No, we would need level 15 for that.
Res Publica: A Quest of Ancient Rome
- Thread starter Telamon
- Start date
- Original Historic
- Location
- Austria
I think we should Wait on prophecy, go for the fine-tuning the legion + Brotherhood/Mars Gradivus/The Cult. The 4 should mesh together decently.
Alternatively, lean into diplomacy + Cult or so, to shore up legion support.
- Location
- Europe
I'm feeling the same to be honest, after all @Telamon reminded us that write-ins are possible in an earlier post. We could use one after that rift got worse. On the other hand, I expect the DC to be higher now, maybe even temporarily a lot higher with the cavalry mad we only promoted plebs.
Nix's Warden
Welcome to Hades
- Location
- United States
Ugh. There were so many plans I forgot the one I voted for didn't have the option which I thought was bloody obvious in learning from Marius.
- Location
- Classified
Good luck with that. The man is busy as fuck and has no reason to take time to mentor some kid he's never met and is associated with people he doesn't like.
Going to go over our options this turn, see if typing something out gives me some insight.
For starters, we have to decide what to do with Ptolemy, and none of these options look great. Taking either option to convince Marius has Atellus putting his neck out a bit. The rewards Ptolemy could give out are sizable, to put it mildly, so we stand a lot to gain assuming this works out well, but Marius is pretty busy at the moment, and he's refused to hear Ptolemy out so far. If we do decide to take up the cause of our resident prince, then I'd recommend All He Ever Wanted over Humanity. Marius hasn't exactly presented himself as a paragon of mercy, so I think the DC would be more difficult to pass even with Atellus' talents at oratory. All He Ever Wanted would fit better to Marius, I think, an appeal based on logic rather than emotion. Lay out the benefits and let him make a decision, the war against Mithradates and Sulla would obviously take priority, but I don't imagine Marius plans on slowing down until he's six feet under.
Playing With The Big Boys is a choice that could have pretty far reaching consequences, so much so that we can't really make any assumptions on what happens if we do successfully off Ptolemy. Making an enemy of Ptolemy could be absolutely disastrous if it doesn't work out though, so I'd give this option a pass.
Ignoring his plea is sort of the status quo, we'd essentially be in the same situation as we were before the action was taken. I don't think he'd hold it against us, we do in fact owe him nothing and we are fighting a war of our own. That said, I don't like the idea of passing up the opportunity being given to us.
Sending him to Rome is another option where I'm not sure what would happen. I don't imagine he'd fit in all that well in Rome, but money is neat, so it might not really matter. I'm not sure if Ptolemy plead his case in Rome proper historically, but if not then this could be another butterfly choice. Maybe he can throw a party so debaucherous it calms Rome for a bit. Or maybe he joins up with the Catillarians and explodes everything. Who knows?
If the previous posts are correct, in that Rome owes a debt that hasn't been paid, then I'd have to agree that our decision here is pretty vital. Which would mean we'd want as correct an interpretation as possible, and that either The Eunuchs of Cybele or Scaevola are our best options. Telamon also mentioned that The Servants of the Sun would have a decent chance of a 'correct' interpretation, possibly better than that of Scaevola. As has been previously brought up, interpreting this poorly could be disastrous, so having no interpretation could actually be better than having someone unqualified do so.
So The Legionary Augur, The Prince, and Do It Yourself are all bad choices in my opinion. Atellus has no idea what he's doing, so he's sure to screw it up, and the prophecy is more important than getting bonuses on our rolls for a bit, even if those rolls may be significant.
Wait gives us an additional option this turn, which is nice, but I don't think any of our other actions compare to how important this prophecy might be, so I think this is a pass as well, unless we know of another augur who can give us a much better reading in the near future. Or if we're fine with things progressing semi-historically, and view the extra action as better than the benefits of the other choices.
Now, jumping back a bit, if the prophecy really is implying that Rome hasn't paid it's debts, then we have a bit of an issue. The two groups in the transaction between Cybele and Rome are a divine being and a nation. Neither of which can really give us insight into what needs to be paid. Atellus can scream at the sky and the ground, but they aren't about to open up.
However, if a record of that transaction exists, written down by a priest, or someone who witnessed the prophecy, then our best chance of finding it will either be with either the religious authorities of Rome, the religious authorities of Cybele, or the descendants of anyone who personally witnessed the prophecy all those years ago. Two of those groups are presented as options in this update, The Eunuchs of Cybele, Scaevola, and Flamen Dialis.
