You spend a good amount of time ruminating on the situation in the Senate, compiling a list of friends and enemies.
To your understanding, most of the votes against your appointments came from ex-soldiers and senators who lost loved ones in the recent war, and as hard as it is to swallow, you can see how such people might find it disrespectful that humans are being denied the spoils of a war won primarily by humans.
It likely wouldn't be too hard to get back in such senators' good graces with a combination of heartfelt apology notes and bribes.That said, there are a few people in the Senate regularly opposed to your agenda who helped guide and direct the injured parties against you and your nominees. Escam Iumenta is the generally obnoxious twat who has proven to be the most steadfast opponent to elf rights over the years. Few people like Escam, but many seek political alliance with him as his brother Somnium Iumenta, a far more reasonable and likeable person, is the most powerful judge in the Empire save for Caesar himself.
The venerable Crucesignatis Pura, your other main political obstacle, is more of an inherited problem. As the long time leader of the powerful Senate Anti-Corruption committee, he has serious beef with your friend, mentor, and business partner Lacert Agilis, who was senator Pura's chief rival and target of corruption probes during his own time in the senate. Crucesignatis has been a thorn in the side of the Sons of Caesar trading company, but can usually be convinced to see reason on matters of Elf Rights and other unrelated issues that benefit you. He has, however, a fierce temper, and is known to abandon all rational though and seek to harm his rivals, including you, by any means necessary if angered on the Senate Floor.
Luckily for you, your connection to Lacert gives you friends in the senate as well as enemies. His son Ganymede Agilis, and old friend Adstrue Gibberum, are both stitting senators who can more or less be counted on to vote in your best interests. Sadly neither is a particularly powerful ally. Although very influential in his day, Adstrue is an old man enjoying a comfortable semi-retirement, and would often rather lounge in his country home than attend sessions of the senate. Ganymede, on the other hand, was disgraced and lost most of his political allies when he was caught with his boyfriend, Captain Sagitt of the Son's of Caesar Trading Company.
Aside from your brother-in-law, there are two other elf allies in the Senate. Amor Verus, the head of the Senate Rules Committee, is perhaps your most powerful ally. His ties to the movement come from the fact that he is married to daughter of a wealthy Coal Elf King from the Wild Mountain Province, and has a number of half breed children. Amor Verus cannot, however, be counted on to always support your business interests, as his elven father-in-law competes with the Sons of Caesar Trading Company over the import of marble and silver ore.
The exotic Mantis Elf Caidia is the only elf in the senate aside from your brother-in-law, and also the only female presently serving to boot. The two of you studied under Brutus Cainus together as teenagers, and for awhile were fast friends as a result. Although she has little official prestige and influence within the senate, Caidia has means of winning the support of various male senators behind closed doors, means you are well aware of; The two of you were lovers for several years, but the relationship ended in an awkward manner, and the two of you have been trying to avoid each other for the better part of a decade now. She can still, however, be counted to both vote and rally the votes of others in your interests.
---
The first order of busniess for your pre-wedding meetings is intrigue in general and the fuckwad Detesabilis in particular. You quickly rule out Tsunamia, at least as a first choice for dealing with Detesabilis,
as she is likely to be the only practitioner of Blue Witchcraft in the Loam Coast, and as such her methods would be most likely to incriminate you.You speak first to Pyriusia, who is no more a fan of the interim judge in question than you are.
Rather shockingly, she advocates straight up murder. "There is a substance I can make, called Traitor's Gold. It is a poison strong enough to kill most people with a single drop or two, but because it is based on heavy metals, a Clay Elf could drink a whole glass of it and suffer little more than a bad fever and some nasty hallucinations for a spell."The crone grins,
"If you were to put this in the wine while dining with a less important non-clay elf enemy, that person and any other bystander at the table would die. You could then have the wine tested, discover the poison, and claim it an incompetent attempt on your own life."Your brother Xamut V advocates an even less subtle method, proposing that he knows many a soldier and sailor who would be willing to murder an elf-hating judge and face the maytardom of imperial justice. Deciding that perhaps the younger Xamut lacks the sense of nuance to advise you in such matters, you ask him who your father used as a spy-master.
