You've gotta admit that thinking that only a god can make that much of a difference has some negative implications that might become a problem after the current emperor dies. If it takes a god to advance a society this much then will future generations not even try to do great things knowing themselves to be mere mortals?
Who Needs Harmony?: An MLP Empire Quest
- Thread starter Questor
- Start date
...I'm still pretty sure you and @TheGleeman are reading way too much into this. We have never even really TALKED to any of these Guys or their Leaders. We know nothing about whether or not they subscribed to believes like those you mentioned here when creating their Cult. Maybe we should actually have a Chat with them before we write them off as nihilistic Nutjobs?
Last edited:
Yeah and try to keep them in check
Turn 30 Results
- Location
- Maryland
Martial: Redbeak's concerns regarding the conflict South of the border have only grown more numerous in recent months. He brings up the idea of an armed Intervention in Maretonia every chance he gets, something which frustrates his fellow councilors to no end, even if some of them are willing to concede that his arguments have merit.
-Doubling the Guard: The recent population explosion has brought problems, but it has also brought opportunities, chief among them an end to the previous shortage of able-bodied Griffons and Dogs available for military service. Redbeak has long been considering an expansion of the army, and if given sufficient funding to do so he could double the size of your Empire's primary fighting force within two years. With the onset of the Maretonian Civil War, such an expansion may soon become a necessity. Cost: 3000 Time: Two Years. Reward: Imperial Army Doubles in Size.
—Imperial Priority
You had been putting off an expansion of your military for years now. Between the associated costs, the necessary time investment, and the numerous other priorities facing you and your advisors, the proposal had simply fallen by the wayside. You were paying for that now, both metaphorically and financially. Redbeak had paled when you asked him to double the size of your army in less than a year, and to have the new recruits ready for deployment to Maretonia immediately afterwards. He'd tried to tell you that it simply wasn't possible, that there was no way to recruit, train and equip more than twenty five thousand soldiers in less than two years, let alone one.
You open up the Imperial treasury, call upon all your experience as a merchant and administrator, and set out to prove him wrong.
No expense is spared, no opportunity to grease the wheels of war with capital missed as the most powerful economy in the known world mobilizes itself for war. Flyers and leaflets urging the young and patriotic to enlist are dumped by the box-full over crowded urban centers, and generous signing bonuses are offered to each and every new recruit that completes basic training. Massive, temporary training facilities are established across the Empire as your existing soldiers, many of them veterans of the great forest purges or the war against Sombra, train their soon-to-be comrades. Squad leaders and officers quickly find themselves promoted to keep pace with the army's size, sergeants becoming captains and captains becoming colonels as the number of soldiers under their command rapidly swells.
Smithies and manufactories across the nation are contracted to produce thousands of blades, polearms and shields, some even being imported from firms in Neighpon and the Minotaur Republics, who establish entire production lines for the specific models of weapons your troops use before shipping them across the ocean to Gryphus. A pair of massive factories, each employing hundreds of Griffons, Dogs and Ponies, are created for the sole purpose of churning out helmets, gauntlets, greaves, cuirasses, and other pieces of armor as entire teams of workers are offered exorbitant sums to venture into the nation's sewers to harvest the vast amounts of saltpeter needed to provide black powder for dozens of cannons. The engineers of the Imperial Cannon Foundries and Siege Workshops work overtime on twelve-hour shifts even as their numbers double, allowing for round-the-clock operations on an expanded and streamlined assembly line. Every fletcher in the Empire is called upon to produce arrows by the barrel full, to the point that the few hunters who have not yet been recruited into the Arbalest Corps are forced to either craft their own ammunition or make do without.
You burn through money as though you were desperate to get rid of it, and the very fabric of the national economy is disrupted by the sheer amount of government spending taking place, but after many frenzied days and sleepless nights, the fruits of your labors become apparent.
Over twenty six thousand soldiers, each one armed and armored with standardized, mass-produced equipment. More than three dozen cannons and ballistae, and great stockpiles of their respective ammunition. Ten Flame Protectors, and thousands of barrels of fuel for them. The largest Army of professional soldiers since the Rise of Discord...raised in six months. Under any other circumstance, this would be a triumph. A miraculous success, a legendary feat of organization, the kind of thing future historians would devote entire books too.
For you, it is merely the first step on a long road to victory.
The Imperial Army has been doubled in size, just in time for the beginning of the Maretonian Campaign. +12,500 Warriors, 6250 Polearms, 6250 Arbalists, 1500 Diamond Dogs, 432 Artillerists, 14 Mobile Ballistae, 30 Cannons, and 10 Flame Projectors.
-Direct Maretonian Intervention-Hammer: The situation in Maretonia has reached a breaking point. With the death of Captain-General Marecinas and the sacking of Roam, the alliance against House Storm has been thrown into chaos, and Pegicles seems poised to sweep over what resistance remains and crown himself King of what's left of the ravaged nation. You cannot allow this to happen. You have sought to avoid a direct entanglement in the conflict, for reasons as numerous as they are compelling...but this madness needs to end. Muster the Army, gather the necessary supplies, and march South to enforce order. Cost: 6000. Time: One Year. Reward: War Interlude. The Full Might of the Empire descends upon Maretonia.
The decision to intervene in the Civil War raging just South of your border is made early in the year, before the first Spring thaw can melt the last of the winter's snow. Your army will not cross into Maretonia until well into Autumn.
It is just barely enough time to prepare.
The deployment of an army of tens of thousands is not a simple thing. A thousand tiny details must be seen to before the campaign can even begin. With you personally overseeing the recruitment and equipping of the army, Redbeak devotes all his attention to the work of moving and supplying such a massive force.
Stockpiles of all manner of goods and supplies are built up, a small army of clerks and accountants coordinating the production, storage and distribution of everything from blankets and tent poles to hardtack and bandages. Hundreds of carts are purpose-built or purchased from civilians to haul the hundreds of tons of supplies that the army will need, an entire district of warehouses being constructed in the Crystal City to serve as a critical node in a massive logistical network stretching across the length and breadth of the nation and beyond.
Redbeak is not the only member of your privy council to be involved in the preparations. Ravenburg reaches out to Ambrosia and the Abolitionists, identifying sites where the army may encamp or acquire fresh water, and urging them to stockpile supplies of their own as a backup should the supply lines linking your army and the Imperial heartland be severed or disrupted. Gabriella looks into hiring merchant ships to carry supplies by sea or by river, while Gisa tentatively reaches out to foreign merchant captains who may be willing to brave a war zone for profit, and Frida begins preparations for an expansion of the national rail network to accommodate troop trains and military supply shipments, lines of steel snaking out from the Crystal City to the edge of the Crystal Protectorate's southern border.
And throughout it all, despite the obvious difficulty and seeming futility of the task, every effort is made to disguise your preparations for what they are. The Crystal City warehouses are excused as the work of multiple front companies seeking to exploit the growing local agricultural sector, the Abolitionists disguising their efforts to prepare for your arrival as preparations for an offensive of their own, Gisa and Gabriella making their inquiries quietly and directly to merchants with reputations for discretion as Frida seeks to downplay and distract from the military rail project by inflating the importance of her other project in front of the press. You keep up this charade for as long as you can, seeking to hide the purpose of your preparations until the rapid mobilization of so many soldiers and knights makes such a thing impossible. You don't know if Pegicles is deceived, or if the warlord has even taken notice of the events unfolding beyond the war-torn Kingdom he wishes to rule. But you wish to maintain the element of surprise for as long as possible...assuming you have it at all.
As the first leaves begin to fall from the trees, their numbers swelled with new recruits and their equipment double-checked one final time, the Imperial Army sallies out from the Hardbeak Line, marching off to war yet again.
The Maretonian Campaign Begins!
Diplomacy: Gisa, fresh from her resolution of the Emerald Isles Crisis, is perhaps the most vocal opponent of an intervention in Maretonia, citing both the potential risks and the possibility of losing face and political capital on the world stage. She has spent much of the previous year conversing with the survivors of the Equestrian Expedition to Storm Country, and has been aggressively lobbying you for a mission to make contact with their home government and to return their people to them.
-Libertalian Developmental Aid: Cost: 500. Time: Two Years. Reward: Libertalia fully abandons its previous reliance on Piracy, Increased Trade Income, New Actions Unlocked.
After two years of steady foreign investment, the economy of Libertalia has been totally transformed. Vast fields of sugarcane now cover much of the island, their bounty fed to a score of refineries and breweries as half a dozen mines extract tons of raw ore from the earth. New industries, either established by locals or by Imperial Firms, spring up to take advantage of the glut of raw materials. Refineries, breweries, smelters and smithies are constructed, producing everything from sugar to molasses to steel, products which soon find themselves exported across the world by a fleet of repurposed pirate vessels, the newly minted merchants sailing to the four corners of the known world to sell their wares. An unusual plant known as tobacco quickly becomes the latest luxury fad, elegantly carved pipes becoming the hottest fashion accessory for young nobles throughout the Empire and beyond.
Hoofbeard's Best, the most popular and iconic Libertalian rum brand, is brewed in vast copper-lined vats and aged in oak barrels Imported from Gryphus.
As wealth flows into the region, new services spring up to take advantage. Insurance firms and banks open their doors to offer their services as inns, restaurants and theaters spring up to take advantage of a population who have suddenly found themselves with a great deal more money to spend, ships importing luxury goods joining local vessels in the expanded ports and harbors of the island. The most successful newfound magnates construct stately mansions and seaside villas, hiring architects from Gryphus in order to imitate the homes of Imperial Nobility, clothing themselves in the latest fashions and expensive jewelry to flaunt their wealth.