The high priest of Jupiter being given a prophecy claiming that Rome owes a debt may very well set off a chain of events that ends with some priest somewhere dusting off his ancient records and finding something. It also might just end with the prophecy sparking a massive religious catastrophe in Rome, so tread carefully. The ??? could be anything, and it exists in both options where we send the prophecy back to Rome.
Scaevola is also be an option here, he's an intelligent individual, and the head of the priests, so he might start investigating. Rome isn't exactly safe for him at the moment, though, so putting more attention on him might be bad.
My choices here would either be The Eunuchs of Cybele, Flamen Dialis, or Scaevola, and favoring Scaevola. I'm curious to find out where this might go, and they're the choices most likely to have answers beyond the interpretation.
I'd want to write to Scaevola this turn, both because of the reasons brought up in previous updates, and because we might get earlier information on the prophecy if we write to him.
And, finally, our personal actions.
Si Vis Pacem fits very thematically with the prophecy being this turn, has the benefit of putting us in contact with powerful religious groups, and might give us a bonus on interacting with the Greeks in general. Continuing on with the religious theme, we have both The Cult and Mars Gradivus. These have synergy with everything else in the update. The sacrifice of the bull is traditional, and has mechanical benefits in battle as we've previously seen. The Cult has us bringing Cassanius and company into our circle, though it might not have as much effect as Forge Bonds.
Brotherhood is always good.
The Consul, The General, and The Marians are all about making us new contacts, thought I don't expect The Consul to do much for us. The General might get us a constant source of experience like with Sertorius so it's something to consider. The Marians ties us into a faction more heavily, though all three of these do to a certain degree, and maybe gets us in with Marius' second in command.
Seafaring is love, Seafaring is life.
Drills and Armor and Arms both make the legion more combat capable. Solid picks. Para Bellum has already been taken, with the confusion of the update I'm not sure if it's still suppose to be available, though I don't imagine so. Same with The King Without A Crown. Res Publica will likely give a +1 against Sulla and the rogue legion. Study is more experience and a possible bonus to rolls with Marius, which is nice. All Greek To You has us locking down Greek, and likely giving more bonuses to interaction with the Greeks.
My preferred set of actions would look like this:
[] Plan of The Divine
-[] All He Ever Wanted: You attempt to gain audience with Marius in order to speak on the exiled Prince's behalf, and present his claim directly to Marius as you heard it from his lips.
-[] The Priests of Rome: This seems serious enough a matter that you send the prophecy back to Rome by a speedy courier to be interpreted by the priests. Which priest do you send it to? (Will finish in 4 turns)
--[] Scaevola: Your mentor, the Pontifex Maximus. Learned and wise, he will surely decipher the meaning behind the cryptic words. (High chance of finding the true meaning of the prophecy, medium chance of negative modifiers, ???, Prophecy will be interpreted favorably towards Sulla)
-[] Correspondence: As part of your efforts to stay on top of events in Rome, you write to one of your contacts elsewhere in the Republic. With such long travel times, anything you write will take a long time to arrive. However, that does not mean you cannot write. This may well be your last message before you go on campaign. You write to... (response will arrive in 2-3 turns)
--[] Scaevola
-[] Si Vis Pacem: The gods of Rome are the gods of Greece, or so the Romans say. There are many similarities between your faiths and theirs, and studying this may make you more capable of relating to the Greeks of Asia Minor, and to the powerful priestly sects which dominate much of Phrygia.
-[] The Cult: You call together the cult of Mars, and attempt to invite Cassianus and his Scipian officers into it.
-[] Mars Gradivus: You order the sacred bull bound, the officers prepared, and go through the cleansing rites. You shall perform the rite of Mars Gradivus, as Sertorius did before you.
For starters, we have to decide what to do with Ptolemy, and none of these options look great. Taking either option to convince Marius has Atellus putting his neck out a bit. The rewards Ptolemy could give out are sizable, to put it mildly, so we stand a lot to gain assuming this works out well, but Marius is pretty busy at the moment, and he's refused to hear Ptolemy out so far. If we do decide to take up the cause of our resident prince, then I'd recommend All He Ever Wanted over Humanity. Marius hasn't exactly presented himself as a paragon of mercy, so I think the DC would be more difficult to pass even with Atellus' talents at oratory. All He Ever Wanted would fit better to Marius, I think, an appeal based on logic rather than emotion. Lay out the benefits and let him make a decision, the war against Mithradates and Sulla would obviously take priority, but I don't imagine Marius plans on slowing down until he's six feet under.
