The Old World: Dark Age of the Empire

[Sertorius]

Or atleast create our own version of the Reiksguard a couple of centuries early.

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The Wolf Emperor already has it. It's called the Knights of the White Wolf, the most numerous and powerful knightly order in the Empire. With an Ulrican on the Throne and with the Ar-Ulric in the Council, I suspect they will only grow in power and open many more chapters and build more castles throughout the provinces, thus increasing their reach.

The Reiksguard was formally a secular knightly order, hence why it was welcome to open chapters in other provinces as well. However, since it was in reality subordinate the the Reikland Elector Count, hence the Emperor (much like the White Wolves), it was understood as a mark of the Emperor's favour, when the Reiksguard would assist if trouble stirred somewhere.

 

[Warkeymon]

@Warkeymon some questions.

With the wolfs ascension as emperor is he gonna get the imperial regalia like ghal maraz in such cause even if it isn't the real thing it's still an extremely powerful and is still the symbol of the empire and unity.

And for the whole payment to the imperial treasury can I ask would it be ok if instead of marks at times it how about the likes of materials and foodstuff to pay to the imperial treasury cause we got a big surplus and I think they could use those our currencies for the empire. Just asking cause that would be a good alternative cause we are using alot of cash alot and while I like to pay the treasury more we can use it for industrial upgrades or research that help the empire more.

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Ghal Maraz has been in the possession of the Cult of Sigmar since the Age of the Three Emperors began, the bestowing of Ghal Maraz and other imperial assets is part of the ceremony of the Grand Theogonist acclaiming a new Emperor.

For now, you will be able to contribute any resource to create Imperial Dice. However, once tax codes are drawn up and enforced then it may require you to pay your taxes in Marks.

 

[Jonny_boy]

You know, I still advocate for shipping a bunch of blunderbusses to Averland for them to train some Outriders with blunderbusses. They'd be extremely effective as an emergency reserve for clearing crowds to prevent certain sections of a front line from getting overrun & don't take that much time to train in comparison to pistols since they don't require as much precision & dexterity, just point-black shooting into a hoard of undead and leaving when you're done.

Instead of trying to rebuild our entire light Caverly which would take forever, can we just make a proto-pistoleer corps by recruiting some younger nobels (requiring them to bring their own horse) hand them blunderbusses, and make them reserve troops that are stationed at the back of an army to act as a rearguard and emergency reserve to prevent sections of a frontline from being overrun if there's a breakthrough. I feel like it's a task that we can entrust relatively inexperienced troops to do without actually putting themselves in too much danger which doesn't need the high-quality war horses that the light cavalry are given by us (do they bring their own horses?) since they're just chilling behind the lines looks for breaches instead of charging an enemy and being entrusted to kill more dangerous monsters.

Edit: Mounted troops with blunderbusses were actually used for crowd control during riots if you want some real-life example of its effectiveness.

 

[TheGrape]

@Warkeymon

Our mandate is to "construct the foundations of a government for the rest of the Wolf Emperor's reign."

What exactly does that mean? Are we hiring bureaucrats to staff the newly established imperial institutions? Are we going to help mollify the Sigmarites and other provinces? Like, what exactly does he mean by foundations: actual institutions, feelings of imperial unity, both? What exactly is he expecting? Is it just carte blanche to do whatever it takes, since we're all in uncharted territory at this point?

 

[Watcher's Eyes]

@Warkeymon

With the fact that theirs now a united leader of the armies of the empire what's gonna happen to the iron companies could we just leave them with a message of follow orders of the reikmarhsal and we just don't need to use a dice for them when they move along with kruger until we send them elsewhere from the plans of kruger or it's just still using dice to direct their movement.


Also with the fact that their Liege is now emperor are the white Wolves gonna have an expansion of power and influence in building knew castles and forces in the Empire cause that would be great since white Wolves are being more common is always a good win since they are proactive in taking down threats and are absolutely deadly.
With the fact that nuln is the temporary capital for now and the royal family and council is moving their could we entice a sect of white Wolves settle on wissenland and we sponsor their growth and have them become our own heavy cavalry so to finally shore up cavalry front in our army.

 

[Warkeymon]

@Warkeymon

Our mandate is to "construct the foundations of a government for the rest of the Wolf Emperor's reign."

What exactly does that mean? Are we hiring bureaucrats to staff the newly established imperial institutions? Are we going to help mollify the Sigmarites and other provinces? Like, what exactly does he mean by foundations: actual institutions, feelings of imperial unity, both? What exactly is he expecting? Is it just carte blanche to do whatever it takes, since we're all in uncharted territory at this point?

