Ghostdevil
The Devil of Ghosts
- Location
- United States
[X] Open the Royal Exams to female Patricians
The Ymaryn: Succession
- Thread starter Redium
- Start date
- Original Fantasy Alt. History
10ebbor10
DON'T PANIC
- Location
- Present
6-8 is still net growth though.
So unless more than 50% of our population consistently commits suicide before reproducing, population ought to be growing.
Ghostdevil
The Devil of Ghosts
- Location
- United States
And even then it isn't even a Meritocracy but an super Elitist totalitarian state that places immense importance on things only the elite have either time or resources to learn.
Its funny that in pursuit of modern ideals they created a society stratified to the absolute maximum possible.
- Location
- nz
[X] The Murderer
[X] Switch graduation criteria to a lower absolute score instead of relative placement
[X] Open the Royal Exams to female Patricians
[X] Switch graduation criteria to a lower absolute score instead of relative placement
[X] Open the Royal Exams to female Patricians
- Location
- New York
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I'll get it! Rolling...
Well, presuming higher is better, it's not the worst.
Well, presuming higher is better, it's not the worst.
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Aranfan
Team Plasma Grunt
Doesn't the Mercenary have the most votes by that tally tho?
- Location
- New York
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I ran a tally and the murderer won. Recently the in thread tally posts are messed up a lot.
It's best 2 so you're better than average.
I've double checked things a second time and @Parzival95 is correct: the Murderer won. I'm not sure why the tally is messed up, but it is for some reason.
Ghostdevil
The Devil of Ghosts
- Location
- United States
Honestly what possible use would this have anyways? Its progressive for the time, but even for the Ymaryn who are unrealistic in every way, the peasantry wouldn't even have the time to study for the exam really, and even if the exam was made vastly easier would still be difficult.
Very interesting take on the Highlanders.
One way to create a small crack might be to exchange goods that they want in return for the people whose souls have supposedly been taken. It fits with their theology that we'd want "our" people back, and it's to our benefit to provide high-quality goods without deception, so that the Highlanders keep handing "our kind" over.
(Incidentally, this also gives them a systematic incentive to declare more people as demon replacees, which may help destabilize them.)
After oh so many generations of this, the Ymaryn gain a reputation: we're demons but we don't deceive on the quality of our goods.
The goal then would be to build this into "we're demons but our word is our bond": make a deal with us and you can trust us to keep it. Trade with the Highlander border posts would be limited at first, so it's not so difficult to ensure it's all above board, with ambassadors reaching out to take complaints and paying generous remedies to the Highlanders, until fair-dealing-or-proactive-remedy becomes the expectation. Once that reputation has solidified, start making deals not to steal their merchants' souls, allowing them to make short trips to Ymaryn outskirts.
Fast-forward, this becomes the new norm, and more and more merchants are willing to make the trip (the naysayers being out-competed). After generations of exposure, it becomes common knowledge among them that the Ymaryn sure don't act like flesh-eating demons; we obviously take pride in our farmed feasts, and no one's ever seen even a hint of cannibalism in so many centuries. The increasingly rich mercantile class eventually makes their way into the halls of power, and everyone "in the know" starts treating the Cartesian World as superstition rather than fact (it helps that the people in power are also beneficiaries of quality Ymaryn goods).
That's probably the furthest extent that trade policy alone would take it; it could develop any number of ways from there.
One way to create a small crack might be to exchange goods that they want in return for the people whose souls have supposedly been taken. It fits with their theology that we'd want "our" people back, and it's to our benefit to provide high-quality goods without deception, so that the Highlanders keep handing "our kind" over.
(Incidentally, this also gives them a systematic incentive to declare more people as demon replacees, which may help destabilize them.)
After oh so many generations of this, the Ymaryn gain a reputation: we're demons but we don't deceive on the quality of our goods.
The goal then would be to build this into "we're demons but our word is our bond": make a deal with us and you can trust us to keep it. Trade with the Highlander border posts would be limited at first, so it's not so difficult to ensure it's all above board, with ambassadors reaching out to take complaints and paying generous remedies to the Highlanders, until fair-dealing-or-proactive-remedy becomes the expectation. Once that reputation has solidified, start making deals not to steal their merchants' souls, allowing them to make short trips to Ymaryn outskirts.
Fast-forward, this becomes the new norm, and more and more merchants are willing to make the trip (the naysayers being out-competed). After generations of exposure, it becomes common knowledge among them that the Ymaryn sure don't act like flesh-eating demons; we obviously take pride in our farmed feasts, and no one's ever seen even a hint of cannibalism in so many centuries. The increasingly rich mercantile class eventually makes their way into the halls of power, and everyone "in the know" starts treating the Cartesian World as superstition rather than fact (it helps that the people in power are also beneficiaries of quality Ymaryn goods).
That's probably the furthest extent that trade policy alone would take it; it could develop any number of ways from there.
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Turn 3: Holding Holy
Turn 3: Holding Holy
1622 AGF, Reign of Ydrys the 170 King ofAll Ymaryn
[X] The Murderer
[X] Switch graduation criteria to a lower absolute score instead of relative placement
[X] Open the Royal Exams to female Patricians
Checking over the list of Philosophers recognized in this year's Royal Exams, Ydrys said: "Is this all?" It was still a long list. On average, the People had graduated a few hundred thousand Patricians each year across all of the Academies. From that list, only a few thousand would be recognized as Philosophers
Ianto nodded silently. "It's not enough, my King."
"It was the war, wasn't it?" Ydrys asked. "It's two thirds as long as it should be."
"As far as we can tell, yes," Ianto said. "When the previous King called for all able-bodied men to defend the realm, to give their all, even if it included their lives, many answered. Despite the fact that many were exempt from the Mass Levy and, in deed, forbidden from participating, they did. Aside from professional soldiers, Patricians are universally the most martially skilled segment of society. As such, many left their studies to answer the call, and now their studies will remain incomplete."
Standards had been lowered. It physically hurt Ydrys to give the order, but it was done. More had graduated as a result, but it wasn't nearly the numbers that Ydrys had hoped for and it did nothing to actually raise standards. Instead of four-in-ten being recognized as graduates, the numbers rose to six-in-ten, but the number of Philosophers and Masters had still precipitously dropped. Instead, they were graduating dross.They would have to tighten standards again in the future, but this was an emergency.
"The women candidates didn't pan out nearly as much as we had hoped."
"It's only to be expected, your Highness. They…" The man's teeth clicked closed when he saw the glare that greeted him. "Physical education and military theory were the biggest oversights, my King."
It made sense. By some measures, women performed relatively closely to their male peers: running, horseback riding, etc. On the other hand, what need would a woman have to shoot a bow and repeatedly hit a man-sized target at hundred paces? Why would she train to fire a full sheath of bolts from a crossbow in ten minutes? Or train to be able to lift a three hundred pound stone and wield weapons made from solid lead? There was virtually no tradition of warrior womanhood within the Kingdom, because there had never been a need for it. Aside from the Khan, when was the last time the Kingdom even went to war? Ydrys couldn't recall.
"There are other, systematic deficits as well," Ydrys noted. Female examinees excelled in diplomacy and court protocol, performing better than their male peers. Mathematics and accounting was relatively even between both. When it came to matters of law or natural philosophy, they performed more poorly. Considering how law was the single most significant portion of the exam with only mathematics being a near equal, it meant they often received significant penalties.
"In the end, despite an overwhelming flood of female applicants, only one-out-of-five managed to pass the test," Ianto said.
Compared to approximately 70% of male applicants passing, it was disastrously low and only barely increased the number of Patricians they could apply to administrative duties. If they had been competing under the old relative standing standards, only 5% of female examinees would have passed, but it would have pushed nearly all of the male patricians over the line. The crisis was nowhere near solved and more drastic action would have to be taken.
The only thing Ydrys found strange, however, was that a higher proportion of women who passed, were Masters or Philosophers than their male counterparts. What exactly that meant, however, they weren't quite sure. Male Patricians made up the bulk of graduates and tended to score more highly, but produced fewer high-tier scorers. They were still the obvious bulk, however, since twice as many men wrote the Royal Exams and far more of them passed. Was it just chance, then? Or something else?
Eyes drifting over the list of Philosophers one last time, Ydrys came to a stop. Examinee #113 of Valleyhome: Aderyn, daughter of Gylyes. Born: 1604 AGF in Hatvalley. Score: 610. Rank: Philosopher. It was the highest score of the year by a significant margin. Second place was a mere 497. Flipping through the report to the more detailed breakdown, if you excluded the section on physical and military aptitude, Ydrys noticed that his wife's scores were comparable to his.
A frisson of something crawled up his spine. They'd only been married for a few months, but it was enough that he should have expected this. He did, but to see the numbers so plainly….
"Ah," Ianto said. "It caused quite a stir when that was noticed."
Ydrys finally said: "It was clear she's clever."
"Unfortunately," Ianto said. "Many know how to respond to this and it hasn't been positive. There are whispers among many in the Academies that her results may be less than honest."
"They think she cheated?"
"There are no questions of her honesty or integrity, my King," Ianto said. "The security measures taken during the exams are effective. Individual cells for testing, constant supervision, identity checks, three hour test intervals, searching the person of each examinee and providing standardized clothing to write in have all but eliminated dishonesty."
"They're questioning the integrity of the exam," Ydrys said. "They think my changes to the Exams enabled her score. Even if it's not cheating, it's not reflective of my wife's skill." Or his own character.
Ianto nodded. "It was inevitable to some extent, any change or alteration to the exam would create skepticism. Lowering standards creates both resentment and nourishes opportunism. It was a decision I can see your reasoning for, even if the necessity of the action escapes me."
"What would you have done then, Ianto? Given administrative positions to those with experience, whether they come from the Guilds, what's left of the army, or the priesthood? Or call back those in retirement? You know as well as I that Patricians normally work to the point of infirmity. All of our options would devalue the Royal Exams just as much. Worse, it'd bypassed them entirely."
