Turn 1 Results
- Location
- Maryland
Martial: Gustav Kingfeather is one of the most scarred Griffons you've ever seen. A former Troll hunter, he lost a wing, an eye, and a hind-leg to a particularly vicious Manticore. Despite his injuries, he's one of the most spirited people you've ever met, and can drink and brawl with the best of them. (One Action Per Turn)
-Protection Racket: You have a few precious sources of income. One of them is taxes. Taxes that your nobles say they will be unable to pay if you do not protect their lands. Specifically their logging camps, mines and trading posts. It's a pretty blatant attempt at getting protection, but they aren't actually wrong. If you don't, and said places are burnt to the ground or something then your nobles will be unable to pay taxes…from their own income. Then they might have to dip into their treasuries. The horror. Cost: 0. Time: One Year. Reward: Dead Trolls and Diamond Dogs. Small Boost to Nobility Opinion. Sources of Income protected.
You dispatch a few companies of your warriors to defend the nobility's holdings, who drive off or kill the bandits, brigands, and monsters threatening them. The nobles express their gratitude, as they should, and reassure you that they will pay their obligations as promised now that their own sources of revenue are reasonably secure. That's one issue dealt with. Reward: +1 Noble Opinion, Tax income secured, Raiders Pacified Momentarily
Diplomacy: Elva Von Cleef is a stern eyed and stiff necked old bird. But she's been negotiating deals between city-states since before you were born. Negotiating deals between kingdoms was the logical next step for her. (One Action Per Turn)
-Diplomatic Survey: You know as much about the other Griffon Kingdoms as any Griffon off the street. That's not going to be enough. You don't know much about your fellow rulers, or what they think of you. Time to familiarize yourself with your neighbors. Cost: 0. Time: One Year. Reward: Information on your neighbors and how they regard you.
Your neighbors are…well, let's just go down the list shall we?
Garibaldi Talonuelli is the current Duke of Wingbardy, the territory you share the longest land border with. His lands are fertile, his army is half the size of your own, and his other neighbor is your main rival of Aquileia. Naturally, being the buffer state between two kingdoms that are much stronger than themselves is an uncomfortable position that Wingbardy's inhabitants aren't too pleased with, but they take comfort in the knowledge that neither kingdom can hope to assault them without enraging the other. It is therefore in their own best interests to preserve the status quo and prevent either of their neighbors from becoming more powerful than the other. As for their leadership's view of you…well they're somewhat relieved you don't appear to be a war-like leader that might plunge their lands into conflict, but aside from that you're just another neighboring king they need to keep an eye on, albeit one they feel a bit more comfortable negotiating with. Wingbardy Relations: 5/10 (Cautiously Optimistic)
Cyril Brochard is the King of Aquileia, and your only serious rival in the task of reuniting the Griffon Empire. He was the first to openly question your Imperial ancestry, and is highly suspicious of you and your motivations. You're not sure if he's actually concerned about the legitimacy of your claim or simply trying to hold onto and accumulate more power, but in the end his motivations are irrelevant. He may not have reason to despise you personally (yet), but he certainly doesn't trust you, and he's not likely to cooperate with you on anything save perhaps the destruction of mutual threats to your respective kingdoms. Aquileia Relations: 3/10 (Tense)
And finally there's the Feathersian League. Due to their very nature as a collection of city-states, each with its own leadership with their own opinions and goals, getting a read on them is a bit difficult. Still, a few larger trends can be observed across the width and breadth of their membership. They are big fans of trade, and are always looking for an opportunity to make a profit. They also, by extension, hate anything that might negatively impact their bottom lines, often hiring bands of mercenaries to destroy Diamond Dog dens and Troll nests that threaten their holdings. And the one thing they all agree completely on is that they will move to assist each other in the event of an assault or invasion by any of the three other factions. Many of them seem pleased with the idea of a merchant king that they can do business with, but take care not to let them swindle you. Feathersian Relations: 5/10 (Cautiously Optimistic)
Stewardship: Claus Rosewing is, much like you, a former merchant. You'd actually done business with him a few times, and he always struck you as a fair and reasonable gryph. Good thing too, because now he'll be handling much of your finances. (One Action Per Turn)
-Farmers on the Rocks: One of the biggest problems with living in the mountains is the need for fields. You know, for food. Which people need to survive. What limited space you have is often dedicated to said farms. Unfortunately, what farmlands that weren't ruined by Discord were looted by Diamond Dogs, wrecked by Trolls, or burned by Dragons. A few farms remain, which is why your people aren't currently starving, but you should rebuild some as soon as possible. Cost: 200. Time: One Year. Reward: Farming Income.
