Heroes have their actions round favourably. You would lose one of Ydrys', but gain a action that could be applied to any subordinate. There's also the possibility that you take your soon-to-be wife as an advisor as well. Aderyn was noted by Rhys to be extremely skilled.
There's two asides I should really explain:
Ymaryn Education
Education among the Ymaryn is both extremely widespread, but also pathetically limited for most. The absolute essentials such the ability to read and write, do basic math, home economics, etc. is widespread. About 70% of the population receives this type of basic education, primarily rural farmers who learn on-the-job alongside their parents. Quality is highly uneven and the isolated areas of Hyatha, Western Wall and the Thunder Mountains have noticeable ranges where education is deficient, but by the world's standards, this level of education is extremely high. Most complete their studies by the age of 15 and begin working full-time shortly after that. The Ymaryn love philosophy and even a poor peasant with dirt under his fingernails would be expected to understand and be able to discuss points of theology, history, or literature to a degree that would astound outsiders. Most can read and there is a thriving trade in books even if those are very expensive without the printing press; most books are built to last and traded between villages for decades on end.
About 25% of the population receive dedicated instruction from a guild. This includes essentials like writing, but also advanced topics such as geometry, basic algebra, alchemy, basic physics, optics, fine arts, acoustics, drawing, painting and colour theory, etc. The focus is immensely practical and artistic, but broad. All members of a Guild are expected to be able to demonstrate immense breadth of ability in anything even slightly related to their craft. While specialization occurs later on in training, theoretically any child who receives guild education should be able to apprentice to any type of craft. Training starts at age 7 with students transitioning to their final apprenticeships at 14. They will be recognized as journeymen at 21 and are expected to begin testing for the mastery from 28-30. Most Grandmasters are recognized as such in their middle forties.
The last 5% receive a Patrician's education. This is word class, even by modern standards, and covers virtually all of the liberal arts, sciences, military and physical education as the Ymaryn understand it. It is all encompassing, but crushingly difficult; 100 hour weeks are common. Education begins at the age of 7 (though many receive early instruction from their parents before this) and completes between the age of 21 to 25. Everyone goes at their own pace. Advancement in education is tied directly to passing standardized tests; completion of the test means that you're able to take more difficult classes in the future, culminating in the Royal Exams when you finish school. The Royal Exams are profoundly difficult, taking days for examinees to complete, with the average graduate expected to only score 30% out of a theoretical 100 points. As such, graduates are ranked based on their relative performance: The top 40% of the classes is considered to pass and the bottom 60% fails. It's possible to take the exams again, but only up until the age of 25. After that, you're known to be hopeless and forced to do something else.
As far as scores break down, the top 1% of examinees are recognized as Philosophers. People who score in the top 10% as a Master. Those below that are recognized as Bachelors 1st, 2nd, or 3rd class depending on what 10% band they passed in. Someone who scores as a Philosopher or Master will advance their career noticeably quicker than a Bachelor because they tend to be noticeably more skilled.
For Rhys to suspect Aderyn is a Master or Philosopher means that she is profoundly intelligent, even by the Ymaryn's lofty standards.
Women in Ymaryn Society
The place of women in Ymaryn society is complicated and depends a lot on social class. By the end of PoC, we could see that the relative importance of women was significantly declining with them being forced out of public life. That trend continued for a while, but eventually rebounded at some point in the Lightning Rounds before the beginning of Succession. While women often still don't have an official role as they had enjoyed in the Early Ymaryn Period, their status has been growing enormously.
As a whole, the Ymaryn are performative workers. Your values push people to make their careers as complicated and difficult as possible. By taking on immense, crushing workloads and then succeeding, it demonstrates your ability (and your worth) as a human being. This is of course insane and unsustainable; eventually tasks will become so complex that they can't be accomplished by one person. Thus, into that breach steps the Ymaryn wife. Working alongside her husband, a good Ymaryn woman is expected to take up a portion of her husband's duties because what's expected of him is impossible. Thus, Ymaryn women have gained increasing power, prominence, and education by plugging this festering problem. While they aren't allowed to study in the Academies, a large portion of Patrician women do receive education from either retired Academy instructors or recent near-failures of the Royal Exam. The quality isn't as good, but the curriculum can be a lot more focused since there's an expectation they should only help fulfil their future husband's duties, not be theoretically capable of taking ever single possible job a Patrician could be asked to accomplish.
For the peasantry, there's little difference between men and women. Both receive the same education and work mostly the same types of jobs.
Ironically, it's the guilds where the lot of women is in some ways the worst and best. There, they're mostly confined to duties related to running the household since the Guilds don't need the extra labour as much. So much has been invested in early mechanization that supportive labour is superfluous. Guild women are, however, the class of women most likely to have leisure time and engage in cultural activities: painting, poetry, writing, etc. The single most important source of the Ymaryn's cultural output is from the wives of guild masters since they have artistic education and the time to devote to it. Most also find roles of some type in various urban women's organizations that effectively engage in what we would recognize as volunteering in order to contribute to their city.
We shouldn't forget to do public health soon, lest we end up with a new plague. I vaguely recall the priests have their own power structure now and are possibly taking care of that on their own, but still, we should be sure.
[X] Plan General and cults
-[X] Ydrys: Look for a Martial Advisor - Influence
-[X] Ydrys: Nurturing Neighbourhood Watches - Authority
-[X] Rhys: Interrogate Highlander Prisoners
-[X] Haul: Survey the Core for resources - Influence
-[X] Prydyer: Assessing internal markets
-[X] Ianto: Curate the Cults
Let's get a good martial advisor and restore the Neighbourhood Watches that connect the commoners with the king.
The Survey gets resources to keep our guild running their manufactories allow us to outproduce the word.
I like to investigate the cults the serial killer might be linked to one of them and I think we can spare an action from him more then Ydrys
Turn 3: Beckoning Bells
1622 AGF, Reign of Ydrys the 170 King of All Ymaryn
[X] Plan Internal Economic Focus
-[X] Ydrys: Recruit Martial advisor (Influence)
-[X] Ydrys: Rebuilding Market Towns (Authority)
-[X] Rhys: Interrogate Highlander Prisoners
-[X] Haul: Survey the Core for resources
-[X] Prydyer: Assessing internal markets (Influence)
-[X] Ianto: Cataloging the Great Khan's War (Part 2)
"Rhys," Ydrys said. "When you were married…"
"Was I nervous?" he asked. "I'ope you don't need 'elp."
"No," Ydrys responded. "I… how did you make it work, with your wife?"
Sighing, Rhys sat. The two of them were located in a small annex of the place, near to the city gardens. By tradition, every Ymaryn wedding occurred outdoors and the city garden was the best they could do. There was no time for them to return to the countryside and Ydrys knew that Gylyes only had so much time. As King, duty called above all.
"'Ave you spoken 't your family?"
"No. Most of them are dead. I was the third of five; my family was always a bit smaller than most. My eldest sister married a nobleman from Western Wall and they were slaughtered by the Khan. My older brother died young, a child taken by a disease where nothing could be done. My younger brother's also dead: the war. My youngest sister's still alive but unmarried. That will probably be changing soon."
"Your parents?"
