Karses II, Friend of Caesar, Heir to the Loam Coast, and Descendant of the Divine Clay Elf Bloodline:Condition: Fine
Holdings:
Cash Reserves (Aproximately 4.7% of Imperial Coin in Circulation)
29% of Total Shares in 'Sons of Caesar Trading Company'
45% of Voting Shares in 'Sons of Caesar Trading Company'
Mansion in the Heartland City of Portum
4 Docks in the City of Portum
Luxurious Apartment with the Imperial Palace
Country Home along the Imperial Highway
x19 Shops and Workshops (Scattered Across the Imperial Heartland)
x17 Vineyards and Plantations (Scattered Across the Known World)
x14 Mines (Mainly Precious Metals and Gems, Scattered Across the Known World)
x30 Imperial Merchantmen (Divided into two fleets)
'Wayward Clay' (Personal Flagship made from Enchanted Ceramic. Armed with two ballista and a crew of trained soldiers. Coming of age present from your father)
Traits:
Businesself
Networker
Negotiator
Public Speaker
Wealthy
Well Traveled
Greedy
Ambitious
Empathetic
Self Controlled
Living Legend (Civil Rights Icon, God Incarnate)
You spend several hours talking with Caesar, getting his view of things.
He considers the state of the empire to be pretty damn good. Between the fall of the Loam Coast and your impending marriage to the daughter of Tideus, the central and northern seas are now safe for imperial ships.
He is a bit worried about politicking at home in the capital, and fears tensions in the Eastern Provinces might get out of hand again someday soon, but is confident he can deal with both of those issues when and if they arise.
Caesar seems a bit uncomfortable giving you diplomatic advice on your neighbors, as you are likely better connected to most of them than he is. He does note that the nearby High Elf Citystate of Silvershoes and the Lion Elf Tribes of the Warsand Coast both participated heavily in the war against your father, and should have a good number of veteran soldiers that you can call upon if needed.
The Emperor personally endorses High Chief Redmane as a great leader of ground troops, and Prince Tiiecieus of Silvershoes as a worthy admiral; Both are indebted to the empire, and have fought alongside Caesar personally. You know Tiiecieus already, mostly through his mother Maideflia who is a great financial supporter of the elf rights movement within the empire. The Prince himself is supposedly a promising admiral, albeit one with an ego befitting a high elf. While you were with Xamut V's fleet, your twin had described him as somebody who could have been a worthy adversary if Tiiecieus' fleet had been able to match those of the Loam Coast in numbers and ship quality.
Redmane is the de-facto leader of the Lion Elves, the only remaining warrior race of the Southern Continent to not have been exterminated or assimilated by the Acid Elf Hoards.
He is known as a mighty warrior and beast master, and a staunchly loyal friend to those who have earned his trust. Sadly, Redmane's relationship with you can be described as cordial at best; Although it would reflect poorly on a leader to outwardly speak ill of an elfish hero such as yourself, beloved even by his own subjects, you know he despises your species in general and your family in particular.
Your marriage to Tsunamia is also unlikely to help matters here; Her chief underling and part time bodyguard, Morg the Manslayer, is the only person to have ever bested the Lion Chief in single combat, and you have heard that this is a very sore subject for him.
Next you get around to asking Caesar what he might expect from you as governor. The emperor gives you a straight answer; Assuming peace can be made with Tideus over the wedding, he wishes to use the Loam Coast as a staging area to launch a campaign against the pirate and rebel controlled ports on the east coast of the southern continent, which represents the last true obstacle to imperial naval dominance.
Although Caesar would be fine with the mere compliance of your people towards imperial troops using their land as a base, any actual ships and sailors the Clay Elves might provide towards the campaign would be much appreciated. Caesar is also aware that you are uniquely tied to the Acid Elves, and although he is well aware that it would be difficult to achieve,
he thinks it would be a game changer if you could broker a deal that would allow Imperial Legions to march across the Southern Continent unhindered and attack the hostile ports by land.Caesar suspects it will be another half decade or so before he is ready to launch this Southern campaign, but admits Tideus, who must regularly wage war to keep his homeland habitable, might wish to sail south and start the fighting early, an action which Caesar would not oppose.With questions out of the way, you turn to requests.
First you ask for supplies and resources to help rebuild, and the emperor promptly laughs you off. Caesar tells you that one of the reasons he made you governor is that your understanding of shipping and logistics vastly surpasses his own, and he suspects the rebuilding operation will run quicker and smoother if you manage the whole affair yourself.
"That said," the emperor admits,
"I've taken the liberty of ordering the walls and fortifications of your major cities rebuilt at Imperial expense. If Acid Elves do attack, you will need those to survive until reinforcements can be sent for... A Wyrven Clan would whipe the floor with what few soldiers you presently have available, but luckily the savages do not excel at Siege Warfare."He then smiles, and adds that if the reconstruction poses any challenges that prove too much for your wealth, network, and business skills, that the empire will consider stepping in on your behalf.