Playing With The Big Boys is a choice that could have pretty far reaching consequences, so much so that we can't really make any assumptions on what happens if we do successfully off Ptolemy. Making an enemy of Ptolemy could be absolutely disastrous if it doesn't work out though, so I'd give this option a pass.
Ignoring his plea is sort of the status quo, we'd essentially be in the same situation as we were before the action was taken. I don't think he'd hold it against us, we do in fact owe him nothing and we are fighting a war of our own. That said, I don't like the idea of passing up the opportunity being given to us.
Sending him to Rome is another option where I'm not sure what would happen. I don't imagine he'd fit in all that well in Rome, but money is neat, so it might not really matter. I'm not sure if Ptolemy plead his case in Rome proper historically, but if not then this could be another butterfly choice. Maybe he can throw a party so debaucherous it calms Rome for a bit. Or maybe he joins up with the Catillarians and explodes everything. Who knows?
If the previous posts are correct, in that Rome owes a debt that hasn't been paid, then I'd have to agree that our decision here is pretty vital. Which would mean we'd want as correct an interpretation as possible, and that either The Eunuchs of Cybele or Scaevola are our best options. Telamon also mentioned that The Servants of the Sun would have a decent chance of a 'correct' interpretation, possibly better than that of Scaevola. As has been previously brought up, interpreting this poorly could be disastrous, so having no interpretation could actually be better than having someone unqualified do so.
So The Legionary Augur, The Prince, and Do It Yourself are all bad choices in my opinion. Atellus has no idea what he's doing, so he's sure to screw it up, and the prophecy is more important than getting bonuses on our rolls for a bit, even if those rolls may be significant.
Wait gives us an additional option this turn, which is nice, but I don't think any of our other actions compare to how important this prophecy might be, so I think this is a pass as well, unless we know of another augur who can give us a much better reading in the near future. Or if we're fine with things progressing semi-historically, and view the extra action as better than the benefits of the other choices.
Now, jumping back a bit, if the prophecy really is implying that Rome hasn't paid it's debts, then we have a bit of an issue. The two groups in the transaction between Cybele and Rome are a divine being and a nation. Neither of which can really give us insight into what needs to be paid. Atellus can scream at the sky and the ground, but they aren't about to open up.
However, if a record of that transaction exists, written down by a priest, or someone who witnessed the prophecy, then our best chance of finding it will either be with either the religious authorities of Rome, the religious authorities of Cybele, or the descendants of anyone who personally witnessed the prophecy all those years ago. Two of those groups are presented as options in this update, The Eunuchs of Cybele, Scaevola, and Flamen Dialis.
The high priest of Jupiter being given a prophecy claiming that Rome owes a debt may very well set off a chain of events that ends with some priest somewhere dusting off his ancient records and finding something. It also might just end with the prophecy sparking a massive religious catastrophe in Rome, so tread carefully. The ??? could be anything, and it exists in both options where we send the prophecy back to Rome.
Scaevola is also be an option here, he's an intelligent individual, and the head of the priests, so he might start investigating. Rome isn't exactly safe for him at the moment, though, so putting more attention on him might be bad.
My choices here would either be The Eunuchs of Cybele, Flamen Dialis, or Scaevola, and favoring Scaevola. I'm curious to find out where this might go, and they're the choices most likely to have answers beyond the interpretation.
I'd want to write to Scaevola this turn, both because of the reasons brought up in previous updates, and because we might get earlier information on the prophecy if we write to him.
And, finally, our personal actions.
Si Vis Pacem fits very thematically with the prophecy being this turn, has the benefit of putting us in contact with powerful religious groups, and might give us a bonus on interacting with the Greeks in general. Continuing on with the religious theme, we have both The Cult and Mars Gradivus. These have synergy with everything else in the update. The sacrifice of the bull is traditional, and has mechanical benefits in battle as we've previously seen. The Cult has us bringing Cassanius and company into our circle, though it might not have as much effect as Forge Bonds.
Brotherhood is always good.
The Consul, The General, and The Marians are all about making us new contacts, thought I don't expect The Consul to do much for us. The General might get us a constant source of experience like with Sertorius so it's something to consider. The Marians ties us into a faction more heavily, though all three of these do to a certain degree, and maybe gets us in with Marius' second in command.
Seafaring is love, Seafaring is life.
Drills and Armor and Arms both make the legion more combat capable. Solid picks. Para Bellum has already been taken, with the confusion of the update I'm not sure if it's still suppose to be available, though I don't imagine so. Same with The King Without A Crown. Res Publica will likely give a +1 against Sulla and the rogue legion. Study is more experience and a possible bonus to rolls with Marius, which is nice. All Greek To You has us locking down Greek, and likely giving more bonuses to interaction with the Greeks.
