Winter, Month 10, Year 1
1. Arrange a personal meeting with Lord Karthos' successor, Lord Naztok, get a personal appraisal of him. Any sort of personal control we'd have over him would be in all likelihood minimal compared to his loyalty to Karthos, but it'd be good to get a handle on his personality.
2. Build more farms, either above or below ground. More food=more population=more workers & warriors. Our digging equipment expertise should come in handy for this.
1.After a meeting after one of your banquets, your appraisal of Lord Naztok is rather tame. From what you can tell, he's a bureaucrat and nothing more made all the odder since his pedigree shows his mother to produce craftsmen. He is awfully dull in conservation and seems to have trouble remembering names. However, he is very good at numbers and has mentioned significantly streamlining Lord Kathos' spy network, all the while improving its efficiency. As far as you can tell, the man is all work and has very few hobbies. A cursory look by Tul revealed his abode to be quite small, almost like that of a peasant.
2. Your order have been carried out, in full sight of Daimo Woshen's border forces. While you experienced a few mishaps, the border commander sent his 'sincere' apologies for the actions of his soldiers. Woshen himself has not issued an apology. Tul hypothesises that the commander has not told the Daimo but she is unsure.
Ask Lady Gor to organize a small expedition into the new tunnel we discovered, Determine if the lands indeed belong to Daimo Woshen, and if so how much damage could either side inflict upon the other by attacking through the tunnel. Also ask her what she knows about the two Warlords directly on our border.
A quick survey shows Woshen indeed controls the tunnel although it seems somewhat dilapidated. Gor advises that the tunnel may no longer be in use. As the tunnel is far away from any of your main holdings, Woshen would be unable to do much more than burn a few farms without alerting you. If he were to march his army unopposed however, he wold have a direct path your colony, as while the tunnels are long and twisting, the pheromones make it obvious to all which way the colony is. Gor advises that the tunnel ended up leading to an old egg chamber which had been blocked up some time ago, although your tunnellers would have little difficulty digging through it.
Gor briefs you on the two Daimos.
Woshen is an old power-hungry and reckless warlord who would be quick to backstab his allies if it would get him closer to greater power. Gor recounts of how she has had many skirmishes with the Daimo's raiding parties and how her older sister once foiled one of his invasions under the previous queen.
Daimo Yote to the north is beyond doubt, an honorable man but one misguided by the Shogunate's ideology of 'might' and 'freedom'. Gor recounts of how he once sent in supplies and craftsmen to repair a broken dam in one of your border villages. That said, Yote is aligned with a confederation of Daimos seeking to place Daimo Artu on the Shogun's throne. For the last year, Yote has been under siege by Daimo Tovek, Daimo Porl and even a contingent of Daimo Woshen's men. While Daimo Yote has lost much of his land, his citadel and some of the surrounding land still holds firm.
You remember of course that Gor may be somewhat biased due to her interactions.
Inform Lord Kardol that we may soon align with Nyz Osk to oppose Vy. Ask him to survey our borders with Vy and Osk, and prepare a report that addresses the following three issues:
1: Assuming we align with Osk, how much manpower can we safely free up by pulling troops from our border with her?
2: What sort of time, resources, and manpower would it take to secure our surface border with Vy?
3: Would it be viable and worth our effort to try and take some of Vy's neglected tunnels from her should hostilities break out?
1.
"Assuming that Osk does not backstab us, we could withdraw all 3000 men from the border, as well as the soldier-breeders posted there. I would however, advise retaining a small garrison of 500 in case of Osk's treachery."2.
"As you know my Queen, it is near impossible to fully secure a border. That said, I could post garrisons and have forts built in every known mountain pass and tunnel in six month's time and within a year and a half, I could have fortresses in most of them. Of course, this would require a great deal of lumber, food and stone, not to mention the soldiery and equipment...I would need at least 3000 men to adequately watch over the area.s Vy's people are surfacdwellers, a few men in the tunnels and a large garrison in the mountains should be sufficient. That said, a few dragonflies would make our task much easier; if we could have 500 of the beasts I could reduce our manpower needs to 2000. That mobility would allow us to quickly reinforce our any of our forts within minutes. Of course, acquiring that many would be costly as last I heard, Osk's merchantry have had a supply problem. At our last count your whole fief contains 20 dragonflies, and half of those cannot be bred."3.
"No. Absolutely not my Queen. It would be best not to awaken the Cicada."Send word to Karthos, requesting that he help Kardol in his report however he can while he is on the surface, and also asking if he knows any commoners tied to our digging equipment manufacturing industry who might make good science, tunneling/engineering, or economic advisers for us.
Karthos sends word back, naming only Kentu, the woman in charge of manufacturing your digging equipment. She is famed throughout your colony for having revolutionised the shovel, pick and minecart countless times throughout her life. Karthos in his letter laments about the poor quality of the intelligensia of our colony. He goes on further about how the colony's merchantry are nothing to write home about.
Tell Lord Naztok to focus the spy network on recruiting defectors from Vy's elite. Surely there has got to be some discontent over the fact Vy's larva are raised on the surface, and the prospect of moving to a nation that specializes in tunnels might be appealing to some.
Naztok reports:
-No defectors found. All potential recruits though decrying the state of the colony were ultimately loyal to their Queen.
-A reminder: Vy's people abandoned the tunnels two generations ago; none remember their original existence.
-Solarian missionaries still present within Vy's citadel. A chapel has been built. Minor miracles observed.
-A source has revealed the presence of a bombard within Vy's citadel. Likely means to siege Ozk's hive soon.
