Who Needs Harmony?: An MLP Empire Quest
- Thread starter Questor
- Start date
Crow gotta eat
That peckish, patriotic, Protestant passerine.
- Location
- United States of America
Ah, Exterminatus Now, what lovely memories I had reading that.
- Location
- Maryland
I see you are a person of culture as well.
It was indeed, a good series.
- Location
- Following The Apocalypse
Kevin has been foiled once again. Ye, shall never complete your Lautir Gnimaner. Not while Good continues to triumph over Evil!
And The Merchant King continues to have an unfathomably effective spy network, on top of everything else XD
Ah, beat me to it. A great series that ended on a sequel hook over 3 years ago. Gawain is the Inquisitor that everyone in the EN universe should aspire to be. Now we just need to chuck the EN crew at Tirek and call it a day.
Omake: Tales from Goblet-chan
- Location
- Somewhere
@Questor
Archival for Grogor Summons a Demon (non-canon)
AN: These really should go at the end of the post, but I feel like explaining this post. I'm not doing an Archival thing like I usually do, just for this one April Fool post. Because it is non-canon, but it is in the main threadmarks, and April Fool's .... Thus, an omake!
Tales from Goblet-chan of Gobletsville in the Gerbil Mountains of our glorious Empire!
aka
Folktales found inside the Griffonia Empire (Pre- and Post- Discord), collected by Goblet, imperial griffon merchant.
Ol' Emperor
Once, there was a merry old king
A merry old king were we
We called for the stars
Demanded the sea
Boring old kings were we
Note: In a far away town there is a second verse. Couldn't find any other places that would tell this one though. Probably a isolationist quirk.
We stand among thieves
Battered in muck
Stolen luck
Boreas, Gryphus leaves
Once, we all were merry old kings
Took a Trip
Never had I seen,
a more astonishing sight than Yule.
Resplendent in green
My eyes lost diamond pearls that day
Never had I seen
Rocks the size of houses
Carved from broken spleen
My wings lost ashes that day
Never can I see
My home from which I started
Trading to all that would give wealth to me
One question I'll pay fortunes for my home to answer
You'll, remember me?
Note: No idea where this one is from. Found it in a cave with an arrow in a mushroom griffon statue. Very odd carving technique. I could almost swear the words moved, and that the arrow wasn't part of the statue. A knee is an odd place for an arrow though.
Had to be done
The emperor is with us.
Hoorah! Hoorah!
Discord is dead
Hoorah! Hoorah!
Forever are we free
Forever will we reign
Look at our glee
Hoorah! Hoorah!
The emperor is with us!
The empire will ascend!
Discord is dead!
Hoorah! Hoorah!
Forever are we free
Forever will we reign
Glorious, resplendent, dazzling
Gryphus, forever!
Hooray!
Note: Remember that festive atmosphere from shortly after the empire was reunited? This song/poem thing is from that.
Archival for Grogor Summons a Demon (non-canon)
AN: These really should go at the end of the post, but I feel like explaining this post. I'm not doing an Archival thing like I usually do, just for this one April Fool post. Because it is non-canon, but it is in the main threadmarks, and April Fool's .... Thus, an omake!
Tales from Goblet-chan of Gobletsville in the Gerbil Mountains of our glorious Empire!
aka
Folktales found inside the Griffonia Empire (Pre- and Post- Discord), collected by Goblet, imperial griffon merchant.
Ol' Emperor
Once, there was a merry old king
A merry old king were we
We called for the stars
Demanded the sea
Boring old kings were we
Note: In a far away town there is a second verse. Couldn't find any other places that would tell this one though. Probably a isolationist quirk.
We stand among thieves
Battered in muck
Stolen luck
Boreas, Gryphus leaves
Once, we all were merry old kings
Took a Trip
Never had I seen,
a more astonishing sight than Yule.
Resplendent in green
My eyes lost diamond pearls that day
Never had I seen
Rocks the size of houses
Carved from broken spleen
My wings lost ashes that day
Never can I see
My home from which I started
Trading to all that would give wealth to me
One question I'll pay fortunes for my home to answer
You'll, remember me?
Note: No idea where this one is from. Found it in a cave with an arrow in a mushroom griffon statue. Very odd carving technique. I could almost swear the words moved, and that the arrow wasn't part of the statue. A knee is an odd place for an arrow though.
Had to be done
The emperor is with us.
Hoorah! Hoorah!
Discord is dead
Hoorah! Hoorah!
Forever are we free
Forever will we reign
Look at our glee
Hoorah! Hoorah!
The emperor is with us!
The empire will ascend!
Discord is dead!
Hoorah! Hoorah!
Forever are we free
Forever will we reign
Glorious, resplendent, dazzling
Gryphus, forever!
Hooray!
Note: Remember that festive atmosphere from shortly after the empire was reunited? This song/poem thing is from that.
WizWitcherly
An Arbiter
- Location
- The City
- Pronouns
- They/Them
The Demons true name wasn't Kevin, can't you see? It was a trick, his actual name was Memphis Tennessee
'where we dropping boys'
All the evidence I need!
'where we dropping boys'
All the evidence I need!
Omake: Wrath of The Guard
Travler66
Let her name echo in song!
- Location
- Beyond
Wrath of The Guard
][
][
Pegicles
If you are reading this letter, then I commend you for even bothering to uphold the necessity of doing so.
][
"Glory to House Storm," cheered Officer Thunder Flash as he raised a mug of wine. His comrades around the campfire cheered with him with a rambunctious fervour. "Am I right, or am I right?"
"YEAAAH!!"
"Buck those White Star flankholes!"
"Glory to House Storm!"
"I bet those White Star colts are pissing themselves right now," rumbled a soldier next to him. "They must have thought themselves so smart hiding behind their fancy magic until our leader, Pegicles the Stormmaker, kicked their flanks so ard, they don't have much of a rear flank no more!"
Everypony roared in howling laughter, even Thunder Flash couldn't help himself. The glow of the fire made their shadows dance on the trees of the forest and beyond.
Then the campfire inexplicability spluttered out and all laughter stopped.
"What the bu-"
A bright light shot out through the darkness and Thunder Flash felt warm blood splash over his face. The soldier who had sent him and his comrades into laughter seconds earlier collapsed in a heap on the ground choking on his own blood.
"UNICORN!" Thunder Flash shouted. "Everypony take to the skies-"
None of them did.
A plethora of lights cut down the entire squad without mercy. Thunder Flash felt two of them punch through his heart and the last thing he saw was the dark ground rushing up to kiss him.
Moments later, a glow of amethyst light from a unicorn's horn illuminated the killing area. A certain unicorn Lieutenant stepped out from behind a tree with a stare of professional disdain at the bodies of those who served the Stormmaker.
Several more unicorns stepped into the light, all of them garbed in the fine armour of the Royal Guard of Maretonia. Along with them were a few former civilians covered in boiled leathers and armed with sharp spears.
"Make sure all of them are dead," ordered Amethyst Dawn. "Then take their weapons and armour, they'll no longer be needing them."
][
You already know what this letter is about, so let's not dance around the troll in the room with words and trivialities and get straight to the point.
][
Officer Breazy Wind wakes up to a blade's edge touching her throat.
"Ah, Ah, Ah! I would not be making any sudden moves if I were you my fellow mare."
She sees a young colt in the armour of Maretonia's Royal Guard with a smile that does not reach his eyes, his hoof-blades are sharp and it's all she can do to not gulp. Beyond him, she can see three more of his comrades staring at her with looks of either apathy or contempt.
Their hoof-blades are stained with blood.
"If you haven't already realized, all your fellow soldiers are dead and soon you will be too," the colt says to her without breaking his smile. "There's just one thing we need from you before I send you to Tartarus, what are the patrol routes for roads and skylines around Roam for the officers of House Storm?"