Hoofbeard, once the most famous Pirate Captain in the world, is now one of the most wealthy and successful shipping magnates to ever sail the seas, and is widely considered to be the richest being on Libertalia, and therefore the most powerful and influential.
This only serves to amplify the fame he earns with his actions in Maretonia...
Synergy Bonus with Hoofbeard's Other Heist. Libertalia is now a prosperous and thriving community built upon trade and commerce rather than piracy, and enjoys close economic ties with the Empire. +300 Trade Income. Further Options Unlocked.
-Canterlot Bound: The Equestrians have recovered from their treatment at the hands of the Yetis, and while they are eternally grateful for the aid and hospitality you and your people have shown, they have expressed their desire to return to their homeland. Returning the survivors of their "missing" expedition would doubtlessly allow you to make a good first impression. Send them home with an escort and a diplomatic team to establish proper first contact with the Equestrian Princesses. Cost: 800. Time: One Year. Reward: Establish Contact with Equestria, Diplomatic Interlude.
The Equestrians are ready to depart, and you intend for them to not return to their homeland alone. The particulars of course, will need to be hammered out. This will be the first time you initiate diplomatic contact with a nation you already have some knowledge of, and you really want to make an impression upon the Equestrian Princesses. You have a few ideas for how to do that...
To be Continued in "Meeting the Princesses"
-The Iron Steppe: The existence of the Yetis of Storm Country has, predictably, stirred up the people of YakYakistan and sent King Rutherford scrambling to establish patrols and defenses along his kingdom's Western Border in anticipation of a raid or invasion by the newly discovered society of militant slavers. Perhaps you feel a little bit of guilt at poking the hornets nest that now threatens your neighbor and ally, or maybe you simply wish to ensure that your own territory remains untouched by slavers, but you feel that it would only be a good idea to offer the Yaks assistance in securing their borders. Your people have built a great reputation for their skill in the construction of fortresses and static defenses, and if combined with the indomitable strength of the Yaks you are certain that an impenetrable defensive line can be assembled, one strong enough to repulse even the most determined Yeti assault. Of course, the Yaks will have to agree to such a proposal. Cost: 1500. Time: Three Years. Reward: Yak-Storm Border Fortified, Improved YakYakistani Relations. Chance of Success: 55%
Required: 45. Rolled: 75+18+10(Risen From the Ruins [Abolitionist Anthem])+10(Dominions 5 Nation project, part: LA Griffonia)=113 (Art. Crit!)
You had expected King Rutherford to be hesitant in accepting aid from you. You had expected him to be perhaps, a bit annoyed at the fact that you had inadvertently agitated a potential threat to his people. You had even feared that he would reject your offers to assist him in securing his border against the Yetis, despite the gold and expertise you had promised to donate to the project.
You certainly had not expected him to not only wholeheartedly agree to your proposal, but to throw almost all of his political capital and influence behind the construction of what is already being referred to as the Great Wall of Yakyakistan, pressing thousands of local laborers into service through a corvee system. The quarries and mines of the young Kingdom see an unprecedented level of activity as hundreds of tons of stone are excavated, carved into blocks, and then mounted upon sledges for the long journey to the border, where the wall has already begun to take shape.
Though referring to the planned defensive line as a singular wall would not be accurate. Such a thing would not only take over a decade to construct, but would be impossible to effectively staff and patrol. No, your engineers have learned far more effective means of fortification. Under the guidance and advice of Imperial surveyors and architects, many of whom had once worked upon the Hardbeak line, a series of watchtowers and guard stations are hastily erected, each within sight of at least two others to allow for ease of communication and reinforcement should one come under attack, teams of Yaks literally reshaping the earth with their pounding hooves and immense strength to pave roads into the frozen landscape.
By the end of the year, much progress has been made, so much so that the Wall (the name proving popular despite the inaccuracy) is expected to be completed months ahead of schedule, and you have once again been reminded why you should be happy that the Yaks are not your enemies.
Action Duration Shortened! Will Finish Next Year.
Stewardship: Frida's recent successes in modernizing the nation's infrastructure can be plainly seen from any window in the Palace after dark, as hundreds of Gaslamps burn brightly through the night, illuminating the Capital. Despite performing what many would consider the crowning achievement of their careers, your Steward shows no intention of taking it easy, putting forward yet more plans to improve the lives of your people and invest in the Empire's development, though at the moment much of her focus is currently upon the flood of refugees Pegicles' most recent offensive has produced.
-Arcane College: Last year Frida, Merlin and the mixed team of Neighponese and Canterburian Magic Experts that inhabit your court established a curriculum of basic arcane education for the numerous schools scattered throughout your Empire...and just in time. The first generation of Hippogriffs are now coming into their abilities, and the subsidized texts and lesson plans distributed by the think tank have proven invaluable for parents and teachers throughout the Empire. But Merlin isn't done. He wants to set the stage for advanced magical education. He wants to build a Magic School to rival the one he established in Canterbury, an Arcane equivalent to the already world-renowned Crystal University. Naturally, such a thing will require time, land, funding, and a great deal of expertise. But if you want magic to become more than a curiosity in your Empire, such an expenditure will be necessary. Cost: 2500. Time: Two Years. Reward: Imperial College of Magic Constructed. New Options Unlocked.
Frida sets to work, aided by Merlin and the other magical advisors. A suitable location is found and surveyed: a hill that, according to Merlin, sits upon a confluence of multiple ley-lines. Blueprints are drawn up for a campus quite unlike that of any mundane university, as exotic and magically reactive materials are purchased by the cart-load for use as building material. Classrooms, dormitories, dining halls and training areas begin to gradually take shape. Wards and runes are carefully erected about the school, dowsing rods and other means of magical accident prevention installed in almost every room. Work proceeds at a slow but steady pace, none wishing to needlessly rush construction and risk a mistake that could cause a future catastrophe.
Even as the spires of academic towers begin to rise over the landscape, the mages under your payroll begin the arduous task of planning out exactly how the new school will be run and operated. Curriculums and lesson plans are drawn up as teachers are either hired from abroad or trained from amongst the growing population of young up-and-coming magic users within your own country. Arcane tomes and ancient scrolls are transcribed for use as study material, a dozen printing presses running near constantly to build up a library for future students. By the end of the year much work remains to be done, but much progress has been made...Merlin tells you that he is already receiving letters from parents and young students inquiring about attending the institution once it is complete. A promising sign. At the very least, you know the new school won't want for students when it is completed.
Will Finish Next Year.
-Cloth Mills: While sufficient Flax has been planted to allow for textile production, and a significant cottage industry has already sprung up to exploit this, you're far from rivaling the Neighponese for textile production. Mass production is the name of the game here: subsidize the construction and start-up costs of some weaving mills and see if you can increase productivity. Cost: 600. Time: One Year. Reward: Industrial Linen Production achieved, Increased Tax Income.
For many years, Frida's proposed plan to build a mechanized textile industry to rival Neighponese Silk had languished upon the back burner, repeatedly passed over in favor of flashier and more ambitious projects. In the meantime, a few ambitious and forward thinking entrepreneurs had established several small mills and weaving houses, but such ventures were few and far between, and would be woefully incapable of creating the sheer amount of cloth that you were hoping to export to foreign markets.
Seeking a new revenue stream in the wake of this year's spending spree, you brush the dust off of your steward's original proposal, revise the plan in accordance with recent developments, and set about expanding a currently minuscule sector of your economy. Existing workhouses are expanded into industrial-scale operations as ground is broken on over a dozen new mills and weaving houses, nobles and burghers jumping at the chance to grab interest free loans and purchase subsidized equipment to establish their own businesses, farmers in neighboring villages replanting flax in their fields to feed the growing demand for the plant.
Flax: as valuable as it is aesthetically pleasing to behold
By the end of the year, national textile production has quintupled, and seems set to only continue expanding as Imperial citizens and foreign merchants alike begin to take notice of the sudden availability of the new clothing material, nobles and common folk alike beginning to don garments of the locally produced cloth. It seems that you and Frida can now add Fashion to the list of industries you have revolutionized in the course of your careers.
Industrial Linen Production Achieved. +200 Tax Income. New Options Unlocked.
Learning: Though Archimedes has passed wizened and is now nearing ancient, he remains the greatest Scholar in the Empire, with Genevieve not far behind him. From what you hear, your son's friend Sebastian has made quite an impression upon the two with his sudden deluge of research notes and prototype inventions, some of which may even have Empire-wide applications.
-Maritime Steam Engines: Cost: 700. Time: Two Years. Reward: Progress towards Steam Ships.
After two years of work and countless revisions, Archimedes finally settles upon a final design for a ship-borne steam engine.
Well, perhaps final is too strong a word. Your chief scholar has always been a fan of constant and continuous improvement after all, but the point is that he now finally has a version he's willing to actually stick on a ship. Small scale practical tests have already shown the promise of the engine, though both Archimedes and Genevieve have warned you not to expect too much from their new device. It seems that, for all its reliability and capacity to make a vessel sail against the wind and tides, it does have its shortcomings. Namely it's ravenous need for fuel. Archimedes estimates that a transoceanic journey on a steam powered vessel is simply not practical with the current engine...the ship's hold would have to be filled with nothing but coal just to enable it to stand a chance of making the journey, and that's assuming nothing goes wrong or breaks down en route. As a result, Steam-powered ships will likely be relegated to coastal and riverine transit for the foreseeable future. Still, you can imagine a great many applications for this new innovation, even with the limits currently imposed upon it.
