So. Big thing. Essinya is witty and funny. She has magic so has that in common with Vanessa. She has some intrigue skills or at least some relating to mercenary work. Interestingly her father has more to him than just 'dark necromancer lord'.
And just in general... It looks like the necromancers get a bad reputation. It's a powerful school of magic, especially the animation of bodies and one easily turned to battle and conquest. But then. What precisely is the difference between an ordinary mage blasting someone with a fireball and a necromancer animating a body to do the same? Not much when it comes down to it.
And their own people consider it an honour to have their bodies reanimated. Almost certainly they've been taught to accept such by their rulers. But from most of what I can tell. The necromancers largely want to be left alone to enjoy their wealth and power. Almost certainly they don't seem to be planning any great wars any time soon. Unlike say, Morvak.
Janera. Interesting. Smart. Useful. So far I'd say she has one of the best rapports with vanessa, if it was just based on personality she would be my first pick but as is. The necromancers seem too good to pass up.
Regara is interesting and comes with a powerful alliance. But I'm really not sure A, if we'd want to get involved in their likely civil war and B, if we'd want to join them in their campaigns of conquest.
Janera is an easy number 1 for me. Vanessa enjoys her company and I enjoy seeing Janera passionate about what she loves. Equally, Lothar is an easy number 5, as something about him rubs me the wrong way. The other three I find harder, so have simply ranked them in terms of how interesting I have found them so far.
So.
Janet's I like, because she's the divine option of safety and stability. It's not flashy, it's not cool, but it's great for the people! It's a good rule she would contribute to.
Loran also feels like he'd contribute to keeping Vanessa on her A-game while he fades into the background. Not a bad pick!
Lothar I'm a bit worried about how he works out long-term but I think I can at least see his charms.
Essinya might blow Halrun to kingdom come and send half of our people into the Dark Forest fleeing for a better life (and a more productive death!) but at least she is the Fun sort of Mysterious, and probably genuine or close enough.
Regara I do not like, because there's a lot of guesswork like you'd get from Essinya and more worrying she feels like someone who wholeheartedly believes in 'whatever it takes' which makes her potent but also maybe prone to burning everything for the goal, not unlike a certain Mad Titan seeking the Inifinity Gauntlet, ruling like Napoleon as she goes.
Plus frankly I feel like we could just facilitate her wheeling and dealing to win her civil war and get a smaller piece of the pie to avoid the worst outcomes. Halrun has power and prosperity enough as is-we do not need to fall for the temptation of power!
"Not quite. That's... well, that's the way people outside Darkmoon Forest tend to write them, but a true Enigma Story has one, or at least a select number of murders. But every character is indeed guilty of something, and has their own motivations and schemes. The great mystery is determining what those are, and which of the many guilty parties is guilty of what." Essinya said.
I feel like I understand Janera's character well enough that I'm less interested in her scenes than I am in Regara's scenes. Still not happy with Loran and Lothar. Essinya is still my favourite and I don't think King Gaius will change that.
I think it's a fascinating idea as well. Ever since Garak (from Deep Space Nine) talked about Cardassian Enigma Tales (where everyone is Guilty, the reader just needs to determine *what* they're guilty of), I've really liked the idea.
I discovered while working on the Turn 6 Council Meeting that I hadn't actually rolled the results of Balmain's negotiation with the Miners. You met their basic demands, so if she succeeds on this roll, they'll be returning to work.
Base Chance: 50% (One additional demand met) + 6 (Balmain Diplomacy) + 3 (Balmain Trait) = 59% = MISS
Looks like the Miners were not quite satisfied. Someone will either have to go and talk to them again (Balmain can try, but she'll have a penalty unless she caves into another demand. Someone else can try with less of an onus) or someone will have to go and force the issue one. Or they'll just continue not working.
For the first time since the first one of these things, Vanessa found herself in a bit of a positive mood. There were bad things going on in the realm – the Miners' Strike had not resolved itself. They were pleased by the expenditures to fix the deadly mineshafts and the long overdue maintience, but they still weren't willing to go back to work yet.
Part of me wishes it were practical to just force the issue. It could be, in theory, but she couldn't imagine that would do well for her standing among the people. On the other hand, she did have a decent amount of popularity with the common people, so she might be able to get away with losing a bit of it. Or even more than a bit.
So that was not idea.
On the other hand, progress was being made on a great deal of other fronts. Vallefor had managed to recover a substantive sum from the Varaday Banks – she didn't really want to know how, based on what he'd implied – but that was that. Rienne had dealt with those criminals in the Southmarch at that old Necrotic Temple and discovered some interesting magical crystals she was curious to experiment with, if she could get the chance.
Rucdorn had gotten them a bridge loan, Arandel had negotiated a raise in tariffs from Veldros, and then the gala…
It had been exhausting in some ways, all that dancing and spinning and so forth. On the other hand – she had had fun. And she was at least satisfied that with five of her six suitors, she had been able to determined that she wouldn't be utterly miserable with any of them, and that was of vital importance. Indeed, she wouldn't even be all that unhappy with any. Some she had definitely found herself enjoying the company of more than others, in one way or another, but all of them did have their appealing qualities, and none of their negative qualities were overwhelming, at least.
It made deciding harder, yes, but it also made her feel better about being forced into this sort of thing.
I just wonder what Gaius Rodela has to offer, as a potential spouse. The King of South Zarsim did arguably have quite a bit of ground to make up, but he was due to arrive in a few days, so he'd get his chance.
But for now… she did have her other responsibilities.
"I suppose we should start with you, Lady Balmain." Vanessa started. "What exactly went wrong?" Balmain opened her mouth, but before she could, Vanessa gestured at Vallefor, "I'm sure you have something to say, but let Balmain finish before you offer your own suggestions."
Vallefor's sour expression reminded Vanessa of the time she'd bitten directly into a rather unpleasant green fruit imported from the south – Lame? Lime? Lem? Something like that – but he nodded.
Balmain let out a sigh, "I'm not altogether sure. The miners were pleased that we agreed to immediately set to work on the repairs and fund the overdue maintenance, but -" she shook her head, "Ultimately, I don't think they entirely trust the crown to keep to the new limits on evictions, or at least enforce them on the landlords and other leaseholders of the mines."
"Why wouldn't they trust me?" Vanessa hadn't exactly gone back on her word at all since becoming Queen, and while she hadn't focused on pleasing the commoners at the expense of the nobility, overall, she'd hardly done anything to make any commoners, the miners included, have any sort of major issues with her.
