Kylia Quilor
I Have Two Moods, and Bitter is One of Them.
- Location
- Hiding in the corner of your vision.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Plan Grammairean has won. Post incoming this weekend.
You're the Queen - Now What? [CK2ish Character-Focused Quest]
- Thread starter Kylia Quilor
- Start date
- Mature Fantasy
Plan Grammairean has won. Post incoming this weekend.
Rolls for Council Meeting Turn 7
Kylia Quilor
I Have Two Moods, and Bitter is One of Them.
- Location
- Hiding in the corner of your vision.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Plan: Poor Gramairean
-[X][TAX ASSESSMENTS] County of Vaspiri Land Tax
-[X][TAX ASSESSMENTS] Befost County Land Tax
-[X][CORRESPONDENCE] Lend Clerks to help another Keeper with their Task (+3/+6 to their Task on a Weak/Strong Success) (Base Chance 50% + Stewardship)
--[X] Keeper of Envoys
-[X][ROYAL VAULTS] Mint the 15 Dureks Worth of Gold and Silver into new Coins and Put them Into Circulation (Base Chance 70% + Stewardship) (Begins Resolution of Currency Contraction, Advances Royal Propaganda)
-[X][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)
-[X][SECRETS] Rebuild an External Spy Network (Costs 5 Dureks) (Provides passive intelligence and improves chances of spy operations inside a given state)
--[X] In Menthura (Base Chance 45% + Intrigue)*
-[X][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]
-[X][JUSTICE] Open Long-Term Investigation of the finances of known ex-Loyalists, to watch for any signs of them providing financial support to ex-Countess Gramaire (No Roll Required) (Costs 4 Dureks)
-[X][ENVOYS] Negotiate Treaties/Improve Existing Treaties (Base Chance 50% + Diplomacy)* (Base Chance is Per Treaty) (Pick 3)
--[X] Marriage Pact With Nerinthar
--[X] Marriage Pact With Darkmoon Forest
--[X] Treaty of Alliance With South Zarsim
-[X] [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)*
--[X] Menthura
-[X][QUEEN] Social Action (May use both Queen Actions on Social Action)
--[X] Spend time with a Suitor (Essinya, Janera)
-[X][BANDITRY GENERAL] Send General Darach (Rolls will use her Martial and Trait)
-[X][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)*
-[X][BANDITRY TARGET] The Lordships (Locked, Only Remaining Target)
-[X][TAX ASSESSMENTS] County of Vaspiri Land Tax
-[X][TAX ASSESSMENTS] Befost County Land Tax
-[X][CORRESPONDENCE] Lend Clerks to help another Keeper with their Task (+3/+6 to their Task on a Weak/Strong Success) (Base Chance 50% + Stewardship)
--[X] Keeper of Envoys
-[X][ROYAL VAULTS] Mint the 15 Dureks Worth of Gold and Silver into new Coins and Put them Into Circulation (Base Chance 70% + Stewardship) (Begins Resolution of Currency Contraction, Advances Royal Propaganda)
-[X][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)
-[X][SECRETS] Rebuild an External Spy Network (Costs 5 Dureks) (Provides passive intelligence and improves chances of spy operations inside a given state)
--[X] In Menthura (Base Chance 45% + Intrigue)*
-[X][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]
-[X][JUSTICE] Open Long-Term Investigation of the finances of known ex-Loyalists, to watch for any signs of them providing financial support to ex-Countess Gramaire (No Roll Required) (Costs 4 Dureks)
-[X][ENVOYS] Negotiate Treaties/Improve Existing Treaties (Base Chance 50% + Diplomacy)* (Base Chance is Per Treaty) (Pick 3)
--[X] Marriage Pact With Nerinthar
--[X] Marriage Pact With Darkmoon Forest
--[X] Treaty of Alliance With South Zarsim
-[X] [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)*
--[X] Menthura
-[X][QUEEN] Social Action (May use both Queen Actions on Social Action)
--[X] Spend time with a Suitor (Essinya, Janera)
-[X][BANDITRY GENERAL] Send General Darach (Rolls will use her Martial and Trait)
-[X][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)*
-[X][BANDITRY TARGET] The Lordships (Locked, Only Remaining Target)
[Correspondence] 50 (Base) + 6 (Stew) = 56% = STRONG HIT
[Royal Vaults] 70 (Base) + 10 (Stew) = 80% = STRONG HIT
[High Marshall] No Roll Required
[Secrets] 45 (Base) + 7 (Intrigue) + 5 (Trait) = 57% = STRONG HIT
[Sheriffs and Reeves] 54 (Base) + 6 (Stew) +3 (Trait) = 63% = WEAK HIT
[Justice] No Roll Required
[Envoys Trait] [Nerinthar] 55 (Base) +10 (Magic) = 65% = WEAK HIT
[Envoys Trait] [Darkmoon Forest] 48 (Base) +10 (Magic) = 58% = WEAK HIT
[Envoys Trait] [South Zarsim] 55 (Base) + 10 (Magic) = 65% = WEAK HIT
[Envoys] [Nerinthar] 50 (Base) + 7 (Dip) = 57% + 3 (Correspondence) + 3 (Trait) = 63% = WEAK HIT
[Envoys] [Darkmoon Forest] 50 (Base) + 7 (Dip) = 57% + 3 (Correspondence) + 3 (Trait) = 63% = STRONG HIT
[Envoys] [South Zarsim] 50 (Base) + 7 (Dip) = 57% + 3 (Correspondence) + 3 (Trait) = 63% = WEAK HIT
[Queen 1] 55 (Base) + 11 (Magic) + 5 (Trait) = 71% = MISS
[Queen 2] No Roll Required
[Darach Bandit Plan] 65 (Base) + 10 (Martial) = 75% = WEAK HIT
[Darach Trait] 70 (Base) + 6 (Magic) = 76% = MISS
Last edited:
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Eh. Two really unexpected misses. But more Strong Hits, particularly where they needed to count.
Turn 7: Council Actions
Kylia Quilor
I Have Two Moods, and Bitter is One of Them.
- Location
- Hiding in the corner of your vision.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
It was the custom of the owner of the Endless Flagon to test gold coins when someone paid with them. The Endless Flagon was a tavern in Port Lest that catered to not the rank and file sailors, but the ones that got a real cut of the action from shipping – 2nd and 3rd mates, the ship's 'surgeon', other assorted officers and favored crew members. Not quite a high class or expensive place, but a bit more than the purse of your average sailor could manage, unless they were quite fortunate.
Silver coins, in various denominations and purities were the common currency there, but sometimes someone had some gold – none of the really big ones, no sense wasting those in a tavern like this – but still.
"A round for the house," one ship's officer said, slapping down several small gold coins, all recently minted, given that they held the profile of the new Queen on the face side. "This may be my last night here at the Flagon for a long while or more, so I may as well go out in style!"
There was a raucous roar of approval for the call, and the owner took the coins, testing each one with a quick touch of his teeth, though he honestly wasn't sure if he needed to. So far, every coin minted by the new Queen was exactly what it was supposed to be. So even if forgers were out doing their work, none had found their way to his tavern.
On the other hand, good to stay in the habit.
"And why won't we be seeing you again?" The owner asked the other man, a regular he'd seen in and out for years. "Getting too good for us? That promotion you were eying to first mate?" He chuckled as he directed the barmaids to bring out tankards of ale for the whole house.
"Moving inland actually," the man said. Several nearby patrons all stared at him like he'd grown a second head, and he laughed. "Into riverboats. My cousin's gotten the contract to cart supplies along the river for the new roads they're building between the Grand Duchy and Port Lest. Food for the workers, carting all the wood and stone and tools up from Lake Raida… hard work, but someone's got to do it, and as you can see, the new Queen pays well!"
"Long live a Queen that pays well, eh?" One of the patrons offered, chuckling, then raised his fresh tankard of ale, offering a toast to the man, whom many of the regulars had known on and off for years, just as he had them. When you had a favorite watering hole, after all, you got to know the people.
That the patron offering the toast made a little spare cash providing information to people who worked for someone who worked for someone who worked for the Queen (maybe a few more someones in there, he was fuzzy on the details) for information on how people were feeling about things under the new order, well… who really cared, eh?