"And what is it that holds our society together, my King?" Ianto asked. "It is the Patricians. If it were not for our management, the Guild would have burned our Sacred Forests whole, feeding the fires of industry until they'd devoured us all. If it was not for our guidance, the peasants would've divided up the lands, turning them into a feudal patchwork instead of a single, unified Crown. If not for our vision, the priests would have wasted the rest of eternity tilling the same soil over and over until the very End of Days."
"Ianto, how do you support a system when it's crashed near irrecoverably? If wishes were fishes, none would go hungry. And right now, we are starving."
"Because I believe," he stated. "From before the recording of history, the Patricians have guided the Ymaryn. Sixteen hundred years after the God Fist and who knows how many centuries before? There were ups and downs, but we were never lost. Never. Nowhere else in the world, known or unknown, can possibly claim the same."
"The sun rises each day, but is it the same sun?" Ydrys asked. It was a quote from the Book of Eyes, one of the more allegorical holy books of the People, but often considered foundational to much of philosophy.
"Just because a criminal goes to sleep at night does not mean they will be released from their Half-Exile," Ianto responded. "While I may not be as worldly as some, I am old and I have seen much. Do you know how the rest of the world defines a forward-thinking ruler? If they can plan for their own lifetime; a pittance on the scale of crowns and countries. How many times have the People made investments that we knew would not pay off for centuries where others can't even manage to plan ahead five years?"
"I wonder how the Last King would have planned in the last five years of his reign?" That was a dirty blow and Ydrys knew that it struck home. For all the foresight of the People, the Patricians, whatever Ianto liked to credit for their success, the Great Khan had nearly brought them all low. Tens of millions were dead and tens of millions more displaced.
"That is why we must be our best, unconditionally, always, and in every situation," Ianto said. "I would much rather entrust our legacy, our futures, and our children to the finest souls in the Kingdom than any other pretender. I do everything to see that done. I've brewen the tea myself when asked to, no priests necessary."
Ydrys said nothing. He couldn't. His vision seemed to constrict, everything falling away except for a pinprick focused on the professor's face. His mind whirled away, elsewhere and elsewhen. The worst day of his life. He suddenly realized he was standing, he was standing and the old man in front of him was starting to cower. He was hot. Pulse pounding. He couldn't even hear the blatant excuses that tumbled from the professor's lips.
"Out. Now." He growled. And the professor was gone.
Good. That was good.
Ydrys collapsed back down into his chair.
If the professor hadn't left — had said anything or even hesitated — Ydrys suspected that he wouldn't have been around much longer.
For the next hour, Ydrys could get nothing done. Instead, he focused as much he could on centering himself. Breathing exercises, stretches; everything they had touched on in the Academy about managing stress, he tried all of it. It worked, somewhat, but he increasingly became aware of a tenseness in his guts that simply didn't seem to relax.
What was he going to do with Ianto? Even now, there was a little coal of anger burning there. He could dismiss the man, he was King and control over the council was unquestionable. Still, to dismiss such a highly placed courtier so early in his reign would reek of scandal, regardless of why. And there was no reason. Nothing Ianto had said or did was truly objectionable to the People.
"Is . . . is this a bad time?"
"It…." Looking up, Ydrys saw his wife standing hesitantly in the doorway. Clutched to her chest was a sheaf of papers that he knew would require his signature. Despite being his wife, she'd fit into his life almost unobtrusively. She seemed to be quiet by nature, even her motions carried with them a faint sense of silent timelessness.
"I found out that one of my councilors is not who I thought they were," Ydrys eventually said.
"Were Haul's thefts too much?"
A flash of irritation cut through Ydrys' mind. He knew it was unfair and that Aderyn could clearly see it, but some part of him was just irrationally angry. Had the conversation with Ianto affected him that much?
Gesturing to one of the nearby bookcases, Ydrys said simply: "Explain."
Watching his wife closely pull out the confidential dispatches from his council, Ydrys was struck by how nervous she seemed. Was every moment of her life spent on eggshells or was this something else? She was nearly ten years younger than him, the same age he had been when he finally wrote the Royal Exams, drawing enormous attention as one of the youngest people to ever make the attempt. He'd heard that only Rhys and Dyfan had even been comparable and both of them were older. What drove Aderyn to match his scores with none of the official resources?
He'd been staring, Ydrys suddenly realized. His eyes flashed down, away from the dark curls of her hair and striking iron coloured eyes.
Regardless, a simple claim of embezzlement should be easy for her to prove with the scores she showed on the exam. Sniffing out corruption was often the literal bread and butter for young Patricians getting started in their careers. Finding one of your superiors was corrupt (or making it seem like they were) often meant an near-term immediate promotion in your future.
Pursuing dispatches and selection various requisitions, it nearly immediately became obvious to Ydrys that his wife was right. How had he missed it? I hadn't looked, he realized. With everything else, the Kingdom itself collapsing around all of their ears, he'd simply taken his councilors at face value. If he'd looked into any of their records, he'd have quickly realized. Haul was subtle — very clever — but his limitations were clear. At least to Ydrys.
"Why do you think he's doing this?" Ydrys eventually asked.
"He's . . . he's taking excessive quality control samples of alum, natron, red lead, stannous, vermilion, vitriol, and zaffre. Much more than would be needed to ensure that their quality is actually high." Aderyn hesitated, "I don't know what some of those are."
"Common reagents in alchemy," Ydrys said.
"Experiments," Aderyn said immediately. "It's how he was able to make his breakthrough with purple glass. I remember father talking about it once and the stir it caused in the glassmakers' guilds. No one could figure out how he'd found the recipe, no one was able to trace the materials or expertise he must have been using."
That faintly surprised Ydrys. It was clear that the glassmakers had moved to find something, anything, to discredit the person who'd embarrassed them, but they found nothing. Were his thefts that covert?
"What else?"
"His requisitions for expertise," Aderyn said. Her voice slowly grew, evening out as she dived deeper and deeper into the papers before them. "Look, here. He's been requisitioning the expertise of a number of guild masters. Glass, of course, blacksmiths, redsmiths, silver and goldsmiths. Miners, sailmakers, dockworkers, longshoremen, and others. All of those are at least somewhat understandable. But he's also been speaking to carpenters. Then there are even requisitions for journeymen, people far beneath the notice of the King's councilor."
That had stumped Ydrys, but he remained silent.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait." Pulling out the requisitions, she started to mutter. "28, 31, 34, 31, 29, 33. They're too old! Look, all of the requisitions for journeymen are older than average, significantly so. It was the war, these men were drafted!"
"He was looking for military experience?" It clicked. What would Haul possibly want with military men, with sailmakers and dockworkers? His projects and his telescope. He hadn't given up on them, even when the King had ordered him to work elsewhere. "I have a feeling, Aderyn, that if you were to present these findings before Haul, he would have some way to justify them." At least partially. Ydrys was certain that while there was an excuse, there was no truly justifiable reason.
"It's true though, and you know it!" She insisted.
"Yes," he said finally. "What would you do about it?"
That caused her enthusiasm to dim. The wide smile that once dominated her face was replaced with a thin line. "Father always dealt with it," she muttered. "Censure him? Demote him?"
"How much has he stolen?" Ydrys asked. Likely in the neighbourhood of several dozen guldyr once you considered what could be considered vaguely justifiable; a pittance when considering the budget of the guilds he was effectively overseeing.
"Does it matter?" Aderyn asked. "He's stealing. Now that you know about it, if someone ever found out, you'd be complicit. An accomplice. They'd sentence you the same as they'd sentence him!"
"And who would sentence the King?" Ydrys asked.
The answer was immediate: "Parliament."
"The power of the Crown and the King are supposed to be absolute."
"Do you believe that?"
"No."
To be honest, Ydrys did not. While Parliament had always publicly played nice, he suspected that the reality was far more gritty. Many Kings had ended up dying young, after all, and Parliament had aggressively reserved the right to oversee and appoint the Heir of the King.
While right now they remained far too distracted by the near destruction of the Kingdom to put on any kind of united front, that state of affairs was temporary. They'd eventually find their feet and begin asserting themselves in the future. If they uncovered Haul's theft, it would become a weapon held against him, even if the theft itself was utterly insignificant. If only Haul's obsession with research and experimentation had remained above board. But he tried to make it so, a tratorious part of Ydrys' mind whispered, you just didn't listen.
In the end, did that even matter? They all had their duty.
Aderyn Revealed to be an Intrigue Hero!
Primary Strength: Intrigue (Heroic), Administration
Secondary Strength: Culture
Known Loyalties: Gylyes & Hyatha
Ambitions: ???
How do you respond to Haul's thefts?
[ ] Dismiss him
[ ] Public reprimand
[ ] Private censure
[ ] Tell him to stop
[ ] Do nothing
It was nearly the beginning of the month of Mehefyn by the time Ydrys' newest councilor arrived. He seemed to be young and old at the same time, pale skin standing out in contrast to his attire. The man was everything the King expected a Blackbird to be. Clad in a flowing black-hooded cloak, he wore a traditional stole of raven's feathers around his shoulders. Attached to his belt was the infamous crow mask of the order with its black glass eyes glinting in the light. With every step he took, his cloak visibly parted, revealing clothing of simple make and practical cut beneath. What was also visible were braces of knives and daggers, a small crossbow, and a cane constantly rapping on the marble floor of the throne room.
"My King." He bowed deeply. "My name is Euryg, First Raven of the Blackbirds. I have come to you in the light to again renew my fealty and offer a pledge of allegiance. I swear on my soul to be faithful now and into the future to my lord, the King and Crown. Your enemies are my enemies, your struggles are the burdens I willingly take up. I shall serve in the shadows on all the days of my life so that we all may enjoy the light. I humbly pledge all that I am and will be."
"Rise, Euryg," Ydrys quickly commands. "Stand by my side and be welcome. I shall offer you safety and succor, success and surplus. Know that you are my honoured charge, from now until the End of Days; not even death shall break our bond of brotherhood."
While oaths of fealty were well known in Ymaryn society, that typically did not formally extend to the relationship between a patrician and his advisors. That relationship was closer, more intimate and personal that could be expected from a vassal. Still, this had been Euryg's idea to so publicly give fealty, a way of reassuring the People and re-establishing full continuity with everything that came before.
"Then, my King, let us get to work."
