[X] Gardening: Gwyndlyn has always loved the outdoors, and has spent a great deal of time walking amidst the trees and flowers of the Palace Gardens. You're sure she'd love a chance to care for the plants and learn all there is to know about them.
[X] Gleaming Golden Pearl: Your daughter shall learn the intricate and complicated laws of the market, tutored by bankers, burghers, merchants, and other industrious fortune-builders in the art of accumulating wealth. +Diplomacy, +Stewardship, -Martial
We are making a strong oligarchic Clan that will stretch centuries into the future. Golden-Feathers will be an exemplar that every other imperial citizen and even most foreign rulers will strive to compare, best if we give them more than 1-dimension aka ruling the country. Gardening, research, people skills, etc. we are already on the right path, we should continue.
You fiend!! You thought we wouldn't notice that we are now named The Lightbringer. That is a old title that has several connotations to it. Both good and bad due to the being that held it.
Not too long ago, this kingdom was a golden state of hope.
Call down the reckoning
To bring back hope and peace; restore our gloria
To live forever.
Bring down the dark regime
I know how to unleash eternal power
Lead us to order
I am the Lightbringer!
About one sixth of Crystal Ponies relocated to the Empire and were subsequently adopted. There are currently about a quarter of a million Crystal Ponies in total between the Empire and the Protectorate.
Adhoc vote count started by Raptor580 on May 22, 2019 at 9:22 AM, finished with 91 posts and 53 votes.
[X] Gleaming Golden Pearl: Your daughter shall learn the intricate and complicated laws of the market, tutored by bankers, burghers, merchants, and other industrious fortune-builders in the art of accumulating wealth. +Diplomacy, +Stewardship, -Martial
[X] Gardening: Gwyndlyn has always loved the outdoors, and has spent a great deal of time walking amidst the trees and flowers of the Palace Gardens. You're sure she'd love a chance to care for the plants and learn all there is to know about them.
[X] Board Games: She shall follow her elder brother's example, and will learn patience, strategy, and how to read people by playing numerous board and card games with you and members of the Imperial court.
[x] Pearls of Wisdom: She shall follow in her brother's footsteps, spending her days amidst the tomes and scrolls of the Royal library, familiarizing herself with the sciences and the arts, and imbuing her with a head for numbers. +Learning, +Stewardship, -Intrigue
[X] Hunting: She shall be taught how to hunt, something her draconic ancestry lends itself well to. This will be somewhat difficult seeing as how most of her potential prey is being killed off by the great hunt, but not all wildlife is being purged, and what creatures your soldiers inevitably miss can be hunted down by your draconic daughter.
Keep in mind the Neighponese as a competent naval power will be doing the smart thing and relying on boarding tactics with the technologies they have available.
As a side note on this: they will also be leaning heavily on magic to make up for their limited pool of manpower, and so might do things in a different way than would be first assumed.
Crystal Ponies, Griffon Culture: A curious trend has become apparent throughout Gryphus and its protectorate. Namely, that the Crystal Ponies seem to be adopting more and more Griffon customs and cultural practices. From wearing weapons and clothing in everyday life to using Griffon slang, it seems that the wider Empire has begun to rub off on its protectorate. Gryphonese is rapidly becoming a popular second language among the Crystal Ponies, and many Crystal foals play games of knights and bandits both with each other and, in the case of those outside the Crystal City, with Griffon chicks and Diamond Dog pups. Griffon made products have begun to corner their respective markets in the Crystal City, and the Crystal Ponies seem to be content with this. A few have made the observation that, while it retains its autonomy, the Crystal Protectorate is almost culturally identical to the larger Empire of Gryphus in many ways.
Rumblings from the Steppe: Troubling events are unfolding in Yakyakistan. With the growing Modernist factions within each clan gaining more power and influence, several ambitious leaders have emerged and begun to openly discuss the possibility of unifying all Yaks under a singular banner, despite opposition from most established leaders. These charismatic Yaks have begun to amass followers from across the steppes, and some have already come to blows with their rivals for power, though these have been limited to isolated brawls between hardcore fanatics. Some fear the possibility of another great clan war, while others see such a conflict as an inevitable outcome and the only way to unite Yakyakistan into a single nation.