Balmain shrugged, "Best guess, habit. The miners of the Southmarch have a long history of being mistreated by the leaseholders managing the mines and then the Crown not actually doing much to help them. They know you're not Syrokis, but still." She chuckled, "That's rather a low bar to clear."
"And what exactly would you propose we do?"
"Pay them a bonus, as a sign of goodwill." Balmain said simply "It's the cheapest of the options available to us, and the one that won't upset the leaseholders either. The eviction restriction has already annoyed them, but it's a minor concern."
"The treasury is a bit low after spending all the funds we did on the maintenance and repairs," Rucdorn countered, voice flat. "How much of a bonus were you thinking?"
"Five Dureks, dispersed among all the minors. It won't amount to that much for any single miner – probably only a few weeks wages on average – but it will do the job of proving the point of our sincerity." Balmain assured them. She produced a piece of paper and passed it to Rucdorn, "This is my clerk's estimate on the long term costs to their other demands. Five Dureks now is a much better expenditure than some of the other notions – I don't think they're all terrible ideas, frankly, but it would be better to put them off for the time being."
Rucdorn looked the paper over, "You could just tell them to go back to work anyway. They can't just hold the realm hostage!"
"Rucdorn, humans are not dwarves, you can't always appeal to their sense of civic-mindedness to get them to do hard, backbreaking labor." Balmain chided. Rucdorn scoffed, but said nothing. Balmain turned back to Vanessa, "I could try it, and it might even work, but if someone says no to an offer, and you go back and make the same offer, without any alterations..."
"I can certainly see how that might annoy them, at a minimum." Vanessa sighed. "We could always wait them out – the revenues from the Mines are only worth so much."
"True, but if the strike lasts too long, it could spread." Balmain sighed. "Most peasants simply lack a proper long view of things, and if they decide the crown is dithering or weak, more of them might decide to engage in the same sort of tactics."
Vallefor's expression was neutral – he was generally good at masking his emotions, Vanessa had found, when he felt the need to – but she could tell he was stewing in annoyance from the way his shoulders were tight, his fingers twitching just a bit around the wineglass in his hand.
"Thank you for your forbearance, Keeper Vallefor," Vanessa said, not scolding him at all, but hopefully her choice of words might remind him who was Queen. "I assume you have a different proposal?"
"I do," Vallefor nodded, "Balmain has tried her method of meeting their demands – the mines probably did need the repairs and maintenance, I will grant that, but caving to their other demands is a mistake. Conceeding to more demands is even more likely to spark future strikes. Southmarch isn't that far from my own County, and I'll be quite put out," Vallefor's tone was stiff and grim - 'put out' was obviously an understatement, "if the laborers on my estates and the tenants on my properties start trying their own strikes if the miners get it into their heads that all they need to go is complain loudly and the Crown will step in and give them whatever they want."
Well, I think there's a difference between the Southmarch – which is directly held by the Crown – and your county in terms of the Crown's ability to just… step in.
But Vanessa grasped Vallefor's point.
"So what exactly do you propose?"
"Forcing them back to work. At a certain point, that's really all you can do." Vallefor said firmly, grimly.
"And by force you mean sending out the army to deal with it?" Vanessa guessed. Balmain, Rykall and Rienne all looked varying flavors of pissed at the suggestion as Vallefor nodded.
"Or the Reeves. These are not exactly the most well-armed or well-organized force."
"About 500 guerrilla fighters in the Southmarch managed to tie down 1500 or so of Syrokis's forces for a year," Rienne cautioned. "Nor can I in good conscience say that I would support the deployment of the army against these strikers. They've done nothing violent, and there's too many ex-rebels among the soldiery for this to be anything but a disaster to morale and unit cohesion."
"If we can't trust the army to put down those acting against the Crown, then what are we even doing here, Lady Rienne?" Vallefor pointed out.
"They're not acting against the Crown!" Balmain shot back. "If they had actually been violent you'd -" she cut herself off.
"Yes?" Vallefor asked, raising an eyebrow, staring pointedly at her.
"If they had actually been violent, you might have a point in your proposal to use force." Balmain said, speaking in a lower tone, dragging the words out of herself.
"But they haven't been, and by all accounts, they're going out of their way to not be violent. Despite many of those former guerrillas being among the strikers." Rykall pointed out. "Using force might appease the leaseholders and others among the wealthy merchant and banker classes, but it's still a terrible idea at this juncture."
"I can't say I'm thrilled at the idea myself, but it may be the most practical option." Rucdorn chimed in.
"Itrick? Arandel? Where do you stand?"
"According to a particularly harsh reading of certain laws regarding the Southmarch, this strike could be ruled illegal," Itrick said. He cleared his throat, side-eying Balmain. "...And I can't say I'm comfortable with their attempts to use this sort of coercion to achieve their ends. A very careful and judicious use of the threat of force might be just what is needed to get them to the table – while retaining the eviction restriction, which was a sound concession."
A very qualified support for forcing the issue.
"Forcing the issue might be worth it," Arandel said after a moment. "We don't want to seem like we can't control our own people in the eyes of other realms. And if this does spread, or lasts too long, that's exactly what will happen. On the other hand, negotiation is often superior to violence. There's merit either way." Detached, clinical, cool. Arandel probably didn't have a strong feeling either way, but he wasn't opposed to force.
Rykall, Rienne and Balmain against – and Rienne and Balmain are the ones I'd have to order to use force…
Vallefor, Rucdorn and Itrick for, to varrying degrees. And Arandel sitting in the middle.
"I'll consider the options." She said finally. "Let's move on to the next item of business."
"Roland Arbolast Fredero." Vallefor said after a moment, producing a piece of parchment and handing it over to her. The document was a summary of the man – a minor noble descended from a cadet branch of the Fredero family – the Counts of Vaspiri – who held no direct title, but did have extensive cattle herds and grazed them in Vaspiri County, the Coastal March and the Southmarch, at various times and with various fees and payments.
He was also, according to this, a former loyalist and a formerly close friend of ex-Countess Gramaire. And he'd done business with her many times, including acting as a financial middleman for her in at least one land purchase.