My preferred set of actions would look like this:
[] Plan of The Divine
-[] All He Ever Wanted: You attempt to gain audience with Marius in order to speak on the exiled Prince's behalf, and present his claim directly to Marius as you heard it from his lips.
-[] The Priests of Rome: This seems serious enough a matter that you send the prophecy back to Rome by a speedy courier to be interpreted by the priests. Which priest do you send it to? (Will finish in 4 turns)
--[] Scaevola: Your mentor, the Pontifex Maximus. Learned and wise, he will surely decipher the meaning behind the cryptic words. (High chance of finding the true meaning of the prophecy, medium chance of negative modifiers, ???, Prophecy will be interpreted favorably towards Sulla)
-[] Correspondence: As part of your efforts to stay on top of events in Rome, you write to one of your contacts elsewhere in the Republic. With such long travel times, anything you write will take a long time to arrive. However, that does not mean you cannot write. This may well be your last message before you go on campaign. You write to... (response will arrive in 2-3 turns)
--[] Scaevola
-[] Si Vis Pacem: The gods of Rome are the gods of Greece, or so the Romans say. There are many similarities between your faiths and theirs, and studying this may make you more capable of relating to the Greeks of Asia Minor, and to the powerful priestly sects which dominate much of Phrygia.
-[] The Cult: You call together the cult of Mars, and attempt to invite Cassianus and his Scipian officers into it.
-[] Mars Gradivus: You order the sacred bull bound, the officers prepared, and go through the cleansing rites. You shall perform the rite of Mars Gradivus, as Sertorius did before you.
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- Location
- Europe
This, by the way, was the roll Sertorius had to take back when he performed the ritual. We lack the Gift of Mars, but he is already our patron deity, so I expect the DC to be either lower or us being given a bonus.
Probably either a +1 or +2.
- Location
- Central Europe
Reaction post time:
2) On the frontpage it says that Very Poor is Rank 2-3 and Poor only starts at 4. Did you change this @Telamon? I could see that, since at Rank 5 we immediately jump to Average.
As for Personal actions:
I like the percieved synergy between these:
[] Forge Bonds: You attempt to forge an even deeper relationship with your fellow tribune Cassianus. A real friendship between the two of you may make this campaign far easier.
[] The Cult: You call together the cult of Mars, and attempt to invite Cassianus and his Scipian officers into it.
[] Mars Gradivus: You order the sacred bull bound, the officers prepared, and go through the cleansing rites. You shall perform the rite of Mars Gradivus, as Sertorius did before you.
Although I feel Mars Gradivus could be replaced with Brotherhood. I worry about that augury roll. We rely fully on the modifer of the legionary augur, which we don't know, and we lack Seratorius' Gift of Mars which gave a +5 to this roll last time around.
Alternatively, I like all these Study/Preperation actions:
[] The General: Marius. Busy directing a war and writing furious missives back to Rome, the great general has little time for personal frivolities. Yet if you can get him to take a liking to you, your own position in Rome will surely soar. Both Sertorius and Sulla began their rise to power under his wing.
[] Drills: You attempt to drill your men and whip them into shape just a bit more before war is upon them.
[] Para Bellum: You begin studying the campaigns against the Macedonians and the Greeks over a century ago, hoping to learn more about Greek tactics, that you might counter them better.
[] Res Publica: You study the formations of your own legions, the way Romans fight. After all, you may soon be doing war with Romans -- and what is more Roman than that?
[] Study: You study the campaigns of Marius against the Cimbri, in order to learn more of the legendary general's efforts against the foes who once threatened Rome itself.
Edit: With Wait I would probably add either a study action (preferably The General) or Brotherhood to the three above.
Also I wonder if we can assume that Cassianus will take Drills
I like the "voice" you have found for this new, sassy Rufus. He seems to have gained a lot of confidence since the start of the last war. Sounds just right to be a loyal laywer sidekick
Who would have thought that Rufus would become such an ardent follower of Mars.
I also don't think this is Cassianus. My first guess would be Ptolemy or a general who first gained fame in Africa(Sulla/Marius). Only connection to Mithridates I could think up, would be some hidden relation to Hannibal who fled to Asia Minor and died there.
Again, I agree this means the Roman Republic. What I do wonder though: Who is the mother? The Etruscans?
