Bay 12 Games Forum

Ah, the Taliban, yet another monster the US created and lost control of in the Middle East:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taliban

Quote

The US government covertly provided violent schoolbooks filled with militant Islamic teachings and jihad and images of weapons and soldiers in an effort to inculcate in children anti-Soviet insurgency and hate for foreigners. The Taliban used the American textbooks but scratched out human faces in keeping with strict fundamentalist interpretation. The United States Agency for International Development gave millions of dollars to the University of Nebraska at Omaha in the 1980s to develop and publish the textbooks in local languages.

I've heard for quite a while that the US funded the Taliban, but I didn't know until reading yesterday that the US created and provided them right wing education material. Pretty wild stuff

I watched a 2015 documentary about a few months ago about the US govt funding a right wing Vietnamese organization called VOECRN.
Terror in Little Saigon (full documentary) | FRONTLINE

Things for the US to-do list: stop supporting right wing groups. Has had a lot of bad outcomes historically.

Discussion and speculation stuff:

Frigga/Texulchimum seems unlikely to advance a marriage proposal that is plainly illegal – only her necromancy will not be evident – and Anders is not hiding his training, so yes priests can marry. No Imperial in the story so far has had a harem – all men with multiple marriages have been made sequentially following the former wife's death.

Yeah my guess is that the marriage laws are monogamy oriented. But at the same time it might be fine to have an unmarried partner since Phillip is openly a bastard. Maybe as hereditary dictator Arawn could just change the laws for poly.

If we are going to abandon the last year of training with the matriarch we should take the hex.

An underground network that we could work with is invaluable.  Even if we don't have control over the network, it just being friendly to us could really help with spy craft.

That's what I'm now hoping for from the hex deal. Hopefully we luck out and get some allies skilled in tradecraft to defend against the assassination plots. Maybe whoever killed Vera is the brother who would inherit New Mahallo if Arawn and Pennete die.

The crusade resolving as solidly as it did in what has turned out to be Felix's favor (what a chad) changes things IMMENSELY. It means, in my opinion, that focusing on traditional allies (except Penteram) and resources as our main insurances for power is going to be a bust - the Imperials have been sort of taken out of play for now. Instead, I would like for us to go full fucking bore into maximizing the strength of our bonds, alliances from the Court of the Lich and our magical power. We are NOT going to out-economy and sure as FUCK NOT going to out-military Gigachad Ass-Beater Prince Felix, but we can probably out-magic sideswipe him.

Accordingly:
Do you take Matriarch Mire's offer?
YES. Taking the vampires an alliance would be a damn nice asset for the sorts of espionage and intrigue that I think is our smartest route forwards for our sibling rivalry, AND it's probably the single best route currently at this moment visible to us that we have of any sort of continuation between our learning of magic in the Lich's Court and back home. WE WANT TO GET REALLY GOOD WITH MAGIC. WE WANT TO GET REALLY REALLY GOOD WITH MAGIC IF WE WANT TO COMPETE WITH THE BIG-BALLER NO-BALLER LEAGUE. YES.

I suppose magic could be the path forward. But I'm not certain yet. I feel like there's not enough information on the Volcanique Confederation, but that's not a bad guess though.

You also learn from the letter that some top secret negotiations are in place with the orc blooded people of the Bloodstone Plateau. Your brother is not privy to these discussions, but he speculates Penteram plans to pay them off to abstain from conducting raids should the Titan Pact get involved in the crusade. Andre writes that the leadership of the fortress is particularly cruel; They took many female captives during their great raid, violated them, and allowed them to return home with mixed-blooded children with the express intent of dividing families and communities over if said children should be allowed to live and how they should be treated. Fathers and husbands killing daughters and wives over the shame has become distressingly common.

It's good to know that the Bloodstone Plateau is willing to accept tribute. Cools the situation down a bit from ongoing threat to looming danger.
This world is brutal. They have war crimes are occurring just like in real life.

Amazing game trailer 

My vote:
Do you accept Matriarch Mire's offer and allow her to hex you?
Yes

Do you help your brother get his book? If so, how?
Help Anders. Buy 1 of the 2 copies of Rites and Rituals of the 19 Demons. If that is not possible, then

You could also afford to be honorable and pay a scribe to make a cheap copy of the document on scrolls.

