Adhoc vote count started by Warkeymon on Apr 25, 2024 at 12:09 PM, finished with 32 posts and 16 votes.
[X] Plan Continue Expansion and Diplo Prep
-[X] Develop Diplomacy 3 dice
-[X] Expand the Garrison 1 die
-[X] Expand the Iron Foot 1 die
-[X] Expand the Elector's Own 1 die
-[X] Restore the Ranks (The Nuln Ironsides) 1 die
-[X] Expand Farms (Mossach) 1 die
-[X] Riverine Docks (Wissenburg) 1 die
-[X] Support the Trantine Canal Project 1 die
[X] Fertilizer and military expansion
-[X] Expand the Garrison 1 die
-[X] Expand the Iron Foot 1 die
-[X] Expand the Elector's Own 1 die
-[X] Restore the Ranks (The Nuln Ironsides) 1 die
-[X] Expand Farms (Mossach) 1 die
-[X] Riverine Docks (Wissenburg) 1 die
-[X] Support the Trantine Canal Project 1 die
-[X] Develop the Gypsum Fertiliser 3 die
What to Expect, when you're Expecting to Talk to Dwarfs
-[X] Develop Diplomacy 3 dice
Target: 100
Skill: +10 Prowess, +10 Fiorella
Council Effect: 0
Other Modifiers: +15 Local Support
Roll Result: (59+89+68)+35 = 216 Success
It is a key skill of the Grand Count of Wissenland that he be capable of diplomacy. At home, in the Imperial Palace, this actually isn't so different from stewardship and the arranging of matters to be just so with a long chain of logistics and staff to cater to the needs of very different guests and minor diplomatic staff who live at the Palace full time.
But from time to time the management of low level ambassadors and emissaries escalates into a diplomatic matter that requires you to actually sit down and talk something out with the other party. At which point everything is a careful negotiation rooted in shared, or sometimes disparate, cultural values and histories. How you might hold a working dinner with a Bretonnian nobleman would be quite different to the same such event with a Dwarf King.
Anticipating a future need for engaging with the Dwarf Kingdoms that bound the Wissenland, and perhaps wary of the growing Dwarftowns within your Province, you have decided to attend a course on Dwarfen high culture and diplomacy at the Universität. It doesn't especially surprise you to discover that the Universität actually has a school amongst its sprawling low buildings dedicated exactly to Human-Dwarf Relations. That the Dean of the School is a Dwarf herself makes you somewhat more trusting of the school than you were when its name first crossed your desk, the individual schools that make up the Universität can be touch and go outside of the main few.
Sitting in a classroom, the nearest desks taken up by members of the Greatswords to prevent the public from getting too close, you attend classes for a few months on any manner of subject near and dear to the Dwarfen heart. Simple courses on Grudgelore, Dwarfen Religion, even rudimentary Khazalid greetings. The Dean warns that Khazalid is considered a religious relic of the Dwarfen people and that butchering the language is far worse than never making the attempt, one should only speak Khazalid if they can be sure they'll say it correctly and one should be very clear with the Dwarf they are speaking with about their limitations with the language.
But for most, that will be no real issue since the Dwarf in question is likely to assume that the human is about as capable as a toddling child. From there lessons touch on the Dwarfen concept of Umgak, that is to say iron that could be made into something of value but would need melting down first. It appears much of the metaphorical landscape of Dwarfen idioms and proverbs is rooted in metallurgy. Humans, or humanity, are considered to be Umgak until proven overwise by most Dwarfs. The Dean speaks with you after a lesson however and explains that the Dwarfs put significant bearing on lineage and as Grand Count it is possible their expectations of you, especially in light of your renown following the Bugman Matter, will be higher than for most humans.
It would appear then that diplomacy with the Dwarfs requires you to demonstrate that either it is very much worthwhile for the Dwarfs to put the effort in to melt you down and remake you better, or to convince them that you are already better. Or as the Dean described it, Dawak, iron which has been tested and proven. Indeed in the Khazalid language the Dwarfs often refer to humans as Umgi and to themselves as Dawi in turn.
+6 Diplomacy
-600 Marks
Expand the Garrison
Target: 276/300
Skill: +30 Martial, +2 Fiorella
Council Effect: +0 Grand Marshal Abroad
Other Modifiers: +24 City of Nuln, +15 Armoury of the Empire, -5 Ranaldian Propaganda
Roll Result: 94+66 = 160 Complete
As the surge in lower nobility seeking to join the ranks of the Garrison dies down, the final effort of drilling the new cohort to its expected standard hits its zenith. This will be the first cohort trained under the newly designed strategies and plans and the success of the cohort will form the foundation upon which the regime rests.
