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Mind-bogglingly popular game series that you follow from early on and cannot stop, waiting for new installment like a drooling addict.

Long-runner soap opera you're too invested into to just stop watching it.

A fun little comic strip in the daily newspaper that's been around forever.

3/6

Who said it's fun? I didn't for sure.

I'm just waiting here for it to die horribly already so it will stop showing on my Unread Posts list.

[Lord_lemonpie]

B

[TankKit]

Personally I would suggest we don't attack the elves until we are far more powerful or they have lost enough power during the decline of magic to be relatively easy to take down.

[Basil ii]

Personally I would suggest we don't attack the elves until we are far more powerful or they have lost enough power during the decline of magic to be relatively easy to take down.

if we were to ally with the dwarves we could have enough magical mojo to rival that of the elves and then it just becomes a question of manpower and logistics. And due to the decline of the magical races I really don’t think that the elves have the manpower to fight in a prolonged war.

[mightymushroom]

Let me just lay out a case for not trying to war against the elves.

Haspen has several times credited the elves with being more magical than the dwarves, not equal. And I don't know how to measure the "decline" of magic (a phenomenon attributed to human influence on the land); inasmuch as runemasters still make artifacts and they still give bonuses I don't think it has hurt the dwarves in any obvious way, so I am not counting on it as a factor against the elves. As for 'man'power, the Tisilenteliya Elves live in a vast forest that stretches beyond our map (the most recent I've seen) similar to some of the great empires of men to our south: adding such terrain to their stealth and nature magics I doubt they need to meet us on anything like a 1:1 basis to prevail on their home ground. (I also suspect they are less interested in pitched battles as in guerilla strikes and assassination of opposing leaders and their families.)

It seems we will vote to listen to the dwarves. Fine, let us see what they want, and what they offer. But the elves have their own system of honor, and so far as we know any offenses against them have already been answered and repaid. We can claim neutrality here, or limit ourselves to being mutual business partners for the right deal. We do not need to commit support in arms to a crusade that has been inconclusive for the length of known history.

[Basil ii]

To be honest I kinda want to just sit back and watch as they tear each other apart but the dwarves have incredible leverage over us due to their ability to destroy our artifacts* so we may not have that much of a choice in the matter.


*more specifically our scepter of weather

[mightymushroom]

I'd say that would definitely lead us to side against the dwarves if they try it. Destroy our scepter of weather? They already know what happens next.

(The greater leverage, rather, is with the items the monarch tends to personally wear on a regular basis, but even he can be replaced. The threat of humans is the fact that there is always more of us.)

My larger point, though, is that I do not credit the dwarf propaganda speculation that the elves are coming to get us. Therefore we shouldn't antagonize them pointlessly when we have nearer and weaker human kingdoms to target.

[Haspen]

You agree to meet with the dwarven leaders.

1211 AD, Midwinter

The delegates of dwarven leaders from Zonalath and Ankurvat have arrived.

The gaudily clad dwarves with shiny bald heads enter the audience room and curtly bow before you before approaching the throne.

"Greetings, Emperor Houlandin. We're here on the orders of the High King Varsaalath Katinarag, to establish a military alliance between Methiant and the dwarven halls. Our brothers at Mistemom are fighting uneven war against the elven menace, enslavers of the good peoples and hypocrites of the soil! If you agree to provide our armies with the mighty forces of your Empire, the commissioners of Ankurvat and Zasitost will send quarter of trade taxes to Methiantese treasury for the duration of the hostilities."

"How long shall this war last? What are your goals?" The Advisor asks and then dwarves clap their hands.

"Till the elves surrender, and till we see more of the accursed Forest burn, leaving soil fertilized with ashes and blood, and expose wealthy underrock to us. And you, if your subjects dare approach the elven lands to settle!"

A) "Now that I've heard you, its obvious there's nothing for me to gain here. I decline."
B) "Maybe if you add something extra to your offer, I will agree..."
C) "Splendid, splendid! Army of Methiant will lend a hand in your conquests!"

[mightymushroom]

Our brothers at Mistemom are fighting uneven war against the elven menace, enslavers of the good peoples and hypocrites of the soil!

