It must be far away, for the news to take this long to arrive... [this post will be expanded today to tell about it]

See link for more information.

Nine halvings are done, so only about 0.2% of the original number of tickets remains! The old, fine and healthy W1603A was divided to 64 characters. The last trade of JAD is at 2.0 mil, but spread is currently high. Let's see if someone starts to make markets with this!


Prizes Awarded

47,671 * CAN given!
23,707 * BEER given!
1,484 * FOIE given to 118 chars!
735 * JAD given to 90 chars!
373 * W1603A given to 64 chars!


Prizes Remaining

373 tickets (RAF-1) remaining; halving every month (realday)

200 * MIN-5 (Most Elaborate Ming China Plate 16cm)
100 * CS1625E (special edition 5 CKS only 100 minted)
50 * CLXII (since there are no restaurants qualified to participate in the auction, it will be raffled instead)
25 * WOS-E1 (Green Suit, gift of HH The Mayor)
20 * MIR (Venetian Mirror 1 sqm, gift of HH The Duke of New Liberty)
15 <- when this number of tickets is reached, the subsequent SPOILs are 25% only to increase excitement!
- - -
10 * Baronet of CK (lowest numbers available starting from highest ranking winner, incl promotion to L12 if applicable)
1 * Fourth Prize: Any Real Estate up to the value of 100,000,000 m (to the 4th last ticket; gift of HRH Zechariah)
1 * Third Prize: 1-SE-V76 Korean Restaurant (1518) (to the 3rd last ticket; gift of Prince of Soul)
1 * Second Prize: TRC4-19 Most Elab 4-Horse Carriage (to the 2nd last ticket; gift of M of White Cross)
1 * Grand Prize: Any Real Estate up to the value of 500,000,000 m (in the whole game, you pick, King pays   )

Total Value of Prizes: 2,500,000,000 m !
(Expected value of a ticket: 6,700,000 m)

It is possible to give prizes to the auction. Unique prizes will be listed as 5th, 6th etc. prizes, and will always be awarded. Fungible prizes you need to give the maximum amount to the King, and they will be dividended when the number of tickets reaches or goes below the amount, the King doing what he wishes with the difference.


Practical note on the 1st and 4th prizes. The winner gets to pick his real estate from a list of listed properties costing (at max) 500 mil. To qualify for the listing, the seller must register the property latest on the day when # of tickets goes to 15 or below. It must be listed and buyable by others as well. When the winner is known, he will be notified and the King will buy the prize selected and gift it to the winner. Do not forsake this opportunity to advertise that you have RE for sale!!

In war, the destinies of "money and men" (to quote HRH The Archduke) are subjected to "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" (to quote some contemporary play). Quite a manageable treaty has been proposed due to HH New Liberty negotiation skill in the Swedish court, and at the same time both sides in the field - with ice preventing messages from Sweden, and bad roads, conditions and inexperience hindering our coordination - have taken entire enemy units as prisoners and thwarted the PREparation sites. Councillor Mooo, Earl of Stonehaven (etc) is missing, as Zechariah did not remember or manage to inquire of him.

The Prince of Soul had left just a few days before the messengers came, to a multi-year journey with an objective to make friends with Rossiya's leadership, and proceed to Korea to get plans for a new weapon, Chokonu. We believe it is like a mechanical wooden musket which could be supplied to all our troops in quick order. Under the time constraints, no contact with the Earls of the South could be made, so the direction is neglected for now. The M of White Cross sent reinforcements including a cannon to his Marquessate, however.

The first month of war showed painfully how much we are lacking in coordination of campaigns. The entire north is blocked from us. There is no information on the 200 BV dispersed between the three camps in North Face, Tavastia and Petrichor, whether they are drifting (or marching) to the campaign scene, stationary but operational, interred, defeated or outright devastated (the Germanians use "zerstört" to capture the meaning). Likewise, our forces in the River have no intelligence on the (supposed) 3*200 BV of enemy forces there, and nothing is known whether they have got reinforcements as soon as the sea was ice-free again about a month ago. By the time of this writing, the destinies of The Duke of NL Regiment in Threestone are uncertain as well. Even without reinforcements from Stockholm, the enemy could have pincer-attacked them at the captured townsite "Paldiski" with double strength. Only the mounted company RRF is sure to still exist. Their retreat is open to the south, CryptoTown.

The plethora of scientific advances that we don't have, the continuing intrigue at home, the willingness to spare the key troops for the promotion round announced at the end of the year, that it takes too long to make friends with either the Alliance (where intrigue is ()^2 ), or the Rossiyans, and other subtle but important considerations, make the King turn towards aiming to make our so far only enemy to our ally instead.


We dispatch a high-level civilian delegation to (The Free Hanseatic Town of) Riga, teeming with BUT-9 and BUT-8, MGR-4 and so on, to accept the terms laid out by HKM Gustaf Adolf of Sweden (etc x3), and appoint HH The Duke of New Liberty (etc x2) Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Crypto Kingdom to the Royal Court of Sweden, with orders to mainly gather as much intelligence as possible and report it to us [well that's what ambassadors do, so nothing extraordinary here].

The Main Army, Royal 1st Company, has meanwhile been increased to have 6 sections, 6 cannons and 260 BV. One of the sections is Musketeer, 2 are Field Artillery and 3 are Light Infantry. This is sent to the north on foot in battle array. It is expected that the mounted troops there provide the horses if needed, and due to the large amount of cannons, the force cannot anyway travel too fast.

