[X][Pox] Yes (Khemetri gain knowledge of how to do the Sacred Warding, the People gain Predictive Astrology)
[X][Iron] Allow finished goods to be traded
[X][PiA] Highlanders (Probably In Service to Order)
[X][PDN] Majorly push forward forests (Main Expand Forests, -2 Centralization)
[X][React] Reorganize army and hunt deserters (Found Mercenary Company + Sailing Mission (anti-pirate))
Actions Taken
[Main] Enforce Justice
[Sec] Change Active Policy – Balanced
[Sec] Build Chariots
[Guild] Grand Docks
[Free] Policy – Infrastructure
Provinces – [Sec] Sailing Mission, [Sec] Study Stars, [Sec] New Settlement, [Sec] New Trails
Policies – Valleyhome Baths (3/3), Lower Valleyhome Aqueduct (3/3), Sacred Forest Temple (1/6), ignificant Walls (16/45 Significant Walls)
Western – [Main] Expand Forest, [Main] Glassworks
Greenshore – [Main] New Settlement, [Sec] Build Walls
Gulvalley – [Sec] Build Walls, [Sec] Survey
Heaven's Hawk – [Main] Trade Mission – Eastern Nomads
Txolla – [Main] Rework Irrigation, [Sec] Black Soil
Tinriver – [Main] Build Docks
Hertythyn was in his natural state of existence: mild vexation at those around him. The past twenty or so years had seen numerous minor issues piling up that he had eventually decided was the fault of too many patricians sons with not enough to do. Even as the population grew, the number of upper management positions did not grow at the same pace. Traditionally the side branches that developed took up the position of chariot archers and drivers, which tended to produce good generals as they needed a good head for the movement of troops and spatial awareness, but the use of chariots had been in something of a decline with many of the enemies of the People fighting in rough terrain. With the population still growing rapidly, this resulted in lots of well trained young men with not enough to do, and well connected parents who could keep them in comfort while viciously fighting with each other over the limited number of slots. This lead to corruption and more than a few lackluster commanders. The hunt for the pirates had taken far more years than was truly necessary, although once they had been found by the sailors the Dragon Banner had stomped on the renegades with ease.
Part of it had perhaps been the... peculiarities in culture creating some uncertainty. After the decision to just not stand in the way of the merchants sale of iron and iron goods there had been a rapid explosion and destabilization of all of the surrounding tribes. Not the major powers, they just eagerly bought them up, but every minor tribe suddenly had more weapons than what they knew what to do with, and so there was a steady trickle of refugees that the People were welcoming in with ease, but also mixing up their culture at a time of influx of mystical knowledge and culture from the Khemetri, and a rather peculiar phenomenon. There was a deep undercurrent of anger towards the Highlanders over their attacks during the war with the Khemetri, so much so that an almost bizarre fixation had appeared in the minds of many who were the most fervently against peace with the Highlanders, leading them to picking apart the culture of their foe and adopting parts of it. While this uptake of rigid adherence to the rules by many was rather useful, it was definitely a worrying trend.
In Service to Order (PiA Linked)
Order and stability are paramount, and any king who cannot maintain that needs to be replaced in short order.
Pros: First stability hit a turn is negated
Cons: At negative stability, lose 1 Legitimacy a phase
Nemesis Fashion: PiA linked abilities can only be drawn from a nemesis that the People have a problem with and intend to destroy
Also, the games in the past few years had not gone in the favour of the People, with many of their smaller neighbours showing them up. At least the Khemetri weren't being quite as thoroughly embarrassed by a poor showing, and were in fact kind of amused by the People getting showed up at their own competition and so kept coming even when smaller groups did better than them. While this was quite good from the perspective of keeping their neighbours talking to them even at the cost of a bit of embarrassment, it did bring forth the sort of problems Hertythyn had expected with regards to the People being agitated over the continued raids and fighting between the Thunder Horse and the Swamp Folk - now better known as the Harmurri.