It took the better part of two hours, during which Euryg's continence became increasingly pinched and distraught, that Ydrys help ground him in the affairs of state. "The situation is worse than we thought." He eventually sighed. "My King, with all the respect that is due to you, I wish to beat you like an errant stepchild."
Taken aback, Ydrys didn't know what to say.
"When you first began to even imagine the magnitude of destruction afflicting the Kingdom, why did you not seek out the expertise of a general? Before me?"
"There have been numerous, immensely pressing concerns," he said.
"And the Khan's Horde? We beat them, but we have no idea where even half of their troops disappeared to! What would have happened if they came back any time in the last three-and-a-half years!? Or if the Thunder Mountains had made good on their promise to violently rebel against the Crown instead of the ineffectual protests they offer now!? It took a near deathblow from the Highlanders for you to realize your oversight — a crisis you only managed to solve by luck! What would have happened if there weren't entire mercenary armies available for hire? They would've sacked and raped and burned Txolla and we'd all be starving! The Great Holy War was the single greatest military defeat — a crisis unmatched in all the history of the Kingdom — and you didn't think military expertise would be necessary in the aftermath of that?"
"Are you finished, councilor?"
It was as if a switch was flipped. Euryg's entire bearing instantly changed. Instead of palpable rage, he became serene. Ydrys couldn't even see anger in the Blackbird's eyes. Was it all an act, or was this now the act?
"My King," he said. "My recommendation to you is manifold. I could look into the demobilization of the Mass Levy, see how much our utterly crumbling and overloaded systems have failed the people who fought to keep the Kingdom alive. Or begin reclaiming the millions of weapons that are right now floating around the Kingdom, available to anyone with blood on their mind. Alternatively, I can begin focusing on implementing the reforms suggested by Ianto's—" he instantly seemed to pick up on Ydrys' feelings about the other councilor, "—By the Council's investigation into the Great Khan's war. Lastly, I could use my unique skill set to look into internal problems inside the Kingdom."
"Those latter actions can be set aside for now, we need your military expertise." And Ydrys suspected Aderyn would likely do a better job, not to knock Euryg's skill too much. "Before that, what is the condition of the Blackbirds?"
"...The Order is near effectively defunct, I'm one of the few active members that are left." Despite his even wording, the pain in his voice was obvious. "We're down mostly to elders and young children. It will be decades before we've recovered and we can't even begin to estimate what was lost. Our archives are extensive, but because of the nature of our work, most of our information was stored in the Order's collective memory. There's no telling what was lost."
Not good. Then again, when was the last time Ydrys had heard good news?
"What reforms to the military were suggested?"
"At the most simple, militia training. Most people drafted into the Mass Levy are completely untrained in the art of war. They're often explicitly selected because the Census deems them expendable; they have no other necessary skills. If they're going to fight, they might as well be trained to fight better, even if it's only part time. Without the Census or a City Levy prepared, this is premature.
"The second option would be to focus on strategic independence. The Khan ran rings around us because his highest rank officers were empowered to make important decisions. Ours are not. Military command is immensely centralized, probably because of the singularly masterful generals the People have had during our most desperate wars.
"The third and final choice is to focus on overhauling logistics. While the Mass Levy will never subsist off mare's milk and horse blood, a lot could be done in order to speed up the requisitioning and movement of supplies so that the army could be more mobile."
"That will be taken into consideration, thank you, Euryg."
Rumours
Announcement
Wedding Bells: In the heart of Valleyhome, King Ydrys was wed to Aderyn, the beautiful daughter of Governor Gylyes, ruler of Hyatha. The Kingdom rejoices and well-wishers have contributed supportive gifts from all corners of the Kingdom. May their union be peaceful, long, and fruitful! (+1 Stability)
Public
Where Are Our Leaders?: Long have the People always depended on the leadership of Patricians. A combination of administrator, mathematician, scientific advisor, and legal scholars, the Patricians form the bedrock of the highly complex, integrated network of the Ymaryn Kingdom. Settlement efforts have proceeded swiftly but were seriously hampered by a constant lack of administrative support, despite the best efforts of King Ydrys. Why are the Patricians failing to uphold their duties? (Divine Glorious Elites Degraded!)
Cults Charge Ahead: The Ymaryn Crown has always guaranteed freedom of conscience and religion. While this has meant that religious conflicts rarely drew blood, fractious infighting was profoundly common. In the waning days of the Great Khan's war, a number of small religious splinter movements have increasingly risen to prominence. The Great Khan was a weapon, they say, one wielded by the Gods to make clear their displeasure. There is a pressing need for a reformation of the Ymaryn faith and social order in order to respond to the clear displeasure of the Gods. Voices diverge at this point regarding what exactly should be done, but this debate will clearly come to a head at some point in the future.
Confidential
Spirit Signals: The Spiritbonded Holy Order has signaled to the Crown a desire to relocate their headquarters to a new patch of fertile land in Western Wall generously donated by Dyfan, Governor of the Wall. Previously, the Holy Order had been located in the Heaven's Hawks March directly at the foot of the northern mountains opening up into the Great Plains. Displaced by the Great War against the Khan, they have been temporarily stationed in Txolla, but have found that their current headquarters are deeply inadequate and do not meet their needs. As an organization of warrior-priests, they are officially independent and can do as they wish due to the Crown's long standing policy of total religious autonomy for its various churches, but they wish for your blessing.
[ ] Send Rhys to try placate them (Lose his action this turn, success is not guaranteed)
[ ] Promise to carve out a new headquarters in suitable lands within 5 years.
[ ] Intervene with Dyfan to retract the donation of land. (Spend your Favour with Dyfan)
[ ] Pledge support for the Spiritbonded to rebuild the Heaven's Hawks March under their authority.
[ ] Grant your blessing.
Half-Exile Hate: Half-Exiles occupy a strange place in Ymaryn society. The People as a whole hate slavery with a violent and firey passion, but as punishment for crimes or social transgressions, sentence people to a period of unfree labour: Half-Exile. While they receive high levels of financial remuneration and extensive government benefits in turn for the labours (they are not slaves), Half-Exiles remain incredibly socially marginalized. Local neighbourhood watch captains have reported that over the last year Half-Exiles are increasingly seeking them out for assistance in order to respond to violence from the local population. Due to extensive damage suffered by the neighbourhood watch, further information is not available.
You have (1) Authority and (2) Influence
(Use them by marking an action at the end with either (Authority) or (Influence))
Ydrys should focus on (Up to 1 and an extra 1 from the advisor actions. Ydrys' main action can be sacrifice to allow another choice from the advisor actions.):
[ ] Ydrys: Continue to respond to the Patrician Crisis
-[ ] Call back retired Patricians
-[ ] Condense and accelerate the Academies' curriculum
-[ ] Accept non-Patricians with on-the-job administrative experience as Patricians
-[ ] Try recruiting Mercenary Patricians?
-[ ] Advertise among the other Splinter States and poach from them
[ ] Ydrys: Rebuilding Market Towns
[ ] Ydrys: Repairing Salterns
[ ] Ydrys: Reseeding Farms
[ ] Ydrys: Preparing Public Health
[ ] Ydrys: Nurturing Neighbourhood Watches
[ ] Ydrys: Recreate the Census
Rhys should focus on (1):
[ ] Rhys: Mend fences between Ydrys and Ianto.
[ ] Rhys: Investigate rumours of the Khan's generals.
[ ] Rhys: Investigate a Councilor
-[ ] (Haul/Ianto/Prydyer/Aderyn/Euryg)
[ ] Rhys: Create a wide web of contacts across the Ymaryn sphere
[ ] Rhys: Focused Contacts
-[ ] (Western Wall/Greenshore/Hyatha/Thunder Mountains/Txolla)
[ ] Rhys: Monsoon Sea situation
[ ] Rhys: Syffryn Sea situation
[ ] Rhys: Great Plains situation
Haul should focus on (1):
[ ] Haul: Dismiss this councillor for cause and select another
[ ] Haul: Contact Thunder Mountain
[ ] Haul: Perfecting Telescopes
[ ] Haul: Applying Current Telescopes:
-[ ] (Army/Navy/Sale/Communications)
[ ] Haul: Survey the Core for resources
[ ] Haul: Survey Txolla for resources
[ ] Haul: Investigate ways to alchemically separate silver and lead without mercury
[ ] Haul: Try to negotiate with Gylyes for access to mercury
[ ] Haul: Establish a lead-silver mine in the northern Core
Prydyer should focus on (1):
[ ] Prydyer: Reseeding Farms
[ ] Prydyer: Rebuilding Market Towns
[ ] Prydyer: Evaluating foreign markets
[ ] Prydyer: Build Loyalist sentiment in Txolla
[ ] Pryder: Focused Contacts: Txolla
[ ] Pryder: Complete a general agricultural land use survey.
Ianto should focus on(1):
Due to an ongoing personality conflict between this councilor and the King, his action cannot be selected. He will complete an action this turn based on his personality and past actions. Due to lack of oversight and a Heroic King, this half action is refunded.
[ ] Ianto: Dismiss this councilor and find another; damn the scandal.
[ ] Inato: Maintain this councilor.
Aderyn should focus on (1):
[ ] Aderyn: Investigate a Councilor
-[ ] (Rhys/Haul/Ianto/Prydyer/Euryg)
[ ] Aderyn: Create a wide web of contacts across the Ymaryn sphere
[ ] Aderyn: Focused Contacts
-[ ] (Western Wall/Greenshore/Hyatha/Thunder Mountains/Txolla)
[ ] Aderyn: Investigate the Cults
[ ] Aderyn: Serial Killer Investigation
[ ] Aderyn: Investigate the attacks on Half-Exiles
[ ] Aderyn: Rebuild Neighbourhood Watches
Euryg should focus on (1):
[ ] Euryg: Logistics Overhaul Reform
[ ] Euryg: Strategic Independence Reform
[ ] Euryg: Militia Training Reform
[ ] Euryg: Establish Valleyhome City Levy
[ ] Euryg: Look into Mass Levy demobilization
[ ] Euryg: Take stock of the Royal Navy
[ ] Euryg: Personally direct the fighting against the Highlanders
[ ] Euryg: Work on rebuilding city walls
[ ] Euryg: Begin recalling arms and armour from the Khan's war
AN: I realize I made a mistake with the last update. You choose to survey with Haul and I didn't realize. Anyway, the results of that survey was to find a silver-lead mine in the northern reaches of the Core. While the silver itself isn't very valuable to the Ymaryn, the lead is at the current time. The main issue is, the Ymaryn's main way of separating lead-silver alloy is through the use of mercury, which you do not have. This has added a few actions for Haul to set up the mine or try to research and address the issue.