There is a hoof-blade in the bag she rests her head on every night, if she can just reach it without any of them noticing...
"I wasn't given much information on where the rest of the officers would patrol…" she says slowly as she inches her hoof upwards. "But I think I know where two of them are."
"Do you think or do you know?" the young colts asks.
"I-I do know where they are, I'm just trying to remember!"
"Remember faster."
"I'm trying you treasonous whoreson! You may kill me today, but when the Stormmaker learns of this-"
In the moment that she is seconds before finishing her sentence, his eyes flicker to her moving hoof and he knows.
"He won't."
The colt sharply pulled back his hoof-blade and Breazy Wind knew no more.
"Ahh… what a waste. Search the supplies, perhaps we'll find something there."
][
What you did was nothing less than an honorless crime, one that would have made our late queen weep tears of sorrow for the thousands of Maretonian lives lost and the senseless destruction unleashed upon our land.
][
Officer Heavy Trot regretted all his life choices the moment he clashed with the strongest pony he'd ever faced.
They had been patrolling on one of the roads that led to Roam, it was a quiet march with the occasional cough and quiet banter when suddenly there had been an explosion of smoke that had sent his fellow soldiers into a panic.
Just as he tried to rally them, they were suddenly ambushed by none other than the Royal Guard of Maretonia!
Why are they attacking us? He had thought. They had sworn that they wouldn't take any sides in the war! It must have been a trick of some kind from House White Star, surely the ponies of the Royal Guard weren't dishonourable curs who broke their word. It didn't make sense.
And yet, not counting the militia that wore red tunics underneath leather armour, each and every one of the guard fought like manticores against a hated foe. It was nothing like he'd ever faced in the skirmishes with house White Star. Any pegasi that tried to escape the fighting were cut down from the skies with bolts of magic or intercepted by enemy pegasi.
Heavy Trot then saw a middle-aged pony with a smaller one - Lieutenants? - killing a group of his comrades with relative ease. Battlefield-rage had grown within him and with a cry to House Storm and the Stormmaker, he charged at the middle-aged pony.
And then came to regret everything when his foe smacked him around like a filly.
][
She once spoke fondly of you, our queen. 'A loyal general and duke if there ever was one, if a bit rash.' We have never truly met face to face but I took those words to heart, do you know why?
I know war requires us to do things that we think ourselves incapable of doing before we drench our hooves in blood, I learned this myself when I too fought against the barbarian tribes in my first days as a soldier of Maretonia. Knowing you had done the same and still remembering the words of my queen, I wondered if we were the same in some ways. I was cautiously ready to believe in the best in you if I ever saw it.
But now I realize that we couldn't be any more different. Where I end lives for the sake of Maretonia and for the sake of our late queen, your actions have shown me that you end lives for the sake of furthering your own ambition by any means necessary.
][
In the skies of Maretonia, the last thing pegasus Officer Wind Strike ever saw was the angriest pegasi he'd ever seen dive-bombing right towards him. His last thought was that he really shouldn't have left his squadron behind.
Wind Strike's squadron would never find him, he would be later listed as MIA.
][
Honour would tell me that we, The Royal Guard of Maretonia, should renounce our neutrality this instant and oppose you at every turn. But I consider myself one who puts reason before honour.
You will be pleased to know that we will not intervene in the civil war that grips our kingdom despite your part in it's suffering.
But should you ever create another storm and use it on Maretonian soil again, we shall give you a battle in which you will not find any sense of victory.
So don't do it again.
Captain-General Marecinas of The Royal Guard of Maretonia
][
A/N: The assassinations you see here are the ones that haven't been seen by the House Storm outposts, except perhaps the first one by Amethyst Dawn, but she knew that her one was going to be noticeable despite the cover of darkness.
Everyone and @Questor tell me what you think! (I would like whatever the bonus is going to go to the Appeal to the Praetorians mini-turn action)
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So the Maretonian Royal guard proves themselves as elites worth that title, and a strange penchant for stealth. What is up with people being unusually good in the stealth department? At this rate I expect to end up encountering someone who managed to outwit the changeling agents in their own game! 
- Location
- East of Sun, West of Moon
What if... What if the reason all these people - gryphon, unicorn, pegasi, earth pony - so many of them seem so inexplicably talented in subterfuge and espionage...So the Maretonian Royal guard proves themselves as elites worth that title, and a strange penchant for stealth. What is up with people being unusually good in the stealth department? At this rate I expect to end up encountering someone who managed to outwit the changeling agents in their own game!
... Is because they are, every last one of them, Changelings?
What if there are no other races in the post-Discord world; only Changelings and Changelings who have forgotten what they were before they started playing their roles?
- Location
- Somewhere
Then the quest would be another changeling fic. Not something unique and precious with it's own life experience, but more of a copy paste of many changeling fics before it.
- Location
- Maryland
Very good! +10 to a future roll.
Very nice! +10 to a future roll. I'll add this one to the bank.
Turn 27 Results
- Location
- Maryland
Martial: Pegicles Storm has rattled Redbeak. The idea that a potential enemy has such destructive power at his command isn't something he's particularly comfortable with. But magic isn't his area of expertise, so for now, he focuses his efforts on expanding the military and writing up contingencies for any situation he can imagine.
-Runic Fortifications-Hardbeak Line. Cost: 2000. Time: Two Years. Reward: Hardbeak Line Fortifications Strengthened with Runic Enchantments, increased upkeep costs.
After the numerous preparations made over the course of the previous year, the actual installation and activation of the new fortifying runes is almost anticlimactic. The "mortar" of magically reactive materials is carefully arranged by Merlin and his arcane-inclined colleagues at the previously selected strategic locations, many of the runes being painstakingly carved into place by the newly christened Rune Priests of the Disciples of the Crystal Heart. One by one, the etchings begin to glow and thrum with magical power as the innate magic of the world flows through them, strengthening the walls of your fortresses.
Merlin personally inspects each and every carving to ensure that no mistakes have been made, but even with such fastidious caution and attention to detail, the entire operation is competed within only a few short months. Finally, the Archmage expresses his confidence that the newly crafted Runes are as strong as he can make them, as is the Hardbeak line in general. The Runes themselves will require maintenance of course, but while the materials and labor needed to do so may be expensive, you consider it a worthy investment to protect the Empire's great bulwark against any foreign threat, be it mundane or magical in nature. Hardbeak Line now possesses Runic Fortifications, +50 to Hardbeak Line Upkeep
-Abolitionist Army. Cost: 1500. Time: One Year. Reward: Abolitionist Military Strengthened.
The abolitionists are your only allies within Maretonia, and at this point they are the only group aside from the crumbling House White Star that seems willing and able to openly oppose Pegicles...but if they're going to stand a chance against him in a straight up fight, they're going to need a lot more support than you've already been giving them. Put that way, it's hardly a choice. You give Ambrosia and her comrades a blank check, and tell Redbeak to provide all the help he can without actually marching your army over the border.
Orders go out across the nation, carried by a small army of couriers bearing the Imperial seal. Weapons, armor, bandages, preserved foodstuffs, anything that an army could need is gathered by the ton and loaded onto the steam engines that now drive your Empire's economy. The locomotives make their way South to the Crystal City, where one of the largest logistical operations in history takes shape, as thousands of eager volunteers, both Imperial and Maretonian, haul hundreds of wagons loaded with supplies across the border into Abolitionist territory. Accompanying the wagon trains are dozens of military advisors. Trainers, quartermasters, demolitions experts, officers with over two centuries of combined military service. They act as an impromptu honor guard for the Empire's greatest gift to the Abolitionist cause: half a dozen cannons, fresh from the foundries, their caissons loaded down with enough ammunition to reduce any mundane fortress to rubble.