That the elves may be hypocrites I am willing to believe. But the Methiantese have our own experience being taken and enslaved by dwarves, so that undercuts any moral ground you want to claim.

A

For all the reasons I've said, most importantly that Tisilenteliya is not direct on our border, we'd be going through Eldrican or Mistemon to 'settle' (last I saw, where's my map) so the rationale doesn't make sense to me. I thought maybe the dwarves would be offering some sort of trade deal for resources we happen to have or something like that, but I can't support this.

[TankKit]

A
I don't agree with mightymushroom that elves are better allies, but I do agree that it is extremely idiotic to attack them. Have any of you heard about how the Wood elves in Total War: Warhammer fight? I imagine it's something like that, only on a much, much bigger scale. If you don't know what I mean, just google it.

[Basil ii]

A this deal sucks

[Weirdsound]

C. Throw in fireblood fixings, and you have a deal.

Methiant has no strong allies at this point, and the money is tempting. Let us take the deal. We are in the age of fireblood. If the elves do not have fireblood, they will be at a huge disadvantage against us.

For all the reasons I've said, most importantly that Tisilenteliya is not direct on our border, we'd be going through Eldrican or Mistemon to 'settle' (last I saw, where's my map) so the rationale doesn't make sense to me. I thought maybe the dwarves would be offering some sort of trade deal for resources we happen to have or something like that, but I can't support this.

There is empty wasteland that nobody owns between Cydwyl and Tisilenteliya. I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to build a road through that if we took elf lands.

[Hotfire90]

A Our economy is doing quite well and our army has seen better days, fighting and angering the elves won't end well.

[Maximum Spin]

A

Sorry, we're too Switzerland.

Also, mightymushroom, I think the implication is that the dwarves consider themselves "the good peoples" and not us.

[helmacon]

A

This sounds like a poor deal. They wouldn't be seeking help if they were not already losing. All we really get is a bit of coin and the vague possibility of some more land of unknown value.

Besides, elves tend to assassinate, and we don't exactly have a surplus of direct heirs at the moment.

[Haspen]

You politely decline. The dwarves hurriedly whisper amongst each other, obviously discussing your rejection.

Whatever they spoke about, you will not hear - the dwarves nod their heads in acknowledgement and wordlessly leave.

1211 AD, End of the Year

You eagerly await this moment. For the first time in your life, you will be allowed to see Scrolls of Kingdom Status and make decisions based on the numbers inscribed in those ancient scrolls.

Here comes the Advisor; and in his hands, there are the Scrolls! You can see the numbers clearly on the bottom. Let's see...

6, 1to5(1to5)

Happiness: 9
Population: 8
Economy: 7
Army: 10!
Imp.Authority: +2

"My liege! People of Methiant praise your name, and some wealthy individuals as well as merchants, craftsmen and administrators are offering part of the surplus money for the Imperial Treasury!"

A) "Woo, I love gifts! I accept their money!"
B) -
C) "The gold is theirs, they can keep it."

"Our Army has seen a large surplus of new recruits this year. The ranks have swelled with eager and well-equipped soldiers. Some of the higher-ranking officers believe that we should wage war against one of our puny neighbours, to gain territory, loot and fame!"

A) "But I like my neighbours..."
B) "We shall strike against Mahjar Sim. Parsia belongs to Methiant, its time he learns of that!"
C) "Time to show the dwarves the true meaning of 'military power' of Methiant!"
D) "Duchy of Koi was always part of the region, we will wrestle it from Eldrican claws!"
E) "We need access to the sea, and to achieve that, we shall plow right through Helliste!"
F) "The time has come - we launch a crusade vile Damedians of Damdamian lands!"
G) "It's time to grab Lametania for ourselves and put some distance between the southerners and our capital!"

"Meanwhile, the office of Emperor enjoys great popularity. This begs for an Edict to be issued - will you do just that, my liege?"

A) "About time!"
B) "Nah, not today."

"Also, the Cartographers have finished updating the old maps of the Empire, sire. Here, have a look."

Spoiler: Imperial Map of Methiant, 1211 AD (click to show/hide)