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[Dopl]

Whoops, we have goblin civilians after all. Poor neglected goblin civilians. Who I assume only want to kill.

Meet with her in private with only our bodyguards. 

While we might make her an ally, I would prefer it is kept out of sight as much as possible.

I'd rather bring Ukareem. His insight was invaluable in our meeting with Branding Iron, and he's our husband so we shouldn't have to worry about him knowing about anything.

We should bring both, like last time. I would like to bring more guards than last time, as while I would like to make an ally of her (I like allies), we should perhaps pressure her into telling us who in our court is her spy. At the very least we will find out how good of a liar she is.

On another hand, perhaps we should begin only telling our husbands and those involved what we are doing. All others could be fed a false story from now on, with orders to those who know of our true location and plans devulging it only if necessary, and only to those needed.

[Mithras]

I think feeding everyone in our court a false story of what we are doing is going to do very little except make it obvious to everyone that we're lying to them after the first couple of times. It may not even prevent us from being spied on as she could easily be using magic or have some other way of eavesdropping on our plans. Counter intelligence efforts are necessary but will probably have to wait until we've had a conversation with this woman.

On the subject of food, whilst we do have enough food production to get our entire population to work with us (so long as we do not need to pay any military to do anything) so perhaps a quarry is the higher priority. It has made me think though, do we have any options for expanding our population (other than dark fortresses) and are there any other ways we can improve infrastructure in silent hammers itself?

[crazyabe]

Meet with her in private with only our bodyguards. 

While we might make her an ally, I would prefer it is kept out of sight as much as possible.

+1.

[Dopl]

On the subject of food, whilst we do have enough food production to get our entire population to work with us (so long as we do not need to pay any military to do anything) so perhaps a quarry is the higher priority. It has made me think though, do we have any options for expanding our population (other than dark fortresses) and are there any other ways we can improve infrastructure in silent hammers itself?

Agreed, quarry is probably very important...infrastructure is needed, and that is gained from getting industry. We've begin doing this with the gemcrafter, and the quarry will be an even bigger step in the right direction. I fully expect the populace to grow faster as we get infrastructure though, right now it's kinda shit, but once we get industry running, I'd assume commerce to come, and once that's established the populace will begin to grow as more wish to move in. The main issue we have is likely that we are a digger city. As opposed to dwarven or druegar city. And since those races for the most part seem to hate each other, I'm actually happy people aren't coming in quite yet, cause when people start coming we are going to need to be able to deal with the racial tension quickly

[Weirdsound]

"Why, you ask, did I put that Drugar village to the sword,
Man, woman, and child? Sure, it seemed small and harmless
at the time, but the thing with diggers is that they never
stop digging. Never stop building. And they hate our kind
in a way that words could never describe. It is always best,
then, to purge digger settlements while they are still small
and harmless."

Collected Wisdom of the Beetle Queen Threadmare

Smith Lord Aurora Wordfire, Refuge Queen of Silent Hammers, Empress Consort of the Southernfrost, and Queen Consort of Bedlamb and the Marble City

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Skills and Abilities:
-Although my social skills are rusty from isolation, I am highly respected as one of the few remaining first diggers.
-I am the greatest mortal metal-smith and furnace worker, without question. My skills in this area even surpass those of some gods.
-I have also mastered many other crafting skills, unrelated to the furnace.
-So long as my history is recorded in the language of the diggers, my soul and mind cannot truly be snuffed out (Granted by the World Weld)
-I can create mighty artifacts by inscribing the items I create with the great deeds of myself or the item's intended recipient (Granted by the World Weld)
-I am aware of the general location and activities of those who wield my artifacts, and I may exert light influence over their behavior (Granted by the World Weld)
-I can detect the great deeds of others nearby (Granted by the World Weld)

Artifacts and Minions:
The World Weld - Links my soul, the digger language, and the laws of reality itself. Allows me to easily create lesser artifacts.
The Face of Fate - Makes the wearer a mighty fighter and assassin. Wielded by Mril-Minda, who has just struck down Sir Shroomplum, the famed drowish assassin, and is now waging a one woman campaign of terror and death against his family, underlings, and students.

