>>3571604
Right, so how many points do we have to distribute?

I'll copy over the attribute descriptions from the CK2 wiki since I assume yours are similar (since you mentioned the game).
>Diplomacy skill reflects ability to negotiate and please people.
>Martial skill is an indicator of skill at warfare and combat.
>Stewardship improves management of demesne.
>Intrigue is a measure of skill at manipulation and scheming.
>Learning is a measure of a character's knowledge.

With that noted, I'm leaning towards going heavy into Intrigue and Diplomacy.
Probably something like:
>6 dice
>2 dice
>3 dice
>6 dice
>3 dice
so you can consider that my vote unless another anon tells me how retarded I am well enough to convince me otherwise

>>3571641
Good point! Sorry about that. For the most part, you're right. However, one thing I did change was in learning, which now encompasses Law.

>>3571640
20 d6's.

>>3571644
6
3
4
5
2

>>3571641
Seconding this. Let's go full Machiavellian prince.

>>3571641
+1

Sounds like a wrap. I'll call it now. Unless someone slips in right as I type this.
But... I think it'd be better to have a best out of three for 20 d6's. Anyone can roll, even multiple times, but please wait a few minutes before rolling again.

Oh, if it's not clear, I'll divide the rolls into stats as have been agreed upon earlier. First 6 to diplo, 2 to martial, 3 to stewardship, 6 to intrigue, 3 to learning.

>>3571695
Roll all 20 at once then? Alright. May RNGesus bless us.

Rolled 5, 4, 5, 3, 1, 5, 3, 1, 6, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 2, 5, 1, 1, 1 = 63 (20d6)

>>3571704
I thought I put dice+20d6 in but it didn't work, is that past some maximum number of die? Trying again in case I just typed it wrong.

>>3571708
Well, thank goodness there wasn't a limit. This stat sheet looks like
Diplomacy 23
Martial 8
Stewardship 13,
Intrigue 20
Learning 8 (Be glad you can't critfail this). Looks right?

>>3571719
Yep, looks right to me.
>be glad you can't critfail this
ah yes, then we'd be King [Name] the Lobotomized

Rolled 4, 3, 6, 4, 3, 4, 4, 2, 6, 1, 3, 3, 3, 3, 5, 4, 1, 5, 5, 5 = 74 (20d6)

Seems slow, so I'll throw in my own roll.

Rolled 4, 4, 1, 1, 1, 6, 6, 1, 1, 1, 5, 2, 4, 2, 1, 2, 6, 6, 6, 5 = 65 (20d6)

>>3571746

Aand we've got all of them.
Alright, it seems like my vote has the highest stats, although the distribution was different than others, so if you want to use another stat distribution, please let me know and we can hold another vote. I don't mind doing this at all, but it'll be in the background.

Your Character Sheet as of right before your coronation:
Diplomacy 24
Martial 8
Stewardship 10
Intrigue 19
Learning 15

Posting the last part of char creation next.

You sigh once more, and mournfully get up. You disdainfully eye a few letters, likely condescending, from other kings. You see one of them, from Triensel in the south. You move to shove it into the fireplace, and watch it slo-

Fuck! You recoil from the fireplace, almost stumbling. Face hot with shame, you sweep your gaze across the room, only relaxing when you remember you’re alone here.

… You burned yourself. You angrily throw the rest of the letters in the fire without reading them. With an even worse mood, you stomp towards the door. Your robes are a size too big and your dinky prince’s crown is secretly weighed down with lead. You checked.

You hope the coronation will be more than a joke at your expense, but you know better.

Still, you’re king. Long live the king.

King…

What’s your name again? Wait, are you even a king?
>Name? I’ll take anything within reason.
>Gender?

>>3571762
>King Godfrey
>Male

>>3571770
+1

>>3571762
>Queen Ophelia
>F

>>3571776
Support

>>3571776
+1
Do we get any more stat bonuses from traits or education?

OP can I ask why you're doing a gender vote when you already specified the MC is a King in the OP? Was that just a mistake?

>>3571798
No. I was considering it, but decided that it wasn't a good fit.
On the other hand, your unhinged personality will influence mechanics in a big way, even if you're competent enough to mask it from most people.

I'll keep this going for maybe five more minutes, if that seems fair?
Feel free to ask questions in the future.

>>3571810
shit. whoops.

>>3571815
Maybe have traits for role play or flavor purposes then? They don't matter to our stats but it might affect how we act and how others interact with us. That way we can include put insanity in character.

The coronation was awful. The small procession saw countless arrests, although thankfully everything they threw missed. Your unruffled demeanor dissuaded many peasants, too. The High Conductor sped through his lines, as if he had better things to do. The bumbling man called you a king! The nobles delayed clapping multiple times, by as much as a few seconds. They swore their oaths and left the ceremony as quickly as decorum allowed, and in the meantime clustered around powerful nobles rather than their new ruler. Even the ones who visibly showed surprise at your charisma were restrained and, with slight flinches and glances back to their peers, did their best to escape the conversation. Some did promise to speak later on, but how useful could cowards be?

Still, they’ll learn in time. You’ve got better things to look into anyway.

For example… Your council. Perhaps they could be of use, but you far outstrip some in skill, and you’ll need every bit of it to keep afloat.

In what area do you take a personal interest? (Normally, for rolls in this category, you’d use add a complex formula of… The difference of eight from your stat (your stat-8) plus twice the difference of eight from your counselor’s stat (counselor’s stat-8)*2 to the roll. Personally overseeing an action adds (your stat-8)*3 to the roll.)
>Diplomacy
>Martial
>Stewardship
>Intrigue
>Learning

Because the decision will depend not only on you, but also your counselors, here’s a sheet with basic information on them.
Diplomacy: Geoffrey of Tescia (Wildcard) Diplomacy 15. You don’t know how he got nominated, let alone chosen, by the regency council. Still, he’s good at his job and hasn’t made a fuss, even though you personally dislike him.

Martial: Count Edward ‘Red Eyes’ (Loyalist: Will not oppose your decisions, Arrogant: slightly increases the chance of a crit-fail) Martial 13. Your bumbling former regent. Loyal, if arrogant and without an ounce of subtlety. Has a penchant for drinking, too.

Stewardship: Baron Etiene of Northknoll (Corrupt: High Nobility: Will subtract from the roll in certain decision, and worsens failures.) Stewardship 14
A complete toadie to the high nobles. Good at his job, but mostly a thorn in your side.

Intrigue: Adelaide (Wildcard) Intrigue 16.
You don’t know her at all, despite having worked with her many times in the past. Still, she hasn’t killed you yet.

Learning: Conductor Jacob (Malcontent: Subtracts from all actions in his department.) Learning 10.
Once called you a Demon garbed in human skin. Aside from Adelaide, he’s the only one who knows your true nature.

>>3571836
I intend to write the character with certain traits, but if you think it would make it more lively, I can include another background vote that people who feel strongly about can contribute to, to decide on traits. There will be insanity written into the mechanics, though. That's part of why there was so much leeway on stats.

If you want to know any more about the counselors, just ask! I'll give this vote more time, maybe 45 minutes to an hour.

>>3571849
>Intrigue
Oh nice we're better than most of them
Is our title King no matter our gender? Very cool

>>3571856
Let's see. How about
>Lunatic
>Possessed
>Greedy
>Wroth
>Envious
>Proud
>Cruel
>Ambitious
>Cynical
>Attractive
>Quick

>>3571872
That works. Lets see how people feel by the next few votes?
For anyone else, don't feel pressured to conform to CK2 traits if you want to vote for these.
I'll designate trait selection as a background vote. Don't need to vote on this, but if you feel strongly, please do. I'll tally it up in two or three hours.

>>3571849
>Intrigue
Are we a king or queen? This gets pretty confusing.
>>3571872
Support, minus the greed. We haven't shown that.

>>3571892
Ophelia won 3-2. you'll get an official character-sheet next update, with some hopefully not too overwhelming kingdom information.

>>3571905
A map would be nice too

I'll call the vote for personal interest now.
Can I get a stray 1d100. Feel free to roll 3d100 this time, to get the best out of three out of the way. I'll go back to standard best out of three rolls, this is an exception.

>>3571914
Map is without a doubt coming with kingdom information.

As a side note, how do you guys feel about the voting times? Too short? Too long?

Rolled 38, 99, 64 = 201 (3d100)

>>3571980
Voting time seems fine to me, only situation where I'd complain about it being too short would be if it was for a major plot point.

>>3571980
It's the votes themselves that bother me desu. I don't really feel like voting because these votes don't feel all that important. As in, our character isn't really doing anything yet.

“So… You wanted to discuss something, your highness?” Adelaide glances at you from across a table. You asked her to dine with you after your coronation. The old, stately woman obliged. You know little about her, but it seems her bluntness wasn’t feigned.

“It’s a trifling issue, I wished to speak to one of the pillars of our government. Thank you for the support over the years.”

“So it’s me? I thought you’d go after Jacob. He knows.” ...Nevermind, she’s more graceful than you thought. Still, you aren’t sure if you want her fully out of the picture. In addition, you can’t help but note how she left your… traits unsaid. As you figured, she knows you quite a bit. Regardless, you keep your face calm. You’ve got social grace all your own. “Or Geoffrey. I can’t find anything new on him. I’ve tried, and I’ve got contacts in the nobility.”

Huh.

“Please, do not misunderstand me. I do not intend anything untoward.” You inject just enough bewilderment into your words to hopefully make her doubt herself.

“Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I just wanted to know your thoughts. Still, I am curious. Why me?” She leans in closer to you. You push for more information. For once, you’re in a position to do so.

“Well, as my most trusted advisor, I had hoped to study under you in a-”

“Cut it. You’re better than me. Please, be honest. I’ve served you all these years. Even when you asked for terrible things, I did them without question.” She furrows her brow. You see clear concern. You rarely met with her in person, for many reasons, but you’ve never seen that expression.

Still, useful.
(True temperament revealed: Loyalist.)

“If you insist,-”
Decision time. Nice 99+48(24 diplo...)=147 and picking the secret Loyalist. Pick one.
>I need to put my skills to use. You’re the only one I feel safe with broaching this topic. (Gain all the info she has on counselors and internal factions.)
>But, I can’t be anything but straightforward. I need to know: Why did you take me under your wing? (???)

And finally, how do you deal with her?
>Leave her in office, but she just handles small minutiae and keeps the council off your back. (Sinecure, she doesn’t do anything. Still, having the head of a secret, compartmentalized spy network stick around is bound to cause confusion for a while.)
>Have her resign. It’ll be sudden, but she’s sharp enough to deflect suspicion. (She’s gone. You have full reign of her old spy network, and she can keep serving and collect information without as much suspicion. Unfortunately, there will be a new appointment eventually, and ruckus over why she resigned.)
>Have her killed. It’ll actually be less suspicious. (She’s dead. Lowers ??????. There is less suspicion for you, as everyone assumes it had to be someone less fond of her/known to be more ruthless.)

File: January 50, Political Map.png (74 KB, 810x566)

74 KB PNG

>>3572034
Got it. This should be the start of more meaningful votes.

Queen Ophelia I, Queen of Vetesil and Countess of High Edri.
Age: 16 (Birthday in January)
Diplomacy: 24
Martial: 8
Stewardship: 10
Intrigue: 19
Learning: 15
??????: 20

Kingdom of Vetesil, January, 50 A.S.
Food: 50/100 (Affects population and public order)
Prosperity: 30/100 (-40% income)
Public Order: 40/100 (-1 Prosperity per turn. -4 to any rolls.)
Population: 250,000? (Affects certain income sources, military numbers, and may affect food)

Military: No clue.
Internal Approval: Measure of how the pillars of state view you.
Freemen: 2/10 (Secret hostility, -3 Prosperity per turn, -10 to Stewardship rolls, chance to embezzle treasury.)
Lower Nobility: 4/10 (Snubbed, -4 to all martial rolls)
Higher Nobility: 4/10 (Snubbed, -1 Food per turn)
Church of Angels: 5/10 (Ambivalent)

Treasury: 400 Silver
Income: 60 Silver/turn (Originally 100)
Expenses: 30 Silver/turn
Net: +30 Silver/Turn

I wouldn't worry too much about stats. You'll be notified of specific threats to the kingdom, and it might be better to make decisions off of that.

It's more a quick measure of how the kingdom's doing.
Answer? Fucked.

>>3572049
>I need to put my skills to use. You’re the only one I feel safe with broaching this topic
and
>Leave her in office, but she just handles small minutiae and keeps the council off your back.
I don't think it's a good idea to get a loyalist out of office right now, we have people biting at our throat right now and we need to make everyone at least ambivalent to us. Plus, who knows who'd replace her.

I'll call the vote now. Next vote should see the first month's decisions for the kingdom. I'll answer questions for an hour or two under the guise of your counselors, and leave the vote going until tomorrow morning.

Writing.

“Your highness, please… I don’t mind being sidelined. I’m simply trying to help you, but with your…” Adelaide’s face falls unexpectedly. She frowns, with that same look of clear concern. She dithers for a few seconds, clearly thinking hard.

“...” You don’t say anything. How could you? It’s clear she’s talking about your weak position. It stings, but she’s honest.

“Your personality.” You’ll gut her. You glance at your scepter, resting on a nearby cabinet. A lithe girl, you’ve never been much for exercise, but you could do it! But, no… You’d gut her if she wasn’t a loyalist, wasn’t a counselor. You won’t forget this. “But, let’s start in order of least importance.”

“... Go on. Please, continue.” You scramble to regain what semblance of grace you had. It’s hard.

“As you might expect, our internal issues have outside causes. The Freemen take Amberland’s grain and gold-.” You interrupt her by snorting in amusement. Can’t you just have them killed? “... Dozens of important merchants and influential yeomen have taken bribes or ‘stumbled’ into good trade deals in Wakefeud.” She recites the information almost mindlessly. Has she been rehearsing ways to break the news to you? The money makes sense, but...

“And as for the grain?” You do your best to keep an even voice. If she didn’t know you, she might be fooled into thinking you mildly distressed.

“... I don’t know. It’s clear that they’re not hurting for it, so it’s got to be for some plan. Still, they’re vulnerable there.”

“Yes. What else?” You steel yourself. Even worse news?

“Our low income. Not just from the bureaucratic tangle of our government and low prosperity, but in general.”

“Of course. We’re missing tallages, and other lords encroach on our rights.”

“Well rehearsed and plausible, but also what Etienne would tell you. I wouldn’t know if I didn’t stumble upon it. Corruption besides Etienne. Not just among the upper rungs like you thought. The collectors and clerks are pocketing money as well.”

“And Etienne couldn’t do it. They’re that entrenched?”

“It’ll take time. Still, you’re a resourceful girl.” Tsk. Adelaide smiles at you despite her impropriety, as if something painful was over. She moves to get up.

...

“Wait.”

She winces. “Why did you say that piece at the start if that was it?” You ask, voice strained. She shakily sits back down. Her fragile smile shatters. She sighs. You’re frowning, mask intact, but doubtlessly riddled with subtle tells only a mother would know. Or Adelaide.

“I’m sorry. I lied. Or rather, I can’t find anything new on Chancellor Geoffrey, but I know plenty.”

“... You think I can’t handle it?” Your tone is low, dangerous. You narrow your eyes. “Out with it.” No use in politeness now.

“Amberland. He is a traitor in league with Amberland. He plans to let negotiations go well, too well, until sabotaging them at the last minute to waste as many resources as possible.”

...

“Go.” Finger trembling, you point at the door. Adelaide quickly leaves, but shoots worried glances at you the entire way out. Your vision blurs.

You hold it in for a few precious minutes. Then, you grab your royal scepter.

Weak as you are, the heavy scepter easily shatters the old wooden chairs you two sat on. Food sails through the air as you topple the table. You manage to keep from screaming as you stumble, clutching your scepter as hard as you can.

…

You chuck the splintered wood into the fireplace for good measure. You sulk by the fire for a while, but eventually other duties call you. The guards don’t say anything as you leave.

Gained powerful options to handle several crises.
+5 ??????. Now at 25/100.

