Honestly, in a theoretical Negaverse quest they would wonder what was us, or something else if given a list of some of our intelligence department feats.
Who Needs Harmony?: An MLP Empire Quest
- Thread starter Questor
- Start date
- Location
- Germany
Never said that we don´t have our own skeletons (again, us meddling in Maretonian affairs indirectly led to that cesspit imploding into civil war)
Atm I´d say that the skeletons of the other polities are:
Gryphus: Involvement in Maretonian internal affairs (btw, I detest calling calling a regime like theirs "legitimate", because to me it excuses their horrid practices)
Maretonia: Aforementioned internal affairs in addition to their slavering and conquering habits
Neighpon: During the introductionary talks there were implications that the Kappa got either deported or outright exterminated (since Ryo said that they WERE another people of the Neighponese Islands)
Minotaurs: Implied shady dealings.
Crystal Protectorate: Their time as Sombras slaves
I don't think you get what "skeletons in the closet" stands for?
Neighponese and crystal ponies both are exempt from this, because both things are well known.
The Kappa were, if anything like their myths irl, true monsters, and it isn't like it was a secret kept. Everyone who looks at their history will likely find out about it.
Further, the ponies had no say in their enslavement so it completely fails the bar.
- Location
- Germany
True, in retrospect I might have gone more for a "Political/Historical shame" approach
That being said, using mythologies/older stories as framework for guessing what happened isn´t the best approach..."Caribous in the MLP fandom", remember?
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lockingbane
If you're crazy and you know it clap your hands!
- Location
- Waxahachie tx
Speak not of that lest it appear.
Considering the time since the last update, I think we either rolled very well with the infiltration, or very badly...
- Location
- Germany
If you meant "Cold Case", we went hard on buffing its chances, so the dice would have to be assholes to fail us.
Dice are fickle playmates.
another possibility is a crit from someone else hit us like a freight train. Possible, if unlikely.
- Location
- Germany
I´d legitimately crack up laughing if we end up getting a nat 100 for Cold Case, which together with our boosts would net us a super-crit for the vote with the single worst success chances we´ve ever taken (I think at least)
lockingbane
If you're crazy and you know it clap your hands!
- Location
- Waxahachie tx
And if we do.... I wonder who the culprit was....
Markala
Hannor & Polycho Shipper
- Location
- At the Junction of Angst and Fluff
What if there is no culprit and Queen Mareia choked on her dinner and in a panic with the political landscape being what it is everyone assumed it was an assassination when it was really just fodder for a future PSA to tell people to chew their damn food? X3
How the hell would the royal guard react if that was what really happened.
How exactly would that be helpful to us?
What if it was suicide because her Queendom was falling in on itself and her neighbors were giving her threatening looks?
- Location
- Maryland
+10 to a roll.
FictionPack
Monochromatic Ursine
- Location
- Tennessee
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Proof that there was no assasination in the first place, for one.How exactly would that be helpful to us?
Gurantee we didn't have anything to do with it for two.
The Royal Guards would probably stop being so suspicious of the other faction leaders with the assurance that they didn't commit regicide for three. (Only helpful in so much as they won't be so suspicious of the Abolishionists too)
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Turn 26 Results
- Location
- Maryland
Martial: Redbeak rivals Ravenburg with his concern over the events unfolding south of your Protectorate, drawing up numerous contingency plans, though the presence of the newly completed Hardbeak Line has reassured him somewhat.
-Runic Fortifications-Hardbeak Line: Cost: 2000. Time: Two Years. Reward: Hardbeak Line Fortifications Strengthened with Runic Enchantments, increased upkeep costs.
After much consideration of Redbeak's proposal, and having consulted with Merlin himself on the feasibility of the project, you give your martial advisor the green light to begin installing fortifying and strengthening Runes upon the walls and foundations of the Hardbeak Line. Redbeak sets to his task, first gathering up as many arcane reagents he can get his talons on. The Empire's coffers are emptied in a bid to acquire vast amounts of magically reactive plants, ground gemstones, and other alchemical ingredients which are swiftly gathered together in hastily constructed "refineries" which begin turning these raw ingredients into the magically reactive mortar that shall form the basis of the architectural runes.
One of the planned Runes of Fortification, developed specifically for the Hardbeak Line.
In the meantime, Merlin and your other arcane advisors scope out the fortifications themselves, determining where and how the runes in question are to be placed. You don't know exactly how they come to their conclusions, though they talk an awful lot about leylines and the positions of the sun and stars. Eventually, the preparations are complete. All that remains to be done is actually creating the runes themselves. Will Finish Next Turn
-Runic Armor: Cost: 1500. Time: One Year. Reward: Runic Armor for Knightly Grandmasters and Imperial Royal Family.
Gathering the materials for the creation of Runic Armor for yourself, your family and the Grandmasters of the Knightly Orders proves easier than Redbeak's task. The amount of raw resources required is a scant fraction of those needed for the arcane fortification of an entire defensive line. In fact, you already possessed some of the required ingredients yourself: the fragments of Gwyndlyn's egg, kept since her birth, are incorporated into the Runic enchantments upon the armor of you and your family.
Merlin himself oversees the forging of the armor, instructing the handpicked smiths entrusted with the task and ensuring that the enchantments properly bind to the metals over the course of the forging process.
The process is slower than you'd have expected, hindered by Merlin's insistence that the forging take place solely on nights when the moon is full, but by the end of the year the labor is complete: full suits of Runic armor, enchanted to be as durable as possible and capable of protecting their wearers from magical as well as mundane attacks. The ones intended for your children also possess an enchantment that will allow the armor to grow with them as they age (though this is likely to hit a ceiling in the case of Gwyndlyn). Both the Royal Family and the Knightly Grandmasters now boast a level of personal protection unparalleled in the known world. Grandmasters and Royal Family now possess Runic Armor
Diplomacy: Having returned from her meeting with the Minotaurs with a trade agreement and a wealth of new information, Gisa is feeling much more confident in her ability to lead her diplomatic corps, a feeling only reinforced by the sudden addition of the Crown Prince to her staff.
