Realm Year 628
Turn 15 Results
You look upon your lands from the Spire of the Heavens.
The High Kingdom of Yilali... It was a strange title, one you still weren't entirely used to, having spent most of your life so far within the borders of the Old Provinces--even with the expansions since you had taken the throne, the sheer
size that now flew your banner was... Something that was hard to grasp, even with your genius and heaven-fueled arts.
But you hadn't come up here to reminsce. The reports of Neiya's Whisperers had barely made it to you in time, managing to stay ahead only through a truly heroic effort, and the new connections permitted from your citadel.
An army sailing up the river, flying the banners of the the distant Realm--it didn't take a sage to figure out who they were looking for. The feared Wyld Hunt of legends were coming for Yilali, armed to tear your lands asunder in their search for the hated demon kings that would sink a dagger into the heart of Creation.
You sigh, looking upon your own reflection in the burnished guardrail of the lookout, a flash of gold visible upon your brow. Even if your existence disagreed, they would not be easily swayed... You had run simulations with your advisors, and one thing remained clear, the Anathema was fit only to be killed, and all losses and damage acceptable to guarantee this.
And the Realm could throw a hundred men for every living man, woman, and child in the High Kingdom, and still come out ahead, even if you defeated this expeditionary force.
The next few years would be a trying test, but you hadn't come this far to surrender the first time a threat presented itself. You had forged a mighty land with the help of your allies. Heaven willing, it would endure these trials and come out stronger for it.
Military: Karasu Cloudruner is a legend in his own right by now--a brilliant swordsman who has struck out against banditry, beast, and Wyld-forged monstrosities alike--all of these pale before the talents of his children, all three of his mature children having Exalted, despite the middling blood possessed by him and his beloved wife. (Choose 2):
Light Cavalry: The North East Trade Company has managed to locate a seller of surefooted horses from far off Marukan that might be worthwhile to add to your batle line. Better still, as one of the few places with a breeding population of Gryphons, you could defray a lot of the cost of importing them by selling off some of the geldings, as these are rare and mighty steeds. Given how expensive Gyphons were to train and deploy, having an option for conventional use could be useful, especially with your territories expanded as they had. Cost: 1,000 Obols, Time: 2 Years, Reward: Yilali Lancers recruited and integrated into the Muster.
You weren't going to be one to look down on the strengths of good, well trained cavalry--and even as you've placed the order to the Trade Company, you've begun devising training methods for your new lancer wing. Highly mobile, with the terrible strength of man and beast riding as one. They possess reach, the ability to strike fast at the flanks, and to do terrific damage--they serve as an excellent middle ground between the ferocity of Gryphon Riders, and your more conventional infantry wings. It also helps that cavalry is a prestigious position, and you had plenty of volunteers in the Gryphon program who had already acheived basic expertise, but lacked the temperment to truly excel in the role of air cavalry--charging down from a height that should easily be fatal isn't for everyone after all.
When the horses arrive, all that remains is for your riders to get used to the new mounts--and the ranchers at Whisperwind have enough breeding pairs at this point that you shouldn't have any serious trouble replacing losses, so long as they aren't too severe.
Yilali Lancers formed! 2,000 Lancers added to Standing Army.
500 Lancers are upgraded to Vanguards
Wargames: The Wyld Hunt was on the way, and while it was Certainly heretical to prepare to oppose them... Well, you could never really be sure--and Neiya's managed to collect enough intelligence to get a good idea of how they operate. Maybe a few completely legitimate wargames against theoretical elemental warriors would be a good use of your time?. Cost: 200 Obols, Time: 1 Year, Reward: Basic Tactics developed to employ in battle against Realm Forces.
You weren't a fool--there was only so long you could keep things hidden against the investigation--and your men needed to be prepared to fight for the safety of the Kingdom when push came to shove. Most of your military experience was against the perils of the Wyld--and not against other men. But you had the Cloudrunners as a case study, and your own military was flexible enough that it shouldn't be
too difficult to come up with some proper wargames.
The year is full of heavy drilling, as divisions of the Muster are rotated in and out of the various fortresses--testing against all manner of threats, either through Beastman aggressors, Dragon Blooded strike-teams, or a peer force in a dug in position. There's plenty of bruises, broken bones, and a couple more serious injuries, but the Deepwood Hospice is more than capable of handling anything your healers can't, and there's a clear improvement in the skill and flexibility of your forces over the course of theyear.
You could only hope it would be enough.