Chance of Success: 90%.
Required: 10. Rolled: 63+15=78
Apparently the beasts of the forest don't like it when you start chopping down their home and preparing the land for agriculture. Manticores, timberwolves, and even a group of trolls try to assault the camps where the woodcutters and planters are based. Thankfully you'd planned for this, and stationed some soldiers to protect the workers. There are no casualties amongst the Griffons, and by the end of the year you've managed to rebuild to the point that about half of your pre-Discord farmland is once again productive. That's a twenty-five percent improvement over last year. Reward: Farming Income +50 per turn
Learning: Archimedes is an almost comically small and scrawny Griffon, often mistaken for a teenager despite being middle-aged. What he lacks in physical stature, he more than makes up for with brainpower. He has authored numerous works on history, biology, and physics, making him an ideal choice for an advisor. (One Action Per Turn)
-Literacy Program: The ability to read and write has become a rarity amongst your people. That's not surprising, intellectual pursuits tend to take a backseat to survival when under the reign of a mad god. But if you're going to make any progress in the long term, this issue has to be dealt with. Build some schools and have some of the few literate Griffons teach the many illiterate ones. Cost: 400. Time: Two Years. Reward: Higher literacy rate, +1 Research Action per Turn.
Archimedes spends much of the year drawing up a curriculum and lesson plan for the teachers you'll be hiring, as well as organizing the construction of the actual buildings where the teaching will take place. He's been very passionate about all this. He claims he's simply happy to be advancing the cause of learning, but you suspect he's just desperate to have more people be capable of reading his treatises. You don't want to dampen his enthusiasm by pointing out that even you have difficulty comprehending his writings, despite your own literacy. Will finish next Turn.
Intrigue: Lord Ravenburg is a stoic fellow with dark feathers and fur. He speaks only when spoken to and somehow manages to be both unassuming and mildly intimidating. You're not sure exactly how he became spymaster, but the fact that he seemed to know everything about you before you'd even met him indicates he is well-qualified. (One Action Per Turn)
-Eye Out for Spies: You're sure that Wingbardy, Aquileia, and the Feathersians are trying to insert spies and informants into your population, and if they haven't already they soon will. Set up a counterintelligence organization to spot and snatch any foreign agents or suspicious persons trying to enter or leave your borders. Cost: 200. Time: One Year. Reward: Spy-catchers hired and placed throughout the Kingdom.
Trustworthy and loyal individuals are found and hired, patrols along the border are expanded, and checkpoints are set up along the major routes of travel in and out of your territory. Ravenburg tells you it's impossible to guarantee that they'll catch every spy your rivals choose to send, but he tells you that your borders are as secure as you can hope to make them at present. Reward: Counter-Intelligence Network established.
Personal: You refuse to let your duties as King take up every moment of your day. (One Action Per Turn)
-Meet the King: It's customary for a new ruler to arrange a celebration in order to introduce themselves to their subjects. Whether it's a mayor organizing a festival for their town or a count inviting his barons to a feast, food and drink tend to help make a good first impression. Perhaps you should follow their example? Cost: 200. Time: One Year. Reward: Small boost to Public Opinion, small chance to meet Persons of Interest.
This isn't your first time throwing a party or organizing a celebration, but this will be the biggest and most expensive one you've ever been a part of. The royal kitchens work overtime to prepare great platters of fine food, and dozens of barrels of alcohol are purchased. Invitations are sent out to every noble that pledges fealty to you, and the heralds and town-criers in the towns and villages bordering your castle tell the public of the great festival you shall be holding for all to attend. Finally, after weeks of preparation, the gates of your keep are thrown open and crowds of revelers swarm up the path to the royal residence, the members of the nobility having already arrived by air.