It hasn't helped that the losses suffered in the Mondidier Pass are the focus of Ranaldian Propaganda attempting to dissuade Nulners from signing on to join the Iron Companies, indeed there's at least one case of a recruit for the Garrison resigning their post during training.
Despite this the Garrison's new cohort is soon marching in parade under the balcony of the Imperial Palace. Yourself and Fiorella waving down to them as Eldred mimics you from his position in Fiorella's arms. The boy has recently begun walking, though only for particularly short distances. By the end of the year you're hoping Eldred will be able to handle walking across the Militarstutz's main parade ground.
+1 Cohort for the Garrison
-2,000 Marks, -500 Food, -400 Materials
Expand the Great Company
Target: 221/300
Skill: +30 Martial, +2 Fiorella
Council Effect: +0 Grand Marshal Abroad
Other Modifiers: +25 The Wissenland, +20 Armoury of the Empire, -10 Recent Expansion, -5 Ranaldian Propaganda
Roll Result: 47+62 = 109 Complete
There has been some continuation of the trouble with the scribes concerning the expansion of the Great Company. Already quite far down the road towards two new cohorts, you focus mostly on ensuring the previous confusion doesn't prevent the unit from reaching its proper cohesion. That means a handful of visits to the Industrielplatz to keep the materiel coming in up to specification.
The actual training of the two new cohorts goes smoothly. There's a few marksmen amongst the recruits who hand out tips and tricks to the rest and generally speed up the process. When the Iron Companies return from the Mondidier you imagine there'll be an influx of similar tricks of the trade to help even out the difference between the existing battle-experienced regiments and their newer counterparts.
Efforts to recruit more men to the Company, in part to replace the losses of the Mondider are hampered somewhat by the propaganda in the City but most members of the Great Company are provincial Wissenlanders who are rarely in short supply. And the year comes to a close with a wintry parade of the two new cohorts of handgunners. The Great Company is close to finishing a fifth regiment and there's some excitement as unofficial contests for regimental colours spread across the Militarstutz.
+2 Cohorts for the Great Company of Iron
-2,000 Marks, -500 Food, -400 Materials
Expand the Elector's Own
Target: 262/300
Skill: +30 Martial, +2 Fiorella
Council Effect: +0 Grand Marshal Abroad
Other Modifiers: +26 The Sudenland, +15 Armoury of the Empire, -10 Weak Cavalry Tradition, -5 Ranaldian Propaganda
Roll Result: 2+58 = 60 Complete
The Elector's Own has finished training up its new flight of riders. Thirty skilled horsemen from the Sudenland who have passed their military riding tests with flying colours. From riding in the presence of fires to riding below volleys of gunfire to charging into massed ranks, the riders and their horses have proven capable of carrying out several of the more tricky duties they might be assigned,
In truth the Elector's Own are often deployed as scouts and skirmishers rather than as a hard hitting hammer, they are after all equipped lightly with leathers and lances for chasing and driving away other cavalry groups rather than for getting bogged down in melees. Certainly if it came to it, the Reiksguard knights would outmatch the Elector's Own in a pitched fight.
And it is these skills as scouts and light lancers that the flight are trained on as the year progresses. Each flight in the Company has its own colours, expected to operate semi-autonomously from the rest of the company, and when the time comes for their own presentation beneath the balcony of the Imperial Palace you're ready to present them with it. The ceremony includes oaths to Solland and has significant Sudenlander symbolism with none so obvious as the actual battle standard of Solland that the Elector's Own flies in place of the battle standard of Wissenland.
Fiorella waves and does her part in the ceremony, but in private she mourns the fact she had only just gotten back into a riding state before you'd gone and gotten her pregnant again. She will not have opportunity to ride with the Auld Sollanders of the Company for quite some time, the baby is expected by the matrons some time in the summer of the coming year.
+1 Flight for the Elector's Own Lances
-2,000 Marks, -500 Food, -400 Materials
Restore the Ironsides
Target: 0/667
Skill: +30 Martial, +2 Fiorella
Council Effect: +0 Grand Marshal Abroad
Other Modifiers: +20 Armoury of the Empire, -10 Specialist Recruits, -5 Elite Standards, -5 Ranaldian Propaganda
Roll Result: 28+32 = 60 Contribution
The process of recruiting new Ironsides continues slowly, as expected. In the period between the battle in the Mondidier Pass and Hexennacht last year there was a grand total of about a dozen new Ironsides. It is the view of the Militarstutz that about half of that number can be attributed to the expanded Ironsides recuitment program that you ran.
You decide to continue the program, advertising the Iron Companies to the guards and engineers of the Imperial Gunnery School in particular with posters and leaflets. Even some of the better attended lectures have scheduled talks at the end to attempt to persude new recruits to sign up.