First Maritime Steam Engine Complete. New Actions Unlocked.
-Airships-Military Refinement: Of course, the transportation of goods and passengers isn't the only potential application for Archimedes' latest innovation. No sooner did the airborne dirigible make its maiden flight than your military leadership took an interest in the possibility of flying warships. Unfortunately the current design is wholly unsuited for anything approaching combat. It's unarmed, slow, and not likely to survive a storm, nevermind a determined airborne assault. Have Archimedes and Genevieve work on drawing up a new set of blueprints for a military model. Cost: 1500. Time: One Year. Reward: Designs for Military Airships, New Options Unlocked.
Given your focus upon matters of war this year, and the intended target of your army, it should come as no surprise that you would seek to weaponize Archimedes' flying machine. With the elderly inventor's focus this year upon refining his steam engine for nautical use, Genevieve sets to work upon the task with a vigor, eager to add her own contribution to the great national armament that has so consumed the nation this year. A think tank of engineers and military officers is assembled to draw up new blueprints and offer input to further refine the proposed designs. Merlin and several of his fellow foreign magic experts are dragged away from their work upon the College of Magic to construct a "wind tunnel", allowing for the practical testing of small scale prototypes as numerous environmental conditions are simulated, from high winds to lightning storms.
The resulting fires are quickly extinguished, and Merlin is hastily commissioned to create a new form of rune to redirect lightning strikes away from the hydrogen-filled gasbags.
By the end of the year, the think tank has several promising designs for airborne warships to present you with. These are further refined and trimmed down due to complexity, extreme cost, or fragility of their construction. The final design settled upon is an adaptable, modular vessel capable of fulfilling a variety of roles, from long-range patrol to airborne bombing. It even boasts armor and a handful of cannons to defend itself with.
It will likely be the slowest thing in the sky when finally constructed, and even the simplified designs will require vast resources to build, but you are quite pleased to know that you now have the option of constructing such a war machine to counter the cloud-based flying fortresses of the Pegasi.
Can Now Construct Military Airships.
Intrigue: Ravenburg remains one of your busiest advisors, constantly keeping you informed of happenings and dangers inside and outside of the Empire. Between the rumblings in Canterbury, the developing Maretonian situation, maintaining security at home and keeping an eye on other developing situations abroad, your spymaster has his talons full. Thankfully he has Rose to serve as his assistant and advisor in matters of espionage...though the Changeling can at times be as much of a curse as she is a blessing.
-Hoofbeard's Other Heist: Cost: 1500. Time: One Year. Reward: House White Star's Treasury Raided, Libertalia becomes more prosperous and less dependent on Crime to fuel its economy, Hoofbeard gains more influence and power in Libertalia. Chance of Success: 65%
Required: 35. Rolled: 22+13+20(Dominions 5 Nations Omake)+5(The Emperor Spangled Banner)=60
After years of hesitation and dragging your feet, you decide that Hoofbeard, your most loyal and effective ally in Libertalia, has more than earned a suitable reward for all that he has done on your behalf. With your newly expanded army about to march on Maretonia and crush Pegicles once and for all, now may be the last chance for him to carry out his dream raid, in what will likely be the last act of piracy he ever engages in. The renowned privateer rallies each and every one of his former crew mates for one last job, raising the black flags back over the masts of his merchant fleet in one last heist to overshadow them all.
Using information supplied by the Countess Copper Top, your lead intelligence asset within House White Star, Hoofbeard and his band of pirates conduct a series of frightfully effective lightning raids up and down Maretonia's coast, all under the cover of darkness. Libertalian vessels pull up alongside heavily laden river barges to make off with their hidden cargoes of silver bullion, landing parties venturing further ashore to strike at hidden storehouses and concealed bunkers. The mercenaries and household guards of the White Star Nobles, caught by surprise and completely unprepared for an attack from the sea, are swiftly overwhelmed or driven to flight, some even throwing their lot in with the pirates when offered a share of the spoils. Provided with the combinations and spare keys for every safe or lockbox loaded with precious metals, the Libertalians make out like the bandits they are, the holds of their vessels weighed down by several tons of bullion as they fade away into the night as quickly as they came.
Hoofbeard and his marauders return to Libertalia as conquering heroes, hailed as the greatest pirates to ever sail the seas, an opinion only encouraged by their liberal sharing and spending of their newly acquired wealth. In the wake of the days long, island-wide celebration that follows the heisters' return, it is said that every one of the island's inhabitants receives a coin bearing Hoofbeard's likeness, the pirate lord having melted down and recast the countless pilfered ingots into a new and unique currency for the pirate's republic, forever commemorating the event. In the months that follow, Hoofbeard surprises many of his fellow pirates by spending much of his newly acquired fortune on acts of charity, hiring work crews to build roads, dig wells, and perform all other manner of public works projects that improve the lives of the common pony, endearing him in the hearts of the people even further.
The effects of the theft of the majority of their hoarded wealth upon the already crumbling House White Star is predictably devastating. The mercenaries that make up the majority of their forces begin to desert en masse, abandoning their posts and leaving numerous forts and villages unguarded, a situation the other factions are quick to exploit, Abolitionists and House Storm soldiers alike taking bites out of White Star. It is rumored that several now-destitute nobles have committed suicide, either in despair at their destitution, or to avoid capture and expected execution by the bands of looters and liberators rampaging through the region. Duke Haygle, a paranoid recluse even before the raid, withdraws even further from the public eye into his network of secluded safehouses, to the point that many begin to question whether he is even still alive. Copper Top informs you that her communications with the head of what's left of the faction have become increasingly sporadic and nonsensical, the Duke requesting updates from or giving orders to units that no longer exist and nobles that have been dead for weeks. The White Star is now effectively rudderless, its surviving members taking on an "every pony for himself" mentality, circling the wagons and fortifying their manors to ride out the chaos now unfolding across their territory.
Not all of House White Star's riches were stolen out from under them, of course. Not every cache could be hit, and some of the truly paranoid nobles had clung to their personal hordes, some even reportedly burying their gold underground in the wilderness...but the majority of the House's funds have been pilfered, leaving the once fabulously wealthy Noble House practically destitute. Their ability to prosecute the war, already crippled by the Great Storm, has now been utterly destroyed.
An enemy destroyed and a partner enriched, all in one fell swoop. Another success story for Imperial Intelligence.
HoofBeard is now the wealthiest and most Influential Pony in Libertalia, which is now a well-developed and functioning economy. Barring a few pockets of scattered resistance, House White Star has ceased to exist as an effective force.
-Collegiate Reconsolidating: While the sack of Roam had many terrible consequences, one of the most keenly felt was the decimation of the Maretonian Colleges of Magic. Having thrown their lot in with Marecinas at your urging, a great many Mages and arcane scholars perished in the battle for the city. The rest fled, scattering to the winds across Maretonia in a bid to escape Pegicles' wrath. Some made their way to Abolitionist territory to join Ambrosia and her fellow freedom fighters. Others slinked back to House White Star, finding refuge with Duke Haygle and his ever-shrinking Court. But most have gone off the grid entirely, vanishing into the throngs of "internally displaced persons" that now crowd the roadways of Maretonia. The arcane might of the former Colleges is now reduced and scattered across the region. If they're going to have any hope of posing a threat to Pegicles and his army, they're going to need to be reunified. Ravenburg's agents are standing ready to rustle up some sorcerers for the war effort. Cost: 600. Time: One Year. Reward: Maretonian Collegiate Mages rounded up out of hiding. Chance of Success: 65%
Required: 35 Rolled: 15+13+10(Total War: Disharmony Legacy Edition Factions)+10(Total War: Disharmony Legacy Edition Elements Of Harmony Basic Guide)=48
Ravenburg's Agents have a devil of a time finding the fugitive mages. Masters of magic and purveyors of the arcane, hiding individually or in small groups of two or three amidst the countless bands of nomadic refugees that roam the ravaged landscape, using every bit of their thaumaturgical might to conceal themselves from notice and avoid attention. Finding even one is a difficult task, finding them all is nearly impossible. And yet, your spies give their best effort...and get results. One by one, rumors and whispers of strange or reclusive wanderers reach the ears of your infiltrators, who painstakingly track them down one by one, following hoofprints and questioning refugees until they finally locate their quarry, a process that takes weeks or even months as layer after layer of false trails, glamours and illusions are peeled away to reveal the locations of the missing magicians.
This is the easy part of the job.
Much more difficult is the task of actually convincing the scarred and terrified mages to once again take up arms against the force that had massacred many of their friends and colleagues in Roam. It is a tough sell, and more than one mage emphatically refuses, fading away again into the teeming throngs of displaced ponies, never to be found again.
But not all of them.
Perhaps they realize that there is to be no hiding from this war. Perhaps the rumors of an army of Griffins marching South has given them hope for a victory against Pegicles. Or perhaps your intelligence agents are simply more skilled at oration and negotiation than you would have guessed. Regardless of the reason, one by one, exiled sorcerers and enchanters begin to come out of hiding; first in ones and twos, then in larger and larger numbers as the reinvigorated thaumaturgists join your agents in their search for their still hidden comrades.