Ydrys said nothing. The last time he'd spoken to his parents had been years ago. He had still been back in the Academy at the time, preparing for the Royal Exam. His family had been from the eastern edge of the Core, but he was educated in Redshore, transferred there due to the promise he showed as a student. It made communication difficult and he found over the years that letters simply came less and less. Not that he had been prompt in returning them, consumed as he had been with the Academy.
He was King now, if he had ordered it, his family easily could have been moved into the Palace. They could have attended his wedding. But he didn't. He should have. Right?
"Talk. Listen. Work together. My wife 'n I'r partners," Rhys said. "There are . . . difficulties we encountered, things you shouldn't've to worry 'bout. But it was made t' work. We've two children, a boy and a girl."
"That's what I'm most worried about," Ydrys said.
Rhys gave him a look.
"Look at my family. What makes you think the children I have will be any better?"
Shrugging, Rhys sighed. "One day a' time. Ye know went wrong so make diffren' mistakes."
Ydrys' response was cut off by the ringing and clanging of bells. It was time. Departing the annex, Ydrys was followed by a verifiable procession. Alongside Rhys and his other advisors, nearly a hundred palace functionaries, officers, friends, and others followed in their wake. Each guest bore a gift they had selected for his wife-to-be. Each one was unique and hopefully meaningful. He knew that Rhys had selected scrolls of famous foreign poetry alongside blank vellum and peacock quills for his wife to write her own. Haul had manufactured a rose made of blown glass, cut perfectly so that it seemed to sever the light into rainbows, granting endless swirling colours to the glass rose. Prydyer had brought chests of foreign spices, honey, sugar, wine and other goods to liven up the otherwise dreary meals that had been so common since the war. Ianto brought kits of medicine: ampulse of mercury, salt, vinegar, hardened wine, wormwood, henbane, mint, coriander, comfrey, and myrrh.
It was tradition, a way of demonstrating your connections and the status of your friends. For most of the People, it was a way for the community to contribute, to help establish a new household that would soon need to flourish or to furnish a business for the guilds or urban residence. For the wealthy and connected, it was mostly a way to show off, but still served the purpose of binding the People together.
Coming to Valleyhome's central park, Ydrys slowed, the procession bunching up behind him, offering implicit support. Directly ahead was Gylyes, the self-titled Lord-Govenor of Hyatha. By law and tradition, he was only the Govenor of Hyatha. Like many of the other Splinter Lords, he'd given himself a meaningless foreign style. It wasn't strictly insubordination, but it showed the gapping distance between Core and periphery.
"Philosopher Ydrys," he said simply. Barrel-chested, the Lord-Govenor looked only vaguely Ymaryn. Incredibly short, what he obviously had lost in height had been added across the chest and around his arms. The man was nearly as wide as he was tall, all of it bristling with muscle. Dark of eye with thickly curled hair, he looked like a man from the West.
Standing beside him as a second was Twm, the craftsmen who'd forged the Regnal Sword Ydrys had been given during his coronation. Having considered — and rejected — him as crown counsel, the man appeared to have still done well from himself. Held tightly in hands was a sword, scabbard dark as dusk and crusted with gemstones from amethysts at the hilt through sapphires and diamonds at the tip. If drawn, he was certain it'd have the same blued rippled-steel pattern his own had.
"Governor Gylyes," he responded. The artisan's mouth dropped open before closing precious seconds later. There was too much disagreement there to say much else. In this early, heady days after the defeat of the Great Khan, they'd been hailed as heroes, saviors of the Kingdom. But the work was half done. Now came the most difficult part: rebuilding and recovery.
Something they had disagreed about. Fervently.
Ydrys favoured the most traditional Ymaryn response: reorganization, building institutions, and managing production and agriculture. Leaning closely on the Patricians to make the Ymaryn healthy and hale once again. The People's greatest strength had always been in its land and its agriculture leading to an endless population. All of the Syffron sea combined did not equal the People in population.
Rhys focused on negotiation and trade. The Great Khan came from the wider world and it was by ignoring the passing of the ages that the Ymaryn had been brought low. At one point, the Kingdom had been the center of the world, the ultimate king of the hill. Before the Khan, they'd degenerated into a shade that clung only to the shadows, places of comfort and security instead of an unpredictable world.
Gylyes, by contrast focused on the Guilds. Production, industry and iron were the tools that had saved them against the Khan. Making the Ymaryn great would mean rebuilding the Guilds, even if it meant stepping on a few eggs along the way. The People had grown great with the discovery of iron and greater yet with industry. For too long they'd been restrained, lacking — cutting themselves off at the knees instead of doing what was needed to stand tall.
Inek saw the way forward as being rooted in mysticism and magic, studying mysteries and rigorous investigation. The Holy Orders and the Priests had been ignored for too long, allowed to grow aimlessly instead of being incorporated as true parts of the Kingdom. It had been magic that allowed the Great Khan to set the north on fire, shattering most of the People's defensive lines within a mere six months and it would be magic that protected the People from harm.
Dyfan was a general through and through. The Great Khan was only a threat because he was allowed to grow into one while the Ymaryn military stagnated. Revolutionary tactics would be necessary to respond to changing threats. The steppes had long been unconquered wastes. No more, he said. No more would they be permitted to linger and periodically spit death at the People.
The Great Khan's war had been a time of blood and suffering. It was something that could never be allowed to repeat; they'd all lost too much to live through a second. Each of them were sure they were right. When Parliament — what remained of it — elevated Ydrys, it had been the end of discussion. If the Last King or his Heir had lived, perhaps they all would've been able to work together as counselors, none elevated above the others. But with one as King? Their vision would always reign supreme.
"I'll . . . do rightly by Aderyn. If there's anything I do right in my life, it will be that."
Nodding roughly, Gylyes' hand closed around a long oaken staff held by his second. "Prove your worth, prove your devotion, prove your honour!" Raising the staff over his head, he fixed Ydrys with a burning glare. "Prove yourself."
Shrugging off his cloak and robes, Ydrys allowed the Tyrian cloth to the floor. Worth its weight in gold three times over, it was an affront to let something so valuable end up in the dirt, better that than it tear in what is to come.
Taking a staff from Rhys, Ydrys hefted it and struck. The clash of staves sent reverberations up his arms; it was like striking a wall. Instantly shifting, Ydrys stepped back jabbed forward aggressively only for the blow to be firmly turned aside. Ducking and deftly avoiding a crushing side swipe, Ydrys stepped in and struck out.
Combat among the Ymaryn was an argument without words. All the way back to the earliest arguments of priests establishing the Holy Canon, each blow was an argument, each riposte a rebuttal. Each blow was meticulously matched with one of nearly 300 arguments, prepositions, and conclusions. Logic and violence melded together, becoming inseparable. To win a fight involved establishing groundwork, collating evidence, and striking in such a way that there could be no defense. If your attack was not debilitating, then your argument was obviously flawed.
If what you were arguing for was worth anything at all, it was worth putting your body on the line to defend it.
There were variations for unarmed, staff, and sword combat for varying levels of severity. Hand-to-hand combat was virtually friendly, a staple activity for celebrations and community gatherings. Staves indicated seriousness and were only used for solemn occasions or when something important was at stake. Swords were the last resort when only blood was good enough to wash away a stain.