To your mild dismay, you learn that to Xamut IV, the position of spymaster was something to be passed around as a political reward, and as such the person holding that office was rarely competent.
"The person whom father truly depended on for matters of intrigue was Holy Guardian Nulhix, ancestral ruler of the great city of Stimilif. Nulhix was also his lover, and bore us several litters of half siblings, many of whom are trained in the art of spy-craft. If they are alive, and you feel they can be trusted, I'd give the position to her or one of her children." Your twin scratches his head, showing promising range of motion in his injured arm.
"I actually think one of her daughters works for your trade company. Can't recall her name, or if she is trained or not in her mother's art, but I know she is crazy enough to sail make the Port Pluto run in an unarmed ship..."Xamut speaks, of course, of Captain Itializa, who you know well enough to understand would not appreciate being tied to one spot and made to hold a position in your court. If her mother Nulhix lives, she will see her power stripped and given to the Acid Elf Boil, which you doubt will endear her or her other children to you.
You are not sure, then, if offering the position of Spymaster would be enough to earn Nulhix's favor to the point where you could trust her.Further conversation with your brother reveals that your rejected high judge candidate
Ambiinop was once spymaster to your grandfather, but that was many years before either of you were born, so he can not vouch for the older elf's ability beyond that. On the matter of venerable Clay Elves,
Xamut also mentions that he personally takes advice from Rixixifux, the infamous elf-supremacist philosopher who had offered to be your personal captain, on matters of intrigue.---
Having had enough of spytalk for a time, you move from one troubling topic to the next and decide to get to the bottom of the situation in the Eastern Provinces by meeting with Caesar Menas and Prince Terriz Algers in turn.
You open your conversation with the emperor by asking him to preside over your wedding.
Caesar considers your request for a few minutes before declining, noting that he broke down in tears at the wedding of Caesar Prudens, his only other married child.
After a bit of back and forth debate with himself, Caesar decides to give temporary command of his fleet to Prudens, his heir and your childhood friend, so that he may preside over the union.You transition the conversation to the siege of Bronzespear, and note
Caesar is more worried about Governor Vehementi Phantasia, the Prince's ally against Bronzespear, than he is about your high elf business partner. Apparently the young prince took the liberty of meeting Caesar himself just a few hours ago, and left a good impression with the Emperor.
Caesar suspects Governor Phantasia is in cahoots with forces in the capital that may be conspiring against him, and has warned Prince Terriz Algers as such. According to Caesar, the high elf promised to look into it, claiming he didn't want to do anything that might anger the empire, which is his chief trading partner.
---
Wrapping up your audience with the Emperor, you call on Prince Terriz Algers on his luxurious personal ship the
High Concept, which is docked near your manor. When last you met the Prince, he was but a young boy playing with his father's money, and although he is clearly still an adolescent by age, he now presents himself with the confidence of a leader who has disposed of his own family, forged alliances, and lead forces in a so-far successful war.
Over a glass of exotic eastern wine,
you explain the situation with Legatorum Eunuchus, and his orders to raze Bronzespear. Terriz hears you out, his smug high elf smile never breaking, and
promises to destroy the city and massacure its populous if that is still the wish of Legatorum at the time of his victory.You raise an eyebrow.
"I never mentioned a massacre.""Indeed," the young prince answers with knowing smirk,
"you are as humane as you are dishonest, my friend."The fact that Terriz already knows of Legatorum's order has a sinister implication to it.
The Prince would need spies within the Capital to come into possession of that information. Perhaps Caesar is wrong in assuming the young high elf is not a threat to him.
Pressing Prince Terriz Algers for information proves difficult. He informs you it is better that you don't know the full extent of his dealings, so that you may be held blameless should he face scrutiny.