It will be joined with Knights Templar (64 BV), eager to fight the "infidels", a separate unit. All these are to subject themselves to the Campaign Commander, HRH The Archduke, who is already at the scene.

The orders are to avoid battle but use force to pin the enemy down and allow us a river crossing to make possible to send messengers to the north, to find out about the situation, and release as many as possible of those troops to march south towards the River. NF camp was earlier ordered to be evacuated (due to poor business prospects), so with some luck, they might assemble at the River already. Even the location of Petrichor is still disputed so probably God will help them.

The most obvious stronghold, that of the captured camp in Threestone, at the mouth of the river, was left unattended. The King's judgement was that if the enemy had concentrated forces there, the remnants of our Regiment there would soon show up in disarray and nothing further could be done. But if, instead, they could hold ground, the victorious Main Army from Stonehaven would shake hands with them soon. Two messengers on horseback were naturally sent through the woods to inform them of the situation.

350 BV (in King's forces only) was left to guard the Old Duchy, the Citadel, and Royal Palace. Once some experience with the mercenary musketeers has been gained, these can be re-purposed so that perhaps a small Shock unit can be deployed to the battle scene as well - all in eager hopes of alliance with the opponent of course.

If further plans are made by the other commanders, they may reply on their behalf.

The Main Army left the town on the 3rd of July. They saw that the remaining VEG had spoiled and the new crop would come in 2 weeks at the latest.

King pleads all peers with opened Counties to send as much stone to the county accounts as possible. The number of OTH in the OldDuchy is increased to 100 to use the stone for making the entrance roads to the town better. Meanwhile it will be counted towards the PRE of the county, and this will accrue regardless of the connection and military situation in the county.

A recently promoted BUT-9 just could not keep this information to himself, to which he was not privy in the first place.
It happened before the messages arrived.

Royal Palace "blue room"

- (HE The Prince of Soul) You have the wrong enemy! I say, the Church is devouring the earth, and you should ally with the voice of reason here, that is: anyone else!

* (HM The King) Paul, I am not allied with anyone, but what can I do when a foreign power flexes muscles and occupies half of the Kingdom??

- Fine you want to war them, why not ally with Rossiya at least? They have a very ancient enmity with Sweden and have the next turn to attack. The Culture of Rossiya is the envy of the whole world! I have been there many times and conversed with their leaders ever since when you were a boy!

...

- You seen this Expert Zephyrus; he has quickly become as slippery as the Bishop himself!! I bet he is taking orders from him.. [GM note: The Prince-Bishop is Zephyrus' direct superior in Church hierarchy, so this is not completely inappropriate] Refusing to be knighted, and hiding the relics in the citadel that he has made the Church haw! Why not outright steal the relics and blame that on the protestants!

* Take it easy, brother. The troops were subjected to the RCA and what else they can do except to defend the town if need be?? I think you are paranoid, even in excess of me, I wonder if that is healthy...

- He is not the only one behaving strangely, though... What is up with James Daniel? He seems scared as hell even though everything is fine, he just got a promotion. This pressing of horses and men is unheard-of, why did he just not pay for them, he seemed such a stable person, royal blood very obviously!

* Paul.... I just can't keep this to myself. James Daniel is not... Jeeves - could you bring some more CLXII please, and a COH for me only. - Damn I miss serje, it's so hard to find good butlers these days.

...

- No, and no! I am not taking any troops or anything, nor a merchant convoy. That would take years and the valuables would be at risk. I am going with civilian servants only. I can only bring back what I can hide, including the plans of the Chokonu that I will memorize and have my assistant to memorize as well. It will be nice to see my country - if I ever reach that far - and I will spend the winter in Moscow (what a place to spend winter!) and establish high contact with Rossiya, sending a message to you. This will delay the trip but I am the only person qualified to gain major success with them. King, you have a problem, since the Rossiyans think you secretly symphatize the Swedes, and the catholics are so power-hungry they will not leave you alone with these social policies!

* And with the Swedes, I am at war...

- I hope to come back alive and see you alive and reigning, and the University started by the time I am back. Watch out for the catholics! They are at the zenith of their power, but in the long run - which we should know - Truth, Reason and Science will prevail, men will travel to and fro, and knowledge will increase. And then the Lord will come. This has been promised in the Bible, and how I wish it would be made available to others except you, me, and the Bishop!

* Good-bye my friend. We will see again. Somehow.

In the final week of May, three messengers come to the town through the New City Borough,

This is a few days early, so any actions arising from the info will only happen at the close of month earliest. Troops, materiel and preparations deployments to the south should happen asap especially if further than Ramsey. The preparation season is longer there but wasting time in this town does not make sense. Some troops have been listed for sale both local and mercenary, and please add your bids/asks as well!

The mercenary forces have arrived to the town in record time. Some may have heard more information about the happenings, but what officially matters is that we have a large force early enough to take part in the autumn campaigns, and is already distributed to the commanders. All the troops can be used normally, and some care should be exercised since the trustability of foreign mercenaries is not always 100% although everything seems fine so far.

There is an item S-CAN (1/char) available. It is some historical right to grow herbs in the King's lands near town, and only 100 per year, and only the poor and destitute may have it etc., check out if you fit in the definition.