"I've found some financial ties between him and Dorien and Vrel – the two men who were involved in that little matter in the Thornwood." Vallefor continued. "Nothing damning – but it's possible some of the money they used to buy the Ebon Dragon Trading Company and get their lease may have come from him." Vallefor handed her another sheet, a list of financial transactions and accounts that Vanessa honestly couldn't quite follow. She handed that one to Rykall, who was closest, who looked it over, and then he passed it to Rucdorn. Both gave the paper a thoughtful, concerned look.
Vallefor presumably had a point then.
"That happened before the rebellion was a concern, but given his known ties to Gramaire… well, he's sworn all the expected oaths of loyalty and has claimed to have not heard from the Countess since she fled, but he's received three letters from couriers my agents cannot identify or track – a rare feat in of itself – and given the discovery that those crystals, whatever they were, are both magically potent and the point of the whole project..."
"...you think he may have been acting on behalf of Gramire, back when she was a Countess, to get those crystals for her, in some way, and may still be in contact with her?"
"It's possible. I'd rather be sure than not, but he's proven to be a tougher nut to crack, in terms of any of my agents learning more about what he's doing. He could just be a man who keeps his confidence to himself, especially since most of his former friends and associates have been exiled, killed or driven to the poor house." Vallefor didn't look or sound like he believed that for a second. "I have no proof he's up to something, but if these crystals were what Gramaire was after, it's possible Dorien and Vrel may have sent some away before they were dealt with."
Rienne grimaced, "It is. We didn't recover many survivors of Dorien and Vrel's men, and none of the ones we did knew much, and for some reason, neither man kept extensive notes of their criminal activities."
"Imagine that," Arandel chimed in.
"Without knowing what the crystals are or do, there's no way to know how significant a concern this is, if there's anything to your theory," Vanessa mused, "But if one is pessimistic-"
"-an occupational hazard of any spymaster, your Majesty," Vallefor offered,
"-then there does seem to be some troubling possibilities," Vanessa agreed.
"Anything else significant that needs to be discussed, or shall we proceed with the usual detailing of regular successes and failures, issues and matters of state?" Vanessa asked. She was still in that good mood – though Vallefor's latest news dampened things just a little – and she wanted to maintain that. Hopefully.
In quick succession, thankfully, there were no other major issues coming up. The debts still needed to be addressed, of course, the roads were proceeding apace, there were still some lingering claims against rebels from the civil war and all the other legal matters.
King Gaius would be arriving soon, and he'd have to be greeted, but thankfully, it was just the one suitor to prepare for, and at this point, her attendants had the whole process down to an art, and she had her part memorized as well, or just about. So she didn't have to devote quite as much mental space to it.
There were the negotiations surrounding the possible marriage pacts – many preliminaries had been settled, so now it was basically a matter of seeing where things started and then negotiating each treaty to see who gave the best possible deal.
Because, like it or not, that would be the largest problem.
Rienne had a number of things the Army needed doing to continue recovering from the war and it's aftermath, but there wasn't enough money in the treasury for all of it, so figuring out how best to handle that was going to be a concern in the coming months.
Major concerns like striking miners and potentially treacherous minor nobles were flashier, but Vanessa had quickly learned that the real business of governance was in the 1,001 small things – of which only a few hundred could ever get done at any given time, before 1,001 more cropped up.
At least I'll never run out of things to do?
Tax Assessments (Pick 2 to get resolved this turn) [ ][TAX ASSESSMENTS] Eaglecrest Land Tax
[ ][TAX ASSESSMENTS] Port Lest Land Tax
[ ][TAX ASSESSMENTS] County of Vaspiri Land Tax
[ ][TAX ASSESSMENTS] Befost County Land Tax
[ ][TAX ASSESSMENTS] Saphet County Land Tax
[ ][TAX ASSESSMENTS] County of Aloce Land Tax
Keeper of Correspondence Tasks (Pick 1) [ ][CORRESPONDENCE] Personally Oversee Tax Assessments (Up to 2 more Tax Assessments Will be Finished This Turn) (Base Chance 50% + Stewardship + 1/2 Learning)*
-[ ] Pick Priority (Weak or Strong Success Required)
-[ ] Pick Secondary (Strong Success Required)
[ ][CORRESPONDENCE] Gather Reports On Banditry (Improves Base Chance of future Anti-Banditry Tasks) (Base Chance 65% + Stewardship)
[ ][CORRESPONDENCE] Reorganize the Clerks (Improves Base Chance of [CORRESPONDENCE] Tasks by 4% or 8% for the next 5 turns) (Base Chance 55% + Stewardship + Learning)*
[ ][CORRESPONDENCE] Lend Clerks to help another Keeper with their Task (+3/+6 to their Task on a Weak/Strong Success) (Base Chance 50% + Stewardship)
[ ][CORRESPONDENCE] Audit The Royal Demesne (Phase 1 of ?) (Could increase Revenues from Personal Holdings) (Costs 5 Dureks)
[ ][CORRESPONDENCE] Begin Internal Charm Offensive – Spread the Word About Vanessa's Accomplishments (Increase popularity)
