I think that our biggest problem has perhaps been that you didn't give us enough resources to start with.
I mean, we've felt like we're balancing on a cliff the entire game right from the beginning. The relatively consistent bad results due to poor rolls right from the beginning mean that it's actually been less 'balancing on a cliff'and more 'oh god, we're slipping, how do I stop!?!?'...
Which is a problem. If we'd started with say double the cash, but the same cash flow and the pics the same... Then even with those bad results we would be feeling better by now I strongly believe. Sure, we would have had to rush economy just as much to afford keeping the troops, but the attrition and cost modifiers from the merchants would not have been as bad just from having either better troops or a few extra spreading out the damage and causing us to take less damage.
It all would have meant that, if we had basically exactly the same thing happen just with that slightly better starting position, right now we'd probably have two or three more footmen/skirmishers. Which would have meant the current feeling was 'we're in trouble but we can make it through'. Not the current 'if we make it through, we're building a church to every god and goddess of luck and fortune out there.
In short? I think you fine tuned the apparent difficulty curve just a bit too finely at the start. Which combined with our bad luck has kept us constantly on the wrong side of it trying to get back over... And then right as we so, something new turns up that shoves, if not throws, us right back over it.
Don't get me wrong, I've very much enjoyed the quest... Just not the constant 'we are so doomed'cloud that's been hanging over it. Which has upgraded to a thundercloud since the war started.
Again, apparent difficulty. Sure, it might now be as hard as it looks from your side of things, but us here can't see everything and the things we need to do to get a better look constantly go up against actions that improve our current situation. Which means they will always lose out.
After all, aiming for the long term over the short term is the best way of things... But you first need to ensure that there will be a long term.
Inheriting the duchy? Do you think succession is clean-cut?
Late-game would probably be about succession crisis, quite probably with added rebellions and civil war.
An established town would help press our claim to the duchy, we could marry Julia to ally with her family and get their help. If we want the duchy. The larger the (sub-)realm, the more there is to manage. But I suppose Tristan may become less averse to work that does not involve magic.
Succession crisis can be avoided in many ways, such as throwing our support in favour of a sibling of our choice. If our help pushes their powerbase too far for other claimants to credibly contest, why bother?
Overgrowth, with its relatively abundant magic is right here. Why would we want to go anywhere? Even if we take the duchy, we could build a new capital to reap the bounty of rapidly growing lumber and magic bullshit plants, perhaps more. We could try to enchant in Nerissa's grove and see if we can make stuff better or faster. We have the docks which is one step towards a port town.
I'll just throw in that everyone in the kingdom recognizes the importance of presenting a unified front against external powers, chiefly but not exclusively the Orcs like the campaign against Tedora. Revaria tends fairly centralized for a feudal setting as a result. There's probably universal respect for the army since Revaria has a precarious existence. You in your role defending against the Orcs, or Kaleb in that matter declining to inherit the Duchy to continue in your respective roles would according to enshrined norms be respected I think. Any other political concessions are of course more variable.
[x][OJ] Have Olivia let Julia examine her, it's for her own good really, and it's not like there's any point in hiding her nature. She shouldn't be so insecure.
"I have to agree with Julia here. It's for your own good and you have nothing to be ashamed of," you say, patting Olivia on the head with a smile and pushing her off to the back room. She slumps a little, but goes along without complaint, and Julia follows her.
Leo leaves while you wait for Julia to examine Olivia. You idly drum your fingers on the table.
After some time Julia returns, Olivia presumably still cleaning up. She doesn't wait to start speaking though.
"She has no injuries, though I'm glad I was able to see her now anyway, it would have been quite a surprise if I had to treat her," she begins as she settles back into a chair. "Her having such high strength was interesting on its own, but she's always been very careful to keep covered around me. I had thought she had some sort of enchanted gear beneath them she was using. I had no idea about the scales until now, let alone the cute little wings," Julia concludes with a smile directed at Olivia as she reenters the room.
Olivia's cleaned up and changed into her normal house wear. She's clearly still a bit uncomfortable though, despite shyly returning the smile.