AN2: You also have enough information to figure out why Ydrys hates Ianto at the moment. Internet cookies to whoever figures it out. Either way, personality conflicts are going to be prominent issues for you in the future, if perhaps not this extreme.
1622 AGF, Reign of Ydrys the 170 King of
[X] The Murderer
[X] Switch graduation criteria to a lower absolute score instead of relative placement
[X] Open the Royal Exams to female Patricians
Checking over the list of Philosophers recognized in this year's Royal Exams, Ydrys said: "Is this all?" It was still a long list. On average, the People had graduated a few hundred thousand Patricians each year across all of the Academies. From that list, only a few thousand would be recognized as Philosophers
Ianto nodded silently. "It's not enough, my King."
"It was the war, wasn't it?" Ydrys asked. "It's two thirds as long as it should be."
"As far as we can tell, yes," Ianto said. "When the previous King called for all able-bodied men to defend the realm, to give their all, even if it included their lives, many answered. Despite the fact that many were exempt from the Mass Levy and, in deed, forbidden from participating, they did. Aside from professional soldiers, Patricians are universally the most martially skilled segment of society. As such, many left their studies to answer the call, and now their studies will remain incomplete."
Standards had been lowered. It physically hurt Ydrys to give the order, but it was done. More had graduated as a result, but it wasn't nearly the numbers that Ydrys had hoped for and it did nothing to actually raise standards. Instead of four-in-ten being recognized as graduates, the numbers rose to six-in-ten, but the number of Philosophers and Masters had still precipitously dropped. Instead, they were graduating dross.They would have to tighten standards again in the future, but this was an emergency.
"The women candidates didn't pan out nearly as much as we had hoped."
"It's only to be expected, your Highness. They…" The man's teeth clicked closed when he saw the glare that greeted him. "Physical education and military theory were the biggest oversights, my King."
It made sense. By some measures, women performed relatively closely to their male peers: running, horseback riding, etc. On the other hand, what need would a woman have to shoot a bow and repeatedly hit a man-sized target at hundred paces? Why would she train to fire a full sheath of bolts from a crossbow in ten minutes? Or train to be able to lift a three hundred pound stone and wield weapons made from solid lead? There was virtually no tradition of warrior womanhood within the Kingdom, because there had never been a need for it. Aside from the Khan, when was the last time the Kingdom even went to war? Ydrys couldn't recall.
"There are other, systematic deficits as well," Ydrys noted. Female examinees excelled in diplomacy and court protocol, performing better than their male peers. Mathematics and accounting was relatively even between both. When it came to matters of law or natural philosophy, they performed more poorly. Considering how law was the single most significant portion of the exam with only mathematics being a near equal, it meant they often received significant penalties.
"In the end, despite an overwhelming flood of female applicants, only one-out-of-five managed to pass the test," Ianto said.
Compared to approximately 70% of male applicants passing, it was disastrously low and only barely increased the number of Patricians they could apply to administrative duties. If they had been competing under the old relative standing standards, only 5% of female examinees would have passed, but it would have pushed nearly all of the male patricians over the line. The crisis was nowhere near solved and more drastic action would have to be taken.
The only thing Ydrys found strange, however, was that a higher proportion of women who passed, were Masters or Philosophers than their male counterparts. What exactly that meant, however, they weren't quite sure. Male Patricians made up the bulk of graduates and tended to score more highly, but produced fewer high-tier scorers. They were still the obvious bulk, however, since twice as many men wrote the Royal Exams and far more of them passed. Was it just chance, then? Or something else?
Eyes drifting over the list of Philosophers one last time, Ydrys came to a stop. Examinee #113 of Valleyhome: Aderyn, daughter of Gylyes. Born: 1604 AGF in Hatvalley. Score: 610. Rank: Philosopher. It was the highest score of the year by a significant margin. Second place was a mere 497. Flipping through the report to the more detailed breakdown, if you excluded the section on physical and military aptitude, Ydrys noticed that his wife's scores were comparable to his.
A frisson of something crawled up his spine. They'd only been married for a few months, but it was enough that he should have expected this. He did, but to see the numbers so plainly….
"Ah," Ianto said. "It caused quite a stir when that was noticed."
Ydrys finally said: "It was clear she's clever."
"Unfortunately," Ianto said. "Many know how to respond to this and it hasn't been positive. There are whispers among many in the Academies that her results may be less than honest."
"They think she cheated?"
"There are no questions of her honesty or integrity, my King," Ianto said. "The security measures taken during the exams are effective. Individual cells for testing, constant supervision, identity checks, three hour test intervals, searching the person of each examinee and providing standardized clothing to write in have all but eliminated dishonesty."
"They're questioning the integrity of the exam," Ydrys said. "They think my changes to the Exams enabled her score. Even if it's not cheating, it's not reflective of my wife's skill." Or his own character.
Ianto nodded. "It was inevitable to some extent, any change or alteration to the exam would create skepticism. Lowering standards creates both resentment and nourishes opportunism. It was a decision I can see your reasoning for, even if the necessity of the action escapes me."
"What would you have done then, Ianto? Given administrative positions to those with experience, whether they come from the Guilds, what's left of the army, or the priesthood? Or call back those in retirement? You know as well as I that Patricians normally work to the point of infirmity. All of our options would devalue the Royal Exams just as much. Worse, it'd bypassed them entirely."
"And what is it that holds our society together, my King?" Ianto asked. "It is the Patricians. If it were not for our management, the Guild would have burned our Sacred Forests whole, feeding the fires of industry until they'd devoured us all. If it was not for our guidance, the peasants would've divided up the lands, turning them into a feudal patchwork instead of a single, unified Crown. If not for our vision, the priests would have wasted the rest of eternity tilling the same soil over and over until the very End of Days."
"Ianto, how do you support a system when it's crashed near irrecoverably? If wishes were fishes, none would go hungry. And right now, we are starving."
"Because I believe," he stated. "From before the recording of history, the Patricians have guided the Ymaryn. Sixteen hundred years after the God Fist and who knows how many centuries before? There were ups and downs, but we were never lost. Never. Nowhere else in the world, known or unknown, can possibly claim the same."
"The sun rises each day, but is it the same sun?" Ydrys asked. It was a quote from the Book of Eyes, one of the more allegorical holy books of the People, but often considered foundational to much of philosophy.
"Just because a criminal goes to sleep at night does not mean they will be released from their Half-Exile," Ianto responded. "While I may not be as worldly as some, I am old and I have seen much. Do you know how the rest of the world defines a forward-thinking ruler? If they can plan for their own lifetime; a pittance on the scale of crowns and countries. How many times have the People made investments that we knew would not pay off for centuries where others can't even manage to plan ahead five years?"
"I wonder how the Last King would have planned in the last five years of his reign?" That was a dirty blow and Ydrys knew that it struck home. For all the foresight of the People, the Patricians, whatever Ianto liked to credit for their success, the Great Khan had nearly brought them all low. Tens of millions were dead and tens of millions more displaced.
"That is why we must be our best, unconditionally, always, and in every situation," Ianto said. "I would much rather entrust our legacy, our futures, and our children to the finest souls in the Kingdom than any other pretender. I do everything to see that done. I've brewen the tea myself when asked to, no priests necessary."
Ydrys said nothing. He couldn't. His vision seemed to constrict, everything falling away except for a pinprick focused on the professor's face. His mind whirled away, elsewhere and elsewhen. The worst day of his life. He suddenly realized he was standing, he was standing and the old man in front of him was starting to cower. He was hot. Pulse pounding. He couldn't even hear the blatant excuses that tumbled from the professor's lips.
"Out. Now." He growled. And the professor was gone.
Good. That was good.
Ydrys collapsed back down into his chair.
If the professor hadn't left — had said anything or even hesitated — Ydrys suspected that he wouldn't have been around much longer.
For the next hour, Ydrys could get nothing done. Instead, he focused as much he could on centering himself. Breathing exercises, stretches; everything they had touched on in the Academy about managing stress, he tried all of it. It worked, somewhat, but he increasingly became aware of a tenseness in his guts that simply didn't seem to relax.
What was he going to do with Ianto? Even now, there was a little coal of anger burning there. He could dismiss the man, he was King and control over the council was unquestionable. Still, to dismiss such a highly placed courtier so early in his reign would reek of scandal, regardless of why. And there was no reason. Nothing Ianto had said or did was truly objectionable to the People.
"Is . . . is this a bad time?"
"It…." Looking up, Ydrys saw his wife standing hesitantly in the doorway. Clutched to her chest was a sheaf of papers that he knew would require his signature. Despite being his wife, she'd fit into his life almost unobtrusively. She seemed to be quiet by nature, even her motions carried with them a faint sense of silent timelessness.
"I found out that one of my councilors is not who I thought they were," Ydrys eventually said.
"Were Haul's thefts too much?"
A flash of irritation cut through Ydrys' mind. He knew it was unfair and that Aderyn could clearly see it, but some part of him was just irrationally angry. Had the conversation with Ianto affected him that much?
Gesturing to one of the nearby bookcases, Ydrys said simply: "Explain."
Watching his wife closely pull out the confidential dispatches from his council, Ydrys was struck by how nervous she seemed. Was every moment of her life spent on eggshells or was this something else? She was nearly ten years younger than him, the same age he had been when he finally wrote the Royal Exams, drawing enormous attention as one of the youngest people to ever make the attempt. He'd heard that only Rhys and Dyfan had even been comparable and both of them were older. What drove Aderyn to match his scores with none of the official resources?
He'd been staring, Ydrys suddenly realized. His eyes flashed down, away from the dark curls of her hair and striking iron coloured eyes.