- Canterbury Caravans: Cost: 200. Time: One Year. Reward: Trade with Canterbury Established, Increased Trade Income.
While the untamed forests of Canterbury remain infested with numerous beasts and monsters, recent efforts on the parts of both the local Canterburians and the occasional Griffon Hunter team have resulted in travel between the cities of Canterbury and the Empire no longer being an inordinately dangerous proposition, so long as each trade caravan is accompanied by a reasonable number of armed guards. The Canterburians themselves prove eager to engage in trade with another nation, and within a matter of months regular shipments of goods are making their way along hastily cleared paths through the forests and mountains of Canterbury and Gryphus, merchants of both cultures profiting greatly from the exchange even as their rulers gain funds via import tariffs. Both you and Queen Chevaline are quite pleased with this. +.2 Canterbury Relations, +300 Trade Income
-Journey to the Frozen Coast: Cost: 400. Time: One Year. Reward: Contact made with Caribou Kingdoms, New Actions Unlocked.
Once again, a group of translators, scholars and negotiators gather onto one of the Imperial Diplomatic Corps' Caravels for a journey across the sea for a meeting with a faraway people in a foreign land. Unlike the earlier expeditions however, this time the diplomatic vessel is accompanied by twin Carracks of the Imperial Navy, along with their complements of onboard marines. Such a precaution is deemed necessary, as there are no guarantees that some of the Caribou will not assault your diplomats and their vessel. The Neighponese expedition had experienced similar difficulties, managing to beat back a group of pirates off of the Olenian coast only through the combined efforts of their firebenders. As you and hundreds of others see the expedition off from the docks of Aukland, you can only hope that the journey of your own explorers will be a more peaceful one.
Months go by as you await word from the Olenia expedition, the nobles and common people alike speculating as to their fate and what they may encounter. Such speculations cease near the end of the year as all three ships return on schedule, bearing trinkets and stories from the lands of the Caribou.
The inhabitants of the numerous Petty Kingdoms of Olenia, though initially suspicious of foreigners in strange vessels sailing off of their shores, prove willing to meet and even trade with your emissaries, giving the linguists of the Diplomatic Corps the opportunity to build a lexicon of the Caribou language shortly before they attempt to make contact with the Jarls and Chieftains that rule over Olenia. Your emissaries were welcomed into the grand feasting halls of the Kings of the North, their hosts listening intently to their tales of your Empire across the waves, similar to yet different from the Empire of Neighpon, who they had already encountered.
Despite the Caribou's reputation, their rulers proved to be cautiously friendly to your diplomats, some even mentioning the possibility of trade. Perhaps this is another case of stereotypes being misleading...or perhaps they realize that crossing the vast ocean to pillage your towns would not be worth the risk or effort. Regardless of the reason, the Caribou seem to have no quarrel with you or your people...for now. Caribou Kingdoms Contacted, New Actions Unlocked.
-Yak Cannons: Cost: 400. Time: One Year. Reward: Yaks begin purchasing Imperial Cannons. Chance of Success: 60%
Required: 40. Rolled: 10+18+15 (Omake: Total War Disharmony-Faction Selection)= 43
Strengthening one's allies is a wise and noble endeavor. And if one can do so while enriching oneself...well, that's just a nice bonus now isn't it? It is with these thoughts in mind that you order a cannon constructed for use by the Yaks, and send it off fresh from the foundry to the capital of Yakistown alongside a diplomatic team tasked with convincing King Rutherford and his court of the value of such a weapon, in hopes that he will deign to purchase more from you to add to his army.
It is a near thing. Yaks traditionally scorn ranged combat, preferring to get up close and personal with their foes, and the weighty and unwieldy cannons don't easily fit into their doctrine of highly mobile warbands. Still, none can dismiss the power of a cannonball crashing through flesh and stone alike, and the Yaks have been changing a lot about their culture lately...
After an energetic pitch by your "sales team", and a great deal of debate amongst the leaders of the Yaks, King Rutherford silences the assembled nobles and dignitaries with a mighty stomp of his hoof. His decision was final. The Yaks would purchase more of these weapons for their own use. It was better to have them and not need them, and even if they were too difficult to transport to be used by the great warhost of YakYakistan, then they could be used to defend their cities from attackers.
One of several proposed "export model" cannons.
By the time the details of the trade are hammered out and your emissaries return, the state-owned cannon foundries of the Empire have already started work on a new line of weapons for foreign export, expanding their facilities and setting up new production lines to meet the increased demand. The bags of gold coin to pay for these weapons, some still bearing the Imperial Seal of Gryphus, begin to flow over the border soon afterward. By the end of the year, the Yaks have begun to train their warriors in the use of these new explosive weapons, and you and your people have netted yourselves a tidy profit. Everyone wins. Yaks now possess Cannons, +200 Trade Income
Stewardship: As the national rail network nears its completion, Frida is eager to see the long-running project finished, and has even begun to propose additional infrastructure projects that could better your Empire, provide jobs and inject some currency into the national Economy.
-Rail Network: Cost: 1500. Time: Four Years. Reward: National Freight Railway Network Constructed. Increased Tax Income. New Options Unlocked.
It has taken years and cost the equivalent of multiple fortunes. It has required countless man-hours of backbreaking work on the part of thousands of Griffons, Ponies, Yaks and Diamond Dogs, from the menial laborers laying track and clearing land, to the engineers tasked with crafting and assembling the great engines that will soon carry tons of goods and materials across your Empire. But finally, after so much time and effort, it is done. A spiderweb of steel rails crisscrosses the nation, connecting industrial manufacturing centers with mining towns and ports with inland settlements. You personally attend the ceremonial completion of the last segment of the Railway, nailing a golden spike into a railroad tie of polished oak with a silver hammer.