"My own curiosity aside, it's good that I was able to inspect her uninjured though, it will make for an important baseline for treatment when tending to her wounds. Chimera can have very...nonstandard internal anatomy that can make medical care very difficult, and it would be worse if I didn't know in advance," Julia continues.
Yeah that probably would have been bad if she had been injured and Julia didn't even know what she looked like in the first place.
"I've read about chimeras before, they're an interesting subject for healers, but I had never heard of one so stable," she says to you, before redirecting to actually speak to Olivia instead, to both of your surprise. "Your Lord is both very talented and very gracious to see to your health so well. I've heard of far less...adventurous plans with quite grim results."
Olivia's cheeks redden adorably, and she visibly struggles between replying or covering her face. "Yes, Lord Tristan is. I'm sure he knew what he was doing," she ultimately replies, finishing with a small smile and as much confidence as she can muster.
You're a little torn at the… inaccurate assessment. You had just been a stupid child really with no grasp of the true risks, and somehow gotten lucky. Things could have gone a lot worse. You're not going to admit that around Olivia though.
[x] Plan Horse Whisperer and Reserves
-[ ][Construction] Rebuild your treehouse watchtowers in the Overgrowth (50 Denier) 99+2
-[ [Construction] Create a fortified causeway connecting your base to Nerissa's grove x2 47+2, 83+2
The winter is unseasonably mild this year, and so construction proceeds at a quick pace. Given the increasing danger posed by the orcs you shift your original plans to instead build an extension to your walls to connect your base directly to Nerissa's grove. You had originally built close to the Overgrowth's edge, and her home was the nearest point of it to you. Despite this your outpost was constructed at a distance sufficient to give a good killing field before the walls, and so the corridor is fairly lengthy. The palisade lined path constructed this season provides enough protection to transfer men and material back and forth in safety even when under siege. Though it will be somewhat more vulnerable than the rest of the fort due to the shape.
You also ordered the rebuilding of the treehouses you used as hiding spots for your scouts. Your construction workers haven't done much in the Overgrowth in a long time, but the forgiving winter weather makes it proves fairly easy to redo their original work. The soldiers spent significant time maintaining them on each patrol, and so can be of some assistance and provide insight into better ways to bend the rapid growth away from the interior of the hides instead of merely hacking it away.
The construction crews progress faster than expected and have enough extra time leftover to put up some treehouses around the edge of Nerissa's grove to act as guardtowers from which soldiers can shoot down. Combined with the existing barrier of living trees forming a wall it's a fairly defensible position and will allow archers to fire down upon attackers from relative safety. Of course it likely still pales compared to what the dryad can contribute to her own defense.
-[ ][Personal] Recruit one Specialist unit (Expert Horse Trainer, 50 Denier) 20
-[ ][Personal] Investigate what's happened with your siblings. 4 (lol)
Your efforts at investigation and recruitment don't go as well as you'd hoped they would. Despite the relatively pleasant weather, you were rather paranoid that the moment you left there'd be a massive storm cutting you off from the base. The rather steady rainfall didn't actually amount to much in terms of storms that could cut off ships, but it did reduce the dirt roads leading to your base to mud, and the courtyard within the base for that matter. You didn't know that at the time though, and you just didn't want to take the risk.
Despite the difficulties you do manage to get a horse trainer of decent skill to sign on for an 'exciting challenge' without much description. They were already employed though and will only be available at the end of spring.
The letters you sent out with the occasional merchant ship were slow to get anywhere though. Partly that's because of switching to ships. Your base needs far fewer ships to supply than wagons, so they come by less often. You end up receiving next to no information on your siblings, perhaps the inquiries were lost entirely.
Though perhaps they weren't lost completely. You do receive a letter from Mina. She's sorry she can't come by in person, but she's rather busy of late. She's heard you're looking into your dearest siblings these days though and having trouble. She'd be happy to send you out her own dossiers on them. It ends with her signature and a lip print the color of dried blood.
