Right, with more cities there will be more options for each player to make their own fortunes. I think splitting up single cities - beyond the way Beidu and Bulan are shared between several players right now - would just be a little too cumbersome.
Speaking of cities, as a result of the continued colonization efforts from Bulan, we are about to found another city on the peninsula east of Beidu! If anyone wants to become noyan in this new city, they should announce that they are moving there. We also need to name the new city and maybe the peninsula too, anyone can chime in. As per @Sparsebeard 's instructions, it will be founded on the southern tip of the peninsula east of Beidu.
So the reason this is going a bit slowly is that I had a concussion some time ago and apparently writing is pretty tough for me. I didn't know this when I set out on this quest. The second part is that I had planned for a bit more "realpolitik" as @Magnive called it. I've noticed that most are content posting a simple vote once in a while. I had hoped for a little bit more roleplay and power struggle, but maybe this is not how quests are done?
Take your time to get well! This quest is a ton of fun.
As a member of the ruling elite of the capital, I've been fine with the decisions of the Noyad. I DO send suggestions for other cities (presented as "suggestions" from the Capital) but beyond presenting my logic I'll admit I rather not get too confrontational. As I see it, the goal is to have fun and work together.
That being said, I have no doubt that the individual cities won't just "obey" every "suggestions" from the capital. But in the end, everybody wins by working together and the Capital will continue too support our mongolian colonies unless they turn their back on our glorious realm.
So the reason this is going a bit slowly is that I had a concussion some time ago and apparently writing is pretty tough for me. I didn't know this when I set out on this quest. The second part is that I had planned for a bit more "realpolitik" as @Magnive called it. I've noticed that most are content posting a simple vote once in a while. I had hoped for a little bit more roleplay and power struggle, but maybe this is not how quests are done?
So make it so the Noyad roll a single 1d20 die daily which would guide their, our actions. Some of us are here to practice our writing, too. If one is, say, busy, just roll for them. My big problem is I have never played Civ 4, so that gives me pause on everything and kind of pushes me to simpler more general decisions (and that's why I chose to be a diplomat - so it's not simply checking a box).
The roll - I would use the criticals, everything else is a good roll, and any single digit would also cause a Noyad's fault. How could this reflect in the gameplay?
I'm not a fan of our actions being random... unless a Noyad is absent of course.
If there is randomness to be had, I'd rather it'd be events scripted or otherwise. NPC could also be an option but would probably be quite a headache to figure out.
In the end, I think the quest is cool the way it is right now but I trust Emilovic. The only issue I see in the long run might be us rolling over the competion but then the QM could see if they'd rather start over on a higher difficulty or something.
You have a vote in the capital by default if you aren't assigned as governor to another city.
For now, I don't think we have much army in the Capital. Though, I WAS thinking about raising an army to finish the French or attack the Poles, such an army would need a commander.
Plus, there are... implications to having a Noyad in the Capital. Many are the Empires and Republics who fell to the hands of the Pretorian Guard .
More players is always nice, though I don't think we have too few. It can still be a fun game with only a few engaged players. But feel free to advertise if you want to!
So while the other cities are governed by noyad - originally military leaders, but I like how they seem to be developing into regular local lords - the capital is still governed by the khuraldai - our grand assembly of all players who haven't been sent to the provinces. If we are to have one or more appointed noyad rule the capital, it would require a vote or a coup (anyone with soldiers under their control can command them to do whatever). You, the players, decide how our empire is ruled, and anyone can currently propose changes to the government system.
By the way it's one noyan, two noyad (or just noyans I guess). Noyad is the plural. Seems to have confused alot of people, including myself.
More players is always nice, though I don't think we have too few. It can still be a fun game with only a few engaged players. But feel free to advertise if you want to!
1560 BC: A Time of Troubles
The early bronze age seems to have been a troubled time for the Mongol rulers. Bulan was hit by a major hurricane around 1690 BC, causing great damage to defences and buildings as well as unrest. In Beidu, cultural differences, disease outbreaks and a rapidly growing population caused brewing unrest and separatism. Despite, or perhaps because of these conditions, this era was also defined by significant architectural developments. In Beidu, walls and military facilities were built around the city to control the populace, and across the Mongol empire, monuments were built by rulers and influential citizens, perhaps also to cement their status as leaders.