In the days and weeks that follow, the citizens of the Empire bear witness to the fruits of such labors: dozens of steam-belching locomotives hauling hundreds of tons of goods and raw materials across the nation, cutting transport costs down to a mere fraction of what they had been previously, and allowing for the growth of cities and industry on an unprecedented scale.
New industries and businesses are founded to take advantage of the new technology, and with these new businesses come new jobs and tax revenues, enriching the Empire and its people. Once again, Frida is celebrated for her role in bringing prosperity to your people. +1200 Tax Income, New Options Unlocked
-Aggressive Agricultural Expansion: Cost: 1000. Time: Two Years. Reward: Expanded Agriculture, Secured Food Supply, Increased Income.
Even as the nation celebrates her latest achievement, Frida continues her work, this time focused on expanding the Empire's agricultural base. A small army of bureaucrats coordinate and manage legions of laborers that are hired and dispatched to clear forests, break boulders, and prepare unproductive and uninhabited land for dedicated agricultural use. In the meantime, the call goes out for any experienced agricultural workers or aspiring farmers to lay claim to portions of the newly arable land as seeds, tools and other necessities are stockpiled in preparation for the sudden surge in agricultural activity that Frida predicts will occur next year. Will Finish Next Turn.
Learning: While Archimedes and Genevieve form the core of your scholastic efforts, the Neighponese Trio and the newly arrived Canterbury Experts, particularly the venerable Merlin, have become increasingly important to your Empire's research and development efforts, providing new insights and research opportunities to exploit.
-Gas, Gas, Gas: Cost: 300. Time: One Year. Reward: Lifting Gases Identified.
Archimedes and Genevieve set to work, identifying and examining numerous lighter than air gasses in their quest to bring the ancient airship schematics to life. One by one, potential lifting gases are identified, only to be rejected in short order. Hot air isn't buoyant enough, Helium too difficult to acquire in the quantities needed. Steam was considered, but the practical concerns of creating an enveloping material capable of containing the scalding water vapor without also causing it to cool and lose its buoyant properties forced it to be discarded. Genevieve had high hopes for the coal gas used in her famous lamps, but this too was eventually rejected on account of its toxicity in large amounts. Eventually, Hydrogen was settled upon as the best option. While flammable, it is both easy to acquire in large amounts and the most powerful lifting gas currently known, being only 7% the weight of normal air. Not ideal, but the best out of a series of bad options. Besides, you're certain that your scientists and mages can find a way to mitigate the risks. Ideal Lifting Gas Identified, New Action Unlocked.
-Runic Airships: Cost: 500. Time: One Year. Reward: Explored Viability of Runes in Potential Flying Machines.
In recent days, Merlin's name has become synonymous with Rune-Master. In between overseeing the forging of Runic Armor and the planning of runes on the Hardbeak Line, he adds his considerable expertise to the growing team of engineers charged with the study of the ancient airship schematics, considering the numerous ways that runes may be added to the design to improve its function. The results are promising. Lightening runes, fortifying runes, waterproofing runes, fireproofing runes, the list goes on. After consultations with Archimedes and Genevieve, the three scholarly minded individuals approach you with a finalized design for the proposed airship.
It certainly looks impressive...on paper anyway. All that's left to do now is actually build the thing and see if it works when theory meets reality. Runes Added to Airship Design. New Action Unlocked.
Intrigue: Ravenburg is more than a little embarrassed at how his meddling in Maretonia's affairs accidentally started a civil war that now threatens the stability of the region, but he hasn't let that stop him from doing his job of keeping the Empire safe and keeping the Emperor informed.
-Eyes on the Skies: Cost: 500. Time: One Year. Reward: Intel on House Storm Activities, New Actions Unlocked. Chance of Success: 55%
Required: 45. Rolled: 12+13+10 (Omake: Black Wings, Red Ground) +10 (Omake: The Maretonian Royal Guard)= 45
Infiltrating the holdings of House Storm proves far more difficult than expected. The success of numerous abolitionist raids proves to be a double-edged sword, as frequent patrols and stringent security checks prevent all but the best of your infiltrators from even laying eyes upon Mare-a-Thon, the defacto capital of Storm Territory. Actually getting inside it proved even harder, as Pegicles and his soldiers were apparently on the lookout for spies from House White Star and the Abolitionists. After numerous close calls and one particularly hair raising moment when one of your agents was actually briefly arrested and thrown in a holding cell before managing to escape, Ravenburg's subordinates finally pulled through, slipping a precious few informants into the ranks of House Storm's armed forces. The information they relay to you, while scant on details, is still precious.
Mare-A-Thon, Capital of House Storm
House Storm is far more unified than House White Star. All of the military commanders, mining tycoons and plantation owners that form Pegicles' power base have sworn fealty to him, and in the lands that House Storm calls its own, Pegicles is already King in all but name. The few that dared to oppose him or defy his orders in the earliest days of the conflict were all brutally and publicly executed, their lands and riches distributed to their more compliant fellows as a reminder of who wields supreme authority in the Maretonian SouthWest.
Pegicles has wasted no time in amassing a considerable fighting force for use against House White Star. His personal guard, veterans of many campaigns against the "barbarian tribes" that had originally inhabited much of the lands he now holds, form the core of his army, alongside many defectors from the Maretonian Royal Guard, who bring with them all the discipline and training of professional soldiers. This core is supplemented with numerous mercenary companies, penal battalions, and conscripted slave soldiers. In terms of sheer martial strength and prowess, House Storm wields the larger stick by far. The fact that a majority of their soldiers are Pegasi only adds to their capabilities, their natural flight and ability to bend the weather to their will giving them numerous tactical and strategic options.
