Another thing I feel we have not talked about, is if the artisans do end up importing Luxury goods, do they end up giving us Valley culture or Lowland Culture?
I personally guess that it would depend about if the imported Luxury goods are already made into there finished form, but I guess that @Azel could tell us about how that works.
Culture
All culture produced is associated with a specific cultural background, depending on the settlement or population that created it. So the Culture created in the same settlement might be of a different type if, for example, two artisan pops with different culture produced them.
A settlement uses Culture to uphold it's own values, to invest them in special projects or to pay for special actions by certain Pop types. Whenever a culture that is not matching the settlements current majority culture is used to uphold values, there is a small chance that it's values chance or that it gains additional values from the group that produced the Culture point. Likewise, when a Pop consumes a point of Culture, there is a chance that it switches to that culture.
The upkeep for Ideas is 1 Culture per Ideal and 2 Culture per Identity. Fads do not require upkeep.
Any Culture not used up is wasted, but may trigger various events, such as societal advancements, additional Pop culture changes, the creation of new values or even technological innovations.
I decided to look at the explanation for culture to see what would happen if we gained foreign culture, which seems to depend on what we use it for.
If it is for upkeep for our values, then it might change them, but if we do not use it to do anything, then it might as mentioned in the end, trigger certain events, that might be good as in technological innovations, but it might be bad in the sense of Pop culture change .
So this is something to think about with the artisans trading.
Culture is made by pops. The culture matches the culture of the pop making it from luxury material. So the only way to get foreign culture through trade would be to have a foreign culture artisan in the Valley processing luxury goods.
Unless you can directly buy culture, which I find unlikely.
Culture is made by pops. The culture matches the culture of the pop making it from luxury material. So the only way to get foreign culture through trade would be to have a foreign culture artisan in the Valley processing luxury goods.
Unless you can directly buy culture, which I find unlikely.
You can. This is the mechanical representation of importing arts and crafts.
The special thing about the Pilgrim Village is not that you give other people your culture, but that they can't stop you from doing so as long as they have Faith of Bones Pops.
You can. This is the mechanical representation of importing arts and crafts.
The special thing about the Pilgrim Village is not that you give other people your culture, but that they can't stop you from doing so as long as they have Faith of Bones Pops.
I think that it is good, that we got this cleared up.
Another thing @Azel, how reasonable would it be to expect the White Clans to simply peacefully start flowing the commandments of the Council of Three (when/if we get it started again), when/if we succeed in fully culture converting them?
I think that it is good, that we got this cleared up.
Another thing @Azel, how reasonable would it be to expect the White Clans to simply peacefully start flowing the commandments of the Council of Three (when/if we get it started again), when/if we succeed in fully culture converting them?
Depends a lot on your diplomatic relationship and how they view their own strength in relation to you. Given that you helped them become sedentary and the leading vote is making some efforts to religiously press them into a vassal relationship...
Pretty decent if you can resolve the Succession Crisis soon.
Ooooor we could just train everyone for military service and only call up the most willing/what we need at the given moment? That way we wont have unarmed mobs if we get attacked. Like a second amendment with extra steps.
We just plain don't have even HALF as much food production surplus you need to make that happen.
The only ways for it are:
-Be nomadic hunter-gatherers, have your entire adult male population(and some of your female population) be hunters.
-Be in the Iron Age, with the immensely improved agriculture productivity of iron tools and animal domestication allowing landowner farmers to have time to engage in militia training.
-Be in the Renaissance/Early Industrialization, where mass produced equipment allows poorly trained and fed urbanites to be militarily significant in sufficient numbers.
[X] [Authority] The issue of distance needs to be resolved. Let the White Halls congregation name a representative who will hold sway over the Bone Tenders in the mountains.
[X] Plan unity
-[X] Try to influence a faction.
--[X] Fishes
--[X] Try to change isolationism for Protectionism and Unity, citing that the outside can very well hold dangers and the only way to be prepared is not to isolate, but be open and have agreements with others, just like the Valley People should be united in a common cause. The conflict which wrought this state was because of a group deciding things on their own and leaving Greenvalley to fend for itself. If the rolls allow for it, attempt to remove the motivation instead of changing it
---[X] The internal motivation is that the Faith can only grow by further contact with other villages, and isolationism puts it at a disadvantage.