As the year marches on towards the summer, the barracks where the Ironsides live while on duty see six new names on doors. The Ironsides are one of the only Iron Companies to have individual rooms in the Militarstutz, the Garrison is usually expected to have its own accomodation in the City itself and the Greatswords are housed in the Imperial Palace but the rest of the Iron Companies live in long dormitory buildings in the Militarstutz.
+60 Contribution to Restore the Ironsides
-667 Marks, -1,334 Materials, -667 Food
Expand the Farms at Moasach
Target: 0/50
Skill: +11 Stewardship, +15 Fiorella
Council Effect: -1 Chief Mourner
Other Modifiers: +15 Local Support, +30 Jengen Quarry
Roll Result: 12+70 = 82 Complete
Moasach is a small village on the bank of a small lake. It has a local baron, subservient to the Herbarts of Steingart, who has the right to toll those crossing the lake on the route from Steingart to Meissen. However little travel uses this road, and Moasach has little on its own to attract travellers. There is a brewery and an inn, but both are considered poor quality.
One of Moasach's problems may be that it has very little in the way of agriculture, it doesn't have the quality of crop available to better its brewery or the food in the inn and the poor quality of this central and increasingly expensive stop on the route has seen the footfall drop over time.
The Baron Toppenheimer has been charged with rectifying this issue. Workcrews and material have been shipped down from Meissen's side of the route by wagon, avoiding the town of Steingart to avoid the conflict between the Toppenheimers and the Herbarts from causing delays. Expanding the farming space around the village isn't especially difficult, the lake is fed by a handful of streams before itself feeding out towards the Reik so there is plenty of good water for irrigation.
But the locals are Old Faithers with a focus on the antlered hunting god of that ancient pantheon. It is a grave error to make any sort of connection between the antlered God and Taal when in the company of Old Faithers, you recall. Of note for this project, the adherents of the antlered God only hunt and do not farm. Which means finding farmhands from amongst the locals is tricky and persuading outsiders to move in and take up the opportunities being made doesn't get the same eager response of most of the Barony.
Target: 0/150
Skill: +11 Stewardship, +15 Fiorella
Council Effect: -+29 Chamberlain of the Province
Other Modifiers: +40 Electoral Estate, +20 Jengen Quarry
Roll Result: 32+115 = 147 Contribution
Reikufer is the port at Wissenburg, it sits beneath the watchful eye of Castle Liebwitz and sees plenty of throughput. Due to the town being the occassional capital of the province whenever an Emperor chooses Nuln for the imperial seat, Wissenburg has developed around many institutions of government that are currently mostly idle. There's a mint, the tax offices and the Hall of Courts all within a stone's throw of Reikufer.
The Marketplatz is a short way up the slope away from the river, it isn't especially large; Wissenburg is not the heart of any trade route. And the poor quarters of the town sit on either side of the Reikufer along the river. Altmarsch is on the bank of Dottern and largely uninhabited with most of the area being a swampland besides a lonely path out towards a ferry post. Meanwhile the Schmidtwerk district of Wissenburg sits on the bank of the Reik and is home to tight blocks of lower class housing and a few industrial sites that were once built by an ancestor of yours who resented the loss of Nuln to an Emperor of the time. Both Schmidtwerk and Altmarsch flood on a regular basis.
You've charged the Chamberlain with solving the problem of Altmarsch, it is virtually impossible for travel across the Dottern by ferry since in order for wagons to reach the ferry they must first cross Altmarsch. As a consequence travel between the Electoral Estate north of the river and south of the river is nigh on non-existent with only barges to Hinkend meaningfully allowing transport into the southern Electoral Estate. There is a route across the Dottern at Dotternbach up in the foothills of the Grey Mountains but only as far as Halgerbach.
The Chamberlain has worked to resolve the issue then by expanding the wall around the Reikufer, which keeps the quays there from being flooded, such that it also runs along the banks of the Altmarsch. This has involved the collapsing of a few buildings in Altmarsch and the salvaging of the material from those buildings which you're advised weren't actually permitted to be there. The locals of Wissenburg don't seem to mind the destruction, but they do mind that the reshaping of the bank seems to have resulted in worse flooding in Schmidtwerk.
Regardless, the Chamberlain has powered on and a raised embankment along the edge of the Altmarsh runs from Reikufer to the ferry post on the Dottern. Alas, the embankment is mostly mud and turf at the moment. By the time summer hits the stone needed to pave a proper route along the top of the embankment has arrived but not been laid down.
