 Stability, information on problems

Increase Cement Production [Guilds] – While this material can use the same kilns as for pottery and glassmaking, it benefits more from raw size and throughput than the more precise control of those materials, and the other artisans complain if you take up their space with cement
*S: -1 Econ, -6 Wealth, -2 Tech, 1 sustainable forest used, certain projects boosted, other effects
*M: -2 Econ, -8 Wealth, -3 Tech, 1 sustainable forest used, certain projects boosted, other effects

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 - The colony of Txolla 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 [Priests][Urban] - A festival for every season, but their expansion can help put the People at ease and teach good practices.
* S: -1 Econ, -4 Wealth, +1 Stability, +2 Culture, chance for additional effects
* M: -2 Econ, -4 Wealth, +1 Stability, +4 Culture, chance for additional effects
* Max Stability: Legitimacy - 1

Invite to Games [Traders] - 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, -4 Wealth, begins an intrigue event in target location
*S: -2 Intrigue, -3 Diplo, -6 Wealth, begins an intrigue event in target location with higher odds of success

More Warships [Guilds][Traders] - Many standard boats are no longer things need to worry about, but warships are something else entirely
*S: -3 Econ, -6 Wealth, -2 Martial, +1 Tech; +1 Naval, additional effects
*M: -3 Econ, -10 Wealth, -3 Martial, +1 Tech; +2 Naval, additional effects

New Settlement [Yeomen] - There are a few new sites that could have new settlements placed on them: northern Blackriver (+3, moderate mineral, 2/6 province), internal reorg (+3, 4/10 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 Cash Crops - Drugs [Priests][Yeomen] – Some crops produce peculiar effects on the mind that can be in high demand for spiritual and medical uses. Available: Hemp, Poppies
*S: -2 Econ, -2 Econ Expansion, +1 Mysticism, +3 Wealth
*M: -3 Econ, -3 Econ Expansion, +1 Mysticism, +7 Wealth, other effects

Plant Cash Crops - Textiles [Guilds][Yeomen] – Planting these water and soil hungry crops can produce large quantities of useful fibres for sturdy ropes and comfortable clothing. Available: Hemp, Cotton, Flax
*S: -3 Econ, -4 Econ Expansion, +6 Wealth, +1 Diplo with boats, +1 Econ next turn other effects
*M: -5 Econ, -5 Econ Expansion, +7 Wealth, +2 Diplo with boats, +1 Culture, +1 Econ next turn, other effects

Plant Cash Crops – Luxuries [Yeomen] – These crops are those that make life a bit more vibrant, flavourful, and exciting. Available: Wine, Dyes, Spices
*S: -2 Econ, -1 Econ Expansion, +2 Wealth, +2 Culture, other effects
*S: -5 Econ, -2 Econ Expansion, +6 Wealth, +2 Culture, other effects

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, -6 Wealth, +5 Martial, +1 Culture, potential additional effects
*M: -3 Econ, -10 Wealth, +9 Martial, +2 Culture, potential additional effects
*2M: -4 Econ, -10 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 [Traders] - 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 [Traders] - 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 [Priests] - Materials can be made to transform their form through special treatment. What wonders can be discovered in this process?
*S: -2 Mysticism, -6 Wealth, +1 Tech, potential new discoveries x2
*M: -4 Mysticism, -8 Wealth, -1 Econ, +1 Tech, increased chance of new discoveries x2

Study Health [Priests] - What secrets of nature can be used to improve the health of the People?
* S: -1 Econ, -4 Wealth, -1 Tech, potential new discoveries x2
*M: -1 Econ, -4 Wealth, -3 Mysticism, -1 Tech, increased odds of success x2

Study Metal [Priests][Guilds] - Iron and copper, gold and silver, what other secrets are hidden in metal and stone?
* S: -1 Econ, -4 Wealth, -1 Mysticism, +1 Tech, small chance of new insights x2
* M: -1 Econ, -6 Wealth, -1 Mysticism, improved chance of new insights x2

Study Stars [Priests] - What secrets do the heavens hold when you study the stars and their motions carefully?
*S: -2 Wealth, +1 Mysticism, gives mid-turn astrological predictions
Cannot be used as a Main action

Support Artisans [Guilds] - With the growing importance of skilled artisans to the maintenance of society, additional support may sometimes be needed
*S: -1 Econ, -6 Wealth, +3 Tech, +1 Culture, potential innovations x2
*M: -1 Econ, -10 Wealth, +5 Tech, +1 Culture, higher chance of innovations x2

Support Sacred Orders [Priests] – The various sacred orders of specialist warriors provide a number of benefits and special skills, but require considerable investment
*S: -3 Econ, -3 Mysticism, -12 Wealth, +5 Martial, +1 Light Cavalry, +2 Culture, other effects
*M: -4 Econ, -4 Mysticism, -14 Wealth, +7 Martial, +2 Light Cavalry, +3 Culture, other effects

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: -2 Stability, -5 Culture, -1 Faction Power, current faction quest fails but consequences negated

Survey Lands [Yeomen][Traders] - 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 [Traders] - Sending a major caravan to another large group can bring new opportunities and find out more about the outside world
* S: -2 Diplo, additional effects depending on target, +1-2 Wealth
* M: -2 Diplo, -1 Econ, additional effects depending on target, +1 Wealth, +1-5 Wealth end of turn

Diplomatic Mission [Traders] – Contact with the outside world is expensive, but can bring its own rewards
* 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
Special: When planting cash crops may specify a sub-variety for more focused effects

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
Library [Priests] - 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), Lower Valleyhome (0/3)
Saltern [Guilds][Yeomen] - Northshore Saltern Expansion (0/3), Southshore Saltern Expansion (0/3), Gulshore Saltern (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
Temple [Priests] - Progress listed below, each {S} committed consumes 3 Econ and 3 Culture for 3 Progress. Completion increases Religious Authority
Observatory [Priests] - Certain temples can have astrological observatories, with each {S} committed consuming 3 Econ and 3 Mysticism for 3 Progress

Academy – These centers of learning provide a well-rounded education in topics both general and esoteric, providing a more informed population who are better able to deal with the complexities of the world, although direct reference to the records can be called into question more often. Each level increases RA tolerance by 1, decreases the refund from Libraries by 1 (min. 0), and provides other effects. Each {S} committed consumes 6 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), Lower Valleyhome (0/3)
Aqueduct [Urban] - 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. Level 1: Stonepen (0/3), Hatmouth (0/3), Yellowshore (0/3) Level 2: Redhills (0/6), Valleyhome (0/6), Sacred Forest (0/3), Blackmouth (0/6), Stallionpen (0/6), Valleyguard (0/3), Lower Valleyhome (0/3)
Bath [Urban] - Any city with an aqueduct may have a bath. Each {S} committed consumes 6 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 (4/6), Stallionpen (0/3), Valleyguard (0/3)
Block Housing [Urban] - 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 City Attraction 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)
Colossal Walls [Urban] - True Cities can support truly gigantic walls. Each {S} committed consumes 3 Econ and 1 Martial for 3 Progress. Redshore (0/9), Redhills (1/9), Valleyhome (0/9), Sacred Forest (0/9), Blackmouth (0/9), Stallionpen (0/9), Valleyguard (1/9)
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
Ironworks [Guilds] - 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 (MP), Blackmouth (0/3)
Marketplace [Traders][Urban] - A more significant section than what is typically found in most settlements, these sorts of markets are meant to service massive urban populations. Level 1 transforms half of the Econ spent on a True or Free City into Wealth income. Level 2 increases this to 100% of the spent Econ. Each level increases City attraction by 1. Each {S} costs 6 Wealth and 3 Culture for 3 progress. Redshore (0/18), 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 (15/17)
-Grand 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".
Boundary Passage - The Boundary Hills are rough terrain with few wells or springs, making them almost impossible to pass, but if one were to cut through the rock to install tunnels and staircases, and build some bridges, this would provide an easy but easily controllable and defensible route between the steppes and lowlands (5-8? action commitment, -2 Econ per action)
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? (2/6-8? action commitment, -2 Econ & Wealth and -1 Tech 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 Six Secondary actions, and Two [Guild] and One [Sec Guild] action. Need to devote at least one Main action towards the Great Dam megaproject for the next four to six turns. The Patricians seem likely to encourage the Trader quest to fail this turn to maximize spite

