- Location
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[X] Plan: Cover All the Bases
The Game of Crusading Thrones, Self-Insert Edition (GoT CK2)
- Thread starter notbirdofprey
- Start date
- Fantasy
[X] Plan: Cover All the Bases
[X] PLAN AGRICULTURE REVOLUTION
This seems to be the best plan for additional income and population both of which we need for prolonged combat against white walkers and enemies to the south. Also, I am not a fan of introducing black powder/ explosives at all. It's like begging for an uprising and losing control of our population.
This seems to be the best plan for additional income and population both of which we need for prolonged combat against white walkers and enemies to the south. Also, I am not a fan of introducing black powder/ explosives at all. It's like begging for an uprising and losing control of our population.
KnightDisciple
Love God. Do Right. Fear No Man.
- Location
- Midwest, USA
[X] Plan: Cover All the Bases
Uhuh...
Right. Never mentioned blackpowder as a possible priority before.
Right, how about you step down from that high horse before you fall off and hurt yourself? Because, and I'm sorry if this hurts your feelings and comes as a shock to you; my life doesn't revolve around you.
I have better and more enjoyable things to do with my time than, as you're trying to claim "subtly sabotage you". I let myself get drawn into this debate and felt it'd be a major dick-move on my part to just leave you hanging without backing up my claims, so as part of that I spent the better part of the last two days reading various articles and watching documentaries to make sure that my arguments held water. Which, admittedly, is something I normally enjoy doing anyway in moderation, but in this instance there's other things I'd rather have done in that time.
If that's the direction you want to take this debate into, though? Where we start throwing around accusations, snide insinuations, and ad hominem attacks and whatnot like a pair of shit-flinging monkeys? I'd be quite happy to drop this discussion in a heartbeat and get to doing those other things I mentioned.
Since I want to give you the benefit of the doubt, however; I think it's better to focus on gunpowder specifically for likely the same broad reasons you - I presume, or at least hope - think it better to focus on textile manufacturing machines specifically, instead of following your own stated opinions on the importance of theoretical knowledge and your desire to introduce it as soon as possible, and writing a book about mechanical engineering. Going by the same logic you're using to argue in favor of writing a book on chemistry, it should be vastly more time-efficient for us to write a book about mechanical engineering principles, and how various mechanical devices can be used to more effectively make use of energy sources like human or animal muscle, wind, water and gravity, so that people can simply invent textile machines, agricultural machines, wood- and metalworking machines and whatnot for themselves, like what you insist would happen with a chemistry book.
Instead you're pushing for textile machines specifically because - I hope - you sincerely believe that it's the better choice in this instance since it better fits our current situation in the quest, better supports our short- and long-term goals, and because it's more immediately feasible and practical - something I still disagree on, but could at least respect the motivation behind.
It's for much of those reasons that I think it's better to focus on gunpowder specifically.
In the short-term, our goal is to fight and defeat the Ironborn. For that we need fortifications (so they can't raid our lands), a navy that can defeat theirs despite the vast gap in institutional knowledge and experience (they've been a seafaring culture for centuries or millennia, the North didn't even have a navy until recently due to Brandon the Burner's little temper tantrum), well-equipped and trained troops (to defend our lands and attack theirs with good odds of success and minimal casualties), and the ability to overcome the fortifications they defend their own lands with (Harrenhal being most notable, of course).
Blackpowder supports all of this.
Regarding our own fortifications, blackpowder can be used in blast-mining, which reduces the amount of labor necessary to extract rock such as the limestone typically used in cement creation. This would make cement cheaper and more plentiful, which would benefit the efforts of us and our lords to construct fortifications on the rivers and coasts. In addition, blackpowder would allow for the creation of primitive grenades that defenders could drop on attackers in order to fend them off.
For the navy, we have copper sheathing to give us an advantage over the Ironborn fleet and compensate for our own lack of experience (at least I assume/hope that's the reason copper sheathing was introduced), but at the moment it's very expensive to upgrade our fleets in this matter. Blackpowder helps here again, since blast mining would reduce the cost extracting copper ore and as a result also reduce the cost of upgrading our navy. This is also why my second Uplift action is to introduce rolling and slitting mills; it would allow for the cheap mass-production of copper plates and nails, reducing the cost even further; the synergy should be fairly obvious here, I hope.
For our troops, blast-mining once again reduces the cost and increases the availability of the raw materials necessary for the production of their equipment (iron ore), while the rolling mill makes it much easier and faster to produce armor that consists of or incorporates large metal plates, such as vambraces, greaves, cuirass, and the like. This would not only reduce the cost and effort of equipping our own troops, it could also allow less-wealthy lords under our banner to improve the armor of their own forces, making them more overall useful and reducing casualties.
Lastly there are the enemy fortifications, such as Pyke, Hammerhorn, Blacktyde Castle, and of course Harrenhal. Medieval sieges were usually long and bloody affairs, possibly dragging out for years. Blackpowder would give us a significant advantage here, since even without cannons it could be used to breach gates and walls at much lower cost in time and - more importantly - lives than traditional methods such as trebuchets or battering rams.
And in the long term, blackpowder (and rolling/slitting mills) supports our goal of starting an industrial revolution, since as I pointed out in a previous post, advanced metal extraction, processing and manufacturing capabilities are a major requirement for it.
...are you fucking serious?
Of course I'm not going to propose introducing agricultural machinery in the middle of bloody winter, when people generally don't do much sowing or harvesting and that all that fancy machinery would just stand around gathering dust in a barn!
When the Long Winter ends/Spring begins and the farmers begin to sow and plant their fields, *that* would be a good time to introduce more agricultural inventions (and start seed drill production) - which is what I'd been planning to do - so that production of the machines can begin the following turn while the crops grow and ripen, and they'll be ready when it's time to harvest the crops the turn after that.
Though I just noticed that this is also a good argument against textile machinery and fertilizer; no agriculture also means that there's no plant fibers such as flax, cotton or hemp. Even wool could be very limited in supply, as farmers and ranchers might be slaughtering sheep (as well as other lifestock) in order to conserve feed or stretch their food supply. And when little to nothing's being sown or planted, there's obviously little to no need for fertilizer as well.
I'm honestly starting to wonder just how much attention you actually put into reading my posts.
I already stated in the past that I have nothing against introducing theoretical knowledge in principle, but that I consider it a question of priorities. Here's even a quote I went to the trouble of digging up:
And I'm fairly certain that this wasn't the only time I said something like this.
From my perspective, you are the one who is absolutely and completely unwilling to compromise, despite the opening(s) given in that quote.
I laid out my concerns about how the applicability of innovations and knowledge is a factor in terms of priority, and explained my reasoning as to why I considered chemistry of questionable value in that regard. You could have looked for and suggested alternative topics that could help us deal with issues we're currently facing, such as shipbuilding - to give us an advantage over the Ironborn - or silviculture - to reduce the problems fey could pose to our wood supply - just to name two examples. You could even have tried to be a sneaky, compromising git and suggested that we write a book about agriculture - which likely would have included not just agricultural machines such as threshing and winnowing machines, but also the fertilizer you seem so dead-set on having. It wouldn't have convinced me instantly, but I definitely would've been willing to give something like that more consideration, so we might've found some middle ground both of us could live with.
Instead, you dug your heels in; it absolutely has to be chemistry that you want to see introduced. Nothing else seems to be acceptable to you; it has to be chemistry, period.
It's the same in regards to timing. Fairly early in our discussion I laid out the various steps I considered necessary in order to make our uplift efforts easier and ultimately self-sustaining, and how I considered it important to set up institutions that can autonomously pursue research and innovation, in case something happens to us before we can pass on our knowledge, with said knowledge as a result being lower in priority than those institutions. You could have proposed some sort of compromise there, like accepting a delay in introducing the chemistry/medicine/whatever book you wanted, in return for making institutions that focus on chemistry/medicine/whatever the first one(s) we set up, followed by the corresponding book for them to work with, for example.
Instead, you dug in your heels in this regard as well; you want to see chemistry knowledge introduced now. Not in a couple of turns, or after some condition of sorts is met; now. Anything else seems unacceptable to you in this regard as well.
*shrug* But going by the current state of the votes it looks like you're going to get your way, so you can afford to dig in your heels, and there's no actual need or incentive for you to compromise; good for you.
Inserted tally. I will leave the vote open for another day or so, although it looks like Plan: Cover All Bases is winning.
Inserted tally. Voting is closed.
Turn 24 Results
New Commands
-Issue Command (Barrow Houses): Construct a Fleet at Barrowtown, 2900 Gold. Diplomacy DC 15, Martial DC 45.
--Diplomacy: 1d100+19 = 94. Martial: 1d100+18+15 = 128. 1d100+28 = 105. 1d100+5 = 56. These last few years have strained the pride of the barrow houses. Part of it was your fault, given that you have made more demands of them than you made of others. Part of it was their fault, for trying to take advantage of the coin you gave them. Part of it was simply bad luck and bad weather that made them unable to do what you asked of them. But this means that when you give them all the coin they need to build a fleet, they are determined to do a damn good job of it. And they do not disappoint. House Dustin and House Ryswell are collectively as wealthy as House Manderly, and they have been husbanding that coin for a long time. Every piece of gold you send them is matched by each house, and all that coin is put to good use. There is no skimming, no theft, no corruption, and everyone involved swears to this before the eyes of the gods. The first dozen galleys were already completed and crewed, and put to sea to give them some opportunities to practice, when they encountered four Ironborn longships chasing a badly damaged ship of an unfamiliar design. Battle was swiftly joined and the Ironborn ships destroyed, albeit at a heavy cost given the ferocity they fought with.
But the galleys survived and were able to escort the damaged ship to Barrowton, where it was found to be crewed by Summer Islanders. It was one of their swan ships, albeit badly damaged. And it was carrying the Prince of Jhala, who was most grateful for the aid given. And he needed the help of Barrowton shipwrights to repair his ship, giving them something of an idea how it was put together. And he had a very good opinion of Northmen resulting from this encounter, enough to give Lord Dustin and the captain of the three galleys which rescued him each a goldenheart bow. You might be able to do something with this. Beginning of large fleet, rough design for swan ship acquired, positive contact with the Summer Islands established.
-Issue Command (Barrow Houses): Send them more gold to help fortify the rivers, 1800 Gold. Diplomacy DC 0, Martial DC 45.
--Martial 1d100+18 = 59. The concrete factory churns out plenty of the stuff. Towers are constructed, artillery built, ammunition stockpiled. The skeleton of the defenses is rapidly put in place, and soon the flesh and muscle will be added, chains and artificial reefs built, and Lord Dustin also takes the opportunity to take the captured longships and convert them into fireships. It's a good start, especially compared to how things went the last few months. The rest will be entirely finished within six months you expect, assuming nothing terrible or unexpected happens. Unfortunately, you can tell the pride of the barrow houses is beginning to grow strained. They are still loyal, but they will be displeased by more commands without something to soften the blow. Construction has begun.
Martial
-Gifted Warriors: Now that Brandon has persuaded fifty wargs and two dozen healers to join your forces, he needs to decide what to do with them. Fifty armored, man-smart bears would be enough to turn the tide of battle, fifty shadowcats would make a devastating raiding force, but what he thinks would be most valuable is fifty eyes in the sky, detecting any hostile force before they can detect you. As for the healers, he has insisted one be assigned to Winterfell on a permanent basis, but the rest he decides to assign to a sort of central hospital corps, for now working on your coin in Wintertown. That's what he proposes anyway, it is still possible to change your mind. Wargs will be used as scouts, healers as a field hospital. Locked 1 season.
-Blood in the Wood: 1d100+23 = 87. You know the fey are dangerous. Even with the protection the Old Gods give you and your people, they have proven to be a threat. But they can die to cold steel, and die they do, by the thousand. Gibbering redcaps are cut down and their heads piled before heart trees. Other dangerous fey that happen to be in the area, such as some green-tinted horses that like to drown people, suffer similar fates. Already the number of deaths has been drastically reduced, to the gratitude of the forest clans and House Forrester. Now all that is left is to make sure the solved problem stays solved…Locked 1 season.
Diplomacy
-Bloody Logging Problems: 1d100+20 = 50. Eventually, you manage to narrow down all the problems to having one of three causes: fey interfering with messages because they like to see the posturing between people who want a fight but don't want to start one (although this has averted bloodshed as well, even if it has gotten a few armsmen sacked), wildlings being given a keep which turned out to have some valuable nodes of amber within its demesne, and a really miserable marriage. Three rather sharply worded letters are sent. One is delivered by a Green Man, politely informing the fey of what else is going on in the Wolfswood and suggesting they speak to their superiors for more information. One is sent to House Tallhart, offering to annul a marriage but confirm the children as legitimate and first in the line of succession. One is sent to the wildlings with a dozen of your guard, confirming the land as theirs and offering them the support to back it up. The feuds quickly quiet down, although resentment remains. It will go away in time, and meanwhile, logging camps are beginning to slowly be built despite the cold. A…mostly diplomatic solution has been reached.
-Braavosi Recruits: A few hundred bravos show up. You don't really care about that. They are basically strutting peacocks. But more importantly are some more soberly dressed individuals, representatives of banks, primarily the Iron Bank and merchant houses and a few clerks seeking employment elsewhere. It's a beginning, and you may well get more as time goes on, especially if you put effort into it. Representatives of various organizations have established themselves in Winterton, including numerous clerks who join your civil service. Some engineers come but don't stay.
-The Most High Holy: It has come down to two moderate candidates. The Lannister-backed hardliners have had their influence steadily eroded by evidence of cooperation between men and fey and the prospect of an alliance with every kingdom but Dorne and the West against the Iron Islands, as opposed to just an alliance with the Westerlands. You will continue applying pressure for the friendlier of the two possibilities, although his chances are not great. Most likely he is hoping for some concessions to ensure as much unity as possible. Locked 1 season.
Stewardship
-More Logging Camps: 1d100+18 = 86. Another six camps are built, although one site has to be abandoned due to a river shifting course. Some of these camps are rather deep in the Wolfswood, deep enough to be edging near Glover lands, deep enough that getting the logs out is almost prohibitively expensive. Still, you will make a tidy profit off the increase in trade that will come from both the loggers and the goods made from the logs. +60 gold, + 80 gold per turn. Further logging locked until improvements are made.
-Sky-Mills: 1d100+18 = 33. The sails of the windmills caught fire. You don't know how that happened, but it seemed to be due to a drunk man with a lantern. That's the bad news, especially since there is really no point building the rest without the sails you will need, since they are quickest. The good news is that enough gearing was built that you won't need to make more when you try again. Failure, cost decreased.
Learning
-Copy Books: 1d100+20 = 65. You make books again, sell the agents of the Citadel some paper, make a few copies for rich nobles with too much coin in their pockets, you even make some fancy copies of the Green Book and the Seven-Pointed Star as gifts for people. In the end, you gain just a little more coin than last time, thanks to more people being aware of your services. +225 gold.
-The Chain Ballista: Maester Brynden takes his final design to a fallow field outside of Winterfell, where he has set up approximately fifty armored straw targets shaped like men, scattered across the field, and a single regular ballista. You attend his demonstration with Brandon at your side, shivering in the cold despite your furs. The first ballista is given fifteen minutes to fire. It made 45 shots, although most missed. The chain ballista made over one hundred and fifty, and even if the arrows were smaller they were still thrown with enough power to punch through the armor more often than not. Chain ballista manufacturable. Much faster than regular ballista, but more expensive and less accurate.
Piety
-Rites of the Wild: Given everything you have had Frost doing, he is naturally at Castle Green almost constantly, although you do see him enough to he thinks the ritual he is finding has something to do with the fey. Locked 1 season.
-Rites of the Flesh: 1d100+25 = 100. 1d100 = 53. At first, this seems like it will be easy, given the ample examples of such magic present. Though Frost quickly hits several roadblocks, especially when the acolytes make some rather useless suggestions, he is left with more possibilities than usual. Locked 3 seasons.
Intrigue
- Find the Leader: 1d100+19+20 = 101. 1d100+1 =13. A trail is picked up, a few hints are found, leading the Hunters to the northern Wolfswood. They nearly find the main suspect, but a nearby clash between fey and Wardens disrupts things enough that whoever it is escapes, forcing them to take more time to track them down. It will come within two months, Snow is certain of it. Locked 1 season.
