My guess is that Maretonia tried to pull the wool over our diplomats eyes in regards to slaves, how many they had, and how they acquired them. The answers to those questions will doubtless dictate our response. Although I fear that we may need to the build the Crystal Line of fortifications.

That moment when Nega!Maretonia quest almost got away with pulling the wool over the Gryphon's eyes only for a random Gryphon slave to collapse in full view of the delegation.
 
Another possibility, though unlikely, is that Lady Nightingale is there. She was Brochard of Aquileias' Spymaster, who told him of a made up alliance between Wingbardy and Griffonia against him which is what convinced Brochard he'd have to go to war with us and who made off with Aquileias' Treasury after we won the war. It'd be pretty awkward to come face to face with her, after her actions and all this time.

However, there are problems with that possibility. First off, we don't know where she went. We tried to track her, but the trail went cold and we lost her. She could've gone east toward Neighpon, except they've never mentioned meeting a griffon before us. North is unknown ocean (I think), so no clue thataway. West is Yakistan, who hadn't seen people like our griffons before (that we know off and that they said). South was Sombra... yea, he wasn't talking to us.

If Lady Nightingale is in Maretonia, then she made it past Sombra (though she could've taken a ship and avoided him entirely). Plus, there's always the question of where Brochard got his trolls/how he got them trained to not attack his own army, if Sombra (the only other person with trained/controlled trolls) was involved then that would be explain that, plus why Brochard considered it a 'mad scheme' (because using magic from someone like Sombra is generally a poor idea). It could also explain how Nightingale got past Sombra into Maretonia, using her previous connections with him to get by/to know to avoid him.

Or, it could be that unknown Cinderella-Griffon from our inaugural ball, who was friendly and casual with us and promptly disappeared and hasn't been seen since. QM considered them important enough to include in the Persons of Interest page.


Eh, this is coming out to be a lot of theorizing and extrapolation and such, so it's probably not accurate, but was fun to do. Plus, we'll come across Lady Nightingale and the Cinderella-Griffon eventually, right?
 
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What if it is awkward because the maretonia delegates are so nice and genuinely friendly while utterly incapable of thinking of slaves as people?

I mean a very big dissonance with being truly caring while having every evil slavery dial on max.

Though I wonder if the gm will suprise us, and I worry ifwild guessing can put a lot of pressure on someone.
 
I do hope our guessing dosent put any pressure on him, hes written amazingly as he has so far, no reason to change it. And i do await this update with baited breath.
 
What are the canonical male/female terms for griffons in this quest?
He and she. We don't bother with that "Mare" and "Stallion" stuff.

A griffin is a griffin and it doesn't matter what parts they have downstairs because you're currently invading their territory, they've got a spear lined up with your throat, and are currently diving at about 40 mph with the intent to make those two points intersect quite violently.
 
I wonder...

1) when will we get a chance to study crystal magic?

2) or the book?

3) or the crystal heart

4) what can we get from them?

5) will the ponies want to be completely annexed if we get them to 10/10 approval? Not that it would make much difference at this point..

6) how good are our chances of (relatively) peacefully annexing the Yaks?

7) we have people in the skies, on land and below it. Where can we get some seaponies/sea serpents/mermaids/otters/dolphins/whatever to colonize the seas and lakes as well?

Just some random musings while I wait to discover what's up in maretonia :p
 
I wonder...

1) when will we get a chance to study crystal magic?

2) or the book?

3) or the crystal heart

4) what can we get from them?

5) will the ponies want to be completely annexed if we get them to 10/10 approval? Not that it would make much difference at this point..

6) how good are our chances of (relatively) peacefully annexing the Yaks?

7) we have people in the skies, on land and below it. Where can we get some seaponies/sea serpents/mermaids/otters/dolphins/whatever to colonize the seas and lakes as well?

Just some random musings while I wait to discover what's up in maretonia :p
Annexing the yaks seems pretty hard at this point. Theres a real small chance for a merger, but best we'll probably get is allies. Getting a strong alliance with them and the qilin is a real strong power bloc for where we are.