Hardly anyone has even cared about the Town lately as Kingdom has demanded the attention. The Town will nevertheless liquidate 290*CON, any time before the end of September (58 hours). The King has the floor bid for all the amount at 15.0 mil yet may go higher. The dividend will be given to the newly sold CON right after the sale period ends, or all the CON has been sold.

RAF-1 market is at 2.55/2.10 mil and JAD has been sold in 2.0-2.5 mil range.

There is no VEG in the market; 9,000 exist but the owners are holding into their stock, 100% of which will be destroyed by spoilage at the end of this month the latest!    Perhaps the item CAKE should be introduced for these situations. The NPC so far believe it is just normal and new VEG comes to the market soon in July again.

3*CANN is up for sale starting at 32 mil! Grab yours.

See link for more information.

Eight halvings are done, so only about 1:256 of the original number of tickets remains! The coveted JADe was raffled to 90 characters, giving it a very wide ownership, and an interesting price development to come.


Prizes Awarded

47,671 * CAN given!
23,707 * BEER given!
1,484 * FOIE given to 118 chars!
735 * JAD given to 90 chars!


Prizes Remaining

735 tickets (RAF-1) remaining; halving every month (realday)

- - -
500 * W1603A (pre-Plague wine, the historical Spring Wine)
200 * MIN-5 (Most Elaborate Ming China Plate 16cm)
100 * CS1625E (special edition 5 CKS only 100 minted)
50 * CLXII (since there are no restaurants qualified to participate in the auction, it will be raffled instead)
25 * WOS-E1 (Green Suit, gift of HH The Mayor)
20 * MIR (Venetian Mirror 1 sqm, gift of HH The Duke of New Liberty)
15 <- when this number of tickets is reached, the subsequent SPOILs are 25% only to increase excitement!
- - -
10 * Baronet of CK (lowest numbers available starting from highest ranking winner, incl promotion to L12 if applicable)
1 * Fourth Prize: Any Real Estate up to the value of 100,000,000 m (to the 4th last ticket; gift of HRH Zechariah)
1 * Third Prize: 1-SE-V76 Korean Restaurant (1518) (to the 3rd last ticket; gift of Prince of Soul)
1 * Second Prize: TRC4-19 Most Elab 4-Horse Carriage (to the 2nd last ticket; gift of M of White Cross)
1 * Grand Prize: Any Real Estate up to the value of 500,000,000 m (in the whole game, you pick, King pays   )

Total Value of Prizes: 2,650,000,000 m !
(Nominal value of ticket: 3,620,000 m)

It is possible to give prizes to the auction. Unique prizes will be listed as 4th, 5th etc. prizes, and will always be awarded. Fungible prizes you need to give the maximum amount to the King, and they will be dividended when the number of tickets reaches or goes below the amount, the King doing what he wishes with the difference.

As JAD is now raffled, The King has listed 125*RAF-1 for sale, intending to sell them today. Prices will be dynamic


Practical note on the 1st and 4th prizes. The winner gets to pick his real estate from a list of listed properties costing (at max) 500 mil. To qualify for the listing, the seller must register the property latest on the day when # of tickets goes to 15 or below. It must be listed and buyable by others as well. When the winner is known, he will be notified and the King will buy the prize selected and gift it to the winner. Do not forsake this opportunity to advertise that you have RE for sale!!

From the Tavastia reports and elsewhere I gather:

- Cavalry tactics incl use of HAK units, would upgrade our base fighting strength to 2 for cheap units that we can press from Tavastia, especially after our victory, plus allow further advances.
- Combined arms gives +20 to Command (at least with GA) - this would increase the BV of (for instance) the Duke of NL Company by 25! And enable the companies without aquila to gain advantage.
- I am personally interested in this "crisp bread", it cannot be difficult to research and even if it were both more expensive and less healthy than VEG - hell - look at the market there is no VEG there, bread could be stored like meat!
- Road building. Our current method is very expensive, better suited for cobbled streets. At least a highway connecting Plath to Ultima Thule with frequent places where two carriages can pass, I want to leave to my successor!
- Astronomy was mentioned, and the Telescope that someone had heard was under development in foreign lands some years ago.
- Anything that aids in health really.
- Medium 6-pounder cannon. Although personally I don't see a niche for it..

The Royal CryptoArmy campaign of the Great River March 22, 1623 - present

Even the Bible refers to spring as the "time when kings go to war". Now many things have transpired at the same time:
- An officer deserted the NL camp and risked his life (and took another's   ) to tell that the military situation there is advantageous.
- Tavastia messenger reported that the Great River area, reasonably close to CryptoTown and dividing our Kingdom in two - is of great interest to the Swedes with extensive PRE going on, but sparsely guarded by actual military.
- The messenger of the "mercenary expedition" arrived surprisingly early, telling that a force which, when distributed to our companies, adds ~200 BV to their value, has been contracted and arrives next month.

The King walks to and fro in the cold halls of the Royal Palace. Operational plans are forming in his mind, it seems that crushing action, without delay, would be feasible and lead to a decisive victory. The enemy may have as little as 2 companies in the whole area, and our forces that could be immediately called to action are the horseback troops from CryptoTown:
Royal 2nd Company - Mobile RRF (84 BV)
Training Detachment #3 - Horse (33 BV)
and the forces already stationed in the campaign area:
Duke of NL Regiment (170 BV)
Stonehaven Detachment (41 BV)

After a longer travel-time, the main punisher of the RCA will be deployed to the scene:
Royal 1st Regiment (200 BV) - perhaps topped with mercenaries
And when messengers are sent to the north, some part of the garrisons of the preparations in Tavastia and North Face (grand total 180 BV) can join as well.