-[ ]Work with the major broadsheets and circulars of the major cities of the realm (Free or otherwise) to put out a detailed list of Vanessa's successes. The broadsheets and circulars are read by the upper and middle classes of the cities and the trade towns, and many nobles.) (Base Chance 60% + Diplomacy) (Costs 2 Dureks)
-[ ]Hire Heralds to spread the word in announcements in town and village squares across the Kingdom (Will reach the lowest classes the most, but obviously others will hear) (Base Chance 67% + Diplomacy) (Costs 4 Dureks)
-[ ]Hire Bards and Ministrels to sing songs in praise of Vanessa across the realm (Has the highest reach, but if it misses, will backfire badly) (Base Chance 49% + Diplomacy) (Costs 3 Dureks)
-[ ]Write In Other Proposal (Subject to QM Veto) (Cost and Base Chance Set by QM)
[ ][CORRESPONDENCE] Suggest additional task, subject to QM Veto (Base Chance Will be Set by QM If Approved)
Keeper of The Royal Vaults (Pick 1) [ ][ROYAL VAULTS] Negotiate Bridge Loan of 100 Dureks To Help Pay Down Current Debts (Failure will mean no loan, Weak Success will mean the higher of the two offered interest rates, Strong Success will mean the lower of the two) (Must be Used To Pay Down Existing Debts) -[ ] From The Goldaxe Bank (Lortan Dwarves) (9.5% or 8%) (Base Chance 55% + Stewardship)* -[ ] From The Caragio Bank (Varaday Republic) (11% or 9.25%) (Base Chance 66% + Stewardship)*
-[ ] From the Veterger Bank (Selissa) (12.25% or 9.75%) (Base Chance 78% + Stewardship)*
[ ][ROYAL VAULTS] Negotiate Free-Standing Loan of 50 Dureks (Failure will mean no loan, Weak Success will mean the higher of the two offered interest rates, Strong Success will mean the lower of the two) (Can Be Used For Anything) -[ ] From The Goldaxe Bank (Lortan Dwarves) (12.25% or 11%) (Base Chance 57% + Stewardship)* -[ ] From The Caragio Bank (Varaday Republic) (13% or 11.5%) (Base Chance 70% + Stewardship)*
-[ ] From the Veterger Bank (Selissa) (13.5% or 12.5%) (Base Chance 80% + Stewardship)*
[ ][ROYAL VAULTS] Acquire Raw Materials To Mint New Gold and Silver Coins (Progress towards resolving Currency Contraction, Advances Royal Propaganda) (No Roll Required)
-[ ] <Amount of Dureks To Spend> [ ][ROYAL VAULTS] Mint the < > Worth of Gold and Silver into new Coins and Put them Into Circulation (Base Chance 70% + Stewardship) (Progress towards resolving Currency Contraction, Advances Royal Propaganda) [ ][ROYAL VAULTS] Sell Tax-Farming Rights (Tax Farmers offer large sum of money up front and get full right to collect all taxes from a given source for a specified length of time) (Success of roll results on more money gained) (No matter what, you will get less money up front than you could get over that length of time) (Base Chance 58% + Stewardship + Diplomacy)
-[ ] Write In Tax Source And A Number of Turns
[ ][ROYAL VAULTS] Invest (Miss will result in only getting X% of investment back, Weak success will result in regaining investment +1 Durek, Strong Success will result in Y% of investment being regained) (Cannot invest more than 5 Dureks at once at this time)
-[ ]In Land Speculation [Write In Amount] Base Chance 52% + Stewardship (X = 75% Y = 125%)
-[ ]In Mining [Write In Amount] Base Chance 46% + Stewardship (X = 60%, Y = 140%)
-[ ]In Shipping [Write In Amount] Base Chance 41% + Stewardship (X = 50% Y =150%)
[ ][ROYAL VAULTS] Audit The Royal Demesne (Phase 1 of ?) (Could increase Revenues from Personal Holdings) (Costs 5 Dureks)
[ ][ROYAL VAULTS] Sell the Necrotic Artifacts delivered by Dorien and Vrel's man. (Base Chance 70% + Stewardship) (Max Sale Value, 4 Dureks)
[ ][ROYAL VAULTS] Suggest additional task, subject to QM Veto (Base Chance Will be Set by QM If Approved)
High Marshall of the Armies (Pick 1) [ ][HIGH MARSHALL] Recruit Additional Soldiers (Strong Success gets you all the soldiers you wanted. Weak Success or Failure gets you less soldiers) (Base Chance 50% + Martial)* (Costs Dureks Base on # of soldiers desired)
-[ ] Write in desired Types and Numbers of Soldiers
[ ][HIGH MARSHALL] Survey Border Defenses (Opens Options for Future Improvement of Border Defenses) (Base Chance: 75% + Martial)*
-[ ]Thornmarch
-[ ]Ashdan March
-[ ]Eaglecrest
-[ ] Write in (Suggest Other Border Area)
[ ][HIGH MARSHALL] Stage War Games with the Mobile Reserve (Improves Army Readiness, increasing rolls for 3 Months) (Base Chance 50% + Martial)* (Costs 2 Dureks)
[ ][HIGH MARSHALL] Expand The Logistics Base (Improves Army Morale, Adds Logistical Strategic Depth in case of War) (Base Chance 57% + Martial +1/2 Stewardship)* (Costs 5 Dureks)
[ ][HIGH MARSHALL] Liaise with the Knights of the Golden Throne (No Roll, Improves future coordination with the Knights if they need to be called up)
[ ][HIGH MARSHALL] Draw Up New Plans for Calling Up The Levies (Makes it easier to call up the levies if needed) (Base Chance 50% + Martial)*
[ ][HIGH MARSHALL] Draw up a Comprehensive Plan for Arming the Levies (Increase Levy effectiveness) (Base Chance 44% + Martial)* (Costs 3 Dureks)
[ ][HIGH MARSHALL] Establish Mandatory Training for the Levies (Increase levy effectiveness) (Base Chance 37% + Diplomacy)* (Cost 18 Dureks)
[ ][HIGH MARSHALL] Order Rienne to dispatch soldiers to force the striking miners back to work (Base Chance 60%+ Martial) (-2.5 Dureks)
[ ][HIGH MARSHALL] Suggest additional task, subject to QM Veto (Base Chance Will be Set by QM If Approved)
Keeper of Secrets (Pick 1) [ ][SECRETS] Rebuild Internal Spy Network (Phase 3 of ?) (No roll required. Each phase opens more [SECRETS] options down the line and improves chances of success of internal spy operations, as well as giving increased chance for intelligence to be 'passively' received)
-[ ]Provide Funds to Speed up/Improve Process. Write-in amount.