The abolitionists, though surprised by the sheer amount of support coming their way, waste no time making use of the generous gifts they have been given, hastily reorganizing their scattered, ragtag militias and partisan bands into a unified fighting force. The former Maretonian slaves are armed and armored with Griffon-made steel, and are drilled into fighting shape by a mixture of their own combat veterans and your own advisory troops. By the end of the year, an army of thousands of former slaves stands ready to fight for the abolitionist cause. You have no doubt that such a force shall soon be needed. Ambrosia and her colleagues give their thanks for such an unexpectedly generous donation to the cause of Maretonia's liberation, and you in turn thank Redbeak for all his hard work arranging the massive logistical undertaking that such a thing entailed.
With any luck, this new force will work to ensure that your own direct intervention in the conflict will be unnecessary. And should your own army indeed be forced to march south, at least they will have some guaranteed and enthusiastic allies waiting there to greet them. Abolitionist Army Formed, Trained and Equipped.
Diplomacy: Gisa, though as concerned with the events in Maretonia as everyone else, is more focused upon the international reaction to the magically created superstorm, as well as the potential reactions to any Imperial intervention in the conflict. Gawain continues to assist her, volunteering to act an emissary to your allies.
-Talking to Scholars. Cost: 1000. Time: One Year. Reward: Opened Relations with the Maretonian Colleges of Magic. Chance of Success: 60%
Required: 40. Rolled: 47+18=65
Gisa, though understandably anxious about the task given to her department, sets to it with the same focus and thoroughness that you've come to expect from your diplomatic advisor, gathering a small team of volunteers from amongst the diplomatic corps to make contact with the most reclusive and enigmatic society your people have yet encountered. Merlin himself briefs them on what to expect, preparing them for their meeting with a hidden society of mages as Gisa coordinates with Ravenburg and Ambrosia to determine where and when such a meeting should take place.
After weeks of preparation, things fall into order. A known Collegiate facility is selected to serve as the point of contact, its remote location and distance from most noble patrol routes making as ideal a place to host a first-contact meeting as any. The diplomatic team gathers their supplies and sets out across the border into Maretonia, crossing over the boundary between Abolitionist and White Star territory only a few days later.
The team is not seen nor heard from again for two weeks.
Just as Frida begins to fear the worst, and you begin consulting with Redbeak and Ravenburg on a plan B for dealing with the Colleges, your missing diplomats abruptly appear in a burst of light just outside the walls of the Hardbeak Line. After narrowly avoiding being skewered by the guards on duty, the team is rushed back to the capital, where you and Frida personally debrief them. It seems that the the mages of the college, though surprised by the sudden arrival of your representatives on their doorstep, proved surprisingly receptive to your offers of patronage and cooperation against your mutual foe. You suspect the literal wagonload of gold your emissaries brought with them as a show of good faith and proof of intent went a long way towards insuring the satisfactory direction of the negotiations.
Of course, the Colleges did not simply switch allegiances and align themselves with you and the Empire just like that. For while the mages held little loyalty to Duke Haygle and despised Pegicles for a variety of reasons, many still claimed allegiance to the Kingdom of Maretonia, however fractured and fragmented it may now be. Still, the arcane practitioners prided themselves upon their intelligence, and any person of even modest intellect could tell that something drastic would have to be done in order to prevent House Storm from winning the war.
And so, the mages offered up a deal: they would support whatever moves your Empire made against House Storm in exchange for the funding that they would have previously received from House White Star, under the condition that their own autonomy never be compromised, and that Maretonia would not be annexed by the Empire. Your ambassadors had tentatively agreed to these conditions, and promised to carry word to you when they departed.
Bold terms...the services of an organization such as the colleges do not come cheaply, and you had already been considering (albeit mostly in your own mind) plans to incorporate Maretonia as you had the Crystal Empire...but in exchange for these promises, you would gain the support of a coterie of skilled mages, the cream of the academic and arcane crop that Maretonia has to offer. It may just be a price worth paying. Contact Made with Colleges of Magic, New Actions Unlocked.
-International Relief Effort. Cost: 1200 (only paid if action succeeds). Time: One Year. Reward: International Relief Effort Organized, Maretonian Situation Improved.
-Appeal to the Praetorians. Cost: 500. Time: One Year. Reward: Royal Guard Negotiations Mini-Turn.
To Be Continued in "The Summit of Roam"
Stewardship: Although as pleased with the completion of the national rail network as everyone else, Frida is now struggling to come up with a program to follow it or rival its impact upon the Empire. This, combined with the renewed flow of refugees from Maretonia, has your steward a little stressed.
-Aggressive Agricultural Expansion. Cost: 1000. Time: Two Years. Reward: Expanded Agriculture, Secured Food Supply, Increased Income.
With the land cleared the previous year, now the work begins to make it actually yield crops. The army of farmers and agricultural workers gathered over the past few months sets to work upon the now open fields, readying the soil for cultivation. Unfortunately, even the great many volunteers gathered for the task struggle to effectively work the vast swathes of land that await their toil. Frida sets upon a brilliant idea to fix this shortage of labor however, posting notices across refugee camps and the Crystal City informing any prospective or former farmers that there is free land up for grabs to whomever is willing to cultivate it. Thousands of former Maretonians leap at the chance to establish their own farms and homesteads, using the generous government grants provided to them to purchase the tools needed to work the earth and build homes for themselves.
You scarcely have time to congratulate Frida on her brilliant idea before you personally bear witness to the power of Earth Pony magic, as the farms established by former slaves begin churning out grain and produce by the bushel while the fields planted by Griffons are still growing their first crop. By the end of the year, the Empire faces a food surplus that exceeds Frida's most optimistic projections, and many refugees have been provided with steady work and land to call their own. All in all, a job well done. Imperial Agricultural Sector Expanded, Food Supply Secured, +1075 Agricultural Income.
-Crystal Agriculture. Cost: 800. Time: Two Years. Reward: Crystal Protectorate gains a substantial agricultural base and is no longer dependent upon food imports from the Griffonlands. Increased Agricultural Income.
Of course, the Imperial Heartland isn't the only place experiencing an agricultural revitalization. Even as refugees flock north for a chance at free land, some remain closer to the spires of the Crystal City to assist in the new public works program taking shape there. Puissant Arbre, the Canterburian Earth Pony and agricultural expert, personally supervises the Crystal Assembly's latest and greatest project, a mixture of Crystaline and Imperial treasure serving to fund a program similar in scope and intent to the one wrapping up to the north. An army of Crystal Ponies, assisted by Maretonians, Griffons, and Diamond Dogs, sets to work preparing the land for sustained agriculture.
Ground is leveled, irrigation ditches are dug, and boulders are broken as seeds are gathered by the cartload in preparation for future planting. By the time the year ends, much of the cleared and prepared land has already been divided up into hundreds of farming plots which will soon be assigned to the many city dwellers willing to try their hoof at agriculture. All that remains to be done is the actual planting and sowing of seeds before the first Crystal crop can be grown and harvested. 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.
-Sound the War Horns! Cost: 300. Time: One Year. Reward: Gain War Horns. Upgrade Army Communications Bonus.
Major Shrike had thought his proposal for a new form of military communications to have been declined, or perhaps lost somewhere amidst the vast labyrinth of the ever expanding Imperial bureaucracy. He was naturally surprised then, when he received a summons to the office of Marshall Redbeak himself for a meeting with Genevieve to discuss his idea. In the end, the design and construction of the horns themselves proves to be the easier part of the task. Far harder is the formulation of a sort of "musical alphabet" for ease of use in a war zone.
