From the diplomatic sheet, Northern Syffron doesn't look too promising as far as new customers go. We might only get one new customers, the other of which will be opposing Euskal, likely the Sketch/Brits.
If we're going to find new customers, we might want to shift our focus further south in the Monsoon and sell to the African kingdoms there, or just sell to the tribes. Or we go east of Kus. We're not too picky with customers, just that bigger kingdoms means more money.
Honestly I want to send an expedition to not-china and see what is going on there. Lots of great trade opportunities and we don't need to sail around the horn to get there. It's a long trip, but one that's manageable.
It would hilariously short circuit colonialism and the century of humiliation if, in the period after the Khan just wrecked them and China is rebuilding, we stepped in and got them switched over to a gunpowder military. Saffron is a sideshow compared to the economies of Kus and Not-China once they get moving.
Honestly I want to send an expedition to not-china and see what is going on there. Lots of great trade opportunities and we don't need to sail around the horn to get there. It's a long trip, but one that's manageable.
I am not worried about Prestige. Honestly I consider it most useful as something we can spend to get other things, like trading KoTH to Khem to get Trelli. I would honestly prefer to end up somewhere in the 2-3 slot, and I don't think that's going to be that hard to accomplish.
Not sure if diplomacy or intrigue, but we can send spies along with merchants into hostile territory, and use the knowledge gained as a basis to sneak diplomats to individual factions/families.
The idea, naturally, is to encourage dissent within the ranks by giving the factions less-involved in the Khan's takeover a better deal.
The intelligence gathering part might not even be strictly required if the Ymaryn's previous records of the factions is still valid (though I wouldn't count on that).
About navies: during the Medieval period, countries didn't have navies. The entire idea is an anachronism. When a King wanted to cross the ocean, he would hire or conscript merchant ships until he had enough sea lift to move his army where he wanted. There weren't very many naval battles until the Early Modern Period; the two big ones I can think of then are the Spanish Armada and the War of the Holy League against the Ottoman Empire and they're in the latter half of the 16th century. Even up through the Napoleonic Wars, the difference between a merchant ship and a vessel of war was rather minimal. It was only with the American Civil War and Ironclads that military and merchant shipping truly diverged.
What these actions probably should be thought of as expanding the Crown owned fleets. During peacetime they engage mostly in trade and piracy suppress and are drafted during times of war. Even then, during the Medieval period, piracy wasn't much of a problem in the Mediterranean; it still existed, but pirates required a certain degree of lawlessness that just wasn't present. Most of the land had been secured by states of various types. It was only on the frontiers in the Caribbean Sea, around the Cape of Good Hope, and Indian Ocean or the Barbery Pirates that piracy flourished and that's well into the Age of Discovery. Ship building and colonialism had to advance to make piracy possible again, they allowed people to steal from someone who wasn't their neighbour and who they didn't have to care about.
Also, for a Diplomacy action, we should be able to establish Foreign Quarters or even outright buy land locally so that it becomes Ymaryn territory. In the early modern period, it was fairly common for states to seek to set up local districts where their languages, customs, laws took precedence. These weren't equal in scope to the Unequal Treaties, but served more as a 'Little Ymaryn' in foreign lands, making traders feel more at home while still allowing them to mesh into the local culture. It also helped local rulers by inherently segregating foreign elements in a way that was more controlled. This helped local rulers in that it controlled the spread of foreign ideas, limited the ability of local potentates to cut their own deals with foreign powers, and made taxing trade much easier. The practice is ancient.
Not sure if diplomacy or intrigue, but we can send spies along with merchants into hostile territory, and use the knowledge gained as a basis to sneak diplomats to individual factions/families.
The idea, naturally, is to encourage dissent within the ranks by giving the factions less-involved in the Khan's takeover a better deal.
The intelligence gathering part might not even be strictly required if the Ymaryn's previous records of the factions is still valid (though I wouldn't count on that).
Though I would prefer to focus on the Black Sheep nomads. Make them stabby and infighty with each other. Heard they're a bunch of feudal lords. Focus on offing all the smart and ambitious ones. Though that may backfire.