By the time your army begins to mobilize for deployment into Maretonia, roughly half of the missing mages have been found and recruited back into the war effort. Though they number in at only a few dozen, each individual is a font of arcane strength and knowledge, and can serve as a powerful force multiplier in any tactical engagement or strategic maneuver. They shall join forces with the abolitionists and Royal Guard, providing what aid they can in the fight against Pegicles...and setting the stage for your army's arrival.
Multiple Surviving Mages and Magic Experts Rediscovered and Pressed into Service, Abolitionist and Royal Guards receive Reinforcements.
Piety: The revelation of the true nature of the Church of the Lady of the Lake has brought new relevance to the issue of faith in your Empire.
-Yak Shamans: The YakYakistani Faith has begun to surge in popularity recently, owing to the recent establishment of the first Runestone in the Empire by one of it's most renowned Shamans. A decent number of Griffons, Dogs and Ponies have joined their Yak neighbors in their religious rituals and worship...but this has come to pose its own problems. For there seems to be a critical shortage of actual shamans in the Empire, leaving the flocks of new converts without religious leaders to guide or instruct them in the tenets of their new faith. Overtures have been made to senior Shamans in YakYakistan, but many are reluctant to pull up roots and relocate to the Empire. A representative of the Council of Faiths has once again called upon you to intervene and use your influence to help resolve the situation. Cost: 400. Time: One Year. Reward: Expanded Yak Shamanist Influence.
The discovery of the Yetis and the threat that they may pose to your Empire has served to underline the importance of your relationship with Yakyakistan and it's people, who would likely be important allies in any conflict against the newly discovered culture. As such, you consider the petition from the Council of Faith's sole Yak as more than just a matter of spiritualism, but as a matter of diplomacy, and thus a priority.
The letters you dispatch to the dozen Yak shamans the councilor hopes to entice towards immigrating to the Empire are reminiscent of the one you had sent to Brod the Wise not so long ago: plain and direct, mincing no words and bare of flowery language, something that you are told Yaks appreciate. The small bags of gold that accompany each letter, supposedly to cover the costs of travel, add even further weight to your written words.
Yak stubbornness being what it is, not every shaman thus contacted is moved by your missive, but several are, and their arrival in the Empire leads to much excitement amongst the Spiritualists who had sought their counsel. The Shamans quickly adopt reputations as nomadic preachers, traveling from community to community and sharing their wisdom with all who are willing to seek them out, drawing crowds of faithful and inspiring new converts in every town and village they pass through.
Runes of a more mundane nature are prominent throughout multiple religions, Yak Shamanism included.
Word of your people's sudden interest in the Yak faith has caused a bit of a stir in King Rutherford's court, the Yaks not expecting foreigners to express such interest in their beliefs. There's reportedly a bit of confusion and more than a little theological debate regarding the status of non-Yak converts. In typical Yak fashion, the debates are quickly resolved when a coalition of elder shamans shout down all opposition and proclaim that anyone of any race can follow the faith the same way they do.
This, combined with the defensive line being constructed with Yak labor and Griffon expertise, has had a positive effect upon how the average Yak views the Empire. (+.5 Yakyakistan Relations, +1 Yakyakistani Shamanism)
Personal: You refuse to let your duties as Emperor take up every moment of your day.
-Imperial Priority: Sometimes you need something done as quickly as possible, regardless of the cost. In such times, you can authorize and oversee the judicious and generous application of funds to speed things along. If necessary, you can reduce the duration of a select action by one year at the cost of a personal action and doubling the per-turn financial cost of the action. The chances of success for said action will remain the same.
—Doubling the Guard
-Gleaming Generosity: The siege and resultant sacking of Roam forced tens of thousands of Refugees to flee the ruined city. Many have crossed over the border into the Empire, swelling the refugee camps as you and your people struggle to care and process yet another surge of desperate and displaced Ponies. Your daughter Pearl, perhaps owing to her own past as an orphan and the time she herself once spent in a refugee center, has taken a special interest in the care that the Maretonian Asylum seekers have been receiving, becoming their most visible and vocal supporter, using her influence and status to raise funds and combat the growing fears and concerns of those who question the wisdom of allowing so many Maretonians to settle in the Empire. She's even found a way to incorporate her hobbies of sculpture and art into her crusade, planning to host a charity auction for the benefit of those in need. Perhaps you should make an appearance? Cost: 300. Time: One Year. Reward: Gleaming Pearl Interlude, Maretonian Refugee Crisis Re-Addressed.
To be Continued in "The Crystal Princess"
-Getting to Know You More: Dueling Practice: In many ways, Ki Seong is a typical example of a Neighponese noble lady. She has spent much of her life being educated on the finer points of etiquette and can host an organize a tea ceremony fit for the Dragon Emperor himself. But Gawain knows better than to assume that she is a dainty flower of the Far East, for the young Qilin hides a core of steel and fire that would put any Griffon to shame. She is shockingly well versed in the realms of strategy, politics and diplomacy, and can wield a bow or blade as well as any professional soldier. It is this last quality that piques Gawain's interest. He does not often get the chance to spar with a talented opponent that will not hesitate to hold back against him because of his status. You're interested to see how he fares against the young Qilin.
To be Continued in "Silk Hiding Steel"
Carracks Constructed This Turn: 2
Random Event Rolls:
(4) Fail
(86) Pass
(21) Fail
I've been seeing a lot of talk about the Imperial Cult lately. Not sure exactly what the root cause of people's concerns are, but I'll try to give a clearer picture:
The Imperial Cultists (or Children of the Emperor, or the Golden Flock...even years after the Council of Featherciea there are multiple sects with varying belief systems) are not racial supremacists. They do not advocate violence, nor do they decry other faiths as being inherently false or inferior. They do not see the Dragon Emperor of Neighpon, who is also looked upon as a divine figure by some, as a false idol. They are not a violent, intolerant lot, because if they were Garrick would have done something about it. He's not about to let his subjects abuse each other in his name.
Seeing a ruler as a divine figure is not something without precedent, both in this universe's history and in our own. Ancient Egypt, Ancient China, Imperial Japan, The Roman Empire, the Incans and Aztecs, all had rulers who were either seen as Gods themselves or were otherwise divine in nature...to say nothing of the countless European Kings who claimed to have a God-given right to rule which more often than not stemmed from the Pope.
This site being what it is, I know Warhammer 40K is the first thing people think of when they hear "God-Emperor", but that's not really an apt comparison. Some of them do see you as a God, or Demi God, or other form of spiritual being, but others among them see you as the pinnacle of Griffon-kind, an inspiration and exemplar...you are to them what Celestia would/will be to Equestrians a thousand years from now. A sort of almost secular worship, in a way.
Hope that clears things up a little.
-Doubling the Guard: The recent population explosion has brought problems, but it has also brought opportunities, chief among them an end to the previous shortage of able-bodied Griffons and Dogs available for military service. Redbeak has long been considering an expansion of the army, and if given sufficient funding to do so he could double the size of your Empire's primary fighting force within two years. With the onset of the Maretonian Civil War, such an expansion may soon become a necessity. Cost: 3000 Time: Two Years. Reward: Imperial Army Doubles in Size.
—Imperial Priority
You had been putting off an expansion of your military for years now. Between the associated costs, the necessary time investment, and the numerous other priorities facing you and your advisors, the proposal had simply fallen by the wayside. You were paying for that now, both metaphorically and financially. Redbeak had paled when you asked him to double the size of your army in less than a year, and to have the new recruits ready for deployment to Maretonia immediately afterwards. He'd tried to tell you that it simply wasn't possible, that there was no way to recruit, train and equip more than twenty five thousand soldiers in less than two years, let alone one.
You open up the Imperial treasury, call upon all your experience as a merchant and administrator, and set out to prove him wrong.
No expense is spared, no opportunity to grease the wheels of war with capital missed as the most powerful economy in the known world mobilizes itself for war. Flyers and leaflets urging the young and patriotic to enlist are dumped by the box-full over crowded urban centers, and generous signing bonuses are offered to each and every new recruit that completes basic training. Massive, temporary training facilities are established across the Empire as your existing soldiers, many of them veterans of the great forest purges or the war against Sombra, train their soon-to-be comrades. Squad leaders and officers quickly find themselves promoted to keep pace with the army's size, sergeants becoming captains and captains becoming colonels as the number of soldiers under their command rapidly swells.
Smithies and manufactories across the nation are contracted to produce thousands of blades, polearms and shields, some even being imported from firms in Neighpon and the Minotaur Republics, who establish entire production lines for the specific models of weapons your troops use before shipping them across the ocean to Gryphus. A pair of massive factories, each employing hundreds of Griffons, Dogs and Ponies, are created for the sole purpose of churning out helmets, gauntlets, greaves, cuirasses, and other pieces of armor as entire teams of workers are offered exorbitant sums to venture into the nation's sewers to harvest the vast amounts of saltpeter needed to provide black powder for dozens of cannons. The engineers of the Imperial Cannon Foundries and Siege Workshops work overtime on twelve-hour shifts even as their numbers double, allowing for round-the-clock operations on an expanded and streamlined assembly line. Every fletcher in the Empire is called upon to produce arrows by the barrel full, to the point that the few hunters who have not yet been recruited into the Arbalest Corps are forced to either craft their own ammunition or make do without.