One would think that such an army could easily defeat the nobles of House White Star, but the truth is far less simple. For Pegicles' army is a glass cannon. While House White Star controls most of the larger cities on the coast, House Storm is left to control the more rural and underdeveloped regions of the kingdom. While this has ensured they shall not want for food or raw resources, it has left them with a crippling lack of ponypower. Any losses sustained by the core of Pegicles' army are keenly felt, for they cannot be easily or quickly replaced. This issue is compounded by the fact that the penal squads and slave soldiers are only motivated to fight with the spears of the Storm army at their backs, and the coffers of House Storm are barely sufficient to pay the mercenaries they already have, let alone hire new ones should their current roster die or desert.
And so, much like his Unicorn rivals, Pegicles sits on his hooves, unwilling to commit his army to a risky gambit that could cost him everything. But your spies have heard things. Rumors of some grand strategy, some secretive battleplan that only a trusted hoofull of Pegicles' closest subordinates are privy to. Perhaps it's simply propaganda, something meant to reassure the rank and file and improve moral. Or perhaps there is truth to the rumors. This may warrant further investigation. Intel Gained, New Actions Unlocked
-Cold Case: Cost: 500. Time: One Year. Reward: Information on Queen Mareia's Assassination. Chance of Success: 35%
Required: 65. Rolled: 14+13+20(Portrait of the Royal Family)+20(A Luncheon Between two Shadows)= 67
Solving the murder of a Queen is difficult even under the most ideal of circumstances. Solving said murder as an agent of a foreign government that most see as the primary suspect, months after the body of the deceased was interred within a guarded mausoleum and all evidence secured within a vault a stones throw away from the personal quarters of Gaius Marecinas herself...many would consider it an impossible task.
The Mausoleum of Queen Mareia
But somehow, someway, Ravenburg's agents pull through. The mausoleum is infiltrated and the body of the Queen respectfully examined, whilst a truly masterful infiltrator manages to crack the vault holding the evidence and the notes of the Royal Guard's own investigations. These notes are swiftly copied and evidence examined before everything is placed back exactly as it was before, leaving no trace of your agent's presence.
By all accounts, Captain Marecinas was, and still is, utterly devoted to the late Queen Mareia, and pursued her killer and the investigation with a fervor that is plain to see within the notes and transcripts of her own attempts to do what your own agents have now set out to accomplish. But despite her determination, she and her colleagues were soldiers first and foremost. They did not possess the decades of experience that Ravenburg, Ambrosia, and your spies have in gathering and analyzing information. Where their efforts hit a brick wall, yours go further.
A sample of the poison that killed the Queen is acquired, and sent off to Archimedes and Genevieve for analysis. At the same time, your agents across Maretonia start digging into the secret archives of the various nobles that may have wished the late Queen dead, in hopes that a shred of evidence may yet remain.
And surprisingly enough, there is evidence to be found. In fact it's actually kind of disturbing how much there is. It seems that almost every major noble in Maretonia had at one point or another entertained the thought of assassinating Queen Mareia, and more than one had even written up elaborate plans describing exactly how they would have done so. It seems to have devolved into some macabre game amongst the nobility at a certain point, something to talk about as they played cards, smoked their pipes, and shared glasses of the finest alcohol served by their slaves.
But every plan is couched in hypothetical language, as if the plots were more of a thought exercise than anything else. Some of the plans even have notes in the margins detailing exactly how the death of the Queen would almost certainly result in the collapse of Maretonian society and war between the Noble Houses as each vied for the throne. Rather than point to a culprit, this new evidence makes it even more difficult to identify a prime suspect.
By the time Archimedes and Genevieve make their report on the nature of the poison used to kill Queen Mareia, your infiltrators have exhausted what leads they have managed to uncover within the halls of the Maretonian nobility. Unfortunately, your science team's final conclusion does little to put your speculations to rest.
For it is determined that the poison used to kill Queen Mareia was distilled from the extract of the black lotus.
A flower which is found only within the borders of Canterbury.
Ravenburg is quick to say that this may not have anything to do with the people of Canterbury themselves. It is entirely possible that whoever killed the Queen of Maretonia had intended to frame Canterbury for the crime...but to what purpose, none can even guess. More questions without answers.
While you are disappointed that you don't have a red-hoofed assassin to point to, you still have more than you started with...and you have some decisions to make regarding what to do with this new information. Intel on Assassination Suspects gained, New Actions Unlocked
Piety: The newly established "Council of Faiths", a gathering of representatives from every major religion in the Empire, has wasted no time in clamoring for your attention and attempting to leverage their newfound place in the Imperial Court to expand the influence of their respective beliefs. Each of the six beings upon the Council (Including a Qilin, a Yak, and a Crystal Pony) have submitted a proposal for your consideration. Whether you intend to act on any of them is up to you.
-Runic Literacy: Cost: 200. Time: One Year. Reward: Crystal Heart Worshippers gain access to basic Runic Knowledge, Runic literacy spreads.
You've done much to assist the Disciples of the Crystal Heart in recent years, and you're not about to stop anytime soon. You earmark a token sum of funds and secure the services of a bookmaking firm before asking Merlin for a copy of his translated Runic alphabet. You make no secret of your intentions to give it over to the Disciples, and while he is initially reluctant to comply he eventually does relinquish a copy of his notes. One does not simply refuse an Emperor, and you had funded his research.
By the end of the year, almost every Disciple of the Crystal Heart possesses a copy of the Book of Runes (First Edition), and they study it...well, religiously. And just like that, thousands of your subjects are now fluent in the language of Runes, and are capable of creating and maintaining them. You're sure this will become important in the future. +.5 Disciples Influence, Thousands of Imperial Citizens are now Literate in Runes
Personal: You refuse to let your duties as Emperor take up every moment of your day. (Two Actions per Turn)
-Meeting Merlin: Cost: 0. Time: One Year. Reward: Information on Merlin Ambrosius, chance to unlock new Actions.