After a great deal of brainstorming and practical testing in field exercises, a final product is settled upon, and a new form of musical command code is added to the knowledge taught to every enlisted soldier within the Imperial Army. Major Shrike receives much of the credit for the new battlefield innovation, along with a commendation medal for his part in developing a new tool to enhance your military's ability to protect the Empire...and to make up for the long wait. You don't think he minds. Imperial Army Gains Warhorns, Communications Bonus Upgraded to +6
-Portable Explosives. Cost: 500. Time: One Year. Reward: Imperial Army gains access to early grenades.
The good Captain Kaboom is pleased as can be that he gets another chance to contribute to the Empire's arsenal. Archimedes supervises the construction and testing of several prototype explosive devices, each one a deadly tool of destruction in its own right. Everything from simple pottery based containers to glass and even wooden devices are considered before a simple sphere of casted metal with a simple wick is arrived upon as the ideal form of mass producible explosive device. Workshops are set up to produce the new devices in sufficient quantities to equip sections of the Imperial Army, and training programs are hastily set up to inform recruits and veterans alike of the new weapons being made available to them.
These new "grenades" do have their flaws of course. They're only mostly waterproof, with a slight chance of malfunction, but they're less prone to failure than any makeshift devices that your soldiers would have been making themselves. But no weapon is perfect, especially when it comes to high explosives. Regardless, you now have a new tool within your arsenal. Early Grenades Developed.
Intrigue: Ravenburg has apologized for his failure to anticipate Pegicles' superstorm, and has dedicated himself to his work of gathering and analyzing the intelligence that is now sluggishly making its way to the eyes and ears of his agents in the wake of the Storm offensive. He is determined not to let the Empire be blindsided as the result of another intelligence failure.
-Trust but Verify. Cost: 400. Time: One Year. Reward: Intel on Canterbury and its people. Chance of Success: 60%.
Required: 40. Rolled: 66+13=79
Something hasn't quite sat right with you about Canterbury ever since you'd first encountered them...and the Intel that the poison that had killed Queen Mareia was derived from a plant found within the kingdom's borders only reinforced your suspicions. It may be a baseless assumption...but you needed to know more of what was going on inside the borders of your supposed ally. And so, you authorized Ravenburg's proposed mission to investigate your (geographically) closest ally, sneaking several intelligence agents through amongst the regular trade caravans that travel between your capitals. Soon enough, reports start to filter back to you, giving you a clearer, more detailed picture of the Kingdom of Canterbury than any simple diplomatic statement.
Upon first glance, Canterbury is exactly what it claims to be: a feudal kingdom founded upon chivalrous ideals and religious piety, the nobility acting as shepherds to the peasantry and the small but growing middle class of merchants and artisans in the scant handful of cities that the kingdom possesses. Queen Chevaline serves as both the head of state and the head of the church, with Duke Bohemond serving as the unofficial leader of the nation's military, which sees much combat against the countless beasts that call its vast forests home. This is all public knowledge, something anyone could learn by simply asking anyone who has ever been to Canterbury. But there is more to Canterbury than meets the eye.
Your Empire's technical innovations, and ensuing prosperity, have not gone unnoticed by the inhabitants of Canterbury, both noble and commoner alike. Some have even gone so far as to suggest purchasing or otherwise acquiring the many technologies that your people have developed...but Queen Chevaline has shot down all such proposals, citing either the anticipated expense or the lack of need. After all, your Empire does not possess the magical prowess and skill that resides within Canterbury, which allows them to perform similar, if not greater feats than any form of your technology. But while these complaints are valid, you can't help but get the feeling that there is another reason for such denials.
Additionally, Ravenburg has expressed his confusion with the Canterburians' seeming inability to effectively stamp out the tides of monsters and dangerous creatures that infest their homeland. Your own Empire's early struggles with similar issues prove that such obstacles can be overcome, and yet year after year goes by with seemingly no progress made in stamping out the rampant populations of Chimeras, Hydras, Trolls, Cockatrices and Timber-Wolves that plague the kingdom's countryside, despite the constant and valiant efforts of Canterbury's Knights. Yes, they face the added difficulty of the magical "dead zones" that dot the country, but those are a small obstacle in the scheme of things...and Ravenburg can't help but find something odd about the phenomenon that seems to be unique to Canterbury.
Then there is the Church of the Lady itself. The idea of a state religion is not that unusual (you had considered a similar setup yourself, years ago) but the fact that the church and the state are so irrevocably intertwined strikes you as just slightly...off. What is even stranger is the fact that, to the best knowledge of everyone you and your agents knows, there is not a single pony within Canterbury that does not worship the Lady of the Lake. Not out of any sense of fear of reprisal (for nowhere in the law of Canterbury does it state that the practice of other religions is illegal) but more as if the people are genuinely unaware that there are any other options. Perhaps this is simply another case of culture clash. After all, your Empire seems to be unique in its multicultural approach to religion and matters of faith. But you still can't help the feeling that there's something off about the whole thing.
And finally, and perhaps most unsettling of all, is not a piece of information, but a simple object found when an agent quite literally tripped over what they thought was a pebble along the road between Gryphus and Canterbury. It was not a pebble.
It was a gold coin bearing the face of the late King of Aquileia: Cyril Brochard. You distantly recall the disappearance of the bulk of the late King's treasury...along with the disappearance of Lady Nightingale, his spymaster, in the wake of the unification war. It seems you may have found where her trail lead to...but this is an answer that simply raises more questions. Further investigations may be required. Intel on Canterbury Gained, Shocking Revelations Unearthed, New Actions Unlocked.
-Assisted Abolitionist Raids: House Storm. Cost: 800. Time: One Year. Reward: Abolitionists raid House Storm Infrastructure, Storm forces weakened and thrown into disarray. Chance of Success: 60%
Required: 40. Rolled: 37+13=50
While the Maretonian Abolitionists have conducted occasional raids against House Storm in the past, a combination of factors, including increased security and sophisticated patrol schedules, and a more appealing target in House White Star, has prevented them from engaging in more ambitious operations against the more militant noble House. But the storm changed things. Now Ambrosia and the rest of the Abolitionist leadership are determined to cripple the military capabilities of House Storm in an effort to prevent them from overwhelming all other opposition in their bid to unite Maretonia under Pegicles' rule.
Ravenburg and Redbeak collaborate in their efforts to assist in what quickly becomes one of the largest examples of Abolitionist-Imperial cooperation to date as spies, scouts and intelligence agents share and compare intel which is then distributed to Abolitionist cell leaders and Imperial Military Advisors, who use the data to draw up plans for surgical strikes and raids on portions of House Storm's military Infrastructure.
Over the course of the weeks and months that follow, these plans are put into practice as squadrons of Abolitionist fighters strike supply depots and communication hubs, assassinate junior officers and mercenary commanders, and free their still-enslaved brethren from mines and plantations supporting the war effort, throwing Pegicles' logistical network into chaos and temporarily halting or slowing House Storm's advance in several areas as frontline units suddenly find themselves without expected reinforcements, orders or supply shipments. Throughout it all, the strike teams suffer minimal losses while inflicting disproportionately high casualties upon the garrison and security forces of their enemy.
The burnt out remnants of a House Storm Encampment
By the end of the year, dozens of strikes have been launched, all of which have been successful to some degree. House White Star is given a much needed reprieve, the Abolitionists strike a blow against their greatest enemy in their war to liberate Maretonia, and the forces of House Storm are temporarily crippled. Operation Succesful.
-Scaling the Ivory Towers. Cost: 600. Time: One Year. Reward: Information on the Maretonian Colleges of Magic, New Actions Unlocked. Chance of Success: 50%
Required: 50. Rolled: 51+13=64
Attempting to infiltrate the inner workings of a mysterious organization of magic users at the exact same time you're trying to open up diplomatic relations with them is...well its unorthodox, to put it mildly. But the unorthodox has served you and Ravenburg well in the past, and so, at the same time your diplomats cross the border to meet with representatives of the colleges, a number of Imperial Intelligence Agents do the same, bound for several known and suspected facilities of arcane research within House White Star's dwindling territory.