--[X] Spend 3 culture
-[X] Gain +1 Culture to spend this turn.
-[X] (Optional) Change the focus of the Pilgrim Village.
--[X] Encourage own culture. (+1 Valley People Culture in Greenvalley)
[X] Plan unity with a twist
-[X] Try to influence a faction.
--[X] Fishes
--[X] Try to change isolationism for Protectionism and Unity, citing that the outside can very well hold dangers and the only way to be prepared is not to isolate, but be open and have agreements with others, just like the Valley People should be united in a common cause. The conflict which wrought this state was because of a group deciding things on their own and leaving Greenvalley to fend for itself.
--[X] Spend 2 culture
-[X] Send a diplomat to someone.
--[X] White clans
--[X] Consult the local chieftains and bone tenders about the clanmen's ancestors, it is proper that if families are to join their lineages and histories should be recorded and venerated properly.
-[X] (Optional) Change the focus of the Pilgrim Village.
--[X] Encourage own culture. (+1 Valley People Culture in Greenvalley)
[X] Plan Bishoprics & Coalitions Of The Willing
-[X] [Training] Begin recruiting orphans from among the clans and have them brought to the White Halls for training.
-[X] [Authority] The issue of distance needs to be resolved. Let the White Halls congregation name a representative who will hold sway over the Bone Tenders in the mountains.
-[X] Try to influence a faction.
--[X] Fishes
--[X] Remind the Fishes that while it is all well and good for heathen lowlanders to be barred from the Valley, it is also normal for the Valley People to venture forth, for it is the whole world that is given to the People of the Valley by the Ancestors. It is only when the Valley People become too entangled in the affairs of the lowlanders that disaster strikes. But to trade away one's excess, or to empower some few traders to venture forth and make money/spread the faith, is nothing to be feared. (Summary: heathens shouldn't be allowed into the Valley and the Valley should avoid becoming too enmeshed in the political affairs of the lowlands; but having our traders in the lowlands is fine and even desirable, because it might help spread the faith as well as warn the People of future lowlander perfidy).
--[X] Spend 2 culture
-[X] Gain +1 Culture to spend this turn.
-[X] (Optional) Change the focus of the Pilgrim Village.
--[X] Encourage own culture. (+1 Valley People Culture in Greenvalley)
Hopefully the wayward hunters die off instead of coming back to conquer the valley and take it back from us "heretics" or becoming pesky hostile nomads armed with all our best military organization.
[X] Plan Bishoprics & Coalitions Of The Willing
-[X] [Training] Begin recruiting orphans from among the clans and have them brought to the White Halls for training.
-[X] [Authority] The issue of distance needs to be resolved. Let the White Halls congregation name a representative who will hold sway over the Bone Tenders in the mountains.
-[X] Try to influence a faction.
--[X] Fishes
--[X] Remind the Fishes that while it is all well and good for heathen lowlanders to be barred from the Valley, it is also normal for the Valley People to venture forth, for it is the whole world that is given to the People of the Valley by the Ancestors. It is only when the Valley People become too entangled in the affairs of the lowlanders that disaster strikes. But to trade away one's excess, or to empower some few traders to venture forth and make money/spread the faith, is nothing to be feared. (Summary: heathens shouldn't be allowed into the Valley and the Valley should avoid becoming too enmeshed in the political affairs of the lowlands; but having our traders in the lowlands is fine and even desirable, because it might help spread the faith as well as warn the People of future lowlander perfidy).
--[X] Spend 2 culture
-[X] Gain +1 Culture to spend this turn.
-[X] (Optional) Change the focus of the Pilgrim Village.
--[X] Encourage own culture. (+1 Valley People Culture in Greenvalley)
The years of the divide were strange on the people of the valley. The mood was somber, even a the best of times, the paintings on the cairns of the White Halls missing the carefree unity of those made by the ancestors. Instead they showed groups standing apart, some even going as far as proclaiming allegiance to one group or another by painting fishes and tools next to the people on them. A few times, the Bone Tenders even had to deal with rowdy people who were incensed at the idea of their dead having to share cairns with their enemies. It was never so bad that words couldn't dispel the notion of other Valley People being enemies, but that it happened at all was worrisome.