He does, however, drop the hint that should he succeed in all he is planning, you will be no further from the emperor's affection than you are now, implying that he might be involved in a conspiracy on behalf of one of Caesar's sons.Eventually you grow tired of probing your business partner, and bid the Prince farewell.
---
Dawn on your wedding day finds you boarding the
Will of Caesar, the imperial flagship, alongside Caesar Menas and most of his court and family. Your departure is briefly delayed as you await the arrival of a handful guests from your biological family, but eventually they arrive, lead by your twin Xamut V, your sister Pulchra, her husband Senator Cainus, and their three adolescent sons. Accompanying them are six young Clay Elves, who you learn are your younger sibblings, and a scrawny middle-aged female carried by servants and wrapped tightly in silk blankets, who is introduced to you as
Pharaoh Consort Karselil... your biological mother. Meeting your mom had been one of the things you were dreading most about returning home. She was once a great Claychantress, so highly regarded that it wasn't even a scandal when she wed your father despite not being a close relative. At her height, she was said to far surpass her own mother Stellixeth, a legendary Claychantress in her own right and official arms maker to the royal bloodline. T
en years ago, however, a sorcerer tried to take her life with a hex, and although she survived, she is said to have been in ill-health since.
While you were up north with his fleet, Xamut V told you the depressing specifics of her condition. The Hex had rendered your mother sickly, blind, mute, and left her with the shaky hands of an old lady. Unable to talk or write,
your mother has been a shut-in in her room, communicating only by signaling 'yes' or 'no' with head-shakes and scrawling massive-yet-still-barely legible text in a large sandbox that had been installed for her.You give your mother an awkward hug, and she silently kisses your forehead with trembling lips. Looking up from her embrace,
you can tell Karselil's condition has moved Caesar and most of his family to pity, and that they are just as surprised as you by her attendance. To the best of your knowledge, this is your mother's first public appearance since being stricken, and her first time away from the Loam Coast ever.
With everybody aboard, you sail for beautiful Mossy Cove, a peaceful bay three hours out of Portum where sea wedding are regularly held. You find the cove packed full of almost a thousand ships, decorated in streamers, awaiting your union to Tsunamia.
Traditionally, sea weddings of the non-eloping variety take place on a plank stretched between the ship's of the bride and groom's respective parents, but Tideus' vessel, the
Arctic Typhoon, is to tall to link with the
Will of Caesar in such fashion, so the bride and her father arrive on Tsunamia's own ship,
Breaking Lust.
The plank connecting the vessels is placed and come high noon Caesar Prudens, wearing a flawless naval officer's uniform, steps onto it and walks to the center. You and Tsunamia each approach the plank and look across into each other's eyes. Prudens then recites a simple wedding oath in perfect Clay Elfish, North Speak, and finally Imperial Common, before instructing bride and groom to repeat it in the latter language.
With the vows spoken, Prudens pronounces the incoming Pharoh and the Blue Witch husband and wife, before inviting you both to meet at the center of the plank and kiss.
You allow yourself to gaze dreamily into the unnatural glowing eyes of your new wife for several seconds, realizing for perhaps the first time that your union is as much about love as it is lust or political convenience, before she pulls you in and plants her lips on yours. The kiss lingers for nearly a minute, and when Tsunamia finally pulls away she leans in close to whisper in your ear...