We know that there was a Regiment deployed in NL, to the west of CryptoTown (180 BV) but that is to the south and may have left before the ice prohibited troop movements by sea. It is any way not large enough to invade CryptoTown and not close enough to help the enemies near the Great River until it is too late.

The intelligence of the forces in the "3-stone" (mouth of the Great River) points to about 70 BV, which the combined Duke of NL Regiment + Training Detachment (total 200 BV) should be able to overwhelm and hopefully disarm without bloodshed.

Somewhat upstream the river is "Stonehaven", our tentative preparation site. When the RRF arrives there, 135 BV in the area should be enough to block the enemy in the east from escaping. These will initially assume defensive position, and wait for the report of victory in the west (3-stone). Then as intelligence is gathered about the enemy forces in the east, they will be disarmed as well because of strength in numbers. To ensure victory, the Royal 1st Regiment and the North forces will be centered in the area as well, although the delay may be long. The objective of the campaign is clear: To deny the use of Great River to the Swedes and establish it for us.

When the plan is good, it is not difficult to justify it. The House of Vasa is founded in 1523, so naturally all prior Swedish claims to the counties are nullified. Our claim to North Face is from 1514 and Tavastia is 1520. New Liberty has been ours since the most ancient times and the enemy has never even claimed Stonehaven, yet invades and occupies it!! Since the Kingdom of Sweden has invaded our lands, their military forces will be given chance to be interred and returned to Sweden. Civilians will be given employment at equal conditions as before. Any compensation of the PRE points they have invested to the sites, will be a subject of negotiation.

The forces will seek peaceful resolution. They are authorised to attack only when they are numerically clearly superior, in which case the enemy CO should reasonably have surrendered anyway, so all bloodshed is on him.

Lifting the pen from the paper, the King is satisfied. "When it is time to act, hesitation is your enemy" he quotes Sun Tzu ad libitum. He writes the authorization to release CAPT N.N. from the Citadel, promote him MAJ, release him from service in the Duke of NL Regiment and commission him to be the CO of the Training Dtmt #3. "The officer was right - we were at war, so the manslaughter will be heard in a court-martial, which will probably consider the circumstances in a whole different way than the Hall of Justice hearing would have done." The justification for the action does not relieve the sadness from King's heart, though. The BUT-9 had just announced that the old peasant was safely escorted to the town and the case was waiting for King's orders. Clearly a time for a CIG and some LAG to relieve the nerves..

The PC may join the Campaign personally if they so feel. Nobody is forced. The RRF is tasked to start going asap and not in formation, and assemble in Stonehaven. If they can't muster enough horses in the town, they are to go to Kunda and press horses there against full pay (2.0 mil for H1, 5.0 mil for H2 if available). The PC must bring their own horses, swords and gear. Participation in the Campaign needs to be recorded in the /Affiliation in the GoogleDB.

And finally: "Let it be circulated among nobles that, this war is NOT a crusade. We do not seek to increase the tensions between our fellow Christians who might think differently in details. There is also no enmity between anyone here. It just happens that HKM Gustaf Adolf is claiming half of the lands of our fathers, which is something that will never be tolerated if the odds seem as good as they are."

Happy tidings!

The younger of the horsemen comes back in the last days of March, as sun is already shining brighter on the snow that is considering whether to begin to melt. He goes to the Noble Palace to announce that the Mercenary expedition has been wildly successful, with the following results:

- A deal was arranged with seasoned veterans for the whole sum. The contract fee 2,700 IC was enough to secure until end of 1626 (almost 4 years). Normal salary needs to be paid in addition of course, in the end of this, next and the year following (3 years).
- We will get already graded troops as follows:
3*MSGM
6*SGTM
6*CPLM
20*PTEM
- The troops will arrive around mid-next month, having not excess haste, so that they are battle-ready practically when they arrive and get distributed to the units.
- BUT-7 N.N. (the other horseman) is with the new troops guiding them in their way.
- The contributors to the "pot" will have to decide between themselves how to divide the troops or whether to sell them and divide the money:
Which is updated here as decisions are made, proposal

Crichton/130 1000   MSGM, 2*SGTM, 2*CPLM, 8*PTEM
Zechariah/36 600    MSGM, SGTM, CPLM, 4*PTEM
OldDuchy/48 500     3*SGTM, 3*PTEM
noms/94 400            MSGM, CPLM, 3*PTEM
kronicblazer/46 100  CPLM, PTEM
Angus/91 100           CPLM, PTEM

Tidings from Tavastia

Before winter, Zechariah swore to raise a new army, to personally find out what happened to the troops who were sent to The Marquessate of Tavastia in the north already in summer 1621 (1.5 years before). Nothing at all had been heard of them.

