Invite the moth monks to our place for some meditation and peaceful exchange of wisdom. I'm guessing we are underground, so inform them that we would like a briefing on recent occurrences in the stars. Also mention your adherence to the faith, and casually mention that you are disappointed with the current unenlightened state of your court. This should at the very least draw some of the more politically motivated monks, hopefully including the ones behind the idea of demanding tribute from our villages.
Though it takes some time for your messengers to arrive, the monks are able to quickly reply, mostly due to their wings. The messenger is seemingly a novice-in-training rather than an actual monk, as signified by the yellow sash he wears. While he apoligises for his masters' absence, he explains that most of the monks are currently busy studying a new omen in the stars, something which you your priest corroborates with. In their stead, he has come to explain the monastery's new findings, principally the yellow comet that has caused an uproar in the clergy.
As an educated member of the Cult you know quite well that such a sight can only mean good luck but as all cultists are taught, one must always know that good luck for one man is bad luck for another. Still, it seems odd to you that the monks would care so much that they would flaunt royalty. Questioning further, the novice explains that the comet's trail is extremely strange. Unfortunately, the monks would not tell him more and that if
Her Majesty wished to learn more she would have to wait until the monks had finished their deliberations. Profusely apoligising, the novice has promised you that the monks intend to keep a permanent delegation in the colony for your use, should you need it...after they finished dealing with the omen.
As for the tributes, the novice explains that the tribute was necessary to maintain the monastery and due to the succession conflict that had been taking place, they had been unable to secure permission. While villagers often gave some donations to the monks, they had never done so to this extent and
Tul is well aware of that. Questioning further, the novice admits that members of the '
Closed Fist' school of the Cult had recently joined the monastery.
Shinvo immediately jolts towards the novice as he mentions this. "The Fist? They have the nerve to come to this realm, so close after their shaming by the Empress?! By what reason do you tolerate them and their heretical beliefs?"
The novice, seemingly unaware of who the
Fists are, simply stutters about the masters letting them stay and that he doesn't know why.
Of course, you know who the
Closed Fists were, how could you not? The Cult had always promoted diversity of thought and the Closed Fists were simply one of many schools that cultivated martial prowess amongst its members. It also called for the redistribution of power in society as well as a great deal of other things that would cause total anarchy. Four queen-reigns ago, they had launched a brazen attack on the
Empress' hive itself and barely lost. Scattered to the wind, they had been thought destroyed. You also found it especially odd that they would demand tribute so close to the
Imperial Territory itself.
Spend some time with each member of the Royal Council. Get to know them, their skills, and their biases.
Your Royal Council is somewhat smaller than your predecessor. After all, six of them had died in the succession war, two of them for the position of broodqueen. Of the survivors, only Karthos has remained, supposedly to continue your predecessor's edicts and ensure the survival of the colony. Shinvo and Tul were your personal advisors even during the last queen's reign and so now continue to serve.
Karthos is a legend amongst the commoners. A surfacelander born to a small-time breeder in the hinterlands, he would have probably lived a life as a farmer or logger were it not for his act actions during the Jot Crisis. In the later years of Queen Jot's (your predecessor's predecessor) reign, it had become clear to all that she had gone quite mad. By law, her Royal Council would rule in her stead until her death. In actuality, the claimants began the succession conflict years before her death. Through intrigue and careful manipulation, Karthos steadily rose through the ranks of a claimant's faction, eventually betraying her for your predecessor, all the while ensuring the hive itself stayed intact throughout the war. For ensuring that only the elites died during the conflict, Karthos has earned the respect of many.
As a councillor, you know that Karthos has been trusted with espionage and foreign relations for decades; his knowledge of intrigue is invaluable and crossing him is likely a quick way to lose your throne. Some have said that Karthos would make a great ruler were he a breeder, a few have even postulated that Karthos could betray the colony and turn it over the Shogunate; he clearly has the influence to at least try. However, those who know the man have all stated that he's far too loyal to the colony and the court to try it. Supposedly.
Karthos has always had a soft spot for the surfacelands, advising your predecessor to continue development above, rather than below. He has had little success save for those settlements in the border regions. Nearly everyone is aware of Karthos' surfacer bias, which has stymied his popularity amongst the elite.