It takes several days for the court to finally get in order. A thousand minor slights keep you from starting any sooner. You try to ignore it. Geoffrey sits placidly, unaware that you’ve learned he’s a filthy traitor.

Today’s your first council. Sitting around a painted table, your counselors shift in their seats.

They call out the major threats to the realm.

1. The Amberland Coalition, composed of the Duchy of Amberland, Country of Wakefeud, Duchy of West Jureth, and, less relevant, the County of Pike Ford, which opposed your father’s invasion of the Kingdom of Great Gate, is still kicking and very hostile. Said Kingdom is also agitating for lost territory, amassing their admittedly pathetic army on your border.
You know you could try negotiating with them as Geoffrey recommends, especially their less enthusiastic members. Or, you could contact their enemies. Each option here costs 30 Silver.

2. Everyone’s upset. The freemen, in particular, are very upset. They smuggle, siphon income, and exploit the kingdom. You know for a fact that the Freemen are leaning heavily on Amberland. Destroying their connections won’t endear you to them, but will quash their rebelliousness. Geoffrey recommends bribing them for loyalty (Diplomatic). Etienne and Edward recommend you send the military in to break their spirit, so to speak (Martial). You know from Adelaide that you could covertly strike their foreign supporters for the same effect (Intrigue). Each option here costs 80 Silver.

3. The military is in shambles. You eye Edward coldly, but he shrugs. They’re understating it, even your barely competent eyes can tell. Everything is in ruins. The levy system with the lords, training and leadership, rallying troops… You could either send Geoffrey to coax lords into disclosing their levies (Diplomatic) or have Edward review what the levies you know you can call (Martial). Each option here costs 50 Silver.

4. Your income is far lower than what it should be. Tallages have fallen into disuse, and lords are encroaching on your rights. You also know how low level corruption has strangled your income even further, but really, that information is more useful in removing Etienne. You could try to raise your revenue by reasserting your rights or rooting out corruption (Both stewardship), or just use this as an opportunity to oust Etienne (Intrigue). Options here cost 20 Silver.

5. The population is stagnant or, more likely, many people have disappeared from the census to dodge tallages and their levy duties. It’ll be an uphill battle to find everyone, but thankfully Etienne isn’t incompetent, just problematic. The only thing you can do is slowly take a census of your people.(Stewardship). This action will cost about 100 Silver, and is best approached with multiple turns of work.

6. The law is not being followed, and public order is breaking down. The law is always a tricky subject, and will likely need reform. (Learning) This action costs 50 Silver.

7. Geoffrey needs to go! Unfortunately, it’ll take quite the effort to clear house, perhaps the entire month. And further, you think he’s not going to sabotage you immediately, even if you do try negotiating with Amberland. He might even help negotiations to ‘bait’ you. (Intrigue option.) This option is free, but the personal nature will likely raise ??????.

…

Problems everywhere, as usual. And you don’t have the means to handle all of them.

You suppose it’d only be fair to ask your counselors for advice.

You have a dice pool of two D100’s to distribute to actions, and many problems. You may double down on an action with both D100s. You also have a limited treasury of 400 Silver.

Choose which crises to address and, if applicable, which sub-options, as well as how many dice you want to give. To reiterate, you have two d100s to give, and thus a max of two actions, and 400 Silver to spend.
>Well?

I’ll stick around for a while to answer questions as your counselors would.

One last thing for good measure
On action categories, it might be best to stick to a simpler way to remember how your counselors affect certain rolls for now.

And so:
Diplomacy: Geoffrey (Untriggered Traitor) will act as normal, until a critical roll, where he absolutely sabotages it. You know his trigger is something along the lines of making good progress on countering the Amberland Coalition.

Martial: Edward is Loyal, but Arrogant. He has a higher chance of crit fails.

Stewardship: Etienne is Corrupt, he makes failures worse and will sabotage certain Stewardship actions that attack his backers, the high nobility.

Intrigue: You run this. As such, you use your own excellent intrigue stat, not Adelaide's.

Learning: Jacob is Malcontent, and is mildly sabotaging all your Learning rolls.

>>3572346
Let's stick to our people this turn
>Law reform (learning)
>Freeman (intrigue)

>>3572342
Let's see:
For 1 & 7, we can jerk Geoffrey's chain a bit. Let him he think he's getting us ready for the fall.

For 3 & 5, the military and population is too fucked to tackle first thing, if that makes sense.

For 6, the law is vital, but I fear our ability to fix it with learning may be hampered by our ignorance.

I vote for:
4, Ousting Etienne with Intrigue (20 Silver)
2, Freeman will have their rebellious spirits broken by covertly striking their foreign supporters. (80 Silver)

We be intrigue now.

>>3572342
>2. Everyone’s upset (Intrigue). Costs 80 Silver.
>6. The law is not being followed, and public order is breaking down (Learning) Costs 50 Silver.

I would wait with ousting Etienne, It could make Geoffrey more careful and better prepared

>>3572346
I'll vote for
>Law reform (learning)
>Freemen (intrigue)

Etienne can keep working for now, until we find a replacement. If we can convince him we're acting in the interests of high nobility, he could even help us.

Are write-ins allowed? I'm thinking of a gambit where we allow the lords to pay money instead of providing levies, then use that money to establish our own army and assert our dominance over the lords.

>>3572470
Or even better, we take bribes from the lords and use the money to overthrow them.

>>3572449
+1

>>3572470
>allow the lords to pay money instead of providing levies, then use that money to establish our own army and assert our dominance over the lords.
This is good by requires someone competent to build the army.

>>3572472
>take bribes from the lords and use the money to overthrow them.
Not sure how that'd work.

But I like the cuts of your jibs.

>>3572727
>Not sure how that'd work.
It worked for the future Byzantine emperor Justin.

>>3572797
How would we "use the money" though?

I'm back! I'll leave the voting open for maybe thirty more minutes.

>>3572470
I'm happy to see write-ins, but reserve the right to decide which action category they go into. It should be pretty obvious from the write-in's content, though.

As for your write-in, paying scutage to be excluded from military service is a pretty common occurrence. If you decide to look into military issues later on, however, there will be some complications.

Armies get expensive...

“And what do you want, young queen?” Jacob’s face falls, shifting from the light, grandfatherly grin he carried everywhere to a sharp gaze and a slight frown.

“We discussed legal reform yesterday. As queen, it is only fitting to hear from the experts, especially after you’ve looked into the matter?”

“Of course. Do you know the basics of the law?” He asks, “It may come as a surprise, but the purpose of law is to guide the people and instill virtue.”

You hate dealing with him.

By the end of the meeting, whatever diplomatic skill you have is nullified by irrational hatred. Still, you’re sure he won’t try too hard to sabotage you. He kept insisting on church precepts, but you think you dealt with it well. He argued that secular law focused too much on enriching the crown, over the spiritual needs of the people.

How did you respond?
>Of course you’ll model the law according to the will of the Angels!
>No. Secular law is quite fine, especially on the Wakefeud model.

...Were you lying?
>Yes
>No

_-_-_

Adelaide attended the council meeting as normal, but quickly passed her contacts and network to you. You know many of her spies already, and, judging by their wide eyes and near imperceptible queasiness, they know you too.

Yet, as the de facto spy-mistress, you can’t pass off anything here. You’re making all the major decisions now.

And this month’s target? The Freemen. You gather as many targets as you can. Warehouses owned by bribed leaders, where their families are…

And that damned grain.

Still, there’s quite a bit to figure out. You want to eliminate their foreign support. You could assault the people taking foreign money, until

How intense do you intend to make the operations? Each option selected changes the rewards. Pick up to three.
>Bog standard gathering evidence and imprisoning people would work.
>Loot and burn down warehouses owned by prominent bribed leaders.
>Their families too.
>The grain needs to go. You don’t know what it’s for, but you can check before you ‘borrow’ it.
>In fact, people even affiliated with the bribed leaders should go too. Borrow their lives.
>You had a brilliant idea. Subvert the network by sending your own offers of support to prominent Freemen. Then, gather these proven traitors under the guise of planning. You know what happens next. (Costs another 100 Silver)
>Tip off bandits to assault the ‘peaceful’ caravans that bring in Amberland’s support.
>You’re sure you can trace the warehouses in Amberland that are doing the bribing. They’ll be mysteriously emptied out and set on fire.
>Another way? Write-in.

Regardless of your decisions, roll 2d100 for your actions. Best out of three. (I’d like to multitask with dice rolling and voting.) I'll take the highest total, and leave more time for voting. If you want to select another dice result as well, please say so.

Rolled 73 (1d100)

>>3572992
>No. Secular law is quite fine, especially on the Wakefeud model.
>No
Secular law means we won't have a church crying out against our decisions

>Loot and burn down warehouses owned by prominent bribed leaders.
>Their families too.
>You’re sure you can trace the warehouses in Amberland that are doing the bribing. They’ll be mysteriously emptied out and set on fire.

Rolled 38 (1d100)

>>3573054

Rolled 8, 26 = 34 (2d100)

>>3572992
>No. Secular law is quite fine, especially on the Wakefeud model.
>No

>Bog standard gathering evidence and imprisoning people would work.
>You’re sure you can trace the warehouses in Amberland that are doing the bribing. They’ll be mysteriously emptied out and set on fire.
Arrest traitors and seize their assets

>>3572832
Mercenaries and assassins.

>>3572992
>Bog standard gathering evidence and imprisoning people would work.
>As well as converting some of them into double agents by bribes, threats and taking their families hostage. We need to know what's Amberlend's angle and what's up with the grain.
>The grain needs to go. You don’t know what it’s for, but you can check before you ‘borrow’ it.

Rolled 8, 1 = 9 (2d100)

>>3573090

>>3572992
>No. Secular law is quite fine, especially on the Wakefeud model.

But.. We should give the church a tax break, at the moment their support is important
>yes
It would be interesting to have a mad queen who's pious.

>You’re sure you can trace the warehouses in Amberland that are doing the bribing. They’ll be mysteriously emptied out and set on fire.
>Tip off bandits to assault the ‘peaceful’ caravans that bring in Amberland’s support.
>Bog standard gathering evidence and imprisoning people would work.

Bring outside support to a standstill, then sieze the traitors.

>>3573092
well then

I'll keep voting going for another 20 minutes.

>>3573103
forgot to roll

Rolled 78, 90 = 168 (2d100)

>>3573112
trying again

Rolled 4 (1d4)

Calling vote now.
I'll go with the 73 for Law, as it was a best out of three.
That crit fail on intrigue will hurt.

Writing, may take a while.

It was unanimous on law, but pretty fragmented for intrigue. I'll roll a dice.
>>3573054
>>3573058
>>3573090
>>3573103

It’s a close thing. You thought you could delegate more of your spy network than you did, but several spies were almost caught. Due to sloppy timing, they weren’t notified that their positions were under suspicion, and likely would have been caught by the end of the month.

But then you stepped in. Like a woman possessed, you sort out everything you can, managing to place spies in optimal positions by their personalities, coming to conclusions people hadn’t even considered, and even branching out into Amberland.

Then a spy defects.

Then two more.

It starts a wave. Perhaps disgusted by you, or offered better deals by Amberland, almost all your spies leave you. Your entire Intrigue network is gutted. An entire system, masterfully set up, ruined by personal qualms.

By the end of the month, everything you had set up lie in shambles. Amberland knows what you’ve tried to do. The Freemen know what you tried to do. Thankfully, no one aside from Amberland cared about the bandits.

You lose your composure. For the rest of the month, people avoid you.

You at least sate your anger on the families of your defected spies. It doesn’t help much.

Result:
Your intrigue network is in ruins. All intrigue actions will be significantly harder until you solve the issue. At least when you do fix it, it’ll be stronger than before.
The Freemen know what you did. Freemen opinion down to 1/10. They are not suppressed, but you did do enough damage to halt their plans this turn. (They did not affect kingdom stats this turn)
Amberland knows that you know, and they also know of your embarrassing failure. Whatever they planned has been sped up.

_-_-_

The only bright spot this month is Jacob’s bumbling failure.

After you told him you wanted secular laws in place, he nodded, more to himself than anything.

His attempts to inject religious law fail utterly. Probably because he tried to change basic, if important, parts of the law that you made sure to double check.

For instance, he tried to institute compensation, payment from the defendant to the plaintiff, rather than a tariff of compensation, payment from the defendant to the crown.

In any case, he’s off licking his wounds. You did everything you could reasonably do in a month which, in any case, is quite a lot.

Result:
Much needed income for the crown
Public order increases, although Jacob begrudgingly notes that it’ll take more than a month to fix everything.

At the end of the month, you’ve got some time for yourself.

And that leaves you pacing around your castle. Mistakes everywhere. It took sleepless nights meeting with spies and days spent researching the kingdom’s situation. And yet, things fell apart. Can you afford even a minute of rest?

You have time for one brief personal action. Personal actions raise your ??????, but rely on your own skills as modifiers. After your failure at spying, you are at 40/100 ???????

>It doesn’t make sense. As far as you know, Amberland could pick you apart at their leisure, even without their coalition. Why did Amberland send Geoffrey to sabotage negotiations? (Intrigue)
>Spend a few days meeting with a councilor. (Pick which one, and why) (Diplomacy)
>You can’t help but wonder: what’s the rest of the world doing? You hope they’re doing as badly as you. (Intrigue)
>That damned grain keeps you up at night. Regardless of whether or not you’ve got a spy network, you will find out. (Intrigue)
>Anything else you’d like? (Write-in)
>Just rest. Or keep pacing, if we’re being realistic here. (No personal action)

>>3573221
Critfail sucks, but I like the fluff that it was because our spies just hate us.

>>3573225
>Why did Amberland send Geoffrey to sabotage negotiations? (Intrigue)
We need to understand greater things afoot. The positive side of spectacular failure is that your enemies underestimate you. Amberland knows we failed and won't expect our immediate continued intrigue. Let's pry while their guard is down.

>>3573225
>It doesn’t make sense. As far as you know, Amberland could pick you apart at their leisure, even without their coalition. Why did Amberland send Geoffrey to sabotage negotiations? (Intrigue)
Would it be in character to blame Adelaide for this and arrest her for treason lol?

>>3573313
Absolutely, but at the moment it'd take vote, if you're interested in that.

>>3573326
Nah, we're not at this level of insanity, yet...

>>3573225
>Spend a few days meeting with a councilor. (Pick which one, and why) (Diplomacy)
Can we meet with Adelaide and work on rebuilding the spy network?

If not then I'll just support >>3573313

>>3573355
You definitely could, but it'll be less effective than using a dice during the main decision phase.

I'll give another 15 minutes?

>>3573225
>>It doesn’t make sense. As far as you know, Amberland could pick you apart at their leisure, even without their coalition. Why did Amberland send Geoffrey to sabotage negotiations? (Intrigue)

And, calling it. The winning vote is to investigate Amberland and Geoffrey.
Roll 1d100+13, for best out of three. Yes, even without a functioning spy network, you're good enough at your job to have good odds at finding out anyway.

Rolled 58 + 13 (1d100 + 13)

>>3573398

Rolled 71, 8 = 79 (2d100)

I'll finish the rolls. Update will be up soon.

File: Southern Lands.png (118 KB, 627x830)

118 KB PNG

You thought something was off. Eight years ago, the coalition soundly trounced Vetesil. Armies sundered and forced to surrender all your new holdings except High Edri back to Great Gate, your kingdom fell into quiescence. They could end you whenever they want, especially since there isn’t a truce anymore.

Internally, Amberland is doing quite well. As you learn, their position as the breadbasket of the north guarantees their prosperity. Externally, it seems none of your neighbors could really threaten them. Great Gate doesn’t stand a chance even if they wanted to. Hundred Isles wouldn’t raise a finger in your defense. No other northern powers could threaten Amberland.

What threat could make them both seek to fight you as soon as possible, but make long-term plans with your internal politics? You still don’t know what the grain means.

Then, you look south.

There are two pretenders to the old Kingdom of Triensel, after whose collapse your ‘kingdom’ formed.