Known Mortal Family:
(Husband - Present) All-Lord Ukareem the Silver, Emperor of the Southernfrost
(Husband - Absent) Scholar-King Emscythe, Monarch of the Marble City and Secretary General of the Greatwalls Alliance
(Husband - Absent)  Bloodlord Haigen the Usurper, King of Bedlamb
(Mother-in-Law - Present) Trumil, the Slime Mold Hag

(Infant Son) Prince Dremscythe, Heir to Silent Hammers and the Marble City

Refuge City of Silent Hammers

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Holdings:
Silent Hammers: A small city that provides 1 Wealth and 1 Food per month. Houses and defends up to 50 FU to military might. (23/50)
Dung Slopes Fungal Farm: A particularly farm where up to 6 LU can work per month. Typically yields 1 Food per LU of labor.
Axeltax at Tunnel's Mouth: A watchtower that Houses and defends up to 6 FU of military might. Yields 2 Wealth/month in collected taxes while at least 3 FU are stationed here. (3/6, Human Phalanx)

Available Military Population:
15-5 Force Units of Human Phalanx (x1.2 Bonus to open field battle. Avaible for 108 more months, or until the Kingdom of Narm enters a state of civil war)
5 Force Units of Dwarf/Drugar Militia (x1.3 Bonus to defending cities or fighting underground)
5 Force Units of Goblin Warslaves (x.75 Penalty to fighting in bright sunlight, does not need food to act)
3-3 Force Units of Charcoal Tribe Elf Rangers (x2 Bonus to fighting in the woods)
2 Force Units of Drugar Siege Operators (x4 Bonus to attacking cities, x1.5 Bonus to fighting megabeasts, x.25 Penalty in all other combat situations)
1 Force Unit of Weremule Warmonks (x3 Bonus to guarding VIPs, x.1 Penalty against Nickle Silver weapons, does not need food to act)

Civilian Population:
12 Labor Units of Assorted and Mixed Breed Diggers (2 LU to 5 FU Conversion Rate before material mod)
8 Labor Units of Halfling Commoners (2 LU to 4 FU Conversion Rate before material mod)
5 Labor Units of Goblin Slaves (2 LU to 4 FU Conversion Rate before material mod, does not need food to act)
4 Labor Units of Highborn Dwarves (1 LU to 4 FU Conversion Rate before material mod)
4 Labor Units of Highborn Drugar (1 LU to 4 FU Conversion Rate before material mod)
2 Labor Units of Human Commoners (2 LU to 7 FU Conversion Rate before material mod)
1 Labor Unit of Hobgoblin Drivers (2 LU to 7 FU Conversion Rate before material mod, does not need food to act)

Basic Resources:
x15 Food (+1 Per Month) - Your people can and do feed themselves, but food from the royal grainy must be provided for people to put aside their own livelyhood and peruse your interests. Spending 1 food allows you to issue an order commanding up to 5 FU or LU. Converting LU to FU will also usually cost additional food. You can deploy trade convoys to try and convert other resources into food.

x25 Wealth (+1 Per Month) - A representation of the various coins and paper currency in your treasury. Used to buy other resources and favors, and is generally the most effective resource to use as a trade good.

Advanced Resources:
x12 Wood (The most basic construction resource. Artifacts made from wood tend to harness the power of nature)
x6 Stone (A more sturdy and less flammable construction resource. Artifacts made from stone tend to harness the power of earth)
x15 (+3 Per month for 108 months) Marble (A more valuable form of stone that can be combined with iron to make steel at a smelter. Artifacts made from Marble tend to harness the power of light)
x9 Bronze (A military resource with a .80 Material Mod. Artifacts made from bronze tend to harness the power of fire)
x4 Steel (A military resource with a 1.5 Material Mod. Artifacts made from steel tend to have protective effects)
x4 Bloodstone (A magical military resource with no material mod. Both common gear and artifacts made from Bloodstone are particularly deadly towards all the digger races)
x1 Night Mithiril (A magical military resource with a 1.7 material mod. Artifacts made from Night Mithiril tend to aid in criminal activity)
x2 Deep Sapphire (A magical Military resource with a material mod of .5. Gear and artifacts made from Sapphire are great at drawing out the sorcerous power within one's blood)
x6 Sulfur (A magical resource used in the worship of wicked gods and construction of advanced siege weapons. Artifacts of sulfur are favored by wicked gods)