Unleashing one last flurry of jabs to seal his argument, Ydrys pulled up short. Gylyes breath came in laboured heaves, his stamina clearly drained. On the wrong side of forty, he'd clearly slipped, his form not quite as good as it must have been once. Ydrys was still in his twenties, fresh, and had years of hard-scrabble combat experience from the Great Khan's war. Every day, he exercised and practiced his forms; Gylyes had none of those advantages.
It was a foregone conclusion who would win, but Ydrys pulled back. He wouldn't humiliate the older man and this was only for show. Tradition.
Gylyes relented, staff pulled back in a flourish he offered a simple bow. Handing off his staff, he grabbed Ydrys' hand and shook it. Fiercely. "Do well by my daughter," he ordered. "Honour her and give her children."
"I will," Ydrys promised.
"Promise her." Somehow, that sounded like a threat.
Gesturing forward, Gylyes stepped up alongside Ydrys, leading him to the central pavilion they'd erected for the day's festivities. As soon as they entered, the King's eyes immediately sought out Aderyn. She stood at near the opposite end, alongside her mother and a holy priest. He'd seen portraits and drawings of her — including ones that she herself had drawn — Rhys had brought them.
She was beautiful. Tall, slender, and well-formed, it seemed the only thing she shared with her father was a thick mass of dark curls. Aderyn clearly took after her mother; they had the same slate grey eyes.
Gylyes exchanged words of ritual greeting, that he had found someone of worth who asked for her hand in marriage. He outlined Ydrys' strengths, his deeds, and a hundred other little things. Ydrys could barely pay attention, eyes drawn constantly back to his soon-to-be wife. It sounded strange. For years, he thought he wouldn't marry. It had been scandalous, but he'd simply never seen it as worth the inevitable drawbacks.
Now, though, a thread of excitement coursed through him. Or nervousness. There was a lot of that too.
That subsided later on, after his procession had offered their gifts, Aderyn gave her assent, and the priest finalized the ceremony. It was later on, when both of them were planting their matrimonial birch that her hand happened across his. Pressing down into the earth, Ydrys glanced up.
She was smiling. It was slight, but it was there.
Maybe it could work after all.
Recruit Martial advisor (Influence) → Vote
Bending considering influence toward the task of finding a new advisor, Ydrys was unsurprised at the results, but disappointed all the same. Virtually the entirety of the People's military apparatus had been wiped out during the Great Khan's war. Based on what Ianto had reported, it seemed that the Khan went to specific lengths in order to deliberately target important military leaders. Only half as many officers survived the war as did their men. The higher level commanders had a survival rate half as high as the officers and the highest echelons of the People's forces had been virtually wiped out.
By tradition, the King was typically advised by one of the Commanders of a Banner Company. Alternatively, a high ranking cavalry officer was also often selected. On rare occasions, an admiral was recommended if the People were facing significant trouble from pirates. Based on past records, it had also happened once or twice that high-level members of one of the People's Holy Orders were recruited.
Virtually none of those people were available.
For those that were left, most of the best choices had been snapped up already by the other Splinter Lords. War had nearly brought the People low and as such it was understandably on everyone's minds. Since they had moved first, they had first choice and all Ydrys was left with was the remnants, even if he'd done his best.
The first option to consider was the Bodyguard. While still brash and ill-tempered, he had covered himself in unquestionable glory during the fighting against the Highlanders. His military workmanship was often rudimentary, but his skills of command had slowly been refined over time and he appeared to demonstrate a level of coordination with the foreign mercenaries above and beyond all other Ymaryn commanders in the field. His favourite tactic was unquestionably to confront enemy officers and commanders, demanding duels of honour which he then always won to demoralize the enemy. It was a risky tactic, but it emphasized his bravery and his willingness to protect his men, earning their admiration. Still, his reputation as a quarter nomad was questionable and would bring whispers of condemnation among the less tolerant segments of Ymaryn society.
Primary Strength: Prowess (Heroic)
Secondary Strength: Martial
Known Loyalties: Himself/Close Family
Ambitions: Glory in War
The second option was the Cavalier. A member of the Spiritbonded, he had demonstrated a preternatural awareness of cavalry tactics that only seemed to be matched by the Khan's elite troops. While skilled in battle, he had never been able to capitalize on his strengths during the Great Khan's war, his force of cavalry always too small to be of effect. Still, he had been of significant effect in warding the Khan's soldiers away from the People's more sensitive weak points. While lacking in glory and renown — which makes him less capable as an actual leader of men — he does not appear to be lacking in strategic sense
Primary Strength: Martial
Secondary Strength: Learning
Known Loyalties: Spiritbonded Order
Ambitions: Surpass Nomadic Cavalry
Third was the Student. A young man, he had still been in the highest levels of training during the Great Khan's war, drafted only at the end where things had become unquestionably desperate. Primarily educated in the Academies, the Student had been a star pupil, selected for greater things in the future and the possibility of long-term command. Regardless, his career had been greatly disrupted by the war and his training was not completed and he has had to learn on the job since then. While lacking in experience, the Student is the most formally trained option and was evaluated to be the best in the tradition of Ymaryn military thought before all of his teachers and mentors were slain.
Primary Strength: Martial, Learning
Secondary Strength: Diplomacy
Known Loyalties: Conservative Faction
Ambitions: Establish a Ymaryn Military Academy
The fourth option is perhaps not one Ydrys would have immediately considered, but the option was worth evaluating anyway. The Privateer had been a commodore in the People's Navy, fighting against pirates and other such naval threats throughout his career. What had ultimately made him successful was an understanding of the psychology of pirates and an ability to negotiate and work with them, cracking alliances and cleaning up those who would not fall in line. Ultimately, this had led to his career stalling as while he was undoubtedly the most effective commodore in the fleet, he was never able to dodge rumours of impropriety (even if those rumours were never substantiated).
Primary Strength: Navy
Secondary Strength: Martial, Diplomacy, Intrigue
Known Loyalties: Assorted foreign buccaneers of dubious legality
Ambitions: Elevate the Prestige of the Fleet equal to the Army
Fifth was an option that just a year ago, Ydrys would not have considered and even now he was surprised the name crossed his desk. The Mercenary was the commanding officer of the Brotherhood of Mark. A true foreign element, the Mercenary's approach to war and combat are nothing like that of the rest of the People. While he has risen high enough over the last year of fighting for this appointment to be considered, it would not be typical or well accepted among the nobility or commoners. Regardless, tales of the Heaven's Hawks, their loyalty and success, swirl to mind when considering a truly foreign element. That foreign view had utterly changed how the Ymaryn fought war and such a stranger may be just what the People need.
Primary Strength: Martial
Secondary Strength: None*
Known Loyalties: Brotherhood of Mark, the extinct Kingdom of Kull(?)
Ambitions: Carve out a homeland
*The reason that the Mercenary only has a Primary strength is because he's not Ymaryn and as such lacks the profound level of education and training available to them. 'Normal' advisors have one area of competence. All Ymaryn typically have two and Patricians have two primary strengths and a secondary or one primary and 2-3 secondary strengths, super tryhards that they are.