The cost considerations and soon after the total inavailability of (any Army-NPC except) soldiers prevented this from happening. It was therefore more than a welcome thing to have a messenger come. Skipping his miraculous stories of being alive, the nuggets of information are:
- Tavastia is to the north of Stonehaven and south from North Face.
- It is poorer than Stonehaven and richer than North Face in nature and society.
- No towns exist in the region, but the Swedes who recently conquered it, spend enormous resources as we speak to populate it, even with 2 towns, which are to be named Paldiski and Sankt Gustaf-Adolfsburg when ready. About 5 more years will be required at this pace. Once a Town is inaugurated, the international conventions guarantee the urban land ownership, solidifying the Swedish claims in the areas as well.
- Both town building sites are garrisoned with regulars, there are rumors of "loose units" as well but no sightings.
- The area can only be reached for troop transports from Stockholm in summer (overseas). May is the earliest such month and November latest.
- The Swedes suppress the area, pressing both men and horses to their light cavalry. These HAK units cost only 1.05 mil/year and include horse. They pack 2 FP and promote to CAPT (small chance). This should be researched immediately.
- These also often resort to dry bread in the winter because the VEG spoils and MEAT is expensive. More research on this would perhaps grant us a new FOOD resource!

New NPC in the Army

Express messengers were sent to the south just a week ago, with a hefty sum of 2,700 IC. Because of being express, no guards could be sent with them. The orders included to report to the Royal Training Dtmt in Essu and Saddam's HQ in Ramsey. From there onwards, they are on their own.

The NPC they might manage to recruit are:

MSGM - N7 - 5FP - 3.5 mil salary - Mercenary Musketeer Master Sergeant
SGTM - N6 - 4FP - 2.8 mil salary - Mercenary Musketeer Sergeant
CPLM - N5 - 3FP - 2.1 mil salary - Mercenary Musketeer Corporal
PTEM - N3 - 2FP - 1.4 mil salary - Mercenary Musketeer

Musketeers have a greater fighting power than equivalent sword soldiers. The double salary is because they are are mercenaries. When Muskets are gained for our regular units, no extra salary will need to be paid. It is yet unknown how many if any xxxM NPC are able to be gained by the recruitment expedition. Depending on whether the war in the south is active or not, more mercenaries might be able to be gained. The only likely direction where they can be recruited for service is the south extent of the Kingdom and beyond. Given the current political situation, it will be much easier to gain Catholic-leaning mercenaries than Protestant-leaning, but they generally fight for money, although intrigue and back-stabbing are not unheard-of.

HAK - N2 - 2FP - 1.05 mil salary - Hakkapeliitta Light Cavalry

These can be gained (at least) from Tavastia. SCI project is needed before unlocking efficient cavalry tactics (including even these entry-level ones).

CANN - K8 - 8FP - no salary - Cannon

The drills have shown that the initial FP of a CANN is overestimated and is revised to 8 (closed formation field battle). After committing the Phaeton factory to production, the RWWC cannon output was raised from 8 to 14 units per year. These will be put for sale immediately as they become ready, meaning that 1 comes to market every month all year round, and 1 goes to King at the same price. New listings to the market will be 1 price point lower than the previous (price points 50 - 40 - 32 - 28 - 24 - 20).

Training bonus (command) will be possible for Units that have been a long time in service. This complements Battle Aquila bonus, so is less likely to be gained by troops having an Aquila already. GM grants this.

Organisation bonus (command) will be possible after researching military sciences, eg. Combined Arms. This refers to Gustaf Adolf ideas of having a Regiment of 4 sections: Musketeers, Light Infantry, Hakkapeliittas, and Artillery.

Mobility is a new concept, basically the ratio of horses to (NPC+CANN). If all troops are supplied with horses (Hx items), the mobility can reach 100% allowing the whole unit to travel on horseback for much greater speed of movement (no CANN in this case of course). If horses are H2 or better, they can be used in battle as well, and H4 and better horses give a flat +1FP per horse "makeshift cavalry" bonus. These may be increased by SCI research and training.

Organizing of the SCI research in the Kingdom

We, etc., have appointed HH The Mayor, etc., to coordinate all scientific research in the Kingdom so that not even a piece of bread will be researched without his prior approval. He will in turn coordinate with the GM concerning the technicalities. All gameplay related to research is to be happen with him as the coordinator and the King will make his wishes known with the same terms as anyone else.

Lord James Daniel of Aaspere Organizes his Manor

After a few months of no public statements, Lord James Daniel still does not issue a public statement, but word of his actions nevertheless makes itself heard in the taverns...

1. James Daniel has bought a H7 Very Good Horse.
2. He is rumored of possessing a Pistol as well (a weapon of contemporary shock cavalry tactics).
3. He has designated/pressed 7 horses from the Manor/peasants at no cost or compensation for anyone (+4*H1, 3*H2).
4. 7 peasants have been pressed to the military (+7*PTE) using only 1.0 mil contract bonus (GIVE M 7mil LABOR) (minimum is 3.0 mil incl weapons).
5. The Detachment of Sir Heimo (stationed in Aaspere) has reportedly been a pacifying factor.
6. Stashes of wine and beer are being collected.
7. The peasants in the area are reported to be in shock. Anything like this has never happened in Aaspere.

If it is in your intention to speed up the development, you have 2 options:

- If there is no realistic way for anyone to oppose, report what you do. GM will keep the "attitude roll" to himself.

- If the success of your action depends on the response (eg. "give me your sword" can end up in many ways), just state your resources and intention, and GM will tell the outcome.

Thank you.

