Martial: Gustav Kingfeather, once known as the hardest drinker and fighter in Griffonia, has sworn not to consume a drop of alcohol until the losses of Redstone Pass have been avenged, and the threat of the Shadow King dealt with once and for all. He's thrown himself into his work, seeking to ensure an end to this conflict that has already cost the Empire so many lives. (Two Actions Per Turn)
-The Peregrine Line-The Gates to the North: The Watchtowers have been completed and staffed with sentries. Now that you no longer have any need to worry about a surprise attack, you can begin building proper defensive works made to withstand all-out assaults. Walls shall be built, firing positions prepared, and strong points will be constructed in and along the mountain passes that serve as the only routes through the Peregrines. It will be costly and time consuming, but by the end of it you'll have a barrier for the enemy to throw themselves against while your troops cut them down. Cost: 1500. Time: Three Years. Reward: Southern Border Fortifications Built, Peregrine Line Completed.
Once again, work orders go out, and hundreds of engineers, architects, masons, bricklayers, and common laborers set to work. Foundations are dug, hundreds of tons of stone and brick are prepared and transported to construction sites, explosives are planted and then detonated to blast tunnels out of the mountain rock, and under the watchful gaze of Imperial sentries, ground is officially broken on the construction of the greatest set of fortifications in your people's history. It's going to take years and a fortune to see the project through, but once the final touches are complete you'll have a defensive line strong enough to withstand even the most determined of assaults. Will Finish in Two Turns.
-Hans, Get the Flamethrower: The flame projectors proved to be one of the most important assets of the Winter War, being the only viable method of destroying the shadow-beasts, and serving as excellent counters to the abominations. Now that the Troll-Busters' contract has expired, it's probably a good idea to build a few more of these devices for yourself. Cost: 400. Time: One Year. Reward: +4 Static Flame Projectors
Once again, orders are placed for the construction of four more flame projectors to be added to the Imperial Arsenal. Once again, metals are produced and shaped, crews trained, and barrels of liquid fire stockpiled. And once again, at the end of the year the new weapons are personally inspected by Archimedes, who gives them his personal stamp of approval before handing them over to the army, giving you a grand total of ten flamethrowers to be used against your enemies. +4 Static Flame Projectors
Diplomacy: Elva's been busy. Between the Yak Clans and the Neighponese, not a day has gone by that she hasn't had to sort through a massive backlog of reports, files and communiques. Still, she manages to keep up with the workload, if just barely. (One Action per Turn)
-Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Even with only two other nations to worry about, Elva and her staff are swamped. They simply don't have the resources they need to do everything that needs to be done. Only one way to fix this: Reorganize the existing diplomatic staff, hire on new prospective diplomats, and construct a dedicated building to act as a headquarters for the new government office. Expensive, yes, but necessary to coordinate matters of international relations. Cost: 600. Time: One Year. Reward: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Created, Additional Diplomacy Action Unlocked.
Elva gets to work, overseeing the design and construction of a new dedicated office space to house the new ministry and going over the files of applicants to fill hundreds of new positions, building a massive new diplomatic bureaucracy from the ground up. Veteran diplomats are given senior postings in the new ministry, introductory training courses are set up for new hires, and by the end of the year a new government office has been established, dedicated to facilitating relations between the Empire and other nations. Hopefully now you can start to really make some headway with your foreign policy!
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Created, Additional Diplomacy Action Unlocked.
-Nanban Trade: Emperor Koryū Ryūō's arrival on your shores has opened up a world of possibilities in terms of trade. Alongside weapons and warriors to aid in the fight against the Shadow King, the other Emperor also brought samples of exotic goods from his homeland, from silk and sake to tea and fine porcelain. Already the nobility is eager to get their hands on these exotic novelties, and your new friend has implied that his own subjects seek to trade for raw materials to feed the expansion of their economy. All that's needed is to hash out the details of a trade agreement. Cost: 300. Time: One Year. Reward: Trade Routes with Neighpon Established, Increased Trade Income. Chance of Success: 70%
Required: 30. Rolled: 83+18+10(Capitalism Intensifies Omake)+10(Paper=Gold Omake)=121 (Art Crit!)
A favorable trade deal is quickly hashed out between representatives of Gryphus and Neighpon, and soon ships laden with valuable cargo are departing their home ports and setting sail for foreign markets. Items made from Gryphus iron and lumber soon become common sights in the markets of Neighpon, and luxury goods such as tea, porcelain and silk become ubiquitous amongst the nobility and even some members of the middle class. The less affluent are not exempt from the benefits of trade either, as breeds of vegetables and staple crops native to foreign lands gradually become part of the local diet, and varieties of alcohol are exchanged between cultures. The Oni are reportedly big fans of Mushroom Moonshine, enjoying the stronger kick.
