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[Sheb]

I must say I didn't agree with that IRC thing, but to me this game was always supposed to be a game of back stab and plotting. It's not like the combat rules allows for strategy.

[Ghazkull]

^although right now i am on the recieving end i have to agree...i somehow like it...

[Urist_McDrowner]

OOC: well, heck, just because we're writing in actions doesn't mean we can't RP!

Spoiler: "Missive to the Jarldom of Finster" (click to show/hide)

To his barbarousness, the Jarl of Finster,

Your reign is over. You may as well throw rocks at a thunderstorm. I have numbered the days of your kingdom, and brought it to an end. You have been weighed in the balance, and found wanting. Your kingdom shall be divided. If you value your life, and the lives of your people, you will not resist. You will board your ships and return to whereever it is you came from. But if you resist, I will render what you rendered to the citizens of Verona. Be grateful I so much as give you the opportunity to leave peaceably; you did them no such favors.

Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin,
His Serenity, the Doge of Liga Bentanii

[Ghazkull]

Indeed something comes back a letter and a package.

Great Words from a coward of man, who attacks a mans house and hearth while he is away. I heard similiar words from the Doge of Verona.
I sent you a reminder what happens to cowards like him. Meet me like a real man on equal footing and i might reconsider.

The Jarl of Finster

inside the package you find the halfway decayed head of the Doge of Verona.

--Meanwhile on the Border to Primeria--

A heavily armed group of Finstrian Ambassadors arrive at the Primerian Border.

[Ardas]

Ambassadors are led to the court of the king. They are brought before his chancellor.

"His majesty is is away hunting, but I am fully authorized to make decisions on his behalf. What is it that you bring?"

[Ghazkull]

One of the Men inclines his head.

" We are here on behalf of his Lordship the Jarl of Finster. We seek allies in the War against The Iron Wall, the Ferdicis Family and the Bentanii Liga. In return our Jarl offers vast riches gained through the looting of the Lands of Sitra."

[Ardas]

"You ask for a lot, and I'm afraid that the kingdom can't commit itself against so many straight away. But if the wealth starts flowing to us and we can see it, we will help you out. We can make some guarantees on your behalf for now though, to assure you of our intentions."

---------------------------
Recruit 1 Might
Use 2 influence on Barony of Jonasburg to sway it in my direction (assign influence budget for that until done or changed by me.)
Talk to my allies about safeguarding Primeria. Find out what they would need in return for offensive deployment of troops abroad.
Primeria guarantees to send 2 Might to Sitra to help Finster if they are attacked there.

[Ghazkull]

"Consider this a token of good will. Prolonged Assistance will yield of course far more riches."
The ambassadors/warriors open the lids of several chests they brought with them. Each filled to the brim with gold coins.

The Jarldom of Finster gives the Kingdom of Primeria 3 Wealth.

[Urist_McDrowner]

My sending of troops is conditional upon Sheb also sending two soldiers.

[Sheb]

Spoiler: A Letter Premeria (click to show/hide)

My Lord,

I am but an humble merchant, unaware of the mens-at-arms' businesses. So it is in many preposterous to offer your grace advice on how to run a war. But I made my position by knowing a bad investment when I see it, and betting on the Jarl seems like one to me.

Great armies are raising, and you would only be able to get your men killed by stayng at his side, while staying away, or even turning on him would carry great rewards.

I know a mon of your standing is loath to break his oath. But remember, a broken word hurt less than a broken limb. Don't bet on the sick horse. I can be more generous than any Jarl

Yours,

Leonardo Ferdicis

This being sent, Leonarda had much business to organize. He had no armies under his command, but across the realms his men could raise trouble, tend ambush, and open cities' gate. Hell was coming for the Jarl.

Use Two Mights to Fight the Jarl
Raise one unit of Might
Pay Mercassia Three Wealth to fight the Jarl with one Might
Offer Jonasburg the right to loot one of the Jarl's cities (Infr.) if he turns on him
Send the Iron Wall two Wealth to raise one more unit of Harkian Mercenaries
Offer Higgs 2Wealth if they turn on their masters, and ask my allies to expand their influence on convincing Higgs to turn.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Total:
-8,25 Wealth (plus whatever Higgs
-3,25 PC
+1 Might
3 Mights go Fight Ghazkull

[Ghazkull]

You guys sure are blowing waaay outta proportion. i just wanted to raid this minor friendless neutral country nobody cared about. Then it turned into the First World War. But this time you can't blame the German for it!