With the growing sedentary population of the three cities, the way city dwellers built their homes also changes. While the majority of the Mongol population still lived a nomadic life far from the cities, bringing their home with them from place to place and therefore prefering the traditional ger as their home, city dwellers increasingly began to build permanent homes out of stone, clay and wood.
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Due to increasing population and unrest, I've built monuments in Bulan, Beidu and Julfad. They give +1 happiness and also culture, but I didn't mention them in your plan options last turn because I must have missed them. But now all three citis have one, and I thought I would give you all the option to influence how they should look. It can be a monolith, an obelisk, a column, statue - it just has to fit the period and setting, so no statues of modern soldiers for instance. It also can't be a building and not too huge - it's not a great wonder. Feel free to go to the Cities: Skylines workshop and take a look around. Below I've found a few that I thought might fit. They are all chinese or korean, but it is up to you, the players, to decide what our art and architecture should be like. I'm a bit torn between moving us in the direction of an East Asian aesthetic or going for a more Middle Eastern aesthetic like Beidu currently is, which would make sense with the many middle eastern neighbors (we've even just discovered a muslim nation somewhere far to our north, so perhaps it will spread to our land eventually). So I'd like you to vote on what your city's monument should look like and discuss the overall aesthetic of our cities.
Remember to state which city you are in when voting. If you haven't voted in this game before, then you're in the capital, Bulan. @dbRevned , you are also still in the capital, though your new city is underway!
Also, feel free to add some lore regarding the in-universe meaning of your monument. And placement, if you have any preferences.
According to legends, Skanda was the son of a virtuous king who had complete faith in Buddha's teachings. When the Buddha entered nirvana, the Buddha instructed Skanda to guard the Dharma. It was his duty to protect members of the sangha when they are disturbed by Mara, the tempter, and also to resolve conflicts amongst members of the sangha. A few days after the Buddha's passing and cremation, evil demons stole his relics. Skanda's vow of protecting the faith and Dharma was proven when he managed to defeat the evil demons and returned the relics.
This describes our Kingdom. Protector of our people, a fair judge and mediator of conflicts but not haughty or arrogant. Devout and humble.
I saw several other Buddha works there, so there may be a better option. This covers balance, the great baths, and potentially a memorial and shrine all in one. Remember, Buddha did not want to be a deity.
When I chose you, I didn't want the commonplace - I didn't want a 'partner' - I wanted a shrine. - John Geddes
New mechanics
So with the growing number of cities, I'd like to introduce some changes to how the game works. Until now every city has been controlling its own production while research directions have been handled by the capital. With this new mechanic, I'll be opening up for the capital losing this role even without a coup.
Each city is still ruled by one or more players.
Production: Each city still controls what it will build - new buildings, military, etc.
Research: Research focus is no longer determined solely from the capital. Everyone gets to vote on the technological direction our empire will be taking, but your vote will be weighted according to the research output of your city. So the votes of two players from a city with a research output 10 will only count 5 points each. This means that if the provinces unite to push for a certain direction, they may be able to outmatch the capital and take more control of our Empire. Research output for each city can be found in the top left corner of the city status screens I post every update (see below). Researchoutput is increased by research and education buildings, but also to a great degree by increasing commerce, wealth and trade.
Culture: Each city also has a culture output. It can be seen in the lower left corner of the city status screen (see below). Votes on policy changes and religion will be weighted according to your city's culture output.
Edit: Each city also controls its soldiers and strategic resources. Resources can be used to trade with other cities (players or AI in other empires - though the other empires don't seem very eager to trade). For instance, right now Beidu exports its copper to Bulan. This enables Bulan to build a bronze smith that produces bronze. Bulan can choose not to allow Beidu to take advantage of this resource by embargoing them. But this would probably be a bad idea, since Beidu can also choose to cut Bulan's supply of copper, preventing them from producing bronze in the first place.