+147 Contribution to Altmarsch Embankment
-1,000 Marks, -200 Materials
Support the Trantine Canal Project
Target: 402/1,000
Skill: +11 Stewardship, +15 Fiorella
Council Effect: +14 Ambassador-At-Large
Other Modifiers: +40 Trantine Support, +10 Jengen Quarry, +5 Kreutzhofen Craneyard
Roll Result: 4+95 = 99 Contribution
The work on the Trantine Canal Project hits a snag. The schedule has taken into account the possibility that the workers will strike ground too hard to shift easily or safely and the route will need a minor diversion. Such an event would require intensive surveying to identify where exactly the boundaries of the geological feature lie and map out an appropriate new route taking into account the requirements caused by flowing water and safe use of barges.
The Ambassador-At-Large has reported that the snag in question is in, what the geotechnical engineers in charge of the surveying call, a terrible place. The work to map out the boundary caused by the feature show that there'll need to be plenty of rework and that part of the already dug trench will need resealing. The whole canal must shift about a mile to the west of the place where the workers identified an unusual hardpoint below the surface and so the angle of the canal needs redesigning and recutting.
The Trantine side of the project doesn't seem especially concerned with the delay, after all the whole point of having Nuln serve as the other side of the project is exactly to solve these engineering problems for them. Still, by the time summer rolls around the Ambassador is tentatively ready to say the project is halfway complete.
+99 Contribution to Trantine Canal Project
-3,000 Marks, -1,000 Materials
You have agreed to issue an expropriation of the Matternich Brewery Company, seizing the assets of the business and making them the belongings of the state. In this case, the belongings of the Barony of Geschburg. You've noted your Chamberlain of the Province slightly happier but in truth it seems she was always assured of your decision, as if she'd been laying the foundations for the expropriation for a while.
Meanwhile further afield the countdown towards the next Royarch of Bretonnia continues, there has been no trace of the army that marched into Athel Loren. But there's been very little trace of the Wood Elves either. All across the Old World they seem to have quietened back down despite the increase in Beastmen activity. The Grand Marshal has written a letter to Nuln requesting permission to stand down the Iron Companies and return to the Militarstutz, it is his assessment that the garrison in the Mondider Pass is no longer required.
And at home, the Shallyan Matrons have confirmed that Fiorella is pregnant once more. You've managed to make it just to the edge of the period that they warned against having another child within, Eldred seeing his first birthday two months before the matrons' evaluation of Fiorella. All the same the Shallyans warn you against disregarding their medical advice in future while at the same time assuring you that both Fiorella and Eldred are doing just fine and they doubt there'll be any issues with this pregnancy either.
And then the news comes in from Averland. The gathered strength of the State Troop, the Free Companies, the Grenzstadt Garrison and several knightly orders has made battle against Waagh! Zurgad in the name of the Empire entire. There was no call for aid to neighbouring provinces, indeed the idea of shifting the Iron Companies to Black Fire Pass hadn't even been seriously considered. The report from Grenzstadt is one of a truly brutal battle. The fortress town has withstood the blow, though not without significant losses or damage to the town. The Dwarfs of the Black Mountains descended, from Karag Dromar which watches the Pass in the name of the Dwarfen Kingdoms, and relieved the town after days of siege and assault.
The final report suggests that the Waagh has not lost all cohesion while fleeing south through the Pass. Which likely means the survival of Zurgad himself and the Waagh may continue to pillage the lands of the Border Princes until it burns up the last dregs of its momentum. Indeed the great gates of the city of Barak Varr reopened in the spring.
Then political crisis strikes the Empire once more. In the height of the summer a letter from Castle Drakenhof arrives in the many seats of power across the Empire. Imperial Candidates and Electors all read about the accusation that Stirland has been actively fostering Slaaneshi Cults, that the Grand Count of Wurtbad has himself been subborned and that if the righteous people of the Stirland do not overthrow him, then the Elector of Sylvania will. This letter arrives at roughly the same time as the letter detailing the fall of Carroburg. Sylvanian Great Cannons shipped overland through the Veldt, Kislev and then by sea to waiting Middenlanders in Nordland have collapsed the northern gatehouse of Carroburg and the Middenlander state troop has poured through and retaken the city.
The Grand Count of Wurtbad has naturally denied the accusations and rumours suggest an alliance with Reikland is in the works.
Meanwhile the Wissenland Gazette has news concerning the wider Empire.
The Empress of Marienburg has continued her overtures to the coastal Dukedoms. It is quite clear that she is betting on the Royarch failing to return to Bretonnia ahead of the countdown to corronation.
The Emperor of Sigmar's Holy Empire has worked to establish an alliance with Stirland, however what the Reikland can do in the face of Sylvanian aggression is unclear as they were only able to evacuate part of the State Troop from Carroburg during the fall of the city.