You burn through money as though you were desperate to get rid of it, and the very fabric of the national economy is disrupted by the sheer amount of government spending taking place, but after many frenzied days and sleepless nights, the fruits of your labors become apparent.
Over twenty six thousand soldiers, each one armed and armored with standardized, mass-produced equipment. More than three dozen cannons and ballistae, and great stockpiles of their respective ammunition. Ten Flame Protectors, and thousands of barrels of fuel for them. The largest Army of professional soldiers since the Rise of Discord...raised in six months. Under any other circumstance, this would be a triumph. A miraculous success, a legendary feat of organization, the kind of thing future historians would devote entire books too.
For you, it is merely the first step on a long road to victory.
The Imperial Army has been doubled in size, just in time for the beginning of the Maretonian Campaign. +12,500 Warriors, 6250 Polearms, 6250 Arbalists, 1500 Diamond Dogs, 432 Artillerists, 14 Mobile Ballistae, 30 Cannons, and 10 Flame Projectors.
-Direct Maretonian Intervention-Hammer: The situation in Maretonia has reached a breaking point. With the death of Captain-General Marecinas and the sacking of Roam, the alliance against House Storm has been thrown into chaos, and Pegicles seems poised to sweep over what resistance remains and crown himself King of what's left of the ravaged nation. You cannot allow this to happen. You have sought to avoid a direct entanglement in the conflict, for reasons as numerous as they are compelling...but this madness needs to end. Muster the Army, gather the necessary supplies, and march South to enforce order. Cost: 6000. Time: One Year. Reward: War Interlude. The Full Might of the Empire descends upon Maretonia.
The decision to intervene in the Civil War raging just South of your border is made early in the year, before the first Spring thaw can melt the last of the winter's snow. Your army will not cross into Maretonia until well into Autumn.
It is just barely enough time to prepare.
The deployment of an army of tens of thousands is not a simple thing. A thousand tiny details must be seen to before the campaign can even begin. With you personally overseeing the recruitment and equipping of the army, Redbeak devotes all his attention to the work of moving and supplying such a massive force.
Stockpiles of all manner of goods and supplies are built up, a small army of clerks and accountants coordinating the production, storage and distribution of everything from blankets and tent poles to hardtack and bandages. Hundreds of carts are purpose-built or purchased from civilians to haul the hundreds of tons of supplies that the army will need, an entire district of warehouses being constructed in the Crystal City to serve as a critical node in a massive logistical network stretching across the length and breadth of the nation and beyond.
Redbeak is not the only member of your privy council to be involved in the preparations. Ravenburg reaches out to Ambrosia and the Abolitionists, identifying sites where the army may encamp or acquire fresh water, and urging them to stockpile supplies of their own as a backup should the supply lines linking your army and the Imperial heartland be severed or disrupted. Gabriella looks into hiring merchant ships to carry supplies by sea or by river, while Gisa tentatively reaches out to foreign merchant captains who may be willing to brave a war zone for profit, and Frida begins preparations for an expansion of the national rail network to accommodate troop trains and military supply shipments, lines of steel snaking out from the Crystal City to the edge of the Crystal Protectorate's southern border.
And throughout it all, despite the obvious difficulty and seeming futility of the task, every effort is made to disguise your preparations for what they are. The Crystal City warehouses are excused as the work of multiple front companies seeking to exploit the growing local agricultural sector, the Abolitionists disguising their efforts to prepare for your arrival as preparations for an offensive of their own, Gisa and Gabriella making their inquiries quietly and directly to merchants with reputations for discretion as Frida seeks to downplay and distract from the military rail project by inflating the importance of her other project in front of the press. You keep up this charade for as long as you can, seeking to hide the purpose of your preparations until the rapid mobilization of so many soldiers and knights makes such a thing impossible. You don't know if Pegicles is deceived, or if the warlord has even taken notice of the events unfolding beyond the war-torn Kingdom he wishes to rule. But you wish to maintain the element of surprise for as long as possible...assuming you have it at all.
As the first leaves begin to fall from the trees, their numbers swelled with new recruits and their equipment double-checked one final time, the Imperial Army sallies out from the Hardbeak Line, marching off to war yet again.
The Maretonian Campaign Begins!
Diplomacy: Gisa, fresh from her resolution of the Emerald Isles Crisis, is perhaps the most vocal opponent of an intervention in Maretonia, citing both the potential risks and the possibility of losing face and political capital on the world stage. She has spent much of the previous year conversing with the survivors of the Equestrian Expedition to Storm Country, and has been aggressively lobbying you for a mission to make contact with their home government and to return their people to them.
-Libertalian Developmental Aid: Cost: 500. Time: Two Years. Reward: Libertalia fully abandons its previous reliance on Piracy, Increased Trade Income, New Actions Unlocked.
After two years of steady foreign investment, the economy of Libertalia has been totally transformed. Vast fields of sugarcane now cover much of the island, their bounty fed to a score of refineries and breweries as half a dozen mines extract tons of raw ore from the earth. New industries, either established by locals or by Imperial Firms, spring up to take advantage of the glut of raw materials. Refineries, breweries, smelters and smithies are constructed, producing everything from sugar to molasses to steel, products which soon find themselves exported across the world by a fleet of repurposed pirate vessels, the newly minted merchants sailing to the four corners of the known world to sell their wares. An unusual plant known as tobacco quickly becomes the latest luxury fad, elegantly carved pipes becoming the hottest fashion accessory for young nobles throughout the Empire and beyond.
Hoofbeard's Best, the most popular and iconic Libertalian rum brand, is brewed in vast copper-lined vats and aged in oak barrels Imported from Gryphus.
As wealth flows into the region, new services spring up to take advantage. Insurance firms and banks open their doors to offer their services as inns, restaurants and theaters spring up to take advantage of a population who have suddenly found themselves with a great deal more money to spend, ships importing luxury goods joining local vessels in the expanded ports and harbors of the island. The most successful newfound magnates construct stately mansions and seaside villas, hiring architects from Gryphus in order to imitate the homes of Imperial Nobility, clothing themselves in the latest fashions and expensive jewelry to flaunt their wealth.
Hoofbeard, once the most famous Pirate Captain in the world, is now one of the most wealthy and successful shipping magnates to ever sail the seas, and is widely considered to be the richest being on Libertalia, and therefore the most powerful and influential.
This only serves to amplify the fame he earns with his actions in Maretonia...
Synergy Bonus with Hoofbeard's Other Heist. Libertalia is now a prosperous and thriving community built upon trade and commerce rather than piracy, and enjoys close economic ties with the Empire. +300 Trade Income. Further Options Unlocked.
-Canterlot Bound: The Equestrians have recovered from their treatment at the hands of the Yetis, and while they are eternally grateful for the aid and hospitality you and your people have shown, they have expressed their desire to return to their homeland. Returning the survivors of their "missing" expedition would doubtlessly allow you to make a good first impression. Send them home with an escort and a diplomatic team to establish proper first contact with the Equestrian Princesses. Cost: 800. Time: One Year. Reward: Establish Contact with Equestria, Diplomatic Interlude.
The Equestrians are ready to depart, and you intend for them to not return to their homeland alone. The particulars of course, will need to be hammered out. This will be the first time you initiate diplomatic contact with a nation you already have some knowledge of, and you really want to make an impression upon the Equestrian Princesses. You have a few ideas for how to do that...
To be Continued in "Meeting the Princesses"
-The Iron Steppe: The existence of the Yetis of Storm Country has, predictably, stirred up the people of YakYakistan and sent King Rutherford scrambling to establish patrols and defenses along his kingdom's Western Border in anticipation of a raid or invasion by the newly discovered society of militant slavers. Perhaps you feel a little bit of guilt at poking the hornets nest that now threatens your neighbor and ally, or maybe you simply wish to ensure that your own territory remains untouched by slavers, but you feel that it would only be a good idea to offer the Yaks assistance in securing their borders. Your people have built a great reputation for their skill in the construction of fortresses and static defenses, and if combined with the indomitable strength of the Yaks you are certain that an impenetrable defensive line can be assembled, one strong enough to repulse even the most determined Yeti assault. Of course, the Yaks will have to agree to such a proposal. Cost: 1500. Time: Three Years. Reward: Yak-Storm Border Fortified, Improved YakYakistani Relations. Chance of Success: 55%
Required: 45. Rolled: 75+18+10(Risen From the Ruins [Abolitionist Anthem])+10(Dominions 5 Nation project, part: LA Griffonia)=113 (Art. Crit!)
You had expected King Rutherford to be hesitant in accepting aid from you. You had expected him to be perhaps, a bit annoyed at the fact that you had inadvertently agitated a potential threat to his people. You had even feared that he would reject your offers to assist him in securing his border against the Yetis, despite the gold and expertise you had promised to donate to the project.
You certainly had not expected him to not only wholeheartedly agree to your proposal, but to throw almost all of his political capital and influence behind the construction of what is already being referred to as the Great Wall of Yakyakistan, pressing thousands of local laborers into service through a corvee system. The quarries and mines of the young Kingdom see an unprecedented level of activity as hundreds of tons of stone are excavated, carved into blocks, and then mounted upon sledges for the long journey to the border, where the wall has already begun to take shape.