[][Mina] Accept her dossiers
[][Mina] You'd rather not
[x][Dockworkers] Commit to defending them
-[ ][Footmen 1] Guard .8*(66+60) = 101
--[ ] The docks
-[ ][Hunters] Assist Footmen 1 as scouts 22+3-5 = 20
On the positive side you know that the dockworkers weren't just leaving. On the negative side there's apparently some monster in the water that likes to have the occasional snack from your docks. The men describe great vines sprouting from the water, wrapping around their victims, and dragging them off the docks into the water. From that you're guessing there's a kraken living in the depths.
Your footmen prove adept enough at warding off the tentacles with their swords, even slicing a bit off occasionally. Your hunters are far less successful with their bows and daggers though, the moving muscular whips proving difficult targets for them, and inflicting little damage when they do hit. Fortunately the footmen are enough to drive the beast off for now. It doesn't seem desperate enough to go after a target that can bite back.
-[ ][Skirmishers] Guard .85*(81+25+10) = 99
--[ ] The base and the sawmill
-[ ][Footmen 2] Guard .8*(54 +30 -5) = 63
--[ ] Construction workers
--[ ] Olivia Helps 15+5
The orcs eased off for the winter as seems to be their custom. You suspect coming from the North as they do that they are used to more hostile winters than you are, and thus even more hesitant to wage a winter campaign.
Easing off isn't to say they didn't attack at all though. Their cavalry units lurked about the forest, attacking the footmen guarding your construction workers and even scouting the defenses of your outpost a few times.
Your 2nd Footmen were in a vulnerable position and took a fair number of casualties in these raids, though less than you feared considering they seemed content to simply harass rather than seriously press the attack, especially when following thru too much would result in Olivia smashing them. Her skill has been improving a bit from fighting more, though perhaps willingness to fight is a more apt description.
Your skirmishers firing arrows from a distance whenever they approached fared much better, with the fortifications preventing any easy attack against them. They were able to keep the wolf riders at a fair distance from your outpost, so they likely gained little intelligence they didn't already have.
Counting corpses you think they lost about evenly with you, but it's hard to say.
(-20% Footmen 2)
-[ ][Levy] Train 69
-[ ][Captain] Train unit Levy
You spend some time observing Leo training the levy. The usual winter rains are less harsh this year, more gentle steady showers than torrential downpours. The spearmen wield blunt staves little more than sticks as they bat about at each other in pairs for a bit in the mud. Leo shortly spots you watching, and a few barked orders have them switch to a loose formation practicing standard moves while he jogs over to you.
The splattering of the mud from his steps makes you conscious of your own boots sinking into the earth. You pull them free with a sucking sound as he reaches you. "Unusual to see you out here," he opens without ceremony.
"I usually have the good sense to stay inside out of the rain yes."
"Well it makes for good training, your enemy won't be so kind as to have every fight on a pleasant spring meadow. Beyond that though far from me to forbid you to witness the training, having the Lord attend lets me drive the men harder, and most of them won't dare complain now," he replies in relative good cheer.
"Sometimes I wonder if this is what you consider entertainment," you jest.
"The best sorts of diversions are the sort you can enjoy while helping you live longer. Taking joy in your job is natural isn't it?" he replies deadpan. "But the mud is the best I've got to train for the Overgrowth entangling your feet in roots and brush."
"How are they doing? I haven't heard you complaining much so I figure they must be doing alright," you ask while observing the unit moving through a pattern of thrusts and sweeps as the wet seeps under your coat.
"About average I'd say, the best improvement is always at the start, and they're learning well enough. This training will keep some of them alive longer at least," Leo answers with a shrug.
Such a response makes you a bit morbid yourself. "How much do you expect that to matter when the orcs come in force?" The unspoken question being whether your base can hold at all.
"Well our mission isn't to win is it? It's to stop the Orcs from moving unchallenged across our lands. To slow them, to make them pay a price in blood. We can't hope to stop their army at this point. They might still hit one of the other passes if the Duke has to strip too much of the forces there, but they seem to have decided on here."
You can kind of feel your hope plummeting at that.