Basic Tactics developed against theoretical Realm Incursion
Diplomacy: Kaiden Sacre's getting on in years, even with his divine lineage giving him an extended lifespan. Still, he's travelled much of this neck of Creation, and has a large network of associates and contacts that have made him indispensible in the past several years... (Choose Two):
Live Free or Die: The Confederacy of Freemen are between you and the rest of Creation, and while you and your council are less worried about a possible surprise from a supernatural corner... Well, they're still quite a bit bigger then you in terms of raw landmass and numbers, even if they're too prone to jockeying for advantage to really unite save against an external threat. Still, they have a lot of bodies that can be thrown at you if they're cowed by the Realm, and improving relations with them should make them more likely to drag their heels if the Realm calls on reinforcements from them. There would be bribes involved, many of them. Cost: 1,000 Obols, Time: 3 Years, Chance of Success: 65%, Reward: Confederacy of Freemen Relations set to Indifferent, less chance of Realm forces conscripting out of them without using significant force.
12 vs 10. Narrow Success!
This...
Almost goes badly--evidently, they're still a bit nervous about your expansion, and their own intelligence network has picked up on the Realm's approach as well. Simply put, they fear the presence of the Anathema that the Wyld Hunt heralds, and are largely dug in... Still, you have a lot of money, and Kaiden knows a lot of influential people--you manage to get your foot in the door at least, even if only because of your own handwritten missives were enough for the messages to actually be read by important people.
Project Begins, will complete in Two Turns
Etiquette Training: The Realm are not nice people, and even under the guise of a religious advance... They're going to expect you to show them respect. Making sure your messengers and diplomats are trained in acceptable etiquette and are well attired should make them less likely to anger them. Cost: 200 Obols, Time: 1 year, Reward: +5 to negotations with Realm Culture Group.
Easy enough, Kaiden's bumped into a few odd Patricians and Dynasts in his career, and he's more then willing to coach your people in how to show proper respect... Which is to say "Don't give offense, remember that they're convinced that they're the real superpower, and that they think they're doing you a great service by coming up here and killing the prophecied Anathema in the region". Kind of a harsh point of view, but it's better to find this out now then after putting your foot in your mouh.
+5 to negotiations with Realm Culture Group
Stewardship: Morgan Cloudrunner knows Coin--having spent a precocious childhood shadowing the traders and coin-counters in the Foreign Quarter, and has picked up a truly astounding amount of tricks. And then he Exalted as one of the Aspect of Water. Despite his young age, he has become the clear choice for your new steward, and he already has a number of ideas to enrich the Kingdom.. (Choose Two)
River's End Harbourage: Taran wasn't Nearly ambitious enough, and while he went into retirement in good cheer after Morgan showed his stuff, the young Exalt has completely redrawn the old ideas, and made them far more efficient then before. The revised Harbourage was incredibly well designed, both fishing and for bulk cargo transport. Couple that with good roads connecting the Harbourage to the rest of the High Kingdom, and he was pretty sure you could move goods from there to Karamat Hold, or your other core territories within a week, which would do wonders for your economy. Cost: 1,000 Obols, Time: 2 Years, Rewards: Small Port built at the edge of the Great River, improved Trade and Fishing income, may begin formation of a navy.
Morgan loves money, and he also loves flexing his burgeoning network of contacts--advisors and architects from the River Provinces are shipped in courtesy of the Trade Company, and good, solid wood and granite are shipped from your lumberyards and quarries to the edge of the Great River. He had every intention of starting from this foundation, and making the best damned port in the Direction, so he'd need all these experts later anyway!
Constructon of River's End Harbourage has begun, will complete next turn
Royal Highway: The roads of your core provinces are well structured, and your engineers have gotten good at setting them up quickly. Morgan wants to expand the program to the rest of the High Kingdom to update them up to your standards. It would be expensive, but being able to move goods and men across the frontier has obvious benefits. Cost: 1,000 Obols, Time: 2 Years, Rewards: Road Network extended to new provinces. Improved Trade Income, movement bonus extends to frontier provinces.
Coin flows like water to your engineering corps, and making use of the model established in the earlier days of expansion, they have begun extending your road network to the newly incorporated provinces, ensuring all major settlements are connected by stone roads, and that the smaller holdings at least have a good path leading
up to a major road. Expensive, but with the continued growth of your economy, and the ability to simply produce most of the necessary materials, it's a fairly reasonable cost to bear.
Roads under construction, will complete next turn
Learning: Ember has retired from managing the fine details of your research department, passing the mantle onto her firstborn while she enjoys life with her family, and occasionally taking ludicrously expensive commissions on the request of dignitaries far and wide. Maya's so far proven to be more then capable of filling her mother's shoes. (Choose Two)
Subsidizing the University: The Whisperwind University is open to all... But Maya does admit that it can barely break even at the current rate, and they can't really afford to take in more students then the smattering of savants who happen along. A Royal Grant could help them afford the reagents, and hire more people to teach long term, which would allow more students. Everyone wins, right? Except maybe your income. Cost: 500 Obols per turn. Rewards: Whisperwind University can afford to train more students, which leads to better education, and more magically capable people.
Maya's more then happy that the University is now turning a small profit! She spends a good amount of her spare time teaching in that place after all, so it's nice for her colleagues to get a bigger cheque, and the ability to hire more assistants. It'll be a constant drain on your treasury, but anything that improves the education of your people is a managable price to pay.
