Autumn, Month 4, Year 1
Continue to ask Lord Karthos to provide information on every faction known to us, focussing especially on the warring colonies to our south, and the Closed Fist sect.
Four months after your coronation, Karthos admits that new information has been remarkably scant. He stresses that his network has been hampered by counter-espionage operations as well as fewer spies being recruited into his network. Regardless, he reports some info befitting of his post.
- Nyz Osk has retaken an amber grove.
- Luz Vy's guerilla troops have been discovered operating in Nyz's eastern border, but only after they throttled the colony's trade routes.
- Yut Vol has denounced Luz Vy for her fortifications along their mutual borders.
- Solarian missionaries have been sighted in Luz's citadel.
- A rogue breeder has joined the Closed Fists
- A rogue breeder in the colony's eastern hinterlands has defeated her competitors, declaring herself Queen Rekov Yutcho.
- The Closed Fists have begun training some aspiring villagers in martial arts.
- A Closed Fist cabal was supposedly discovered in a coastal colony to the east.
Convert 2000 labourers to soldiers. We need a larger standing army. Ask Tul to find the most capable military figure(s) in our colony's army, we need a general in a position to advise us on our council and directly train soldiers.
2000 labourers have undergone military training. While not as tough as military castes soldiers, their training will hopefully make them sufficient.
Tul has suggested three officers for promotion to the Council.
- Lady Gor: A breeder-in-waiting, she stands to inherit an important agricultural region to the realm's north. In the meantime, Gord has dedicated her life to serving as a protector of her home region, subduing migratory worms, bandits and the occasional Shogunate platoon.
- Lord Kra-phe: A military man by birth, Kra-phe is a member of the colony's old guard, having served in most military conflicts the colony has involved itself in. From experience, Kra-phe has become a master at using his much smaller forces to defeat much larger forces. Kra-phe served a rival claimant in the last succession conflict, a sister-breeder.
- Lord Kardol: A surfacer military caste, Kardol was appointed to defend the southern surface settlements by Karthos. While only possessing a few troops at any one time, Kardol has been able to use his resources to create admirable fortresses and outposts, which the local population often flee to during a raid. He has been in frequent conflicts with both of the colony's southern neighbours.
Give the monks written permission to collect tribute, so long as they publicly declare the tribute is collected with our blessing. Tell their messenger that we would like to meet with an important member of the closed fist, as soon as one is available. We should gauge this faction, and see if it can be controled. Lastly inform them that we will soon be filling our court, and that we would like to include a representative or two from the moth monks. Anybody interested in a position should signal their intent by messenger at once, and travel to meet us as soon as they are done discussing the comet.
A month after the meeting, a small delegation arrives from the monastery, bringing with them a small library of scrolls and books for your personal use. With them, a Closed Fist representative has accompanied them.
Ming The Younger is the leader of the delegation and appears to fit your expectations. Dressed in the saffron robes and black sash, Ming represents the very embodiment of an orthodox monk. You can even smell the hint of incense as he moves. After a few conversations, you quickly conclude that Ming's appointment to your colony is more ceremonial. In truth it is the Closed Fist representative,
Jan The Rose-Winged, who is in charge. Garbed in the lightweight combat-robes and turban, the Fist disciple maintains a respectful if cool demeanour towards you. While he is pleased with your observance of the Moon and Stars, it is clear that he still resents your royal status. He is however quite pleased with the tribute you have allocated to them, although he seems convinced that this is a permanent arrangement. In fact, the whole delegation seems to believe that the villages around the monastery have been ceded for their use. While not uncommon, such a practice may wound the colony's prestige.
Send proper and respectful announcements of our ascension to all our neighbors. Subtly hint, in the message sent to the Shogunate Warlords, that we adhere to the Moth Faith, and don't consider ourselves divine. Lets see what responses we draw.
Your southern neighbours are ambivalent and both warn you of each other's treachery. The Empress sends a small gift of saffron and bronze as a coronation gift. It is noted however, that both had sent representatives to your coronation.
The Shogunate daimos, for all their talks of revolution, are mostly ambivalent about your religion. A few send messages back imploring you to give up your throne, join their faction in the war or aid them in some other matters. One however catches your attention.