Next you bring up the matter of Jericho, requesting that his exile be ended. This causes Caesar to frown.
"I know the man has his talents... You must think him quite a friend if you keep pestering me on his behalf, no? Well my father considered his grandfather a loyal ally, and was repaid with treachery. I trusted his father against his uncle, and nearly lost my life when the wretch lead my own left flank against me in battle. That whole blasted bloodline will put a knife in the back of an ally merely for the adrenaline rush... You can't trust them."You pause to reflect on Caesar's words. Jericho's actions against Vulfhorn, although in your favor, seem consistent with the picture that Caesar is trying to paint you. Generally a mercenary who betrays his employer like that is not a trustworthy individual.
The emperor sighs, and downs half a glass of wine in a single gulp.
"I... I suppose it is not entirely fair of me to judge a man by the actions of his ancestors. If you want Jericho back, have him. I know he is well traveled in Acid Elf Country... and I may have use for him in the Eastern Provinces myself if unrest explodes there again."You don't respond right away. Perhaps Caesar is right, and Jericho is not to be trusted. If so, you would have to find a way to get rid of him, as he is currently embedded with Tusnamia's fleet in the Eastern Provinces.
---
As you ride back to Portum from the Capital, you consider spreading word of your ascension to the Acid Elves. You are sure the rumor will spread to the savages on its own, especially considering you just sent wedding invitations to many of the leaders who pay them tribute, but rumors spread slowly south of civilization (you suspect the two mobilized Wyrven Clans are finally responding to reports of the war between the Empire and the Loam Coast from two years ago), and Acid Elves don't put much stock in hearsay.
The best bet to get word out would be to take a brief trip to the Southern Continent, either to the Loam Coast or a friendly neighbor, try to get a good idea of where these would-be invaders are set up, and deploy brave messengers directly to their camps. You could also, of course,
write to your family back home or one of the neighbors recommended to you by Caesar, and ask that they take charge of sending the message on your behalf.Your thoughts then drift to the positions Caesar said you were responsible for filling: Three to four judges and a commander of the Provincial Navy. You are not terribly worried about hireing an unqualified Naval Commander, as you could just order that person to follow the lead of Xamut, Tsunamia, or another Clay Elf Admiral in battle.
As things stand, the only obvious and likely willing candidate that springs to mind is the former senator Lacert Agilis. Lacert is an older gentleman, and one of the many responsible for teaching you the ins and outs of the business world. His corrupt dealings played a major role in the early growth of the Sons of Caesar Trading Company, to the point where he could no longer hide his conflict of interest from his senate colleagues, and decided to resign to take a corporate role. Lacert takes great delight in using the law to aid a business or harm its rivals, and would surely be more happy in a governmental position, and as an old mentor and friend, you are quite sure he is trustworthy.
Assuming you offer Lacert the position, and he accepts, that leaves you looking for two to three judges and a naval officer, and
since the appointees must be Imperial citizens, that means heading home and recruiting family is off the table. Luckily, you have a few other ideas.
You could, for starters, set up shop in the Imperial Capital for a few days, and publicly announce you are seeking applicants for the positions. Recruiting at the Capital might not be the best way to find naval officers, and you would likely have to weed out a few people who want nothing more than to crush the Clay Elves under the boot of Imperial authority, but you would at least have an easy time finding people who are well versed in legal matters and well connected to the Imperial Government.
Another idea would be to do the same in your current home town of Portum. Recruiting in Portum would yield a good number distinguished naval officers, many of whom respect your race as worthy opponents. Judges recruited from the ranks of the navy might not be the most qualified, but establishing a reputation as a friend to Imperial sailors and sorounding yourself with people who have connections to the fleet may give you pull over parts of the imperial armada that wouldn't otherwise answer to you.
Recruiting in Portum might yield a good number of merchant sailors looking for appointments as well,
but the best way to get officials with the skills and mutual interests to support your business endeavors would be to call a shareholders meeting and divvy up the appointments among those invested in the Sons of Caesar Trading Company. Although finding a skilled military leader this way would be by no means guaranteed, (Sons of Caesar prefers to hire mercenaries like Tsunamia rather than take responsibility for the actions of their own warships), you wouldn't have to worry in the slightest about judges hired this way undermining your business endeavors.
Lastly, you could call a meeting of your fellow prominent elf right's advocates, and find your appointees from among their ranks. Thanks in large part to your efforts there is a growing number of elves, including a fair number of Clay Elves, who have managed to obtain Imperial Citizenship. Some of these long-eared citizens have managed to learn much about the law in the course of their efforts to have it changed. There is a real chance your people may be a bit happier if they were not subject to the will of a human on a regular basis.
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Topic: (SG) Vassal: Rise of a Pharaoh (Read 23602 times)