[Urist_McDrowner]

So anyway, for RP purposes do we agree that 1 might=1000 men?

[Iituem]

Use 2 PC to increase might by 2.
Send a letter to the King of Primeria asking if they would like to make a defensive alliance in case the Jarls come down to raid us.
Edit: I also use my 4 unassigned Influence to increase the clout of the Technocrats by 1.
(I would still like to know exactly how much Influence is needed to make an AI nation friendlier to me.)

I'll do an action post in a few minutes, going to answer questions first.

Emral:  There's no need to increase the Clout of the Technocrats just yet because currently the Technocrats control 100% of the non-ruler Clout in your faction!  Huzzah!  This is an action you'll only need to take once other power bases start appearing in your faction (happens by event).  In other words I'm going to leave these unassigned and let you change the action.  You can technically use this to create a new power base in your or another's faction, though (they'll start with 1 Clout, stolen from whatever the primary power base is).

Improving attitudes of NPC nations involves adjusting the favour of their primary power bases.  We can assume for the moment that all NPC nations have homogenous power bases (i.e. there is only one power base and it composes 100% of their non-ruler Clout).  This may change as the game progresses.  It costs Influence * the total Clout of the power base to change that power base's opinion of you up a step.

For instance, the Conclave of Sitra is a Theocratic Bureaucracy with 6 Infrastructure (pre-razing) and therefore a total of 6 Clout.  As a bureaucracy, 20% of the Clout belongs to the ruler (1.2) and 80% to the Theocrats (4.8 ).  It therefore takes 4.8 Influence to bring Sitra's theocracy power base up a notch to being Pleased with you.  Another 4.8 Influence will take them up to Friendly, the prerequisite stage for an alliance offer.  This accrues over multiple turns and stops once the power base's relations hit Fanatic, so if you use 2 Influence/turn on them they'll go up a relation stage on turn 3.

Given this, I'm going to enable partial Influence spending (using partial PC spending) in the same way that one can do partial spending of Wealth.  This will have an effect on the NPC nation of Sitra (who have Influence bonuses from their govt choices).


Secret plots and backstabbing are, Diplomacy-like, all part of the game.  Unlike Diplomacy I slightly prefer having people post their actions non-simultaneously because that simply encourages you to make threats before you take actions.  I will accept secret orders and negotiations by PM, though they will generally cease to be secret once acted upon.

And yeah, 1 Might maps well to 1000 spearmen.  Feel free to adjust it up or down by how 'elite' the troops are.

[Emral282]

In that case, I will use the 4 influence to make Yul like me more.

[Iituem]

Spoiler: Orders (click to show/hide)

Use 2 PC to increase might by 2.
I will use the 4 influence to make Yul like me more.

Hire one unit of Might from Hark
Send in 2 Might
Buy 1 Might.
Have the Pleasure Lands support me.

Hire the mercenaries
and two might,
send them to Finster conditional upon the Family (sheb) sending two to assist me in conquering Finster.

Alarm my Allies and ask them to help defend Finster.
The Jarldom of Finster gives the Kingdom of Primeria 3 Wealth.

Recruit 1 Might
Use 2 influence on Barony of Jonasburg to sway it in my direction (assign influence budget for that until done or changed by me.)
Talk to my allies about safeguarding Primeria. Find out what they would need in return for offensive deployment of troops abroad.
Primeria guarantees to send 2 Might to Sitra to help Finster if they are attacked there.

Use Two Mights to Fight the Jarl
Raise one unit of Might
Pay Mercassia Three Wealth to fight the Jarl with one Might
Offer Jonasburg the right to loot one of the Jarl's cities (Infr.) if he turns on him
Send the Iron Wall two Wealth to raise one more unit of Harkian Mercenaries
Offer Higgs 2Wealth if they turn on their masters, and ask my allies to expand their influence on convincing Higgs to turn.

The Pleasure Lands regret to say that they cannot spare the might to assist in this conflict without leaving their own borders undefended, but could lend 2 Influence to support the Sitran missionaries in Finster in exchange for 1 Wealth.

Because the Jarl is now embroiled in a defensive war, Higgs and Yond'aer both pledge to commit up to 3 Might between them to defence of Finster proper.