-Coded Messages: 1d100+19 = 54. Well, it's not fancy, but it will work. Copies of the Green Book are common enough it wouldn't be extremely unusual for someone to have one on them, and ciphers based off it would be usable. Especially since Snow has the code work backward – the first number is the page number, counting from last to first, the second is the sentence, doing the same, the last is word counted from beginning of the sentence. Hunter security increased, increased resistance to spying in the North.
-Security Procedures: 1d100+19 = 57. You let the full force of royal displeasure make Snow's job easier, and he certainly appreciates it, but this is still a multihour process. Formal security procedures are drawn up, the beginnings of a classification system developed, but teaching it to everyone who needs to learn it is still the bottleneck. Locked 1 season.
Personal
-Uplift Textile Mills: Carding, Drawing, Spinning (the spinning jenny, water frame, and spinning mule), Weaving prep, and the Power Loom. Mainly focused on wool, but with some notes on how it can be modified for cotton or flax. Probably ought to include a design for the cotton gin while at it. 1d100+16+15 = 97. The Industrial Revolution began with water-powered textile mills. You already have the beginnings of those, thanks to both to your efforts and to your people – someone even made a primitive sort of carding machine – but there is much more that can be done. You spend hours and hours sketching and writing late into the night until you are exhausted and your wife drags you to bed. You strain your brain for half-forgotten knowledge, you pace and swear and struggle, but at last, you have good designs for all the machinery you will need for revolutionizing textile production. Stewardship actions unlocked
Uplift Basic Chemistry, Fertilizer, and Explosives: Create a book with what you can remember of the periodic table of elements, basic chemistry, with extra details on fertilizer. 1d100+16+10 = 51. You on a whim decide to pretend you got this from a book. A merchant named Devan stops by, and you take the opportunity to have a private dinner with him, as has been your occasional custom – you nearly always eat with either a member of your household or someone lowborn in the castle to glean their insights and because it makes you look good – and afterwards present the book he sold you as a translation of a Sanori work that came by way of Saath and a few adventurers. The copy is incomplete of course, but it featured a rough periodic table with some of the metals and gasses (and all the noble gasses) and vague guesses about the others, a description of gunpowder, the making of various acids, and nitrates and phosphates. On a whim, you include Newtown's Laws. You show this to Maester Brynden, not bothering with the pretense in his presence. Learning actions unlocked.
@Elder Haman , could you send me links to all the stuff you wanted to uplift please?
-Issue Command (Barrow Houses): Construct a Fleet at Barrowtown, 2900 Gold. Diplomacy DC 15, Martial DC 45.
--Diplomacy: 1d100+19 = 94. Martial: 1d100+18+15 = 128. 1d100+28 = 105. 1d100+5 = 56. These last few years have strained the pride of the barrow houses. Part of it was your fault, given that you have made more demands of them than you made of others. Part of it was their fault, for trying to take advantage of the coin you gave them. Part of it was simply bad luck and bad weather that made them unable to do what you asked of them. But this means that when you give them all the coin they need to build a fleet, they are determined to do a damn good job of it. And they do not disappoint. House Dustin and House Ryswell are collectively as wealthy as House Manderly, and they have been husbanding that coin for a long time. Every piece of gold you send them is matched by each house, and all that coin is put to good use. There is no skimming, no theft, no corruption, and everyone involved swears to this before the eyes of the gods. The first dozen galleys were already completed and crewed, and put to sea to give them some opportunities to practice, when they encountered four Ironborn longships chasing a badly damaged ship of an unfamiliar design. Battle was swiftly joined and the Ironborn ships destroyed, albeit at a heavy cost given the ferocity they fought with.
But the galleys survived and were able to escort the damaged ship to Barrowton, where it was found to be crewed by Summer Islanders. It was one of their swan ships, albeit badly damaged. And it was carrying the Prince of Jhala, who was most grateful for the aid given. And he needed the help of Barrowton shipwrights to repair his ship, giving them something of an idea how it was put together. And he had a very good opinion of Northmen resulting from this encounter, enough to give Lord Dustin and the captain of the three galleys which rescued him each a goldenheart bow. You might be able to do something with this. Beginning of large fleet, rough design for swan ship acquired, positive contact with the Summer Islands established.
-Issue Command (Barrow Houses): Send them more gold to help fortify the rivers, 1800 Gold. Diplomacy DC 0, Martial DC 45.
--Martial 1d100+18 = 59. The concrete factory churns out plenty of the stuff. Towers are constructed, artillery built, ammunition stockpiled. The skeleton of the defenses is rapidly put in place, and soon the flesh and muscle will be added, chains and artificial reefs built, and Lord Dustin also takes the opportunity to take the captured longships and convert them into fireships. It's a good start, especially compared to how things went the last few months. The rest will be entirely finished within six months you expect, assuming nothing terrible or unexpected happens. Unfortunately, you can tell the pride of the barrow houses is beginning to grow strained. They are still loyal, but they will be displeased by more commands without something to soften the blow. Construction has begun.
Martial
-Gifted Warriors: Now that Brandon has persuaded fifty wargs and two dozen healers to join your forces, he needs to decide what to do with them. Fifty armored, man-smart bears would be enough to turn the tide of battle, fifty shadowcats would make a devastating raiding force, but what he thinks would be most valuable is fifty eyes in the sky, detecting any hostile force before they can detect you. As for the healers, he has insisted one be assigned to Winterfell on a permanent basis, but the rest he decides to assign to a sort of central hospital corps, for now working on your coin in Wintertown. That's what he proposes anyway, it is still possible to change your mind. Wargs will be used as scouts, healers as a field hospital. Locked 1 season.
-Blood in the Wood: 1d100+23 = 87. You know the fey are dangerous. Even with the protection the Old Gods give you and your people, they have proven to be a threat. But they can die to cold steel, and die they do, by the thousand. Gibbering redcaps are cut down and their heads piled before heart trees. Other dangerous fey that happen to be in the area, such as some green-tinted horses that like to drown people, suffer similar fates. Already the number of deaths has been drastically reduced, to the gratitude of the forest clans and House Forrester. Now all that is left is to make sure the solved problem stays solved…Locked 1 season.
Diplomacy
-Bloody Logging Problems: 1d100+20 = 50. Eventually, you manage to narrow down all the problems to having one of three causes: fey interfering with messages because they like to see the posturing between people who want a fight but don't want to start one (although this has averted bloodshed as well, even if it has gotten a few armsmen sacked), wildlings being given a keep which turned out to have some valuable nodes of amber within its demesne, and a really miserable marriage. Three rather sharply worded letters are sent. One is delivered by a Green Man, politely informing the fey of what else is going on in the Wolfswood and suggesting they speak to their superiors for more information. One is sent to House Tallhart, offering to annul a marriage but confirm the children as legitimate and first in the line of succession. One is sent to the wildlings with a dozen of your guard, confirming the land as theirs and offering them the support to back it up. The feuds quickly quiet down, although resentment remains. It will go away in time, and meanwhile, logging camps are beginning to slowly be built despite the cold. A…mostly diplomatic solution has been reached.
-Braavosi Recruits: A few hundred bravos show up. You don't really care about that. They are basically strutting peacocks. But more importantly are some more soberly dressed individuals, representatives of banks, primarily the Iron Bank and merchant houses and a few clerks seeking employment elsewhere. It's a beginning, and you may well get more as time goes on, especially if you put effort into it. Representatives of various organizations have established themselves in Winterton, including numerous clerks who join your civil service. Some engineers come but don't stay.
-The Most High Holy: It has come down to two moderate candidates. The Lannister-backed hardliners have had their influence steadily eroded by evidence of cooperation between men and fey and the prospect of an alliance with every kingdom but Dorne and the West against the Iron Islands, as opposed to just an alliance with the Westerlands. You will continue applying pressure for the friendlier of the two possibilities, although his chances are not great. Most likely he is hoping for some concessions to ensure as much unity as possible. Locked 1 season.
Stewardship
-More Logging Camps: 1d100+18 = 86. Another six camps are built, although one site has to be abandoned due to a river shifting course. Some of these camps are rather deep in the Wolfswood, deep enough to be edging near Glover lands, deep enough that getting the logs out is almost prohibitively expensive. Still, you will make a tidy profit off the increase in trade that will come from both the loggers and the goods made from the logs. +60 gold, + 80 gold per turn. Further logging locked until improvements are made.
-Sky-Mills: 1d100+18 = 33. The sails of the windmills caught fire. You don't know how that happened, but it seemed to be due to a drunk man with a lantern. That's the bad news, especially since there is really no point building the rest without the sails you will need, since they are quickest. The good news is that enough gearing was built that you won't need to make more when you try again. Failure, cost decreased.
Learning
-Copy Books: 1d100+20 = 65. You make books again, sell the agents of the Citadel some paper, make a few copies for rich nobles with too much coin in their pockets, you even make some fancy copies of the Green Book and the Seven-Pointed Star as gifts for people. In the end, you gain just a little more coin than last time, thanks to more people being aware of your services. +225 gold.
-The Chain Ballista: Maester Brynden takes his final design to a fallow field outside of Winterfell, where he has set up approximately fifty armored straw targets shaped like men, scattered across the field, and a single regular ballista. You attend his demonstration with Brandon at your side, shivering in the cold despite your furs. The first ballista is given fifteen minutes to fire. It made 45 shots, although most missed. The chain ballista made over one hundred and fifty, and even if the arrows were smaller they were still thrown with enough power to punch through the armor more often than not. Chain ballista manufacturable. Much faster than regular ballista, but more expensive and less accurate.
Piety
-Rites of the Wild: Given everything you have had Frost doing, he is naturally at Castle Green almost constantly, although you do see him enough to he thinks the ritual he is finding has something to do with the fey. Locked 1 season.
-Rites of the Flesh: 1d100+25 = 100. 1d100 = 53. At first, this seems like it will be easy, given the ample examples of such magic present. Though Frost quickly hits several roadblocks, especially when the acolytes make some rather useless suggestions, he is left with more possibilities than usual. Locked 3 seasons.
Intrigue
- Find the Leader: 1d100+19+20 = 101. 1d100+1 =13. A trail is picked up, a few hints are found, leading the Hunters to the northern Wolfswood. They nearly find the main suspect, but a nearby clash between fey and Wardens disrupts things enough that whoever it is escapes, forcing them to take more time to track them down. It will come within two months, Snow is certain of it. Locked 1 season.
-Coded Messages: 1d100+19 = 54. Well, it's not fancy, but it will work. Copies of the Green Book are common enough it wouldn't be extremely unusual for someone to have one on them, and ciphers based off it would be usable. Especially since Snow has the code work backward – the first number is the page number, counting from last to first, the second is the sentence, doing the same, the last is word counted from beginning of the sentence. Hunter security increased, increased resistance to spying in the North.
-Security Procedures: 1d100+19 = 57. You let the full force of royal displeasure make Snow's job easier, and he certainly appreciates it, but this is still a multihour process. Formal security procedures are drawn up, the beginnings of a classification system developed, but teaching it to everyone who needs to learn it is still the bottleneck. Locked 1 season.
Personal
-Uplift Textile Mills: Carding, Drawing, Spinning (the spinning jenny, water frame, and spinning mule), Weaving prep, and the Power Loom. Mainly focused on wool, but with some notes on how it can be modified for cotton or flax. Probably ought to include a design for the cotton gin while at it. 1d100+16+15 = 97. The Industrial Revolution began with water-powered textile mills. You already have the beginnings of those, thanks to both to your efforts and to your people – someone even made a primitive sort of carding machine – but there is much more that can be done. You spend hours and hours sketching and writing late into the night until you are exhausted and your wife drags you to bed. You strain your brain for half-forgotten knowledge, you pace and swear and struggle, but at last, you have good designs for all the machinery you will need for revolutionizing textile production. Stewardship actions unlocked
Uplift Basic Chemistry, Fertilizer, and Explosives: Create a book with what you can remember of the periodic table of elements, basic chemistry, with extra details on fertilizer. 1d100+16+10 = 51. You on a whim decide to pretend you got this from a book. A merchant named Devan stops by, and you take the opportunity to have a private dinner with him, as has been your occasional custom – you nearly always eat with either a member of your household or someone lowborn in the castle to glean their insights and because it makes you look good – and afterwards present the book he sold you as a translation of a Sanori work that came by way of Saath and a few adventurers. The copy is incomplete of course, but it featured a rough periodic table with some of the metals and gasses (and all the noble gasses) and vague guesses about the others, a description of gunpowder, the making of various acids, and nitrates and phosphates. On a whim, you include Newtown's Laws. You show this to Maester Brynden, not bothering with the pretense in his presence. Learning actions unlocked.
@Elder Haman , could you send me links to all the stuff you wanted to uplift please?
Well that is a nice and unexpected development.
Would something like a city charter for Barrowtown be a nice reward? I think we've wanted to do that anyway, but just wanted to have the Barrow houses do a good job at something first so we could make the reward.
I'd think that the Mnaderlys ought to be okay with it when it is pointed out that increasing cross isthmus trade will benefit White Harbor as well.
Interesting, especially that we annualed a marriage with children. But then I guess that isn't too surprising since we follow the old Gods instead of the Seven.
Hmmm... maybe we could have kept those engineers if we had something more to entice them to stay...
Missed it by 2... sigh... well, at least it won't cost more money next time...
Wow.
Okay, will do. Will take a little time to gather the info.
@notbirdofprey Was this the kind of information you wanted?
Potassium nitrate aka niter aka saltpeter is the primary difficulty in creating gunpowder. It's also a basic fertilizer, a meat preservation method, and a common source of nitrogen in other chemical processes. There are a few different sources of saltpeter, including mining it, bat guano was one of the earliest sources, and then there is the saltpeter bed method which uses urine and potash.
Gunpowder, or black powder is basically a mixture of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal in the correct proportions.
Sulfuric acid is a major element of most chemical processes, including fertilizer, and ore mining. It can be created in medieval laboratories, (it was called oil of vitriol), but we might at some point try to introduce the lead chamber process (and thus probably include it in the book) which uses saltpeter and lead lined chambers.
Phosphorus, for use as a fertilizer. (The wiki article isn't very useful until you get down to the Production and Application portions).
Potassium, which is probably best reached through the production of potash, so something we ought to be able to do as a by product of logging. Also, related to saltpeter, which is potassium nitrate.
If we had rolled really well, I would have hoped for nitroglycerin/dynamite - but a 51 isn't good enough for that. We'd probably blow ourselves up.
For textile production, going by order down the production line:
The cotton gin (to remove seeds from cotton fibers). Not needed for wool, but useful just in case we gain access to cotton (from somewhere like the Reach or the Summer Isles).
Carding, which we already had some development of.
Drawing, using a drawing frame, though this is usually incorporated into the water frame used for spinning.
Spinning, which first used a spinning jenny, which then developed into the water frame, and then the two were combined into the spinning mule. Since we rolled so high, I'm guessing we got the mule?
And finally weaving, done on a Power Loom. I'm guessing probably a Lancashire Loom.
Potassium nitrate aka niter aka saltpeter is the primary difficulty in creating gunpowder. It's also a basic fertilizer, a meat preservation method, and a common source of nitrogen in other chemical processes. There are a few different sources of saltpeter, including mining it, bat guano was one of the earliest sources, and then there is the saltpeter bed method which uses urine and potash.
Gunpowder, or black powder is basically a mixture of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal in the correct proportions.
Sulfuric acid is a major element of most chemical processes, including fertilizer, and ore mining. It can be created in medieval laboratories, (it was called oil of vitriol), but we might at some point try to introduce the lead chamber process (and thus probably include it in the book) which uses saltpeter and lead lined chambers.
Phosphorus, for use as a fertilizer. (The wiki article isn't very useful until you get down to the Production and Application portions).
Potassium, which is probably best reached through the production of potash, so something we ought to be able to do as a by product of logging. Also, related to saltpeter, which is potassium nitrate.
If we had rolled really well, I would have hoped for nitroglycerin/dynamite - but a 51 isn't good enough for that. We'd probably blow ourselves up.
For textile production, going by order down the production line:
The cotton gin (to remove seeds from cotton fibers). Not needed for wool, but useful just in case we gain access to cotton (from somewhere like the Reach or the Summer Isles).
Carding, which we already had some development of.
Drawing, using a drawing frame, though this is usually incorporated into the water frame used for spinning.
Spinning, which first used a spinning jenny, which then developed into the water frame, and then the two were combined into the spinning mule. Since we rolled so high, I'm guessing we got the mule?
And finally weaving, done on a Power Loom. I'm guessing probably a Lancashire Loom.
Yeah, I think that's everything, thanks.