I'm wondering if the slavers have taken any yaks. Cause if they have and we find and free them, more bonus points for us with em!

As for the magic stuff... I also am kinda curious, but I'm fine with leaving in the back burner until we get some more up the tech tree. Would want to get trains out of the way at least.

There is 'the land of lakes' or something along those lines. Might be sea serpents. Might be sea ponies. Might be both. Might be anything really. Could include them depending on the situation.
 
Awkward First Encounters
You disdainfully eye the Maretonian emissary as he gives a curtsy, his golden regalia chiming against itself with every movement, his horn briefly pointing directly at you before he rights himself. His deliberate failure to fully bow is not lost on you, nor the rest of your court. Insulting though it may be, you'll put up with all the passive aggressive barbs the pompous unicorn can think up so long as you get your people back as a result of these negotiations.

Your own diplomats had arrived at the border of Maretonia only a few weeks ago, demanding an audience with the reigning authority of their nation. After a few days of travel and being passed from Barons to Counts to Dukes to the Queen of Maretonia herself, your chosen diplomats gave the standard first contact introduction before explaining the situation regarding your enslaved citizens and politely requesting the return of your people.

The Maretonians listened patiently, then proceeded to deny any knowledge of any slaves hailing from Gryphus or Neighpon. Pirates being pirates, it was in their nature to lie and deceive, was it not? Your captured citizens likely resided on Libertalia, held prisoner by some pirate lord.

Your ambassador listened patiently, then nonchalantly unrolled a very long scroll containing the names, titles, places of residence, and daily schedules of every Maretonian Noble and Official that was currently in possession of a Griffonian or Neighponese slave.

Ravenburg and his agents were damned good at their jobs.

Once it became clear to the Maretonians that these foreigners were both unlikely to leave them alone and potentially dangerous, they became far more open to negotiations. Evidently a few dozen slaves that were largely seen as status symbols by their "owners" weren't worth a costly war with an "upstart" Empire to their North.

Unfortunately, while it was clear that Queen Mareia (sovereign ruler of Maretonia) was in favor of a speedy resolution to this diplomatic crisis, many of the aforementioned slaveholders were not.


Queen Mareia, Monarch of Maretonia

They had paid a lot of money for your people, and they didn't see why they should have to just "hoof over their property to meet the demands of a foreign government". And, since these slaveholders were almost invariably powerful nobles, in many cases being just a step or two below the Queen in terms of authority and wealth, Mareia couldn't just overrule them and "confiscate their property" without risking a revolt or civil war. And so, in an effort to buy time and pursue other avenues for peace, the Unicorn Queen had sent a Emissary to your lands to speak to you directly on her behalf in hopes of finding a compromise that wouldn't lead to a war on either front.

Unfortunately, this strategy appears to have backfired. The slaveholding nobles, who have apparently been chaffing under the slow increase of central authority and royal involvement in their personal demesnes over the past few decades, are using this incident as a political rallying cry, insisting that handing over their slaves would set a dangerous precedent for both their foreign and domestic policy, appearing as weak to their neighbors and giving away even more power to their Queen. Every day their influence grows, as more moderate nobles and even common ponies are swayed by their arguments. It's clear that they're not going to just give up your people.

Ravenburg had used the days of waiting for the Maretonia emissary to arrive to brief you on the copious intelligence he and his spies had acquired, to ensure you would enter the negotiations with all the information available.

Maretonia is inhabited by three different sub-species of Pony. Officially, racial discrimination is a thing of the past, a relic of the Pre-Dicordian Era. Unofficially, Earth Ponies make up more than half the total slave population, with much of the remainder being comprised of Donkeys and Diamond Dogs. While there are Pegasi and Unicorn slaves, they are distinctly in the minority, and tend to occupy jobs such as weather-shapers and scribes rather than simple menial labor.