So the Bone Tenders redoubled their efforts, the tales they retold and the advice they gave trying to keep together what was drifting apart. Most they focused their attention on the Fishes. There the message of unity and shared strength and values resonated well, but they also reminded them that there was more to the world then the valley. Had they not found friends, no, brothers in the mountains? Was not Laketop itself founded after a great raid in which the Valley People liberated lowlanders and brought them to the valley? That was one story many of the fishes liked to forget. That their own ancestors had been lowlanders was almost insulting to some, but others began to saw the wisdom that the Bone Tenders wanted to share. If their ancestors were taught the proper ways, why couldn't others?
Things moved fast in these years and while the Bone Tenders couldn't convince everyone, they could convince many. In that, they had unwitting aid by the actions of the Fishes and the Artisans. While the Fishes redoubled their efforts to sway the serfs, having some more success then in years past, they also managed to strike a deal with a few minor clans in the mountains. They all followed the Faith of Bones and lived by the ways of he Valley People, but for one reason or another, mostly old grudges and rivalries, they never settled in the growing mountain villages. But now that so many hunters from the valley had disappeared, the game was plenty and there was ample room for them. Them the Fishes brought willingly to the valley, offering empty houses and their friendship freely. Surely, not everyone agreed with settling clansmen in the valley, but those voices were few.
Gained 1 Worker and 2 Hunter (Light Infantry) Pops.
On the other end of the valley, it became readily apparent what the Artisans had been plotting for years. In the same spring that saw the clansmen settling into the valley, people from the valley were boarding boats to leave it. Long had the Artisans gathered materials and recruited people from the serfs for their cause and without the Bone Tenders efforts, their idea might have greatly angered the Fishes. They wanted to build a new village, far down the river. Where the Gentle River and the Goat River met, there was a lake and on its eastern shore, right next to the shallow ford where the Gentle River resumed it's way to the lowlands, they would build a place they called Lakerest.
The idea wasn't new and some had argued for it for generations, but now it would become reality. They had negotiated for a while with Brushcrest of all places, who had agreed after a while to give their blessing for the new village being erected in the lands that had been disputed for so long. There were, of course, some stipulations, such as that hunters would never venture more then three days marches the south or west of it, and that no interruption of the trade with the Goat People would be tolerated, but that were easy prices to pay for the Artisans. And so they went, erecting new houses and beginning to plant orchards in the wilderness. Many followed the lure of the Moonstone that the Artisans were freely giving to the people and yet more followed the tales of ample wild nuts, fruit and roots to be found around the new village. Soon enough, Lakerest was growing far beyond what the Artisans had intended.
Total: 4
Consumption: 1
Balance: +3
Pop Growth: 2, 10, 6 -> Gained 1 Worker Pop (Valley People)
For the Bone Tenders, this was both chance and peril, so they seized the moment to make it the former. Even though they had not spoken with the Artisans to that effect, they just proclaimed their actions to be a sign of good faith towards the Fishes. After all, hadn't they built that new village so that the traders were making rest there? Didn't that mean that the Fishes wouldn't have to tolerate any lowlanders visiting the valley, however briefly? That seemed sensible to many and though there was certainly some doubt that the Artisans cared even the slightest bit about the Fishes, nobody spoke them aloud. The peace was good for the valley and the rift seemed to begin mending itself.
Gained +1 Stability, +1 Mood from lessening tensions.
Not all was good though, for the Valley People were so occupied with the rapid changes and tribulations of these times that some other things were suffering for it. Since ages past, the gardens of the White Halls were the pride of the Bone Tenders. They were a sign of how nature could be a made a home to the people and many pilgrims spend time tending to them to honor the ancestors buried in the cairns between the trees. Now though, the gardens began to grow wild again, the people having other things on their mind. Even in the sermons and the storytelling of the Bone Tenders, the gardens were only rarely mentioned despite their state. Many felt it was fine, for they felt the gardens to have little point beyond their beauty and that it was useless to defy nature merely to have done so.
Culture Deficit causes Mastery of Nature to decay from Ideal to Fad.
In the mountains though, a new temple for the Ancestors was beginning to grow. Long had the villages of Mountain Home and Speakers Rest competed for the honor to be the true home of the White Clans, but it became slowly but surely evident that Speakers Rest would bear that honor. It had grown greatly since the first houses had been build there and when the Bone Tenders decided to name a new Speaker who would lead the faithful of the mountains in their name, the result was a foregone conclusion. The new Speaker was a humble man, picked for his unshakable faith and skill at oratory that often saw him compared to the Great Speaker from the old tales. Under his guidance, the clansmen had begun the work to erect a true temple that would mimic the White Halls.