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Question about the Barrow houses; do we IC think granting Barrowton a charter would be sufficient favour-showing for their efforts, or would that be more likely to be seen as a reward to one house instead of the other?
True, I suppose House Ryswell might want something to. I'm not opposed to a town in the Rills. Might be able to make use of all that water power. Though maybe they'd want something else? They do focus on horses, perhaps the best of our stallions to breed with their herds? Or if we can get a Dornish sand steed...
Rumor Mill Turn 24
Counterintelligence: 1d100+19+10 = ??
Once more the North is silent. No fresh spies have managed to sneak their way in, no mysterious thefts have occurred. Snow's men report several agents of the Storm Watchers leaving and not being replaced, but that is the only even remotely unusual activity, and you doubt the Stormlands really care all that much about the forest clans.
There have, however, been three attempts on the lives of agents in and around the Starry Sept. None were successful. Whoever planned them, Snow tells you, would like struggle to kill a baby with a hammer.
Rumor Mill (The North)
Peace in the Wood: The Winterfell has come to aid its loyal bannermen, heavy steel axes cutting through fey tricks and the redcapped monsters falling like wheat before a scythe. Lord Forrester and Chief Bole both have reaffirmed their oaths in gratitude, and Deepwood Motte is said to have sent a message of their gratitude as well. Meanwhile, in the south of the Wolfswood, feuds have been headed off by the word of the Stark. Some people say this makes it at least twelve feuds he's stopped.
-According to Snow: Master Glover is being true to what rumors say. He has been working with craftsmen to make a grand gift to you, although I suspect he is aiming to get some kind of favor from you as well.
Bitter Waters: After a minor earthquake, several springs and wells turned bitter and foul in the north of the Barrowlands. Some claim it is turning those who drink into monsters, some say it simply tastes bad, others think the waters have turned to poison. Many of the old and young have died, but that is not unusual in winter, and none can truly say for sure. Green Men and the Barrow Preacher have both been moving among the unfortunate folk, offering peace and consolation and aid where they can. The Barrow Preacher and his followers have taken in particular to hearing the last words of the dying and tending to the dead, burying them before heart trees.
A Wildling Raid: Though the Watch is stronger than it has been for many generations, there are some things they have never truly been able to defeat. A band of savages have taken ship and made it past Eastwatch, raiding several villages before fleeing north with stolen food and furs. The Watch's small fleet was sent to try and chase them, but the wildlings managed to avoid them and presumably have returned to their homes.
Clans Gather: The First Flints have declared a Moot, a rare thing in their history, an even rarer one in winter, but it seems they desire to speak with all the mountain clans on something of importance, and it must be truly significant. What prompted this and what will be decided is not known, but Moots do not always end peacefully.
-According to Snow: Some want to take out a loan from you. Apparently some of the Braavosi who came over went to inspect the mines, got lost in a blizzard, met the clans and told them about the Iron Bank, and now some want to go to you and take out a loan big enough they can set up mines.
The Highlander Magnars: As the Frost King descends into the lowlands to rescue his daughter, his oathsworn subordinates feud among themselves, some effectively breaking off and rebelling, while others seek to maintain the kingdom forged in blood and killing cold. Several factions are raising their own settlements outside of the caves the Frost King ruled from, either finding their own caverns or digging in the snow to provide shelter.
Rumor Mill (The South)
The Trident Riders: The King of the Rivers is readying himself for war, having sworn to lay the heads of seventeen Drowned Men before a lady of the fair folk, and being given in exchange the service of two hundred and eighty-nine fey knights with steeds that can run on water, who have been mostly kept busy in battle, serving not as warriors but as extraordinarily swift messengers, although they have led many charges as well.
Stormlands Expand: The Storm Kings have historically claimed Duskendale, Antlers, Rosby, and several other places on the Blackwater Rush. With Harren distracted and isolated in his castles, King Argilac has taken the opportunity to reinforce those claims and encourage the lords of those houses to reaffirm their oaths to him. Several houses have sent wards, squires, and maidens to Storm's End.
-According to Snow: Calling them hostages would be more accurate. I suspect Argella knew where a hunting party would be and used that too capture a whole bunch of heirs in one fell swoop. Unfortunately, many of those houses were planning on bending their knees to House Justman or House Targaryen, so this could easily complicate the alliance.
Thrall Rage: Many are the thralls taken to the Islands in recent years, and they have served well, gathering fish, forging steel, offering themselves up to the Drowned God. But now as a white-cloaked preacher moves among them, they have grown mad, some throwing themselves from towers to land broken on the ground, some taking up arms against the Ironborn. These rebellions are swiftly put down, but they have disrupted raids. Even a couple minor keeps have been sacked by vengeful thralls.
-According to Snow: House Farwynd and House Harlaw have responded by easing the burdens on their thralls, and many of the rebellious thralls have responded by fleeing to their lands. Meanwhile, House Codd has been ruthlessly crushing every sign of resistance to the point where Vickon Greyjoy has gifted them four great axes of black steel, one for each leader's head they have given him.
Winter Cold: The unfortunate crofters who survived the beastmen and the poor folk of Gulltown who rioted are both facing a far more implacable foe: winter. A sudden cold snap has led to heavy snowfall and many have begun freezing to death. Caravans have been formed, paid for by House Arryn but led by clansmen whose shaggy goats and ponies can make it through the snow to give aid.
Passes Closed: In a sudden reversal of House Lannister's policy, every ship in Lannisport has been impounded and trade through the Golden Tooth and Deep Den Pass have both been shut down. This has been the bane of many merchants and even some noble houses. What caused this is not known, although rumors speak of monster attacks, corruption in a sept, madness…
-According to Snow: Some merchants were sending gold to Hugh Hill through sympathetic septons, and some of the bastards with their Great Beasts have joined. Lorren is giving concessions to nobles to get support against the rebels.
Shields Stand: Despite the best efforts of the Ironborn, the Shield Islands stood strong. Singers claim each isle stood off seven attacks from hordes of reavers and horrors of the Deep, although the actual number varies somewhat. The forces which attacked included the black-armored reavers, unarmored berserkers who wielded twin axes and would fight even with missing limbs, hideous rubbery man-shaped creatures which seemed to absorb those they killed, growing larger with every death, and were only vulnerable to fire, and strange abominations made of shark, starfish, and squid.
-According to Snow: Something about the situation seems off to me. I think it's the timing of the attacks, they were always at the same time, and an hour before noon is no good for surprise or concealment.
A Feast of Fey: Despite opposition from the Feybane Knights, Highgarden was host to a grand part of fey, including the Prince's Court, but also many from other courts. The siege of the Hightower was lifted and several members were allowed to attend, under…supervision.
-According to Snow: And just before things actually started they completely changed out the servants. And so I have no idea what was discussed during this grand feast. All I can confirm is House Hightower has made some sort of humiliating arrangement with the fey and the vines on Highgarden have started blooming with all sorts of fruits and flowers and leaves, including apples, lemons, and weirwood leaves.
Once more the North is silent. No fresh spies have managed to sneak their way in, no mysterious thefts have occurred. Snow's men report several agents of the Storm Watchers leaving and not being replaced, but that is the only even remotely unusual activity, and you doubt the Stormlands really care all that much about the forest clans.
There have, however, been three attempts on the lives of agents in and around the Starry Sept. None were successful. Whoever planned them, Snow tells you, would like struggle to kill a baby with a hammer.
Rumor Mill (The North)
Peace in the Wood: The Winterfell has come to aid its loyal bannermen, heavy steel axes cutting through fey tricks and the redcapped monsters falling like wheat before a scythe. Lord Forrester and Chief Bole both have reaffirmed their oaths in gratitude, and Deepwood Motte is said to have sent a message of their gratitude as well. Meanwhile, in the south of the Wolfswood, feuds have been headed off by the word of the Stark. Some people say this makes it at least twelve feuds he's stopped.
-According to Snow: Master Glover is being true to what rumors say. He has been working with craftsmen to make a grand gift to you, although I suspect he is aiming to get some kind of favor from you as well.
Bitter Waters: After a minor earthquake, several springs and wells turned bitter and foul in the north of the Barrowlands. Some claim it is turning those who drink into monsters, some say it simply tastes bad, others think the waters have turned to poison. Many of the old and young have died, but that is not unusual in winter, and none can truly say for sure. Green Men and the Barrow Preacher have both been moving among the unfortunate folk, offering peace and consolation and aid where they can. The Barrow Preacher and his followers have taken in particular to hearing the last words of the dying and tending to the dead, burying them before heart trees.
A Wildling Raid: Though the Watch is stronger than it has been for many generations, there are some things they have never truly been able to defeat. A band of savages have taken ship and made it past Eastwatch, raiding several villages before fleeing north with stolen food and furs. The Watch's small fleet was sent to try and chase them, but the wildlings managed to avoid them and presumably have returned to their homes.
Clans Gather: The First Flints have declared a Moot, a rare thing in their history, an even rarer one in winter, but it seems they desire to speak with all the mountain clans on something of importance, and it must be truly significant. What prompted this and what will be decided is not known, but Moots do not always end peacefully.
-According to Snow: Some want to take out a loan from you. Apparently some of the Braavosi who came over went to inspect the mines, got lost in a blizzard, met the clans and told them about the Iron Bank, and now some want to go to you and take out a loan big enough they can set up mines.
The Highlander Magnars: As the Frost King descends into the lowlands to rescue his daughter, his oathsworn subordinates feud among themselves, some effectively breaking off and rebelling, while others seek to maintain the kingdom forged in blood and killing cold. Several factions are raising their own settlements outside of the caves the Frost King ruled from, either finding their own caverns or digging in the snow to provide shelter.
Rumor Mill (The South)
The Trident Riders: The King of the Rivers is readying himself for war, having sworn to lay the heads of seventeen Drowned Men before a lady of the fair folk, and being given in exchange the service of two hundred and eighty-nine fey knights with steeds that can run on water, who have been mostly kept busy in battle, serving not as warriors but as extraordinarily swift messengers, although they have led many charges as well.
Stormlands Expand: The Storm Kings have historically claimed Duskendale, Antlers, Rosby, and several other places on the Blackwater Rush. With Harren distracted and isolated in his castles, King Argilac has taken the opportunity to reinforce those claims and encourage the lords of those houses to reaffirm their oaths to him. Several houses have sent wards, squires, and maidens to Storm's End.
-According to Snow: Calling them hostages would be more accurate. I suspect Argella knew where a hunting party would be and used that too capture a whole bunch of heirs in one fell swoop. Unfortunately, many of those houses were planning on bending their knees to House Justman or House Targaryen, so this could easily complicate the alliance.
Thrall Rage: Many are the thralls taken to the Islands in recent years, and they have served well, gathering fish, forging steel, offering themselves up to the Drowned God. But now as a white-cloaked preacher moves among them, they have grown mad, some throwing themselves from towers to land broken on the ground, some taking up arms against the Ironborn. These rebellions are swiftly put down, but they have disrupted raids. Even a couple minor keeps have been sacked by vengeful thralls.
-According to Snow: House Farwynd and House Harlaw have responded by easing the burdens on their thralls, and many of the rebellious thralls have responded by fleeing to their lands. Meanwhile, House Codd has been ruthlessly crushing every sign of resistance to the point where Vickon Greyjoy has gifted them four great axes of black steel, one for each leader's head they have given him.
Winter Cold: The unfortunate crofters who survived the beastmen and the poor folk of Gulltown who rioted are both facing a far more implacable foe: winter. A sudden cold snap has led to heavy snowfall and many have begun freezing to death. Caravans have been formed, paid for by House Arryn but led by clansmen whose shaggy goats and ponies can make it through the snow to give aid.
Passes Closed: In a sudden reversal of House Lannister's policy, every ship in Lannisport has been impounded and trade through the Golden Tooth and Deep Den Pass have both been shut down. This has been the bane of many merchants and even some noble houses. What caused this is not known, although rumors speak of monster attacks, corruption in a sept, madness…
-According to Snow: Some merchants were sending gold to Hugh Hill through sympathetic septons, and some of the bastards with their Great Beasts have joined. Lorren is giving concessions to nobles to get support against the rebels.
Shields Stand: Despite the best efforts of the Ironborn, the Shield Islands stood strong. Singers claim each isle stood off seven attacks from hordes of reavers and horrors of the Deep, although the actual number varies somewhat. The forces which attacked included the black-armored reavers, unarmored berserkers who wielded twin axes and would fight even with missing limbs, hideous rubbery man-shaped creatures which seemed to absorb those they killed, growing larger with every death, and were only vulnerable to fire, and strange abominations made of shark, starfish, and squid.
-According to Snow: Something about the situation seems off to me. I think it's the timing of the attacks, they were always at the same time, and an hour before noon is no good for surprise or concealment.
A Feast of Fey: Despite opposition from the Feybane Knights, Highgarden was host to a grand part of fey, including the Prince's Court, but also many from other courts. The siege of the Hightower was lifted and several members were allowed to attend, under…supervision.
-According to Snow: And just before things actually started they completely changed out the servants. And so I have no idea what was discussed during this grand feast. All I can confirm is House Hightower has made some sort of humiliating arrangement with the fey and the vines on Highgarden have started blooming with all sorts of fruits and flowers and leaves, including apples, lemons, and weirwood leaves.
When Winter ends, seems like it might be time to take:
[] Expand the Surveys: The mountains clans have heard about the wealth you found in the mountains. Now they spend what time they can spare searching for ores and gems in their land. Hire the prospectors again and have them search through the rest of the mountains. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 35. Reward: Knowledge of resources in the rest of the mountains.
House Farwynd and Harlaw again. Seems we are getting hints that there a re a couple Ironborn houses we might be able to make alliance with.
Interesting. Why is House Hightower (based in Oldtown) making a deal to benefit House Gardener (in Highgarden).
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I am intrigued, and at the moment not opposed. There are worse messages to send than "give me cool shit, get a boon" to our subjects.
*sigh* I guess we're probably going to need to put Snow on this. And here I'd hoped to keep our action economy to a minimum next round...
Myself, I see no issue with this -- rising tide lifting all boats, etc. Especially if it means a rise in what they pay as tribute.
Looks like a Diplomacy action may be needed, if not some kind of Grand Congress, to sooth bruised egos and sort out a post-war Westeros. I expect our initial agreements with the Vale may not be as palatable to the other three parties now included.
I wonder if giving aid to Hill or to Lannister would benefit us more ... do we have a sense of Hugh Hill as a person, if he might be more amenable, less militant towards us and other "heathens"?
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Was our spy ever given his name? You know, the one who wanted to marry...
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Yes, that's Pyrite, who continues to be our primary informant in the Vale
Given everything on our plate already, I'd say just leave the whole thing be for the time being.
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For now, sure. But if it's possible to either a) aid a rebel and have a chance of weakening or even replacing Loren, or b) send aid against the rebel and get Loren to reconsider his prejudices, those are worth at least exploring
Turn 25
Short Summer, Long Winter, Year 110 AD
The weather has cleared out somewhat, and this winter is sure to end soon. Within a year, for certain, you can all but taste it. When it ends, you will march south to the Moat or sail west to the Iron Islands and take part in the greatest war Westeros has known since the War for Dawn itself. That, however, is not the focus of your attention today. Instead, it is on two large stacks of paper, both of which will be extremely important for the future of your kingdom. One pile contains designs for machinery which will revolutionize the textile industry, which frankly doesn't exist. Every step after the sheep is sheared can be done by powered machines. You can envision immense amounts of warm winter clothes, enough to prevent anyone from freezing to death, cheap clothing to flood the markets of other kingdoms, expensive and elaborate tapestries sold cheaper than anyone else can manage…it will bring so much coin into the kingdom, even if it has its risks. You remember the dislocations the revolution caused, the crushing poverty, the limbs lost in machines, and there's things you are probably forgetting as well.
The other stack of papers is in its own way even more dangerous. The fertilizer will all but guarantee that no one will starve during one of these winters, especially combined with your other agricultural reforms. The description of making gunpowder could bring an end to the age of the knight. And there's plenty of other useful materials described in those stacks of paper. If you let this knowledge out, you will begin a revolution and you will have no idea where it ends up.
(+1 Free Action)
[] Issue Command (Power Bloc): Give a command to those under your command, spending gold and favors to ensure that they will do so without dragging their feet. Even with the best of wills, failure is still possible of course. Time: Varies. Cost: Varies. DC: Varies. Reward: Varies. Please @ me when doing this action, which is a free action that can be done as many times as you want. Possible resources to spend include gold, Influence, upkeep, the services of your advisor (actions), and special resources. The difficulty will vary based on power, opinion, what the actual command is, and how much you spend.