Daimo Osh'i has sent a handwritten letter, explaining how rare it was to find a fellow Cultist ruling a territory. While he admits that your royal status causes some anger within him, he recognises that ensuring more people are enlightened is more important than petty politics. He finds your subtle insertion of Guru Yafa's Three Virtues in your proclamation most interesting and has queried you on several esoteric theological matters. Your monks have gladly helped you understanding the more convoluted issues. Overall, the daimo seems to desire deeper relations.
Daimo Oshi'i's lands are rich in iron and is home to many manufactories. Isolated, the daimo has survived attacks from all directions through so-called 'lightning attacks' and the use of eccentric machinery. His main colony is three colonys to your north.
Instruct Shinvo to explore the hive and quietly seek out individuals from all castes worthy of learning the faith. We want to ensure enlightened individuals continue to exist in our colony should the monastary prove uncooperative or completely corrupted by the closed fist.
Shinvo, as well as a few monks from the delegation, have followed your orders and begun missionary activities. This has caused a few complaints from the more traditional members of the community. Regardless, the delegation has begun teaching some gifted hivedwellers, although Tul advises that such activities could cause further trouble down the line. Specifically, from the elites, who rely on the Faith to maintain their rule, and the native priesthood.
I propose a private meeting with Lord Karthos. The following is the agenda.
-Ask him his reasoning behind trusting Osk and not trusting Vy. The files he gave us do not make this clear.
-Tell him that we agree the surface is a major concern, and that we will start recruiting and arming 2000 warriors from the ranks of our farmers at once. We will then draw 2000 members of our military caste from the tunnels and replace them with the armed farmers. Tell Karthos we intend to impose martial law on the surface using those soldiers from the tunnels as a start, and lacking better administrators we can trust, we would like him to run things. He is to head to the surface, figure out the best initial use for 2000 soldiers, and draw up a more long-term plan that includes a recommended number of soldiers to control the surface beyond the initial 2000. Once his 2000 soldiers arrive, he is to declare himself military governer, and use them to the best of his ability.
-If he feels comfortable serving as both our spy master and military governor, he is welcome to hold both roles. Otherwise, we would like him to recommend somebody to succeed him as Spy master.
-If he feels he is still capable of serving as our spy master, tell him we would like proper reports on the two Shogunate warloards that appear to be on our border according to the map. If he finds any nearby Shogunate faction that has its hands too full to deal with us, he has our blessing to begin recruiting and extracting high value defectors, such as breeders and military officers, from that group at once.
-Inform him that he gives up the spy master position, and lives long enough to better secure our claim to the surface, we will gladly give him the job back. Stress that us sending him to the surface is based on his history there, and our lack of other trustworthy agents to take the job, and should not be taken as a slight to his value at court.
Karthos bluntly explains that Nyz can be counted on to
not invade our lands as she knows that she can't control it. Rather, Nyz is focusing her efforts in improving her hive and amber operations, as evidenced by the rather flimsy fortifications along your mutual borders. Furthermore, Karthos reveals that he has a spy in Nyz's palace, who often talks about Nyz's plan to invade the
south.
His lack of trust towards Vy, he explains, is because of her vast population. Should Vy defeat Nyz, she could quickly populate the annexed territories and invade our lands- and actually colonise the surface with relative ease. Furthermore, her people are far more used to surface life than ours, and would be happy to take our lands and tunnels whereas Nyz in the same situation would settle for the tunnels.
Karthos, while happy with his appointment, admits that he couldn't possibly perform both roles at the same time. However, he is loath to give up his position as he believes few have what it takes to manage his network. He asks for two months to prepare a successor.
In other news, your mining expeditions have found nothing but wyrm lairs. Despite these setbacks, your miners continue to dig, hoping that they find something better in the future.
What do we know about the Empress? General setting knowledge-wise and what our spymaster knows, as well.
While supposedly the Queen of Queens, the Empress has little real power over the race and her influence rarely extends from her palace. Most inhabitants of her territories are instead loyal to their local breeders, who themselves swear themselves act as minor queens. It is only the spiritual significance of the Imperial Territory that protects it from invasion and even that has been tested more than a few times.
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 4942 times)