There were advantages to trying to spy on a Kingdom of mostly superstitious illiterates, a man known by the false name (in Menthura) of Arioganst, considered. Namely, that they tended to be ignorant rubes.
Unfortunately, they also tended to be close-minded, xenophobic and paranoid.
Getting agents into the halls of power in Menthura was easier said than done, but it was doable. The real problem was that since so many of the servants – the very people Arioganst tended to focus his own efforts on, directly and indirectly – weren't able to actually write any of their observations down. Granted, illiteracy tended to lend itself to surprisingly good memories, but sending a letter was much, much more efficient way to handle things than reporting in person. It made the whole process far less secure. More people had seen his face, he had to make sure his location wasn't being seen or watched…
As far as the vast majority of his recruits knew, he was merely working for various other nobles in Menthura, playing games of regional petty politics, scooping up juicy gossip and details that would benefit the minor brushfire border wars powerful nobles sometimes waged on one another. Nothing serious, nothing out of the ordinary.
But the really trusted servants, the people with real access… those were proving harder to get one's hands on. Not without risking cover.
So he didn't have any people in the inner circles, or even observing those inner circles. He had a good idea of who was in those circles of power now, thanks to the observations of his people. But no more. And no penetration into Grammaire's own manor (or at least the manor she was using. Arioganst was fuzzy on if she owned it, was renting it, or just borrowing the place). Or the King's palace, beyond a few people.
There was still time, and networks took real time to really grow. His penetration was deep, but narrow so far. And he doubted he was the only agent that Halrun had sent into Menthura to build networks of spies. And the less he knew, the less he could discover.
Then again, these idiot rubes can't catch me. Even paranoid and xenophobic as they are, they're just hard to turn, not hard to fool…
The Leadership of the Knights of the Golden Throne was a five-member council, though in practice, they didn't tend to need do much as a collective entity. The Knights were not self-directed, they were a military order, after all, but they did tend to not need a lot of work to stay on the same page, given their shared oaths, religious nature and the general unity of purpose that gathered them.
Or at least, that was the official version.
In practice, the five-member council didn't tend to need to do much because there just wasn't much to do. Maintaining readiness and supply was a regular task, yes, but not one that too much in the way of energy or time for anyone in command. The Knights had the systems necessary to do all that down to a true art after centuries of doing it. And with the Kingdom of The Necromancers continuing to pose no real threat…
Well, they just didn't tend to have to meet much, from what Darach had said.
Of course, Darach wasn't here, which meant she was only meeting with four. Three men and one woman. Darach was the youngest member of the council, the rest all in their 50s at least.
"The Order of the Golden Throne is troubled by reports coming from the capital," One of the Generals said, a man with graying temples and a distinguished, rugged air that Rienne admittedly found oddly attractive. Just a little. "Diplomacy with Darkmoon Forest is one thing, but to entertain a marriage-"
"The Queen's marriage is not really what I'm here to discuss, and you know it." Rienne interrupted politely. "I am not the Keeper of Envoys, I am not the Queen, and I don't really have the authority to speak on the matter."
"What else is there to discuss, High Marshall? Our readiness remains as it ever was, and our oaths of allegiance to the Crown of Halrun focus us on Darkmoon Forest above all other threats." Another general, the woman, her hair cut short and dyed a brilliant, almost glowing yellow.
"Focus on, yes, but not to the exclusion of anything else. Have undead actually made up the majority of anything you've fought? Raise your hands." Only one, the eldest did. From what Rienne knew of that one, he had played a role in handling one particularly stubborn renegade some forty years ago. The rest, though, couldn't actually say they'd mostly fought undead.
"Regardless of the Queen's marriage, I think we can all agree that Archnecromancer Lyrus is unlikely to prosecute war against Halrun, or any neighboring realm?" Rienne added, gesturing to the map on the wall, detailing Darkmoon Forest and all surrounding lands.
"...I suppose that's true," The distinguished, rugged general confirmed, to reluctant agreement from the rest of his fellows. "But we're not going to relax our mandate to watch the forest. It has been sometime since a renegade caused trouble, but one will, sooner or later."
"I wouldn't expect you to stop watching the border," Rienne really would rather they were willing to be a little more flexible. Under the existing oaths and contracts binding the Knights to the Crown of Halrun, in any external war Halrun fought (apart from against the Necromancers, of course), at most, only 40% of the Knight's fighting strength would be pulled away from the border with Darkmoon Forest and the Citadel of the Golden Throne. Granted, that still represented approximately 400 heavily armed and armored knights that wielded holy magic and bore weapons and armor enchanted, often more than once, over the last few centuries. The weapons and armor of the Knights were handed down through the generations, and the Knights came down hard on anyone who wasn't of their Order that 'found' any of those items.
Granted, some likely still got bought and sold on black markets but they were quite good at finding them.
In addition to Knights themselves, the Order had archers, men-at-arms and light cavalry. The number varied but right now, about a thousand might be freed up with the full 40%.
There was no way Rienne would ever be able to talk the Knights into moving move than 40%. And the Crown had no good legal recourse to change the issue. The relevant feudal oaths had been sworn for a period of 'three hundred years', so renegotiation was far, far in the future. Vanessa's multiple-times great grandchildren might be able to renegotiate things, but as it stood, she couldn't.
"But given that you you are obligated to aid Halrun if the Kingdom is invaded, and our two greatest threats are Morvak and the goblins of the Northlands, it seems practical for us to figure out how best to have the Order meet it's obligations in the case of a war with either enemy."
Granted, given what Rienne knew, if war with Morvak came anytime soon, it would likely be intervening in the civil war. Unless Priscilla won her little war very quickly, Morvak would need time to recover. And if Regara won, then in theory, war with Morvak would not be on the offing during her reign…
Unless the marriage alliance with Illegorst or Nerinthar or Selissa panned out.
Rienne was rapidly deciding she hated international politics, just a little.
"...well, I suppose then we should get to it," the female General noted. "Supply arrangements during such wars will have to be drawn up as well."
"A fair point. I imagine we'll want to rotate a few junior officers back and forth to ensure everything is regularly understood, but once we have some new arrangements in place… we can get started."
"In theory, the roads linking up to the Free Cities should be easier to repair, because they were always the best condition of all of the major linkages, since the Free Cities used to cover some of the maintenance."
"In theory?" Balmain asked, looking over at the man she'd assigned to oversee the new construction. With the full staffing of her subordinates, she couldn't personally manage the road project, she had too much to do. But she also had the manpower to appoint managers to oversee things like the road improvements.
"In theory." the man nodded. "In practice, with both Free Cities being major hubs for the rebellion, both sides spent even more energy tearing the roads up than usual. So we're looking at a little longer than ideal, but we should still be able to have it sorted enough for the roads to be usable in six months."
"Any chance we could get that faster?"
"Not really, Milday," The man admitted. "More manpower could speed it up, maybe, but after a certain point, there just wouldn't be enough room for everyone at every worksite. And then there's the cost. Not like we have limitless available people to hire."
"And hiring more drives up the cost. Six months it is for now then." Balmain nodded. "Anything else to report? No sickness in the workcamps this time?"
"Nope, nope, lessons learned from last time, and maybe some good luck and we've managed to prevent any major outbreaks."
"Good. Dismissed then."
Keeping an eye on finances was not a simple matter.
Banks and moneylenders tended to keep things private, to protect their clients and protect their own money, but still, one couldn't move large sums of money around without leaving a trace somewhere, and that was where the Keeper of Justice's investigators were set to start their work.
Working from lists of known ex-Loyalists, who had by all accounts resigned themselves to Queen Vanessa's reign but were probably not happy with it, maps of financial connections, business relationships and lending transactions were being drawn up, a whole network of finance. Most of it looked to be, and likely was, legitimate.
The trick would be to track down expenses, look for suspicious ones, and make sure no one had unexpectedly large sums of money come in, and no one was missing unexpectedly large sums of money.