I hope this makes sense. The next update is on its way, but I haven't had much time to work on it this week.
1770-1020 BC: The Bronze Age
The bronze age - named so because the use of bronze for weapons became widespread in both Mongol and Frankish lands around this time - was a time of growth, but also of great trouble for the hastily growing Mongol empire. On a peninsula on the eastern coast, a new city was founded - rather unimaginatively christened Shinekhot, "New City" - dominated by the (@dbRevned ) clan. Meanwhile, the older cities of Bulan and Beidu struggled with plagues, floods, unrest and pirates.
There was also frequent wars between the nations of the South, which had little impact on trade however. By the end of the millennium, most wars had been ended and there was only the war of our neighbours the Chola and Achaemenids against the barbarian Malinese far to the southwest.
While no Mongol had ever been further north than the Frankish forests, strange people from further north than anyone had imagined there would be people have been visiting Mongol trade ports. The first to appear in the records are the Carthaginians who are believed to live at the northern end of the mountain chain that follows the coast north from Julfad. They have strange customs and claim that there is only one spirit that all should worship. The other nation is known only as the North Sea Empire, which judging by the name must be located somewhere in the sea to the north.
Bulan (@Sparsebeard , @Traveller76 )
The two dominant clans during this period were the Akhar Sakhaluud, or simply the Short Beards (@Sparsebeard ) and the Ayanchnuud, "Travellers", ostensibly named so due to their nomadic lifestyle (@Traveller76 ). During the bronze age, leaders of the Bulan region also began claiming the title of noyan, starting with the leader of the Ayanchuud.
In 1690 BC, a great storm struck the Mongolian capital. The waves took the walls and many buildings were destroyed, but only few lives were lost. Many migrated to Shinekhot, but the city was soon restored to its former glory.
Great efforts were undertaken to rebuild from the great storm and to support the founding of Shinekhot, so while the city has grown, only few buildings of importance were erected in the period. A bronze forge was established which could supply the army with weapons. Like Beidu, Bulan struggled greatly with unrest, and public executions were held to entertain the people. However, with the current slow growth rate, nearly finished market and the prospects of imported gold from Julfad, unrest seems unlikely to be a problem for the foreseeable future.
Pirates were a huge problem, at one point causing a famine that threatened to destabilise the capital. However, a small fleet of so-called winged ships were built to counter the threat, and by the turn of the millennium, the trade routes of the eastern coast were free from pirates.
Workers were sent out from Bulan with orders to cut down the jungles of Beidu, but lacked the proper tools to do so, and instead worked on various other infrastructure projects in the provinces. A road was built between Bulan and Julfad and on to Beidu, though a part of it between Bulan and Julfad was recently washed away by floods, so the trade with Julfad currently passes through Beidu.
The military capacity of the capital was greatly expanded during the period, and by 1020 BC the capital region was able to field 2 tümen of mounted archers, 1 tümen of foot archers, 1 tümen of axemen and 1 tümen of skirmishers. They were also able to construct the greatest siege towers, recorded in Delian sources as helepoleis, city-takers.
Beidu (@pail@Daedwartin )
Due to a rapidly growing population, cultural differences and returning disease outbreaks, the situation in the Beidu region remained highly unstable throughout the period. In 1560, it almost came to an outright rebellion among the indigenous forest people who still make up half the population. In response to this, the Mongol noyans fortified Beidu in the same style as Bulan and despite the fact that this had not been the original plan, the noyans were forced to crack down on dissidents and publically executing their leaders in order to keep rebellious sentiments down.
Another good reason for the improvement of Beidu's fortifications was the region's Frankish neighbours to the north. By 1020 BC, there was an estimated 60.000 (6 units) Frankish spearmen and archers stationed at Bordeaux, easily outnumbering the 20 000 skirmishers that the noyans of Beidu were able to field. In earlier times, the garrison had been greater, but due to barbarian raids, the force had diminished over the years.