An Enslaved Pegasus at Auction

The vast majority of the landed nobility are Unicorns, with the Pegasi forming the core of a militant aristocracy, similar to the Knightly Orders of the old Griffon Empire. The free Earth Ponies tend to act either as artisans, merchants, or supervisors of their enslaved brethren, administrating plantations and mines across the land.


A Pegasus Knight in Formal Regalia

Maretonia is a large kingdom, not too dissimilar in size to your own Empire. While it's population as a whole is more than twice as large as your own, this figure includes the great number of slaves that form the backbone of their economy. While free Ponies make up the majority of the population, roughly one in six inhabitants of Maretonia is enslaved, either from birth, as punishment for a crime, or as the result of purchase from third party brokers who are eager to feed the kingdom's ever growing demand for labor, traveling abroad to acquire living product by hook or by crook. Many outlying villages and wandering tribes have found themselves forcibly assimilated into Maretonia through the actions of such slave traders, expanding the borders of Maretonia as they go.

While it is possible for a slave to be legally emancipated, either at the discretion of their master or the noble that they pledge fealty to, such an occurrence is rare, and the vast majority go from cradle to grave as the property of another.


An Enslaved Earth Pony pulls a Slaveowner's Carriage

Militarily, Maretonia is both stronger and weaker than Gryphus. Weaker in that they have a smaller army (which ranges in quality from Knights to ragtag mercenaries and conscripted slave soldiers) but stronger in that they have access to powerful magics, from Pegasi weather manipulation to all manner of combat spells cast by Unicorn battle-mages. And seeing as how Sombra almost broke the back of your entire army by himself at the battle of Redstone...you're not eager for a military confrontation with your new neighbors, though you know such a thing may be inevitable.


Maretonian Battle-Mages

But there may be other options available to you. In the course of their intelligence gathering, Ravenburg's agents made contact with a mare by the name of Ambrosia, a leader in a network of abolitionists within Maretonia. From escaped slaves to the exceedingly rare noble worthy of the title, these equines aspire to see a world where no living being can be considered property of another. They are overjoyed to meet a people that despise the institution of slavery as much as they do, and hope to cooperate on freeing their enslaved brethren.


Ambrosia: Earth Pony, Abolitionist, and Brothel Madam

But before you can even think about that, you need to free your own people. And that means dealing with the smarmy, gilded ponce that is the Maretonian Emissary, a Unicorn Stallion by the name of Olive Branch who, despite being ordered by his Queen to bring this crisis to a swift and peaceful end, seems content to act as though you should be honored to be hosting him. More than once you see him express visible disdain for some custom or cultural aesthetic of your people in what you hope he thinks is a subtle manner (it isn't). He seems to be under the impression that he holds all the cards in these negotiations, and has be reminded more than once that the palace staff are Imperial Citizens and not slaves.

By the time the actual negotiations begin almost two full days after his arrival at your court (the Emissary seeing no reason to rush things and insisting on being allowed to "recover from the tiring journey") you're beginning to regret your decision to have him not pass through the Crystal City. An encounter with a lynch mob just might've driven the point home as to how serious you and your people are about this whole situation.

But, finally, you, Olive Branch, a Unicorn Interpreter, and Elva Von Cleef gather in a secluded chamber of the Imperial Palace to try to resolve the situation.

The negotiations barely begin before they hit a brick wall in the form of the Maretonian Emissary starting quite bluntly that the only way that the current "owners" of your enslaved people would agree to part with them would be if you and your Empire agreed to compensate them for their loss. And, given the negative precedent this would set, as well as the significant value of your people on the slave market due to their uniqueness, the price tag is...considerable. And no offers, arguments or threats will convince Olive Branch to lower it or consider alternative means of compensation. You're beginning to suspect that the Emissary actually wants these negotiations to fail. The fact that his brother is one of the ringleaders of the opposition to the Queen of Maretonia only lends credence to this theory.