The last candidate to consider was one that Ydrys knew almost nothing about. And that deeply concerned him. The letter had appeared on his desk and he had no knowledge of how it got there; concerning for someone who regularly practiced meticulous organization. The Murderer's resume has clearly indicated that he is one of the few remaining Blackbirds and is looking to return to public service. The Great Khan's war was not kind to the venerable Order with them being nearly wiped out. After a few years of seclusion and contemplation, it is clear that they are now ready to begin taking a higher profile role. If it is worth their time. Either way, the Murderer would be immensely skilled in the arts of secrecy, subterfuge, and the shadow war. Lord of asymmetric combat and ambushes, the Murderer is an excellent candidate for someone looking for distinctly Ymaryn but also non-traditional expertise.
Primary Strength: Martial, Intrigue
Secondary Strength: Learning
Known Loyalties: Blackbird Order
Ambitions: Unknown, but likely extremely high level.
[ ] The Bodyguard
[ ] The Cavalier
[ ] The Student
[ ] The Privateer
[ ] The Mercenary
[ ] The Murderer
Rebuilding Market Towns (Authority): 50% → 70%
In the Name of the August King of All Ymaryn, of Greenshore, Txolla, Western Wall, Hyatha and the Thunder Mountains. Lord Protector of Hatriver, Hatvally, Stallion Pen, and Gulriver. Commander of the Heaven's Hawks, Memory of Spirit, Thunder Horse, Thunder Speakers, and Forhuch. Guarantor of the Imperial Free Cities of Redshore, Redhills, Lovelyhome, Valleyguard and the Sacred Forest. Banner Bearer of the Red, Dragon, and Bloody Rain Banners. Patron of the Blackbirds, Carrion Eaters, and Spiritbonded. Protector of the People, Cultivar of the Land, and Defender of the Faithful.
You are Commanded.
Nearly all of Ydrys' focus had been on rebuilding the internal markets of the People this year. A part of him still wished for the Census, the simplicity and reliability of simply knowing the answers. Need a mason? There's four hundred located in the eastern district of Stallion Pen and they only require the services of three hundred seventy-five. An arborist? There are literally millions of them spread all across the People, but most already have ongoing obligations. Want an unemployed one? Good Luck.
With the Census, all of that information was readily known and easily accessible, from demographics to the economy. Even profoundly trivial things such as: do as many right handed shepherds break their legs each year as left handed shepherds in the Thunder Mountains? It would take time to study the data, but it was all ultimately there. Finding information and skilled specialists was easy.
Without it, however, it was nearly impossible.
In the end, Ydrys had resorted to the simple expedient of conscripting people. Entire masses of refugees were ordered to report to the levy's processing station and once their skills were recorded, they were ordered into work groups and set to work. It was laborious and the work was nowhere near complete, but there was definite and significant progress made. Of the tens of thousands of villages that made up the Core, perhaps 20 thousand had been destroyed by the Khan. Thousands of them had been resettled in a single year and each of those new settlements would form the nexus of new rural infrastructure.
There was overlap and waste in such an action, but it was expedient. Already, Ydrys could in his mind's eye the flow of goods and services slowly starting to relax. Farms were reseeded and new crops taken in harvest. Tools that had simply sat wastefully in warehouses were slowly being dispersed to needed work projects around the Kingdom. The People did good work and all of their cultivation of the land was built to last. There was definite disruption and damage, but killing the Earth itself was impossible hubris. Even the Great Khan couldn't accomplish such a crime.
It would be years more of dedicated effort, but the Kingdom could finally be said to be healing.
Interrogate Highlander Prisoners→ Information
"They're insane," Rhys said simply. "It's… they believe everyone who's not a 'Ighlander is a demon. Even people born 'mong them can've their souls snatched as babes, replaced with a devil. They'd been cast out in the past, but now they're sim'ly killed."
"It is an . . . interesting point of theology," Ianto agreed. "From what we've managed to gather, the Highlanders believe that everything outside their own personal slice of Heaven is Hell. Everyone they see outside that, from babes to widows to simple travellers, are all flesh-hungry demons. Everything is a deception, a trick, and a lie to get you to lower your guard and allow the enemy to devour your soul."
"That's…" Prydyer started. "How can anyone believe tha'?"
"You wonder how anyone can live every moment of their life expecting hurt and betrayal? Have you ever opened your eyes?" Haul asked. "Look at us, think about your life, and remember all the lies you told. Is there no way that someone couldn't see the worst in that?"
The silence stretched.
"Regardless, now that we have it, what do we do with this information?" Ydrys asked.
Rhys just shook his head helplessly. "Anything'e try'd just be seen as a trick. Tryin' to talk'd just be seen as an act o' war. Most'o the prisoners we've kill themselves because of terror and a desperate desire t'keep their souls from the grasp of thirsting gods."
"Thus, even trying to subvert them is unlikely to succeed," Ydrys reasoned. Not only would it be seen as asking them to damn themselves, even if they could convince any of the prisoners to help them, their former friends and family would just consider them subverted by demons. They'd be killed out of hand. The payoff was simply not worth the investment.
"It might, theoretically, be a possibility that we could break this point of theology, but it would require extended close contact." Ianto said. "Peaceful contact."
"Spiritual remediation on'a national scale," Prydyer said.
"Or we could let them go away and wallow in a Hell of their own making," Haul countered. "It'd mean conquest — trying to heal them — because they won't deal with us peacefully and they don't want help. They've been wallowing in their mountain homes for the last fifteen centuries without issue. We could very well leave them there until the end of time!"
"Unless we're ever weakened again in the future," Prydyer said. "Then they'll come again, t' butcher an' maim."
Highlander Cultural Synergy Revealed!
The Cartesian Devils = To Tame Leviathan + The World is Hungry + Divine Right of Kings
(New options available)
Survey the Core for resources → Available Mine
Haul had spent most of the year sifting through old archives, looking for hints of possible mine locations that could help solve the multiple shortages facing the Guilds. In the end, he managed to find an old mine in the northern reaches of the Core that had been abandoned once its products of lead and silver proved to be not worth the cost of extraction. While the mine itself was started, damage done by nature and the weather past in intervening years requires some degree of repair before the mine can begin producing again.
While this happily solves the Guild's lack of supply for lead (while providing silver, which is of some small use), the ores produced by the mine are unfortunately a lead-silver alloy. Such findings are common sources of silver, but the most effective way the People have in separating these two metals depends on reliable access to mercury — a resource you do not have. As a result, Haul has made several suggestions. He could immediately begin work on repairing the mine and extracting ore, allowing it to be shipped to Hyatha for processing. Alternatively, he could try to negotiate directly with Gylyes to try and secure access to the valuable liquid metal itself. Now that you're married to his daughter, he may prove more willing to negotiate. The last option he presents is to simply begin research on an alternative way to extract lead and silver. Alchemy is a science where countless processes exist, many of which can produce the same end result, but use different intermediaries.
Assessing Internal Markets (Influence):→ Information
Pryder's report on the internal markets of the Core and Txolla had been illuminating and exceedingly helpful to Ydrys' planning on restoring internal market towns. Before the Great Khan's war, the entire Kingdom had functioned as an integrated circuit. With the war and the death it brough, the soft dissolution of the Kingdom, and everything else falling apart, there were now gaps. Everything had been there to support the strongest economy in the known world, but things were different now.
A part of Ydrys wanted to say that the economic problems they were experiencing right now was purely a result of the damage inflicted by the Great Khan, but he knew that wouldn't be true. It was the inability of the Kingdom to work together that drove many of the shortages plaguing them.