Military: Brandon is the Champion of Winter and a skilled commander of soldiers. He has gotten scarily stealthy. Brandon Cassel isn't quite as good, but he fills in the gaps well enough. Eddard tries to help too, and does a pretty good job of it. (Choose 0)
[] Build a Fleet (Location): Ironborn and slavers threaten your coasts, and you have gone long enough without a fleet. Order one of your vassals to begin constructing ships, and offer gold and workers to see it done. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 2900 gold. DC: 45. Reward: A new fleet.
[] Wardens of the Road: The beastmen probably aren't a significant threat anymore. Most of the Wardens have had minimal encounters, and there have been no reports of beastmen attacks from any of your subjects, new or old. Have some of them patrol the roads around the Wolfswood and help deal with any bandits of other threats instead. Time: 1 season. Cost: 150 gold. DC: 30. Reward: Potential increase to trade income
[] Guard Training: Brandon has replaced all the dead or severely wounded guardsmen by now, or at least selected men who will serve as adequate replacements after their training is done. With some of his spare time, he could train other men to a similar standard for other houses. And naturally, he will encourage those men to remember their loyalties to Winterfell should the unthinkable happen…Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 45. Reward: Other houses gain small number of men trained and equipped equivalent to Winterfell guard, vassal loyalty increased.
[] The Royal Order: The Wolfswood Wardens proved to be a substantial boon, hunting bandits across your lands and those of House Glover and Tallhart. Even with their limited numbers, the benefits were immense. Brandon envisions an order of men dedicated to patrolling and protecting your loyal subjects all across the North, all sworn directly to House Stark and the King of Winter. It would be an incredibly expensive proposition, in influence to found and persuade your vassals to accept this massive increase in royal authority, and in gold to upkeep and provide for. You would need to find and equip a vast amount of men, pay them…but having such a force would be incredibly useful, for a variety of reasons, especially if you burned your brain and remembered what the best armies in history did. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 700 gold. DC: 70. Reward: Influence Interludes
[] Improve the Wardens: The Wolfsguard do not quite have the strength or heavy equipment of the Winterfell Guard. Adding a small force of heavily trained and well armored men to their ranks would be a substantial force multiplier. It might be a bit upsetting to some of your vassals however – creating such a force implies that you think they will need them, and not everyone knows about your plans for the Ironborn. Time: 1 season. Cost: 600 gold, vassal approval, medium upkeep increase. DC: 40. Reward: Force roughly equivalent to Winterfell Guard added to the Wardens
[] Expand the Guard: Alternately, you could directly expand the Winterfell Guard. Increasing their size will upset your vassals less, since the cost will be borne entirely by you, and having the entire under your direct command is a comfort as well. If you increase the size of the guard anymore after this, you will likely need to build new barracks for them though. Time: 1 season. Cost: 800 gold, chance of vassal approval, high upkeep increase. DC: 45. Reward: Winterfell Guard increased in size.
[] Review Levies: It has been some time since Brandon had the opportunity to ride your immediate lands and make sure that the levies are in order and ready to come when called, and he has never done so for the newly expanded Wintertown. Have him take a few guards and make sure the sergeants are doing their jobs and that there aren't any villages or hamlets slacking on the number they will send. Time: 2 season. Cost: 250 gold. DC: 40. Reward: Levy readiness improved, ??
[] Gifted Warriors: There are nearly a thousand wargs in Wintertown, and more scattered about your lands. There are a few hundred men and women blessed with incredible strength, albeit not to the level of the Mormont berserkers. There are people who can heal with a touch, people who can steal the courage of their foes with a song…the blessings of the Old Gods are many and mighty. Brandon intends to organize some of the Gifted into a force to be reckoned with upon the battlefield, or possibly in the more strategic sense. He has filled papers with possible uses for wargs alone – everything from delivering messages to using armored bulls as living battering rams. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 600 gold, upkeep. DC: 55. Reward: Some sort of Gifted force attached to Winterfell guard. Type will be determined by dice rolls. Locked 1 seasons.
[] Fortify the Rivers: Brandon is determined to make the entire western coast of the North completely impenetrable to Ironborn attacks. To this end he has proposed making defenses similar to those on the Fever River on the Rillwater, the Barrow River, and the Redwater, establishing artificial reefs, chains, and towers to make a formidable barrier to any hostile fleet. Barrowton has been sacked when the Ironborn were at their height, as has Torrhen's Square. Proper fortifications may not be completely impenetrable to attack, but they will make the price far higher than even the boldest reaver will want to pay. Time: 3 seasons. DC: 45. Cost: 2000 gold. Reward: Heavy fortifications on the Rillwater, the Barrowriver, and the Redwater.
[] Sacrificial Raid: Send some men down to the Riverlands with orders to attack any Ironborn they can find, specifically aiming to capture ones "blessed" by the Drowned God so that they can be dragged back to a heart tree and sacrificed. It will be difficult and costly, and will bring unwanted attention. It will also look bad to many houses and factions, including the Faith and likely House Arryn as well. But the blessings of the Old Gods are mighty things…They are worth the price. Time: 1 season. Cost: 50 gold, chance of foreign disapproval. DC: 75. Reward: Rite of the Given Sacrifice is performed.
[] Coppering The Fleets: Copper is expensive. You were aware of that, of course – there are several copper mines in your kingdom, none particularly productive anymore – but you did not realize just how bad it would be. Coppering your fleets would cost almost as much as building a new one and take even longer. The benefits, however, are substantial. You will need every advantage you can get against the Iron Fleet, and they will save on maintenance in the long-term. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 2500 gold, ships will be more expensive going forwards. DC: 45. Reward: All ships coppered, speed increased, maintenance reduced.
[] New Artillery: The chain ballista isn't quite superior in every way to the regular version, but its improved rate of fire is not to be despised. Anything which helps kill reavers before they can come to handstrokes will be useful, especially since every account you have of the Ironborn monsters and mutants suggests they are primarily focused on killing in close combat. Replacing all your fleet's and defenses artillery is incredibly expensive and probably a bad idea. Replacing some is much smarter. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 2500 gold, ships will be more expensive going forwards. DC: 50. Reward: Process of replacing all artillery begins, will continue automatically after completion.
[] Blood in the Wood: You will not allow your vassals to be terrorized and murdered, not if you can do anything about it. Send in the Guard, send in the Wardens, get them support from the Green Men, and deal with the redcaps who are attacking your people. Make examples out of them, make it absolutely clear that to harm the North is to harm you, and you will not stand for it. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 100 gold, chance of decreased relations with fey. DC: 50. Reward: Lines drawn with fey, vassal approval. Locked 1 season
Diplomacy: Jeyne has regained her warmth, especially when Edwyle or Eddard helps them. Of late, she alternates between one of the newer septwoods and the sept itself. (Choose 1)
[] Speak to Kings (Kingdom): There are other kings to the south of you. Perhaps you should open up talks with one of them. Though all of them are Andals and ironborn, you doubt any of them would outright refuse you…Time: 1 season. Cost: 50 gold. DC: 50. Reward: Positive diplomatic contact.
[] Speak with Vassals (Region): Most of your direct vassals are loyal and trustworthy, but it's good to keep an eye on them all the same. And if any of them have trouble, you might be able to help. Time: 1 season. Cost: 50 gold. DC: 30. Reward: Vassal relations boosted, aware of problems
[] Throw a Feast: Ordinarily, you would not throw a feast this close to winter, but given the state of the stores you are willing. It will be grander than normal, serving as an enormous statement of your power and wealth, and it will make a very solid impression on your vassals and allow you an opportunity to politick and persuade and make a few subtle deals on one matter or another. Time: 1 season. Cost: 1750 gold, Surplus goes down one level. DC: 25. Reward: 2d6 Influence, chance of increased vassal opinion
[] Play Nice: Write some letters, send a gift or two, make some minor arrangements and deals with some of your vassals. The political game is not one most would associate with Northmen, but it is played, even if it very different than it is south of the Neck. Time: 1 season. Cost: 300 gold. DC: 55. Reward: 1d4-1 Influence, small chance of increased vassal opinion
[] Show Favor (House): There are many ways for a king to show his favor to his bannermen. Positions can be given, tithes restructured, minor aid offered. And of course, there are always gifts – a horse from the royal stables or a Winterfell hound would be highly prized even by the greatest houses of the North. Even simple praise would see some hold their heads higher and answer your call prompter. If you have need of a particular House's aid, showing your favor to them may make persuading them far easier, especially if you are not blatantly obvious about your reasons for doing so. If you are extremely skillful in showing your favor, you may even inspire others to strive higher in hopes of earning similar rewards. Time: 1 season. Cost: 100 gold, 1 Influence. DC: 25/50/75. Reward: House opinion boost, 1d2-1 Influence/Large house opinion boost , 1d2+1 Influence/Large house opinion boost, general vassal opinion boost, 1d4+1 Influence.
[] Braavosi Recruits: While most of the North, and indeed most of Westeros, are immensely proud of their heritage and way of life, but even the most arrogant noble cannot deny that the Braavosi are better at some things: trade, banking, making canals, and many other such tasks. Find down-on-their-luck or adventurous men and women of the Secret City and offer them work and pay to come to Westeros, and you will be able to use some of their skills. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 350 gold. DC: Special. Reward: Braavosi recruits, new actions unlocked.
[] A Polite Punishment (House): While a king can easily show favor, disfavor can also be demonstrated through slights and insults, both subtle and vicious. When a house disobeys you or a noble displeases you, a polite, restrained show of your displeasure can accomplish much to ensure they will correct themselves and serve as a warning to other houses who might consider testing you. Of course, pushing too far can cause unrest and trouble with the house in question and possibly others as well. Time: 1 season. Cost: 50 gold, 1 Influence. DC: 25/50/75. Reward: general vassal opinion boost, house opinion loss, 1d2-1 Influence/general vassal opinion boost, 1d2+1 Influence/ general vassal opinion boost, house opinion boost, 1d3+1 Influence.
[] Speak to Pyrite: The Rite in the Vale is something of a concern, as is the sudden presence of beastmen and House Upcliff. While your relationship with the Vale is generally fairly good, it is not good enough to get the sort of information you need by going through Queen Sharra, so you must speak to Pyrite, who is still loyal to you in many ways. Even though he has been reluctant to broach many of these subjects in detail, if you ask he will surely tell you, right? Time: 1 season. Cost: 20 gold. DC: 70. Reward: Partial information about Lord Upcliff and the beastmen.
[] The Most High Holy: The Most Devout are still somewhat lacking in numbers. Several years of being murdered by fey will do that to an organization, you suppose. But they are already considering a candidate for a new High Septon. There are several candidates with attitudes that would be dangerous to you, although there is no guarantee they will be selected, of course. Or that they will have the power to act against your interests…The Faith has lost much strength in recent years. You will not be able to change the course of the decision as completely as you might like, but bribes and envoys and pressure on Most Devout Willem will sway it somewhat towards your interests. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 500 gold, 2 Influence. DC: 35. Reward: Increased chance of High Septon with favorable attitudes being selected. Locked 1 season.
[] Improve Attitudes (Kingdom): There are several other kingdoms you share a continent with, and while they may not be able to take your lands they can certainly make things difficult, especially if a large number of the upper nobles don't like you. Fortunately, several of your vassals have members charming enough you could send them south and feel confident that they would make a good impression. You would even number Eddard among them. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 150 gold. DC: Varies. Reward: Improved relationship with kingdom.
[] The Fair Folk: Your relationship with the Old Gods clearly provides a measure of protection. You would love it if it provided you with more, since the fey are still being a pain. Make some effort to learn more about the factions and the powers of the fey, and hope that what you learn is helpful and accurate. Time: 1 season. Cost: 20 gold. DC: 30/60. Reward: Information about the fey.
Stewardship: The Poole's have always served the Starks. You can remember your father telling him that as a boy. Jaime Poole has continued that tradition, and ably. Lately, Alen Locksely has been taking on more of his work in Wintertown and Eddard has been helping the aging steward with his work. (Choose 2)
[] Cattle Ranching: There are lots of cows now on your land. There's lots of land without any people. Put the two together to begin expanding your cattle herds and selling the meat and leather and milk. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 150 gold. DC: 30. Reward: New options unlocked, increase to trade.
[] MORE SHEEP!!: You are already making a great deal of coin from the sheep already present in your lands, and frankly you are almost out of pasture to support more. Buy up some cropland, convert it to pasture, and get more sheep. When all the processing of wool is converted into an industrial process, you will have more than enough wool to keep up, and the amount of coin you will get will be incredible! The only problem is…actually getting everything converted. That will be a headache and a half. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 1000 gold. DC: 55. Reward: Way more sheep, decrease in food supply.
[] Wolfswood Road: The one place your roads didn't really go is into the Wolfswood, given the fact that it is a dense, primeval forest, but if you want your logging camps to be better you will need better transportation. A road won't solve half the problems your loggers have getting trees out, but it will help, and it will make getting into the forest much easier. Time: 4 seasons. Cost: 800 gold. DC: 30. Reward: Road into the Wolfswood.
[] Mines (Difficult): It will be expensive in blood, in time, in labor, in coin. Perhaps it is foolish, perhaps not. But all the most valuable ores are on the highest peaks, and you need the income these mines will provide. Time: 5 seasons. Cost: 1500 gold. DC: 70. Reward: Major new income source.
[] Expand the Surveys: The mountains clans have heard about the wealth you found in the mountains. Now they spend what time they can spare searching for ores and gems in their land. Hire the prospectors again and have them search through the rest of the mountains. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 35. Reward: Knowledge of resources in the rest of the mountains.
[] New Mills: Build more water wheels and set them up with grindstones. Free up livestock and grind grain faster. Poole gets quite the gleam in his eye when he talks about all the things he could do with more waterwheels. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 300 gold. DC: 30. Reward: Increase to farming income.
[] Other Artisans: The forges are already bringing in wealth, and the amount will certainly grow. But people need more than iron and steel. They need houses and furniture and carts and all manner of things. Some will come naturally, but more will come if you encourage them. Having the carpenter's guild will certainly accelerate the process, and the civil service attracts some as well. But if you want to rival Barrowton or White Harbor or the great cities of the south, you will need to do more. Time: 1 season. Cost: 300 gold. DC: Special. Reward: Increase to trade, increased chance of guilds forming, chance of new options.
[] The Wolf's Walls: One of the best ways to distinguish an actual town from a collection of houses and shops is the presence of walls. Only chartered towns may have them, and while your town lacks them it will never quite be seen properly. They also serve the twin functions of defense and helping keep order. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 400 gold. DC: 25. Reward: Wintertown gets good walls.
[] New Farm Tools: Begin paying artisans to create seed drills, and arrange for them to be used by some of the farmers around Wintertown. Given the season, they probably won't see much use, and you don't have the industry to make very many, but it will be a start. Time: 1 season. Cost: 650 gold. DC: 40. Reward: Small increase to farming income, will increase in later turns. Small increase to food surplus. (+15)
[] Establish Shipyards (Location): Before building a fleet, you need to establish the groundwork. Barrowton has docks, but they are not particularly large. All Bear Island has are a few piers for fishing boats, and the same is true for Torrhen's Lake. White Harbor is really the only place in the North with the facilities to construct large ships. It's time to change that. Begin constructing docks, gathering timber and rope and tar, and establishing all the things you will need to build and service a powerful fleet. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 550 gold. DC: 50. Reward: Cost reduction for shipbuilding, improved results and chance of success for shipbuilding actions, possible increase to trade.
[-] More Logging Camps: When logging camps were first set up, nearly a dozen sites were surveyed, but only a few were selected in the end. There simply wasn't enough gold to build all the shelters and purchase all the tools needed. Fortunately, this means that with some more gold more logging camps can be established in very little time. Really, the only preparation required will be building shelters and then the woodsmen can get to cutting trees and sending them back to Wintertown. Time: 1 season. Cost: 250 gold. DC: 25. Reward: One-time income, increase to logging income, increase to trade. Locked For You Until Transportation Is Substantially Improved
[] Fruit Trees: There are some scattered apple trees in the Wolfswood and some chestnut trees just outside Winterfell. There are probably other fruit trees as well in the North. Begin growing them to help provide food for some of the poorer families and trade goods for the richer. Perhaps you could seek the aid of the Green Men in ensuring that the trees grow swiftly and healthily too. You know they have a ritual for it, and such deeds seem to be part of their duties, according to the Green Book. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 50 gold. DC: 45. Reward: More fruit trees, small increase to food supply, small increase to trade.