Gain New CB - Intervention
As King of the Hill, every turn after the first that you have an Intervention CB lose 1 Prestige for not using it
Hertythyn just hoped that those two would sort the issue out on their own in short so he wouldn't feel pressed to help deal with it. Then again the Thunder Horse had doubled down on their snub and been directly insulting the envoys and traders of the People, so maybe they would force his hand. Actually, if he had to guess, the issue was perhaps linked to the belligerence the People had for the Highlanders. The Thunder Horse probably still knew about the existence of that kingdom, and thus knew that if they pressed hard they had an anvil hammer the People into. Frustrating. At least the Heaven's Hawk had thrashed and absorbed a number of nomad tribes in the north in recent years, reducing the threat from that front.
Dismissing the latest round of appeals after finding in favour of the complainant, Hertythyn then found that he had a meeting with the Spirit Chief next on his schedule. Getting up, Hertythyn made his way to the palace shrine, where the Spirit Chief was hard at work with a strange looking woman and a small army of clerks and priests drawn from the library.
"I take it that this is why you scheduled this meeting," the king asked of his advisor.
"Ah, sir, I thought you were still in chambers..." the Spirit Chief began.
Shrugging as he continued forward, Hertythyn said, "Relax, I wrapped up early and was bored with my thoughts."
"Ah, of course. We were just doing last moment checking of what we wanted to talk to you about," the head of the priests explained, the young woman he was working with conspicuously ignoring the king to keep going over all the scrolls and tablets set on tables, a few priests keeping a nervous eye on her. Noticing the king's interest, the Spirit Chief said, "Ah, this is Tormulyna. She... ah, she's not going to acknowledge you right now."
"Spirit-touched?" Hertythyn asked, trying to keep his tone soft. He liked the order of his forms, but he had been informed the few times he had been brought into contact with the spirit-touched through his official duties of how the priests preferred he behave.
"Exceptionally so. Tormulyna is barely capable of speech, but she does have quite the knack for letters despite that. A generation ago when we were given the information from the Khemetri about their considerably more sophisticated tradition of astrology we began to work it out for ourselves. The sophistication and complexity was extreme, and we began to literally dig up ancient records of harvest results to compare to noted astrological phenomena. You see, astrology is the study of history as much as it is the study of the heavens. The gods reveal their signs and portents through the motions of the heavens, but unless you know what they did the last time there was a certain alignment or disruption you can't have any idea what any given sign might mean. Along the way it was discovered through the systems my predecessors established in the wake of Yenyna that Tormulyna has a particular affinity for this sort of work. We gave her resources and support and... well."
Picking up a scroll, the Spirit Chief unrolled it to reveal something of a mess of astrological calculations scribbled everywhere that Hertythyn could only vaguely follow due to his knowledge of administrative math.
"We are still triple-checking the details, but the stars have revealed to us something of critical importance. A series of alignments and portents has revealed to us that the gods are paying very careful attention to us and we are in a precarious situation. According to our calculations, if we perform a series of extremely careful steps we can ensure fabulous peace and prosperity for at least a century, but if we fail at this, or worse yet turn against the prophecies, then terrible ruin might be awaiting us," the High Priest explained.
"Explain," the king asked, narrowing his eyes.
"I'll gloss over the details that got us here, but within the turning of the next solstice we must let go of one enemy, take up a shield for a friendly stranger, and bring forth a dragon and dragon egg to the east," the Spirit Chief explained.
Parsing it a bit, Hertythyn asked, "Officially declare that we're not going to take a swing at the Highlanders, tell the Thunder Horse we're tired of their shit and we're going to separate them and the Harmurri - even though the Harmurri started the current fight - and bring forth some combination of the Dragon Banner, Yenyna, and Yenyna's son to the fighting in the east?"
"We're triple - quadruple checking in some instances - the horoscopes, but yes, that is what we have drawn from the secondary and tertiary calculations."
"The last several points can be done if some ease, but that first point is going to infuriate a large segment of the population still upset over the way the Highlanders have been behaving for the past several generations."
"The gods command it. We do it all to gain their favour, or we should prepare for whatever disaster their displeasure brings down upon us," the Spirit Chief stated plainly.
Accept the prediction?
[] Yes (Forfeits the CB against the Highlanders, declares war against the Thunder Horse, brings Yenyna out of retirement, ???)
[] No (???)
AN: Voting shall be open for six hours