On the west bank of the Tideran River, the most legitimate pretender holds power. King David III and his son, Prince Alban, are both descendants of the old royal line, the house of Teres. Beloved by all and leading a powerful coalition from the ancestral capital of Vitre, they are the most powerful among the shatter-kingdoms.

On the east bank, King Ferdinand rules another kingdom. Less influential and, as rumor has it, descended from peasant roots, Ferdinand is the less popular pretender. His pragmatic nature hasn’t won him any friends among bystanders, but he is a close second and has cultivated like-minded allies.

Within the last half decade, the Kingdom of Feod, an eternal rival and threat to Amberland, has signed on with the west bank, and what little news you can dig up from so long ago indicates that the King of Feod was personally persuaded by the young prince Alban.

And recently, there have been rumors of a coming conflict between the two power blocs. You had ignored it since it was a southern matter, but now?

Amberland is clearly concerned. Troop movements show them slowly bringing their army back from your border. Other coalition members move armies even less subtly, committing fewer men each month.

You don’t know why, but the message is clear regardless.

If Amberland can’t strike you soon, their next chance won’t come for many years.

Result:
+10 ??????
In perhaps a year, Amberland will no longer be able to threaten you.
Geoffrey was sent to give them a reason for war that might obligate everyone to join. The other coalition members know that Amberland will soon be distracted, and are trying to pull back to defend themselves.
If they cannot goad a war, Amberland will try to sabotage you as much as possible, to keep you too weak to capitalize on their inattentiveness.
Diplomacy options to handle Amberland.


Note on the map: Contiguous green countries indicate the east bank's coalition.

Contiguous blue countries indicate the west bank's coalition

Kingdom of Vetesil, February, 50 A.S.
Food: 49/100 (Affects population and public order)
Prosperity: 30/100 (-40% income)
Public Order: 45/100 (Affects rolls and prosperity)
Population: 250,000? (Affects certain income sources, force limit, and may affect food)

Military: Still no clue.
nternal Approval: Measure of how the pillars of state view you. Having loyalty at or below 2 or at 0 triggers special debuffs.
Freemen: 1/10 (Open Hostility, -4 Prosperity per turn, -10 to Stewardship rolls, chance to embezzle treasury.)
Lower Nobility: 4/10 (Snubbed, -4 to all martial rolls)
Higher Nobility: 4/10 (Snubbed, -1 Food per turn)
Church of Angels: 5/10 (Ambivalent)

Treasury: 324 Silver
Income: 84 Silver/turn
Expenses: 30 Silver/turn
Net: +54 Silver/Turn

What a rough month. It’s February now. The court meets as usual, but you note Adelaide and Jacob both look worse for wear, although for different reasons. You nod at Etienne, who hasn’t made any trouble and took strides to look less like a pig for some reason. Edward shows up drunk, probably due to the cursory reviews you can get of the army. Geoffrey is there before you. He gives you an easygoing, placid smile that you know he can’t fake.

He’s clueless.

Your councilors call out the current issues plaguing the realm.

1. The Amberland Coalition is getting bolder as they run out of time. The Kingdom of Great Gate continues being annoying, if irrelevant, yet you know that they’re trying to start an incident, and whatever they’re planning it’s going to be multi-faceted.
Of course Geoffrey, always the traitor, still recommends negotiating. In truth, it still might work on the lesser coalition members, since he hasn’t been activated yet, and it might leave them with even less time. (Diplomacy). However, you might want to fully flip the script, and secretly negotiate with lesser coalition members, while giving Amberland the cold shoulder. (Diplomacy) You still could simply contact the coalition’s enemies. Perhaps Feod would like to know about their old enemy’s troop movements. (Diplomacy) Each option here costs 30 Silver.

2. The Freemen continue picking at you. Before, they hid their attacks under paperwork or at night. Now, you’re fighting your merchants and yeomen in the open. They take refuge in Wakefeud and agitate their peers from across the border. Geoffrey cuts his losses here and doesn’t speak up. Edward, rather smug, advocates using your palace guard and whatever levies you can scrounge up to wipe out any opposition at home. (Martial). Etienne wholeheartedly and hastily agrees with this course. Interesting. Costs 100 Silver.

3. You need to be ready for Amberland. With each passing month, the paperwork you have is more out of date. You’ve probably lost even more men since last month. What scant new reports you find agree with you. Geoffrey and Etienne both advise you contact your lords as soon as possible, (Diplomatic) while Edward recommends creating new knights from your land to serve as new recruiters (Martial). It might not be a bad idea to burn away the crumbling levy system for now, and hire mercenaries until you can get a new one started. (Martial) Each option here costs 50 Silver, except the mercenaries, which cost 100 Silver.

4. Your income is slowly recovering, but corruption on all levels keeps siphoning it away. Furthermore, many cities have simply not been paying you their tallages. You still could leverage the low-level corruption to remove Etienne, but he has been oddly helpful this month. You could try to raise your revenue by reasserting your rights or rooting out corruption (Both stewardship), or just use this as an opportunity to oust Etienne (Intrigue). Options here cost 20 Silver.

5. More people have slipped from the census, moving between cities during the chaos of last month. The only thing you can do is slowly take a census of your people. (Stewardship). This action will cost about 100 Silver, and is best approached with multiple turns of work.

6. The legal system is recovering, but needs more work to fully function. Your sheriffs and bailiffs are confused on the sudden changes, and Jacob feels that he needs to write an entire treatise on how the law works in practice. Of course, he isn’t happy with how the law looks. (Learning) Costs 50 Silver.

7. You’re sure Geoffrey’s secretly happy with your failure.Still, you think he’s not going to sabotage you immediately, even if you do try negotiating with Amberland. He might even help negotiations to ‘bait’ you. (Intrigue option.) This option is free, but the personal nature will likely raise ??????.

8. In the afternoon, after court, you receive numerous letters. A half dozen prominent and high-ranked lords write to you, not Geoffrey, concerned about foreign grain. It may take all month to piece everything together, but they seem genuine to work with you. Interesting. (Intrigue) No cost.

9. Your spy network is essentially gone, leaving you vulnerable to all sorts of espionage. However, the framework you put together is strong enough to survive so many spies leaving. Your spy network should be at former capacity quickly, and leaves room for easy expansion later. (Intrigue) Costs 100 Silver.

You space out as your heralds read letters from your neighbors. Most remark, albeit apathetically, on your failed endeavor in Amberland.

Duke Laurent of Amberland himself writes you. He starts the letter by addressing you as ‘countess.’ You order your herald to burn the letter without looking at the rest.

Once more, you have a dice pool of two D100’s to distribute to actions, and many problems to address. You may double down on an action with both D100s.

Choose which crises to address and, if applicable, which sub-options, as well as how many dice you want to give to each action. To reiterate, you have two d100s to give, and thus a max of two actions, and 324 Silver to spend.
>Well?

>>3573553
>2. The Freemen continue picking at you. Before, they hid their attacks under paperwork or at night. Now, you’re fighting your merchants and yeomen in the open. They take refuge in Wakefeud and agitate their peers from across the border. Geoffrey cuts his losses here and doesn’t speak up. Edward, rather smug, advocates using your palace guard and whatever levies you can scrounge up to wipe out any opposition at home. (Martial). Etienne wholeheartedly and hastily agrees with this course. Interesting. Costs 100 Silver.

and

>9. Your spy network is essentially gone, leaving you vulnerable to all sorts of espionage. However, the framework you put together is strong enough to survive so many spies leaving. Your spy network should be at former capacity quickly, and leaves room for easy expansion later. (Intrigue) Costs 100 Silver.

Pretty much fixing what we fucked up earlier.

>>3573553
2. SmackDown the Freeman
Definitely must do.

3. Need more Martial support. Especially if we're using palace guards now.
>Edward recommends creating new knights from your land to serve as new recruiters (Martial).


>>3573677
Although spy network is a very close third for me.

>secretly negotiate with lesser coalition members, while giving Amberland the cold shoulder.
I really wanna do this, but not yet.

>>3573677
+1

Winner was attacking the freedmen and rebuilding the spy network.

“Your highness, in all honesty, the situation is grim.” Edward, mysteriously, doesn’t stink of beer today. He’s wearing actual armor as well, rather than the over-decorated court dress he insists on taking everywhere. There’s a gleam in his eyes that you can’t quite place.

“That is fine. We can have the rest of the palace guard come as well. They can't have too many guards, can they? You’ve always been insistent on how you’ve drilled them yourself. If it’s you, I have faith in them.” He flashes you a proud smile. His teeth are, unfortunately, very yellow. He quickly, and uncharacteristically, shifts back into a more serious expression.

“Unfortunately, my predictions already have all the palace guard participating. They would carry the effort, and hit the targets most likely to be guarded.” His expression tightens, but he simply looks at the door.

"Is something wrong?" You ask him. He turns back to you but hesitates.

“... I’m sorry, but I think it would be best to hold off until our guest arrives…” He gestures at the door meaningfully. “In the meantime, we should go over the levy.”

For a while, you discuss the levy. Or rather, its pitiful state. Most documents you have are outdated. As a result, most of the men you rally are outdated: old veterans.

Then he arrives.

“Sorry… I had to make some meetings. Your Highness. Edward.” It’s Etienne. Visibly sweating and haggard, he’s a far cry from the weaselly wastrel you remember.

“Did you get them…?” Edward anxiously asks. “Ah, I’m sorry. If I may speak plainly...” Unamused, you nod. “Etienne has many connections to the lords. While in the past he was reluctant to call on them for aid, the situation has changed?”

“That’s right. To make a long story short, your servants have heard your plight and offer aid.”

“...Aid?” You’re definitely not amused. But you are intrigued. You thought that after you delegated meeting them as much as possible the lords wouldn’t be eager to help.

“Yes, your highness. Many of your greatest servants offer soldiers for your cause.” ...Right.

The High Nobles offer you aid. It will come to the tune of another five hundred soldiers, with promises of another two thousand if truly necessary. You’re sure this is only a fraction of your true levy. However, there’s a catch. Of the things Etienne clumsily hinted at, the price for aid is that the high nobles expect you to stop pushing for soldiers beyond the 2500 they offer.
>Accept their aid
>Nope.

He wouldn’t speak on why the lords would so suddenly offer aid.
Regardless, you already have a force to the tune of 500 men. In summary, they’re a decently trained group. Although your levy is a mess, the unit as a whole sidesteps most issues by having well-trained palace guards scattered throughout, and are small enough as a unit that Edward can command all of them.

You meet with Adelaide later on. She also has a weird gleam in her eye as she watches you make plans.

You admit that you’re still frustrated from last month’s failure. Sometimes you can’t look at your old ledgers without flying into a… Well, you know.

Still, things aren’t all bad. In the past, Adelaide’s spy network was focused on internal matters, with only two or three agents regularly making reports on foreign countries. It was incredibly reactive to outside interference. Yet, it also let her quash countless internal plots.

You can change that.

“Adelaide, why didn’t you assign more spies to watch outside our borders?” She blinks. You don’t usually ask her questions, and even then a lot simply handle the grunt work.

“Everyone was at our throats when I started, after the war… Well, there wasn’t a point in keeping tabs on our neighbors. We certainly couldn’t stop them. We knew that there would always be someone plotting against us. Anything we could have caught in foreign courts could be caught on the streets.” She recites.

…

What a weak excuse.

You scoff. That’s not it at all. But still, she’s loyal, and whatever happened then is irrelevant now.

How do you build your spy network?
>Foreign focus, with a brief web to dissuade any attempts that get through. It’ll help you take covert action on enemies outside, but give internal enemies free reign.
>Internal focus, with a small web to watch foreign courts. This is what Adelaide had, and relies on catching espionage foreign espionage after it starts, but lets you keep a tight watch on internal enemies.
>Mixed focus. A mix between the two, acceptable at catching both internal and external threats before they start, but good at none.

As before, cast votes and also roll dice: a 2d100. Best out of the first three like usual.

Rolled 25, 59 = 84 (2d100)

>>3573990
>Accept their aid
They made a mistake. We will turn this meager few into a fighting force they would fear.

>Mixed focus. A mix between the two, acceptable at catching both internal and external threats before they start, but good at none.

>>3574095
"About that, your highness: as with any levy among the shatter-kingdoms, we cannot call raise men without good reason, or without adequate compensation. And even with large sums of money, the nobility would balk if we kept them for too long."

However, Edward draws plans along your line of thought. It's weird seeing him have so much initiative.

He estimates that if you really wanted, you could maintain about a thousand men at a high cost of 100 Silvers/month, AKA 10 Silver/month for every hundred men. These all come from your personal domain. However, it would require an action on its own, perhaps in your spare time or next month's decisions.

>>3573990
Wearing armor when not expecting combat is strange. Did Edward expect someone to jump him in the palace?

>>3573994
>Accept their aid
They don't want to give more people? All right, we'll institute scutage.

>Mixed focus. A mix between the two, acceptable at catching both internal and external threats before they start, but good at none.

>>3574117
>we cannot call raise men without good reason
The commoners are getting too uppity, it's as good a reason as any.
Still, if we want to concentrate power in our own hands, we need to rely on the commoners, not the lords. We aren't up to a good start.

>>3574146
"A-ah. I wanted to see if it would fit."

You stare at him expectantly. He squirms.

"In all candor, I can't help but feel as if I have been a burden. I plan to lead a smaller squad of palace guards on reconnaissance immediately, while we wait for the levies to arrive."

Truthful, but not complete. You're not sure you could squeeze the full truth out so easily.

Etienne seems stunned at your words for a bit, but after blinking away the confusion, he hastily agrees.

"Indeed! The commoners have been uppity for too long! We should speak about this later, your highness!" He chirps out.

Rolled 43, 71 = 114 (2d100)

I agree with the other anons so I'm just gonna roll

Rolled 15, 41 = 56 (2d100)

I think I'll call the vote now. I'll roll another set of dice for a best out of three.

Some mediocre dice in this quest

Great plumes of smoke rise over the small city growing near your castle. Within the first week, dozens of merchants and their ratty families find new homes in your dungeon.

All over your demesne, and to a lesser extent the rest of the kingdom, prominent merchants and yeomen are attacked in their homes. You can’t catch all of them, and you’re sure many of them quickly got rid of the evidence. Still, you publish great lists of wanted merchants in every major city. You can’t get all of them, but you get enough. Many lords participate in the action, having their men seize warehouses in your name.

Unfortunately, they don’t send the wealth back very often.

Still, you’ve done good work in this regard. The high nobility have come to an accord with you, the freemen are heavily weakened and unable to rebel, and you’ve seized quite a bit of money, enough to cover the entire operation.

Of course, knocking out a pillar of state would be disastrous. You have to spare many of the uninvolved bureaucrats, merchants, and yeomen that help you govern. They elect new leaders. They still hate you, but they’re quiet about it for now.

… That foreign grain worries you. The high nobility are fine giving it to you though. They also send reports on their levy sizes. You can’t help but notice some less aware lords send you reports with fewer soldiers than the amount they sent on their personal raids.

Result:
The Freemen are quashed for at least the next few months. They do not affect the state this month, or any month until they recover the gall to rebel again.
You’ve got a clear military count now. 3500 men. It’s definitely less than what you really should call, but it’s better than nothing.
High Nobility loyalty up to 5/10.
Recover the cost of this operation.

_-_-_

The spy network is easily repaired. It starts with a simple fence of loose-lipped tavern dwellers and servants, essentially paid a small amount to gossip.

Then you recruit particularly bright gossipers, any ‘honorable’ thugs you find, and retired professionals to train them.

From the ground up, it’s your network. You haven’t had the years to compartmentalize or professionalize it like Adelaide had, or even a few months to get them up to speed, but it’s growing. You also have a large group pose as merchants and entrench themselves as reputable vendors in foreign cities.

Results:
The penalties on intrigue are lessened. They’re green and unused to working together, but in the coming months they’ll get better at their jobs.
You’re less vulnerable to enemy intrigue, and can get a little news on foreign affairs.

There’s still work to do. You stay up late looking over documents you know you’ve seen a hundred times.