To Be Continued in Magical Mysteries and Merlin
-Pet (Rock) Project: Cost: 0. Time: One Year. Reward: ???
To Be Continued in Magical Mysteries and Merlin
Carracks Built: 3
Random Event Rolls:
91 (Pass)
39 (Pass)
You came really close with some of the rolls here. Like, holy hell.
Sorry, no Q&A with the Caribou Kingdoms, wanted to get this out as quickly as possible. Let me know if you have any questions regarding the specifics of them and their culture and I'll do my best to answer.
Also:
Griffon: *slaps barrel of cannon* "This bad boy can fit so many f*cking explosions in it."
Rutherford: "Well it's pretty cool, but I don't think..."
Griffon: "Plus, you can use it to defend your cities."
Rutherford: "We'll take your entire stock!"
-Runic Fortifications-Hardbeak Line: Cost: 2000. Time: Two Years. Reward: Hardbeak Line Fortifications Strengthened with Runic Enchantments, increased upkeep costs.
After much consideration of Redbeak's proposal, and having consulted with Merlin himself on the feasibility of the project, you give your martial advisor the green light to begin installing fortifying and strengthening Runes upon the walls and foundations of the Hardbeak Line. Redbeak sets to his task, first gathering up as many arcane reagents he can get his talons on. The Empire's coffers are emptied in a bid to acquire vast amounts of magically reactive plants, ground gemstones, and other alchemical ingredients which are swiftly gathered together in hastily constructed "refineries" which begin turning these raw ingredients into the magically reactive mortar that shall form the basis of the architectural runes.
One of the planned Runes of Fortification, developed specifically for the Hardbeak Line.
In the meantime, Merlin and your other arcane advisors scope out the fortifications themselves, determining where and how the runes in question are to be placed. You don't know exactly how they come to their conclusions, though they talk an awful lot about leylines and the positions of the sun and stars. Eventually, the preparations are complete. All that remains to be done is actually creating the runes themselves. Will Finish Next Turn
-Runic Armor: Cost: 1500. Time: One Year. Reward: Runic Armor for Knightly Grandmasters and Imperial Royal Family.
Gathering the materials for the creation of Runic Armor for yourself, your family and the Grandmasters of the Knightly Orders proves easier than Redbeak's task. The amount of raw resources required is a scant fraction of those needed for the arcane fortification of an entire defensive line. In fact, you already possessed some of the required ingredients yourself: the fragments of Gwyndlyn's egg, kept since her birth, are incorporated into the Runic enchantments upon the armor of you and your family.
Merlin himself oversees the forging of the armor, instructing the handpicked smiths entrusted with the task and ensuring that the enchantments properly bind to the metals over the course of the forging process.
The process is slower than you'd have expected, hindered by Merlin's insistence that the forging take place solely on nights when the moon is full, but by the end of the year the labor is complete: full suits of Runic armor, enchanted to be as durable as possible and capable of protecting their wearers from magical as well as mundane attacks. The ones intended for your children also possess an enchantment that will allow the armor to grow with them as they age (though this is likely to hit a ceiling in the case of Gwyndlyn). Both the Royal Family and the Knightly Grandmasters now boast a level of personal protection unparalleled in the known world. Grandmasters and Royal Family now possess Runic Armor
Diplomacy: Having returned from her meeting with the Minotaurs with a trade agreement and a wealth of new information, Gisa is feeling much more confident in her ability to lead her diplomatic corps, a feeling only reinforced by the sudden addition of the Crown Prince to her staff.
- Canterbury Caravans: Cost: 200. Time: One Year. Reward: Trade with Canterbury Established, Increased Trade Income.
While the untamed forests of Canterbury remain infested with numerous beasts and monsters, recent efforts on the parts of both the local Canterburians and the occasional Griffon Hunter team have resulted in travel between the cities of Canterbury and the Empire no longer being an inordinately dangerous proposition, so long as each trade caravan is accompanied by a reasonable number of armed guards. The Canterburians themselves prove eager to engage in trade with another nation, and within a matter of months regular shipments of goods are making their way along hastily cleared paths through the forests and mountains of Canterbury and Gryphus, merchants of both cultures profiting greatly from the exchange even as their rulers gain funds via import tariffs. Both you and Queen Chevaline are quite pleased with this. +.2 Canterbury Relations, +300 Trade Income
-Journey to the Frozen Coast: Cost: 400. Time: One Year. Reward: Contact made with Caribou Kingdoms, New Actions Unlocked.
Once again, a group of translators, scholars and negotiators gather onto one of the Imperial Diplomatic Corps' Caravels for a journey across the sea for a meeting with a faraway people in a foreign land. Unlike the earlier expeditions however, this time the diplomatic vessel is accompanied by twin Carracks of the Imperial Navy, along with their complements of onboard marines. Such a precaution is deemed necessary, as there are no guarantees that some of the Caribou will not assault your diplomats and their vessel. The Neighponese expedition had experienced similar difficulties, managing to beat back a group of pirates off of the Olenian coast only through the combined efforts of their firebenders. As you and hundreds of others see the expedition off from the docks of Aukland, you can only hope that the journey of your own explorers will be a more peaceful one.
Months go by as you await word from the Olenia expedition, the nobles and common people alike speculating as to their fate and what they may encounter. Such speculations cease near the end of the year as all three ships return on schedule, bearing trinkets and stories from the lands of the Caribou.
The inhabitants of the numerous Petty Kingdoms of Olenia, though initially suspicious of foreigners in strange vessels sailing off of their shores, prove willing to meet and even trade with your emissaries, giving the linguists of the Diplomatic Corps the opportunity to build a lexicon of the Caribou language shortly before they attempt to make contact with the Jarls and Chieftains that rule over Olenia. Your emissaries were welcomed into the grand feasting halls of the Kings of the North, their hosts listening intently to their tales of your Empire across the waves, similar to yet different from the Empire of Neighpon, who they had already encountered.