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The mandates are broad because there's so much that might need to be done to get an Imperial Government actually running since its been a thousand years since the last one. The Wolf is giving his Council of State substantial wiggle-room and so long as they can evidence and explain why they've done what they've done within the scope of their mandate then in theory he'll be happy.

In practice, of course, the Wolf is not going to let you push the envelope too far from the spirit of the mandate. You might interpret the mandate in any number of ways. Hiring and developing a civil service, settling internal divisions, founding institutions to serve under the Seats of the Council of State, spreading propaganda about the importance of a Unified Empire...

His expectation really though is that when he gets back from winning the war, he'll have all the apparatus of state in place to settle in and run his country as he likes without needing to set everything up first.

@Warkeymon

With the fact that theirs now a united leader of the armies of the empire what's gonna happen to the iron companies could we just leave them with a message of follow orders of the reikmarhsal and we just don't need to use a dice for them when they move along with kruger until we send them elsewhere from the plans of kruger or it's just still using dice to direct their movement.


Also with the fact that their Liege is now emperor are the white Wolves gonna have an expansion of power and influence in building knew castles and forces in the Empire cause that would be great since white Wolves are being more common is always a good win since they are proactive in taking down threats and are absolutely deadly.
With the fact that nuln is the temporary capital for now and the royal family and council is moving their could we entice a sect of white Wolves settle on wissenland and we sponsor their growth and have them become our own heavy cavalry so to finally shore up cavalry front in our army.

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There is not currently a united armed forces of the Empire. In the same way that your Upper Nobility are not required to hand over their Men-At-Arms to serve in the State Troop, you're not expected to hand over your State Troop to serve in the Imperial Army. Those are yours, you've made huge investments in them, and they're critical to the enforcement of law and order and the protection of security in your Province. The State Troop are there to stop your Upper Nobility from getting unruly, and to stop an Emperor from overstepping with regards to your Province.

As such no Elector will willingly surrender control of their State Troop to the Emperor, not without the most stringent assurances or the deepest of desperation. Because to do so is to surrender much of your control over your Province to the Emperor. Every Elector who sends forces to join the Imperial Army will send their own commander to lead their forces, and to pull those forces if the Emperor gets too uppity; you'd be expected to leave your Grand Marshal at least with the Iron Companies. So you'll need to keep a die locked into directing your forces.

The White Wolves are a chamber of the Cult of Ulric rather than of the Middenland, in theory. All the same, an Ulrican Emperor can open the doors for other Ulrican presences throughout the Empire and the Ar-Ulric is Grand Confessor currently so there's going to be funding going the way of the Cult of Ulric regardless. Similarly the presence of an Ulrican on the Imperial Throne means an uptick in Ulrican converts, just like the Crossing of the Talabec saw Nuln suddenly develop an Ulrican community. (Aided by your sponsorship of an Order of Howling Wolves).

You can talk to the Ar-Ulric about sponsoring an Order of White Wolves to settle in Wissenland, or as Imperial Chancellor you can lean on the Seat of Grand Confessor to have some White Wolves move into Wissenland.

 

[Watcher's Eyes]

You can talk to the Ar-Ulric about sponsoring an Order of White Wolves to settle in Wissenland, or as Imperial Chancellor you can lean on the Seat of Grand Confessor to have some White Wolves move into Wissenland.

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Nice an idea is already forming hhm we have information on the corruption in the Cult of ulric so we send van hal this turn with the information and task him to work with the ar ulric in rooting out the corrupted and I'm exchange we get an order of the white Wolves settling down In wissenland which we sponsor building a castle in our Territory making us their closest neighbor which is gonna be good. Also sending van hal would be a good way to soothen tensions between the sigmarites and ulricans with good old vampire hunting together.

Ok @Warkeymon some questions

Since we are settling with nuln being the capital for now with the Imperial dice is it only bismarcks modifiers in his stats like diplomacy, stewardship and etc or could we gain the help of our council of wissenland cause we are in nuln so getting our regular bonuses. Or is it too much for our council and we have to do it ourselves cause I'm worried with below than average stats in stewardship cause we are the steward of the empire while the emperor is away.

Hhm are the members of the council of the empire have their own bonuses instead we can use since this is similar to our own council but it's far more expanded.