"We can tie them up though. You don't storm a castle if you have any other choice. We could cost them several times our number if we finish the fortifications and they try. So they'll probably try to starve us out. Assuming we actually manage to keep the path to that daughter of yours open though, I'd be curious how much she could grow."
You almost reply that she's not your daughter, but the gleam in his eyes makes it obvious that's a lost cause. Seeing you won't rise to the bait, Leo continues.
"They'll have to leave forces to keep us pinned so we don't harass their supply lines though, and that's forces not moving deeper, that's something at least," he finishes with another shrug.
"With Tedora tying up our forces how long will it take to repel them though?" You compose your words carefully, not expressing your true concern about whether your duchy can repel them at all in such a state.
"You mean to ask if Revaria will survive at all don't you?" Leo cuts through your prevarication with all the subtlety of a waraxe.
You fidget a bit uncomfortably at it being so bluntly put. "I suppose I do."
"No kingdom, no human one at least, sees advantage in orcs making inroads past the Windy Mountains. We've had a pact longer than my life with Giellon to help each other against Orc invasions." He holds up a hand to forestall questions about why they haven't already helped. "They've no interest in messing in our war with other humans, but we can expect their cavalry to ride to our relief when the orcs invade, as we have gone to help them in the past."
You feel a palpable sense of relief. "So we just have to hold?"
"Well I expect Duke Revaria expects more of us than just hiding in our fort and doing nothing at all as the army marches past, but we should be able to get some harassment in fairly safely. Might want to recruit a siege engineer to build some ballistae and catapults though to give us some ranged punch."
Your assistant is gone for most of the winter months this year, traveling about and scrounging up the troops you need where they can be found. While the available number of soldiers is limited, he was able to come up with all of the ones you wanted. At the very least the levy training programs are in full swing and churning them out in large numbers, making recruiting more of them simple.
Everyone knows that winter offensives are insanely risky and often suicidal. It comes as no surprise to you that with the mild weather Kaleb launched a series of intense raids upon the siege camps and supply lines of the Tedorans. His forces contain some of the best soldiers in your nation, and there are few among the enemy who could match them on an even basis. While they were vastly outnumbered, the enemy expected a quiet season and were ill-prepared.
Kaleb's band of heroes shattered camp after camp in an blitz faster than even their messengers, leaving scattered enemies in his wake vulnerable to immediate sallies by the defenders they had previously besieged. As word spread of his attacks he shifted target from the siege camps to the tenuous supply lines that served them, stealing or destroying their food. The entire front was basically shattered in a few weeks of intense battles.
With the sieges lifted masses of supplies have been sent or looted from the enemy camps to restore the stockpiles of the front line castles. Any effort to starve them out will be starting from scratch all over again, and it's hard to say if they'll have the patience for that.
The war has two fronts though, and it seems turnabout is fair play. Reports are sketchy at best, but it seems that Tedora was able to hire one of the mercenary bands that makes up Setan's expeditionary force out from under them. They turned on the rest of merchants' forces and through sabotage and opening of gates allowed the kingdom's forces to rout them with the same degree of surprise that your own side had, and for similar reasons.
The port city that was used as a beachhead is once more in Tedoran hands, and the Setan League is reeling from the loss of much of their army. It will be far harder for them to establish a new beachhead, and their ground forces have been greatly depleted. While you have little care for mercenaries with no loyalties beyond gold, you know that the merchants will be missing that gold. Setan is ever a shifty ally, and you're concerned they won't stick to your side after this loss.
The message you receive from your father warns as much. The merchants are threatening to pull out of your war. He's not had much luck with convincing other nations to attack either, though the bloodying that Kaleb gave them will certainly chum the waters more as news spreads. So it's likely he'll have luck soon.
The League has heard of your suddenly ramping output of Saints Blood though, and it is a dire threat to their sale of the occasional unit produced from the few trees they keep in magical greenhouses at great expense. They've offered to stay in the war, if they get exclusive rights to any Saints Blood healing potions you produce. They would of course be offering you a fraction of the true value. While your father has ultimate authority in this matter, it is your work that has produced this good, so he's open to hearing your thoughts or arguments on this.