Despite the Caribou's reputation, their rulers proved to be cautiously friendly to your diplomats, some even mentioning the possibility of trade. Perhaps this is another case of stereotypes being misleading...or perhaps they realize that crossing the vast ocean to pillage your towns would not be worth the risk or effort. Regardless of the reason, the Caribou seem to have no quarrel with you or your people...for now. Caribou Kingdoms Contacted, New Actions Unlocked.
-Yak Cannons: Cost: 400. Time: One Year. Reward: Yaks begin purchasing Imperial Cannons. Chance of Success: 60%
Required: 40. Rolled: 10+18+15 (Omake: Total War Disharmony-Faction Selection)= 43
Strengthening one's allies is a wise and noble endeavor. And if one can do so while enriching oneself...well, that's just a nice bonus now isn't it? It is with these thoughts in mind that you order a cannon constructed for use by the Yaks, and send it off fresh from the foundry to the capital of Yakistown alongside a diplomatic team tasked with convincing King Rutherford and his court of the value of such a weapon, in hopes that he will deign to purchase more from you to add to his army.
It is a near thing. Yaks traditionally scorn ranged combat, preferring to get up close and personal with their foes, and the weighty and unwieldy cannons don't easily fit into their doctrine of highly mobile warbands. Still, none can dismiss the power of a cannonball crashing through flesh and stone alike, and the Yaks have been changing a lot about their culture lately...
After an energetic pitch by your "sales team", and a great deal of debate amongst the leaders of the Yaks, King Rutherford silences the assembled nobles and dignitaries with a mighty stomp of his hoof. His decision was final. The Yaks would purchase more of these weapons for their own use. It was better to have them and not need them, and even if they were too difficult to transport to be used by the great warhost of YakYakistan, then they could be used to defend their cities from attackers.
One of several proposed "export model" cannons.
By the time the details of the trade are hammered out and your emissaries return, the state-owned cannon foundries of the Empire have already started work on a new line of weapons for foreign export, expanding their facilities and setting up new production lines to meet the increased demand. The bags of gold coin to pay for these weapons, some still bearing the Imperial Seal of Gryphus, begin to flow over the border soon afterward. By the end of the year, the Yaks have begun to train their warriors in the use of these new explosive weapons, and you and your people have netted yourselves a tidy profit. Everyone wins. Yaks now possess Cannons, +200 Trade Income
Stewardship: As the national rail network nears its completion, Frida is eager to see the long-running project finished, and has even begun to propose additional infrastructure projects that could better your Empire, provide jobs and inject some currency into the national Economy.
-Rail Network: Cost: 1500. Time: Four Years. Reward: National Freight Railway Network Constructed. Increased Tax Income. New Options Unlocked.
It has taken years and cost the equivalent of multiple fortunes. It has required countless man-hours of backbreaking work on the part of thousands of Griffons, Ponies, Yaks and Diamond Dogs, from the menial laborers laying track and clearing land, to the engineers tasked with crafting and assembling the great engines that will soon carry tons of goods and materials across your Empire. But finally, after so much time and effort, it is done. A spiderweb of steel rails crisscrosses the nation, connecting industrial manufacturing centers with mining towns and ports with inland settlements. You personally attend the ceremonial completion of the last segment of the Railway, nailing a golden spike into a railroad tie of polished oak with a silver hammer.
In the days and weeks that follow, the citizens of the Empire bear witness to the fruits of such labors: dozens of steam-belching locomotives hauling hundreds of tons of goods and raw materials across the nation, cutting transport costs down to a mere fraction of what they had been previously, and allowing for the growth of cities and industry on an unprecedented scale.
New industries and businesses are founded to take advantage of the new technology, and with these new businesses come new jobs and tax revenues, enriching the Empire and its people. Once again, Frida is celebrated for her role in bringing prosperity to your people. +1200 Tax Income, New Options Unlocked
-Aggressive Agricultural Expansion: Cost: 1000. Time: Two Years. Reward: Expanded Agriculture, Secured Food Supply, Increased Income.
Even as the nation celebrates her latest achievement, Frida continues her work, this time focused on expanding the Empire's agricultural base. A small army of bureaucrats coordinate and manage legions of laborers that are hired and dispatched to clear forests, break boulders, and prepare unproductive and uninhabited land for dedicated agricultural use. In the meantime, the call goes out for any experienced agricultural workers or aspiring farmers to lay claim to portions of the newly arable land as seeds, tools and other necessities are stockpiled in preparation for the sudden surge in agricultural activity that Frida predicts will occur next year. Will Finish Next Turn.
Learning: While Archimedes and Genevieve form the core of your scholastic efforts, the Neighponese Trio and the newly arrived Canterbury Experts, particularly the venerable Merlin, have become increasingly important to your Empire's research and development efforts, providing new insights and research opportunities to exploit.
-Gas, Gas, Gas: Cost: 300. Time: One Year. Reward: Lifting Gases Identified.
Archimedes and Genevieve set to work, identifying and examining numerous lighter than air gasses in their quest to bring the ancient airship schematics to life. One by one, potential lifting gases are identified, only to be rejected in short order. Hot air isn't buoyant enough, Helium too difficult to acquire in the quantities needed. Steam was considered, but the practical concerns of creating an enveloping material capable of containing the scalding water vapor without also causing it to cool and lose its buoyant properties forced it to be discarded. Genevieve had high hopes for the coal gas used in her famous lamps, but this too was eventually rejected on account of its toxicity in large amounts. Eventually, Hydrogen was settled upon as the best option. While flammable, it is both easy to acquire in large amounts and the most powerful lifting gas currently known, being only 7% the weight of normal air. Not ideal, but the best out of a series of bad options. Besides, you're certain that your scientists and mages can find a way to mitigate the risks. Ideal Lifting Gas Identified, New Action Unlocked.