White Clans becoming sedentary. Village of Speakers Rest will be finished next turn.
As the years went on, it became apparent that the Valley People were flourishing, despite the divide between them. Some claimed that it was because the Hunters had lost most of their influence, their actions and that of Willow angering the ancestors and thus causing the hardships for the people. Others felt that the actions of the peoples new leaders had shown them wise and seen their efforts blessed by the ancestors, thinking the hardships merely a result of the lack of such blessings. There was also a few voices who were advocating for a new High Council to be assembled. They were few and the leaders of the Fishes and the Artisans were decidedly not among them, but for the Bone Tenders at least, it was a good sing. The wounds were beginning to mend and the people still united in spirit, if not in deed.
The Valley People
Symbol: The heads of a bear, a wolf and a man.
Government: Absolute Directorial Despotism - Mandate of the Ancestors
General rules
- Meetings of all Councils will be held in private. However, each person attending the council may bring an additional guest, who may listen but not speak unless invited to speak by the council.
- All groups setting out to interact with outsiders must contain a representative of the their Council. Low Council representatives can only do so for groups smaller than their own community with larger groups being the domain of the High Council.
- All matters affecting more than two communities must be brought to the High Council. Matters between two communities may be resolved by their Low Councils if they can come to a consensus, or otherwise be brought to the High Council for arbitration.
- Disputes between individuals and families within a community are to be resolved by the Low Council of the community.
- High Councilor, Low Councilor, Mediums, Priests and Vice-Councilors positions are exclusive. Upon gaining one title they lose all others of the list
Organization structure
- High Council:
-- The High Council will be the highest authority of the state, referring to the three who comprise supreme authority.
-- The High Council is advised by Mediums, one selected by each Low Council. The Mediums can be a member of any community.
-- The High Council can appoint representatives from any community to speak with their authority for specific tasks when the Council cannot be present themselves.
-- Each member of the High Council must maintain at least one, and no more than three Vice-Councilors for their council duties. These Vice-Councilors must be taught how to perform and assist with the duties of a High Councilor. They can be chosen from anyone under the authority of the High Council, except for High Councilors, Low Councilors and Mediums.
- Low Council:
-- The Low Councils refer to the local authorities, each governing one permanent(lasting at least one full lifetime from birth to death) community comprising of at least three population units of adults. Such a community may be fixed or mobile in nature, so long as someone can be born into it and die belonging to it.
-- Each Low Council consists of two leaders chosen by the community, and one leader chosen by the High Council. The community leaders must be members of the community, but the High Council can choose either a local or send a representative.
-- The Low Council can appoint representatives from their community to speak with their authority for specific tasks when the Council cannot be present themselves. They may appoint representatives from other communities with the agreement of either the High Council or the other community involved.
- Priests
-- The priests must maintain an advisor to the High Council at all times, who will be allowed to listen to and advise any decisions.
-- The priests may send one advisor to any Low Council, who will be allowed to listen to and advise any decisions.
-- The priests must preferentially raise their new initiates from the orphans of the People where available. Where there are more orphans than need for new initiates, they will be chosen by lot.
Succession
- High Councilors are elected with a majority vote by the High Council and the Mediums of each Low Council from the pool of Vice-Councilors. At least two thirds of the Mediums must be present to pass such a vote.
- Mediums are selected with a majority vote by the Low Council they represent. Their status can be revoked by the same process.
- One Low Councilor seat of each community is fixed to the High Council's appointment, if this Low Councilor is removed by any means, they will be replaced by the next appointed representative of the High Council.
- The remaining two Low Councilor seats are chosen by the community they govern. Groups with preexisting selection methods may use their traditional methods, or permanently change their process to a simple majority of their community.
- High Councilors will step down in the following events:
-- Voluntary abdication, which will start the process of raising a new councilor while they remain a councilor until their successor is chosen.
-- Death
-- Incapacitation such that they are no longer able to perform their duties for more than a season.
- Low Councilors will step down in the following events:
-- Half or more of the community they govern votes to replace them.