Doing that required watching – not really the same thing as spying, the Keeper of Justice's investigators didn't do the infiltration thing, not really – and monitoring, keeping an eye on the comings and goings of customers and clients to banks and moneylenders, collating information filed with relevant local authorities regarding taxes and major transactions…
So far, things were still nascent, but this was a long-term prospect, one way or another.
They might catch treason, but they were just as likely to catch other financial crimes. Probably a bit of light tax evasion. Everyone did that after all, but if you got caught, you got caught.
Arandel felt much better about the latest rounds of negotiations than the last round. His scrying had proven to be a bit more effective, giving him a touch more insight into the desires of the other side, and Rykall's clerks had managed to produce some useful data on Halrun's long-term prospects and even medium-term ones that tilted the balance for the time being a little less against Halrun than before, when it came to what each realm brought to the table.
In the end, he'd made the most progress with Darkmoon Forest, leveraging the fact that they were experiencing food shortages in the north of their realm – not enough for anyone to starve, but the price of food was rising there, and the shock of that was spreading across the realm. Better access to Halrunian food exports would be very welcome in coming months, as the impact of the shortages spread.
If food shortages weren't arrested quickly, they could spiral into much worse, very quickly, had been Arandel's experience. Humans were just too prone, on a mass scale, to panicky responses to the prospect of missing a few meals. Elves were better about that.
Then again, biologically, we just don't need as much food as often. Elves could and did eat three meals a day, but strictly speaking, they could get by on one per day without too much issue.
Vanessa didn't take failing with her magic very well, since it happened so rarely, but she was trying to not let her recent failure to scry on Menthura bother her too much. Objectively, there were reasons why it would fail – distance in both physical and conceptual space, lack of ties to the region, lack of familiarity with the key players to focus the scrying…
For now, though, she was going to try to get to know some of her suitors better. First up: Essinya Serriados.
"-in it's most basic, that's how the mana is channeled for the animation process, though obviously that isn't the most efficient way to do it." Essinya finished explaining.
At the Gala, Vanessa had suggested they discuss magical theory in a more opportune context, and what had started as a discussion to get to know Essinya had quickly turned into a discussion of magical theory and practice. Of course, given how important magic was to them both, this was not a bad thing.
"I can imagine. Even knowing as little about necromancy as I do, I would imagine you could speed the process up with a few alterations to the process, just based on what I know about enchantment." She sketched out what she was talking about on an empty corner of the crowded piece of parchment they'd been taking turns using to illustrate their points.
Essinya's eyes widened just a little, and then she smiled, "You are quite correct, your Majesty," she admitted, sounding pleased. "Granted, no beginner would be able to execute that trick safely or consistently, but after the first few years, most apprentices are taught something much like that."
Vanessa took a sip of her wine. It was a Necrotic vintage, the wine actually black in color. The grapes themselves were also black, a rare breed grown exclusively in the forest, and in Vanessa's mind, she could see why the Kingdom of the Necromancers export of whiskey was more prized than it's wine. This wine was far, far too bitter for her tastes as a thing to drink on a regular basis, though it was excellent in it's quality nonetheless.
One of her guards had tested it – Essinya probably would have been offended if Vanessa had taken the glass without any tasting from someone else, to see if it wasn't poisoned.
"Somehow, I suspect it took you a much shorter time to graduate beyond the basics, once your formal tutelage in necromancy began," Vanessa murmured.
Essinya chuckled, "That would be true, yes. But I did have the advantage of learning at my father's hand from the moment I could speak, here and there. From what I gather, you showed similar speed of learning at the Academ in Veldros, when you began your education there."
"With some subjects, it's true." Vanessa agreed. She raised an eyebrow, "Have you been checking into my past, then?"
"Well, why not? I won't surrender any advantage when it comes to any field of competition, after all." Essinya sipped at her own wine, no doubt quite used to the vintage's bitter taste.
"Is this what I should expect from a marriage with you then? Just another field of contest, endlessly testing ourselves against one another? In every field we might find ourselves on?" Vanessa asked, smirking slightly at the way Essinya's eyes darted away from her face, for just a moment.
With how pale the necromancer-princess was, it was also possible to detect the slightest of blushes on her cheeks, for a mere moment. Impossible to say for sure, and yet…
"To a great extent, it's quite likely, yes," Essinya admitted. "One should never grow lax, after all. A partnership is best when both parties can improve the other. That you are capable of challenging me, and I you, is one of your most appealing qualities."
"Ah, so you really are just interested in me for my magic?" Vanessa teased.
"Not just your magic, Your Majesty. The rest of you offers quite a few inducements all it's own." Essinya replied quietly.
With Janera, they met again in the palace gardens – she figured the woman would be more at ease surrounded by the plants she found so fascinating.
Which, she was. And with Janera at ease, she managed to do what she did best – be attractive when talking about something she was enthusiastic about. It wasn't just her looks either – the enthusiasm she brought to the fore when she did that, the vivaciousness – Janera was a smart woman, and Vanessa was curious what she might able to bring to the table on that front, but even more, there was the question of what being married to the girl would be like.
Matters of state were best handled by the negotiations. Vanessa wanted to know the people she might marry.
"-the mechanics of scrying are significantly more complicated than that in practice, but at it's fundamentals, that is how it works, whatever, wherever and whenever you're targeting." Vanessa concluded, watching Janera. While the other woman didn't really know how magic worked beyond a basic, well-educated noble's understanding (so not half-bad, for a non-mage), she had followed along with Vanessa's explanation, even asking insightful questions.
Vanessa hadn't planned to be the one going off on long explanations, but when Janera had prompted her to talk about the things that she was interested in, Vanessa hadn't been able to resist. Maybe she was primed after having finally had the chance to discuss magic in detail recently, with Essinya the previous day, or maybe it was simply a matter of Janera's easy, conversational charm.
Talking to her was… easy. The other woman had no artifice to her, when having a conversation about plants or animals, about natural philosophy. Even when discussing matters of state, she was far more direct than most, without being undiplomatic or careless in her language.
"I admit, I never realized how… rigorous magic could really be," Janera admitted. "In terms of how the principles governing it worked, I mean." she clarified quickly. "My tutors always implied magic was far more..." she groped for the right word, biting her lower lip. "...about will, and intent, than fundamental rules and laws."
"Will and intent are absolutely necessary, and with enough of both, and enough power, one can push, bend or even break every law of magic, in theory. One can argue that many of the sins of the Iredan Empire, including whatever destroyed it, were in pursuit of more power to do just that, for instance."
"…I see your point." Janera admitted. "Have you read about the expeditions to the Haunted Lands?"
"A few, in passing. I assume the flora and fauna there is quite fascinating as well?"
"Confusing, would be saying it more accurately." Janera corrected. "By all accounts, none of it makes sense. The screaming forest, the bloodstained wood – there's no rhyme or reason, no purpose, not even one bent and warped by magical forces. They merely are. Just as the murder bricks, the Entropic Beasts… it's all twisted up, absent of any coherent logic… or so it seems."
The skeptical look on her face made it quite clear Janera believed there was something. Vanessa made a note to ask her about that more later, but after a few more minutes of discussion, she steered the conversation in a different direction.
One day, Janera's brother would become King of Nerinthar, and there was every reason to assume Janera would still be alive and the alliance still in force at that point. And they'd still be allied, in theory.
What sort of man was Jarok?
"We were never close," Janera admitted. "He was always more interested in military affairs, in warfare, and in his… personal pursuits. He's six years my elder, and we just never really had time together."
There was a hesitation before 'personal pursuits' that Vanessa wanted to ask about, but she got the impression, from the slight grimace on Janera's face that it was something she didn't want to linger on.
"He loves his wife. Countess Elisara and my brother are… infamous for how in love they are. Sometimes they're found in palace alcoves… in amorous embrace." Janera flushed. Vanessa raised her eyebrow again, smirking, and Janera flushed harder. "Not – not… they're always clothed!" She added, voice higher-pitched for a moment.
"I didn't say anything-"
"You were thinking it, Your Majesty!" Janera said in an almost accusatory tone, pointing at her.
"There is that," Vanessa admitted, watching Janera blush again. Janera scowled in a way that managed to make her look more like an angry kitten than anything else, then she cleared her throat and got herself under control.