[ ][SECRETS] Plant Spies on the Nobility (Base Chance 39% +Intrigue)* (Costs 10 Dureks)
[ ][SECRETS] Plant Spies on the Merchants Outside of the Free Cities (Base Chance 44% + Intrigue) (Costs 5 Dureks)
[ ][SECRETS] Plant Spies on the Elites of the Free Cities (Base Chance 42% + Intrigue)* (Costs 7.5 Dureks)
[ ][SECRETS] Plant Spies on the Rural Gentry (Base Chance 47% + Intrigue) (Costs 5 Dureks)
[ ][SECRETS] Create false flag conspiracies against the Crown to lure out potential traitors. (Base Chance 37% + Intrigue) (Costs 10 Dureks)
[ ][SECRETS] Rebuild an External Spy Network (Costs 5 Dureks) (Provides passive intelligence and improves chances of spy operations inside a given state)
-[ ] In Veldros (Base Chance: 65% + Intrigue)*
-[ ] In Nerinthar (Base Chance 51% + Intrigue)*
-[ ] In Selissa (Base Chance: 53% + Intrigue)*
-[ ] In The Kingdom of the Necromancers (Base Chance: 40% + Intrigue)*
-[ ] In the Varaday Republic (Base Chance: 43% + Intrigue)
-[ ] In North Zarsim (Base Chance 52% + Intrigue)*
-[ ] Pick a Target (Base Chance and Trait applicability to be set by QM)
[ ][SECRETS]Assess Royal Security (Stage False Break In of The Palace, potentially improves Royal Security) (Base Chance 55% + Intrigue)
[ ][SECRETS] Investigate Roland Arbolast Fredero, a noble who may be connected to both the ex-Countess Gramaire, and to Dorien and Vrel (Base Chance 62% + Intrigue)*
[ ][SECRETS] Suggest additional task, subject to QM Veto (Base Chance Will be Set by QM If Approved)
Keeper of the Sheriffs and Reeves (Pick 1) [ ][SHERIFFS AND REEVES] Repair War Damage (Strong Success means lower cost, Weak Success means higher cost) (Once done, it will take 2 Turns for the relevant modifier to be removed, but no additional costs) (Rebuilding the Roads will reduce this length and improve Base %)
-[ ]To the Coastal March (Costs 4 or 9 Dureks) (Base Chance: 56% + Stewardship)*
-[ ]To the Southmarch (Costs 2.5 or 6.5 Dureks) (Base Chance: 65% + Stewardship)*
-[ ]To the 3 Crown Reserves (Costs 1.25 or 2.75 Dureks) (Base Chance: 73% + Stewardship)*
[ ][SHERIFFS AND REEVES] Appoint trustworthy and capable people to fill leadership positions in the Reeves to manage royal properties (Base Chance: 53% + Diplomacy + 1/2 Stewardship)*
[ ][SHERIFFS AND REEVES] Personally oversee the Road Rebuilding Around the Capital (Strong Success will take an extra turn off the time. Miss will mean this turn leads to no progress.) (Base Chance 70% + Stewardship)*
[ ][SHERIFFS AND REEVES] Start Rebuilding the Roads Between the Thornmarch and the Grand Duchy (Base Chance 60 % + Stewardship)* (Costs 35 Dureks) [Process will take Multiple Turns]
[ ][SHERIFFS AND REEVES] Start Rebuilding the Roads Between the Grand Duchy and the Free Cities (Base Chance 54% +Stewardship)* (Costs 30 Dureks) [Process will take Multiple Turns]
[ ][SHERIFFS AND REEVES] Start Rebuilding the Roads Between the Grand Duchy and Westcrown (Base Chance 62% + Stewardship)* (Costs 30 Dureks) [Process will take Multiple Turns]
[ ][SHERIFFS AND REEVES] Call for settlers in the Crown Reserves (No Roll, Additional Scene. Could be expensive up front, but could increase value of Crown Reserves long term)
[ ][SHERIFFS AND REEVES] Negotiate With the Striking Southmarch Miners
-[ ]Offer them an additional concession (See Bottom of Post for A List) (Base Chance 60%+Diplomacy)*
-[ ]Offer them no additional concessions (Base Chance 43% + Diplomacy)*
[ ][SHERIFFS AND REEVES] Order Balmain to Use the Reeves to force the Striking Miners to go back to work (Base Chance 45% + Martial)* (-2 Dureks)
[ ][SHERIFFS AND REEVES] Suggest additional task, subject to QM Veto (Base Chance Will be Set by QM If Approved)
Keeper of Justice (Pick 1) [ ][JUSTICE] Investigate charges as yet unproven against former rebels (Base Chance 68% + Intrigue + 1/2 Learning)*
[ ][JUSTICE] Post Bounties on Leading Bandits (Permanently Improves chances of anti-bandit operations) (No roll)
-[ ]1 Durek Total (+2 to anti-bandit operations)
-[ ]2 Dureks Total (+3 to anti-bandit Operations
-[ ]Write in (Each point increase above +3 costs 1 more Dureks)
[ ][JUSTICE] Send the Judges on a circuit to the villages to hear complaints and cases (Base Chance 50% + 1/2 Diplomacy + 1/2 Stewardship)
[ ][JUSTICE] Investigate the sudden (and suspect) financial success of a previously beleaguered Shipping Magnate (Base Chance 40% + Intrigue + Learning)
[ ][JUSTICE] Have Itrick Try to Negotiate with the Striking Miners (On the basis of the Law)
-[ ]Offer them an additional concession (See Bottom of Post for A List) (Base Chance 57%+Diplomacy)
-[ ]Offer them no additional concessions (Base Chance 47% + Diplomacy)
[ ][JUSTICE] Suggest additional task, subject to QM Veto (Base Chance Will be Set by QM If Approved)
Keeper of Envoys (Pick 1) [ ][ENVOYS] Open Trade Negotiations (Could Produce Additional Durek Income)
-[ ]With Zedarsh (Base Chance 68% + Diplomacy)*
-[ ]With Kingdom of the Necromancers (Base Chance 74% + Diplomacy)* (Scrying the KoTN is more difficult)
-[ ]With Blerren (Base Chance 69% + Diplomacy)*
-[ ]With Gyptar (Base Chance 69% + Diplomacy)*
-[ ]With Restid (Base Chance 52% + Diplomacy)* (Scrying Restid is Harder) (May Be Unpopular)
-[ ]Write-in (Suggest realm, Base Chance will be set by QM)
[ ][ENVOYS] Announce to everyone that the Queen is looking for Suitors (No Roll Required)
[ ][ENVOYS] Quietly Investigate who else might be interested in Queen Vanessa's Hand (Gives more options for quietly reaching out in the future) (Base Chance 47% + Diplomacy + 1/2 Intrigue)
[ ][ENVOYS] Negotiate Non-Aggression Pact with Morvak (Weak Success means concessions may be required, followup vote will be taken to see if you approve said Concessions)
-[ ]For 3 Months (Base Chance 48% + Diplomacy)*
-[ ]For 6 Months (Base Chance 42% + Diplomacy)*
-[ ]For 12 Months (Base Chance 32% + Diplomacy)*
[ ][ENVOYS] Reach out to the Kingdom of the Red Spear to gauge Intentions (Base Chance 56% + Diplomacy)*