Your loyal advisor
Nestrana Tul, like Karthos, comes from common stock, having been born in a tunnel-breeder's nest. While ostensibly an aphid-rancher, the life never suited her and she ran away before her 15th year to explore the land. This of course made her a criminal to the colony and she spent a long time running away from the colony's enforcers and in that time running she learnt to appreciate the places she passed by. Around her 30th year, she returned home, seemingly ready for punishment. Bemused, your breeder-mother picked her for herpersonal retinue, as an entertainer. Through conversation, she soon found that she was far more interesting than she could ever imagine and remarkably intelligent for a tunnel-worker caste. She has been part of your retinue since your hatching and advises you in all things. She also makes a decent aphid honeydew tea.
As a councillor, Tul is well versed in the ways of administration, court gossip and understanding foreign cultures. The last has unfortunately has seen little use, seeing as you are ruling in the race's heartlands.
Tul always acts motherly to those below her and respectully distant to those above. Of course, she treats you as more a friend than superior behind closed doors.
The priest
Shinvo always gets a few odd glances from the colony's populace, being a moth who speaks the local tongue and wears the local garb. Shinvo has never been one to explain his life to anyone, even you, seeing it as information that would 'cloud the path to truth'. Still, his age has always been a concern for you. As you know, monks commit ritual suicide via immolation or 'reaching the stars' in their old age, so as to give their next life a better chance at enlightenment. As an orthodox member of the clergy, Shinvo would have been expected to follow through with it by now. You have sometimes suspected that Shinvo isn't the most pious monk, but a few outbursts here and there (to royalty, no less) has shown otherwise.
Shinvo, to your knowledge, has little to say beyond relgious matters. A good teacher of the Cult's tenants but little else. Supposedly, Shinvo came from a northern monastery, one he left some forty years ago. Shinvo is good friends with the local diviners and priests, or at least good enough acquaintances to join in their rituals.
Find out what is on our eastern and western borders.
Tul quickly produces a map.
The Empress' territory is to your immediate west, while the Shogunate extends further east, stopping at the coast.
Get a breakdown of our population by caste/profession.
Tul reminds you that census information can be notoriously inaccurate at times and that it would be difficult to obtain knowledge on all breeders, especially those on the surface. Regardless, she has tried.
Elite/Administration/Misc Castes:1000
Craftsmen Caste: 3000
Labourer Caste: 15,000
Military Caste: 7000
Total Population: 26,000
It sounds like we have a surplus of food, and we can convert some farmers into soldiers.
How many would you like to convert?
We might as well exploit our specialty, and start digging some exploratory tunnels in an unexplored direction if we have extra manpower.
While the territories around you are nominally claimed by other powers, you know quite well that what's written in a book is not always true. As such, you order labourers to begin tunnel operations to the north and east. It will take some time for them to report back.
1. What properties does the amber sap have?
2. What is a cicada, in the context of this world?
1. Amber sap by itself is simply a material used for decoration; beautiful but without intrinsic worth. Using a few chemical reactions, the sap can however be made into durable yet elegant armour and weaponry prized by society's elite. Unlike metals which can be exhausted, the amber can be sustainable harvested and even grown. However, those who control the sap rarely wish for competing groves to exist, meaning that the tree is rarely transplanted.
2. Cicadas are the bane of all, gigantic creatures who sleep for centuries only to emerge from their chambers to begin their breeding cycle. Once awakened, a cicada continously screams, eventually killing all those who hear it via blood loss. Even if someone were to attack the creature, its tough skeleton protects it from most attempts and only makes the creature scream louder. There is no known way of surviving its screams besides getting far enough. A week after emerging from the ground, it will search for a safe place to molt. It is during this time the cicada is vulnerable and can be easily dealt with, if its den can be found. Cicada husks are prized for their durability.
The newly crowned monarch of the colony, she is a faithful follower of the Moth-faith, the Cult of the Moon and Stars. She is advised by her loyal friend, Nestrana Tul. An elder of some renown, the old scholar knows the way of administration and courtly intrigue.
Specialty: Digging equipment [Manufacturing Proficiency]
Hive Population: ~6000
Demesne Population: ~20,000
Main Resources: Lumber, Food, Copper
Author
Topic: Queen and Colony (Read 4941 times)