Though referring to the planned defensive line as a singular wall would not be accurate. Such a thing would not only take over a decade to construct, but would be impossible to effectively staff and patrol. No, your engineers have learned far more effective means of fortification. Under the guidance and advice of Imperial surveyors and architects, many of whom had once worked upon the Hardbeak line, a series of watchtowers and guard stations are hastily erected, each within sight of at least two others to allow for ease of communication and reinforcement should one come under attack, teams of Yaks literally reshaping the earth with their pounding hooves and immense strength to pave roads into the frozen landscape.
By the end of the year, much progress has been made, so much so that the Wall (the name proving popular despite the inaccuracy) is expected to be completed months ahead of schedule, and you have once again been reminded why you should be happy that the Yaks are not your enemies.
Action Duration Shortened! Will Finish Next Year.
Stewardship: Frida's recent successes in modernizing the nation's infrastructure can be plainly seen from any window in the Palace after dark, as hundreds of Gaslamps burn brightly through the night, illuminating the Capital. Despite performing what many would consider the crowning achievement of their careers, your Steward shows no intention of taking it easy, putting forward yet more plans to improve the lives of your people and invest in the Empire's development, though at the moment much of her focus is currently upon the flood of refugees Pegicles' most recent offensive has produced.
-Arcane College: Last year Frida, Merlin and the mixed team of Neighponese and Canterburian Magic Experts that inhabit your court established a curriculum of basic arcane education for the numerous schools scattered throughout your Empire...and just in time. The first generation of Hippogriffs are now coming into their abilities, and the subsidized texts and lesson plans distributed by the think tank have proven invaluable for parents and teachers throughout the Empire. But Merlin isn't done. He wants to set the stage for advanced magical education. He wants to build a Magic School to rival the one he established in Canterbury, an Arcane equivalent to the already world-renowned Crystal University. Naturally, such a thing will require time, land, funding, and a great deal of expertise. But if you want magic to become more than a curiosity in your Empire, such an expenditure will be necessary. Cost: 2500. Time: Two Years. Reward: Imperial College of Magic Constructed. New Options Unlocked.
Frida sets to work, aided by Merlin and the other magical advisors. A suitable location is found and surveyed: a hill that, according to Merlin, sits upon a confluence of multiple ley-lines. Blueprints are drawn up for a campus quite unlike that of any mundane university, as exotic and magically reactive materials are purchased by the cart-load for use as building material. Classrooms, dormitories, dining halls and training areas begin to gradually take shape. Wards and runes are carefully erected about the school, dowsing rods and other means of magical accident prevention installed in almost every room. Work proceeds at a slow but steady pace, none wishing to needlessly rush construction and risk a mistake that could cause a future catastrophe.
Even as the spires of academic towers begin to rise over the landscape, the mages under your payroll begin the arduous task of planning out exactly how the new school will be run and operated. Curriculums and lesson plans are drawn up as teachers are either hired from abroad or trained from amongst the growing population of young up-and-coming magic users within your own country. Arcane tomes and ancient scrolls are transcribed for use as study material, a dozen printing presses running near constantly to build up a library for future students. By the end of the year much work remains to be done, but much progress has been made...Merlin tells you that he is already receiving letters from parents and young students inquiring about attending the institution once it is complete. A promising sign. At the very least, you know the new school won't want for students when it is completed.
Will Finish Next Year.
-Cloth Mills: While sufficient Flax has been planted to allow for textile production, and a significant cottage industry has already sprung up to exploit this, you're far from rivaling the Neighponese for textile production. Mass production is the name of the game here: subsidize the construction and start-up costs of some weaving mills and see if you can increase productivity. Cost: 600. Time: One Year. Reward: Industrial Linen Production achieved, Increased Tax Income.
For many years, Frida's proposed plan to build a mechanized textile industry to rival Neighponese Silk had languished upon the back burner, repeatedly passed over in favor of flashier and more ambitious projects. In the meantime, a few ambitious and forward thinking entrepreneurs had established several small mills and weaving houses, but such ventures were few and far between, and would be woefully incapable of creating the sheer amount of cloth that you were hoping to export to foreign markets.
Seeking a new revenue stream in the wake of this year's spending spree, you brush the dust off of your steward's original proposal, revise the plan in accordance with recent developments, and set about expanding a currently minuscule sector of your economy. Existing workhouses are expanded into industrial-scale operations as ground is broken on over a dozen new mills and weaving houses, nobles and burghers jumping at the chance to grab interest free loans and purchase subsidized equipment to establish their own businesses, farmers in neighboring villages replanting flax in their fields to feed the growing demand for the plant.
Flax: as valuable as it is aesthetically pleasing to behold
By the end of the year, national textile production has quintupled, and seems set to only continue expanding as Imperial citizens and foreign merchants alike begin to take notice of the sudden availability of the new clothing material, nobles and common folk alike beginning to don garments of the locally produced cloth. It seems that you and Frida can now add Fashion to the list of industries you have revolutionized in the course of your careers.
Industrial Linen Production Achieved. +200 Tax Income. New Options Unlocked.
Learning: Though Archimedes has passed wizened and is now nearing ancient, he remains the greatest Scholar in the Empire, with Genevieve not far behind him. From what you hear, your son's friend Sebastian has made quite an impression upon the two with his sudden deluge of research notes and prototype inventions, some of which may even have Empire-wide applications.
-Maritime Steam Engines: Cost: 700. Time: Two Years. Reward: Progress towards Steam Ships.
After two years of work and countless revisions, Archimedes finally settles upon a final design for a ship-borne steam engine.
Well, perhaps final is too strong a word. Your chief scholar has always been a fan of constant and continuous improvement after all, but the point is that he now finally has a version he's willing to actually stick on a ship. Small scale practical tests have already shown the promise of the engine, though both Archimedes and Genevieve have warned you not to expect too much from their new device. It seems that, for all its reliability and capacity to make a vessel sail against the wind and tides, it does have its shortcomings. Namely it's ravenous need for fuel. Archimedes estimates that a transoceanic journey on a steam powered vessel is simply not practical with the current engine...the ship's hold would have to be filled with nothing but coal just to enable it to stand a chance of making the journey, and that's assuming nothing goes wrong or breaks down en route. As a result, Steam-powered ships will likely be relegated to coastal and riverine transit for the foreseeable future. Still, you can imagine a great many applications for this new innovation, even with the limits currently imposed upon it.
First Maritime Steam Engine Complete. New Actions Unlocked.
-Airships-Military Refinement: Of course, the transportation of goods and passengers isn't the only potential application for Archimedes' latest innovation. No sooner did the airborne dirigible make its maiden flight than your military leadership took an interest in the possibility of flying warships. Unfortunately the current design is wholly unsuited for anything approaching combat. It's unarmed, slow, and not likely to survive a storm, nevermind a determined airborne assault. Have Archimedes and Genevieve work on drawing up a new set of blueprints for a military model. Cost: 1500. Time: One Year. Reward: Designs for Military Airships, New Options Unlocked.
Given your focus upon matters of war this year, and the intended target of your army, it should come as no surprise that you would seek to weaponize Archimedes' flying machine. With the elderly inventor's focus this year upon refining his steam engine for nautical use, Genevieve sets to work upon the task with a vigor, eager to add her own contribution to the great national armament that has so consumed the nation this year. A think tank of engineers and military officers is assembled to draw up new blueprints and offer input to further refine the proposed designs. Merlin and several of his fellow foreign magic experts are dragged away from their work upon the College of Magic to construct a "wind tunnel", allowing for the practical testing of small scale prototypes as numerous environmental conditions are simulated, from high winds to lightning storms.
The resulting fires are quickly extinguished, and Merlin is hastily commissioned to create a new form of rune to redirect lightning strikes away from the hydrogen-filled gasbags.
By the end of the year, the think tank has several promising designs for airborne warships to present you with. These are further refined and trimmed down due to complexity, extreme cost, or fragility of their construction. The final design settled upon is an adaptable, modular vessel capable of fulfilling a variety of roles, from long-range patrol to airborne bombing. It even boasts armor and a handful of cannons to defend itself with.
It will likely be the slowest thing in the sky when finally constructed, and even the simplified designs will require vast resources to build, but you are quite pleased to know that you now have the option of constructing such a war machine to counter the cloud-based flying fortresses of the Pegasi.
Can Now Construct Military Airships.
Intrigue: Ravenburg remains one of your busiest advisors, constantly keeping you informed of happenings and dangers inside and outside of the Empire. Between the rumblings in Canterbury, the developing Maretonian situation, maintaining security at home and keeping an eye on other developing situations abroad, your spymaster has his talons full. Thankfully he has Rose to serve as his assistant and advisor in matters of espionage...though the Changeling can at times be as much of a curse as she is a blessing.
-Hoofbeard's Other Heist: Cost: 1500. Time: One Year. Reward: House White Star's Treasury Raided, Libertalia becomes more prosperous and less dependent on Crime to fuel its economy, Hoofbeard gains more influence and power in Libertalia. Chance of Success: 65%
Required: 35. Rolled: 22+13+20(Dominions 5 Nations Omake)+5(The Emperor Spangled Banner)=60
After years of hesitation and dragging your feet, you decide that Hoofbeard, your most loyal and effective ally in Libertalia, has more than earned a suitable reward for all that he has done on your behalf. With your newly expanded army about to march on Maretonia and crush Pegicles once and for all, now may be the last chance for him to carry out his dream raid, in what will likely be the last act of piracy he ever engages in. The renowned privateer rallies each and every one of his former crew mates for one last job, raising the black flags back over the masts of his merchant fleet in one last heist to overshadow them all.