Okay so Scipio is still a few rep level behind us. Although this could have been bigger had we not failed the roll on unting the legion
So he is better than us at Command and his Gift (Victory) seems to lend itself a bit more for military purposes.
Glad to see that the Connect action went well. I'm tempted to double down on this and take Forge Bonds.
So Scipians was a Diplo/Charisma roll, good to see. Also happy this aided the Connect roll above.
Damn, that rift will be an issue should Marius die before we can fix it. I expect our Equiites would quickly go over to Sulla. Which might force us to pick a side at an inopportune moment.
Interesting to read that he wants to join the Cult. I guess this will have to be locked in this Turn.
1) It should be (1,143/3000) Seafaring XP to rank 4!
2) On the frontpage it says that Very Poor is Rank 2-3 and Poor only starts at 4. Did you change this @Telamon? I could see that, since at Rank 5 we immediately jump to Average.
Nice, narrative tie in on the missed XP from the last campaign
Frustrating, yes. But, that was to be expected and that +1 should hopefully be useful when facing Mithridates.
Really unsure what we should push for here. That said, if we plan on also taking The General this turn, then failure here might ruin our chances.
This is my prefered option. Its boni are good and the time it takes is reasonable. Edit: Didn't see Wait before, that is also tempting. It would let us focus more on bringing the Legion in Order.
I would pick either of these two. Scaevola for information and Proserpina for Spy update.
As for Personal actions:
I like the percieved synergy between these:
[] Forge Bonds: You attempt to forge an even deeper relationship with your fellow tribune Cassianus. A real friendship between the two of you may make this campaign far easier.
[] The Cult: You call together the cult of Mars, and attempt to invite Cassianus and his Scipian officers into it.
[] Mars Gradivus: You order the sacred bull bound, the officers prepared, and go through the cleansing rites. You shall perform the rite of Mars Gradivus, as Sertorius did before you.
Although I feel Mars Gradivus could be replaced with Brotherhood. I worry about that augury roll. We rely fully on the modifer of the legionary augur, which we don't know, and we lack Seratorius' Gift of Mars which gave a +5 to this roll last time around.
Alternatively, I like all these Study/Preperation actions:
[] The General: Marius. Busy directing a war and writing furious missives back to Rome, the great general has little time for personal frivolities. Yet if you can get him to take a liking to you, your own position in Rome will surely soar. Both Sertorius and Sulla began their rise to power under his wing.
[] Drills: You attempt to drill your men and whip them into shape just a bit more before war is upon them.
[] Para Bellum: You begin studying the campaigns against the Macedonians and the Greeks over a century ago, hoping to learn more about Greek tactics, that you might counter them better.
[] Res Publica: You study the formations of your own legions, the way Romans fight. After all, you may soon be doing war with Romans -- and what is more Roman than that?
[] Study: You study the campaigns of Marius against the Cimbri, in order to learn more of the legendary general's efforts against the foes who once threatened Rome itself.
Edit: With Wait I would probably add either a study action (preferably The General) or Brotherhood to the three above.
Also I wonder if we can assume that Cassianus will take Drills
I agree with your interpretation, but that is one heck of a vague win-condition.
Both Military and Gift of Mars apply to Martial rolls, so I don't see why Intelligence shouldn't also give some boni in addtion to the baseline Gift of Minerva in some rolls. Furthermore, the difference between a boni from GoM and one from Intelligence is that while the former is stagnat the latter grows. As stated, I understand the risk of making Intelligence too powerful, but a gradually increasing trickle of XP might just make persuing that stat more attractive.
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- Location
- Europe
Is it? The patricians are a bit mad we elected so many plebeian centurions and now they might take us sitting down with the common soldiers as further proof that we might favour them over the cavalry.
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- Location
- United Kingdom
Is it? How would we know, we've never taken it?
@Telamon In previous turns this was an option for us...
Is it no longer available because of the rift between plebians and patricians and our seemingly siding with the plebians due to the men we choose for promotion? Or is it something else and I'm just reading to much into the current situation?
Also, are there many equites within the Cult of Mars? And is there one we're particularly close to? I'm just wondering if there's a position of honour we could allow him to hold within the cult or during the rite of Mars Gradivus (if we do it) that could be used to mollify them to lay the foundation of a reconcile of the two factions.
- Location
- Europe
Didn't we take that once?
Edit: We did before the triumph.
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- United Kingdom
We did, immediately after the siege of Nola finished. I'm just wondering if it was a one-off action or if we became well enough liked by the Equites that we were able to take it and now we've fallen below the threshold for that action so it's no longer available.