Religion: Faith of Bones
Capital: Greenvalley
Cultural Ideas
At the dawn of time, the people were lost and separated. But in these trying times emerged three great persons that led them together again to build a brighter future. Like the Mountain Father, the Black Bear and the White Wolf, the Council of Three rules to this day, the wisdom of the ancestors guiding them on their path. No higher authority can there be in this world.
Effects:
- gain +2 on combat morale
- gain +2 on stability checks
- troops will never disobey orders or join revolts, but may participate in civil-wars normally
- allow the deployment of military units to temporarily raise stability
- may use Subjugation actions even outside of wars with that war-goal
-- can destroy Pops to eliminate cultural values of a Faction
-- can destroy Pops to eliminate a Faction entirely
-- can forcibly resettle Pops
- using subjugation actions or deploying military units to establish order raises mood
- weaker polities receive -1 Morale when facing someone with this value
- must always treat other polities as lesser and can't interact with them as peers
- Council of Three must always be the highest authority in the state
- factions unable to alter social order or political system, but can still try to gain control of the government
- social change occurs slower, but sometimes breaks violently
- during a civil war, other groups can claim the Mandate of the Ancestors to gain legitimacy
- this idea will be destroyed when the government collapses or the polity is absorbed by another polity
Challenges come and go, but only the steadfast will remain in their wake. Neither directionless action, nor hiding from them will save the people from these trials. One must face these challenges no matter how daunting they seem, and though the price they reap might be dire one will grow stronger for these losses.
Effects:
- gain +1 on stability checks
- gain +1 on Inspiration stat of all commanders
- stability loss when radically changing a started course of action due to difficulties
Blood is life. It is shed when we come into the world and all too often it is shed when we leave it. To willingly give it to another, be they living or dead, is the highest gift one can make, for the giver offers nothing less then a piece of his life. Never should such a deed be done lightly and gravest misfortune will come to those who befoul such sacred acts.
Effects:
- gain +1 on stability checks
- religion more likely to spread to populations who have no codified rites
- religion less likely to be subsumed by other faiths
- lower risk of betrayal by oath-sworn subjects sharing this value
- factions more resistant to size and influence loss, except when caused by population drop
- lower chance to detect faction plots
A man might build himself a home. He can stack stone and wood to find shelter against the elements and make a place he can call his own. Yet many man can build many homes, and with dedication and effort, even greater works they can accomplish. The world is there for man to shape and to make it more pleasing for himself.
Effects:
- bonus to development of landscaping technologies
- large-scale landscaping projects increase mood
- diplomacy malus of -1 with all groups who venerate nature
- malus to stability checks and increased mood loss from natural disasters
Current Factions
Hunters
Description: Be it the Days of Blood, the Reign of Bear and Wolf or the many battles that followed these legendary times, they always revolve around the valiant warriors of the tribe. As the might and greatest food procurers of Greenvalley, the hunters are undeniable the most important and beloved group in the entire tribe.
Size: 1 (Tiny)
Influence: 3 (Low)
Mood: 3 (Unhappy)
Main Issues: Glory
Secondary Issues: Exploration
Artisans
Description: Having their support chiefly among the miners and artisans of Cliffside, Crackhome and Greenvalley itself, this group is second in prestige only to the hunters and more numerous too.
Size: 6 (Average)
Influence: 7 (High)
Mood: 6 (Content)
Main Issues: Stability, Ressources, Trade
Secondary Issues: Diplomatic Ties
Fishes
Description: Named after a joking answer to the question who they support, the fishers of Laketop have slowly drifted apart from the rest of Greenvalley to form their own distinct group. While wielding little direct influence in Greenvalley, the amount of food they contribute to the valley gives them still some leverage.
Size: 6 (Average)
Influence: 6 (Average)
Mood: 4 (Unhappy)
Main Issues: Peace, Stability, Segregation
Secondary Issues: Isolationism
Serfs
Description: Once the term for conquered people brought to Greenvalley, these days many others are counted as serfs. They represent the marginalized professions that most of the tribe has little appreciation for.
Size: 2 (Tiny)
Influence: 3 (Low)
Mood: 4 (Unhappy)
Main Issues: Safety, Recognition, Representation
Secondary Issues: Isolationism, Trade
Bone Tenders
Description: While they generally try to stay out of political affairs, the Bone Tenders wield quiet some influence among the population and are known to try and keep the peace among the people in times of strife.