"Perhaps more seriously to what you want to know: Jarok is a more aggressive man than my father. He's cagey about his own plans, from what I know and hear, but many of his friends are the sort who would love to declare war on Morvak, really push in, put them on the defensive, take a real city or two."
"And you feel your brother might act on that?"
"I honestly don't know him well enough to say," Janera confessed. "I don't think I've had more than five minutes conversation with him in… years, at least. We're family, and I love him, but I don't know him."
QM's Note: I am not feeling at my best, mentally or physically, as is a regular issue for me of late, and I don't have it in me to do the math for the casualties for the anti-Banditry patrol. I will do them by the time or at least at the same time, as the income/interest post, which will be in a little under a week barring the unexpected.
We didn't see a post for the Queen's failed scrying, just an allusion to it, and obviously Arandel's bit was mostly consumed with the treaties. No votes to do this time.
Silver coins, in various denominations and purities were the common currency there, but sometimes someone had some gold – none of the really big ones, no sense wasting those in a tavern like this – but still.
"A round for the house," one ship's officer said, slapping down several small gold coins, all recently minted, given that they held the profile of the new Queen on the face side. "This may be my last night here at the Flagon for a long while or more, so I may as well go out in style!"
There was a raucous roar of approval for the call, and the owner took the coins, testing each one with a quick touch of his teeth, though he honestly wasn't sure if he needed to. So far, every coin minted by the new Queen was exactly what it was supposed to be. So even if forgers were out doing their work, none had found their way to his tavern.
On the other hand, good to stay in the habit.
"And why won't we be seeing you again?" The owner asked the other man, a regular he'd seen in and out for years. "Getting too good for us? That promotion you were eying to first mate?" He chuckled as he directed the barmaids to bring out tankards of ale for the whole house.
"Moving inland actually," the man said. Several nearby patrons all stared at him like he'd grown a second head, and he laughed. "Into riverboats. My cousin's gotten the contract to cart supplies along the river for the new roads they're building between the Grand Duchy and Port Lest. Food for the workers, carting all the wood and stone and tools up from Lake Raida… hard work, but someone's got to do it, and as you can see, the new Queen pays well!"
"Long live a Queen that pays well, eh?" One of the patrons offered, chuckling, then raised his fresh tankard of ale, offering a toast to the man, whom many of the regulars had known on and off for years, just as he had them. When you had a favorite watering hole, after all, you got to know the people.
That the patron offering the toast made a little spare cash providing information to people who worked for someone who worked for someone who worked for the Queen (maybe a few more someones in there, he was fuzzy on the details) for information on how people were feeling about things under the new order, well… who really cared, eh?
There were advantages to trying to spy on a Kingdom of mostly superstitious illiterates, a man known by the false name (in Menthura) of Arioganst, considered. Namely, that they tended to be ignorant rubes.
Unfortunately, they also tended to be close-minded, xenophobic and paranoid.
Getting agents into the halls of power in Menthura was easier said than done, but it was doable. The real problem was that since so many of the servants – the very people Arioganst tended to focus his own efforts on, directly and indirectly – weren't able to actually write any of their observations down. Granted, illiteracy tended to lend itself to surprisingly good memories, but sending a letter was much, much more efficient way to handle things than reporting in person. It made the whole process far less secure. More people had seen his face, he had to make sure his location wasn't being seen or watched…
As far as the vast majority of his recruits knew, he was merely working for various other nobles in Menthura, playing games of regional petty politics, scooping up juicy gossip and details that would benefit the minor brushfire border wars powerful nobles sometimes waged on one another. Nothing serious, nothing out of the ordinary.
But the really trusted servants, the people with real access… those were proving harder to get one's hands on. Not without risking cover.
So he didn't have any people in the inner circles, or even observing those inner circles. He had a good idea of who was in those circles of power now, thanks to the observations of his people. But no more. And no penetration into Grammaire's own manor (or at least the manor she was using. Arioganst was fuzzy on if she owned it, was renting it, or just borrowing the place). Or the King's palace, beyond a few people.
There was still time, and networks took real time to really grow. His penetration was deep, but narrow so far. And he doubted he was the only agent that Halrun had sent into Menthura to build networks of spies. And the less he knew, the less he could discover.
Then again, these idiot rubes can't catch me. Even paranoid and xenophobic as they are, they're just hard to turn, not hard to fool…
The Leadership of the Knights of the Golden Throne was a five-member council, though in practice, they didn't tend to need do much as a collective entity. The Knights were not self-directed, they were a military order, after all, but they did tend to not need a lot of work to stay on the same page, given their shared oaths, religious nature and the general unity of purpose that gathered them.
Or at least, that was the official version.
In practice, the five-member council didn't tend to need to do much because there just wasn't much to do. Maintaining readiness and supply was a regular task, yes, but not one that too much in the way of energy or time for anyone in command. The Knights had the systems necessary to do all that down to a true art after centuries of doing it. And with the Kingdom of The Necromancers continuing to pose no real threat…
Well, they just didn't tend to have to meet much, from what Darach had said.
Of course, Darach wasn't here, which meant she was only meeting with four. Three men and one woman. Darach was the youngest member of the council, the rest all in their 50s at least.
"The Order of the Golden Throne is troubled by reports coming from the capital," One of the Generals said, a man with graying temples and a distinguished, rugged air that Rienne admittedly found oddly attractive. Just a little. "Diplomacy with Darkmoon Forest is one thing, but to entertain a marriage-"
"The Queen's marriage is not really what I'm here to discuss, and you know it." Rienne interrupted politely. "I am not the Keeper of Envoys, I am not the Queen, and I don't really have the authority to speak on the matter."
"What else is there to discuss, High Marshall? Our readiness remains as it ever was, and our oaths of allegiance to the Crown of Halrun focus us on Darkmoon Forest above all other threats." Another general, the woman, her hair cut short and dyed a brilliant, almost glowing yellow.
"Focus on, yes, but not to the exclusion of anything else. Have undead actually made up the majority of anything you've fought? Raise your hands." Only one, the eldest did. From what Rienne knew of that one, he had played a role in handling one particularly stubborn renegade some forty years ago. The rest, though, couldn't actually say they'd mostly fought undead.
"Regardless of the Queen's marriage, I think we can all agree that Archnecromancer Lyrus is unlikely to prosecute war against Halrun, or any neighboring realm?" Rienne added, gesturing to the map on the wall, detailing Darkmoon Forest and all surrounding lands.
"...I suppose that's true," The distinguished, rugged general confirmed, to reluctant agreement from the rest of his fellows. "But we're not going to relax our mandate to watch the forest. It has been sometime since a renegade caused trouble, but one will, sooner or later."
"I wouldn't expect you to stop watching the border," Rienne really would rather they were willing to be a little more flexible. Under the existing oaths and contracts binding the Knights to the Crown of Halrun, in any external war Halrun fought (apart from against the Necromancers, of course), at most, only 40% of the Knight's fighting strength would be pulled away from the border with Darkmoon Forest and the Citadel of the Golden Throne. Granted, that still represented approximately 400 heavily armed and armored knights that wielded holy magic and bore weapons and armor enchanted, often more than once, over the last few centuries. The weapons and armor of the Knights were handed down through the generations, and the Knights came down hard on anyone who wasn't of their Order that 'found' any of those items.
Granted, some likely still got bought and sold on black markets but they were quite good at finding them.
In addition to Knights themselves, the Order had archers, men-at-arms and light cavalry. The number varied but right now, about a thousand might be freed up with the full 40%.
There was no way Rienne would ever be able to talk the Knights into moving move than 40%. And the Crown had no good legal recourse to change the issue. The relevant feudal oaths had been sworn for a period of 'three hundred years', so renegotiation was far, far in the future. Vanessa's multiple-times great grandchildren might be able to renegotiate things, but as it stood, she couldn't.
"But given that you you are obligated to aid Halrun if the Kingdom is invaded, and our two greatest threats are Morvak and the goblins of the Northlands, it seems practical for us to figure out how best to have the Order meet it's obligations in the case of a war with either enemy."