[ ][ENVOYS] Try to mediate a temporary truce in the Zar Civil War as a precursor to more permanent negotiations (Base Chance 25% + Diplomacy)*
[ ][ENVOYS] Begin Talks With All the Suitors and/or their Ambassadors About Treaty Terms (Gets a formal list of offer/demands from each suitor. Miss means you start in a very bad negotiating position, Weak success is a not ideal but not terrible position, Strong success means very good position. The better the position, the better the starting point for negotiations) (Base Chance 45% + Diplomacy)
[ ][ENVOYS] Suggest additional task, subject to QM Veto (Base Chance Will be Set by QM If Approved)
Queen Actions (Pick 2) [ ][QUEEN] Scry on a Neighboring power to gather information on them. (Provides information, may increase odds of future [SECRETS] actions involving the country) (Base Chance: 55% + Magic)*
-[ ]Morvak
-[ ]The Red Spear
-[ ]The Kingdom of the Necromancers (Imposes 5% penalty on the base chance)
-[ ]North and South Zarsim
-[ ]Suggest Additional Target (Some realms may be harder to Scry)
[ ][QUEEN] Scry on the Status of the Border Defenses (Opens Options for Future Improvement of Border Defenses) (Base Chance: 51% + Magic + Martial)*
-[ ]Thornmarch
-[ ]Ashdan March
-[ ]Eaglecrest
-[ ] Write in (Suggest Other Border Area)
[ ][QUEEN] Scry On The Kingdom (Base Chance 45% + Magic)*
-[ ]The Lordships
-[ ]The Free Cities
-[ ]The Rural Gentry
-[ ]The Trade Towns
-[ ]The Counties
[ ][QUEEN] Try to get Cyril to be willing to provide direct assistance in some cases (Opens options in the future) (Base Chance 25% + Diplomacy)
[ ][QUEEN] Build a Sanctum (Multi-Turn Prospect)
-[ ] Create a suitable chamber under the Palace (Base Chance: 70% + Magic) (Takes Three Turns) (-10 Dureks)†
-[ ] Find a Suitable Place elsewhere in the Grand Duchy (Will be less accessible, but cheaper to establish) (Takes Three Turns) (Base Chance 70% + Magic) (-7 Dureks)†
-[ ] Find a Suitable place in one of the Crown Reserves (Hard to access, but even cheaper and more secret) (Base Chance 60% + Magic) (-4 Dureks)†
[ ][QUEEN] Take Some time to investigate the magical gems that Rienne recovered from the Necrotic Temple (Base Chance 70% + Magic)
[ ][QUEEN] Social Action (May use both Queen Actions on Social Action)
-[ ] Get To Know Your Staff Better
-[ ] Write-in Councilor you'd like to improve relations with.
-[ ] Catch Up With Cyril
-[ ] Spend time with a Suitor (Pick which one)
-[ ] Write-in (Subject to QM Veto)
[ ][QUEEN] Recruit more mages to Royal Service (If successful, costs 10 Dureks. No expenditure if failure) (Base Chance: 70% + Diplomacy)†
[ ][QUEEN] Negotiate a One-time 20 Durek 'Tax': (Will upset the target, degree of upset depending on roll result. Miss means no money and middling degree of upset, Weak Success means all the money but the greatest degree of upset, Strong Success means all the money and the least degree of upset)
-[ ]Tax Lordly Estates (Base Chance 33% + Diplomacy)
-[ ]Tax The Counties (Base Chance 35% + Diplomacy)
-[ ]Tax the Free Cities Trade (Base Chance 35% + Diplomacy)
-[ ]Tax the Trade Towns Trade (Base Chance 40% + Diplomacy)
-[ ]Tax the Rural Gentry Estates (Base Chance 37% + Diplomacy)
[ ][QUEEN] Take a Royal Tour of the Grand Duchy and Nearby Lordships (Could improve popularity and loyalty in the region) (Base Chance 70% + Diplomacy + 1/2 Intrigue) (Costs 5 Dureks)†
[ ][QUEEN] Negotiate With the Striking Southmarch Miners
-[ ]Offer them an additional concession (See Bottom of Post for A List) (Base Chance 70%+Diplomacy) (Vanessa's Greedy Trait will apply if the concession involves spending money)
-[ ]Offer them no additional concessions (Base Chance 54% + Diplomacy)
[ ][QUEEN] Suggest additional task, subject to QM Veto (Base Chance Will be Set by QM If Approved)
Banditry Actions [ ][BANDITRY GENERAL] Send General Trins (Rolls will use his Martial and Trait)
[ ][BANDITRY GENERAL] Send General Darach (Rolls will use her Martial and Trait)
[ ][BANDITRY GENERAL] Send High Marshall Rienne (Rolls will use her Martial and Trait) (Will impose a -7% Chance to her [HIGH MARSHALL] Action this turn)
[ ][BANDITRY PLAN] Show the Flag (Send the bulk of the Mobile reserves in a big, showy force to spook bandits and make them quit or at least reduce morale, win local support to prevent anyone supplying bandits from doing so, etc) (No Chance of Casualties) (Base Chance 35% + Martial)*
[ ][BANDITRY PLAN] Regular Trade Route Patrols (Patrol the main channels of trade to ward off bandit attacks) (Low Casualties at Most) (Base Chance 53% + Martial)*
[ ][BANDITRY PLAN] Disperse to Cover Major Trade Caravans (Get Merchants to travel in caravan convoys, and disperse to guard them directly) (Medium Casualties at Most) (Base Chance: 65% + Martial)*
[ ][BANDITRY PLAN] Send Out The Cavalry On Hunting Expeditions (Send out the Light Cavalry off-road and have them try to drive out bandits root and branch) (High Casualties at Most) (Base Chance 71% + Martial)
[ ][BANDITRY TARGET] The Lordships
[X][BANDITRY TARGET] The Trade Towns (Locked, Must continue what you started)
The Council Actions Must Be In A Plan
Voting Moratorium For 72 Hours.
A shorter post than some, in terms of the actual council meeting text - some of the length of previous ones have been extraneous bits included for characterization and worldbuilding, which I love, but does drag out the process a bit. Between a desire to try and get the length of these under control, and some extended bullshit in my RL eating up both time and mental/emotional bandwidth, I decided just to cut a lot of the side-bits out of this one.
As always, feel free to ask questions about the meeting, the various options, etc.
The Banditry actions do not need to be in a plan, as they are separate from the Council Actions conceptually. Unless you roll a miss this time, you'll wrap up the banditry in the Trade Towns this turn, at least.