[] Art Patronage
[] Black Soil
[] Build Chariots
[] Build Docks
[] Build Ceramics Kilns
[] Build Gymnasium
[] Build Mills
[] Build Roads
[] Build Theatre
[] Build Wall
[] Build Watchtowers
[] Change Policy
[] Develop Intrigue Web
[] Develop Intrigue Web
[] Distribute Land
[] Efficient Charcoal Kilns
[] Enforce Justice
[] Expand Economy
[] Expand Forests
[] Found Colony
[] Found Free City
[] Found Mercenary Company
[] Found Trading Post
[] Hunt Troublemakers
[] Improve Annual Festival
[] Increase Cement Production
[] Influence Subordinate
[] Integrate Colony
[] Integrate March
[] Integrate Vassal
[] Invite to Games
[] Launch Intrigue Mission
[] More Warships
[] New Settlement
[] Plant Cash Crops - Drugs
[] Plant Cash Crops - Textiles
[] Plant Cash Crops - Luxuries
[] 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
[] Support Sacred Orders
[] Suppress Faction
[] Terrify
[] Trade Mission
-Target Options: Highland Kingdom, Freehills, Lowland Minors, Tin Tribes,Harmurri, Storm People, Northern Nomads, Forhuch, Into the Wild (Eastern Sea), Into the Wild, Khemetri
[] Diplomatic Mission
-Target Options: Highland Kingdom, Freehills, Lowland Minors, Tin Tribes,Harmurri, Storm People, Northern Nomads, Forhuch, Into the Wild (Eastern Sea), Into the Wild, Khemetri
[] War Mission
-Target Options: Northern Nomads, Highland Kingdom (-1 Stability)

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 (6) - Power: Add or subtract their faction power from factions they are supporting/opposing. Objective: Build 3/4 Great Hall Annexes within 2 turns Reward: Government upgrade
Guild (5) - Power: Half faction power added to Max Wealth. Objective: Have a level 3 Ironworks within 2 turns. Failure: -1 Stability
Traders (2 {8}) - Power: Add or subtract faction power modifier to all innovation rolls. Objective: Have Naval power 3 or above within 1 turns. Success: +1 Naval [1/2]
Yeomen (2)- Power: Adds faction power to secondary Martial Objective: Have 30 EE within 2 turns. Failure: -1 Stability [1/2]
Priests (2)- Power: Adds faction power to RA. Objective: Have a new level 2 temple somewhere within 1 turns. Success: +1 RA tolerance. Failure: -1 Stability
Urban Poor (4) - Power: +1 Max Legitimacy every 3 full power. Objective: Have 5 or more Free Cities within 3 turns. Success: New Social Value slot
These counters iterate at the next midturn. The numbers in brackets indicate the general faction strength.

Astrological Prediction: As a source of greed and outside influence the traders should be suppressed (4)

 

[Academia Nut]

[X][Main] Great Dam
[X][Secondary] Support Faction – Traders
[X][Secondary] Enforce Justice
[X][Secondary] Invite to Games – Forhuch
[X][Secondary] Found March - Spirit Channel
[X][Secondary] Upgrade Temple - Horse Valley
[X][Secondary] Upgrade Temple - Horse Valley x2
[X][Guild] Plant Cash Crops – Textiles
[X][Guild] Salterns
[X][Guild Secondary] Salterns

Provinces – [Main] Expand Econ, [Sec] New Settlement - Reorg, [Sec] Trade Mission – Forhuch, [Sec] Study Stars, [Sec] Survey Lands, [Sec] Expand Forests
Policies – Redshore Block Housing (6/6), Blackmouth Market (3/3), Blackmouth Block Housing (2/3), Redhills Colossal Walls (2/9)
FC – Redshore Baths (6/6), Redhills Colossla Walls (3/9), Valleyguard Colossal Walls (2/9)

Western Wall – [Main] Plant Cash Crops - Textiles, [Sec] Build Docks
Greenshore – [Main] Plant Cash Crops – Luxuries (Spices), [Main] Expand Forest
Tinriver – [Main] New Settlement, [Sec] Build Wall
Amber Road – [Main] Docks
Heaven's Hawk – [Sec] Build Wall, [Sec] Expand Econ
Txolla – [Main] New Settlement, [Sec] Expand Econ, [Sec] Build Roads
Thunder Horse – [Main] Expand Econ, [Sec] Build Roads, [Sec] Expand Forest

Religious Settlement – Black Soil

The changes to the half-exile system brought a remarkable number of complaints, but somehow the People carried on regardless. In the first few years after the change the incidence of disease in the cities began to increase, the harvests showed problems as the rains were less consistent, and general tax collection had numerous issues. There wasn't one single thing that could be said to demonstrate the displeasure of the gods and spirits, but it was taken as a general given that the gods were generally displeased. The widespread disruption of taxes in one way or another and the rising costs also had the People pursuing new ways to bring in money to pay for everything, with a few in Greenshore going to cultivate a certain kind of tree that produced a fragrant bark that could be dried and ground into an intensely flavourful spice. Along the way some of the other kinds of bark the trees produced were experimented with to see if anything relevant was within them, and while for the most part this just produced useless goop, a few of the alchemists were given ideas about ways to use some of the fibrous materials in the bark and various textiles.

Unfortunately, the traders were rather unhappy about all the profits they were losing out on with everyone increasing the amount of money they were charging, and thus rather than invest in further experiments to see if there was anything worthwhile - possibly a way to use waste fibers - they were being generally cold towards such investments. Furthermore, the lower patricians were also generally lacking in funds and favours that they might want to spread around, meaning that even though a group of artisans, farmers, and alchemists were all certain that they were on to something, they couldn't get the resources needed to continue on with their work unless it came from the king.

Support these inventors?
[] [Inno] No, the kingdom has other things to spend on (Innovation probably lost for the time being)
[] [Inno] Something can be spared from the budget (-1 Wealth, -1 Mysticism, ???)
[] [Inno] Looks important, invest heavily (-3 Wealth, -3 Mysticism, -1 Tech, ???)

However, while the People seemed to be stuck in a malaise, their neighbours were the exact opposite. The Freehills were continuing their expansion, and while superior in general to the Tin Tribes, apparently a great leader had emerged from among those mountain people and was stalemating the warriors of the Freehills. Fortunately the Saffron Islanders had apparently set up dozens of major settlements across the sea in the south-west and those colonies were ever hungry for the goods of the People, with the Trelli strait providing Freehills with an immense amount of wealth in passing the trade of resources and wealth between the two seas. Freehills wanted the high quality iron goods of the People in abundant amounts, and were more than willing to pay for them. Meanwhile, the Storm Ymaryn had apparently cleaned up the problems they had been having under the auspices of a new, vibrant king. Pursuing a policy of infrastructure build up and the beautification of the mountainous core territories, the Storm Ymaryn also had a tremendous appetite for the People's goods and expertise, and were willing to pay for it.

Beyond that though, the two most sophisticated members of the Games were demonstrating considerable interest in sending not just their proud warriors, but also their artisans. While this immediately raised the hackles of the guilds over potential theft of trade secrets, there was also something to the idea that the guilds tended to get complacent without competition. More than that, given the frequency with which those two groups went to war, it seemed entirely possible that inviting them in would open up the People to any significant weapons innovations they might come up with, and given that the infrastructure for the best works wasn't exactly something that could be discerned by looking at the final products, it could be that inviting them would allow the People to more easily steal their ideas than the other way around. Finally, there was a definite pride issue at work with the requests, with both parties seeing not being invited to the Artisan Games as something of a long term snub. Maybe not today, but it definitely seemed like they viewed such an invite as being in some ways peer to the People.

Open up the Artisan Games
[] [AG] No
[] [AG] Those things are expensive, they'll need to pay (Open games, Diplo income changed to Wealth income, ???)
[] [AG] They may join (Open games, ???)
[] [AG] Subsidize their involvement (Open games, -1 Wealth income per participant, increased innovation, ???)
Note: Opening the games means that all participants pool their innovation rolls together and share the results. Subsidizing other participants means that one of their innovation rolls each turn is doubled, and may also allow them to build their own Artisan Games

There was discussion with the king and the guilds over how much to sell to Freehills and the Storm Ymaryn when the talk of the moment began to drift to the increasing number of incidents between the Highlanders and the Harmurri along the Great River in the south. It seemed that the Highlanders were ready to take a shot at the Harmurri, and the time for intervention was drawing near. What exactly would be the breaking point was still some speculation, but conflict in the south was assuredly inevitable at this point. Before the king and the patricians in the palace could come to a consensus though, news came from the far east on the mission sent to encourage trade and invite the Forhuch to the Games.