One thing is clear: you need to get your people back. Whatever path you choose to embark upon, you must act swiftly. Your people will look upon a failure to deal with this situation...poorly. At the same time, paying an exorbitant sum for their return may not be looked upon kindly either. A dilemma if ever there was one.

It appears you have a choice to make. Pay the cost necessary to see the swift and safe return of your people...or send Olive Branch back to his homeland without an agreement and pursue alternative options?

[ ] Pay Any Cost: You'll pay the fee and compensate the Maretonian Nobility for their "property". A King's ransom it may be, but it's a small price to pay for the speedy and safe return of dozens of Imperial Citizens. -5000 Gold. Guaranteed Immediate Return of Your People, Chance for Normalized Relations with Maretonia.

[ ] Bear Any Burden: The easy choice and the right choice are usually not the same. You could pay the ransom. But what message would that send to the Maretonians? To other nations and peoples? Do you want everyone to believe that kidnapping your citizens is a route to a quick payday? That such actions will be rewarded, and not punished? These Citizens may go free now, but what of those that may be taken in the future? No. Simply paying their ransom is unacceptable. It may be cruel to delay their release, but your enslaved brethren are in no danger: they have become too valuable to be worked to death on some plantation, or killed for the public's amusement in some gladiatorial arena. No slaveowner would allow their "investment" to come to harm when the possibility of a fat payout exists...or when the threatened retribution of a foreign Empire hangs over their heads. Send Olive Branch and his party packing. You will find another way to get your people back. New Options Unlocked.
 
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time to do a ceasar

we pay the ransom. nice as pie

then we invade and put the entire nation to the torch

im not even joking. i will categorically support nailing these fucks to a wall if it so takes generations
 
hmm... I'm currently leaning toward Bear Any Burden, but I worry if my worries of precedent are exaggerated. I mean there's also the precedent of leaving our people in slavery for now.

On the other hand, that is an insulting price. And while paying it could be spun as a sign of our own wealth, it will be enriching and rewarding these ...jerks too.
 
[X] Bear Any Burden
 
The Maretonians listened patiently, then proceeded to deny any knowledge of any slaves hailing from Gryphus or Neighpon. Pirates being pirates, it was in their nature to lie and deceive, was it not? Your captured citizens likely resided on Libertalia, held prisoner by some pirate lord.
Mmmmmmmmm
Your ambassador listened patiently, then nonchalantly unrolled a very long scroll containing the names, titles, places of residence, and daily schedules of every Maretonian Noble and Official that was currently in possession of a Griffonian or Neighponese slave.

Ravenburg and his agents were damned good at their jobs.
Our spies are just too good :drevil:
he slaveholding nobles, who have apparently been chaffing under the slow increase of central authority and royal involvement in their personal demesnes over the past few decades, are using this incident as a political rallying cry,
It's clear that they're not going to just give up your people.
Siiiiiiiiiigh...
Ancient Rome, huh?
They are overjoyed to meet a people that despise the institution of slavery as much as they do, and hope to cooperate on freeing their enslaved brethren.
Well then, looks like we have alternative options if we choose to not pay up their demands.
(You have no fucking idea how hard it was to not put "pony up" instead.)
On one talon, this is quick and easy, despite the message it sends about being willing to "negotiate with terrorists"
[ ] Bear Any Burden:
On the other, we do have that abolitionist group. It's not like we have to completely destabilize and destroy the country, just have to nudge them to support the Queen.
 
[X] Bear Any Burden

time to bring forth the flames of war....we need cannons, we need more anti-magic shit, and then we need to burn out the pirates...and finish off the nation. Of course we will allow the queen to be in control...if she is amendable to NOT HAVING SLAVES.

the nobles? they get their day in court, then we see them stripped of their possessions and sent off. A mercy despite the anger I feel right now.
 
Yeah...no. Go fuck yourselves!

[X] Bear Any Burden

After Sombra...just no. If only we had more Orichalcum and better guns. Shooting some slaver-ponies with anti-magic bullets from (over?) the horizon sounds just fucking peachy right now.
 
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