… (High ??????)

You realize that you wrote this one yourself. You tear it up for good measure, and slump at your desk.

You stay there for a good while, and even start winking off to sleep in your seat.

But, the world is bent on punishing you. You lose several hours of sleep that night as you rewrite the document you tore apart.

Queen Ophelia I, Queen of Vetesil and Countess of High Edri.
Age: 16 (Birthday in January)
Diplomacy: 24
Martial: 8
Stewardship: 10
Intrigue: 19
Learning: 15
??????: 50/100

Do you take a personal action? They use your personal stats and increase ??????. For the record: your character sheet as of the end of the month.
>Grain. Now. You need to know what they’re planning. (Intrigue)
>Schedule a few last-minute visits with the high nobles that contacted you at the start of the month. (Diplomacy)
>Set up a system to raise a permanent retinue. It’ll be costly, and draw men from your levy. (Martial)
>Spend a few days meeting with a councilor. (Pick which one, and why) (Diplomacy)
>You can’t help but wonder: what’s the rest of the world doing? You hope they’re doing as badly as you. (Intrigue)
>Write-in?
>Just rest. You need it. You barely get enough sleep as it is. (No personal action).

AN: I'm signing off for tonight. Thanks to everyone that voted!

>>3574195
>Grain. Now. You need to know what they’re planning. (Intrigue)

>>3574195
>Grain. Now. You need to know what they’re planning. (Intrigue)

>>3574195
>Grain. Now. You need to know what they’re planning. (Intrigue)

Let's focus on the most time intensive stuff first.

>>3574195
>Schedule a few last-minute visits with the high nobles that contacted you at the start of the month. (Diplomacy)

File: MV5BNTc0NWQxNmItZTAzYS00M(...).jpg (56 KB, 1280x696)

56 KB JPG

>>3574195
>>Grain. Now. You need to know what they’re planning. (Intrigue)
Yeah, I wanted to get in good with the high nobles.
But the grain...
It haunts us...

But seriously, we need to rest before we get too dotty.

Rolled 11 (1d100)

Alright, late start, but let's jump into it. I'll roll a d100 now and wait thirty minutes for any other dice.

Winner is investigating grain

Rolled 89, 54 = 143 (2d100)

Calling and writing. I'll roll the other two dice.

Most of the merchants you captured aren’t aware of the plan. They’re playing along for the ride since they see an opportunity to strike it rich.

Still, you’ve got dozens of prisoners and dozens of levers to get them talking. It was very funny to have one merchant claim he can’t talk for fear of reprisal against his loved ones, only for you to drag his entire extended family into his cell.

In the end, you piece together the plan from a dozen prisoners.

In a convoluted network, grain from Amberland, sold at low prices only the breadbasket of the north could afford, reaches your burghers and yeomen.

The yeomen as a whole plant more lucrative crops now that their food needs are met.

The burghers individually decide that they don’t need to buy home-grown grain anymore, now that they’ve got a ‘friendlier’ source that’s only a little more expensive.

It’s a plan with many possible points of failure, but the cost is extremely low. Just two hundred silver and a fraction of the grain from their giant storehouses to shackle a country. It had been chugging along for a couple years already.

And yet? That wouldn’t do enough damage fast enough. It would take years for your agriculture to switch, and requires constant effort from Amberland. With conflict brewing in the south, they no longer have several years. So they planned to expand the operation.

That’s where it failed.

Realizing their plan wasn’t fast enough or that you might know what was going on, they reached out to the high nobility, who control most of your agriculture.

Amberland proposed a deal to supply grain in exchange for lucrative crops. Thankfully, many nobles were wary since grain was their main source of revenue. While some lords did take the deal, a lot of more conservative lords refused. The most important among them, powerful nobles who prefer your weaker government, contacted you earlier this month.

If Amberland had succeeded, or at least you didn’t take notice in time, they could have subverted enough of your agriculture this year to keep you dependent on their grain. It would have been a nearly invisible change, right up until the harvest.

It seems your nobles actually did their job for once in defending the realm. Etienne, in particular, fought Amberland’s efforts at the behest of his backers. Of course he didn’t make much progress, and hid it from you...

Their plan is still in motion, but is stalling. They’re not willing to abandon years of work so easily.

Maybe you could take advantage of it.

Result:
You know what Amberland tried to do, and have ideas to counter it.
Stewardship options to trick Amberland’s spy network next turn.
+10 ??????

File: Politics Zoom T3.png (71 KB, 1134x661)

71 KB PNG

Kingdom of Vetesil, March, 50 A.S.
Food: 49/100 (Affects population and public order)
Prosperity: 30/100 (-40% income)
Public Order: 43/100 (Affects rolls and prosperity)
Population: 240,000? (Affects certain income sources, force limit, and may affect food)

Military: You know you can get 3500 men. Due to a failing levy system, each thousand men levied cost 150 Silver. In Defensive Wars where you don’t leave your land, upkeep is 50%.
Internal Approval: Measure of how the pillars of state view you. Having loyalty at or below 2 or at 0 triggers special debuffs.
Freemen: 1/10 (Open Hostility, Quashed and cannot affect the kingdom)
Lower Nobility: 4/10 (Snubbed, -4 to all martial rolls)
Higher Nobility: 5/10 (Ambivalent)
Church of Angels: 5/10 (Ambivalent)

Treasury: 278 Silver
Income: 84 Silver/turn
Expenses: 30 Silver/turn
Net: +54 Silver/Turn

Etienne and Edward walk in together, talking and laughing about whatever gross things old, sleazy men like.

Jacob is losing sleep over the legal reforms, and almost snaps at you in court. He spends most of his time answering questions from bailiffs nowadays.

Adelaide bows deeply to you, and takes her seat without a word.

Geoffrey looks haggard and pale, but otherwise behaves as normal.

As usual, your councilors discuss the major issues plaguing the realm.

1. You’re aware of what Amberland is doing now. Otherwise, the situation hasn’t changed. They’re still agitating to trigger a war, but their efforts are still half-hearted plots. More and more soldiers leave their borders. Your spy network estimates that, compared to the original estimates of nearly eight thousand soldiers ready to invade, the coalition may only have five thousand that they’re willing to commit. That’s still half again what you have, and invariably better trained, but it’s something.
Geoffrey continues recommending negotiations. He’s rather frantic about it. In truth, it still might work on the lesser coalition members, since he hasn’t been activated yet, and it might leave them with even less time. (Diplomacy). However, you know that the other coalition members are aware that Amberland might leave them hanging soon. You could contact them. (Diplomacy) Or, you could contact the coalition’s enemies. Perhaps Feod would like to know about their old enemy’s troop movements. (Diplomacy) Each option here costs 30 Silver.

2. Amberland tried to hold your food supply hostage in a convoluted scheme. You know some burghers that were innocent of taking bribes but hate you. With some ‘persuasion,’ you could arrange for them to take grain and send it to you. Amberland is trying to get as much grain into your country as possible. It wouldn’t be hard to get their frustrated agents to dump money and food into your hands. (Stewardship) Costs 50 silver.

3. You were discussing how best to trick Amberland, when a messenger rushed into the hall. Panting and mildly terrified, he brought news. Great Gate has pushed into your land. Two thousand soldiers press into your holdings at High Edri, led by the aged king himself and his martially-inclined son. They’ve only crossed in a few miles and are holding back to avoid provoking you further, but it's enough to exert control on much of the county. Rally an army to repel them. (Martial) (Silver dependent on army size. Planning ahead, a thousand men cost 75 Silver/month. May fight for multiple months)

4. You need more soldiers. Or better soldiers. While Great Gate might have a pathetic army, so do you. You think that you could either hire mercenaries (Martial), raise and train the men you have (Martial), or knight more men and have them squeeze more soldiers out of your domain. (Martial). The mercenaries would likely cost about 100 Silver. Training men costs about 50 Silver. Knighting men will sap your income.

5. In times of crisis, you can squeeze a lot of money out of your holdings. It will take a mountain of effort and likely sour relations, but you can either offer a scutage of Great Gate to excuse lords from sending their levy (Stewardship, and lowers army size for the duration of the conflict) or press the screws on your cities with emergency tallages (Stewardship, will likely lower prosperity). Each option here costs 30 Silver.


6. You could also raise your income in less damaging ways. You can either enforce your rights and normal tallages (Stewardship) or conflict the corruption that infests your bureaucracy. (Stewardship). Each option costs 20 Silver.

7. Somehow, ten thousand people have disappeared from your rolls, likely trying to avoid levy duty. It wouldn’t give you much income, but a quick census would leave you with more men. (Stewardship). This action will cost about 100 Silver, and is best approached with multiple turns of work.

8. The legal system is still recovering. The situation is slowly back-sliding into chaos, as different judges give conflicting judgements. Often, cases devolve into arguing which judge has the more legitimate verdict. Jacob still feels that he needs to write an entire treatise on how the law works in practice. (Learning) Costs 50 Silver.

9. It’s clear that Geoffrey is just one plot among many that Amberland is using to weaken you. Having a traitor you can feed false info in times of peace is fine, but can the same be said for wartime? He should go. Now. (Intrigue) Free cost, but likely raises ??????. You are at 60/100 ??????

10. You don’t know much about military matters, but you do know it doesn’t make any sense for Great Gate to advance into your lands with such a tiny, underprepared army. Is this another Amberland plot? Get your spy network to check. (Costs 50 Silver)

As usual, you have 2 D100’s to distribute to two actions. You can double-up on an option. You also only 278 Silver to spend.
>Well?

Can't read & vote until an hour and a half

Rolled 46, 40 = 86 (2d100)

>>3575490
>10. You don’t know much about military matters, but you do know it doesn’t make any sense for Great Gate to advance into your lands with such a tiny, underprepared army. Is this another Amberland plot? Get your spy network to check. (Costs 50 Silver)
This is fishy. We need to know what's going on before we act.

>>3575488
>4. You need more soldiers. Or better soldiers. While Great Gate might have a pathetic army, so do you. You think that you could raise and train the men you have (Martial), Training men costs about 50 Silver
And we need the strength to act.

Low damn rolls.
Others gotta get in here.

Rolled 12, 13, 23, 35 = 83 (4d100)

I think I'll just call it now, I'd like to get a few more updates in before the end of the night.

>>3575807
Usually I'd save the rolls for after the second planning phase, but I'll roll first this time.

Writing!

>>3576179
>I'd like to get a few more updates in before the end of the night
Sounds good.
I may or may not fall asleep, but I'll be here.

>dem rolls
By my quick count, two thirds of our 1d100 rolls in this quest have been below 50.
It's the madness, I tells ya!

It’s not too hard finding out why Great Gate is pushing so hard.

They’re in a worse situation than you are. Angry peasantry, reliant on Amberland for food, and with a nobility half-ready to join the Baron’s Pact, King Jeremiah II has been pushed into a corner.

Great Gate did not plan their attack with Amberland. In fact, they disregarded orders to hold back, hoping they could trigger a conflict that would drag in the coalition. You don’t have all the information, but Great Gate’s army is even worse than you first thought. Filled with disloyal commanders and already fraying despite not having fought, the army has to move at a slow pace to avoid outrunning overstretched supply lines.

It almost sickens you how optimistic King Jeremiah and his son are. However, you'd be a poor spy mistress if all you got was information. You’ve thoroughly infiltrated their camp. You have a few people in relatively important positions, in particular, one spy became a ‘liaison from your allies, the coalition.’ They don’t bat an eye when grain from Amberland arrives.

But, you’ve got an opportunity now. Pick 1:
>Sabotage their army. They wouldn’t break, and will probably try to live off the land, but you could have spies poison their food and water. They’re already suffering from attrition, having a relatively narrow land border with Amberland.
>Have your liaison deliver a message to Amberland, claiming to not need any help. It’s not even entirely false. He has sent out letters from King Jeremiah wondering why you haven’t retaliated. You could fight Great Gate without any interruption.
>Involve the Baron’s Pact. Composed of various independent lords and a few splinters from Great Gate after the last war, the Baron’s Pact would prefer if Great Gate suddenly collapsed. They have a smaller army, but one not ravaged by a devastating war, and would appreciate knowing they could freely raid Great Gate.

_-_-_

Edward’s bluster almost dooms you before the training begins. He’s perfectly competent, yes, but his arrogance nearly caused several important lords to return with their levies. They wouldn’t have been clearly in the wrong.

Etienne works his magic here. He’s become Edward’s fast friend, and, perhaps realizing exactly what you’d do, persuaded the lord to not make himself a target of your ire.

Still, the lords grumble about having to drill their peasants this close to harvesting season. According to them, It’s not as if you’ve taken enough men to actually impact harvests, but it’s the principle.

Of the 3500 men you can theoretically call, Edward trained a thousand to not-trash standards. Realizing early on how he’d never get to everyone, where did he focus?
>Focus on your personal levies
>Distribute the training evenly.
>As an apology, focus mostly on your vassal’s men.
>The worst off, the ones you'd give good odds of accidentally beheading themselves.
>The best, typically knights and your palace guard.

>>3576215
>>Focus on your personal levies

>>3576215
>Involve the Baron’s Pact. Composed of various independent lords and a few splinters from Great Gate after the last war, the Baron’s Pact would prefer if Great Gate suddenly collapsed. They have a smaller army, but one not ravaged by a devastating war, and would appreciate knowing they could freely raid Great Gate.
It would be nice if they raided Great Gate and caused their army to return back.
At the same time maybe we could enter talks with GG's king to drive a wedge into the coalition? Point out how Amberlend has leashed them like dogs and so on.

>The worst off, the ones you'd give good odds of accidentally beheading themselves.

Rolled 59 (1d100)

>>3576205
"It's not me, it's my disloyal subjects!"

>>3576313
"Unfortunately, Great Gate will probably never forgive us for your father's late invasion. Maybe returning High Edri to them would make them focus on greater threats, but... Wait a minute, what makes you think there's any conflict between your- I mean, our enemies?"

Geoffrey tries to note down what you say, but you manage to trick him. He 'convinces' you that Great Gate and Amberland are complete and natural allies.

... Anyway, I really want to get the personal action update out, so I'll do a dice roll for the second decision.
>>3576249
>>3576313

Writing.

>>3576215
>>Involve the Baron’s Pact. Composed of various independent lords and a few splinters from Great Gate after the last war, the Baron’s Pact would prefer if Great Gate suddenly collapsed. They have a smaller army, but one not ravaged by a devastating war, and would appreciate knowing they could freely raid Great Gate.

>>Focus on your personal levies
Ideally, I'd suggest including at least a handful from each vassal, to show a return on their GRANTING US WHAT IS OWED! But whatever.

>>3576313
>we could enter talks with GG's king to drive a wedge into the coalition? Point out how Amberlend has leashed them like dogs and so on.
Ooh, I like this.
We don't attack them.
Their enemies strike as they occupy us.
Amberland urges stretch them to stretch thin as we encourage them to see to their own.
The more public the message, the better.
Let his dissenting lords know that Amberland wants them to sacrifice, their homes are being burned, and our kingdom has yet to raise a hand to them, with our *ahem* "mighty" army.
Yeah, that's the ticket!

Rolled 22 (1d100)

>>3576368
Whoop!
It's above fifty!

>>3576374
Wow. You got this in right as I was about to write the second decision. I'll count it, and adjust my work.

Rolled 96 (1d100)

>>3576379
Madness.

>>3576380
Sweet Christmas!

Bless your refreshing QM heart.

(I may have accidentally rolled a 1d100 instead of a 1d2)

By the end of the month, a few lesser lords have returned to their fiefs, which are now under threat from Baron’s Pact. They justify it as defending the east from traitorous barons. Still, it’s only a few hundred men.

Amusingly, King Jeremiah had to execute or imprison several lords. It turns out several lords had already made plans to jump ship to Baron’s Pact, and had suspiciously intact fiefs, surrounded by a sea of ruined land.

Baron’s Pact ravages miles of land within a month. They’re too far to threaten any major cities, but have forced many peasants to flee westward.