Despite all this, Beidu retained its status as the cultural capital of the Mongols. During the bronze age, Beidu was home to several great people. In 1340 BC, the great hero Ölziit was born on the nearby plains of Taiyuan. He was a great warrior, famed for fending off barbarians and reforming Mongol cavalry tactics. In 1270 BC, the great merchant Ghazan was born in Beidu. He is renowned for being the inventor of currency. Beidu also had a burgeoning economy. In 1020, it produced almost as much commerce as Bulan, and the population could grow to the same size within the next few centuries if it weren't for the very significant (11%) risk of plague outbreak every turn.
Julfad (@BeeBadidoo )
Even Julfad has had some trouble with unrest, though not as bad as in Bulan and Beidu. It's still rather small, but has got a few buildings now. The waters off its coast is plagued by pirates, so most trade goes via land. Its borders are about to expand so it will get access to gold and more salt resources.
Shinekhot (@dbRevned )
Founded in 1460 BC, the main purpose of this new settlement was to supply the new markets of Bulan and Beidu with amber. There isn't much here yet, but when the local clan leaders manage to extend their sphere of control, there will be ample opportunity to catch fish and clams.
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Finally finished this update. I haven't added any pics from Cities:Skylines yet, they will come later so you can see your monuments. Feel free to discuss and start voting in the mean time.
With the new voting mechanics (see last post), everyone gets to both send orders regarding their own city and the general technological direction we're taking - separately. If you're new to this quest, your city is the capital, Bulan. Your votes should follow this format:
[Your city name]
-[] Colonization. But please specify where, there aren't any obvious spots left.
-[] Conquest. Bulan should have enough troops to take the neighbouring Chola city of Fez, especially considering they are also fighting the Malinese to the far southwest.
-[] Culture.
-[] Defense. Julfad and Shinekhot can fortify their settlements, this also gives a happiness boost.
-[] Espionage. Build taverns and recruit spies that can spy on enemy civs.
-[] Growth. Happiness, food, health and epidemic resistance. Our main problem is happiness - expecially in Beidu - and we need research to get new happiness buildings.
-[] Military. Train more soldiers. Being specific is a good idea so you get the right units.
-[] Military facilities. Set up facilities to strengthen the experience of units trained in this city.
-[] Production. Industry that helps us build buildings and train soldiers faster.
-[] Research. We can build libraries now, and research can be further strengthened by wealth/commerce/trade-boosting buildings.
-[] Wealth/commerce/trade.
-[] Workers to develop the countryside/cut down jungles and forests.
-[] Write-in
Research:
[] Health. Urban planning, Civil engineering, water pump and sanitation. These advances in engineering and architecture will allow us to build plazas and arenas to keep the population entertained, as well as cut down the disease-generating jungles at Beidu. However, we will lose the +2 bonus to health in Beidu and empire-wide -2& epidemic risk from the Great Baths, so when we do this, we should cut the forests as fast as possible after doing this research and build extra health buildings in Beidu.
[] Wealth and happiness. Learning how to cultivate tobacco and dyes could help us increase both commerce and happiness.
[] Defense. Look into how we can build forts.
[] Industry. Focus on new industry that can boost production. This may have a slight negative health impact in our cities.
[] Military. Focus on developing a stronger military to be used on the offense. Next step would be heavy cavalry and better archers.
[] Wealth. Important if we are to found more cities without getting behind in research (though I think we are ahead right now).
[] Research.
[] Culture. Focus on research that can help us improve culture so we can assimilate the Beidunese
[] Religion. Found a religion so we can build temples and keep the people happy. (Abandoning our animist ways will however give -2 health and +3% risk of epidemics. Will also give -1 gold and -1 production from slash and burn farming, the primary occupation of people in Beidu)
[] Imperial Cult. Found a cult worshipping our elders and noyad. Faster than founding a proper religion, but gives the same happiness boost. Has the same detrimental health effects.
[] Theatres. By inventing and building theatres, we can keep people happy by funding public plays. Probably the fastest way to satisfy the population, but a bit expensive - we need to spend 10% of budget on culture in order to get 1 happy face. Money currently spent on research.
[] Write-in
This was a pretty big update. Ask if I missed something.