Known Allies and Enemies:
Bardhill County (Ally, Trade Partner) - The fertile and clay rich human territory that completely encompasses your land. The ruler, Count Chance, deeply respects the craftsdwarfshipp and military skill of the diggers. In exchange for resources and a loan of troops, you have agreed to aid him in an anticipated civil war against his fellow counts when the king dies.
Southernfrost Empire (Ally) - The southernmost and mightiest of the northern dwarven civilizations. Southernfrost is rich in bronze and labor. The empire is ruled by your husband All-Lord Ukareem the Silver.
The Greatwalls Alliance (Ally, Trade Partner) - A loose confederacy of prosperous drugar city-states that pays tribute to your husband, Scholar-King Emscythe. Rich in copper, sulfur, and flux stone.
The Kingdom of Bedlamb (Ally) - Nation of drugar ruled by your husband Bloodlord Haigen the Usurper. Rich in iron, flux stone, and gems. Currently defending against invasion from an unknown drugar kingdom, and raids from an unknown dwarf kingdom.

The Beetle Queendoms (Enemy to All Diggers) - A drowish nation that sits between Silent Hammers and The Greatwalls Alliance. Traders can navigate around it, and they are currently too busy dealing with surface elf raiders to pose a threat.
The Pinewoods Tribes (Hostile) Small yet fierce surface elf civilizations that sepperate Silent Hammers from the Southernfrost Empire and the Kingdom of Bedlamb. They find the very ideas of commerce and industry to be deeply offensive, and slaughter trade convoys on site as a rule.

You recall that Scholar-King Emscythe promised to send you an engineer to help develop your kingdom when he left your side, and decide to send for that Drugar.

Lord Akuspade is a younger drugar, well dressed in in the robes of a scholar. He is accompanied by a train of servants pushing several small handcarts full of books, schematics, and other documents. Introducing himself, Lord Akuspade explains that he is a student of the Scholar-King, and that his work on your behalf will serve as the final evaluation of his studies; If your husband is impressed by what Akuspade does for your kingdom, his title will be upgraded to Scholar-Lord, and he will likely stand to inherit a good amount of the land that The Greatwalls Alliance captures from the Beetle Queendoms in the upcoming war.

Pulling out a map of Silent Hammers, Akuspade gets to work explaining the situation to you.

"You see, Smith Lord, When Urist the Lefthanded purchased land from Count Chance's father, and founded this city, he spared no thought for its future growth. Those who migrated here settled haphazardly, leaving no room for growth on the surface. You will have to demolish homes and busniess if you want to expand within the city walls. The hillside just outside your walls, although technically part of Bardhill County, is effectively controlled by the Halfling Crime Lords, and there is some room to build there if you wish to fight or negotiate with the criminals for the right to do so."

The engineer pauses. "I have also found two other possible options for future expansion, which I have included in this report, but reguardless of what your long term plans are, I suggest first building a Greatwalls Block Plant, which will allow you to output the heavy duty construction resources required to build from King Emscythe's personal designs."

City Status and Expansion Report:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The City of Silent Hammers, by Section -

City Center (4/4 Improvements): The hilltop regoin where the families of Dwarf Lord Urist the Left Handed and his wife Drugar Dame Urist set up their households. Known for its spectacular views and well constructed mansions.