All of this has caused an expansion in the economies of both of your nations, and led to an influx of revenues from import tariffs on both sides. Everyone is very happy with this outcome, you and Kōryū in particular. More than that, contact between your respective peoples has bred feelings of familiarity and camaraderie, improving overall relations between your kingdoms. It's a great day for business!
Trade Established between Gryphus and Neighpon, +600 Trade Income, +1 Neighpon Relations.
Stewardship: Frida remains her upbeat self, especially now that the Empire has been dragged out of the debt it had accrued last year. The return of the unnatural cold from the South has put a bit of a damper on things, but its comparative lack of intensity from the last time it ravaged your lands has made the burden a bit easier to bear. (Two Actions per Turn)
-Mine Carts: Carrying loads of ore out of mines and to smelters is difficult, slow-going work. A few of the larger mines in your Empire have come up with a solution involving the use of carts that run along wood or metal tracks, pushed by workers or pulled through the use of pulley systems. Prior to the construction of Genevieve's blast furnaces, such arrangements were too expensive to be widely implemented across the Empire, but now that a glut of cheap iron and steel is available, Imperial subsidies can make such systems a standard piece of mining equipment as common as pickaxes and shovels. Cost: 500. Time: One Year. Reward: Mine Carts Installed at all Imperial Mines, Increased Mining Income.
Funds are taken from the Imperial treasury and given to mine operators, who hand them over blacksmiths and metalworkers in exchange for lengths of metal track and wheeled carts for use in the hauling of ore. These new tools are quickly installed in mine shafts throughout the nation, and within a year the benefits are already being made known. Miners can now move large amounts of ore more quickly, increasing productivity and output. Everyone is quite pleased with this outcome.
Mine Carts installed throughout Imperial Mines, +200 Mining Income
-Crop Rotation: Agricultural productivity is at an all-time high, but Genevieve has warned you and Frida that this might not remain the case. Apparently, when the same type of crop is planted in the same soil over and over again, it depletes the nutrients of the soil, resulting in diminishing returns. Thankfully there's a solution: simply alternate the crops one plants on different plots of land. Well, it sounds easy enough, but educating the farmers and arranging for such a system to become widespread might take some work, and some subsidies to ensure they go along with the plan. Still, it may be necessary to ensure a reliable food harvest. Cost: 600. Time: One Year. Reward: Crop Rotation becomes standard agricultural doctrine, increased Farming Income.
Genevieve finds the time to write up a pamphlet explaining the principles and reasoning behind the new agricultural policy, and Frida has hundreds of copies printed out and distributed across the Empire while urging farmers to begin rotating their crops between harvest and planting seasons. Subsidies and support funds are made available to encourage the adoption of the new agricultural technique, and while the farmers of the Empire have difficulty wrapping their heads around all the scientific explanations being thrown at them, their government hasn't led them wrong before. They comply with the suggestions, and low and behold, within a year crop yields start to see a slight uptick, which Genevieve informs you will only increase as nutrients return to depleted soil. You commend your advisors for such quick action in preventing a potential future catastrophe.
Crop Rotation Implemented, +200 Farming Income
Learning: Archimedes and Genevieve continue their work as the Empire's top scholars, Archimedes focusing on improvements to the Imperial War Machine while Genevieve focuses on more Domestic improvements. This does not mean that the two do not collaborate and share information, merely that the two Griffons divide the work between them. (Two Actions per Turn)
-Intro to Thaumatology: From the Yak Shamans' abilities to see into the future to the Qilin's fire-bending and the Illusions of the Kitsune and Tanuki, magic has has become a much more easily accessible school of study. Of course, your people lack any magical abilities of their own...but that doesn't mean you can't understand the theory and natural laws surrounding the phenomenon. Cost: 200. Time: One Year. Reward: Gain basic understanding of Magical Laws and Phenomenon, Additional Actions Unlocked.
Genevieve is tasked with the investigation of magical phenomenon and the determining of exactly how magic works. She travels from Yakyakistan to Neighpon, interviewing practitioners of various forms of magic and trying to piece together a unified theory of magic from the often contradictory methodologies of various schools of magic...not an easy task, even for a Gryphon as bright as her. Still, by the end of the year she has made a significant amount of progress in understanding exactly how magic works and what it is capable of. For starters, there do appear to be rules and limits to exactly what magic is capable of, though these rules and limits seem to vary depending on what magic is being used and who is using it.
However, a few consistent rules do stand out, and conveniently enough these rules happen to coincide with scientific rules that your own thinkers and philosophers are familiar with. Something cannot come from nothing, matter cannot be created or destroyed, action and reaction, etc. As such, in the words of Genevieve: "magic and science are not opposites, merely two sides of the same coin." Interesting. Now if only you actually had the capacity to use this knowledge.
Basic Understanding of Magical Laws and Phenomenon Gained, New Actions Unlocked.