The Ottillian Empress has continued to throw money into Mordheim, the Talabeclander State Troop has been conscripted to work as labourers in the ruins, But the city is proving to be only a sinkhole for the Empress' funding amid what she decries as sabotage but many call curses.
The Wolf Emperor has retaken Carroburg with the aid of Sylvanian cannon, which no one mentions bears the marks of the Imperial Gunnery School, and has begun efforts to fortify the banks of the Reik in case of a retaliation. The campaign in Nordland momentarily saw a strike north towards the sea but has since returned to pre-war borders.
Intelligence Report:
The Confidante of the Seat has been overseeing efforts to watch over the underworld of Wissenland.
- One morning the City wakes up to a brutal murder. A woman is found dead in her home, completely bled dry. Slaaneshi paraphernalia is found in the house and the Iron Tower confirms that she was the last one on a list of stragglers they were rounding up. But no-one takes credit for the murder.
You have 10 Action Dice. You must apply at least one Action Die to the Province. 1 Action Die is locked into Secure the Pass until you choose to Return to Nuln or the current campaign finishes.
Develop Diplomacy
You're not terrible at diplomacy but you're also not a particular expert. Take some lessons to advance your Diplomacy skill.
Cost: 200 Marks per Die
Must Beat: 160
Engage with a Noble, Notable or Cult (Write-In which Person of Power)
The Wissenland is made of varied Estates, Cults and the City, improving the relationship between yourself and one of your People of Power can improve their investment in the Province. This may also be an opportunity to have more complex discussions about their wants and needs or to make a proposition. (May write-in a suggestion for the discussion you want with the person)
Cost: 200 Marks per Die
Must Beat: 50
Engage with an Elector (Write-In which Elector)
The Empire is made up of several provinces and improving the relationship between yourself and their Elector can create inter-province agreements and support. This may also be an opportunity to have more complex discussions about their wants and needs or to make a proposition. (May write-in a suggestion for the discussion you want with the Elector)
Cost: 1,000 Marks per Die
Must Beat: 150
Engage with a Neighbour (Write-In which Neighbour)
The Old World is made up of several nations and improving the relationship between the Wissenland and one of her neighbours can create international agreements and support. This may also be an opportunity to have more complex discussions about their wants and needs or to make a proposition. (May write-in a suggestion for the discussion you want with the Neighbour)
Cost: 1,000 Marks per Die
Must Beat: 100
Family Matters
You've a family now, and certain dynastic obligations. Engage with the entirety of your family, likely at the retreat of Castle Liebwitz, make light, make fun and enjoy yourselves. Electors have a need to relax, as does your family.
Cost: 200 Marks per Die
Must Beat: 25
We do Negotiate with Ranaldians
The Cult of Ranald wants a few things generally speaking. Recognition as a legitimate Cult and political entity, a democratically elected Mayor of Nuln and better labour rights for the industrial workers who make up a significant part of Nuln's lower class. Arrange a meeting with representatives of the Cult to hammer out what you're willing to agree to.
Cost 200 Marks per Die
Must Beat: 150
Develop Martial
You're noteworthy for being a skilled leader of men and for your military mind. But there's always more progress that could be made.
Cost: 200 Marks per Die
Must Beat: 300
Expand an Iron Company (Select an Iron Company)
Recruit, train and equip men to expand one of the Iron Companies. +10% Company size.
Cost: 2,000 Marks, 500 Food, 400 Materials per Die
Required Effort: 0/300
Fortify the Border (Select a Settlement)
Invest effort in the improvement of the fortifications around a border settlement of the Wissenland.
Cost: 2,000 Marks and 400 Materials per Die
Required Effort: See List of Options
The City of Nuln - 0/2,500
Grissenwald Town - 0/1000
Kreutzhofen Town - 0/1000
Nehren Town - 0/1000
Sonnefurt Fort - 0/1000
Kroppenleben Village - 0/1000
Heisenburg Village - 0/500
Jengen Village - 0/500
Call up Free Company (Select a Free Company)
Send out the word that you're commanding a Free Company to come into order and assemble.
Cost: 200 Marks per Die
Must Beat: 50
Improve Free Company (Select a Free Company)
Issue equipment to volunteers, send out sergeants and spread the word that all men should join their Reserve.
Cost: 1,000 Marks and 100 Materials per Die.
Required Effort: 0/200
Return to Nuln
End the Mondidier Pass Campaign and return the Iron Companies to Nuln.