Drugar Manors - Houses highborn or skilled drugar (4/5 Occupancy)
Dwarf Manors - Houses highborn or skilled dwarves (4/5 Occupancy)
Assorted Digger Homes and Businesses - Houses any non-highborn digger. Location of your current quarters. (4/6 Occupancy)
Fort Bloodpeace - Militia HQ. Must be taken or destroyed before a non-flying enemy force can attack the City Center (5/10 Occupancy)

North Slope (2/2 Improvements): These rolling hills were quickly settled by the lowborn followers of Lord Urist. The roads here are steep and windy, and civic pride is high.

Assorted Digger Homes and Businesses - Houses any non-highborn digger (4/6 Occupancy)
Assorted Digger Homes and Businesses - Houses any non-highborn digger (4/6 Occupancy)

Southern Flats (3/3 Improvements): Once a thriving human village, before Lord Urist purchased the land and walled it off as part of Silent Hammers. The dwindling human population tends to distrust its new digger masters, especially since the final days of Lord Urist's rule, when he drove half the remaining humans out by force to make room for the Goblin Slaves that the incoming queen would receive from her Drugar Husbands as wedding gifts.

Human Hamlet - Houses any non-highborn or giant human (2/6 Occupancy)
Dark Pits (2 Improvement Slots) - Houses goblin peons, and any non-eating and non-giant people (5/15 Peon Occupancy) (1/5 Other Occupancy)

Ring of Toil (4/4 Improvements): A complex series of walls and strongholds protecting the City Center, Northern Slopes, and Southern Flats.

Northern Stronghold - Houses Troops, and Protects the Northern Slopes from direct assault (9/20 Occupancy)
Southern Stronghold - Houses Troops, and Protects the Southern Flats from direct assault (8/20 Occupancy)
Eastern Walls - Houses Troops, Prevents foes crazy enough to climb the steep cliffs to the east from entering the city (0/5 Occupancy)
Western Walls - Houses Troops, Prevents foes crazy enough to brave Predator Lake to the west from entering the city (0/5 Occupancy)

Ring of Leisure (5/8 Improvements): A small and ungovernable section of Bardhill County that lies North, South, and East of Silent Hammers. Like many hilly areas just outside the walls of a city, it is primarily inhabited by hobbits. Most of the locals claim loyalty to no government, and answer only to the local dons, others claim to be your subjects (although they have no legal justification to do so) as the tax rate of Silent Hammers is far lower than the Tax Rate in Bardhill County.

Silent Holes - Houses any non-giant humans (8/8 Occupancy)
The Shadow Holes - Houses any non-giant humans (5/8 Occupancy. Not Controlled by you.)
'Pharmacy' Guild - Houses skilled military and civilian criminals, and produces 4 Wealth a month for the controlling faction (3/3 Civilain Occupancy. 3/3 Military Occupancy. Not Controlled by you.)
Assassin's Guild - Houses skilled military and civilian criminals, and produces 4 Wealth a month for the controlling faction (2/2 Civilain Occupancy. 4/4 Military Occupancy. Not Controlled by you.)
Thieves Guild - Houses skilled military and civilian criminals, and produces 4 Wealth a month for the controlling faction (4/4 Civilain Occupancy. 3/3 Military Occupancy. Not Controlled by you.)
Empty Improvement Slot - Awaiting Construction
Empty Improvement Slot - Awaiting Construction

Clearing Improvements -

It costs 7 LU to send a demolition team to a section of the city. A demolition team can remove as few or as many improvements as you wish in one go. Demolition yields construction resources. Demolition is not popular with the people, so it may be wise to deploy your military to protect your demolition teams.