"It is you and me now, Governor. The world had better watch out!"Karses II, Friend of Caesar, Heir to the Loam Coast, and Descendant of the Divine Clay Elf Bloodline:Updated to Include Tsunamia's HoldingsCondition: Fine
Holdings:
Cash Reserves (Approximately 4.7% of Imperial Coin in Circulation)
Tsunamia's Treasure Hoard (Approximately .3% of Imperial Circulation, among other valuables)
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
Tsunamia's Mansion in the Everstorm County of Yawning Chasm (Not Maintained)
4 Docks in the City of Portum
Luxurious Apartment with the Imperial Palace
Luxurious Cottage on the Grounds of Tusk Falls Castle
Country Home along the Imperial Highway
Tsunamia's hideout in the Shrieking Mangroves (Well concealed. Houses a witches workshop and Tsunamia's treasure hoard)
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)
x63 Assorted Mercenary Warships (Fleet commanded by Tsunamia)
'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)
'Breaking Lust' (Tsunamia's Flagship made of lumber grown on unhallowed soil. Armed with a single ballista and a crew of freaks and hardened mercenaries. The driving wheel of this ship is engraved with runes to increase its speed and empower the magic of its Captain)
Traits:
Businesself
Networker
Negotiator
Public Speaker
Wealthy
Well Traveled
Greedy
Ambitious
Empathetic
Self Controlled
Living Legend (Civil Rights Icon, God Incarnate)
Caesar's court mage sends up a fireball to signal the bride has been kissed, and the low rumble of a truly massive cheer sweeps across the mossy cove. Objects and magical light effects fly from the ships sourounding you; A few reckless Captains even order Ballista fired in the chaotic din!
A good number of the ships present begin to leave the bay. You know all those that remain are throwing their own receptions and afterparties, which you and Tsunamia will be expected to spend the next eight to twelve hours attending. You are of course expected to attend Tideus' reception aboard the
Arctic Typhoon, and Tsunamia insists on rubbing elbows with her new business partners by visiting the festivities hosted by the Sons of Caesar Trading Company aboard Prince Terriz Algers' ship the
High Concept. Since Caesar and his family have not planned a party of their own, you expect them to either remain with Tideus or tag along with the bride and groom.
Aside from the two events you have to attend, there are other receptions you would like to visit, and you suspect you have time for one or two of them.Some of the Captains and lesser investors of the Sons of Caesar are throwing their own separate party, and Captain Itializa, whom you have not met since learning she was your sister, will be in attendance. You have heard rumors that she has invited Kin from the Loam Coast to the event.
Speaking of family, Xamut V has arranged a gathering of kin and his most trusted officers aboard the
Homeland Soil. For all you know, the Clay Elf population could be against you, so hobnobbing with the ones your brother thinks to be trustworthy might not be a bad idea.
Labrum Radit is partying on the ship which you gave him to go and recruit Acid Elf experts, and Jericho, who is strongly considering selling or loaning his fleet to your wife and tagging along on that adventure, is in attendance. Since you last met, Jericho has been working with Prince Terriz Algers' fleet, and as somebody who understands the lay of the land in the Eastern Provinces, may have some insight as to what the high elf is up to.
Princess Sliepers is also throwing a reception, which you understand War Queen Whipscale is attending. You will likely have a chance to meet her while on your honeymoon, but perhaps the matter of her massive clan potentially smashing its way into the Loam Coast deserves more immediate attention.
Sharkfin, an imperial warship, is hosting a party for important Loam Coast Provincial Officials. All your accepted appointees will be there, as well as the bastard bigot interim judge and the rejected Ambiinop, whom you have been considering offering some sort of adviser position.
You gave Captain Tiber permission to host some of your staff from your mansion and fleet aboard the
Wayward Clay. Tiber is transferring to the
Breaking Orca, one of your merchentmen, to make way for an acceptable Clay Elf captain to transport the Pharaoh. The transfer is effective tomorrow at 1800 hours, so if you wish to offer him or his wife a position that keeps them closer at hand, this may be your last chance to do so for awhile.
---
After you and the wife enjoy the receptions and your wedding night, the plan is to spend a few days at your mansion sorting your wedding gifts and attending feasts in your honor, before heading to the Loam Coast as governor, pharaoh, and queen.
Although you cannot be sure of anybodies schedule past the receptions,
if you have any other business in the Imperial Heartland, now would be the time to take care of it.---
Note:I intend to make a regional map of the Loam Coast before posting the next turn, which may be quite long in and of itself.
If I don't have time to do all that tomorrow, I'll give you a quick info/lore dump on a topic of the b12 hivemind's choosing.
Author
Topic: (SG) Vassal: Rise of a Pharaoh (Read 23600 times)