But that’s besides the point. Jeremiah has no clue what happened, his army is down to maybe 1700 men, and if he doesn’t push hard and recklessly, he’ll collapse. Although, that last bit may not bode too well for you.’

Result:
Baron’s Pact is ravaging Great Gate, and Jeremiah can’t do anything about it. If he can’t make big gains by next month, his army will collapse. However, that does mean that he’ll make big gambles.
Great Gate army took 15% casualties due to attrition, deserting lords, and sieges.

_-_-_

You’re not the best at matters of war, but you expected more from Edward. He’s deeply apologetic whenever he’s not drinking, and if he wasn’t taking his failure so personally, you might have taken it personally instead.

As is, his family can sleep soundly tonight.

At least the effort wasn’t wasted. You’ve got a good measure of your men now, and some aren’t too incompetent.

You discreetly focused on your own levies. You’re not sure if it’ll make an appreciable difference on the field, but your men should survive more. Hopefully the lords don’t notice. Or, they’re so horribly depleted they can’t retaliate.

Result:
Military partially trained and tallied.
You have 400 incompetent soldiers that are only useful as fodder, and would probably make things worse if given an important position.
You have 2000 soldiers that are poorly trained. They’re not idiots or anything, but are mildly worse than they should be.
You have 1000 soldiers that are… Average. They’re not great, especially since they only got a month of training, but really, it’s a miracle they’re not complete failures. What’s more humiliating is that most kingdoms expect soldiers of this quality, without any training.
You have 100 well-trained soldiers. They’re almost all knights, other low nobility, or spare palace guards that already had training.
Generally, your personal levy has a higher chance of survival. The lords may get upset if they find out you prioritized your own men, but finding that their levy isn't trained means they got slaughtered. They won't be able to do anything immediately.

Partial failure: +5 ??????? (This got cut off by the next page in my doc...)
_-_-_

Well. The third month of your rule, and war is already knocking at your door. Great Gate may not say it, but you’re sure they’d pounce on any perceived weakness.

You had another of Edward’s aides exiled today. The fourth one this week. Grown men wept. You thought it was because they were ashamed at their failure, or were begging you for mercy.

No. They were relieved that you didn’t do anything worse to them.

Ashamed, but mostly angry, you fled to your room.

Queen Ophelia I, Queen of Vetesil and Countess of High Edri (Contested).
Age: 16 (Birthday in January)
Diplomacy: 24
Martial: 8
Stewardship: 10
Intrigue: 19
Learning: 15
??????: 65/100

What do you do in the last days of the month? Personal actions use your own stats, but raise ??????
>As countess of High Edri, the land currently being occupied, you still have castles under threat that you should double check. You’re sure you can fit in more grain or kick out some more peasants for the inevitable siege. (Stewardship)
>Write to Great Gate’s notable lords. Focus particularly on the prince. While Jeremiah is a bitter old man irrationally cursing your country, his son may chafe at bearing a grudge he was never involved in. (Diplomacy)
>Set up a system to raise a permanent retinue. It’ll be costly and draw men from your levy. (Martial)
>Spend a few days meeting with a councilor. (Pick which one, and why) (Diplomacy)
>You can’t help but wonder: what’s the rest of the world doing? You hope they’re doing as badly as you. (Intrigue)
>Rest? You’re not sure if you can, but you’ll try. (No personal action)
>Write-in?

>>3576403
>>Write to Great Gate’s notable lords. Focus particularly on the prince. While Jeremiah is a bitter old man irrationally cursing your country, his son may chafe at bearing a grudge he was never involved in. (Diplomacy)

Time to arrange an 'accident'

>>3576403
>>Write to Great Gate’s notable lords. Focus particularly on the prince. While Jeremiah is a bitter old man irrationally cursing your country, his son may chafe at bearing a grudge he was never involved in. (Diplomacy)
"Jeremiah is the problem... Remove him.... See to your own lands... "
Then chew on the walls until it gets less tasty.
I no longer resist the madness.
It is our ally.
It is our friend.
It is our only friend.
Rest is for the weak.
Or also, I imagine, for peasants.

I'll leave the voting going on until tomorrow morning. Thanks to everyone who participated!

>>3576403
>Write to Great Gate’s notable lords. Focus particularly on the prince. While Jeremiah is a bitter old man irrationally cursing your country, his son may chafe at bearing a grudge he was never involved in. (Diplomacy)

Rolled 16, 51, 39 = 106 (3d100)

Unfortunately, there's going to be another late start today. I'll roll the dice and try putting out an update faster when I get back.

Writing to Great Gate's nobles won.

Rolled 47 (1d100)

>>3577263

Rolled 89 (1d100)

>>3577263
I'm just rolling to see if we can get a roll more than a notch above 50.

Rolled 53 (1d100)

>>3577263
Another quest cursed by bad dice

Sorry for the late response guys. Errands suddenly turned into taking someone to the airport.

_-_-_

Things go as well as you expect. You sent the letters in waves, with some suspiciously marked or delivered by expendable and incompetent messengers. Some letters ask for friendship after the conflict is ‘resolved,’ others petition the lords to go home, and others ask for information on their army in exchange for mercy. Most of the letters you wanted to get caught are caught. Great Gate’s lords are rather receptive, but most don’t incriminate themselves. Only a few lords were caught writing responses, and of them, only two or three were writing positive responses. The kicker, and what you were relying on, was that few lords actually report that they've received letters.

Then you send a letter to the prince asking if he could ‘persuade’ his father to go home, and another to your more competent spies. The prince, spluttering and angry, threw your letter in the trash. It seems love trumps common sense.

Your spies later delivered a second letter to the prince. This one was a threat, listing details about the army that your most deeply rooted spies discovered.

The arrests were swift. You made sure to include details about their troop composition and quality. Using exact terminology from their lords, you force the king to imprison many of his lower level commanders.

It’s not enough to break their host, and imprisoning so many dissenting lords actually increased the army’s cohesion, but they’ve lost their best commanders. Well, besides the prince.

Result:
Great Gate’s army is heavily weakened, although they didn’t lose any men.
You’ve discovered that the prince is the general commander of the army. He has Martial 17.
+10 ??????

For the first time in a few months, Geoffrey looks calm and collected. That doesn’t bode well for you. (Geoffrey’s trigger has changed. You don’t know what action he’ll sabotage now.)

Edward is busy collating reports on the levy, and Etienne is helping him. Great Gate’s host may be weakened, but, perhaps realizing how much damage you could do, suddenly rushed forward. They’ve reduced several castles now, and are living off the land. You don’t care about the peasants, but it’s annoying to know they’re stealing your grain.

1. Amberland is still trying to flood you with grain, signalling that they’re not eager to fight you. And yet? They’ve reversed their troop movements. You estimate the coalition can bring 7000 men against you, with more on the way.
Geoffrey is quiet this month. He half-heartedly recommends negotiation (Diplomacy). The coalition members drag their feet on putting soldiers on your border. You think they’re not very interested in the coalition anymore. (Diplomacy) You think Feod would especially like to know that Amberland is removing troops from their shared border. (Diplomacy) Each option here costs 30 Silver.

2. Amberland tried to hold your food supply hostage in a convoluted scheme. You know some burghers that were innocent of taking bribes, but still hate you. With some ‘persuasion,’ you could arrange for them to take grain and send it to you. Amberland has been trying to get as much grain into your country as possible. It wouldn’t be hard to get their frustrated agents to dump money and food into your hands. (Stewardship) Costs 50 silver.

3. This joke has gone on long enough. You need to evict Great Gate as soon as possible. (Martial) (Silver dependent on army size, but planning ahead, a thousand men cost 75 Silver/month in this situation, and you’re not sure how many months it will take.)

4. Continue building up your army. You think you’ve squeezed as much training as the lords are willing to bear, but you could always hire mercenaries (Martial, 100 Silver) or create more knights to levy more people (Martial, saps income).

5. In times of crisis, you can squeeze a lot of money out of your holdings. It will take a mountain of effort and likely sour relations, but you can offer a scutage of Great Gate to excuse lords from sending their levy (Stewardship, and lowers army size for the duration of the conflict), press the screws on your cities with emergency tallages (Stewardship, will likely lower prosperity), or demand money from the various churches in your land (Stewardship). Each option here costs 30 Silver.

6. You could also raise your income in less damaging ways. You can either enforce your rights and normal tallages (Stewardship) or conflict the corruption that infests your bureaucracy. (Stewardship). Each option costs 20 Silver.

7. Five thousand more people have disappeared from your rolls, likely trying to avoid levy duty. It would have been alright as a one-off thing, but it might affect your income soon. (Stewardship). This action will cost about 100 Silver, and is best approached with multiple turns of work.

8. The discourse between sheriffs have broken down. Most continue giving judgements based on wildly different interpretations of your law. Jacob feels that if things continue, it’ll be worse than if we left the law alone to begin with. (Learning) Costs 50 Silver.

9. You don’t know what Geoffrey is planning now. Calm and collected, he attends court the same as before, but often without suggesting anything. You’re sure that he’s received new orders. Get rid of him. (Intrigue) Free cost, but likely raises ??????.

As usual, you have 2 D100’s to distribute to two actions. You can double-up on an option. You also only have 232 Silver to spend.
>Well?

A letter arrives a few days into the month. Some long-lost cousin would like to find asylum in your land. She’s gotten into some trouble in Triensel, or something. West Bank, by the way.
Take her in?
>Yes
>No

Kingdom of Vetesil, April, 50 A.S.
Food: 49/100 (Affects population and public order)
Prosperity: 30/100 (-40% income)
Public Order: 41/100 (Affects rolls and prosperity)
Population: 235,000? (Affects certain income sources, force limit, and may affect food)

Military: You know you can get 3500 men. Due to a failing levy system, each thousand men levied cost 150 Silver. In Defensive Wars where you don’t leave your land, upkeep is 50%.
As for quality: 400 are Incompetent, 2000 are Poorly Trained, 1000 are Average, 100 are Well-Trained.
Internal Approval: Measure of how the pillars of state view you. Having loyalty at or below 2 or at 0 triggers special debuffs.
Freemen: 1/10 (Open Hostility, Quashed and cannot affect the kingdom)
Lower Nobility: 4/10 (Snubbed, -4 to all martial rolls)
Higher Nobility: 5/10 (Ambivalent)
Church of Angels: 5/10 (Ambivalent)

Treasury: 232 Silver
Income: 84 Silver/turn
Expenses: 30 Silver/turn
Net: +54 Silver/Turn

>>3578082
>6.conflict the corruption that infests your bureaucracy. (Stewardship)

We need money to fight a war

>4. create more knights to levy more people (Martial, saps income)

We should create a martial class that isn't made up of nobles, like the Streltsy or Cossacks.

>Yes
take in the cousin

>>3578456
now that I think about it, the Streltsy or Cossacks might be considered the lower nobility

Rolled 23, 94 = 117 (2d100)

>>3578072
>>3578079
We need to know what Amberland and Geoffrey are up to before we strike.

>6. You could also raise your income in less damaging ways. Fight the corruption that infests your bureaucracy. (Stewardship). 20 Silver.

>8. The discourse between sheriffs have broken down. Most continue giving judgements based on wildly different interpretations of your law. Jacob feels that if things continue, it’ll be worse than if we left the law alone to begin with. (Learning) Costs 50 Silver.
We need to shore up the rule of law before we lose all ground.
Money and military can only do so much.

>>3578456
>We should create a martial class that isn't made up of nobles, like the Streltsy or Cossacks.
Like the Merchant class? I think they're the Freemen.
Unless Freemen are just peasants, in which case, yes we need a merchant class eventually... and ew, gross, peasants.

>>Yes
>take in the cousin
Also this. Oops.

>>3578486
Supporting this + take in our cousin

>>3578467
>>3578503

"It's rather complicated, your highness. The Freemen are composed of mostly merchants, but also the most prominent yeomen. The yeomen are respected, free farmers. In some kingdoms, they're expert longbowmen, but in our fair land, they're light infantry and light cavalry. Not particularly good, but they have spare time to practice." Edward, slightly drunk, recounts to you.

"The martial elite are lumped into the nobility. The low nobility consists of castellans and knights, as well as landless nobles." Edward finishes his spiel and takes a drink. You ignore Etienne whispering about 'the dregs of high society' to some courtier.

"Most knights are nobles, either originally landless or from cadet families, but there are many cases where talented peasants received knighthood. However, knights are inseparable from the knight's fee they hold, a manor or patch of land to maintain them." Geoffrey rounds off the conversation. He eyes Edward nervously while he continues to eschew breathing in favor of drinking.

... In any case, I'll call the vote now and get writing.
Fighting corruption and addressing the law wins. The cousin will arrive soon, too.

The dice really love your cousin.

_-_-_

Lady Audrey is a peculiar woman. Interested primarily in martial pursuits and the law, you wonder how she could have gotten into so much trouble down south.

In the first week, she gets in a fight with Jacob. Usually saintly and pious, at least when you’re not around, Jacob almost pops a vessel hearing Audrey complain about his peculiar stances on legal issues.

Then… She asks for an allowance for the third time in a week. She’s financially incompetent. It turns out she got into many lawsuits over not paying debts. It’s why she’s so good at interpreting the law, actually.

Lady Audrey
Age: 21 (Birthday in late June)
Diplomacy: 8
Martial: 16
Stewardship: 4
Intrigue: 9
Learning: 16

Result: Lady Audrey joins your court. She’s an expert advocate and commander.

_-_-_

There’s corruption at every level of government. The lax way Etienne handled tax farming let sheriffs and guards skim off the top. You admit that several of the rules you put on cities were designed to always be broken and result in fines, but you didn’t expect your sheriffs to take bribes to ignore the violations…

Corruption is, as always, an uphill battle to fight. While the Freemen who staff your bureaucracy have been cowed, they still hate you.

Furthermore, it has come to your attention, despite how much Etienne has tried to hide it, that your money was subject to tolls. Specifically, on the journey from High Edri to your principal estates, your men were forced to pay tolls to various important lords.

Where do you focus your efforts? Pick 2.
>The sheriffs and guards on the ground that pocket your tolls and accept bribes
>The bureaucracy which “misplaces” a lot of money.
>The high nobles, who have been taking tolls on your collectors.
>Actually, you think it’s time you sacked Etienne. (Will have repercussions.)

_-_-_

Jacob is a mess. Already old and required to perform spiritual duties, he’s also saddled with the burden of answering bailiffs on inane legal questions.

There’s one legal matter you have personal interest in, while Jacob handles the rest. He’s off grumbling about needing an entire legal codex. Anyway, the matter handles crimes that leave no victims, AKA crimes where no one has the right to press charges. Things like murdering people without next of kin.

What do you emphasize?
>Make it not be my problem!
>Isn’t committing a crime worth punishing in of itself?
>Just make me money and remind people who’s queen!

Besides that, Jacob (Learning 10) continues pitching ideas for a legal codex that he’ll write. You’re not sure if he’s really capable of it, especially if he’s still running a church-

Cousin interrupt! Audrey (Learning 16) claims that she can write the codex. It will involve heavily plagiarizing southern treatises, but she’s read enough of them to paste the best parts together. It shouldn’t be too hard, right? (100 Silver)
>Yes
>No.
>Yes, but Jacob does it.

>>3578558
>The sheriffs and guards on the ground that pocket your tolls and accept bribes
>Isn’t committing a crime worth punishing in of itself?
>Yes
We need to shore up our legal system.

Rolled 53, 40 = 93 (2d100)

>>3578558
>>The sheriffs and guards on the ground that pocket your tolls and accept bribes
>>The bureaucracy which “misplaces” a lot of money.

>Just make me money and remind people who’s queen!

>Yes

Rolled 42, 39 = 81 (2d100)

I'm going to leave this vote going until tomorrow morning. Hopefully, we can have an earlier start. Taking the roll from last time into account, I'll also add in another 2d100 for a best out of three.

>>3578558
>The sheriffs and guards on the ground that pocket your tolls and accept bribes
>The bureaucracy which “misplaces” a lot of money.

>Isn’t committing a crime worth punishing in of itself?