Improvements Available for Construction -

Basic Civilian Housing: Choose to house either human races (humans, halflings and hill giants among other rare breeds) or digger races (dwarves and drugar amoung other rare breeds). Houses 6 LU, costs 1 improvement slot and 6 Construction Resources.
Elite Housing: Choose a single specific race. Elite Housing can house nobles, and is more effective at attracting skilled labor. Houses 5 LU, costs 1 improvement slot and 12 Construction Resources.
Dark Pits: Mass housing for Goblin Peons and other non-eaters. Houses 15 LU of Goblin Slaves, and 5 LU of other non-eaters. Costs 2 improvement slots and 20 Construction resources.
Small Stronghold: Housing for any 10 FU. Costs 1 improvement slot and 20 Construction resources.
Giant Hovel: Housing for non-elemental giant races. Must be built on a hilly region (northern slopes or ring of leisure). Houses 4 LU, Costs 1 improvement slot and 12 Construction Resources.
Large Scale Metal Foundry: Converts metal military resources into weapons and trade goods. Employs up to 10 LU per month, Costs 1 improvement slot and 25 Construction Resources.
Greatwalls Block Plant: Creates heavy-duty construction resources, fit for use in high-rise buildings of Emscythe's design, from other resources. Employs up to 10 LU per month, Costs 1 improvement slot and 25 Construction Resources.

Hobbit Holes: Luxurious high-occupancy Hillside Housing for non-giant humans. Add a hobbit to your court, or formalize an alliance with one, to unlock.
Large Scale Gem Foundry: Converts gem and magic-stone military resources into weapons and trade goods. Deal with prince Neptune to Unlock.
High Rise Drugar Buildings: Use heavy-duty construction resources to make efficient use of space. Build a Greatwalls Block Plant to unlock.
Military Buildings: Consult with your military advisers and engineers if you wish to create a military building in Silent Hammers and a Small Stronghold doesn't fit your needs.

Plans for Future Expansion -

Dig out the Hills: Your digger citizens, expecially the Drugar, will be happy living and working underground. Conducting a soil survey by deploying 10 LU of educated and/or digger labor, (dose not have to be all at once), will allow Akuspade to plan out the underground expansion of Silent Hammers.

Purchase Faust's Valley: Akuspade thinks that Count Chance may be persuaded to sell you the region of Faust's Valley, which sits on the other side of Predator Lake, west of Silent Hammers. Faust's Valley is lightly populated by humans and contains some rich farmland and abandoned stone quarries. Predator Lake itself is a largely untapped resource, as the humans have not figured out how to deal with the bloodthirsty population of Dire Dolphins that dwell beneath the surface. The humans have not developed the region further because they believe it to be impossible to defend against outside invasion. Meet with Count Chance if you wish to discuss a purchase. Consider sending a team of skilled laborers to survey the region first, so that you are an informed buyer.

Bah. Went a bit overboard with the expansion planning stuff, and didn't have time to get to the halfling meeting before I have to leave for work. Feel free to discuss and make suggestions regarding this update, and expect halfling stuff tomorrow.

[Glass]

May I suggest purchasing the valley? It doesn't step on any halfling...'s toes, and it gives us more room to expand without tearing down houses.

[IronyOwl]

Hm. We'll probably be busy with a quarry, farm, and possibly defenses for those in the next few months. Once we get a breather, we'll definitely want to survey the underground to see what's available. I'd like to get a Greatwalls Block Plant at some point, but it's a fairly heavy investment while we've got potential space elsewhere.

Long term we'll definitely want a metal foundry, but it's also a heavy investment and will no doubt agitate (at least one of) the Dons. We should make sure we're relatively comfortable before putting the squeeze on them, but I'll be damned if a fat hairless rodent is going to tell a Digger Queen she can't have a metalworks.

May I suggest purchasing the valley? It doesn't step on any halfling...'s toes, and it gives us more room to expand without tearing down houses.

Eventually, definitely. We'll still want to survey it first, but more space, farmland, and quarries all sound fantastic.

There are two problems with doing it now, however. One, we don't have a ton of wealth. If ~10 Wealth would really buy us the valley I'd say take it, but given that's two and a half months' salary for a Don, I'm pretty skeptical. Two, the humans don't value it because it's impossible to defend. They've clearly never heard of DIGGER FORTIFICATIONS EVERYWHERE, but we're low on materials to build those, so we wouldn't be able to defend it either.

I'd be fine meeting with Count Chance to idly discuss the matter once we've surveyed it (maybe pointing out that it'd help get our legendary digger industry- and therefore armaments- online), but barring some very generous loan conditions I don't think we'll be able to afford it anytime soon.