-[X] Growth. Happiness, food, health and epidemic resistance. Our main problem is happiness - expecially in Beidu - and we need research to get new happiness buildings.
-[X] Production. Industry that helps us build buildings and train soldiers faster.
-[X] Culture.
-[X] so the idea is to focus on producing buildings, after the well is built the plan is to build a culture building, after thats done focus on building production and health/growth focused buildings. If necessary produce a couple ships whose job it is to keep away pirates. (Originally had it building a worker but someone from the capital will "probably send personal. So if i dont get a worker improving my tiles or building a road to me from the capital by the end of the turn, i'll be disappointed)
Bulan :
-[X] Workers to develop the countryside/cut down jungles and forests.
Since our population can't really grow without hardship yet, supporting the colonies by building one or two cohorts of workers to develop the empire seems like a decent choice.
-[X] Wealth/commerce/trade.
Finish the marketplace in order to strenghten commerce in the Capital.
-[X] Military facilities. Set up facilities to strengthen the experience of units trained in this city.
Our horses are part of our very identity, let's make sure our cavalry is the very best there is.
-[X] Military. Train more soldiers. Being specific is a good idea so you get the right units.
Let's make sure the empire is not only well defended by sending reinforcement to the Noyans of Beidu, but also ready to take advantage of opportunities.
-[X] Scout. Send a few mobile units to expand our knowledge of the world and our maps. Strike free passage agreements if needed.
Research :
[X] Military. Focus on developing a stronger military to be used on the offense. Next step would be heavy cavalry and better archers.
Let's keep our edge, we are a nation of expanders and conquerors, always have been. Make sure our armies are the mightiest under the sun.
[X] Codify our laws. Write down and standardise our punishment system and commercial rules.
Too long has our populace been governed by the whims of the powerful and the rule of the mob. We need to make sure peasants, merchants and even slaves know their rights and obligations. The laws of the jungle are fit for animals, we are humans!
-[X] Growth. Happiness, food, health and epidemic resistance. Our main problem is happiness - expecially in Beidu - and we need research to get new happiness buildings.
-[X] Production. Industry that helps us build buildings and train soldiers faster.
-[X] Workers to develop the countryside/cut down jungles and forests
-[X] so the idea is to focus on producing buildings, after the well is built the plan is to build a worker so it can improve the tiles and build roads. After the worker the idea is to get a mix of production and health/growth focused buildings. If necessary produce a couple ships whose job it is to keep away pirates.
Don't forget to rename your city, unless you want it to stay "New City" on the map for future updates.
EDIT : Also, building workers will be pretty crippling for a new city like yours (as it will take quite a while to build and stop growth in the meanwhile) and the Capital will probably send personnel to help you get on your feet quickly. Culture, on the other hand will unlock major growth in your settlement.
Don't forget to rename your city, unless you want it to stay "New City" on the map for future updates.
EDIT : Also, building workers will be pretty crippling for a new city like yours (as it will take quite a while to build and stop growth in the meanwhile) and the Capital will probably send personnel to help you get on your feet quickly. Culture, on the other hand will unlock major growth in your settlement.
k, never played 4 so i didnt know how expensive workers are.
but yeah unless you want new city to be changed to city city, ya might want to give me ideas if you want it renamed. Plus since arecity is obviously new (look at that name) the captial has to send in support .
Defense because of the off-shore pirates. Growth because Julfad is small right now and needs expansion to tap the more valuable resources. Wealth/commerce and trade because Julfad is about to expand into areas with valuable resources.
Research:
-[X] Health.
-[X] Culture.
-[X] Wealth and happiness
All of these research options are about fixing our happiness, epidemic, and separatist issues.
The people in Bulan should really found religion, it helps with culture, happiness, and cohesion between different cities that have separate ways of life. If not religion, then a focus on health and happiness.
k, never played 4 so i didnt know how expensive workers are.
but yeah unless you want new city to be changed to city city, ya might want to give me ideas if you want it renamed. Plus since arecity is obviously new (look at that name) the captial has to send in support .