>Yes (Ask her how much she really needs to write this codex. Because I doubt 100 silver will go into writing. More likely into luxurious dresses and jewelry)

Rolled 79, 37 = 116 (2d100)

>>3578625
Dice

>The sheriffs and guards on the ground that pocket your tolls and accept bribes
>The bureaucracy which “misplaces” a lot of money

>Just make me money and remind people who’s queen!

>Yes
Audrey is more of a blessing than a curse. Might we be able to somehow replace Jacob with her?

>>3578865
I pray I manage to roll this time.

Rolled 49, 60 = 109 (2d100)

>>3578867
It's my first time making attempts to roll, I apologize.

>>3578870
Apparently the QM wasn't the first one to roll. I am very incompetent.

Rolled 13, 17 = 30 (2d100)

>>3578558
>>The sheriffs and guards on the ground that pocket your tolls and accept bribes
>>The bureaucracy which “misplaces” a lot of money.

>>Isn’t committing a crime worth punishing in of itself?
As long as it is made perfectly clear that OUR word trumps law. None of this "Queens being subject to their own laws because a crime is a crime" nonsense. If we can't do that, then I'd switch to >Just make me money and remind people who’s queen!

>>Yes

>>3578625
>(Ask her how much she really needs to write this codex. Because I doubt 100 silver will go into writing. More likely into luxurious dresses and jewelry)
Good point.

>>3578865
>Might we be able to somehow replace Jacob with her?
This.
Just keep her away from the coffers and leave Jacob intact in case she doesn't work out.

>>3579068
Got some more low rolls out of way, hopefully.

Rolled 66, 57 = 123 (2d100)

>>3578625
>>3578589

>The sheriffs and guards on the ground that pocket your tolls and accept bribes
>The bureaucracy which “misplaces” a lot of money.

>Isn’t committing a crime worth punishing in of itself?

>Yes

I'll call the vote now. It seems that punishing the sheriffs+bureaucracy won, as well as funding the codex and punishing crimes for their own sake.
Writing!

Etienne gleefully roots out lower level corruption. Seeing that you’re not trying to remove him, he zealously removes any evidence of his incompetence. Sheriffs are replaced, mayors heavily fined, and guards fired. He also slightly boosts the salaries of these positions by offering privileges to collect on your peasants. Not your problem, and it quickly gets more loyal replacements. Still, most of the money is irrecoverable, and you feel Etienne was more focused on getting rid of evidence now than on fixing the problem forever.

But that’s not your problem. Corruption has definitely gone down among the collectors.

The bureaucracy is a similar story. Etienne very hastily had many bureaucrats fired, detained, and exiled right before their offices mysteriously burned down with all documents still inside. You would mind if it weren’t for the fact that these corrupt bureaucrats weren’t also taking money for themselves. You arrange most of them to run into bandits who were strangely more interested in killing them than taking their money. You didn’t intend to help Etienne, but it felt satisfying.

It was hard finding a bandit group that was willing to do that, surprisingly.

Results:
Corruption decreases! You find a lot of missing income.
Lose the chance to easily oust Etienne.

_-_-_

Jacob manages to, like always, make it about the church. You think he’s upset about being passed over for the codex, but that’s his problem.

Still, you’re quite pleased with the result. He implements denunciation, a practice originating from the church where some crimes are condemned by the court or community, rather than a specific person. it becomes an umbrella term for crimes where no one has legal standing to prosecute, where it would be inconvenient to prosecute each tiny case individually, or where people would fear for their lives if they came forward.

It costs a little bit more, but provides a release valve for legal tangles and overloaded courts.

Results:
Legal expenses increase a little
Public order spikes upward. You think that when the codex is finished, things will be settled once and for all.

You have someone tail Audrey when she goes to the market. She wears a sword there just to show off to kids.

… Anyway, you assume she’s buying frivolous things like dresses or jewelry. You’ve been wearing the same twenty dresses for the past few months. If you can do it, so can she!

Then you realize she’s just bad at… Everything. She routinely gets ripped of by vendors or plain scammed. You roll your eyes when your agent mentions her penchant to get drunk and donate large sums of money in a fit of generosity. She’s done it twice this week.

Well, you’re not going to give her any more money this month. 100 Silver, or, rather the 80 you interrogated her down to, is more money than she’s ever seen in her life. You arrange it to be dispensed only in small amounts when she needs it. You buy the codices she needs yourself, rather than letting her buy it. You also order the scribes working with her to never bring their coin purses.

Result:
Codex is being written. May take several months.

_-_-_

You lose quite a bit of sleep this month. Despite all your intense sabotaging, Great Gate continues marching through your lands. You realize right before you fall asleep one night that they probably aren’t looting.

High Edri was once their land. They’re probably getting help from the peasantry.

A quick check with your agent’s reports confirms it. They’ve risen back up to 2000 men. A lot of your peasants defected, and took vast amounts of grain with them.

Ha.

You order a servant to start a fire despite his protests about using the fireplace in the middle of the night. You throw the reports in the fire and order him to watch it until they’ve all burned.

You’ll punish them eventually.

Queen Ophelia I, Queen of Vetesil and Countess of High Edri (Contested).
Age: 16 (Birthday in January)
Diplomacy: 24
Martial: 8
Stewardship: 10
Intrigue: 19
Learning: 15
??????: 75/100

What do you do in the last days of the month? Personal actions raise ?????? and use your own stats.
>Issue orders to all your loyal servants in High Edri to take grain stores and run. They’ll head over to nearby castles in case of siege. The people might go hungry, but they’ve already betrayed you. (Stewardship)
>Just generally reinforce your castles. Have more grain shipped in and kick out refugees. (Stewardship)
>Set up a system to raise a permanent retinue. It’ll be costly and draw men from your levy. (Martial)
>Spend a few days meeting with a councilor. (Pick which one, and why) (Diplomacy)
>You can’t help but wonder: what’s the rest of the world doing? You hope they’re doing as badly as you. (Intrigue)
>Rest. (No personal action)
>Write-in?

>>3579300
>Issue orders to all your loyal servants in High Edri to take grain stores and run. They’ll head over to nearby castles in case of siege. The people might go hungry, but they’ve already betrayed you. (Stewardship)

>>3579300
>Issue orders to all your loyal servants in High Edri to take grain stores and run. They’ll head over to nearby castles in case of siege. The people might go hungry, but they’ve already betrayed you. (Stewardship)

>>3579300
>Issue orders to all your loyal servants in High Edri to take grain stores and run. They’ll head over to nearby castles in case of siege. The people might go hungry, but they’ve already betrayed you. (Stewardship)

>>3579300
what's the size of our army compared to the gate?

>>3579390
At full levy, you can raise 3500 men. Great Gate currently has 2000 men in the field.

Rolled 44 (1d100)

>>3579417
>>Set up a system to raise a permanent retinue. It’ll be costly and draw men from your levy. (Martial)

Let's buddy up to the lower nobles and once we're ready crush the invaders.

>>3579300
>>Set up a system to raise a permanent retinue. It’ll be costly and draw men from your levy. (Martial)
We should get our cousin to help.

>>3579386
>>3579434
actually I'm going to switch to this

>>3579300
>>Just generally reinforce your castles. Have more grain shipped in and kick out refugees. (Stewardship)
Don't want to spend more on military or encourage more peasants to jump ship.
I won't win, but I'm here.

Rolled 26, 39 = 65 (2d100)

Alright, finally back. I'll call the vote and roll two more die. A military retinue wins.

“Well, your highness, I’m not sure what to say.” Edward scratches the back of his head sheepishly. You’re not mad at him. Not really.

You’re not mad at a lot of things these days. There’s a lump in your throat, like bile rising out of your stomach, but no rage.

The issue, it seems, was that no one wanted to be drafted during planting season. The spring crop is almost done being planted, but there’s more work to do in the coming months.

You’re sure if you tried again in June you’d have more takers. Even worse, the few men you did scrounge up are demanding ludicrous salaries.

You have 122 Silvers and are gaining 60 Silvers/month. You may hire up to 300 men, for 15 Silver/month for every 100. This wouldn’t add more men, simply deplete your levy by permanently raising them, but it would make them significantly better trained and armed.

>How many do you hire? (Aim for 100s, please…)

Result:
May raise a small standing army. They can be put to use doing other stuff when not at war.
+15 ??????

Kingdom of Vetesil, May, 50 A.S.
Food: 42/100 (Affects population and public order)
Prosperity: 30/100 (-40% income)
Public Order: 55/100 (Affects rolls and prosperity)
Population: 220,000? (Affects certain income sources, force limit, and may affect food)

Military: You know you can get 3500 men. Due to a failing levy system, each thousand men levied cost 150 Silver. In Defensive Wars where you don’t leave your land, upkeep is 50%.
As for quality: 400 are Incompetent, 2000 are Poorly Trained, 1000 are Average, 100 are Well-Trained.
Internal Approval: Measure of how the pillars of state view you. Having loyalty at or below 2 or at 0 triggers special debuffs.
Freemen: 1/10 (Open Hostility, Quashed and cannot affect the kingdom)
Lower Nobility: 4/10 (Snubbed, -4 to all martial rolls)
Higher Nobility: 5/10 (Ambivalent)
Church of Angels: 5/10 (Ambivalent)

Treasury: 122 Silver
Income: 100 Silver/turn (Originally 166)
Expenses: 40 Silver/turn
Net: +60 Silver/Turn

Things aren’t going well. Great Gate has occupied almost all of High Edri, and you feel if you don’t respond within a few months, you’ll lose your claim on it. More people are getting ‘lost,’ either falling out of your records or joining the enemy.

Everyone gives you weird, expectant looks, as if they expect you to fly into a rage. Adelaide put her hand on your shoulder briefly. You tried not to notice.

Regardless, court goes on as usual. Your councilors list the major issues that need addressing.


1. Amberland has stopped shipping grain. Very concerning. They have stopped troop movements to your borders, but that leaves 7000 men on your border. They need pretext, but they can always invent some.
Geoffrey has gone ‘back to normal.’ He recommends negotiating with the entire coalition. (Diplomacy). The lesser coalition members reluctantly rally their armies on your border. They seem to have an air of resignation around them. It’s not too late to talk. (Diplomacy) Otherwise, our best bet may be to tell Feod that Amberland has essentially emptied soldiers out of their shared border. (Diplomacy) Each option here costs 30 Silver.

2. You’ve lost several thousand more peasants this month. Further, probably half the castles in High Edri have either surrendered or been taken. Great Gate still has a pitiful host with even worse leaders, aside from the Prince, but they’re making progress. Rally an army and smash theirs to bits. (Martial) (Silver dependent on army size, but planning ahead, a thousand men cost 75 Silver/month in this situation, and you’re not sure how many months it will take.)

3. Things aren’t going great financially. Regardless, if Amberland is just across the border, you’ll need as many soldiers as possible. Hire mercenaries (Martial, About 100 Silver), or create more knights to levy more people (Martial, saps income).

4. You really need money to fund your soldiers. You can squeeze a lot of money out of your holdings. It will take a mountain of effort and likely sour relations, but you can offer a scutage of Great Gate to excuse lords from sending their levy (Stewardship, and lowers army size for the duration of the conflict), press the screws on your cities with emergency tallages (Stewardship, will likely lower prosperity), or demand money from the various churches in your land (Stewardship). Each option here costs 30 Silver. (You estimate, with all the urgent crises, you could easily squeeze at least 300 Silver)

5. You could also raise your income in less damaging ways. You made good progress last month, but there’s still room for improvement. You can either enforce your rights and normal tallages (Stewardship) or continue fighting the corruption that infests your bureaucracy. (Stewardship). Each option costs 20 Silver.

>>3579747
100 for a start

6. It may not be fitting, but Etienne reminds you that it’s still important to find all the people that have vanished from your rolls. He has no clue how many are missing, but assures you that there are vast amounts of people hiding from your government. (Stewardship). This action will cost about 100 Silver, and is best approached with multiple turns of work.

7. You don’t know what Geoffrey is planning now. Calm and collected, he attends court the same as before, but often without suggesting anything. You’re sure that he’s received new orders. Get rid of him. (Intrigue) Free cost, but likely raises ??????.

8. You’re sick of not being able to play to your strengths. Sick bandits on Great Gate, poison wells, bribe lords to desert, savage their armies with scorches earth and ‘lost’ supply caravans. It probably won’t destroy their host, not when they’ve had a heady rush of unopposed advances for the past two months, but it will cripple them. (Intrigue) (Costs 50 Silver)

9. Your southern front scares you. If 7000 men pour through, nothing will stop them. But, they'll need to cross the great Tideran River. Build fortifications there. It's impossible to get anything permanent done in a month, but every bit helps. (Stewardship) (Costs 100 Silver)

There are fewer crises, it seems, but the ones left have almost all gotten worse. You have 122 Silver to spend, and 2 D100’s to distribute.

Rolled 90 (1d100)

>>3579763
>Otherwise, our best bet may be to tell Feod that Amberland has essentially emptied soldiers out of their shared border. (Diplomacy)
> You’re sick of not being able to play to your strengths. Sick bandits on Great Gate, poison wells, bribe lords to desert, savage their armies with scorches earth and ‘lost’ supply caravans. It probably won’t destroy their host, not when they’ve had a heady rush of unopposed advances for the past two months, but it will cripple them. (Intrigue) (Costs 50 Silver)

Raising an army is ruinously expensive so we do what we do best and turn our enemies against each other. Next turn we need to find a way to get our incomes up

Rolled 25 (1d100)

>>3579775
second dice

File: Politics Zoom T5.png (57 KB, 762x480)

57 KB PNG

Sorry, I forgot to post a map.

Things aren't going well, but if it's any consolation Great Gate has basically lost all its truly prosperous lands. Every other part of Great Gate hasn't even recovered from the last war yet.

>>3579747
>How many do you hire? (Aim for 100s, please…)
None, 0.

And double roll on
>4

Rolled 62, 69 = 131 (2d100)

>>3579795

>>3579795
Is there a particular group you want to press the screws on? Nobles, the cities, the church? If not, I can assume you want to go after everyone equally.

>>3579824
could we have men start harassing the gate troops or would we have to meet them in open battle? also do we have an idea of their army's quality?

>>3579824
I'm all about that equality men

>>3579840
They're definitely getting harassed right now, but in such small numbers, and in land they're all familiar with, it's not very effective. I'm including more effective harassment in 8. if you want to do that. Rallying an army would almost definitely mean an open battle though. If anything, they'd be more likely to ambush you if you hadn't infiltrated their camp.
Their army is absolute garbage, even worse in quality than yours.

Rolled 94, 43 = 137 (2d100)

>>3579763
>8. You’re sick of not being able to play to your strengths. Sick bandits on Great Gate, poison wells, bribe lords to desert, savage their armies with scorches earth and ‘lost’ supply caravans. It probably won’t destroy their host, not when they’ve had a heady rush of unopposed advances for the past two months, but it will cripple them. (Intrigue) (Costs 50 Silver)
>4. You really need money to fund your soldiers. You can squeeze a lot of money out of your holdings. It will take a mountain of effort and likely sour relations, but you can offer a scutage of Great Gate to excuse lords from sending their levy (Stewardship, and lowers army size for the duration of the conflict), press the screws on your cities with emergency tallages (Stewardship, will likely lower prosperity), or demand money from the various churches in your land (Stewardship). Each option here costs 30 Silver. (You estimate, with all the urgent crises, you could easily squeeze at least 300 Silver)

Rolled 35, 94 = 129 (2d100)

>>3579753
>How many do you hire
200
>1.The lesser coalition members reluctantly rally their armies on your border. They seem to have an air of resignation around them. It’s not too late to talk. (Diplomacy)
>8. You’re sick of not being able to play to your strengths. Sick bandits on Great Gate, poison wells, bribe lords to desert, savage their armies with scorches earth and ‘lost’ supply caravans. It probably won’t destroy their host, not when they’ve had a heady rush of unopposed advances for the past two months, but it will cripple them. (Intrigue) (Costs 50 Silver)

Alright, I think I'll give another thirty minutes, and then if there's still a giant tie I'll roll a dice. It did seem like 8. won handily though, so I'll only roll for a second action.