-Runic Airships: Cost: 500. Time: One Year. Reward: Explored Viability of Runes in Potential Flying Machines.
In recent days, Merlin's name has become synonymous with Rune-Master. In between overseeing the forging of Runic Armor and the planning of runes on the Hardbeak Line, he adds his considerable expertise to the growing team of engineers charged with the study of the ancient airship schematics, considering the numerous ways that runes may be added to the design to improve its function. The results are promising. Lightening runes, fortifying runes, waterproofing runes, fireproofing runes, the list goes on. After consultations with Archimedes and Genevieve, the three scholarly minded individuals approach you with a finalized design for the proposed airship.
It certainly looks impressive...on paper anyway. All that's left to do now is actually build the thing and see if it works when theory meets reality. Runes Added to Airship Design. New Action Unlocked.
Intrigue: Ravenburg is more than a little embarrassed at how his meddling in Maretonia's affairs accidentally started a civil war that now threatens the stability of the region, but he hasn't let that stop him from doing his job of keeping the Empire safe and keeping the Emperor informed.
-Eyes on the Skies: Cost: 500. Time: One Year. Reward: Intel on House Storm Activities, New Actions Unlocked. Chance of Success: 55%
Required: 45. Rolled: 12+13+10 (Omake: Black Wings, Red Ground) +10 (Omake: The Maretonian Royal Guard)= 45
Infiltrating the holdings of House Storm proves far more difficult than expected. The success of numerous abolitionist raids proves to be a double-edged sword, as frequent patrols and stringent security checks prevent all but the best of your infiltrators from even laying eyes upon Mare-a-Thon, the defacto capital of Storm Territory. Actually getting inside it proved even harder, as Pegicles and his soldiers were apparently on the lookout for spies from House White Star and the Abolitionists. After numerous close calls and one particularly hair raising moment when one of your agents was actually briefly arrested and thrown in a holding cell before managing to escape, Ravenburg's subordinates finally pulled through, slipping a precious few informants into the ranks of House Storm's armed forces. The information they relay to you, while scant on details, is still precious.
Mare-A-Thon, Capital of House Storm
House Storm is far more unified than House White Star. All of the military commanders, mining tycoons and plantation owners that form Pegicles' power base have sworn fealty to him, and in the lands that House Storm calls its own, Pegicles is already King in all but name. The few that dared to oppose him or defy his orders in the earliest days of the conflict were all brutally and publicly executed, their lands and riches distributed to their more compliant fellows as a reminder of who wields supreme authority in the Maretonian SouthWest.
Pegicles has wasted no time in amassing a considerable fighting force for use against House White Star. His personal guard, veterans of many campaigns against the "barbarian tribes" that had originally inhabited much of the lands he now holds, form the core of his army, alongside many defectors from the Maretonian Royal Guard, who bring with them all the discipline and training of professional soldiers. This core is supplemented with numerous mercenary companies, penal battalions, and conscripted slave soldiers. In terms of sheer martial strength and prowess, House Storm wields the larger stick by far. The fact that a majority of their soldiers are Pegasi only adds to their capabilities, their natural flight and ability to bend the weather to their will giving them numerous tactical and strategic options.
One would think that such an army could easily defeat the nobles of House White Star, but the truth is far less simple. For Pegicles' army is a glass cannon. While House White Star controls most of the larger cities on the coast, House Storm is left to control the more rural and underdeveloped regions of the kingdom. While this has ensured they shall not want for food or raw resources, it has left them with a crippling lack of ponypower. Any losses sustained by the core of Pegicles' army are keenly felt, for they cannot be easily or quickly replaced. This issue is compounded by the fact that the penal squads and slave soldiers are only motivated to fight with the spears of the Storm army at their backs, and the coffers of House Storm are barely sufficient to pay the mercenaries they already have, let alone hire new ones should their current roster die or desert.
And so, much like his Unicorn rivals, Pegicles sits on his hooves, unwilling to commit his army to a risky gambit that could cost him everything. But your spies have heard things. Rumors of some grand strategy, some secretive battleplan that only a trusted hoofull of Pegicles' closest subordinates are privy to. Perhaps it's simply propaganda, something meant to reassure the rank and file and improve moral. Or perhaps there is truth to the rumors. This may warrant further investigation. Intel Gained, New Actions Unlocked
-Cold Case: Cost: 500. Time: One Year. Reward: Information on Queen Mareia's Assassination. Chance of Success: 35%
Required: 65. Rolled: 14+13+20(Portrait of the Royal Family)+20(A Luncheon Between two Shadows)= 67
Solving the murder of a Queen is difficult even under the most ideal of circumstances. Solving said murder as an agent of a foreign government that most see as the primary suspect, months after the body of the deceased was interred within a guarded mausoleum and all evidence secured within a vault a stones throw away from the personal quarters of Gaius Marecinas herself...many would consider it an impossible task.
The Mausoleum of Queen Mareia
But somehow, someway, Ravenburg's agents pull through. The mausoleum is infiltrated and the body of the Queen respectfully examined, whilst a truly masterful infiltrator manages to crack the vault holding the evidence and the notes of the Royal Guard's own investigations. These notes are swiftly copied and evidence examined before everything is placed back exactly as it was before, leaving no trace of your agent's presence.
By all accounts, Captain Marecinas was, and still is, utterly devoted to the late Queen Mareia, and pursued her killer and the investigation with a fervor that is plain to see within the notes and transcripts of her own attempts to do what your own agents have now set out to accomplish. But despite her determination, she and her colleagues were soldiers first and foremost. They did not possess the decades of experience that Ravenburg, Ambrosia, and your spies have in gathering and analyzing information. Where their efforts hit a brick wall, yours go further.