[ ][MINER DEMANDS] Decrease Quotas
-[ ]Force the Leaseholders to Eat the Cost (Upsets Mine Leaseholders)
-[ ]Reduce Southmarch Mining Taxes income by .5 Dureks to cover the leaseholder's expenses
[ ][MINER DEMANDS] Increase Wages
-[ ]Force the Leaseholders to Eat the Cost (Upsets Mine Leaseholders)
-[ ]Reduce Southmarch Mining Taxes income by .5 Dureks to cover the leaseholder's expenses
-[ ]Add a .5 Durek line item to the Expenses that will cover the increased wages.
[ ][MINER DEMANDS] Create the Fund for Severely Injured Miners/The Immediate Family of Dead Miners
-[ ]Force the Lease Holders to Pony Up the Money (Upsets the Mine Leaseholders a lot)
-[ ]Reduce the Southmarch Mining taxes by 1.5 Dureks to cover the leaseholder's expenses
-[ ]Create the Fund from Crown Resources with 10 Dureks to start with and having Rucdorn Relcred find someone trustworthy to manage the investments. (-10 Dureks)
[ ][MINER DEMANDS] Offer all the miners a substantive bonus (to be distributed to all the miners) (-5 Dureks)
[ ][CORRESPONDENCE] Begin Internal Charm Offensive – Spread the Word About Vanessa's Accomplishments (Increase popularity)
Probably a good idea.
[ ][ROYAL VAULTS] Sell the Necrotic Artifacts delivered by Dorien and Vrel's man. (Base Chance 70% + Stewardship) (Max Sale Value, 4 Dureks)
Given our limited money, best to do this one, raise a few more Dureks.
[ ][HIGH MARSHALL] Liaise with the Knights of the Golden Throne (No Roll, Improves future coordination with the Knights if they need to be called up)
Something we need to do and best do now because we're short on cash.
[ ][SECRETS] Investigate Roland Arbolast Fredero, a noble who may be connected to both the ex-Countess Gramaire, and to Dorien and Vrel (Base Chance 62% + Intrigue)*
Yeah, a potential traitor is not something to ignore.
[ ][JUSTICE] Investigate charges as yet unproven against former rebels (Base Chance 68% + Intrigue + 1/2 Learning)*
We can finally put the civil war behind us - for the nation at large.
[ ][ENVOYS] Open Trade Negotiations (Could Produce Additional Durek Income)
Alright, looking at the map. First things first tax assessments. I want to do the port city to check that's up to date since that should be a fairly major economic hub. And related to that, we've got a river heading directly to them, cutting straight through the Befost county. So let's do both of those.
Keeper of correspondence? We've got major actions against bandits. Let's stack the deck there, the fact that this costs no money is also a bonus.
Royal vaults. We're experiencing an issue with currency contraction. That is, there's a lack of coins and liquidity in the market. The crown is spending heavily on loans interest, and a significant amount of that is actually leaving the country. Less money = less buying and selling of goods which = less economic output as people spend less, and worse some areas might increasingly rely on barter, which is far less harder to track, assess, and tax. So, we need coins for people to spend. And as a bonus, getting the queens face on them helps with royal propaganda. A significant amount of wealth has been leaving the country so yeah. I'd like to inject a fair amount of stimulus back into local economies.
High Marshall? Well, looking at the map to the north we've got unorganized goblin territories. Plus bandit clans in the forest. So they get surveyed to see what can be improved.
For keeper of secrets. Rather than 'doing' anything let's carry on rebuilding our spy network so that we have better chances for some of our options. Gives us more passive info, and better chances for other actions later. 5 Dureks, in line with building other spy networks.
Sheriffs and Reeves, we need the mines. The additional 5 Dureks up front gets them back to work hopefully. And here's the thing, the 5 dureks to get them back to work? The mine makes 5 dureks itself. Plus, the knock on effects on Southmarch as a whole is another -1. So getting them working basically immediately gets us 1 durek. Two things especial of note. The mines, they extract resources and raw materials, perfect for printing currency. So, they're pretty important to get working again. But 2, the complaints that the strikes might spread and we'll have to *checks notes,* make sure that our workers are fairly paid, safe from unsafe working conditions, and have protections against being fired or evicted without cause? We should all want that. Beyond that, looking at things on a purely monetary level? How much will it cost to mobilise and send in the army? how much damage will be done? how many skilled miners and workers will be lost? How much damage will that due to the economic output of the region as a whole? No. We pay them the bonus as a sign of good faith, the mines maintanence and repairs are carried out to ensure they keep producing, and basically, the mine will pay for itself. Any complaints about paying the workers more are fundamentally complaints that it's making 'less' profit. Because that's the thing, we don't need to worry about 'maximising profit'. So long as the mine is making any profit at all it's worth keeping open. And it is still profitable, or will be at least once it reopens. Every turn it's closed down is a loss.
(sidenote, the option for concessions for miners says see the bottom of the post for a list of concessions, but I can't find it?)
Justice, investigate the charges and either prove their innocence or guilt as applicable. We need to heal from the civil war.
Keeper of envoys, Pretty simple. We've met the suitors as people, or at least most of them. Continuing with that, let's see what the negotiations look like on a state level, what each wants formally, and what they're offering.
The queens personal actions. I've made my position clear on the suitors we do have another visiting soon to meet, but Vanessa is fairly diplomatic, even with her greedy trait she should provide a net positive to any negotiations. And beyond that, sitting in on the negotiations and having direct input rather than having our keeper of envoys negotiate, come back with an offer, we refuse and send it back etc and so on. We can negotiate more directly. Granted, our Keeper does have the power to make binding agreements or at least normally they would. But Vanessa has made it clear, she is having a say in her own marraige no matter what. So, yeah. She should be a part of any negotiations, and IMO it should give us a stronger hand to have the queen herself in the room. It would be one thing if we'd agreed to just let our advisors pick the best option, but we haven't the decision is ours and that means having a hand in it. We're not pushing the Keeper out, but having us there directly will help avoid any miscommunications and speed up negotiations rather than trying to end a meeting and check with us.
Apart from that, magic gems, we have magic. Let's investigate.
Banditry, General trins has experience against bandits. His trait specifically notes he does best when dispersed, so, disperse the troops. Assuming dispersing gives the plus 5 then it is only 1% worse than sending out light cavalry to engage the bandits directly and it only risks medium casualties rather than high. I can be convinced to vote for one of the other options that have a lower chance of casualties, but IMO, getting the banditry sorted is important.