About navies: during the Medieval period, countries didn't have navies. The entire idea is an anachronism. When a King wanted to cross the ocean, he would hire or conscript merchant ships until he had enough sea lift to move his army where he wanted. There weren't very many naval battles until the Early Modern Period; the two big ones I can think of then are the Spanish Armada and the War of the Holy League against the Ottoman Empire and they're in the latter half of the 16th century. Even up through the Napoleonic Wars, the difference between a merchant ship and a vessel of war was rather minimal. It was only with the American Civil War and Ironclads that military and merchant shipping truly diverged.
We will regain prestige as we take back territory, as our trade gets more expansive and richer, as we produce knowledge and culture, and as we start meeting our treaty obligations to patrol the Saffron sea.
"The Khem are letting you do that?"
"The Khem asked us to."
I know they didn't in the Medieval period Europe, but I thought Rome and China did have navies. And the Melkut Ymaryn is much more similar to Ancient Rome or China in terms of bureaucratic sophistication and the ability to marshal resources and manpower.
I know they didn't in the Medieval period Europe, but I thought Rome and China did have navies. And the Melkut Ymaryn is much more similar to Ancient Rome or China in terms of bureaucratic sophistication and the ability to marshal resources and manpower.
The history of this world seems to have avoided the massed numbers of small states that our history had. This creates the possibility that navies are more common due to there being more large states capable of supporting them.
Note that these are Mediterranean and adjacent seas navies (which is where we are) where conditions let galleys have a decisive combat advantage over the pure sailing ships of the time but galleys make poor merchantmen so merchants wouldn't have them to coopt. It's a region of many islands and rugged landscapes so most of the best opportunities for both trade and conquest are by sea. Not having proper warships to protect your interests is a serious disadvantage.
Yeah, there is a major difference between a green water and blue water navy. A green water navy is a navy designed to work in and around shore and in the context of shallow seas. A blue water navy is one designed for the open ocean. Galleys are pure green water navy ships. They are incredibly cost effective for their fighting power, but suffer in open water. Their shallow drafts and use of oars allowed them to navigate perfectly around hazards and against the wind and waves, but caused them to seriously risk floundering if caught in troubled seas. All the military navies of this era are likely green water navies that do not stray far from shore, most likely not even leaving sight of shore without good reason outside of sheltered shallow seas.
EDIT - and there is a third distinct navy that I didn't mention. Brown water navies are those who operate pretty much purely in rivers and on lakes, rarely extending beyond the delta of their rivers. Small galleys will have some use here as well.
(There's one main purpose I can think for this, right now, and that is to mitigate Revaunchism. Say, hypothetically, that we're unable to conquer the Black Sheep. Then, we keep taking minimal reclamation actions so as not to gain the maluses, but start spreading propaganda as to how the Black Sheep territories always kinda sucked, and how their populace never were truly integrated and were really nomads in all but name, and how much better not!Ukraine is anyway; development there a much more important project, let's do that one first! Keep the big lie going for a few decades and eventually people will start to move on.)
External: Spread Propaganda probably needs to wait for the printing press.
Provide under-the-table support (Miner's Guild especially for the moment, but any faction in general)
Sabotage X (probably Black Sheep supply lines)
Spread rumors (particularly of how powerful the new Ymaryn bombards etc are, or how every other patrician is cutting a deal to rejoin, don't miss it)
@Aranfan: how many of our weapons made it to Tinshore/Western Wall during the fire sale? This, unfortunately, would likely put a cap on how inflated the rumors can get. Maybe.
Is there a danger of the weapons being reverse-engineered?
(There's one main purpose I can think for this, right now, and that is to mitigate Revaunchism. Say, hypothetically, that we're unable to conquer the Black Sheep. Then, we keep taking minimal reclamation actions so as not to gain the maluses, but start spreading propaganda as to how the Black Sheep territories always kinda sucked, and how their populace never were truly integrated and were really nomads in all but name, and how much better not!Ukraine is anyway; development there a much more important project, let's do that one first! Keep the big lie going for a few decades and eventually people will start to move on.
Similarly, since our people apparently have started caring about Prestige, we can trick them into believing that we actually have a lot more Prestige. It's not like most of them leave the country to find out.)
External: Spread Propaganda probably needs to wait for the printing press.