You stand by the entrance to the main hall, taking the opportunity to personally greet each Griffon that arrives, your steward and seneschal standing beside you to ensure you don't forget the names of the nobles who deign to shake your claw. After an over an hour of talon-shaking and fake smiles, you manage to slip away from the entrance and into the banquet hall. Here too you are mobbed by nobles seeking to gain your favor, as well as some common-griffons who have imbibed a bit too much liquid courage. You keep up the whole gracious royal host shtick for the sake of appearances; this is why you are doing this after all, to make a good impression on your subjects. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, the Griffons that have been hounding you all night begin to break off one by one to snag some free food and drink or talk to other guests, and you take advantage of the lull in activity to grab a mug of ale and have a seat in one of the less populated corners of the hall to catch your breath.
You're about halfway through your pint when a finely dressed female Griffon walks up to your table, so quietly you almost don't notice her until she's only a wingspan away. You curse internally; you don't know who she is, and all of your advisors who might be able to tell you are out of reach. But her apparel and confident approach seem to indicate she's a noble, and likely an important one at that. You put on what you've taken to calling your "political smile" and try not to make a fool of yourself.
To your great surprise, the young lady doesn't try to flirt with you or suck up to you. In fact, if you didn't know any better you'd suspect that she was completely unaware that you were the King and thought you were just another party-goer, so casual was her manner of speech. It's been months since someone spoke to you simply as a Griffon and not as a King, and you find yourself truly relaxing in this hen's presence. You share a few drinks with her and while away the night with idle small talk and tales of your merchant days.
Time flies when you're in good company though, and as the party begins to wind down after several hours your new friend suddenly stands and states that she must be going. With a radiant smile she tells you that she has greatly enjoyed talking to you, and that "we should do this again soon." You barely have time to reply in the affirmative and wish her a good night before she turns and heads for the door. It's not until she's long gone that you realize that she never told you her name. Reward: Party Thrown, Noble and Public Opinion Increased, Person of Interest Met (???)
-Protection Racket: You have a few precious sources of income. One of them is taxes. Taxes that your nobles say they will be unable to pay if you do not protect their lands. Specifically their logging camps, mines and trading posts. It's a pretty blatant attempt at getting protection, but they aren't actually wrong. If you don't, and said places are burnt to the ground or something then your nobles will be unable to pay taxes…from their own income. Then they might have to dip into their treasuries. The horror. Cost: 0. Time: One Year. Reward: Dead Trolls and Diamond Dogs. Small Boost to Nobility Opinion. Sources of Income protected.
You dispatch a few companies of your warriors to defend the nobility's holdings, who drive off or kill the bandits, brigands, and monsters threatening them. The nobles express their gratitude, as they should, and reassure you that they will pay their obligations as promised now that their own sources of revenue are reasonably secure. That's one issue dealt with. Reward: +1 Noble Opinion, Tax income secured, Raiders Pacified Momentarily
Diplomacy: Elva Von Cleef is a stern eyed and stiff necked old bird. But she's been negotiating deals between city-states since before you were born. Negotiating deals between kingdoms was the logical next step for her. (One Action Per Turn)
-Diplomatic Survey: You know as much about the other Griffon Kingdoms as any Griffon off the street. That's not going to be enough. You don't know much about your fellow rulers, or what they think of you. Time to familiarize yourself with your neighbors. Cost: 0. Time: One Year. Reward: Information on your neighbors and how they regard you.
Your neighbors are…well, let's just go down the list shall we?