Regardless, a simple claim of embezzlement should be easy for her to prove with the scores she showed on the exam. Sniffing out corruption was often the literal bread and butter for young Patricians getting started in their careers. Finding one of your superiors was corrupt (or making it seem like they were) often meant an near-term immediate promotion in your future.
Pursuing dispatches and selection various requisitions, it nearly immediately became obvious to Ydrys that his wife was right. How had he missed it? I hadn't looked, he realized. With everything else, the Kingdom itself collapsing around all of their ears, he'd simply taken his councilors at face value. If he'd looked into any of their records, he'd have quickly realized. Haul was subtle — very clever — but his limitations were clear. At least to Ydrys.
"Why do you think he's doing this?" Ydrys eventually asked.
"He's . . . he's taking excessive quality control samples of alum, natron, red lead, stannous, vermilion, vitriol, and zaffre. Much more than would be needed to ensure that their quality is actually high." Aderyn hesitated, "I don't know what some of those are."
"Common reagents in alchemy," Ydrys said.
"Experiments," Aderyn said immediately. "It's how he was able to make his breakthrough with purple glass. I remember father talking about it once and the stir it caused in the glassmakers' guilds. No one could figure out how he'd found the recipe, no one was able to trace the materials or expertise he must have been using."
That faintly surprised Ydrys. It was clear that the glassmakers had moved to find something, anything, to discredit the person who'd embarrassed them, but they found nothing. Were his thefts that covert?
"What else?"
"His requisitions for expertise," Aderyn said. Her voice slowly grew, evening out as she dived deeper and deeper into the papers before them. "Look, here. He's been requisitioning the expertise of a number of guild masters. Glass, of course, blacksmiths, redsmiths, silver and goldsmiths. Miners, sailmakers, dockworkers, longshoremen, and others. All of those are at least somewhat understandable. But he's also been speaking to carpenters. Then there are even requisitions for journeymen, people far beneath the notice of the King's councilor."
That had stumped Ydrys, but he remained silent.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait." Pulling out the requisitions, she started to mutter. "28, 31, 34, 31, 29, 33. They're too old! Look, all of the requisitions for journeymen are older than average, significantly so. It was the war, these men were drafted!"
"He was looking for military experience?" It clicked. What would Haul possibly want with military men, with sailmakers and dockworkers? His projects and his telescope. He hadn't given up on them, even when the King had ordered him to work elsewhere. "I have a feeling, Aderyn, that if you were to present these findings before Haul, he would have some way to justify them." At least partially. Ydrys was certain that while there was an excuse, there was no truly justifiable reason.
"It's true though, and you know it!" She insisted.
"Yes," he said finally. "What would you do about it?"
That caused her enthusiasm to dim. The wide smile that once dominated her face was replaced with a thin line. "Father always dealt with it," she muttered. "Censure him? Demote him?"
"How much has he stolen?" Ydrys asked. Likely in the neighbourhood of several dozen guldyr once you considered what could be considered vaguely justifiable; a pittance when considering the budget of the guilds he was effectively overseeing.
"Does it matter?" Aderyn asked. "He's stealing. Now that you know about it, if someone ever found out, you'd be complicit. An accomplice. They'd sentence you the same as they'd sentence him!"
"And who would sentence the King?" Ydrys asked.
The answer was immediate: "Parliament."
"The power of the Crown and the King are supposed to be absolute."
"Do you believe that?"
"No."
To be honest, Ydrys did not. While Parliament had always publicly played nice, he suspected that the reality was far more gritty. Many Kings had ended up dying young, after all, and Parliament had aggressively reserved the right to oversee and appoint the Heir of the King.
While right now they remained far too distracted by the near destruction of the Kingdom to put on any kind of united front, that state of affairs was temporary. They'd eventually find their feet and begin asserting themselves in the future. If they uncovered Haul's theft, it would become a weapon held against him, even if the theft itself was utterly insignificant. If only Haul's obsession with research and experimentation had remained above board. But he tried to make it so, a tratorious part of Ydrys' mind whispered, you just didn't listen.
In the end, did that even matter? They all had their duty.
Aderyn Revealed to be an Intrigue Hero!
Primary Strength: Intrigue (Heroic), Administration
Secondary Strength: Culture
Known Loyalties: Gylyes & Hyatha
Ambitions: ???
How do you respond to Haul's thefts?
[ ] Dismiss him
[ ] Public reprimand
[ ] Private censure
[ ] Tell him to stop
[ ] Do nothing
It was nearly the beginning of the month of Mehefyn by the time Ydrys' newest councilor arrived. He seemed to be young and old at the same time, pale skin standing out in contrast to his attire. The man was everything the King expected a Blackbird to be. Clad in a flowing black-hooded cloak, he wore a traditional stole of raven's feathers around his shoulders. Attached to his belt was the infamous crow mask of the order with its black glass eyes glinting in the light. With every step he took, his cloak visibly parted, revealing clothing of simple make and practical cut beneath. What was also visible were braces of knives and daggers, a small crossbow, and a cane constantly rapping on the marble floor of the throne room.
"My King." He bowed deeply. "My name is Euryg, First Raven of the Blackbirds. I have come to you in the light to again renew my fealty and offer a pledge of allegiance. I swear on my soul to be faithful now and into the future to my lord, the King and Crown. Your enemies are my enemies, your struggles are the burdens I willingly take up. I shall serve in the shadows on all the days of my life so that we all may enjoy the light. I humbly pledge all that I am and will be."
"Rise, Euryg," Ydrys quickly commands. "Stand by my side and be welcome. I shall offer you safety and succor, success and surplus. Know that you are my honoured charge, from now until the End of Days; not even death shall break our bond of brotherhood."
While oaths of fealty were well known in Ymaryn society, that typically did not formally extend to the relationship between a patrician and his advisors. That relationship was closer, more intimate and personal that could be expected from a vassal. Still, this had been Euryg's idea to so publicly give fealty, a way of reassuring the People and re-establishing full continuity with everything that came before.
"Then, my King, let us get to work."
It took the better part of two hours, during which Euryg's continence became increasingly pinched and distraught, that Ydrys help ground him in the affairs of state. "The situation is worse than we thought." He eventually sighed. "My King, with all the respect that is due to you, I wish to beat you like an errant stepchild."
Taken aback, Ydrys didn't know what to say.
"When you first began to even imagine the magnitude of destruction afflicting the Kingdom, why did you not seek out the expertise of a general? Before me?"
"There have been numerous, immensely pressing concerns," he said.
"And the Khan's Horde? We beat them, but we have no idea where even half of their troops disappeared to! What would have happened if they came back any time in the last three-and-a-half years!? Or if the Thunder Mountains had made good on their promise to violently rebel against the Crown instead of the ineffectual protests they offer now!? It took a near deathblow from the Highlanders for you to realize your oversight — a crisis you only managed to solve by luck! What would have happened if there weren't entire mercenary armies available for hire? They would've sacked and raped and burned Txolla and we'd all be starving! The Great Holy War was the single greatest military defeat — a crisis unmatched in all the history of the Kingdom — and you didn't think military expertise would be necessary in the aftermath of that?"
"Are you finished, councilor?"
It was as if a switch was flipped. Euryg's entire bearing instantly changed. Instead of palpable rage, he became serene. Ydrys couldn't even see anger in the Blackbird's eyes. Was it all an act, or was this now the act?
"My King," he said. "My recommendation to you is manifold. I could look into the demobilization of the Mass Levy, see how much our utterly crumbling and overloaded systems have failed the people who fought to keep the Kingdom alive. Or begin reclaiming the millions of weapons that are right now floating around the Kingdom, available to anyone with blood on their mind. Alternatively, I can begin focusing on implementing the reforms suggested by Ianto's—" he instantly seemed to pick up on Ydrys' feelings about the other councilor, "—By the Council's investigation into the Great Khan's war. Lastly, I could use my unique skill set to look into internal problems inside the Kingdom."
"Those latter actions can be set aside for now, we need your military expertise." And Ydrys suspected Aderyn would likely do a better job, not to knock Euryg's skill too much. "Before that, what is the condition of the Blackbirds?"
"...The Order is near effectively defunct, I'm one of the few active members that are left." Despite his even wording, the pain in his voice was obvious. "We're down mostly to elders and young children. It will be decades before we've recovered and we can't even begin to estimate what was lost. Our archives are extensive, but because of the nature of our work, most of our information was stored in the Order's collective memory. There's no telling what was lost."
Not good. Then again, when was the last time Ydrys had heard good news?
"What reforms to the military were suggested?"
"At the most simple, militia training. Most people drafted into the Mass Levy are completely untrained in the art of war. They're often explicitly selected because the Census deems them expendable; they have no other necessary skills. If they're going to fight, they might as well be trained to fight better, even if it's only part time. Without the Census or a City Levy prepared, this is premature.
"The second option would be to focus on strategic independence. The Khan ran rings around us because his highest rank officers were empowered to make important decisions. Ours are not. Military command is immensely centralized, probably because of the singularly masterful generals the People have had during our most desperate wars.
"The third and final choice is to focus on overhauling logistics. While the Mass Levy will never subsist off mare's milk and horse blood, a lot could be done in order to speed up the requisitioning and movement of supplies so that the army could be more mobile."
"That will be taken into consideration, thank you, Euryg."
Rumours
Announcement
Wedding Bells: In the heart of Valleyhome, King Ydrys was wed to Aderyn, the beautiful daughter of Governor Gylyes, ruler of Hyatha. The Kingdom rejoices and well-wishers have contributed supportive gifts from all corners of the Kingdom. May their union be peaceful, long, and fruitful! (+1 Stability)
Public
Where Are Our Leaders?: Long have the People always depended on the leadership of Patricians. A combination of administrator, mathematician, scientific advisor, and legal scholars, the Patricians form the bedrock of the highly complex, integrated network of the Ymaryn Kingdom. Settlement efforts have proceeded swiftly but were seriously hampered by a constant lack of administrative support, despite the best efforts of King Ydrys. Why are the Patricians failing to uphold their duties? (Divine Glorious Elites Degraded!)