-Shiny and Black: The Orichalcum has been smelted, now it's time to see what it can do. Have Archimedes put the dark metal through every test he can think up and record the results. With any luck, this stuff will have more interesting qualities than being really hard to break or melt. And if not...well, it's already better at that than steel. Cost: 100. Time: One Year. Reward: Orichalcum Qualities Revealed.
Archimedes goes to work, putting the new material through every possible test he can think of. Stress tests, rapid temperature changes, microscopic examination, tests for toxicity and flexibility, on and on and on. By the end of it, your chief scientist has some interesting news to share with you.
As previously indicated, the substance is absurdly durable, both against impacts, cutting and heat, capable of resisting nearly all forms of damage save the unbearable temperatures of a blast furnace or perhaps Dragon-Fire (Gwyndlyn had managed to make an ingot glow with her fire-breath, but wasn't able to cause any actual permanent damage). While this alone would make it a very valuable material, it's far from the most interesting quality it possesses.
On a whim, Archimedes had decided to see if the metal had any response to magic, and had enlisted the help of some visiting Qilin, asking them to try and melt an Orichalcum ingot with their fire-bending. But something odd happened. When the magically created flames touched the metal, they were instantly extinguished. The Orichalcum didn't glow, didn't even get hot. Intrigued, Archimedes went further, cooperating with Ravenburg to get a an ingot underneath the yurt of a Yak Shaman. As he'd hypothesized, the shaman began complaining of difficulties "tapping into the ethereal plane", only to cease such complaints once the ingot was removed.
The results are clear: Orichalcum disrupts magic. This opens up a whole host of possibilities. Orichalcum Tested: Anti-magic Metal.
Intrigue: Ravenburg is as stoic and calmly professional as ever. If he's been at all affected by the War, he doesn't show it. Apart from his sudden fixation upon potential happenings south of the border, he's the same as he ever was. You actually find that quite reassuring. (One Action Per Turn)
-Yakity Yak: The Yaks showcased their strength when they fought alongside you and yours at the Battle of Redstone Pass. They proved to be great allies...but they could also become a powerful enemy if things were to go wrong. The war has stirred up the Yaks' cultural and political landscape. You need to know what exactly is going on in the lands of your Western neighbor, and whether you should be concerned. Cost: 300. Time: One Year. Reward: New Intel on Yak Clans and the Fallout from the Winter War, possibility of new Intrigue Options. Chance of Success: 60%
Required: 40. Rolled: 41+13+15(Many Years from Now Omake)+10(Raids from the Other Side Omake)=79
Dogs dig tunnels under yurts and the rare wooden longhouse, Griffons masquerading as merchants keep their ears and eyes open, and a handful of Yaks are bribed or otherwise convinced to provide information on the political situation in Yakyakistan. Once the data is gathered and collated, an interesting picture begins to emerge.
The political landscape of the Yak Clans has indeed undergone a significant shift since the battle of Redstone. While the elder councils and other entrenched political authorities have been steadfastly clinging to the old ways, recent events have caused many of the younger generation to advocate for change. These modernists point to the losses sustained at Redstone and the superior standards of living of your own people as proof that their old nomadic culture is simply no longer viable, and call for a more sedentary lifestyle, as well as a unification of the clans and the formation of a unified Yak Kingdom.
At present these modernists are a vocal minority, though they have gained more support from the common people as a result of your actions in recent years. The leaders of the clans, for their part, seem paralyzed with indecision, unwilling to clamp down on these young upstarts or give in to their demands. You'll have to keep an eye on this situation going forward.
Intel Gained on Yak Internal Politics, New Intrigue Actions Unlocked.
Personal: You refuse to let your duties as Emperor take up every moment of your day. (Two Actions per Turn)
-Overtime-Nanban Trade.
-Combing the Archives: Your last trip to the Archives proved a fruitful endeavor that reintroduced long-lost technology to the Empire. Who knows what else you could find buried amongst the piles of faded parchment? Cost: 0. Time: One Year. Reward: Chance to gain information and knowledge from Pre-Discord Records.
Rolled: 62
Once again, you find yourself rooting through the darkest corners of the Imperial Archives' collections of Pre-Discord records, and as before you have to root through a great deal of historical flotsam to find anything of real value. After going through five love letters, two poems, the rough draft of some sort of historical epic and a journal detailing an old Imperial nobles love life, you finally find something that might be worth the trouble: a complete map of the world as it appeared prior to the arrival of Discord.
Of course, since Discord altered the planet's geography so much over the course of his rule, this map isn't nearly as valuable as it otherwise could be...but it can still give hints towards the general lay of the land. Even a cursory inspection by anyone familiar with the most basic of navigation techniques would be able to tell that, according to this map, the world is significantly larger than many had anticipated. The exploration corps will have a field day with this.
New Exploration Actions Unlocked, +10 to next exploration action.
Hazard/Random Event Rolls
71 (Pass)
68 (Pass)
97 (Pass)