Cost: 0
Required Effort: 50
Secure the Mondidier Pass
Trade has slowed to a halt in the Mondidier Pass as the Loren Highway has become a deadly crossing raided at leisure by Wood Elves on a warpath. You have agreed to deploy Iron Companies to solve the problem. (Write-In whether to join personally)
Cost: 0
Required Effort: 50
Restore the Ranks (Select an Iron Company)
Restore an Iron Company to its full size.
Cost: See List of Options
Required Effort: See List of Options
The Iron Foot of the Wissenland
Cost: 720 Marks, 7,200 Materials, 7,200 Food
Required Effort: 0/72
The Great Company of Iron
Cost: 1,180 Marks, 118 Materials, 1,180 Food
Required Effort: 0/118
The Elector's Own Lances
Cost: 476 Marks, 476 Materials, 4,760 Food
Required Effort: 0/476
Modify the Company Wagons
An idea has been raised amongst some members of the Ironsides that modifying the logistics wagons could turn them into mobile pavises from which the handgunners can fire at a higher elevation and with higher protection. Have the logistics wagons retrofitted for this purpose.
Cost: 500 Marks, 500 Materials per Die
Required Effort: 0/200
Develop Stewardship
You're below average at this whole Stewardship thing, perhaps numbers aren't quite your field. Perhaps you need to work on your skill.
Cost: 200 Marks per Die
Must Beat: 110
Prospect the Mountains (Select a Settlement)
Send out Prospectors into the Province around one of the Mountain-side settlements.
Cost: 400 Marks per Die
Must Beat See List of Options
Expand Mines (Select a Settlement)
Invest in the existing mines to dig deeper and more greedily around already known veins.
Cost: 1,000 Marks and 200 Materials per Die
Effort Required: See List of Options
Expand Farms (Select a Settlement)
Invest in the fertile land of the Rivers of the Wissenland to expand the farms of the estates.
Cost: 1,000 Marks and 200 Materials per Die.
Effort Required: See List of Options
Riverine Docks (Select a Settlement)
Invest in the dockyards of a river-side settlement to improve trade through it.
Cost: 1,000 Marks and 200 Materials per Die.
Effort Required: See List of Options
Invest in City Institutions (Select an Institution)
Dedicate your efforts to expanding and improving the facilities of a City Institution.
Cost: 1,600 Marks and 300 Materials per Die
Effort Required: See List of Options
The Industrielplatz - 0/600
Imperial Gunnery School - 0/400
The Bank of Nuln - 0/250
College of Engineering - 0/250
Support the Trantine Canal Project
Send resources and work crews into Trantio to build the canal from the Trantine Hills to the River Bellagio.
Cost: 3,000 Marks, 1,000 Materials per Die
Effort Required: 536/1,000
Develop Intrigue
You're alright at Intrigue, plots come together, and intelligence efforts are effective enough. But you could certainly improve.
Cost: 200 Marks per Die
Must Beat: 140
Investigate Threat (Select a Threat)
Your expanding network of informants and counter-agents means nowhere in Wissenland is a safe space for hostile forces.
Cost: 100 Marks per Die
Must Beat: See List of Options
Assault Threat (Select a Threat and Aim)
Your counter-agents are capable of seizing or killing hostile targets throughout Wissenland, though sometimes the Black Guard must ride down the enemy.
Cost: 400 Marks and 40 Materials per Die
Must Beat: See List of Options
Establish Agents (Select any faction you can perform diplomacy with)
Train and deploy intelligence staff capable of spying, stealing, kidnapping and killing on your orders with discretion and subtlety.
Cost: 1,000 Marks and 200 Food per Die
Must Beat: 100
Establish Counteragents (Select a Region)
Train and deploy intelligence staff capable of detecting, arresting or killing agents within the Regions of the Wissenland. (Nuln, Wissenland, Sudenland)
Cost: 1,000 Marks and 200 Food per Die
Must Beat: 60
Develop Learning
You're known to be a learned man, a natural consequence of your Cult and the city of your birth. But a learned man knows firstmost, there is always more to learn.
Cost: 200 Marks per Die
Must Beat: 200
Develop the Flintlock
The Imperial Gunnery School believes that the rifles produced in Nuln could be made more resistant to wet environments and faster firing by adjusting the mechanism that lights the blackpowder.
Cost: 1,400 Marks and 100 Materials per Die
Must Beat: 200
Develop the Shot Package
The Imperial Gunnery School believes that while the Great Cannon fires huge cannon balls quite well there's an argument to be made, they could fire more than one at once if only they could work out how to pack it.
Cost: 2,000 Marks and 200 Materials per Die
Must Beat: 300
Develop the Magnetic Compass
While there are some simple compasses that use water or lodestone the College of Engineering has come to you looking for support for an idea of a Magnetic Compass. A device that uses refined lodestones to always show North. Useful for navigation you suppose.
