Bay 12 Games Forum

MILITARY EDICTS:

Matters of military hierarchy, philosophy of war and development of military tech.

Issue the Codex of Training Regimen:
A set of efficient (and slightly draconian) requirements and practices of training to ensure that the Army gets only the best recruits of them all. This will make the Army much better in combat, although there might be a problem to fill yearly recruitment quotas sometimes.

Establish the Shadowranks:
Politics often involve underhanded tactics. A castle full of commoner staff and visiting foreigners just asks for a disaster to occur. Let's have the military form a professional division of most loyal of soldiers, who would protect the Emperor, his family and important state officials, during the day, night, war, peace, revelries of festivals and monotony of daily life.

BUREAUCRATIC EDICTS:

Matters of administration and government.

Expand Primogeniture Law:
A string of bad luck can render a monarch without a male heir or cause succession debates. Rather than risk some unpleasant consequences of such a situation, it might be better to allow a skilled female to ascend to the throne, especially if she is as good at matters of the governance as any other ruler.

Establish Diplomatic Corps:
Creation of a small but highly professional cabinet of diplomats and ambassadors that would visit neighbouring countries on regular basis to strengthen ties with nearby rulers and their nobles, and maybe even develop favorable treaties with them.

Issue the Bill of Rights:
A standarized code of basic laws of the common peoples. Even if peasants will have nothing else left, they will always have their basic freedoms, helping ease their minds in times of emergency - and perhaps allow the spirit of liberty and humanism to blossom (for good or worse).

Enact Settlement Policy:
Guarantee that those willing to settle in previously undeveloped lands or territories yet unclaimed by any nation will be given a certain amount of money to help further their effort. However, this might cause a severe drain on the Treasury, especially during times of sudden, mass migrations to the countryside.

CULTURAL EDICTS:

Matters of religion, culture and art.

Establish Calendar of Festivities:
Rather than throw a festival every few years to celebrate a bontiful harvest, let's instead establish a cyclic and stable calendar of state-sponsored festivities for the whole year. This will cause a drain on the Treasury, but hey - people love festivals!

Endorse State Patronage of Arts:
To help develop the nation culturally, set aside certain amount of budget money to sponsor sculptors, poets, musicians and painters. It will be a constant drain on the Treasury, but think of how prestigious your nation will become, what with those masterpieces of art popping left and right!

Establish The Royal House of Learning:
Scholars scribbling down books in secluded libraries and scriptories should be a thing of the past! Let's instead establish a centre of learning, where those of intellect can exchange ideas and educate those willing to learn. It will help the nation develop technologically, although maintenance of this beacon of enlightenment will obviously require yearly costs.

REVOKE EDICT: Revokes a previously implemented edict, either to cut spending, appease some disgruntled subjects, or both. On the other hand, it might tick off some other peoples, potentially causing a deadly cascade of discontent.

Late Spring, 1135 AD: Established the Fireblood Court:
Creation of a specialized military branch devoted purely to development of Fireblood arms to ensure they are aplenty and of best designs around. This will allow to centralize the production, research and budgeting of Fireblood weaponry rather than having some errant alchemists and engineers running around, trying to make things happen.

End of Year 1135 AD: Proclaimed Religious Equality:
Travelers, merchants, immigrants; they all bring new beliefs and philosophies into the country. Rather than fight those foreign influences, it might be best to allow all peoples free worship on equal level no matter the size and beliefs of the congregation, to help all different worshippers achieve a certain degree to harmony and peace.

End of Year 1139 AD: Established Recruitment Offices:
Mandatory training for youths is a good thing, but after bloodier-than-usual wars, there might be shortage of men to replenish the ranks. If we were to expand on the royal bureaucracy to include offices for traveling civilian recruiters and offer citizenship grants for mercenaries and travelers looking for a new home, our Army could refill its ranks much faster.

End of Year 1140 AD: Established The Council of Statesmen:
Creation of a small council of governmental officials who will be tasked with helping the government run smoother alongside traditional advisors, and, of course, the monarch himself. This will help strengthen the Imperial Authority, even in dire times, and help pass edicts quicker, although giving even more political power away from the throne than in the past might become a source of troubles one day.

End of Year 1142 AD: Established Passage Tax:
All those travelers, adventurers, merchants and others are moving through the country for free! Let's establish a tax for those entering and leaving our country - this will earn us nice profits each year, although it might slow down immigration and convince some merchants to seek passage through elsewhere.

You decide to send the Army westwards to fight the nomads on Eldrican's behalf. Tetan I's brother and you sign two copies of the document that entitles your Empire to half of Koi's silver output for twenty years after the war ends.


The Army has joined Eldrican troops at border with Tirine, where the fighting was pushed to. Apparently already they participated in several battles, where Thundercats and Methiantese discipline proved a gamebreaker.


A brutal battle left twenty thousand dead in central Tirine; the nomads were routed and they launched a campaign of scorched earth against peoples of Tirine as they retreated toward their home steppes. The forces of Eldrican - with yours in tow - marched outside the borders to punish and destroy the nomads once and for all.

Meanwhile, news reach your court from the south. Margrave of Rucus have managed to exploit and manipulate the political situation in the Empire, and have not only taken the lands of Kingdom of Ebirus into his fold, he also abolished the previously somewhat autonomous Lametanian duchies. Instead of four territories there, now there's only the Margraviate.