[] Purchase Food: Food is going to become scarcer and scarcer in the North, although you feel comfortable with how much you have at the moment - it's twice as much as you had last winter. Still, the Reach will have more, and Dorne, and the Vale, and the Stormlands. Send them gold and timber and steel and they will send you food to help fill your granaries. Much of the wealth of White Harbor and Barrowton was built off this sort of trade. Time: 1 season. Cost: 1000 gold. DC: 20. Reward: Food supply increases. (+15)
[] Expand the Schools: You've a school in Winterfell which serves a few dozen children and less than twenty adults as a part-time duty for one or two of the acolytes. Buy a small building in Wintertown, give those acolytes the full-time duty of teaching people to read and write, give an incentive or two for people to learn and then join up with the civil service, and you expect to have classes much larger. Hopefully at least a few of the graduates will fill in the gaps in your civil service. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 900 gold, upkeep, Citadel attention. DC: 45. Reward: Increased literacy, support for civil service, Citadel attention.
[] Issue a Charter (Location): There are other places in the North that could reasonably be called towns or even a city. Barrowton is on the cusp where you could justify giving it a city charter. The castle town below Deepwood Motte is almost as large as Wintertown. There are a few other places, like the Dreadfort, that could also arguably deserve a town charter. Of course, the politics of giving such a charter would be somewhat complicated – every house has rivals you would need to placate. Time: 1 season. Cost: 50 gold, 2 Influence. DC: 25. Reward: Charter issued, opinion gained, increase to trade.
[] Sky-Mills: Many of the rivers you would build waterwheels on have drifting chunks of ice that would make construction less practical, and in any case, there are only so many places waterwheels can be built where they would provide enough power to be worthwhile. Windmills, however, require only empty fields to function and clear weather to be built. And they would serve just as well for grinding grain into flour. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 35. Reward: Increase to farming income.
[] Plan the Process: You will need to take several steps before you can truly begin industrializing. The first one has been taken, but now you need to find places to build textile mills, find people to make the parts, find workers, and that's all before you will see a single copper back on this investment. And you will probably want to take some precautions to prevent riots or the other issues England had with industrialization. Take some time and figure things out. Time: 1 season. Cost: 50 gold. DC: 40. Reward: Plans made for industrializing, potential problems averted, new actions unlocked, useful actions noted.
[] Start Building: You will need a factory first and foremost. There are plenty of places near the river that are suitable for waterwheels, although it will take some time to get all the mills set up and then you will need to build the factory itself. You already have a carding facility that is suitable for the moment, so the next thing will be too set up a mill for drawing and spinning – it makes sense to put the drawing frames and spinning mules together. After that, you will have time to plan your next steps. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 800 gold. DC: 45. Reward: Build drawing and spinning mill, start producing yarn in large quantities. Increase to income.
[] Potash Making: You never realized how useful potash was until you sat down and wrote everything you knew about it while working on your chemistry plans. There are a lot of possibilities for it, and it is something known in the North. Paying some people to come to Winterton and make it in quantity shouldn't be too expensive, and with a ready supply of potash you might be able to get more glassmakers and other such trades, which will be immensely useful both for your coffers and for the people of Winterton. Especially if you can get glass gardens set up. Time: 1 season. Cost: 300 gold. DC: 40. Reward: Production of potash, increase to trade.
Learning: Maester Brynden is an old man who has served your family for many years. And he's not a bad man, for someone born south of the Neck. You gather he's something unusual among the knights of the mind as well, but he's heartened by word from Archmaester Wyllym. Eddard and Edwyle have mostly stopped attending his lessons, but they visit the library often. (Choose 2)
[] Copy Books: Create some copies of books for the Citadel. They will pay you a good price for it, but they will also be trying to figure out how you do it, and saying yes risks your monopoly. Saying no will get their attention as well though. Time: 1 season. Cost: 25 gold. DC: 35. Reward: Increased attention from the Citadel, one-time income.
[] Improving Rivers: Not all rivers are suitable to place waterwheels on. Some don't have the necessary current to drive a wheel, some don't have a steep enough drop, some are simply to narrow. There are beasts which can shape the water to their needs – most prominently beavers, which are admittedly rare through much of the North. But if they can do it, surely men can as well? Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 600 gold. DC: 65. Reward: Dams, weirs, and mill ponds. New actions unlocked.
[] A Glass Candle: Glass candles are peculiar things. Useful, immensely useful…if every vassal had one, it would be so much easier to send messages, for one thing, but there is much you don't know about them. Can they be listened on? What are their limitations? Is there any risk of some wicked spirit possessing the user? Have Brynden and the acolytes try and answer these extremely important questions, and maybe find a bit more about the higher mysteries. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 400 gold. DC: 65. Reward: Knowledge of glass candles, hints of Valyrian magic
[] Strange Rites: The Old Gods are not the only ones who can grant power. Even leaving aside everything you have encountered in Westeros, you have heard of the warlocks of Qarth, the Jade Magisters of Far Yi Ti, the priests of Rh'llor the Red, the shadowbinders of Asshai…there are more traditions of Westeros then you can count. Scour a few libraries in the North, see if you can gather any information about how these other rites can be used and how to perform them. Time: 1-5 seasons. Cost: 1000 gold. DC: 30/60/90. Reward: ??
[] Spread Knowledge: You have made some useful things, like the waterwheels which can provide immense power, and now you will have a chain ballista. There's also the printing press, although you may want to consider keeping that under wraps for the moment. And of course, there's concrete, and then there are the things you haven't really implemented: seed drills and copper-bottomed ships and the like. Tell your lords about them and encourage them to use these to improve their desmenes. Time: 1 season. Cost: 120 gold. DC: 30. Reward: Can spread as many or as few technologies as desired.
[] New Darning: There's a couple devices in your darning barn that do it differently than the traditional methods. It's faster and it works better as well, and its one of the reasons that you are making so much coin from it. Find out who came up with it, find out more about how these work, and spread them to the rest of the barn. Time: 1 season. Cost: 100 gold, optional reward. DC: 45. Reward: Learn more about darning.
[] Finding Sources: Some of the materials you described are known to exist: charcoal, for instance. Or sulfur. Finding existing sources of them would be helpful if you are planning to exploit them on a large scale, and the Citadel does have records of such things. A hefty bribe will certainly help you get access to them, and you can send out your own people as well. Time: 1 season. Cost: 400 gold. DC: 30. Reward: Find existing sources of various materials.
[] Starting Small: Set up a "lab" for Maester Brynden and perhaps a couple steady-handed assistants in Winterfell, somewhere nice and far away from anything that could get damaged by acid, smoke, or fire. Then let him play around and try to figure out how exactly to make gunpowder and saltpeter and sulfuric acid. Maester Brynden wants to experiment with a few other things known at the Citadel and see if he can find anything interesting. Time: 1 season. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 20/40/60/80. Reward: Basic lab set up, begin figuring out how to make various chemicals practically, possibility of new developments.
Piety: Frost is extremely strange. Which makes sense since he is a Child of the Forest. Now that you think about it that was rather obvious. He seems haunted by the prophecy he has shared with you. Edwyle has been helping him sometimes, although not too much. He does not wish to become a Green Man if it means giving up being a lord. (Choose 0)
[] Seek the Pattern: Frost suspects there is a pattern of some kind to the rituals. "A great working of god, Singer, and man, like all made a tapestry out of a single thread," he described it, although you get the impression he was grasping for words, like trying to describe in detail how a bank works in the Old Tongue. One of the acolytes who came north with Valyrian steel in his chain seems to agree, although you don't like the way he watches the godswood, looking at it almost like a butcher looks at a hog. Certain limits will be put in place, and they will be abided by. Frost, you can trust on that. The others, you find yourself uncertain. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 300 gold. DC: 85. Reward: ??
[] More Field Rites: A few new (or old) rituals have been (re-)discovered and are being taught to those who are capable. In time you will see your fields growing more fertile, and weirwoods growing from saplings to mighty trees ready to be carved in a matter of weeks. You suspect there is more to be learned though. Time: 4 seasons. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 70. Reward: New magic unlocked.
[] More Rites of War: The gifts of the Old Gods are potent in war, granting you the power to make your armies seem far vaster than they are and create lethal arrows potentially deadly enough to slay even a full-grown war dragon…although you pray you never have to test that. But threats and foes abound in Westeros, not to mention whatever horrors lurk in Essos or beyond the Sunset Sea. In bleaker moments, you consider the possibility of Brandon the Shipwright leading a fleet of ghost ships under the command of some insane warlock, but then you remind yourself to dismiss the tales of Old Jenny. She does love her horror stories. The point remains: any advantage you can gain is an important one. Time: 4 seasons. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 70. Reward: New magic unlocked.
[] Rites of the Wild: The First Men and the Children of the Forest learned much from each other once the Pact was sworn, but much has been forgotten. Frost and his brethren will begin to seek the rites of the wood and waters and attempt to recreate them. Time: 4 seasons. Cost: 50 gold. DC: 75. Reward: New magic unlocked. Locked 1 seasons
[] Rites of the Flesh: The First Men and the Children of the Forest learned much from each other once the Pact was sworn, but much has been forgotten. Frost and his brethren will begin to seek the rites of the man, woman, and child and attempt to recreate them. Time: 4 seasons. Cost: 50 gold. DC: 75. Reward: New magic unlocked Locked 3 seasons
[] The Red Gift: In the blood of the Red Kings there is power, power which lies closest to the surface in all the old bloodlines except for yours. Mighty and terrible were the Red Kings of the Age of Heroes, able to take on the skill and aspect of whatever skin they wore. Allow Frost to try and reawaken these powers in Cregan Bolton. Time: 1 season. Cost: 125 gold. DC: 55. Reward: The Red Gift reawakens in Cregan Bolton.
[] The Gift of Might: The Umbers were kings once as well, and their blood is ancient as the Bolton's. It is said that the hill that Last Hearth rests on was lifted up and thrown to its current location by one of their many powerful warlords in a fit of rage. Send Frost north to awaken these powers in Lord Umber and his sons. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 200 gold. DC: 55. Reward: The Giant's Strength reawakens in Lord Umber and his sons.
[] Ritual Crafting: While the Sacred Arrows created by the rite do not last forever, several other rites do create objects or blessings that last for a long time. While some can be done by some of the more skilled among your Green Men, others are beyond the power of all but Frost, most notably the making of protective talismans. He will devote his time to doing so if you ask and have some of his brethren do the same. Thresholds will be blessed, beast-bane spears given to those in the Wolfswood, and a few sacred arrows will be made as an assurance. Time: 1 season. Cost: 400 gold. DC: 30. Reward: Varying number of rites performed
[] Aggressive Recruiting: Not all who join the Green Men have the skill and strength of will necessary to perform even the simplest rituals, but some do. And some who do have the skill do not join, either for personal reasons or lack of opportunity. Frost refuses to do anything about the first, but the second he can help with. Coin and royal favor will certainly help him find those with the potential to wear the Green. Time: 4 seasons. Cost: 1500 gold. DC: 45. Reward: More Green Men recruited.
Intrigue: Snow is in many ways the total opposite of Rivers. Calm where he is excitable, nondescript where he is distinctive. You can't imagine Snow having any of his predecessor's escapades, although he is most definitely equally competent. He's actually rather terrifying, especially with Janna and the Huntsmen helping him with the more physical side of things. You are fairly certain he is giving Eddard lessons. (Choose 0)
[] From Valley to Peak: Snow knows almost everything that happens in the Vale. There are still a few exceptions, however. Send Snow back to the Vale and have him fill in the last few gaps in his network. Time: 4 seasons. Cost: 800 gold. DC: 65. Reward: Advanced Spy Network (The Vale)
[] Even Deeper Secrets: Snow has people in every house in the North. He has people in every town and city too. But you want more. If your lords meet, you want to know. If anything happens, you want to know. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 600 gold. DC: 55. Reward: Spy Network (The North).
[] Security Procedures: Snow might understand the necessity of what he does, but that doesn't mean he always likes it. For example, he understands that it's important to make sure the upper ranks of your civil service keep the acolytes away from anything you would consider sensitive such as the making of concrete, the printing press, and the carding factory. He just finds the process of teaching people really tedious. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 50 gold, Citadel attention. DC: 43. Reward: Acolytes kept away from sensitive information, basic security procedures taught to civil service. Locked 1 season
[] Further Afield (Kingdom): You have ways of hearing what happens in the immediate south, but now you find yourself concerned with what's happening even further away. Pick a kingdom or nation and let Snow get to work. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 100 gold. DC: Varies. Reward: Rumor mill for chosen location.
[] Deeper Rivers Part 3: Every time you hear new information about the Ironborn in the Riverlands, it's something disturbing. Still, you need to get as much advanced warning as possible. There's almost nothing left for Snow to try and co-opt, but he can try and solidify his network at least a little. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 800 gold. DC: 85. Reward: Advanced Spy Network (The Riverlands).
[] In the West, Part 3: You are almost as reluctant to send people to the Westerlands as you are to the Riverlands, but you want word if King Lorren starts planning a crusade or something equally significant happens. You have men in enough places to have a fair warning of anything like that, but you will want more, especially if you are planning to use the Huntsmen in any significant capacity. Establishing safe houses for them would be extremely important. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 900 gold. DC: 90. Reward: Advanced Spy Network (The Westerlands)
[] Harrenhal: The network in Harrenhal has been devastated by Harren's sudden assault on it and by the sheer slaughter he has wreaked in and around his accursed castle. Some say even the very stones are whispering to him, identifying traitors, and that blood drips from the walls instead of dew. You are uncertain just how true that is…but you need to find out. Having advanced warning of anything he is planning could mean the difference between victory and defeat. Fortunately, you have some fairly expendable agents to send south. The Hunters are best at killing, but some could handle spying. Especially since the castle is half empty, meaning they have plenty of space to hide. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 200 gold. DC: 70. Reward: Get another spy in Harrenhal, information.
[] Kill Someone (Target): Name your target and spend the necessary amount on supplies, and give both to Janna. They will die, although it's unlikely to be subtle. And if they are caught, there will be retaliation. Best be careful. Time: Varies. Cost: Varies: DC: Varies. Reward: A corpse. Please @ me when you use this action so I can give you the numbers.
[] What's going on in Essos?: You have been hearing reports from Essos every so often, but nothing credible. Have Snow collect rumors and sailor's tales and try and spin them together into something coherent and at least a little accurate, although it will be vague as well. Time: 1 season. Cost: 25 gold. DC: 58. Reward: Mostly accurate but very general description of what's going on in Essos.
[] Deceptive Attack: Instead of using the Hunters to assassinate a specific lord or king, you will have them unleash havoc near the Golden Tooth, trying to make it look like Harren's reavers are the ones responsible. Bandits will be given gold to attack farms and caravans, villages will be slaughtered, and scraps of black cloth will be left behind. Attempts will be made at suggesting it was the Ironborn through other methods, such as shouting about the Drowned God and making sure there are survivors. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 75. Reward: Loren grows more hostile to Ironborn.
[] Spy on Pyrite: Snow is reluctant to do this, for personal reasons and professional ones. Pyrite is the one who taught him everything he knows and they still keep up a friendly correspondence when they exchange information. And almost every man you have in the Vale passes his information through Pyrite, including the ones who watch the watchers. Getting someone new without his notice will be extremely difficult. But you need the information he is keeping from you and you can't trust that he will just give it to you. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 150 gold, possibly the relationship with Pyrite. DC: 80. Reward: Everything Pyrite knows on the Rite, the beastmen, and Lord Upcliff.
[] Make a Prophecy (Topic): Why find a prophecy when you can just take some parchment, stain it so it looks old, and then write down whatever nonsense you want? Whether to persuade the dragonlords to go to Essos or to suggest that they should tread carefully around the direwolf, make up a prophecy and pass it off as the real thing to Aegon and his sisters, hopefully convincing them that whatever you wrote is real. Or at least that you were fooled by the "prophecy" too. Fortunately, given the way Rhaenys talked, it shouldn't take too much to persuade her of its veracity. She seemed quite obsessed with them. Time: 2 season. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 65. Reward: Fake prophecy about chosen topic.
[] Friends Among the Fey: The fey are everywhere in the Reach. Literally everywhere. Snow intends to take advantage of that when building his spy network there, leaning on the Green Men to identify ways to recruit the little house fey and tricksome gremlins and bribe them into telling his agents things. He expects to not be the only one doing so. He also expects it to not be a problem. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 400 gold. DC: 50. Reward: Spy Network (The Reach).