Also with the coronation and the rise of a united empire are we gonna join in the battle for stirland since we are marching down to nuln and a decisive victory to commemorate the unification of the empire under Emperor Mannfreds rule it would be a massively good propaganda piece or we are just directly sent to nuln to start setting up the government I could see either since the emperor respects us as a warrior and would want our expertise or just send us to prepare a fully formed empire he protects it gaining glory.

Hhm for the Cult ulric and ar ulric did we gain a relationship boost since we are the reason why his godson and him are now leading the empire now and his faith is resurging again so I presume we get a tick up in our relationship since we give him the election.

Also for special advisor position could we as chancellor elevate someone to special advisor cause we can make a case about getting van hal a seat in the table cause of his knowledge of the vampires and other threats to the empire like the ratmen in our sewers so he'd Be good voice to have in the council and with him being a sigmarite would mollify the sigmarites abit since theirs more of their faith In the council of state. And would van hal even agree to it I hope he does.

Also may I be bold to ask how's the update chugging along cause I'm very excited to see what's happening.

 

[Warkeymon]

Ok @Warkeymon some questions

Since we are settling with nuln being the capital for now with the Imperial dice is it only bismarcks modifiers in his stats like diplomacy, stewardship and etc or could we gain the help of our council of wissenland cause we are in nuln so getting our regular bonuses. Or is it too much for our council and we have to do it ourselves cause I'm worried with below than average stats in stewardship cause we are the steward of the empire while the emperor is away.

Hhm are the members of the council of the empire have their own bonuses instead we can use since this is similar to our own council but it's far more expanded.

Also with the coronation and the rise of a united empire are we gonna join in the battle for stirland since we are marching down to nuln and a decisive victory to commemorate the unification of the empire under Emperor Mannfreds rule it would be a massively good propaganda piece or we are just directly sent to nuln to start setting up the government I could see either since the emperor respects us as a warrior and would want our expertise or just send us to prepare a fully formed empire he protects it gaining glory.

Hhm for the Cult ulric and ar ulric did we gain a relationship boost since we are the reason why his godson and him are now leading the empire now and his faith is resurging again so I presume we get a tick up in our relationship since we give him the election.

Also for special advisor position could we as chancellor elevate someone to special advisor cause we can make a case about getting van hal a seat in the table cause of his knowledge of the vampires and other threats to the empire like the ratmen in our sewers so he'd Be good voice to have in the council and with him being a sigmarite would mollify the sigmarites abit since theirs more of their faith In the council of state. And would van hal even agree to it I hope he does.

Also may I be bold to ask how's the update chugging along cause I'm very excited to see what's happening.

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In the next update the thread gets the option to pick between setting up shop in Nuln, in Middenheim, or ruling from the saddle. The Emperor would rather you were in Nuln, but you have got the option of disobeying and suffering the consequences and he's not going to be too concerned about you setting things up in Middenheim instead.

The Council of Wissenland are not going to supply their stats to your work as Imperial Chancellor. If you are working on a project alongisde another Councillor of State then you will get bonuses from their skills and stats. Fiorella's bonuses will still apply to your work as Imperial Chancellor in the same manner as usual.

The relationship boost with the Cult of Ulric is only marginal, you've supported their preferred candidate but you didn't actually engage with the Cult of Ulric during your time at Dunstigfurt and they can see you've clearly been rewarded by the Emperor so it probably looks like your support has already been bought and paid.

You could try to raise Van Hal to Special Advisor, the Wolf Emperor hasn't said otherwise so you're not technically contradicting him. However he has just made the Council of State and despite being aware of Van Hal and the Conferences he chose not to put Van Hal in the Council of State so there is a known inference that he doesn't want Van Hal there. (Possibly out of concern for Sigmarite influence in his fledgling government). So feel free, but you might need to argue with the Wolf about it later.

 

[TheGrape]

In practice, of course, the Wolf is not going to let you push the envelope too far from the spirit of the mandate. You might interpret the mandate in any number of ways. Hiring and developing a civil service, settling internal divisions, founding institutions to serve under the Seats of the Council of State, spreading propaganda about the importance of a Unified Empire...

His expectation really though is that when he gets back from winning the war, he'll have all the apparatus of state in place to settle in and run his country as he likes without needing to set everything up first.

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Alright, I'm seeing two broad directives for us to follow here: Setting up Imperial Institutions, and Unifying the Empire.