[Mithras]

Again, while Count chase does not appear to have any deeds himself, promising him an artefact might be a cheap way to get the valley. That would require us to be an informed barrier and for us to build an artefact based on our deeds which would be beneficial to both him and us.

[Madman198237]

So, send some skilled HUMANS to go survey the surface world in the valley, I'd say. We need to appear at least halfway decent to the humans, and they're experts at scumming it on the surface. We definitely need to survey the ground beneath our city ASAP, because more accessible territory is a good thing.

[Dopl]

I think we should have a survey done to find what our human citizens would like, since urist kicked a large portion of them out, it's probably a good idea to do something for them, to show we care for all of our citizens, and not just the digger population

[IronyOwl]

The Face of Fate - Makes the wearer a mighty fighter and assassin. Wielded by Mril-Minda, who has just struck down Sir Shroomplum, the famed drowish assassin, and is now waging a one woman campaign of terror and death against his family, underlings, and students.

Just noticed we got a quiet update on Mril-Minda's progress. Um. Good job, I guess?

Again, while Count chase does not appear to have any deeds himself, promising him an artefact might be a cheap way to get the valley. That would require us to be an informed barrier and for us to build an artefact based on our deeds which would be beneficial to both him and us.

A definite possibility, but note that artifacts aren't 'cheap' as in 'of low value', just in non-opportunity costs. We've got a lot of people/things we'd like to make artifacts for.

As a minor note, I doubt he'd be interested in any of our personal feats. He no doubt has champions and other assorted jackasses at court we could crib from, though. Might even prefer to superpower his underlings.

[VoidSlayer]

Try to influence Mril-Minda to get more info on the drow while murdering through the guys family.  Info on new targets politics and such so she can strike targets that will be even more devastating.

[IronyOwl]

Other idle note: In addition to our artifact-craft, we are flatly an awesome, literally god-tier mundane smith. We should try regular forging sometime.

[Weirdsound]

"There is no guest quite like an uninvited guest."

-Hobbit Folk Wisdom

Smith Lord Aurora Wordfire, Refuge Queen of Silent Hammers, Empress Consort of the Southernfrost, and Queen Consort of Bedlamb and the Marble City

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Skills and Abilities:
-Although my social skills are rusty from isolation, I am highly respected as one of the few remaining first diggers.
-I am the greatest mortal metal-smith and furnace worker, without question. My skills in this area even surpass those of some gods.
-I have also mastered many other crafting skills, unrelated to the furnace.
-So long as my history is recorded in the language of the diggers, my soul and mind cannot truly be snuffed out (Granted by the World Weld)
-I can create mighty artifacts by inscribing the items I create with the great deeds of myself or the item's intended recipient (Granted by the World Weld)
-I am aware of the general location and activities of those who wield my artifacts, and I may exert light influence over their behavior (Granted by the World Weld)
-I can detect the great deeds of others nearby (Granted by the World Weld)

Artifacts and Minions:
The World Weld - Links my soul, the digger language, and the laws of reality itself. Allows me to easily create lesser artifacts.
The Face of Fate - Makes the wearer a mighty fighter and assassin. Wielded by Mril-Minda, who is planning how to best carry out a reunion with her mother, a minor Beetle Queen.

Known Mortal Family:
(Husband - Present) All-Lord Ukareem the Silver, Emperor of the Southernfrost
(Husband - Absent) Scholar-King Emscythe, Monarch of the Marble City and Secretary General of the Greatwalls Alliance
(Husband - Absent)  Bloodlord Haigen the Usurper, King of Bedlamb
(Mother-in-Law - Present) Trumil, the Slime Mold Hag

(Infant Son) Prince Dremscythe, Heir to Silent Hammers and the Marble City

Refuge City of Silent Hammers

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Holdings:
Silent Hammers: A small city that provides 1 Wealth and 1 Food per month. Houses and defends up to 50 FU to military might. (23/50)
Dung Slopes Fungal Farm: A particularly farm where up to 6 LU can work per month. Typically yields 1 Food per LU of labor.
Axeltax at Tunnel's Mouth: A watchtower that Houses and defends up to 6 FU of military might. Yields 2 Wealth/month in collected taxes while at least 3 FU are stationed here. (3/6, Human Phalanx)