As best as Pryder was able to determine, the most glaring problem facing the People was a lack of access to base metals. Iron ore, lead, tin, copper, bronze; all of those were significantly lacking. The shorages were dangerous; without access to more material, the Guilds would eventually grind to a screeching halt. When that happened, there'd be riots in the streets due to lack of work and the accompanying difficulties that brought. It would suddenly mean no more arms and armour for the army, no materials with which to rebuild, and general havoc.
There were also other concerns, however. The disappearance of Amber Road had led to significant shortages of furs, amber, ivory, and ice. The first three were in all honesty, luxuries, and could be done without. Ice, however, had significant uses as a cooling agent, both to preserve food for transportation or throughout the year, but also as a medical aid. Southern Txolla and the Thunder Mountains had previously imported endless tonnes of the stuff in order to cool their homes and act as a panacea for the elderly who suffered desperately under the intense heat of summer. People were dying as a result of lack of access and even if Ydrys made the order to begin securing ice from the peaks of the Core's mountains, it wouldn't be enough. Not anytime soon, at least.
What was most concerning from what Prydyer had been able to determine was that demand for many of the People's goods had dropped. There seemed to be fewer goods being purchased at the People's markets and then taken elsewhere. While this was perhaps to be expected given that Trelli was in the hand of Hyatha and the city had long been the primary window through which foreign merchants had accessed Ymaryn products, this was also true in Txolla as well as the Core itself. Prydyer could not even begin to explain why the Monsoon Sea was importing fewer goods nor why the Core seemed to have a surfeit of unused products.
This was not a problem, per say as these goods could always be consumed internally, whether they were wine, cotton, medicinal poppies or whatever else, but it was concerning. It appeared that 1620 AGF as well as the years leading up to it were significant around the world.
Prydyer strongly recommends that he be sent to assess external markets in the future in order to determine why this is. As it sat, it was trying to guess the shape of a picture without only half of it visible.
Trade Goods
Resource
Balance
Status
Bulk Goods
Charcoal
Self-Sufficient
Satisfied
Common Pottery
Major Export
Satisfied
Cloth
Minor Export
Unfulfilled Demand
Foodstuff
Self-Sufficient
Satisfied
Lumber
Self-Sufficient
Satisfied
Luxuries
Amber
Insignificant Import
Satisfied
Cotton
Major Export
Unfulfilled Demand
Exotic Wood
Significant Import
Unsatisfied
Fine Pottery
World Leading Exporter
Endless Demand
Fine Dyes
Dominant Exporter
Unfulfilled Demand
Fine Textiles
Dominant Exporter
Endless Demand
Furs
Insignificant Import
Satisfied
Gems
Moderate Importer
Satisfied
Glass
World Leading Exporter
Unfulfilled Demand
Gold
World Importer
Too much
Honey
Minor Export
Unsatisfied
Ice
Significant Importer
Unfulfilled Demand
Incense
Significant Export
Satisfied
Ivory
Minor Import
Satisfied
Mercury
Moderate Import
Unfulfilled Demand
Poppies
Significant Exporter
Satisfied
Salt
Significant Importer
Dangerously Unsatisfied
Silk
Significant Exporter
Endless Demand
Silver
World Importer
Too much
Spices
Moderate Exporter
Endless Demand
Sugar
Moderate Exporter
Endless Demand
Wine
Moderate Exporter
Satisfied
Strategic
Copper
Substantial Importer
Unfulfilled Demand
Bronze
Substantial Importer
Unfulfilled Demand
Iron Ore
World Importer
Unsatisfied
Ironwares
World Leading Exporter
Endless Demand
Lead
Significant Importer
Unsatisfied
Slaves
Forbidden
N/A
Steel
World Leading Exporter
Endless Demand
Tin
Substantial Importer
Unfulfilled Demand
Cataloging the Great Khan's War (Part 2) → Part 2 of 4 or 5
After having focused on the central commanders of the Great Khan, Ianto now altered his focus to consider the military advantages possessed by the Khan's army. In total, the Khan had fielded approximately 250,000 horsemen as best Ianto was able to estimate. In addition to that, they were supplemented by up to a million infantry soldiers used for sieges or the occasional pitched battle.
The single most obvious advantage of the Great Khan was that the vast majority of their elite forces had been mounted. While his army had been bulked out by large numbers of infantry, mercenaries as well as eastern slave-soldiers and other conscripts that the People couldn't readily identify, the core was clearly focused on nomadic cavalry. Of those, six-of-ten were lightly armoured horse archers with the remaining four-in-ten being heavily armoured lancers. (Ianto noted, however, that these heavy lancers were only truly medium cavalry; the knights of the west boasted heavier armour and larger warhorses.)
Regardless, the horse archers and lancers were cleanly divided with each operating on separate commands. The horse archers had served as harassment, launching endless streams of arrows into the enemy in order to break up their lines, weaken them, and create an opening for the lancers to charge, routing the enemy.
In some ways, the People had been uniquely suited to counter this. Virtually every man was armoured head-to-toe in solid steel armour; arrows were more of a nuisance than a threat. One of the more famous campfire stories Ianto had heard during his investigation was of a young officer who'd reported to the armourers after a battle with more than fifty arrows stuck in his chest piece and not so much as a scratch on his flesh. Combined with the fact that every soldier was issued a standardized heavy lead-shot crossbow and the People's army could at times outrange horse archers. Every man was also equipped with a billhook, an arborist's tool adapted to serve as a pike, halberd, and hook that served excellently at dragging enemy cavalry from their horses or prying open their armour.
Unfortunately, the People's army had also been uniquely vulnerable in other ways. The crossbows that had been so believed by the People were less than effective against the Khan. Lead shot was excellent at transferring energy into the body of an armoured man, wounding them through their armour compared to traditional bolts and quarrels that were nearly worthless. On a largely unarmoured horse, however? Bolts may have proven exceptionally useful. Additionally, the Mass Levy was primarily composed of undisciplined troops. Standing there under withering fire was possible, but difficult. After a while, most eventually broke ranks, not to run, but to charge.
That didn't usually work very well. Breaking ranks, made soldiers vulnerable to the Khan's heavy lancers and one of the few things in the world that could breach Ymaryn armour was the couched lance of charging cavalry.
There were also significant organizational differences between the Great Khan's army and the Mass Levy. Both had rough similar organization at the squad level: ten soldiers commanded by a young junior officer. These squads were grouped into larger units that were grouped up again until centralized command had been achieved for the entire army. Where they differed, however, was in how those individual units acted. The Khan had prized personal initiative and ambition. Relatively low level officers would make critical strategic decisions which in turn influenced the flow of battle and whole campaigns.
The Ymaryn, by contrast, often acted in concert with a larger overarching plan. It had been a tradition inherited from Yenyna the great Dragon General and perfected by Alyxunmyn, the second great Dragon General. Their plan and a unified command had brought the People to the greatest heights of martial ability. Combined with the relative inflexibility of the Mass Levy and the necessity of truly massive logistical overhead, the nomadic Khan had managed to effectively engage on fronts from the Yllthyon Mor in the west through the eastern extremes of the Thunder Mountains. By the time that the border lands were able to communicate with commanders in the Core, the situation had often changed, requiring local commanders to act without orders.