Now, ever since San Pietro was constructed in 5-C, the Holy Relics have been stored in the crypt there. Removing them from their position would surely cause more uproar than just increasing the guards a little. Surely you agree that at least one of the companies should take garrison there? HE The Prince of Soul is kindly providing detached housing for officers in the borough, and same for men (12 sqm each).

King's Army Report mid-March 1623

The payroll of the Army has increased much but BV less so (580->680 in a year). The King has equally little officers and NCO in every category, so the marginal benefit of adding PTE is - marginal. The motivation for adding them has been to prepare for the "3x" promotion round where PTE's have a chance to promote to significantly more valuable CPL's.

Royal Cannon Regiment
This now has 5 cannons and acts as the 24/7 guards regiment in the Citadel (186 BV). Newest doctrine is that this unit will not move anywhere in any case, attack or defence. All training is concentrated in fighting inside the citadel and in the streets of the Old Town.

Royal 1st Regiment
The regiment has one more section (5) and 210 BV. It is the most powerful infantry unit in the Kingdom and moves on foot. Officially garrisoned in the Citadel, in practice around the town as Citadel lacks space.

Royal 2nd Company - Mobile RRF
This company has 84 BV and is being equipped with horses for mobility. Untrained horses cannot survive battle so this is not a real cavalry unit yet. A suitable garrison was found in the 3-C, "Army Barracks", but this is speculated to be the first unit to be sent to battle in other counties if need be.

Training Detachment #1
A small unit deployed in Aaspere to guard the eastern entrance to the town.

Training Detachment #2
A small unit deployed in Essu to guard the southern entrance to the town.

Training Detachment #3 - Horse
Currently in CryptoTown, this small 1-section unit is designed to be the mobile scouting and special operations force.

Royal Palace Guard
Demonstrating the futility of adding untrained troops to small elite units, the 50% increase in number of sections lead to exactly 4% improvement in BV. The increased manpower is still very useful in the duties particular to this unit.

See link for more information.

Seven halvings are done, so only about 1:128 of the original number of tickets remains! Last halving was unreported because no prizes were given; this time 1,484 FOIE found a new owner and 118 predominantly PC (because corporations were exempt in the initial distribution) are still in the game as prizes get more and more interesting!!

The next prize, most likely distributed in May, is the Jade (JAD). If we think of similar items, Amber (AMBNP) is twice as plentiful, and more is being produced. Jade comes from further away and is limited to this batch. Amber last price is 0.3 mil. Venetian mirrors (MIR) are as rare as Jade, admittedly more useful of course, but the new imports would cost in the range of 3-4 mil if they even were possible.

In July, probably, the dividend will be W1603A "Spring Wine" believed to have been made in Forte Spagnolo vineyards in pre-earthquake times. Even now, full 15 years after its peak, it has degraded to 17.5 points only, and has been the best rated wine continuously since 1603 when it was found. A huge cache of 500 bottles (out of only 3,806 existing) is now released from King's cellars.


Prizes Awarded

47,671 * CAN given!
23,707 * BEER given!
1,484 * FOIE given to 118 players!


Prizes Remaining

1,484 tickets (RAF-1) remaining; halving every month (realday)

- - -
1,000 * JAD (1 kilo of unworked Jade, special gift from Ming merchants)
500 * W1603A (pre-Plague wine, the historical Spring Wine)
200 * MIN-5 (Most Elaborate Ming China Plate 16cm)
100 * CS1625E (special edition 5 CKS only 100 minted)
50 * CLXII (since there are no restaurants qualified to participate in the auction, it will be raffled instead)
25 * WOS-E1 (Green Suit, gift of HH The Mayor)
20 * MIR (Venetian Mirror 1 sqm, gift of HH The Duke of New Liberty)
15 <- when this number of tickets is reached, the subsequent SPOILs are 25% only to increase excitement!
- - -
10 * Baronet of CK (lowest numbers available starting from highest ranking winner, incl promotion to L12 if applicable)
1 * Third Prize: 1-SE-V76 Korean Restaurant (1518) (to the 3rd last ticket; gift of Prince of Soul)
1 * Second Prize: TRC4-19 Most Elab 4-Horse Carriage (to the 2nd last ticket; gift of M of White Cross)
1 * Grand Prize: Any Real Estate up to the value of 500,000,000 m (in the whole game, you pick, King pays   )

Total Value of Prizes: 3,550,000,000 m !
(Nominal value of ticket: 2,392,000 m)

It is possible to give prizes to the auction. Unique prizes will be listed as 4th, 5th etc. prizes, and will always be awarded. Fungible prizes you need to give the maximum amount to the King, and they will be dividended when the number of tickets reaches or goes below the amount, the King doing what he wishes with the difference.

JAD is a new creation, the rest of the items are King's donations unless indicated. King seeks to dump his remaining tickets to the market after the JAD is raffled, because there is little point in winning back items of one's own. Approximately 100 tickets will come for sale after the next halving.

Meanwhile, the officers of the Royal 1&2&Cannon Comp. inspected the Church forces in the d'Armagnac Military haw. The ~100 BV are now strengthening the CryptoTown defence "against protestant enemies". The incident would not even be worth mentioning, were it not the first time ever that the King's officers inspect the Church forces in Church lands.

Being winter, the nobles did not have much to do except to convene in Noble Palace in front of strong or even burning drinks. The case of CAPT was discussed, which lead the King to order a Squad sent to bring the father of the killed man to testify in the court. The CAPT was kept in the Dungeon of the Keep (bottom level in the central castle of the Citadel) until it was realised it is an inhuman place to spend a longer time. He now has a room in a higher level, yet still without window.