Garibaldi Talonuelli is the current Duke of Wingbardy, the territory you share the longest land border with. His lands are fertile, his army is half the size of your own, and his other neighbor is your main rival of Aquileia. Naturally, being the buffer state between two kingdoms that are much stronger than themselves is an uncomfortable position that Wingbardy's inhabitants aren't too pleased with, but they take comfort in the knowledge that neither kingdom can hope to assault them without enraging the other. It is therefore in their own best interests to preserve the status quo and prevent either of their neighbors from becoming more powerful than the other. As for their leadership's view of you…well they're somewhat relieved you don't appear to be a war-like leader that might plunge their lands into conflict, but aside from that you're just another neighboring king they need to keep an eye on, albeit one they feel a bit more comfortable negotiating with. Wingbardy Relations: 5/10 (Cautiously Optimistic)
Cyril Brochard is the King of Aquileia, and your only serious rival in the task of reuniting the Griffon Empire. He was the first to openly question your Imperial ancestry, and is highly suspicious of you and your motivations. You're not sure if he's actually concerned about the legitimacy of your claim or simply trying to hold onto and accumulate more power, but in the end his motivations are irrelevant. He may not have reason to despise you personally (yet), but he certainly doesn't trust you, and he's not likely to cooperate with you on anything save perhaps the destruction of mutual threats to your respective kingdoms. Aquileia Relations: 3/10 (Tense)
And finally there's the Feathersian League. Due to their very nature as a collection of city-states, each with its own leadership with their own opinions and goals, getting a read on them is a bit difficult. Still, a few larger trends can be observed across the width and breadth of their membership. They are big fans of trade, and are always looking for an opportunity to make a profit. They also, by extension, hate anything that might negatively impact their bottom lines, often hiring bands of mercenaries to destroy Diamond Dog dens and Troll nests that threaten their holdings. And the one thing they all agree completely on is that they will move to assist each other in the event of an assault or invasion by any of the three other factions. Many of them seem pleased with the idea of a merchant king that they can do business with, but take care not to let them swindle you. Feathersian Relations: 5/10 (Cautiously Optimistic)
Stewardship: Claus Rosewing is, much like you, a former merchant. You'd actually done business with him a few times, and he always struck you as a fair and reasonable gryph. Good thing too, because now he'll be handling much of your finances. (One Action Per Turn)
-Farmers on the Rocks: One of the biggest problems with living in the mountains is the need for fields. You know, for food. Which people need to survive. What limited space you have is often dedicated to said farms. Unfortunately, what farmlands that weren't ruined by Discord were looted by Diamond Dogs, wrecked by Trolls, or burned by Dragons. A few farms remain, which is why your people aren't currently starving, but you should rebuild some as soon as possible. Cost: 200. Time: One Year. Reward: Farming Income.
Chance of Success: 90%.
Required: 10. Rolled: 63+15=78
Apparently the beasts of the forest don't like it when you start chopping down their home and preparing the land for agriculture. Manticores, timberwolves, and even a group of trolls try to assault the camps where the woodcutters and planters are based. Thankfully you'd planned for this, and stationed some soldiers to protect the workers. There are no casualties amongst the Griffons, and by the end of the year you've managed to rebuild to the point that about half of your pre-Discord farmland is once again productive. That's a twenty-five percent improvement over last year. Reward: Farming Income +50 per turn
Learning: Archimedes is an almost comically small and scrawny Griffon, often mistaken for a teenager despite being middle-aged. What he lacks in physical stature, he more than makes up for with brainpower. He has authored numerous works on history, biology, and physics, making him an ideal choice for an advisor. (One Action Per Turn)
-Literacy Program: The ability to read and write has become a rarity amongst your people. That's not surprising, intellectual pursuits tend to take a backseat to survival when under the reign of a mad god. But if you're going to make any progress in the long term, this issue has to be dealt with. Build some schools and have some of the few literate Griffons teach the many illiterate ones. Cost: 400. Time: Two Years. Reward: Higher literacy rate, +1 Research Action per Turn.
Archimedes spends much of the year drawing up a curriculum and lesson plan for the teachers you'll be hiring, as well as organizing the construction of the actual buildings where the teaching will take place. He's been very passionate about all this. He claims he's simply happy to be advancing the cause of learning, but you suspect he's just desperate to have more people be capable of reading his treatises. You don't want to dampen his enthusiasm by pointing out that even you have difficulty comprehending his writings, despite your own literacy. Will finish next Turn.