"The offer was rejected... and more than that, the new king seems to have taken offence at our invitation. We're not sure what set him off, perhaps he feels insecure in his predecessor's shadow, but the king has elected to send us away empty handed and deeply confused," the emissary explained to the shocked court. What had gone wrong?

Over the next month word came back that the territories along the Forhuch border were seeing increasing incidents of mounted warriors launching excursionary raids. An emissary was sent off to demand an explanation/open the door for the People to bribe the only half-settled Forhuch into calming down, but two weeks after that emissary left a messenger came from the Thunder Horse.

"We have received word from the Forhuch king that the People's arrogance offends him, and he intends to show us the strength of his house. Not only does he give his people free rein to raid our territory as they see fit, but he also declares that he shall lead his warriors against us, for pride, honour, and conquest. A formal state of war now exists between the People and the Forhuch. The governor of the Thunder Horse adds on that while the Forhuch king was kind enough to give half a turning of the moon before he would lead his own armies out, in recognition of the time it will take the messengers to arrive, he fully expects all out combat to begin before the message reaches Valleyhome."

The court exploded into anarchy at this stunning change around. Had the People not been good to the Forhuch? Many demanded to know what could possibly cause this, and it was soon decided that the issue may in fact be one of internal structure. The new king was young, and while a skilled leader of armies, his tongue was not quite as silver as his predecessor and he also clearly did not have the same skill at administration. He was in his (grand-?, not quite clear how their succession had worked) father's shadow and the shadow of the People, and he had elected to lash out in the way he best knew how. Given that the Forhuch had settled their herds in prime agricultural land that was also great pastureland, and had invested most of their metal output into military means...

"We're going to be facing a lot of horsemen," the War Chief summed up.

The Forhuch come! Change policy?
[] [Policy] Stay on Balanced (Only mercenary companies and local defenses deployed for now)
[] [Policy] Switch to Offensive
[] [Policy] Switch to Mass Levy

Additional Effort?
[] [Kick] No kick
[] [Kick] 1 Stability, 2 Temp Econ damage
[] [Kick] 2 Stability, 4 Temp Econ damage
[] [Kick] 3 Stability, 6 Temp Econ damage

Lost access to Forhuch and Harmurri markets, and Freehills and Storm Ymaryn want specific types of goods
[] [Trade] Stay as is (Gain the Disrupted Trade status)
[] [Trade] Smiths work overtime! (-2 Tech/turn but can meet demand for trade)
[] [Trade] Push the guilds to the limit to meet demands (Trade Tech for Wealth, up to 5 per phase, to attempt to top up Wealth)

 

[Aleadrex]

I do need to do Yenyna one of these days...

Click to shrink...

... I actually started drawing one of Yenyna and Reshemhetari (was it?) way back when you first wrote that magnificent chapter where they fought. Unfortunately, I had to change my phone, and I've lost the file I was working on.

Here's a screenshot I was able to take, if you wanna see it.

Spoiler: Abandoned WIP Fanart

I wanted to integrate Tyrian purples, reds and blacks to fit in with the whole crow/black dragon aesthetic, and it would've made a nice contrast with the Khem's sun god theme.

 

[Menolith]

 

[Academia Nut]

[X][Inno] Looks important, invest heavily (-3 Wealth, -3 Mysticism, -1 Tech, ???)
[X][AG] They may join (Open games, ???)
[X][Policy] Switch to Mass Levy
[X][Trade] Push the guilds to the limit to meet demands (Trade Tech for Wealth, up to 5 per phase, to attempt to top up Wealth)
[X][Kick] 1 Stability, 2 Temp Econ damage

The call went out all across the kingdom: everything was needed for the coming fight. Every man who could be called up to fight without immediately crashing the economy was to do so, while those essential to the production of needed supplies were to work overtime. The smiths were to take on as many apprentices as possible to meet the demand not just for the levies, but also to keep trade up with Freehills and the Storm Ymaryn, which would be necessary to keep the economy from collapsing in on itself. Freehills and the Storm Ymaryn were also told that they could send artisans and their products to the Games if they wished, with a general invite being sent to the Harmurri, who were distinctly not in a position to respond as they were busy dealing with the Highlanders swarming into their territory, the news of the Forhuch war immediately sending them from being merely aggressive to having a full on war stance.

In the good news department the People's trading partners on the Yllthon Sea responded by sending over boatloads of ore, dirt cheap, knowing that the People could process it far easier than they could and that the final product would generally be better than anything they could produce. The "generally" though was there from the fact the two groups had had a few ideas of their own for competing with the People's metalworking, and had pushed it towards the limit. While neither group had figured out a way to compete with the raw quantity of iron that the People could process, they had both spent several generations working on the quality they could produce via skilled smiths. They brought with them a number the projects they had been working on, and the smiths of the People had rapidly realized that all three of them had a part of a greater whole.

The People could produce huge amounts of cheap but poor quality iron, useful for things like nails, cookware, or being laboriously welded together with softer bloom iron to get something that had the best qualities of both. The Storm Ymaryn had some of the expertise to do this, but were lacking in a number of areas, notably their ability to make the high quality charcoal and furnaces that could get hot enough to do what they wanted. However, they had access to a number of materials that let them make ceramics that could withstand the heat quite well, and had been experimenting with smaller but more intense furnaces so that they could get a little of the best iron. Meanwhile the Freehills smiths lagged far behind the People and their cousins in terms of smelting, but had compensated by learning all the different types of iron one could find and had made it an art to identify and blend those varieties to best effect. So dependent were they on imported iron that they had worked out ways to refine and improve the quality of ingots that the People and Storm Ymaryn would just throw back in the furnace... or sell to the Freehills if they didn't want to pay for the charcoal. The two groups independently had their own reasons for wanting an invite to the artisan games, but when they actually got it, all of the artisans together realized that each group had some skills and knowledge that they lacked, as evidenced by their different end results. While the guilds weren't exactly happy about collusion, they also wanted to know what the others did, and were thus willing to do some limited collaboration.

The end result was "king's iron", a method of blending different grades of iron together in a furnace using a sacrificial pot. The ingots so produced required skills and materials such that they were fairly judged as being at least worth their weight in gold, but it was also agreed that the metal was worth the effort. While only a miniscule amount could be produced, the products produced were fairly judged as being worthy of being wielded by kings and the greatest warriors of the land. While again the guilds grumbled a bit at various bits of knowledge getting out, they were more than a little mollified by the new product that they would definitely have an advantage in producing. Plus the patrician war leaders were plenty happy to have every extra edge possible.

Also, as the back and forth for the iron work accelerated the traders discovered that whatever grudge they had against the king for increasing prices on them had been satiated by the incredible wealth the iron trade was bringing them. People other than the People sold ore cheap and were more than happy to accept the elevated prices for the high quality goods the People made.

A few priests pointed out that the ore was so bloody cheap because it had been mined by slaves, and more than a few local mines were struggling from being undercut by foreign ore, but the People had other concerns, and the miners could be pulled out for warrior duty.

This was about the extent of the good news in the west, as the initial levy call had resulted in more than a few troubles as there was a scramble among those who didn't want to go to find some way to be declared essential, and among the leadership over what exactly was 'essential'. There was confusion and more than one riot over what exactly was going on, and any hope of an early scramble of the levies to the east was dashed.

Somewhat fortunately, the Forhuch were more interested in loot and conquest rather than psychotic purgation, and thus were a bit more careful and conservative with how they fought in comparison to the Pure from generations past. While the first responders had been pleased to find that the Thunder Horse had not been completely wiped out in the field, part of the problem was that the Forhuch king - confirm to be Fotharnim, youngest son and eldest surviving son of the first king of the Forhuch - had been taking his time to blood his warriors and send back captives and loot to secure his backing, and also to tempt in other steppe tribes. Already an unaffiliated northern coalition had decided that they wanted in on the fun and had attacked the Heaven's Hawk and the Memory of Spirits marches, distracting them from providing any assistance against the Forhuch. Somewhat fortunately the governor of the Memory of Spirits had proven himself a brilliant commander and had kept his freshly deployed forces from suffering major casualties. Sadly, his relative lack of cavalry meant that he had been unable to adequately pursue the enemy, so the north was a back and forth stalemate where neither side wanted to get stuck into a decisive battle, lest they get crushed.