Several return to Imperial territory over the course of the next few weeks with disappointing results. Most were unable to even locate the buildings they had been charged with infiltrating, or saw no way to slip in without arousing suspicion or sounding the alarm. But finally, after several months of waiting and after you'd begun to consider calling the entire operation off, one recently recruited Earth Pony agent returns with some actual intelligence, having managed to sneak into one of the Colleges' central facilities by hiding aboard a shipment of magically reactive materials and subsequently disguising herself as a servant. The intel she returns with is as illuminating as it is unsettling.
Pegicles wasn't the only one banking on a secret weapon to win the war. He'd just been the first to develop and deploy it. From the outset of the conflict, Duke Haygle had tasked the Maretonian Colleges of Magic with developing a magical means of combating House Storm...specifically, a means of destroying the cloud-based fortifications that the largely ground-based forces of House White Star have few means of dealing with. In response, the Colleges have been developing a spell matrix designed to completely destroy the magic-infused cloud-vapor that form the building blocks of the aerial architecture used by Pegasi. It was the early prototype of this spell matrix that caused Pegicles' storm to suddenly collapse...but in the eyes of Duke Haygle and the heads of the Colleges, that was far from the ideal result that they wanted from the spell.
The goal of the so-called Cloudburster spell is to violently release all of the pent up thaumaturgical energy within magically charged cloud-vapor. Small scale tests under highly controlled laboratory conditions have seen the mages of the Colleges succeed at using the technique to make small bits of charged cloud vapor explode with forces equivalent to jars of black powder. Upon consultation with Merlin and Rafale, the unsettled magic experts inform you that, had such a spell been functional at the time of Pegicles' storm, and had it been used on the artificial hurricane when at its peak, the resulting explosion would have been of sufficient size and force to level an entire city...and likely alter the shape of the coastline. It is quite fortunate then, that the mages of the Colleges have yet to perfect the spell matrix.
Perfect. Another potential magical superweapon to worry about. At least now you are forewarned...and hopefully forearmed. Gathered Intel on Maretonian Colleges of Magic, New Action Unlocked.
-Generous Pirates. Cost: 700. Time: One Year. Reward: Relief Supplies smuggled in, Maretonian situation does not degrade further. Chance of Success: 75%
Required: 25. Rolled: 44+13=57
The smugglers of Libertalia have plied the waves off the coast of Maretonia for decades, regularly evading the kingdom's coastal defenses in their bid to profit off the sale of illegal or untaxed goods. Nowadays however, they are largely bereft of both defenses to avoid and customers to sell their wares to, both on account of Pegicles' storm which laid waste to so much of the coastline. In a bid to provide a measure of relief and aid to the tens of thousands of refugees displaced by the hurricane, Ravenburg coordinates with Hoofbeard to discretely hire a number of skilled boat captains and ship's crews to ferry much needed supplies where they are needed most urgently, a task they take to with surprising enthusiasm, transporting tons of food, potable water and medical supplies to the shantytowns and refugee camps that have sprung up in recent days.
There is, naturally, suspicion regarding the intentions of these smugglers and pirates who suddenly show up bearing much needed supplies to the ravaged shores of the kingdom that once sought to eradicate them, both from the refugees themselves and from the few individuals in positions of authority who realize what's happening. Most expect the Libertalians charity to be a front or a prelude to charging exorbitant fees for their goods...but such trickery never comes. Whether the pirates and brigands are content with the gold your Empire pays them or whether there are a few bleeding hearts amongst the supposedly cutthroat sea-raiders isn't known, but the results speak for themselves: each and every box and barrel loaded onto a Libertalian vessel marked as relief supplies finds its way to Maretonians in need, not a single penny having to be paid by the refugees receiving them.
And atop every container, prominently stamped for all to see, is the flag of Gryphus. A statement to the people of Maretonia that, though their own leaders may have forgotten or condemned them, someone is still looking out for them. Relief Supplies Distributed Succesfully, Famine amongst Internally Displaced Maretonians Temporarily Averted.
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.
-Ancient Empire Excavations. Cost: 100. Time: One Year. Reward: Ancient Religious Artifacts recovered.
The First Empire is something almost every Griffon knows of, but few have any real knowledge of. This is mostly because such knowledge is not practical in the modern era, but also because so much has been lost in the wake of Discord's madness and the inexorable march of time. Still, there are some who desperately seek out the last remnants of the ancient times, hoping to glean some of the wisdom of their ancient forbears. Such historophiles tend to flock towards the known sites of ancient ruins bearing the mark of the old Imperium. This year, those with a vested interest in the remnants of the past have much to be exited about, as your government finally authorizes a series of long-awaited excavations of several ruin sites. Excavations that yield fruit.
From the depths of what the archeologists determine to be a ruined temple complex emerges an entire collection of assorted holy relics belonging to the ancient Pantheon. An Idol of Boreas, a Shrine to Tyr, even a golden circlet bearing the symbol of Freyja, all are slowly pried from the dust and dirt of over a hundred years before being carefully relocated to places of prominence within the few modern temples to the old gods. Naturally, the sudden acquisition of such prestigious and holy items draws quite a lot of attention from the common people, drawing a significant number of new converts to the oldest faith in the Empire. +.5 Imperial Pantheism Influence.
Personal: You refuse to let your duties as Emperor take up every moment of your day.
-Overtime: Generous Pirates
-Overtime: Scaling the Ivory Towers
Carracks Constructed This Turn: 4
Random Event Rolls:
(27) To Be Continued in Rumor Mill
(87) Pass
-Runic Fortifications-Hardbeak Line. Cost: 2000. Time: Two Years. Reward: Hardbeak Line Fortifications Strengthened with Runic Enchantments, increased upkeep costs.
After the numerous preparations made over the course of the previous year, the actual installation and activation of the new fortifying runes is almost anticlimactic. The "mortar" of magically reactive materials is carefully arranged by Merlin and his arcane-inclined colleagues at the previously selected strategic locations, many of the runes being painstakingly carved into place by the newly christened Rune Priests of the Disciples of the Crystal Heart. One by one, the etchings begin to glow and thrum with magical power as the innate magic of the world flows through them, strengthening the walls of your fortresses.
Merlin personally inspects each and every carving to ensure that no mistakes have been made, but even with such fastidious caution and attention to detail, the entire operation is competed within only a few short months. Finally, the Archmage expresses his confidence that the newly crafted Runes are as strong as he can make them, as is the Hardbeak line in general. The Runes themselves will require maintenance of course, but while the materials and labor needed to do so may be expensive, you consider it a worthy investment to protect the Empire's great bulwark against any foreign threat, be it mundane or magical in nature. Hardbeak Line now possesses Runic Fortifications, +50 to Hardbeak Line Upkeep
-Abolitionist Army. Cost: 1500. Time: One Year. Reward: Abolitionist Military Strengthened.
The abolitionists are your only allies within Maretonia, and at this point they are the only group aside from the crumbling House White Star that seems willing and able to openly oppose Pegicles...but if they're going to stand a chance against him in a straight up fight, they're going to need a lot more support than you've already been giving them. Put that way, it's hardly a choice. You give Ambrosia and her comrades a blank check, and tell Redbeak to provide all the help he can without actually marching your army over the border.
Orders go out across the nation, carried by a small army of couriers bearing the Imperial seal. Weapons, armor, bandages, preserved foodstuffs, anything that an army could need is gathered by the ton and loaded onto the steam engines that now drive your Empire's economy. The locomotives make their way South to the Crystal City, where one of the largest logistical operations in history takes shape, as thousands of eager volunteers, both Imperial and Maretonian, haul hundreds of wagons loaded with supplies across the border into Abolitionist territory. Accompanying the wagon trains are dozens of military advisors. Trainers, quartermasters, demolitions experts, officers with over two centuries of combined military service. They act as an impromptu honor guard for the Empire's greatest gift to the Abolitionist cause: half a dozen cannons, fresh from the foundries, their caissons loaded down with enough ammunition to reduce any mundane fortress to rubble.