I don't really know how the eating arrangements of the legion work, but I was assuming everyone in a non officer position ate in the same general area, and that we'd be interacting with everyone, but you may be right. I was focusing more on the aloof bit than the aristocrat bit and just sort of viewed it as a generic 'make numbers better' action like training makes the cohort modifiers better. It's a fair point that we don't actually know what it does, though.
If it's going to have negative consequences on our relation with the legion as a whole, then it's a complete waste of an action, as it's not doing the one thing it's suppose to, in fact it'd be doing the opposite. It could be a trap, but I figured it doesn't have any mechanical malus to our relation with the patricians, and wouldn't ever get brought up outside of maybe flavor text if the rift in the legion gets to big.
Regardless, I don't think it's an action that needs to be taken this turn, making friends with Cassianus take priority, in my opinion, if we want to focus on legion matters rather than the religious stuff.
Edit: The updates don't imply that we have a different relation rating with the various forces under our control, simply saying:
Do the equites and auxilaries not count as part of the legion? And can we have different bonuses on our rolls depending on which group we're giving orders to?
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- Location
- United Kingdom
The Prince of Egypt
[] You Will Get There...Eventually: You pay Ptolemy a visit and implore him to realize that now is not the right time to try and press his claim. Better to travel to Rome, and attempt to gather support there. You will even back him in his efforts, should he support you. A friend as wealthy and famous as a Ptolemy in Rome might serve you well...if he agrees.
Interpretation
[] The Servants of the Sun: The priests of Apollo at the Temple in nearby Pergamon are well-trained in the art of prophecy, and deliver many hundreds of prophecies a year. You could ask one of them to interpret it. They are quite overworked, however, serving much of Asia Minor, and a reply will take some weeks. (High chance of positive modifiers, Prophecy will be interpreted normally, will take 2 turns to be delivered back)
Correspondence
[] Scaevola
Para Bellum (Yes I know it's meant to be three)
[] Brotherhood: You begin eating your meals with the men, to show them that you stand as one of them, not some aloof aristocrat. They care for you already, but this may well cement it.
[] Forge Bonds: You attempt to forge an even deeper relationship with your fellow tribune Cassianus. A real friendship between the two of you may make this campaign far easier.
[] The Cult: You call together the cult of Mars, and attempt to invite Cassianus and his Scipian officers into it.
[] Mars Gradivus: You order the sacred bull bound, the officers prepared, and go through the cleansing rites. You shall perform the rite of Mars Gradivus, as Sertorius did before you.
Here's what I'm leaning towards as a plan. For Ptolemy I'm inclined to get involved - for the obvious reasons of wealth, glory and good relations with the (hopefully) future monarch of Egypt - so betraying him is right out imo. The two options (three votes) that we can go for are to get Marius involved or not, and personally I'm leaning towards not. At least, not now.
Now part of this is that I still expect Marius to die in the near future, whether by war, assassination, or simply old age and while I could be wrong it's more likely for him to die soon than not. The second reason is one of self-preservation, the more we interact with Marius (in any way) the closer we'll be seen to be by his enemies. Until Marius or Sulla is dead we need to be careful not to bind ourselves too closely to either of them. The last reason is a bit more selfish, but if we successfully get Marius involved we'll quickly be overshadowed and our involvement will be lessened. I think the best option here is to delay a bit and get Ptolemy to travel to Rome and seek support once the conflict with Marius and Sulla is over, this way we don't have to lean towards either until we know who's going to win. We also stand to gain some substantial benefits from this, agreeing to speak on his behalf if he supports us. We could use the cash...
For the interpretation of the prophecy I think it's got to be The Eunuchs of Cybele or The Servants of the Sun. The eunuchs present a higher chance of getting the true meaning but the Priests of Apollo are certainly going to be good at their jobs and while the chance of getting the true meaning is lesser with them I imagine it'll still be quite high. Additionally, I really think we could use the positive modifiers. We're in a pretty dangerous situation, militarily and politically, and I would quite like to give Atellus a bit of an edge.
Our final free actions were a bit more difficult to decide on. We can ignore the Consul, and for all that Marius would be great to learn from being close to him is dangerous, likewise for those of his faction. Seafaring isn't urgent, Drilling the men could be good but we literally have a couple of days so I think we can get a better payoff elsewhere. Better arms and armour again would be great but we only have a few days and stewardship isn't our strength, with the time pressures I'm not confident in a great result. We could spend time taking one of the various study actions... but honestly, our current position and the situation in the Legion is more urgent.