Higgs sends a missive back to the Ferdicis politely declining their request; they have received a better offer since.
Jonasburg sends a non-committal reply back; you are uncertain of their intent.

In response to missives from Primeria, Sovigrad and Hakkaman pledge up to 3 Might between them in the event that Primeria's sovereign territories are attacked, as part of their alliance agreement.  In an offensive war, Hakkaman would want 2 Wealth for 1 Might of support, and Sovigrad 4.5 Wealth for 2 Might of support.

Sitra sends the remainder of its missionaries, 0.9 Influence into Finster to assist with the task of inciting revolt.

The duchy of Phantoni recruits 2 Might, satisfying its concerned artisans.
Diplomatic channels are opened up with the Imperial City of Yul, reassigning 4 Influence to improving relations with the local Plutocrats.  The various gifts and well-wishes are received gratefully and Yul's relations with Phantoni improve.  They are now Pleased with the Duchy.

The Ferdicis grant 2 Wealth to the Iron Wall to help pay for Harker support.
The Wall grants 4 Wealth to the Strongholds of Hark for 2 Might of Harker support in the Sitra conflict.
The Wall sends 2 Might of its own to Sitra, and hires 1 Might (at a cost of 0.8 Wealth/PC).

The Bentanii grant 5 Wealth to the Republic of Mecklen for 2 Might in mercenaries, who are now committed loyally to the Bentanii cause.
The Bentanii then send the 2 mercenaries plus 2 Might of their own to attack the Jarldom of Finster directly.

The Free City of Higgs recruits 1 Might, then sends 1 Might into the theatre of Finster.
The Pankhaganate of Yon'daer masses 2 Might at the border of Finster, preparing to send them in as the situation develops.

The Jarldom of Finster grants the Kingdom of Primeria 3 Wealth.

Primeria recruits 1 Might (@ 0.8 Wealth).
They then send 2 Inf of emissaries to Jonasburg with gifts and kind words.  The emissaries are received well, but it will take time for a clearer change in relations.
Primeria masses 2 Might at the border of Sitra in preparation for engagement.

The Ferdicis raise 1 Might (@1.25 Wealth) and send 2 Might into the theatre at Finster.
They grant 3 Wealth to Mercassia for their mercenary aid of 1 Might.

Finster begins with 2 Might in the theatre.
The Wall sends 2 Might into the theatre.
Hark sends 2 Might into the theatre.

The ragged forces of the carls and khans managed to continue their siege throughout the winter, but as soon as the passes thawed ill news came both from home and abroad.  The greater powers of Albion were busy attacking the newly seized lands of Finster and the Jarl nor his allies could spare more forces for the attack.  To the south, an army of near four thousand pikemen and hillmen approached.  The carls steeled themselves for battle.

The Wall's army arrived in shining, resplendent steel, two thousand pike arrayed in perfect military formation.  Flanking them on either side were the rougher but hardier-looking Harkers, hill-men armed with light blades and clubs.  They held position just outside the city, where the carls had massed to meet them.  A pair of riders approached from the Wallmen and met the lesser jarl in command of the forces mid-way between the armies.

"In the name of the Iron King, the Wall and the free realms of Albion, we demand your surrender," declared the Wallman commander.  "Lay down your arms and you will be treated with fairness and justice."

"Lay down your arms and we'll cut them off and feed your fingers down your throat," replied the jarl.  The Harker commander by the Wallman chuckled.  The Wallman's cheeks puffed up like some strange red fish.

"So be it!  You die here today."  The Wallman turned and rode away, the Harker in his trail.

The carls prepared themselves for certain death.  They were outnumbered, outflanked and poorly equipped by comparison to the Wallman army up ahead.  Even so, they would charge gloriously into death and battle.  Up ahead the Wallman commander gave a cry; "For the Wall!"  It was echoed almost immediately by the ranks of pikemen.  "For the Wall!" they cried.

There was a long pause.  The Harkers readied their blades and clubs and as one turned inward toward the Wallmen.  Even from a distance the jarl could see the glint in the Harker commander's eye as he called out his own oath.

"For Primeria!"

The Harkers crashed into the Wallmen flanks, butchering confused and panicking pikemen on all fronts.  The jarl grinned and gave the command to his carls to advance; victory suddenly seemed a great deal more possible after all.

Hark turns on The Wall, siding with Finster!
Hark announces a new alliance with the Kingdom of Primeria!
After the dust clears, Finster remains victorious with 2 Might in the theatre.

