Society Name: Cedonia
Action 1: The Duke of Caladyn looks to Mir for backing.
Type
Tactical, External, Negotiation
Primary-determinant
Relations with Mir
Secondary
The Duke's influence and authority (0 & +2 in this case)
Description: Duke Yarrow is an intelligent man. He knows that he and his rival General Zenos are nearly evenly matched in men and material, and that the autonomous cities are not yet willing to support him. However, during the Sinari war, the Duke worked closely with the Forces of Mir, and he respects both their skill in war and their skill in magic. The Duke makes no secret of his actions.
The Duke sends emissaries to the Mir to negotiate for support in men, magecraft, and material. He wants aid from the Mirish force in Tirmar, and in return offers to begin the process of destigmatizing magic in Cedonia.
Modifiers:
· + The Duke and the Warlord of Mir have worked together in the past.
· - The Cedonians have never been comfortable with Mir's high use of magic, and the Mir are aware of this.
· - Mir may have too much on its plate already
Action 2: General Zenos Responds to the Burcancy
Type
Tactical, External, Negotiation
Primary-determinant
Relations with Burcancy
Secondary
Zenos' Influence (+2)
Description: Zenos accepts the Burcancy's offer to open talks about matters of mutual interest, while keeping this fact hidden from the other factions in Cedonia. Zenos indicates that while he wants some support in troops, his main concern is the status of Vizinia and Zelkor. He wants an overland route to Zelkor and its port facilities. (Joel, perhaps we can work the details out off-list?)
Modifiers:
· + Zenos respects the capabilities of Tanimbar and the Burcancy
· - But, some might find his demands unreasonable
Action 3: Dr. Vellin Opens Relations with Kaeir
Type
Tactical, External, Opening Relations
Primary-determinant
Vellin's Influence (+3)
Description: The concept of the republic is relatively fragile in Qaiyore at the moment. So, too, is the situation of the cities of northeast Cedonia: Thalcedon, Inibar, Gomel, Zayura, and several other cities and towns. Dr. Vellin and the other members of the council that runs Thalcedon and influences the other cities of the informal league decide that it would make sense to establish formal relations with Kaeir, given that the Kaeireans have the only formally organized republic in Qaiyore at the moment.
Modifiers:
· + Kaeir will gain access to Cedonian markets
· + Cedonia will be able to again take part in the Midsea trade.
· - Despite a superficial similarity, Kaeirean republicanism and Cedonian republicanism have some differences in form that may cause problems.
Action 4: Innovation in Metallurgy
Type
Strategic (1st of 5), Internal, raise technological base from Metallurgic to Advanced Metallurgic.
Primary
Scholastics Sophistication
Secondary
Scholastics Diversity, Crafts, Vellin's Influence
Description: Dr. Vellin has become convinced that in order for Cedonia to truly recover from the effects of the Sinari invasion and subsequent civil war, they must be innovative. Certain areas in particular are of grave concern.
One lesson learned from the Sinari Invasion and the retreat from Tanimbar is that the traditional core of Cedonia's military, the heavy infantry of the legions, may be on the verge of obsolescence. While well-protected on the battlefield, a legionnaire is weighted down, slowed down, by the combined weight of his armor, weapons, and other gear. A legion simply moves too slowly to be truly effective against forces such as the Sinari nomads, or any force with a large cavalry component.
Dr. Vellin and the Thalcedon city council therefore charge the City Arsenal with three tasks: trying to develop metal alloys for armor that can protect a soldier as well as the current model, while being lighter than current legionary armor; developing better alloys for weapons(for example, damascened steel swords or a stronger spring steel for building crossbows); and developing means of producing those alloys. They direct as much funding as possible at the project, because they know that when the Duke of Caladyn and General Zenos have settled accounts, the winner's attention will turn towards them . . .
Modifiers:
· + for level of funding
· + for presence of the Imperial University(alchemists, etc.)
· - for difficulty
Action resolution
Action 1
Hmmm... this one is difficult to handle w/out getting opinions from Mir (ie. Keaton?). I'd say Mir wants to say yes, but they might not want to get directly involved in this. On domestic side, destigmatizing magic might not be something that gains much support in Cedonia, although much has changed during the past decade.