Which leaves us with Brotherhood to bind the men to us, Forge Bonds to get closer to Cassianus, The Cult likewise to forge a relationship with Cassianus but also to ensure we maintain control of the Cult and Mars Gradivus because it could give us a good positive modifier, could improve our standing in the eyes of the men and could help make sure they see Cassianus as subordinate to us.
But that's four... and I'm not sure what to drop. We could drop the prophecy for a turn to deal with these urgent issues, but as the Priests of Apollo take 2 turns I'd rather get it started so it's running in the background. I think the Cult and Mars Gradivus are essential. I think I'd probably rather drop Forge Bonds than Brotherhood as our relationship with Cassianus will improve through inviting him to the Cult and we'll be able to forge a deeper friendship with him on the campaign and I'm not sure a few days of not putting the effort in are going to have a huge difference. On the other hand, while I'm not saying we can fix everything in the Legion in a few days, if we spend that time eating with the men - plebian and patrician alike - we can begin to get a better understanding of the rift between the two so that we can work to fix it. But we need @Telamon to confirm whether the Brotherhood action helps us with plebian legionnaires and patrician equites, or just the legionnaires...
I'm also reminded that we can suggest write-ins, so perhaps we could use the Brotherhood vote as the basis and modify it to something more targeted to mending this rift. Or we could leave it as it is, gain greater support and respect so that next turn we're in a stronger position to try and mend the rift.
[] You Will Get There...Eventually: You pay Ptolemy a visit and implore him to realize that now is not the right time to try and press his claim. Better to travel to Rome, and attempt to gather support there. You will even back him in his efforts, should he support you. A friend as wealthy and famous as a Ptolemy in Rome might serve you well...if he agrees.
Interpretation
[] The Servants of the Sun: The priests of Apollo at the Temple in nearby Pergamon are well-trained in the art of prophecy, and deliver many hundreds of prophecies a year. You could ask one of them to interpret it. They are quite overworked, however, serving much of Asia Minor, and a reply will take some weeks. (High chance of positive modifiers, Prophecy will be interpreted normally, will take 2 turns to be delivered back)
Correspondence
[] Scaevola
Para Bellum (Yes I know it's meant to be three)
[] Brotherhood: You begin eating your meals with the men, to show them that you stand as one of them, not some aloof aristocrat. They care for you already, but this may well cement it.
[] Forge Bonds: You attempt to forge an even deeper relationship with your fellow tribune Cassianus. A real friendship between the two of you may make this campaign far easier.
[] The Cult: You call together the cult of Mars, and attempt to invite Cassianus and his Scipian officers into it.
[] Mars Gradivus: You order the sacred bull bound, the officers prepared, and go through the cleansing rites. You shall perform the rite of Mars Gradivus, as Sertorius did before you.
Here's what I'm leaning towards as a plan. For Ptolemy I'm inclined to get involved - for the obvious reasons of wealth, glory and good relations with the (hopefully) future monarch of Egypt - so betraying him is right out imo. The two options (three votes) that we can go for are to get Marius involved or not, and personally I'm leaning towards not. At least, not now.
Now part of this is that I still expect Marius to die in the near future, whether by war, assassination, or simply old age and while I could be wrong it's more likely for him to die soon than not. The second reason is one of self-preservation, the more we interact with Marius (in any way) the closer we'll be seen to be by his enemies. Until Marius or Sulla is dead we need to be careful not to bind ourselves too closely to either of them. The last reason is a bit more selfish, but if we successfully get Marius involved we'll quickly be overshadowed and our involvement will be lessened. I think the best option here is to delay a bit and get Ptolemy to travel to Rome and seek support once the conflict with Marius and Sulla is over, this way we don't have to lean towards either until we know who's going to win. We also stand to gain some substantial benefits from this, agreeing to speak on his behalf if he supports us. We could use the cash...
For the interpretation of the prophecy I think it's got to be The Eunuchs of Cybele or The Servants of the Sun. The eunuchs present a higher chance of getting the true meaning but the Priests of Apollo are certainly going to be good at their jobs and while the chance of getting the true meaning is lesser with them I imagine it'll still be quite high. Additionally, I really think we could use the positive modifiers. We're in a pretty dangerous situation, militarily and politically, and I would quite like to give Atellus a bit of an edge.
Our final free actions were a bit more difficult to decide on. We can ignore the Consul, and for all that Marius would be great to learn from being close to him is dangerous, likewise for those of his faction. Seafaring isn't urgent, Drilling the men could be good but we literally have a couple of days so I think we can get a better payoff elsewhere. Better arms and armour again would be great but we only have a few days and stewardship isn't our strength, with the time pressures I'm not confident in a great result. We could spend time taking one of the various study actions... but honestly, our current position and the situation in the Legion is more urgent.