In the lowlands, the War Chief himself had met with mixed success. For his own part he had crushed the forces that he was able to pin down quite adequately, but the Forhuch advantage in horses made actually getting their king to battle with the bulk of his forces a trying task. Fotharnim preferred to hit isolated but 'glorious' targets to give his troops experience, generate tales to encourage more steppe tribes to join up, and pick off loot. A particularly nasty tactic they had learned was that if they took captives and it looked like they were being slowed down they would abandon the captives and then circle around. If the forces of the People went to go help the captives they would pounce in that moment, while if the People held back the Forhuch would ride through the captives, stabbing and shooting everything in their path in the hopes of getting the People into a blind rage to charge out and get picked off instead of engaging logically. The Blood Rain Banner Company had suffered catastrophic losses when their commander lost his head in such a moment.

The metaphor had become quite literal, and the enemy commander responsible for that had been seen with the decapitated head of the commander displayed as part of his standard.

The War Chief, having more reliable access to the Spiritbonded, had smashed a large raiding party that had tried to pull the same trick on him. If the Forhuch suspected that he might be in the area they just ditched their captives and ran. So while this said good things for once the levies actually arrived, the fact of the matter was that the People were being pulled in multiple different directions. They needed to deal with the Forhuch in the east, nomads in the north, and the Highlanders were by all accounts making progress against the Harmurri in the south.

Choose the disposition of your heroes
[] [Hero] Both the War Chief and the Governor of MoS are Heroic Martial
[] [Hero] The governor is competent enough, but War Chief is the ideal general (Heroic Martial and Diplo leader)
[] [Hero] The War Chief is an Avatar of War (Genius Martial, at least semi-stable Diplo and Admin)

Choose your targets
[] [Target] Focus everything on the Forhuch, hold the line against the nomads
[] [Target] Split focus between the Forhuch and the nomads
[] [Target] Split focus between the Forhuch and Highlanders, hold against the nomads
[] [Target] Split focus between all three enemies

The traders ire is satiated. Do something with them?
[] [Traders] No
[] [Traders] Support Faction for an extra turn (Patricians will switch support to Yeomen immediately)
[] [Traders] Support Faction for a new faction quest (Patricians will not switch support immediately)

Reaction
[] [React] Sec Proclaim Glory
[] [React] Sec Restore Order
[] [React] Sec Build Mills
[] [React] Sec Palace Annex - Grand Hall
[] [React] Sec Support Sacred Orders
[] [React] Sec Blackmouth Ironworks (tech cost accounted for by Guild Push)

Kick
[] [Kick] No further kick
[] [Kick] 1 more kick
[] [Kick] 2 more kicks

Astrological Prediction: The greater the bundle of arrows, the harder they are to break if they are unified

 

[Citino]

Thunder Horse Negaverse: Once Again...​

The first signs of unrest came when the Royal Trade Mission to the Forhuch returned back early. Rumors spread quickly of the displeasure of the foreign king, and the Governor's investigation into the matter brought forth even more unnerving clues. The offer to attend the Games had seemed to somehow insult the new king, with many of the traders whispering of the Forhuch king's weakening grasp on his own nation.

The shadow of greatness cast by his father and the People was indeed vast, and while far from incompetent, the king was still only an echo of his father's brilliance.

Worried at the failed mission, the Governor gave orders to quietly begin laying in stocks of food and arms, as well increasing the patrols of the border regions, under the guise of hunting bandits.

The raids started off small, groups of horsemen raiding isolated settlements at first, but even as patrols were increased to counter the raids, the raids increased in intensity. It became evident that a possible war was looming. Word was sent to the King, requesting assistance and guidance in dealing with the issues, but before the messenger could return from Valleyhome, another rider came from the east, from the Forhuch king.

The message was a straightforward declaration of war, to be commenced in half a turn of the moon. While this would be enough time to allow word to reach the capital, even if King sent his forces out immediately, support would be a long time coming. Word was sent back west, while the Governor worked to raise his forces as quickly as he was able.

When the Forhuch descended from the mountain passes, it was only this time of preparation as well as the Governor's own foresight that allowed resistance against the horde. The Forhuch attack in many ways resembled the Pure's murderous strike so many years ago, but for all that the Forhuch seemed to move as quick as lightning and to strike nearly as hard, their attacks were also slower.

Rather than destroy the settlements, the Forhuch spent much of their effort capturing and looting their way through the borderlands, as well as taking the chance to blood their warriors. This, combined with the prepared defenses and ready warriors of the Thunder Horse lands, had slowed their assault to a comparative crawl. Still faster than could be borne for long, but only a fraction of the speed of the Pure.

Still, the attacks had been slowed enough that the King's army arrived well before the damage had reached catastrophic levels. The War Chief who led the army was overjoyed to see that so many Thunder Horse warriors still lived, and quickly took command of the entire force.

The King had indeed sent his best. All three Banners, along with a large segment of the Sacred Orders. Most important of those orders, of course, were the Spiritbound. While they numbered far less than their Forhuch counterparts, their presence would still allow for a far more flexible strategy against the invaders.

Even better came news of the royal decree calling forth the levies. Numbers that many could not even begin to imagine were bandied about by the War Chief. The idea of an army as numerous than the grains of sand upon a beach was greatly uplifting to many, a badly needed bolster to the flagging morale of the Thunder Horse people. Though that news was somewhat balanced out by word of more nomad attacks on the Memory of Spirits and Heaven's Hawks.

With the arrival of the King's army, the fighting began in earnest. The results were... mixed. The Blood Rain Banner would quickly suffer a devastating defeat, their leadership tricked by the Forhuch's use of captives. The War Chief, on the other hand, proved himself to be a true genius at war, as he used his forces to quickly crush a similar attack, as well as managing to continually thwart attacks on many other settlements. It was not long before the Forhuch would choose to retreat merely upon seeing his banner present, rather than risk a confrontation.

Of course, even for all his genius, the War Chief was unlikely to be able to decisively defeat the Forhuch with what he had now. Without a way to pin them, he could only strike when an opportunity presented itself.

Your Governor has proven himself surprisingly adept at handling what should have been an utter disaster. Choose a bonus for him:

[] [Hero] Heroic Admin, Good Martial, Mediocre Diplomacy
[] [Hero] Excellent Admin, Excellent Martial, Excellent Diplomacy
[] [Hero] Good Admin, Heroic Martial, Fair Diplomacy

Choose Reaction:

[] [Reaction] Expand Econ (Sec Expand Econ x2)
[] [Reaction] Raise Army (Main Raise Army)
[] [Reaction] Build Roads (Main Build Roads)
[] [Reaction] Another War Mission (Main War Mission)

OH FUCK, NOT AGAIN

Click to shrink...

We just finished rebuilding. Do we really have to spend a turn repairing again?

...dammit, I hate nomads.

Click to shrink...

Huh, so the Ymaryn are calling up the levies? Hey, AF, how many men are the levies going to actually be calling up? 'A lot' really doesn't tell us much.

Click to shrink...

Eh, not like they will be all that useful for anything other than garrisoning our settlements. We're probably just going to have them hold the settlement while the War Chief pushes the Forhuch back into the mountains, where we get the advantage again.

Click to shrink...

Depends on how much they want to push. It will be at least in the hundreds of thousands, and in theory it's possible for them to hit a million for a time.

As to what their levies look like, well, here's a glimpse of what their archers would do.

Click to shrink...

...Well. At least the Forhuch and nomads will get to fight in the shade.

Click to shrink...

Get rekt nomads.

Click to shrink...

So the Ymaryn now have a Genius War Chief, several elite Banners, 4+ LC, and now hundreds of thousands of archers?

GG Forhuch. GG

Click to shrink...

I just want to ask when they are going to finally man up and build the great wall. I really am getting sick and tired of having to rebuild, and I'm pretty sure they are getting tired of having to send support for us as well.

I mean, c'mon. They are pretty much Caucus!China. They need the Great Wall to really complete it.