The fierce fighting continues, but Ogan and his hordes might've made a critical error. They attempted to take out Vabokam dwarves out of equation, apparently after learning they supply Eldricans with arms. Normally a sound decision, the horse riders were unprepared for the dwarven fortress' defenses, consisting of giant saw blades ripping them from the ground and reinforced pipe-cranes spewing out hot lava on their heads. During the battle of Vabokam, about five thousand nomads perished while only handful of dwarves died.

Meanwhile, gold and gemstones arrive at your Treasury. The silver is sent to Ankurvat dwarves.

5to6

Glassware made big profits. People across Methiant praise the high quality of the goods once more.


"Orcs?" The courtiers murmur as the messenger from the Ironbone Mountains takes off his hat.

"Indeed, m'liege! The greenskins, they're stealing sheep and burning down the mountain hovels! They were first seen in the Summer, but avoided us, but they grew bolder by the Autumn and now has begun to harass us."

A) "It's probably some starving nomads. Can't your militia do anything done these days?"
B) "I will hire some adventurers to get rid of them, no problem."
C) "Our Army will go and purge the mountains of the greenskins right away!"

You decide that Shooting Tubes is way to go. The engineers plead to make as many of them as they can.


Tetan I's younger brother, Aes, is here!

"Greetings, Emperor. The threat of the Khanate is growing day by day. Even now, when we tried to catch it my surprise, it fights back and remains steadfast. My brother, King of Eldrican, needs your professional soldiers to come help defeat the horde. Otherwise, like in the tales of old kingdoms, the nomads will come knocking at the doors of your Kingdom too." Clearly, he is neither a good diplomat nor a conversationalist.

A) "What do I get from this?"
B) "I'm not interested in wars of other peoples, sorry."
C) "Sure thing, I will send my soldiers to help fight the nomads."
D) "You sure you don't want supplies instead? Rations, money, weapons?"

You ask the Spymaster to conduct a nation-wide search.

7!*

The Spymaster reports that his agents found an elven traveler in northwestern Cydwyl. He explained to them that if such a specific item disappeared, the magicians of Tisilenteliya made it disappear because you've wronged their Princes. The elf then went on to elaborate; letting the dwarves regain one of their homes would surely sour the disposition of other Elves towards you, because neither of the races will accept friendship from one dealing with their mortal enemies since the beginning of time.

In separate report the Spymaster explains that the cloaks seem to be a bit faulty, and doesn't hide their wearers as good in the night as they did before.


The engineers of Fireblood Court arrive at your audience room rather excitedly.

"Emperor! We bring news of a development. We've created elongated tubes that can be operated by two men; one wields it, the other loads the tube and ignites the charge. It is like a portable Thundercat. If you wish for a presentation, we will be ready in a month!"

A) "Sounds like a good weapon. I wanna see it working please!"
B) "Two men sounds a bit clumsy. Can you do better on this?"

Segeda's sarcophagus ends in the family tombs.


Once again, the Scrolls!

Happiness: 5
Population: 7
Economy: 3
Army: [8]
Imp.Authority: 0

"Most blessed leader," Begins the Advisor. "The policy of cutting budget tight has proven to be effective. Our Treasury recovered somewhat, especially after we had to lay off some recruiters; the influx of men they create couldn't be paid by the Treasury. The higher taxes helped too, of course."

"The Army officials therefore clamor that we restore the budget from the Army and the Fireblood Court. While no war seems to be looming over the horizon, they say its better to be safe than sorry."

A) "Fine, full budgeting from now on."
B) "I'm sure they can go about poorer for another year."

"Your authority and people's mood have been doing good due to the release of slaves and reconciliation with the dwarves. A good moment to issue an edict, don't you think so my liege"?

A) "Indeed!"
B) "Nah."

You send her a letter where you praise her work and express your sadness at her loss.

Few weeks later you receive a heartfelt reply.


Apparently, Eldricans suffered a great massacre; approximately twenty thousand men fought against thirty thousand nomads, and less than tenth of the whole number left alive. Elran IV himself has been slain!

His cousin have seized power in Eldrican Kingdom (Elran had no sons), adopting the regnal name same as his; he is now known as Tetan I, King of Eldricans. Some say that a scholar and passionate historian and bookkeeper as him is ill-suited to wage a war against such savage horde as Ogan's.

Other news come from Ceodwell; guards report much less attempts through Ironbone Mountains, and amongst them there were fewer sicker peoples, who brought news that plague in Gubta has subsided, having slain tens of thousands of peoples here.

The governors wonder if the borders should be opened already.

A) No, let's keep them shut for a year more, just to be sure.
B) Finally! Let the people come and go as they please again.

You decide to try and pry something extra from him.

3

It takes a while but it seems you can't convince him to do give you anything except...

"Well, there are some slaves from Methiant in the mines of Zonalath. What say I order their release? I know the local peoples, unlike the westerners, pride themselves in not indulging in the trade of slaves."

A) "The wellbeing of my subjects is a priority. Deal!"
B) "Still not enough. I want more!"
C) "It shows you're unwilling to cooperate. Go away!"