[][Setan] ???
(You can offer your own conditions or modifications but keep in mind this is intended as an unfair treaty that's a bribe to keep them involved in the war effort. Provisions which make it more 'fair' make it less of a bribe. Advising outright refusing is also an option. Keep in mind this is about presenting an argument more than just listing stipulations though.)
Plans for Spring: (Base costs shown, decrease 5% for port)
You have 3 construction actions. (Space 15/48) (0 units of bricks available)
[][Construction] Build an inn so you don't have to house guests in inadequate housing. Granted it won't exactly be profitable right now, but maybe as you get more people passing through it will be better? (1 action, 200 denier, 1 space)
[][Construction] Expand the moat around the new walls. There's very little cost involved, but it will be an enormous amount of labor. (1/6 actions, increases cost of further expansion)
[][Construction] Reinforce the new walls with earthen berms, another huge labor cost. (6 actions)
[][Construction] Build a training ground for your personnel. Some targets, some dummies, and obstacle course, and a big area set aside to practice on. Grants a bonus to training. (1 action, 50 denier, 2 space)
[][Construction] Build a second forge to increase the local production available. (200 denier construction cost, 40 denier upkeep, savings of 10% on up to 1000 denier per turn of purchases or upkeep)
[][Construction] Build a larger amount of housing so that you won't run out for a while. Increases housing capacity. 400 denier, 2 spaces
[][Construction] You don't need a steady supply of bricks for your current operation. But you do have a number of things you could use them for. Produce a unit of bricks.
[][Construction] To keep your rabbits trapped will require bricks it seems. A brick lined rabbit pit could improve your output though. Maybe enough to sell furs as well. (Requires 1 unit of bricks, +50 denier in food, opens tanner, uses 1 space.)
[][Construction] Warehouse: You might need more storage capacity. (1000 supply capacity) 100 Denier, 1 space
[][Construction] Large Warehouse: A larger sturdier warehouse made of brick could have some advantages in being more difficult to burn down. (4000 supply capacity) 200 Denier, 2 brick, 2 space, 3 actions
You can do 2x 1d100 or 1d100 +25
[][Personal] Being blind to the world around you is proving really irritating, you suppose you should find out at least the publicly available information about the neighboring nations.
[][Personal] You could produce some basic enchanted gear for one of your units. Sharper blades and harder armor are staples for a reason. (100 Denier in needed materials)
-[] Specify a unit.
[][Personal] Have Leo give you a bit of training. However much you hate it, being better at fighting will help a lot if something is trying to eat you. (Must be taken with appropriate Captain action)
[][Personal] Recruit one Specialist unit (Enchanter, Elite, Healer, Potioneer, Expert Horse Trainer, Civil Engineer) These units need special persuasion or negotiation so can't be hired in bulk. (Note this will involve traveling to them)
[][Personal] Investigate what's happened with your siblings.
[][Personal] Spend time with Nerissa
-[] Plant more Saints Blood
-[] You wonder what other fruit she could produce
-[] Could she make a custom designed plant?
[][Personal] Spend time with someone in your camp
-[] Who?
[][Personal] Write-in
(1 Hunter unit available)
[][Hunters] Hunt for food, reduce upkeep by 50
[][Hunters] Scout to reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
[][Hunters] Scout the orc side of the border to see what forces and structures they have, maybe do some opportunistic raiding too.
[][Hunters] Explore the forest, collect flora and fauna samples.
[][Hunters] Train
[][Skirmishers] Scout to reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
[][Skirmishers] Scout the orc side of the border to see what forces and structures they have, maybe do some opportunistic raiding too.
[][Skirmishers] Explore the forest, collect flora and fauna samples.
(2 footmen units available)
[][Footmen] Patrol, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
[][Footmen] Train with the captain (must be taken with captain action)
[][Footmen] Guard
-[] The base and sawmill
-[] The docks
(2 levy units available)
[][Levy] Patrol, reduce chance of enemies slipping by.