Cost: 600 Marks and 20 Materials per Die
Must Beat: 100
Develop the Gypsum Fertiliser
The new fertiliser laboratories should be invested in to ensure their research can be used for the good of the Province. Some of the College's engineers believe that gypsum can be refined into a fertiliser for the fields.
Cost: 1,000 Marks, 200 Food and 20 Materials per Die
Must Beat: 150
Invest in the Schools
Expand and improve the facilities of the institutions of learning that Nuln boasts.
Cost: 1,600 Marks and 300 Materials per Die
Effort Required: See List of Options
The Grand University - 0/300
The Imperial Gunnery School - 0/300
The Universität - 0/100
The College of Engineering - 0/150
Develop Prowess
For all the effort you've put in, you're not perhaps as dangerous as you'd like to be.
Cost: 200 Marks per Die
Must Beat: 160
Sunk cost option at this point. If they agree to stop the sabotage, and work under our spymaster, we'll consider 'Nulner Industrialist Shudder' implementing workers rights...
This letter arrives at roughly the same time as the letter detailing the fall of Carroburg. Sylvanian Great Cannons shipped overland through the Veldt, Kislev and then by sea to waiting Middenlanders in Nordland have collapsed the northern gatehouse of Carroburg and the Middenlander state troop has poured through and retaken the city.
The Wolf Emperor has retaken Carroburg with the aid of Sylvanian cannon, which no one mentions bears the marks of the Imperial Gunnery School, and has begun efforts to fortify the banks of the Reik in case of a retaliation. The campaign in Nordland momentarily saw a strike north towards the sea but has since returned to pre-war borders.
Well, this is all quite awkward for Wissenland, and we've run out of time to clarify our relationship with the Reikland Emperor on amicable grounds.
I'm aware we've thus far been very content to try and ignore wider imperial politics as much as possible, but at this point, sitting on our hands any further will be seen as complicity with the Sylvanians. At the very least, we ought to make moves to back up Stirland, and some diplo with the Reikland would be advised.
If we diplo with anyone I would say Averland our neighbors. Though denying passage through our lands made it longer for Vlad to make his move. We do need to find the vampires that are taking root so maybe more counter agents? Also we had some very low rolls, like the docks could have finished in one die thanks to our bonuses.
Diplo Contacts
Turn 2- Baroness von Heisenberg of Sonnefurt, positive (we funded the improved fortification efforts here which recently finished)
Turn 2b- Imperial Gunnery School (crit failure- caused the stolen cannons by Sylvanians, in the end we did get the smuggling ring and spy ring)
Turn 3b- Iron Tower of Witchhunters, positive (gave us the option to let them hunt again which we did)
Turn 6- Baron Vincentus Preiss of Scharmbeck, negative (wanted autonomy and we said no, sits at -95)
Turn 8- Baron Toppenheimer of Pfeildorf, positive (we got along with him and learned some things, family seems to like us)
Turn 11- Elector of Ostermark (Warning them of Sylvanian cannons)
Turn 13- Princess Fiorella (Engagement to her)
Turn 14- Countess Pfeifraucher of Kreutzhofen (talked at wedding, opened up Monditor campaign)
Turn 15- Elector of Ostland (talked at his daughters wedding, sold cannons at a discounted price)
Turn 18- Baroness Molly Toppenheimer of Geschburg (Mitterancht question)
Sunk cost option at this point. If they agree to stop the sabotage, and work under our spymaster, we'll consider 'Nulner Industrialist Shudder' implementing workers rights...
] Plan Diplomacy (3 dice 3000 Marks)
-[] Engage with a Neighbor(Karak Izor- Prospecting) 3 dice Martial (2 dice 1024 Marks 5308 Food 1574 Mats)
-[] Return to Nuln 1 die locked
-[] Restore the Ranks (The Nuln Ironsides) 1 die
-[] Restore the Ranks (The Elector's Own Lances) 1 die Stewardship (3 dice 5000 Marks, 1400 Mats )
-[] Riverine Docks (Bedernau) 1 die
-[] Riverine Docks (Wissenburg) 1 die
-[] Support the Trantine Canal Project 1 die Learning (2 dice 1200 Marks, 40 Mats)
-[] Develop the Magnetic Compass 2 dice
Total: 10224 Marks 5308 Food 3014 Mats
@Warkeymon for the Return to Nuln would that use the die that is locked on the pass or would it use one of our 10 free dice?
Current thoughts- either reach out Karak Izor as part of our dwarven diplomacy or reach out to Averland as our next door neighbors. For Martial- reutrn to nuln that campaign seems over and restore the ranks on the 2 that need the most progress. For stewardship Marks continues to be our biggest issue with econ so finish 1 dock and try to do a 2nd dock (this will be the 1st phase done in Berdernau and at 100 progress has a good chance to finish in one turn) while also continuing to help with the Canal.