Rolled 24, 15 = 39 (2d100)

>>3580200
Diplomacy with Feod

>>3580245
Alright, as good a time as any. Writing now!

It’s rather clear you can’t afford to fight the enemy. As in, you don’t have enough money to fund an army. Jeremiah presses in on the Barony of Iresen, your last holding in the county. With generous help from the peasants and nearly no significant opposition, Jeremiah and his son tear through the countryside despite their lack of low level leadership and awful soldiery.

That ends now. Iresen is probably the only barony with a modicum of personal loyalty to Vetesil. A former border region, there is a significant minority of your people that might get persecuted should things go wrong. Further, the waves of refugees, thanks to Great Gate, flowing into the region fed vast bandit camps. You are very glad that there’s an army about to besiege the place, by the way. You wouldn’t know how public order would fare if they were free to expand.

But that’s a concern for Jacob. This is your realm. A realm of cold logic, rationality and- (High ??????, non-violent options removed, certain options made irrationally violent) time for you to get revenge.

What do you do? Pick 2.
>Your agents know exactly where the enemy will march. Have bandits ambush them at every turn, hounding them at night. If they’re so eager to defend their ‘brethren?’ Have bandits raid villages days before they move in. Let traitors feed traitors. And better still, your treasonous villages can’t give them grain.
>Poison everything. Poison wells, soil their grain, burn crops. Scorch earth everywhere Great Gate passes. In fact, burn places where you only think they might go.
>Kill the prince. It’s clear he’s fully bought into his father’s revenge. He’s the only competent commander left, and you’d like to see Jeremiah suffer. (Mutually exclusive to killing Jeremiah. You want someone left to grieve.)
>Kill Jeremiah. As the one who instigated all this, and the only semblance of legitimacy now that half the camp has been incarcerated by him, if he dies, the host will be paralyzed. Still, they’ve gone too far to give up now. They’ll eventually start moving again. (Mutually exclusive to killing the prince. You want someone left to grieve.)
>Free the incarcerated lords. They’re utterly done with the situation. Detained while their soldiers march on the orders of their captor and worried sick over their lands back in Great Gate proper, they’d love nothing more than to go home with their soldiers. They promise gratitude and friendship once they do. Conveniently, there are hundreds of bandits waiting for them on the road home, and a chance confrontation with Jeremiah’s rear guard.
>Instigate an incident. If soldiers dressed in the heraldry of Count Ytres, who languishes in a cell for ‘conspiracy against the good king’ while his son has command, were to attack and kill a small prisoner escort bearing Jeremiah’s banner, you’re sure things could go awry. In fact, instigate several incidents, as if there were still a conspiracy among the remaining lords.

Writing to the Kingdom of Feod is a rather simple affair. You attach easily verifiable information about the border, maps of Amberland’s army positions, and, a pivotal find, a seal from one of Amberland’s logistical officers, swiped before they could realize. Geoffrey assumes you’re grasping at straws, sending letters that sound more like calls for help than anything else.

You learn a little more about King Ladislaus, too. Born to a foreign mother, he somehow owns the second oldest kingdom and lineage in the shatter-states. Well, Feod was the first duchy given out by the original kings of Triensel, and despite calling themselves kings, they eagerly attach themselves to Triensel, mostly through Prince Alban.

Anyway, Amberland’s rival status as grain producer is an affront to him, as is their- as you learn- diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Triensel. The East Bank version that is, ruled by King Ferdinand.

Interesting. But more importantly, how do you frame the few letters you send?
>Use the logistical seal to pretend to be a long-forgotten mole that has now risen to a high position. They won’t think very highly of your ‘cries for help,’ but it’s far more believable than a foreign queen.
>Just give them the information. They’ll hem and haw, but in the end they’ll know that you’re speaking the truth. Hopefully they’ll leave you alone after that.

_-_-_

Audrey makes good progress, although she tried to paste in parchment from other codices. She states that she is far ahead of schedule, already over halfway done in only two months.

>>3580294
>>Kill the prince. It’s clear he’s fully bought into his father’s revenge. He’s the only competent commander left, and you’d like to see Jeremiah suffer. (Mutually exclusive to killing Jeremiah. You want someone left to grieve.)
>Free the incarcerated lords. They’re utterly done with the situation. Detained while their soldiers march on the orders of their captor and worried sick over their lands back in Great Gate proper, they’d love nothing more than to go home with their soldiers. They promise gratitude and friendship once they do. Conveniently, there are hundreds of bandits waiting for them on the road home, and a chance confrontation with Jeremiah’s rear guard.
>>3580299
>Use the logistical seal to pretend to be a long-forgotten mole that has now risen to a high position. They won’t think very highly of your ‘cries for help,’ but it’s far more believable than a foreign queen.

File: WHYVCLeafF.jpg (55 KB, 696x501)

55 KB JPG

>>3580294
>Your agents know exactly where the enemy will march. Have bandits ambush them at every turn, hounding them at night. If they’re so eager to defend their ‘brethren?’ Have bandits raid villages days before they move in. Let traitors feed traitors. And better still, your treasonous villages can’t give them grain.
>Poison everything. Poison wells, soil their grain, burn crops. Scorch earth everywhere Great Gate passes. In fact, burn places where you only think they might go.

We should add insult to injury and leave messages telling the army about they've been abandoned.

>Just give them the information. They’ll hem and haw, but in the end they’ll know that you’re speaking the truth. Hopefully they’ll leave you alone after that.

Rolled 41, 60 = 101 (2d100)

>>3580299
>>Kill the prince. It’s clear he’s fully bought into his father’s revenge. He’s the only competent commander left, and you’d like to see Jeremiah suffer. (Mutually exclusive to killing Jeremiah. You want someone left to grieve.)
>Free the incarcerated lords. They’re utterly done with the situation. Detained while their soldiers march on the orders of their captor and worried sick over their lands back in Great Gate proper, they’d love nothing more than to go home with their soldiers. They promise gratitude and friendship once they do. Conveniently, there are hundreds of bandits waiting for them on the road home, and a chance confrontation with Jeremiah’s rear guard.
We do need to reclaim these lands once these bastards are driven out after all. Also Jeremiah needs to suffer personally.
>Just give them the information. They’ll hem and haw, but in the end they’ll know that you’re speaking the truth. Hopefully they’ll leave you alone after that

>>3580294
>Pick 2.
>>Your agents know exactly where the enemy will march. Have bandits ambush them at every turn, hounding them at night. If they’re so eager to defend their ‘brethren?’ Have bandits raid villages days before they move in. Let traitors feed traitors. And better still, your treasonous villages can’t give them grain.
>>Kill the prince. It’s clear he’s fully bought into his father’s revenge. He’s the only competent commander left, and you’d like to see Jeremiah suffer. (Mutually exclusive to killing Jeremiah. You want someone left to grieve.)
Freeing the lords seems a bit to unpredictable.

>>3580299
>>Use the logistical seal to pretend to be a long-forgotten mole that has now risen to a high position.
Everyone has spies! Who can remember those from the days of previous spymasters?
We. Be. Sneaky. Beaky.
Dare you disagree?

It seems to be a very, very big tie, so I think I'll let it run until the morning.
3 votes to kill the prince, 2 votes to use bandits to raid villages, 1 vote for scorched earth, 2 votes to free incarcerated lords, and a 2-2 split on whether to use the seal or not.

In the meantime, I saw something I liked in the thread and I thought some filler might be a good apology for no more updates tonight.

Lady Audrey slammed the door open on the first day of remedial training. Eyeing everyone aggressively as if challenging you to question her, she sauntered to the center of the room. Blonde hair splays in the air, and her sharp officer's dress sparkles even against your ornate, palatial surroundings. She also has an eyepatch on. She doesn’t have an eye injury.

“Alright! Some know me as Queen Ophelia’s personal knight!” What. She glares down a snickering guard. Hands clenched on her sword, some slim southern rapier, she leans in and scowls. She usually just uses an arming sword…

“Others may know me as the terror of Triensel!” Alright, that’s enough.

“Cousin, what are you doing here?” You ask with a lilting tone, “I thought you were busy with the codex…”

“It’s no big deal. I substituted the entire second half with Mersilia’s ‘Record on Triensen Customs.’ Well, I left out the boring bits. Did you know that there’s a distinction for whether bone splinters make noise when thrown against a shield?” Your eye twitches. That codex cost quite a bit.

“... I spoke to your scribes earlier today. I think you have something to do. Now.” Your face must have darkened, because Audrey spluttered something in agreement and quickly left.

You don’t pay much attention to the rest of the training. Edward comes in at some point, ostensibly to survey the men, but really just to drink. Eventually your allotted thirty minutes are up, and you gratefully leave.

The second day, the sergeant is missing. They find him bound and gagged with scrunched up parchment in a closet. It’s Mersilia’s codex, specifically her analysis on detaining nobles.

Audrey spends the month drilling your palace guard in her spare time. She’s rambunctious and ignores countless details and all decorum, but she energizes the soldiers. Her eyepatch miraculously swaps eyes several times. Edward receives more gift alcohol than usual. That's about all one needs to incapacitate him.

Result:
Audrey had fun.
Very few other people had fun.
Your palace guard like Audrey.


... so yea, I'll wait for more votes until tomorrow. Thanks to everyone who stuck around.

>>3580294
>>Your agents know exactly where the enemy will march. Have bandits ambush them at every turn, hounding them at night. If they’re so eager to defend their ‘brethren?’ Have bandits raid villages days before they move in. Let traitors feed traitors. And better still, your treasonous villages can’t give them grain.
>>Kill the prince. It’s clear he’s fully bought into his father’s revenge. He’s the only competent commander left, and you’d like to see Jeremiah suffer. (Mutually exclusive to killing Jeremiah. You want someone left to grieve.)

>Use the logistical seal to pretend to be a long-forgotten mole that has now risen to a high position. They won’t think very highly of your ‘cries for help,’ but it’s far more believable than a foreign queen.

>>3580621
Mersilia seems like a varied and useful author.

Rolled 60, 50 = 110 (2d100)

>>3580299
>Your agents know exactly where the enemy will march. Have bandits ambush them at every turn, hounding them at night. If they’re so eager to defend their ‘brethren?’ Have bandits raid villages days before they move in. Let traitors feed traitors. And better still, your treasonous villages can’t give them grain.
>Kill the prince. It’s clear he’s fully bought into his father’s revenge. He’s the only competent commander left, and you’d like to see Jeremiah suffer. (Mutually exclusive to killing Jeremiah. You want someone left to grieve.)

>Use the logistical seal to pretend to be a long-forgotten mole that has now risen to a high position. They won’t think very highly of your ‘cries for help,’ but it’s far more believable than a foreign queen.

Rolled 5, 56 = 61 (2d100)

>>3580299
>Kill the prince. It’s clear he’s fully bought into his father’s revenge. He’s the only competent commander left, and you’d like to see Jeremiah suffer.
>Free the incarcerated lords. They’re utterly done with the situation. Detained while their soldiers march on the orders of their captor and worried sick over their lands back in Great Gate proper, they’d love nothing more than to go home with their soldiers. They promise gratitude and friendship once they do. Conveniently, there are hundreds of bandits waiting for them on the road home, and a chance confrontation with Jeremiah’s rear guard.


>Just give them the information. They’ll hem and haw, but in the end they’ll know that you’re speaking the truth. Hopefully they’ll leave you alone after that.

>>3580294
>Kill the prince. It’s clear he’s fully bought into his father’s revenge. He’s the only competent commander left, and you’d like to see Jeremiah suffer. (Mutually exclusive to killing Jeremiah. You want someone left to grieve.)

>Instigate an incident. If soldiers dressed in the heraldry of Count Ytres, who languishes in a cell for ‘conspiracy against the good king’ while his son has command, were to attack and kill a small prisoner escort bearing Jeremiah’s banner, you’re sure things could go awry. In fact, instigate several incidents, as if there were still a conspiracy among the remaining lords.

And:
>Use the logistical seal to pretend to be a long-forgotten mole that has now risen to a high position. They won’t think very highly of your ‘cries for help,’ but it’s far more believable than a foreign queen.

Wails and weeping dominate the camp. Not because the prince died, mind you. But it’s barely better. Your spies delivered a powerful poison, some mixture that affects the mind as much as the body. One night the prince was laughing and toasting the army’s approaching takeover of all of High Edri. The next, he was vomiting his guts out and seizing up.

He’s invalid now. Too weak to move his own body and suffering from horrific tremors, he slips in and out of lucidity unable to compose his thoughts. He’s no longer a threat. And if things go well for you? He’ll never recover.

The host slowed to a crawl right as your bandits hit everything in the surrounding area. Stuck in starving land, the army can’t move on account of the grieving king, and can’t get food now that the villages beg for scraps too.

Jeremiah weeps all day, stuck in place and unable to give orders. He hides in his carriage while delegating to the few incompetent commanders left.

Everyone’s starving and blaming each other. You’ve turned an entire army into a dithering mess.

You think you might ask for more of that poison.

Result:
Great Gate’s army is fully crippled. They’re not moving, are slowly starving, and having many, many internal squabbles.
The prince is invalid and can’t do anything.
King Jeremiah is grieving.
You estimate, with desertions and starvation, that Jeremiah’s force has dwindled to 1500 men.

_-_-_

“Greetings from the King.”

“I commend you on your service, loyal agent. Your information will be instrumental in coming years. I entrust you with funds to continue your work.”

King Ladislaus I of Feod.”

You roll your eyes at the message. It wasn’t too hard to convince the king. Still, it’s rather ominous

… Coming years?

Regardless, he’ll be interested in whatever comes. There are many productive fields on the border, and both countries have long tried to control the fork of the Tideran river. You’d be surprised if Ladislaus didn’t push something soon.

Hopefully, that’ll take the massive army off your border.

Result:
You know something will happen next month.
What did he mean by the coming years?
Ladislaus thinks you’re his plant, and a good investment. He sends you a little income.

Rolled 4 (1d100)

It’s hard to focus. You haven’t slept properly in weeks, and you snap at your servants just for being around. Can’t they see you’re busy?

Still… That doesn’t excuse you from more work. Not when you’re so close to actual progress. The doctors prescribed you some medicine to help. Taking double doses keeps you awake. (High ??????)

Queen Ophelia I, Queen of Vetesil and Countess of High Edri (Contested).
Age: 16 (Birthday in January)
Diplomacy: 24
Martial: 8
Stewardship: 10
Intrigue: 19
Learning: 15
??????: 90/100

What do you do in the last days of the month? Personal actions raise ??????, but use your own stats.

>Talk to a councilor (Diplomacy, specify who and what to talk about)
>Great Gate’s host is leaderless. You can’t do much, but you can have your agents free a few lords. You can’t bother researching their stances, but hopefully they’ll give up and leave. (Intrigue)
>rest (no personal action)
>Reinforce your castles. Stock them with more grain or something. Maybe not High Edri, but the ones on the Tideran River on your border with Amberland. (Stewardship)
>Write-in? (I'll decide on the category.)

(Just ignore that dice for now.)

Rolled 18 (1d100)

>>3581875
>rest (no personal action)
Lower insanity level

>>3581875
>rest (no personal action)

we should lower ??????

>>3581875
>rest (no personal action)

>>3581875
>rest lets not have a heart attack

You try sleeping. You can’t. Maybe it was the double dose of whatever the doctors gave you, or because you’re too worried, but you can’t fall asleep.

You leave your room. The guards stand a little straighter. Their halberds shake slightly under your gaze. You harrumph and turn, walking away. Cowards.

You walk around for a bit, but that doesn't help. You've had all your life to stare at every square inch of wall and every faded painting.

"S-so, what's your name?" To your eternal shame, you get so desperate as to try talking to a servant. His face pales. He stammers some excuses and flees. Another failure.

How can you relax?
>You see a light in Audrey’s room. She’s probably writing her codex, but she has interesting stories.
>Adelaide seems to never sleep. Maybe she could help you unwind.
>You know dozens of secret passages. Sneak out of the castle. You’ve only rarely been outside.
>Write-in?