Click to shrink...

Hey, look on the bright side guys, if we're lucky the War Chief might take over the old MH passes and give them to us. We fortify those babies, and we don't have to worry about nomad hordes as much!

Click to shrink...

 

[Academia Nut]

[X][Hero] The War Chief is an Avatar of War (Genius Martial, at least semi-stable Diplo and Admin)
[X][Target] Focus everything on the Forhuch, hold the line against the nomads
[X][React] Sec Proclaim Glory
[X][Traders] Support Faction for an extra turn (Patricians will switch support to Yeomen immediately)
[X][Kick] No further kick

Alyxunmyn had known early on in his life that the gods had a special purpose in for him, but somewhat fortunately he had managed to neither let that fact go to his head nor crush him under the weight of implied responsibility. He was simply so good at all things war that it implied a higher plan in mind for him. From a young age he had excelled at organizing the other boys around him into scrums and fights, earning him an early trip to the gymansia and academy in Redshore, where he had soaked up the lessons of the tutors and the ancients. He had entered manhood with the position of a unit commander in the Red Banner Company, and had from there quickly been promoted upwards. He simply understood how fighting worked on every level, from two men fighting with fists all the way up to the movement of armies, and understood what the correct action for victory in any given moment was. While his family's contacts and the contacts he made serving the kingdom certainly helped his career, his ascent to the position of War Chief had been faster than any could have expected. Legends told of younger War Chiefs, but he was certainly the youngest that any reliably knew of.

And when the war with the Forhuch had begun, a weight had been lifted from him in knowing that this was what the gods intended for him all along. This was why he was born, why the gods had placed so many gifts upon him. The weight of wondering why had however been replaced with the responsibility to see his duty through. He had rushed out to the east with all the king's warriors to assist the local forces and buy time for the levies to be called up, knowing that his decisions would cost lives, would send some to die by his orders and leave others to perish by his orders. He took to the task as he always did: careful and methodical exactly when needed, brutal and decisive exactly when needed, and never confusing speed with haste nor caution with cowardice. The early campaigning was hard in that his ability to contest the terrain was much limited than his foe, but he spent those years conserving his strength and learning the ways of the enemy.

Fotharmin - a curious name that for some odd reason the Forhuch had no trouble with the exact pronunciation but the People kept stumbling over - was a brilliant commander who knew exactly how to use the speed his mostly mounted warriors gave him to the best advantage. Alyxunmyn had managed to catalogue in his mind all the ways that Fotharmin and his lieutenants went about war, and now that he had the ability to contest the terrain with mass he could begin truly acting on all he had learned. Along with the arrival of the levies, the king also sent word that Alyxunmyn was to be granted the title of Dragon General for his exemplary work in holding the line. Aside from being a tremendous honour, the title was rarely granted and called forth the stories of the greatest heroes, a major morale booster that Alyxunmyn put his tremendous charisma to leveraging even further. As he organized the levies, he made sure to tour the various camps to check up how the recruits were being arrayed and drilling, instilling within them the fire and desire to fight. He also made sure, as best he was able, that they maintained proper physical and spiritual hygienic standards as laid out by the priests, although even then fevers ran rampant throughout the camps and claimed the lives of many before they could even get near the enemy.

Somewhat amusingly enough, Alyxunmyn found that the majority of his attention was focused upon ensuring that the caravans of food and equipment kept moving forward across the lowlands to keep the literal cities worth of levied troops fed. The main tricky thing was ensuring that the Forhuch weren't able to slip past them and hit the somewhat geographically restricted routes that the caravans could traverse, but by keeping his levies in blocks of the ideal size to minimize disease spread while maximizing their ability to make raiding parties rethink where they wanted to attack, he was able to push forward. Getting the Forhuch to directly engage was difficult, but over many seasons he forced the dance between them back and out of Thunder Horse territory. A lesser commander than Fotharmin would have fallen into frustration long ago, while a lesser commander than Alyxunmyn would have either made him quit this field and engage somewhere else, drawing the war further out as the People chased dust clouds and shadows.

Instead, Alyxunmyn played a very careful and dangerous game with the enemy, moving units into positions he suspected would draw the enemy into attacking, at least until other groups could move forward to assist and the enemy would wheel away. It was a ruthless and bloody game, but it kept the Forhuch interested in fighting here where he had all his warriors rather than elsewhere where there were civilians to carry off and murder. More than that, over many seasons he blooded his troops and confirmed the behaviour of the Forhuch. Finally after frustrating years of being unable to bring the enemy to a proper, decisive battle without risking catastrophe, Alyxunmyn had it. With proper consultation of the omens and stars he confirmed that the auspices were right for what he wanted to do. For any other man his orders would be utter madness, but he knew that his upper soul had been personally crafted by Hynryn as an instrument of war.

War. Not fighting, not battle, but war. He had everything positioned the way he wanted it, and he had his scouts and cavalry keeping just the right level of contact with the enemy that he knew where they were, and from years of experience he could predict what they would do. He saw in his mind Crow's view of the world and the little humans swarming like ants over it, and he directed them accordingly. The trick to it all, the madness of it all, was that he had to be issuing orders days to weeks in advance to get things moving just right. His orders also had be somewhat flexible, because there was no way that he could avoid delays in messages and warrior movements from weather or unexpected complications, but he had spent years drilling and campaigning with the men and their commanders, so he knew which units needed to get which directives to achieve his goals. Some had shorter but more rigid instructions, while others had longer but more flexible plans.

Thus it was that he started his forces moving. Thus it was that he 'accidentally' opened a path to his rear and the vulnerable and valuable supply caravans, right in a place and in a way where Fotharmin's brother-in-law wouldn't be able to resist pouncing. The 'accidental' gap would of course begin closing right away and Fotharmin would need to rush in and haul his brother-in-law out before Alyxunmyn surrounded him. It had happened before, and but the aggressive warleader had got away with it each time, and they had avoided the 'obvious' times when Alyxunmyn had opened up an inviting gap in their defensive blocks. The Forhuch knew when the People made a mistake and when they were laying a trap. The Forhuch knew how fast the People could react and respond to these sorts of events and opportunities.

Only, Alyxunmyn had been carefully leaving these gaps open for years to test how the Forhuch would respond, and he had been moving his formations in places they couldn't see to know exactly how fast they could move and train them to be better, all while never having them move at full speed in places the enemy could see. While every death weighed upon him, he had made sure that every life he sacrificed this way was done productively. The temptation to take his vastly superior numbers and rush out to smash the enemy, but he knew that if he did not do this just right the Forhuch would dance around them, slice apart their supply lines, and then run away laughing while tens of thousands starved in the wastes between rivers and oases. Finally though, finally, he could yank the noose shut once the prey had its neck fully inside, content in the knowledge that it had avoided the slow and obvious trap in front of the bait.

It took weeks for the trap to actually fully shut, and Alyxunmyn paced every day even after he knew that it was working. He paced not precisely out of concern or worry, but because his mind was so busy running through everything that he had to distract himself with physical activity in the quiet moments between repositioning with his own forces. Again, the trick of it all was not to smash the enemy right away, but to let them see what they wanted to see, what they expected to see, to let them follow the paths they thought safe and their scouts to report back the expected sort of movements and resistances that made them think they had the People dancing to their tune.

And then one fine afternoon the enemy brought their forces into the space between a river and a little line of hills. Pretty much all of the horse warriors the People had had been trailing them, not enough to stop them but certainly enough to let them get pinned if they chose to attempt to fight off their pursuers. At close to twenty thousand warriors strong, the Forhuch was certainly the greatest concentration of cavalry the world had ever known, and only semi-mythical tales such as the Battle of Bloodvalley held accounts of numbers comparable to the concentration of force present. Lead by a king who they all regarded of as being truly great, there should be nothing that could stop them.

Except perhaps the entire Red Banner company backed by thirty thousand crossbowmen in front of them.

And then the Dragon Banner joining up with the Spiritbonded to the rear.

And Alyxunmyn standing atop the ridge to their north.

"You are surrounded! There is no hope for escape! Throw down your arms and abandon your horses, and your king may ride out to return with those you have stolen from us so that you may walk away from here alive," Alyxunmyn's iron-lunged majrodomo Horllyxyn boomed out, his amazingly loud voice carrying out for all to hear.