Provide under-the-table support (Miner's Guild especially for the moment, but any faction in general)
Sabotage X (probably Black Sheep supply lines)
Spread rumors (particularly of how powerful the new Ymaryn bombards etc are, or how every other patrician is cutting a deal to rejoin, don't miss it)
@Aranfan: how many of our weapons made it to Tinshore/Western Wall during the fire sale? This, unfortunately, would likely put a cap on how inflated the rumors can get. Maybe.
Is there a danger of the weapons being reverse-engineered?
And blacksmith with a casting setup can replicate a bombard. The issue is quality or iron and cost. Our iron is better and cheaper than anyone else's. We are not profiting of a technological advantage, but an infrastructural one.
And blacksmith with a casting setup can replicate a bombard. The issue is quality or iron and cost. Our iron is better and cheaper than anyone else's. We are not profiting of a technological advantage, but an infrastructural one.
Yeah, but bronze is more expensive and vulnerable to trade disruption. You can make a bombard out of iron. It just has problems that can't really be avoided.
Winning Wars is the easiest and fastest way. Map painting gives bonuses. Reuiniting the borders of an old empire is the way the Hung Empires get most of their prestige, and is something that the Saffron powers keep trying and failing to do.
Megaprojects and showing off megaprojects also works. Like, you'd probably get prestige for spreading cholera treatment around, and definitely any time you spread the sacred warding to foreigners.
Winning Wars is the easiest and fastest way. Map painting gives bonuses. Reuiniting the borders of an old empire is the way the Hung Empires get most of their prestige, and is something that the Saffron powers keep trying and failing to do.
Megaprojects and showing off megaprojects also works. Like, you'd probably get prestige for spreading cholera treatment around, and definitely any time you spread the sacred warding to foreigners.
Available Dice: 6 Influence, 3 Authority
Committed: 4 Influence, 1 Authority
Total Dice: 2 Influence, 2 Authority
Martial:
War Mission, Western Wall: Send the army to crush the rebels in Western Wall. (100% 1 year. Success and length of campaign rolled separately. Possible influence gains or losses depending on result.)
War Mission, Styrmyr: Send the army to take back Greenshore from the Styrmyr. (100% 1 year. Success and length of campaign rolled separately. Possible influence gains or losses depending on result.)
War Mission, Tinshore: Send the army to crush the rebels in Tinshore. (100% 1 year. Success and length of campaign rolled separately. Possible influence gains or losses depending on result.)
War Mission, Black Sheep: Send the army to crush the Black Sheep and liberate the Thunder Plateau. (100% 1 year. Success and length of campaign rolled separately. Possible influence gains or losses depending on result.)
War Mission, Mine Lords: Have a detatchment of soldiers ready in case the mine lords try anything funny when you deal with them.
Lord's Loyalty War Mission, Hathytta: Send the army to Hathytta and put it at the disposal of the governor. (100% 1 year. Success and length of campaign rolled separately. Possible influence gains or losses depending on result. Possible +Hathytta Loyalty)
Lord's Loyalty War Mission, Txolla: Send the army to Txolla and put it at the disposal of the governor. (100% 1 year. Success and length of campaign rolled separately. Possible influence gains or losses depending on result. +Txolla Loyalty)
City Levy, Western Wall: Conscript some of the excess population of the cities and send them to crush the rebels in Western Wall. (95% 1 year. Success and length of campaign rolled separately. Possible influence gains or losses depending on result. Expensive)
City Levy, Styrmyr: Conscript some of the excess population of the cities and send them to kick the Styrmyr out of Greenshore. (95% 1 year. Success and length of campaign rolled separately. Possible influence gains or losses depending on result. Expensive)
City Levy, Tinshore: Conscript some of the excess population of the cities and send them to crush the rebells in Tinshore. (95% 1 year. Success and length of campaign rolled separately. Possible influence gains or losses depending on result. Expensive)
City Levy, Hathytta: Conscript some of the excess population of the cities and send them to Hathytta to bring the province back in line. (95% 1 year. Success and length of campaign rolled separately. Possible influence gains or losses depending on result. Expensive. Possible -Hathytta Loyalty)