Ask Tul to prepare a report on unfertilized breeders under our control, namely how many we have, how quickly we could get them established producing offspring should space be found for them, and what castes they might be expected to produce members of. We will definitely need to replace the rebel queen soon, and may also start colonizing Vy's tunnels as well.
[Information added to Colony section.]
Meet with Jan again, and tell him that we accept his offer to deal with the rebel queen in exchange for her larva, and on that note ask what he plans on doing with them. To what extent does the Closed Fist breed, raise, and train members of our race? Tell him we might soon get dragged into the war between Osk and Vy, and if that happens we might seize, repair, and colonize some of Vy's tunnels. If he has access to any breeders who are loyal to the Closed Fist, or even just the faith in general, it might be wise to send them to send some of them them to our hive so that they may be in position to capitalize on any opportunities that arise.
Jan explains that moths are not the most prolific breeders and that many in this land take on monastic lives. As such, many monasteries require larvae to carry out the mundane tasks of producing food and the production of goods. Of course, as Jan explains, the Closed Fists requires a bit more than that of them. He lets it slip that he intends to train them as acolytes and warrior monks.
He nods at your information, stating that he will send word to his brothers in the east, although he laments that it would be too difficult to bring along the breeders.
As you finish your meeting with him, he opens a chest next to him, showing to you the preserved head of your rebel Queen. He simply smiles.
Also talk to Jan about potentially helping us train the elites interested in serving us as spies by providing a teacher, implying that he could use the opportunity to teach them the faith, and gauge who among our upper class might be willing to help bring the colony to enlightenment down the line as well. If he is interested, tell him to work it out with Tul using Ming as a go-between. Ideally the public should only be aware that the students are studying the Moth-Faith in general so as to better win the favor of their queen, Tul, ourselves, and our future spies should be the only ones, aside from the monks and their agents, aware of the true curriculum.
Jan agrees to your request although he does say he must wait until the next year, as new students can only be taken in the spring.
Start work on the trade tunnel to Osh'i's land. See if Osh'i would be willing to speed up the process by digging from his end, or allowing us to send a crew to do it for him.
Added to Projects.
Meet with Nyz Osk's representative, and listen to her proposal as to what sort of aid she expects from us first. I want to see the results of our some of our other investigative actions before making a counter-offer.
Nyz's representative simply asks that you send your forces to raze Vy's farmlands and destroy everything worth having. He states that since Vy is preoccupied with his Queen's lands, we would not face much beyond the initial border garrisons, poorly-armed peasantry and perhaps Vy's personal guard. Kardol advises that Vy would likely have far more men in reserve than what the representative would imply and that regardless, those 'unarmed peasants' were likely physically stronger than your peasants.
We should start frequently inviting members of the warrior caste to dine with us, to build up their loyalty towards us.
Noted.
New stat added: Wealth. Wealth is a measure of your current riches. Every time an action requires a monetary costs, it is assigned a Wealth stat. If the colony's wealth is higher than the action's cost, it is automatically acquired. If the colony's stat is lower, the colony is too poor to afford it. An action may be done over time. E.g, an item with a Wealth of 6 could be bought in two turns if the colony has a Wealth of 3.
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.
Seculars
Nestrana Tul (Loyal Advisor): Skilled in administration and geographical information
Lord Karthos (Surface Governor): Hero of the colony, Karthos is the former spymaster and now rules the surface in Your name.
Lord Naztok (Royal Spymaster): The current spymaster of the colony.
Lady Gor (Military Advisor): A breeder-in-waiting, Gor specialises in defending against Daimo and wyrm threats.
Lord Kardol (Military Advisor): Former general on the surface, Kardol specialises in setting up defensive fortifications.
Religious
Shinvo The Illuminated (Royal Monk): Nothing more than an elderly monk that lacks the will to Ascend.
Ming the Younger (Monk Superior of the Hive): An orthodox monk that is clearly led along by Jan.
Jan the Rose Winged (Closed Fist Revolutionary): The true leader of the Hive's clergy.
Other Notables
Lord Kra-Phe (Osh'i' Ambassador): A former general preferring quality to quantity, he resides in Osh'i's court.
Speciality: Digging equipment [Manufacturing Proficiency]
Hive Population: ~6000
Demesne Population: ~20,000
Main Resources: Lumber, Food, Copper
Wealth: 4
Estimated Population Breakdown:
Elite/Administration/Misc Castes:1000
Craftsmen Caste: 3000
Labourer Caste: 13,000
Military Caste: 9000 (2000 permanently posted on the surface under Lord Karthos)
Total Population: 26,000
Unfertilised Breeders: 25 (2 Craftsmen, 14 Labourer, 5 Military and 4 Misc.)
Breeders may forced into adulthood through Queenly secretions. Note that this would be a breach against social taboos.
Exploratory Tunnels: Reports nothing new.
Osh'i Trade Tunnel: Estimated date of completion= Month 10, Year 5.
Monk Reports: The White Flea constellation is strong this month; the monks warn a minor outbreak of disease is likely. Tul simply says its nothing to worry about.
Surface Administration: Karthos reports that everything is going swimmingly, already having disposing of a few bandits.
Naztok's Reports:
-Vy's guerilla forces have somewhat receded from Ozk's trade routes. Surely this is a ploy of some kind.
-Daimo Osh'i has won a major battle against an enemy; witnesses recount a big explosion determining the course of the battle.
-Vy has taken an amber grove
-Ozk has sent an expeditionary force into Vy's lands.
Author
Topic: Queen and Colony (Read 4885 times)