Granted, given what Rienne knew, if war with Morvak came anytime soon, it would likely be intervening in the civil war. Unless Priscilla won her little war very quickly, Morvak would need time to recover. And if Regara won, then in theory, war with Morvak would not be on the offing during her reign…
Unless the marriage alliance with Illegorst or Nerinthar or Selissa panned out.
Rienne was rapidly deciding she hated international politics, just a little.
"...well, I suppose then we should get to it," the female General noted. "Supply arrangements during such wars will have to be drawn up as well."
"A fair point. I imagine we'll want to rotate a few junior officers back and forth to ensure everything is regularly understood, but once we have some new arrangements in place… we can get started."
"In theory, the roads linking up to the Free Cities should be easier to repair, because they were always the best condition of all of the major linkages, since the Free Cities used to cover some of the maintenance."
"In theory?" Balmain asked, looking over at the man she'd assigned to oversee the new construction. With the full staffing of her subordinates, she couldn't personally manage the road project, she had too much to do. But she also had the manpower to appoint managers to oversee things like the road improvements.
"In theory." the man nodded. "In practice, with both Free Cities being major hubs for the rebellion, both sides spent even more energy tearing the roads up than usual. So we're looking at a little longer than ideal, but we should still be able to have it sorted enough for the roads to be usable in six months."
"Any chance we could get that faster?"
"Not really, Milday," The man admitted. "More manpower could speed it up, maybe, but after a certain point, there just wouldn't be enough room for everyone at every worksite. And then there's the cost. Not like we have limitless available people to hire."
"And hiring more drives up the cost. Six months it is for now then." Balmain nodded. "Anything else to report? No sickness in the workcamps this time?"
"Nope, nope, lessons learned from last time, and maybe some good luck and we've managed to prevent any major outbreaks."
"Good. Dismissed then."
Keeping an eye on finances was not a simple matter.
Banks and moneylenders tended to keep things private, to protect their clients and protect their own money, but still, one couldn't move large sums of money around without leaving a trace somewhere, and that was where the Keeper of Justice's investigators were set to start their work.
Working from lists of known ex-Loyalists, who had by all accounts resigned themselves to Queen Vanessa's reign but were probably not happy with it, maps of financial connections, business relationships and lending transactions were being drawn up, a whole network of finance. Most of it looked to be, and likely was, legitimate.
The trick would be to track down expenses, look for suspicious ones, and make sure no one had unexpectedly large sums of money come in, and no one was missing unexpectedly large sums of money.
Doing that required watching – not really the same thing as spying, the Keeper of Justice's investigators didn't do the infiltration thing, not really – and monitoring, keeping an eye on the comings and goings of customers and clients to banks and moneylenders, collating information filed with relevant local authorities regarding taxes and major transactions…
So far, things were still nascent, but this was a long-term prospect, one way or another.
They might catch treason, but they were just as likely to catch other financial crimes. Probably a bit of light tax evasion. Everyone did that after all, but if you got caught, you got caught.
Arandel felt much better about the latest rounds of negotiations than the last round. His scrying had proven to be a bit more effective, giving him a touch more insight into the desires of the other side, and Rykall's clerks had managed to produce some useful data on Halrun's long-term prospects and even medium-term ones that tilted the balance for the time being a little less against Halrun than before, when it came to what each realm brought to the table.
In the end, he'd made the most progress with Darkmoon Forest, leveraging the fact that they were experiencing food shortages in the north of their realm – not enough for anyone to starve, but the price of food was rising there, and the shock of that was spreading across the realm. Better access to Halrunian food exports would be very welcome in coming months, as the impact of the shortages spread.
If food shortages weren't arrested quickly, they could spiral into much worse, very quickly, had been Arandel's experience. Humans were just too prone, on a mass scale, to panicky responses to the prospect of missing a few meals. Elves were better about that.
Then again, biologically, we just don't need as much food as often. Elves could and did eat three meals a day, but strictly speaking, they could get by on one per day without too much issue.
- Mutual defense against Morvak. If either nation was attacked by Morvak, the other was bound by treaty to declare war on Morvak.
- Mutual offense against Morvak. If either nation attacked Morvak, the other was honor bound to declare war on Morvak, unless already at war with a third party.
- No separate peaces with Morvak in either case, with the two kingdoms being equal in negotiations.
- If Halrun was attacked by a nation that wasn't Morvak, Nerinthar was obligated to 'give due and fair consideration' to providing 'what military aid could be practically offered'. It gave Nerinthar several outs, but still. Nerinthar hadn't demanded an equivalent clause, given their own geostrategic situation.
- Broad access to Nerinthar's Military Academies, with up to 60 promising officers being allowed to attend per year. The education expenses will 50% covered by Nerinthar, though the food, housing and other upkeep will need to be covered by Halrun.
- Halrun was, if war broke out, expected to actually attack Morvak, not just lurk ominously on the border to tie down their resources. Halrun was not necessarily expected to take major fortifications or cities, but the treaty did bind Halrun to make a 'best practical effort' to fight on Morvakian soil or make efforts to get onto said soil. (This was a slight change in Halrun's favor, as the specific phrasing now gave Halrun slightly more latitude in terms of what counted as 'best effort' to fight on or get onto Morvakian Soil)
- A dowry of 40 Dureks to be paid by Nerinthar to Halrun in no more than three installments, with the first installment coming on the day of the wedding.
- A slight change in the tarrifs between the two realms regarding trade coming through Nerinthar's ports on the Andelerian Sea, coming to or going from Halrun, that would net Halrun 1 extra Durek a month in revenues, but also make many of the export-import merchants (and their financial backers in the nobility, gentry or Free Cities) that operated out of southeastern Halrun happier. No one would get rich just off the change, but savings were savings.
- Mutual defense, with joint peace treaties. The Necromancers placed no limits on the number of soldiers they'd provide to help Halrun, though obviously neither nation was expected to provide all their soldiers in the event of war.
- A complete abolition of import and export tarrifs between Halrun and Darkmoon Forest. This would cost the crown 2 Dureks a month in theory, but Rykall's clerks had run the numbers, and the increase in trade between the two kingdoms would actually lead to a small net increase in other taxes and dues the Crown could levy – a net increase of 0.5 Dureks. This would also greatly please anyone in Halrun in the business of growing bulk food staples – wheat, barley, rye, oats and the like, as well as certain factions in the conservative nobility and gentry who had a fondness for current Necrotic art (all the rage in conservative social circles) as well as anyone who liked the expensive, but much-sought after cheeses and spirits made in the Kingdom of the Necromancers.
- The Kingdom of the Necromancers would provide, at their cost a force of approximately 2,000 undead laborers and sufficient necromancers to manage them for work on roads or other major infrastructure projects for a total of 24 months of actual use (did not need to be consecutive). More could be hired at a reasonable cost as needed. Their use on such projects would of course save on food and wages.
- Vanessa was expected to order the Knights of the Golden Throne to refrain from coming closer than four miles to the edge of Darkmoon Forest without invitation, unless they were traveling under diplomatic banner.
- The Kingdom of the Necromancers would agree to set a minimum price they'd pay for food imports from Halrun. The price would be renegotiated every three years while the treaty remained in force. This wouldn't make the Crown any money, but it would make the food staple crop growers happier.
- In the 'exceedingly unlikely' event that Lyrus was overthrown, but Essinya survived said overthrow, Vanessa and Halrun were to be considered 'honor bound' to restore Essinya to the throne in Darkmoon Forest with military, political or diplomatic force. (of course, if Lyrus was overthrown, there was a solid chance whoever replaced him would be hostile to a Halrun ruled by a Vanessa married to Essinya anyway)
- Vanessa would be allowed access to the personal magical libraries of the Archnecromancer and be allowed to make requests to have certain tomes lent to her and sent out of the Forest to her. Her access was not limitless, and the most powerful necromantic tomes remained off-limits, but this was quite a prestigious concession, even if Vanessa never made use of it. (The library does contain tomes that are not purely Necromantic in nature)
- Recognition of South Zarsim's independence from the North and the rights of the House of Rodela to serve as the rulers of South Zarsim.