For the former, I favor setting up in Nuln as the Wolf Emperor asked, and hiring Nulners. This benefits us manifold: we're clearly doing as the Emperor asked, we're based in Nuln closer to the war effort (which is definitely going to drag on), we're in our home province as opposed to Middenheim (again, it's going to be a while before this fight ends), we're hiring our people into these crucial positions early (more of our influence everywhere, which will also help assuage seccessionists by showing the benefits of a united empire), and we can more easily screen for infiltrators like Lahmians with Van Hal right there.

Once the war is over, hopefully the Wolf Emperor keeps to his plan and returns to Middenheim (since Nuln is an incredible source of resources/manpower/prestige/technological capability for us). At which point we'll have to move over some of our people willing to immigrate at least temporarily to set up the bureaucracy there. But that will be quite some time in the future, considering the Wolf Emperor has every incentive to demolish Sylvania for the prestige, and Vlad has every incentive to resist (he won't get a better chance than right now and he'll lose centuries of work if he abandons ship).

For the latter, we should reach out to the Ulricans and Sigmarites and present ourselves as either a neutral party or someone willing to advocate for the Sigmarites. The Sigmarites don't have anyone else in the government asides from the Chamberlain, who no one thinks will remain in the Council for long. So we could earn heavy concessions from the Sigmarites for being willing to play ball. This is all leading up to us trying to issue an empire-wide law that proclaims the empire a respecter of all (non-Chaotic) religions; if we end up sticking the halfling deities and Ranald in, that's a even bigger win. It'll piss off the Ulrican and Sigmarite Supremacists, but it'll mollify fears of any religious wars brought about by the Emperor and his Council being so one-sidedly Ulrican.

We should also try and propagandize the war effort: play up the threat of Vlad for more support for the war and the Emperor that brings victory (since unlike in canon where Vlad broke containment and showed everyone just how horrible it is to fight an entire province of necromancers/vampires, we managed to contain the damage in our timeline, meaning there's less prestige involved in beating his ass). We need to show the entire Empire that all the provinces are better off banding together against a greater threat than being picked off alone. We need to cultivate an Imperial culture that transcends provincial boundaries, and this war will be the best opportunity for that. Remind everyone that we're living on a deathworld that wants all of us dead, and it's better to be fighting alongside your fellow humans/dwarves/halflings than it is to squabble and infight and backstab.

 

[Kairos]

If that is the status quo for too long however he might return from the war and claim Nuln on the basis that all of his government is there.

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We must not lose Nuln. We need to make sure Konrad gets ganked, and fast. Losing Nuln even for a moment would cripple us. We'd lose the city's income and it's institutions.

Here's a list of what we'd lose:
The Imperial Gunnery School
Iron Tower of the Witchhunters
Grand University of Nuln
Richthofen Foundry
Bank of Nuln
College of Engineering
Hall of the Great Guilds
The Universität
The Wissenland Gazette

We'd be left to rely on our personal domain and our vassals for everything. That's much of our industry and soft power gone. We'd lose or at least severely hinder our learning actions as well. Without them, the province will start to have the punching power of *shudders* Hochland. Actually, maybe even worse than that.

 

[Watcher's Eyes]

We must not lose Nuln. We need to make sure Konrad gets ganked, and fast. Losing Nuln even for a moment would cripple us. We'd lose the city's income and it's institutions.

Here's a list of what we'd lose:
The Imperial Gunnery School
Iron Tower of the Witchhunters
Grand University of Nuln
Richthofen Foundry
Bank of Nuln
College of Engineering
Hall of the Great Guilds
The Universität
The Wissenland Gazette

If you notice, that's literally all of them. Without them, the province will start to have the punching power of *shudders* Hochland. Actually, maybe even worse than that.

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Yeah not an ideal situation if we lose cause that would be a bad time but the situation is gonna take a lot of time to end since vlad is coming back soon is gonna do his counterattack. Remember the Sylvanian state guard are still in the veldt.

@Warkeymon question to soothe some worries.

With nuln being the capital for now we likely have to move away from the Imperial since it's gonna be used by the emperor and the court so our family will be in either manse close to imperial palace or go to wissenburg castle itself. With nuln being the capital do we still have any control of institutions of nuln cause we are still it's lord and know all the ins and outs of it or is it more of a half and half thing where they get something out of it while we do the work. Or are they just leaving the institutions alone to us or something


Also an unexpected benefit would be the investments coming into nuln by way of outsiders wanting to stake a claim in the new capital which will bring alot of new merchants and speculators wanting get in the new capital for prestige of it being close to the leadership boosting the economy which we want and need. We should definitely use that our advantage.