[] Iron Spies: Most of the Iron Islands seems to be in the grip of mad servants of the Drowned God, with crazed priests ruling just as much as the lords do and horrific abominations skulking in shadows or parading about, eager to raid and destroy. It takes a very brave man to go gathering information there. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 900 gold, upkeep. DC: 50. Reward: Simple Spy Network (The Iron Islands).
[] Find the Leader: The banditry has displeased Snow at least as much as it displeased you. He intends for those responsible to be found and given to the king's justice. Specifically, he wants the leader, who he suspects is connected with the bloody butchery being done in the north of the Wolfswood. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 65. Reward: Bandit leader found. Locked 1 season.
Personal: There's always plenty to do when it comes to being a king. Even outside of your official duties, you can make decrees and issue commands. Of course, you can also spend time with your family, help an advisor, or try and explain some of your knowledge to your advisors. (Choose 2)
[] Uplift ____: You recall an invention or system, and try to figure out how it worked well enough that someone else can make it a reality. Time: 1 season. Cost: 0. DC: Varies. Reward: New action unlocked
[] Propose Fostering/Betrothal: It's a simple matter for you to agree to the proposals you received about fostering and betrothals, either in whole or in part. Time: 1 season. Cost: None. DC: Varies. Reward: Betrothal and/or Fostering(s) arranged
[] Warging Practice: There are very few things you can't do when it comes to warging. There is one challenge you have left to face. It will not be easy, you can be certain of that, even though it is a simple progression of your splitting yourself between your direwolf and yourself. You will split yourself between multiple animals at once. Time: 1 season. Cost: 0. DC: 85. Reward: You get more skilled at warging.
[] Beast Bonding: Go riding in the Wolfswood and find a worthy beast to bond with. You aren't entirely certain what the side effects would be. Time: 1 season. Cost: 0. DC: Special. Reward: You get some sort of beast bond, possible side effects.
[] The God's Eyes: While you can open the God's Eyes more or less at will now, it can be difficult to keep them open, especially in places full of magic like Winterfell. You also suspect you are missing a great deal of nuance when you look at people or more complicated items like your crown, which just looks like plain metal. Or that skin, which makes you shudder whenever you think of it. Further practice could also extend how long you can use this gift. Time: 1 season. Cost: 0. DC: 70. Reward: Greater control and skill with the God's Eyes, more information about the skin.
[] Speak to an Advisor: You want to know more about the people you work with. Time: 1 season. Cost: 0. DC: 50. Reward: Gain knowledge of an advisor, improved opinion.
[] Family Time: Your sons are less than pleased with each other and with you. Your wife is unhappy with you, and you suspect her tolerance of magic is being tested, especially when you can sometimes see her emotions. Try to mend fences, reconcile your sons, and reassure your wife. Bend all your diplomatic skills to doing so. Time: 1 season. Cost: 0. DC: 40. Reward: You feel better, your family feels better.
[] Train Your Children (Stat): You have been making your sons go to lessons like green boys. Now it is time to teach them like men. Have them learn by shadowing you, by leading their own projects, and by discussion. You'll probably rely a lot on history for those discussions, ones you remember having with your own father as he taught you the arts of persuasion and deception. You will have to decide what to focus on teaching your sons of course. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 0. DC: 55. Reward: Eddard's and Edwyle's stats improve, chance of trait, chance of your stats improving.
Treasury: 6650 gold
Income: 1925 gold (taxes) + 2150 gold (trade) + 400 gold (farming) + 100 gold (fur) + 325 gold (wool) + 420 gold (mines) + 80 gold (paper) + 130 gold (logging)
Expenditures: -20 gold (signal towers), -10 gold (stables), -10 gold (scouts), - 75 gold (various tariff/tax reductions for houses), -15 gold (Snowcloaks), -500 gold(Kingly things), - 10 gold (civil service), - 25 gold (Wardens), - 200 gold (Winterfell Guard) – 150 gold (Rumors and spies)
Net Income: 4515 gold
Food Supply: Medium- surplus
Attitudes and Power Blocs
State of the Realm
The weather has cleared out somewhat, and this winter is sure to end soon. Within a year, for certain, you can all but taste it. When it ends, you will march south to the Moat or sail west to the Iron Islands and take part in the greatest war Westeros has known since the War for Dawn itself. That, however, is not the focus of your attention today. Instead, it is on two large stacks of paper, both of which will be extremely important for the future of your kingdom. One pile contains designs for machinery which will revolutionize the textile industry, which frankly doesn't exist. Every step after the sheep is sheared can be done by powered machines. You can envision immense amounts of warm winter clothes, enough to prevent anyone from freezing to death, cheap clothing to flood the markets of other kingdoms, expensive and elaborate tapestries sold cheaper than anyone else can manage…it will bring so much coin into the kingdom, even if it has its risks. You remember the dislocations the revolution caused, the crushing poverty, the limbs lost in machines, and there's things you are probably forgetting as well.
The other stack of papers is in its own way even more dangerous. The fertilizer will all but guarantee that no one will starve during one of these winters, especially combined with your other agricultural reforms. The description of making gunpowder could bring an end to the age of the knight. And there's plenty of other useful materials described in those stacks of paper. If you let this knowledge out, you will begin a revolution and you will have no idea where it ends up.
(+1 Free Action)
[] Issue Command (Power Bloc): Give a command to those under your command, spending gold and favors to ensure that they will do so without dragging their feet. Even with the best of wills, failure is still possible of course. Time: Varies. Cost: Varies. DC: Varies. Reward: Varies. Please @ me when doing this action, which is a free action that can be done as many times as you want. Possible resources to spend include gold, Influence, upkeep, the services of your advisor (actions), and special resources. The difficulty will vary based on power, opinion, what the actual command is, and how much you spend.
Military: Brandon is the Champion of Winter and a skilled commander of soldiers. He has gotten scarily stealthy. Brandon Cassel isn't quite as good, but he fills in the gaps well enough. Eddard tries to help too, and does a pretty good job of it. (Choose 0)
[] Build a Fleet (Location): Ironborn and slavers threaten your coasts, and you have gone long enough without a fleet. Order one of your vassals to begin constructing ships, and offer gold and workers to see it done. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 2900 gold. DC: 45. Reward: A new fleet.
[] Wardens of the Road: The beastmen probably aren't a significant threat anymore. Most of the Wardens have had minimal encounters, and there have been no reports of beastmen attacks from any of your subjects, new or old. Have some of them patrol the roads around the Wolfswood and help deal with any bandits of other threats instead. Time: 1 season. Cost: 150 gold. DC: 30. Reward: Potential increase to trade income
[] Guard Training: Brandon has replaced all the dead or severely wounded guardsmen by now, or at least selected men who will serve as adequate replacements after their training is done. With some of his spare time, he could train other men to a similar standard for other houses. And naturally, he will encourage those men to remember their loyalties to Winterfell should the unthinkable happen…Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 45. Reward: Other houses gain small number of men trained and equipped equivalent to Winterfell guard, vassal loyalty increased.
[] The Royal Order: The Wolfswood Wardens proved to be a substantial boon, hunting bandits across your lands and those of House Glover and Tallhart. Even with their limited numbers, the benefits were immense. Brandon envisions an order of men dedicated to patrolling and protecting your loyal subjects all across the North, all sworn directly to House Stark and the King of Winter. It would be an incredibly expensive proposition, in influence to found and persuade your vassals to accept this massive increase in royal authority, and in gold to upkeep and provide for. You would need to find and equip a vast amount of men, pay them…but having such a force would be incredibly useful, for a variety of reasons, especially if you burned your brain and remembered what the best armies in history did. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 700 gold. DC: 70. Reward: Influence Interludes
[] Improve the Wardens: The Wolfsguard do not quite have the strength or heavy equipment of the Winterfell Guard. Adding a small force of heavily trained and well armored men to their ranks would be a substantial force multiplier. It might be a bit upsetting to some of your vassals however – creating such a force implies that you think they will need them, and not everyone knows about your plans for the Ironborn. Time: 1 season. Cost: 600 gold, vassal approval, medium upkeep increase. DC: 40. Reward: Force roughly equivalent to Winterfell Guard added to the Wardens
[] Expand the Guard: Alternately, you could directly expand the Winterfell Guard. Increasing their size will upset your vassals less, since the cost will be borne entirely by you, and having the entire under your direct command is a comfort as well. If you increase the size of the guard anymore after this, you will likely need to build new barracks for them though. Time: 1 season. Cost: 800 gold, chance of vassal approval, high upkeep increase. DC: 45. Reward: Winterfell Guard increased in size.
[] Review Levies: It has been some time since Brandon had the opportunity to ride your immediate lands and make sure that the levies are in order and ready to come when called, and he has never done so for the newly expanded Wintertown. Have him take a few guards and make sure the sergeants are doing their jobs and that there aren't any villages or hamlets slacking on the number they will send. Time: 2 season. Cost: 250 gold. DC: 40. Reward: Levy readiness improved, ??
[] Gifted Warriors: There are nearly a thousand wargs in Wintertown, and more scattered about your lands. There are a few hundred men and women blessed with incredible strength, albeit not to the level of the Mormont berserkers. There are people who can heal with a touch, people who can steal the courage of their foes with a song…the blessings of the Old Gods are many and mighty. Brandon intends to organize some of the Gifted into a force to be reckoned with upon the battlefield, or possibly in the more strategic sense. He has filled papers with possible uses for wargs alone – everything from delivering messages to using armored bulls as living battering rams. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 600 gold, upkeep. DC: 55. Reward: Some sort of Gifted force attached to Winterfell guard. Type will be determined by dice rolls. Locked 1 seasons.
[] Fortify the Rivers: Brandon is determined to make the entire western coast of the North completely impenetrable to Ironborn attacks. To this end he has proposed making defenses similar to those on the Fever River on the Rillwater, the Barrow River, and the Redwater, establishing artificial reefs, chains, and towers to make a formidable barrier to any hostile fleet. Barrowton has been sacked when the Ironborn were at their height, as has Torrhen's Square. Proper fortifications may not be completely impenetrable to attack, but they will make the price far higher than even the boldest reaver will want to pay. Time: 3 seasons. DC: 45. Cost: 2000 gold. Reward: Heavy fortifications on the Rillwater, the Barrowriver, and the Redwater.
[] Sacrificial Raid: Send some men down to the Riverlands with orders to attack any Ironborn they can find, specifically aiming to capture ones "blessed" by the Drowned God so that they can be dragged back to a heart tree and sacrificed. It will be difficult and costly, and will bring unwanted attention. It will also look bad to many houses and factions, including the Faith and likely House Arryn as well. But the blessings of the Old Gods are mighty things…They are worth the price. Time: 1 season. Cost: 50 gold, chance of foreign disapproval. DC: 75. Reward: Rite of the Given Sacrifice is performed.
[] Coppering The Fleets: Copper is expensive. You were aware of that, of course – there are several copper mines in your kingdom, none particularly productive anymore – but you did not realize just how bad it would be. Coppering your fleets would cost almost as much as building a new one and take even longer. The benefits, however, are substantial. You will need every advantage you can get against the Iron Fleet, and they will save on maintenance in the long-term. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 2500 gold, ships will be more expensive going forwards. DC: 45. Reward: All ships coppered, speed increased, maintenance reduced.
[] New Artillery: The chain ballista isn't quite superior in every way to the regular version, but its improved rate of fire is not to be despised. Anything which helps kill reavers before they can come to handstrokes will be useful, especially since every account you have of the Ironborn monsters and mutants suggests they are primarily focused on killing in close combat. Replacing all your fleet's and defenses artillery is incredibly expensive and probably a bad idea. Replacing some is much smarter. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 2500 gold, ships will be more expensive going forwards. DC: 50. Reward: Process of replacing all artillery begins, will continue automatically after completion.
[] Blood in the Wood: You will not allow your vassals to be terrorized and murdered, not if you can do anything about it. Send in the Guard, send in the Wardens, get them support from the Green Men, and deal with the redcaps who are attacking your people. Make examples out of them, make it absolutely clear that to harm the North is to harm you, and you will not stand for it. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 100 gold, chance of decreased relations with fey. DC: 50. Reward: Lines drawn with fey, vassal approval. Locked 1 season
Diplomacy: Jeyne has regained her warmth, especially when Edwyle or Eddard helps them. Of late, she alternates between one of the newer septwoods and the sept itself. (Choose 1)
[] Speak to Kings (Kingdom): There are other kings to the south of you. Perhaps you should open up talks with one of them. Though all of them are Andals and ironborn, you doubt any of them would outright refuse you…Time: 1 season. Cost: 50 gold. DC: 50. Reward: Positive diplomatic contact.
[] Speak with Vassals (Region): Most of your direct vassals are loyal and trustworthy, but it's good to keep an eye on them all the same. And if any of them have trouble, you might be able to help. Time: 1 season. Cost: 50 gold. DC: 30. Reward: Vassal relations boosted, aware of problems
[] Throw a Feast: Ordinarily, you would not throw a feast this close to winter, but given the state of the stores you are willing. It will be grander than normal, serving as an enormous statement of your power and wealth, and it will make a very solid impression on your vassals and allow you an opportunity to politick and persuade and make a few subtle deals on one matter or another. Time: 1 season. Cost: 1750 gold, Surplus goes down one level. DC: 25. Reward: 2d6 Influence, chance of increased vassal opinion
[] Play Nice: Write some letters, send a gift or two, make some minor arrangements and deals with some of your vassals. The political game is not one most would associate with Northmen, but it is played, even if it very different than it is south of the Neck. Time: 1 season. Cost: 300 gold. DC: 55. Reward: 1d4-1 Influence, small chance of increased vassal opinion
[] Show Favor (House): There are many ways for a king to show his favor to his bannermen. Positions can be given, tithes restructured, minor aid offered. And of course, there are always gifts – a horse from the royal stables or a Winterfell hound would be highly prized even by the greatest houses of the North. Even simple praise would see some hold their heads higher and answer your call prompter. If you have need of a particular House's aid, showing your favor to them may make persuading them far easier, especially if you are not blatantly obvious about your reasons for doing so. If you are extremely skillful in showing your favor, you may even inspire others to strive higher in hopes of earning similar rewards. Time: 1 season. Cost: 100 gold, 1 Influence. DC: 25/50/75. Reward: House opinion boost, 1d2-1 Influence/Large house opinion boost , 1d2+1 Influence/Large house opinion boost, general vassal opinion boost, 1d4+1 Influence.
[] Braavosi Recruits: While most of the North, and indeed most of Westeros, are immensely proud of their heritage and way of life, but even the most arrogant noble cannot deny that the Braavosi are better at some things: trade, banking, making canals, and many other such tasks. Find down-on-their-luck or adventurous men and women of the Secret City and offer them work and pay to come to Westeros, and you will be able to use some of their skills. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 350 gold. DC: Special. Reward: Braavosi recruits, new actions unlocked.
[] A Polite Punishment (House): While a king can easily show favor, disfavor can also be demonstrated through slights and insults, both subtle and vicious. When a house disobeys you or a noble displeases you, a polite, restrained show of your displeasure can accomplish much to ensure they will correct themselves and serve as a warning to other houses who might consider testing you. Of course, pushing too far can cause unrest and trouble with the house in question and possibly others as well. Time: 1 season. Cost: 50 gold, 1 Influence. DC: 25/50/75. Reward: general vassal opinion boost, house opinion loss, 1d2-1 Influence/general vassal opinion boost, 1d2+1 Influence/ general vassal opinion boost, house opinion boost, 1d3+1 Influence.
[] Speak to Pyrite: The Rite in the Vale is something of a concern, as is the sudden presence of beastmen and House Upcliff. While your relationship with the Vale is generally fairly good, it is not good enough to get the sort of information you need by going through Queen Sharra, so you must speak to Pyrite, who is still loyal to you in many ways. Even though he has been reluctant to broach many of these subjects in detail, if you ask he will surely tell you, right? Time: 1 season. Cost: 20 gold. DC: 70. Reward: Partial information about Lord Upcliff and the beastmen.
[] The Most High Holy: The Most Devout are still somewhat lacking in numbers. Several years of being murdered by fey will do that to an organization, you suppose. But they are already considering a candidate for a new High Septon. There are several candidates with attitudes that would be dangerous to you, although there is no guarantee they will be selected, of course. Or that they will have the power to act against your interests…The Faith has lost much strength in recent years. You will not be able to change the course of the decision as completely as you might like, but bribes and envoys and pressure on Most Devout Willem will sway it somewhat towards your interests. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 500 gold, 2 Influence. DC: 35. Reward: Increased chance of High Septon with favorable attitudes being selected. Locked 1 season.