Using information supplied by the Countess Copper Top, your lead intelligence asset within House White Star, Hoofbeard and his band of pirates conduct a series of frightfully effective lightning raids up and down Maretonia's coast, all under the cover of darkness. Libertalian vessels pull up alongside heavily laden river barges to make off with their hidden cargoes of silver bullion, landing parties venturing further ashore to strike at hidden storehouses and concealed bunkers. The mercenaries and household guards of the White Star Nobles, caught by surprise and completely unprepared for an attack from the sea, are swiftly overwhelmed or driven to flight, some even throwing their lot in with the pirates when offered a share of the spoils. Provided with the combinations and spare keys for every safe or lockbox loaded with precious metals, the Libertalians make out like the bandits they are, the holds of their vessels weighed down by several tons of bullion as they fade away into the night as quickly as they came.
Hoofbeard and his marauders return to Libertalia as conquering heroes, hailed as the greatest pirates to ever sail the seas, an opinion only encouraged by their liberal sharing and spending of their newly acquired wealth. In the wake of the days long, island-wide celebration that follows the heisters' return, it is said that every one of the island's inhabitants receives a coin bearing Hoofbeard's likeness, the pirate lord having melted down and recast the countless pilfered ingots into a new and unique currency for the pirate's republic, forever commemorating the event. In the months that follow, Hoofbeard surprises many of his fellow pirates by spending much of his newly acquired fortune on acts of charity, hiring work crews to build roads, dig wells, and perform all other manner of public works projects that improve the lives of the common pony, endearing him in the hearts of the people even further.
The effects of the theft of the majority of their hoarded wealth upon the already crumbling House White Star is predictably devastating. The mercenaries that make up the majority of their forces begin to desert en masse, abandoning their posts and leaving numerous forts and villages unguarded, a situation the other factions are quick to exploit, Abolitionists and House Storm soldiers alike taking bites out of White Star. It is rumored that several now-destitute nobles have committed suicide, either in despair at their destitution, or to avoid capture and expected execution by the bands of looters and liberators rampaging through the region. Duke Haygle, a paranoid recluse even before the raid, withdraws even further from the public eye into his network of secluded safehouses, to the point that many begin to question whether he is even still alive. Copper Top informs you that her communications with the head of what's left of the faction have become increasingly sporadic and nonsensical, the Duke requesting updates from or giving orders to units that no longer exist and nobles that have been dead for weeks. The White Star is now effectively rudderless, its surviving members taking on an "every pony for himself" mentality, circling the wagons and fortifying their manors to ride out the chaos now unfolding across their territory.
Not all of House White Star's riches were stolen out from under them, of course. Not every cache could be hit, and some of the truly paranoid nobles had clung to their personal hordes, some even reportedly burying their gold underground in the wilderness...but the majority of the House's funds have been pilfered, leaving the once fabulously wealthy Noble House practically destitute. Their ability to prosecute the war, already crippled by the Great Storm, has now been utterly destroyed.
An enemy destroyed and a partner enriched, all in one fell swoop. Another success story for Imperial Intelligence.
HoofBeard is now the wealthiest and most Influential Pony in Libertalia, which is now a well-developed and functioning economy. Barring a few pockets of scattered resistance, House White Star has ceased to exist as an effective force.
-Collegiate Reconsolidating: While the sack of Roam had many terrible consequences, one of the most keenly felt was the decimation of the Maretonian Colleges of Magic. Having thrown their lot in with Marecinas at your urging, a great many Mages and arcane scholars perished in the battle for the city. The rest fled, scattering to the winds across Maretonia in a bid to escape Pegicles' wrath. Some made their way to Abolitionist territory to join Ambrosia and her fellow freedom fighters. Others slinked back to House White Star, finding refuge with Duke Haygle and his ever-shrinking Court. But most have gone off the grid entirely, vanishing into the throngs of "internally displaced persons" that now crowd the roadways of Maretonia. The arcane might of the former Colleges is now reduced and scattered across the region. If they're going to have any hope of posing a threat to Pegicles and his army, they're going to need to be reunified. Ravenburg's agents are standing ready to rustle up some sorcerers for the war effort. Cost: 600. Time: One Year. Reward: Maretonian Collegiate Mages rounded up out of hiding. Chance of Success: 65%
Required: 35 Rolled: 15+13+10(Total War: Disharmony Legacy Edition Factions)+10(Total War: Disharmony Legacy Edition Elements Of Harmony Basic Guide)=48
Ravenburg's Agents have a devil of a time finding the fugitive mages. Masters of magic and purveyors of the arcane, hiding individually or in small groups of two or three amidst the countless bands of nomadic refugees that roam the ravaged landscape, using every bit of their thaumaturgical might to conceal themselves from notice and avoid attention. Finding even one is a difficult task, finding them all is nearly impossible. And yet, your spies give their best effort...and get results. One by one, rumors and whispers of strange or reclusive wanderers reach the ears of your infiltrators, who painstakingly track them down one by one, following hoofprints and questioning refugees until they finally locate their quarry, a process that takes weeks or even months as layer after layer of false trails, glamours and illusions are peeled away to reveal the locations of the missing magicians.
This is the easy part of the job.
Much more difficult is the task of actually convincing the scarred and terrified mages to once again take up arms against the force that had massacred many of their friends and colleagues in Roam. It is a tough sell, and more than one mage emphatically refuses, fading away again into the teeming throngs of displaced ponies, never to be found again.
But not all of them.
Perhaps they realize that there is to be no hiding from this war. Perhaps the rumors of an army of Griffins marching South has given them hope for a victory against Pegicles. Or perhaps your intelligence agents are simply more skilled at oration and negotiation than you would have guessed. Regardless of the reason, one by one, exiled sorcerers and enchanters begin to come out of hiding; first in ones and twos, then in larger and larger numbers as the reinvigorated thaumaturgists join your agents in their search for their still hidden comrades.
By the time your army begins to mobilize for deployment into Maretonia, roughly half of the missing mages have been found and recruited back into the war effort. Though they number in at only a few dozen, each individual is a font of arcane strength and knowledge, and can serve as a powerful force multiplier in any tactical engagement or strategic maneuver. They shall join forces with the abolitionists and Royal Guard, providing what aid they can in the fight against Pegicles...and setting the stage for your army's arrival.
Multiple Surviving Mages and Magic Experts Rediscovered and Pressed into Service, Abolitionist and Royal Guards receive Reinforcements.
Piety: The revelation of the true nature of the Church of the Lady of the Lake has brought new relevance to the issue of faith in your Empire.
-Yak Shamans: The YakYakistani Faith has begun to surge in popularity recently, owing to the recent establishment of the first Runestone in the Empire by one of it's most renowned Shamans. A decent number of Griffons, Dogs and Ponies have joined their Yak neighbors in their religious rituals and worship...but this has come to pose its own problems. For there seems to be a critical shortage of actual shamans in the Empire, leaving the flocks of new converts without religious leaders to guide or instruct them in the tenets of their new faith. Overtures have been made to senior Shamans in YakYakistan, but many are reluctant to pull up roots and relocate to the Empire. A representative of the Council of Faiths has once again called upon you to intervene and use your influence to help resolve the situation. Cost: 400. Time: One Year. Reward: Expanded Yak Shamanist Influence.
The discovery of the Yetis and the threat that they may pose to your Empire has served to underline the importance of your relationship with Yakyakistan and it's people, who would likely be important allies in any conflict against the newly discovered culture. As such, you consider the petition from the Council of Faith's sole Yak as more than just a matter of spiritualism, but as a matter of diplomacy, and thus a priority.
The letters you dispatch to the dozen Yak shamans the councilor hopes to entice towards immigrating to the Empire are reminiscent of the one you had sent to Brod the Wise not so long ago: plain and direct, mincing no words and bare of flowery language, something that you are told Yaks appreciate. The small bags of gold that accompany each letter, supposedly to cover the costs of travel, add even further weight to your written words.
Yak stubbornness being what it is, not every shaman thus contacted is moved by your missive, but several are, and their arrival in the Empire leads to much excitement amongst the Spiritualists who had sought their counsel. The Shamans quickly adopt reputations as nomadic preachers, traveling from community to community and sharing their wisdom with all who are willing to seek them out, drawing crowds of faithful and inspiring new converts in every town and village they pass through.
Runes of a more mundane nature are prominent throughout multiple religions, Yak Shamanism included.
Word of your people's sudden interest in the Yak faith has caused a bit of a stir in King Rutherford's court, the Yaks not expecting foreigners to express such interest in their beliefs. There's reportedly a bit of confusion and more than a little theological debate regarding the status of non-Yak converts. In typical Yak fashion, the debates are quickly resolved when a coalition of elder shamans shout down all opposition and proclaim that anyone of any race can follow the faith the same way they do.
This, combined with the defensive line being constructed with Yak labor and Griffon expertise, has had a positive effect upon how the average Yak views the Empire. (+.5 Yakyakistan Relations, +1 Yakyakistani Shamanism)
Personal: You refuse to let your duties as Emperor take up every moment of your day.
-Imperial Priority: Sometimes you need something done as quickly as possible, regardless of the cost. In such times, you can authorize and oversee the judicious and generous application of funds to speed things along. If necessary, you can reduce the duration of a select action by one year at the cost of a personal action and doubling the per-turn financial cost of the action. The chances of success for said action will remain the same.