The Forhuch forces seemed to consider this for a time, before their king made an unmistakable gesture of defiance and wheeled his warriors around to hit the less solid forces in his rear.

"So be it," Alyxunmyn said in expected disappointment, gesturing to the trumpeters near him to pass along the order. Horns and drums went up all along the back slope of the hill, flags and banners waving. All was silent for a moment before the hundred thousand crossbowmen he had just out of sight unloaded across the ridge all at once, thousands of them immediately rushing forward into view after the first blind volley was off to begin making more precise shots.

The sound. The sound of a hundred thousand bolts loosed into the air all at once was like some sort of damned wail, a scream of the gods.

When it was all said and done, Alyxunmyn could only comment to those around him in a half-comical, half-pitying tone, "If I hadn't just done it and thus knew every last trick I pulled, I would call bullshit on this. One should not be able to conceal that many men and achieve such total surprise."

"The king will surely name you heir for his own safety after this," Horllyyxyn said jovially.

"Hrm," Alyxunmyn grunted noncommittally. It was a foregone conclusion, politically the only threat to him was assassination, and that would probably trigger a civil war. Far safer to simply give him the crown and try to get in his good graces to ride alongside his success than stand against him. Still, it sat poorly with him to joke about it like this. It stank of the dead king before him, who declared war to secure his own crown.

Unfortunately, while he had needed to pin the slippery horsemen, their obliteration was not exactly what he wanted. "The Forhuch are no more, a kingdom without a king or army. What warriors they have left will be even more bandits than they already are, and there is nothing to stop another nomad group from taking over. I in fact fear that the foes we face in the north-west will take advantage of this to invade the Forhuch territory, and we will have to root them out, or they will become the new Forhuch in a generation and we will repeat all of this once more in three generations."

"I take it you have already made recommendations to the king?" Tortoxyn, a senior commander from a Blackmouth levy asked.

"I have. I ask that I be sent in the Horse Mountains to secure their territory before it descends into utter anarchy, and to ensure no new hostiles take up residence there. I would prefer to take the majority of our forces to do the job right, but barring that I am asking that the levies not come without professionals. They are good men, but I worry about their discipline when not being watched by those who have dedicated their lives to war, and the trouble they could get up to in those mountains," Alyxunmyn explained, now that he knew what message he would be sending.

"What of the tribes to the north? I have heard that they have ravaged the Heaven's Hawk. Or the fight between the Highlanders and the Harmurri to the south? The Harmurri have gone disturbingly silent these past few seasons," Tortoxyn asked.

"These are indeed troubling, but with the Horse Mountains secure we will be able to strike at the nomads from more than a third direction, and they will not be able to occupy the territory to vex us. We should be able to secure the region quickly, and then we can turn on the invaders before moving with all force against the Highlanders who attack our friends in the south," Alyxynmyn states. "I just pray to the gods that the king agrees with me to utterly crush our problems one at a time, in order."

AN: Because you will ask, Alyxunmyn is Genius Martial, Excellent Admin, Excellent Diplo, Poor Mystic. And he rolled two Nat 100s this turn while the Forhuch did not pull a miracle out of their asses to counter him. You also actually won so hard that you can't formally end this war, your enemy no longer has a government that can surrender. You can either walk into their territory and secure it, or stop fighting to effectively White Peace out while implosion and invasion wipes out the Forhuch as a kingdom.

Where to send the regulars?
[] [Regulars] Horse Mountains
[] [Regulars] Northern Nomads
[] [Regulars] Highlanders

Where to send the levies?
[] [Levies] Horse Mountains
[] [Levies] Northern Nomads
[] [Levies] Highlanders

AN: If you send no forces to the Horse Mountains, you effectively White Peace the Forhuch and gain +1 Stability

Second React Action
[] [React] Sec Improve Annual Festival
[] [React] Sec Restore Order
[] [React] Sec Build Mills
[] [React] Sec Palace Annex - Grand Hall
[] [React] Sec Support Sacred Orders
[] [React] Sec Blackmouth Ironworks (tech cost accounted for by Guild Push)

AN: You may notice that the Econ and Martial on the front page has changed. Levies will eat up Econ through logistics disruption and disease in the camps, but they can also convert Econ to martial. Your Genius general won so hard that a massive amount got converted this turn, along with other issues. Also, Tech dropped to keep trade going, but since Wealth is already at max a min of 2 was converted and then overflowed to Diplo.

Spoiler: Faction Quests

Patricians (6) - Power: Add or subtract their faction power from factions they are supporting/opposing. Objective: Build 3/4 Great Hall Annexes within 1 turns Reward: Government upgrade
Guild (7) - Power: Half faction power added to Max Wealth. Objective: Have a level 3 Ironworks within 1 turns. Failure: -1 Stability
Traders (4) - Power: Add or subtract faction power modifier to all innovation rolls. Objective: Have Naval power 3 or above within 2 turns. Success: +1 Naval
Yeomen (2 {8})- Power: Adds faction power to secondary Martial Objective: Have 30 EE within 1 turns. Failure: -1 Stability [1/2]
Priests (3)- Power: Adds faction power to RA. Objective: Perform 0/4 priest actions within 3 turn. Success: New Level 1 Temple. Failure: -1 Stability
Urban Poor (4) - Power: +1 Max Legitimacy every 3 full power. Objective: Have 5 or more Free Cities within 2 turns. Success: New Social Value slot
These counters iterate at the next midturn. The numbers in brackets indicate the general faction strength.

 

[Academia Nut]

[X][Regulars] Horse Mountains
[X][Levies] Horse Mountains
[X][React] Sec Improve Annual Festival

The king quickly enough agreed with Alyxunmyn's recommendation to march on the Horse Mountains and claim them - or at least to claim the various mountain passes that would allow for control of access to the region and from there to the lowlands. There was considerable worry that they would only seize a few key points with significant fighting from fiercely independent tribes...

Only, pretty much as soon as they got into Forhuch territory the local tribes all went "Wow, you killed the king so hard, you're totally in charge now". The fact that those left behind were only marginally loyal - the least loyal had been thrown against the People early on, while the most loyal were the ones who got to come along for loot - also went a long way towards securing things. The fact that Alyxunmyn had excellent control over his troops and he made sure to peel off some of the more trustworthy warriors to station them as garrisons in key places made convincing the locals that they didn't need to resist and it would be a bad idea if they tried very easy. The entire 'conquest' was over in about a year, during which time the king and governors confirmed Alyunmyn as the heir, both for his achievements and to minimize the possibility of either the Forhuch that had joined up getting pissy or the priest-acknowledged Avatar of the Spirits of War deciding he wanted to take the crown more directly.

From there Alyxunmyn took the troops north and west from three different directions to deal with the nomad tribes that had been harassing them. That campaign had gone nowhere near as well as the lowlands campaign, although that was primarily because the lowlands campaign had been a spectacular success, and secondarily because the northern nomads were much less willing to maintain contact with the People. After a few years of back and forth and losses on both sides, it became entirely obvious to the nomads that the People both were not going to fold as they were well lead, numerous, experienced, and no longer distracted by the Forhuch. Deciding that they had had more than enough time to raid and gain honour and continuing to engage with the armies of the People was foolish, the nomads simply packed up and left for the east.

Which left the Highlanders and the Harmurri to the south.

Refugees streaming out had revealed that the Highlanders had conquered everything along the Great River and in fact had gone all the way to the western bank of the Urri River, with the king and his armies being cut down in a major battle that had only further energized the Highlanders. While resistance had been reorganized in the eastern part of their territories, despair ran thick through the Harmurri, and many worried that if pressured further then collapse was imminent. The People were thus up for kicking the Highlanders' teeth in and freeing their friends the Harmurri... but the People were also tired.

The cities were empty, with only Redshore really retaining its enormous urban flavour, although even that was diminished. The effort of the levies and the guilds to meet the demands of war had placed an enormous pressure upon the People, hollowing them out in ways. And yet there were traders and patricians who retained and had even grown much of their wealth and influence, leading to new things but also resentment. So much had been sacrificed, but where was their sacrifice?

Alyxunmyn worried about what to do next. He could dismiss many of the levies back to the cities and the farms, but he worried that he would need every man with him. If he wanted to kick the Highlanders out of the Harmurri territory and the lowlands in general he could probably do that with the elites and regulars, but if he wanted to actually do something about the Highlanders rather than kick the issue down the trail for another few generations he would need the full might of the People at his back. But could they afford it?