The abolitionists, though surprised by the sheer amount of support coming their way, waste no time making use of the generous gifts they have been given, hastily reorganizing their scattered, ragtag militias and partisan bands into a unified fighting force. The former Maretonian slaves are armed and armored with Griffon-made steel, and are drilled into fighting shape by a mixture of their own combat veterans and your own advisory troops. By the end of the year, an army of thousands of former slaves stands ready to fight for the abolitionist cause. You have no doubt that such a force shall soon be needed. Ambrosia and her colleagues give their thanks for such an unexpectedly generous donation to the cause of Maretonia's liberation, and you in turn thank Redbeak for all his hard work arranging the massive logistical undertaking that such a thing entailed.
With any luck, this new force will work to ensure that your own direct intervention in the conflict will be unnecessary. And should your own army indeed be forced to march south, at least they will have some guaranteed and enthusiastic allies waiting there to greet them. Abolitionist Army Formed, Trained and Equipped.
Diplomacy: Gisa, though as concerned with the events in Maretonia as everyone else, is more focused upon the international reaction to the magically created superstorm, as well as the potential reactions to any Imperial intervention in the conflict. Gawain continues to assist her, volunteering to act an emissary to your allies.
-Talking to Scholars. Cost: 1000. Time: One Year. Reward: Opened Relations with the Maretonian Colleges of Magic. Chance of Success: 60%
Required: 40. Rolled: 47+18=65
Gisa, though understandably anxious about the task given to her department, sets to it with the same focus and thoroughness that you've come to expect from your diplomatic advisor, gathering a small team of volunteers from amongst the diplomatic corps to make contact with the most reclusive and enigmatic society your people have yet encountered. Merlin himself briefs them on what to expect, preparing them for their meeting with a hidden society of mages as Gisa coordinates with Ravenburg and Ambrosia to determine where and when such a meeting should take place.
After weeks of preparation, things fall into order. A known Collegiate facility is selected to serve as the point of contact, its remote location and distance from most noble patrol routes making as ideal a place to host a first-contact meeting as any. The diplomatic team gathers their supplies and sets out across the border into Maretonia, crossing over the boundary between Abolitionist and White Star territory only a few days later.
The team is not seen nor heard from again for two weeks.
Just as Frida begins to fear the worst, and you begin consulting with Redbeak and Ravenburg on a plan B for dealing with the Colleges, your missing diplomats abruptly appear in a burst of light just outside the walls of the Hardbeak Line. After narrowly avoiding being skewered by the guards on duty, the team is rushed back to the capital, where you and Frida personally debrief them. It seems that the the mages of the college, though surprised by the sudden arrival of your representatives on their doorstep, proved surprisingly receptive to your offers of patronage and cooperation against your mutual foe. You suspect the literal wagonload of gold your emissaries brought with them as a show of good faith and proof of intent went a long way towards insuring the satisfactory direction of the negotiations.
Of course, the Colleges did not simply switch allegiances and align themselves with you and the Empire just like that. For while the mages held little loyalty to Duke Haygle and despised Pegicles for a variety of reasons, many still claimed allegiance to the Kingdom of Maretonia, however fractured and fragmented it may now be. Still, the arcane practitioners prided themselves upon their intelligence, and any person of even modest intellect could tell that something drastic would have to be done in order to prevent House Storm from winning the war.
And so, the mages offered up a deal: they would support whatever moves your Empire made against House Storm in exchange for the funding that they would have previously received from House White Star, under the condition that their own autonomy never be compromised, and that Maretonia would not be annexed by the Empire. Your ambassadors had tentatively agreed to these conditions, and promised to carry word to you when they departed.
Bold terms...the services of an organization such as the colleges do not come cheaply, and you had already been considering (albeit mostly in your own mind) plans to incorporate Maretonia as you had the Crystal Empire...but in exchange for these promises, you would gain the support of a coterie of skilled mages, the cream of the academic and arcane crop that Maretonia has to offer. It may just be a price worth paying. Contact Made with Colleges of Magic, New Actions Unlocked.
-International Relief Effort. Cost: 1200 (only paid if action succeeds). Time: One Year. Reward: International Relief Effort Organized, Maretonian Situation Improved.
-Appeal to the Praetorians. Cost: 500. Time: One Year. Reward: Royal Guard Negotiations Mini-Turn.
To Be Continued in "The Summit of Roam"
Stewardship: Although as pleased with the completion of the national rail network as everyone else, Frida is now struggling to come up with a program to follow it or rival its impact upon the Empire. This, combined with the renewed flow of refugees from Maretonia, has your steward a little stressed.
-Aggressive Agricultural Expansion. Cost: 1000. Time: Two Years. Reward: Expanded Agriculture, Secured Food Supply, Increased Income.
With the land cleared the previous year, now the work begins to make it actually yield crops. The army of farmers and agricultural workers gathered over the past few months sets to work upon the now open fields, readying the soil for cultivation. Unfortunately, even the great many volunteers gathered for the task struggle to effectively work the vast swathes of land that await their toil. Frida sets upon a brilliant idea to fix this shortage of labor however, posting notices across refugee camps and the Crystal City informing any prospective or former farmers that there is free land up for grabs to whomever is willing to cultivate it. Thousands of former Maretonians leap at the chance to establish their own farms and homesteads, using the generous government grants provided to them to purchase the tools needed to work the earth and build homes for themselves.
You scarcely have time to congratulate Frida on her brilliant idea before you personally bear witness to the power of Earth Pony magic, as the farms established by former slaves begin churning out grain and produce by the bushel while the fields planted by Griffons are still growing their first crop. By the end of the year, the Empire faces a food surplus that exceeds Frida's most optimistic projections, and many refugees have been provided with steady work and land to call their own. All in all, a job well done. Imperial Agricultural Sector Expanded, Food Supply Secured, +1075 Agricultural Income.
-Crystal Agriculture. Cost: 800. Time: Two Years. Reward: Crystal Protectorate gains a substantial agricultural base and is no longer dependent upon food imports from the Griffonlands. Increased Agricultural Income.
Of course, the Imperial Heartland isn't the only place experiencing an agricultural revitalization. Even as refugees flock north for a chance at free land, some remain closer to the spires of the Crystal City to assist in the new public works program taking shape there. Puissant Arbre, the Canterburian Earth Pony and agricultural expert, personally supervises the Crystal Assembly's latest and greatest project, a mixture of Crystaline and Imperial treasure serving to fund a program similar in scope and intent to the one wrapping up to the north. An army of Crystal Ponies, assisted by Maretonians, Griffons, and Diamond Dogs, sets to work preparing the land for sustained agriculture.
Ground is leveled, irrigation ditches are dug, and boulders are broken as seeds are gathered by the cartload in preparation for future planting. By the time the year ends, much of the cleared and prepared land has already been divided up into hundreds of farming plots which will soon be assigned to the many city dwellers willing to try their hoof at agriculture. All that remains to be done is the actual planting and sowing of seeds before the first Crystal crop can be grown and harvested. 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.
-Sound the War Horns! Cost: 300. Time: One Year. Reward: Gain War Horns. Upgrade Army Communications Bonus.
Major Shrike had thought his proposal for a new form of military communications to have been declined, or perhaps lost somewhere amidst the vast labyrinth of the ever expanding Imperial bureaucracy. He was naturally surprised then, when he received a summons to the office of Marshall Redbeak himself for a meeting with Genevieve to discuss his idea. In the end, the design and construction of the horns themselves proves to be the easier part of the task. Far harder is the formulation of a sort of "musical alphabet" for ease of use in a war zone.