—Doubling the Guard
-Gleaming Generosity: The siege and resultant sacking of Roam forced tens of thousands of Refugees to flee the ruined city. Many have crossed over the border into the Empire, swelling the refugee camps as you and your people struggle to care and process yet another surge of desperate and displaced Ponies. Your daughter Pearl, perhaps owing to her own past as an orphan and the time she herself once spent in a refugee center, has taken a special interest in the care that the Maretonian Asylum seekers have been receiving, becoming their most visible and vocal supporter, using her influence and status to raise funds and combat the growing fears and concerns of those who question the wisdom of allowing so many Maretonians to settle in the Empire. She's even found a way to incorporate her hobbies of sculpture and art into her crusade, planning to host a charity auction for the benefit of those in need. Perhaps you should make an appearance? Cost: 300. Time: One Year. Reward: Gleaming Pearl Interlude, Maretonian Refugee Crisis Re-Addressed.
To be Continued in "The Crystal Princess"
-Getting to Know You More: Dueling Practice: In many ways, Ki Seong is a typical example of a Neighponese noble lady. She has spent much of her life being educated on the finer points of etiquette and can host an organize a tea ceremony fit for the Dragon Emperor himself. But Gawain knows better than to assume that she is a dainty flower of the Far East, for the young Qilin hides a core of steel and fire that would put any Griffon to shame. She is shockingly well versed in the realms of strategy, politics and diplomacy, and can wield a bow or blade as well as any professional soldier. It is this last quality that piques Gawain's interest. He does not often get the chance to spar with a talented opponent that will not hesitate to hold back against him because of his status. You're interested to see how he fares against the young Qilin.
To be Continued in "Silk Hiding Steel"
Carracks Constructed This Turn: 2
Random Event Rolls:
(4) Fail
(86) Pass
(21) Fail
I've been seeing a lot of talk about the Imperial Cult lately. Not sure exactly what the root cause of people's concerns are, but I'll try to give a clearer picture:
The Imperial Cultists (or Children of the Emperor, or the Golden Flock...even years after the Council of Featherciea there are multiple sects with varying belief systems) are not racial supremacists. They do not advocate violence, nor do they decry other faiths as being inherently false or inferior. They do not see the Dragon Emperor of Neighpon, who is also looked upon as a divine figure by some, as a false idol. They are not a violent, intolerant lot, because if they were Garrick would have done something about it. He's not about to let his subjects abuse each other in his name.
Seeing a ruler as a divine figure is not something without precedent, both in this universe's history and in our own. Ancient Egypt, Ancient China, Imperial Japan, The Roman Empire, the Incans and Aztecs, all had rulers who were either seen as Gods themselves or were otherwise divine in nature...to say nothing of the countless European Kings who claimed to have a God-given right to rule which more often than not stemmed from the Pope.
This site being what it is, I know Warhammer 40K is the first thing people think of when they hear "God-Emperor", but that's not really an apt comparison. Some of them do see you as a God, or Demi God, or other form of spiritual being, but others among them see you as the pinnacle of Griffon-kind, an inspiration and exemplar...you are to them what Celestia would/will be to Equestrians a thousand years from now. A sort of almost secular worship, in a way.
Hope that clears things up a little.
Last edited:
- Location
- Florida
I'll admit to having been leery of intervening so heavily, but I can view it as a "We just want our neighbors to have their shit together or so help us god we will make them" kind of thing.
Edit: not that I can say much having abstained from the vote lol. I'll be interested in how we handle the aftermath though.
Edit: not that I can say much having abstained from the vote lol. I'll be interested in how we handle the aftermath though.
Last edited:
- Location
- Texas
I'm really hoping those fail rolls don't involve Equestria.
ConfusedCanuck
Where did it all go wrong?
- Location
- Neverland
Ho boy I think we hit a perfect storm with all the actions we took against House White Star and that this war will be thankfully a short one! And yeah next turn it's time to give our Cult a boost in popularity!
Yeah definitely now
AldariSiradla
Knight of the Fountain Pen
We march for war brothers and sisters.
Though our means will be detestable...
Let us grip our blades for the sake of peace.
Blood and death! For a future most bright!
As to the other rolls...
Good, even though some of them are low...
It all passed muster.
Though the World Rolls are concerning...
But from time and time again...
We've beaten the horrors back...
And turned a problem to an advantage.
The Empire survives...
For as long as we are able.
Though our means will be detestable...
Let us grip our blades for the sake of peace.
Blood and death! For a future most bright!
As to the other rolls...
Good, even though some of them are low...
It all passed muster.
Though the World Rolls are concerning...
But from time and time again...
We've beaten the horrors back...
And turned a problem to an advantage.
The Empire survives...
For as long as we are able.
its a;ways brightens up my day to see this updated, so first things first our rolls were all over the place , either really high or really low so thank you for everyone doing the Omakes, those really turned the tide on some points.
So hopefully those environmental rolls were not for Yakinstain being invaded as that would suck after having so much progress on the wall and having to fight on two fronts would not be fun.
Also it looks like house white star has a mad pony in charge now. while the faction is gone, the few remaining may go the way of taking everyone down with them and cast super spells like house storm used super storms so we should clear that up if possible
So hopefully those environmental rolls were not for Yakinstain being invaded as that would suck after having so much progress on the wall and having to fight on two fronts would not be fun.
Also it looks like house white star has a mad pony in charge now. while the faction is gone, the few remaining may go the way of taking everyone down with them and cast super spells like house storm used super storms so we should clear that up if possible
Last edited:
- Location
- Russia
I have a question. I admit that i didn't read comments when piety was first introduced and now it is a fools errand to go look there for information. So...
Does religion have actual practical benefit or is it of opium for the masses variant? Do gods exist in this quest? Can The Emperor ascend if we max out The Imperial Cult?
Does religion have actual practical benefit or is it of opium for the masses variant? Do gods exist in this quest? Can The Emperor ascend if we max out The Imperial Cult?
Um no just how influential they are in religion of our empire
Religion seems to causes bonuses as it levels up, for instance when the crystal heart religion leveled up to 2 (I think) it gave us a bonus to runic magic actions as more and more creatures learned it.
Accession is unknown but I don't think it was ever outright stated to be impossible
Khehehe. Historian note: When Gryphus is doing something, they will not only flip the table, they will throw it so hard through the walls to the point anything in their path either become it's extra ammunition or be destroyed along the way. 
Also. Why can't we ever have a turn where those random rolls didn't bother us?
Also. Why can't we ever have a turn where those random rolls didn't bother us?
- Location
- Texas
I know this may qualify as counting your chickens before they hatch, but should we annex Maretonia after we take care of House Storm? I know we promised the Colleges of Magic we wouldn't do it for their help, but as it is, they no longer exist, with only a few mages (some of which won't even come out of hiding) left of it, so one could make the argument that the agreement no longer holds up.
Also, with all the damage done, with the current state of the country, they may not even have the means to fix everything themselves at this point.
Also, with all the damage done, with the current state of the country, they may not even have the means to fix everything themselves at this point.
lockingbane
If you're crazy and you know it clap your hands!
- Location
- Waxahachie tx
Just give it to the abolitionists and provide support where we can.
Whole thing is a political quagmire if we try anything else considering their culture.
Whole thing is a political quagmire if we try anything else considering their culture.
Warmach1ne32
Machine of War and Quests
- Location
- Indonesia
So does anyone have any omake ideas they want to see written? I have an idea for Hoofbeard's quiet retirement from piracy but that would take a while for me to iron out. I'm willing to listen to ideas in the meantime.
Actually we can make it a protectorate that will make me day join us
I would love if he started a family from this
FictionPack
Monochromatic Ursine
- Location
- Tennessee
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I can just imagine our 'To War' speech in front of the largest military to date....
We are now the biggest army in the world
lockingbane
If you're crazy and you know it clap your hands!
- Location
- Waxahachie tx
Group of young griffs, dogs, and ponies talking about enlisting
Boot Camp as said group train up
A look at the groups of griffs helping make the wall and marveling at the strength and grit of the yaks roused to action
Group of common folk talking about everything going on, from the refugee crisis with some groups grumbling about the odd maretonians and the arrogance some of them show, others showing sympathy for their situation, etc. Things like the upcoming war, old veterans giving frank discussions about how it is likely to go, younger men talking about enlisting to help, women worrying about their sons, husbands, and brothers, etc. The new magic school opening, some grumbling about how they don't need it others being all for it.
Any of those inspire anything?
Warmach1ne32
Machine of War and Quests
- Location
- Indonesia
Does he have a significant other or is he still single?
I can probably do all of them but the ones that deal with complicated topics like prejudice, politics, and the experiences of veteran I have a lot of trouble to put in writing cause I never even thought about them. I probably could but it would probably be badly implemented and be a disservice to the people who read it.
Last edited:
Red_Faux
私を終わらせる
- Location
- 'Straya M8
Hey @Questor
Just how old are the alicorn princesses right now? Are they even adults yet, I mean I assume so but you never know. I know they learnt from Starswirl as children, and I can't remember when they defeated Discord, but this is elements of harmony we're talking about. Being a kid would probably help use those.
Or am I gonna have to wait for the interlude?
Just how old are the alicorn princesses right now? Are they even adults yet, I mean I assume so but you never know. I know they learnt from Starswirl as children, and I can't remember when they defeated Discord, but this is elements of harmony we're talking about. Being a kid would probably help use those.
Or am I gonna have to wait for the interlude?