Additionally, the matter of his marriage had come up. He had risen through the ranks with extreme quickness and thus despite being a little over the age where a proper patrician's son should get married, the issue had been left a bit in limbo for a few years. The initial considerations of his family had gone out the window once they had recognized that their usual contacts would be insufficient for his future standing, and now that he was heir to the crown... well, now who he married was a matter of importance to the kingdom. Especially since the king of the Storm Ymaryn had sent word that he had a few lovely daughters who were of marriageable age. Wink wink.

He had actually literally gone 'wink wink' in the message, adding the special characters for that to the end of his sentence. The scribes suggested that maybe there had been something of a change in meaning.

Who should Alyxunmyn marry?
[] [Marriage] Internally from a patrician family
[] [Marriage] From one of the Forhuch tribes to secure their loyalty
[] [Marriage] From the Storm Ymaryn to gain an alliance

Spoiler: Important Projects

Art Patronage [Guilds] [Priests] - 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, -6 Wealth, +3 Culture, +1 Tech, +1 Prestige, potential innovations x2
*M: -1 Econ, -10 Wealth, +5 Culture, +1 Tech, +1 Prestige, higher chance of innovations x2

Black Soil [Yeomen] - 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]

Build Chariots - The vehicle of the elite, chariots are the most effective way of waging war the People know, or at least that's what their drivers say.
*S: -1 Econ, -4 Wealth, +2 Martial, +1 Culture
*M: -2 Econ, -10 Wealth, +6 Martial, +2 Culture, +1 Prestige

Build Docks [Guilds][Traders] - 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, -2 Wealth, +3 Diplo, potential for new innovations x2, increased trade power

Build Ceramics Kilns [Guilds] – With similar demands for high temperature kilns, glass and fine pottery are growing increasingly close together
*S: -2 Econ, -3 Tech, 1 Sustainable Forest used, +1 Wealth, +3 Culture, chance of new innovations x2
*M: -3 Econ, -4 Tech, 2 Sustainable Forest used, +1 Wealth, +7 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. +4 to Games, +2 non-primary Tolerance
*S: -4 Wealth, -2 Culture, +2 Bonus to Games rolls per turn, +1 non-primary Martial tolerance
*M: -6 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: -6 Wealth, -1 Tech, +3 Econ, potential for innovation x2
*M: -8 Wealth, - 1 Tech, +4 Econ, increased potential for innovation x2

Build Roads [Yeomen] - New roads can better tie the people together, so more could be useful. (21/55) +7 Centralization Tolerance (Max additional tolerance for government reached)
* S: -1 Econ, -4 Wealth, -1 Tech, +1 Centralization, +1 Diplo, other effects
* M: -3 Econ, -4 Wealth, -2 Tech, +2 Centralization, +2 Diplo, other effects

Build Theatre [Urban] - 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, -2 Wealth, -1 Culture, +4 Culture end of turn, other effects
*M: -1 Econ, -4 Wealth, -1 Culture, +4 Culture end of turn, +2 Culture next turn, other effects

Build Wall [Urban] - The practice of building city walls has reached new heights with access to superior tools making the cutting of stone simpler (34/66 significant walls, 4/66 massive walls)
*S: -2 Econ, +1 significant walls
*M: -4 Econ, +1 massive walls

Build Watchtowers [Yeomen] - 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. (30% 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
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
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 (6/6) to one of the available ones listed below
Agriculture (+3 Econ, -3 Econ Expansion, -1 Tech/turn)
Diplomacy (+1 Diplo/turn)
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 (4 Econ cost for True Cities offset each turn, -1 Tech) 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, -2 Wealth)
Infrastructure (+1 Free Progress to an infrastructure project (Aqueduct, governor's palace, saltern, etc.)/turn) x4
Defence (+1 significant walls/turn) x1
Special: Forestry (+1 Sustainable Forest and -1 Econ Expansion/2 turns)
Special: Vassal Support (+1 Subordinate while active, increases Loyalty while active at less than full subordinates)

Develop Intrigue Web [Urban] [Traders] - With contacts in the right places, all sorts of fun things can be done
S: -4 Wealth, -2 Diplo, +1 Intrigue
M: -6 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 [Guilds] - With better processes, large Guild controlled kilns can be built to efficiently turn wood into charcoal
*S: -1 Econ, -2 Wealth, -2 Tech, -2 Sustainable Forest used
*M: -2 Econ, -4 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 [Yeomen] - Encourage the growth of food producing activities such as farming, pastures, or fishing, depending on where focus is placed
*S: +6 Econ, -2 Tech, -6 Econ Expansion, potential additional effects

Expand Forests [Yeomen] - 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
* 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

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: Spirit Channel, Amber Road
*F: Convert Amber Road
*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: Sacred Forest, Blackmouth, Stallionpen
*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: Spirit Channel, Northern Steppe, Northwestern Steppe
*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, -2 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, -4 Wealth, 0 to +1 Stability, information on problems

Increase Cement Production [Guilds] – While this material can use the same kilns as for pottery and glassmaking, it benefits more from raw size and throughput than the more precise control of those materials, and the other artisans complain if you take up their space with cement
*S: -1 Econ, -6 Wealth, -2 Tech, 1 sustainable forest used, certain projects boosted, other effects
*M: -2 Econ, -8 Wealth, -3 Tech, 1 sustainable forest used, certain projects boosted, other effects

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 - The colony of Txolla 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 [Priests][Urban] - A festival for every season, but their expansion can help put the People at ease and teach good practices.
* S: -1 Econ, -4 Wealth, +1 Stability, +2 Culture, chance for additional effects
* M: -2 Econ, -4 Wealth, +1 Stability, +4 Culture, chance for additional effects
* Max Stability: Legitimacy - 1

Invite to Games [Traders] - 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, -4 Wealth, begins an intrigue event in target location
*S: -2 Intrigue, -3 Diplo, -6 Wealth, begins an intrigue event in target location with higher odds of success

More Warships [Guilds][Traders] - Many standard boats are no longer things need to worry about, but warships are something else entirely
*S: -3 Econ, -6 Wealth, -2 Martial, +1 Tech; +1 Naval, additional effects
*M: -3 Econ, -10 Wealth, -3 Martial, +1 Tech; +2 Naval, additional effects

New Settlement [Yeomen] - There are a few new sites that could have new settlements placed on them: northern Blackriver (+3, moderate mineral, 2/6 province), internal reorg (+3, 4/10 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 Cash Crops - Drugs [Priests][Yeomen] – Some crops produce peculiar effects on the mind that can be in high demand for spiritual and medical uses. Available: Hemp, Poppies
*S: -2 Econ, -2 Econ Expansion, +1 Mysticism, +3 Wealth
*M: -3 Econ, -3 Econ Expansion, +1 Mysticism, +7 Wealth, other effects

Plant Cash Crops - Textiles [Guilds][Yeomen] – Planting these water and soil hungry crops can produce large quantities of useful fibres for sturdy ropes and comfortable clothing. Available: Hemp, Cotton, Flax
*S: -3 Econ, -4 Econ Expansion, +6 Wealth, +1 Diplo with boats, +1 Econ next turn other effects
*M: -5 Econ, -5 Econ Expansion, +7 Wealth, +2 Diplo with boats, +1 Culture, +1 Econ next turn, other effects

Plant Cash Crops – Luxuries [Yeomen] – These crops are those that make life a bit more vibrant, flavourful, and exciting. Available: Wine, Dyes, Spices
*S: -2 Econ, -1 Econ Expansion, +2 Wealth, +2 Culture, other effects
*S: -5 Econ, -2 Econ Expansion, +6 Wealth, +2 Culture, other effects

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, -6 Wealth, +5 Martial, +1 Culture, potential additional effects
*M: -3 Econ, -10 Wealth, +9 Martial, +2 Culture, potential additional effects
*2M: -4 Econ, -10 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 [Traders] - 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 [Traders] - 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 [Priests] - Materials can be made to transform their form through special treatment. What wonders can be discovered in this process?
*S: -2 Mysticism, -6 Wealth, +1 Tech, potential new discoveries x2
*M: -4 Mysticism, -8 Wealth, -1 Econ, +1 Tech, increased chance of new discoveries x2