[][Levy] Train with the captain (must be taken with captain action)
[][Levy] Guard
-[] The base and sawmill
-[] The docks
[][Captain] Command troops, raising morale and effectiveness
[][Captain] Train unit (must be taken with appropriate action)
[][Captain] Train you (must be taken with appropriate action)
[][Captain] Train Olivia
Optional:
[][Assistant] Recruitment? Specify what kind, full military units at 3x cost multiplier and possibly unavailable, peasant grade at 2x (no longer guaranteed success)
[][Assistant] Recruit Specialist: Specify what kind.
[][Purchase] Unit of bricks (250 denier)
[][Purchase] Fill warehouse with supplies (350/1000)
-[] How much?
[][Contact] Any one you know
231 starting -1380 upkeep this turn +0.95*(-150 construction) -850 recruitment +600 season payment +400 sawmill +200 Wood Workshop +300 charcoal +400 herb sales +350 drydocks = 108
Upkeep next turn: (1703-100 forge-50 rabbits)-5%: (100 you +100 leo +50 assistant +200 sawmills + 200 construction crews+180 footmen +100 skirmishers +93 hunters +100 levy +50 herbalist +100 woodworkers+50 harvesters+150 charcoal burner +40 forge +40 Nerissa +50 docks +100 drydock)
Income next turn: 600 base stipend + 400 Sawmill profit +200 Wood Workshop +300 charcoal and tar +400 herb sales +350 drydocks
AN: Players wanted some more interactivity with the war, this gives some. Also this puts the stuff talked about between updates into the updates so it's more clear.
So we do what we need to to get ready for being besieged, and come up with a deal for the merchants.
Deal wise there should be something about them not getting to fuck with the supply for the war, set a time limit on how long they get it, and probably try to deal for other mutually beneficial things.
It might be worth growing some more hypnofruit (or whatever it was called) to help ... improve negotiations. It's probably overkill (in a bad way) but our father might think of a way to make it useful.
one thing I think we should ask is if we do agree to give them the healing fruit that we (our nation) get's a discount when purchasing said healing potions as well for the duration of the war since we are allies.
Also they don't sell it to tedoran should they drop out of the war and we're still fighting the tedoran. Granted I don't think they would but it's probably better to make sure then just assume seeing how they are merchants and tend to think in terms of money instead of common sense and decency.
We can always just give them the trade outside of our country, that allows us internal use at will and keeps them in the war (and provides them incentive to both keep us alive and funds to replenish their mercenary force). Also as merchants they may be able to tempt another nation into joining for access to the potion at a discount.
[X] Setan: We've been cultivating a personal relationship with the Dryad to get the Saint's Blood. That probably significantly increases the difficulty of them getting it from our daughter, but there are other dryads, and if they present their offer in terms of a nation that can endure for centuries that should solve the Dryad complaint of humanity's relatively short lives.
I don't have the figures of trade for Saint's Blood here, but I would personally think that preferential trade deals that would cost us...Maybe half of Revaria's current treasury over the course of five years should be an acceptable bribe, plus an extended trade deal might help to keep thoughts of defecting away, or at least force Tedora to pay that much more to gain aid from them.
@inverted_helix are we ever going to get more camp followers? It seems like a good way to track growth of our settment from a military camp to an established village.
As for actions I think we should dump all of our construction actions into our moat and enchant the gear of our second footman unit.
@inverted_helix are we ever going to get more camp followers? It seems like a good way to track growth of our settment from a military camp to an established village.
[x][Setan] It would be unreasonable to require that all Saint's Blood we use be sold to them, and then rebought by us and shipped back here. If you can make the agreement such that it applies only to all sales of Saint's Blood, rather than all production, it would be perfectly reasonable and would still protect their monopoly on the larger scale.
Well I'll note that I did say that the nobility in this setting tends to have a bit of elvish in their heritage, just enough to give them extended lifespans.
Pff, even a natural 1 winter didn't kill you. This winter was over 90, so hardly any winter at all, didn't give any malus to rolls. You're just lucky the orcs didn't take advantage of that like Kaleb did.