A sample of the poison that killed the Queen is acquired, and sent off to Archimedes and Genevieve for analysis. At the same time, your agents across Maretonia start digging into the secret archives of the various nobles that may have wished the late Queen dead, in hopes that a shred of evidence may yet remain.
And surprisingly enough, there is evidence to be found. In fact it's actually kind of disturbing how much there is. It seems that almost every major noble in Maretonia had at one point or another entertained the thought of assassinating Queen Mareia, and more than one had even written up elaborate plans describing exactly how they would have done so. It seems to have devolved into some macabre game amongst the nobility at a certain point, something to talk about as they played cards, smoked their pipes, and shared glasses of the finest alcohol served by their slaves.
But every plan is couched in hypothetical language, as if the plots were more of a thought exercise than anything else. Some of the plans even have notes in the margins detailing exactly how the death of the Queen would almost certainly result in the collapse of Maretonian society and war between the Noble Houses as each vied for the throne. Rather than point to a culprit, this new evidence makes it even more difficult to identify a prime suspect.
By the time Archimedes and Genevieve make their report on the nature of the poison used to kill Queen Mareia, your infiltrators have exhausted what leads they have managed to uncover within the halls of the Maretonian nobility. Unfortunately, your science team's final conclusion does little to put your speculations to rest.
For it is determined that the poison used to kill Queen Mareia was distilled from the extract of the black lotus.
A flower which is found only within the borders of Canterbury.
Ravenburg is quick to say that this may not have anything to do with the people of Canterbury themselves. It is entirely possible that whoever killed the Queen of Maretonia had intended to frame Canterbury for the crime...but to what purpose, none can even guess. More questions without answers.
While you are disappointed that you don't have a red-hoofed assassin to point to, you still have more than you started with...and you have some decisions to make regarding what to do with this new information. Intel on Assassination Suspects gained, New Actions Unlocked
Piety: The newly established "Council of Faiths", a gathering of representatives from every major religion in the Empire, has wasted no time in clamoring for your attention and attempting to leverage their newfound place in the Imperial Court to expand the influence of their respective beliefs. Each of the six beings upon the Council (Including a Qilin, a Yak, and a Crystal Pony) have submitted a proposal for your consideration. Whether you intend to act on any of them is up to you.
-Runic Literacy: Cost: 200. Time: One Year. Reward: Crystal Heart Worshippers gain access to basic Runic Knowledge, Runic literacy spreads.
You've done much to assist the Disciples of the Crystal Heart in recent years, and you're not about to stop anytime soon. You earmark a token sum of funds and secure the services of a bookmaking firm before asking Merlin for a copy of his translated Runic alphabet. You make no secret of your intentions to give it over to the Disciples, and while he is initially reluctant to comply he eventually does relinquish a copy of his notes. One does not simply refuse an Emperor, and you had funded his research.
By the end of the year, almost every Disciple of the Crystal Heart possesses a copy of the Book of Runes (First Edition), and they study it...well, religiously. And just like that, thousands of your subjects are now fluent in the language of Runes, and are capable of creating and maintaining them. You're sure this will become important in the future. +.5 Disciples Influence, Thousands of Imperial Citizens are now Literate in Runes
Personal: You refuse to let your duties as Emperor take up every moment of your day. (Two Actions per Turn)
-Meeting Merlin: Cost: 0. Time: One Year. Reward: Information on Merlin Ambrosius, chance to unlock new Actions.
To Be Continued in Magical Mysteries and Merlin
-Pet (Rock) Project: Cost: 0. Time: One Year. Reward: ???
To Be Continued in Magical Mysteries and Merlin
Carracks Built: 3
Random Event Rolls:
91 (Pass)
39 (Pass)
You came really close with some of the rolls here. Like, holy hell.
Sorry, no Q&A with the Caribou Kingdoms, wanted to get this out as quickly as possible. Let me know if you have any questions regarding the specifics of them and their culture and I'll do my best to answer.
Also:
Griffon: *slaps barrel of cannon* "This bad boy can fit so many f*cking explosions in it."
Rutherford: "Well it's pretty cool, but I don't think..."
Griffon: "Plus, you can use it to defend your cities."
Rutherford: "We'll take your entire stock!"
you know it is a valid doctrine for the Yaks. During war the Yaks pull back to fortified cities and distpacch mobile strike forces to harrass and weaken the enemy before they crash angainst the walls.
QuietlyObserving
The Railgun That Walks Like a Bear
- Location
- Here.
Sweet Garrick, that's like having one cannonball miss your head by millimeters to the left, another miss your head millimeters to the right, and a third pass perfectly through where your head was before you flinched from the first two.
A heartfelt thank you for the Omake writers, who really pulled our fat out of the fire this turn. Truly doing the Emperor's Work.
A heartfelt thank you for the Omake writers, who really pulled our fat out of the fire this turn. Truly doing the Emperor's Work.
So many close calls, thought the assassination of the queen bit I find most interesting, it does not sound like something Canterbury would do, or at least the nobility and knights. it would be too dishonorable. But I wouldn't put it past their queen or their intelligence department, because they must have one even if it is hidden under a polite fiction.
Hmm, We could try asking Merlin, he is the one most likely to give a straight answer, as he is powerful enough to be able to say what he wants and is willful enough to be willing to say it
Hmm, We could try asking Merlin, he is the one most likely to give a straight answer, as he is powerful enough to be able to say what he wants and is willful enough to be willing to say it
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Crow gotta eat
That peckish, patriotic, Protestant passerine.
- Location
- United States of America
Especially for a people who came from a clan/tribe based culture that mostly had skirmishes before with each other to decide minor border changes, so the idea of sitting behind their cities and shooting cannonballs at the enemy has to at least be somewhat appealing to a people that is neither used to or prepared for casualties that go higher than the usual skirmish.