The last advantage that the Great Khan's army had enjoyed over the People was one of simple mobility. Even with the Kingdom's extremely well-maintained networks of roads and small overnight forts, the Great Khan's mounted troops moved at three times the speed. Their meager logistic footprint and four or five horses to serve as remounts had meant that they moved as swiftly as the wind and had to stop for nearly nothing. In particularly dire circumstances, the Khan's army had even been known to subsist off of mare's milk and horse blood for several weeks. While it was likely impossible for the People to move at the same speed as the Khan's forces, there were clearly ways in which they could improve their mobility.
(Military Reforms Unlocked!)
The Dissolution
Each year, the fates of thousands of young Ymaryn Patricians are decided on the second moon after the beginning of Spring. Held at the Academies throughout the Kingdom, the Royal Exams were some of the grueling tests in the world. Covering everything that a Patrician may need to accomplish throughout their career. Each exam took five days to complete with the subjects determined by day. First was always accounting and mathematics; the second covered natural philosophy; the third diplomacy and court protocol; the fourth law, cultural practices, and social science; and the last day covered physical fitness and combat readiness. The questions themselves were difficult and the average examinee was only expected to get one question in three correct.
Even Ydrys himself had only scored six-and-a-half-of-ten. It had been a staggering score and within striking range of some of the highest ever known.
After the exam, it would take a full moon for the results to be graded and compared to identify the top four-in-ten who could be considered graduates. The first one-in-one-hundred were named Philosophers, renowned for their skill and wisdom. They were often directly headhunted and immediately placed into positions of trust and authority; they would undoubtedly go on to long and respected careers. Following behind them were the remaining first 1-in-10, the Masters. While they didn't enjoy quite the same prestige, they were deeply respected for their consistent mastery of all types of ability. The last of the graduates, the Bachelors, followed in 1-in-10 bands from 1st class to 3rd class.
Everyone below that was a failure and unranked.
Applicants who had reached twenty-five years of age were banished from the Academy, deemed utterly unworthy, a waste of time itself. Many of them dealt with themselves honourably, but a sizable minority ended up falling into Half-Exile, or outright abandoned the Ymaryn Kingdom becoming Self-Exiles. Precious few were able to remain in the Kingdom and shake the stigma of abject failure to find some type of work among the Ymaryn. Even if they hadn't been failures, they had none of the skills necessary for work among the Guilds or even the peasantry.
"The problem," Ianto said, "Is that this system was set up to minimize the number of candidates that could pursue a Patrician's career. Each Patrician has, as best we can tell, four sons on average, who will in turn compete for one career. A simple mathematical impossibility."
One-in-four of these Patrician sons would be appropriately winnowed before ever becoming eligible for the exam. Slightly less than two-in-four would then fail. It meant that there was often a slight abundance of lower-class Bachelors who struggled to find work, but they often managed to find a position eventually either because a higher placed classmate perished or other exceptional circumstances.
This was deeply counter productive since the Ymaryn bureaucracy was in dire straits. Millions were dead after the Great Khan's rampage and Patricians had been disproportionately counted among that number. The entire system was set up to reduce the number of candidates that would eventually work in it.
Something had to be done to address the critical gaps left among Patrician advisors/bureaucrats before long-lasting damage can be done. Much has already been lost, but the longer the bureaucracy runs with half of its members missing, the more will become irrecoverable.
Reform is needed.
Select Up to (2):
[ ] Call back retired Patricians
[ ] Slacken standards, make the exam easier
[ ] Condense and accelerate the Academies' curriculum
[ ] Switch graduation criteria to a lower absolute score instead of relative placement
[ ] Open the Royal Exams to female Patricians
[ ] Open the Royal Exams to commoners
[ ] 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
[ ] The Bodyguard
[ ] The Cavalier
[ ] The Student
[ ] The Privateer
[ ] The Mercenary
[ ] The Murderer
[ ] Call back retired Patricians
[ ] Slacken standards, make the exam easier
[ ] Condense and accelerate the Academies' curriculum
[ ] Switch graduation criteria to a lower absolute score instead of relative placement
[ ] Open the Royal Exams to female Patricians
[ ] Open the Royal Exams to commoners
[ ] 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
AN: This is far too long as is so you won't be getting a rumour mill just yet, I will incorporate that in Turn 3, part 2.
AN2: I also realize I made a mistake last vote. Ianto's research should have given Rhys an option to track down the Khan's commanders last turn just like this turn opened up military reform. Considering that isn't time sensitize compared to the prisoners, I set that side for now. Each part of the Great War research does something like that.
I'm thinking the murderer or the privateer. As for the reforms, I'm always down for women's rights, but who knows. Definitely not poaching from our sister states, or the mercenaries.
I'm thinking lower the absolute standards instead of relative scores. I think it might be the only thing that adresses the core issue honestly, which is that the system is designed to get rid of the majority of candidates.
[ ] The Murderer
[ ] Switch graduation criteria to a lower absolute score instead of relative placement
[ ] Open the Royal Exams to female Patricians
I also think the Murderer might be our only chance at any kind of intrigue specialist. Don't forget to ask questions so we don't end up changing plans halfway through for bad initial assumptions.
Open the Royal Exams will take a while to produce results if you cant do the exams few will do the schooling.
I think females would be more acceptable than commonners to the existing bureaucrats as females are their relatives so that helps their families.
Lower standards seem the option giving the fastest results so we should take that one.
The Cavalier has my preferences I suspect our infantry is fine and the issues of our armies are in scouting skirmishing and fast maneuvers. The ties to the spirit-bound order seem OK as does his ambition.
The Student might have better strengths but his ties to the conservatives will give issues once we try to reform.
On further consideration I shall probably be voting for the following:
[ ] The Murderer
[ ] Switch graduation criteria to a lower absolute score instead of relative placement
[ ] Open the Royal Exams to female Patricians
I agree with Parzival's analysis that switching graduation criteria is the only reform that actually adresses the core issue of the exams being built to exclude talent rather than find it. Open the exams to noble girls is probably the fastest way to get the needed bodies.
And hey, blackbirds!
Edit:
Actually, this one is also a fast way to get needed bodies:
[ ] Accept non-Patricians with on-the-job administrative experience as Patricians
The first option to consider was the Bodyguard. While still brash and ill-tempered, he had covered himself in unquestionable glory during the fighting against the Highlanders. His military workmanship was often rudimentary, but his skills of command had slowly been refined over time and he appeared to demonstrate a level of coordination with the foreign mercenaries above and beyond all other Ymaryn commanders in the field. His favourite tactic was unquestionably to confront enemy officers and commanders, demanding duels of honour which he then always won to demoralize the enemy. It was a risky tactic, but it emphasized his bravery and his willingness to protect his men, earning their admiration. Still, his reputation as a quarter nomad was questionable and would bring whispers of condemnation among the less tolerant segments of Ymaryn society.
Primary Strength: Prowess (Heroic)
Secondary Strength: Martial
Known Loyalties: Himself/Close Family
Ambitions: Glory in War
Uh, no. While a hero unit is all well and good, he really isn't what we're looking for at the moment.