After a great deal of brainstorming and practical testing in field exercises, a final product is settled upon, and a new form of musical command code is added to the knowledge taught to every enlisted soldier within the Imperial Army. Major Shrike receives much of the credit for the new battlefield innovation, along with a commendation medal for his part in developing a new tool to enhance your military's ability to protect the Empire...and to make up for the long wait. You don't think he minds. Imperial Army Gains Warhorns, Communications Bonus Upgraded to +6
-Portable Explosives. Cost: 500. Time: One Year. Reward: Imperial Army gains access to early grenades.
The good Captain Kaboom is pleased as can be that he gets another chance to contribute to the Empire's arsenal. Archimedes supervises the construction and testing of several prototype explosive devices, each one a deadly tool of destruction in its own right. Everything from simple pottery based containers to glass and even wooden devices are considered before a simple sphere of casted metal with a simple wick is arrived upon as the ideal form of mass producible explosive device. Workshops are set up to produce the new devices in sufficient quantities to equip sections of the Imperial Army, and training programs are hastily set up to inform recruits and veterans alike of the new weapons being made available to them.
These new "grenades" do have their flaws of course. They're only mostly waterproof, with a slight chance of malfunction, but they're less prone to failure than any makeshift devices that your soldiers would have been making themselves. But no weapon is perfect, especially when it comes to high explosives. Regardless, you now have a new tool within your arsenal. Early Grenades Developed.
Intrigue: Ravenburg has apologized for his failure to anticipate Pegicles' superstorm, and has dedicated himself to his work of gathering and analyzing the intelligence that is now sluggishly making its way to the eyes and ears of his agents in the wake of the Storm offensive. He is determined not to let the Empire be blindsided as the result of another intelligence failure.
-Trust but Verify. Cost: 400. Time: One Year. Reward: Intel on Canterbury and its people. Chance of Success: 60%.
Required: 40. Rolled: 66+13=79
Something hasn't quite sat right with you about Canterbury ever since you'd first encountered them...and the Intel that the poison that had killed Queen Mareia was derived from a plant found within the kingdom's borders only reinforced your suspicions. It may be a baseless assumption...but you needed to know more of what was going on inside the borders of your supposed ally. And so, you authorized Ravenburg's proposed mission to investigate your (geographically) closest ally, sneaking several intelligence agents through amongst the regular trade caravans that travel between your capitals. Soon enough, reports start to filter back to you, giving you a clearer, more detailed picture of the Kingdom of Canterbury than any simple diplomatic statement.
Upon first glance, Canterbury is exactly what it claims to be: a feudal kingdom founded upon chivalrous ideals and religious piety, the nobility acting as shepherds to the peasantry and the small but growing middle class of merchants and artisans in the scant handful of cities that the kingdom possesses. Queen Chevaline serves as both the head of state and the head of the church, with Duke Bohemond serving as the unofficial leader of the nation's military, which sees much combat against the countless beasts that call its vast forests home. This is all public knowledge, something anyone could learn by simply asking anyone who has ever been to Canterbury. But there is more to Canterbury than meets the eye.
Your Empire's technical innovations, and ensuing prosperity, have not gone unnoticed by the inhabitants of Canterbury, both noble and commoner alike. Some have even gone so far as to suggest purchasing or otherwise acquiring the many technologies that your people have developed...but Queen Chevaline has shot down all such proposals, citing either the anticipated expense or the lack of need. After all, your Empire does not possess the magical prowess and skill that resides within Canterbury, which allows them to perform similar, if not greater feats than any form of your technology. But while these complaints are valid, you can't help but get the feeling that there is another reason for such denials.
Additionally, Ravenburg has expressed his confusion with the Canterburians' seeming inability to effectively stamp out the tides of monsters and dangerous creatures that infest their homeland. Your own Empire's early struggles with similar issues prove that such obstacles can be overcome, and yet year after year goes by with seemingly no progress made in stamping out the rampant populations of Chimeras, Hydras, Trolls, Cockatrices and Timber-Wolves that plague the kingdom's countryside, despite the constant and valiant efforts of Canterbury's Knights. Yes, they face the added difficulty of the magical "dead zones" that dot the country, but those are a small obstacle in the scheme of things...and Ravenburg can't help but find something odd about the phenomenon that seems to be unique to Canterbury.
Then there is the Church of the Lady itself. The idea of a state religion is not that unusual (you had considered a similar setup yourself, years ago) but the fact that the church and the state are so irrevocably intertwined strikes you as just slightly...off. What is even stranger is the fact that, to the best knowledge of everyone you and your agents knows, there is not a single pony within Canterbury that does not worship the Lady of the Lake. Not out of any sense of fear of reprisal (for nowhere in the law of Canterbury does it state that the practice of other religions is illegal) but more as if the people are genuinely unaware that there are any other options. Perhaps this is simply another case of culture clash. After all, your Empire seems to be unique in its multicultural approach to religion and matters of faith. But you still can't help the feeling that there's something off about the whole thing.
And finally, and perhaps most unsettling of all, is not a piece of information, but a simple object found when an agent quite literally tripped over what they thought was a pebble along the road between Gryphus and Canterbury. It was not a pebble.
It was a gold coin bearing the face of the late King of Aquileia: Cyril Brochard. You distantly recall the disappearance of the bulk of the late King's treasury...along with the disappearance of Lady Nightingale, his spymaster, in the wake of the unification war. It seems you may have found where her trail lead to...but this is an answer that simply raises more questions. Further investigations may be required. Intel on Canterbury Gained, Shocking Revelations Unearthed, New Actions Unlocked.
-Assisted Abolitionist Raids: House Storm. Cost: 800. Time: One Year. Reward: Abolitionists raid House Storm Infrastructure, Storm forces weakened and thrown into disarray. Chance of Success: 60%
Required: 40. Rolled: 37+13=50
While the Maretonian Abolitionists have conducted occasional raids against House Storm in the past, a combination of factors, including increased security and sophisticated patrol schedules, and a more appealing target in House White Star, has prevented them from engaging in more ambitious operations against the more militant noble House. But the storm changed things. Now Ambrosia and the rest of the Abolitionist leadership are determined to cripple the military capabilities of House Storm in an effort to prevent them from overwhelming all other opposition in their bid to unite Maretonia under Pegicles' rule.
Ravenburg and Redbeak collaborate in their efforts to assist in what quickly becomes one of the largest examples of Abolitionist-Imperial cooperation to date as spies, scouts and intelligence agents share and compare intel which is then distributed to Abolitionist cell leaders and Imperial Military Advisors, who use the data to draw up plans for surgical strikes and raids on portions of House Storm's military Infrastructure.
Over the course of the weeks and months that follow, these plans are put into practice as squadrons of Abolitionist fighters strike supply depots and communication hubs, assassinate junior officers and mercenary commanders, and free their still-enslaved brethren from mines and plantations supporting the war effort, throwing Pegicles' logistical network into chaos and temporarily halting or slowing House Storm's advance in several areas as frontline units suddenly find themselves without expected reinforcements, orders or supply shipments. Throughout it all, the strike teams suffer minimal losses while inflicting disproportionately high casualties upon the garrison and security forces of their enemy.
The burnt out remnants of a House Storm Encampment
By the end of the year, dozens of strikes have been launched, all of which have been successful to some degree. House White Star is given a much needed reprieve, the Abolitionists strike a blow against their greatest enemy in their war to liberate Maretonia, and the forces of House Storm are temporarily crippled. Operation Succesful.