We have 1 or 2 dice left, if 2 dice I could see doing the compass action under learning, if 1 dice probably throw it into another docks projects.
We do Negotiate with Ranaldians
The Cult of Ranald wants a few things generally speaking. Recognition as a legitimate Cult and political entity, a democratically elected Mayor of Nuln and better labour rights for the industrial workers who make up a significant part of Nuln's lower class. Arrange a meeting with representatives of the Cult to hammer out what you're willing to agree to.
Cost 200 Marks per Die
Must Beat: 150
Maybe if we didn't live in the age of Three Emperors with the Vampire Wars on the horizon I'd be more against negotiation (and I assume it's negotiation after all, not capitulation), but I'd like those negative modifiers gone and potentially having Ranaldian assistance against Vlad's infiltrators. Considering the rule of the nobility is probably worth less to the common folk in an era where there are three claimants doing everything they can to be on top, some more respect towards the masses might even be more well received than in the time post-Great War period.
And I'm pretty sure it's a proven fact IRL that better rights can lead to mid and long term greater productivity.
The Cult of Ranald wants a few things generally speaking. Recognition as a legitimate Cult and political entity, a democratically elected Mayor of Nuln and better labour rights for the industrial workers who make up a significant part of Nuln's lower class. Arrange a meeting with representatives of the Cult to hammer out what you're willing to agree to.
well, he is also the god of revolution and freedom, as well as luck, fortune, tricksters, rogues, travelers, and, well, thieves, as well as being worshipped as a protector of the common people.
to sum it up, there is a reason he is not a universally proscribed god like khaine or the Four- even if the authorities tend not to like his cults very much.
One morning the City wakes up to a brutal murder. A woman is found dead in her home, completely bled dry. Slaaneshi paraphernalia is found in the house and the Iron Tower confirms that she was the last one on a list of stragglers they were rounding up. But no-one takes credit for the murder.
Could be a couple of suspects. Khornates are a possibility but they would have likely left the room and covered in blood rather then drain her without much spread. Could also be a cult of Khaine, there are instances of him having human worshippers and treat murder as holy but again they likely wouldn't have been this clean.
Leaves Vampires but with how Slaaneshi items were left to be found it's rather obvious that it's a group striking a rival in a moment of weakness and trying to make the victim sufficiently unsympathetic that the investigators will just write her death off.
Question is what toes was the Slaaneshi cult stepping on with their operations inside Nuln.
well, he is also the god of revolution and freedom, as well as luck, fortune, tricksters, rogues, travelers, and, well, thieves, as well as being worshipped as a protector of the common people.
to sum it up, there is a reason he is not a universally proscribed god like khaine or the Four- even if the authorities tend not to like his cults very much.
Yeah, with a portfolio like that his cult doesn't need to be proscribed for it to be persecuted. You don't need to worship a banned god to be arrested for thievery and terrorism after all.
Legitimating them won't make ending them any easier. I very much doubt they would stop skulking around just because they can officially build a temple now. Randal's is still the patron his of a lot of criminals so his temple would likely be a shady gambling den in the bad part of town.
[X] Plan Talking with Dwarves Diplomacy (3 dice 3000 Marks)
-[X] Engage with a Neighbor(Karak Izor- Prospecting) 3 dice Martial (2 dice 1024 Marks 5308 Food 1574 Mats)
-[X] Return to Nuln 1 locked die
-[X] Restore the Ranks (The Nuln Ironsides) 1 die
-[X] Restore the Ranks (The Elector's Own Lances) 1 die Stewardship (3 dice 5000 Marks, 1400 Mats )
-[X] Riverine Docks (Bedernau) 1 die
-[X] Riverine Docks (Wissenburg) 1 die
-[X] Support the Trantine Canal Project 1 die Learning (2 dice 1200 Marks, 40 Mats)
-[X] Develop the Magnetic Compass 2 dice
Total: 10224 Marks 5308 Food 3014 Mats
Current thoughts- either reach out Karak Izor as part of our dwarven diplomacy or reach out to Averland as our next door neighbors. For Martial- reutrn to nuln that campaign seems over and restore the ranks on the 2 that need the most progress. For stewardship Marks continues to be our biggest issue with econ so finish 1 dock and try to do a 2nd dock (this will be the 1st phase done in Berdernau and at 100 progress has a good chance to finish in one turn) while also continuing to help with the Canal. Also going to try one of the learning options to see if our bonuses have improved thanks to the temple finishing.