>>3581972
>Dress ourselves in the garb of a peasant and take a gander outside the castle

>>3581972
>>Adelaide seems to never sleep. Maybe she could help you unwind.

>>3581972
>You know dozens of secret passages. Sneak out of the castle. You’ve only rarely been outside.
Carry a knife too

>>You see a light in Audrey’s room. She’s probably writing her codex, but she has interesting stories.

We should build a torture chamber and get some fresh prisoners

Garbed as a peasant, or at least what you think a peasant would look like, you sneak out of the castle. It’s a damp, fetid passage more akin to a cave, hewn into the ground. You think your spies sometimes use it, but most of them are still in High Edri.

You emerge from a long-forgotten, collapsed storage shed, surrounded by debris and boarded up windows. It smells awful here. Is this how peasants live?

This is the city outside your castle, the one you’ve spent sleepless nights observing when you were younger. It's nothing like you thought it would be. No glass, windows are covered by shutters of wood, or have curtains flowing over them. Everything smells awful, and it's far more crowded than you expected. Few people are outside so late. With strict curfews in place, there aren’t many places open. You spot a tavern in the distance, or at least what one should look like, and also a store with someone still cleaning.

Where do you g-

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing this late?” Sulfurous breath assaults your nostrils. You almost gag. “A girl like yo-u shouldn’t be out here!” He pauses briefly at the glare you shoot him, but he’s too oblivious to care.

A dog of a man like this? He’s in your personal space, but not very threatening. Malnourished and obviously ill-trained, he’s more pathetic than anything. Don’t pigs like these love bribes?

You brought a few full coin purses, a long dagger, and, in an emergency, your royal seal.
>Just gut him. No one else can see.
>Slip him a nice sum of money
>Use your seal and order him out of your way.
>Write-in?

Roll a 1d100 with your vote.

Rolled 27 (1d100)

>>3582033
>Write-in?
Tell him he is sleeping on duty and to wake up he neads to duck his head in a bucket of a cold water

Rolled 100 (1d100)

>>3582033
>Just gut him. No one else can see.

>>3582039
Well that's a waste of a crit. Guess secretly murdering gives us the stress relief now.

>>3582039
>>3582033
Sure murder we love murder now

“Ah, no problem sir. I’ll just…” Your coin purse jingles as you ‘fumble’ for it. The guard’s eyes light up, and he leans further in. He holds his hand out.

Your dagger easily slides into his exposed throat. He gurgles, trying to scream. You push him over, and, perhaps panicking, drag him into an alley.

Some things are better left unsaid. His body was more akin to a pile of flesh than a corpse by the end. A small pile of bones lay in a corner, chipped and smashed by your eager work. Your lips peel into a happy grin. You think you might have giggled once or twice, but you’ll let that impropriety slide this time. This could become a habit...

You throw off your now bloody peasant’s cloak. You’re in an ornate, if mildly chilly, dress. You don’t think anyone could recognize you though. You never left the castle for long.

-10 ??????
You are dressed as a young noble lady.

The night is still young. The tavern is still open, although most patrons have left, and the young lady manning the store is about to close.

You still have a dagger, wiped off on the former guard's clothing, and a few full coin purses.
>Go to the store
>Visit the tavern. Someone familiar is black-out drunk over there.
>You’ve had your fun. Go home.
>Go somewhere else? There’s a great square that you processed through on your coronation. Further, there’s a garden that you think your grandfather built.
>Write-in

>>3582112
>Go somewhere else? There’s a great square that you processed through on your coronation. Further, there’s a garden that you think your grandfather built

>>3582112
>>Go to the store
Not the tavern. Don't want anyone to recognize us

>>3582112
>Go somewhere else? There’s a great square that you processed through on your coronation. Further, there’s a garden that you think your grandfather built.

Private torture chamber when? It’s actually probably a bad habit to start...

The plaza is empty. Well, you’re not sure what you expected. A great cathedral looms over the square, rising arches and stained glass still illuminated by candles and braziers.

Is there someone inside? Both the main entrance and the small auxiliary chapel are lit. Incense still wafts into the night sky.

You rub your hands, relishing in scraping off the already drying blood.

The city library, another of your grandfather’s achievements if you remember correctly, is secluded in a corner. You have never visited it, but it seems like someone is still in there.

The garden is quiet. You hear metal sheers snipping. Maybe the gardener is working. Still, this late at night? Sometimes you can feel a familiar, weasely hum. The scent of roses mixes with the incense.

At least the pleasant smells and cool air calm you.

-5 ??????
You think you can visit one more place before it’s too late to keep staying up.
Where do you go?
>The cathedral, where an old man hunches over and scribbles on parchment.
>The chapel, where a woman fervently prays. She’s deeply sorry.
>The library, where a certain blonde woman goofs off.
>Deeper in the garden, where a weasely gardener relaxes.
>Just go home.

>>3582168
>The chapel, where a woman fervently prays. She’s deeply sorry.
Kindred spirit perhaps?

>>3582168
>Deeper in the garden, where a weasely gardener relaxes.

>>3582168
>The cathedral, where an old man hunches over and scribbles on parchment.
Stabby Stabby!

Rolled 2 (1d3)

Alright, errands are done for the day.
I'll roll a dice and get writing.
>>3582187
>>3582301
>>3582383

“Ah, your highness?” Your wandering took you deep into the garden. Slightly overgrown hedges crowd into the path, but many more have been sheared into artful patterns. It’s Etienne. A few of his guards trail behind him.

“Etienne. I didn’t know you enjoyed gardening this late.” you say, “It’s almost midnight.”

“A little past that, your highness. I would usually do this in the afternoon or early evening, but things have been rough.” You snort. He's had his hands full handling the food situation in High Edri, without any help. Of course, you were partially responsible for it. Thankfully he doesn’t know.

“Gardening’s that important to you? You seem relaxed despite the hour.” Indeed, he seems calm and satisfied. A weird look, considering you’ve only seem the corrupt treasurer stressed and tired, indulgently lazing about, or smug with his work ‘fooling’ you.

“It’s how I got started with all this money business. I’d like to eventually retire and garden all day.”

What do you do?
>Just go home. Being near oily men this late might give you indigestion.
>Write-in.

Just for anyone new, Etienne is your corrupt treasurer. He has contacts among the high nobility and has served as a go-between for the two of you.

>>3582472
>that sounds quite nice. Far simpler then our daily work keeping our land together. Do you mind if i join you. Ive never gardened before perhaps you can show me the ropes.

Lets play nice dispite being corrupt Etienne does not seem like a bad person. Plus any bonus to nobility happiness would be a boon.

>>3582484
Supporting this.

Corruption can be forgiven in exchange for competence...for a time at least

“Certainly, although I wonder if it’s too late for you?” You frown and glare at him, but he simply laughs. He really is relaxed, if he thinks this impropriety-

He throws a trowel at your feet. His guards are very confused. One of them is looking at you with naked fear.

…

You dig the trowel into a nearby flower patch and scoop out a spot for another tulip.

Unfortunately, you yawn not soon after. You only put in half the patch!

Etienne grins at you. For once, it’s not some grimy, disgusting sneer. You’re not sure what it means.

“I believe we’re done here. Would you like my men to escort you back?” You nod absentmindedly. The guards seem to mind, but Etienne waves their concerns off.

_-_-_

In the coming days, you return to the garden alone. It’s weird being outside in the day, and you get jostled a few times while under cover, but…

The flowers you planted stare blankly back at you. They’re not blooming. They’re uneven and some are wilting. A few people remark on how an apprentice must have done it. But, they’re still alive and they’ve taken root in the soil you put them in.

In all these six months, you’ve never truly grown something like this.

Result:
-10 ??????
New actions to relax.
Etienne seems calmer around you.
You’ve started going outside sometimes.

File: Politics Zoom T6.png (59 KB, 789x469)

59 KB PNG

You’re doing better than before. Your head doesn’t hurt as much, and you find fewer reasons to lash out at your servants.

Feod is skirmishing on Amberland’s southern border. Amberland’s ruler, Duke Folcard III, responds by quickly drawing men from your border. Now, you’ll only face 6000 men in case things go south. Not good, but better. They’re fighting over minor claims or something. It’s a southern matter.

It’s finally happened. Your records lost so many people that it’s affecting your income. It’s only a slight drop, and it’d take even more disappearances to affect your income again, but having 50,000 people disappear in the first six months of your reign isn’t very flattering…

Amberland sends you a missive in the same condescending tone as the last letter. It’s just warnings to ‘stay in your lands’ and to not invade Great Gate. It seems they’ve given up on them too. You note that Duke Folcard didn’t bother sending similar warnings to the Baron’s Pact.

That’s a minor issue, though. If this was everything, you’d be happy.

But then…

Jeremiah strode out of his tent one afternoon, your spies report. He claimed to be on a mission given to him by the Angels. Supposedly, the Angel of Temperance told him to ‘cut off that bitch’s head,’ and remove such an excessive evil from the world. Only then would she heal his son.

If the delusional old man wants a fight, he can have it. His army surges forth, finally commanded by its energized king. Everywhere, people remark that there’s a fire lit under him. The same one that he lost last decade. He’s wiser now, more active and driven.

That’s irrelevant. If he’s truly clambered out of whatever pit of grief that’s held him since last war?

You’ll push him back in.

King Jeremiah of Great Gate
Diplomacy: 10
Martial: 16
Stewardship: 15
Intrigue: 4
Learning: 3

He’s still got an incompetent, starving army, but he’s stepped up to the mantle of leadership.

_-_-_

Kingdom of Vetesil, June, 50 A.S.
Food: 35/100 (Minor famines, -2 Public Order)
Prosperity: 30/100 (-40% income)
Public Order: 51/100 (Affects rolls and prosperity)
Population: 210,000? (Affects certain income sources, force limit, and may affect food)

Military: You know you can get 3500 men. Due to a failing levy system, each thousand men levied cost 150 Silver per month. In Defensive Wars where you don’t leave your land, upkeep is 50%.
Internal Approval: Measure of how the pillars of state view you. Having loyalty at or below 2 or at 0 triggers special debuffs.
Freemen: 1/10 (Open Hostility, Quashed, but you’re not sure when they’ll gather enough strength to rebel again.)
Lower Nobility: 4/10 (Snubbed, -4 to all martial rolls)
Higher Nobility: 5/10 (Ambivalent)
Church of Angels: 5/10 (Ambivalent)

Treasury: 102 Silver
Income: 100 Silver/turn
Expenses: 40 Silver/turn
Net: +60 Silver/Turn

1. Amberland is occupied right now. With minor skirmishing along Feod’s border, they don’t have time to deal with you. In fact, your spies detect that they’re feeling out your burghers and Freemen again. It seems they’ve figured out your famine, but you don’t know what they’re planning this time.
You don’t know what Geoffrey is thinking. He hasn’t betrayed you yet, but he’s undoubtedly trying. He continues advocating that you treat with Amberland, but not with the urgency you expect. (Diplomacy). Now that Amberland is fully distracted, however, it might be a great time to talk to the rest of the coalition. (Diplomacy). Each option here costs 30 Silver.

2. Even more peasants vanish, taken into the enemy’s ranks or starved to death. King Jeremiah is the last competent commander left, and his rag-tag army of about 1200 are quickly taking the last castles in the Barony of Iresen. Yet, zeal can’t substitute food or weapons. His army will probably fall apart at the slightest wind, even if he’ll keep ‘winning.’ Rally an army and put the dog down. (Martial) (Silver dependent on army size, but planning ahead, a thousand men cost 75 Silver/month in this situation, and you’re not sure how many months it will take. At this point, 2 of your men are probably worth 3 of his)

3. This is it. Land the finishing blow. Jeremiah might have the begrudging acceptance of his soldiers, but his imprisoned lords command their true loyalty. Free as many as possible, while probably further sabotaging his army, and watch his last soldiers desert him. Unfortunately, you’ve actually lost a few spies this month, either due to ‘insufficient zeal’ or, more likely, Jeremiah has realized how well you’ve infiltrated his camp. (Intrigue) Costs 20 Silver.

4. Even if Amberland is occupied, 6000 men is still almost twice your army. You need more soldiers if you want to stand a chance. Hire mercenaries (Martial, About 100 Silver), or create more knights to levy more people (Martial, saps income).

5. Actually, there is another option. With Great Gate knocking on death’s door, you could divert resources to fortifying your border with Amberland. The Great Tideran River is already a massive barrier. Fortified positions, expanded castles, and supply caches for guerilla fighters sound pretty good. (Stewardship, costs 100 Silver)

6. Just because Great Gate is about to collapse doesn’t mean the emergencies are over. Everyone knows war with Amberland is on the horizon, so why not make money off of it? You could either enact a scutage on your lords (Stewardship, and lowers army size for the duration of the conflict), press the screws on your cities with emergency tallages (Stewardship, will likely lower prosperity), or demand money from the various churches in your land (Stewardship, they’re not going to be happy). Each option here costs 30 Silver. (You estimate, with all the urgent crises, you could easily squeeze at least 350 Silver)

7. You could also raise your income in less damaging ways. You made good progress last month, but there’s still room for improvement. You can either enforce your rights and normal tallages (Stewardship) or continue fighting the corruption that infests your bureaucracy. (Stewardship). Each option costs 20 Silver.

8. With so many people dead, missing, or probably turned into bandits, it might finally be time to run a true census. Hopefully, you can recover all your lost income. (Stewardship). This action will cost about 100 Silver, and is best approached with multiple turns of work.

9. You don’t know what Geoffrey is planning now. He should be panicking, but the traitor just goes about his business. If you didn’t know how much things had changed, you’d think he’s still trying to provoke a war. You’re sure that he’s received new orders. Get rid of him. (Intrigue) Free cost, but likely raises ??????.

10. You ran into an interesting proposal last month. King Ladislaus of Feod thinks your agents are his own moles. If he wants information on Amberland, you can feed it to him. He’ll even ‘reward’ you for it. However, you did notice a massive influx of spies and espionage into Amberland recently. For once, you don’t know why. (Intrigue) Costs 10 Silver, but may pay out more.

There are fewer crises, it seems, but the ones left have almost all gotten worse. You have 102 Silver to spend, and 2 D100’s to distribute. You can double up on an action.
>Well?

Rolled 49, 57 = 106 (2d100)

>>3582527
>9. You don’t know what Geoffrey is planning now. He should be panicking, but the traitor just goes about his business. If you didn’t know how much things had changed, you’d think he’s still trying to provoke a war. You’re sure that he’s received new orders. Get rid of him. (Intrigue) Free cost, but likely raises ??????.
>2. Even more peasants vanish, taken into the enemy’s ranks or starved to death. King Jeremiah is the last competent commander left, and his rag-tag army of about 1200 are quickly taking the last castles in the Barony of Iresen. Yet, zeal can’t substitute food or weapons. His army will probably fall apart at the slightest wind, even if he’ll keep ‘winning.’ Rally an army and put the dog down. (Martial) (Silver dependent on army size, but planning ahead, a thousand men cost 75 Silver/month in this situation, and you’re not sure how many months it will take. At this point, 2 of your men are probably worth 3 of his)

We should make our cousin take a break from the law and take over the army. As far as I know she's our best general.

Rolled 6, 32 = 38 (2d100)

>>3582529
>3. This is it. Land the finishing blow. Jeremiah might have the begrudging acceptance of his soldiers, but his imprisoned lords command their true loyalty. Free as many as possible, while probably further sabotaging his army, and watch his last soldiers desert him. Unfortunately, you’ve actually lost a few spies this month, either due to ‘insufficient zeal’ or, more likely, Jeremiah has realized how well you’ve infiltrated his camp. (Intrigue) Costs 20 Silver.
Taking apart an invading army without even raising our own forces is an impressive feat

I want to do the census, but we can’t afford it, so let’s do this instead:
>Amberland is occupied right now. With minor skirmishing along Feod’s border, they don’t have time to deal with you. Now that Amberland is fully distracted, however, it might be a great time to talk to the rest of the coalition. (Diplomacy).