- A Regular payment of 7.5 Dureks a month to South Zarsim until such time as their war with North Zarsim is over. After the war is over, the payments would be reduced to 2.5 Dureks a month for as long as the other terms of the treaty remained in force.
- The right of Halrun to permanently station no more than 2,000 soldiers in South Zarsim at any time, as well as to move up to 4,000 soldiers at time through South Zarsim en route to other locations without impediment as long as South Zarsim was warned in advance of their arrival.
- Assurances that South Zarsim wouldn't enter into Morvak's orbit once the war was over, long-term. There was no value in Halrun to help South Zarsim secure their independence and then have it become a de facto vassal or at least subordinate ally of Morvak without Halrun having any influence. South Zarsim would be fully entitled to make treaties with Morvak (or anyone else), but it would not agree to subordinate final domestic, military or diplomatic authority over it's own affairs to Morvak or any other realm. If Morvak did so, then Halrun was fully entitled to void the treaty without prejudice.
- Halrun was allowed to build warships and station said warships in South Zarsim ports. The Kingdom of South Zarsim would bear or otherwise address 50% of the cost of the manufacture of up to 20 warships on Vayok Lake, and 25% of the cost of up to 50 maximum.
- Halrun was expected to provide at least 900 soldiers, at least half of them pikemen, men at arms or cavalry, to the war with North Zarsim. These soldiers would fight in their own companies under their commanders, but those commanders would be integrated underneath the South Zarsim command structure for tactical and strategic purposes in and around the battlefield. Once North Zarsim acknowledges South Zarsim's independence by treaty, Halrun will not be obligated to provide these forces or keep them under South Zarsite command.
Vanessa didn't take failing with her magic very well, since it happened so rarely, but she was trying to not let her recent failure to scry on Menthura bother her too much. Objectively, there were reasons why it would fail – distance in both physical and conceptual space, lack of ties to the region, lack of familiarity with the key players to focus the scrying…
For now, though, she was going to try to get to know some of her suitors better. First up: Essinya Serriados.
"-in it's most basic, that's how the mana is channeled for the animation process, though obviously that isn't the most efficient way to do it." Essinya finished explaining.
At the Gala, Vanessa had suggested they discuss magical theory in a more opportune context, and what had started as a discussion to get to know Essinya had quickly turned into a discussion of magical theory and practice. Of course, given how important magic was to them both, this was not a bad thing.
"I can imagine. Even knowing as little about necromancy as I do, I would imagine you could speed the process up with a few alterations to the process, just based on what I know about enchantment." She sketched out what she was talking about on an empty corner of the crowded piece of parchment they'd been taking turns using to illustrate their points.
Essinya's eyes widened just a little, and then she smiled, "You are quite correct, your Majesty," she admitted, sounding pleased. "Granted, no beginner would be able to execute that trick safely or consistently, but after the first few years, most apprentices are taught something much like that."
Vanessa took a sip of her wine. It was a Necrotic vintage, the wine actually black in color. The grapes themselves were also black, a rare breed grown exclusively in the forest, and in Vanessa's mind, she could see why the Kingdom of the Necromancers export of whiskey was more prized than it's wine. This wine was far, far too bitter for her tastes as a thing to drink on a regular basis, though it was excellent in it's quality nonetheless.
One of her guards had tested it – Essinya probably would have been offended if Vanessa had taken the glass without any tasting from someone else, to see if it wasn't poisoned.
"Somehow, I suspect it took you a much shorter time to graduate beyond the basics, once your formal tutelage in necromancy began," Vanessa murmured.
Essinya chuckled, "That would be true, yes. But I did have the advantage of learning at my father's hand from the moment I could speak, here and there. From what I gather, you showed similar speed of learning at the Academ in Veldros, when you began your education there."
"With some subjects, it's true." Vanessa agreed. She raised an eyebrow, "Have you been checking into my past, then?"
"Well, why not? I won't surrender any advantage when it comes to any field of competition, after all." Essinya sipped at her own wine, no doubt quite used to the vintage's bitter taste.
"Is this what I should expect from a marriage with you then? Just another field of contest, endlessly testing ourselves against one another? In every field we might find ourselves on?" Vanessa asked, smirking slightly at the way Essinya's eyes darted away from her face, for just a moment.
With how pale the necromancer-princess was, it was also possible to detect the slightest of blushes on her cheeks, for a mere moment. Impossible to say for sure, and yet…
"To a great extent, it's quite likely, yes," Essinya admitted. "One should never grow lax, after all. A partnership is best when both parties can improve the other. That you are capable of challenging me, and I you, is one of your most appealing qualities."
"Ah, so you really are just interested in me for my magic?" Vanessa teased.
"Not just your magic, Your Majesty. The rest of you offers quite a few inducements all it's own." Essinya replied quietly.
With Janera, they met again in the palace gardens – she figured the woman would be more at ease surrounded by the plants she found so fascinating.
Which, she was. And with Janera at ease, she managed to do what she did best – be attractive when talking about something she was enthusiastic about. It wasn't just her looks either – the enthusiasm she brought to the fore when she did that, the vivaciousness – Janera was a smart woman, and Vanessa was curious what she might able to bring to the table on that front, but even more, there was the question of what being married to the girl would be like.
Matters of state were best handled by the negotiations. Vanessa wanted to know the people she might marry.
"-the mechanics of scrying are significantly more complicated than that in practice, but at it's fundamentals, that is how it works, whatever, wherever and whenever you're targeting." Vanessa concluded, watching Janera. While the other woman didn't really know how magic worked beyond a basic, well-educated noble's understanding (so not half-bad, for a non-mage), she had followed along with Vanessa's explanation, even asking insightful questions.
Vanessa hadn't planned to be the one going off on long explanations, but when Janera had prompted her to talk about the things that she was interested in, Vanessa hadn't been able to resist. Maybe she was primed after having finally had the chance to discuss magic in detail recently, with Essinya the previous day, or maybe it was simply a matter of Janera's easy, conversational charm.
Talking to her was… easy. The other woman had no artifice to her, when having a conversation about plants or animals, about natural philosophy. Even when discussing matters of state, she was far more direct than most, without being undiplomatic or careless in her language.
"I admit, I never realized how… rigorous magic could really be," Janera admitted. "In terms of how the principles governing it worked, I mean." she clarified quickly. "My tutors always implied magic was far more..." she groped for the right word, biting her lower lip. "...about will, and intent, than fundamental rules and laws."
"Will and intent are absolutely necessary, and with enough of both, and enough power, one can push, bend or even break every law of magic, in theory. One can argue that many of the sins of the Iredan Empire, including whatever destroyed it, were in pursuit of more power to do just that, for instance."
"…I see your point." Janera admitted. "Have you read about the expeditions to the Haunted Lands?"
"A few, in passing. I assume the flora and fauna there is quite fascinating as well?"
"Confusing, would be saying it more accurately." Janera corrected. "By all accounts, none of it makes sense. The screaming forest, the bloodstained wood – there's no rhyme or reason, no purpose, not even one bent and warped by magical forces. They merely are. Just as the murder bricks, the Entropic Beasts… it's all twisted up, absent of any coherent logic… or so it seems."
The skeptical look on her face made it quite clear Janera believed there was something. Vanessa made a note to ask her about that more later, but after a few more minutes of discussion, she steered the conversation in a different direction.
One day, Janera's brother would become King of Nerinthar, and there was every reason to assume Janera would still be alive and the alliance still in force at that point. And they'd still be allied, in theory.
What sort of man was Jarok?
"We were never close," Janera admitted. "He was always more interested in military affairs, in warfare, and in his… personal pursuits. He's six years my elder, and we just never really had time together."
There was a hesitation before 'personal pursuits' that Vanessa wanted to ask about, but she got the impression, from the slight grimace on Janera's face that it was something she didn't want to linger on.
"He loves his wife. Countess Elisara and my brother are… infamous for how in love they are. Sometimes they're found in palace alcoves… in amorous embrace." Janera flushed. Vanessa raised her eyebrow again, smirking, and Janera flushed harder. "Not – not… they're always clothed!" She added, voice higher-pitched for a moment.