Cults Charge Ahead: The Ymaryn Crown has always guaranteed freedom of conscience and religion. While this has meant that religious conflicts rarely drew blood, fractious infighting was profoundly common. In the waning days of the Great Khan's war, a number of small religious splinter movements have increasingly risen to prominence. The Great Khan was a weapon, they say, one wielded by the Gods to make clear their displeasure. There is a pressing need for a reformation of the Ymaryn faith and social order in order to respond to the clear displeasure of the Gods. Voices diverge at this point regarding what exactly should be done, but this debate will clearly come to a head at some point in the future.
Confidential
Spirit Signals: The Spiritbonded Holy Order has signaled to the Crown a desire to relocate their headquarters to a new patch of fertile land in Western Wall generously donated by Dyfan, Governor of the Wall. Previously, the Holy Order had been located in the Heaven's Hawks March directly at the foot of the northern mountains opening up into the Great Plains. Displaced by the Great War against the Khan, they have been temporarily stationed in Txolla, but have found that their current headquarters are deeply inadequate and do not meet their needs. As an organization of warrior-priests, they are officially independent and can do as they wish due to the Crown's long standing policy of total religious autonomy for its various churches, but they wish for your blessing.
[ ] Send Rhys to try placate them (Lose his action this turn, success is not guaranteed)
[ ] Promise to carve out a new headquarters in suitable lands within 5 years.
[ ] Intervene with Dyfan to retract the donation of land. (Spend your Favour with Dyfan)
[ ] Pledge support for the Spiritbonded to rebuild the Heaven's Hawks March under their authority.
[ ] Grant your blessing.
Half-Exile Hate: Half-Exiles occupy a strange place in Ymaryn society. The People as a whole hate slavery with a violent and firey passion, but as punishment for crimes or social transgressions, sentence people to a period of unfree labour: Half-Exile. While they receive high levels of financial remuneration and extensive government benefits in turn for the labours (they are not slaves), Half-Exiles remain incredibly socially marginalized. Local neighbourhood watch captains have reported that over the last year Half-Exiles are increasingly seeking them out for assistance in order to respond to violence from the local population. Due to extensive damage suffered by the neighbourhood watch, further information is not available.
You have (1) Authority and (2) Influence
(Use them by marking an action at the end with either (Authority) or (Influence))
Ydrys should focus on (Up to 1 and an extra 1 from the advisor actions. Ydrys' main action can be sacrifice to allow another choice from the advisor actions.):
[ ] Ydrys: Continue to respond to the Patrician Crisis
-[ ] Call back retired Patricians
-[ ] Condense and accelerate the Academies' curriculum
-[ ] Accept non-Patricians with on-the-job administrative experience as Patricians
-[ ] Try recruiting Mercenary Patricians?
-[ ] Advertise among the other Splinter States and poach from them
[ ] Ydrys: Rebuilding Market Towns
[ ] Ydrys: Repairing Salterns
[ ] Ydrys: Reseeding Farms
[ ] Ydrys: Preparing Public Health
[ ] Ydrys: Nurturing Neighbourhood Watches
[ ] Ydrys: Recreate the Census
Rhys should focus on (1):
[ ] Rhys: Mend fences between Ydrys and Ianto.
[ ] Rhys: Investigate rumours of the Khan's generals.
[ ] Rhys: Investigate a Councilor
-[ ] (Haul/Ianto/Prydyer/Aderyn/Euryg)
[ ] Rhys: Create a wide web of contacts across the Ymaryn sphere
[ ] Rhys: Focused Contacts
-[ ] (Western Wall/Greenshore/Hyatha/Thunder Mountains/Txolla)
[ ] Rhys: Monsoon Sea situation
[ ] Rhys: Syffryn Sea situation
[ ] Rhys: Great Plains situation
Haul should focus on (1):
[ ] Haul: Dismiss this councillor for cause and select another
[ ] Haul: Contact Thunder Mountain
[ ] Haul: Perfecting Telescopes
[ ] Haul: Applying Current Telescopes:
-[ ] (Army/Navy/Sale/Communications)
[ ] Haul: Survey the Core for resources
[ ] Haul: Survey Txolla for resources
[ ] Haul: Investigate ways to alchemically separate silver and lead without mercury
[ ] Haul: Try to negotiate with Gylyes for access to mercury
[ ] Haul: Establish a lead-silver mine in the northern Core
Prydyer should focus on (1):
[ ] Prydyer: Reseeding Farms
[ ] Prydyer: Rebuilding Market Towns
[ ] Prydyer: Evaluating foreign markets
[ ] Prydyer: Build Loyalist sentiment in Txolla
[ ] Pryder: Focused Contacts: Txolla
[ ] Pryder: Complete a general agricultural land use survey.
Ianto should focus on
Due to an ongoing personality conflict between this councilor and the King, his action cannot be selected. He will complete an action this turn based on his personality and past actions. Due to lack of oversight and a Heroic King, this half action is refunded.
[ ] Ianto: Dismiss this councilor and find another; damn the scandal.
[ ] Inato: Maintain this councilor.
Aderyn should focus on (1):
[ ] Aderyn: Investigate a Councilor
-[ ] (Rhys/Haul/Ianto/Prydyer/Euryg)
[ ] Aderyn: Create a wide web of contacts across the Ymaryn sphere
[ ] Aderyn: Focused Contacts
-[ ] (Western Wall/Greenshore/Hyatha/Thunder Mountains/Txolla)
[ ] Aderyn: Investigate the Cults
[ ] Aderyn: Serial Killer Investigation
[ ] Aderyn: Investigate the attacks on Half-Exiles
[ ] Aderyn: Rebuild Neighbourhood Watches
Euryg should focus on (1):
[ ] Euryg: Logistics Overhaul Reform
[ ] Euryg: Strategic Independence Reform
[ ] Euryg: Militia Training Reform
[ ] Euryg: Establish Valleyhome City Levy
[ ] Euryg: Look into Mass Levy demobilization
[ ] Euryg: Take stock of the Royal Navy
[ ] Euryg: Personally direct the fighting against the Highlanders
[ ] Euryg: Work on rebuilding city walls
[ ] Euryg: Begin recalling arms and armour from the Khan's war
[ ] Dismiss him
[ ] Public reprimand
[ ] Private censure
[ ] Tell him to stop
[ ] Do nothing
[ ] Send Rhys to try placate them (Lose his action this turn, success is not guaranteed)
[ ] Promise to carve out a new headquarters for them somewhere within 5 years.
[ ] Intervene with Dyfan to retract the donation of land. (Spend your Favour with Dyfan)
[ ] Pledge support for the Spiritbonded to rebuild the Heaven's Hawks March under their authority.
[ ] Grant your blessing.
[ ] Ydrys: Continue to respond to the Patrician Crisis
-[ ] Call back retired Patricians
-[ ] Condense and accelerate the Academies' curriculum
-[ ] Accept non-Patricians with on-the-job administrative experience as Patricians
-[ ] Try recruiting Mercenary Patricians?
-[ ] Advertise among the other Splinter States and poach from them
[ ] Ydrys: Rebuilding Market Towns
[ ] Ydrys: Repairing Salterns
[ ] Ydrys: Reseeding Farms
[ ] Ydrys: Preparing Public Health
[ ] Ydrys: Nurturing Neighbourhood Watches
[ ] Ydrys: Recreate the Census
[ ] Rhys: Mend fences between Ydrys and Ianto.
[ ] Rhys: Investigate rumours of the Khan's generals.
[ ] Rhys: Investigate a Councilor
-[ ] (Haul/Ianto/Prydyer/Aderyn/Euryg)
[ ] Rhys: Create a wide web of contacts across the Ymaryn sphere
[ ] Rhys: Focused Contacts
-[ ] (Western Wall/Greenshore/Hyatha/Thunder Mountains/Txolla)
[ ] Rhys: Monsoon Sea situation
[ ] Rhys: Syffryn Sea situation
[ ] Rhys: Great Plains situation
[ ] Haul: Dismiss this councillor for cause and select another
[ ] Haul: Contact Thunder Mountain
[ ] Haul: Perfecting Telescopes
[ ] Haul: Applying Current Telescopes:
-[ ] (Army/Navy/Sale/Communications)
[ ] Haul: Survey the Core for resources
[ ] Haul Survey Txolla for resources
[ ] Haul: Investigate ways to alchemically separate silver and lead without mercury
[ ] Haul: Try to negotiate with Gylyes for access to mercury
[ ] Haul: Establish a lead-silver mine in the northern Core
[ ] Prydyer: Reseeding Farms
[ ] Prydyer: Rebuilding Market Towns
[ ] Prydyer: Evaluating foreign markets
[ ] Prydyer: Build Loyalist sentiment in Txolla
[ ] Pryder: Focused Contacts: Txolla
[ ] Pryder: Complete a general agricultural land use survey.
[ ] Ianto: Dismiss this councilor and find another; damn the scandal.
[ ] Inato: Maintain this councilor.
[ ] Aderyn: Investigate a Councilor
-[ ] (Rhys/Haul/Ianto/Prydyer/Euryg)
[ ] Aderyn: Create a wide web of contacts across the Ymaryn sphere
[ ] Aderyn: Focused Contacts
-[ ] (Western Wall/Greenshore/Hyatha/Thunder Mountains/Txolla)
[ ] Aderyn: Investigate the Cults
[ ] Aderyn: Serial Killer Investigation
[ ] Aderyn: Investigate the attacks on Half-Exiles
[ ] Aderyn: Rebuild Neighbourhood Watches
[ ] Euryg: Logistics Overhaul Reform
[ ] Euryg: Strategic Independence Reform
[ ] Euryg: Militia Training Reform
[ ] Euryg: Establish Valleyhome City Levy
[ ] Euryg: Look into Mass Levy demobilization
[ ] Euryg: Take stock of the Royal Navy
[ ] Euryg: Personally direct the fighting against the Highlanders
[ ] Euryg: Work on rebuilding city walls
[ ] Euryg: Begin recalling arms and armour from the Khan's war
[ ] Public reprimand
[ ] Private censure
[ ] Tell him to stop
[ ] Do nothing
[ ] Send Rhys to try placate them (Lose his action this turn, success is not guaranteed)
[ ] Promise to carve out a new headquarters for them somewhere within 5 years.