Lord's Loyalty City Levy, Txolla: Conscript some of the excess population of the cities and send them to the Txolla governor to use as he sees fit. (95% 1 year. Success and length of campaign rolled separately. Possible influence gains or losses depending on result. Expensive. +Txolla Loyalty)
Lord's Loyalty City Levy, Hathytta: Conscript some of the excess population of the cities and send them to the Hathayan governor to use as he sees fit. (95% 1 year. Success and length of campaign rolled separately. Possible influence gains or losses depending on result. Expensive. Possible +Hathytta Loyalty)
Activate The Mass Levy!: Arm and mobilize up to a million soldiers. The earth quakes at your approach. None can stand against the might of The People. (90%. 1 year. Success and length of campaign rolled separately. Possible influence gains or losses depending on result. Unsustainably expensive)
-Write in Targets, may choose as many as you like
Construct Warships, Yllython: With unified control of the Yllython shattered, there are going to be pirates and rebels in the sea closest to the core. The people need to build warships to suppress pirates and fight enemies. (75%. 2 years. +Warships. Expensive) in progress
Construct Warships, Saffron Sea: You once more have Trelli. Its dockyards and shipyards are robust and capable. With those facilities you can build even more warships. (75%. 2 years. +Warships. Expensive)
Construct Warships, Salt Sea: You now share a sea with the Black Sheep. They will surely send foes by sea as well as land if they wish to achieve their ambition of displacing you. (75%. 2 years. +Warships. Expensive)
Construct Warships, Harmurri Gulf: Do you really need warships on the Monsoon Sea? The trade there is quite civilized with much less piracy than on the Saffron Sea. (75%. 2 years. +Warships. Expensive)
Adopt Gunpowder Weaponry: Now that you have been making it for a couple of years, you have a good enough understanding of basic safety procedures to begin adopting into your armies and issuing these weapons to your soldiers. It will take a long time to fully integrate these weapons into your doctrine, but after the Great Khan, none can deny their effectiveness. (90%. 10 years. Firearm and Bombard Adoption. Provides bonuses while in progress. Expensive.) In progress
Found Banner Company: The storied mercenary companies of the Melkut Ymaryn were ancient institutions, that played important roles in both martial and diplomatic matters. Having a banner company at your beck and call, able to be loaned out to allies or against enemies, it is a powerful tool. An expensive one though. (100%. 3 Years. Expensive, -.5 Income, potentially profitable, may be taken more than once) In Progress, can be taken again
Diplomacy:
Honor of Elites, Western Wall: Demand the rebels surrender and swear fealty once again to their rightful lord! (Narrative%. 1 year, +Influence, Casus Belli if failed)
Honor of Elites, Tinshore: Demand the rebels surrender and swear fealty once again to their rightful lord! (Narrative%. 1 year, +Influence, Casus Belli if failed)
Rage Against The Steppes!: Demand the Black Sheep savages surrender and abandon their oppression of the people of the Thunder Plateau. (Narrative%. 1 year. +Influence)
Personal Stewards of Nature, Styrmyr: Demand that the Styrmyr return the lands of greenshore to your rule. (Narrative%?. 1 Year. +Influence. Casus Belli if failed)
Diplomatic Overview, North Saffron: You have no knowledge what barbarian powers are important in the realm of the Syffronites. In your current position of weakness that ignorance could be deadly. (90%, 1 year. Overview of North Saffron powers.)
Diplomatic Overview, Steppes: Nomads are like a gas, they expand and they do not stay in one place. The Great Khan has been gone for almost a decade now. That means new nomads have likely moved in, some of whom may know about what happened with the Khan after he left. (90%. 2 Years. Overview of local steppe politics. Out of date quickly.)
Diplomatic Contact, Highlanders: What have the Highlanders gotten up to in these last thousand years? Do you even care so long as they stay in their hills? (???% 1 Year. Possible -Influence)
Diplomatic Contact, Styrmyr: You are most displeased to find that the Styrmyr have decided to immediately conquer Greenshore upon the cessation of the Games. Still, Greenshore were rebels, so maybe the Styrmyr could prove reasonable? (???% 1 Year.)
Diplomatic Contact, Berba: Who are the Berba and what do they want? (???%. 1 Year.)