The second option was the Cavalier. A member of the Spiritbonded, he had demonstrated a preternatural awareness of cavalry tactics that only seemed to be matched by the Khan's elite troops. While skilled in battle, he had never been able to capitalize on his strengths during the Great Khan's war, his force of cavalry always too small to be of effect. Still, he had been of significant effect in warding the Khan's soldiers away from the People's more sensitive weak points. While lacking in glory and renown — which makes him less capable as an actual leader of men — he does not appear to be lacking in strategic sense
Primary Strength: Martial
Secondary Strength: Learning
Known Loyalties: Spiritbonded Order
Ambitions: Surpass Nomadic Cavalry
Hmm. Maybe? The experience is good, and we've been shown that cavalry is one of our biggest weak spots. I don't mind his loyalties, and his ambition means that he's definitely going to be open to changing up our military.
Third was the Student. A young man, he had still been in the highest levels of training during the Great Khan's war, drafted only at the end where things had become unquestionably desperate. Primarily educated in the Academies, the Student had been a star pupil, selected for greater things in the future and the possibility of long-term command. Regardless, his career had been greatly disrupted by the war and his training was not completed and he has had to learn on the job since then. While lacking in experience, the Student is the most formally trained option and was evaluated to be the best in the tradition of Ymaryn military thought before all of his teachers and mentors were slain.
Primary Strength: Martial, Learning
Secondary Strength: Diplomacy
Known Loyalties: Conservative Faction
Ambitions: Establish a Ymaryn Military Academy
Don't think I'd go for this one. His stats are good, but the lack of experience and conservative loyalties are a big downside since we're looking to reform the system. I really like his ambition, but the war with the khan has shown us that our traditional military training just isn't cutting it any longer.
The fourth option is perhaps not one Ydrys would have immediately considered, but the option was worth evaluating anyway. The Privateer had been a commodore in the People's Navy, fighting against pirates and other such naval threats throughout his career. What had ultimately made him successful was an understanding of the psychology of pirates and an ability to negotiate and work with them, cracking alliances and cleaning up those who would not fall in line. Ultimately, this had led to his career stalling as while he was undoubtedly the most effective commodore in the fleet, he was never able to dodge rumours of impropriety (even if those rumours were never substantiated).
Primary Strength: Navy
Secondary Strength: Martial, Diplomacy, Intrigue
Known Loyalties: Assorted foreign buccaneers of dubious legality
Ambitions: Elevate the Prestige of the Fleet equal to the Army
Very well rounded statwise, but I do have some concerns. While we definitely should build up our navy at some point, our army is going to be the number one priority for a while. His ties to foreigners makes me a bit leery too, but his stats are pretty good and he's the only other option for an Intrigue based advisor.
Fifth was an option that just a year ago, Ydrys would not have considered and even now he was surprised the name crossed his desk. The Mercenary was the commanding officer of the Brotherhood of Mark. A true foreign element, the Mercenary's approach to war and combat are nothing like that of the rest of the People. While he has risen high enough over the last year of fighting for this appointment to be considered, it would not be typical or well accepted among the nobility or commoners. Regardless, tales of the Heaven's Hawks, their loyalty and success, swirl to mind when considering a truly foreign element. That foreign view had utterly changed how the Ymaryn fought war and such a stranger may be just what the People need.
Primary Strength: Martial
Secondary Strength: None*
Known Loyalties: Brotherhood of Mark, the extinct Kingdom of Kull(?)
Ambitions: Carve out a homeland
Also rather tempting. While his stats are definitely weaker than the other candidates, having an experienced outside perspective may be exactly what we need to reform our military for a more modern age. Also, I have to admit that I'm interested in seeing if we could do the Ymaryn culture vampirism thing and integrate his people with our own at some point.
The last candidate to consider was one that Ydrys knew almost nothing about. And that deeply concerned him. The letter had appeared on his desk and he had no knowledge of how it got there; concerning for someone who regularly practiced meticulous organization. The Murderer's resume has clearly indicated that he is one of the few remaining Blackbirds and is looking to return to public service. The Great Khan's war was not kind to the venerable Order with them being nearly wiped out. After a few years of seclusion and contemplation, it is clear that they are now ready to begin taking a higher profile role. If it is worth their time. Either way, the Murderer would be immensely skilled in the arts of secrecy, subterfuge, and the shadow war. Lord of asymmetric combat and ambushes, the Murderer is an excellent candidate for someone looking for distinctly Ymaryn but also non-traditional expertise.
Primary Strength: Martial, Intrigue
Secondary Strength: Learning
Known Loyalties: Blackbird Order
Ambitions: Unknown, but likely extremely high level.
Oof. On one hand, that "Unknown" ambition is a bit scary. But on the other hand, look at them stats. He's the only candidate with a Primary on Intrigue and Martial, along with a secondary Learning as a nice bonus. Aside from that, he'll also have a non-traditional viewpoint that may make it easier to set up some much needed reforms.
So after looking at our options, I think I'd go for the Murderer, though the Privateer and maybe the Cavalier would be decent second choices.
Seriously, I knew that they were weird, but what the actual hell? Even the fricking nomads aren't this bad! How the hell are we supposed to negotiate or anything with a bunch of fanatics who think we're all satan?
And as Haul pointed out, even if we build a giant ass fortification or something to keep them out, the big problem is that the moment we show even the slightest hint of weakness, they're going to come down from their mountain to do this shit all over again.
Honestly, part of the reason I want an Intrigue focused advisor is the hopes that maybe they'd have a solution that doesn't require keeping an army parked at the Highlander border for all time.
Ok, this is a lot of good information - a lot more detailed than I was expecting, honestly. Here's my general summary:
So looking at the table, I think the biggest priority needs to be Salt as it's at "Dangerously Unsatisfied" levels. It's already been pointed out that we'll need to repair our Salterns soon in order to avoid problems from cropping up.
Aside from that, we need to increase our supply of basically all the base resources (the main priority should be iron ore and lead since they're both at "unsatisfied"). Some of the other things we need to import more of are exotic wood, ice and mercury.
Also, we apparently have "Too Much" gold and silver but I have no idea what we should do about it.
We can also look into expanding production of our other export goods to make more money. There are basically four types:
Satisfied (no point making more unless we can find new trading partners)
Incense
Poppies
Wine
Unfulfilled Demand (people are willing to buy if we make more)
Cotton
Fine Dyes
Glass
Cloth
Unsatisfied (if we make more we can probably sell it for top dollar)
Honey
Endless Demand (we can never make too much of this)
Alright, some good information here. I think that finishing this should be a priority since the sooner we do this the sooner we can unlock all the possible reforms needed to fix our military.
As others have pointed out, the examination system definitely needs to be changed.
I agree with Parzival95's post above regarding the best options: switching graduation criteria is the only option that addresses the core issue, while opening up the Royal Exams to women will hopefully be a good first step to establishing a truly meritocratic system.
In summary, my votes will be:
[ ] The Murderer
[ ] Switch graduation criteria to a lower absolute score instead of relative placement
[ ] Open the Royal Exams to female Patricians
We have that already. Meritocracy is a bad word, you shouldn't combine latin and greek roots like that. A greek word that means the same thing would be "Aristocracy" or "rule by the best". If "best" is determined by credentials, then you get a system not unlike the Royal Exams.
I say stick with either the
[ ] The Cavalier
or
[ ] The Murderer
Cavalier to improve our Cavalry is important for having such a large side connected to the Steppes. Murderer because the original purpose of the Black Birds was both intrigue and as watchmen. There is also the added fact that our religious faction has been kinda ignored and Redium implied bad things from that. Time to see if we can get a pseudo-religious advisor again.