Available Military Population:
15-5 Force Units of Human Phalanx (x1.2 Bonus to open field battle. Avaible for 108 more months, or until the Kingdom of Narm enters a state of civil war)
5 Force Units of Dwarf/Drugar Militia (x1.3 Bonus to defending cities or fighting underground)
5 Force Units of Goblin Warslaves (x.75 Penalty to fighting in bright sunlight, does not need food to act)
3-3 Force Units of Charcoal Tribe Elf Rangers (x2 Bonus to fighting in the woods)
2 Force Units of Drugar Siege Operators (x4 Bonus to attacking cities, x1.5 Bonus to fighting megabeasts, x.25 Penalty in all other combat situations)
1 Force Unit of Weremule Warmonks (x3 Bonus to guarding VIPs, x.1 Penalty against Nickle Silver weapons, does not need food to act)

Civilian Population:
12 Labor Units of Assorted and Mixed Breed Diggers (2 LU to 5 FU Conversion Rate before material mod)
8 Labor Units of Halfling Commoners (2 LU to 4 FU Conversion Rate before material mod)
5 Labor Units of Goblin Slaves (2 LU to 4 FU Conversion Rate before material mod, does not need food to act)
4 Labor Units of Highborn Dwarves (1 LU to 4 FU Conversion Rate before material mod)
4 Labor Units of Highborn Drugar (1 LU to 4 FU Conversion Rate before material mod)
2 Labor Units of Human Commoners (2 LU to 7 FU Conversion Rate before material mod)
1 Labor Unit of Hobgoblin Drivers (2 LU to 7 FU Conversion Rate before material mod, does not need food to act)

Basic Resources:
x15 Food (+1 Per Month) - Your people can and do feed themselves, but food from the royal grainy must be provided for people to put aside their own livelyhood and peruse your interests. Spending 1 food allows you to issue an order commanding up to 5 FU or LU. Converting LU to FU will also usually cost additional food. You can deploy trade convoys to try and convert other resources into food.

x25 Wealth (+1 Per Month) - A representation of the various coins and paper currency in your treasury. Used to buy other resources and favors, and is generally the most effective resource to use as a trade good.

Advanced Resources:
x12 Wood (The most basic construction resource. Artifacts made from wood tend to harness the power of nature)
x6 Stone (A more sturdy and less flammable construction resource. Artifacts made from stone tend to harness the power of earth)
x15 (+3 Per month for 108 months) Marble (A more valuable form of stone that can be combined with iron to make steel at a smelter. Artifacts made from Marble tend to harness the power of light)
x9 Bronze (A military resource with a .80 Material Mod. Artifacts made from bronze tend to harness the power of fire)
x4 Steel (A military resource with a 1.5 Material Mod. Artifacts made from steel tend to have protective effects)
x4 Bloodstone (A magical military resource with no material mod. Both common gear and artifacts made from Bloodstone are particularly deadly towards all the digger races)
x1 Night Mithiril (A magical military resource with a 1.7 material mod. Artifacts made from Night Mithiril tend to aid in criminal activity)
x2 Deep Sapphire (A magical Military resource with a material mod of .5. Gear and artifacts made from Sapphire are great at drawing out the sorcerous power within one's blood)
x6 Sulfur (A magical resource used in the worship of wicked gods and construction of advanced siege weapons. Artifacts of sulfur are favored by wicked gods)