Diplomatic Contact, Ruma: Who are the Ruma and what do they want? (???%. 1 Year.)
Diplomatic Contact, Magyar: The Barbarians in Kus are a blight, but they do seem to command the majority of the realm there. (???%. 1 Year. Probable -Influence)
Diplomatic Contact, Ealam: Who are the Ealam and what do they want? (???%. 1 Year.)
Diplomatic Contact, Abyss/Damut: Who are they and what do they want? (???%. 1 Year)
Sell Bombards, Khem: The Khemetri seem to really like buying bombards from you. See if they want some more. (55%. 1 year. Probable Profit)
Sell Bombards, Kurna: Do the Kurna want bombards? (80%, 1 year, profitable)
Deepen Diplomacy, Vynta: You should seek closer ties to Vynta, they may want to buy your wares. (???%. 1 Year. Unlocks Opinion Gauge, unlocks interaction options. )
Deepen Diplomacy, Euskal: You should seek closer ties to Euskal, they may want to buy your wares. (???%. 1 Year. Unlocks Opinion Gauge, unlocks interaction options. )
Admin:
Math Reform: The Kus have made advances in the notation of mathematics beyond the wildest dreams of the people. Not to mention the substance of math. "Zero"… it will change everything once people get a handle on it. If you were to institute reforms that changed the Melkut Ymaryn to the superior Kus system of math, then there would be immense savings simply from more precise ability to keep track of things. Of course, until the bureaucracy got a hang of the new numbers, it would be pure chaos. (11%. 5 Years. Extremely Expensive, -1 Authority immediately, +1 Income)
Survey Hathytta Province: Hathytta has long been the center of your mining industries. Many enterprising citizens will even try to survey and find valuable resources on their own initiative. Still, the land is rich and another survey can do no harm. (???%. 1 Year. Resources?)
Survey Txolla Province: Txolla has been surveyed many times, but technology and the skill of surveyors is always improving. It might be possible to find something of use on the floodplains. (???%. 1 Year. Resources?)
Guild Investment: You did a number on the guilds. Rhys and the Guild Chief have put their heads together and drawn up plans that would allow a faster recovery. (75%. 1 year. Very Expensive. +1 Guild Industry Level)
Develop Wagon Ways, Stonepen: Stonepen was always the smallest of your great cities, as it did not have an easily navigable waterway to help feed it. With wagonways, such as you have in mines and in the great cities of Redshore and Trelli, it would be possible to roughly quadruple the ammount of goods shipped to and from Stonepen. (60%. 4 years. Very Expensive, +.1 Income, +15% on Wagonways Megaprojects)
Requires Fully Functional Guild Industry
Deal with Mine Lords, Legality: Repudiate the Mine Lord's new privileges as emergency measures that have now ended. Re-empower the Miner's Guild chapters in the area, and once more collect taxes. (50%, 1 Year, Unlikely -Influence x3, Possible -Hathytta Loyalty, Mine Lord Rebellion if failed and possible rebellion on success, +.5 Income if no rebellion)
Deal with the Mine Lords, Force: Reimpose the taxes you are owed by the Mine Lords. With the element of surprise you can crush them easily. (90%, 1 Year, Possible -Influence x3, Probable -Hathytta Loyalty, Mine Lord Rebellion crushed before it begins, +.5 Income)
Deal with the Mine Lords, Capitulation: Accept the situation with the mine lords, and confirm them in their privileges. (100%, 1 Year, +Hathytta Loyalty)
Intrigue:
Establish Spy Network: Establish a spy network in one of the places you have diplomatic contact with.
(33%. 3 Years. Fails entirely if it fails once. Unlocks options. May be taken multiple times, but only with different targets.)
-Write in Target
Infiltration, Styrmyr: You can't imagine the People of Greenshore are happy to be under the occupation of the Styrmyr. See if you can't find some organized resistance to speak to or fund. (???%. ? Years. ???)
Infiltration, Black Sheep: You can't imagine the People of the Thunder Plateau are happy to be under nomad bootheel. See if you can't find some organized resistance to speak to or fund. (???%. ? Years. ???)