Lastly, payment of debts. We can finally pay off the debts of Syrokis, both as the highest interest loans, and to remove that line item as a whole, as a bonus, we can say that we've then finally handled Syrokis old debts. And, it's not the most efficient, but for the rest of our creditors? Cover their interest, plus pay a nominal symbolic amount back. it's not going to do much on paper. But we're finally in a position where we have our debts under control. We can steady nerves and show our creditors, "Hey, yes, here's the interest and we are going to be paying you back." Which calms our foreign lenders. And Eaglecrest, Port Lest and Westcrown aren't our biggest lenders and have the lowest interest but in paying them it begins to put money back into our own economies rather than wealth flowing out to foreign banks. While still paying them and thanking them for their patience. Monetarily it's not much. But I do believe that it will improve confidence in our credit and our economy. To show our lenders that we're stable and able to pay our debts, and putting money back into the hands of our own merchants and nobles who've lent to us. 10 Dureks is going to minting new currency, but we effectively put another 9.75 dureks back into our towns.
It doesn't include the Goldaxe bank, but they're our newest creditor. They knew what they were signing up for when they offered the bridge loan. At an eyeball, by paying our interest for most loans, even as the goldaxe loan compounds interest, we've removed the higher interest Syrokis loans. So, our servicing of debts for syrokis goes down by 5 and interest on our own loans increases by 1. A net improvement. Or put another way, we remove 46 dureks worth of debt and take another 11 dureks of debt. In all, an improvement of 35 dureks total paid off the total amount. (39 if we count the smaller loans too) And that's in addition to hopefully reopening our mines, plus performing tax assessments, plus hopefully removing bandits.
[ ]Plan Economic confidence and negotiations [ ][TAX ASSESSMENTS] Port Lest Land Tax
[ ][TAX ASSESSMENTS] Befost County Land Tax [ ][CORRESPONDENCE] Gather Reports On Banditry (Improves Base Chance of future Anti-Banditry Tasks) (Base Chance 65% + Stewardship)
[ ][ROYAL VAULTS] Acquire Raw Materials To Mint New Gold and Silver Coins (Progress towards resolving Currency Contraction, Advances Royal Propaganda) (No Roll Required)
-[ ] <10 Dureks>
[ ][HIGH MARSHALL] Survey Border Defenses (Opens Options for Future Improvement of Border Defenses) (Base Chance: 75% + Martial)*
-[ ]Eaglecrest
[ ][SECRETS] Rebuild Internal Spy Network (Phase 3 of ?) (No roll required. Each phase opens more [SECRETS] options down the line and improves chances of success of internal spy operations, as well as giving increased chance for intelligence to be 'passively' received)
-[ ]Provide Funds to Speed up/Improve Process. Write-in amount. 5 Dureks
[ ][SHERIFFS AND REEVES] Negotiate With the Striking Southmarch Miners
-[ ]Offer them an additional concession (5 Dureks bonus) (Base Chance 60%+Diplomacy)* [ ][JUSTICE] Investigate charges as yet unproven against former rebels (Base Chance 68% + Intrigue + 1/2 Learning)*
[ ][ENVOYS] Begin Talks With All the Suitors and/or their Ambassadors About Treaty Terms (Gets a formal list of offer/demands from each suitor. Miss means you start in a very bad negotiating position, Weak success is a not ideal but not terrible position, Strong success means very good position. The better the position, the better the starting point for negotiations) (Base Chance 45% + Diplomacy)
[ ][QUEEN] Take Some time to investigate the magical gems that Rienne recovered from the Necrotic Temple (Base Chance 70% + Magic)
[ ][QUEEN] Suggest additional task, subject to QM Veto (Base Chance Will be Set by QM If Approved)
-[ ] Sit in on the negotiations with the suitors and Ambassadors about treaty terms to have direct input on the negotiations and streamline the process.
[ ][BANDITRY GENERAL] Send General Trins (Rolls will use his Martial and Trait)
[ ][BANDITRY PLAN] Disperse to Cover Major Trade Caravans (Get Merchants to travel in caravan convoys, and disperse to guard them directly) (Medium Casualties at Most) (Base Chance: 65% + Martial)*
[ ][BANDITRY TARGET] The Trade Towns (Locked, Must continue what you started)
[ ] Debt payments
-[ ]Previous Debts Owed By Syrokis: 41.25 Dureks (12% Monthly Interest) (5 Dureks) Pay 46.25 total
--[ ]Crown debt interest +1 durek each = 69.5 --[ ] Axecavern Bank (Lortan Dwarves) (25.25 Dureks)* --[ ] Redhammer Bank (Lortan Dwarves): (15 Dureks) --[ ]Owed to Assorted Individual Wealthy Merchants/Etc based in Eaglecrest, Port Lest and Westcrown: (9.75 Dureks) --[ ]Owed to Assorted Individual Weathy Merchants Based in Zedarsh or Selissa: (19.5 Dureks)
Treasury/debt calculations
11+250.5=261.5
261-122 = 139.5
-5 from spy network = 134.5
-5 from miners bonus = 129.5
-10 dureks from minting new coins =119.5
-46.25 (rounded up including interest) to completely pay off Syrokis debts =73.25 coins remaining
Crown debt interest = 65.5 Owed to the Axecavern Bank (Lortan Dwarves): 241.75 Dureks (10% Interest) (24.25 Dureks)* Owed to the Redhammer Bank (Lortan Dwarves): 126.5 Dureks (11% Interest) (14 Dureks) Owed to Assorted Individual Wealthy Merchants/Etc based in Eaglecrest, Port Lest and Westcrown: 110.25 Dureks (8% Interest) (8.75 Dureks) Owed to Assorted Individual Weathy Merchants Based in Zedarsh or Selissa: 168.5 Dureks (11% Interest) (18.5 Dureks)
73.25 Dureks remaining.
Cover interest, + pay back 1 durek to each group. = 69.5
3.75 Dureks remaining
(goldaxe bank not included)
Plan finished here
So, yeah. Does this sound workable to everyone? Any thoughts or suggestions?
An alternate plan for the debts could include paying them all down. Including the goldaxe bank.
We wouldn't be able to completely remove the syrokis loans but rather than focusing a lump sum on syrokis debts we could split our surplus among all the loans and it would eat into all of them. Not as efficient as removing the syrokis debts. But would give more freedom to paying off creditors closer to home and even saving a small amount to go into our treasury for unexpected expenses and/or so we have some lump cash on hand.
What would people prefer? Lump sum to get rid of the highest interest debt? Or more steadily chipping away at all of them?