[] Improve Attitudes (Kingdom): There are several other kingdoms you share a continent with, and while they may not be able to take your lands they can certainly make things difficult, especially if a large number of the upper nobles don't like you. Fortunately, several of your vassals have members charming enough you could send them south and feel confident that they would make a good impression. You would even number Eddard among them. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 150 gold. DC: Varies. Reward: Improved relationship with kingdom.
[] The Fair Folk: Your relationship with the Old Gods clearly provides a measure of protection. You would love it if it provided you with more, since the fey are still being a pain. Make some effort to learn more about the factions and the powers of the fey, and hope that what you learn is helpful and accurate. Time: 1 season. Cost: 20 gold. DC: 30/60. Reward: Information about the fey.
Stewardship: The Poole's have always served the Starks. You can remember your father telling him that as a boy. Jaime Poole has continued that tradition, and ably. Lately, Alen Locksely has been taking on more of his work in Wintertown and Eddard has been helping the aging steward with his work. (Choose 2)
[] Cattle Ranching: There are lots of cows now on your land. There's lots of land without any people. Put the two together to begin expanding your cattle herds and selling the meat and leather and milk. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 150 gold. DC: 30. Reward: New options unlocked, increase to trade.
[] MORE SHEEP!!: You are already making a great deal of coin from the sheep already present in your lands, and frankly you are almost out of pasture to support more. Buy up some cropland, convert it to pasture, and get more sheep. When all the processing of wool is converted into an industrial process, you will have more than enough wool to keep up, and the amount of coin you will get will be incredible! The only problem is…actually getting everything converted. That will be a headache and a half. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 1000 gold. DC: 55. Reward: Way more sheep, decrease in food supply.
[] Wolfswood Road: The one place your roads didn't really go is into the Wolfswood, given the fact that it is a dense, primeval forest, but if you want your logging camps to be better you will need better transportation. A road won't solve half the problems your loggers have getting trees out, but it will help, and it will make getting into the forest much easier. Time: 4 seasons. Cost: 800 gold. DC: 30. Reward: Road into the Wolfswood.
[] Mines (Difficult): It will be expensive in blood, in time, in labor, in coin. Perhaps it is foolish, perhaps not. But all the most valuable ores are on the highest peaks, and you need the income these mines will provide. Time: 5 seasons. Cost: 1500 gold. DC: 70. Reward: Major new income source.
[] Expand the Surveys: The mountains clans have heard about the wealth you found in the mountains. Now they spend what time they can spare searching for ores and gems in their land. Hire the prospectors again and have them search through the rest of the mountains. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 35. Reward: Knowledge of resources in the rest of the mountains.
[] New Mills: Build more water wheels and set them up with grindstones. Free up livestock and grind grain faster. Poole gets quite the gleam in his eye when he talks about all the things he could do with more waterwheels. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 300 gold. DC: 30. Reward: Increase to farming income.
[] Other Artisans: The forges are already bringing in wealth, and the amount will certainly grow. But people need more than iron and steel. They need houses and furniture and carts and all manner of things. Some will come naturally, but more will come if you encourage them. Having the carpenter's guild will certainly accelerate the process, and the civil service attracts some as well. But if you want to rival Barrowton or White Harbor or the great cities of the south, you will need to do more. Time: 1 season. Cost: 300 gold. DC: Special. Reward: Increase to trade, increased chance of guilds forming, chance of new options.
[] The Wolf's Walls: One of the best ways to distinguish an actual town from a collection of houses and shops is the presence of walls. Only chartered towns may have them, and while your town lacks them it will never quite be seen properly. They also serve the twin functions of defense and helping keep order. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 400 gold. DC: 25. Reward: Wintertown gets good walls.
[] New Farm Tools: Begin paying artisans to create seed drills, and arrange for them to be used by some of the farmers around Wintertown. Given the season, they probably won't see much use, and you don't have the industry to make very many, but it will be a start. Time: 1 season. Cost: 650 gold. DC: 40. Reward: Small increase to farming income, will increase in later turns. Small increase to food surplus. (+15)
[] Establish Shipyards (Location): Before building a fleet, you need to establish the groundwork. Barrowton has docks, but they are not particularly large. All Bear Island has are a few piers for fishing boats, and the same is true for Torrhen's Lake. White Harbor is really the only place in the North with the facilities to construct large ships. It's time to change that. Begin constructing docks, gathering timber and rope and tar, and establishing all the things you will need to build and service a powerful fleet. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 550 gold. DC: 50. Reward: Cost reduction for shipbuilding, improved results and chance of success for shipbuilding actions, possible increase to trade.
[-] More Logging Camps: When logging camps were first set up, nearly a dozen sites were surveyed, but only a few were selected in the end. There simply wasn't enough gold to build all the shelters and purchase all the tools needed. Fortunately, this means that with some more gold more logging camps can be established in very little time. Really, the only preparation required will be building shelters and then the woodsmen can get to cutting trees and sending them back to Wintertown. Time: 1 season. Cost: 250 gold. DC: 25. Reward: One-time income, increase to logging income, increase to trade. Locked For You Until Transportation Is Substantially Improved
[] Fruit Trees: There are some scattered apple trees in the Wolfswood and some chestnut trees just outside Winterfell. There are probably other fruit trees as well in the North. Begin growing them to help provide food for some of the poorer families and trade goods for the richer. Perhaps you could seek the aid of the Green Men in ensuring that the trees grow swiftly and healthily too. You know they have a ritual for it, and such deeds seem to be part of their duties, according to the Green Book. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 50 gold. DC: 45. Reward: More fruit trees, small increase to food supply, small increase to trade.
[] Purchase Food: Food is going to become scarcer and scarcer in the North, although you feel comfortable with how much you have at the moment - it's twice as much as you had last winter. Still, the Reach will have more, and Dorne, and the Vale, and the Stormlands. Send them gold and timber and steel and they will send you food to help fill your granaries. Much of the wealth of White Harbor and Barrowton was built off this sort of trade. Time: 1 season. Cost: 1000 gold. DC: 20. Reward: Food supply increases. (+15)
[] Expand the Schools: You've a school in Winterfell which serves a few dozen children and less than twenty adults as a part-time duty for one or two of the acolytes. Buy a small building in Wintertown, give those acolytes the full-time duty of teaching people to read and write, give an incentive or two for people to learn and then join up with the civil service, and you expect to have classes much larger. Hopefully at least a few of the graduates will fill in the gaps in your civil service. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 900 gold, upkeep, Citadel attention. DC: 45. Reward: Increased literacy, support for civil service, Citadel attention.
[] Issue a Charter (Location): There are other places in the North that could reasonably be called towns or even a city. Barrowton is on the cusp where you could justify giving it a city charter. The castle town below Deepwood Motte is almost as large as Wintertown. There are a few other places, like the Dreadfort, that could also arguably deserve a town charter. Of course, the politics of giving such a charter would be somewhat complicated – every house has rivals you would need to placate. Time: 1 season. Cost: 50 gold, 2 Influence. DC: 25. Reward: Charter issued, opinion gained, increase to trade.
[] Sky-Mills: Many of the rivers you would build waterwheels on have drifting chunks of ice that would make construction less practical, and in any case, there are only so many places waterwheels can be built where they would provide enough power to be worthwhile. Windmills, however, require only empty fields to function and clear weather to be built. And they would serve just as well for grinding grain into flour. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 35. Reward: Increase to farming income.
[] Plan the Process: You will need to take several steps before you can truly begin industrializing. The first one has been taken, but now you need to find places to build textile mills, find people to make the parts, find workers, and that's all before you will see a single copper back on this investment. And you will probably want to take some precautions to prevent riots or the other issues England had with industrialization. Take some time and figure things out. Time: 1 season. Cost: 50 gold. DC: 40. Reward: Plans made for industrializing, potential problems averted, new actions unlocked, useful actions noted.
[] Start Building: You will need a factory first and foremost. There are plenty of places near the river that are suitable for waterwheels, although it will take some time to get all the mills set up and then you will need to build the factory itself. You already have a carding facility that is suitable for the moment, so the next thing will be too set up a mill for drawing and spinning – it makes sense to put the drawing frames and spinning mules together. After that, you will have time to plan your next steps. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 800 gold. DC: 45. Reward: Build drawing and spinning mill, start producing yarn in large quantities. Increase to income.
[] Potash Making: You never realized how useful potash was until you sat down and wrote everything you knew about it while working on your chemistry plans. There are a lot of possibilities for it, and it is something known in the North. Paying some people to come to Winterton and make it in quantity shouldn't be too expensive, and with a ready supply of potash you might be able to get more glassmakers and other such trades, which will be immensely useful both for your coffers and for the people of Winterton. Especially if you can get glass gardens set up. Time: 1 season. Cost: 300 gold. DC: 40. Reward: Production of potash, increase to trade.
Learning: Maester Brynden is an old man who has served your family for many years. And he's not a bad man, for someone born south of the Neck. You gather he's something unusual among the knights of the mind as well, but he's heartened by word from Archmaester Wyllym. Eddard and Edwyle have mostly stopped attending his lessons, but they visit the library often. (Choose 2)
[] Copy Books: Create some copies of books for the Citadel. They will pay you a good price for it, but they will also be trying to figure out how you do it, and saying yes risks your monopoly. Saying no will get their attention as well though. Time: 1 season. Cost: 25 gold. DC: 35. Reward: Increased attention from the Citadel, one-time income.
[] Improving Rivers: Not all rivers are suitable to place waterwheels on. Some don't have the necessary current to drive a wheel, some don't have a steep enough drop, some are simply to narrow. There are beasts which can shape the water to their needs – most prominently beavers, which are admittedly rare through much of the North. But if they can do it, surely men can as well? Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 600 gold. DC: 65. Reward: Dams, weirs, and mill ponds. New actions unlocked.
[] A Glass Candle: Glass candles are peculiar things. Useful, immensely useful…if every vassal had one, it would be so much easier to send messages, for one thing, but there is much you don't know about them. Can they be listened on? What are their limitations? Is there any risk of some wicked spirit possessing the user? Have Brynden and the acolytes try and answer these extremely important questions, and maybe find a bit more about the higher mysteries. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 400 gold. DC: 65. Reward: Knowledge of glass candles, hints of Valyrian magic
[] Strange Rites: The Old Gods are not the only ones who can grant power. Even leaving aside everything you have encountered in Westeros, you have heard of the warlocks of Qarth, the Jade Magisters of Far Yi Ti, the priests of Rh'llor the Red, the shadowbinders of Asshai…there are more traditions of Westeros then you can count. Scour a few libraries in the North, see if you can gather any information about how these other rites can be used and how to perform them. Time: 1-5 seasons. Cost: 1000 gold. DC: 30/60/90. Reward: ??
[] Spread Knowledge: You have made some useful things, like the waterwheels which can provide immense power, and now you will have a chain ballista. There's also the printing press, although you may want to consider keeping that under wraps for the moment. And of course, there's concrete, and then there are the things you haven't really implemented: seed drills and copper-bottomed ships and the like. Tell your lords about them and encourage them to use these to improve their desmenes. Time: 1 season. Cost: 120 gold. DC: 30. Reward: Can spread as many or as few technologies as desired.
[] New Darning: There's a couple devices in your darning barn that do it differently than the traditional methods. It's faster and it works better as well, and its one of the reasons that you are making so much coin from it. Find out who came up with it, find out more about how these work, and spread them to the rest of the barn. Time: 1 season. Cost: 100 gold, optional reward. DC: 45. Reward: Learn more about darning.
[] Finding Sources: Some of the materials you described are known to exist: charcoal, for instance. Or sulfur. Finding existing sources of them would be helpful if you are planning to exploit them on a large scale, and the Citadel does have records of such things. A hefty bribe will certainly help you get access to them, and you can send out your own people as well. Time: 1 season. Cost: 400 gold. DC: 30. Reward: Find existing sources of various materials.
[] Starting Small: Set up a "lab" for Maester Brynden and perhaps a couple steady-handed assistants in Winterfell, somewhere nice and far away from anything that could get damaged by acid, smoke, or fire. Then let him play around and try to figure out how exactly to make gunpowder and saltpeter and sulfuric acid. Maester Brynden wants to experiment with a few other things known at the Citadel and see if he can find anything interesting. Time: 1 season. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 20/40/60/80. Reward: Basic lab set up, begin figuring out how to make various chemicals practically, possibility of new developments.
Piety: Frost is extremely strange. Which makes sense since he is a Child of the Forest. Now that you think about it that was rather obvious. He seems haunted by the prophecy he has shared with you. Edwyle has been helping him sometimes, although not too much. He does not wish to become a Green Man if it means giving up being a lord. (Choose 0)
[] Seek the Pattern: Frost suspects there is a pattern of some kind to the rituals. "A great working of god, Singer, and man, like all made a tapestry out of a single thread," he described it, although you get the impression he was grasping for words, like trying to describe in detail how a bank works in the Old Tongue. One of the acolytes who came north with Valyrian steel in his chain seems to agree, although you don't like the way he watches the godswood, looking at it almost like a butcher looks at a hog. Certain limits will be put in place, and they will be abided by. Frost, you can trust on that. The others, you find yourself uncertain. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 300 gold. DC: 85. Reward: ??
[] More Field Rites: A few new (or old) rituals have been (re-)discovered and are being taught to those who are capable. In time you will see your fields growing more fertile, and weirwoods growing from saplings to mighty trees ready to be carved in a matter of weeks. You suspect there is more to be learned though. Time: 4 seasons. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 70. Reward: New magic unlocked.
[] More Rites of War: The gifts of the Old Gods are potent in war, granting you the power to make your armies seem far vaster than they are and create lethal arrows potentially deadly enough to slay even a full-grown war dragon…although you pray you never have to test that. But threats and foes abound in Westeros, not to mention whatever horrors lurk in Essos or beyond the Sunset Sea. In bleaker moments, you consider the possibility of Brandon the Shipwright leading a fleet of ghost ships under the command of some insane warlock, but then you remind yourself to dismiss the tales of Old Jenny. She does love her horror stories. The point remains: any advantage you can gain is an important one. Time: 4 seasons. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 70. Reward: New magic unlocked.
[] Rites of the Wild: The First Men and the Children of the Forest learned much from each other once the Pact was sworn, but much has been forgotten. Frost and his brethren will begin to seek the rites of the wood and waters and attempt to recreate them. Time: 4 seasons. Cost: 50 gold. DC: 75. Reward: New magic unlocked. Locked 1 seasons
[] Rites of the Flesh: The First Men and the Children of the Forest learned much from each other once the Pact was sworn, but much has been forgotten. Frost and his brethren will begin to seek the rites of the man, woman, and child and attempt to recreate them. Time: 4 seasons. Cost: 50 gold. DC: 75. Reward: New magic unlocked Locked 3 seasons
[] The Red Gift: In the blood of the Red Kings there is power, power which lies closest to the surface in all the old bloodlines except for yours. Mighty and terrible were the Red Kings of the Age of Heroes, able to take on the skill and aspect of whatever skin they wore. Allow Frost to try and reawaken these powers in Cregan Bolton. Time: 1 season. Cost: 125 gold. DC: 55. Reward: The Red Gift reawakens in Cregan Bolton.
[] The Gift of Might: The Umbers were kings once as well, and their blood is ancient as the Bolton's. It is said that the hill that Last Hearth rests on was lifted up and thrown to its current location by one of their many powerful warlords in a fit of rage. Send Frost north to awaken these powers in Lord Umber and his sons. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 200 gold. DC: 55. Reward: The Giant's Strength reawakens in Lord Umber and his sons.
[] Ritual Crafting: While the Sacred Arrows created by the rite do not last forever, several other rites do create objects or blessings that last for a long time. While some can be done by some of the more skilled among your Green Men, others are beyond the power of all but Frost, most notably the making of protective talismans. He will devote his time to doing so if you ask and have some of his brethren do the same. Thresholds will be blessed, beast-bane spears given to those in the Wolfswood, and a few sacred arrows will be made as an assurance. Time: 1 season. Cost: 400 gold. DC: 30. Reward: Varying number of rites performed
[] Aggressive Recruiting: Not all who join the Green Men have the skill and strength of will necessary to perform even the simplest rituals, but some do. And some who do have the skill do not join, either for personal reasons or lack of opportunity. Frost refuses to do anything about the first, but the second he can help with. Coin and royal favor will certainly help him find those with the potential to wear the Green. Time: 4 seasons. Cost: 1500 gold. DC: 45. Reward: More Green Men recruited.