Study Health [Priests] - What secrets of nature can be used to improve the health of the People?
* S: -1 Econ, -4 Wealth, -1 Tech, potential new discoveries x2
*M: -1 Econ, -4 Wealth, -3 Mysticism, -1 Tech, increased odds of success x2

Study Metal [Priests][Guilds] - Iron and copper, gold and silver, what other secrets are hidden in metal and stone?
* S: -1 Econ, -4 Wealth, -1 Mysticism, +1 Tech, small chance of new insights x2
* M: -1 Econ, -6 Wealth, -1 Mysticism, improved chance of new insights x2

Study Stars [Priests] - What secrets do the heavens hold when you study the stars and their motions carefully?
*S: -2 Wealth, +1 Mysticism, gives mid-turn astrological predictions
Cannot be used as a Main action

Support Artisans [Guilds] - With the growing importance of skilled artisans to the maintenance of society, additional support may sometimes be needed
*S: -1 Econ, -6 Wealth, +3 Tech, +1 Culture, potential innovations x2
*M: -1 Econ, -10 Wealth, +5 Tech, +1 Culture, higher chance of innovations x2

Support Sacred Orders [Priests] – The various sacred orders of specialist warriors provide a number of benefits and special skills, but require considerable investment
*S: -3 Econ, -3 Mysticism, -12 Wealth, +5 Martial, +1 Light Cavalry, +2 Culture, other effects
*M: -4 Econ, -4 Mysticism, -14 Wealth, +7 Martial, +2 Light Cavalry, +3 Culture, other effects

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: -2 Stability, -5 Culture, -1 Faction Power, current faction quest fails but consequences negated

Survey Lands [Yeomen][Traders] - 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 [Traders] - Sending a major caravan to another large group can bring new opportunities and find out more about the outside world
* S: -2 Diplo, additional effects depending on target, +1-2 Wealth
* M: -2 Diplo, -1 Econ, additional effects depending on target, +1 Wealth, +1-5 Wealth end of turn

Diplomatic Mission [Traders] – Contact with the outside world is expensive, but can bring its own rewards
* 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
Special: When planting cash crops may specify a sub-variety for more focused effects

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
Library [Priests] - 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), Lower Valleyhome (0/3)
Saltern [Guilds][Yeomen] - Northshore Saltern Expansion (0/3), Southshore Saltern Expansion (0/3), Gulshore Saltern (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
Temple [Priests] - Progress listed below, each {S} committed consumes 3 Econ and 3 Culture for 3 Progress. Completion increases Religious Authority
Observatory [Priests] - Certain temples can have astrological observatories, with each {S} committed consuming 3 Econ and 3 Mysticism for 3 Progress

Academy – These centers of learning provide a well-rounded education in topics both general and esoteric, providing a more informed population who are better able to deal with the complexities of the world, although direct reference to the records can be called into question more often. Each level increases RA tolerance by 1, decreases the refund from Libraries by 1 (min. 0), and provides other effects. Each {S} committed consumes 6 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), Lower Valleyhome (0/3)
Aqueduct [Urban] - 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. Level 1: Stonepen (0/3), Hatmouth (0/3), Yellowshore (0/3) Level 2: Redhills (0/6), Valleyhome (0/6), Sacred Forest (0/3), Blackmouth (0/6), Stallionpen (0/6), Valleyguard (0/3), Lower Valleyhome (0/3), Redshore (0/12)
Bath [Urban] - Any city with an aqueduct may have a bath. Each {S} committed consumes 6 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 (4/6), Stallionpen (0/3), Valleyguard (0/3)
Block Housing [Urban] - 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 City Attraction 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 (0/9), Blackmouth (0/3), Valleyguard (0/3)
Colossal Walls [Urban] - True Cities can support truly gigantic walls. Each {S} committed consumes 3 Econ and 1 Martial for 3 Progress. Redshore (0/9), Redhills (1/9), Valleyhome (0/9), Sacred Forest (0/9), Blackmouth (0/9), Stallionpen (0/9), Valleyguard (1/9)
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
Ironworks [Guilds] - 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. Level 3 increases City Maintenance by 1 Econ a turn, but produces 1 Tech/turn and changes certain action costs. 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 (0/9), Redhills (MP), Blackmouth (0/3)
Marketplace [Traders][Urban] - A more significant section than what is typically found in most settlements, these sorts of markets are meant to service massive urban populations. Level 1 transforms half of the Econ spent on a True or Free City into Wealth income. Level 2 increases this to 100% of the spent Econ. Each level increases City attraction by 1. Each {S} costs 6 Wealth and 3 Culture for 3 progress. Redshore (0/18), 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 (15/17)
-Grand 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
Special: Build Mills, Build Gymnasium, and Survey are all currently Guild actions due to Mass Levy

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".
Boundary Passage - The Boundary Hills are rough terrain with few wells or springs, making them almost impossible to pass, but if one were to cut through the rock to install tunnels and staircases, and build some bridges, this would provide an easy but easily controllable and defensible route between the steppes and lowlands (5-8? action commitment, -2 Econ per action)
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? (3/6-8? action commitment, -2 Econ & Wealth and -1 Tech 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 Six Secondary actions, and Two [Guild] and One [Sec Guild] action. Need to devote at least one Main action towards the Great Dam megaproject for the next three to five turns. If keep policy on Mass Levy or switch to Offensive will attack the Highlanders, if switch to some other policy and do not send a war mission then you will be at peace for a time. Warning! All Free Cities but Redshore will disband if EE not below 20 by the end of turn, returning Econ and EE but needing to be reformed at a later date.

[] Art Patronage
[] Black Soil
[] Build Chariots
[] Build Docks
[] Build Ceramics Kilns
[] Build Gymnasium
[] Build Mills
[] Build Roads
[] Build Theatre
[] Build Wall
[] Build Watchtowers
[] Change Policy
[] Develop Intrigue Web
[] Develop Intrigue Web
[] Distribute Land
[] Efficient Charcoal Kilns
[] Enforce Justice
[] Expand Economy
[] Expand Forests
[] Found Colony
[] Found Free City
[] Found Mercenary Company
[] Found Trading Post
[] Hunt Troublemakers
[] Improve Annual Festival
[] Increase Cement Production
[] Influence Subordinate
[] Integrate Colony
[] Integrate March
[] Integrate Vassal
[] Invite to Games
[] Launch Intrigue Mission
[] More Warships
[] New Settlement
[] Plant Cash Crops - Drugs
[] Plant Cash Crops - Textiles
[] Plant Cash Crops - Luxuries
[] 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
[] Support Sacred Orders
[] Suppress Faction
[] Terrify
[] Trade Mission
-Target Options: Highland Kingdom, Freehills, Lowland Minors, Tin Tribes, Harmurri, Storm People, Into the Wild (Eastern Sea), Into the Wild, Khemetri
[] Diplomatic Mission
-Target Options: Highland Kingdom, Freehills, Lowland Minors, Tin Tribes, Harmurri, Storm People, Into the Wild (Eastern Sea), Into the Wild, Khemetri
[] War Mission
-Target Options: Highland Kingdom

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 (0/12) [Build Observatory 0/6], 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 (6) - Power: Add or subtract their faction power from factions they are supporting/opposing. Objective: Build 3/4 Great Hall Annexes within 1 turns Reward: Government upgrade
Guild (7) - Power: Half faction power added to Max Wealth. Objective: Have a level 3 Ironworks within 1 turns. Failure: -1 Stability
Traders (4) - Power: Add or subtract faction power modifier to all innovation rolls. Objective: Have Naval power 3 or above within 2 turns. Success: +1 Naval
Yeomen (3 {9})- Power: Adds faction power to secondary Martial Objective: Have 40 Sustainable Forest within 3 turns. Success: +1 Sustainable Forest. Failure: -5 Wealth
Priests (3)- Power: Adds faction power to RA. Objective: Perform 0/4 priest actions within 3 turn. Success: New Level 1 Temple. Failure: -1 Stability
Urban Poor (3) - Power: +1 Max Legitimacy every 3 full power. Objective: Have 5 or more Free Cities within 2 turns. Success: New Social Value slot
These counters iterate at the next midturn. The numbers in brackets indicate the general faction strength.

Astrological Prediction: Harmony in nature follows harmony in man