Also they don't sell it to tedoran should they drop out of the war and we're still fighting the tedoran. Granted I don't think they would but it's probably better to make sure then just assume seeing how they are merchants and tend to think in terms of money instead of common sense and decency.
We can always just give them the trade outside of our country, that allows us internal use at will and keeps them in the war (and provides them incentive to both keep us alive and funds to replenish their mercenary force). Also as merchants they may be able to tempt another nation into joining for access to the potion at a discount.
To put this in perspective you're basically threatening to flip the table over on it basically. They've been producing a fraction as many units and selling them at prices that are essentially a minor noble's ransom. The doses then are carefully locked away until a noble actually needs them. You're producing them at levels where they can be used on a slightly broader scale to help preserve the duchy's elite soldiers. (Using them for hunters was... a bit overboard.)
This is every bit the threat of artificial diamonds to De Beers. And they have less ability to use marketing to counter it.
[X] Setan: We've been cultivating a personal relationship with the Dryad to get the Saint's Blood. That probably significantly increases the difficulty of them getting it from our daughter, but there are other dryads, and if they present their offer in terms of a nation that can endure for centuries that should solve the Dryad complaint of humanity's relatively short lives.
I don't have the figures of trade for Saint's Blood here, but I would personally think that preferential trade deals that would cost us...Maybe half of Revaria's current treasury over the course of five years should be an acceptable bribe, plus an extended trade deal might help to keep thoughts of defecting away, or at least force Tedora to pay that much more to gain aid from them.
With no gap it looked like the whole thing was a vote, unsure now since quoting it made it clear that you did end the line. Anyways are you suggesting allowing them to try cultivating a relationship with the other dryads? Given the difficulty involved in talking with them, is this essentially a sabotaged deal that will just take a while for them to figure out? Or were you hoping they'd actually succeed? But you aren't actually specifying an offer, so much as implying an idea.
An extended trade deal could help keep them in the war, by being something they don't benefit from if you lose. That's sort of the idea with the healing potions as well. This doesn't seem included in your vote though.
Quite a lot higher than your current one, something closer to 1 per 2 units of soldiers. They're basically no impact on your morale at this level. (Worth noting camp followers in medieval ages would be roughly equal to the number of soldiers, so this is somewhat generous.)
[x][Setan] It would be unreasonable to require that all Saint's Blood we use be sold to them, and then rebought by us and shipped back here. If you can make the agreement such that it applies only to all sales of Saint's Blood, rather than all production, it would be perfectly reasonable and would still protect their monopoly on the larger scale.
This is actually a fairly well reasoned idea. Allowing your domestic use of it doesn't impact their monopoly much because Revaria's pretty poor to pay the prices they were charging anyway. And so you could use it more broadly than their prices allow, sell them whatever is excess, and they could charge their huge markup.
To put this in perspective you're basically threatening to flip the table over on it basically. They've been producing a fraction as many units and selling them at prices that are essentially a minor noble's ransom. The doses then are carefully locked away until a noble actually needs them. You're producing them at levels where they can be used on a slightly broader scale to help preserve the duchy's elite soldiers. (Using them for hunters was... a bit overboard.)
So proposing that we give them rights to external distribution would be fine with them? Duchy would still be making funds even at reduced prices at the same time the merchants can deal with determining price, lining up customers and what not. But for distribution inside our duchy I would want our Father to retain final control (mainly as I see it being used to support our elites).
Well I'll note that I did say that the nobility in this setting tends to have a bit of elvish in their heritage, just enough to give them extended lifespans.
Pff, even a natural 1 winter didn't kill you. This winter was over 90, so hardly any winter at all, didn't give any malus to rolls. You're just lucky the orcs didn't take advantage of that like Kaleb did.
Well you can assume in that sort of case the deal would be off.
To put this in perspective you're basically threatening to flip the table over on it basically. They've been producing a fraction as many units and selling them at prices that are essentially a minor noble's ransom. The doses then are carefully locked away until a noble actually needs them. You're producing them at levels where they can be used on a slightly broader scale to help preserve the duchy's elite soldiers. (Using them for hunters was... a bit overboard.)