Known Allies and Enemies:
Bardhill County (Ally, Trade Partner) - The fertile and clay rich human territory that completely encompasses your land. The ruler, Count Chance, deeply respects the craftsdwarfshipp and military skill of the diggers. In exchange for resources and a loan of troops, you have agreed to aid him in an anticipated civil war against his fellow counts when the king dies.
Southernfrost Empire (Ally) - The southernmost and mightiest of the northern dwarven civilizations. Southernfrost is rich in bronze and labor. The empire is ruled by your husband All-Lord Ukareem the Silver.
The Greatwalls Alliance (Ally, Trade Partner) - A loose confederacy of prosperous drugar city-states that pays tribute to your husband, Scholar-King Emscythe. Rich in copper, sulfur, and flux stone.
The Kingdom of Bedlamb (Ally) - Nation of drugar ruled by your husband Bloodlord Haigen the Usurper. Rich in iron, flux stone, and gems. Currently defending against invasion from an unknown drugar kingdom, and raids from an unknown dwarf kingdom.

The Beetle Queendoms (Enemy to All Diggers) - A drowish nation that sits between Silent Hammers and The Greatwalls Alliance. Traders can navigate around it, and they are currently too busy dealing with surface elf raiders to pose a threat.
The Pinewoods Tribes (Hostile) Small yet fierce surface elf civilizations that sepperate Silent Hammers from the Southernfrost Empire and the Kingdom of Bedlamb. They find the very ideas of commerce and industry to be deeply offensive, and slaughter trade convoys on site as a rule.

You focus on your connection to The Face of Fate and its bearer, and attempt to influence Mril-Minda into exploring the Drowish political scene. You at once feel her intentions shift under your weight - she now plans to seek out her estranged mother, Beetle Queen Trolldrinker, leader of the Wooly Beetle Queendom, for a sit down chat. She understands the reunion is risky, but has high hopes that if she shows up with a mighty artifact and the head of Sir Shroomplum she will earn her mother's respect.

---

You send away everybody except your bodyguards, and beckon Donna Sherry into your quarters.

In start contrast to the sharply dressed Branding Iron, the leader of the drug runners cuts a fierce vissage. She wears the clothes of a simple traveler, and carries several daggers on her hilt. She appears ancient for a halfling, and her face is heavily scarred, but she still moves under her own power with grace and purpose. Like Samwise Huck, she carries a golden cane, which you assume must be some sort of badge of office for a hobbit don.

At her side is a male halfling, small even by the standards of his race, who dresses in a suit like Branding Iron and his crew. He introduces himself as Cheddar Finwick, Donna Sherry's translator. As soon as he is done with the introduction his mistress launches into a tirade.

Donna Sherry speaks very quickly in Old Country Hobbit, a language related to common human that you only partially understand. She talks so fast, that her translator can't even keep up. Perhaps that is for the best.

The halfling's rant is little more than a long list of petty grievances and complaints. From what you can pick up, she chides you for living in a simple apartment less impressive than even a hobbit hole, for vanishing for 11 months after presenting yourself as a leader she could get along with and getting her hopes up, for allowing your court to be so easily infiltrated, for not milking nearly enough out of your much more wealthy and powerful spouses, and for not moving aggressively enough against the anti industry dons. As a first digger sculped by the gods themselves, you have no ancestors, but you get the distinct feeling that this is what a nagging grandmother might be like.

Donna Sherry lingers on her last point for a bit, slowing down to make sure you understand. Apparently the other dons think you weak, and assume that intimidating your husband Emscythe was enough to break your will towards development. She warns you that considering their presumed success in making you back off, you should assume that any future attempts at development will be met by the hostile dons with actions against those close to you, and that those actions might not be limited to mere stalking in the future.

Eventually Donna Sherry calms down and stops talking long enough for her attendant Cheddar to get her back on topic: Your planned meeting with the savages. She nods curtly, and abruptly knocks her underling out with a single swing from her heavy gold cane before addressing you in broken diggerspeak.

"I sorry. Unuseless Cheddar should have knowed better than to tell Donna what to do. I'm here to help you. Gods know you need. I know some Troll-Waste savages. Sell me drug making stuffs. I arrange trip for you, no? Make sure you meet the nice savages and not meet savages who like kill Digger Queens. Is good, yes?"

[crazyabe]

State that it is a good deal for us, and ask what SHE gets out of us going to meet the savages.