Do you accept the offer of an eventual court necromancer, and if so, is she to be your wife, Andre's, or Anders?
Accept the offer. Arrange Evie to marry Anders.

Do you join the hunt? If so, who if anyone from The Nameless City do you invite? What other preparations do you try to make?
Let's do it. Probably we won't even find one, but the prestige and camaraderie of giving it a shot will be invaluable to our relations with Penteram and his family (and Imperials in general). If we do find one, our hunting party will probably be among the more skilled and better equipped ones.

Worst case, we've got Pennete as an heir.

Preparations: Work with Pennete and the Vermant (and anyone else who'd know) to figure out how our new breed of mounts would do on the hunt. Ideally we want to use this as an opportunity to show off and advertise them, so if they're a good match anyone we invite should be furnished with one.

As for who to invite...
-It would be polite to extend an invitation to Apollo and Vishnu. I have no idea if they have any interest (I'd be surprised if Apollo did, but Vishnu at least likes the outdoors), nor do I know if the Nameless City has its own fancy murder parties. But if Imperial glory hunts are the only feasible way to try for it and they're invitation only, it's plausible that Vishnu would like to partake in such a hunt but typically isn't able to.
-I assume we should invite at least some of our hunting buddies. All of them? Just the named ones? I'm unclear on proper etiquette for Imperial suicide missions. Keanu was still a better hunter than us last we heard, so he's an obvious pick. Otherwise I think our only named goons are the twins, who are useful sycophants. I believe prestigious yet dangerous endeavors are exactly what you bring those along for.
-If we're going to buddy up with Matriarch Mire, we should take a vampire along.

+1

I wrote earlier that I wasn't decided about the hunt ... now I am: Go on the Hunt.

Who to invite? +1 IronyOwl's suggestions

Preparations?
1) Talk to Pierre and/or Vishnu. Ask not just how to kill a sand daemon – Penteram should have that covered as a competent hunter – but also about any common links among those who survived an unsuccessful encounter. If the answer is something as simple as "be faster than the other guy" we can make sure our nearest and dearest have the best dire kangaroo rats in the nameless city (including presents for Mother and Penteram when they come down). Since we've mostly studied illusion, it would be good to know if daemons have any weakness in that area. Will an illusion help to hide us if things go badly? Do they have some sense of magic that will draw them right to it? ​

2) Talk to Penette, very discretely, about Pierre. She's the only other person in our group who is considered true royalty, that seemed to be important during our encounter. If she answers as we suspect she will, point out that Penteram's death during the expedition would reverse our kingdoms' relative position – as I understand Philip is ineligible due to bastardry but his infant child will need a regency and New Mahallo could become the "senior" partner. Of course, by the same token, our own death would make her a queen. Something for her to think about, what does she value and what will she sacrifice. We make no demands, we trust her. (Not trusting runs the exact same risk, after all.)

Not quite expedition preparation, but we can also tell Penette (in the same or a different conversation) that we would be fine if she continued to study here. However as the succession now stands, it might be best if she didn't completely isolate herself from the Imperials in the city. Look around, maybe ask a teacher, try to find one or two who are tolerable assholes instead of complete moron assholes.

+1

Ok that snopes article was good clarification. The entertainment angle is specifically from Fox News lawyers defending Tucker Carlson.

I'll just throw up my initial positions. I'm not 100% committed on these suggestions yet, so hopefully there will be some good discussions to solidify some ideas.

Actions:
Do you accept Matriarch Mire's offer and allow her to hex you?
No
Do you help your brother get his book? If so, how?
Help Anders by stealing the book.
Do you accept the offer of an eventual court necromancer, and if so, is she to be your wife, Andre's, or Anders?
Accept the offer. Arrange Evie to marry Anders.
Do you join the hunt?
Yes
If so, who if anyone from The Nameless City do you invite?
Keanu, Pierre, Kane, Kaylee
What other preparations do you try to make?
IDK

This is pretty messed up.

Incel ideology is just terrible. I remember there was an incel shooting in the US years ago as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incel#Mass_murders_and_violence

yeah those are 3 pretty major factors.

Special mention for Fox being classified as an 'entertainment' outlet, not a news outlet, so they essentially get a free pass to say whatever they want.

lol That's just wild. Fox News really is a scourge.