This is every bit the threat of artificial diamonds to De Beers. And they have less ability to use marketing to counter it.
With no gap it looked like the whole thing was a vote, unsure now since quoting it made it clear that you did end the line. Anyways are you suggesting allowing them to try cultivating a relationship with the other dryads? Given the difficulty involved in talking with them, is this essentially a sabotaged deal that will just take a while for them to figure out? Or were you hoping they'd actually succeed? But you aren't actually specifying an offer, so much as implying an idea.
An extended trade deal could help keep them in the war, by being something they don't benefit from if you lose. That's sort of the idea with the healing potions as well. This doesn't seem included in your vote though.
Quite a lot higher than your current one, something closer to 1 per 2 units of soldiers. They're basically no impact on your morale at this level. (Worth noting camp followers in medieval ages would be roughly equal to the number of soldiers, so this is somewhat generous.)
The term "enough to retire on" applies.
This is actually a fairly well reasoned idea. Allowing your domestic use of it doesn't impact their monopoly much because Revaria's pretty poor to pay the prices they were charging anyway. And so you could use it more broadly than their prices allow, sell them whatever is excess, and they could charge their huge markup.
Interesting... so, can we also join in the mercenary business? Is the dossiers' given by Mina filled with her own biases so as to influence us? Can she also include the dossier she has on us?
So proposing that we give them rights to external distribution would be fine with them? Duchy would still be making funds even at reduced prices at the same time the merchants can deal with determining price, lining up customers and what not. But for distribution inside our duchy I would want our Father to retain final control (mainly as I see it being used to support our elites).
Keep in mind that internally it's been distributed as war material rather than being sold, you aren't directly making money off that at all. (Though you'll hopefully be reimbursed later for the difference between that and the requests.)
In this sort of arrangement you'd retain that internal distribution and potentially limited internal sales, but the export of the potions to other nations would be done through the merchants and you'd only be gaining a fraction of the true value, though you would be making some money yes.
Interesting... so, can we also join in the mercenary business? Is the dossiers' given by Mina filled with her own biases so as to influence us? Can she also include the dossier she has on us?
You really don't have any forces to spare to be mercenaries. And yes obviously the dossiers will be... creatively edited, that's why it's an option at all instead of just giving them to you.
Keep in mind that internally it's been distributed as war material rather than being sold, you aren't directly making money off that at all. (Though you'll hopefully be reimbursed later for the difference between that and the requests.)
In this sort of arrangement you'd retain that internal distribution and potentially limited internal sales, but the export of the potions to other nations would be done through the merchants and you'd only be gaining a fraction of the true value, though you would be making some money yes.
You really don't have any forces to spare to be mercenaries. And yes obviously the dossiers will be... creatively edited, that's why it's an option at all instead of just giving them to you.
It will happen in the background. Given your trainer will only arrive at end of spring, the pegasus will probably be usable in either Fall or Winter (trains summer and possibly fall, usable season after).
[][Personal] You could produce some basic enchanted gear for one of your units. Sharper blades and harder armor are staples for a reason. (100 Denier in needed materials)
-[] Specify a unit.
I think that we need to make stuff for Olivia. We keep sending her into combat and it might be time to make her some better armor and weapons that can be useful with her strength and skill.
Other than that I think we need to make the training yard, the bunny hut, and a bunch of bricks this turn so we can build the bunny hut... we always need more bricks.
You do. Had them on status sheet, but missed them on the turn planning. Added there now.
I'm really getting worried that it's been over 24 hours without any plan. I probably won't update with fewer than ten votes, but having none at all is just sad.
You do. Had them on status sheet, but missed them on the turn planning. Added there now.
I'm really getting worried that it's been over 24 hours without any plan. I probably won't update with fewer than ten votes, but having none at all is just sad.
Don't have time to make a plan right now, but I'll throw one together in the morning if someone hasn't already put one up I like. Just need to make sure I cover all the bases when doing so.