A More United Neighpon: The varied races of Neighpon have quarreled with each other since time immemorial. It is only within living memory that the four (five if you count the Heavenly Dragons) races of the Island Nation resolved to put aside their differences and unite against an unknown and potentially hostile outside world. Still, this peace was fragile at best, an alliance of convenience rather than commitment as many waited for the other shoe to drop. But no longer. The new generation of Neighponese youth, having only known a world where all of their neighbors live under the same banner, have begun to put a past of segregation and mutual distrust behind them. The case of the Griffons and the Diamond Dogs has shown the inhabitants of the Sunrise Kingdom that inter-species cooperation is not only possible but beneficial. While racial discrimination between Qilin, Tanuki, Kitsune and Oni is far from over, some progressive Neighponese, the Dragon Emperor among them, dare to dream of a time in the future where such attitudes are things of the past.
A Mystery Solved: The mystery surrounding the so-called "Ghost Ships" has been dispelled by news from the Neighponese fleet regarding their investigation into the cause. A Qilin naval patrol intercepted a vessel of unknown make in the vicinity of a major sea lane: a pirate vessel. The ensuing boarding of the ship and the interrogation of the surviving crew revealed a great deal of information, and little of it bodes well.
The vessel was crewed by Equines, but not the Crystal Ponies that your people have already become familiar with. These ponies were possessed of multiple sub races, from standard Earth Ponies to winged Pegasi to a few examples of the magic-wielding Unicorns. An inspection of their holds resulted in the boarding party finding products manufactured in Neighpon and Gryphus, proof of their acts of Piracy. As for the people who had gone missing aboard the ghost ships...
The pirates had taken the crews of the trade ships they had plundered prisoner as "exotic goods". They had been sold into slavery.
Specifically, they had been auctioned off in the ports of a vast Kingdom known as Maretonia, which, according to the maps recovered from the pirate vessel, was just South of the Crystal Protectorate.
The captured pirates could provide little information beyond that. They had sold the slaves in bulk to a third party "broker" and had no knowledge of where the crews may have ended up. They also have shockingly little knowledge of the culture, laws and government of Maretonia itself. As pirates, they lived on the fringes of society. While Maretonia is clearly a kingdom where slavery is at least tolerated, little beyond that is known at this point.
Of secondary interest is another location detailed in the Pirate vessel's navigational charts: an Island labeled "Libertalia". Further questioning revealed the island to be a sort of haven for pirates, smugglers, fugitives and other outcasts. A place without a government where gold and steel are the only laws. It had apparently been the pirate's main port of call.
The public, and you, are having trouble processing all this information. One thing is certain: something has to be done to get your people back.
Sorry about the lagging to get this update out. In the middle of final exams right now so...yeah. Not too sure with how this one turned out. Let me know if it feels incomplete or is missing something.
Crystal Ponies, Griffon Culture: A curious trend has become apparent throughout Gryphus and its protectorate. Namely, that the Crystal Ponies seem to be adopting more and more Griffon customs and cultural practices. From wearing weapons and clothing in everyday life to using Griffon slang, it seems that the wider Empire has begun to rub off on its protectorate. Gryphonese is rapidly becoming a popular second language among the Crystal Ponies, and many Crystal foals play games of knights and bandits both with each other and, in the case of those outside the Crystal City, with Griffon chicks and Diamond Dog pups. Griffon made products have begun to corner their respective markets in the Crystal City, and the Crystal Ponies seem to be content with this. A few have made the observation that, while it retains its autonomy, the Crystal Protectorate is almost culturally identical to the larger Empire of Gryphus in many ways.
Uh... Huh. Welp. Time to get our Imperialism-brand stompy boots on and smash some freebootas. And then have "words" with our new southernmost neighbor.
Right, first things first. Built a massive fucking navy, borrow some of the Qilin's, and go fuck Libertalia in the ass. Then we conduct a D-day style landing with everything we have to tear this Maretonia a new one just for having slaves. How much damage we do depends on how well they've treated our people.
We can't afford a major war. Not just having finished the Winter War, which, despite being an existential war was already having war fatigue. Making a point by sacking the free port is doable, but a protracted conflict before swaying our populace as to the need to conduct another war? Not a smart move.
Our first few things to do would be contact the new empire to try to get our people back diplomaticly while also sending the biggest navy with the neighpon to crush the pirate haven.