Intrigue: Lord Ravenburg is a stoic fellow with dark feathers and fur. He speaks only when spoken to and somehow manages to be both unassuming and mildly intimidating. You're not sure exactly how he became spymaster, but the fact that he seemed to know everything about you before you'd even met him indicates he is well-qualified. (One Action Per Turn)
-Eye Out for Spies: You're sure that Wingbardy, Aquileia, and the Feathersians are trying to insert spies and informants into your population, and if they haven't already they soon will. Set up a counterintelligence organization to spot and snatch any foreign agents or suspicious persons trying to enter or leave your borders. Cost: 200. Time: One Year. Reward: Spy-catchers hired and placed throughout the Kingdom.
Trustworthy and loyal individuals are found and hired, patrols along the border are expanded, and checkpoints are set up along the major routes of travel in and out of your territory. Ravenburg tells you it's impossible to guarantee that they'll catch every spy your rivals choose to send, but he tells you that your borders are as secure as you can hope to make them at present. Reward: Counter-Intelligence Network established.
Personal: You refuse to let your duties as King take up every moment of your day. (One Action Per Turn)
-Meet the King: It's customary for a new ruler to arrange a celebration in order to introduce themselves to their subjects. Whether it's a mayor organizing a festival for their town or a count inviting his barons to a feast, food and drink tend to help make a good first impression. Perhaps you should follow their example? Cost: 200. Time: One Year. Reward: Small boost to Public Opinion, small chance to meet Persons of Interest.
This isn't your first time throwing a party or organizing a celebration, but this will be the biggest and most expensive one you've ever been a part of. The royal kitchens work overtime to prepare great platters of fine food, and dozens of barrels of alcohol are purchased. Invitations are sent out to every noble that pledges fealty to you, and the heralds and town-criers in the towns and villages bordering your castle tell the public of the great festival you shall be holding for all to attend. Finally, after weeks of preparation, the gates of your keep are thrown open and crowds of revelers swarm up the path to the royal residence, the members of the nobility having already arrived by air.
You stand by the entrance to the main hall, taking the opportunity to personally greet each Griffon that arrives, your steward and seneschal standing beside you to ensure you don't forget the names of the nobles who deign to shake your claw. After an over an hour of talon-shaking and fake smiles, you manage to slip away from the entrance and into the banquet hall. Here too you are mobbed by nobles seeking to gain your favor, as well as some common-griffons who have imbibed a bit too much liquid courage. You keep up the whole gracious royal host shtick for the sake of appearances; this is why you are doing this after all, to make a good impression on your subjects. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, the Griffons that have been hounding you all night begin to break off one by one to snag some free food and drink or talk to other guests, and you take advantage of the lull in activity to grab a mug of ale and have a seat in one of the less populated corners of the hall to catch your breath.
You're about halfway through your pint when a finely dressed female Griffon walks up to your table, so quietly you almost don't notice her until she's only a wingspan away. You curse internally; you don't know who she is, and all of your advisors who might be able to tell you are out of reach. But her apparel and confident approach seem to indicate she's a noble, and likely an important one at that. You put on what you've taken to calling your "political smile" and try not to make a fool of yourself.
To your great surprise, the young lady doesn't try to flirt with you or suck up to you. In fact, if you didn't know any better you'd suspect that she was completely unaware that you were the King and thought you were just another party-goer, so casual was her manner of speech. It's been months since someone spoke to you simply as a Griffon and not as a King, and you find yourself truly relaxing in this hen's presence. You share a few drinks with her and while away the night with idle small talk and tales of your merchant days.
Time flies when you're in good company though, and as the party begins to wind down after several hours your new friend suddenly stands and states that she must be going. With a radiant smile she tells you that she has greatly enjoyed talking to you, and that "we should do this again soon." You barely have time to reply in the affirmative and wish her a good night before she turns and heads for the door. It's not until she's long gone that you realize that she never told you her name. Reward: Party Thrown, Noble and Public Opinion Increased, Person of Interest Met (???)