Unless Mir announces otherwise, this is what happens:
Resolution: Diff=easy (+1) + Dice (00++) + Extras (0) = +3 Great success
Mir sees this both as an obligation to an old friend and as the perfect way to get some influence in Cedonia. They wouldn't mind seeing the Cedonia's anti-magic position changing either. They eagerly concent to the Duke's suggestion and promise to send 1000 troops to aid the Duke. These are shipped through Tirmar, and will include heavy-weight magical force. (Question to Keaton/Jason: would it be reasonable to assume that the troops in question would include a coterie?? By default, I'd say no.)
The feelings in Cedonia to these negotiations (insofar as people know about them) are mixed. There's clear potential for later backfire.
Results: Duke gets his support, and 1000 troops (size: -2, force: +3). But there's a potential for backfire among the population due to break against tradition (level=very small: -3).
Interpretation: Mir will fully support Caladyn's claim to the throne. In exchange the Duke gives his official sanction of the Mirrish "protectorate" of Talishara under Niotrosa. Mir will pull back the boundries of the Yora'Timar protectorate to the city of Talishara itself, cedeing the original boundry of Gomel. An initial "good will peacekeeping force" of 1000 troops will be sent in support of Caladyn.
Action 2
Again, I'd need Joel's input for this, and a clarification from someone of the exact current relations of Vizinia, Zelkor, Burcancy and Tanimbar. Nevertheless, here's my initial resolution.
Resolution: Diff=Hard (-1) + Dice (0++-) + Extras (0) = 0 Mixed results
Burcancy is eager to alley with the General, but can't really promise what he asks, not right away anyway.
Results: any kind of treaty is delayed to the next year. However, the default difficulity of the action is reduced to normal (0) next year. Political support can be counted upon, if nothing else.
Action 3
Ah... and now I'd need input from Ibrahim. Still, here's my take on it.
Resolution: Diff=Easy (+1) + Dice (00-+) + Extras (0) = +1 Success
Relations between Cedonia and Kaeir Republic state are opened. Both sides are a little bit suspicious of each other, but in general the relations are good. There are a number of difficult matters, though, for example indirect support of Kaeir to the Duke of Caladyn by letting the Mirrish troops travel (and support their troops) through Kaeir.
Results: relations between Republics of Cedonia and Kaeir are opened with value Good (+1).
Action 4
Now this is interesting. This is a strategic action, and from now on, I want to solve them with something I call Success pools. A number of succesfull actions are required at a certain fixed difficulity level (determined at the beginning), and the action objective is achieved when the Success pool is full. In the mean time, throwing resources into the action may create some other difficulities.
In this particular case, I'll require 3 successes at the difficulity level of very hard (-2): one for finding the alloys, one for finding ways to produce them efficiently, and one to developing initial facilities to make the armor/weapons using them. Note that success in this action does not increase the technological base of the society: for that, the technology still has a long way to spread into everyday usage. In the mean time, it is a luxury item.
Resolution: Diff=Huge (-2) + Dice (00-+) + Extras (0) = -2 Failure
Very small progress so far. There's clear potential for backfire if "this misspending of tax money continues".
Results: Success pool = (x,x,x). Potential for backfire (level=small: -2).
Interpretation: The Republican research program initially appeared to begin well. Unfortunately, the promise of Council funding dragged all kinds of frauds, charlatans, incompetents and crackpots out of the woodwork like gnurrs[1]. Their combined efforts wheedled a rather large sum of money out of the Council before anyone noticed that there was no return on the Council's investment. While many of the fraudsters take the money and run, the Council is able to recover about two-thirds of the year's disbursments; the repayment rate went up after the Council made a couple of the worst frauds pay an arm and a leg in addition to the base grant.
Dr. Vellin and the Council decide that they will have to set up a screening committee of some sort to filter out the nutcases and criminals before monies are issued, and they will also need a stronger monitoring body, to keep the remainder honest.
Next year looks interesting.
Andrew Janssen
[1] "The Gnurrs Come From the Voodvork Out." Kudos points to whoever recognizes this short story title.