The conflict will be resolved when no external powers wish to interfere further or no more actions are viable.

Finster begins with 2 Might in the theatre.
The Bentanii send 4 Might into the theatre.
Higgs sends 1 Might into the theatre, on the defending side.
The Ferdicis send 2 Might into the theatre, on the attacking side.
Mercassia sends 1 Might into the theatre, on the attacking side.
Yon'daer sends 1 Might into the theatre, on the defending side.
Primeria sends 1 Might into the theatre, on the defending side.

Verona had been a shining city, once.  It shone no longer.  The high towers and gleaming aqueducts were blackened stumps of stone now, collapsed bricks and crumbled mortar since the carls had come.  The residents of this city now squatted in the few remaining intact buildings, or else raised up crude longhouses and huts.  Space had been cleared on the highest hill of the city, and there now stood the motte, bailey and longhouse of the Jarl of Finster himself.  Clustered in and around this castle were fifteen hundred carls, a thousand 'guardians' from Higgs (light swordsmen, but apparently educated in 'philosophy', whatever that was), eight hundred horsemen from the plains and a thousand men-at-arms from Primeria.

They were overshadowed by the men who approached the ruined city walls now.  Four thousand mercenary swordsmen from the Benetsiyan League, two thousand more in the employ of the Ferdicis and a thousand Mercassian axemen to bulk out the rest.  They marched into position two bowshot distant from the massed forces of the Jarl and began arranging themselves for the attack.

To the surprise of nearly all the Mercassians began marching, then charging forward toward the enemy, unheeding of the lack of support from their allies.  When they reached the halfway point between the armies they stopped and turned back toward the merchant alliance.

"On behalf of the Count of Mercassia," called out their commander, "consider our debts null and void!  We are in your pockets no longer, Ferdicis!  We pledge allegiance to the crown of Primeria instead!"

The Mercassians turned and completed their march, joining the Jarl's forces at the castle.  This would prove a much more even battle than they would like.

Mercassia turns on the Ferdicis, siding with Finster!
Mercassia announces a new alliance with the Kingdom of Primeria!
After the dust clears, both sides have been fought to a bitter stalemate and no side has forces remaining in the theatre.  By default this counts as a victory for the defender, but they have no forces to oppose new attacks.

The conflict will be resolved when no external powers wish to interfere further or no more actions are viable.

Spoiler: Rule Change/Clarification (click to show/hide)

Let's neaten up the rules for using Might, shall we?  It costs 1 PC to attack with it and to raze/capture, both of which happen in foreign theatres, and the latter of which can only happen if you have troops left after the attack.

I'm going to merge these and say that it costs 1 PC to move 1 Might into a foreign theatre (including allied territories).  Once in that theatre they may attack, defend, switch sides, sit idly by and do nothing, raze, pillage, capture, whatever they wish to their heart's content.  It just takes them 1 PC to get there.

I'll also rule that it costs 0 PC to pull troops back from a foreign theatre to the homeland.  Thus an attack on someone's heartlands can be an effective way to force them to withdraw from their planned aggression, even if they don't have the PC to move them anywhere else.

Spoiler: GM Comment (click to show/hide)

Yes, the AI nations can commit treachery.  I received a secret offer to get them to turncoat, and if it helps any I can assure you that they paid through the nose to make it happen.  Loyal (and to a lesser extent Friendly) allies won't turncoat, or if they do their prices will be prohibitively expensive.  All starting allies in the game begin as Neutral, though.

Entertainingly enough, the people who are really winning out from all this are the minor nations.  They've made a ridiculous amount of money off this war.

P.S. Higgs would absolutely have turned in that last fight if the Mercassians hadn't been bribed first.  One way or another, there was always going to be a last-minute betrayal at this stage.

Spoiler: Edit: PC (click to show/hide)

For those not keeping track of their own scores, here is the present PC for all player sides.  Primeria has a bit of an advantage from all the double-dealing.

Primeria: 2.7PC
Bentanii: 0PC
Finster: 0.3PC
Phantoni: 2PC
Wall: 0.7PC
Ferdicis: 0PC

I'm quietly tracking the AI nation PC as well.  Most of those that have acted this turn have just enough for 1-2 more actions left, or are completely out.  I believe Yon'daer and Jonasburg reserved just enough PC for looting and that's it.  Higgs is basically out.