"I didn't say anything-"
"You were thinking it, Your Majesty!" Janera said in an almost accusatory tone, pointing at her.
"There is that," Vanessa admitted, watching Janera blush again. Janera scowled in a way that managed to make her look more like an angry kitten than anything else, then she cleared her throat and got herself under control.
"Perhaps more seriously to what you want to know: Jarok is a more aggressive man than my father. He's cagey about his own plans, from what I know and hear, but many of his friends are the sort who would love to declare war on Morvak, really push in, put them on the defensive, take a real city or two."
"And you feel your brother might act on that?"
"I honestly don't know him well enough to say," Janera confessed. "I don't think I've had more than five minutes conversation with him in… years, at least. We're family, and I love him, but I don't know him."
QM's Note: I am not feeling at my best, mentally or physically, as is a regular issue for me of late, and I don't have it in me to do the math for the casualties for the anti-Banditry patrol. I will do them by the time or at least at the same time, as the income/interest post, which will be in a little under a week barring the unexpected.
We didn't see a post for the Queen's failed scrying, just an allusion to it, and obviously Arandel's bit was mostly consumed with the treaties. No votes to do this time.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Take whatever time you need. I hope your health gets a turn for the better.
- Location
- PA
Soo…
Fun. If I understand right, of the options left, only two let us avoid Mordak coming after us?
Nyeh, I want to work allegiances and treaty plans to get the support for Regara and maybe send some of our troops, any volunteers I think, so hotheads who want ot war can war, but people who'd rather defend the home front can stay there.
Aaand potentially…If Regara is thinking she wants a war down the line we might be able to…
Not quite 'Flower War' things, but set rules, of engagement, set the prize to the Thornmarch…
Fun. If I understand right, of the options left, only two let us avoid Mordak coming after us?
Nyeh, I want to work allegiances and treaty plans to get the support for Regara and maybe send some of our troops, any volunteers I think, so hotheads who want ot war can war, but people who'd rather defend the home front can stay there.
Aaand potentially…If Regara is thinking she wants a war down the line we might be able to…
Not quite 'Flower War' things, but set rules, of engagement, set the prize to the Thornmarch…
Kylia Quilor
I Have Two Moods, and Bitter is One of Them.
- Location
- Hiding in the corner of your vision.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
There's only one option (Regara) that guarantees you won't go to war with Morvak completely (albeit with the requirement to intervene in a civil war in Morvak... and assumes Regara wins said civil war with your help)
Every other option the prospect exists. Selissa, Illegorst and Nerinthar do increase the odds of a war with Morvak more than a marriage to the Kingdom of the Necromancers. And you know what Regara has said about her lack of interest in a war with Halrun, and what she's said about her sister's bloodthirsty warmongering.
Every other option the prospect exists. Selissa, Illegorst and Nerinthar do increase the odds of a war with Morvak more than a marriage to the Kingdom of the Necromancers. And you know what Regara has said about her lack of interest in a war with Halrun, and what she's said about her sister's bloodthirsty warmongering.
Eternal_0bserver
(Unverified Bookworm)
- Location
- Earth, Northern Europe
He can't keep getting away with it!
Seriously, even a contract with demons can't explain this, there's not that much luck in all of Tartarus. If Vallefort continues his streak until the end of the year, I seriously think he should get a trait from this.
As for the revised contracts, I really like the contract with the Necromancers. Especially the part where we get recognition from the people who grow food - considering the era, that's about 90% of the kingdom's population. Of course, it will affect the simple farmers to a lesser extent, but even for them, it will hardly be a trifle.
I feel sorry for Ranera. I don't think any other suitor would think that they love their sibling but don't know them, and even if they thought it, they wouldn't say it. I want to hug her, and Vanessa might well feel the same. I'm not sure she's the best choice for the kingdom, but I do think she's the best choice for Vanessa (and for any suitor in and of themselves needing Vanessa personally).
Turn 7 Income Expenditures, Debt Servicing and Banditry Casualties
Kylia Quilor
I Have Two Moods, and Bitter is One of Them.
- Location
- Hiding in the corner of your vision.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Starting Treasury: 40 Dureks
Pre-Income Expenses: 39 Dureks
Income From Errors Caught By Readers: 9 Dureks
Final Treasury: 145.5
Outstanding Debts (770.75 Dureks Total Debt)
Owed to the Axecavern Bank (Lortan Dwarves): 266 Dureks (10% Interest) (26.5 Dureks)*
Owed to the Redhammer Bank (Lortan Dwarves): 140.5 Dureks (11% Interest) (15.5 Dureks)
Owed to Assorted Individual Wealthy Merchants/Etc based in Eaglecrest, Port Lest and Westcrown: 119 Dureks (8% Interest) (9.5 Dureks)
Owed to Assorted Individual Weathy Merchants Based in Zedarsh or Selissa: 125.25 Dureks (11% Interest) (13.75 Dureks)
Owed To The Goldaxe Bank: 120 Dureks (9.5% Interest) (11.5 Dureks)
Total Interest To Be Added If No Debts Are Paid Down This Turn: 76.75
I'm not going to propose more than two sample plans this time, I think you guys have the idea.
[ ] Plan: Clear Out A Debt (119 Dureks)
-[ ]Pay 119 Dureks to Assorted Wealthy Merchants in Eaglecrest, Port Lest and Westcrown
[ ] Plan: Cover a Spread To Reduce Future Interest
-[ ]Pay 40 Dureks to Axecavern Bank
-[ ]Pay 40 Dureks to Redhammer Bank
-[ ]Pay 40 Dureks to Wealth Merchants in Zedarsh and Selissa
Mobile Reserve Casualties
-2 Heavy Cavalry
-10 Light Cavalry
-25 Men at Arms
-19 Crossbowmen
-2 Pikeman
-20 Skirmishers
(Clearly some pretty expensive fights here and there with the bandits, but you did at least make progress against them)
Pre-Income Expenses: 39 Dureks
- 4 Dureks on Long-Term Financial Observation
- 5 Dureks on Spy Network in Menthura
- 30 Dureks on Roads Between Free Cities and The Grand Duchy
- Crown Holdings: 124 Dureks
- Free Cities Taxes: 49.5 Dureks
- Counties Taxes & Dues: 43 Dureks
- Lordships & Towns Taxes and Dues: 39 Dureks
- Other Revenue Sources: 2 Dureks
- Royal Administration: 44 Dureks
- Wages & Supply of Royal Army: 68 Dureks
- Basic Maintinence of the Crown & Palace: 10 Dureks
Income From Errors Caught By Readers: 9 Dureks
Final Treasury: 145.5
Outstanding Debts (770.75 Dureks Total Debt)
Owed to the Axecavern Bank (Lortan Dwarves): 266 Dureks (10% Interest) (26.5 Dureks)*
Owed to the Redhammer Bank (Lortan Dwarves): 140.5 Dureks (11% Interest) (15.5 Dureks)
Owed to Assorted Individual Wealthy Merchants/Etc based in Eaglecrest, Port Lest and Westcrown: 119 Dureks (8% Interest) (9.5 Dureks)
Owed to Assorted Individual Weathy Merchants Based in Zedarsh or Selissa: 125.25 Dureks (11% Interest) (13.75 Dureks)
Owed To The Goldaxe Bank: 120 Dureks (9.5% Interest) (11.5 Dureks)
Total Interest To Be Added If No Debts Are Paid Down This Turn: 76.75
I'm not going to propose more than two sample plans this time, I think you guys have the idea.
[ ] Plan: Clear Out A Debt (119 Dureks)
-[ ]Pay 119 Dureks to Assorted Wealthy Merchants in Eaglecrest, Port Lest and Westcrown
[ ] Plan: Cover a Spread To Reduce Future Interest
-[ ]Pay 40 Dureks to Axecavern Bank
-[ ]Pay 40 Dureks to Redhammer Bank
-[ ]Pay 40 Dureks to Wealth Merchants in Zedarsh and Selissa
Mobile Reserve Casualties
-2 Heavy Cavalry
-10 Light Cavalry
-25 Men at Arms
-19 Crossbowmen
-2 Pikeman
-20 Skirmishers
(Clearly some pretty expensive fights here and there with the bandits, but you did at least make progress against them)
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[X] Plan: Redhammer Payment
- [X] Pay 91 Dureks to Redhammer Bank.