Mysticism:
Against Cholera, Khem: Somewhere along the way the Khemetri lost the treatment for Cholera you gifted them so long ago. It should be fairly easy to send it over to them again. (85%. 1 Year. Possible +Khem Opinion)
Spreading the Warding, Khem: Long ago, the People spread knowledge of the Sacred Warding to the Khemetri, trusting that they where the only power sophisticated enough to maintain it. Somewhere along the way, the knowledge was lost. Probably during the Samynish conquest, since a lot of the old priests died then. Still, they remain a sophisticated civilization, and likely able to handle the Sacred Warding correctly. (50%. 5 Years. +1 Khem Opinion, possible +1 Khem Opinion. Starpox fought.)
Praise the Sun, part 2 In progress.
Against Cholera, Kurna: The people of Kus are quite literally plagued with cholera. It kills many each year, while you sit here with a treatment and knowledge of how to stop it in your hands. Are you truly so heartless as to stand by while they suffer? (85%, 1 Year, +1 Kurna Opinion, Possible +Kus Minor and Ealam opinion)
MEGAPROJECTS:
Greenhouses: The Kings of old built a number of grand greenhouses to tend exotic plants from far away, so that they could be studied and for their own enjoyment. Most of these greenhouses were smashed by the Great Khan. Restore them. (Authority + 90%, 20 Years, -1 Treasury Status every four years)
Signal Towers: One of the issues that always plagued the governance of the Thunder Plateau was how far away and difficult to reach it was. It would be possible to set up signal relay towers along the way, which would greatly speed up messaging between the Plateau and the Core. It would take a lot of precision glasswork for the spyglasses, however. (Authority + 75%, 20 Years, -1 Treasury Status every four years)
Wagonways, Thunder Plateau: One of the issues that has always plagued the governance of the Thunder Plateau was how far away and difficult to reach it was. The transportation of goods especially suffered from this. However, it is possible to remedy this. There are rails used in the mines to ease transportation, and such things are also used in the Great Docks of Redshore. It would be possible to make rails of iron to vastly improve the carrying capacity of the horse wagons. However, this would require truly vast amounts of iron. (Authority + 50%, 25 years, -1 Treasury Status every four years, Expensive)
Requires fully functional Guild Industry
Reform THE LAW: It has been a very long time since the last time the Law was compiled and streamlined. There has been much accumulation of loopholes, drifts, and patching as the times changed. The current law is confusing and difficult and in many ways outdated. It should be simplified, updated for the current age, and recodified. (Authority + 90%, 20 Years, -1 Treasury Status every four years, +1 Authority on completion)
Personal Action (Choose One):
[] Work Overtime (+1 temp Influence, +Stress)
[] Relax with Family (-Stress)
[] Catch up on the latest plays and theological debates (provides no benefit while Praise the Sun, pt2 is active)
[] Attend to a particular action personally. (Provides bonus to action)
-[] Write in Action
We really need to get the mines back. The Mine Lords are setting a terrible precedent for the familial control of private property, which I though Ymaryn didn't have? Wasn't there something about Western Wall degrading towards feudalism as time went on?
Anyway, these guys don't get to have special privileges, and the miners have should have their own rights.
Deal with Mine Lords, Legality: Repudiate the Mine Lord's new privileges as emergency measures that have now ended. Re-empower the Miner's Guild chapters in the area, and once more collect taxes. (50%, 1 Year, Unlikely -Influence x3, Possible -Hathytta Loyalty, Mine Lord Rebellion if failed and possible rebellion on success, +.5 Income if no rebellion)
Deal with the Mine Lords, Force: Reimpose the taxes you are owed by the Mine Lords. With the element of surprise you can crush them easily. (90%, 1 Year, Possible -Influence x3, Probable -Hathytta Loyalty, Mine Lord Rebellion crushed before it begins, +.5 Income)
@Aranfan Question on how Authority works in regards to these. Authority gets us the best possible result. Does that mean using on either of these actions ensures that we can avoid the loss of loyalty as part of getting the best possible result?
@Aranfan Question on how Authority works in regards to these. Authority gets us the best possible result. Does that mean using on either of these actions ensures that we can avoid the loss of loyalty as part of getting the best possible result?
