Right I've never talked here but it's about time, the civ stuff is interesting. I've never watched the show so forgive any inaccuracies.
there's plenty of people here who did, so if you have questions... well, feel free.
Of course there's plenty of differences here (for example show Kirins are VERY different from Neighpon's Qilin here), but still there's useful bits of knowledge. Mostly about Equestria and future villains.
on a secondary note, the mlp movie for the NEXT generation just came out on Netflix, is good and doesn't require previous knowledge, so maybe you might give it a try. It's basically set an unknown amount of time after "friendship is magic", where everyone forgot about this ancient age of friendship and harmony.
Anywho, regardless of if the changelings did *anything,* countermeasures are needed, some form of master/stranger protocols. Why? Because regardless of actions, they're really good at intrigue, so it's best to be prepared.
Also, I'm inclined to straight annexation rather than protectorates in this case, but that's besides the point.
We could perform an investigation for justice sake, regardless of conspiracy I think folks would appreciate the truth.
we already investigated and found out Mareia was assassinated through a poison only found in Canterbury's lands.
The only thing we could do after this, and after all this time, to verify if the changelings are the culprit... would be to get a changeling in the know to confess.
And if it's not changelings, it's been so long we'd never find out except by luck.
Also we already adopted changeling countermeasures, problem is that they're of limited effects.
here's the relevant bit.
-Internal Security Reforms: Changelings. Shapeshifters that can take on the appearance of any sapient being and near-perfectly imitate them. Their mere existence constitutes one of the greatest security threats you've ever encountered. For all you know, Queen Phalanx could have agents embedded all throughout your government, even within the halls of the palace itself! Rose assures you that such tactics are not the Queen's way, but that does little to reassure you. You need a way to ensure such infiltration is not happening, and to ensure that it won't if it isn't. Have Ravenburg make it a priority under the guise of security reforms. Cost: 800. Time: One Year. Reward: Reduced Risk of Changeling Infiltration and Mundane Espionage.
Ravenburg sets to work. Surprise inspections of several Imperial institutions and offices of bureaucracy are made as records are closely audited and key personnel are subjected to interviews that are almost akin to interrogations as they are subtly exposed to Orichalcum without their knowledge. Departments are reorganized and entirely new supervisory bodies are created as background checks become mandatory for anyone pursuing or seeking a career within the higher echelons of government, be it as a tax collector, a military officer or a servant within the Imperial Palace.
Naturally, such actions do not go unnoticed, and speculation abounds as to the reason behind such measures, but Ravenburg is prepared. His most trusted agents, already personally verified by him, spread rumors of acts of embezzlement and corruption coming to light as a result of such sweeps. You're a bit disappointed to find that there is actually some truth to these rumors, as more than one Griffon in a position of authority is found to have skimmed from their budget or solicited bribes from Imperial Citizens. Still, the culprits make for good scapegoats, and the public vilification of such lawbreakers does much to draw attention away from the security sweeps that discovered them.
By the end of the year, Ravenburg is pleased to report that there are no Changelings anywhere within the government, and the new security measures put into place should ensure that they stay out. Of course, this doesn't mean that the shapeshifters are not hiding amongst the general public...but short of turning the Empire into a totalitarian police state, there's nothing anyone can do about that. You no longer have to worry about an infiltrator changing your chambers or poisoning your soup, and that's good enough for you. Imperial Palace and Bureaucracy Verified Changeling Free, New Security Measures Implemented.
short version: government workers (and the palace) should be secure. Not much more we can do.
...Is it too ambitious to hope that we get the opportunity to develop some radio or radio analogue of some kind soon? Scrying Portals are interesting, but require a magic-user, it would be nice to have either variety or something reliable to mass-produce. Coupled with our future air fleet, it seems like the next best thing that isn't a weapon or direct industrial growth, plus it would affect all levels of the empire similarly to how trains did.
mh... maybe it's a bit too soon for Radio, and in any case the first ones would likely be pretty big and small range... but the telegraph would be a good alternative. We could even have the cables go underground in tunnels digged by the dogs maybe.
And there's always the possibility of mixing magic and tech. Maybe instead of radio and telegraph we could have runic arrays for long-range communications, for example.
I'm still hoping that, long term, we'll be able to build some kind of teleportation network. Even a very expensive one would be invaluable to, for example, move ambassadors between countries.
EDIT: Also now that the war's like, over, we can finally do that immigration campaign action without looking dumb!
Yeah, that's an action I've wanted to take for a while... though maybe it's not the right moment.
I mean, we're ALREADY getting plenty of pony immigrants.
On the other hand, an immigration action focused on
experts of their fields would be much better.
For example, Qilin shipbuilders to combine their knowledge with ours, and magic-users of any kind.