Leaves us 45 Dureks for the next cycle, hits the highest debt down to manageable status for next turn.
- [X] Pay 91 Dureks to Redhammer Bank.
Leaves us 45 Dureks for the next cycle, hits the highest debt down to manageable status for next turn.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I'd rather stick to keeping 50 Dureks in reserve, just to be safe - so pay 86. And it doesn't really make a difference whether we do Redhammer or the Zedarsh/Selissa Merchants, because both will take two turns each (including this one we're voting on) to pay off at this rate.
Though it might be a tad politically helpful to have the Merchants paid off first given that we're about to align against Selissa's current proxy in Zarsim and going to turn down their political marriage offer.
[X] Plan: Mercantile Management
-[X] Pay 95 Dureks to Assorted Merchants in Zedarsh and Selissa
Though it might be a tad politically helpful to have the Merchants paid off first given that we're about to align against Selissa's current proxy in Zarsim and going to turn down their political marriage offer.
[X] Plan: Mercantile Management
-[X] Pay 95 Dureks to Assorted Merchants in Zedarsh and Selissa
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Eternal_0bserver
(Unverified Bookworm)
- Location
- Earth, Northern Europe
In fact, what will our expenses be next turn? I find it a bit hard to keep track of this, but ideally, we want to keep the required amount + something like 5-10 for emergency expenses and use the rest to pay off debts. Also, I would probably prefer to pay the dwarves last at equal rates, since it will increase the amount they receive in the end. The dwarves should have less reason to sponsor our enemies, for example, and I would prefer to give more money to them.
Kylia Quilor
I Have Two Moods, and Bitter is One of Them.
- Location
- Hiding in the corner of your vision.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Your regular expenses are 122 Dureks, until you do something to hike those up somehow. Whatever else you vote to spend your money on next turn will depend on you.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
So I went to take a look at the Money informark as is my habit per update, and I found a few issues, two of which may affect this turn's voting.
The individual elements total up to 130. I think you forgot to adjust for the return of the Southmarch Mining Tax and the Direct Revenue going back to pre-strike levels.
The Lordships listed as 22 Dureks and the Towns as 20, which equals 42 Dureks.
This got cut off.
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Kylia Quilor
I Have Two Moods, and Bitter is One of Them.
- Location
- Hiding in the corner of your vision.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Grazie. Fixed
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Just to clarify, since you didn't update this turn's income, does that mean the financial benefits of ending the strike and Town banditry last turn won't kick in until the coming turn?
Kylia Quilor
I Have Two Moods, and Bitter is One of Them.
- Location
- Hiding in the corner of your vision.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
No, I was just monofocusing on fixing the errors on the main Assets post and forgot about the income post.
EDIT: Applied to final total.
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
Cool. Given that, I've edited my previous vote to reflect the increased amount we can spend.
- Location
- Denmark
Well, besides our regular expenses, then the most expensive thing we could do next turn, would be to rebuild another road for either 30 dureks or 35 dureks. Then there are only small expenses for the other action, that we might choose to do, which mostly seems to be below 10 dureks each. So, if we want to build a road, then saving 40 or 50 dureks would make sense, but otherwise then 20 dureks would likely be fine.
Eternal_0bserver
(Unverified Bookworm)
- Location
- Earth, Northern Europe
[X] Plan: Mercantile Management.
[X] Plan: Redhammer Payment Redux.
[X] Plan: Redhammer Payment Redux.
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BoSPaladin
The Paladin
Final Treasury: 145.5
Outstanding Debts (770.75 Dureks Total Debt)
Owed to the Axecavern Bank (Lortan Dwarves): 266 Dureks (10% Interest) (26.5 Dureks)*
Owed to the Redhammer Bank (Lortan Dwarves): 140.5 Dureks (11% Interest) (15.5 Dureks)
Owed to Assorted Individual Wealthy Merchants/Etc based in Eaglecrest, Port Lest and Westcrown: 119 Dureks (8% Interest) (9.5 Dureks)
Owed to Assorted Individual Weathy Merchants Based in Zedarsh or Selissa: 125.25 Dureks (11% Interest) (13.75 Dureks)
Owed To The Goldaxe Bank: 120 Dureks (9.5% Interest) (11.5 Dureks)
[X]Plan: Calming lenders.
-[X]Pay Redhammer Bank 25.5 Dureks
-[X]Pay Zedarsh and Selissa Merchants 25.5 Durkeks
-[X]Pay Axecavern Bank 27.5 Dureks
-[X]Pay Goldaxe bank 12.5 Dureks
-[X]Pay Eaglecrest merchants and co 15 Dureks
Total paid 106 Dureks
Dureks remaining: 39.5
Altogether. 51 gold to redhammer and zedarsh. Covers the interest, plus pays off a combined 10.75 dureks. At 11% interest that's 1 durek less interest per turn there.
Axecavern. Get their interest serviced, plus an extra durek. Ditto for Goldaxe bank. We could focus on paying off the slightly higher interest rate loans. 1 - 1.5% interest isn't nothing. Altogether it's 40 gold being paid here. But. I wanted to do it last turn where we cover the interest at least for every lender. Here we're able to do that and a little more.
For our own merchants, eaglecrest etc. Funneling some money towards domestic lenders so they finally see some relief. They're the lowest interest and so on paper paying them off might have the lowest effect on the principal. However. It puts money back into domestic pockets and they've been more than patient enough for us.
Outstanding Debts (770.75 Dureks Total Debt)
Owed to the Axecavern Bank (Lortan Dwarves): 266 Dureks (10% Interest) (26.5 Dureks)*
Owed to the Redhammer Bank (Lortan Dwarves): 140.5 Dureks (11% Interest) (15.5 Dureks)
Owed to Assorted Individual Wealthy Merchants/Etc based in Eaglecrest, Port Lest and Westcrown: 119 Dureks (8% Interest) (9.5 Dureks)
Owed to Assorted Individual Weathy Merchants Based in Zedarsh or Selissa: 125.25 Dureks (11% Interest) (13.75 Dureks)
Owed To The Goldaxe Bank: 120 Dureks (9.5% Interest) (11.5 Dureks)
[X]Plan: Calming lenders.
-[X]Pay Redhammer Bank 25.5 Dureks
-[X]Pay Zedarsh and Selissa Merchants 25.5 Durkeks
-[X]Pay Axecavern Bank 27.5 Dureks
-[X]Pay Goldaxe bank 12.5 Dureks
-[X]Pay Eaglecrest merchants and co 15 Dureks
Total paid 106 Dureks
Dureks remaining: 39.5
Altogether. 51 gold to redhammer and zedarsh. Covers the interest, plus pays off a combined 10.75 dureks. At 11% interest that's 1 durek less interest per turn there.
Axecavern. Get their interest serviced, plus an extra durek. Ditto for Goldaxe bank. We could focus on paying off the slightly higher interest rate loans. 1 - 1.5% interest isn't nothing. Altogether it's 40 gold being paid here. But. I wanted to do it last turn where we cover the interest at least for every lender. Here we're able to do that and a little more.
For our own merchants, eaglecrest etc. Funneling some money towards domestic lenders so they finally see some relief. They're the lowest interest and so on paper paying them off might have the lowest effect on the principal. However. It puts money back into domestic pockets and they've been more than patient enough for us.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X]Plan: Calming lenders
I like the look of the zarzim treaty.
I still feel the deal with the necromancers is not worth the considerable fallout we'll suffer for it.
I like the look of the zarzim treaty.
I still feel the deal with the necromancers is not worth the considerable fallout we'll suffer for it.
I should remind people that it has been stated that we do not have to make any regular payment to any given lender, and there are no effects to doing so in this case unless otherwise stated, so long as we are paying back any debt consistently as we are doing. We do not have to do anything other than pay down the largest interest, per the QM, so the logic holds that the most efficient idea is simply to bring down the largest interest debt every turn.