-Scaling the Ivory Towers. Cost: 600. Time: One Year. Reward: Information on the Maretonian Colleges of Magic, New Actions Unlocked. Chance of Success: 50%
Required: 50. Rolled: 51+13=64
Attempting to infiltrate the inner workings of a mysterious organization of magic users at the exact same time you're trying to open up diplomatic relations with them is...well its unorthodox, to put it mildly. But the unorthodox has served you and Ravenburg well in the past, and so, at the same time your diplomats cross the border to meet with representatives of the colleges, a number of Imperial Intelligence Agents do the same, bound for several known and suspected facilities of arcane research within House White Star's dwindling territory.
Several return to Imperial territory over the course of the next few weeks with disappointing results. Most were unable to even locate the buildings they had been charged with infiltrating, or saw no way to slip in without arousing suspicion or sounding the alarm. But finally, after several months of waiting and after you'd begun to consider calling the entire operation off, one recently recruited Earth Pony agent returns with some actual intelligence, having managed to sneak into one of the Colleges' central facilities by hiding aboard a shipment of magically reactive materials and subsequently disguising herself as a servant. The intel she returns with is as illuminating as it is unsettling.
Pegicles wasn't the only one banking on a secret weapon to win the war. He'd just been the first to develop and deploy it. From the outset of the conflict, Duke Haygle had tasked the Maretonian Colleges of Magic with developing a magical means of combating House Storm...specifically, a means of destroying the cloud-based fortifications that the largely ground-based forces of House White Star have few means of dealing with. In response, the Colleges have been developing a spell matrix designed to completely destroy the magic-infused cloud-vapor that form the building blocks of the aerial architecture used by Pegasi. It was the early prototype of this spell matrix that caused Pegicles' storm to suddenly collapse...but in the eyes of Duke Haygle and the heads of the Colleges, that was far from the ideal result that they wanted from the spell.
The goal of the so-called Cloudburster spell is to violently release all of the pent up thaumaturgical energy within magically charged cloud-vapor. Small scale tests under highly controlled laboratory conditions have seen the mages of the Colleges succeed at using the technique to make small bits of charged cloud vapor explode with forces equivalent to jars of black powder. Upon consultation with Merlin and Rafale, the unsettled magic experts inform you that, had such a spell been functional at the time of Pegicles' storm, and had it been used on the artificial hurricane when at its peak, the resulting explosion would have been of sufficient size and force to level an entire city...and likely alter the shape of the coastline. It is quite fortunate then, that the mages of the Colleges have yet to perfect the spell matrix.
Perfect. Another potential magical superweapon to worry about. At least now you are forewarned...and hopefully forearmed. Gathered Intel on Maretonian Colleges of Magic, New Action Unlocked.
-Generous Pirates. Cost: 700. Time: One Year. Reward: Relief Supplies smuggled in, Maretonian situation does not degrade further. Chance of Success: 75%
Required: 25. Rolled: 44+13=57
The smugglers of Libertalia have plied the waves off the coast of Maretonia for decades, regularly evading the kingdom's coastal defenses in their bid to profit off the sale of illegal or untaxed goods. Nowadays however, they are largely bereft of both defenses to avoid and customers to sell their wares to, both on account of Pegicles' storm which laid waste to so much of the coastline. In a bid to provide a measure of relief and aid to the tens of thousands of refugees displaced by the hurricane, Ravenburg coordinates with Hoofbeard to discretely hire a number of skilled boat captains and ship's crews to ferry much needed supplies where they are needed most urgently, a task they take to with surprising enthusiasm, transporting tons of food, potable water and medical supplies to the shantytowns and refugee camps that have sprung up in recent days.
There is, naturally, suspicion regarding the intentions of these smugglers and pirates who suddenly show up bearing much needed supplies to the ravaged shores of the kingdom that once sought to eradicate them, both from the refugees themselves and from the few individuals in positions of authority who realize what's happening. Most expect the Libertalians charity to be a front or a prelude to charging exorbitant fees for their goods...but such trickery never comes. Whether the pirates and brigands are content with the gold your Empire pays them or whether there are a few bleeding hearts amongst the supposedly cutthroat sea-raiders isn't known, but the results speak for themselves: each and every box and barrel loaded onto a Libertalian vessel marked as relief supplies finds its way to Maretonians in need, not a single penny having to be paid by the refugees receiving them.
And atop every container, prominently stamped for all to see, is the flag of Gryphus. A statement to the people of Maretonia that, though their own leaders may have forgotten or condemned them, someone is still looking out for them. Relief Supplies Distributed Succesfully, Famine amongst Internally Displaced Maretonians Temporarily Averted.
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.
-Ancient Empire Excavations. Cost: 100. Time: One Year. Reward: Ancient Religious Artifacts recovered.
The First Empire is something almost every Griffon knows of, but few have any real knowledge of. This is mostly because such knowledge is not practical in the modern era, but also because so much has been lost in the wake of Discord's madness and the inexorable march of time. Still, there are some who desperately seek out the last remnants of the ancient times, hoping to glean some of the wisdom of their ancient forbears. Such historophiles tend to flock towards the known sites of ancient ruins bearing the mark of the old Imperium. This year, those with a vested interest in the remnants of the past have much to be exited about, as your government finally authorizes a series of long-awaited excavations of several ruin sites. Excavations that yield fruit.
From the depths of what the archeologists determine to be a ruined temple complex emerges an entire collection of assorted holy relics belonging to the ancient Pantheon. An Idol of Boreas, a Shrine to Tyr, even a golden circlet bearing the symbol of Freyja, all are slowly pried from the dust and dirt of over a hundred years before being carefully relocated to places of prominence within the few modern temples to the old gods. Naturally, the sudden acquisition of such prestigious and holy items draws quite a lot of attention from the common people, drawing a significant number of new converts to the oldest faith in the Empire. +.5 Imperial Pantheism Influence.
Personal: You refuse to let your duties as Emperor take up every moment of your day.
-Overtime: Generous Pirates
-Overtime: Scaling the Ivory Towers
Carracks Constructed This Turn: 4
Random Event Rolls:
(27) To Be Continued in Rumor Mill
(87) Pass
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fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
Failure.
- Location
- United States
And here I was, thinking that plotline had been forgotten about and dropped. Looks like our new neighbors have some spicy damn skeletons in their closet.
- Location
- United States of America
Wow I did not see a lead for the missing treasure of King Brochard coming up. Alright Ravenberg you're much more experienced now and have kickass agents working for you so now you can redeem yourself and find that treasure and Lady Nightingale. Also curse you random event roll what evil are going to rain down on us now.
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lockingbane
If you're crazy and you know it clap your hands!
- Location
- Waxahachie tx
Oh? Now isn't this tidbit... Interesting....
Also, calling it now, lot's of changeling speculation incoming on this.
Also it is starting to look like an almost Inquisition type deal with the inquisition suppressing any other religion from the shadows and them being sent out to deal with... Enemies of the Lady.
Also it might be that the monsters are intentionally kept to maintain the status quo and thus keep the church and nobility in power....
Also, calling it now, lot's of changeling speculation incoming on this.
Also it is starting to look like an almost Inquisition type deal with the inquisition suppressing any other religion from the shadows and them being sent out to deal with... Enemies of the Lady.
Also it might be that the monsters are intentionally kept to maintain the status quo and thus keep the church and nobility in power....
- Location
- Italy
before I even finish reading the rest of the update, I have to say one thing
- Location
- Salem Oregon US
We don't need to annex them, we can make them a vassal instead.before I even finish reading the rest of the update, I have to say one thing
- Location
- Florida
Maybe Canterbury is farming monsters for regents for their magic and to keep the status quo. External enemies tend to provide a good distraction from internal issues after all.
- Location
- Ohio
What if it is like pokemon stadium for the n64, where all the pokemon are really dittos?
what if this is a game world with changelings playing the characters?
I never read that many changeling fics myself though.