Size: 1 (Tiny)
Influence: 7 (High)
Mood: 5 (Content)
Main Issues: spread of Faith of Bones, honoring the Ancestors, Neutrality
Secondary Issues: Peace
Settlements
Greenvalley
Location: Clearing in the forest near a river bend.
Size: Large Tribe
Development: Long House settlement
Minor Villages:
- Crackhome - Limestone Quarry Village
- Cliffside - Obsidian Quarry Village
- Laketop - Fishing Village
- White Halls - Holy Site with Pilgrim Village
- Rivercrossing - Village
Population:
Type
Number
Culture
Faction
Notes
Workers
21
Valley People
Serfs (4)
Valley People
Fishes (11)
Valley People
Artisans (6)
Hunters
4
Valley People
Hunters (2)
2x Regular Infantry
Fishes (2)
2x Light Infantry
Artisans
4
Valley People
Artisans (4)
4x Basic Goods -> Production
Buildings:
Name
Upkeep
Effect
Holy Site - Faith of Bones
0.6 Production
3 Culture
Pilgrim Village
1 Food
can generate 1 Culture of own or friendly culture, or create 1 own Culture in friendly polity
Stone Wall
0.2 Production
defensive bonuses in combat
Active Trades:
- give 0.7 Production to White Clans for 1 Dye (Azurite)
- give 1 Culture to Lakerest
Resource Production:
Name
Current
Maximum
Bonus
Gathering
2
-
+30% (Base)
+20% (river)
+20% (low area utilization)
Total: +70%
You have 3 Culture to spend this turn:
[] Try to influence a faction.
-[] Write-In which faction.
-[] Write-In goal.
-[] Write-In how much Culture to spend.
[] Try to sway Pops to join your faction.
-[] Write-In Targets
-[] Write-In how much Culture to spend. Note: In a Succession Crisis, the upkeep for Cultural Ideas is not spent automatically. Any leftover culture from all factions goes towards the upkeep cost. Thus you gain 3 culture for controlling the White Halls and can spend them freely instead of them being locked up for Idea maintenance.
Pick an action for the Bone Tenders:
[] Gain +1 Culture to spend this turn.
[] Send a diplomat to someone.
-[] Write-In target of the visit.
-[] Write-In goal of the visit.
[] Organize a meeting to try and establish a new High Council.
-[] Write-In which factions to invite.
Others:
[] (Optional) Change the focus of the Pilgrim Village.
-[] Encourage own culture. (+1 Valley People Culture in Greenvalley) - Current focus
-[] Encourage White Clans culture. (+1 White Clans Culture in Greenvalley)
-[] Bring Valley People Culture to the White Clans. (+1 Valley People Culture in the White Clans)
AN: Pretty good rolls all around and your swaying of the Fishes came pretty much at the perfect moment. The Artisans acting so radically could have otherwise turned nasty.
Culture is local. If you are not supplying enough culture to Lakerest, it might branch off it's own culture and is more susceptible to conversion by others.
Until you are reunified, you will have to hope the Artisans fix that.
Not quite. Nobody can spend an action to gain production right now, but the Artisans are doing their level best to exploit the free production from not having to pay upkeep for so many hunters. The other actions are kinda balanced out by people wasting a lot of them on trying to shank each other. Most culture this turn went up in smoke by the Fishes and the Artisans trying to sway the Serfs, degrading one of your Ideals.
So don't think that a Succession Crisis is some kind of superpower. It can just as quickly turn extremely ugly.
The Artisans are the strongest faction and the most active one right now.
Allowing them to integrate the rest of the valley back in the civ might be easier than trying to bring them back in, if you know what I mean?
You are still paying for Mastery of Nature since it's a degraded Tier 2 Ideal, not a proper Fad.
Though in essence, this means nothing, since it will likely just decay completely within the next 1-2 turns, unless you luck out and nobody spends Culture above their means.
Also, if we try to reestablish the High Council, should we mention how much Culture we want to spend or is it a culture free action?
To the rest of you, which factions should we invite, if we tried to do it this turn. We would obviously have to invite the Fishes and the Artisans, but do we bother with the Hunters or the Serfs?
Something worth thinking about, is that if we only invited the Fishes and the Artisans, then the Bone Tenders will likely have to take the third position on the Council, since I doubt that we can convince one of the two faction to hold a majority of the power.