The fact that the exam excluded most people who joined it was a feature, not a bug.
The problem," Ianto said, "Is that this system was set up to minimize the number of candidates that could pursue a Patrician's career. Each Patrician has, as best we can tell, four sons on average, who will in turn compete for one career. A simple mathematical impossibility."
One-in-four of these Patrician sons would be appropriately winnowed before ever becoming eligible for the exam. Slightly less than two-in-four would then fail. It meant that there was often a slight abundance of lower-class Bachelors who struggled to find work, but they often managed to find a position eventually either because a higher placed classmate perished or other exceptional circumstances.
Technically, our Patrician Women are not employed. Their official role is to be wives, with the unofficial position of assisting their husband in their administration. So them being unemployed is normal...ish.
Our patrician women are also incredibly well educated for the most part, and are the manpower pool we can most readily expect to pass through the academy.
As for advisors- I'm surprised we don't see more love for the mercenary. His ambition is something we can probably work with, the longer he and his contingent is here, the more Ymaryn-fied they'll get, and it keeps us on the pulse of any European military innovations.
Stuff like the Blackbirds and the privateer are literally msisng the point of having a military advisor. All our professional military institutions are gone. Dead or head hunted by the other splinter lords. Don't get privateers to hunt pirates. Don't get spooks so we can murder dissidents. Get a professional military. And mercenary bands are some of the easiest things to turn into professional soldiers and the institutions to support them. After all, a mercenary is by definition someone who fights for a living. I'm not saying go full Varangian or anything, but even having a pipeline for continual influxes of professional mercenaries would be useful. I think we nearly had a problem when recruiting mercenaries because we were looking for entire armies rather than individuals.
I also think the Murderer might be our only chance at any kind of intrigue specialist. Don't forget to ask questions so we don't end up changing plans halfway through for bad initial assumptions.
Seriously, I knew that they were weird, but what the actual hell? Even the fricking nomads aren't this bad! How the hell are we supposed to negotiate or anything with a bunch of fanatics who think we're all satan?
Honestly, part of the reason I want an Intrigue focused advisor is the hopes that maybe they'd have a solution that doesn't require keeping an army parked at the Highlander border for all time.
The Cartesian Devils essentially snuck up on the Highlanders like Moloch Calls did on Xhoyr back in PoC.
Moloch calls essentially evolved from Greater Good because Xhoyr kept endlessly hammering on the Great Sacrifice action in order to add more stability, eventually forcing Greater Good to evolved into a very bad direction. This culminated in their eventual destruction.
The Cartesian Devils was really predicated by The World is Hungry evolving and it evolved in response to a specific need: Ymaryn economic vampirism. By absorbing outsiders into the People, you were constantly draining and damaging their economies, risking their starvation. As such, local polities destructively cracked down on their own populace to try to find some way to get them to stay. Combined with the fact that you absorbed everyone who was basically even slightly curious about the outside world, you only left a small core of incredibly hateful people behind. That mutated into this nonsense and it's not like it's unprecedented; the Solomon Islanders regularly aggressively attack all outsiders for unknown internal reasons. This comes from a similar place.
You could try intrigue, but it would be profoundly difficult. Anyone who'd be willing to work with you (a small pool) is risking instant death for themselves and their family in a police state. Additionally, the end goal would be 'reformation of society,' which is extremely broad. If the next leader of North Korea was a liberal reformer, the system would oppose them and do its damndest to kill them because the system and the people highly placed in it benefit from its ongoing existence.
Haul was correct when he identified that trying to reform Highlander society would mean conquering it. They're basically hyper-mega-North Korea; the only way they'd be able to reform is if they give effective control of the state apparatus over to someone who can change it. They've been sitting behind their borders for nearly fifteen hundred years; there is a theoretical possibility that they could reform on their own, but why now? Why couldn't the Highlander state last like this for another five hundred or a thousand years?
Our patrician women are also incredibly well educated for the most part, and are the manpower pool we can most readily expect to pass through the academy.
As for advisors- I'm surprised we don't see more love for the mercenary. His ambition is something we can probably work with, the longer he and his contingent is here, the more Ymaryn-fied they'll get, and it keeps us on the pulse of any European military innovations.
Stuff like the Blackbirds and the privateer are literally msisng the point of having a military advisor. All our professional military institutions are gone. Dead or head hunted by the other splinter lords. Don't get privateers to hunt pirates. Don't get spooks so we can murder dissidents. Get a professional military. And mercenary bands are some of the easiest things to turn into professional soldiers and the institutions to support them. After all, a mercenary is by definition someone who fights for a living. I'm not saying go full Varangian or anything, but even having a pipeline for continual influxes of professional mercenaries would be useful. I think we nearly had a problem when recruiting mercenaries because we were looking for entire armies rather than individuals.
All of the Military advisors exist on a spectrum from traditional to radical. The Student is the most traditional and the Mercenary the most radical. The Murderer exists somewhere near the center, but on the radical half of the spectrum. He is traditionally Ymaryn trained, but not in traditional tactics. Radicalism and Traditionalism are also not good or bad in of themselves. Your military apparatus is the finest in the world right now and it would be very easy to make things worse through change. There are definitely things that could improve, but change is risky.
The Murderer — despite the name (a group of Crows is a murder which is why he was called that) — is more than just secret police. The Blackbirds have always been asymmetric combat specialists and scouts. In modern parlance, they would be special forces light infantry. They are very much soldiers and train in war. They receive command training and know how to fight. The Blackbird would have received command training and served in the Great Khan's war, even if their record is not explicit.
Also, you very much got lucky on recruiting foreign mercenaries; that action only had about a 20% chance of success given your other choice to lean on the Gentry. The dice happened to be in your favour.
[ ] Call back retired Patricians
[ ] Slacken standards, make the exam easier
[ ] Condense and accelerate the Academies' curriculum
[X] Switch graduation criteria to a lower absolute score instead of relative placement
[ ] Open the Royal Exams to female Patricians
[ ] Open the Royal Exams to commoners
[ ] 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
This is what I think so far. I'm leaning towards female particans as superior to commoners. I don't think slackening standards would help, the tests being too hard isn't the problem, it's how it's fails everyone below the grading curve rendering them "worthless."
On the job training is a maybe for me, not sure. Retried particans also doesn't solve it, that's like a bandaid I think. Condensation and acceleration is another maybe, but I don't know if it's truly helpful. Maybe there is too much clutter in the curriculum, I don't enough to say.
Edit: After rereading that our king only got 6.5 out of 10 and how that was near some of the highest scores ever known, perhaps condensation or slackening might be helpful after all. If it's so difficult as to be nigh impossible to get even an 8, then maybe it's too much.
@Redium can you clarify on these two options, as to what exactly we'd be cutting from education?
[X] Switch graduation criteria to a lower absolute score instead of relative placement
[X] Accept non-Patricians with on-the-job administrative experience as Patricians
[X] The Murderer
[X] Switch graduation criteria to a lower absolute score instead of relative placement
[X] Open the Royal Exams to female Patricians
Well shit, the race has started, now we can't get left behind. Anyway, I don't think the maximum conservative or traditional options are optimal, so no mercenary or student for me.
As a short term measure I've reconsiders toward on the job experience.