[ ] Intervene with Dyfan to retract the donation of land. (Spend your Favour with Dyfan)
[ ] Pledge support for the Spiritbonded to rebuild the Heaven's Hawks March under their authority.
[ ] Grant your blessing.
[ ] Ydrys: Continue to respond to the Patrician Crisis
-[ ] Call back retired Patricians
-[ ] Condense and accelerate the Academies' curriculum
-[ ] Accept non-Patricians with on-the-job administrative experience as Patricians
-[ ] Try recruiting Mercenary Patricians?
-[ ] Advertise among the other Splinter States and poach from them
[ ] Ydrys: Rebuilding Market Towns
[ ] Ydrys: Repairing Salterns
[ ] Ydrys: Reseeding Farms
[ ] Ydrys: Preparing Public Health
[ ] Ydrys: Nurturing Neighbourhood Watches
[ ] Ydrys: Recreate the Census
[ ] Rhys: Mend fences between Ydrys and Ianto.
[ ] Rhys: Investigate rumours of the Khan's generals.
[ ] Rhys: Investigate a Councilor
-[ ] (Haul/Ianto/Prydyer/Aderyn/Euryg)
[ ] Rhys: Create a wide web of contacts across the Ymaryn sphere
[ ] Rhys: Focused Contacts
-[ ] (Western Wall/Greenshore/Hyatha/Thunder Mountains/Txolla)
[ ] Rhys: Monsoon Sea situation
[ ] Rhys: Syffryn Sea situation
[ ] Rhys: Great Plains situation
[ ] Haul: Dismiss this councillor for cause and select another
[ ] Haul: Contact Thunder Mountain
[ ] Haul: Perfecting Telescopes
[ ] Haul: Applying Current Telescopes:
-[ ] (Army/Navy/Sale/Communications)
[ ] Haul: Survey the Core for resources
[ ] Haul Survey Txolla for resources
[ ] Haul: Investigate ways to alchemically separate silver and lead without mercury
[ ] Haul: Try to negotiate with Gylyes for access to mercury
[ ] Haul: Establish a lead-silver mine in the northern Core
[ ] Prydyer: Reseeding Farms
[ ] Prydyer: Rebuilding Market Towns
[ ] Prydyer: Evaluating foreign markets
[ ] Prydyer: Build Loyalist sentiment in Txolla
[ ] Pryder: Focused Contacts: Txolla
[ ] Pryder: Complete a general agricultural land use survey.
[ ] Ianto: Dismiss this councilor and find another; damn the scandal.
[ ] Inato: Maintain this councilor.
[ ] Aderyn: Investigate a Councilor
-[ ] (Rhys/Haul/Ianto/Prydyer/Euryg)
[ ] Aderyn: Create a wide web of contacts across the Ymaryn sphere
[ ] Aderyn: Focused Contacts
-[ ] (Western Wall/Greenshore/Hyatha/Thunder Mountains/Txolla)
[ ] Aderyn: Investigate the Cults
[ ] Aderyn: Serial Killer Investigation
[ ] Aderyn: Investigate the attacks on Half-Exiles
[ ] Aderyn: Rebuild Neighbourhood Watches
[ ] Euryg: Logistics Overhaul Reform
[ ] Euryg: Strategic Independence Reform
[ ] Euryg: Militia Training Reform
[ ] Euryg: Establish Valleyhome City Levy
[ ] Euryg: Look into Mass Levy demobilization
[ ] Euryg: Take stock of the Royal Navy
[ ] Euryg: Personally direct the fighting against the Highlanders
[ ] Euryg: Work on rebuilding city walls
[ ] Euryg: Begin recalling arms and armour from the Khan's war
AN: I realize I made a mistake with the last update. You choose to survey with Haul and I didn't realize. Anyway, the results of that survey was to find a silver-lead mine in the northern reaches of the Core. While the silver itself isn't very valuable to the Ymaryn, the lead is at the current time. The main issue is, the Ymaryn's main way of separating lead-silver alloy is through the use of mercury, which you do not have. This has added a few actions for Haul to set up the mine or try to research and address the issue.
AN2: You also have enough information to figure out why Ydrys hates Ianto at the moment. Internet cookies to whoever figures it out. Either way, personality conflicts are going to be prominent issues for you in the future, if perhaps not this extreme.
Random Member
Gardener of Human Happiness
- Location
- Behind You
- Location
- Hell
We really should have expected the low acceptance of women Patricians especially since it has a Martial requirement
This however, could draw some of them in bypassing the physical requirements as well as a few others that are experienced if not educated to the degree we are accustomed to.
10ebbor10
DON'T PANIC
- Location
- Present
I did bring it up, though I didn't really hammer on it.
I fear we may have burned our supply of women candidates already. Those who fail fall into half-exile, or deal with themselves honorably, after all.
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It depends. A lot of the options actually shifted in value depending on whether you maintained the relative standard or moved to an absolute standard.
If you moved to the absolute standard? It would've been a huge waste of time. The commoners would've basically all failed. It simple gives you 0 points towards resolving the crisis and annoys the Patricians.
If you kept the relative standard? It would solved the problem. So many commoners would've tried out that all of the Patricians would've passed and some of the commoners would too. However, the commoners still would've lacked the requisite skills so in a couple years you would've had a boomerang event that ended up pushing the commoners out of the administration while legitimizing control by the Patricians (you'd have enough Patricians at that time that weeding out the commoners would've been mostly seamless). Divine Glorious Elites would strengthen and you get free Stability.
You have to remember: the Highlanders want nothing to do with you. They've spent the last millennia and a half having nothing to do with you. There are mountains less stubborn and ossified than the Highlanders are. Dealing with you is a risk to the immortal soul. Why would anyone do it? Why send possessed children to the Ymaryn when you can simply kill them and salvage what little human is left?
All of Highlander society turns on the fact that they are a hyper paternalistic police state. To give you anything goes against the good interest of all the leaders. Yeah, they're ruling an authoritarian hell hole, but it's their authoritarian hell hole. This is even setting aside the fact that a lot of people have simply bought the propaganda. The campaign has been going on so long, they've utterly forgotten why it started. They've spent the last thousand years self-radicalizing to view the entire outside world as even worse than what they have, a place where everyone is out to get them.
Life of Arete. It removes the belief that the most powerful social class (the Patricians) is infallible.
I really need to go back and renovate the domestic affairs page.
We'd probably think of them as polytheists, but they think of themselves closer to monotheists.
Essentially, each god is a fraction of a greater underlying divine truth, the God. There is only one divine truth, but there are many lens through which to view it. Many gods are recognized by the People as being divine, but knowledge of the true overarching divine is yet unknown. One of the commandments of the People is to study and understand the divine, transforming it from unknown but knowable to known.
The single most popular lesser god among the People is the Spider-Eye Crow, an unknowable trickster and mentor creature that takes the form of a raven with eight black eyes. The God of Kings (but not King of the Gods) Fertyn is also popular as is Rulywen Goddess of Fields and Fertility, Beryn Goddess of Health and Healing, and Redysen the Wise, God of Crafts and Industry.
Some of the religious minority groups inside the Kingdom are explicit monotheists, but the primary Mylathadisc faith accepts multiple gods. It's part of what greatly contributes to your relative religious tolerance. If there's a hundred gods, what's one more?
You earned your insightful.
The big blind spots in women's education is definitely military training (seriously, why would you need to learn to lift a 300 pound rock or wield weapons of lead to show your strength?), but also natural philosophy and law. Natural philosophy is helpful to learn, but it isn't a deep enough subject that most Patrician males struggle with it. They tend to be universally competent to the degree necessary, so the value in teaching it as a supplement to women is low. Law as a discipline is dominated by men because of the nature of your society. Men are lawyers and advocates, judges and scholars. Since law is a thing of the public and must be performed in front of the community, women are excluded from equal participation. On the other hand, women excel diplomatically because they're forced to negotiate repressive social structures that hold them back. Words are often necessary to get their way. Math is basically even, both known math (algebra) as well as unknown math (statistics).
Women are unfortunately at a big disadvantage because the relative importance of subjects on the exams goes: Law >> Math >> Martial > Diplomacy > Humanities = Social Sciences > Natural Sciences. Excelling at the fourth most important does not make up for deficits in the first and third.
maximillian
Civilised Sheep
- Location
- Ranch
here's a cookie grab attempt @Redium
the new Kings is effectively a jumped up rural notable, not a man of the high Court as befits the ymaryn ideal so beloved of ianto.
the advisor furthermore views the king as mediocre, and the Kings recent action with the tests effectively lessened what it means to be a patrician, which is sacrilege to ianto who just admitted he kills those who he deems disappointing. (prolly did it kin n friends before?)
more importantly, the king hates the advisor because the advisor, in full seriousness, generously offered to kill the king and take the crown, cus he would make a better and far more proper king, and all the notables of the core will likely approve.
I think its the latter part that infuriates the king more than the proposed murder/suicide.
so, do I get a cookie? and more importantly is it chocolate?
the new Kings is effectively a jumped up rural notable, not a man of the high Court as befits the ymaryn ideal so beloved of ianto.
the advisor furthermore views the king as mediocre, and the Kings recent action with the tests effectively lessened what it means to be a patrician, which is sacrilege to ianto who just admitted he kills those who he deems disappointing. (prolly did it kin n friends before?)
more importantly, the king hates the advisor because the advisor, in full seriousness, generously offered to kill the king and take the crown, cus he would make a better and far more proper king, and all the notables of the core will likely approve.
I think its the latter part that infuriates the king more than the proposed murder/suicide.
so, do I get a cookie? and more importantly is it chocolate?
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- Location
- Hell
Only if they do not pass by 25 and they start at around 18 years. They get seven years to make the attempt and daughters of the Patricians could still serve as wives. This is literally their only shot to earn a title on their own, so it is little wonder so many applied. This is also rather sudden so their deficit in both law and natural philosophy can be addressed by finding tutors for them since they now have a reason to learn.