Report from a CAPT of New Liberty troops and his audience with the King


A rugged man on horseback is coming from the north entrance to B.2. Since this is so unusual this time of the year with thick snow covering the vestiges of the road, the King goes outside the House of Magnificence to see what this is about. The man's uniform has almost turned to rags. The horse is ready for dismissal from service. He exclaims:

- Your Majesty (bows) what an honor to see You, and luck as well! I have very important information regarding the situation in the Duke of New Liberty Company!

* Speak, officer.

- CAPT N.N. from The Duke of New Liberty Company, in your service Sir!

As you know, Sir, the Company has a MAJ as CO and as FO as well. In absence of clear orders from His Highness, these two have developed a quarrelous relationship, which has slowed our progress very much. You probably have heard about our encounter with the Swedish troops. The CO was in favor of negotiations but the FO argued and said that our position would have allowed a tactical victory. After it was decided that we move to the north, the problem continued. At the coming of winter, we had advanced the coastline to a tall, old monolith, which the peasants explained is the cornerstone of 3 counties - Tavastia, Petrichor and New Liberty. It is located where the River flows to the lake the Swedes call "Östersjön". It was there that we met Swedes the first time after the initial encounter.

They were preparing to build a town there, even I could see that. I would think they have 40*PRE and the annual gain is 10*PRE. A force at max half of us was guarding the operations. Again there was a quarrel among the leading officers, with even CAPTs (we have 6) taking sides. The command in the end was to retreat to a vicinity of the operations to the south, and establish a winter camp there. Not even a messenger was ordered to be sent!

Tired of this inaction, we CAPTs decided to send an express messenger directly to Your Majesty. I am now here, after a less than 3 weeks journey - but what a journey it has been... 2 horses have died on duty, and after the second one, I needed to travel 3 days on foot in a blizzard. I thought I would die, but then saw lights of a wooden hut in front of me. Unfortunately, which I still regret, the encounter ended in the death of the son of the house, before I could get their horse...

* Captain, What is the reason you took on this express journey?

- Sir, in between the junior officers, we decided that this information of the Swedes' preparations needed to reach your ear most quickly, and the CO and FO could only decide on the location of the winter camp.

* So you did not have the permission from your superiors, let alone a command?

- No, Sir.

* Did you leave your unit without checking out in accordance of the Company Regulations?

- ...

- Yes, Sir. In wartime, an officer is foremost bound to his oath to His Majesty The King - long live the King! - and must do what is needed for the Kingdom, even if it constitutes an implicit disobeyance of the orders of the immediate superiors.

* (nods)

* Captain, your referral to "wartime": what is the power WE are at war with, and when did you learn of such a war taking place?

- Sir, the Swedes are our enemies, they war against the Church and defame the Holy Relics. The inaction of our CO has twice robbed a victory from our hands!!

* What happened with the horses?

- Sir, we had bought some horses from the locals and the Swedes for general purposes. I left with my own horse and a select CPL came with me on a H2 we had taken from the stables. After a few days, the weather got so rough and we did not know the way, so the CPL asked we divide the meat and take different routes so that at least one can get to CryptoTown. I have not seen him since.

I needed to seek shelter for a few days. When the weather cleared, the horse was in such bad condition due to lack of food that I rode him to death and pressed another one from the locals. This horse did not last much longer so I again ended in a blizzard. When I was afraid of my life, I ended up in a house where they did not speak the language. I stayed for 2 days to get my strength back. When I was ready to continue, they only had one horse. I offered 10 SCI to get it but they did not appreciate the offer. With no other way to move on, I drew my sword, and the son of the house took a club. I slashed him with 2 blows, after which I got the horse.

* Did you kill a man?

- I am sorry, Sir, it did happen. The old man gave the horse only after it was clear the son was dead.

* In what county did this happen?

- Sir, I believe it was still in New Liberty, but not far from the Old Duchy border, judging from the time it took to get here.

* Officer, you are under arrest for 2nd degree murder. Your case will be heard once the jurisdiction is determined. Please surrender your sword to SGT N.N. from the Royal Cannon Company. He will take you to the Dungeon of the Keep and arrange your family an opportunity to meet you. Dismissed.

The Royal Survey of The Very Ancient Duchy

TVA Duchy ("OldDuchy") is the area where most of the game activities have historically been located. It existed in 1366 when HM The King was born, so its peerage is very old and may be titled "very ancient" (only pre-1400 things may do this).

When going directly to the north from the Old Town, there is some unhealthy and impassable land, even our B.4 belongs to this. To get to the north, it is advisable to make a detour around this, either way is possible. No road connection exists to the Manor of Kunda. The Manor is a familiar tavern for those wishing to travel northward, but other possible routes can be used as well, depending what the exact destination is. The area is forested and rugged especially to the north of Kunda.

When going to the east, as already mentioned, the road goes in a reasonably plain terrain to the Manor of Aaspere and in a much inferior condition towards the Rossiyan outpost. From there it is possible for well-intentioned civilians to go all the way to Moscow, although the road network in Rossiya is in a notorious shape. To the north of Aaspere, forest soon takes hold, but to the south, plains and agricultural lands continue, and a trail in a reasonable condition leads to the Manor of Pada. This is not the shortest route to reach Pada, however, but the only one traversible by cart or carriage. Light footmen who know the ground can take a shortcut directly to CryptoTown and save time.