Intrigue: Snow is in many ways the total opposite of Rivers. Calm where he is excitable, nondescript where he is distinctive. You can't imagine Snow having any of his predecessor's escapades, although he is most definitely equally competent. He's actually rather terrifying, especially with Janna and the Huntsmen helping him with the more physical side of things. You are fairly certain he is giving Eddard lessons. (Choose 0)
[] From Valley to Peak: Snow knows almost everything that happens in the Vale. There are still a few exceptions, however. Send Snow back to the Vale and have him fill in the last few gaps in his network. Time: 4 seasons. Cost: 800 gold. DC: 65. Reward: Advanced Spy Network (The Vale)
[] Even Deeper Secrets: Snow has people in every house in the North. He has people in every town and city too. But you want more. If your lords meet, you want to know. If anything happens, you want to know. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 600 gold. DC: 55. Reward: Spy Network (The North).
[] Security Procedures: Snow might understand the necessity of what he does, but that doesn't mean he always likes it. For example, he understands that it's important to make sure the upper ranks of your civil service keep the acolytes away from anything you would consider sensitive such as the making of concrete, the printing press, and the carding factory. He just finds the process of teaching people really tedious. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 50 gold, Citadel attention. DC: 43. Reward: Acolytes kept away from sensitive information, basic security procedures taught to civil service. Locked 1 season
[] Further Afield (Kingdom): You have ways of hearing what happens in the immediate south, but now you find yourself concerned with what's happening even further away. Pick a kingdom or nation and let Snow get to work. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 100 gold. DC: Varies. Reward: Rumor mill for chosen location.
[] Deeper Rivers Part 3: Every time you hear new information about the Ironborn in the Riverlands, it's something disturbing. Still, you need to get as much advanced warning as possible. There's almost nothing left for Snow to try and co-opt, but he can try and solidify his network at least a little. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 800 gold. DC: 85. Reward: Advanced Spy Network (The Riverlands).
[] In the West, Part 3: You are almost as reluctant to send people to the Westerlands as you are to the Riverlands, but you want word if King Lorren starts planning a crusade or something equally significant happens. You have men in enough places to have a fair warning of anything like that, but you will want more, especially if you are planning to use the Huntsmen in any significant capacity. Establishing safe houses for them would be extremely important. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 900 gold. DC: 90. Reward: Advanced Spy Network (The Westerlands)
[] Harrenhal: The network in Harrenhal has been devastated by Harren's sudden assault on it and by the sheer slaughter he has wreaked in and around his accursed castle. Some say even the very stones are whispering to him, identifying traitors, and that blood drips from the walls instead of dew. You are uncertain just how true that is…but you need to find out. Having advanced warning of anything he is planning could mean the difference between victory and defeat. Fortunately, you have some fairly expendable agents to send south. The Hunters are best at killing, but some could handle spying. Especially since the castle is half empty, meaning they have plenty of space to hide. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 200 gold. DC: 70. Reward: Get another spy in Harrenhal, information.
[] Kill Someone (Target): Name your target and spend the necessary amount on supplies, and give both to Janna. They will die, although it's unlikely to be subtle. And if they are caught, there will be retaliation. Best be careful. Time: Varies. Cost: Varies: DC: Varies. Reward: A corpse. Please @ me when you use this action so I can give you the numbers.
[] What's going on in Essos?: You have been hearing reports from Essos every so often, but nothing credible. Have Snow collect rumors and sailor's tales and try and spin them together into something coherent and at least a little accurate, although it will be vague as well. Time: 1 season. Cost: 25 gold. DC: 58. Reward: Mostly accurate but very general description of what's going on in Essos.
[] Deceptive Attack: Instead of using the Hunters to assassinate a specific lord or king, you will have them unleash havoc near the Golden Tooth, trying to make it look like Harren's reavers are the ones responsible. Bandits will be given gold to attack farms and caravans, villages will be slaughtered, and scraps of black cloth will be left behind. Attempts will be made at suggesting it was the Ironborn through other methods, such as shouting about the Drowned God and making sure there are survivors. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 75. Reward: Loren grows more hostile to Ironborn.
[] Spy on Pyrite: Snow is reluctant to do this, for personal reasons and professional ones. Pyrite is the one who taught him everything he knows and they still keep up a friendly correspondence when they exchange information. And almost every man you have in the Vale passes his information through Pyrite, including the ones who watch the watchers. Getting someone new without his notice will be extremely difficult. But you need the information he is keeping from you and you can't trust that he will just give it to you. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 150 gold, possibly the relationship with Pyrite. DC: 80. Reward: Everything Pyrite knows on the Rite, the beastmen, and Lord Upcliff.
[] Make a Prophecy (Topic): Why find a prophecy when you can just take some parchment, stain it so it looks old, and then write down whatever nonsense you want? Whether to persuade the dragonlords to go to Essos or to suggest that they should tread carefully around the direwolf, make up a prophecy and pass it off as the real thing to Aegon and his sisters, hopefully convincing them that whatever you wrote is real. Or at least that you were fooled by the "prophecy" too. Fortunately, given the way Rhaenys talked, it shouldn't take too much to persuade her of its veracity. She seemed quite obsessed with them. Time: 2 season. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 65. Reward: Fake prophecy about chosen topic.
[] Friends Among the Fey: The fey are everywhere in the Reach. Literally everywhere. Snow intends to take advantage of that when building his spy network there, leaning on the Green Men to identify ways to recruit the little house fey and tricksome gremlins and bribe them into telling his agents things. He expects to not be the only one doing so. He also expects it to not be a problem. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 400 gold. DC: 50. Reward: Spy Network (The Reach).
[] Iron Spies: Most of the Iron Islands seems to be in the grip of mad servants of the Drowned God, with crazed priests ruling just as much as the lords do and horrific abominations skulking in shadows or parading about, eager to raid and destroy. It takes a very brave man to go gathering information there. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 900 gold, upkeep. DC: 50. Reward: Simple Spy Network (The Iron Islands).
[] Find the Leader: The banditry has displeased Snow at least as much as it displeased you. He intends for those responsible to be found and given to the king's justice. Specifically, he wants the leader, who he suspects is connected with the bloody butchery being done in the north of the Wolfswood. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 100 gold. DC: 65. Reward: Bandit leader found. Locked 1 season.
Personal: There's always plenty to do when it comes to being a king. Even outside of your official duties, you can make decrees and issue commands. Of course, you can also spend time with your family, help an advisor, or try and explain some of your knowledge to your advisors. (Choose 2)
[] Uplift ____: You recall an invention or system, and try to figure out how it worked well enough that someone else can make it a reality. Time: 1 season. Cost: 0. DC: Varies. Reward: New action unlocked
[] Propose Fostering/Betrothal: It's a simple matter for you to agree to the proposals you received about fostering and betrothals, either in whole or in part. Time: 1 season. Cost: None. DC: Varies. Reward: Betrothal and/or Fostering(s) arranged
[] Warging Practice: There are very few things you can't do when it comes to warging. There is one challenge you have left to face. It will not be easy, you can be certain of that, even though it is a simple progression of your splitting yourself between your direwolf and yourself. You will split yourself between multiple animals at once. Time: 1 season. Cost: 0. DC: 85. Reward: You get more skilled at warging.
[] Beast Bonding: Go riding in the Wolfswood and find a worthy beast to bond with. You aren't entirely certain what the side effects would be. Time: 1 season. Cost: 0. DC: Special. Reward: You get some sort of beast bond, possible side effects.
[] The God's Eyes: While you can open the God's Eyes more or less at will now, it can be difficult to keep them open, especially in places full of magic like Winterfell. You also suspect you are missing a great deal of nuance when you look at people or more complicated items like your crown, which just looks like plain metal. Or that skin, which makes you shudder whenever you think of it. Further practice could also extend how long you can use this gift. Time: 1 season. Cost: 0. DC: 70. Reward: Greater control and skill with the God's Eyes, more information about the skin.
[] Speak to an Advisor: You want to know more about the people you work with. Time: 1 season. Cost: 0. DC: 50. Reward: Gain knowledge of an advisor, improved opinion.
[] Family Time: Your sons are less than pleased with each other and with you. Your wife is unhappy with you, and you suspect her tolerance of magic is being tested, especially when you can sometimes see her emotions. Try to mend fences, reconcile your sons, and reassure your wife. Bend all your diplomatic skills to doing so. Time: 1 season. Cost: 0. DC: 40. Reward: You feel better, your family feels better.
[] Train Your Children (Stat): You have been making your sons go to lessons like green boys. Now it is time to teach them like men. Have them learn by shadowing you, by leading their own projects, and by discussion. You'll probably rely a lot on history for those discussions, ones you remember having with your own father as he taught you the arts of persuasion and deception. You will have to decide what to focus on teaching your sons of course. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 0. DC: 55. Reward: Eddard's and Edwyle's stats improve, chance of trait, chance of your stats improving.
Treasury: 6650 gold
Income: 1925 gold (taxes) + 2150 gold (trade) + 400 gold (farming) + 100 gold (fur) + 325 gold (wool) + 420 gold (mines) + 80 gold (paper) + 130 gold (logging)
Expenditures: -20 gold (signal towers), -10 gold (stables), -10 gold (scouts), - 75 gold (various tariff/tax reductions for houses), -15 gold (Snowcloaks), -500 gold(Kingly things), - 10 gold (civil service), - 25 gold (Wardens), - 200 gold (Winterfell Guard) – 150 gold (Rumors and spies)
Net Income: 4515 gold
Food Supply: Medium- surplus
Attitudes and Power Blocs
State of the Realm
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- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Lay Carefully the Groundwork
-[X] Issue Command (Western Lords): Expand Logging around Deepwood Motte. Cost: 150 gold, 1 Influence. Diplomacy DC: 30 Stewardship DC: 25
Military: (Choose 0)
-[] Blood in the Wood. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 100 gold, chance of decreased relations with fey. DC: 50. Reward: Lines drawn with fey, vassal approval. Locked 1 season
-[] Gifted Warriors. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 600 gold, upkeep. DC: 55. Reward: Some sort of Gifted force attached to Winterfell guard. Type will be determined by dice rolls. Locked 1 season.
Diplomacy: (Choose 1) (+1 Free Action)
-[] The Most High Holy. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 500 gold, 2 Influence. DC: 35. Reward: Increased chance of High Septon with favorable attitudes being selected. Locked 1 season.
-[X] Speak with Vassals (Barrow Houses). Time: 1 season. Cost: 50 gold. DC: 30. Reward: Vassal relations boosted, aware of problems
-[X] The Fair Folk. Time: 1 season. Cost: 20 gold. DC: 30/60. Reward: Information about the fey.
Stewardship: (Choose 2)
-[X] New Farm Tools. Time: 1 season. Cost: 650 gold. DC: 40. Reward: Small increase to farming income, will increase in later turns. Small increase to food surplus. (+15)
-[X] Plan the Process. Time: 1 season. Cost: 50 gold. DC: 40. Reward: Plans made for industrializing, potential problems averted, new actions unlocked, useful actions noted..
Learning. (Choose 2)
-[X] Copy Books. Time: 1 season. Cost: 25 gold. DC: 35. Reward: Increased attention from the Citadel, one-time income.
-[X] Spread Knowledge. Time: 1 season. Cost: 120 gold. DC: 30. Reward: Can spread as many or as few technologies as desired. (spread non-vital tech [exempting chain ballista, concrete and the printing press] like seed drills, ship coppering, etc.)
Piety: (Choose 0)
-[]Rites of the Wild. Locked 1 season.
-[]Rites of the Flesh. Locked 3 seasons.
Intrigue: (Choose 0)
-[]Find the Leader. Locked 1 season.
-[]Security Procedures. Locked 1 season.
Personal: (Choose 2)
-[X] Family Time. Time: 1 season. Cost: 0. DC: 40. Reward: You feel better, your family feels better.
-[X] Train Your Children (Martial). Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 0. DC: 55. Reward: Eddard's and Edwyle's stats improve, chance of trait, chance of your stats improving.
--[X] Double-down
Treasury: 6,650 gold
Total plan cost: 1,065 gold
End treasury: 11,900 gold
The thinking here is in two parts: pinch some pennies now so we have a more comfortable bank to spend later, and work to ensure that things will go smoothly. That's why I put the double-down for rewarding House Ryswell, so that goes as well for us as such actions have in the past. And it's also why I want to get more info on the fey, so we can try to keep things fairly smoothed over, rather than just killing a bunch of them and hoping there's no long-term consequences. Using a Stewardship slot for planning now will obviously pay dividends later, and we still have a Free Intrigue action and a +30 to Even Deeper Secrets -- let's use 'em before we lose 'em.
EDIT: updated to include an Issue Command and new information. I've shifted the double-down to training the boys, in the hopes of gaining crits for their Martial stats so that they'll be able to be leaders in the upcoming campaign
-[X] Issue Command (Western Lords): Expand Logging around Deepwood Motte. Cost: 150 gold, 1 Influence. Diplomacy DC: 30 Stewardship DC: 25
Military: (Choose 0)
-[] Blood in the Wood. Time: 2 seasons. Cost: 100 gold, chance of decreased relations with fey. DC: 50. Reward: Lines drawn with fey, vassal approval. Locked 1 season
-[] Gifted Warriors. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 600 gold, upkeep. DC: 55. Reward: Some sort of Gifted force attached to Winterfell guard. Type will be determined by dice rolls. Locked 1 season.
Diplomacy: (Choose 1) (+1 Free Action)
-[] The Most High Holy. Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 500 gold, 2 Influence. DC: 35. Reward: Increased chance of High Septon with favorable attitudes being selected. Locked 1 season.
-[X] Speak with Vassals (Barrow Houses). Time: 1 season. Cost: 50 gold. DC: 30. Reward: Vassal relations boosted, aware of problems
-[X] The Fair Folk. Time: 1 season. Cost: 20 gold. DC: 30/60. Reward: Information about the fey.
Stewardship: (Choose 2)
-[X] New Farm Tools. Time: 1 season. Cost: 650 gold. DC: 40. Reward: Small increase to farming income, will increase in later turns. Small increase to food surplus. (+15)
-[X] Plan the Process. Time: 1 season. Cost: 50 gold. DC: 40. Reward: Plans made for industrializing, potential problems averted, new actions unlocked, useful actions noted..
Learning. (Choose 2)
-[X] Copy Books. Time: 1 season. Cost: 25 gold. DC: 35. Reward: Increased attention from the Citadel, one-time income.
-[X] Spread Knowledge. Time: 1 season. Cost: 120 gold. DC: 30. Reward: Can spread as many or as few technologies as desired. (spread non-vital tech [exempting chain ballista, concrete and the printing press] like seed drills, ship coppering, etc.)
Piety: (Choose 0)
-[]Rites of the Wild. Locked 1 season.
-[]Rites of the Flesh. Locked 3 seasons.
Intrigue: (Choose 0)
-[]Find the Leader. Locked 1 season.
-[]Security Procedures. Locked 1 season.
Personal: (Choose 2)
-[X] Family Time. Time: 1 season. Cost: 0. DC: 40. Reward: You feel better, your family feels better.
-[X] Train Your Children (Martial). Time: 3 seasons. Cost: 0. DC: 55. Reward: Eddard's and Edwyle's stats improve, chance of trait, chance of your stats improving.
--[X] Double-down
Treasury: 6,650 gold
Total plan cost: 1,065 gold
End treasury: 11,900 gold
The thinking here is in two parts: pinch some pennies now so we have a more comfortable bank to spend later, and work to ensure that things will go smoothly. That's why I put the double-down for rewarding House Ryswell, so that goes as well for us as such actions have in the past. And it's also why I want to get more info on the fey, so we can try to keep things fairly smoothed over, rather than just killing a bunch of them and hoping there's no long-term consequences. Using a Stewardship slot for planning now will obviously pay dividends later, and we still have a Free Intrigue action and a +30 to Even Deeper Secrets -- let's use 'em before we lose 'em.
EDIT: updated to include an Issue Command and new information. I've shifted the double-down to training the boys, in the hopes of gaining crits for their Martial stats so that they'll be able to be leaders in the upcoming campaign
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- Location
- United States
[X] Lay Carefully the Groundwork
The extra action for Intrigue was a one time thing.