Going to the reason why Ydrys hates Ianto for the moment is the corruption, I believe? We picked Ydrys as our Admin Hero king, so he probably looks down on stealing. To be fair
The Glassmaker is a master, but in a field where the craft has mostly stalled. Moving against the prevailing orthodoxy that Ymaryn glass is the finest in the world (and literally perfect), he has spent substantial time and effort attempting to improve it. While he has often walked close to the line of embezzlement (or perhaps gone over, none has just been proven), the man has managed to keep up with demand while diverting scarce resources to personal projects. A project that was vindicated shortly before the Great Khan's war as he unveiled a stained glass of brilliant Tyrian Purple, a shade that was once thought impossible to craft.
Primary Strength: Industry
Secondary Strength: Learning
Known Loyalties: Guild Radicals
Ambition: I'll Show Them All!
We knew this about him
Edit: Wait wrong person. Oops.
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Random Member
Gardener of Human Happiness
- Location
- Behind You
And we lost the option to slacken standards for the exam. So...
Actually. @Redium What exactly do the Ymaryn mean with "Mercenary Patricians"?
Pick your poison.
Our people already work till they're nearly dead, don't they? I don't want to make this even worse.
This would cut out a lot of physical education, which in turn may make it easier for women to pass.
Of course, problems with this approach are already mentioned above.
Won't this basically create holes elsewhere in our administration, as we're basically giving a bunch of middle-managers a promotion to upper-manager?
.....
Actually. @Redium What exactly do the Ymaryn mean with "Mercenary Patricians"?
Sacrifice our vassals to save ourselves?
Pick your poison.
At a guess, the female Patricians are driven relatively more internally to the male Patrician's external motivation in the form of Pass or Die. Thus, the high-flyers among the female Patricians climb the ladder to the extent of their situation's limits, and the low-motivation female Patricians expand to the extent of their own drive. (The male Patricians just try to clear the hump, and, as in the case of Ydrys, some of the high-flyers gimp their own positions just to get away from the rat-race.)
Presumably, as the situation normalizes, the differences between the male and female Patricians will equalize. Hopefully there would be less of a rat-race, as the failures of the Exams, and then the near-failures, gain an outlet in becoming the spouses of the high-scorers.
That last sentence is probably the flash-point for Ydrys's anger: his best friend killed himself when he failed the Exams. That was given as the reason why Ydrys became a Gentry Patrician, rather than anything more prestigious. In the in-universe context, possibly Ydrys subconsciously hoped the change into the absolute scoring would lead to a lessening of suicides, and Ianto's statement of support for that practice pissed him off. (And made him worry the cultural tradition is too entrenched for him to change.)
This points to Haul setting up a military navy fleet.
I personally am inclined toward retroactively sanctioning Haul's embezzlement. Rhys's Dream is to break the isolation of the Ymaryn, with naval expeditions as his favored method, and he is currently Resentful(ly Accepting) of Ydrys's Kingship; a statement of intention towards empowering the navy based out of Txolla as a step towards using it to reach out into the world should go some way towards appeasing Rhys. Furthermore, I'm sure Hyatha's navy is still damaged, and assistance with that might be a good step toward re-unifying Hyatha with the Core.
Declare and sanction Haul's efforts during the council meeting. Task him towards perfecting the telescope, and then towards integrating it with the navies. Combined with Prydyer evaluating foreign markets, and subsequently sending trade missions for our basic needs; and giving Gylyes telescopes for his navy, possibly in exchange for mercury; we might be able to appease four of the people whose loyalties we need to balance. (We still have Lord's Loyalty: giving them high levels of support demands commensurate levels of support in turn, right?)
😍 bye bye let the door hit your filthy ass on the way out
Now, if the Philosopher trait would also degrade...
We're still fighting a war against the Highlanders in Txolla; the Gentry are fighting a guerrilla war, pinning the Highlander forces in place until our mercenary armies arrive to smash the Highlanders. If Euryg thinks the war would end fine without them, with his personal intervention, I'm inclined towards letting the Spiritbonded go to develop under the Martial Hero. The nomads are the principal foe they're meant to deal with, anyways.
- Location
- Hell
To note, this is what Redium added to the update before this one
Hyatha still works with us, so while they might keep a portion, we can build a mine and ship it to them for processing. I still think we should open up with Thunder Mountain before they build up or think they can get away. We picked Unification, so we need to make sure they stay.
[ ] Private censure
Call him out on it, but we knew he liked his research.
[ ] Promise to carve out a new headquarters for them somewhere within 5 years.
[ ] Pledge support for the Spiritbonded to rebuild the Heaven's Hawks March under their authority.
[ ] Grant your blessing.
My suggestion as the the Spiritbonded is one of these in decreasing order. First one ensures we keep them in Ymaryn Core, but at the cost of precious influence slots. Second one lets them build it themselves, but puts them in control of Heaven's Hawk, more power to the Order, but it does put them where are most likely needed, on the border to the Steppes. Grant your blessing means we do not burn favor with the Western Wall, but now the Spiritbonded will be an arrow in their quiver instead.
[ ] Ydrys: Continue to respond to the Patrician Crisis
-[ ] Accept non-Patricians with on-the-job administrative experience as Patricians
A Patch job, just get people in the role for now and work with the cons after. Working at 20% Mastery is better than working with no one in the role.
[ ] Ydrys: Rebuilding Market Towns
[ ] Ydrys: Repairing Salterns
[ ] Ydrys: Reseeding Farms
[ ] Ydrys: Preparing Public Health
[ ] Ydrys: Nurturing Neighbourhood Watches
[ ] Ydrys: Recreate the Census
[ ] Rhys: Investigate rumours of the Khan's generals.
Look for them, hopefully they are not gathering men to try again, but better to know than wonder.
[ ] Haul: Contact Thunder Mountain
[ ] Haul: Perfecting Telescopes
[ ] Haul: Investigate ways to alchemically separate silver and lead without mercury
[ ] Haul: Establish a lead-silver mine in the northern Core
Quick Google Search shows that a way to seperate silver and lead is with Zinc...which comes from Thunder Mountain, who also provides lead itself. Add in to the fact that Thunder Mountain has not violently rebelled, and maybe we can focus on opening communications at this point. We still have the best army, so they might not be willing to turn this into a fight as they were hit by the Nomad Horde as well.
[ ] Prydyer: Reseeding Farms
[ ] Prydyer: Rebuilding Market Towns
[ ] Prydyer: Evaluating foreign markets
We need to ensure food stability, which need the farms and the Market Towns. Evaluating Foreign Markets gives a glimpse outside to see if we could possibly buy what we need.
[ ] Inato: Maintain this councilor.
We need all the help we can get, and we cannot afford the time to look for someone new, hopefully he continues to look into Cataloguing the war.
[ ] Aderyn: Investigate the Cults
[ ] Aderyn: Serial Killer Investigation
[ ] Aderyn: Investigate the attacks on Half-Exiles
As our Intrigue Heroine, I would push for one of these, personally I would push for finding the Serial Killer.
[ ] Euryg: Look into Mass Levy demobilization
[ ] Euryg: Personally direct the fighting against the Highlanders
[ ] Euryg: Begin recalling arms and armour from the Khan's war
My preferences so far
Call him out on it, but we knew he liked his research.
[ ] Promise to carve out a new headquarters for them somewhere within 5 years.
[ ] Pledge support for the Spiritbonded to rebuild the Heaven's Hawks March under their authority.
[ ] Grant your blessing.
My suggestion as the the Spiritbonded is one of these in decreasing order. First one ensures we keep them in Ymaryn Core, but at the cost of precious influence slots. Second one lets them build it themselves, but puts them in control of Heaven's Hawk, more power to the Order, but it does put them where are most likely needed, on the border to the Steppes. Grant your blessing means we do not burn favor with the Western Wall, but now the Spiritbonded will be an arrow in their quiver instead.
[ ] Ydrys: Continue to respond to the Patrician Crisis
-[ ] Accept non-Patricians with on-the-job administrative experience as Patricians
A Patch job, just get people in the role for now and work with the cons after. Working at 20% Mastery is better than working with no one in the role.
[ ] Ydrys: Rebuilding Market Towns
[ ] Ydrys: Repairing Salterns
[ ] Ydrys: Reseeding Farms
[ ] Ydrys: Preparing Public Health
[ ] Ydrys: Nurturing Neighbourhood Watches
[ ] Ydrys: Recreate the Census
[ ] Rhys: Investigate rumours of the Khan's generals.
Look for them, hopefully they are not gathering men to try again, but better to know than wonder.
[ ] Haul: Contact Thunder Mountain
[ ] Haul: Perfecting Telescopes
[ ] Haul: Investigate ways to alchemically separate silver and lead without mercury
[ ] Haul: Establish a lead-silver mine in the northern Core
Quick Google Search shows that a way to seperate silver and lead is with Zinc...which comes from Thunder Mountain, who also provides lead itself. Add in to the fact that Thunder Mountain has not violently rebelled, and maybe we can focus on opening communications at this point. We still have the best army, so they might not be willing to turn this into a fight as they were hit by the Nomad Horde as well.
[ ] Prydyer: Reseeding Farms
[ ] Prydyer: Rebuilding Market Towns
[ ] Prydyer: Evaluating foreign markets
We need to ensure food stability, which need the farms and the Market Towns. Evaluating Foreign Markets gives a glimpse outside to see if we could possibly buy what we need.
[ ] Inato: Maintain this councilor.
We need all the help we can get, and we cannot afford the time to look for someone new, hopefully he continues to look into Cataloguing the war.
[ ] Aderyn: Investigate the Cults
[ ] Aderyn: Serial Killer Investigation
[ ] Aderyn: Investigate the attacks on Half-Exiles
As our Intrigue Heroine, I would push for one of these, personally I would push for finding the Serial Killer.
[ ] Euryg: Look into Mass Levy demobilization
[ ] Euryg: Personally direct the fighting against the Highlanders
[ ] Euryg: Begin recalling arms and armour from the Khan's war
My preferences so far
Ghostdevil
The Devil of Ghosts
- Location
- United States
You do realize that those traits were the biggest reason why our leaders are amazing right? The lower it goes the worse our guys get.
- Location
- Hell
Our guys are also killing themselves and increasing class stratification. There are some pretty big cons.
As is, what should we do militarily? I do not think we should focus on reform, but that is one of their recommendations.