Whisperwind University can now afford to train larger numbers of savants! New options unlocked...
Stronger Magic?: Maya is a Sorcerer, and while she's good at it, she really would like assistants. The problem is that regular people learning that kind of magic is... Really, really hard--she explains it like trying to draw a circle with one hand, while drawing a square with the other, at the same time. You give it a shot yourself, and can agree that it's far more difficult then you might think. Still, she's pretty sure she can figure out a program to test for people who have the aptitude, which is much better then people stumbling into enlightenment and then actually finding out they can use magic. Cost: 1,000 Obols, Time: 3 Years, Reward: Basic Sorcery Aptitude Test developed, may take further actions to figure out how to train a Sorcery Corps.
Sorcery is an
enormously potent art, and Maya agrees! It's also super complicated and tricky to teach, though not nearly as individualistic as Thaumaturgy tends to be. An ordinary person would be completely out of luck with this art--but Maya is a rare prodigy, and has access to all the records that the Whisperwind University has acquired from listening to the Five Winds. It'll take a long time to get up to the point where you can train a meaningful amount of Sorcerers to a sufficient degree to be useful to the Kingdom, but she's pretty confident she'll pullit off!
Project Begins, will complete in two turns
Piety: Kalas Marion serves as your Over Priest, one who is recognized as having the greatest authority, and most well developed relationship wih the major Gods of the kingdom. Seasoned and grizzled, he's ready to retire at this point, but he'll hang on a bit longer in light of the threat. (Pick one)
Treasures of the Deep: Your relationship with the Court of the Northern Sands is good! Enough that they're willing to assist you in land survey, in areas that you couldn't effectively look through before. The price is steep, but for the chance at tapping something truly valuable, it could be worthwhile! Cost: 3,000 Obols, Time: 1 Year. Reward: Mineral Resource Rolls, number dependent on results.
5, only one Resource Roll
67, Mundane Strategic Resource: Granite, +200 Mining Income
Sadly, the Court of the Northern Sands is preparing to lie low--this isn't the first time that they've interacted with the Realm, and probably won't be the last. Despite this, they still manage to spare a few portents that point the way to a vein of good, solid granite, which should be useful in developing fortifications.
Intrigue: The Royal Intelligence Service remains well funded, and Neiya remains a small goddess of sneaking into someone's face and stealing their shorts without them noticing it. You'd much rather secrets, and she's good at those too. (Choose 2):
And Knowing is Half the Battle!: You have a Wyld Hunt coming your way--they haven't reached you yet, but they will soon. Start collecting data from your Whisperers and assemble a dossier of major personages of the Hunt, and you should have a better idea of how to handle it. Cost: 500 Obols, Time: 1 Year, Chance of Success: 70%, Reward: Dossiers on oncoming Wyld Hunt Hero Units.
34 vs 1. Good Success!
Neiya's very, very good at her job, and she can pull together more then enough information to give you a rudimentary grasp of the major figures in the approaching Hunt.
Legionary Representative: Tepet Aetius
Strategos of the attached Legion, Tepet Aetius is a veteran Legionaire with seventy years of combat experience putting out brushfires across Creation on behalf of the Empress, including campaigns upon the Caul, Harbourhead, and three successful Wyld Hunts. He is loyal beyond reproach to the Imperial Throne, and such loyalty is recognized by his increased autonomy compared to more junior operatives. Earth Aspect.
Immaculate Master: Rising Flame
Master of the Fire, Air, and Water Styles, and an advanced practioner of the Earth Style. Rising Flame is expert in the legendary battle techniques of the Immaculate Order, and serves as one of their greatest champions. Two hundred years old--most of which was spent in the Order, he is a prime example of a Lost Egg who has found his true calling. A dedicated hero of the Wyld Hunt, he participates almost full time, having personally slain three Lunars and a Solar, as well as being a key participant in fourteen other Hunts. He is experienced, he is cunning, and he is absolutely dedicated to the Order. He also has six lesser Masters of the various other Styles, but is largely considered the first amongst them. Fire Aspect
Further data is currently unavailable, save that the Hunt travels with the support of a full Realm Legion, as well as a significant detachment of Immaculates ranging from junior students of the battle techniques, to mortal monks.
Counterintelligence: Most of the Intelligence Service is focused on Foreign threats... And not so much local defense, Neiya wants to sort that out, hopefully before you actually need it. Cost: 500 Obols, Time: 1 Year, Reward: Better Intrigue Defense.
In light of the oncoming storm, Neiya rides herd on the Intelligence Service once again to get them used to more... Urban environments.
Kingdom of Yilali has better defenses against Intrigue
Personal Actions: You actually have a little free time now! If only you knew what to do with it... (Choose 2):
Intense Training: Set some time aside to start working on a new
Trait. (0/500 Progress)
+71 Progress