The major road out of CryptoTown goes to the rough direction of south-southwest. The exit from the town has originally been the South Barbican (the old town is walled, you cannot just exit wherever you wish). Since the San Pietro was opened, it had become the first sighting of the travellers, but King has the plans to make the "Grand Entrance" go past the planned Château of Versailles in the same borough. For this reason, the roadworks start only a few miles away from town, and from there, a recently constructed road leads almost to the Manor of Essu, and is being continued with the annual PRE stone spends. The terrain in this way is easy to traverse so merchants can use multiple ways, with the new one of course taking priority for those having wheels.

The historical "Road to France" goes to the west through hilly and forested terrain. It is a track at most, yet has in the ancient times been capable to function as the preferred connection for the merchants of wines and such semi-heavy goods. New Liberty expedition took this road but was prevented from reaching the coast because of the Swedish garrison. It is believed a port, or even a town exists in the end of this road, which would make it plausible for merchants to take this route as most of the distance could be travelled by ship. The Manor of Haljala is located not far from CryptoTown and not exactly on the road either.

Further to the south, from Essu onwards, the terrain is more hospitable than the colder climate in the Old Duchy. Saddam's headquarters in Ramsey is currently located in a place somewhat on the north side of the lands claimed. Here his potent forces can monitor all legitimate traffic towards the capital. Surpassing them is easy of course due to the vastness of land - explaining the reason for avoiding the roads (if caught) is more difficult...

The trails actually start to become better in the southern edge of Ramsey ("south" is defined mostly as "towards Plath" not as actual south). The travel time from "Saddam HQ" to "roads again" is about equal to the time from CryptoTown to "Saddam HQ". From Plath there is not yet exact info but this lies somewhat further away from where the roads start.

Instructions to the Lords of the Historical Manors of OldDuchy

Congratulations for the appointment. As you know, the excessive haste of appointing you was because our Majesty is pressed on higher-level affairs. Use it to your advantage, and while doing so - remember the performance is evaluated after 2 years with the prudent continuing in the position!

The S-ME and S-VE2 production shares will be given to you latest when they will be needed. Vegetables are dividended in July-November in several batches. Meat comes in December in one batch. The preparations needed for a Manor are much in your own hands. We cannot give further guidance on the matter because of haste. Please contact the Councillors if unsure how HM typically wants his lands to be managed.


GM conventions on Time, Delays, Quests, Secret Messages and Such

The time conversion is as follows:
1. Today, 2016-1-18 is the January 1623;
2. The basic unit of time is the year (week of outside time), the year changes at the midnight following Sunday (UTC);
3. The year is divided to 7 months (days outside), each month is divided to 24 days (hours outside) and 6 days may be called a week.

The time is administered as a reasonable basis. Many things happen on an annual administration so that it basically does not matter when you acquire NPC for instance - their salary and production script is run every December anyway.

When the question is about transport times between the places in the "core empire" (areas listed in the beginning in this post, with the characteristics that CK military and administration reign supreme), time is calculated real-time from the thread post or PM to the GM. When sending supplies to the "colonies" (places outside our unquestioned military supremacy ie. every place except OldDuchy and Ramsey), the supplies are considered arrived after the GM-administered travel time, which might be years in case of places further away.

If there is an "encounter", an important storytelling event, whose result is changing the fortunes, and dependent on how the key players play the game, the GM calls the players to "play the event" with a tight deadline. The playing happens in the IRC channel usually. If one of the players is not reachable, the GM plays his role according to pre-knowledge of his likely objectives. Unless an encounter is secret, there will be a report in this thread, and hopefully soon in another dedicated media.

The GM is already giving Quests to characters. These involve participation in or even steering the historical events transpiring around us. Typically these are secret, so that it does not help the character in question to disclose the quest to the public, but rather try to navigate the events towards his desired outcome in the curtains. The Quest Medal is awarded (and the quest made public) when it is completed. Most quests have a deadline as well.

When Secret Messages are sent between the PC, it can be done whatever way without any administered delay. When Secret Messages are sent to Foreign Powers or their envoys (or similars), the Church message above shows how to disclose it. GM will take care about what happens to the messenger. Note: only important messages changing the fortunes of a Duchy or Kingdom, need to be disclosed like this. Trivial messages can travel their way according to the delays published.

Congratulations. Number of applications corresponded to number of awards

Let us see what is the situation with the manors in 2 years. Do not make further preparations until the Royal survey of the location of manors etc is posted, hopefully during the month.

My servant,

It enlightens us that the reply was so prompt and we are apologetic for the harsh tone of the initial letter. Given that there has been no contact from HG the Bishop, and the second-in-command Lord Callixtus passed away, we judge it fit to do as follows:

- We will promote you L5 Expert, and the same day Knight you in the AOD and promote you to the highest Officer level possible;
- A special oath of allegiance is required as is the custom with Knights and the Officers;
- We will promptly send a high-level military attaché to the Church Military haw to inspect all the troops and preparations.

We will organise the troops during the spring months and find positions for them in the town and the surrounding areas, so that the deployment corresponds to the larger plans of having the main Royal forces ready to be sent wherever they are needed.

We trust that this letter is responded to promptly. (however please do not do it after GM has sent a futher message with some clarification)