Which leaves us with Brotherhood to bind the men to us, Forge Bonds to get closer to Cassianus, The Cult likewise to forge a relationship with Cassianus but also to ensure we maintain control of the Cult and Mars Gradivus because it could give us a good positive modifier, could improve our standing in the eyes of the men and could help make sure they see Cassianus as subordinate to us.
But that's four... and I'm not sure what to drop. We could drop the prophecy for a turn to deal with these urgent issues, but as the Priests of Apollo take 2 turns I'd rather get it started so it's running in the background. I think the Cult and Mars Gradivus are essential. I think I'd probably rather drop Forge Bonds than Brotherhood as our relationship with Cassianus will improve through inviting him to the Cult and we'll be able to forge a deeper friendship with him on the campaign and I'm not sure a few days of not putting the effort in are going to have a huge difference. On the other hand, while I'm not saying we can fix everything in the Legion in a few days, if we spend that time eating with the men - plebian and patrician alike - we can begin to get a better understanding of the rift between the two so that we can work to fix it. But we need @Telamon to confirm whether the Brotherhood action helps us with plebian legionnaires and patrician equites, or just the legionnaires...
I'm also reminded that we can suggest write-ins, so perhaps we could use the Brotherhood vote as the basis and modify it to something more targeted to mending this rift. Or we could leave it as it is, gain greater support and respect so that next turn we're in a stronger position to try and mend the rift.
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- Location
- Central Europe
@Telamon Since all the other actions concerning Ptolemy seem to be roughly as time consuming as say sending the prophecy to Rome or Delphi, wouldn't this be another form of Wait (so gaining us an extra Para Bellum action)?
Edit: Otherwise there is really no reason, not to try and convince him to go to Rome. Even failing on that option can't be significantly worse, than ignoring him. The do nothing option should have some form of "reward", even if it is just adding opportunity cost to the others.
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
I'm torn here between the first option and the last option. Ptolemy Auletes is a gateway to many things here, some of which could derail this entire quest. Which is not a bad thing, my concern is what's best for Quintus Cingulatus Atellus not what's best for Rome or any other character. Egypt could lead us to our own empire if we play our cards very well and honestly I like the idea of making our own empire a lot better than trying to pull off what both Caesar and Augustus did without dying horribly. But I feel like convincing Marius will be hard. The only options I have interest in are the first and last. And both give me concerns. First one because of Marius and the Second one because I have no idea if it will work even if Ptolemy agrees.
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
On my reread, this has to be my favorite part.
"So you think your god is so great, huh? Let's see who's better at inhaling a bucket of drugs then!"
We did take it once, actually.
Random Member
Gardener of Human Happiness
- Location
- Behind You
Why would you want to go to some youngling who likely only got his position because of his connections rather than his skill? I'd bet he'll never amount to much anyway.
Jokes aside, it has to be either The Eunuchs of Cybele or The Servants of the Sun for me. I don't want the prophecy to be corrupted by other people's agenda.
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- Location
- Europe
It's more like.
"My god is older than yours!"
"Yeah, and? My god can beat up your god."
"Shuddup. I'm not listening to this."
Ridiculously Average Guy
I'm you, but stronger
- Location
-
Thinking on what sending Ptolemy to Rome might mean, would we just be sending him on his way or be bidding him to go to someone specific. For example, Scaevola.
I can't imagine he wouldn't be a useful/interesting person for Scaevola to act as Patron for. Good for Scae since Egypt connection can be good for him and his faction (if it pans out), and good for Ptolemy since Scae can teach him how to talk to romans (and perhaps actually rule properly).
I can't imagine he wouldn't be a useful/interesting person for Scaevola to act as Patron for. Good for Scae since Egypt connection can be good for him and his faction (if it pans out), and good for Ptolemy since Scae can teach him how to talk to romans (and perhaps actually rule properly).
- Location
- Europe
I get the feeling they would take an immediate dislike to each other, if the comparison between Scaevola's dinner and Catalina's party from a few updates back is any indication.
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Random Member
Gardener of Human Happiness
- Location
- Behind You
So what I'm hearing is that if we send him to Rome, Ptolemy and Catiline will become the bestest of friends, yes? Sounds fun!
Ridiculously Average Guy
I'm you, but stronger
- Location
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You can dislike someone and still learn from them?